Greenfield development is starting a brand-new project or feature from scratch in an empty directory. Since there are no legacy files or pre-existing tests to protect, the focus is on defining the tech stack, establishing clean architecture patterns, and using Test-Driven Development (TDD) from day one.
sequenceDiagram
autonumber
actor Developer
participant SpecKit as Spec-Kit CLI
participant Agent as Coding Agent
participant Superpowers as Superpowers Plugin
Developer->>SpecKit: specify init
Developer->>Agent: /speckit.constitution (Define stack & rules)
Developer->>Agent: /speckit.specify (Describe idea)
Developer->>Agent: /speckit.clarify (Refine spec via Q&A)
Developer->>Agent: /speckit.plan (Design technical approach)
Developer->>Agent: /speckit.tasks (Generate tasks.md)
Developer->>Agent: Paste Greenfield Handoff Message
Agent->>Superpowers: Execute tasks in TDD Loop (RED -> GREEN -> REFACTOR)
Superpowers->>Developer: Task complete, ready for review
Create a blank directory and initialize Spec-Kit:
mkdir expense-tracker
cd expense-tracker
specify init . --integration claude
Define the tech stack, rules, and folder structure. Spec-Kit will write this to .specify/memory/constitution.md.
/speckit.constitution Create principles for an expense tracker:
- Tech stack: Next.js 14 (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Prisma with SQLite
- Testing: Vitest and React Testing Library
- Minimum test coverage: 80%
- Currency rule: Store all currency amounts as integers (cents), never floats.
Describe the user-facing feature. Do not mention technical code details yet; focus on what the application does.
/speckit.specify Build a simple expense tracker dashboard.
Users can add an expense with an amount, category, date, and description.
Users can view a list of expenses sorted by date (newest first).
Users can filter expenses by category.
Show a running total of the visible expenses.
Creates: .specify/specs/001-expense-tracker/spec.md
Let Spec-Kit analyze the spec and ask clarifying questions to remove assumptions.
/speckit.clarify
Example Interaction:
Spec-Kit: What are the pre-defined categories? Or can users create custom ones?
You: Use a pre-defined list: Food, Rent, Transport, Entertainment, Utilities, Other.
Spec-Kit: Should the database persist data locally?
You: Yes, use a local SQLite database through Prisma.
Now that the features and constraints are crystal clear, write the plan showing exactly which files will be created or modified.
/speckit.plan
Creates: .specify/specs/001-expense-tracker/plan.md
Convert the technical plan into a checkbox checklist.
/speckit.tasks
Creates: .specify/specs/001-expense-tracker/tasks.md
Once tasks.md is generated, paste the following handoff message into your coding agent’s chat interface. This tells Superpowers to begin coding without regenerating the plan.
Use the implementation plan in:
.specify/specs/001-expense-tracker/tasks.md
Constraints:
- Do not generate a new plan
- Do not create a new git branch (already created by Spec-Kit)
- Follow the tech stack defined in .specify/memory/constitution.md
- Write tests before implementation code (TDD)
- All tasks must pass the two-stage review (spec compliance first, code quality second)
Here is what the Spec-Kit files look like for this project:
spec.md)# Spec: Expense Tracker Dashboard
## User Stories
- **As a User**, I want to record an expense so that I can track my spending.
- **As a User**, I want to filter my expenses by category so that I can see where my money goes.
## Acceptance Criteria
- **Given** I am on the dashboard, **when** I enter an amount of 10.50, select "Food", and submit, **then** a new expense is saved in the database with 1050 cents.
- **Given** I have saved expenses, **when** I view the dashboard, **then** they are sorted by date (newest first).
- **Given** expenses in categories "Food" ($10) and "Rent" ($100), **when** I filter by "Food", **then** I only see the Food expense, and the running total displays "$10.00".
plan.md)# Plan: Expense Tracker Dashboard
## Proposed Database Schema
- **Expense Model**: `id` (UUID), `amount` (Int - cents), `category` (String), `date` (DateTime), `description` (String)
## Proposed Files
- `prisma/schema.prisma` - Database schema definition.
- `src/lib/db.ts` - Database client initialization.
- `src/components/ExpenseForm.tsx` - Input component for adding expenses.
- `src/components/ExpenseList.tsx` - List and filter display component.
- `src/app/page.tsx` - Main page combining form, list, and totals.
tasks.md)- [ ] Task 1: Setup Prisma schema with Expense model and run migrations.
- [ ] Task 2: Implement database client helper and seed script.
- [ ] Task 3: Write unit tests for expense CRUD helper functions.
- [ ] Task 4: Implement expense CRUD helper functions.
- [ ] Task 5: Build ExpenseForm component with client-side validation.
- [ ] Task 6: Build ExpenseList and CategoryFilter components.
- [ ] Task 7: Integrate components into the main page with state management.
- [ ] Task 8: Add end-to-end integration tests using Vitest.
For each task in tasks.md, Superpowers spawns a subagent to run the TDD loop:
graph TD
A[Load Task N] --> B["RED: Write Failing Test"]
B --> C["Run Tests (Fails)"]
C --> D["GREEN: Write Minimum Implementation"]
D --> E["Run Tests (Passes)"]
E --> F["REFACTOR: Clean Code & Stay Green"]
F --> G["Review Stage 1: Spec Compliance"]
G --> H["Review Stage 2: Code Quality Check"]
H --> I["Commit Task N Changes"]
I --> J[Load Next Task]
By following this sequence, you ensure that every line of code generated has a corresponding test and is directly mapped to an approved specification.