speckit-cli-setup

name	speckit-cli-setup
description	Detect and install the Spec Kit `specify` CLI that every other speckit skill depends on. USE FOR: checking whether `specify` is installed/on PATH, installing it when missing, fixing "command not found: specify", confirming the CLI is new enough (>= 0.11). DO NOT USE FOR: upgrading an already-installed CLI to a newer release (use speckit-self) or verifying project tools (use speckit-check).
argument-hint	none

Spec Kit — CLI setup

The Spec Kit plugin drives the specify command-line tool. Every other speckit skill assumes specify is installed and on PATH. This skill detects it and installs it when it is missing.

Detect first

Always check availability before doing anything else:

specify --version

• Prints a version (e.g. specify 0.15.0) → the CLI is installed. If a skill needs bundle or workflow step, ensure the version is >= 0.11; if it is older, hand off to the speckit-self skill to upgrade.
• command not found / non-zero exit → not installed. Install it (below).

Install

Spec Kit's specify CLI is published on PyPI as specify-cli. Install the latest release — this plugin is not pinned to a specific specify version. uv is the recommended installer; pipx is an alternative:

# Recommended: uv (persistent install, latest from PyPI)
uv tool install specify-cli

# Alternative: pipx (persistent install, latest from PyPI)
pipx install specify-cli

# One-off / ephemeral (no install) — handy to bootstrap a project.
# Pass --script (py keeps this cross-platform) so the PTY-backed agent shell
# doesn't hit the interactive "Choose script type" chooser and hang.
uvx --from specify-cli specify init . --integration copilot --integration-options="--skills" --script py

If neither uv nor pipx is available, tell the user to install uv first (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh, or see https://docs.astral.sh/uv/), then re-run the install. Do not silently install system Python packages.

Verify

specify --version
specify check

Notes

• This skill is the prerequisite for the rest of the plugin. If any speckit skill finds that specify is not available, it should run this skill's detect/install steps first, then retry.
• For an already-installed CLI that just needs a newer version, prefer the speckit-self skill (specify self upgrade) over reinstalling. To refresh a uv/pipx install to the latest PyPI release, use uv tool upgrade specify-cli or pipx upgrade specify-cli.
• Installing from PyPI always pulls the latest published specify-cli. Only pin a specific version (e.g. uv tool install "specify-cli==0.15.0") if you have a concrete reason to hold back.