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Show HN: SpecMind – AI architecture tool for vibe coding (github.com)

8 points by mushgev ↗ HN
I built SpecMind, an open source developer tool for spec driven vibe coding. It keeps architecture and implementation aligned from the first commit instead of letting them drift apart.

With AI assistants writing more of our code, projects move faster but architectural consistency is often lost. Each developer or AI can introduce new patterns, and after a few sprints, the structure becomes fragmented. SpecMind helps prevent that by generating and maintaining living architecture specs directly from your code.

It works in three steps: 1. analyze – scans your codebase and generates .specmind/system.sm with architecture diagrams and relationships, 2. design – creates a spec describing how the feature will change the system, 3. implement – applies the spec, updates diagrams, and logs what changed

All specs are plain text files with Markdown and Mermaid diagrams, stored alongside your code. A VS Code extension lets you preview them visually.

Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and C#, with Go and Rust coming next. Works with Claude Code and Windsurf today, Cursor and Copilot soon.

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-9gQxw8DQU

Repo: https://github.com/specmind/specmind

Would love to get feedback from engineers working on large or complex codebases.

12 comments

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mushgev
SpecMind works by combining static code analysis with AI generated specs. It uses Tree-sitter to parse the entire codebase and build a structured model of services, layers, entities, and dependencies.

When you run analyze, it creates .specmind/system.sm which includes multiple diagram types such as system view, per service architecture, sequence flows, and entity relationships.

design <feature> creates a spec showing proposed changes, and implement <feature> updates the architecture once the feature is built, keeping the spec and code aligned.

All files are text based and versioned in the repo. The goal is to make architecture a living part of the codebase rather than something updated later in Confluence or diagrams.

Next steps include code-to-spec validation, PR diff integration, and more language support.

Happy to answer any technical questions or hear how others deal with architecture drift in fast moving projects.

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zniturah
This is great. Wondering what was author's experience using this framework for real projects.
kolobolo
Great concept. Can you use it without the VS Code extension, just from the CLI?
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artak_papikyan
Curious how it works with AI tools like Claude or Cursor in practice. Does it stay lightweight?
NarHar
Checked the repo. How hard is it to plug this into an existing project?
elma22
As someone who has worked on long-lived enterprise codebases, I can confirm that architecture drift is a silent killer. Having a tool that continuously generates specs and diagrams from actual code is extremely useful. The Mermaid diagrams in plain text are a big plus. Excited to see Go and Rust support.
mushgev
Thanks for this. Architecture drift was exactly what pushed me to build it. I wanted a way to keep the system picture accurate without anyone needing to manually update diagrams. Keeping everything in plain text with Mermaid felt like the simplest way to make it fit naturally into long-lived projects. Go and Rust support are high on the list.