# Implement a Spec

Turn the results of spec and ticket planning into working code.

- Repository: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills (309182 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill implement-spec -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill implement-spec -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill implement-spec -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill implement-spec -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills`

## Description

Implement the result of /to-spec and /to-tickets in code.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

You have been provided a spec. This spec should have tickets associated with it, describing how to implement the spec.

The issue tracker should have been provided to you. If not, tell the user to run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills`.

The goal is the entire spec implemented on a single **integration branch**, with every ticket resolved the way the issue tracker closes work.

The tickets are not a list of steps. They are a **task graph** with blocking relationships between them. This means there is always a **frontier** of tickets which are ready to be grabbed.

Start every subagent with a fresh context window.

Communication to and from subagents should be sparse. Communicate primarily through **context pointers**: to the spec, tickets, research notes, and previous commits. Don't duplicate information already available via pointers.

**Implementer subagents** should be run in the background where possible for maximum concurrency.

## Steps

1. Read the spec and tickets to understand the task graph.

2. (optional) Use an **exploration subagent** to conduct any exploration required by the tickets - relevant codebase files or external documentation. Ensure the exploration subagent can save files - it should save its markdown notes in a directory outside the repo, accessible by all future subagents. This lets **implementer subagents** focus on implementation rather than exploration.

3. Create the integration branch. If the issue tracker closes work through PRs, or the user asks for one, open a draft PR after the first merge in step 5 (a branch with no commits ahead of main can't open one), marked as closing the spec and tickets.

The rest: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/HEAD/skills/engineering/implement-spec/SKILL.md