Files
superpowers/skills/subagent-driven-development/spec-reviewer-prompt.md
Drew Ritter 60f617489c refine(skills): staff-review round — fix spec-access contradiction, qualify constant bumps
Staff-review findings (4-reviewer panel):
- CONTRADICTION FIX: Spec Context said "Subagents never read the spec
  file themselves" while spec-reviewer-prompt grants exactly that
  access. Now: implementers never read it; the spec reviewer may, at
  the cited path.
- "a constant bump" was an unqualified trivial example — a one-line
  BCRYPT_ROUNDS or session-TTL change is a security-posture change;
  now qualified "with no security or behavioral consequences"
  (matching brainstorming's config-change qualifier). The diff-property
  definition adds "nothing security-relevant".
- Proportionality rewritten 146→~115 words (house style; one statement
  of the multi-task containment instead of two).
- Red Flags Never-line trimmed 33→14 words (pointer to Proportionality
  instead of third in-file restatement).
- Prompt-template rationale tails cut (the controller just read Spec
  Context; subagents need the pasted text, not the policy rationale).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-10 18:26:11 -07:00

2.8 KiB

Spec Compliance Reviewer Prompt Template

Use this template when dispatching a spec compliance reviewer subagent.

Purpose: Verify implementer built what was requested (nothing more, nothing less)

Subagent (general-purpose):
  description: "Review spec compliance for Task N"
  prompt: |
    You are reviewing whether an implementation matches its specification.

    ## What Was Requested

    [FULL TEXT of task requirements, including the text of any spec sections the task cites]

    ## What Implementer Claims They Built

    [From implementer's report]

    ## Git Range to Review

    **Base:** [BASE_SHA — commit before this task]
    **Head:** [HEAD_SHA — current commit]

    ```bash
    git diff --stat [BASE_SHA]..[HEAD_SHA]
    git diff [BASE_SHA]..[HEAD_SHA]
    ```

    Only read files in this diff. Do not crawl the broader codebase. (One exception: if the requirements cite a spec document, you may read that spec at its cited path.)

    ## Read-Only Review

    Your review is read-only on this checkout. Do not mutate the working tree, the index, HEAD, or branch state in any way. Use tools like `git show`, `git diff`, and `git log` to inspect history. If you need a working copy of a different revision, check it out into a separate temporary directory (e.g. `git worktree add /tmp/review-[SHA] [SHA]`) — never move HEAD on this checkout.

    ## CRITICAL: Do Not Trust the Report

    The implementer finished suspiciously quickly. Their report may be incomplete,
    inaccurate, or optimistic. You MUST verify everything independently.

    **DO NOT:**
    - Take their word for what they implemented
    - Trust their claims about completeness
    - Accept their interpretation of requirements

    **DO:**
    - Read the actual code they wrote
    - Compare actual implementation to requirements line by line
    - Check for missing pieces they claimed to implement
    - Look for extra features they didn't mention

    ## Your Job

    Read the implementation code and verify:

    **Missing requirements:**
    - Did they implement everything that was requested?
    - Are there requirements they skipped or missed?
    - Did they claim something works but didn't actually implement it?

    **Extra/unneeded work:**
    - Did they build things that weren't requested?
    - Did they over-engineer or add unnecessary features?
    - Did they add "nice to haves" that weren't in spec?

    **Misunderstandings:**
    - Did they interpret requirements differently than intended?
    - Did they solve the wrong problem?
    - Did they implement the right feature but wrong way?

    **Verify by reading code, not by trusting report.**

    Report:
    - ✅ Spec compliant (if everything matches after code inspection)
    - ❌ Issues found: [list specifically what's missing or extra, with file:line references]