ra-aid-che-incubator — Summary

A minimal demo template from Red Hat's Eclipse Che incubator project that demonstrates spec-driven development with AI in a pre-configured Eclipse Che / OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace. The repository contains only 5 files: a devfile.yaml (workspace definition), a spec.md template (the specification scaffold), a README.md, a LICENSE, and a .github/ directory. There are no code files, no agent framework, and no tools — the entire value is the workflow demonstration: write a spec in spec.md, then run ra-aid --use-aider --cowboy-mode --show-cost --track-cost --msg-file spec.md in the workspace terminal to have RA.Aid implement it autonomously.

This is a Tier C entry: it is not an independent framework but a demo template that delegates all agent logic to RA.Aid. Its value is as a pattern for coupling spec-file driven development with cloud-workspace tooling.

Compared to seeds: architecturally nearest to agent-os (Archetype 4 — markdown scaffold, zero primitives), but even simpler: it ships a single spec template rather than a full standards directory. It is the thinnest possible layer on top of RA.Aid.

ra-aid-che-incubator — Overview

Origin

Created by the Eclipse Che / Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces team as a demonstration of spec-driven development in cloud development environments. Repository: che-incubator/demo-spec-driven-development-with-ai. EPL-2.0 license. 2 stars.

Philosophy

"Define an application's requirements in the spec.md file and then use AI tools (RA.Aid and Aider) to autonomously generate the code."

This is the simplest possible workflow:

1. Write a spec
2. Launch a pre-configured cloud workspace
3. Run one command

The Core Command

ra-aid --use-aider --cowboy-mode --show-cost --track-cost --msg-file spec.md

Target Users

Teams using Eclipse Che or Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces who want to experiment with spec-driven development without local tooling setup. The devfile handles all provisioning.

Demo Example

The demo-url-shortener branch shows a complete example: a spec.md describing a full-stack URL shortener, and the resulting code generated by RA.Aid + aider.

ra-aid-che-incubator — Architecture

Distribution

• GitHub template repository — clone or "Use this template"
• 5 files total; no npm/pip install required

Repo Structure

che-incubator/demo-spec-driven-development-with-ai/
├── devfile.yaml    # Eclipse Che / OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace definition
├── spec.md         # Specification template (fill in and run ra-aid against)
├── README.md
├── LICENSE         # EPL-2.0
└── .github/

devfile.yaml Role

The devfile.yaml defines a cloud workspace that:

• Pulls a pre-configured container image with RA.Aid, Aider, and their dependencies pre-installed
• Configures Kubernetes secret mounting for API keys (e.g., GEMINI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)
• Provides the workspace environment without requiring any local setup

spec.md Template

A heavily commented Markdown template guiding users to fill in:

• Project Goal (1-2 sentences)
• General Requirements & Setup (language, package manager, project structure, code quality tools)
• Component sections (tech stack, core functionality, data requirements, testing)
• Final Deliverable (definition of done)

Required Runtime

• Eclipse Che or Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces (for the cloud workspace)
• OR: any environment with RA.Aid + aider installed locally
• LLM API key (Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

ra-aid-che-incubator — Components

Files (5 total)

spec.md Sections (template structure)

External Dependencies (not bundled)

• ra-aid CLI — the actual agent framework
• aider — code editor (invoked via --use-aider flag)
• LLM provider API key (any RA.Aid-supported provider)
• Eclipse Che / OpenShift Dev Spaces (for cloud workspace mode)

ra-aid-che-incubator — Uniqueness & Positioning

Differs from Seeds

This template is architecturally closest to agent-os (Archetype 4 — markdown scaffold, zero primitives), but even simpler: it contains a single spec template file rather than a standards directory. Unlike all seeds, this repo's sole purpose is to demonstrate the --msg-file spec.md pattern: the spec IS the task. The devfile.yaml is the only infrastructure contribution; it pre-provisions a cloud workspace so the barrier to experimenting with RA.Aid is near zero. No seed framework ships a cloud workspace definition (devfile.yaml) as a component.

Positioning

A minimal entry point for teams evaluating spec-driven development in cloud development environments. The repo itself is not a framework — it is a demonstration template that shows the simplest possible bridge between a human-written specification and autonomous code generation.

Key Differentiators

1. devfile.yaml for cloud workspace provisioning — the only framework in the corpus to include a Kubernetes-native workspace definition
2. Demonstrates --msg-file pattern — the purest spec-to-code workflow: write spec, run one command
3. Zero friction for Eclipse Che / OpenShift Dev Spaces users — workspace pre-configured; no local install needed

Observable Failure Modes

• Total dependency on RA.Aid: any RA.Aid bug directly affects this template's output quality
• --cowboy-mode risk: fully autonomous + no approval gates means destructive commands run unreviewed
• Minimal documentation: spec.md template hints are guides, not constraints — underspecified inputs yield poor results