docs(rules): write a Spec around its objects and key results

[zolotokrylin]

DEV-125 asked for ## Overview in its steps and acceptance criteria, while its own template used ## Objective and ## Key results, so a contributor could not tell which one to write. Its ## Key Concepts section gave no structure for the behavior itself beyond listing actions per concept, and it required every Spec to describe the user account in full, even where accounts already ship and the product docs describe them, which DEV-180 keeps out of a Spec.

What changed

docs/rules/DEV-125.md only:

• One structure: feature name, ## Objective, ## Key Results, ## User Types, then a ## section per object with a ### subsection per capability, named for what the user does. ## Overview and ## Key Concepts are removed.
• Feature name: at most 30 characters, a noun phrase, not a sentence.
• Objective: business value and user problem. The definition of success moved to Key Results, which are exactly three measurable outcomes in a numbered list.
• A Spec carries only what the Goal adds or changes. Where the product docs already explain something it refers to (a user type, object, capability, or term), the Spec names it as the product docs do and links to the section that explains it, without explaining it again. The product docs change only when behavior ships (DEV-180), never when the Spec is written. DEV-390 is now a dependency, since it keeps those sections matching the product.
• User Types: every type the Spec's actions name. An existing type is a link. A new or changed type gives its definition and who creates the account, plus whether the product can create more when the account is created outside it.
• ## User Account is the first object, covering creating, listing, editing, granting access to, and removing accounts, by content or by link.
• Every action is its own item that starts with the permitted user types: - [User Type], [User Type] can [action].
• Template guidance sits in HTML comments, so a partly written Spec renders only its content.
• Steps and acceptance criteria match the template one to one.

For the reviewer

• ## User Types now lists the types the Spec's actions name, not every type in the product. The gap from docs(rules): find every user type and its actions in a Spec #148 (an operator type missing from the Spec) is still caught: new accounts need an action naming who creates them, and shipped accounts are covered by the linked product docs.
• User types stay a bulleted list rather than a section per type, so a missing type shows up on one screen and permissions live only on the actions.

Related

• Closes Problem: contributors can't tell which spec format to use #118

Test plan

• npm run check:rules passes
• rumdl check passes on the changed file

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Documentation
  • Updated the development specification guidance to focus on objectives, user types, and behavior.
  • Added requirements for documenting only new or changed behavior and linking existing product documentation.
  • Standardized objectives, measurable key results, structured capability sections, and explicit action actors.
  • Revised the template and acceptance criteria to use concise noun-phrase titles and exactly three measurable key results.

[holdex]

Time Submission Status

Member	#	Time	Running Total	Status	Last Update
zolotokrylin			31min	✅ Submitted	Sep 17, 2026, 8:08 AM

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• docs/rules/DEV-125.md

Walkthrough

The PR updates DEV-125 to define the required specification format, including objectives, key results, user types, account capabilities, object sections, and explicit action actors.

Changes

Specification format

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Specification requirements docs/rules/DEV-125.md	Adds DEV-390 and defines requirements for new or changed behavior, product documentation links, objectives, key results, user types, account provenance, capabilities, permitted actors, and HTML comment guidance.
Template and acceptance criteria docs/rules/DEV-125.md	Replaces the former Overview and Key Concepts format with a 30-character noun-phrase title, Objective, exactly three measurable key results, user types, a User Account object, object and capability sections, and actor-specific actions.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 1 (Trivial) | ~5 minutes

Change: Other · Severity of issue fixed: Low

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to a03bd

The documentation is largely usable, but contributors may still miss two required specification details.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly describes the main change: defining a Spec around objects and key results. It is concise and specific.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Issue #118 requires one clear Spec format with Objective, measurable Key Results, users, and user-facing concepts. docs/rules/DEV-125.md now defines Objective, exactly three Key Results, User Types,…
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The PR changes only docs/rules/DEV-125.md. The added dependency, product-document links, user-type rules, object structure, and template guidance all define or support the documented Spec format req…
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 0…

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• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch docs/spec-template-objects

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[zolotokrylin]

@holdex pr submit-time 31m

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@docs/rules/DEV-125.md`:
- Around line 134-146: Add the two missing acceptance criteria to the checklist:
require the Spec’s goal: frontmatter to link to the Goal, and require Specs to
state whether the product can create additional accounts when an account was
created outside the product. Preserve the existing criteria and change nothing
else.

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• docs/rules/DEV-125.md

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