SPECLAN Format

SPECLAN Format Knowledge

THIS IS FOUNDATIONAL CONTEXT. Apply these rules to ALL speclan file operations.

SPECLAN (Specification as a Living Language) manages project specifications as interlinked markdown files with YAML frontmatter in a hierarchical directory structure.

Quick Reference (CRITICAL)

Filename IS the Source of Truth

The directory/filename pattern {PREFIX}-{ID}-{slug} is authoritative:

F-1049-pet-management/F-1049-pet-management.md
│  │    │              └─ File MUST match directory name
│  │    └─ Kebab-case slug from title
│  └─ 4-digit numeric ID (randomly generated)
└─ Entity prefix (F=Feature, R=Requirement, etc.)

Extract ID from filename, NOT frontmatter for indexing and collision checks.

Entity Prefixes

Entity	Prefix	Digits	Example	Storage
Goal	G-	3	G-292	goals/G-292-slug.md (flat)
Feature	F-	4	F-1049	features/F-1049-slug/F-1049-slug.md (dir)
Requirement	R-	4	R-2046	features/.../requirements/R-2046-slug/R-2046-slug.md (dir)
Change Request	CR-	4	CR-0731	{parent}/change-requests/CR-0731-slug.md (flat)

Status Determines Editability

Editable (direct edit OK)	Locked (needs Change Request)
draft, review, approved	in-development, under-test, released, deprecated

Directory Structure

SPECLAN specifications live in ${PROJECT}/speclan/:

speclan/
├── goals/                    # G-### Business goals (flat)
├── features/                 # F-#### Feature hierarchy
│   └── F-1049-pet-management/
│       ├── F-1049-pet-management.md      # Feature file matches directory
│       ├── requirements/                  # Requirements as directories
│       │   ├── R-2046-health-check/
│       │   │   ├── R-2046-health-check.md
│       │   │   └── change-requests/       # CRs for this requirement
│       │   └── R-3272-status-tracking/
│       │       └── R-3272-status-tracking.md
│       ├── change-requests/               # CRs for this feature
│       │   └── CR-0731-add-feature.md
│       └── F-1200-pet-health/             # Child feature (nested)
│           └── F-1200-pet-health.md
├── templates/                # Templates (UUID in frontmatter, slug filename)
│   ├── features/
│   └── requirements/
└── change-requests/          # Root-level change requests

Key structural rules:

• Features and Requirements use directory-based storage - directory name must match contained markdown filename
• Requirements are nested inside their parent feature's requirements/ directory as subdirectories
• Child features are subdirectories of parent features
• Change requests live in change-requests/ adjacent to the entity they modify (features OR requirements)

Entity Hierarchy

Goal (G-###)
  └── Feature (F-####)  [forms hierarchical tree via directories]
        └── Requirement (R-####)

Additional entities:

• Template (UUID v4) - Reusable spec templates
• ChangeRequest (CR-####) - Modifications to released entities

ID Format Conventions

Entity	Format	Example	Storage Location
Goal	G-###	G-292	goals/ (flat files)
Feature	F-####	F-1049	features/ (hierarchical directories)
Requirement	R-####	R-2046	features/{feature}/requirements/ (directories)
ChangeRequest	CR-####	CR-0731	{entity}/change-requests/ (flat files)
Template	UUID v4	bf5cb38b-...	templates/{type}/ (flat files)

ID Generation: All numeric IDs are randomly generated with collision detection (not sequential). Always check existing IDs before creating new ones.

ID-Based Ordering: IDs determine artifact priority/order numerically:

• Lower IDs = Higher priority (processed/displayed first)
• Higher IDs = Lower priority (processed/displayed later)
• Example: F-1049 has higher priority than F-2847
• This ordering applies within the same entity type (features sorted among features, requirements among requirements, etc.)

File Naming Convention

Files follow pattern: <ID>-kebab-case-title.md

Examples:

• G-292-comprehensive-pet-retail-operations.md (flat file in goals/)
• F-1049-pet-management/F-1049-pet-management.md (directory-based)
• R-2046-health-check/R-2046-health-check.md (directory-based)

Directory-based entities (Features, Requirements):

• Directory name must match the contained markdown filename
• Example: F-1049-pet-management/F-1049-pet-management.md
• Example: R-2046-health-check/R-2046-health-check.md

Template filenames use kebab-case slugs (UUID stored in frontmatter only):

• basic-feature.md
• functional-requirement.md

Markdown File Format

Every spec file has YAML frontmatter followed by markdown content. The body MUST start with an H1 heading (# Title) matching the title field from the frontmatter:

---
id: F-1049
type: feature
title: Pet Management
status: draft
owner: Store Manager
created: "2025-12-29T09:53:49.355Z"
updated: "2025-12-29T10:31:04.445Z"
goals:
  - G-292
  - G-087
---

# Pet Management              ← REQUIRED: H1 must match frontmatter title

## Overview
Brief description of what this feature does and why it exists.

## User Story
As a **Store Manager**, I want **comprehensive tools** so that **I can track pets**.

## Scope
- Pet Tracking
- Status Management
- Health Records

Structural rules:

• First line after frontmatter MUST be # {title} (H1 heading)
• Subsequent sections use ## Heading (H2) and below
• No content before the H1 heading

Common YAML Frontmatter Fields

All entities share:

id: <entity-id>           # Required
type: <entity-type>       # Required: goal|feature|requirement|template|changeRequest
title: <string>           # Required
status: <status>          # Required: draft|review|approved|in-development|under-test|released|deprecated
owner: <string>           # Required
created: <ISO-8601>       # Required
updated: <ISO-8601>       # Required
tags: [<string>, ...]     # Optional

Entity-specific fields - See references/entity-fields.md for complete reference.

Status Lifecycle

Entities follow a 7-stage lifecycle:

draft → review → approved → in-development → under-test → released → deprecated

Status	Editable	Description
draft	Yes	Initial creation, work in progress
review	Yes	Ready for review
approved	Yes	Approved, ready for development
in-development	No	Currently being implemented
under-test	No	Implementation complete, testing
released	No	Deployed to production
deprecated	No	No longer active (terminal state)

Read-only statuses: Entities in in-development, under-test, released, or deprecated are locked. Direct edits are not allowed - changes require a Change Request (CR-####).

Validation Rules

For complete validation rules including ID format regex, directory naming enforcement, parent-child relationship validation, status lifecycle rules, and entity-specific field validation, consult references/validation-rules.md.

Linking Between Specs

YAML Frontmatter References

# Goal references features
contributors:
  - F-1049
  - F-2247

# Feature references goals
goals:
  - G-292
  - G-087

# Requirement references parent feature
feature: F-1009

Markdown Cross-References

Use relative paths in markdown content:

## Related
### Goals
- [Animal Welfare Compliance](../goals/G-087-animal-welfare-compliance.md)

### Features
- [Pet Status Lifecycle](../F-1807-pet-status-lifecycle/F-1807-pet-status-lifecycle.md)

Working with SPECLAN Files

Detecting SPECLAN Directory

To find the speclan directory in a project:

1. Check common locations: speclan/, specs/speclan/
2. Look for characteristic subdirectories: goals/, features/, requirements/
3. Verify markdown files with SPECLAN YAML frontmatter

Reading Specifications

When reading a spec file:

1. Parse YAML frontmatter for metadata
2. Extract entity relationships from frontmatter fields
3. Parse markdown content for documentation

Creating New Specifications

To create a new spec:

1. Check for user templates FIRST:

   speclan/templates/<entity-type>/
   

   • speclan/templates/features/ for feature templates
   • speclan/templates/requirements/ for requirement templates

   Read available templates and choose the best fit. Templates contain the user's preferred structure.

2. Generate a unique ID using the speclan-id-generator:

   SCRIPT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/speclan-id-generator/scripts/generate-id.mjs"
   
   # Generate a feature ID (collision-free, end-biased)
   node "$SCRIPT" --type feature --speclan-root speclan | jq -r '.data.ids[0]'
   
   # Generate a child feature ID under a parent
   node "$SCRIPT" --type feature --parent F-1049 --speclan-root speclan | jq -r '.data.ids[0]'
   
   # Generate a requirement ID under a feature
   node "$SCRIPT" --type requirement --parent F-1049 --speclan-root speclan | jq -r '.data.ids[0]'
   

3. Create file in correct location:

   For Goals: speclan/goals/G-###-slug.md (flat file)

   For Features: Create directory AND file with matching name:

   speclan/features/F-####-slug/F-####-slug.md
   

   For Requirements: Create directory inside parent feature's requirements/:

   speclan/features/F-####-parent/requirements/R-####-slug/R-####-slug.md
   

   For Child Features: Nest inside parent feature directory:

   speclan/features/F-####-parent/F-####-child/F-####-child.md
   

4. Write frontmatter and content:

   • Use template if found, otherwise use default structure
   • Set all required fields (id, type, title, status, owner, created, updated)
   • For requirements, set feature: F-#### to link to parent

5. Update related entities to establish bidirectional links

Updating Specifications

When modifying a spec:

1. Update the updated timestamp
2. Maintain bidirectional links (if adding feature to goal, add goal to feature)
3. Follow status transition rules

Writing Guidelines

For guidance on writing effective specifications, consult references/writing-guide.md.

Key principles:

• Write user-focused, implementation-agnostic specifications
• Include clear acceptance criteria as checkbox lists in requirements (Given/When/Then logic)
• Maintain traceability between entities
• Use consistent terminology

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/entity-fields.md - Complete YAML field reference for all entity types
• references/writing-guide.md - Best practices for writing specifications

Related Skills

• speclan-id-generator - Generate collision-free unique IDs for SPECLAN entities

Utility Scripts

• scripts/detect-speclan.sh - Detect speclan directory in a project