Copilot speckit.specify does not honor preset spec-template override

[waychow1986]

Copilot /speckit.specify does not honor preset spec-template override

Summary

When using the Copilot integration, a preset that overrides only spec-template appears to install and resolve correctly, but /speckit.specify still uses the core/default template because the generated Copilot agent instructions hardcode .specify/templates/spec-template.md instead of resolving the effective template through the preset resolution stack.

This makes template-only preset overrides unreliable for Copilot, even though the preset documentation says templates and commands are resolved independently and command overrides are optional.

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Spec Kit CLI: specify 0.8.18.dev0
• Integration: Copilot / VS Code
• Project initialized with .github/agents/*.agent.md and .github/prompts/*.prompt.md

What The Documentation Implies

The presets documentation says:

• Presets can provide template files and command files.
• Each file is looked up independently, so different files can come from different layers.
• Command overrides are optional.
• If only different template sections are needed, a template override should be sufficient.
• specify preset resolve <name> shows the winning file.

Reproduction

1. Install a preset that provides templates/spec-template.md but does not override speckit.specify.
2. Verify the template resolves from the preset:

specify preset resolve spec-template

Observed resolver output:

spec-template:
C:\git\harness\crm-project\.specify\presets\harness-presets\templates\spec-template.md
(top layer from: harness-presets v0.1.0)

3. Run /speckit.specify from Copilot in VS Code.
4. Inspect the generated spec.md.

Expected Behavior

/speckit.specify should use the effective spec-template selected by the preset resolution stack. In this case, it should use:

.specify/presets/harness-presets/templates/spec-template.md

A preset that only overrides spec-template should affect the generated spec without requiring a command override.

Actual Behavior

The generated spec follows the core/default template instead of the preset template.

The generated Copilot agent file contains hardcoded instructions like:

Copy `.specify/templates/spec-template.md` to `SPECIFY_FEATURE_DIRECTORY/spec.md` as the starting point
Load `.specify/templates/spec-template.md` to understand required sections.

Because the agent reads the core path directly, it bypasses the preset resolver even though specify preset resolve spec-template reports the preset template as the winner.

Why This Matters

This creates a mismatch between preset documentation and Copilot runtime behavior:

• specify preset resolve spec-template says the preset template wins.
• The Copilot /speckit.specify agent still reads the core template path.
• Users are forced to override speckit.specify as a workaround, even when they only want to change the spec template shape.

Suggested Fix

Update the Copilot speckit.specify command/agent instructions so they resolve the effective template instead of hardcoding .specify/templates/spec-template.md.

For example, the generated agent instructions could say:

Resolve the active `spec-template` using the Spec Kit preset resolution stack, equivalent to `specify preset resolve spec-template`, then read that resolved file as the starting template.
Do not directly read `.specify/templates/spec-template.md` unless the resolver returns that path.

Alternatively, the command-generation layer could materialize the winning template path into the generated agent instructions.

Additional Note

After adding a speckit.specify command override, Copilot loads the preset command correctly. However, that should not be required for a template-only override according to the preset documentation.