{"slug":"close-spec","title":"close-spec","summary":"When a spec under specs// is done shipping (a write-spec build, or any planned task that produced a spec), archive it to specs/done/ and rewrite it from a build-plan into a durable rationale — the why, the principles, the invariants — pointing back to the real code for t","platform":"Claude","tags":[],"authorName":"LLM Mart","authorSlug":"llm-mart","score":0,"source":"github","price":null,"verified":false,"createdAt":"2026-10-14T21:49:24.512449Z","repo":{"url":"https://github.com/dzhng/skills","stars":1333,"forks":81,"license":"MIT","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T20:39:18Z"},"bodyHtml":"
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name: close-spec\ndescription: When a spec under specs/

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Close Spec

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A spec is a build plan while you're building and a rationale record\nonce you've shipped. Closing flips it from one to the other. The plan was a\nladder of slices and predictions; the record is the layer of meaning the code\ncan't hold — why this exists, what it must never break, what you tried that\nfailed. The code is the single source of truth for how; the closed spec is\nthe source of truth for why, and a map into the code.

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Do not summarize the implementation. Anyone can read the code. If a paragraph\nrestates what a function does, cut it and point at the function instead.

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Workflow

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  1. Confirm it shipped. The feature is merged or working in-tree and its\ntests/screenshot gates are green. If slices remain unverified, it isn't\ndone — finish or review first.

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    2. \n

  2. Diff plan against reality. Read the spec's README and slices, then read\nwhat actually landed. Note every place the build diverged from the plan:\ndropped slices, renamed seams, a mechanic that turned out different, an\nassumption that broke. The divergences are the most valuable thing to\nrecord — they're exactly what a future reader would otherwise re-derive.

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    3. \n

  3. Move it. specs/<feature>/ → specs/done/<feature>/ (use git mv).\nSingle-file specs: specs/<feature>.md → specs/done/<feature>.md.

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    4. \n

  4. Rewrite the README as a record, not a plan. Keep:

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      \n
    • Overview & purpose — what shipped and the problem it solves, in\npresent tense (\"the economy settles monthly\"), not future (\"will add\").
      • \n
    • The reason — why it works this way and not the obvious alternatives;\nthe constraints and trade-offs that forced the shape. This is the part\nthe code cannot tell you.
      • \n
    • Principles & invariants — the rules the implementation must keep\nhonoring. What must stay true; what would silently break if violated.
      • \n
    • Pointers into the code — greppable module/type/function names, file\npaths, and the tests that pin the behavior. Send the reader to the code\nfor mechanics; name the entry points so they can find it in one grep.
      • \n
    • Dead ends — approaches tried and rejected, with the reason, so nobody\nre-walks them.
      • \n
    • Visual provenance — any images that were uploaded as a baseline to\nmatch, a comparison target, or inspiration for the look. These are the\nrequirement: they say what \"done\" had to resemble and why the result took\nthe shape it did. Keep them in-tree and reference them from the README,\nnaming where each came from (a real screenshot, a mood board, a reference\ngame) and what it was driving. Without them a reader sees the outcome but\nnot the standard it was held to.
      • \n
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    Cut: slice-by-slice build order, \"next we will…\", scaffolding instructions,\nper-slice verification checklists, and any prose that re-narrates code.

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    5. \n

  5. Collapse the slices, preserve the imagery. The slices were the build\nladder; once shipped they're sediment. Fold anything durable (a divergence,\na dead end, an invariant a slice established) into the README, then delete\nslices/. But keep the baseline, comparison, and inspiration images —\nthe references the work was measured against — and the visualizations/ or\nassets/ that still help a reader judge the result. These are provenance,\nnot scaffolding: discard a build instruction, never the picture that\ndefined what the build was aiming at. Wire each one into the README's\nvisual-provenance trail so the story of where the requirement came from\nsurvives the close.

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    6. \n

  6. Fix references. Update links that pointed at the old path. If [[memory]]\nnotes or other skills referenced the spec, repoint them.

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    7. \n

  7. Audit every statement, unbiased. Spawn sub-agents that did not write the\nspec and lack the conversation, and have them check the final document\nclaim by claim against the actual code and tests. Fan out — one agent per\nsection, or split the claim list across agents — so no single biased pass\nwaves it through. Each agent returns a verdict per statement:

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      \n
    • Pointer (a named module/type/function/file/test) — does it exist and\nsay what the spec says? Flag stale names and wrong paths.
      • \n
    • Invariant / principle — is it actually enforced in the code, or just\nasserted? Flag claims the code contradicts or doesn't back.
      • \n
    • Overview / reason — is it consistent with what shipped, present tense,\nno leftover \"will\"/\"next\"/slice numbers?
      • \n
    • Visual provenance — do the referenced baseline/inspiration images\nstill exist in-tree, and does the README say where each came from and what\nit drove? Flag a result shown with no standard it was held to.
      • \n
    \n

    Treat unsupported, contradicted, or stale statements as defects: fix the\nspec (or the pointer) and re-audit the changed claims. The spec is not\nclosed while any statement is unverified.

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    8. \n
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Smell Test

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Done

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The spec lives under specs/done/, reads as why-and-what-must-hold rather than\nhow, names the code that implements it, preserves the baseline and inspiration\nimagery the work was measured against, and every statement has survived an\nunbiased audit against the code. A fresh reader gets the intent, the\ninvariants, and the visual standard without the code — the story of why it's\ndone and how the decisions were made — and the mechanics by following the\npointers into it.

\n","files":[{"path":"SKILL.md","sizeBytes":6512,"isText":true}],"reviewScore":null,"reviewSummary":null,"trust":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow.","bodySource":null},"bodyLocked":false,"purchaseUrl":null,"sourceUrl":null,"report":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","screen":{"ran":true,"outcome":"clean","suspicious":0,"notes":0,"hiddenCharacters":false},"virusScan":{"engine":"clamav","status":"clean","scannedAt":"2026-10-14T21:49:35.443506Z","sha256":"FE6D599B9F18E44FF365198AC36E5C4D358582244D3EE31E69A59C440BE758C6","sizeBytes":2990},"review":null,"source":{"repositoryUrl":"https://github.com/dzhng/skills","path":"skills/engineering/close-spec","license":"MIT","commit":"f2fbf92f131fb08bbf3e400a1ef99b7be85bb2bc","subtreeSha":"6CA6E0D3BEA1E3CE2380ACF094115579BAC7FB6C97A4A423CCF3209E7BE52480","lastSyncedAt":"2026-10-14T21:49:23.275319Z"},"reviewedAt":"2026-10-14T21:50:01.170348Z","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow."},"install":[{"target":"skills-cli","command":"npx skills add https://github.com/dzhng/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/close-spec"},{"target":"claude-code","command":"claude plugin marketplace add https://llmmart.ai/marketplace.json && claude plugin install dzhng-skills@llmmart"},{"target":"git","command":"git clone https://github.com/dzhng/skills.git"}]}