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Managing Multiple Features

Real projects have multiple features in flight. Learn how to manage them without losing context or duplicating work.

Time: 15 minutes
Outcome: Understand project-level spec management

Prerequisites

Try It Now​

Get hands-on with a pre-configured dashboard project:

npx lean-spec init --example dashboard-widgets
cd dashboard-widgets
npm install
npm run dev

Then prompt your AI tool:

In your IDE with an AI coding assistant (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor, etc.):

  1. Open the project in your IDE
  2. Open your AI assistant chat panel
  3. Send the prompt: "Help me add three new widgets to this dashboard"

Want to understand what happens under the hood? The sections below walk through each step in detail.

The Scenario​

You're building a dashboard with three widgets that need to work together:

  1. List contacts - Display contact table
  2. Create contact - Add new contact form
  3. Bulk import - CSV upload for multiple contacts

Each feature is distinct but shares common code (contact model, validation). You need to track all three without losing sight of dependencies.

Starting point:

your-project/
├── src/
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── contact.ts           # Shared model
│   └── components/
│       └── dashboard/
└── specs/
    └── (empty - let's populate it)

Creating Multiple Specs​

Ask your AI:

Create three specs for dashboard features:
1. List contacts in a table (read-only, pagination)
2. Create contact form (name, email, phone validation)
3. Bulk import contacts from CSV (validation, error handling)

Tag them all with "dashboard" and "contacts".

The AI creates:

specs/
├── 021-contact-list/
├── 022-contact-create/
└── 023-contact-bulk-import/

Each with status: planned and tags ['dashboard', 'contacts'].

Seeing the Big Picture​

List all your specs:

lean-spec list

Output:

📋 LeanSpec Project Overview

┌─────┬────────────────────────┬───────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ Seq │ Name                   │ Status    │ Priority │ Tags     │
├─────┼────────────────────────┼───────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ 021 │ contact-list           │ planned   │ medium   │ dash...  │
│ 022 │ contact-create         │ planned   │ medium   │ dash...  │
│ 023 │ contact-bulk-import    │ planned   │ high     │ dash...  │
└─────┴────────────────────────┴───────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

Use the board view for workflow status:

lean-spec board

Shows Kanban columns: Planned → In Progress → Complete

Why this matters: At a glance, you know what's queued, what's active, and what's done. No spreadsheet needed.

Search by tag:

lean-spec list --tags contacts

Or ask your AI:

Show me all dashboard specs.

The AI runs the search and shows you the results with context.

Search by keyword:

lean-spec search "validation"

Finds specs mentioning validation across all content. Perfect for avoiding duplicate work.

Working in Parallel​

Start work on the list feature:

Implement spec 021.

AI implements the contact list. While that's in review, you start another:

Implement spec 022.

Check status anytime:

lean-spec list --status in-progress

Shows:

│ 021 │ contact-list        │ in-progress │
│ 022 │ contact-create      │ in-progress │

Best practice: Keep 2-3 specs in-progress max. More than that signals blocked work or context switching overhead.

Managing Dependencies​

Bulk import depends on the contact model and validation from the create form. Document this:

Link spec 023 as depending on spec 022 (needs validation logic first).

Or manually:

lean-spec link 023 --depends-on 022

Now when you view spec 023:

---
depends_on: [022]
---

# Contact Bulk Import

> **Dependencies**: [022-contact-create](../022-contact-create)

The AI knows to check spec 022 before implementing 023. It won't start bulk import until contact creation is complete.

View dependencies:

lean-spec deps 023

Shows:

023-contact-bulk-import
└─ depends on → 022-contact-create

Completing the Project​

As you finish each feature:

lean-spec update 021 --status complete
lean-spec update 022 --status complete
lean-spec update 023 --status complete

Check project health:

lean-spec stats

Output:

📊 Project Statistics

Status Distribution:
  Complete:     3
  In Progress:  0
  Planned:      0

Recent Activity:
  ✓ 023-contact-bulk-import completed 2 hours ago
  ✓ 022-contact-create completed 1 day ago
  ✓ 021-contact-list completed 1 day ago

Satisfaction: Clear record of what shipped. Future you (or teammates) can see exactly what was built and when.

What Just Happened​

You managed a multi-spec project without chaos:

Without LeanSpec:

  • Sticky notes or issue tracker for tracking
  • No visibility into dependencies
  • Hard to find related work
  • Status buried in git commits

With LeanSpec:

  • Single source of truth (lean-spec list)
  • Dependency tracking prevents ordering mistakes
  • Search finds related work instantly
  • Status tracking built-in

The CLI commands + AI integration give you project visibility without leaving your editor.

Key Techniques​

Discovery:

  • lean-spec list - See everything
  • lean-spec board - Visualize workflow
  • lean-spec search - Find by keyword
  • lean-spec list --tags <tag> - Filter by category

Management:

  • lean-spec deps - Show dependencies
  • lean-spec link --depends-on - Document blocking work
  • lean-spec stats - Project health check
  • Multiple specs in-progress OK if independent

AI Integration:

  • Ask "Show me dashboard specs" → AI runs search
  • Ask "What's blocking spec X?" → AI checks deps
  • Ask "Update spec status" → AI runs command

Next Steps​

Practice with your project:

  • Create 2-3 related specs
  • Tag them by feature area
  • Try lean-spec list, board, search
  • Document one dependency

Learn more:

Questions? See FAQ or ask the community.