openspec-extension

An npm package that installs the following Copilot agent skills into any repository:

| Skill | Purpose | |---|---| | clarification | Clarification gate invoked before and after each artifact is created | | domain-skill | Placeholder folder for domain-specific skills added via openspec-extend | | extend-propose | Extends proposal.md content to align with IEEE Std 830-1998 SRS structure | | extend-specs | Extends spec file content to align with IEEE Std 830-1998 SRS structure | | openspec-extend | Wires clarification, validation, and domain skills into the openspec workflow | | validation | Validates specs and tasks artifacts before implementation |

User installation

Recommended — no leftover files

npx openspec-extension

npx downloads and runs the package without leaving anything behind. Skills are copied into .github/skills/ and a .openspec-version marker file is written to the current directory.

Alternative — npm install

npm install openspec-extension

Skills are copied automatically via a postinstall hook. However, this leaves node_modules/, package.json, and package-lock.json in your directory. Add node_modules/ to your .gitignore and remove the generated package*.json files if you don't want them committed.

To overwrite an existing installation:

npx openspec-extension --force

To check whether a newer version is available:

npx openspec-extension check

Publishing updates (maintainer workflow)

1. Edit the source skills

Skills are authored in .github/skills/ in this repository. Edit the SKILL.md files there — that is the source of truth.

2. Sync changes into the package assets

After editing, copy the updated skill files into the skills/ folder that is bundled with the npm package:

$skills = @("clarification","domain-skill","extend-propose","extend-specs","openspec-extend","validation")
foreach ($s in $skills) {
    Copy-Item -Recurse -Force ".github\skills\$s" "skills\$s"
}

3. Bump the version

Follow semantic versioning:

| Change type | Version bump | Example | |---|---|---| | Bug fix or wording correction in a skill | patch | 1.0.0 → 1.0.1 | | New behaviour added to an existing skill | minor | 1.0.0 → 1.1.0 | | Breaking change to skill interface or removal | major | 1.0.0 → 2.0.0 |

npm version patch   # or minor / major

This updates package.json and creates a git tag automatically.

4. Publish

npm publish

Users running npx openspec-extension check will see the new version and can upgrade with npx openspec-extension init --force.

Local testing before publishing

node bin/cli.js
node bin/cli.js --force
node bin/cli.js check