FAQs
Find quick answers to the most common questions about Tessl.
The following lists a set of questions that we have been asked about Tessl in the past. If you have a different question which isn’t answered here, talk to the community on the Discord Server.
How can specs help my AI-assisted workflow?
LLMs are fantastic at generating code, but that’s not always helpful. As engineers and users of coding agents, we know:
More code isn’t always more value
Unbounded generation creates unmaintainable systems
Without clear specs, we don’t know if the code does the right thing
...and even if it does, all of the context that got us there is lost in an ephemeral conversation with an agent
With specs, you and your agents stay aligned, and the documented knowledge stays consistent across sessions.
Can I use Tessl with an agent?
Yes! Tessl works with AI agents via the MCP client. You can run tessl setup agent to setup an agent, or follow the Quick start guide for full setup instructions.
How does Tessl make agent-written specs better?
Tessl provides an out-of-the-box toolkit which makes SDD more consistent, and less arduous, for both agents and humans.
Tessl gives you:
Consistent spec generation
Code and tests generation linked to the spec, with a feedback loop that ensures implementations pass every test
Built-in context management
Usage specs for popular open-source libraries
Plus, all of these functionalities are being consistently improved by our team.
What agents does Tessl support?
Tessl should work with any MCP-compatible agent. See the Supported platforms reference or the most up-to-date list of supported agents.
What programming languages does Tessl support?
Tessl is not programming language specific – try it with any programming language you like!
Can I use Tessl in an existing project?
Yes. You can run tessl init in an existing project to start adding new capabilities, or documenting existing ones, with specs. Tessl also helps migrate existing code into specs, and you can follow the code to spec common workflow for a step-by-step example.
Can I integrate Tessl with Lovable?
Yes. You can pair Lovable for the UI with Tessl for the backend of your application. Start by defining a clear API schema, then ask Lovable to build a UI against that schema using mock data. To test your app, clone the Lovable repo and run it locally alongside your Tessl backend server.
Tessl interviews me too much. How can I adjust the interview phase?
This and other flows can be customized by updating AGENTS.md. Here's one example of something you might add to make the interview phase less arduous.
Interview the user to get details before creating or updating specs, but only ask one or two questions at a time, so as not to overwhelm them.What is the difference between a spec and a usage spec ?
Fundamentally, a spec is used to generate software. A usage spec is used to describe existing software, so that the agent can use that software more effectively. This is explained further in Concepts
What is the difference between a @describe and @generate tag?
In the specification markdown, a @describe tag links to a code file but will not (re)-generate the code during build. The @generate tag explictily points to a code file that will be generated and kept in sync when building. See Spec syntax for more details.
What is a Usage Spec?
See our concepts page.
What is the Tessl Framework?
See our concepts page.
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