OpenSpec quickstart for agents
Short guide for schema, pipeline, and documentation-architecture changes. Full reference: openspec/AGENTS.md.
When to create a proposal
Do propose for: new capabilities, breaking schema/export changes, architecture shifts.
Skip proposal for: bug fixes restoring intended behavior, typos, adding/editing catalog YAML, non-breaking dependency updates, tests for existing behavior.
Checklist
- Run
openspec listandopenspec list --specs— check for conflicts. - Pick a unique verb-led
change-id(e.g.add-field-endpoints-status). - Scaffold under
openspec/changes/<change-id>/:proposal.md— why, what, impacttasks.md— implementation checklistdesign.md— only if cross-cutting or ambiguousspecs/<capability>/spec.md— deltas with## ADDED|MODIFIED|REMOVED Requirements
- Every requirement needs at least one
#### Scenario:block. - Run
openspec validate <change-id> --strictand fix all issues. - Do not implement until the proposal is approved (unless a maintainer already requested the work in the same change).
Scenario format (required)
#### Scenario: Descriptive name
- **WHEN** condition
- **THEN** expected outcome
Use #### Scenario: (four hashes). Bullets or ### Scenario: fail validation.
Dataset scope
This repository is a catalog registry. Do not propose production query APIs or MCP servers here. Do not add dataset-level records into catalog YAML.
CLI essentials
openspec list
openspec list --specs
openspec show <id> --json --deltas-only
openspec validate <change-id> --strict
openspec archive <change-id> --yes
Update CHANGELOG.md under [Unreleased] for consumer-visible changes.