Render Command

Preview rendered command templates with pre-computed feature context.

Overview

The render-command command renders autospec slash command templates with the current feature context already filled in. This is primarily a debugging and preview tool that lets you see exactly what the agent will receive when a slash command is executed.

This command was introduced as part of the pre-computed prereqs context feature, which eliminates bash calls from slash commands by computing context (feature directory, spec paths, version info) in Go before template execution.

Syntax

autospec render-command <command-name> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--output`	`-o`	stdout	Output file path
`--specs-dir`		`./specs`	Specs directory (global flag)

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
`command-name`	Yes	Name of the command template to render (e.g., `autospec.plan`)

Available Commands

The following command templates can be rendered:

Command	Required Context	Description
`autospec.specify`	(none)	Create feature specification
`autospec.plan`	`spec.yaml`	Generate implementation plan
`autospec.tasks`	`spec.yaml`, `plan.yaml`	Generate task breakdown
`autospec.implement`	`tasks.yaml`	Execute implementation
`autospec.checklist`	`spec.yaml`	Generate quality checklist
`autospec.clarify`	`spec.yaml`	Clarify spec ambiguities
`autospec.analyze`	`spec.yaml`	Cross-artifact analysis
`autospec.constitution`	(none)	Create project constitution
`autospec.worktree-setup`	(none)	Generate worktree setup script

Template Variables

Commands use Go text/template syntax with these variables:

Variable	Description	Example
``	Feature spec directory	`specs/103-feature-name`
``	Path to spec.yaml	`specs/103-feature-name/spec.yaml`
``	Path to plan.yaml	`specs/103-feature-name/plan.yaml`
``	Path to tasks.yaml	`specs/103-feature-name/tasks.yaml`
``	Current version	`autospec 0.9.0`
``	ISO 8601 timestamp	`2026-01-16T10:30:00Z`
``	Git repo detection	`true`
``	Available artifact files	`[spec.yaml, plan.yaml]`

Examples

Preview a Command Template

# See what the plan command looks like for current feature
autospec render-command autospec.plan

Save to File for Inspection

# Write rendered template to a file
autospec render-command autospec.tasks --output /tmp/tasks-prompt.md

# Then inspect it
cat /tmp/tasks-prompt.md

Pipe to Clipboard

# macOS
autospec render-command autospec.implement | pbcopy

# Linux (xclip)
autospec render-command autospec.implement | xclip -selection clipboard

Debug Feature Detection

If commands aren’t detecting the right feature, render the template to see what context is being computed:

# Check what feature directory is detected
autospec render-command autospec.checklist | head -50

Use with External Tools

# Pipe to another agent or tool
autospec render-command autospec.plan | my-custom-agent --stdin

# Diff two rendered outputs
autospec render-command autospec.plan > /tmp/before.md
# ... make changes ...
autospec render-command autospec.plan > /tmp/after.md
diff /tmp/before.md /tmp/after.md

Use Cases

1. Debugging Template Issues

When a slash command isn’t working as expected, render it to see the actual content:

autospec render-command autospec.implement

Check that all `` placeholders are properly substituted.

2. Verifying Context Detection

Ensure the correct feature is detected from your git branch:

# On branch 103-precompute-prereqs-context
autospec render-command autospec.plan | grep -A5 "Feature directory"

3. Testing Template Changes

After modifying a command template in internal/commands/, verify the rendering:

# Before
autospec render-command autospec.plan > /tmp/before.md

# After changes
make build
autospec render-command autospec.plan > /tmp/after.md

# Compare
diff /tmp/before.md /tmp/after.md

4. CI/CD Integration

Generate rendered prompts for automated workflows:

# In CI pipeline
autospec render-command autospec.plan --output artifacts/plan-prompt.md

Feature Detection

The command detects the current feature using this priority:

Environment variable: SPECIFY_FEATURE if set
Git branch: Extracts from branch name matching ^\d{3}-.+$ (e.g., 103-feature-name)
Error: Returns helpful message if detection fails

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Template loading or rendering failed
3	Invalid arguments

autospec prereqs - Show prereqs context without rendering
autospec commands - List installed command templates