# develop-spike-summary

Documents the results of a completed technical or design spike. It captures findings, evidence, and a clear recommendation so the team avoids re-litigating decisions.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 726 installs · ★ 763
- Author: product-on-purpose
- License: Apache-2.0 · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-21
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/develop-spike-summary

## What it does

A spike answers a focused technical question within a strict time-box, such as whether an API integration is feasible. This skill turns raw investigation notes into a structured summary based on a defined template. It records the original question, allocated time versus actual time spent, the methodology tested, and concrete evidence like benchmark data or code snippets.

The skill insists on an unambiguous recommendation: proceed, do not proceed, or proceed with conditions. It prevents hedging. Links to prototypes, diagrams, and open questions are logged together, keeping all artifacts visible to the team.

Use this skill strictly after the time-boxed investigation concludes. If you need to document the actual architectural decision resulting from the spike, use `develop-adr` instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-spike-summary -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/develop-spike-summary/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-spike-summary -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-spike-summary -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-spike-summary
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-spike-summary -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills --path skills/develop-spike-summary
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-spike-summary -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/develop-spike-summary/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- document findings from a completed technical spike
- link architectural recommendations to benchmark data and code
- track allocated time versus actual time spent on an investigation
- preserve links to prototypes and diagrams in one summary

## Example prompts
- Document the results of our 2-day spike on migrating to the new auth service
- Create a spike summary for our database benchmarking test with these latency logs
- Summarize our API integration spike and draft a proceed recommendation

## Source text · SKILL.md · Apache-2.0

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 1a98e8b09db08d6e.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 1a98e8b09db08d6e
```text
---
name: develop-spike-summary
description: Documents the results of a completed technical or design spike, capturing the original question, approach, evidence-backed findings, and a clear proceed-or-not recommendation so the team does not re-litigate the exploration. Use once a time-boxed investigation has concluded. For the architecture decision the spike informs, use develop-adr instead; for research-based exploration, use discover-interview-synthesis.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  phase: develop
  version: "2.2.0"
  updated: 2026-07-04
  category: coordination
  frameworks: [triple-diamond, lean-startup, design-thinking]
  author: product-on-purpose
---
<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->
# 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

## When NOT to Use

- You are recording the resulting architecture decision itself -> use `develop-adr`; the spike informs, the ADR decides
- The exploration was user research, not technical or design feasibility -> use `discover-interview-synthesis`
- You want to propose the solution the spike pointed to -> use `develop-solution-brief`
- The spike has not happened yet: this skill documents results; time-box and run the exploration first

## Instructions

When asked to document a spike, follow these steps:

1. **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.

2. **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.

3. **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.

4. **Present Findings with Evidence**
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 1a98e8b09db08d6e

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 1a98e8b09db08d6e tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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