The deterministic validation gate for spec-driven development.
Minter validates .spec and .nfr files — a structured DSL for defining behavioral contracts and non-functional requirements. It parses syntax, enforces semantics, resolves dependency graphs, cross-validates NFR references, and gives you an interactive dashboard and AI authoring assistant. One primitive: behaviors that depend on other behaviors. One discipline: spec first, then tests, then code.
validate now detects behavior changes automatically — when you remove, modify, or add behaviors, the response includes a changes section showing exactly what changed since the last validation. Your agent sees which tests are orphaned and which need updating. No more dead code left behind after spec iterations. Pair with minter guide refinement for the full cleanup workflow. Requires an updated spec agent prompt to act on the changes.
See the full changelog for the release history.
brew install arnaudlewis/tap/minterInstalls both minter (CLI) and minter-mcp (MCP server).
Manual download
Download the archive for your platform from the latest release, extract it, and place minter and minter-mcp on your PATH. SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt.
Build from source
cargo install minterclaude mcp add minter minter-mcp # connect the AI spec assistant
minter ui # launch the live dashboardYour agent knows the DSL, validation rules, and methodology — describe a feature in plain language and it writes the spec.
For the best experience, pair the MCP with the spec engineering agent prompt:
# Claude Code
mkdir -p .claude/agents && curl -o .claude/agents/spec.md \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arnaudlewis/minter/main/docs/spec-agent.mdFor other clients, copy the content of spec-agent.md into your agent's system prompt or custom instructions.
Follow the getting started guide for the full walkthrough.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
minter ui |
Interactive dashboard (live updates, lock management) |
minter validate |
Validate specs and NFR files |
minter watch |
Live validation on file changes |
minter coverage |
Behavior coverage report from @minter tags |
minter graph |
Dependency graph visualization |
minter lock |
Snapshot project integrity |
minter ci |
Verify integrity against lock file |
minter scaffold |
Generate skeleton .spec or .nfr files |
minter inspect |
Display metadata for a spec or NFR file |
minter format |
Print DSL grammar reference |
minter guide |
Development reference guides |
The examples/ directory contains a complete spec project — a task management API with authentication, CRUD behaviors, and NFR constraints.
minter validate examples/specs/
minter graph examples/specs/
minter coverage examples/specs/ --scan examples/tests/See examples/README.md for the full walkthrough.
MIT. See LICENSE.