💎 What Value Do You Get?¶

This guide shows exactly what SpecMem gives you and how to use each feature.

30-Second Value: Demo¶

pip install specmem[local]
specmem demo

What you see: A dashboard with SpecMem's own specs - browse, search, see relationships.

2-Minute Value: Your Project Dashboard¶

cd your-project
specmem init
specmem scan
specmem serve

What you get:

📊 Spec Overview¶

All your specifications in one searchable place: - Requirements, designs, tasks from .kiro/specs/ - CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules if you use those - Organized by feature, searchable by content

💚 Health Score¶

A grade (A-F) showing your project's spec health:

specmem health

Project Health: B (82/100)

✅ Strengths:
   • 47 specs indexed
   • 89% have code references
   • Average freshness: 12 days

⚠️  Issues:
   • 3 orphaned specs (no code references)
   • 2 stale specs (>90 days old)

📈 Coverage Report¶

See which acceptance criteria have tests:

specmem cov

Spec Coverage: 68%

auth-requirements.md: 80% (4/5 criteria tested)
  ✅ 1.1 User login
  ✅ 1.2 Password validation
  ✅ 1.3 Session management
  ❌ 1.4 Rate limiting (no test found)
  ✅ 1.5 Logout

payment-requirements.md: 50% (2/4 criteria tested)
  ...

5-Minute Value: Agent Integration¶

For Kiro Users¶

Add SpecMem as an MCP server:

// .kiro/settings/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specmem": {
      "command": "specmem-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

What you get: Kiro's agent can now query your specs automatically!

When you ask Kiro to implement a feature, it can: - Look up relevant requirements - Check design decisions - Find related tests

For Any Agent (Python API)¶

from specmem import SpecMemClient

sm = SpecMemClient()

# Before implementing auth changes
context = sm.get_context_for_change(["src/auth/service.py"])
print(context.tldr)
# "Auth service implements JWT-based authentication.
#  Key requirements: rate limiting (1.4), session timeout (1.3).
#  Related tests: test_auth.py, test_login.py"

10-Minute Value: Impact Analysis¶

Before making changes, know what's affected:

specmem impact --files src/auth/service.py

Impact Analysis for: src/auth/service.py

📋 Affected Specs:
   • .kiro/specs/auth/requirements.md
   • .kiro/specs/auth/design.md

🧪 Suggested Tests:
   • tests/test_auth.py
   • tests/test_login.py
   • tests/integration/test_auth_flow.py

⚠️  Acceptance Criteria to Verify:
   • 1.1 User login with valid credentials
   • 1.3 Session management
   • 1.4 Rate limiting

Ongoing Value: Living Documentation¶

Spec Drift Detection¶

specmem drift

Finds specs that have drifted from implementation.

Contradiction Detection¶

specmem validate

Finds conflicting requirements across specs.

Stale Spec Cleanup¶

specmem prune --dry-run

Identifies specs that should be archived or deleted.

Value Summary¶

Feature	Command	What You Learn
Demo	`specmem demo`	How SpecMem works
Dashboard	`specmem serve`	Visual overview of all specs
Health	`specmem health`	Project spec quality grade
Coverage	`specmem cov`	Which criteria are tested
Impact	`specmem impact`	What's affected by changes
Query	`specmem query "..."`	Find relevant specs
Validate	`specmem validate`	Find spec issues

Next Steps¶

Try the demo: specmem demo
Set up your project: specmem init && specmem scan && specmem serve
Add MCP integration: Connect to Kiro for automatic spec awareness
Run in CI: Add specmem cov and specmem health to your pipeline