SpecWeave Command Decision Tree
What do you want to do? Just say it in plain English, use a slash command, or type a keyword. All three work:
"Let's build user authentication"
Quick Reference Card
| I want to... | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start new feature | "Let's build X" | sw:increment "X" | increment "X" |
| Implement current feature | "Start implementing" | sw:do | do |
| See what's in progress | "What's the status?" | sw:progress | progress |
| Code review before close | "Review my work" | sw:grill 0001 | grill 0001 |
| Complete an increment | "We're done" | sw:done 0001 | done 0001 |
| Pause for other work | "Put this on hold" | sw:pause 0001 | pause 0001 |
| Resume paused work | "Continue where we left off" | sw:resume 0001 | resume 0001 |
| Validate before closing | "Check quality" | sw:validate 0001 | validate 0001 |
| Sync to GitHub/JIRA | "Sync progress" | sw:sync-progress | sync-progress |
| Save and push changes | "Save my work" | sw:save | save |
Decision Flowcharts
"What should I do next?"
"I finished my task"
By Scenario
Starting Work
| Scenario | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| New feature | "Build X" | sw:increment "X" | increment "X" |
| New bug fix | "Fix the login bug" | sw:increment "fix: bug" | increment "fix: bug" |
| New experiment | "Let's experiment with X" | sw:increment "experiment: X" | increment "experiment: X" |
| Resume from backlog | "Resume where we left off" | sw:resume 0001 | resume 0001 |
During Implementation
| Scenario | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implement tasks | "Start implementing" | sw:do | do |
| Check progress | "How far along?" | sw:progress | progress |
| View current status | "List all increments" | sw:status | status |
| Run quality check | "Assess quality" | sw:qa | qa |
Pausing Work
| Scenario | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporarily blocked | "Pause this" | sw:pause 0001 | pause 0001 |
| Feature canceled | "Abandon this" | sw:abandon 0001 | abandon 0001 |
Completing Work
| Scenario | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Validate before closing | "Check quality" | sw:validate 0001 | validate 0001 |
| Code review before close | "Review my work" | sw:grill 0001 | grill 0001 |
| Close with PM review | "We're done" | sw:done 0001 | done 0001 |
| Move to next increment | "What's next?" | sw:next | next |
Syncing & Saving
| Scenario | Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sync to external tools | "Sync progress" | sw:sync-progress | sync-progress |
| Update living docs | "Update the docs" | sw:sync-docs | sync-docs |
| Save and push to git | "Save my work" | sw:save | save |
Command Categories
Lifecycle Commands
Start → sw:increment
Implement → sw:do
Validate → sw:validate
Review → sw:grill (mandatory!)
Complete → sw:done
Status Management
Pause → sw:pause (temporary block)
Backlog → sw:status (deprioritized)
Resume → sw:resume (continue work)
Abandon → sw:abandon (cancel)
Reopen → sw:resume (needs more work)
Visibility
Progress → sw:progress (task completion)
Status → sw:status (all increments)
Synchronization
Sync All → sw:sync-progress (tasks → docs → external)
Sync Docs → sw:sync-docs (living docs)
Sync Tasks → sw:progress-sync (external → tasks.md)
Quality
Validate → sw:validate (rule-based)
QA → sw:qa (AI spec assessment)
Grill → sw:grill (code review - MANDATORY before close!)
Judge-LLM → sw:judge-llm (ultrathink code validation)
Common Workflows
Basic Feature Workflow
# 1. Plan the feature
sw:increment "User authentication"
# 2. Implement it
sw:do
# 3. Check progress periodically
sw:progress
# 4. Validate when tasks complete
sw:validate 0001
# 5. Code review (mandatory!)
sw:grill 0001
# 6. Close when ready
sw:done 0001
Handling Interruptions
# Working on feature A
sw:do
# Urgent bug comes in
sw:pause 0001
# Fix the bug
sw:increment "fix: critical login bug"
sw:do
sw:done 0002
# Resume feature A
sw:resume 0001
sw:do
Team Handoff
# Before handoff: validate and sync
sw:validate 0001
sw:sync-progress
# Handoff to teammate with clean state
# They can see progress in GitHub/JIRA
End of Day
# Sync all progress
sw:sync-progress
# Save and push
sw:save
When Things Go Wrong
Increment Needs More Work (Closed Too Early)
sw:resume 0001
# Continue work
sw:do
sw:done 0001
Wrong Increment Active
# Check what's active
sw:status
# Switch to correct one
sw:pause 0001 # Pause wrong one
sw:resume 0002 # Resume correct one
Sync Failed
# Check sync status
sw-github:status
# Force sync
sw:sync-progress
Validation Fails
# See what failed
sw:validate 0001
# Common issues:
# - Tasks not complete → mark tasks done
# - Tests not passing → fix tests
# - Docs not updated → run sw:sync-docs
Platform-Specific Commands
GitHub
sw-github:sync # Sync increment
sw-github:create # Create issue
sw-github:close # Close issue
sw-github:status # Check status
JIRA
sw-jira:sync # Sync increment
sw-jira:import-projects # Import JIRA projects
Azure DevOps
sw-ado:sync # Sync increment
sw-ado:create # Create work item
sw-ado:status # Check status
Command Cheat Sheet
Most Used (Daily)
| Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Let's build X" | sw:increment | increment | Start new work |
| "Start implementing" | sw:do | do | Implement tasks |
| "What's the status?" | sw:progress | progress | Check completion |
| "We're done" | sw:done | done | Complete increment |
| "Save my work" | sw:save | save | Commit and push |
Frequent (Weekly)
| Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Pause this" | sw:pause | pause | Temporarily stop |
| "Continue working" | sw:resume | resume | Continue paused |
| "Check quality" | sw:validate | validate | Pre-close check |
| "Sync progress" | sw:sync-progress | sync-progress | Sync external tools |
Occasional (As Needed)
| Natural Language | Claude Code | Other AI | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| "List all increments" | sw:status | status | View all work |
| "Cancel this" | sw:abandon | abandon | Cancel work |
| "Assess quality" | sw:qa | qa | Quality assessment |
Tips
- Use natural language first -- just describe what you want and SpecWeave picks the right skill
- Start with planning -- say "let's build X" or
sw:incrementbefore coding - Check progress often -- ask "what's the status?" or
sw:progress - Validate before closing -- "check quality" or
sw:validatecatches issues - Always grill before done -- "review my work" or
sw:grillis mandatory for closure - Sync at end of day -- "sync progress" or
sw:sync-progresskeeps everyone informed