VirtualBoard Template

Feature Specification System

VirtualBoard's feature specification system provides a standardized approach for AI agents and humans to collaborate on software development:

Markdown-First

All important information lives in Markdown files that are easy to diff, parse, and index for both humans and AI agents.

Parallel Development

Multiple agents can work on different features simultaneously without stepping on each other's toes.

Automation Ready

Simple rules that are trivially validated by CI and followed by agents to enable seamless automation.

Feature Spec Templates

VirtualBoard provides templates for creating feature specifications:

Feature Spec Template

The canonical feature spec template for creating comprehensive feature documentation:

View Template →

PR Template

The pull request template that ensures all PRs follow the same structure and validation:

View PR Template →

Rules Template

The machine-readable agent rules and validation parameters:

View Rules →

Feature Spec Implementation

VirtualBoard provides both CLI tool integration and shell script fallbacks for managing features:

CLI Tool Integration

Use the vb CLI tool when available:

# Check for Virtual Board CLI
if command -v vb > /dev/null; then
    echo "Virtual Board CLI found"
    vb version
    vb help
    # Use vb commands for task management
else
    echo "Virtual Board CLI not found, using shell scripts"
    # Fall back to shell scripts or plain bash
fi

Fallback to Shell Scripts

When the CLI tool is not available, use shell scripts:

# Make scripts executable
chmod +x .virtualboard/scripts/*.sh

# Use shell scripts
./.virtualboard/scripts/ftr-new.sh "User Authentication" auth frontend
./.virtualboard/scripts/ftr-move.sh FTR-0001 in-progress agent-cursor-1
./.virtualboard/scripts/ftr-validate.sh
./.virtualboard/scripts/ftr-index.sh

Feature Spec Validation

VirtualBoard enforces strict validation rules to ensure consistency:

Schema Validation

All feature specs must validate against schemas/frontmatter.schema.json to ensure proper structure and required fields.

Folder Consistency

The spec's folder location must match its status field in the frontmatter to maintain system integrity.

Validation ensures:

All required sections are present
Content follows established formatting guidelines
Technical terminology is consistent across specs
All links and references are valid

Feature Spec Best Practices

To get the most from VirtualBoard's feature specification system:

Use the proper naming conventions for files and branches
Ensure all generated content follows the VirtualBoard design system
Update feature specs and system specs as agents generate new content
Use the CLI tool when available for better integration and automation
Validate features regularly to catch issues early