/specify

name: specify
model: inherit
effort: high
agents: [critic, researcher, strategist, analyst, devils-advocate]
description: >
  Use to turn a raw feature idea into a reviewed spec.md — a lightweight Socratic interview
  front (capture the idea, deep-dive the problem) merged with a full product spec (context,
  goals, user stories, acceptance criteria, NFRs, KPIs). Triggers on "specify {slug}",
  "spec for {slug}", "write the spec", "capture this idea", "draft requirements for {slug}",
  "/sdd:specify {slug}", "напиши специфікацію {slug}", "опиши вимоги", "зафіксуй ідею".
  Opens by setting the interview-depth dial (easy/medium/hard), drafts from templates/spec.md,
  validates each acceptance criterion Socratically, runs a clean-context critic, then writes
  docs/features/{slug}/spec.md. The ideation analyses (competitive research, strategic approaches,
  multi-perspective review, devil's-advocate) run as named subagents gated by the depth dial —
  easy skips them, hard runs the full suite.

Skill: specify

Turns a one-line idea into a reviewed `spec.md`: a lightweight interview captures and stress-tests the idea, then the skill drafts a product spec (context → goals → user stories → acceptance criteria → NFRs → KPIs), validates it Socratically, and runs a clean-context critic before writing. Less typing, more reviewing. This file is the spine; detail lives in `references/`.

The Socratic machine, the critic, and the size matrix are **shared** — this skill keeps only its deltas: → [`../_shared/socratic-loop.md`](../_shared/socratic-loop.md) · [`../_shared/critic.md`](../_shared/critic.md) · [`../_shared/size-matrix.md`](../_shared/size-matrix.md) · [`../_shared/ask-style.md`](../_shared/ask-style.md)

Depth governs question volume + autonomy (and which ideation analyses run) → [`../_shared/interview-depth.md`](../_shared/interview-depth.md).

Document prose follows the project's `artifact_language` setting — section headings, frontmatter and machine tokens stay English → [`../_shared/artifact-language.md`](../_shared/artifact-language.md).

Owner

PM + Tech Lead (co-authors). PM drives goals / non-goals / KPIs; Tech Lead drives context patterns and the acceptance-criteria coverage.

Inputs

• `<slug>` — kebab-case feature slug.
• (Optional) `CONTEXT.md` — the two-level glossary: read **both** repo-root (project-wide) and `docs/features/<slug>/CONTEXT.md` (feature-scoped); per-feature wins on conflict → [`../glossary/SKILL.md`](../glossary/SKILL.md). If present, its roles/terms are canonical and override anything that contradicts them.
• `docs/features/<slug>/.size` — depth hint (MVP vs Full per the size matrix). **Read if present; established here if absent** (step 1 classifies + writes it), so downstream stages never silently default to M. `classify-size` re-classifies when scope changes.
• (Optional) `docs/idea-brief.md` — read before repeating discovery; identity, readiness and reuse

follow [`./references/brief-reuse.md`](./references/brief-reuse.md). A brief is not mandatory.

• (Optional) prior notes / a reference module / a ticket the user already has.

Protocol

1. **Ensure the settings file (first thing, after this skill's own gate).** If `.claude/sdd.local.md` is absent, create it now from the canonical template — documented defaults + the self-documenting body — and patch `.gitignore`; if it exists, read it and never overwrite. The one procedure lives in [`../_shared/settings-file.md`](../_shared/settings-file.md). Creating is unconditional; **changing values is only ever offered by [`config`](../config/SKILL.md)**. Say one line: «`.claude/sdd.local.md` created with documented defaults — `/sdd:config` to tune it». **Then read context + set the interview depth.** If a `CONTEXT.md` exists (read **both** repo-root and `docs/features/<slug>/` — per-feature wins on conflict), load its `## Glossary` as session state (canonical roles + terms). If `.size` exists, read it to size the spec's depth; **if it's absent, establish it now** — run the **`classify-size` protocol inline** (the canon: [`../classify-size/SKILL.md`](../classify-size/SKILL.md) + the mapping in [`../_shared/size-matrix.md`](../_shared/size-matrix.md)); the four signals fold into one bundled `AskUserQuestion` here (at `easy` depth, take the matrix default and record it in the assumptions ledger), and write `docs/features/<slug>/.size` **+ `.route`** (the route defaults from the size — XS/S→`quick`, M→`standard`, L/XL→`full` — and is confirmed in the **same** bundled question, per the Routes table in [`../_shared/size-matrix.md`](../_shared/size-matrix.md)) — so every later stage reads a real size instead of silently defaulting to M (the gap that otherwise surfaces only at `plan-tests`). `classify-size` stays the utility to re-classify when scope changes. If `docs/architecture-map.md` exists (from `survey`), read it so the spec is **architecture-aware** — it informs §1 Context, §2 Constraints, and §3 Non-goals (what the existing system already does / can't do). Absent → suggest running `survey` first, but proceed (the spec is product-level and can be captured without it). **Do not leak the map's tech into §5 AC** — AC stay business-observable; the map shapes constraints, not acceptance criteria. **Then set the interview depth (the opening question):** read `interview_depth` from the settings file ensured in the first sentence of this step (else default medium), and — unless a `--depth=easy|medium|hard` arg was passed (which skips the question) — ask ONE depth-selection `AskUserQuestion` phrased per [`../_shared/ask-style.md`](../_shared/ask-style.md), with the saved/medium value as the «(Recommended)» first option, overridable per run. The chosen level governs the step-2 deep-dive volume, the step-3 ideation suite, and the step-7 Socratic volume → [`../_shared/interview-depth.md`](../_shared/interview-depth.md). (Completeness — §5's 5-type AC floor — is unaffected by depth.) **Bootstrap `spec.md`:** cop