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Specific is infrastructure-as-code designed for coding agents. Your infrastructure is defined in a single specific.hcl file alongside your application code: how to build, run, and deploy the full system, in both development and production. Specific is fully generic: it works with any programming language and framework, without SDKs. All connection details reach your code through environment variables.

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One file, every environment

A typical specific.hcl:
specific.hcl
build "app" {
  base    = "node"
  command = "npm run build"
}

service "web" {
  build = build.app
  command = "npm start"

  endpoint {
    public = true
  }

  env = {
    PORT         = port
    DATABASE_URL = postgres.main.url
  }

  dev {
    command = "npm run dev"
  }

  pre_deploy {
    command = "npm run db:migrate"
  }
}

postgres "main" {}
The same file drives every environment your project runs in:
  • specific dev runs everything locally (Postgres, services, sync engines) with connection details injected automatically. No .env files.
  • specific deploy builds the code, provisions managed infrastructure, and rolls out services to Specific Cloud. A project can have multiple deployed environments (production, staging, previews), all defined by the same file.
References like postgres.main.url resolve to the right value in each environment: a local database during development, a managed one per deployed environment.

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Building blocks

BlockWhat it defines
buildHow to produce artifacts: managed base environments or custom Dockerfiles.
serviceLong-running processes: web apps, APIs, workers.
cronScheduled jobs with per-run logs and metrics.
postgresManaged PostgreSQL databases, with optional Reshape zero-downtime migrations and real-time sync.
storageS3-compatible object storage.
redisRedis-compatible caches (Valkey).
temporalManaged Temporal workflow engines for durable workflows.
secret / configParameterized sensitive and environment-specific values.
volumePersistent directories inside services.
environmentPer-environment config overrides.

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The workflow

Whether you’re a human or a coding agent, working with Specific follows the same loop:
  1. Create or edit specific.hcl.
  2. Run specific check to validate the configuration - always, after every change.
  3. Run specific dev to run the system locally, and specific exec <service> -- <command> for one-off commands like migrations and seeding.
  4. Run specific deploy to ship it.
After deploying, manage the project from the dashboard: logs and metrics, scaling, database browsing, secrets, and custom domains.

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Designed for coding agents

Your coding agent writes and maintains specific.hcl: you describe what you want to build, and the agent defines the infrastructure alongside the code. The CLI ships its own LLM-optimized documentation (specific docs), and specific init wires it into your agent’s context. See Coding agents.