spec-spine: Skill for Claude Code

/ship: gate, review, commit, PR

Sequences the steps that turn a working tree into a PR. This is the "Ship" step of AGENTS.md "Working the backlog". Bound by .claude/rules/orchestrator-rules.md (checkpoints are real stops) and .claude/rules/adversarial-prompt-refusal.md (never edit an owning spec to make the gate pass). The gate is the spec-spine invocation AGENTS.md names; if it is missing, run /setup.

Step 0: preflight

• git branch --show-current. The branch must be a feature branch, named after the spec id when the change implements one. On the default branch, STOP and create the branch first (git switch -c <spec-id>); the PreToolUse hook refuses a push to the default branch regardless.
• git status --short. Confirm the changes are the intended set: the spec's territory, the spec's own spec.md (frontmatter flipped, decision entries recorded), and the regenerated derived shards. Surface anything unexpected before proceeding.
• git fetch origin main so the coupling gate has a base.

Step 1: run the gate locally

Run the gate exactly as AGENTS.md lists it under "Run the gate before every commit". The governance floor:

spec-spine compile
spec-spine index
spec-spine lint --fail-on-warn
spec-spine index check
spec-spine couple --base origin/main --head HEAD
spec-spine index coverage --fail-on-untraced   # when [coupling] require_ownership is on

then the stack's own build, tests, and lints. Stop on the first failure (orchestrator rule: halt, never continue silently). Outcomes:

• All green: continue to Step 2.
• index check stale (exit 2): spec-spine index, stage the derived directory, and re-run. The shards are committed with the change they describe.
• couple drift (C-001): a changed path is claimed by a spec that did not change. Two legitimate paths, chosen explicitly:
  1. Fix the coupling. The path belongs to the spec you are implementing: add it to that spec's establishes, or declare an extends edge on the owning spec's unit in your spec's frontmatter. The gate enforces the declared graph, not prose. Do NOT edit the other spec to retroactively justify code that contradicts its design: that is a coherence-guard halt; surface the contradiction and stop.
  2. Waiver. A cited Spec-Drift-Waiver: <reason> line in the PR body. CHECKPOINT: requires explicit human approval in this session. A waiver is a human instrument; standing authorization (below) never covers it.
• couple unclaimed (C-002): a source file no spec specifically claims. Claim it in the implementing spec's establishes list; the ownership ratchet has no waiver-free path by design.
• index coverage --fail-on-untraced lists a file: same remedy as C-002.
• A stack gate fails: fix it. Never disable a test, never loosen a lint, never regenerate a never-touch artefact the path-scoped rules name (that is a human decision; stop and report).