Our review
Documents the results of a time-boxed technical or design exploration (spike) to capture learnings and recommendations for the team.
Strengths
- Provides a clear structure for documenting spikes
- Helps teams make informed decisions
- Captures evidence and artifacts
- Includes open questions for future work
Limitations
- Assumes the spike was conducted properly
- May be too structured for very small spikes
- Requires discipline to fill out thoroughly
After completing any time-boxed exploration where the findings need to be shared with the team.
When the exploration is trivial and decisions can be made without formal documentation.
Security analysis
SafeThis skill is purely a documentation template; it provides instructions for writing a spike summary without any executable commands or system interactions. No tools are declared, and the content is entirely advisory, posing no execution risk.
No concerns found
Examples
I just completed a 2-day spike on integrating with the Stripe API. Can you help me write a spike summary?I did a proof-of-concept to test if Rust is viable for our backend. Please generate a spike summary with recommendations.We evaluated three database options for our project. Write a spike summary documenting the findings and our recommendation.name: spike-summary description: Documents the results of a time-boxed technical or design exploration (spike). Use after completing a spike to capture learnings, findings, and recommendations for the team. license: Apache-2.0 metadata: category: coordination frameworks: [triple-diamond, lean-startup, design-thinking] author: product-on-purpose version: "1.0.0"
Spike Summary
A spike summary documents the results of a time-boxed exploration — a focused investigation to reduce uncertainty before committing to implementation. Spikes answer specific questions like "Can we integrate with this API?" or "Is this technology viable for our use case?" The summary captures findings so the team can make informed decisions without the spike participants needing to repeat explanations.
When to Use
- After completing a time-boxed technical exploration
- When evaluating technology choices or vendor options
- After proof-of-concept work that needs to inform team decisions
- When investigating feasibility of a proposed solution
- Before committing engineering resources to a new approach
Instructions
When asked to document a spike, follow these steps:
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State the Question Clearly Articulate the specific question the spike was designed to answer. Good spike questions are focused and answerable with the time-box available. If the question evolved during the spike, document both the original and final versions.
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Define the Time-Box Document the time allocated (e.g., 3 days) and actual time spent. If the spike exceeded its time-box, explain why and note any remaining work.
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Describe the Approach Explain what was tried, in what order, and why. This helps future readers understand the methodology and whether alternative approaches were considered.
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Present Findings with Evidence Document what was learned, supported by concrete evidence — code samples, performance benchmarks, screenshots, or API responses. Distinguish between verified findings and hypotheses that need more testing.
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Make a Clear Recommendation Answer the original question directly: proceed, do not proceed, or proceed with conditions. Avoid hedging — the team needs actionable guidance.
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Document Artifacts Link to any code, prototypes, diagrams, or documentation created during the spike. These artifacts often have ongoing value beyond the summary.
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Capture Open Questions Note what the spike didn't answer and what additional investigation might be needed.
Output Format
Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md to structure the output.
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
- [ ] Original question is clearly stated
- [ ] Time-box is documented (allocated vs. actual)
- [ ] Findings are supported by evidence, not just opinions
- [ ] Recommendation directly answers the question
- [ ] Artifacts (code, diagrams) are linked or attached
- [ ] Open questions identify remaining unknowns
Examples
See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed example.
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