Shape Spec

Overview

A short structured workflow that turns a vague request ("we need to add X") into a written spec that can be reviewed and planned against. The skill exists because the most expensive engineering bug is the wrong feature shipped well — and the second most expensive is the right feature with a missing constraint nobody wrote down. A spec is not a plan; it does not answer "how." It answers what, why, and what's out of bounds. The deliverable is a one-to-three page Markdown document a teammate can read in 5 minutes and sign off on, or push back against. Used before any plan is written.

When to Use