spec-driven-development

spec-driven-development is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from jasonkneen/kiro. It costs 46 tokens per session (1,334 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A three-stage way to plan software features: first define requirements, then design the solution, then break it into implementation tasks. A specification is a written description of what the feature must do.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it for complex features, integrations, high-risk changes, team planning, and preserving decisions for future maintainers.
Why use it?
It turns unclear feature ideas into shared, testable plans, reducing misunderstandings and rework during development or AI-assisted coding.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Part of the kiro plugin — 8 skills, 2 commands shipped together

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 skills/jasonkneen/kiro/spec-driven-development
Any agent
npx skills add jasonkneen/kiro --skill spec-driven-development
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jasonkneen/kiro

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Or install kiro, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 8 skills, 2 commands.

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 spec-driven-development

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/jasonkneen/kiro/spec-driven-development.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/jasonkneen/kiro/spec-driven-development)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/jasonkneen/kiro/spec-driven-development"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/jasonkneen/kiro/spec-driven-development.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 46 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,334 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original 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 $0.00046 $0.01334
Opus 5 $0.00023 $0.00667
Sonnet 5 $0.00009 $0.00267
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00133

Measured 5d ago against content hash e582197ad5da, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

spec-driven-development 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 5d ago.

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.

skills/spec-driven-development/SKILL.md · 191 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 191 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Spec-Driven Development

A comprehensive methodology for systematic software feature development that ensures quality, maintainability, and successful delivery through structured planning.

When to Use This Skill

Ideal scenarios:

  • Complex features with multiple components, integrations, or user interactions
  • High-stakes projects where rework costs are significant
  • Team collaboration requiring shared understanding
  • AI-assisted development where clear structure improves output quality
  • Knowledge preservation for future maintainers

Less suitable:

  • Simple bug fixes with obvious solutions
  • Experimental prototypes for rapid iteration
  • Time-critical hotfixes requiring immediate action
  • Well-established patterns with minimal ambiguity

The Three-Phase Workflow

Phase 1: Requirements Gathering

Purpose: Transform vague feature ideas into clear, testable requirements

Process:

  1. Capture user stories expressing value and purpose
  2. Define acceptance criteria using EARS format (Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax)
  3. Identify edge cases and constraints
  4. Validate completeness and feasibility

EARS Format Patterns:

WHEN [event] THEN [system] SHALL [response]
IF [precondition] THEN [system] SHALL [response]
WHEN [event] AND [condition] THEN [system] SHALL [response]

Example:

**User Story:** As a new user, I want to create an account, so that I can access personalized features.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
1. WHEN user provides valid email and password THEN system SHALL create new account
2. WHEN user provides existing email THEN system SHALL display "email already registered" error
3. WHEN user provides password shorter than 8 characters THEN system SHALL display "password too short" error
4. WHEN account creation succeeds THEN system SHALL send confirmation email

Phase 2: Design Documentation

Purpose: Create a comprehensive technical plan for implementation

Process:

  1. Research technical approaches and constraints
  2. Define system architecture and component interactions
  3. Specify data models and interfaces
  4. Plan error handling and testing strategies

Read the full file on GitHub · 191 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. 5d ago First seen · 191 lines · 46 tokens per session scan A e582197ad5da

Subscribe to this mod's changes

spec-driven-development is a skill published in the GitHub repository jasonkneen/kiro (745 stars, last pushed 7mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 46 tokens to every session and 1,334 once invoked, about $0.0002 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 2026-08-30.

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