Technical Spec Template Skill
Write technical specifications that engineers actually read — clear problem framing, unambiguous requirements, explicit decisions, and documented trade-offs.
Required Inputs
Ask the user for these if not provided:
- Feature or system description (what needs to be specced)
- Related PRD or product brief (if available)
- Engineering reviewers (whose sign-off is needed)
- Known constraints (technical limitations, security requirements, performance targets)
When to Write a Tech Spec
Write a tech spec when:
- The feature requires changes to 2+ systems
- There are significant architectural decisions to make
- More than one engineer will work on the implementation
- The feature has security, privacy, or compliance implications
- Estimated effort is >5 story points
Skip the spec for trivial bug fixes or 1-2 hour changes.
Technical Spec Output Format
Technical Specification — [Feature Name]
Author: [Name]
Status: Draft | In Review | Approved | Implemented
Created: [Date] | Last Updated: [Date]
Reviewers: [Eng Lead, Architect, PM, Security if needed]
Related PRD: [Link] | Jira Epic: [Link]
1. Problem Statement
> [2–3 sentences. What problem are we solving and why now? No solution language here.]
2. Goals & Non-Goals
Goals (in scope):
- [Specific, measurable outcome]
- [Specific, measurable outcome]
Non-Goals (explicitly out of scope):
- [What this spec does NOT cover]
- [Common assumption to shut down early]
3. Background & Context
[Any prior art, related systems, or context engineers need to understand the decision space. Link to previous specs, ADRs, or research.]
4. Proposed Solution
High-Level Approach:
[2–4 sentences describing the chosen solution. Why this approach vs alternatives?]
System Architecture Diagram:
[Describe or embed: which services are involved, how data flows, what APIs are called]
Data Model Changes:
-- New tables or schema changes
[Include DDL or schema definition]
API Design:
[Endpoint] [Method]
Request: { [fields and types] }
Response: { [fields and types] }
Error codes: [list]
Key Implementation Details:
- [Important technical constraint or approach]
- [Edge case handling]
- [Third-party dependency and version]
5. Alternative Approaches Considered
| Option | Pros | Cons | Why Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Alt 1] | [Benefits] | [Drawbacks] | [Reason not chosen] |
| [Alt 2] | [Benefits] | [Drawbacks] | [Reason not chosen] |
6. Security & Privacy Considerations
- Data stored: [What PII or sensitive data is involved]
- Authentication: [How is access controlled]
- Authorisation: [What permissions are required]
- Encryption: [At rest / in transit requirements]
- Compliance implications: [GDPR, SOC2, etc. if relevant]
7. Performance & Scalability
- Expected load: [Requests/second, data volume]
- Latency requirements: [P50 / P95 targets]
- Caching strategy: [If applicable]
- Database indexing: [New indexes required]
- Known bottlenecks: [Where to watch]
8. Testing Plan
- Unit tests: [Key scenarios to cover]
- Integration tests: [System boundaries to test]
- Load tests: [If performance-critical]
- Edge cases: [Known tricky scenarios]
- Rollback plan: [How to revert if something goes wrong]
9. Rollout Plan
- Feature flag: [Yes / No — name of flag]
- Rollout stages: [% of users at each stage]
- Monitoring: [Metrics and alerts to set up]
- Success criteria to progress rollout: [What needs to be true]
- Rollback trigger: [What would cause immediate rollback]
10. Open Questions
| Question | Owner | Due Date | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Unresolved question] | [Name] | [Date] | [Pending] |
11. Implementation Timeline (Rough)
| Phase | Work | Estimated Effort |
|---|---|---|
| [Phase 1] | [What gets built] | [X days/points] |
| [Phase 2] | [What gets built] | [X days/points] |
| Total | [X story points] |
Guidelines
- The spec is a decision record, not a task list — document why decisions were made
- All open questions must have an owner and due date
- Security and privacy sections are never optional for features that touch user data
- Recommend async review: engineers read first, then a 30-minute sync to resolve questions
- Keep the spec updated as implementation progresses — stale specs are worse than no specs
Scoring Rubric (0–40)
Score any output of this skill before handing it over; 32+ is ship-quality.
| Dimension | 0 | 5 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem framing | Problem statement is the solution restated ("we need a queue"), or missing; no non-goals | Problem stated but with solution language leaking in; non-goals present but generic ("out of scope: everything else") | Problem described in user/business terms with numbers, independent of any solution; goals measurable; ≥2 non-goals that shut down real scope assumptions |
| Decision documentation | One approach, no alternatives — a design description, not a decision record | Alternatives table exists but strawmanned (cons-only options nobody argued for); rejection reasons are taste, not evidence | ≥2 genuine alternatives with honest pros, evidence-based rejection reasons, recorded dissent where it exists, and revisit triggers for contested calls |
| Security & privacy depth | Section skipped or "N/A" on a feature that touches user data | Boilerplate answers (encrypt at rest/in transit) with no analysis of this feature's specific data exposure | Data touched is enumerated, the design's single largest privacy risk is named, authn/authz/compliance addressed concretely, and unresolved risks visibly gate approval |
| Operational readiness | No testing plan, rollout plan, or rollback trigger; open questions absent or all "TBD" | Testing and rollout sketched but rollback is untested intent; some open questions lack owners or dates | Tests cover the tricky edge cases, rollout is staged with progress criteria, rollback trigger is concrete (and doesn't strand data), and every open question has a named owner and due date |
Quality Checks
- [ ] Problem statement contains no solution language
- [ ] Non-goals explicitly list at least 2 things that might be assumed in scope
- [ ] At least 2 alternative approaches are documented with reasons for rejection
- [ ] Security and privacy section is completed for any feature touching user data
- [ ] All open questions have a named owner and due date (not "TBD")
Anti-Patterns
- [ ] Do not include solution language in the problem statement — the problem must be described independently of the proposed solution
- [ ] Do not omit alternatives considered — a spec that considers only one approach has not been properly evaluated
- [ ] Do not leave open questions as "TBD" without a named owner and due date — unresolved questions are blockers
- [ ] Do not skip security and privacy sections for any feature that touches user data
- [ ] Do not write a non-goals section that is empty — always list at least two things that might be assumed in scope
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