spec-kit/extensions/README.md

Spec Kit Extensions

Extension system for Spec Kit - add new functionality without bloating the core framework.

Extension Catalogs

Spec Kit provides two catalog files with different purposes:

Your Catalog (catalog.json)

• Purpose: Default upstream catalog of extensions used by the Spec Kit CLI
• Default State: Empty by design in the upstream project - you or your organization populate a fork/copy with extensions you trust
• Location (upstream): extensions/catalog.json in the GitHub-hosted spec-kit repo
• CLI Default: The specify extension commands use the upstream catalog URL by default, unless overridden
• Org Catalog: Point SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL at your organization's fork or hosted catalog JSON to use it instead of the upstream default
• Customization: Copy entries from the community catalog into your org catalog, or add your own extensions directly

Example override:

# Override the default upstream catalog with your organization's catalog
export SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL="https://your-org.com/spec-kit/catalog.json"
specify extension search  # Now uses your organization's catalog instead of the upstream default

Community Reference Catalog (catalog.community.json)

• Purpose: Browse available community-contributed extensions
• Status: Active - contains extensions submitted by the community
• Location: extensions/catalog.community.json
• Usage: Reference catalog for discovering available extensions
• Submission: Open to community contributions via Pull Request

How It Works:

Making Extensions Available

You control which extensions your team can discover and install:

Option 1: Curated Catalog (Recommended for Organizations)

Populate your catalog.json with approved extensions:

1. Discover extensions from various sources:
   • Browse catalog.community.json for community extensions
   • Find private/internal extensions in your organization's repos
   • Discover extensions from trusted third parties
2. Review extensions and choose which ones you want to make available
3. Add those extension entries to your own catalog.json
4. Team members can now discover and install them:
   • specify extension search shows your curated catalog
   • specify extension add <name> installs from your catalog

Benefits: Full control over available extensions, team consistency, organizational approval workflow

Example: Copy an entry from catalog.community.json to your catalog.json, then your team can discover and install it by name.

Option 2: Direct URLs (For Ad-hoc Use)

Skip catalog curation - team members install directly using URLs:

specify extension add --from https://github.com/org/spec-kit-ext/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.0.zip

Benefits: Quick for one-off testing or private extensions

Tradeoff: Extensions installed this way won't appear in specify extension search for other team members unless you also add them to your catalog.json.

Available Community Extensions

The following community-contributed extensions are available in catalog.community.json:

Categories: docs — reads, validates, or generates spec artifacts · code — reviews, validates, or modifies source code · process — orchestrates workflow across phases · integration — syncs with external platforms · visibility — reports on project health or progress

Effect: Read-only — produces reports without modifying files · Read+Write — modifies files, creates artifacts, or updates specs

Extension	Purpose	Category	Effect	URL
Archive Extension	Archive merged features into main project memory.	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-archive
Azure DevOps Integration	Sync user stories and tasks to Azure DevOps work items using OAuth authentication	integration	Read+Write	spec-kit-azure-devops
Cleanup Extension	Post-implementation quality gate that reviews changes, fixes small issues (scout rule), creates tasks for medium issues, and generates analysis for large issues	code	Read+Write	spec-kit-cleanup
Cognitive Squad	Multi-agent cognitive system with Triadic Model: understanding, internalization, application — with quality gates, backpropagation verification, and self-healing	docs	Read+Write	cognitive-squad
Conduct Extension	Orchestrates spec-kit phases via sub-agent delegation to reduce context pollution.	process	Read+Write	spec-kit-conduct-ext
DocGuard — CDD Enforcement	Canonical-Driven Development enforcement. Validates, scores, and traces project documentation with automated checks, AI-driven workflows, and spec-kit hooks. Zero NPM runtime dependencies.	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-docguard
Fleet Orchestrator	Orchestrate a full feature lifecycle with human-in-the-loop gates across all SpecKit phases	process	Read+Write	spec-kit-fleet
Iterate	Iterate on spec documents with a two-phase define-and-apply workflow — refine specs mid-implementation and go straight back to building	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-iterate
Jira Integration	Create Jira Epics, Stories, and Issues from spec-kit specifications and task breakdowns with configurable hierarchy and custom field support	integration	Read+Write	spec-kit-jira
Learning Extension	Generate educational guides from implementations and enhance clarifications with mentoring context	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-learn
Project Health Check	Diagnose a Spec Kit project and report health issues across structure, agents, features, scripts, extensions, and git	visibility	Read-only	spec-kit-doctor
Project Status	Show current SDD workflow progress — active feature, artifact status, task completion, workflow phase, and extensions summary	visibility	Read-only	spec-kit-status
Ralph Loop	Autonomous implementation loop using AI agent CLI	code	Read+Write	spec-kit-ralph
Reconcile Extension	Reconcile implementation drift by surgically updating feature artifacts.	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-reconcile
Retrospective Extension	Post-implementation retrospective with spec adherence scoring, drift analysis, and human-gated spec updates	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-retrospective
Review Extension	Post-implementation comprehensive code review with specialized agents for code quality, comments, tests, error handling, type design, and simplification	code	Read-only	spec-kit-review
SDD Utilities	Resume interrupted workflows, validate project health, and verify spec-to-task traceability	process	Read+Write	speckit-utils
Spec Sync	Detect and resolve drift between specs and implementation. AI-assisted resolution with human approval	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-sync
Understanding	Automated requirements quality analysis — 31 deterministic metrics against IEEE/ISO standards with experimental energy-based ambiguity detection	docs	Read-only	understanding
V-Model Extension Pack	Enforces V-Model paired generation of development specs and test specs with full traceability	docs	Read+Write	spec-kit-v-model
Verify Extension	Post-implementation quality gate that validates implemented code against specification artifacts	code	Read-only	spec-kit-verify
Verify Tasks Extension	Detect phantom completions: tasks marked [X] in tasks.md with no real implementation	code	Read-only	spec-kit-verify-tasks

Adding Your Extension

Submission Process

To add your extension to the community catalog:

1. Prepare your extension following the Extension Development Guide
2. Create a GitHub release for your extension
3. Submit a Pull Request that:
   • Adds your extension to extensions/catalog.community.json
   • Updates this README with your extension in the Available Extensions table
4. Wait for review - maintainers will review and merge if criteria are met

See the Extension Publishing Guide for detailed step-by-step instructions.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting, ensure:

• ✅ Valid extension.yml manifest
• ✅ Complete README with installation and usage instructions
• ✅ LICENSE file included
• ✅ GitHub release created with semantic version (e.g., v1.0.0)
• ✅ Extension tested on a real project
• ✅ All commands working as documented

Installing Extensions

Once extensions are available (either in your catalog or via direct URL), install them:

# From your curated catalog (by name)
specify extension search                  # See what's in your catalog
specify extension add <extension-name>    # Install by name

# Direct from URL (bypasses catalog)
specify extension add --from https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/archive/refs/tags/<version>.zip

# List installed extensions
specify extension list

For more information, see the Extension User Guide.