Openspec Archive

OpenSpec: Archive

Archive a deployed OpenSpec change and update specs.

Guardrails

• Favor straightforward, minimal implementations first and add complexity only when it is requested or clearly required.
• Keep changes tightly scoped to the requested outcome.
• Refer to openspec/AGENTS.md (located inside the openspec/ directory—run ls openspec or openspec update if you don't see it) if you need additional OpenSpec conventions or clarifications.

Steps

1. Determine the change ID to archive:
   • If this prompt already includes a specific change ID (for example inside a <ChangeId> block populated by slash-command arguments), use that value after trimming whitespace.
   • If the conversation references a change loosely (for example by title or summary), run openspec list to surface likely IDs, share the relevant candidates, and confirm which one the user intends.
   • Otherwise, review the conversation, run openspec list, and ask the user which change to archive; wait for a confirmed change ID before proceeding.
   • If you still cannot identify a single change ID, stop and tell the user you cannot archive anything yet.
2. Validate the change ID by running openspec list (or openspec show <id>) and stop if the change is missing, already archived, or otherwise not ready to archive.
3. Run openspec archive <id> --yes so the CLI moves the change and applies spec updates without prompts (use --skip-specs only for tooling-only work).
4. Review the command output to confirm the target specs were updated and the change landed in changes/archive/.
5. Validate with openspec validate --strict and inspect with openspec show <id> if anything looks off.

Reference

• Use openspec list to confirm change IDs before archiving.
• Inspect refreshed specs with openspec list --specs and address any validation issues before handing off.