spec-to-done

Spec To Done

Drive a reviewed spec to delivered, integrated closure. The output is a closure record backed by a criterion-to-evidence ledger and a green integrated check — not a pile of individually green tasks.

This is a portable workflow, not a runtime. It works with one agent building items sequentially or a team of implementers in parallel, on any repository, task system, or none.

Treat it as a protocol, not a procedure: teams may carry the messages in JSON, markdown, issues, or PR comments. Six invariants make the loop trustworthy, whatever the carrier:

• Every worker gets bounded work.
• Every handback is reviewable.
• Every gate decision explains the basis for trust or rejection.
• Every acceptance criterion maps to evidence, a waiver, or a named blocker.
• Every owner-only decision is escalated, never improvised.
• Closure never overclaims.

Everything else — item sizing, ordering, tooling, how hard to inspect a given handback — is supervisor judgment, and good supervisors will invent moves this file does not list. The protocol's job is to make those moves inspectable, not to replace them.

Evidence First

"Done" in this loop is an evidence claim, not a status update. Every part of the loop exists to produce, check, or record evidence:

• Every claim names something inspectable — a commit, diff, test, check, run, artifact, screenshot, review, trace, or recorded waiver. If a reader cannot open it, it is not evidence.
• Evidence covers process as well as result. The result evidence says what was achieved; the work trace — how it was done — says whether to trust it.
• The criterion-to-evidence ledger is the loop's spine. Gates read evidence against criteria; they do not read narratives, confidence, or effort.
• No local evidence, no merge. No integrated evidence, no closure. Task-local green is not done — it is supporting evidence for one item.
• Missing evidence is never papered over: a criterion is open, blocked, or carries a waiver recorded by the decision owner. A waiver is a decision, not missing evidence.