Workflow

SpecLore's workflow is a unidirectional pipeline from requirements to acceptance, with clear states and entry conditions at each stage.

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State Machine

State	Meaning	Trigger
specified	.feature acceptance criteria generated	speclore spec
constrained	AI coding constraints + test scaffolding generated	speclore code
coding	AI is coding (filling test scaffolding)	Manual coding
verified	All acceptance tests passed	speclore verify

MCP Tool Flow

4 MCP tools used in workflow order, each returning current state and recommended next step:

speclore.status → speclore.spec → speclore.code → (AI coding) → speclore.verify
   Check status    Generate feature  Generate constraints    Code      Acceptance test

Status Check

speclore status

Displays project diagnostics: configuration status, feature file distribution, workflow progress, recommended actions.

Requirements → Specs

speclore spec "Requirement description"    # Plain text
speclore spec requirements.md             # Markdown file
speclore spec design.docx                 # Word document
speclore spec mockup.png                  # Image (OCR)

Specs → Constraints

speclore code                            # Process all features
speclore code specs/auth/                # Process specific directory

Acceptance Testing

speclore verify                          # Run all verifications
speclore verify --impact                 # With change impact analysis
speclore verify --watch                  # Watch mode
speclore verify --watch --timeout 60     # Watch for 60 minutes

Strong Workflow Constraints

Out-of-order calls return clear errors with correct guidance:

Out-of-order Scenario	Error Message
Call code without .feature files	No .feature files found. Run speclore.spec first.
Call verify without test scaffolding	No test scaffolding. Run speclore.code first.
Project not initialized	Automatically creates .speclore/config.yaml
Invalid state transition (e.g., specified → verified)	Invalid state transition error

Auto-Initialization & Migration

Every MCP tool entry point automatically checks and initializes the project:

1. Ensures .speclore/config.yaml exists (generates default config if not)
2. Ensures .speclore/state.yaml exists (creates if not)
3. Scans specs/ directory, registers untracked .feature files as specified state

After upgrading SpecLore, no manual action is needed — migration happens automatically on first tool invocation.

For manual migration:

speclore migrate

Next Steps

• See Examples
• Learn how Test Mapping maps test results back to .feature scenarios