npm package: @iflow-mcp/orangebread-speclinter-mcp
Description: Turn specs into structured tasks with built-in quality gates - MCP server for AI-powered development
Latest version: 0.1.0

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    🔍 AI-Powered Specification Analysis  •  📊 Quality Grading  •  ⚡ Task Generation
```

# SpecLinter MCP

> **🚀 Turn vague specs into structured tasks with AI-powered quality gates**

Transform natural language specifications into actionable development tasks with built-in quality assessment, similarity detection, and implementation validation.

## ✨ What Makes SpecLinter Special

| Feature | Traditional Tools | SpecLinter |
|---------|------------------|------------|
| **Spec Analysis** | Manual review | 🤖 AI-powered quality grading (A+ to F) |
| **Task Breakdown** | Manual decomposition | ⚡ Auto-generated structured tasks |
| **Duplicate Detection** | Manual checking | 🔍 Semantic similarity analysis |
| **Implementation Check** | Code review | 🧠 AI validates against original spec |
| **Test Scenarios** | Write from scratch | 🧪 Auto-generated Gherkin scenarios |

## 🎯 Quick Start (5 Minutes)

### � Installation & Setup
```bash
git clone https://github.com/orangebread/speclinter-mcp.git
cd speclinter-mcp
pnpm install && pnpm build
```

### 🔌 MCP Configuration
Add this to your AI IDE's MCP configuration:
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speclinter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/speclinter-mcp/dist/cli.js", "serve"]
    }
  }
}
```

### � Try It Out
Ask your AI: `"Initialize SpecLinter and parse this spec: Create a user login form with email validation"`

## 📋 Table of Contents

- [Core Workflows](#-core-workflows) • [Setup Guide](#-setup-guide) • [Quality System](#-quality-system) • [Advanced Features](#-advanced-features)

## 🎯 Core Workflows

### Scenario: Developer Gets Quality Feedback on Vague Spec
```gherkin
Given I have a vague specification: "Add social features"
When I ask SpecLinter to parse it
Then I get grade F with specific improvement suggestions
And actionable feedback like "Define specific social features"
And a template showing how to improve to grade A
```

### Scenario: Developer Generates Structured Tasks
```gherkin
Given I have a detailed spec: "Create user authentication with email verification, password reset, and 2FA"
When SpecLinter analyzes it
Then I get grade A with 8-12 structured tasks
And each task has acceptance criteria and Gherkin scenarios
And tasks are saved in organized directories
```

### Scenario: Developer Validates Implementation
```gherkin
Given I've implemented my authentication feature
When I ask SpecLinter to validate it
Then AI scans my codebase for related files
And compares implementation against original spec
And provides quality score with specific recommendations
```

### Scenario: Team Avoids Duplicate Work
```gherkin
Given my teammate built user profile management
When I try to add "user settings page"
Then SpecLinter detects 85% similarity
And recommends extending existing feature
And prevents duplicate implementation
```

## 🚀 Setup Guide

### Prerequisites
- **Node.js 18+** • **pnpm** (recommended)

### Installation
```bash
pnpm install && pnpm build
```

### MCP Integration

| AI IDE | Configuration File | Location |
|--------|-------------------|----------|
| **Cursor** | `mcp_servers.json` | `~/.cursor/` |
| **Claude Desktop** | `claude_desktop_config.json` | `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/` (macOS)<br>`%APPDATA%\Claude\` (Windows) |
| **Windsurf** | Check Windsurf docs | Varies |

**Add this configuration:**
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speclinter": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/speclinter-mcp/dist/cli.js", "serve"]
    }
  }
}
```

### ✅ Verify Setup
```bash
# Test server starts
node dist/cli.js serve

# In your AI IDE, try:
"Initialize SpecLinter in my project"
"Parse this spec: Create a user login form"
```

### 📖 GitMCP Integration
For documentation access and examples, you can also add GitMCP integration:
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speclinter-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://gitmcp.io/orangebread/speclinter-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```
This provides AI access to SpecLinter documentation and usage examples.

## 🐳 Docker Alternative

**Quick Docker Setup:**
```bash
# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/orangebread/speclinter-mcp.git
cd speclinter-mcp
docker build -t speclinter/mcp .

# Run SpecLinter server
docker run -d --name speclinter-server -v $(pwd):/workspace speclinter/mcp
```

**MCP Configuration for Docker:**
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speclinter": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["exec", "-i", "speclinter-server", "node", "/app/dist/cli.js", "serve"]
    }
  }
}
```

**Benefits:**
- ✅ No Node.js installation required
- ✅ Isolated environment
- ✅ Consistent across all platforms
- ✅ Easy cleanup with `docker rm -f speclinter-server`



## 📊 Quality System

SpecLinter grades your specifications and provides actionable feedback:

| Grade | Score | What It Means | Example Issues |
|-------|-------|---------------|----------------|
| 🏆 **A+** | 95-100 | Exceptional spec | None - ready to implement |
| ⭐ **A** | 90-94 | Excellent spec | Minor clarity improvements |
| ✅ **B** | 80-89 | Good spec | Missing some acceptance criteria |
| ⚠️ **C** | 70-79 | Needs work | Vague terms, brief description |
| ❌ **D** | 60-69 | Poor spec | Major gaps in requirements |
| 🚫 **F** | 0-59 | Failing spec | Too vague to implement |

### Quality Criteria Checklist
- ✅ **Clear acceptance criteria** - What defines "done"?
- ✅ **Specific requirements** - Avoid vague terms like "user-friendly"
- ✅ **Error handling** - What happens when things go wrong?
- ✅ **Sufficient detail** - Enough info for implementation
- ✅ **User story format** - "As a... I want... So that..." (optional)

### Example: F → A Transformation

**❌ Grade F Spec:**
```
"Add social features to the app"
```

**✅ Grade A Spec:**
```
As a user, I want to send direct messages to other users so that I can communicate privately.

Acceptance Criteria:
- Users can search for other users by username
- Messages are delivered in real-time using WebSocket
- Message history is preserved and searchable
- Users can block/unblock other users
- All messages are encrypted end-to-end

Error Handling:
- Show "User not found" for invalid usernames
- Display "Message failed to send" with retry option
- Handle offline users with message queuing
```

## 🔧 Advanced Features

### 🧪 AI-Powered Gherkin Scenarios
Every task gets comprehensive, actionable test scenarios with enhanced AI generation:
```gherkin
Feature: User Authentication System
  Implement secure user login and registration with email verification

  Scenario: Successfully authenticate user with valid credentials
    Given the user registration system is available
    And a user exists with email "user@example.com" and password "SecurePass123"
    When I submit login form with valid credentials
    Then the user should be authenticated successfully
    And a JWT token should be generated and returned
    And the user should be redirected to the dashboard
    And the login attempt should be logged

  Scenario: Handle invalid login attempts
    Given a user exists with email "user@example.com"
    When I submit login form with email "user@example.com" and password "WrongPassword"
    Then the authentication should be rejected
    And an error message "Invalid credentials" should be displayed
    And no JWT token should be generated
    And the failed attempt should be logged

  Scenario: Validate input format during login
    Given the login system is ready to accept input
    When I provide malformed email "invalid-email" and password "test123"
    Then input validation should be triggered
    And specific validation errors should be shown
    And the user should understand what needs to be corrected
```

**🎯 Enhanced Scenario Features:**
- **AI-Generated Quality**: Scenarios tailored to your project's tech stack and patterns
- **Multiple Types**: Happy path, error handling, edge cases, security, and performance scenarios
- **Specific Data**: Concrete examples instead of generic placeholders
- **Actionable Steps**: Each step can be implemented as an automated test
- **Business Focus**: User-centric language with technical accuracy
- **Comprehensive Coverage**: All acceptance criteria addressed
- **Configurable Complexity**: Adjust scenario depth and coverage via configuration

### 🔍 Semantic Similarity Detection
Prevents duplicate work by finding similar features:
```
Input: "user profile management"
Found: "user settings page" (85% similarity)
Recommendation: Extend existing feature
```

### 🤖 AI Implementation Validation
Advanced AI-powered validation that understands your code:
- **Intelligent Codebase Scanning** - Finds implementation files using semantic analysis
- **Context-Aware Analysis** - Understands your project's patterns and tech stack
- **Quality Assessment** - Provides detailed scoring with specific recommendations
- **Acceptance Criteria Validation** - Checks each requirement against actual implementation
- **Auto-Status Updates** - Updates task statuses based on implementation findings
- **Architectural Review** - Ensures consistency with project patterns and standards

### 📁 Project Structure
```
your-project/
├── .speclinter/
│   ├── config.json         # Settings
│   └── context/            # AI-generated project docs
└── speclinter-tasks/
    └── [feature-name]/
        ├── _active.md      # Status dashboard
        ├── task_*.md       # Individual tasks
        └── gherkin/        # Test scenarios
```

## 💬 How to Use SpecLinter

Just talk to your AI assistant naturally! Here are the most common commands:

### 🚀 Getting Started
```
"Initialize SpecLinter in my project"
"Analyze my codebase to understand patterns and tech stack"
```

### 📝 Working with Specs
```
"Parse this spec: Create a user authentication system with email verification"
"Grade this specification: [your spec here]"
"Find similar features to: user profile management"
"Generate comprehensive Gherkin scenarios for my authentication feature"
```

### 📊 Managing Tasks
```
"Show me the status of my authentication tasks"
"Mark the database setup task as completed"
"Validate the implementation of my login feature"
"Update task status for WebSocket connection to completed"
```

> **💡 Pro Tip**: SpecLinter works through your AI IDE - no CLI commands needed for daily use!



## 🏗️ Real-World Examples

### Example 1: E-commerce Product Catalog
**Input Spec:**
```
Create a product catalog page with filtering and search
```

**SpecLinter Output:**
- **Grade:** C (needs more detail)
- **Generated Tasks:** 6 structured tasks
- **Improvements:** Add specific filter types, search behavior, pagination

### Example 2: User Authentication System
**Input Spec:**
```
As a user, I want to log in with email and password so I can access my account.

Acceptance Criteria:
- Email validation with proper error messages
- Password must be 8+ characters
- Failed attempts are rate-limited (3 attempts/5 minutes)
- Successful login redirects to dashboard
- Remember me option for 30 days
```

**SpecLinter Output:**
- **Grade:** A (excellent specification)
- **Generated Tasks:** 12 detailed tasks including security, validation, and UX
- **Gherkin Scenarios:** Auto-generated for each task

## 🤝 Team Collaboration

### Preventing Duplicate Work
```gherkin
Scenario: Team coordination
  Given developer A built "user profile management"
  When developer B wants to add "user settings page"
  Then SpecLinter detects 85% similarity
  And recommends extending existing feature
  And prevents duplicate implementation
```

### Cross-Project Similarity
SpecLinter can detect similar features across multiple repositories and microservices, helping large teams avoid redundant work.

## 🔧 Development & Contributing

```bash
git clone https://github.com/orangebread/speclinter-mcp.git
cd speclinter-mcp

# Traditional development
pnpm install && pnpm build

# Available scripts
pnpm build        # Build for production
pnpm test         # Run Vitest tests (implementation validation)
pnpm lint         # Lint code with ESLint
pnpm dev          # Watch mode for development
pnpm start        # Start MCP server

# Docker development
docker build -t speclinter/mcp:latest .
docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace speclinter/mcp
```

### 🧪 Testing
SpecLinter uses Vitest for implementation validation rather than traditional unit tests. The test framework validates that features are implemented according to their specifications using AI-generated Gherkin scenarios.

## 🏗️ Architecture

- **🔒 Type Safety**: Full TypeScript with Zod validation
- **🤖 AI-Leveraged**: Two-step pattern for semantic analysis
- **💾 Database**: SQLite for task management and feature history
- **🔌 MCP Integration**: Full Model Context Protocol support

## 📄 License

MIT