Introduction - Specific

specific dev starts everything your project needs locally — databases, caches, object storage, real-time sync, durable workflows, and application services — all with a single command.

specific dev

Your coding agent defines the infrastructure your project needs in a specific.hcl configuration file. When you run specific dev, Specific reads that configuration and:

Installs and starts all required resources (e.g. Postgres)
Starts your application services
Sets up HTTPS so public services are available at https://<service>.local.spcf.app
Launches the admin dashboard at https://local.spcf.app

All connection details — database URLs, S3 credentials, ports — are automatically injected into your services as environment variables. No .env files needed.

One-time system setup

The first time you run specific dev, Specific configures HTTPS and DNS resolution for *.local.spcf.app domains. This may prompt for your system password. The setup only runs once and applies to all Specific projects on your machine.

If you want to skip local DNS and TLS setup entirely, use tunnel mode with specific dev --tunnel instead.

Config file watching

While specific dev is running, changes to specific.hcl are automatically detected. As your coding agent updates the configuration, the environment reloads — new services start, removed services stop, and resource changes take effect without a manual restart.