fix(skills): stop workflows from adopting a project that never ran init - #1787
fix(skills): stop workflows from adopting a project that never ran init#1787clay-good wants to merge 11 commits into
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Generated skills and commands are installed once per machine and offered in every repository the agent opens, including ones with no OpenSpec at all. Nothing stopped the workflow there: root resolution falls back to an implicit root at the current directory, so `openspec new change` quietly creates `openspec/` in whatever repo the agent happened to be standing in (#1645). Two changes, both in the generated instructions: - Every workflow now carries a shared project check. Before the first step that writes, the agent reads `root.source` from `openspec status --json`; `implicit` (or a `No OpenSpec root found` error) means the project is not set up, and the agent stops and asks the user whether to run `openspec init`, target a store, or drop OpenSpec for that request. It may not initialize the project on its own or let a command create the root as a side effect. - Every deployed skill description now names OpenSpec. Hosts pick skills by description, and "Enter explore mode - a thinking partner..." reads as a generic offer in a repository that has never heard of OpenSpec. Closes #1645 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The guard read as an absolute ban on `openspec init`, which contradicts the option it offers one sentence earlier and the onboard workflow's job. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 10 included reviews per hour; 3 remain after this review. 📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughOpenSpec workflow templates now add a shared project-root guard. Generated skills check ChangesOpenSpec project-root guard
Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to OpenSpec workflows now stop before creating files in uninitialized projects and ask for user direction. Root-creation notices and selected-store behavior are covered, with no remaining merge-blocking risk identified. 🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1❌ Failed checks (1 warning)
✅ Passed checks (4 passed)
Full details: Docstring CoverageExplanation Docstring coverage is 11.11% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 27 functions across 17 files. (12 skipped: 12 unsupported.)
✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1📝 Generate docstrings 💡
🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)
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…set-up project Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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`openspec status --json` demands --change once a project has changes, so the guard's own check could fail in exactly the projects it should wave through. `openspec list --json` answers in one shape everywhere: a root object when the project is set up, `root: null` both when nothing is set up and when only stores are registered. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
No PR-relevant drift confirmed.
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Inline comments:
In `@test/core/templates/project-root-guard.test.ts`:
- Around line 79-81: Update the project-root guard assertion in the relevant
test to validate every rendered write-capable command and write step occurs
after guardEnd, rather than checking only the first ```bash marker via
firstCommand. Include inline commands from STORE_SELECTION_GUIDANCE and
artifact-writing instructions outside Bash fences in the validation.
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.changeset/guard-uninitialized-projects.mddocs/troubleshooting.mdskills/openspec-apply-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-archive-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-bulk-archive-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-continue-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-explore/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-ff-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-new-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-onboard/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-propose/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-sync-specs/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-update-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-verify-change/SKILL.mdsrc/core/templates/workflows/apply-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/archive-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/bulk-archive-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/continue-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/explore.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/ff-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/new-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/onboard.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/project-root.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/propose.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/sync-specs.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/update-change.tssrc/core/templates/workflows/verify-change.tstest/commands/store-root-selection.test.tstest/core/templates/project-root-guard.test.tstest/core/templates/skill-templates-parity.test.ts
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CodeRabbit's point: checking only the first ```bash fence would miss a write outside a fence. Assert instead that nothing preceding the guard runs a command or writes, and that the guard sits directly under the store-selection guidance - both fail when the guard is moved down a workflow. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The generated workflows now check for a root before writing, but the guard is instructions - an agent that ignores it, or a human running the CLI directly, still turned an unset-up directory into an OpenSpec project without a word. Creating the root stays zero-config; it is no longer silent. Human output only: --json is unchanged, and `root.source` already carried the same fact for programmatic callers. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
`openspec list --json` exits 1 when there is no root. An agent that reads that as a broken CLI is one step from hand-creating `openspec/` instead, which is the failure the guard exists to prevent. Also drops a vacuous assertion: the notice test now checks that the note names the directory it created and that the change really landed there. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
…' clauses Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Inline comments:
In `@skills/openspec-ff-change/SKILL.md`:
- Line 16: Update the project-root checks in skills/openspec-ff-change/SKILL.md
lines 16-16 and skills/openspec-propose/SKILL.md lines 30-31 so openspec list
--json includes --store "<id>" whenever a store is selected; retain the current
command for local-root checks without an active store.
In `@test/commands/store-root-selection.test.ts`:
- Line 625: Update the assertion around the created-directory notice to compute
the expected display path with path.relative(...) and require the exact value
for appRepo/openspec rather than matching any openspec suffix. Add a nested-path
test case that verifies the expected path remains correct with Windows-style
separators.
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skills/openspec-apply-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-archive-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-bulk-archive-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-continue-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-explore/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-ff-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-new-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-onboard/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-propose/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-sync-specs/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-update-change/SKILL.mdskills/openspec-verify-change/SKILL.mdsrc/core/templates/workflows/project-root.tstest/commands/store-root-selection.test.tstest/core/templates/project-root-guard.test.tstest/core/templates/skill-templates-parity.test.ts
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- skills/openspec-new-change/SKILL.md
- skills/openspec-apply-change/SKILL.md
- skills/openspec-sync-specs/SKILL.md
- skills/openspec-continue-change/SKILL.md
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… path exactly CodeRabbit, both valid: - With a store selected the store IS the root, so the check has to run as `openspec list --json --store <id>`. The store-selection paragraph above already says to append the flag to every command it lists, but leaving it implicit here invited a check against the wrong directory. - The notice assertion matched any `openspec/` suffix. It now pins the exact rendered path, and a new case runs the command from a subdirectory to show the note names the directory actually adopted (and that the repo above it is left alone). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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The root guard and the 47917d3 follow-ups look correct. The store-scoped check, exact notice assertion, nested-directory case, and JSON-output behavior are all covered, and CI is green.
One blocking docs issue remains: this user-facing behavior change updates docs/troubleshooting.md, but docs-lab/README.md says the old docs/ tree is legacy and must stay untouched; fixes land in docs-lab/. The canonical docs are now stale in two places:
docs-lab/reference/cli.mdstill showsopenspec new changeending afterNext:and does not document the implicit-root notice.docs-lab/reference/skills.mddoes not document the new shared no-root response/stop behavior in the skill contract.
Please move the documentation coverage to the canonical docs-lab/ pages and remove the legacy docs/troubleshooting.md addition. Since every docs-lab/ change requires final review from @TabishB, please request that review after updating.
alfred-openspec on #1787: docs-lab/README.md makes docs-lab/ canonical and the old docs/ tree legacy, and the canonical pages were stale in the two places the review named. - docs-lab/reference/cli.md, 'openspec new': documents the implicit-root notice after the 'Next:' line, with the exact output the CLI prints, that it goes to stdout and never appears with --json, and that JSON carries the same fact as root.source: implicit. Verified against a real run in an empty directory with an isolated HOME. - docs-lab/reference/skills.md: states the shared response and stop behavior once, above the index table, since it now holds for every skill: confirm the resolved root before the first write, stop when there is none, offer init, a store, or dropping OpenSpec, wait for the answer, never create openspec/ on its own. Drops the legacy docs/troubleshooting.md addition. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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@alfred-openspec Docs blocker addressed in
The entry also records the two facts a reader would otherwise have to discover: the notice goes to stdout with the rest of the human output and never appears with
No source changed in this push, so your assessment of the guard and its coverage at Verified at the pushed head:
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Overlap with the other #1645 PR, and a conflict that needs one decision. #1658 and #1787 both claimed They fire at different points, with contradictory instructions.
The interaction is the problem: #1658's guard runs first and disengages silently, which would make #1787's guard unreachable in exactly the case it was written for. #1658 is what the issue asks for. The reporter's own words: "if not exist it can go through the normal general propose not the openspec", and the follow-up comment: "global skills need a way to scope themselves to initialized repos only." That is activation-scoping with a silent fallback, which is #1658. Asking the user three questions is not what was requested. So I have changed #1787 from What I would do, though this is a design call and #1658 carries
#1658 is also currently Flagging rather than deciding, since which behavior is right is a product question. |
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Product call: keep #1787 as the landing vehicle for the single body-level guard and the CLI write-time safety net, but make the no-root branch invocation-aware.
When openspec list --json returns "root": null:
- For an auto-selected skill, stop using OpenSpec and continue the user's request normally, without asking them to choose an OpenSpec setup path. This is the silent fallback reported in #1645.
- For an explicit OpenSpec skill/request or an explicit command invocation, stop before the first write and ask whether to run
openspec init, target a registered store, or continue without OpenSpec. Wait for the answer. Commands are explicit, so their ask-user path remains.
No branch may create openspec/ as a side effect. Please add regressions that pin both skill branches and the explicit-command branch.
Docs review at 5bfe90533: the docs-lab/reference/cli.md addition is accurate, in the canonical home, and the legacy docs/troubleshooting.md edit is correctly gone. docs-lab/reference/skills.md cannot receive final approval yet because its current paragraph says every no-root skill invocation asks. Revise it to match the two branches above. Please make those branches scan anchors, such as two short **Auto-selected** / **Explicit OpenSpec request** bullets, rather than one paragraph carrying the full contract. Then request the required final @TabishB docs-lab review on the updated head.
Landing order: update and land #1787 first. Then rebase #1658, keep its frontmatter skill-selection gate, and remove its SKILL_ACTIVATION_GUARD body copy. That leaves one body guard, preserves #1658's stronger selection signal, and keeps #1787's command-template and CLI safety coverage.
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Status: Ready for review.
Part of #1645
What was wrong
Skills and commands are installed once per tool, so every generated OpenSpec workflow is offered in every repository the agent opens — including repositories that never ran
openspec init. Nothing stopped the workflow there, and the CLI did not either: when noopenspec/directory is found and no stores are registered, root resolution falls back to an implicit root at the current directory (root-selection.ts:455).Reproduced in a plain git repo holding a single
README.md, with an emptyHOME:No init, no prompt, no warning — OpenSpec materialized in a repo the user never set up. That is the failure #1645 reports: asking to "explore" or "propose" in an unrelated repo triggers the OpenSpec workflow, and the workflow proceeds to scaffold. The follow-up comment on the issue names the same thing: "global skills need a way to scope themselves to initialized repos only."
How it was fixed
Three layers, so the fix does not rest on the agent doing as it is told.
1. A shared project check in every workflow. New
PROJECT_ROOT_GUARD(project-root.ts) is interpolated directly under the store-selection guidance in all 12 skills and all 12/opsx:commands. Before the first step that writes, the agent runsopenspec list --json(with--store <id>when a store is selected, since the store is then the root) and readsroot. A root object means the project is set up;"root": nullmeans it is not, and a write such asopenspec new changewould createopenspec/here as a side effect. The agent then stops and asks the user how to proceed: runopenspec init, target a registered store with--store <id>, or drop OpenSpec and help them directly. It may not runopenspec initbefore they ask, hand-createopenspec/files, or let a command create the root as a side effect.listis the check because it is the command that refuses to fabricate a root — it answersroot: nullboth when nothing is set up and when only stores are registered. Verified contract: initialized project → exit 0 with a root object; unset-up directory → exit 1 withroot: null. The guard says so explicitly, because an agent that reads exit 1 as a broken CLI is one step from hand-creatingopenspec/instead. (openspec status --jsonwas the first draft and is worse: once a project has changes it demands--changeand returns norootat all.)2. Every deployed skill description now names OpenSpec. Hosts pick skills by description, and
Enter explore mode - a thinking partner for exploring ideas...reads as a generic offer in a repository that has never heard of OpenSpec. Six descriptions gained the qualifier (explore, propose, archive, bulk-archive, sync-specs, verify-change); the rest already named it, and a test pins the rule so new workflows inherit it. Slash-command descriptions are deliberately untouched — those are invoked explicitly by the user, not auto-selected.3.
openspec new changenow says when it had to create the root itself. Guidance only binds agents that read it; this is the backstop for an agent that does not, and for a human running the CLI directly:Human output only —
--jsonis byte-for-byte unchanged (root.sourcealready carried the same fact), the note fires only on the change that creates the root, never on later ones, and never for a store-selected root.openspec new changeis the only caller ofcreateChange, so this is the single path that can create a root implicitly.Plus a troubleshooting entry for whoever already hit this and found an
openspec/directory they did not ask for.Proof it works
Tests
test/core/templates/project-root-guard.test.ts(8 tests) iterates the production registries, not a hand-kept list, so a workflow added later is covered automatically: the guard is in every deployed skill and command; nothing preceding it in any of the 24 rendered bodies runs a command or writes (any fence, plusopenspec new change|archive|sync|instructions|validate); it sits directly under the store-selection guidance, which also guarantees the agent reads store selection first; it names the machine-readable signal and the non-zero exit; it hands the decision to the user; the rootlessfeedbackskill is left alone; and every deployed skill description names OpenSpec.test/commands/store-root-selection.test.tsgains four cases: the notice fires and pins the exact path it names (and the change really lands there), it does not repeat once the root exists, it names the subdirectory it adopted when run from one (leaving the repo above untouched), it stays out of--json, andlist --jsonreportsroot: nullwithno_root_with_registered_storeswhen only stores are registered — the CLI contract the guard depends on. The no-stores half was already pinned there.End-to-end, not just unit
openspec init --tools allin a scratch repo: all 396 generated instruction files across 37 tools carry the guard, and no generated file mentionsopenspec new changewithout it.main's templates (0 files with the guard), version markers rolled back to 1.11.0, thenopenspec updatefrom this branch → 396/396 files carry the guard, no--forceneeded.--jsonstill parses; no ANSI escapes when stdout is piped; with stores registered and no local root,new changerefuses cleanly and creates nothing.Suite
mainand unrelated —config-profile.test.ts"confirmed project apply…" andartifact-workflow.test.ts"creates skills for Cursor tool"; both fail identically on a clean checkout of this worktree. (store-remote.test.tsflaked once on real-git subprocess timing and passes on re-run.)skills/mirror and parity hashes regenerated. CodeRabbit's three findings (guard placement, store scope on the check, exact path assertion) are addressed and confirmed resolved by the reviewer.Notes / nits
openspec init. That would change what the CLI does, and zero-config creation looks intentional — a notice is the smallest honest fix.🤖 Generated with Claude Code
Summary by CodeRabbit
openspec new changedisplays a notice when it creates an OpenSpec root implicitly.