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110 changes: 110 additions & 0 deletions docs/guides/monorepo.md
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# Using Spec Kit in a Monorepo

A Spec Kit project is **directory-scoped**: the project is whichever directory
contains `.specify/`. A monorepo can hold several independent Spec Kit projects
under one repository root, each with its own `.specify/`, `specs/`, constitution,
and feature numbering.

Root resolution already prefers the **nearest** `.specify/` over the Git
toplevel, so commands run from inside a member project resolve to that project,
not the repo root.

## Layout

```text
my-monorepo/
├── .git/ # one Git repository at the root
├── apps/
│ ├── web/
│ │ └── .specify/ # Spec Kit project "web"
│ │ └── memory/constitution.md
│ └── api/
│ └── .specify/ # Spec Kit project "api"
│ └── memory/constitution.md
└── packages/
└── ui/
└── .specify/ # Spec Kit project "ui"
```

Initialize each member project independently:

```bash
specify init apps/web --integration claude
specify init apps/api --integration claude
```

Each project keeps its own `specs/` directory and numbers features
independently (`apps/web/specs/001-…`, `apps/api/specs/001-…`).

## Working inside a member project

The default workflow is unchanged: change into the project directory and run the
slash commands. Root resolution finds the nearest `.specify/`.

```bash
cd apps/web
# then run /speckit.specify, /speckit.plan, … in your agent
```

## Targeting a member project from the repo root

For non-interactive or CI runs where you do not want to `cd`, set
**`SPECIFY_INIT_DIR`** to the member project root (the directory *containing*
`.specify/`). Relative paths resolve against the current directory.

```bash
# from the monorepo root, operate on apps/web without cd-ing in
export SPECIFY_INIT_DIR=apps/web
```

The path must exist and contain `.specify/`. If it does not, the command
**errors and does not fall back** to the current directory or the Git toplevel.
This is deliberate: a typo never writes specs into the wrong project. A
nonexistent path is reported as you typed it; a path that exists but is not a
Spec Kit project is reported as its resolved absolute path:

```text
# SPECIFY_INIT_DIR=apps/wbe (typo: no such directory)
ERROR: SPECIFY_INIT_DIR does not point to an existing directory: apps/wbe

# SPECIFY_INIT_DIR=apps (exists, but has no .specify/ of its own)
ERROR: SPECIFY_INIT_DIR is not a Spec Kit project (no .specify/ directory): /home/you/my-monorepo/apps
```

`SPECIFY_INIT_DIR` selects the **project**; `SPECIFY_FEATURE_DIRECTORY` selects
the **feature** within it. They compose: set both to pick a project and a
feature non-interactively. See the
[`SPECIFY_INIT_DIR` reference](../reference/core.md#environment-variables) for
the full contract and the two-axes model.

## How `SPECIFY_INIT_DIR` reaches your agent

`SPECIFY_INIT_DIR` is read by the shell scripts that the slash commands invoke
(`get_repo_root` in Bash, `Get-RepoRoot` in PowerShell). It takes effect only
when it is present in the environment of the shell that runs those scripts.

- **Scripted / CI runs:** export it in the same shell that drives the commands;
it is reliable there.
- **Interactive agents:** whether an exported variable reaches the shell tool an
agent uses is agent-specific. Export `SPECIFY_INIT_DIR` *before* launching the
agent, and verify once (e.g. run `/speckit.specify` and confirm the new feature
landed under the intended project's `specs/`).

## Git in a monorepo

> [!NOTE]
> Spec Kit project files are scoped to the **resolved project root**, but Git
> operations still run in the containing Git work tree. In a monorepo with a
> single Git repository at the root and projects in subdirectories, feature
> branch creation creates or switches branches in the shared root repository.
> Spec directories still live under the selected member project, while the Git
> branch namespace is shared by the whole monorepo. Manage branches and commits
> at the repository root, or initialize Git per member project if you want
> isolated per-project branch namespaces.

## Constitutions

Each member project has its own `.specify/memory/constitution.md` and
`/speckit.constitution` edits the local project's file. There is no base/inherit
mechanism today, so shared engineering rules must be duplicated per project or kept
out of the constitution.
2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions docs/toc.yml
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href: local-development.md
- name: Evolving Specs
href: guides/evolving-specs.md
- name: Monorepos
href: guides/monorepo.md

# Community
- name: Community
Expand Down