spec-kit/templates/commands/retro.md

description, scripts

description	scripts
Conduct a structured retrospective analysis of the completed development cycle with metrics, learnings, and improvement suggestions.	sh ps scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh --json --require-tasks --include-tasks scripts/powershell/check-prerequisites.ps1 -Json -RequireTasks -IncludeTasks

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

You MUST consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty).

Pre-Execution Checks

Check for extension hooks (before retro):

• Check if .specify/extensions.yml exists in the project root.
• If it exists, read it and look for entries under the hooks.before_retro key
• If the YAML cannot be parsed or is invalid, skip hook checking silently and continue normally
• Filter out hooks where enabled is explicitly false. Treat hooks without an enabled field as enabled by default.
• For each remaining hook, do not attempt to interpret or evaluate hook condition expressions:
  • If the hook has no condition field, or it is null/empty, treat the hook as executable
  • If the hook defines a non-empty condition, skip the hook and leave condition evaluation to the HookExecutor implementation
• For each executable hook, output the following based on its optional flag:
  • Optional hook (optional: true):

    ## Extension Hooks
    
    **Optional Pre-Hook**: {extension}
    Command: `/{command}`
    Description: {description}
    
    Prompt: {prompt}
    To execute: `/{command}`
    

  • Mandatory hook (optional: false):

    ## Extension Hooks
    
    **Automatic Pre-Hook**: {extension}
    Executing: `/{command}`
    EXECUTE_COMMAND: {command}
    
    Wait for the result of the hook command before proceeding to the Outline.
    

• If no hooks are registered or .specify/extensions.yml does not exist, skip silently

Goal

Conduct a structured retrospective analysis of the completed development cycle — from specification through shipping. Analyze what went well, what didn't, and generate actionable improvement suggestions for future iterations. Track metrics over time to identify trends and continuously improve the spec-driven development process.

Operating Constraints

CONSTRUCTIVE FOCUS: The retrospective should be balanced — celebrating successes alongside identifying improvements. Avoid blame; focus on process improvements.

DATA-DRIVEN: Base analysis on actual artifacts, git history, and measurable outcomes rather than subjective impressions.

OPTIONAL WRITES: The retro report is always written. Updates to constitution.md with new learnings are offered but require explicit user approval.

Outline

1. Run {SCRIPT} from repo root and parse FEATURE_DIR and AVAILABLE_DOCS list. All paths must be absolute. For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'''m Groot' (or double-quote if possible: "I'm Groot").

2. Gather Retrospective Data: Load all available artifacts from the development cycle:

   • REQUIRED: Read spec.md — original specification and requirements
   • REQUIRED: Read tasks.md — task breakdown and completion status
   • IF EXISTS: Read plan.md — technical plan and architecture decisions
   • IF EXISTS: Read review reports in FEATURE_DIR/reviews/ — code review findings
   • IF EXISTS: Read QA reports in FEATURE_DIR/qa/ — testing results
   • IF EXISTS: Read release artifacts in FEATURE_DIR/releases/ — shipping data
   • IF EXISTS: Read critique reports in FEATURE_DIR/critiques/ — pre-implementation review
   • IF EXISTS: Read previous retros in FEATURE_DIR/retros/ — historical context
   • IF EXISTS: Read /memory/constitution.md — project principles

3. Collect Git Metrics: Gather quantitative data from the git history:

   # Commit count for the feature
   git rev-list --count origin/{target_branch}..HEAD
   
   # Files changed
   git diff --stat origin/{target_branch}..HEAD
   
   # Lines added/removed
   git diff --shortstat origin/{target_branch}..HEAD
   
   # Number of authors
   git log origin/{target_branch}..HEAD --format='%an' | sort -u | wc -l
   
   # Date range (first commit to last)
   git log origin/{target_branch}..HEAD --format='%ai' | tail -1
   git log origin/{target_branch}..HEAD --format='%ai' | head -1
   

   If git data is not available (e.g., already merged), use artifact timestamps and content analysis as fallback.

4. Specification Accuracy Analysis: Compare the original spec against what was actually built:

   • Requirements fulfilled: Count of spec requirements that were fully implemented
   • Requirements partially fulfilled: Requirements that were implemented with deviations
   • Requirements not implemented: Spec items that were deferred or dropped
   • Unplanned additions: Features implemented that were NOT in the original spec (scope creep)
   • Surprises: Requirements that turned out to be much harder or easier than expected
   • Accuracy score: (fulfilled + partial×0.5) / total requirements × 100%

5. Plan Effectiveness Analysis: Evaluate how well the technical plan guided implementation:

   • Architecture decisions validated: Did the chosen patterns/stack work as planned?
   • Architecture decisions revised: Were any plan decisions changed during implementation?
   • Task scoping accuracy: Were tasks well-sized? Any tasks that were much larger/smaller than expected?
   • Missing tasks: Were any tasks added during implementation that weren't in the original breakdown?
   • Task ordering issues: Were there dependency problems or tasks that should have been reordered?
   • Plan score: Qualitative assessment (EXCELLENT / GOOD / ADEQUATE / NEEDS IMPROVEMENT)

6. Implementation Quality Analysis: Analyze the quality of the implementation based on review and QA data:

   • Review findings summary: Total findings by severity from review reports
   • Blocker resolution: Were all blockers resolved before shipping?
   • QA results summary: Pass/fail rates from QA testing
   • Test coverage: Test suite results and coverage metrics
   • Code quality indicators: Lines of code, test-to-code ratio, cyclomatic complexity (if available)
   • Quality score: Based on review verdict and QA pass rate

7. Process Metrics Dashboard: Compile a metrics summary:

   📊 Development Cycle Metrics
   ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
   Feature:           {feature_name}
   Duration:          {first_commit} → {last_commit}
   
   📝 Specification
   Requirements:      {total} total, {fulfilled} fulfilled, {partial} partial
   Spec Accuracy:     {accuracy}%
   
   📋 Planning
   Tasks:             {total_tasks} total, {completed} completed
   Added during impl: {unplanned_tasks}
   Plan Score:        {plan_score}
   
   💻 Implementation
   Commits:           {commit_count}
   Files changed:     {files_changed}
   Lines:             +{additions} / -{deletions}
   Test/Code ratio:   {test_ratio}
   
   🔍 Quality
   Review findings:   🔴{blockers} 🟡{warnings} 🟢{suggestions}
   QA pass rate:      {qa_pass_rate}%
   Quality Score:     {quality_score}
   

8. What Went Well (Keep Doing): Identify and celebrate successes:

   • Aspects of the spec that were clear and led to smooth implementation
   • Architecture decisions that proved effective
   • Tasks that were well-scoped and completed without issues
   • Quality practices that caught real issues
   • Any particularly efficient or elegant solutions

9. What Could Improve (Start/Stop Doing): Identify areas for improvement:

   • Spec gaps that caused confusion or rework during implementation
   • Plan decisions that needed revision
   • Tasks that were poorly scoped or had missing dependencies
   • Quality issues that slipped through review/QA
   • Process friction points (tool issues, unclear workflows)

10. Actionable Improvement Suggestions: Generate specific, actionable suggestions:

    • Rank by impact (HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW)
    • Each suggestion should be concrete and implementable
    • Group by category: Specification, Planning, Implementation, Quality, Process

    Example format:

    IMP-001 [HIGH] Add data model validation to spec template
    → The spec lacked entity relationship details, causing 3 unplanned tasks during implementation.
    → Suggestion: Add a "Data Model" section to the spec template with entity, attribute, and relationship requirements.
    
    IMP-002 [MEDIUM] Include browser compatibility in QA checklist
    → QA missed a CSS rendering issue in Safari that was caught post-merge.
    → Suggestion: Add cross-browser testing scenarios to the QA test plan.
    

11. Historical Trend Analysis (if previous retros exist): If FEATURE_DIR/retros/ contains previous retrospective reports:

    • Compare key metrics across cycles (spec accuracy, QA pass rate, review findings)
    • Identify improving trends (celebrate!) and declining trends (flag for attention)
    • Check if previous improvement suggestions were adopted and whether they helped
    • Output a trend summary table

12. Generate Retrospective Report: Create the retro report at FEATURE_DIR/retros/retro-{timestamp}.md using the retrospective report template.

13. Offer Constitution Update: Based on the retrospective findings, offer to update /memory/constitution.md with new learnings:

    • "Based on this retrospective, I suggest adding the following principles to your constitution:"
    • List specific principle additions or modifications
    • Wait for explicit user approval before making any changes
    • If approved, append new principles with a "Learned from: {feature_name} retro" annotation

14. Suggest Next Actions:

    • If this was a successful cycle: "Great work! Consider starting your next feature with /speckit.specify"
    • If improvements were identified: List the top 3 most impactful improvements to adopt
    • If trends are declining: Recommend a process review or team discussion

Check for extension hooks (after retro):

• Check if .specify/extensions.yml exists in the project root.
• If it exists, read it and look for entries under the hooks.after_retro key
• If the YAML cannot be parsed or is invalid, skip hook checking silently and continue normally
• Filter out hooks where enabled is explicitly false. Treat hooks without an enabled field as enabled by default.
• For each remaining hook, do not attempt to interpret or evaluate hook condition expressions:
  • If the hook has no condition field, or it is null/empty, treat the hook as executable
  • If the hook defines a non-empty condition, skip the hook and leave condition evaluation to the HookExecutor implementation
• For each executable hook, output the following based on its optional flag:
  • Optional hook (optional: true):

    ## Extension Hooks
    
    **Optional Hook**: {extension}
    Command: `/{command}`
    Description: {description}
    
    Prompt: {prompt}
    To execute: `/{command}`
    

  • Mandatory hook (optional: false):

    ## Extension Hooks
    
    **Automatic Hook**: {extension}
    Executing: `/{command}`
    EXECUTE_COMMAND: {command}
    

• If no hooks are registered or .specify/extensions.yml does not exist, skip silently