Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.
Sponsors
SSkills DirectorySkills Directory
Know which skills are safe — weekly.
SSkills DirectorySkills Directory
Is that skill safe to install?
Are you the author of Spec Change?
Add the live security badge to your README. It updates with every re-scan.
[](https://www.skillsdirectory.com/skills/volekerb-spec-change)
---
name: spec-change
description: Change a running worker's spec, acceptance or scope safely through the task DB. Use when a running worker's spec, acceptance or scope must change.
---
# Changing a running worker's spec
A running worker does not re-read its task, so a spec delta sent by message is ignored (T-0016 failed 3 attempts this way; M253/M255). Stop the worker, update the task in the DB, respawn.
1. Stop the worker:
`factory stop <worker> --reason "spec vN"`
2. Wait until `factory agents` no longer shows it live (or the stop fallback ran). Do not edit the task while it is still running.
3. Rewrite the spec, then acceptance in a SEPARATE call (only one argument per call may be `-`):
```
factory task update T --spec - <<'EOF'
<full new spec>
EOF
factory task update T --acceptance - <<'EOF'
<full new acceptance>
EOF
```
4. Record what changed:
`factory task note T "spec vN: <what changed>"`
5. Respawn the worker:
`factory spawn <role> --task T`
Always write the full spec, not a delta. Check with `factory task show T` that both spec and acceptance read correctly before respawning.
