community-spec-kit-pilot

name	community-spec-kit-pilot
description	Pilot a community Spec Kit extension without pretending it is trusted, official, or a hard gate
domain	developer-workflow, governance
confidence	high
source	earned (2026-04-24 batalla-ias ci-guard pilot)

Context

Sometimes a community Spec Kit extension fits a real repo gap, but the upstream package is not verified and may not even install cleanly against the pinned official CLI. In that case, do the boring thing: pin provenance, patch only what is required for compatibility, and keep the rollout advisory until the repo explicitly decides otherwise.

Patterns

Validate installability against the pinned CLI first

• Check the extension catalog/README, but also run the install against the repo-pinned Spec Kit CLI.
• If the upstream manifest fails validation, do not hand-wave it away.
• Capture the concrete incompatibility in repo docs or decisions.

Vendor a local pilot when compatibility is the only blocker

• Keep the upstream repo, commit, and license explicit.
• Patch only the minimum needed for reproducible install (for example, command namespace fixes).
• Store the pilot source in-repo and install from that local source so future setup does not depend on a mutable remote tag.

Separate official setup from community setup

• Keep the official CLI/integration setup path clean.
• Add a separate speckit:ci:setup-style entrypoint for the community pilot.
• Make the warning unavoidable: community, unverified, advisory.

Advisory first, gates later

• Start with report/check/drift workflows.
• Default all fail_* settings to false until the team explicitly chooses a merge gate.
• Document how humans and agents should invoke the pilot so it does not become shelfware.

Anti-Patterns

• Installing an unverified community extension silently through the same path as official tooling
• Depending on a mutable upstream tag when a local pinned pilot is easy
• Treating advisory findings as blockers without a recorded team decision
• Patching the extension so heavily that provenance becomes unclear