Constitution - Project Governing Principles

Overview

Establish foundational principles and development guidelines for the project. These principles guide all subsequent specification, planning, and implementation decisions.

Announce at start: "I'm using the constitution skill to establish project principles."

When to Use

• First step in Spec-Driven Development workflow
• Before creating specifications or implementation plans
• When project principles need to be established or updated
• When starting a new feature or major refactoring

The Process

Step 1: Understand Project Context

1. Review existing project structure, documentation, and codebase
2. Check if .specify/memory/constitution.md already exists
3. Review existing principles if updating

Step 2: Create or Update Constitution

Create or update .specify/memory/constitution.md with:

Required Sections:

1. Code Quality Standards

   • Code style and formatting guidelines
   • Naming conventions
   • Documentation requirements
   • Code review standards

2. Testing Standards

   • Test coverage requirements
   • Testing frameworks and patterns
   • Test organization and structure
   • When tests are required vs optional

3. User Experience Consistency

   • Design principles
   • Accessibility requirements
   • Performance targets
   • User interaction patterns

4. Performance Requirements

   • Performance benchmarks
   • Scalability considerations
   • Resource usage limits
   • Optimization guidelines

5. Technical Decision Governance

   • How principles guide technical choices
   • When to deviate from principles
   • Decision-making process
   • Architecture constraints

Step 3: Reference Project Guidelines

For Swift StateTree project, incorporate:

• Swift 6 and Swift API Design Guidelines
• Sendable requirements for public types
• Testing framework: Swift Testing (not XCTest)
• Code comments must be in English
• Cross-platform compatibility priorities

Step 4: Save and Commit

• Save to .specify/memory/constitution.md
• Commit with message: docs: establish project constitution
• Reference in all subsequent development phases

Example Prompt

/speckit.constitution Create principles focused on code quality, testing standards, 
user experience consistency, and performance requirements. Include governance for 
how these principles should guide technical decisions and implementation choices.

Output Format

The constitution file should be clear, actionable, and reference-able:

# Project Constitution

## Code Quality Standards
...

## Testing Standards
...

## User Experience Consistency
...

## Performance Requirements
...

## Technical Decision Governance
...

Integration with Other Skills

After creating constitution:

• Use SpecKit/specify to create functional specifications
• Use SpecKit/plan to create implementation plans (constitution guides decisions)
• Use SpecKit/implement to execute (constitution ensures consistency)

Key Principles

• Be specific: Principles should be actionable, not vague
• Be consistent: Align with existing project guidelines (see AGENTS.md)
• Be practical: Principles should guide real decisions
• Be flexible: Allow exceptions when justified
• Be documented: Keep principles updated as project evolves