Workflow in a Minute: Task specification

In one sentence

A task specification is the acceptance contract you give a coding agent before it starts changing the repo.

Why it matters

Agents are eager executors. Without a contract, they optimize for activity. With a contract, they optimize for a checkable outcome.

How it works

Write four fields every time:

• Outcome — observable end state;
• Scope — where work may happen;
• Constraints — hard no-gos;
• Verification — command, test, or review gate.

Optional fifth field: Non-goals, to kill polite scope creep.

Store recurring specs as templates. Humans and agents should see the same definition of done.

Example

Outcome: /learn lists published lessons from content/learn.
Scope: learn index page + content loader.
Constraints: no new CSS framework; keep static export.
Verification: npm run build
Non-goals: full-text semantic search backend

Agentic coding use

This is the unit of work for agentic engineering. Sprints, orchestrators, and multi-agent systems are mostly machinery for assigning and verifying these contracts.

Watch out

If verification is “looks good to me,” the agent will self-approve. Pair specs with independent checks whenever possible.