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Koustubh
Koustubh

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Part 5: Building Station Station - Should You Use Spec-Driven Development?

#tutorial #ai #productivity #development

We've covered a lot in this series. In Part 1, we introduced Spec-Driven Development. In Part 2, we explored the Station Station project—8 features solving a real hybrid work compliance problem. In Part 3, we walked through the agent-os workflow. In Part 4, we got honest about the challenges and limitations.

Now for the decision: Should you use SDD for your next project?

This part gives you a decision framework based on real experience, not theory. No marketing fluff—just practical guidance on when SDD makes sense and when it's overkill.

What We Actually Built

Let's recap what the SDD approach delivered for Station Station:

The Project:

  • Personal web application for tracking office attendance via Melbourne Myki transit data
  • 8 features across 3 phases (Foundation, Data Layer, Integration & UI)
  • Live and deployed at https://koustubh25.github.io/station-station/
  • Fully autonomous daily execution via GitHub Actions
  • Zero hosting costs (GitHub Pages + GitHub Actions free tier)

The Tech:

  • ~6,000 lines of code (3,500 Python + 2,500 React)
  • Python backend with Playwright for browser automation and Cloudflare bypass
  • React frontend with Tailwind CSS v4, responsive mobile-first design
  • Lighthouse scores 95+ across the board

The Timeline:

  • ~4-5 hours on specs
  • ~2 days on implementation
  • ~4-6 hours debugging hard problems (Cloudflare, timezone, multi-layer integration)
  • Total: ~3 days for 8 features shipped and deployed

The Result:
I use this app regularly to check my attendance compliance. It solves my actual problem. All planned features are complete. I can (and did) add new features weeks later by creating new specs and following the same workflow.

When to Use Spec-Driven Development

Based on the Station Station experience, here's when SDD is worth the upfront investment:

✅ Use SDD When:

1. You're building a complete project, not just prototyping

If you want to actually ship something and maintain it, SDD helps you finish. The structure prevents the "60% complete and abandoned" problem that plagues side projects.

Station Station could have easily become another abandoned project. Authentication alone took 2 days to solve. Without the roadmap keeping me focused on the goal, I might have given up after Cloudflare kept blocking me.

2. You'll be coming back to the code later

If there's any gap between coding sessions (days, weeks, months), the documentation is invaluable. The spec tells you what you were building and why. The task list shows what's done and what's next.

I added the manualAttendanceDates feature a week after the initial deployment. The existing specs told me exactly how the system worked, where to add the new field, and what components would be affected.

3. You're working solo or on a small team

SDD provides structure when you don't have teammates to keep you accountable. The roadmap prevents scope creep. The task breakdown prevents getting overwhelmed.

For Station Station, I was the only developer. The workflow kept me organized and prevented me from jumping between random features.

4. The project involves multiple components or layers

When your project has backend + frontend, or data extraction + processing + visualization, specs help you think through the integration points upfront.

Station Station has Python backend, GitHub Actions automation, and React frontend. The specs documented how data flows between these layers, which made debugging multi-layer issues much easier.

5. You want to learn a structured development process

If you're tired of chaotic development and want to build better habits, SDD provides a framework. The first project has a learning curve, but future projects benefit from the workflow.

6. You're solving a non-trivial problem

Simple CRUD apps or one-off scripts don't benefit much from SDD. But if your problem has complexity (Cloudflare bypass, API reverse engineering, browser automation), the structure helps you tackle it systematically.

❌ Skip SDD When:

1. You're doing quick experiments or throwaway code

If you're testing an idea and will likely discard the code, specs are overkill. Just write code and see if the idea works.

2. You have a crystal-clear mental model

If you've built this exact thing 10 times before and know every step, specs won't add much value. You already have the structure in your head.

3. The project is extremely simple

A single-file script, a basic static site, or a trivial automation doesn't need specs. Just write it.

4. You're under extreme time pressure

If you need something working in the next 2 hours, don't spend 30 minutes on a spec. But recognize you're trading speed now for maintenance pain later.

5. You're learning a completely new technology

If you're learning React for the first time, just following tutorials and experimenting might be better than trying to spec everything out. Learn first, then apply structure to real projects.

Decision Framework

Here's a simple decision tree:

Is this a real project you want to finish and maintain?
├─ No → Skip SDD, just code
└─ Yes ↓

Will you be working on this over multiple sessions?
├─ No → Skip SDD unless project is complex
└─ Yes ↓

Does the project involve multiple components/layers?
├─ No, single component → SDD optional
└─ Yes, multiple layers ↓

Are you working solo or small team?
├─ No, large team with existing processes → Evaluate SDD fit
└─ Yes ↓

→ USE SDD. The upfront investment will pay off.
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The Honest Trade-offs

Let's be real about what you're signing up for:

What You Give Up:

Time to first code: Specs take time. You'll spend 30 minutes to several hours documenting before you write a single line of code.

Flexibility to "just try things": SDD encourages thinking before coding. If you like to experiment your way to a solution, the structure might feel constraining.

Simplicity: You're adding agent-os to your workflow. There's a learning curve. The first project takes longer.

What You Get:

Actually finishing projects: Structure prevents abandonment. The roadmap keeps you focused. The task breakdown prevents overwhelm.

Resumability: Come back weeks later and know exactly where you left off. No re-learning your own codebase.

Systematic debugging: When things break, the spec tells you what should happen. The task breakdown shows you where to look.

Documented decisions: Future you (or future contributors) can understand why things were built a certain way.

Less decision fatigue: The spec tells you what to build next. No "what should I work on today?" paralysis.

The Bottom Line:

SDD trades upfront time for higher completion rate and better maintainability.

If you care more about finishing than starting, SDD is worth it.

How to Get Started

If you've decided SDD might work for your next project, here's how to begin:

1. Try It With a Real Project

Don't practice with a tutorial. Pick an actual problem you want to solve. Station Station worked because I genuinely needed to track my attendance.

Your first SDD project will be slower. That's normal. The second project will be much faster once you internalize the workflow.

2. Start With Agent-OS

Agent-os is the tool I used for Station Station. It's built for Claude and provides the complete workflow: product creation, spec shaping, spec writing, task breakdown, and implementation.

3. Try Station Station Yourself

Station Station is open source and free to use. If you're a Melbourne train commuter with hybrid work requirements:

Two options to get started:

  1. Get onboarded to the existing app - See your attendance on the same GUI. Check the README for onboarding instructions.

  2. Fork and deploy your own - Complete control and privacy. The README has full deployment instructions using GitHub Actions and GitHub Pages (all free).

The repository also includes complete specs for all 8 features and task breakdowns, so you can study the SDD approach in action.

4. Other SDD Tools

Agent-os isn't the only way to do Spec-Driven Development. Other tools exist like OpenSpec, Speckit, and others. However, I found some too simple (lacking the structure I needed) and others too verbose (overwhelming with process overhead). Agent-os struck a good balance for my workflow—structured enough to keep me organized, but not so heavy that it gets in the way of actually building.

Your preferences might differ. If agent-os doesn't feel right, explore the alternatives.

Final Thoughts

Spec-Driven Development isn't revolutionary. It's structure. It's documentation. It's thinking before coding.

It won't make you code faster. It won't eliminate bugs. It won't replace your judgment.

But it might help you finish instead of abandon. It might help you resume instead of restart. It might help you debug systematically instead of randomly.

For Station Station, that was enough. In 3 days, I went from "I need to track attendance" to a fully deployed application solving my real problem. Two weeks later, I added new features without re-learning the codebase. A month later, the app is still running autonomously, requiring zero maintenance.

Your mileage may vary. Your projects are different. Your workflow preferences are different.

But if you're tired of abandoned side projects, forgotten codebases, and chaotic development, maybe give SDD a try. Pick a real problem. Write a spec. Follow the workflow. See if it works for you.

And if you do try it—or if you've been using SDD and have your own experiences to share—I'd love to hear about it. Drop a comment, open a GitHub discussion, or reach out.

Thanks for reading this series. Now go build something.

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