Spec Kit without Heavy CLI: Adapting Spec-Driven Development to Your Project in Cursor

The article targets developers, analysts, and technical writers who want to use spec-driven AI development in Cursor without deploying the full Spec Kit from GitHub. Instead of the complete pipeline (constitution, specify, plan, tasks, implement), they propose a minimal set: a constitution with immutable repository rules, a task specification, explicit human agreement (the agent cannot self-agree), implementation based on the agreed spec, and a pointer to the active work. They argue that extra steps like plan, tasks, and bulk rebuilds are often redundant, creating noise and risking overwrites. The adapted approach consists of three parts: Cursor rules (always in context), skills (explicit commands like /project-init, /project-specify, /project-implement), and repository artifacts (constitution, specs, drafts, feature.json pointer). The workflow is: init, specify, human agreement, implement. The constitution mandates project goals, pipeline stages, what to avoid (plan/tasks), separation of semantic vs result layers, fidelity to sources with [NOT KNOWN] tags, reasoning_temperature low for implementation, prohibition of secrets, and clear procedures for changing the constitution. Implementation is only allowed if the spec has agreed status and no blocking unknown items. They also outline common mistakes and note that the simplified cycle is sufficient for incremental tasks, while the full Spec Kit is for those needing its CLI or standard multi-step pipeline. Both approaches are compatible; artifacts can be reused. The article concludes by emphasizing the pipeline discipline over directory structure.