Official Launch: v0.2.0

Status: ✅ Complete · Priority: Critical · Created: 2025-11-04 · Tags: release, launch, milestone, stability

Project: lean-spec
Team: Core Development

Overview

Launch LeanSpec v0.2.0 as the official public release, treating v0.1.0 as an alpha. This release establishes LeanSpec as production-ready for teams and solo developers.

Why 0.2.0, not 0.1.0?

• v0.1.0 = Alpha release for early validation
• v0.2.0 = First production-ready, publicly marketed release
• Allows us to ship critical fixes and polish before "official" launch
• Semantic versioning: 0.2.0 signals stability improvements over 0.1.0

Launch Goals:

1. Practice what we preach - Demonstrate 5 first principles (spec 049) through implementation
2. Operationalize principles - Ship tooling that prevents principle violations (validation, complexity checks)
3. Rock-solid stability - Zero critical bugs, 100% test pass rate
4. Clear philosophy - Users and AI agents understand "why" not just "what"
5. Strong launch momentum - Marketing emphasizes first-principles thinking

Key Shift from Original Plan:

• Discovered first principles (spec 049) fundamentally reframes v0.2.0 priorities
• Focus: Foundation & operationalization over feature accumulation
• Defer major redesign work (spec 050) to v0.3.0 to keep release lean and principle-aligned

Design

Release Strategy

Three-Phase Rollout:

Phase 1: Foundation (Week 1-2)

• Operationalize first principles through tooling and documentation
• Fix all failing tests, complete spec 048 (complexity analysis)
• Implement spec 051 (AGENTS.md, README updates)
• Start spec 018 (basic validation: --max-lines check)

Phase 2: Operationalization (Week 3-4)

• Complete spec 018 (full validation with complexity checks)
• Implement specs 024 (pattern-aware list) and 026 (init pattern selection)
• Dogfood: Review and split any specs >400 lines
• Beta testing with principle validation checklist

Phase 3: Launch Preparation (Week 5-6)

• Implement spec 044 (spec relationships clarity)
• Complete spec 035 (live specs showcase) if ready
• Marketing content emphasizing first-principles philosophy
• Official v0.2.0 release

What Changed:

• Elevated principle operationalization (specs 051, 018) to Phase 1
• Deferred major redesign (spec 050) to v0.3.0 (too large for v0.2.0)
• Merged docs work: spec 037 absorbed into spec 051
• Spec 034 (Copilot slash commands) moved to v0.3.0
• Added dogfooding checkpoint: split large specs before launch

Version Positioning

v0.1.0 (Current)    → Alpha - Internal validation, early adopters
v0.2.0 (This Spec)  → Official Launch - Public release, production-ready
v0.3.0+             → Iterative improvements based on feedback
v1.0.0 (Future)     → Feature-complete milestone with enterprise features

Success Criteria

Technical Quality Gates:

• 100% test pass rate (261/261 passing) - ✅ COMPLETE
• Zero critical or high severity bugs - ✅ COMPLETE
• MCP server stability (no crashes on errors) - ✅ STABLE
• <100ms CLI response time for common commands
• Documentation accuracy verified - ✅ COMPLETE (spec 056)
• All examples tested and working - ✅ COMPLETE (spec 056)

User Experience Benchmarks:

• ✅ Install to first spec: <5 minutes
• ✅ Find any spec via search: <10 seconds
• ✅ README clarity: 3 beta users succeed without help
• ✅ MCP integration works flawlessly in Claude/Copilot

Launch Readiness:

• ✅ CHANGELOG updated
• ✅ README reflects current features
• ✅ Marketing website ready (lean-spec.dev)
• ✅ Blog post drafted
• ✅ Demo video/GIF created
• ✅ Social media content prepared

Status Summary

Current Status (2025-11-06):

• Test suite: 261/261 passing (100%) - ✅ ALL TESTS PASSING
• Core CLI commands working: no TypeScript/lint errors
• MCP server stable after spec 042 fixes
• All critical path specs COMPLETE: 018, 024, 026, 042, 044, 045, 046, 048, 051, 052, 056
• Documentation site: 100% accurate, clean builds with no warnings

Phase 1: ✅ COMPLETE - Foundation achieved Phase 2: ✅ COMPLETE - Validation, UX improvements, branding all shipped Phase 3: 🟡 READY TO START - Dogfooding checkpoint next, then launch prep

Blocking Issue for Launch:

• ✅ All critical specs complete! Ready for dogfooding checkpoint and launch prep.

Dependencies

Critical Path:

• Spec 042: MCP error handling - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 048: Complexity analysis - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 051: Docs + AGENTS.md with first principles - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 018: Spec validation - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 045: Unified dashboard - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 046: Stats refactor - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 052: Branding assets - ✅ COMPLETE

High Priority:

• Spec 026: Init pattern selection - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 024: Pattern-aware list grouping - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 044: Spec relationships clarity - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 056: Docs site accuracy audit - ✅ COMPLETE
• Spec 061: AI-assisted spec writing - ✅ COMPLETE
• Dogfooding checkpoint: Split large specs

Nice-to-have:

• Spec 035: Live specs showcase

Deferred to v0.3.0:

• Spec 050: Tool redesign (too large)
• Spec 034: Copilot slash commands
• Specs 036, 016, 017, 025

Timeline

Week 1-2: Foundation (tests, principles docs, basic validation)
Week 3-4: Operationalization (full validation, core UX, dogfooding)
Week 5-6: Launch prep and execution
Week 7+: Community support and iteration

Target launch date: ~Mid-December 2025 (6 weeks from now)

Sub-Specs

Detailed information split for Context Economy:

• IMPLEMENTATION.md - Detailed implementation phases with step-by-step tasks
• TESTING.md - Quality gates, testing strategy, success metrics
• MARKETING.md - Positioning, messaging, launch channels, content strategy
• SESSION-2025-11-06.md - Session progress notes and next steps
• DOGFOODING-SUMMARY.md - Summary of dogfooding sessions and findings
• DOGFOODING-SESSION-2025-11-06.md - Detailed dogfooding session notes
• DOGFOODING-FINAL.md - Final dogfooding checkpoint and validation

Notes

Why This Matters

v0.1.0 Retrospective:

• Successfully validated core concept
• Proved MCP integration works
• Dogfooded successfully (28 archived specs)
• Identified rough edges and bugs

v0.2.0 Opportunity:

• Position as "official" first release
• Fix known issues before wide adoption
• Establish reputation for stability
• Build early community momentum

Release Philosophy

"Ship lean, iterate fast"

• Focus on stability over features
• Listen to early users
• Rapid iteration based on feedback

Not Including in v0.2.0:

• PM integrations (defer to v0.3.0+)
• GitHub Actions (defer to v0.3.0+)
• VS Code extension (defer to v0.3.0+)

Why defer? v0.2.0 = stability and core UX. Complex integrations add risk. Better to nail the basics first.

Success Definition

v0.2.0 is successful if:

1. All specs follow first principles (no specs >400 lines without sub-specs)
2. Validation tooling shipped and working
3. Philosophy is clear from docs
4. Establishes LeanSpec as serious, stable tool
5. Attracts 1,000+ early adopters who understand the philosophy
6. Generates positive community sentiment around first-principles thinking
7. Validates product-market fit for AI-powered dev teams