How to Use these Specifications

These specifications are written in Markdown format and made freely available on Github for these reasons:

  • Accessibility: Markdown format is easily “understood” by generative AI tools, as the hierarchy and emphasis of content is clearly communicated through symbols. Content written in Markdown can also be displayed as formatted text on the web. Therefore, Markdown simultaneously optimizes content for people and LLMs.
  • Transparency & Efficiency: When hosted on git-based systems, contributors, change logs, and version control happens automatically.

As Andrej Karpathy noted in his 2025 Y Combinator talk, writing instructional content in Markdown is becoming a best practice.

Downloading the Specifications

To download any page as a markdown file for use with GAI tools:

  1. Visit the repository: https://github.com/locessentials/spex-template
  2. Navigate to any file (files ending in .md)
  3. Click the file name to open it
  4. Click the three dots in the top right
  5. Click download
  6. Double-click on the downloaded file to open it in a text editor.

Forking the GitHub Repository

Forking means creating your own complete copy of the repo where you can use the specifications freely. This functionality is especially valuable for both educators and students.

How to Fork the Repository

  1. Create a GitHub account: https://github.com/
  2. Visit the course repository: https://github.com/locessentials/spex-template
  3. Click the “Fork” button in the upper right corner
  4. Confirm creation of your personal copy
  5. Customize your fork according to your needs

Publishing your Specifications on the Web

You can easily publish your version of the specifications via a website hosted on GitHub Pages. This is especially helpful in production environments, where a link enables easy version control and ensures that everyone on the team is on the same page.

Contributing Improvements to the Main Repo

Found an error? Have an excellent note that should be added? Want to suggest additional parameters? Contributions are welcome.

  1. Identify an improvement (correction, clarification, new parameter)
  2. Make changes in your fork following the established Markdown format
  3. Create a Pull Request from your fork to the main repository
  4. Describe your contribution clearly in the description
  5. Wait for review and possible integration into the main repo

CC BY 4.0. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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