Install the Kit

Two steps: install the spec-spine substrate, then copy the kit into your repository and customize it.

1. Install spec-spine

The kit drives the spec-spine CLI, so install it first by whichever method fits your environment (full detail on the installation page):

cargo install spec-spine-cli            # from crates.io (needs a Rust toolchain)
npm i -D spec-spine                      # in a TS/JS repo (prebuilt binary)
pip install spec-spine                   # or: uvx spec-spine  (Python repo)

Verify with spec-spine --version. If your repository has no spec corpus yet, run spec-spine init to scaffold spec-spine.toml, standards/, a first spec, and the three core rules.

2. Copy the kit

The kit is the kit/ directory in the spec-spine repository. Copy its .claude/ tree into your repository root, plus the config templates if you do not already have them:

# from a checkout (or download) of the spec-spine repo:
cp -r path/to/spec-spine/kit/.claude     .
cp    path/to/spec-spine/kit/AGENTS.md   .   # if you have none
cp    path/to/spec-spine/kit/settings.json .claude/settings.json
cp    path/to/spec-spine/kit/.mcp.json   .   # if you have none

Item	Verdict	What you do
.claude/skills/ (10)	Portable / Adaptable	Copy. init, setup, ship, validate-and-fix are adaptable: point them at your install method and gate.
.claude/agents/ (4)	Portable	Copy architect, explorer, implementer, reviewer as-is.
.claude/rules/ (3)	Portable	Copy, or skip if spec-spine init already scaffolded them.
AGENTS.md	Adaptable	Rewrite the "New Sessions" section for your repo (see Session init).
settings.json	Adaptable	Rewrite the permission allow-list; keep the hooks (see Configuration).
.mcp.json	Adaptable	Empty by default; declare your own MCP servers if you have any.

3. Customize

Replace every <bracketed> placeholder the kit ships with:

• In AGENTS.md: the project name, your source directories, and the parallel reads your init should perform.
• In settings.json: the permissions.allow entries for your tools, and the hashed-input globs in the PostToolUse hook so they match your spec-spine.toml [index] extra_hashed_inputs.
• In the adaptable skills: the install command (/setup) and any <your build command> / <your test command> placeholders (/validate-and-fix, /implement-plan).

4. First run

/setup        # installs spec-spine if needed, verifies the governed loop
/init         # loads context via the AGENTS.md New Sessions protocol

If both produce a clean summary, the kit is operational. Continue to Session init, or jump to Adopt in your repo for the full step-by-step.