Skip to content

technical-spec.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
151 lines (101 loc) · 5.66 KB

technical-spec.md

File metadata and controls

151 lines (101 loc) · 5.66 KB

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ DCP — DOCUMENT CONTEXT PROTOCOL

Document Type: Technical Specification Audience: Engineering team, technical reviewers, architecture board Confidentiality: [Specify: Internal / Confidential / Public]

Review Checklist: □ Problem statement explains why this work is needed, not just what it does □ Requirements are testable — each one can be verified with a specific test or measurable outcome □ Scope is explicitly bounded — what is included AND what is deliberately excluded □ All external dependencies are identified with version constraints and fallback behavior if unavailable □ Failure modes are enumerated with expected system behavior for each □ Rollback plan exists and has been validated against the deployment strategy □ Performance requirements are quantified with specific numbers (latency p50/p99, throughput, memory) — not qualitative ("should be fast") □ Data model changes include migration strategy and backward compatibility plan □ Security implications are addressed — authentication, authorization, input validation, data exposure □ API contracts specify request/response schemas, error codes, and rate limits □ Monitoring and alerting requirements are defined — not deferred to "later" □ Cost impact is estimated (infrastructure, third-party services, staffing)

Drafting Standards:

  • Lead with the problem and proposed solution before getting into details
  • Use diagrams for system interactions — do not describe architecture in prose alone
  • Distinguish between hard requirements (must) and goals (should)
  • Write for an engineer joining the project next month, not just the current team
  • Include concrete examples for non-obvious behavior, especially edge cases
  • Keep the spec updatable — use versioning and a changelog section
  • Reference existing systems and prior art where applicable

Policy Check: Before reviewing this document, verify that the embedded policy is current if a policy server is available. ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

[TITLE — PROJECT OR COMPONENT NAME]
Author(s): [Names]
Reviewers: [Names]
Status: [Draft / In Review / Approved / Superseded]
Date: [Date]
Version: [e.g., 1.0]
Tracking: [Link to issue, ticket, or project board]

Problem Statement

[In 3-5 sentences, describe the problem this spec addresses. Include evidence: user reports, metrics, incident references, or business requirements that motivate the work. Do not describe the solution here.]

Proposed Solution

[Describe the high-level approach in 1-2 paragraphs. A reader should understand what you intend to build and why this approach was chosen over alternatives.]

Goals and Non-Goals

Goals

  1. [Specific, measurable outcome this work will achieve]
  2. [Another goal]

Non-Goals

  1. [Something explicitly out of scope and why]
  2. [Another non-goal]

Design

Architecture Overview

[Include a diagram (ASCII, Mermaid, or linked image) showing the major components and their interactions. Describe the key architectural decisions.]

Data Model

[Define new or modified data structures, schemas, or storage requirements. Include migration strategy if changing existing schemas.]

API Design

[Define endpoints, request/response schemas, error codes, and authentication requirements. Use concrete examples.]

[Example request/response]

Key Implementation Details

[Cover algorithms, data flow, concurrency model, or other technical specifics that reviewers need to evaluate.]

Dependencies

Dependency Type Version/Constraint Fallback if Unavailable
[Service or library] [Internal / External] [Version] [Behavior]

Failure Modes

Failure Scenario Detection System Behavior Recovery
[What can go wrong] [How we know] [What happens] [How we recover]

Performance Requirements

Metric Target Measurement Method
Latency (p50) [e.g., < 50ms] [How measured]
Latency (p99) [e.g., < 200ms] [How measured]
Throughput [e.g., 1000 req/s] [How measured]
Memory [e.g., < 512MB per instance] [How measured]

Security Considerations

[Address authentication, authorization, input validation, data exposure, and any new attack surfaces introduced by this design.]

Monitoring and Alerting

[Define what metrics, logs, and alerts are needed. Specify alert thresholds and escalation paths. Do not defer this to post-launch.]

Rollout Plan

[Describe the deployment strategy: feature flags, canary, staged rollout, etc. Include the rollback procedure and the criteria that would trigger it.]

Cost Estimate

[Infrastructure costs, third-party service costs, and ongoing operational costs. Rough estimates are acceptable if labeled as such.]

Alternatives Considered

[Alternative A]

[What it is, why it was rejected. Be specific about the tradeoffs.]

[Alternative B]

[What it is, why it was rejected.]

Open Questions

  • [Unresolved question that needs input before or during implementation]
  • [Another open question]

Changelog

Version Date Author Changes
[1.0] [Date] [Name] [Initial draft]