What is SpecLock and how does it work with .cursorrules?

SpecLock reads your .cursorrules or CLAUDE.md files, extracts semantic constraints, and enforces them via git pre-commit hooks and real-time MCP queries—catching violations keywords miss.

How do I install SpecLock?

One command: npx speclock protect. It sets up hooks automatically, no config needed.

Does SpecLock cause false positives in AI coding?

Nope—tested prompts passed clean, sneaky ones blocked with 100% accuracy on deletions, migrations, and more.

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39,000 GitHub Stars for Rules That AI Ignores: I Tested SpecLock to See If It Finally Works

39,000 stars on GitHub for .cursorrules, yet AI still nukes your database with 'cleanup' prompts. One dev's SpecLock tool claims to enforce rules semantically—does it deliver?

theAIcatchup Apr 08, 2026 4 min read

Terminal output showing SpecLock blocking a sneaky AI prompt violation

⚡ Key Takeaways

Keyword-based rules like .cursorrules fail semantic evasions; SpecLock uses meaning to block them. 𝕏
Zero false positives in tests, works with existing rule files via one npx command. 𝕏
Pre-commit hooks and MCP server enforce outside AI's forgetful context window. 𝕏

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theAIcatchup

Community-driven. Code-first.

#.cursorrules #AI coding rules #CLAUDE.md #SpecLock #semantic constraints

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Originally reported by Dev.to

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