Spec Kit Reconcile

Close specification drift by updating existing Spec Kit artifacts in-place.

When to Use

You discover specification drift at any stage (specify, clarify, plan, tasks, analyze, or implement) and need artifacts realigned before continuing.
Code exists, but behavior still misses expected flows (routing/navigation wiring, integration handoff, validation UX, coverage gaps).
```
spec-kit-analyze
```
found issues that require coordinated edits across
```
spec.md
```
,
```
plan.md
```
, and
```
tasks.md
```
.
You need targeted remediation planning without creating a new feature branch.

When Not to Use

You need a brand-new feature spec (
```
spec-kit-specify
```
first).
You need first-pass design decomposition from an approved spec (
```
spec-kit-plan
```
first).
You only need a read-only audit (
```
spec-kit-analyze
```
).
You are only executing already-correct tasks (
```
spec-kit-implement
```
).

Router Fit

First-class standalone remediation route when the developer identifies drift at any stage.
Also serves as the default remediation handoff from
```
spec-kit-analyze
```
and
```
spec-kit-implement
```
.
Produces reconciled artifacts and next-step routing based on the updated artifact state.

Critical Constraints

Never create a new feature branch and never run feature-creation scripts.
Keep edits targeted; preserve artifact structure and heading order.
Prefer append-only updates for
```
tasks.md
```
; do not renumber existing tasks.
Run at most one clarification round (maximum 5 questions).
Keep unresolved
```
NEEDS CLARIFICATION
```
markers to 3 or fewer.

Preconditions

Run from repository root (or a subdirectory inside it).
Active feature context resolves to one
```
specs/<feature>/
```
directory.
User provides a concrete gap report (symptoms, mismatches, missing wiring, and/or scope hints like
```
plan-only
```
or
```
tasks-only
```
).

Workflow

Validate reconcile input:
- If no gap report is provided, stop with
```
ERROR: No gap report provided
```
  .
- Parse user scope constraints (for example
```
spec-only
```
  ,
```
plan-only
```
  ,
```
tasks-only
```
  ) and preserve them throughout.

Resolve artifact paths exactly once:

Run

scripts/check-prerequisites.sh --json --paths-only --include-tasks

exactly once.

Parse:

```
REPO_ROOT
```
```
BRANCH
```
```
FEATURE_DIR
```
```
FEATURE_SPEC
```
```
IMPL_PLAN
```
```
TASKS
```

Validate required files:
- If
```
FEATURE_SPEC
```
  is missing, route to
```
spec-kit-specify
```
  .
- If
```
IMPL_PLAN
```
  is missing, route to
```
spec-kit-plan
```
  .

Load reconcile context:
- Required:
```
spec.md
```
  ,
```
plan.md
```
  .
- Optional (when present):
```
tasks.md
```
  ,
```
data-model.md
```
  ,
```
contracts/
```
  ,
```
research.md
```
  ,
```
quickstart.md
```
  .
- Load
```
memory/constitution.md
```
  and enforce its MUST-level constraints.
- If
```
memory/constitution.md
```
  is missing, stop and route to
```
spec-kit-constitution
```
  .

Normalize the gap report into actionable items:

For each gap, capture:

```
Title
```
```
Category
```
```
Evidence
```
```
Desired Outcome
```
```
Severity (HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW)
```

Preferred categories:

```
Navigation/Wiring
```
```
Integration/Contracts
```
```
Validation & UX
```
```
Authorization/Permissions
```
```
Test Coverage
```
```
Non-Functional
```
```
Docs
```

Clarify once when needed:
- Ask questions only when answers change scope, UX behavior, acceptance criteria, or remediation cost.
- Ask at most 5 total questions in one round, then proceed.
- If an
```
askQuestions
```
  -style tool exists in the current runtime, prefer it for this step to collect all multiple-choice answers in one fast interaction.
- When using
```
askQuestions
```
  , provide 2-5 mutually exclusive options per question, put the recommended option first, and allow a short custom response path.
- If no
```
askQuestions
```
  tool exists, fall back to the markdown prompt format below.
- Use this format for each question:

markdown

## Question [N]: [Topic]

**Context**: [Relevant spec/plan/tasks excerpt or summary]
**Decision Needed**: [Single-sentence decision]
**Suggested Answers**:

| Option | Answer | Implications |
|--------|--------|--------------|
| A | [Option A] | [Impact] |
| B | [Option B] | [Impact] |
| C | [Option C] | [Impact] |
| Custom | Provide your own | [How it changes scope] |

**Your choice**: _[Wait for user response]_

Map impact per artifact:
- ```
spec.md
```
  : user stories, acceptance criteria, user-visible scenarios, edge behaviors.
- ```
plan.md
```
  : architecture/modules, routing/navigation, integration contracts, testing strategy.
- ```
tasks.md
```
  : remediation work with exact file paths and ordering.
- Respect scope constraints and explicitly mark skipped artifacts.
Apply targeted edits:
- ```
spec.md
```
  :
  - Update only impacted sections.
  - Add a concise
    Revisions
    note (timestamp + reason).
- ```
plan.md
```
  :
  - Update only sections needed for reconciliation.
  - Keep design-level detail; do not add implementation patch instructions.
- ```
tasks.md
```
  :
  - If it exists, append remediation tasks using
    NextID = max(T###) + 1
    .
  - Preserve existing phases; add
    Remediation: Gaps
    phase when cross-cutting tasks are needed.
  - If it does not exist, create a minimal remediation-focused
    tasks.md
    from:
    1. {REPO_ROOT}/templates/tasks-template.md
    2. {REPO_ROOT}/.specify/templates/tasks-template.md
    3. fallback:
      {REPO_ROOT}/skills/spec-kit-tasks/assets/tasks-template.md
- For wiring/flow gaps, always include integration test tasks.
Validate outputs:
- No branch changes or feature-creation actions occurred.
- Updated artifacts remain structurally valid and internally consistent.
- Task formatting stays strict:
```
- [ ] T### [P?] [US#?] Action with exact file path
```
  .
Report reconciliation result:
- Provide a Sync Impact Report with:
  - changed files (absolute paths)
  - summary of edits by artifact
  - new task IDs
  - skipped artifacts due to scope constraints
  - outstanding
    NEEDS CLARIFICATION
    markers (maximum 3)
  - confirmation that constitution constraints were respected
- Recommend next step based on gates (
```
spec-kit-plan
```
  ,
```
spec-kit-tasks
```
  , or
```
spec-kit-implement
```
  ).

Output

Updated reconciliation artifacts (
```
spec.md
```
,
```
plan.md
```
, and/or
```
tasks.md
```
) in the active feature directory.
New remediation tasks ready for execution.
Sync Impact Report for traceability.

Key Rules

Keep reconciliation incremental and focused on stated gaps.
Prefer appending over rewriting existing artifacts.
Never reorder existing task IDs.
Do not silently expand feature scope beyond the gap report and answered clarifications.

Common Mistakes

Running reconcile without a concrete gap report.
Rewriting whole artifacts instead of targeted updates.
Creating a new feature branch for remediation work.
Adding vague remediation tasks without exact file paths or acceptance intent.
Ignoring constitution MUST constraints while patching artifacts.

References

```
scripts/check-prerequisites.sh
```
```
references/spec-kit-workflow.dot
```

https://github.com/github/spec-kit/issues/1063

https://github.com/user-attachments/files/23166782/reconcile.md

spec-kit-reconcile

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content