How to Start an Ad-Hoc Specialist Session
Use /spec-kitty.profile-context to open an interactive session with a named specialist agent — without starting a full mission. This is the right tool for exploration, quick questions, small fixes, and experimentation.
When to use this
An ad-hoc specialist session is appropriate when:
- You have a question for a specific role ("how should I structure this API?")
- You want to explore an approach before committing to a feature
- You need a quick code review, a naming suggestion, or a small refactor
- You want to sanity-check a decision with a domain expert
- You are experimenting and do not yet know whether the result is worth keeping
It is not appropriate when:
- You need a tracked, reproducible workflow → use
/spec-kitty.specify+ the mission pipeline - You want persistent state that advances work packages → use
/spec-kitty.implement
Starting a session
Invoke the command with a profile name:
/spec-kitty.profile-context architect
/spec-kitty.profile-context reviewer
/spec-kitty.profile-context researcher
The agent loads its profile — role, doctrine, specialization context, and initialization declaration — and introduces itself. From that point on, you are in a live advisory session.
Available profiles (built-in): architect, designer, implementer, planner, researcher, reviewer, curator, manager
What happens during a session
The session is advisory by default. The specialist:
- Answers questions, proposes options, and explains trade-offs from its defined perspective
- May suggest involving another specialist ("this looks like it needs a Reviewer")
- Does not switch specialists automatically — any handoff requires your explicit approval
- Does not advance mission state, move work packages, or write to
kitty-specs/
The system writes a lightweight session record (memory-dump), but does not produce full mission-grade tracing. You stay in control throughout.
Switching agents mid-session
To bring in a different perspective, simply invoke the command again with another profile:
/spec-kitty.profile-context reviewer
The previous agent's session context is checkpointed. The new specialist starts with the same conversation history available as background.
You can also switch based on an agent's own suggestion — but only if you agree:
Architect Alphonso: This looks like it needs a security review. Would you like to bring in the Reviewer?
You: Yes, switch to reviewer.
Keeping or discarding the output
By default, the session produces a lightweight memory-dump artefact. Nothing is committed or promoted automatically.
If the session produced something worth keeping — a decision, an approach, a pattern — you can request formalization:
"Write down what we decided." "Formalize this approach." "Capture this as a recommendation."
The agent will produce a structured artefact. You then decide whether to commit it, file it as a doctrine candidate, or discard it.
Nothing is promoted to doctrine without your explicit instruction.
The reasoning lifecycle
Ad-hoc sessions are the first layer in a three-layer model:
| Layer | Mode | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Think | Ad-hoc specialist session | Explore, question, experiment |
| Capture | Formalization (on request) | Turn a finding into a repeatable artefact |
| Execute | Mission pipeline | Structured, tracked delivery |
A session never escalates to Capture or Execute automatically. You decide if and when to move forward.
Example: quick architecture question
/spec-kitty.profile-context architect
> I'm adding a new sync endpoint. Should it be synchronous or return a job ID?
[Architect Alphonso responds with trade-off analysis]
> Good point on the timeout risk. Let's go with job ID. Capture that decision.
[Architect Alphonso writes a short ADR-style note]
The decision note can then be committed to architecture/ or used as input to the next /spec-kitty.specify run — at your discretion.