Copilot Specs

Spec-driven development for VS Code + GitHub Copilot.

copilot-specs helps teams plan and implement features through structured requirements, design, and implementation tasks documents, then connect those documents back to real code with explorers, CodeLens, and automation.

Features

• Spec lifecycle

  • Create, rename, and delete specs under .github/instructions/specs/<spec-name>/
  • Scaffold files from templates:
    • requirements.instructions.md
    • design.instructions.md
    • implementation-tasks.instructions.md

• Task tracking + progress

  • Parse markdown checkbox tasks and subtasks
  • Track completion progress per spec
  • Show spec progress in the status bar and panel

• Traceability with CodeLens

  • Link requirements ↔ tasks
  • Link tasks ↔ implementation files
  • Auto-link task references to code

• Copilot integration

  • Generate requirements, design, and tasks with chat participant commands
  • Run autopilot task execution flow from spec tasks

• Project guidance + tooling

  • Steering and skills explorer
  • Agent hooks explorer (.github/hooks/*.json)
  • MCP servers explorer and toggle support

Requirements

• Node.js 22+
• VS Code 1.93+
• GitHub Copilot Chat (for generation/autopilot features)

Development

Install dependencies:

npm ci

Build TypeScript:

npm run compile

Bundle extension:

npm run bundle

Watch mode:

npm run dev

Lint:

npm run lint

Run the extension locally

1. Open this folder in VS Code.
2. Run npm ci.
3. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host.
4. In the new window, run commands from the Command Palette, such as:
   • Copilot Specs: New Spec
   • Copilot Specs: Open Spec Panel
   • Copilot Specs: Generate with Copilot

CI/CD

Workflows are in .github/workflows/:

• ci.yml

  • Runs on PRs and pushes to main
  • Executes npm ci, npm run compile, and npm run bundle

• release.yml

  • Runs on tag push v* or manual dispatch
  • Packages a .vsix artifact
  • Publishes to VS Marketplace when VSCE_PAT is configured

Required secret for publishing:

• VSCE_PAT

For workflow details, see .github/workflows/README.md.

Publishing

Tag-based release example:

git tag v0.1.1
git push origin v0.1.1

Manual release is also available through the GitHub Actions UI.

Repository layout

• src/ — extension source
• src/templates/ — default spec templates
• .github/instructions/specs/ — generated/managed spec docs in a workspace
• .github/hooks/ — hook JSON definitions

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release history.