You've heard about spec coding. Maybe you saw someone ship a feature in an hour that would've taken you a week. Maybe you're drowning in backlog and can't keep up. Here's what you need to know to get started. What Spec Coding Actually Is: Stop writing code line by line. Start writing specifications. The workflow: 1. You define WHAT you want (the spec) 2. AI figures out HOW to build it (the code) You become the architect. AI becomes the builder. Why This Works The old way: - You: Think about the feature - You: Write the code - You: Write tests - You: Debug - You: Review - You: Ship The spec coding way: - You: Think about the feature (write a clear spec) - AI: Writes the code, tests, and handles implementation - You: Review and merge You do the high-value thinking. AI does the repetitive implementation. The Three Core Documents 1. PRD (Product Requirements Document) Defines what you're building and why. Must include: - Problem you're solving - Who it's for - What success looks like - What you're NOT building Example: Problem: Users can't reset their password Target: Existing users who forgot their login Must-have: Email-based reset flow Success: User can reset password in under 2 minutes Out of scope: SMS reset, social login recovery 2. User Stories Break features into specific, testable pieces. Format: "As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit]" Example: "As a logged-out user, I want to request a password reset email so that I can regain access to my account" 3. Acceptance Criteria How you know the story is done. Format: Given [context], when [action], then [result] Example: - Given I'm on the login page - When I click "Forgot Password" and enter my email - Then I receive a reset link within 5 minutes Your First Spec Coding Project Pick something small. A single feature or component. Not your entire app. Good first projects: - Contact form with validation - User profile page - Simple API endpoint - Dashboard component

🚀 I cut my development time from 4 hours to 45 minutes. Here's how: Hey everyone, So I've been messing around with AI coding tools for about a year now, and honestly? I kept running into the same annoying cycle. You know the drill: prompt ChatGPT or Claude, get some code, copy it over, find bugs, go back and re-prompt with "actually no, I meant THIS," rinse and repeat. Hours would just disappear. Then I discovered something that actually changed the game for me: Spec Coding. WHAT EVEN IS SPEC CODING? It's way simpler than it sounds, I promise. Before you write any code (or have AI write it), you just... write down exactly what you want. Not the vague "build me a login page" stuff, but the real details: - What happens if someone types in the wrong password? - Which fields are actually required? - Where's all this data going? - What about the weird edge cases? Think of it like hiring a contractor to redo your kitchen. The good ones ask you a ton of annoying questions upfront, right? Same idea here, except the contractor is an AI. WHY THIS ACTUALLY WORKS Here's what I figured out: when I gave vague instructions, I got vague results. Shocking discovery, I know. 😅 But when I actually spent 20-30 minutes writing out a proper spec? The AI could build the whole thing in one go. No back and forth. No "wait that's not what I wanted." LET ME GIVE YOU A REAL EXAMPLE I was building this meal planning app. Instead of just telling the AI "create a meal planner" and hoping for the best, I sat down and wrote: - Users need to drag meals onto a calendar (7 days) - Each meal should have a name, list of ingredients, and serving size - Automatically create a grocery list from all the meals for the week - If the same ingredient shows up twice, just add the amounts together - Let people filter stuff by dietary restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, whatever) Then I handed that spec to an AI agent. It built EVERYTHING. Database schema, API endpoints, the whole front end. Three minutes.

Here's the truth about when to use each. VIBE CODING (Fast to start, slow to scale) Good for: - Landing pages (30 min) - Quick prototypes (1-2 hours) - Single features (add a button, dark mode) Bad for: - Anything with 3+ interconnected features - Production apps - Code you need to maintain SPEC CODING (Fast to scale) Built by our community in weeks: - Complete SaaS with auth + payments (2 weeks) - E-commerce platform (3 weeks) - Mobile apps with offline support (4 weeks) - API services with tests (1-2 weeks) - AI-powered tools (2-3 weeks) The difference? Vibe coding: Week 1 feels fast. Week 4 you're rewriting everything. Spec coding: Week 1 feels slow (planning). Week 3 you're deployed. Simple rule: Prototype → Vibe coding Product → Spec coding The bottleneck isn't ideas. It's implementation capacity. Spec coding gives you sustainable velocity. What are you building? 👇 Learn the full workflow → asca.navan.ai

Developers are quietly making a shift. From vibe coding to spec coding. Why? Vibe coding is fast to start. You prompt AI, iterate, figure it out as you go. But it breaks down at scale. Your prototype works. Then you need features 5, 6, and 7. Now you're debugging spaghetti code and wondering where you went wrong. Spec coding is different. You spend 20 minutes writing a clear PRD. The AI generates production-ready code. Tests included. No surprises. Vibe coding: Fast to start, slow to finish. Spec coding: Slow to start, fast to scale. The bottleneck isn't ideas. It's implementation capacity. When you vibe code, you're still the bottleneck. When you spec code, AI becomes your build team. The question isn't "Can AI help me code faster?" It's "Do I want to write code or ship products?" Join 1,000+ builders learning spec coding: https://asca.navan.ai

There's a lot of chatter about spec coding but the real question is, how do I get started? Here's a quick, step-by-step guide to help you progress from vibe coding to spec coding: 1. Pick a small feature - Don't spec your entire app. Start with one feature. 2. Write a clear spec - What should it do? Who's it for? Use this format: > Problem statement > 3-5 requirements > Success criteria 3. Feed it to an AI agent - Use Cursor, Claude Code, or SAM (sam.navan.ai) 4. Review the output - You're the architect. Check if it matches your spec. 5. Iterate - Wrong? Refine your spec and try again. The quality of your code = the quality of your spec.