Re: spec-generator URL migration notice + bikeshed support

Hi all,

The spec-generator labs instance has now been discontinued.
The different PRs Ken mentioned have also been merged but let us know if
you notice a service/script that still relies on the old instance.

Thanks,

Denis

On 07/01/2026 22:22, Kenneth G. Franqueiro wrote:
> Hi again and Happy New Year all,
> 
> I wanted to send a quick reminder about spec-generator's migration from https://labs.w3.org/spec-generator/ to https://www.w3.org/publications/spec-generator/. We plan to shut down the old instance on February 2, 2026.
> 
> Before the holiday break, we created PRs for W3C repositories as well as a few important repositories outside of the W3C GitHub organization. Over half of those PRs have already been merged.
> 
> The following PRs are currently still open. If you happen to maintain any of these repositories, reviews would be appreciated.
> 
> https://github.com/w3c/apa/pull/379
> https://github.com/w3c/i18n-activity/pull/2061
> https://github.com/w3c/normative-references-checker/pull/11
> https://github.com/w3c/publ-a11y/pull/759
> https://github.com/tobie/pr-preview/pull/172
> 
> And of course, please let us know if you encounter any issues using or migrating to the new instance.
> 
> Thanks,
> --Ken
> 
> On Tuesday, December 16, 2025 11:28:44 AM Eastern Standard Time Kenneth G. Franqueiro wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> With the recent modernization of the spec-generator codebase in 2.0 and the addition of Bikeshed support in 3.0 (details below), the service is now stable enough for us to move it away from labs.
>> Starting from today, spec-generator is available at https://www.w3.org/publications/spec-generator/.
>>
>> We will keep the old URL (https://labs.w3.org/spec-generator/) running until February 2, 2026 so people have time to update their scripts. After that date, the service will return HTTP 410.
>>
>> In the vast majority of cases, migrating should only require changing the subdomain and path, from labs.w3.org/spec-generator/ to www.w3.org/publications/spec-generator/.
>>
>> The only special case requiring more attention is when overriding respecConfig properties in a POST request, in which case those parameters must now be prefixed with "md-" (e.g. md-publishDate instead of publishDate). (This is not to be confused with overriding respecConfig within the `url` parameter, which still works as-is.)
>>
>> For details on the addition of Bikeshed support as well as expansion of ReSpec features in 3.0, see https://github.com/w3c/spec-generator/pull/712 and https://github.com/w3c/spec-generator/pull/719
>>
>> For details on the modernization performed in 2.0, see https://github.com/w3c/spec-generator/pull/702
>>
>> If you have questions or need guidance updating your scripts, feel free to reach out to us. I plan to send pull requests to affected w3c repositories as well as a few others (e.g. pr-preview), over the course of this week and probably continuing into January.
>>
>> Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us ensure a smooth transition!
>>
>> --Ken and Denis
>>
>>
>>
>>
> 
> 
> 
> 

Received on Monday, 2 February 2026 05:36:24 UTC