Intents

High-level statements of purpose that drive development

What is an Intent?

An Intent is a high-level statement of purpose that encapsulates what needs to be achieved - whether a business goal, feature, or technical outcome. It serves as the starting point for AI-driven decomposition.

Examples of Intents

Good intents are clear, outcome-focused, and appropriately scoped:

Intent Structure

When captured, an Intent becomes a directory in your Memory Bank:

memory-bank/intents/{intent-name}/
├── requirements.md      # User stories, acceptance criteria, NFRs
├── system-context.md    # Boundaries, interfaces, constraints
└── units/               # Decomposed units
    ├── {unit-1}/
    └── {unit-2}/

Creating an Intent

Use the Inception Agent to create intents:

/specsmd-inception-agent intent-create

The agent will guide you through:

Intent vs Epic

Requirements Document

The requirements.md file contains:

# Intent: User Authentication System

## User Stories

### US-001: User Registration
As a new user, I want to register with email and password
so that I can create an account.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Email validation
- [ ] Password strength requirements
- [ ] Confirmation email sent

### US-002: User Login
...

## Non-Functional Requirements

### NFR-001: Security
- Passwords must be hashed with bcrypt
- Sessions expire after 24 hours
- Rate limiting on login attempts

### NFR-002: Performance
- Login response time < 500ms
- Support 1000 concurrent users

System Context

The system-context.md defines boundaries:

# System Context: User Authentication

## In Scope
- User registration and login
- Password reset flow
- Session management

## Out of Scope
- Social login (OAuth) - future intent
- Multi-factor authentication - future intent

## Interfaces
- REST API for frontend
- Database for user storage
- Email service for notifications

## Constraints
- Must use existing PostgreSQL database
- Must integrate with current session store

Best Practices

Next Steps