Spec Kit Check Skill
Run specify check to verify that the Spec Kit CLI and required tools (git, AI agents, editors) are installed and detectable. Use this after speckit-install or speckit-initial to confirm the environment, or when the user reports that slash commands are missing or specify does not work.
When to Use
- After initializing a project with speckit-initial to confirm the environment.
- When slash commands do not appear or the user says "specify not working".
- In CI or scripts to ensure dependencies are present before running Spec Kit steps.
Prerequisites
- Specify CLI must be installed (see speckit-install). If
specifyis not in PATH, direct the user to speckit-install before runningspecify check.
Workflow
-
Ensure CLI is available
- If the user has not installed the CLI or reports "specify: command not found", direct them to speckit-install first. Do not run
specify checkuntilspecifyis available.
- If the user has not installed the CLI or reports "specify: command not found", direct them to speckit-install first. Do not run
-
Run the check
- From the project root (or target directory):
specify check - The command reports which tools are detected (e.g. git, claude, gemini, code, cursor-agent, windsurf, qwen, opencode, codex, shai, qoder) and which are missing or not in PATH.
- From the project root (or target directory):
-
Interpret the output
- All required tools present: Environment is ready; suggest proceeding with speckit-constitution or speckit-specify.
- CLI missing: Direct to speckit-install.
- Agent or editor missing: Suggest installing the corresponding Agent/editor or adding its executable to PATH. If the user only needs templates and
.specify/(no slash commands), suggest re-running speckit-initial with--ignore-agent-tools.
-
Summarize and recommend
- Provide a short summary: what is OK, what is missing.
- Give concrete next steps: install CLI (speckit-install), re-init with different agent (speckit-initial), or fix PATH / install Agent.
Outputs
- Summary: Which tools are detected and which are missing.
- Recommendations: List of next actions (install CLI, run init, install Agent, add to PATH, or use
specify init --ignore-agent-tools).
Next Steps
- If something is missing: use speckit-install (for CLI) or speckit-initial (to re-init or use
--ignore-agent-tools), or install the missing Agent/editor. - If check passes: proceed with speckit-constitution or speckit-specify.
Example Output (reference)
See examples/sample-output.md for an example of specify check output and how to interpret it.
Troubleshooting
- "specify: command not found": Use speckit-install.
- Agent reported as missing: Ensure the Agent app is installed and its CLI or executable is on PATH; or use
specify init --ignore-agent-toolsif only templates are needed. - Git missing: Install git or run
specify init --no-gitif git is not required for the workflow.
References
- GitHub spec-kit — CLI: specify check