SPEC Authoring Skill (Enterprise v4.0.0)

Level 1: Quick Reference

Core Capabilities

• YAML Metadata Structure: 7 required + 9 optional fields for complete SPEC management
• EARS Requirement Syntax: 5 patterns (Universal, Conditional, Unwanted Behavior, Stakeholder, Boundary)
• Version Lifecycle: draft → active → deprecated → archived with state management
• TAG Integration: SPEC→TEST→CODE→DOC traceability
• Validation Checklist: 25+ pre-submission validation criteria

Quick SPEC Template

---
code: SPEC-001
title: Add User Authentication with JWT
status: draft
created_at: 2025-11-13
updated_at: 2025-11-13
priority: high
effort: 8
version: 1.0.0
epic: AUTH-01
domains:
  - backend
  - security
  - database
---

# SPEC-001: Add User Authentication with JWT

## Overview
Implement secure JWT-based user authentication with password hashing and token validation.

## Requirements

### REQ-001 (Universal)
SPEC: The authentication service SHALL validate JWT tokens using RS256 algorithm against the public key.

### REQ-002 (Conditional)
SPEC: If a JWT token has expired, then the authentication service SHALL reject the request and return HTTP 401.

### REQ-003 (Unwanted Behavior)
SPEC: The authentication service SHALL NOT accept JWT tokens signed with symmetric algorithms (HS256, HS384, HS512).

### REQ-004 (Stakeholder)
As an API consumer, I want to pass JWT tokens in the Authorization header so that my requests are authenticated.

### REQ-005 (Boundary Condition)
SPEC: The authentication service SHALL return HTTP 429 when a single IP attempts more than 10 failed authentications in 5 minutes.

## Unwanted Behaviors

### Security Constraints
- The system SHALL NOT store JWT secrets in source code
- The system SHALL NOT log JWT tokens or sensitive claims

### Performance Constraints
- The system SHALL NOT block on token validation (async pattern)
- The system SHALL NOT cache tokens indefinitely

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All 5 REQ patterns implemented and tested
- [ ] Code coverage ≥85%
- [ ] Security scan passed (OWASP Top 10)
- [ ] Performance: JWT validation p99 latency ≤200ms

EARS Pattern Summary

Pattern	Syntax	Use Case
Universal	The [System] SHALL [Action]	Core system behavior
Conditional	If [Condition], then [System] SHALL [Action]	Conditional logic
Unwanted Behavior	The [System] SHALL NOT [Action]	Security constraints
Stakeholder	As a [Role], I want [Feature] so that [Benefit]	User stories
Boundary Condition	[System] SHALL [Action] when [Condition]	Edge cases

Level 2: Core Implementation

YAML Metadata Structure

7 Required Fields

---
# SPEC identifier (auto-generated)
code: SPEC-001

# SPEC title (descriptive, 50-80 chars)
title: Add User Authentication with JWT

# SPEC status (draft | active | deprecated | archived)
status: draft

# Creation timestamp (ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD)
created_at: 2025-11-13

# Last updated timestamp (ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD)
updated_at: 2025-11-13

# Business priority (critical | high | medium | low)
priority: high

# Estimated effort in story points (1-13 scale)
effort: 8
---

9 Optional Fields

# Version tracking (semantic versioning: major.minor.patch)
version: 1.0.0

# Deadline target date (ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD)
deadline: 2025-12-15

# Epic this SPEC belongs to (e.g., AUTH-01, ONBOARDING-02)
epic: AUTH-01

# Related SPEC codes (dependencies or conflicts)
depends_on:
  - SPEC-002
  - SPEC-003

# Affected domains (for routing to specialists)
domains:
  - backend
  - security
  - database

# Acceptance criteria complexity rating
acceptance_difficulty: high

# Rollback complexity rating (critical | high | medium | low)
rollback_risk: medium

# Risk assessment notes
risks: |
  - Security: JWT key rotation must be tested
  - Performance: Token validation on every request

# Custom tags for filtering/searching
tags:
  - authentication
  - security
  - jwt
  - users

EARS Requirement Syntax

Pattern 1: Universal (Always True)

Syntax:

SPEC: The [System] SHALL [Action]

Example:

SPEC-001-REQ-001: The authentication service SHALL validate
all JWT tokens using RS256 algorithm against the public key.

Related TEST:
- test_valid_jwt_with_rs256_signature
- test_invalid_jwt_with_wrong_algorithm

Pattern 2: Conditional (If-Then)

Syntax:

SPEC: If [Condition], then the [System] SHALL [Action]

Example:

SPEC-001-REQ-002: If a JWT token has expired,
then the authentication service SHALL reject the request
and return HTTP 401 Unauthorized with error code TOKEN_EXPIRED.

Related TEST:
- test_expired_token_returns_401
- test_expired_token_error_message

Pattern 3: Unwanted Behavior (Negative Requirement)

Syntax:

SPEC: The [System] SHALL NOT [Action]

Example:

SPEC-001-REQ-003: The authentication service SHALL NOT
accept JWT tokens signed with symmetric algorithms (HS256, HS384, HS512)
in a production environment.

Related TEST:
- test_reject_hs256_signed_token
- test_reject_hs384_signed_token
- test_reject_hs512_signed_token

Pattern 4: Stakeholder (User Role-Specific)

Syntax:

SPEC: As a [User Role], I want [Feature] so that [Benefit]

Example:

SPEC-001-REQ-004: As an API consumer,
I want to pass JWT tokens in the Authorization header
so that my requests are authenticated without exposing tokens.

Related TEST:
- test_jwt_from_authorization_header
- test_jwt_in_query_param_rejected
- test_malformed_authorization_header

Pattern 5: Boundary Condition (Edge Cases)

Syntax:

SPEC: [System] SHALL [Action] when [Boundary Condition]

Example:

SPEC-001-REQ-005: The authentication service SHALL return
HTTP 429 Too Many Requests when a single IP address
attempts more than 10 failed authentication attempts within 5 minutes.

Related TEST:
- test_rate_limit_after_10_failures
- test_rate_limit_window_5_minutes
- test_rate_limit_by_ip_address

Level 3: Advanced Features

Version Lifecycle Management

Lifecycle States

DRAFT → ACTIVE → DEPRECATED → ARCHIVED
  ↓                  ↓
Under Review    Stable, In Use
  ↓                  ↓
Changes Expected    Changes Require
Feedback Pending    Major Version Bump

State Transitions

DRAFT → ACTIVE:

• All acceptance criteria defined
• At least 2 reviewers approved
• No critical open issues
• version bumped to 1.0.0
• Status change commit created

ACTIVE → DEPRECATED:

• Marked with deprecation reason
• Migration path documented
• Replacement SPEC linked
• 30-day notice period
• Status change commit created

DEPRECATED → ARCHIVED:

• No active code references
• All dependent SPECs archived
• Historical record maintained
• No further changes allowed
• Archive commit created

Unwanted Behaviors Section

Critical security and quality constraints that MUST be tested:

unwanted_behaviors:
  security:
    - The system SHALL NOT store JWT secrets in source code
    - The system SHALL NOT log JWT tokens or sensitive claims
    - The system SHALL NOT accept mixed algorithm tokens

  performance:
    - The system SHALL NOT block on token validation (async pattern)
    - The system SHALL NOT cache tokens indefinitely

  reliability:
    - The system SHALL NOT fail authentication if secondary cache is down
    - The system SHALL NOT accept malformed JSON Web Tokens

  data_integrity:
    - The system SHALL NOT modify token claims during validation
    - The system SHALL NOT accept tokens from untrusted issuers

Each Unwanted Behavior requires:

1. Test case verifying non-occurrence
2. Security scanning (where applicable)
3. Performance profiling (where applicable)

TAG Integration for Traceability

TAG Structure (SPEC→TEST→CODE→DOC)

      ↓
      ↓
      ↓

TAG Placement Rules

SPEC Document:

---
# SPEC-001: Feature Name
---

Test File:

def test_requirement_001():
    """Test SPEC-001 REQ-001 universal pattern."""
    pass

Implementation:

def authenticate_user(token: str) -> bool:
    """Validate JWT token per SPEC-001."""
    pass

Documentation:

## Authentication Flow
Per SPEC-001, the system SHALL validate all JWT tokens...

Level 4: Reference & Integration

Pre-Submission Validation Checklist

Metadata Validation

• code field filled (SPEC-XXX format)
• title is descriptive (50-80 characters)
• status is one of: draft | active | deprecated | archived
• created_at is ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
• updated_at matches actual update date
• priority is one of: critical | high | medium | low
• effort is between 1-13 (story points)

Requirement Syntax

• At least 3 REQ patterns used (Universal, Conditional, Unwanted)
• Each REQ follows EARS syntax strictly
• Requirements are specific and testable
• No ambiguous language ("should", "may", "might")
• All REQs are actionable (have test cases)

Unwanted Behaviors

• Security constraints listed (if applicable)
• Performance constraints listed (if applicable)
• Reliability constraints listed (if applicable)
• Data integrity constraints listed (if applicable)
• Each Unwanted Behavior has a test approach

Acceptance Criteria

• All 5 EARS patterns implemented
• All Unwanted Behaviors testable
• Code coverage target ≥85% specified
• Security scan type specified
• Performance baseline defined (if applicable)

Final Review

• No TODO or placeholder text
• All links are valid (internal and external)
• Formatting is consistent (markdown syntax)
• No confidential information exposed
• Ready for team review

Common Pitfalls & Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern 1: Ambiguous Requirements

Bad:

SPEC-001-REQ-001: The system should authenticate users quickly.

Good:

SPEC-001-REQ-001: The authentication service SHALL validate JWT tokens
and return a response within 50ms on average,
with p99 latency not exceeding 200ms.

Anti-Pattern 2: Vague Acceptance Criteria

Bad:

- The feature should work
- Tests should pass
- No obvious bugs

Good:

- [ ] All 12 test cases pass (unit + integration)
- [ ] Code coverage ≥85% (src/auth/validate.py)
- [ ] Security scan: OWASP Top 10 coverage complete
- [ ] Performance: JWT validation p99 latency ≤200ms

Anti-Pattern 3: Missing Unwanted Behaviors

Bad:

# (No unwanted_behaviors section)

Good:

unwanted_behaviors:
  security:
    - The system SHALL NOT store plaintext passwords
    - The system SHALL NOT log authentication tokens

When to Use

Automatic Triggers:

• /alfred:1-plan command execution
• SPEC document creation requests
• Requirements clarification discussions
• Feature planning sessions
• Change request handling

Manual Invocation:

• SPEC template guidance
• Metadata field clarification
• EARS syntax validation
• Version management questions
• TAG traceability setup

Related Skills

• moai-alfred-best-practices - TRUST 5 principles for SPEC authoring
• moai-alfred-spec-validation - Automated SPEC validation
• moai-foundation-specs - SPEC lifecycle management
• moai-foundation-trust - Security and compliance principles
• moai-alfred-workflow - SPEC creation workflows

TRUST Principles Applied

Test First: All requirements include test cases and validation criteria Readable: Clear EARS syntax with unambiguous language Unified: Consistent structure across all SPEC documents Secured: Unwanted Behaviors section with security constraints Traceable: TAG integration for complete requirement traceability

---

Enterprise v4.0 Compliance: Progressive disclosure with comprehensive EARS syntax, validation checklists, and lifecycle management. Last Updated: 2025-11-13
Dependencies: YAML metadata format, EARS specification, TAG system See Also: examples.md for detailed SPEC examples