Reopen

Reopen Increment, Task, or User Story

Reopen completed work when issues are discovered after completion.

Quick Start

# Reopen entire increment (natural language - RECOMMENDED)
/sw:reopen 0043 Bug found in AC sync implementation

# OR with explicit --reason flag
/sw:reopen 0031 --reason "GitHub sync failing"

# Reopen specific task
/sw:reopen 0031 --task T-003 --reason "API integration broken"

# Reopen user story (all related tasks)
/sw:reopen 0031 --user-story US-001 --reason "Acceptance criteria not met"

Natural Language Syntax (NEW!)

You can now use natural language without the --reason flag:

# ✅ WORKS: Natural language (everything after increment ID is the reason)
/sw:reopen 0043 Bug found in implementation, need to fix

# ✅ WORKS: Traditional syntax with flag
/sw:reopen 0043 --reason "Bug found in implementation"

# ✅ WORKS: With task ID
/sw:reopen 0043 --task T-005 Found edge case not covered

How it works: All text after the increment ID (and any flags) is treated as the reason. No quotes needed!

Smart Detection First!

Before using this command manually, try reporting your issue naturally:

"The GitHub sync isn't working"

The smart-reopen-detector skill will:

1. 🔍 Scan recent work
2. 🎯 Find related items
3. 💡 Suggest the exact command to run

Usage

Reopen Entire Increment

Reopens the increment and marks all tasks as active.

/sw:reopen <increment-id> --reason "Why reopening"

Example:

/sw:reopen 0031-external-tool-status-sync --reason "GitHub sync failing in production"

What happens:

1. ✅ Changes status: COMPLETED → ACTIVE
2. 📋 Reopens all completed tasks: [x] → [ ]
3. ⚠️ Checks WIP limits (warns if exceeded)
4. 📝 Creates audit trail in metadata.json
5. 🔄 Syncs to external tools (GitHub/JIRA/ADO)
6. 📊 Updates status line

Reopen Specific Task

Reopens a single task without changing increment status.

/sw:reopen <increment-id> --task <task-id> --reason "Why reopening"

Example:

/sw:reopen 0031 --task T-003 --reason "GitHub API returning 500 errors"

What happens:

1. ✅ Updates task status: [x] → [ ]
2. 📝 Adds annotation: "Reopened: YYYY-MM-DD - reason"
3. 🔄 Unchecks task checkbox in external issue (if synced)
4. 📊 Updates status line progress

Reopen User Story

Reopens a user story and all its related tasks.

/sw:reopen <increment-id> --user-story <us-id> --reason "Why reopening"

Example:

/sw:reopen 0031 --user-story US-001 --reason "Authentication not working as specified"

What happens:

1. ✅ Finds all tasks with AC-US1-XX
2. 📋 Reopens each task: [x] → [ ]
3. 📄 Updates user story status in living docs
4. 🔄 Syncs to external tools

Force Reopen (Bypass WIP Limits)

Use --force to bypass WIP limit checks (use sparingly!).

/sw:reopen <increment-id> --force --reason "Critical production issue"

Example:

/sw:reopen 0031 --force --reason "Production down, need immediate fix"

⚠️ Warning: This can violate WIP limits. Use only for:

• Critical production incidents
• Hotfixes
• When no other increment can be paused

Parameters

Natural Language: If --reason is not provided, all remaining text is used as the reason.

Examples:

• /sw:reopen 0043 Bug found → reason = "Bug found"
• /sw:reopen 0043 --task T-005 Edge case → reason = "Edge case"
• /sw:reopen 0043 --reason "Formal reason" → reason = "Formal reason" (explicit)

WIP Limit Validation

The command automatically checks WIP limits before reopening increments.

Example (limit exceeded):

⚠️  WIP LIMIT WARNING:
   Current active: 2 features
   Limit: 2 features
   Reopening 0031 will EXCEED the limit (3/2)!

Options:
1. Pause another feature: /sw:pause 0030 --reason "Paused for critical fix"
2. Complete another feature: /sw:done 0029
3. Force reopen: /sw:reopen 0031 --force --reason "Production critical"

Continue? (y/n)

Unlimited types (no WIP check):

• hotfix - Critical production fixes
• bug - Production bug investigations
• experiment - POCs and spikes

Audit Trail

Every reopen is tracked in the increment's metadata.json:

{
  "id": "0031-external-tool-status-sync",
  "status": "active",
  "reopened": {
    "count": 1,
    "history": [
      {
        "date": "2025-11-14T15:30:00Z",
        "reason": "GitHub sync failing",
        "previousStatus": "completed",
        "by": "user"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Tasks are also annotated:

### T-003: GitHub Content Sync

**Status**: [ ] (Reopened: 2025-11-14 - GitHub sync failing)

**Previous Completions**:
- Completed: 2025-11-12T10:00:00Z
- Reopened: 2025-11-14T15:30:00Z - GitHub sync failing

External Tool Sync

When you reopen an increment/task, it syncs to external tools:

GitHub

• Reopens closed issue
• Updates issue body: "⚠️ Reopened: [reason]"
• Unchecks completed task checkboxes
• Adds label: reopened

JIRA

• Transitions issue: Done → In Progress
• Adds comment: "Reopened: [reason]"
• Updates resolution: None

Azure DevOps

• Updates work item state: Closed → Active
• Adds comment: "Reopened: [reason]"

Examples

Example 1: Production Bug

# Discover via smart detector
"The payment processing is broken after deployment"

# Suggested command (from smart detector)
/sw:reopen 0028-payment-integration --reason "Payment processing failing in prod"

# Result
✅ Increment 0028 reopened
⚠️  WIP LIMIT: 3/2 active features (EXCEEDED)
📋 Reopened 5 tasks
🔄 Synced to GitHub issue #123
💡 Continue work: /sw:do 0028

Example 2: Specific Task Fix

# Surgical reopen (just one task)
/sw:reopen 0031 --task T-003 --reason "GitHub API rate limiting not handled"

# Result
✅ Task T-003 reopened
📊 Progress: 23/24 tasks (95%)
💡 Fix and mark complete: [x] in tasks.md

Example 3: User Story Not Met

# Reopen entire user story
/sw:reopen 0025 --user-story US-002 --reason "Security requirements not satisfied"

# Result
✅ User story US-002 reopened
📋 Reopened 3 related tasks: T-004, T-005, T-006
📄 Updated living docs: us-002-security-requirements.md
🔄 Synced to JIRA story AUTH-123

Status Line Integration

After reopening, the status line shows:

📊 0031-external-tool-status-sync | ⚠️  REOPENED | 23/24 tasks (95%) | GitHub sync failing

The ⚠️ REOPENED badge indicates the increment was previously completed.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Tests Passing Locally, Failing in CI

# Reopen increment to investigate
/sw:reopen 0032 --reason "CI tests failing, passing locally"

# Debug CI config
# Fix issue
# Mark complete again

Scenario 2: Feature Works but Acceptance Criteria Not Met

# Reopen specific user story
/sw:reopen 0029 --user-story US-003 --reason "Missing error handling requirement"

# Implement missing AC
# Complete user story

Scenario 3: Regression Found

# Reopen old increment (if within 7 days)
/sw:reopen 0027 --task T-012 --reason "Regression: login timeout increased"

# Fix regression
# Add regression test
# Complete

Integration with Workflow

Full workflow:

# 1. Report issue (triggers smart detector)
"The GitHub sync is broken"

# 2. Smart detector suggests
# /sw:reopen 0031 --task T-003 --reason "GitHub sync broken"

# 3. Execute reopen
/sw:reopen 0031 --task T-003 --reason "GitHub sync broken"

# 4. Check status
/sw:status

# 5. Fix the issue
# Edit code...

# 6. Mark complete
# Update tasks.md: [ ] → [x]

# 7. Close increment (if all tasks done)
/sw:done 0031

Best Practices

✅ Do

• Always provide a clear --reason
• Check WIP limits first (/sw:status)
• Use task-level reopen for surgical fixes
• Use increment reopen for systemic issues
• Add reopened annotation to tasks.md

❌ Don't

• Abuse --force (respect WIP limits)
• Reopen old increments (>7 days) without investigation
• Reopen without understanding the issue
• Skip the reason (audit trail is critical)

Troubleshooting

Problem: "Cannot reopen: increment status is active, not completed"

Solution: Increment is already active, no need to reopen. Just continue work.

Problem: "WIP limit exceeded"

Solution: Pause or complete another increment first:

/sw:pause 0030 --reason "Paused for critical fix"
/sw:reopen 0031 --reason "Production issue"

Problem: "Task T-003 not found in tasks.md"

Solution: Check task ID spelling:

# List all tasks
cat .specweave/increments/0031-external-tool-status-sync/tasks.md | grep "^##"

Problem: "User story US-001 not found"

Solution: Check spec.md for correct user story ID.

Related Commands

• /sw:status - Check WIP limits
• /sw:progress - See increment progress
• /sw:do - Continue work after reopening
• /sw:pause - Pause another increment to make room
• /sw:done - Close increment when fixed

Technical Details

Implementation:

• Core logic: src/core/increment/increment-reopener.ts
• Smart detection: src/core/increment/recent-work-scanner.ts
• Status transitions: Updated in increment-metadata.ts

Validation:

• ✅ Increment exists
• ✅ Current status is COMPLETED
• ✅ WIP limits (unless --force)
• ✅ Task/User story exists

External Sync:

• GitHub: plugins/specweave-github/hooks/post-task-completion.sh
• JIRA: plugins/specweave-jira/hooks/post-task-completion.sh
• ADO: plugins/specweave-ado/hooks/post-task-completion.sh

Related Skills: smart-reopen-detector Auto-activation: Report issues like "not working", "broken", "failing"