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Get Started Free →Create a formal specification for an existing GitHub Actions CI/CD workflow, optimized for AI consumption and workflow maintenance.
.claude/skills/create-github-action-workflow-specification/SKILL.md| Test case | Without → With | Effect | Δ tokens | Δ turns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| case-09 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-08 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-10 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-15 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-06 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
Create a comprehensive specification for the GitHub Actions workflow: ${input:WorkflowFile}.
This specification serves as a specification for the workflow's behavior, requirements, and constraints. It must be implementation-agnostic, focusing on what the workflow accomplishes rather than how it's implemented.
Save as: /spec/spec-process-cicd-[workflow-name].md
md--- title: CI/CD Workflow Specification - [Workflow Name] version: 1.0 date_created: [YYYY-MM-DD] last_updated: [YYYY-MM-DD] owner: DevOps Team tags: [process, cicd, github-actions, automation, [domain-specific-tags]] --- ## Workflow Overview **Purpose**: [One sentence describing workflow's primary goal] **Trigger Events**: [List trigger conditions] **Target Environments**: [Environment scope] ## Execution Flow Diagram
graph TD ATrigger Event] --> BJob 1] B --> CJob 2] C --> DJob 3] D --> EEnd]
B --> FParallel Job] F --> D
style A fill:#e1f5fe style E fill:#e8f5e8
## Jobs & Dependencies
| Job Name | Purpose | Dependencies | Execution Context |
|----------|---------|--------------|-------------------|
| job-1 | [Purpose] | [Prerequisites] | [Runner/Environment] |
| job-2 | [Purpose] | job-1 | [Runner/Environment] |
## Requirements Matrix
### Functional Requirements
| ID | Requirement | Priority | Acceptance Criteria |
|----|-------------|----------|-------------------|
| REQ-001 | [Requirement] | High | [Testable criteria] |
| REQ-002 | [Requirement] | Medium | [Testable criteria] |
### Security Requirements
| ID | Requirement | Implementation Constraint |
|----|-------------|---------------------------|
| SEC-001 | [Security requirement] | [Constraint description] |
### Performance Requirements
| ID | Metric | Target | Measurement Method |
|----|-------|--------|-------------------|
| PERF-001 | [Metric] | [Target value] | [How measured] |
## Input/Output Contracts
### Inputs
ENV_VAR_1: string # Purpose: description] ENV_VAR_2: secret # Purpose: description]
paths: list of path filters] branches: list of branch patterns]
### Outputs
job_1_output: string # Description: purpose] build_artifact: file # Description: content type]
### Secrets & Variables
| Type | Name | Purpose | Scope |
|------|------|---------|-------|
| Secret | SECRET_1 | [Purpose] | Workflow |
| Variable | VAR_1 | [Purpose] | Repository |
## Execution Constraints
### Runtime Constraints
- **Timeout**: [Maximum execution time]
- **Concurrency**: [Parallel execution limits]
- **Resource Limits**: [Memory/CPU constraints]
### Environmental Constraints
- **Runner Requirements**: [OS/hardware needs]
- **Network Access**: [External connectivity needs]
- **Permissions**: [Required access levels]
## Error Handling Strategy
| Error Type | Response | Recovery Action |
|------------|----------|-----------------|
| Build Failure | [Response] | [Recovery steps] |
| Test Failure | [Response] | [Recovery steps] |
| Deployment Failure | [Response] | [Recovery steps] |
## Quality Gates
### Gate Definitions
| Gate | Criteria | Bypass Conditions |
|------|----------|-------------------|
| Code Quality | [Standards] | [When allowed] |
| Security Scan | [Thresholds] | [When allowed] |
| Test Coverage | [Percentage] | [When allowed] |
## Monitoring & Observability
### Key Metrics
- **Success Rate**: [Target percentage]
- **Execution Time**: [Target duration]
- **Resource Usage**: [Monitoring approach]
### Alerting
| Condition | Severity | Notification Target |
|-----------|----------|-------------------|
| [Condition] | [Level] | [Who/Where] |
## Integration Points
### External Systems
| System | Integration Type | Data Exchange | SLA Requirements |
|--------|------------------|---------------|------------------|
| [System] | [Type] | [Data format] | [Requirements] |
### Dependent Workflows
| Workflow | Relationship | Trigger Mechanism |
|----------|--------------|-------------------|
| [Workflow] | [Type] | [How triggered] |
## Compliance & Governance
### Audit Requirements
- **Execution Logs**: [Retention policy]
- **Approval Gates**: [Required approvals]
- **Change Control**: [Update process]
### Security Controls
- **Access Control**: [Permission model]
- **Secret Management**: [Rotation policy]
- **Vulnerability Scanning**: [Scan frequency]
## Edge Cases & Exceptions
### Scenario Matrix
| Scenario | Expected Behavior | Validation Method |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------|
| [Edge case] | [Behavior] | [How to verify] |
## Validation Criteria
### Workflow Validation
- **VLD-001**: [Validation rule]
- **VLD-002**: [Validation rule]
### Performance Benchmarks
- **PERF-001**: [Benchmark criteria]
- **PERF-002**: [Benchmark criteria]
## Change Management
### Update Process
1. **Specification Update**: Modify this document first
2. **Review & Approval**: [Approval process]
3. **Implementation**: Apply changes to workflow
4. **Testing**: [Validation approach]
5. **Deployment**: [Release process]
### Version History
| Version | Date | Changes | Author |
|---------|------|---------|--------|
| 1.0 | [Date] | Initial specification | [Author] |
## Related Specifications
- [Link to related workflow specs]
- [Link to infrastructure specs]
- [Link to deployment specs]
When analyzing the workflow file:
A --> B --> CA --> B & A --> C; B --> D & C --> DA --> B{Decision}; B -->|Yes| C; B -->|No| Dmermaidstyle TriggerNode fill:#e1f5fe style SuccessNode fill:#e8f5e8 style FailureNode fill:#ffebee style ProcessNode fill:#f3e5f5
For workflows with 5+ jobs, use subgraphs:
mermaidgraph TD subgraph "Build Phase" A[Lint] --> B[Test] --> C[Build] end subgraph "Deploy Phase" D[Staging] --> E[Production] end C --> D
Focus on creating a specification that serves as both documentation and a template for workflow updates.
| Case | Status | Duration (ms) | Turns | Tokens | Tool calls | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | ||
case-22 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-09 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-02 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-08 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-10 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-15 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-21 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-16 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-06 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-12 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-18 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-01 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-13 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-05 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-19 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-03 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-11 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-14 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-17 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-07 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-20 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-04 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
DecimalAI ran this skill against gemini-3.6-flash twice over the same eval suite — once with the skill loaded and once without — and compared the two runs case by case. 22 cases were attempted. The headline lift of +64 percentage points is the difference between those two pass rates over the 22 comparable cases. 2 cases got worse with the skill loaded, and they are included in that figure.
The per-case answers from this run were removed by the retention sweep, so the case table below shows the verdicts without the text either arm produced. The counts above were recorded at the time and are unaffected. Answers are now kept for 180 days.
Other measured skills in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.