Installation Guide

Prerequisites

Installation

Important

Spec Kit is distributed through two official channels, both published and maintained by the Spec Kit maintainers: the github/spec-kit GitHub repository (source installs) and the specify-cli package on PyPI. Either route is supported for normal installs — use the commands shown below. After installing, run specify version as a local version/runtime sanity check. It confirms that the specify command is available and reports its version, but it does not prove whether the executable came from PyPI or GitHub. For offline or air-gapped environments, locally built wheels created from this repository are also valid.

Spec Kit supports two install routes:

  1. Install from source (GitHub) — the recommended route, pinned to a release tag.
  2. Install from PyPI — install the published specify-cli package with your usual Python tooling.

Install from Source — Persistent Installation (Recommended)

Install once and use everywhere. Replace vX.Y.Z with a release tag from Releases — keep the leading v (for example, v0.12.11, not 0.12.11):

Note

The command below requires uv. If you see command not found: uv, install uv first.

uv tool install specify-cli --from git+https://github.com/github/spec-kit.git@vX.Y.Z

Then initialize a project:

specify init <PROJECT_NAME> --integration copilot

Install from PyPI

Spec Kit is also published to PyPI as specify-cli, so you can install it with your preferred Python package manager without referencing the Git URL:

# Using uv (recommended)
uv tool install specify-cli

# Or using pipx
pipx install specify-cli

# Or using pip
pip install specify-cli

To install a specific release, pin the version — for example uv tool install specify-cli==0.12.11. See the PyPI installation guide for details, including how to upgrade.

One-time Usage

Run directly without installing — see the One-time usage (uvx) guide.

Alternative Package Managers

Specify Integration

Interactive terminals prompt you to choose a coding agent integration during initialization. Non-interactive sessions, such as CI or piped runs, default to GitHub Copilot unless you pass --integration.

You can proactively specify your coding agent integration during initialization:

specify init <project_name> --integration claude
specify init <project_name> --integration gemini
specify init <project_name> --integration copilot
specify init <project_name> --integration codebuddy
specify init <project_name> --integration pi
specify init <project_name> --integration omp

Specify Script Type (Shell vs PowerShell)

All automation scripts now have both Bash (.sh) and PowerShell (.ps1) variants.

Auto behavior:

  • Windows default: ps
  • Other OS default: sh
  • Interactive mode: you'll be prompted unless you pass --script

Force a specific script type:

specify init <project_name> --script sh
specify init <project_name> --script ps

Ignore Agent Tools Check

If you prefer to get the templates without checking for the right tools:

specify init <project_name> --integration claude --ignore-agent-tools

Verification

After installation, run the following command as a local version/runtime check:

specify version

This confirms that the specify command is available and reporting the expected version. It does not prove whether that executable came from PyPI or GitHub.

Stay current: Run specify self check periodically to learn whether a newer release is available — it is read-only and never modifies your installation. When you are ready to upgrade, follow the Upgrade Guide.

After initialization, you should see the following commands available in your coding agent:

  • /speckit.specify - Create specifications
  • /speckit.plan - Generate implementation plans
  • /speckit.tasks - Break down into actionable tasks
  • /speckit.implement - Execute implementation tasks
  • /speckit.analyze - Validate cross-artifact consistency
  • /speckit.clarify - Identify and resolve ambiguities
  • /speckit.checklist - Generate quality checklists
  • /speckit.constitution - Create or update project principles
  • /speckit.converge - Assess codebase against artifacts and append remaining tasks
  • /speckit.taskstoissues - Convert tasks to issues

Scripts are installed into a variant subdirectory matching the chosen script type:

  • .specify/scripts/bash/ — contains .sh scripts (default on Linux/macOS)
  • .specify/scripts/powershell/ — contains .ps1 scripts (default on Windows)

Troubleshooting

Enterprise / Air-Gapped Installation

If your environment blocks access to PyPI or GitHub, see the Enterprise / Air-Gapped Installation guide for step-by-step instructions on creating portable wheel bundles.

Git Credential Manager on Linux

If you're having issues with Git authentication on Linux, see the Air-Gapped Installation guide for Git Credential Manager setup instructions.

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