Spectr Validate (Without Binary)

This skill provides the ability to validate Spectr specifications and change proposals without requiring the spectr binary. This is particularly useful in sandboxed environments, CI pipelines, or fresh repository checkouts where the spectr binary may not be available.

Usage

The skill provides a scripts/validate.sh script that implements the core validation rules matching the behavior of spectr validate.

Basic Usage

bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh [--spec <id> | --change <id> | --all] [--json]

Validation Modes

Validate a Single Specification

# Validate the "validation" spec
bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --spec validation

This validates spectr/specs/validation/spec.md for:

• Presence of ## Requirements section
• Requirements contain SHALL or MUST keywords
• Requirements have at least one #### Scenario: block
• Proper scenario formatting (correct header levels, no bullets/bold)

Validate a Single Change

# Validate the "add-new-feature" change
bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --change add-new-feature

This validates spectr/changes/add-new-feature/:

• All delta spec files (specs/*/spec.md)
• Presence of at least one delta section (ADDED, MODIFIED, REMOVED, RENAMED)
• Delta sections are not empty
• ADDED/MODIFIED requirements have scenarios and SHALL/MUST
• REMOVED requirements use proper format
• Tasks file (tasks.md) contains valid task items (if present)

Validate All Specifications and Changes

# Validate entire repository
bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --all

This discovers and validates:

• All specifications in spectr/specs/
• All changes in spectr/changes/ (excluding archive)

Output Formats

Human-Readable Output (Default)

bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --spec validation

Example output:

changes/add-new-feature/specs/validation/spec.md
  [ERROR] line 42: Requirement missing scenario block
  [ERROR] line 58: Malformed scenario header (3 hashtags)

Summary: 0 passed, 1 failed (2 errors), 1 total

Colors are automatically enabled when output is to a TTY (terminal) and disabled when piped or redirected.

JSON Output

bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --all --json

Example output:

{
  "version": 1,
  "items": [
    {
      "name": "validation",
      "type": "spec",
      "valid": false,
      "issues": [
        {
          "level": "ERROR",
          "path": "specs/validation/spec.md",
          "line": 42,
          "message": "Requirement missing scenario block"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total": 1,
    "passed": 0,
    "failed": 1,
    "errors": 1,
    "warnings": 0
  }
}

Note: JSON output requires jq to be installed. If jq is not available, the script will warn and fall back to human-readable output.

Additional Options

Help

bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --help
# or
bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh -h

Displays usage information, flags, and examples.

Custom Spectr Directory

# Validate specs in a different location
SPECTR_DIR=custom/path/to/spectr bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --all

The SPECTR_DIR environment variable allows you to specify an alternative location for the spectr directory (default: spectr).

Validation Rules

The script implements the following validation rules, matching spectr validate behavior:

Specification File Validation

1. Requirements Section

   • ERROR: Spec file missing ## Requirements section
   • Every specification must have exactly one Requirements section

2. Requirement Headers

   • Requirements must use ### Requirement: <name> format
   • Requirements must contain SHALL or MUST keywords (strict mode)

3. Scenario Blocks

   • ERROR: Requirement missing #### Scenario: block (strict mode)
   • Each requirement must have at least one scenario

4. Malformed Scenarios

   • ERROR: Scenario with wrong header level (3, 5, or 6 hashtags instead of 4)
   • ERROR: Scenario using bold (**Scenario:**) instead of header
   • ERROR: Scenario using bullet point (- **Scenario:**)

Change Delta Validation

1. Delta Sections

   • ERROR: No delta sections found (ADDED, MODIFIED, REMOVED, RENAMED)
   • ERROR: Delta section exists but is empty (no requirements)

2. ADDED Requirements

   • ERROR: Missing scenario block
   • ERROR: Missing SHALL or MUST keywords

3. MODIFIED Requirements

   • ERROR: Missing scenario block
   • ERROR: Missing SHALL or MUST keywords

4. REMOVED Requirements

   • Format validation only (no scenario/SHALL validation)

5. RENAMED Requirements

   • Different format, minimal validation

Tasks File Validation

1. Task Items
   • ERROR: tasks.md exists but contains zero task items
   • Task items must use format: - [ ] Task description or - [x] Task description
   • Task IDs are optional: - [ ] 1.1 Task description
   • Uppercase X is supported: - [X] Task description

Exit Codes

The script uses standard exit codes for CI integration:

• 0: All validations passed (no errors)
• 1: One or more validations failed (errors detected)
• 2: Usage error (invalid arguments or flags)

Example CI Usage

# Run validation in CI pipeline
if bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --all; then
  echo "Validation passed!"
else
  echo "Validation failed!"
  exit 1
fi

Requirements

Required Dependencies

• bash 4.0+: The script uses associative arrays and other bash 4+ features
• grep: For pattern matching (GNU or BSD compatible)
• sed: For text processing (GNU or BSD compatible)
• find: For discovering specs and changes

You can verify bash version:

bash --version

Optional Dependencies

• jq: Required for --json output format

You can verify jq is available:

which jq

If jq is not available and --json is requested, the script will emit a warning and fall back to human-readable output.

Limitations

This skill provides validation capabilities equivalent to spectr validate but has some limitations:

Sequential Processing

• The script processes files sequentially, not in parallel
• Performance is acceptable for typical usage (30-50 spec files)
• For very large repositories, the full spectr binary may be faster

No Pre-Merge Validation

• The script validates the current state on disk
• It does not validate pre-merge scenarios (staged changes, specific commits)
• Use spectr validate --pre-merge for advanced pre-commit validation

No Cross-Capability Duplicate Detection

• The script does not check for duplicate requirement IDs across capabilities
• This is a limitation of the bash implementation
• Use the full spectr binary if you need this validation

Regex Pattern Synchronization

• Validation patterns must stay synchronized with internal/markdown/ matchers
• Behavior differences may exist if patterns diverge
• Report any discrepancies between script and binary behavior

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• The spectr binary is not available in your environment
• You're in a sandboxed or restricted execution context (Claude Code, Cursor)
• You need a lightweight alternative for validation
• You're running in CI/CD pipelines without spectr installed
• You need validation during AI-assisted specification authoring

For production workflows with advanced requirements (pre-merge validation, parallel processing, cross-capability checks), consider installing the full spectr binary.

Troubleshooting

"bash: version 4.0+ required"

The script uses associative arrays which require bash 4.0+. Update your bash version or use the full spectr binary.

"jq not found, falling back to human output"

This warning appears when --json is used but jq is not installed. Install jq:

# macOS
brew install jq

# Ubuntu/Debian
apt-get install jq

# Alpine
apk add jq

"No specs found in spectr/specs/"

Ensure you're running the script from the repository root or set SPECTR_DIR:

SPECTR_DIR=/path/to/spectr bash .claude/skills/spectr-validate-wo-spectr-bin/scripts/validate.sh --all

"Spec directory not found: "

The specified spec ID does not exist under spectr/specs/. Check available specs:

ls spectr/specs/

"Change directory not found: "

The specified change ID does not exist under spectr/changes/. Check available changes:

ls spectr/changes/

Validation Results Differ from Binary

If you notice differences between script validation and spectr validate output:

1. Check regex pattern synchronization
2. Verify bash version (4.0+)
3. Report discrepancies as issues

The script aims to match binary behavior exactly, but edge cases may exist.

Performance Notes

Expected Performance

• Small repos (< 10 specs): < 1 second
• Medium repos (10-30 specs): 1-3 seconds
• Large repos (30-50 specs): 3-5 seconds

Performance is primarily determined by:

• Number of spec files
• Size of spec files (line count)
• Disk I/O speed

Performance vs Binary

The Go binary (spectr validate) uses parallel workers and is significantly faster for large repositories. Use the binary when:

• Validating very large repositories (100+ specs)
• Running validation frequently in tight loops
• Performance is critical

Use the skill when:

• Binary installation is not possible
• Portability is more important than speed
• Repository size is small to medium