CLI Overview

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What is Specify CLI?

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Purpose

• Initialize projects with spec-driven development structure
• Integrate AI assistants (Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Cursor, and more)
• Manage extensions for custom workflows and integrations
• Verify tool availability before starting development

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Core Philosophy

1. Constitution — Establish project principles and guidelines
2. Specify — Create baseline feature specifications
3. Plan — Generate technical implementation plans
4. Tasks — Break down plans into actionable tasks
5. Implement — Execute implementation systematically

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Installation

# Using uv (recommended)
uvx specify-cli

# Or install globally with uv
uv tool install specify-cli

# Or using pip
pip install specify-cli

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Quick Start

# Create a new project with Claude
specify init my-project --ai claude

# Initialize in current directory with GitHub Copilot
specify init --here --ai copilot

# Interactive mode (choose AI assistant)
specify init my-project

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Available Commands

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Core Commands

• specify init — Initialize a new Specify project
• specify check — Verify installed tools and dependencies
• specify version — Display version and system information

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Extension Management

• specify extension list — List installed extensions
• specify extension add — Install an extension
• specify extension remove — Uninstall an extension
• specify extension search — Search available extensions
• specify extension info — Show extension details
• specify extension update — Update extensions
• specify extension enable — Enable a disabled extension
• specify extension disable — Disable an extension

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Supported AI Assistants

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CLI-Based Assistants

• Claude Code (.claude/commands/) — Anthropic’s Claude Code CLI
• Gemini CLI (.gemini/commands/) — Google’s Gemini CLI
• Cursor (.cursor/commands/) — Cursor CLI
• Qwen Code (.qwen/commands/) — Alibaba’s Qwen Code CLI
• opencode (.opencode/command/) — opencode CLI
• Amazon Q Developer CLI (.amazonq/prompts/) — Amazon Q Developer
• Amp (.agents/commands/) — Amp CLI
• SHAI (.shai/commands/) — SHAI CLI
• Auggie CLI (.augment/commands/) — Auggie CLI
• CodeBuddy CLI (.codebuddy/commands/) — CodeBuddy CLI
• Qoder CLI (.qoder/commands/) — Qoder CLI
• Codex CLI (.codex/prompts/) — Codex CLI

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IDE-Based Assistants

• GitHub Copilot (.github/agents/) — Built into VS Code
• Windsurf (.windsurf/workflows/) — Windsurf IDE
• Kilo Code (.kilocode/workflows/) — Kilo Code IDE
• Roo Code (.roo/commands/) — Roo Code IDE
• IBM Bob (.bob/commands/) — IBM Bob IDE
• Antigravity (.agent/workflows/) — Antigravity IDE

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Generic Agent Support

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

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Project Structure

my-project/
├── .specify/                    # Spec Kit core directory
│   ├── memory/                  # Persistent context and state
│   │   └── constitution.md      # Project principles
│   ├── scripts/                 # Automation scripts
│   ├── templates/               # Spec templates
│   └── extensions/              # Installed extensions
├── .<agent>/                    # AI agent configuration
│   └── commands/                # Agent command files
└── .vscode/                     # VS Code settings (if applicable)
    └── settings.json

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Getting Help

# General help
specify --help

# Command-specific help
specify init --help
specify extension --help

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Next Steps

• Learn about the init command to bootstrap projects
• Use the check command to verify your environment
• Explore the Commands Reference for all available options