Checklist Purpose: "Unit Tests for English" CRITICAL CONCEPT : Checklists are UNIT TESTS FOR REQUIREMENTS WRITING they validate the quality, clarity, and completeness of requirements in a given domain. NOT for verification/testing : ❌ NOT "Verify the button clicks correctly" ❌ NOT "Test error handling works" ❌ NOT "Confirm the API returns 200" ❌ NOT checking if code/implementation matches the spec FOR requirements quality validation : ✅ "Are visual hierarchy requirements defined for all card types?" (completeness) ✅ "Is 'prominent display' quantified with specific sizing/positioning?" (clarity) ✅ "Are hover state requirements consistent across all interactive elements?" (consistency) ✅ "Are accessibility requirements defined for keyboard navigation?" (coverage) ✅ "Does the spec define what happens when logo image fails to load?" (edge cases) Metaphor : If your spec is code written in English, the checklist is its unit test suite. You're testing whether the requirements are well written, complete, unambiguous, and ready for implementation NOT whether the implementation works. Ownership and checkbox lifecycle : Custom checklists generated by this command are reviewer owned requirements quality review artifacts. [x] means the reviewer determined the requirements quality criterion is satisfied. [x] does NOT mean implementation work is complete. This command generates or appends checklist items; it MUST NOT mark generated items [x] . An agent may assist with evaluating items only when explicitly asked by the reviewer. checklists/requirements.md is a separate built in spec quality checklist maintained by /speckit specify and /speckit clarify ; do not treat that exception as applying to custom checklists generated here. User Input You MUST consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty). Pre Execution Checks Check for extension hooks (before checklist generation) : Check if .specify/extensions.yml exists in the project root. If it exists, read it and look for entries under the hooks.before checklist key If the YAML cannot be parsed or is invalid, skip hook checking silently and continue normally Filter out hooks where enabled is explicitly false . Treat hooks without an enabled field as enabled by default. For each remaining hook, do not attempt to interpret or evaluate hook condition expressions: If the hook has no condition field, or it is null/empty, treat the hook as executable If the hook defines a non empty condition , skip the hook and leave condition evaluation to the HookExecutor implementation When constructing command invocations from hook command names, replace dots ( . ) with hyphens ( ). For example, speckit.git.commit → /speckit git commit . For each executable hook, output the following based on its optional flag: Optional hook ( optional: true ): Mandatory hook ( optional: false ): After emitting the block above you MUST actually invoke the hook and wait for it to finish before continuing. Run it the same way you would run the command yourself in this agent/session (the invocation may differ from the literal {command} id shown above, e.g. a skills mode agent runs it as /skill:speckit ... or $speckit ... ). Emitting the block alone does not run the hook. If no hooks are registered or .specify/extensions.yml does not exist, skip silently Execution Steps 1. Setup : Run .specify/scripts/bash/check prerequisites.sh json template checklist template from repo root and parse JSON for FEATURE DIR, AVAILABLE DOCS list, and TEMPLATE CONTENT. All file paths must be absolute. For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'\''m Groot' (or double quote if possible: "I'm Groot"). 2. IF EXISTS : Load .specify/memory/constitution.md for project principles and governance constraints. 3. Clarify intent (dynamic) : Derive up to THREE initial contextual clarifying questions (no pre baked catalog). They MUST: Be generated from the user's phrasing + extracted signals from spec/plan/tasks Only ask about information that materially changes checklist content Be skipped individually if already unambiguous in $ARGUMENTS Prefer precision over breadth Generation algorithm: 1. Extract signals: feature domain keywords (e.g., auth, latency, UX, API), risk indicators ("critical", "must", "compliance"), stakeholder hints ("QA", "review", "security team"), and explicit deliverables ("a11y", "rollback", "contracts"). 2. Cluster signals into candidate focus areas (max 4) ranked by relevance. 3. Identify probable audience & timing (author, reviewer, QA, release) if not explicit. 4. Detect missing dimensions: scope breadth, depth/rigor, risk emphasis, exclusion boundaries, measurable acceptance criteria. 5. Formulate questions chosen from these archetypes: Scope refinement (e.g., "Should this include integration touchpoints with X and Y or stay limited to local module correctness?") Risk prioritization (e.g., "Which of these potential risk areas should receive mandatory gating checks?") Depth calibration (e.g., "Is this a lightweight pre commit sanity list or a formal release gate?") Audience framing (e.g., "Will this be used by the author only or peers during PR review?") Boundary exclusion (e.g., "Should we explicitly exclude performance tuning items this round?") Scenario class gap (e.g., "No recovery flows detected—are rollback / partial failure paths in scope?") Question formatting rules: If presenting options, generate a compact table with columns: Option Candidate Why It Matters Limit to A–E options maximum; omit table if a free form answer is clearer Never ask the user to restate what they already said Avoid speculative categories (no hallucination). If uncertain, ask explicitly: "Confirm whether X belongs in scope." Defaults when interaction impossible: Depth: Standard Audience: Reviewer (PR) if code related; Author otherwise Focus: Top 2 relevance clusters Output the questions (label Q1/Q2/Q3). After answers: if ≥2 scenario classes (Alternate / Exception / Recovery / Non Functional domain) remain unclear, you MAY ask up to TWO more targeted follow‑ups (Q4/Q5) with a one line justification each (e.g., "Unresolved recovery path risk"). Do not exceed five total questions. Skip escalation if user explicitly declines more. 4. Understand user request : Combine $ARGUMENTS + clarifying answers: Derive checklist theme (e.g., security, review, deploy, ux) Consolidate explicit must have items mentioned by user Map focus selections to category scaffolding Infer any missing context from spec/plan/tasks (do NOT hallucinate) 5. Load feature context : Read from FEATURE DIR: spec.md: Feature requirements and scope plan.md (if exists): Technical details, dependencies tasks.md (if exists): Implementation tasks Context Loading Strategy : Load only necessary portions relevant to active focus areas (avoid full file dumping) Prefer summarizing long sections into concise scenario/requirement bullets Use progressive disclosure: add follow on retrieval only if gaps detected If source docs are large, generate interim summary items instead of embedding raw text 6. Generate checklist Use TEMPLATE CONTENT as the structural template and create "Unit Tests for Requirements": Create FEATURE DIR/checklists/ directory if it doesn't exist Generate unique checklist filename: Use short, descriptive name based on domain (e.g., ux.md , api.md , security.md ) Format: [domain].md File handling behavior: If file does NOT exist: Create new file and number items starting from CHK001 If file exists: Append new items to existing file, continuing from the last CHK ID (e.g., if last item is CHK015, start new items at CHK016) Never delete or replace existing checklist content always preserve and append Leave every newly generated item unchecked ( [ ] ); checkbox state belongs to the reviewer CORE PRINCIPLE Test the Requirements, Not the Implementation : Every checklist item MUST evaluate the REQUIREMENTS THEMSELVES for: Completeness : Are all necessary requirements present? Clarity : Are requirements unambiguous and specific? Consistency : Do requirements align with each other? Measurability : Can requirements be objectively verified? Coverage : Are all scenarios/edge cases addressed? Category Structure Group items by requirement quality dimensions: Requirement Completeness (Are all necessary requirements documented?) Requirement Clarity (Are requirements specific and unambiguous?) Requirement Consistency (Do requirements align without conflicts?) Acceptance Criteria Quality (Are success criteria measurable?) Scenario Coverage (Are all flows/cases addressed?) Edge Case Coverage (Are boundary conditions defined?) Non Functional Requirements (Performance, Security, Accessibility, etc. are they specified?) Dependencies & Assumptions (Are they documented and validated?) Ambiguities & Conflicts (What needs clarification?) HOW TO WRITE CHECKLIST ITEMS "Unit Tests for English" : ❌ WRONG (Testing implementation): "Verify landing page displays 3 episode cards" "Test hover states work on desktop" "Confirm logo click navigates home" ✅ CORRECT (Testing requirements quality): "Are the exact number and layout of featured episodes specified?" [Completeness] "Is 'prominent display' quantified with specific sizing/positioning?" [Clarity] "Are hover state requirements consistent across all interactive elements?" [Consistency] "Are keyboard navigation requirements defined for all interactive UI?" [Coverage] "Is the fallback behavior specified when logo image fails to load?" [Edge Cases] "Are loading states defined for asynchronous episode data?" [Completeness] "Does the spec define visual hierarchy for competing UI elements?" [Clarity] ITEM STRUCTURE : Each item should follow this pattern: Question format asking about requirement quality Focus on what's WRITTEN (or not written) in the spec/plan Include quality dimension in brackets [Completeness/Clarity/Consistency/etc.] Reference spec section [Spec §X.Y] when checking existing requirements Use [Gap] marker when checking for missing requirements EXAMPLES BY QUALITY DIMENSION : Completeness: "Are error handling requirements defined for all API failure modes? [Gap]" "Are accessibility requirements specified for all interactive elements? [Completeness]" "Are mobile breakpoint requirements defined for responsive layouts? [Gap]" Clarity: "Is 'fast loading' quantified with specific timing thresholds? [Clarity, Spec §NFR 2]" "Are 'related episodes' selection criteria explicitly defined? [Clarity, Spec §FR 5]" "Is 'prominent' defined with measurable visual properties? [Ambiguity, Spec §FR 4]" Consistency: "Do navigation requirements align across all pages? [Consistency, Spec §FR 10]" "Are card component requirements consistent between landing and detail pages? [Consistency]" Coverage: "Are requirements defined for zero state scenarios (no episodes)? [Coverage, Edge Case]" "Are concurrent user interaction scenarios addressed? [Coverage, Gap]" "Are requirements specified for partial data loading failures? [Coverage, Exception Flow]" Measurability: "Are visual hierarchy requirements measurable/testable? [Acceptance Criteria, Spec §FR 1]" "Can 'balanced visual weight' be objectively verified? [Measurability, Spec §FR 2]" Scenario

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