Post-Planning Quality Validation

Overview

This skill validates plan and task quality after /speckit.plan and /speckit.tasks have run. It checks coverage, scans for red flags, enforces task quality standards, and generates review-summary.md.

Prerequisites

{Skill: spec-kit}

Both plan.md and tasks.md MUST exist before running this skill. If either is missing, stop with an error:

bash

SPEC_DIR="specs/[feature-name]"
[ -f "$SPEC_DIR/plan.md" ] && echo "plan.md found" || echo "ERROR: plan.md missing - run /speckit.plan first"
[ -f "$SPEC_DIR/tasks.md" ] && echo "tasks.md found" || echo "ERROR: tasks.md missing - run /speckit.tasks first"

If either file is missing, stop and instruct the user to generate the missing artifact.

1. Task Quality Enforcement

After tasks.md exists, verify every task meets these criteria:

•Actionable: Clear what to do (not "figure out..." or "investigate...")
•Testable: Can verify completion objectively
•Atomic: One clear outcome per task
•Ordered: Dependencies between tasks are respected, phases are sequenced correctly

Also check:

•Every task specifies concrete file paths (not "somewhere" or "TBD")
•Phase ordering is logical (setup before core, tests before integration)
•No tasks duplicate work already covered by other tasks

If tasks fail these checks, note the issues and suggest refinements.

2. Coverage Matrix

Produce a coverage matrix mapping every spec requirement to its implementing tasks:

code

Requirement 1 → Tasks [X,Y]     ✓
Requirement 2 → Tasks [Z]       ✓
NFR 1         → Tasks [W]       ✓
...

Flag any requirement without task coverage. All requirements must have at least one implementing task.

Also verify:

•Every error case in the spec has a handling approach
•Every edge case from the spec is addressed
•Success criteria have verification approaches

3. Red Flag Scanning

Search plan.md and tasks.md for vague or incomplete language:

bash

SPEC_DIR="specs/[feature-name]"
rg -i "figure out|tbd|todo|implement later|somehow|somewhere|not sure|maybe|probably" "$SPEC_DIR/plan.md" "$SPEC_DIR/tasks.md" || echo "No red flags found"

Review any matches:

•"Figure out..." = missing research, needs concrete approach
•"TBD" = incomplete planning, must be resolved
•"Implement later" = deferred work, scope explicitly
•Missing file paths = tasks are not actionable

4. NFR Validation

For each non-functional requirement in the spec, verify the plan includes:

•A concrete measurement method (not just "should be fast")
•A validation approach (how will you verify the NFR is met?)
•Acceptance thresholds where applicable

If any NFR lacks a measurement method, flag it.

5. Generate review-summary.md

After validation passes, generate specs/[feature-name]/review-summary.md:

markdown

# Review Summary: [Feature Name]

**Spec:** specs/[feature-name]/spec.md | **Plan:** specs/[feature-name]/plan.md
**Generated:** YYYY-MM-DD

> Distilled decision points for reviewers. See full spec/plan for details.

---

## Feature Overview
[3-5 sentences on purpose and scope]

## Scope Boundaries
- **In scope:** [What this includes]
- **Out of scope:** [What this explicitly excludes]
- **Why these boundaries:** [Brief justification]

## Critical Decisions

### [Decision Title]
- **Choice:** [What was decided]
- **Alternatives:** [What else was considered]
- **Trade-off:** [Key trade-off made]
- **Feedback:** [Specific question for reviewer]

## Areas of Potential Disagreement

> Decisions or approaches where reasonable reviewers might push back.

### [Topic]
- **Decision:** [What was decided]
- **Why this might be controversial:** [Reason]
- **Alternative view:** [What someone might prefer]
- **Seeking input on:** [Specific question]

## Naming Decisions

| Item | Name | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| ... | ... | ... |

## Schema Definitions

### [Schema Name]
[Condensed structure - key fields only]

## Architecture Choices

- **Pattern:** [Brief description]
- **Components:** [Key components]
- **Integration:** [What it touches]

## Open Questions

- [ ] [Question needing stakeholder input]

## Risk Areas

| Risk | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|--------|------------|
| ... | High/Med/Low | ... |

---
*Share this with reviewers. Full context in linked spec and plan.*

Constraints:

•Maximum ~800-1000 words
•Prioritize: Disagreement Areas > Decisions > Scope > Overview
•Be explicit about potential pushback points
•Summarize, don't transcribe

6. Present Results

Report to the user:

•Task quality check results (pass/issues)
•Coverage matrix summary
•Red flag scan results
•NFR validation results
•Path to generated review-summary.md

Integration

This skill is invoked by:

•The superpowers trait overlay for /speckit.plan (after task generation)
•Users directly via /sdd:review-plan

This skill invokes:

•{Skill: spec-kit} for initialization