SpecKit Companion: the Spec Kit extension

This extension runs inside Spec Kit and records every step of a run in .spec-context.json, a plain file beside each spec. That record is what gives you live progress, a resume command and the Overview of a run, in your terminal and in every SpecKit Companion surface.

Requirements

• A Spec Kit CLI with the extension command, 1.2.5 or newer, from GitHub or PyPI.
• python3 is optional. Without it the recording is skipped and your Spec Kit command still runs.

uv tool install specify-cli --from git+https://github.com/github/spec-kit.git --force

Install, update and verify

From your project root:

specify extension add companion --from https://github.com/alfredoperez/speckit-companion/releases/download/companion-latest/companion.zip --force

Run the same line again to update, because that URL always serves the newest build.

To verify, run specify extension list and look for companion. Then run /speckit.specify once and check that specs/<NNN>/.spec-context.json was written. More in docs/install.md.

First run

You don't have to change how you work. The extension hooks into the stock /speckit.* commands and records them as they run.

To use Companion's own pipeline, which writes shorter specs and sizes itself to the change, start a spec in your assistant:

/speckit.companion.specify "let users upload a profile photo"

Then run plan, tasks and implement the same way, or all four at once with /speckit.companion.auto. At any point /speckit.companion.status prints where the spec stands and /speckit.companion.resume continues from there.

Commands

Command	What it does
/speckit.companion.specify	Write the spec and size the change
/speckit.companion.plan	Write plan.md
/speckit.companion.tasks	Write tasks.md, ordered by dependency
/speckit.companion.implement	Run the tasks, recording each one
/speckit.companion.auto	Run the whole pipeline without pausing
/speckit.companion.status	Print the current step, the decisions and the next action
/speckit.companion.resume	Continue from the recorded step
/speckit.companion.doctor	Report on a run's health. Read-only

The rest run by themselves, so don't type them: speckit.companion.classify, and the hooks speckit.companion.before-step, speckit.companion.after-specify, speckit.companion.after-plan, speckit.companion.after-tasks, speckit.companion.after-implement, speckit.companion.before-converge and speckit.companion.after-converge. Two more, speckit.companion.on-prompt and speckit.companion.on-stop, record step boundaries from spec-kit's runtime events with no model in the loop; agents without events keep the hooks.

speckit.companion.mark-complete marks a spec complete by hand; a clean converge pass normally does it for you.

Full reference: docs/commands.md. A build check requires every command to be named in this section.

See it

The record is a file, and the VS Code extension turns it into a page. Install it with code --install-extension alfredoperez.speckit-companion.

SpecKit Companion runs in four places

Where	What it is	Start here
VS Code	The extension: a sidebar, a spec viewer and the Overview of every run.	Install
Spec Kit	The engine half: records each step so every surface can show progress and resume.	Install
GitHub Copilot app	A live spec board in the app's side panel.	Copilot app
Claude Code	The followed spec's run above your prompt and in a pane.	Claude Code

Docs

The guides are at speckit-companion.dev/docs. The reference for this extension is in docs/, and releases are in the changelog.

License

MIT © alfredoperez. Independently maintained and not affiliated with the Spec Kit core team.