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Getting Started

Welcome to the V-Model Extension Pack for Spec Kit! This guide will take you from zero to audit-ready requirements with full traceability.

What You'll Learn

  • Installation (~5 minutes)

    Install the extension from the catalog, a GitHub release, or a local clone — then configure your regulatory domain.

    Installation Guide

  • Your First V-Model Project (~15 minutes)

    Create requirements, generate acceptance tests, and build a traceability matrix — all from a single spec.

    First Project Tutorial

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed:

Prerequisite Minimum Version Notes
Spec Kit v0.1.0+ The core specify CLI must be installed and on your PATH
Python ≥ 3.11 Required by Spec Kit
Git Any recent version For version control and extension installation
Shell — Bash (Linux/macOS) or PowerShell (Windows)

Check your Spec Kit version

specify --version

If you don't have Spec Kit yet, follow the Spec Kit installation instructions first.

How These Guides Are Organized

  1. Installation — Three ways to install, plus optional domain configuration for regulated industries.
  2. Your First V-Model Project — A hands-on tutorial covering Level 1 of the V-Model (Requirements ↔ Acceptance Testing).

Bridge to Implementation

Once your V-Model artifacts are in place (requirements through unit tests, plus the trace matrix), the bridge commands introduced in v0.7.0 carry them forward into deterministic, gated implementation:

/speckit.v-model.plan       →  plan.md (V-Model-enriched, schema-validated)
/speckit.v-model.tasks      →  tasks.md (TDD-ordered, with `Implements` headers)
/speckit.v-model.implement  →  source + tests + hallucination guard + trace post-hook

Every step runs run-v-model-gate.sh (the 8-stage pipeline status → domain → matrix → 5 coverage validators) and the deterministic Implements-directive hallucination guard. Artifacts under specs/<feature>/v-model/ must carry **Status**: Approved (enforced by validate-artifact-status.sh since v0.7.0).

Compliant vs. hybrid mode

It is technically possible to feed a V-Model tasks.md to core /speckit.implement. That hybrid path bypasses the V-Model gates, the hallucination guard, and the trace post-hook — use it only for prototyping. See the Bridge Commands guide for the canonical compliant-vs-hybrid distinction.

Once you've completed the first project tutorial, explore the deeper V-Model levels in the Guides section and follow the Bridge Commands guide to ship code from your verified specifications.