Over the past few months I've really tried to lean into SDD, after trying SpecKit and GSD, I finally settled on OpenSpec as my preferred spec generator.

However I'm not quite ready to give up on understanding the actual code that the LLM is producing.

To help with maintaining my comprehension of the generated code, I've tried a few different methods, such as generating smaller specs for more granular features, and pausing after each major task block to review the code. Approaching this via "/ospx-apply Run until task 3.5 is complete and then pause for review" gives me the ability to vet the code being produced and make corrections if needed. But honestly, the major issue that I have is that coding style and good code hygiene is often lacking, even with appropriate AGENTS.md and Skills loaded (the usual issues of multiple helper methods, inconsistent naming).

I can't help but wonder what developers are doing in their workplaces. Is SDD actually used as part of the developer toolkit? Am I trying to keep too much control over the code and should I just let the LLM be free within the bounds of a spec to guide it? Or should I abandon SDD and look at another path to ensure that code being produced can at least be maintained long term?