Getting Started with GitHub Spec Kit

Mission Brief: Transform how you build software using AI-assisted Spec-Driven Development. Your next project depends on it.

Your Mission Begins Here

Welcome to FlavorHub, the world's fastest-growing recipe community platform! Founded in 2018, our platform has connected millions of home cooks, professional chefs, and food enthusiasts worldwide. From family recipes passed down through generations to cutting-edge molecular gastronomy, FlavorHub has become the go-to destination for culinary inspiration.

However, our rapid growth has exposed cracks in our development process. Features take weeks to ship, specifications drift from implementation, and our AI assistants generate code that doesn't align with our domain expertise. The holiday cooking season is approaching, and we need to deliver our next-generation Recipe Manager to handle millions of concurrent users while providing real-time recommendations and seamless recipe sharing.

As a newly hired Senior Software Engineer at FlavorHub, your mission is to modernize our development methodology. The executive team has tasked you with learning and implementing Spec-Driven Development — a revolutionary approach that combines structured workflows, domain-specific AI assistance, and methodology coaching to ship high-quality software faster.

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What Makes This Mission Critical

This workshop teaches you how to transform your development process by combining three powerful AI-enhanced tools:

🎯 GitHub Spec Kit — Structures your workflow from intent to implementation
🧠 Instruction Files — Teaches AI your domain (recipe measurements, dietary restrictions, validation rules)
🎓 Custom Skills — Provides on-demand methodology coaching without leaving your editor

The Stakes:

• Holiday season traffic (10M+ concurrent users) launches in 8 weeks
• Marketing has promised next-gen features without consulting engineering
• Legacy codebase has no clear specifications or design documentation
• Your AI assistants generate generic code that violates culinary best practices

Your Advantage:

Instead of traditional development chaos, you'll create an AI-powered development environment where:

• Spec Kit prevents scope creep and ensures alignment (constitution → specify → plan → implement)
• Instruction files make AI understand culinary measurements, conversions, and food safety rules
• Custom skills (@SpecKitCoach) coach you through best practices in real-time

The result? AI generates better code because it understands both your project principles AND your domain context. You ship faster because specifications drive implementation, not the other way around.

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Workshop Overview

Total Duration: 2 hours
Format: Hands-on exercises with progressive difficulty
Your Assignment: Build the next-generation Recipe Manager for FlavorHub

What You'll Build

Throughout this workshop, you'll architect and build FlavorHub's Recipe Manager Application that allows users to:

• 📚 Store and organize their favorite recipes with rich metadata
• 🔍 Search recipes by ingredients, cuisine, or dietary restrictions
• 🛒 Generate smart shopping lists from selected recipes
• 🤝 Share recipes with the global FlavorHub community
• ⭐ Rate, review, and discover trending recipes

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Mission Prerequisites

Before you begin your first day at FlavorHub, ensure you have:

• ✅ Valid GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise)
• ✅ VS Code installed with GitHub Copilot extension
• ✅ Python 3.11+ (Download)
• ✅ uv package manager (Install)
• ✅ Git version control (Download)

Learning Path

🟢 Experiment 1: Setup & Constitution — Mission Briefing

Your first day objectives:

• Install Spec Kit CLI and configure development environment
• Download FlavorHub's AI enhancement toolkit (instruction files + custom skills)
• Create project constitution with governing principles
• Understand the Spec-Driven Development workflow
• Pass environment validation and prepare for implementation

🟢 Experiment 2: Specify & Clarify — Requirements Intelligence

Transform chaos into clarity:

• Write effective specifications focused on "what" not "how"
• Use /speckit.clarify to expose underspecified requirements
• Refine specifications through AI-guided questioning
• Create user-centric feature descriptions that prevent rework

🟡 Experiment 3: Plan & Tasks — Architecture Design

Design before you code:

• Create technical implementation plans with your chosen tech stack
• Use /speckit.plan to define system architecture
• Break down plans into actionable task lists with /speckit.tasks
• Review and prioritize implementation sequence

🟡 Experiment 4: Implement & Validate — Code Generation

Ship with confidence:

• Execute implementation with /speckit.implement
• Validate generated code against specifications
• Debug and fix implementation issues systematically
• Test the Recipe Manager application end-to-end

🟠 Experiment 5: Advanced Features — Mastery Level

Become a Spec-Driven Development expert:

• Use /speckit.analyze for consistency checks
• Create quality checklists with /speckit.checklist
• Explore instruction files and custom skills for domain-specific AI assistance
• Add features iteratively to existing codebase
• Apply Spec-Driven Development to brownfield projects

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Additional Resources

• Official Documentation: https://github.github.io/spec-kit/
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/github/spec-kit
• Spec-Driven Development Guide: spec-driven.md
• Video Overview: Watch on YouTube

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Ready to Begin Your Mission?

🚀 Start Your First Day: Experiment 1: Setup & Constitution

The CTO is waiting. FlavorHub's users are counting on you. Show them what AI-assisted Spec-Driven Development can do.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Transform how FlavorHub builds software, one specification at a time.