Agency Client Transparency Workflow

Use Spec Kitty's dashboard to provide live development visibility to clients without exposing code.

Setup

1. Expose Dashboard to Client

# Option A: Ngrok tunnel (recommended for demos)
ngrok http 3000
# Share the ngrok URL with client: https://abc123.ngrok.io

# Option B: Tailscale (recommended for ongoing projects)
# Install Tailscale, share MagicDNS name

# Option C: VPN/Direct access
# Client connects to your network, accesses http://your-ip:3000

2. What Client Sees

Kanban board - Tasks moving through lanes in real-time
Feature cards - Titles and progress percentages
Artifact links - Access to spec.md (requirements) and plan.md (architecture)
Agent assignments - Which developer/AI is working on what
No code - Only specifications and task status, not implementation

Client Meeting Patterns

Sprint Planning Meeting

Before Meeting:

/spec-kitty.specify

Build a customer dashboard showing:
- Recent order history
- Account settings management
- Support ticket submission
- Real-time order tracking

During Meeting:

Share screen showing kitty-specs/002-customer-dashboard/spec.md
Walk through user stories and acceptance criteria
Client feedback → Update spec.md live
Confirm scope → Resolve open questions directly in spec.md before planning
Show dashboard → Client sees feature card appear

After Meeting:

Client bookmarks dashboard URL
Sees tasks appear in "planned" lane as you run /spec-kitty.tasks

Daily Standup (Async via Dashboard)

Client checks dashboard daily:

Morning: Sees tasks moved to "doing" lane
Afternoon: Watches progress (tasks moving to "review")
No email needed: Visual progress replaces status update requests

PM responsibilities:

Update spec.md if requirements change
Add notes to work package files explaining blockers
Move stuck tasks back to "planned" with client-friendly notes

Weekly Review Meeting

Agenda:

Filter dashboard by completed work (done lane)
Demo features from completed work packages
Show velocity - "We completed 8 work packages this week"
Review upcoming - Show "planned" lane for next week
Export evidence - Share spec.md and dashboard screenshots

Trust-Building Workflow

Problem: "How do I know you're making progress?"

Traditional agency:

Weekly status emails
Client calls asking "are you done yet?"
Screenshots of code (client can't understand)

With Spec Kitty Dashboard:

Client sees real-time task movement
Activity logs prove work is happening
Spec artifacts explain what's being built
No need to ask for updates

Example Timeline

Monday 9 AM:

/spec-kitty.specify
Create admin panel for content moderation...

Client sees: Feature "003-admin-panel" appears in dashboard

Monday 11 AM:

/spec-kitty.plan
Use Next.js, PostgreSQL, AWS S3...

Client sees: plan.md artifact link appears

Monday 2 PM:

/spec-kitty.tasks

Client sees: 6 work packages appear in "planned" lane

Tuesday-Thursday:

/spec-kitty.implement (repeated)

Client sees: Tasks moving planned → doing → review → done

Friday:

/spec-kitty.accept
/spec-kitty.merge --push

Client sees: Feature marked complete, demo scheduled

Client Communication

Explaining the Dashboard

To Client:

"We use Spec Kitty to give you real-time visibility. Here's what you're seeing:

Blue (Planned): Work we'll do next

Yellow (Doing): What we're actively building

Orange (Review): What's done, pending our internal QA

Green (Done): Completed and merged

Each task has a work package file you can read - it explains what we're building in plain English. You'll never see code unless you want to."

Setting Expectations

What clients love:

"I can check progress anytime without bothering you"
"I finally understand what you're building"
"The transparency builds trust"

What to clarify:

Tasks in "doing" might sit there a while (complex work)
"Review" means internal QA, not client approval (unless you want that)
Dashboard updates real-time but work happens in bursts

Advanced: Client Collaboration

Allow Client to Review Work

Workflow:

Client gets GitHub access to spec files only (not code)
Client reviews work packages in tasks/for_review/
Client adds comments to work package markdown files
PM moves tasks back to "planned" or forward to "done" based on feedback

Script:

# PM shows client the work package file
cat kitty-specs/003-admin-panel/tasks/for_review/WP01-user-list.md

# Client adds feedback (via GitHub UI or shared doc)

# PM moves based on feedback
spec-kitty agent action implement WP01

Export these for client reports:

# 1. Feature completion percentage (from dashboard)
curl http://localhost:3000/api/features | jq '.[] | {slug, completion}'

# 2. Tasks completed this week
grep "lane=done" kitty-specs/*/tasks/done/*.md | wc -l

# 3. Velocity trend
# Count work packages completed per week from activity logs

Client Success Stories

"Before Spec Kitty:"

Client called daily asking for updates
Developer spent 2 hours/week writing status emails
Client surprised by deliverables not matching expectations

"After Spec Kitty:"

Client checks dashboard independently
Zero status update requests
Spec.md alignment prevents scope surprises
Client references dashboard in their own meetings

Tips for Agencies

Brand the dashboard - Add agency logo to dashboard (future feature)
Screenshot automation - Daily dashboard screenshots to Slack/email
Spec.md templates - Standardize how you write specifications
Charter per client - Different quality standards for different clients
Dashboard as sales tool - Show prospects live projects

Common Questions

Q: Can clients break anything in the dashboard? A: No, dashboard is read-only. They see status, can't change it.

Q: What if client wants to hide certain features? A: Use separate projects for client-visible vs internal work.

Q: Can multiple clients share a dashboard? A: Not recommended - use separate project instances per client.

Q: How do we bill based on dashboard activity? A: Activity logs show timestamps - export for time tracking integration.