Openspec Archive ChangeSAFE

Spec-driven development (SDD) for AI coding assistants.

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: openspec-archive-change
description: Archive a completed OpenSpec change in the experimental workflow. Use when the user wants to finalize and archive a change after implementation is complete. Also use when the user says "openspec archive" or "opsx archive".
allowed-tools: Bash(openspec:*)
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires openspec CLI.
metadata:
  author: openspec
  version: "1.0"
---

Archive a completed change in the experimental workflow.

**Store selection:** If the user names a store (a store is a standalone OpenSpec repo registered on this machine) or the work lives in one, run `openspec store list --json` to discover registered store ids, then pass `--store <id>` on the commands that read or write specs and changes (`new change`, `status`, `instructions`, `list`, `show`, `validate`, `archive`, `doctor`, `context`, `schemas`, `view`). Once selected, treat `--store <id>` as sticky for the rest of the workflow. Every unscoped example of those commands below is shorthand: before running it, append the flag. For example, run `openspec status --change "<name>" --json --store "<id>"`, not the unscoped form shown below. Other commands do not take the flag. Hints printed by commands already carry the flag; keep it on follow-ups. Without a store, commands act on the nearest local `openspec/` root.

**Project check:** These steps expect a project that already uses OpenSpec. Before the first step that writes anything (`new change`, `archive`, `sync specs`, or authoring an artifact file), confirm the project has a root: run `openspec list --json` (with `--store <id>` when a store is selected, since the store is then the root) and read `root`. A root object means the project is set up. `"root": null` means it is not - there is no `openspec/` directory here, and a write such as `openspec new change` would create one as a side effect. The command also exits non-zero, which is that answer rather than a broken CLI, so read the JSON instead of retrying or working around it.

One `"root": null` is not about setup: when a `status` error message starts with `Declared in` or `Invalid store declaration in` and names this project's `openspec/config.yaml` (or `config.yml`), the project does use OpenSpec through a store it declares, which this machine cannot resolve (the store is not registered, or the `store:` line is malformed). Do not treat it as uninitialized and skip the branches below: stop before writing and show the user that error's `message` and `fix`.

Otherwise, with no root, what happens next depends on how this workflow was reached:

- **Auto-selected**: you chose this workflow yourself, without the user naming OpenSpec, naming this skill, or running its slash command. Stop using OpenSpec and answer the request normally, as you would with no OpenSpec installed. Do not ask them to set anything up and do not mention OpenSpec setup.
- **Explicit OpenSpec request**: the user named OpenSpec, named this skill, or ran its slash command. Stop before writing and ask how to proceed: set this project up (`openspec init`), target a store they already have (`--store <id>`), or continue without OpenSpec for this request. Wait for their answer.

In both branches, never create the root as a side effect: do not run `openspec init` until the user asks for it, do not hand-create `openspec/` files, and do not let a command create it.

`<capability-path>` is the spec directory relative to `specs/` (for example, `user-auth` or `identity/user-auth`). Preserve the full path from each delta spec when resolving its main spec.

**Input**: Optionally specify a change name. If omitted, check if it can be inferred from conversation context. If vague or ambiguous you MUST prompt for available changes.

**Steps**

1. **Select the change**

   If a name is provided, use it. Otherwise:
   - Infer from conversation context if the user mentioned a change
   - Auto-select if only one active change exists
   - If ambiguous, run `openspec list --json` to get available changes and ask the user to select one

   When prompting, show only active changes (not already archived).
   Include the schema used for each change if available.

   Always announce: "Using change: <name>" and how to override (e.g., `/openspec-archive-change <other>`).

   **Load current archive inputs before the existing archive checks:**

   After resolving the selected change and planning root, run:
   ```bash
   openspec instructions archive --change "<name>" --json
   ```
   Keep the same selected-root flags on this command. This lookup is advisory and
   optional: it only supplies extra prompt inputs, so it must never block archiving.
   If it exits non-zero or returns invalid JSON — for example on an older CLI that
   does not support this command yet — continue the archive workflow with no
   context and no operation guidance. Do not report an error and do not stop.

   A successful response may omit both optional fields. Treat `context` as a
   required prompt-level input: read and consider it, and apply relevant project
   facts, conventions, and constraints. Treat `operationGuidance` as optional
   additive advice: read and consider every entry, and follow entries that are
   applicable and compatible with the built-in archive workflow.

   Keep both fields separate from built-in steps, explicit user choices, resolved
   paths, CLI checks, and command contracts. If context conflicts with one of those
   controlling inputs, report the conflict and preserve the controlling value. If
   guidance is inapplicable or conflicts with a controlling input, do not follow it
   and explain why. Do not infer replacement paths, skipped prompts, or flags from
   either field, and do not copy their text verbatim into specs, change artifacts,
   or archive summaries unless the user separately asks for it. These are
   prompt-level behavior contracts, not enforceable checks.

2. **Check artifact completion status**

   Run `openspec status --change "<name>"

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (0)

No findings outside the package's declared scope.

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.

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