The Open-Spek standard: what a Spek is, and what makes one complete. Status: v0.1 draft — deliberately minimal; the format grows by distillation from real Speks, not by speculation.
Source is no longer code. Source is knowledge.
A Spek captures the complete knowledge required to create software. Code is only one possible implementation of a Spek: implementations evolve, Speks endure, and a single Spek can produce many implementations.
This repository is the normative home of the standard:
SPEK-FORMAT.md— the format: sections, layouts, conformance, naming conventions.
Knowledge
|
Spek <- this standard defines the artifact
|
AI <- open-spek/loop is the reference method
|
Code <- open-spek/jsonq is the first proof
|
Software
The standard ships with a complete, public demonstration:
| Role | Repository |
|---|---|
| The artifact format | open-spek/spek (this repo) |
| The reference method — a test-gated autonomous agent loop that turns a Spek into code | open-spek/loop |
| The first proof — a type-safe JSON query engine whose every line was generated from a frozen Spek | open-spek/jsonq |
jsonq's Spek was written and ratified first; an autonomous coding agent then produced the entire implementation (252 tests, 100 percent coverage) without a human editing a single line of it. The knowledge was the source.
Open-Spek uses vocabulary that overlaps with Spec-Driven Development (SDD — Kiro, GitHub Spec Kit, Cursor Plan Mode). The overlap is real but shallow: SDD, Open-Spek, and Loop Engineering answer three different questions, and — like adjacent fields building on one another rather than replacing one another — each can stand on the others without contradicting them.
| SDD (Kiro, Spec Kit) | Open-Spek (Spek) | Loop Engineering | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question answered | How do I develop with an AI? | What knowledge is worth sharing as a source? | How does that knowledge become code unattended? |
| Spec's role | Living guide, co-evolves with code | Durable artifact; code is derivative | Frozen input (DESIGN.md) |
| Completeness test | Good enough to steer the agent | The regeneration question | The gate is green |
SDD defines how you work with a spec while you develop. Open-Spek defines what knowledge is worth sharing as a source. Loop Engineering defines how that knowledge becomes code without a human editing the result.
open-spek/loop is the reference method, not the standard itself — it predates
Open-Spek (distilled from the LibreDB
build) and runs without a complete Spek. A ratified Spek, in turn, does not require the
loop: any implementer, human or agent, can build from it.
The full comparison — borrowed structure vs. differing purpose, a Spek-section-to-SDD-file
mapping, and an FAQ — lives in POSITIONING.md.
The full manifesto lives on the organization profile.
- Knowledge is the source.
- Spek is the source artifact.
- Software is described before it is implemented.
- A single Spek can produce many implementations.
- Implementations evolve. Speks endure.
- Knowledge should remain open.
The standard's text is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Implementations of Speks carry their own licenses.