elaborate-spec

elaborate-spec is a cursor rule for Cursor from danielvm-git/bigpowers. It costs 50 tokens per session (906 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

Refine a rough idea into a clear, detailed specification through dialogue. Does not produce code. Use when user has a vague idea, wants to think through a feature before planning, or needs to turn "I want X" into a concrete spec.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/elaborate-spec
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danielvm-git/bigpowers

Made for: Cursor.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for elaborate-spec

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/elaborate-spec.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/elaborate-spec)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/elaborate-spec"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/rules/danielvm-git/bigpowers/elaborate-spec.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 50 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 906 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin unknown No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00050 $0.00906
Opus 5 $0.00025 $0.00453
Sonnet 5 $0.00010 $0.00181
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00091

Measured today against content hash e257f20f6536, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

elaborate-spec scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured today.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.cursor/rules/elaborate-spec.mdc · 101 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 101 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Elaborate Spec

Turn a rough idea into a clear specification through focused dialogue. No code is written during this skill — the output is shared understanding and a refined problem statement.

HARD GATE — Do NOT proceed with planning or implementation until the problem space is clearly understood. Success criteria, actors, and scope must be explicit before drafting a plan.

Process

1. Listen first

Let the user describe their idea in their own words. Do not interrupt or redirect. Take notes on:

  • The core problem they're trying to solve
  • Who is affected (actors)
  • What success looks like to them
  • Any constraints they've already identified

2. Ask clarifying questions

Ask one question at a time. Work through these areas:

Problem clarity

  • What is the current behavior (or lack of behavior) that prompted this?
  • Who experiences this problem? How often?
  • What's the cost of not solving it?

Solution boundaries

  • What is explicitly IN scope?
  • What is explicitly OUT of scope?
  • Are there existing solutions (internal or external) this replaces or integrates with?

Success criteria

  • How will you know this is done?
  • What does the happy path look like end-to-end?
  • What are the key failure modes to handle?

Constraints

  • Any performance requirements?
  • Any compatibility constraints (existing APIs, data formats)?
  • Any non-negotiable implementation decisions already made?

2.5. Multiple Interpretations (HARD GATE)

HARD GATE — If the request admits ≥2 valid interpretations, do NOT guess. You must list them and ask the user to choose before proceeding. Proceeding with unresolved ambiguity is a failure of integrity.

Present the options clearly:

"I see two ways to read this:

  1. [Interpretation A] — my recommendation because [reason]
  2. [Interpretation B] Which is closer to what you mean?"

3. Surface hidden assumptions

Once the user has answered the main questions, probe for assumptions:

  • "You mentioned X — does that mean Y is also true?"
  • "What happens when Z fails?"
  • "Is this for internal users, external users, or both?"

Read the full file on GitHub · 101 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. today First seen · 101 lines · 50 tokens per session scan A e257f20f6536

Subscribe to this mod's changes

elaborate-spec is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository danielvm-git/bigpowers (163 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 50 tokens to every session and 906 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.