LeanSpec

The tool-agnostic spec framework. Use any spec backend — your workflow, your rules.

LeanSpec is a spec coding framework that works with whatever spec workflow you already use. GitHub Issues for personal projects, ADO Work Items for enterprise, Jira, Linear, or plain markdown — LeanSpec provides the unified interface, AI integration, and intelligence layer on top.

Quick Start

# Markdown specs (default — works out of the box)
npm install -g @leanspec/cli && leanspec init

# Or try with a tutorial project
npx -p @leanspec/cli leanspec init --example dark-theme
cd dark-theme && npm install && npm start

Configure your spec backend:

# leanspec.provider.yaml

# Option 1: Markdown files (default, zero config)
provider: markdown
directory: specs

# Option 2: GitHub Issues as specs
# provider: github
# owner: myuser
# repo: myproject

# Option 3: Azure DevOps Work Items as specs
# provider: ado
# organization: mycompany
# project: myproject

Visualize your project (works with any backend):

leanspec board    # Kanban view
leanspec stats    # Project metrics
leanspec ui       # Web UI at localhost:3000

Next: Your First Spec with AI (10 min tutorial)

Why LeanSpec?

Your workflow, not ours. Other SDD frameworks force you to adopt their spec format and tooling. LeanSpec adapts to whatever you already use:

• Tool-agnostic - GitHub Issues, ADO, Jira, Linear, Notion, or plain markdown
• One interface - Same CLI, MCP, and UI regardless of backend
• AI-native - Structured spec data for any AI coding assistant
• Fast iteration - Living documents that grow with your code
• Context economy - Small specs (<2K tokens) = better AI output

📖 Compare with Spec Kit, OpenSpec, Kiro →

AI Integration

Works with any AI coding assistant via MCP or CLI:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "leanspec": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@leanspec/mcp"] }
  }
}

Compatible with: VS Code Copilot, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, Kiro CLI, Kimi CLI, Qodo CLI, Amp, Trae Agent, Qwen Code, Droid, and more.

📖 Full AI integration guide →

Spec Providers

LeanSpec connects to your existing spec workflow through a provider architecture:

| Provider | Backend | Status | |----------|---------|--------| | markdown | Local specs/ directory (default) | Available | | github | GitHub Issues + Projects | Planned | | ado | Azure DevOps Work Items | Planned | | jira | Jira tickets | Future | | linear | Linear issues | Future |

Core LeanSpec concepts map naturally to each backend:

| Concept | GitHub Issues | ADO Work Items | Markdown | |---------|--------------|----------------|----------| | Spec ID | Issue number | Work Item ID | Directory name | | Status | Labels | State field | Frontmatter | | Priority | Labels | Priority field | Frontmatter | | Tags | Labels | Tags | Frontmatter | | Assignee | Assignees | Assigned To | Frontmatter | | Content | Issue body | Description | Markdown body |

📖 Provider architecture →

Agent Skills

Teach your AI assistant the Spec-Driven Development methodology:

# Install the leanspec skill
npx skills add codervisor/lean-spec@leanspec

This installs the leanspec skill which teaches AI agents:

• When to create specs vs. implement directly
• How to discover existing specs before creating new ones
• Best practices for context economy and progressive disclosure
• Complete SDD workflow (Discover → Design → Implement → Validate)

Compatible with: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, and other Agent Skills compatible tools.

📖 Skill source →

Features

| Feature | Description | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 📊 Kanban Board | leanspec board - visual project tracking | | 🔍 Smart Search | leanspec search - find specs by content or metadata | | 🔗 Dependencies | Track spec relationships with depends_on and related | | 🎨 Web UI | leanspec ui - browser-based dashboard | | 📈 Project Stats | leanspec stats - health metrics and bottleneck detection | | 🤖 AI-Native | MCP server + CLI for AI assistants | | 🖥️ Desktop App | Desktop app repo: codervisor/lean-spec-desktop |

Requirements

Runtime

• Node.js: >= 20.0.0
• pnpm: >= 10.0.0 (preferred package manager)

Development

• Node.js: >= 20.0.0
• Rust: >= 1.70 (for building CLI/MCP/HTTP binaries)
• pnpm: >= 10.0.0

Quick Check:

node --version   # Should be v20.0.0 or higher
pnpm --version   # Should be 10.0.0 or higher
rustc --version  # Should be 1.70 or higher (dev only)

Desktop App

The desktop application has moved to a dedicated repository:

• https://github.com/codervisor/lean-spec-desktop

Use that repository for desktop development, CI, and release workflows.

Developer Workflow

Common development tasks using pnpm:

# Development
pnpm install             # Install dependencies
pnpm build               # Build all packages
pnpm dev                 # Start dev mode (UI + Core)
pnpm dev:web             # UI only
pnpm dev:cli             # CLI only

# Testing
pnpm test                # Run all tests
pnpm test:ui             # Tests with UI
pnpm test:coverage       # Coverage report
pnpm typecheck           # Type check all packages

# Rust
pnpm rust:build          # Build Rust packages (release)
pnpm rust:build:dev      # Build Rust (dev, faster)
pnpm rust:test           # Run Rust tests
pnpm rust:check          # Quick Rust check
pnpm rust:clippy         # Rust linting
pnpm rust:fmt            # Format Rust code

# CLI (run locally)
pnpm cli board           # Show spec board
pnpm cli list            # List specs
pnpm cli create my-feat  # Create new spec
pnpm cli validate        # Validate specs

# Documentation
pnpm docs:dev            # Start docs site
pnpm docs:build          # Build docs

# Release
pnpm pre-release         # Run all pre-release checks
pnpm prepare-publish     # Prepare for npm publish
pnpm restore-packages    # Restore after publish

See package.json for all available scripts.

Documentation

📖 Full Documentation · CLI Reference · First Principles · FAQ · 中文文档

Community

💬 Discussions · 🐛 Issues · 🤝 Contributing · 📋 Changelog · 📄 LICENSE

Contact Me | 联系我

If you find LeanSpec helpful, feel free to add me on WeChat (note "LeanSpec") to join the discussion group.

如果您觉得 LeanSpec 对您有帮助，欢迎添加微信（备注 "LeanSpec"）加入交流群。