Spec-Driven Development Goes Mainstream: GitHub Spec Kit, AWS Kiro, and Tessl Ship Dedicated Specification Tooling

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Three major platforms shipped dedicated spec-driven development tools in early 2026: GitHub's Spec Kit, AWS Kiro, and Tessl Framework. The pattern replaces 'prompt engineering' with 'specification engineering' — writing structured project briefs that define scope, constraints, architecture preferences, and acceptance criteria before any AI generates code. This shift front-loads effort into specification rather than implementation, eliminating entire categories of generated-code problems. Well-structured specs produce specific, testable output; vague prompts produce vague code.