Overview

OpenSDD is an open-source effort to make spec-driven development accessible to any team, organization, or individual. We gather repeatable structures, tools, and guides so humans and AI coding agents can collaborate with shared context.

What Makes Open SDD Unique

1. Non-dogmatic adoption – The structure is intentionally lightweight. Layer OpenSDD on top of your existing processes and evolve it as you learn.
2. Open standards first – Markdown, Git, and other open formats power every artifact. Beyond your AI assistant of choice, no proprietary tooling is required.
3. Tool-agnostic integrations – Specs, recipes, and automations plug into any AI coding agent, IDE, or version control system. Bring your own stack.

Spec-Driven Development at a Glance

• Specifications lead implementation work; code expresses what the specs describe.
• Context stays with the work—features and tasks reference the specs that informed them, so contributors never start cold.
• Iteration compounds because research notes, plan updates, and reviews remain alongside the relevant specs.
• Teams keep control of their tooling. OpenSDD overlays on top of conversations already happening in your repos and automation pipelines.

Core Spec Artifacts

Spec Type	Purpose	Typical Contents
Requirements Spec	Defines user intent and success metrics.	Personas, acceptance criteria, KPIs, business goals.
Tech Design Spec	Maps requirements onto system architecture.	API contracts, data models, integration diagrams, constraints.
Feature Specs	Capture releasable slices of functionality.	Links back to requirements/tech specs, user flows, success criteria.
Task Specs	Describe PR-sized work units.	Implementation plan, risk notes, test strategy, references.

Together these documents form a “living project” that evolves with every change. Features branch into tasks small enough for humans or agents to ship independently, yet the shared context keeps everyone aligned.

Living Projects in Practice

1. Structured hierarchy – Projects → Features → Tasks mirrors how work is delivered.
2. Cross references – Specs link to one another so agents and maintainers can traverse dependencies quickly.
3. Automation readiness – Each task carries enough detail for an AI assistant to execute without guesswork.

The Open Approach

OpenSDD pairs the living-project model with openness so the methodology stays portable across ecosystems.

Open Standards over Proprietary Lock-In

• Specs live in plain text formats (Markdown/MDX) inside Git repositories.
• No required SaaS backends or custom databases—use the tools your team already trusts.

Portable Project Structure

specs/
└── PROJECT-001-customer-portal/
    ├── prd.md
    ├── tech_brief.md
    ├── FEAT-002-authentication/
    │   ├── feature.md
    │   └── TASK-003-login-flow/task.md
    └── FEAT-004-dashboard/
        └── TASK-005-chart-refresh/task.md

This layout makes it easy for contributors and agents to inspect intent, history, and implementation details without additional tooling.

Built for Autonomous Execution

• Tasks are PR-sized so an agent (or pair of agents) can complete them end-to-end.
• Specs capture research, plans, code updates, reviews, and after-action analysis. Future iterations start with richer context instead of rediscovering constraints.
• Automation policies can be codified as recipes (see the Marketplace) that enforce consistent flows.

Collaboration Friendly

• Every change is traceable through Git history and pull requests.
• Teams can comment directly on specs or tasks during review cycles.
• Documentation stays close to implementation, making onboarding and knowledge transfer smoother.
• Contributions are always welcome—start a discussion, open an issue, or submit a pull request in the GitHub organization.

What This Site Covers

1. Quickstart – Adopt OpenSDD in your org with a simple rollout plan (see Quickstart).
2. Tools – Discover the OSDD CLI and the curated recipe catalog that automate repetitive tasks (visit OSDD CLI and Recipes Catalog).
3. Marketplace (Coming Soon) – Track the growing set of community-built automations (see Marketplace Preview).
4. Resources – Dive deeper with the original manifesto, community links, and additional reading (browse Further Reading).

Use the sidebar to explore each section and join the community efforts that keep OpenSDD evolving.