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# Add Complexity Management Guidelines
## Why
OpenSpec currently lacks guidance on managing complexity, leading to over-engineered solutions when simple ones suffice.
## What Changes
- Add "Start Simple" section to openspec/README.md with default minimalism rules
- Add complexity triggers to help identify when complexity is justified
- Enhance AI assistant instructions in CLAUDE.md to bias toward simplicity
## Impact
- Affected specs: None (documentation only)
- Affected code: openspec/README.md, CLAUDE.md
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# OpenSpec Instructions
This document provides instructions for AI coding assistants on how to use OpenSpec conventions for spec-driven development. Follow these rules precisely when working on OpenSpec-enabled projects.
## Core Principle
OpenSpec is an AI-native system for change-driven development where:
- **Specs** (`specs/`) reflect what IS currently built and deployed
- **Changes** (`changes/`) contain proposals for what SHOULD be changed
- **AI drives the process** - You generate proposals, humans review and approve
- **Specs are living documentation** - Always kept in sync with deployed code
## Start Simple
**Default to minimal implementations:**
- New features should be <100 lines of code initially
- Use the simplest solution that works
- Avoid premature optimization (no caching, parallelization, or complex patterns without proven need)
- Choose boring technology over cutting-edge solutions
**Complexity triggers** - Only add complexity when you have:
- **Performance data** showing current solution is too slow
- **Scale requirements** with specific numbers (>1000 users, >100MB data)
- **Multiple use cases** requiring the same abstraction
- **Regulatory compliance** mandating specific patterns
- **Security threats** that simple solutions cannot address
When triggered, document the specific justification in your change proposal.
## Directory Structure
```
openspec/
├── project.md # Project-specific context (tech stack, conventions)
├── README.md # This file - OpenSpec instructions
├── specs/ # Current truth - what IS built
│ ├── [capability]/ # Single, focused capability
│ │ ├── spec.md # WHAT the capability does and WHY
│ │ └── design.md # HOW it's built (established patterns)
│ └── ...
├── changes/ # Proposed changes - what we're CHANGING
│ ├── [change-name]/
│ │ ├── proposal.md # Why, what, impact (consolidated)
│ │ ├── tasks.md # Implementation checklist
│ │ ├── design.md # Technical decisions (optional, for complex changes)
│ │ └── specs/ # Future state of affected specs
│ │ └── [capability]/
│ │ └── spec.md # Clean markdown (no diff syntax)
│ └── archive/ # Completed changes (dated)
```
### Capability Organization
**Use capabilities, not features** - Each directory under `specs/` represents a single, focused responsibility:
- **Verb-noun naming**: `user-auth`, `payment-capture`, `order-checkout`
- **10-minute rule**: Each capability should be understandable in <10 minutes
- **Single purpose**: If it needs "AND" to describe it, split it
Examples:
```
✅ GOOD: user-auth, user-sessions, payment-capture, payment-refunds
❌ BAD: users, payments, core, misc
```
## Key Behavioral Rules
### 1. Always Start by Reading
Before any task:
1. **Read relevant specs** in `specs/[capability]/spec.md` to understand current state
2. **Check pending changes** in `changes/` directory for potential conflicts
3. **Read project.md** for project-specific conventions
### 2. When to Create Change Proposals
**ALWAYS create a change proposal for:**
- New features or functionality
- Breaking changes (API changes, schema updates)
- Architecture changes or new patterns
- Performance optimizations that change behavior
- Security updates affecting auth/access patterns
- Any change requiring multiple steps or affecting multiple systems
**SKIP proposals for:**
- Bug fixes that restore intended behavior
- Typos, formatting, or comment updates
- Dependency updates (unless breaking)
- Configuration or environment variable changes
- Adding tests for existing behavior
- Documentation fixes
**Complexity assessment:**
- If your solution requires >100 lines of new code, justify the complexity
- If adding dependencies, frameworks, or architectural patterns, document why simpler alternatives won't work
- Default to single-file implementations until proven insufficient
### 3. Creating a Change Proposal
When a user requests a significant change:
```bash
# 1. Create the change directory
openspec/changes/[descriptive-name]/
# 2. Generate proposal.md with all context
## Why
[1-2 sentences on the problem/opportunity]
## What Changes
[Bullet list of changes, including breaking changes]
## Impact
- Affected specs: [list capabilities that will change]
- Affected code: [list key files/systems]
# 3. Create future state specs for ALL affected capabilities
# - Store complete spec files as they will exist after the change
# - Use clean markdown without diff syntax (+/- prefixes)
# - Include all formatting and structure of the final intended state
specs/
└── [capability]/
└── spec.md
# 4. Create tasks.md with implementation steps
## 1. [Task Group]
- [ ] 1.1 [Specific task]
- [ ] 1.2 [Specific task]
# 5. For complex changes, add design.md
[Technical decisions and trade-offs]
```
### 4. The Change Lifecycle
1. **Propose** → Create change directory with all documentation
2. **Review** → User reviews and approves the proposal
3. **Implement** → Follow the approved tasks.md (can be multiple PRs)
4. **Deploy** → User confirms deployment
5. **Update Specs** → Sync specs/ with new reality (IF the change affects system capabilities)
6. **Archive** → Move to `changes/archive/YYYY-MM-DD-[name]/`
### 5. Implementing Changes
When implementing an approved change:
1. Follow the tasks.md checklist exactly
2. **Mark completed tasks** in tasks.md as you finish them (e.g., `- [x] 1.1 Task completed`)
3. Ensure code matches the proposed behavior
4. Update any affected tests
5. **Keep change in `changes/` directory** - do NOT archive in implementation PR
**Multiple Implementation PRs:**
- Changes can be implemented across multiple PRs
- Each PR should update tasks.md to mark what was completed
- Different developers can work on different task groups
- Example: PR #1 completes tasks 1.1-1.3, PR #2 completes tasks 2.1-2.4
### 6. Updating Specs and Archiving After Deployment
**Create a separate PR after deployment** that:
1. Moves change to `changes/archive/YYYY-MM-DD-[name]/`
2. Updates relevant files in `specs/` to reflect new reality (if needed)
3. If design.md exists, incorporates proven patterns into `specs/[capability]/design.md`
This ensures changes are only archived when truly complete and deployed.
### 7. Types of Changes That Don't Require Specs
Some changes only affect development infrastructure and don't need specs:
- Initial project setup (package.json, tsconfig.json, etc.)
- Development tooling changes (linters, formatters, build tools)
- CI/CD configuration
- Development dependencies
For these changes:
1. Implement → Deploy → Mark tasks complete → Archive
2. Skip the "Update Specs" step entirely
### What Deserves a Spec?
Ask yourself:
- Is this a system capability that users or other systems interact with?
- Does it have ongoing behavior that needs documentation?
- Would a new developer need to understand this to work with the system?
If NO to all → No spec needed (likely just tooling/infrastructure)
## Understanding Specs vs Code
### Specs Document WHAT and WHY
```markdown
# Authentication Spec
Users SHALL authenticate with email and password.
WHEN credentials are valid THEN issue JWT token.
WHEN credentials are invalid THEN return generic error.
WHY: Prevent user enumeration attacks.
```
### Code Documents HOW
```javascript
// Implementation details
const user = await db.users.findOne({ email });
const valid = await bcrypt.compare(password, user.hashedPassword);
```
**Key Distinction**: Specs capture intent, constraints, and decisions that aren't obvious from code.
## Common Scenarios
### New Feature Request
```
User: "Add password reset functionality"
You should:
1. Read specs/user-auth/spec.md
2. Check changes/ for pending auth changes
3. Create changes/add-password-reset/ with proposal
4. Wait for approval before implementing
```
### Bug Fix
```
User: "Getting null pointer error when bio is empty"
You should:
1. Check if spec says bios are optional
2. If yes → Fix directly (it's a bug)
3. If no → Create change proposal (it's a behavior change)
```
### Infrastructure Setup
```
User: "Initialize TypeScript project"
You should:
1. Create change proposal for TypeScript setup
2. Implement configuration files (PR #1)
3. Mark tasks complete in tasks.md
4. After deployment, create separate PR to archive
(no specs update needed - this is tooling, not a capability)
```
## Summary Workflow
1. **Receive request** → Determine if it needs a change proposal
2. **Read current state** → Check specs and pending changes
3. **Create proposal** → Generate complete change documentation
4. **Get approval** → User reviews the proposal
5. **Implement** → Follow approved tasks, mark completed items in tasks.md
6. **Deploy** → User deploys the implementation
7. **Archive PR** → Create separate PR to:
- Move change to archive
- Update specs if needed
- Mark change as complete
## PR Workflow Examples
### Single Developer, Simple Change
```
PR #1: Implementation
- Implement all tasks
- Update tasks.md marking items complete
- Get merged and deployed
PR #2: Archive (after deployment)
- Move changes/feature-x/ → changes/archive/2025-01-15-feature-x/
- Update specs if needed
```
### Multiple Developers, Complex Change
```
PR #1: Alice implements auth components
- Complete tasks 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
- Update tasks.md marking these complete
PR #2: Bob implements UI components
- Complete tasks 2.1, 2.2
- Update tasks.md marking these complete
PR #3: Alice fixes integration issues
- Complete remaining task 1.4
- Update tasks.md
[Deploy all changes]
PR #4: Archive
- Move to archive with deployment date
- Update specs to reflect new auth flow
```
### Key Rules
- **Never archive in implementation PRs** - changes aren't done until deployed
- **Always update tasks.md** - shows accurate progress
- **One archive PR per change** - clear completion boundary
- **Archive PR includes spec updates** - keeps specs current
## Capability Organization Best Practices
### Naming Capabilities
- Use **verb-noun** patterns: `user-auth`, `payment-capture`, `order-checkout`
- Be specific: `payment-capture` not just `payments`
- Keep flat: Avoid nesting capabilities within capabilities
- Singular focus: If you need "AND" to describe it, split it
### When to Split Capabilities
Split when you have:
- Multiple unrelated API endpoints
- Different user personas or actors
- Separate deployment considerations
- Independent evolution paths
#### Capability Boundary Guidelines
- Would you import these separately? → Separate capabilities
- Different deployment cadence? → Separate capabilities
- Different teams own them? → Separate capabilities
- Shared data models are OK, shared business logic means combine
Examples:
- user-auth (login/logout) vs user-sessions (token management) → SEPARATE
- payment-capture vs payment-refunds → SEPARATE (different workflows)
- user-profile vs user-settings → COMBINE (same data model, same owner)
### Cross-Cutting Concerns
For system-wide policies (rate limiting, error handling, security), document them in:
- `project.md` for project-wide conventions
- Within relevant capability specs where they apply
- Or create a dedicated capability if complex enough (e.g., `api-rate-limiting/`)
### Examples of Well-Organized Capabilities
```
specs/
├── user-auth/ # Login, logout, password reset
├── user-sessions/ # Token management, refresh
├── user-profile/ # Profile CRUD operations
├── payment-capture/ # Processing payments
├── payment-refunds/ # Handling refunds
└── order-checkout/ # Checkout workflow
```
For detailed guidance, see the [Capability Organization Guide](../docs/capability-organization.md).
## Common Scenarios and Clarifications
### Decision Ambiguity: Bug vs Behavior Change
When specs are missing or ambiguous:
- If NO spec exists → Treat current code behavior as implicit spec, require proposal
- If spec is VAGUE → Require proposal to clarify spec alongside fix
- If code and spec DISAGREE → Spec is truth, code is buggy (fix without proposal)
- If unsure → Default to creating a proposal (safer option)
Example:
```
User: "The API returns 404 for missing users but should return 400"
AI: Is this a bug (spec says 400) or behavior change (spec says 404)?
```
### When You Don't Know the Scope
It's OK to explore first! Tell the user you need to investigate, then create an informed proposal.
### Exploration Phase (When Needed)
BEFORE creating proposal, you may need exploration when:
- User request is vague or high-level
- Multiple implementation approaches exist
- Scope is unclear without seeing code
Exploration checklist:
1. Tell user you need to explore first
2. Use Grep/Read to understand current state
3. Create initial proposal based on findings
4. Refine with user feedback
Example:
```
User: "Add caching to improve performance"
AI: "Let me explore the codebase to understand the current architecture and identify caching opportunities."
[After exploration]
AI: "Based on my analysis, I've identified three areas where caching would help. Here's my proposal..."
```
### When No Specs Exist
Treat current code as implicit spec. Your proposal should document current state AND proposed changes.
### When in Doubt
Default to creating a proposal. It's easier to skip an unnecessary proposal than fix an undocumented change.
### AI Workflow Adaptations
Task tracking with OpenSpec:
- Track exploration tasks separately from implementation
- Document proposal creation steps as you go
- Keep implementation tasks separate until proposal approved
Parallel operations encouraged:
- Read multiple specs simultaneously
- Check multiple pending changes at once
- Batch related searches for efficiency
Progress communication:
- "Exploring codebase to understand scope..."
- "Creating proposal based on findings..."
- "Implementing approved changes..."
### For AI Assistants
- **Bias toward simplicity** - Propose the minimal solution that works
- Use your exploration tools liberally before proposing
- Batch operations for efficiency
- Communicate your progress
- It's OK to revise proposals based on discoveries
- **Question complexity** - If your solution feels complex, simplify first
## Edge Case Handling
### Multi-Capability Changes
Create ONE proposal that:
- Lists all affected capabilities
- Shows changes per capability
- Has unified task list
- Gets approved as a whole
### Outdated Specs
If specs clearly outdated:
1. Create proposal to update specs to match reality
2. Implement new feature in separate proposal
3. OR combine both in one proposal with clear sections
### Emergency Hotfixes
For critical production issues:
1. Announce: "This is an emergency fix"
2. Implement fix immediately
3. Create retroactive proposal
4. Update specs after deployment
5. Tag with [EMERGENCY] in archive
### Pure Refactoring
No proposal needed for:
- Code formatting/style
- Internal refactoring (same API)
- Performance optimization (same behavior)
- Adding types to untyped code
Proposal REQUIRED for:
- API changes (even if compatible)
- Database schema changes
- Architecture changes
- New dependencies
### Observability Additions
No proposal needed for:
- Adding log statements
- New metrics/traces
- Debugging additions
- Error tracking
Proposal REQUIRED if:
- Changes log format/structure
- Adds new monitoring service
- Changes what's logged (privacy)
## Remember
- You are the process driver - automate documentation burden
- Specs must always reflect deployed reality
- Changes are proposed, not imposed
- Impact analysis prevents surprises
- **Simplicity is the power** - just markdown files, minimal solutions
- Start simple, add complexity only when justified
By following these conventions, you enable true spec-driven development where documentation stays current, changes are traceable, and evolution is intentional.
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# Implementation Tasks
## 1. Update OpenSpec README
- [ ] 1.1 Add "Start Simple" section after Core Principle
- [ ] 1.2 Add complexity triggers to "When to Create Change Proposals" section
- [ ] 1.3 Update AI workflow guidance to emphasize minimal implementations
## 2. Update CLAUDE.md
- [ ] 2.1 Add complexity management rules to project instructions
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# Add Status Command to OpenSpec CLI
## Why
Developers need to know which changes have all tasks completed and are ready to archive.
## What Changes
- Add `openspec status` command that scans the changes/ directory
- Parse each tasks.md file to count `[x]` (complete) and `[ ]` (incomplete) tasks
- Display each change with its completion status (e.g., "auth-feature: 5/5" or "auth-feature: ✓")
- Skip the archive/ subdirectory
## Impact
- Affected specs: New capability `cli-status` will be added
- Affected code:
- `src/cli/index.ts` - Add status command
- `src/core/status.ts` - New file with simple scanning and parsing logic (~50 lines)
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
# CLI Status Command Specification
## Purpose
The status command shows which OpenSpec changes are ready to archive by displaying task completion status for each change.
## Command Interface
```bash
# Show status of all changes
openspec status
```
## Behavior
WHEN the status command runs:
1. Scan the `openspec/changes/` directory
2. Skip the `archive/` subdirectory
3. For each change directory with a `tasks.md` file:
- Count tasks marked with `[x]` (case-insensitive)
- Count tasks marked with `[ ]`
- Display the change name and completion status
## Output Format
```
add-auth-feature: 15/15
fix-payment-bug: 8/8
refactor-api: 3/10
update-docs: 0/5
```
Or with checkmark for fully complete:
```
add-auth-feature: ✓
fix-payment-bug: ✓
refactor-api: 3/10
update-docs: 0/5
```
## Task Detection
The command recognizes these patterns as tasks:
- `- [ ]` Incomplete task
- `- [x]` Complete task (lowercase)
- `- [X]` Complete task (uppercase)
## Error Handling
- If no `tasks.md` exists, skip that change
- If `tasks.md` is empty or has no tasks, skip that change
- Continue scanning even if individual files have errors
## Exit Codes
- `0`: Success - status displayed
- `1`: Error - unable to scan changes directory
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
# Implementation Tasks for Status Command
## Core Implementation
- [ ] Add status command to `src/cli/index.ts`
- [ ] Create `src/core/status.ts` with directory scanning logic
- [ ] Parse tasks.md files to count `[x]` and `[ ]` patterns
- [ ] Display each change with completion status (name: complete/total)
- [ ] Skip the archive/ subdirectory when scanning