Commands Reference

Core Commands

These commands form the foundation of Specify CLI functionality.

init

Initialize a new Specify project with AI assistant integration.

specify init [PROJECT_NAME] [OPTIONS]

See: Full init command documentation Quick examples:

# Create new project
specify init my-project --ai claude

# Initialize in current directory
specify init --here --ai copilot

# Custom agent
specify init my-project --ai generic --ai-commands-dir .myagent/commands/

check

Verify installed tools and AI assistant CLI availability.

specify check

See: Full check command documentation Output: Status tree showing which tools are available in PATH.

version

Display version and system information.

specify version

Output:

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ Specify CLI Information            ┃
┃                                    ┃
┃   CLI Version      0.1.6           ┃
┃   Template Version 0.2.0           ┃
┃   Released         2025-03-01      ┃
┃                                    ┃
┃   Python           3.11.9          ┃
┃   Platform         Linux           ┃
┃   Architecture     x86_64          ┃
┃   OS Version       6.1.0-...       ┃
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Information displayed:

CLI Version — Installed specify-cli package version
Template Version — Latest template version from GitHub releases
Released — Template release date
Python — Python interpreter version
Platform — Operating system (Linux, Darwin, Windows)
Architecture — CPU architecture (x86_64, arm64, etc.)
OS Version — Detailed OS version string

Extension Commands

Manage Spec Kit extensions for custom workflows and integrations. All extension commands require running from within a Spec Kit project (must have .specify/ directory).

extension list

List installed extensions in the current project.

specify extension list [OPTIONS]

Options:

--available

boolean

default:false

Show available extensions from catalog (instead of installed)

--all

boolean

default:false

Show both installed and available extensions

Example output:

$ specify extension list

Installed Extensions:

  ✓ github-issues (v1.2.0)
     Integrate GitHub Issues with Spec Kit workflows
     Commands: 3 | Hooks: 2 | Status: Enabled

  ✗ jira-sync (v0.5.1)
     Synchronize specs with Jira tickets
     Commands: 5 | Hooks: 1 | Status: Disabled

extension add

Install an extension from catalog, URL, or local directory.

specify extension add <EXTENSION> [OPTIONS]

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

required

Extension name (from catalog), URL, or local directory path

Options:

--dev

boolean

default:false

Install from local directory (development mode)

--from

string

Install from custom URL (must be HTTPS or localhost)

Examples:

# From catalog
specify extension add github-issues

# From URL
specify extension add my-extension --from https://example.com/extension.zip

# From local directory (development)
specify extension add ~/dev/my-extension --dev

What it does:

Downloads/copies extension files
Validates extension manifest (extension.yml)
Checks compatibility with current Spec Kit version
Installs to .specify/extensions/<extension-id>/
Registers commands with AI agent
Sets up hooks (if any)

extension remove

Uninstall an extension from the current project.

specify extension remove <EXTENSION> [OPTIONS]

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

required

Extension ID to remove

Options:

--keep-config

boolean

default:false

Don’t remove configuration files (preserves settings)

--force

boolean

default:false

Skip confirmation prompt

Examples:

# Remove with confirmation
specify extension remove github-issues

# Keep configuration files
specify extension remove github-issues --keep-config

# Force removal without prompt
specify extension remove github-issues --force

Behavior:

Removes commands from AI agent
Deletes extension directory
Backs up config files (unless --keep-config)
Updates extension registry

extension search

Search for available extensions in the catalog.

specify extension search [QUERY] [OPTIONS]

Arguments:

QUERY

string

Search query to filter extensions by name or description

Options:

--tag

string

Filter by tag (e.g., testing, deployment, documentation)

--author

string

Filter by author name

--verified

boolean

default:false

Show only verified extensions

Examples:

# Show all extensions
specify extension search

# Search by keyword
specify extension search github

# Filter by tag
specify extension search --tag testing

# Verified extensions only
specify extension search --verified

# Combine filters
specify extension search deployment --author github --verified

Example output:

🔍 Searching extension catalog...

Found 3 extension(s):

github-issues (v1.2.0) ✓ Verified
  Integrate GitHub Issues with Spec Kit workflows

  Author: github-spec-kit
  Tags: github, issues, project-management
  Downloads: 1,234 | Stars: 89
  Repository: https://github.com/github/spec-kit-ext-github-issues

  Install: specify extension add github-issues

extension info

Show detailed information about a specific extension.

specify extension info <EXTENSION>

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

required

Extension ID or name to get information about

Example:

specify extension info github-issues

Output includes:

Extension name, version, and verification status
Description and purpose
Author and license
Requirements (Spec Kit version, tools, dependencies)
Provided features (commands, hooks)
Tags and categories
Statistics (downloads, stars)
Links (repository, homepage, documentation, changelog)
Installation status

extension update

Update extension(s) to the latest version.

specify extension update [EXTENSION]

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

Extension ID to update. If not specified, checks all installed extensions for updates.

Examples:

# Check all extensions for updates
specify extension update

# Update specific extension
specify extension update github-issues

Note: Automatic update functionality is under development. Current version provides manual update instructions.

extension enable

Enable a disabled extension.

specify extension enable <EXTENSION>

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

required

Extension ID to enable

Example:

specify extension enable jira-sync

Effect:

Updates extension registry
Enables hooks in extensions.yml
Makes commands available to AI agent

extension disable

Disable an extension without removing it.

specify extension disable <EXTENSION>

Arguments:

EXTENSION

string

required

Extension ID to disable

Example:

specify extension disable jira-sync

Effect:

Updates extension registry
Disables hooks in extensions.yml
Removes commands from AI agent
Preserves all files and configuration

Re-enable with: specify extension enable <extension>

Global Options

These options work with most Specify commands:

Help

Display help information for any command:

specify --help
specify init --help
specify extension --help
specify extension add --help

Version

Display version information:

specify --version

Exit Codes

Specify CLI uses standard exit codes:

0 — Success
1 — General error (invalid arguments, missing files, failed operation)

Environment Variables

Specify CLI respects the following environment variables:

Authentication

GITHUB_TOKEN

string

GitHub personal access token for API requests. Increases rate limits from 60/hour to 5,000/hour.Alternative: GH_TOKEN

GH_TOKEN

string

Alternative name for GITHUB_TOKEN

Agent-Specific

CODEX_HOME

path

Required for Codex CLI. Must point to the .codex/ directory in your project.Example:

export CODEX_HOME=/path/to/project/.codex

Configuration Files

Project Structure

Specify CLI creates and manages the following structure:

project/
├── .specify/                    # Spec Kit core
│   ├── memory/                  # Persistent context
│   │   └── constitution.md      # Project principles
│   ├── scripts/                 # Automation scripts
│   │   ├── bash/               # Shell scripts
│   │   └── powershell/         # PowerShell scripts
│   ├── templates/               # Spec templates
│   │   ├── commands/           # Command templates
│   │   └── constitution-template.md
│   └── extensions/              # Extensions
│       ├── .registry.json      # Extension registry
│       ├── .backup/            # Config backups
│       └── <extension-id>/     # Extension files
├── .<agent>/                    # AI agent config
│   ├── commands/               # Agent commands
│   └── skills/                 # Agent skills (if --ai-skills)
└── .vscode/                     # VS Code settings
    └── settings.json

Extension Manifest

Extensions must include extension.yml:

name: extension-name
id: extension-id
version: 1.0.0
description: Extension description
author: author-name
license: MIT

requires:
  speckit_version: ">=0.1.0"
  tools:
    - name: git
      version: ">=2.0"
      required: true

provides:
  commands:
    - name: /command-name
      description: Command description
  hooks:
    - name: pre-specify
      description: Hook description

Getting Help

Command Help

Use --help with any command:

specify --help
specify init --help
specify extension add --help

Issues and Support

GitHub Issues: https://github.com/github/spec-kit/issues
Documentation: https://github.com/github/spec-kit
Discussions: https://github.com/github/spec-kit/discussions

Common Workflows

Create a new project:

specify check                    # Verify tools
specify init my-project --ai claude
cd my-project

Add extensions:

specify extension search         # Browse catalog
specify extension add github-issues

Initialize existing project:

cd existing-project
specify init --here --ai copilot --force

Troubleshoot:

specify check                    # Check tools
specify version                  # Check versions
specify init --debug             # Verbose output

Get Started

Core Concepts

CLI Reference

Slash Commands

AI Agents

Advanced

Commands Reference

Core Commands

init

check

version

Extension Commands

extension list

extension add

extension remove

extension search

extension info

extension update

extension enable

extension disable

Global Options

Help

Version

Exit Codes

Environment Variables

Authentication

Agent-Specific

Configuration Files

Project Structure

Extension Manifest

Getting Help

Command Help

Issues and Support

Common Workflows

See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

CLI Reference

Slash Commands

AI Agents

Advanced

​Core Commands

​init

​check

​version

​Extension Commands

​extension list

​extension add

​extension remove

​extension search

​extension info

​extension update

​extension enable

​extension disable

​Global Options

​Help

​Version

​Exit Codes

​Environment Variables

​Authentication

​Agent-Specific

​Configuration Files

​Project Structure

​Extension Manifest

​Getting Help

​Command Help

​Issues and Support

​Common Workflows

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Core Commands

init

check

version

Extension Commands

extension list

extension add

extension remove

extension search

extension info

extension update

extension enable

extension disable

Global Options

Help

Version

Exit Codes

Environment Variables

Authentication

Agent-Specific

Configuration Files

Project Structure

Extension Manifest

Getting Help

Command Help

Issues and Support

Common Workflows

See Also