> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://archie.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Generating specifications

> How Archie generates detailed specifications from your approved plan — the workflow from plan to per-feature spec.

<Note>Specifications is coming soon. This documentation previews what the section will look like at launch.</Note>

Specifications are generated from the plan, one feature at a time. Archie reads the plan context — modules, user types, services, integrations — and produces a draft specification for each feature.

## When generation happens

Specifications generate at two points:

1. **After plan approval** — when you mark the plan as ready, Archie generates initial specs for every feature.
2. **On plan changes** — when you add a module or change a user type's permissions, the affected specs regenerate. Existing edits to other specs are preserved.

You can also trigger generation manually from the specifications surface — useful when you want a fresh draft after extensive edits.

## What's in a generated spec

The default spec includes:

* All the screens needed to support the feature, derived from the user types and the actions in the plan
* The flows that connect those screens
* Default validation rules from the data model (required fields, type constraints, relationships)
* Default copy in your project's primary locale
* Edge cases Archie identifies from the feature description

Generated specs are starting points. They are reasonable but not perfect. You edit them next.

## How Archie decides what to put in

Archie reads:

* The feature's description in the plan
* The user types that interact with the feature
* The data model fields tied to the feature
* Integrations the feature depends on (Stripe for orders, SendGrid for email)
* Industry conventions for the feature type (orders, profiles, listings — common patterns)

The output reflects all of these inputs. If you change the data model, the spec regenerates with the new fields. If you add a user type, the relevant flows pick up the new actor.

## Generation cost

Spec generation consumes AI credits, weighted by feature complexity. Archie shows the cost before generating. A typical full project specification — covering 8–12 features — generates in 2–5 minutes and costs comparable to a single full-stack build.

## What gets regenerated, what does not

* **Adding a feature to the plan** — that feature's spec gets generated. Other specs stay.
* **Changing a feature's description** — that feature's spec regenerates. Other specs stay.
* **Adding a user type** — affected specs regenerate to include the new actor.
* **Adding a field to the data model** — the spec for the feature using that field regenerates.
* **Editing a spec directly** — the spec stays as you edited it; only plan changes can trigger regeneration.

For specs you have heavily customized, the spec chat applies plan-driven changes incrementally rather than regenerating from scratch. See [Editing specifications](/docs/features/specifications/editing-specifications).