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A specification is the structured blueprint that guides pre.dev’s build agents. It’s generated by the architecture agent based on your project description, and it contains everything agents need to implement your project correctly.

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Spec Structure

Every specification follows a hierarchical structure: 
Project
├── Technical Architecture
│   ├── Tech Stack
│   ├── System Design
│   └── Infrastructure
├── Milestone 1: Core Foundation
│   ├── User Story 1.1
│   │   ├── Acceptance Criteria
│   │   ├── Subtask 1.1.1
│   │   ├── Subtask 1.1.2
│   │   └── Subtask 1.1.3
│   └── User Story 1.2
│       ├── Acceptance Criteria
│       └── Subtasks...
├── Milestone 2: Feature Layer
│   └── ...
└── Milestone 3: Polish & Deploy
    └── ...

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Components

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Technical Architecture

The top-level section defines the system design:
  • Tech stack — Languages, frameworks, databases, hosting
  • System design — Component hierarchy, data flows, API contracts
  • Database schema — Tables/collections, relationships, indexes
  • Infrastructure — Deployment targets, CI/CD, environment config

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Milestones

Milestones are phases of delivery. They’re sequenced so that foundational work comes first:
  • Each milestone has a complexity estimate
  • Milestones are typically built in order (dependencies respected)
  • Example: “Core Foundation” → “User Features” → “Admin & Analytics” → “Polish & Deploy”

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User Stories

Each milestone contains user stories — feature-level requirements:
  • Written in standard format: “As a [user], I want [feature], so that [benefit]”
  • Include acceptance criteria — specific conditions that must be true for the story to be complete
  • Acceptance criteria become the verification checks during building

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Subtasks (Deep Spec only)

Subtasks are the granular implementation steps within each story:
  • Specific enough for an agent to implement directly
  • Include task-level complexity estimates
  • Have their own status tracking

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Task Status Tracking

Every subtask has a status indicator: 
- [ ] To Do — Not yet started
- [→] In Progress — Currently being built
- [✓] Complete — Finished and verified
- [⊘] Skipped — Intentionally skipped (with reason)
These statuses update in real-time as agents work through the spec.

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Editing Specs

Specifications are living documents. Before or during building, you can:
Add new features you want included, or remove features you’ve decided against. The spec updates immediately.
Change what “done” means for any story. Agents building that task will use the updated criteria.
Adjust delivery priority. Move critical features earlier or defer nice-to-haves.
Switch frameworks, databases, or tools. Subsequent tasks will use the new stack.
Edits are reflected immediately — agents building subsequent tasks will always use the latest version of the spec.

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How Agents Use Specs

When a build agent picks up a task, it receives:
  1. The full specification for architectural context
  2. The specific subtask it’s responsible for
  3. The acceptance criteria it must satisfy
  4. The current codebase state
  5. Any Knowledge Base entries (API keys, docs)
This focused context means agents don’t hallucinate features or make uninformed architectural decisions — they implement exactly what the spec defines.

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Example Spec Fragment

## Milestone 2: User Authentication (Complexity: Medium)

### Story 2.1: User Registration
As a new user, I want to create an account with email and password,
so that I can access personalized features.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- User can register with email, password, and display name
- Email validation prevents invalid formats
- Password must be 8+ characters with one uppercase and one number
- Duplicate emails show clear error message
- Successful registration sends verification email

#### Subtasks:
- [ ] Create registration API endpoint with input validation
- [ ] Build registration form component with client-side validation
- [ ] Implement email verification flow with token generation
- [ ] Add duplicate email detection with user-friendly error
- [ ] Write unit tests for registration logic