OpenSpec Continuum

OpenSpec Continuum (hereafter Continuum) is an independently maintained downstream of OpenSpec that closely follows the upstream. It builds upon all official upstream releases and additionally maintains a curated collection of community-driven, practical improvements that have not been merged upstream, offering greater utility while preserving maximum compatibility.

AI assistance matters because its outputs are better aligned when re-consumed by AI systems. Having AI render intent into structured specs creates a more consistent intermediate layer than natural human language, reducing ambiguity and improving downstream accuracy.

Usage and Core Concepts

OpenSpec separates current truth from proposed changes:

• openspec/specs/ holds what IS built and deployed.
• openspec/changes/ holds proposals for what SHOULD change (with proposal.md, tasks.md, and spec deltas).
• Archiving a completed change applies its deltas to specs/ and moves the change into openspec/changes/archive/.

How It Works

┌────────────────────┐
│ Draft Change       │
│ Proposal           │
└────────┬───────────┘
         │ share intent with your AI
         ▼
┌────────────────────┐
│ Review & Align     │
│ (edit specs/tasks) │◀──── refine loop ───────┐
└────────┬───────────┘                          │
         │ approved plan                        │
         ▼                                      │
┌────────────────────┐                          │
│ Implement Tasks    │──────────────────────────┘
│ (AI writes code)   │
└────────┬───────────┘
         │ ship the change
         ▼
┌────────────────────┐
│ Archive & Update   │
│ Specs (source)     │
└────────────────────┘

1. Draft a change proposal that captures the spec updates you want.
2. Review the proposal with your AI assistant; Continuum adds a refine step for feedback-driven edits (no code changes) and requires re-approval before applying again.
3. Implement tasks that reference the agreed specs.
4. Archive the change to merge the approved updates back into the source-of-truth specs.

Common Commands

OpenSpec CLI (common)

• openspec init: scaffold the OpenSpec directory structure and base instruction files.
• openspec list: view active changes and their progress.
• openspec show: display a change or spec (supports interactive selection).
• openspec validate: check changes/specs against OpenSpec formatting rules.
• openspec archive: apply deltas and move a change into the archive.
• openspec update: refresh OpenSpec instructions and templates.

Slash Commands (set up first) Slash commands are created by openspec init for your selected tools and become available after restarting your editor/assistant. Once configured, openspec update refreshes their content without creating new files.

• /openspec-proposal: draft a change proposal and spec deltas.
• /openspec-apply: implement approved tasks in code.
• /openspec-refine: Continuum-only, refine proposal artifacts without code changes.
• /openspec-archive: archive a completed change and update specs.

For full usage docs and CLI behavior, read the upstream OpenSpec README. Continuum stays compatible with upstream workflows and keeps the same core semantics, so the upstream documentation applies here as well.

What's New in Continuum

Refine workflow. Continuum adds a dedicated refine command /openspec-refine for post-apply adjustments. Refine updates proposal artifacts only (no code changes) and requires explicit re-approval before re-applying. You can see the closed PR in the upstream repo.

Build pipeline. The build pipeline replaces the old manual build.js with tsdown for faster, cleaner builds. This keeps the build process simple and maintainable.

Install

Use your preferred package manager with the scoped name @cylixlee/openspec. The CLI name remains openspec, so existing workflows and scripts continue to work.

pnpm

pnpm add -g @cylixlee/openspec

npm

npm install -g @cylixlee/openspec

Yarn

yarn global add @cylixlee/openspec

Bun

bun add -g @cylixlee/openspec

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.