Openspec Archive Change

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, 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.

<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: " and explain how to override the selection.

   Load current archive inputs before the existing archive checks:

   After resolving the selected change and planning root, run:

   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>" --json to check artifact completion.

   Parse the JSON to understand:

   • schemaName: The workflow being used
   • planningHome, changeRoot, artifactPaths, and actionContext: path and scope context
   • artifacts: List of artifacts with their status (done, skipped, or other)

   If any artifacts are neither done nor skipped (skipped artifacts satisfy the requirement - the change declares skip_specs):

   • Display warning listing incomplete artifacts
   • Ask the user to confirm they want to proceed
   • Proceed if user confirms

3. Check task completion status

   Read the tasks file (typically tasks.md) to check for incomplete tasks.

   Count tasks marked with - [ ] (incomplete) vs - [x] (complete).

   If incomplete tasks found:

   • Display warning showing count of incomplete tasks
   • Ask the user to confirm they want to proceed
   • Proceed if user confirms

   If no tasks file exists: Proceed without task-related warning.

4. Assess delta spec sync state

   Use artifactPaths.specs.existingOutputPaths from status JSON as the only delta-spec source. If the specs entry is missing or existingOutputPaths is empty, proceed without a sync prompt and do not infer delta specs from other artifacts.

   If delta specs exist:

   • Compare each delta spec with its corresponding main spec at <planningHome.root>/openspec/specs/<capability-path>/spec.md (use the store-aware planningHome.root from step 2, not a hardcoded repo path)
   • Determine what changes would be applied (adds, modifications, removals, renames)
   • Show a combined summary before prompting

   Prompt options:

   • If changes needed: "Sync now (recommended)", "Archive without syncing"
   • If already synced: "Archive now", "Sync anyway", "Cancel"

   Route on the answer:

   • "Cancel" — stop, do not archive
   • "Archive without syncing" or "Archive now" — proceed to archive
   • "Sync now" or "Sync anyway" — sync, then verify (below)
   • Anything else — ask again rather than archiving

   Before a selected sync writes any main spec, run openspec instructions specs --change "<name>" --json once with the same selected-root flags. Require a zero exit status and valid artifact-instruction JSON. If the lookup fails or returns invalid JSON, report the error and stop before writing any main spec or moving the change. A valid response with omitted rules is the no-rules case. Apply returned rules only to the content and form of main specs produced by this merge; do not use them as archive guidance, change CLI behavior, or copy the rule text into any output file.

   Then run the openspec-sync-specs workflow inline (agent-driven intelligent merge) for change '', passing the delta spec analysis and the fetched specs-rule snapshot from above, and wait for it to finish. The inline sync must reuse that snapshot without fetching specs instructions again. Do not delegate it to a background task — step 5 would move changeRoot out from under a sync that is still reading it, leaving the change archived and the main specs never updated. If your agent can only run it by delegation, delegate synchronously and wait for the result.

   Then re-run the comparison from the top of this step against every capability that has a delta spec in artifactPaths.specs.existingOutputPaths — not only the ones the sync reports it touched. A successful sync leaves nothing left to apply, so each capability must now read as already synced:

   • ADDED requirements present
   • MODIFIED requirements carrying the scenario and description changes named in the delta, with their other scenarios intact
   • REMOVED requirements gone — and where this sync retired a capability (removed its last requirement, leaving ## Requirements empty), its main spec deleted rather than left empty; a spec the sync deliberately kept and reported is also a match
   • RENAMED requirements present under the new name and absent under the old one

   If the sync failed, or any capability does not match, report what differs and stop — do not archive. Nothing has moved and changeRoot is intact, so the user can fix the mismatch or re-run the sync and start the archive again.

5. Perform the archive

   Create an archive directory under planningHome.changesDir if it doesn't exist:

   mkdir -p "<planningHome.changesDir>/archive"
   

   Generate the target name: use the change name as-is when it already starts with a YYYY-MM-DD- prefix; otherwise prepend the current date as YYYY-MM-DD-<change-name>. Never stack a second date (same rule as openspec archive).

   Check if target already exists:

   • If yes: Fail with error, suggest renaming existing archive or using different date
   • If no: Move changeRoot to the archive directory

   mv "<changeRoot>" "<planningHome.changesDir>/archive/<target-name>"
   

6. Display summary

   Show archive completion summary including:

   • Change name
   • Schema that was used
   • Archive location
   • Whether specs were synced (if applicable)
   • Note about any warnings (incomplete artifacts/tasks)

Output On Success

## Archive Complete

**Change:** <change-name>
**Schema:** <schema-name>
**Archived to:** the archive path derived from `planningHome.changesDir`/<target-name>/
**Specs:** <"✓ Synced to main specs" only if the step 4 verification passed; otherwise "No delta specs" or "Sync skipped">

<"All artifacts complete. All tasks complete." — or, if archived with warnings, list them instead (e.g. "Archived with 2 incomplete tasks")>

Guardrails

• Announce the selected change; prompt for selection when it is ambiguous
• Use artifact graph (openspec status --json) for completion checking
• Don't block archive on warnings - just inform and confirm
• Preserve .openspec.yaml when moving to archive (it moves with the directory)
• Show clear summary of what happened
• If sync is requested, run the openspec-sync-specs workflow inline (agent-driven)
• Never archive while a spec sync is still in flight — run the sync inline and verify the main specs before moving changeRoot
• If delta specs exist, always run the sync assessment and show the combined summary before prompting
• Apply relevant runtime context and report conflicts; operation guidance remains advisory
• Consider every guidance entry and explain any inapplicable or conflicting advice
• Existing CLI checks, resolved paths, prompts, and command contracts are unchanged
• Artifact rules constrain only the specs being written and are never operation guidance
• Never copy runtime context, operation guidance, or artifact-rule text verbatim into output files