/specd.new
Initialize a task folder and begin the first discussion. This is the entry point for every feature in specdacular.
/specd.new [task-name]What it does
Section titled “What it does”/specd.new creates .specd/tasks/{name}/ and immediately starts a discussion. Claude asks what you’re building, follows the thread, probes gray areas, and writes technical requirements.
After the discussion wraps up, you’re offered two options: continue discussing, or stop and resume later with /specd.continue.
Arguments
Section titled “Arguments”| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
task-name | No | Kebab-case identifier for the task. If omitted, Claude will ask. |
Naming conventions:
- Use kebab-case:
user-dashboard,payment-flow,api-rate-limiting - Keep it short — this becomes the directory name and is used in every subsequent command
- Names must be unique within
.specd/tasks/
Files created
Section titled “Files created”| File | Description |
|---|---|
FEATURE.md | Technical requirements captured from the discussion |
CONTEXT.md | Full discussion context, accumulates across sessions |
DECISIONS.md | Decisions made during discussion, with date and rationale |
CHANGELOG.md | Implementation log (updated during execution) |
STATE.md | Current position in the task lifecycle |
config.json | Task configuration and phase tracking |
All files are committed to git automatically.
Discussion behavior
Section titled “Discussion behavior”The first discussion is collaborative, not interrogative. Claude asks “What are you building?” and follows your lead. It probes until it understands:
- What the feature creates or modifies
- What it integrates with
- Constraints and non-goals
- Decisions that are already made vs. open questions
When all gray areas are resolved, Claude writes FEATURE.md and presents your options.
After initialization
Section titled “After initialization”The natural next step is:
/specd.continue user-dashboard/specd.continue picks up where you left off and drives the full lifecycle — research, planning, execution, review.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”/specd.new user-dashboard/specd.new payment-flow/specd.new api-rate-limitingRelated commands
Section titled “Related commands”/specd.continue— Drive the task lifecycle/specd.status— View all tasks and their stages/specd.codebase.map— Map your codebase before starting