/aide:spec — Spec Phase

Agent: This command is executed by the aide-spec-writer agent.

Produce the .aide intent spec frontmatter only. This is the spec-writing phase — the session that distills the orchestrator's delegation context into a falsifiable intent contract. The orchestrator owns the user conversation and passes the gathered context in the delegation prompt. Body sections (Context, Strategy, examples) are filled later by the strategist in /aide:synthesize after research is complete.

Checklist

• Read the delegation context from the orchestrator. If insufficient to write specific outcomes (missing: what the module is for, who consumes its output, what success looks like, what failure looks like), return to the orchestrator listing what's missing
• Read the AIDE template before writing — copy the fenced template block from the canonical template doc into the new file
• Decide filename:
  • Use .aide if no research.aide exists in the target folder
  • Use intent.aide if research.aide exists in the same folder (co-located research is an escape hatch — prefer the brain)
• Fill the frontmatter ONLY:
  • scope — the module path this spec governs
  • intent — one paragraph, plain language, ten-second north star
  • outcomes.desired — concrete, falsifiable success criteria
  • outcomes.undesired — failure modes, especially the almost-right-but-wrong kind
• Leave body sections (## Context, ## Strategy, ## Good examples, ## Bad examples) as empty placeholders — the strategist fills these in /aide:synthesize
• No code in the spec — no file paths, no type signatures, no function names
• Every outcomes entry must trace back to the intent paragraph. Cut any outcome that doesn't
• Present the frontmatter to the orchestrator for relay to the user
• Run aide_validate to check the spec for structural issues
• Hand off to /aide:research if domain knowledge is needed, or /aide:synthesize if the brain already has sufficient research