The one-page spec for an agent build (free sample)

Read SPEC.md as the agent that will build this. List every place you would have to guess, and write the question I need to answer for each. Don't start building.

Answer the questions, then start.

# Free sample: the one-page spec for an agent build

From Spec-First Build Docs by PaperChaseWebb. Before a coding agent writes a line, answer four questions. It takes ten minutes, and it is the difference between an agent carrying out your decisions and an agent making them up.

Save this as `SPEC.md` in your project and tell the agent to read it first.

## Template

```markdown
# SPEC: [project]  (updated [date])

## 1. What we are building, and what we are not
In this version:
- 
Not in this version (make this list longer):
- 

## 2. What it should look and sound like
Rules:
- 
Never:
- 

## 3. What it is made of, and what it must never touch
Stack:
Data lives in:
Never touch:

## 4. What the agent may do alone
Alone:
Stop and ask before:
Never:
```

## Four rules

1. If you can't answer a question in a sentence, figure that out before the agent starts.
2. Anything undecided goes on a list with your name next to it. The agent doesn't decide it.
3. If two readings of the spec are possible, the agent stops and asks.
4. When the project gets a second user, a second builder or a second week, turn each answer into its own document.

## Check prompt

```text
Read SPEC.md as the agent that will build this. List every place you would have to guess, and write the question I need to answer for each. Don't start building.
```

The full pack has the PRD, design system, architecture note and agents guide templates, a project tree for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, a weekly staleness pa