Frequently asked questions
Updated 2026-05-13.
Pricing & plans
What does SpecStep cost?
Free to start, with paid tiers for higher monthly quotas, the most thorough review profile, and external connectors. The current numbers live on the Pricing page so they stay in sync with the in-app picker.
Do I need a credit card to try SpecStep?
No. The Free tier doesn't ask for payment information. You can run through an interview, generate a spec, and see what comes out before deciding whether a paid tier fits.
How do I cancel?
From Settings → Billing. You keep access through the end of the current billing period and aren't charged again. We don't pro-rate refunds for partial months.
Do unused generations roll over?
No. Each plan's generation count resets at the start of your billing cycle. If you regularly hit your cap, the next tier up is usually the right call.
What happens if I exceed my monthly quota?
New generations are paused until the cycle resets or you upgrade. The existing packages, interviews, and integrations stay accessible — only new generations are blocked.
Generations & review profiles
Which review profile should I pick?
- Fast for prototypes, proofs of concept, and one-off scripts.
- Normal for production code your team will maintain. This is the default.
- Extensive for systems where the cost of getting it wrong is high — payments, security-critical paths, regulated workloads.
The interview's profile picker shows a per-intake cost and duration estimate that adapts as Otto learns more about your project — the numbers come from your actual usage history rather than fixed approximations.
How long does a generation take?
Roughly: Fast finishes in a few minutes; Normal takes around ten to fifteen; Extensive can run up to half an hour. The interview shows a live estimate before you commit.
Can I edit a generated package?
Yes — the package is yours. Download the zip, push it to your own repository, branch, PR, anything you'd do with a normal repo. Subsequent generations land on a fresh branch so your edits aren't overwritten.
What if I need a small change, not a full regeneration?
File an addendum against the completed package — it produces a focused five-file markdown bundle covering just the change, traceable back to the original. Faster, cheaper, and the original spec stays intact.
Data & privacy
Where does my data live?
Azure-hosted in the United States. Interview transcripts and reference documents are encrypted at rest. See the Privacy Policy for the full data-handling breakdown.
Do you store my source code?
No. SpecStep generates documentation from the interview and any reference materials you attach — we don't ingest your codebase. The output is a markdown package that lives in your account until you delete it.
Can I delete my data?
Yes — from Settings → Delete account. Individual interviews, generations, and packages can also be deleted from the workspace and recovered from the Recycle Bin for 30 days before permanent removal. Audit logs are retained for 13 months per privacy regulations.
Do you train models on my data?
No. SpecStep doesn't train models on your interview content, reference documents, or generated packages. We use third-party AI providers under their no-training-on-API-traffic terms.
Integrations
Where does the generated package go?
Your choice. Download the zip from the workspace, push it to a GitHub repository through the connected source-control integration, or pull it via the REST API or MCP.
Do you support other source-control providers?
GitHub today; Azure DevOps, GitLab, and Bitbucket are coming. The release notes are the source of truth for what's shipped.
Can I pull reference docs from SharePoint, OneDrive, or Google Drive?
SharePoint, OneDrive, and Google Drive are live today (Pro and Team tiers). Connect a site or folder during the interview and SpecStep summarizes the contents and feeds them into your spec as reference documents. Dropbox is coming next. Free accounts can connect and preview from the live providers; generating from connector-sourced references requires a paid tier.
Do you support webhooks?
Yes. Subscribe to generation lifecycle events from Settings → Webhooks. Deliveries are signed, retried with exponential backoff, and you can rotate the secret or send a test payload from the same panel.
Programmable surface (MCP + REST)
What is MCP, and do I need it?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets your AI coder call SpecStep tools directly — running interviews, starting generations, fetching packages — from inside Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, or GitHub Copilot. You don't need it to use the web app, but if your AI coder is already where the work happens, it removes the context switch.
Do I need an API key for MCP?
No. MCP clients can sign in through the browser — you approve once and the client gets a 90-day token automatically. API keys still work for headless and CI flows; pick whichever fits your setup.
How do I install the MCP server in my AI coder?
The MCP documentation has copy-paste snippets for each client. Most setups are one config file edit and a client restart.
Account management
I deleted something by accident — can I get it back?
Yes, if it's been less than 30 days. Open the Recycle Bin from the workspace, find the item, and restore it. After 30 days, deleted items are permanently removed.
Can I add someone else to my account?
Multi-user workspaces ship with the Team plan, which is rolling out next. Until then, each account is single-user; for early access, drop us a line.
Still stuck?
For account, billing, or product issues, submit a ticket — it lands in the support queue and we reply within one business day. For pre-sales, partnerships, press, or general feedback, use the contact form.