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OpenSpec gives people and AI coding agents a shared, reviewable way to describe software changes before implementation begins. Its delta workflow records what behavior should change, invites review of that plan, and carries the approved requirements through implementation and into the system’s main specifications. It can make vibe coding more deliberate, but its structural validation command is not a test suite or proof that code is correct.
What is OpenSpec?
OpenSpec is a framework for creating and managing software specifications. Its stated goal is to help teams and coding agents stay aligned as requirements change. Instead of relying only on instructions embedded in a chat, a project can keep proposed behavior and change history in specification files.
OpenSpec describes its approach this way: “We help you refine the requirements, validate that they describe the right thing, and verify that the implementation matches.” The project’s homepage lists compatible coding assistants, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, and Amazon Q Developer. This is a compatibility directory, not a ranking or evidence that integrations have identical capabilities. The list may change. OpenSpec’s homepage
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What does V&V mean in an AI coding workflow?
Validation and verification address different questions. In this workflow, validation asks whether the requirements describe the intended behavior: did the person and agent agree on the right change? Verification asks whether the implementation matches those agreed requirements.
OpenSpec’s CLI command openspec validate has a narrower, concrete role: the documentation describes it as checking specification artifacts for structural issues. A well-formed artifact can still describe the wrong behavior, and structurally valid requirements do not establish that the code meets them. Treat these as separate activities:
- Review intent: a person checks whether the proposed requirements capture the desired behavior and relevant constraints.
- Validate structure: OpenSpec checks its specification artifacts for structural issues.
- Verify behavior: the team uses suitable software tests or other implementation checks to determine whether the code meets the requirements.
The official workflow includes review and structural validation, and the project describes implementation matching as an aim. Its documentation does not establish that openspec validate runs all project tests, formally proves conformance, or guarantees against agent mistakes. OpenSpec homepage · CLI documentation
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How do I use OpenSpec with AI coding agents?
The quickstart presents a five-stage loop: Explore, Propose, Review, Apply, and Archive. The following feature example is illustrative: imagine adding an option for users to save a preferred display mode.
1. Explore the problem before planning
Investigate the codebase and discuss the desired behavior with the agent. For the display-mode example, clarify which modes are supported, when the preference takes effect, and what should happen for existing users. At this point, the goal is to understand the change rather than prematurely settle on an implementation.
2. Propose a reviewable change
Ask the agent to draft the change artifacts: a proposal, delta specifications for affected capabilities, an optional design, and a task list. The proposal makes the intended scope visible; the tasks turn the approved work into steps the agent can implement.
3. Review requirements before code
Check the proposed behavior, scenarios, scope, and tasks. Correct misunderstandings now, before implementation follows a plausible but unintended interpretation. A useful review asks whether each requirement is observable, whether affected cases are covered, and whether the plan leaves unrelated behavior alone.
4. Apply the change task by task
Once the plan is agreed, have the agent work through the tasks against the approved delta. This connects implementation to a defined change rather than leaving the original intent only in chat history.
5. Archive the completed change
After the work is complete, archive the change. OpenSpec merges completed requirements into the main specifications and moves the change folder into an archive. The main specs then describe the system as built; the archived folder preserves the change artifacts and their history. OpenSpec quickstart
What is a delta spec?
A delta spec describes the behavioral difference proposed for a particular change, rather than rewriting the system’s entire description. It is tied to a capability-specific spec.md. That makes it possible to focus a change on the capabilities it affects while maintaining the main specs as the continuing account of system behavior.
OpenSpec’s schema defines four requirement operations:
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- MODIFIED: replace an existing requirement with its complete updated content. Including the full revised requirement lets the archive merge it correctly.
- REMOVED: remove a requirement, with a reason and migration guidance.
- RENAMED: change a requirement’s name.
Each requirement should include at least one scenario in a WHEN/THEN form. For example, a scenario for the display-mode feature could state what happens when a user selects a mode and then returns to the application. The requirement and scenario need to describe observable behavior clearly enough to guide implementation and later checks. These are format rules; following them does not by itself make a requirement correct. OpenSpec spec-driven schema documentation
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How does archiving preserve the system description and change history?
The main specs and the archive serve different purposes. The main specifications describe the system’s current behavior. The archive retains the record of how a completed change was proposed and carried through the workflow.
When a delta is archived, added requirements are appended to the main specs, while modified requirements replace their previous versions. The completed change folder is also moved into the archive. This keeps the ongoing description focused on the current system without discarding the history behind a change. OpenSpec quickstart
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do you verify AI-generated code against a spec?
Use the specification as the behavioral reference, but do not treat its structural validity as evidence that implementation conforms. A practical check separates requirement review, artifact validation, and behavior-focused software verification.
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- Make requirements observable. Write scenarios that state a condition and an expected outcome in WHEN/THEN form, rather than relying on broad terms such as “works properly.”
- Review the proposed behavior. Check that the requirements express what users or dependent systems should experience, including important edge cases for the change.
- Run
openspec validate. Use it to check OpenSpec artifacts for structural issues, following the current CLI documentation for supported options. - Run appropriate implementation checks. Use the project’s behavior-focused tests or other independent checks to compare the software with the agreed requirements.
- Resolve mismatches deliberately. If code and requirements disagree, determine whether the implementation is wrong or the agreed behavior needs revision; update the relevant artifacts rather than silently changing the target.
This process makes the intended comparison clearer, but the available official materials do not claim that OpenSpec’s CLI performs the project’s full test suite or proves that every requirement has been met. OpenSpec CLI documentation
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How does spec-driven development help with vibe coding?
Vibe coding often begins with an informal prompt and an agent’s interpretation of it. OpenSpec adds explicit requirements, a proposed plan, and a human review point before implementation. That can be useful when a change touches several capabilities, needs traceability, or carries enough risk that an unstated assumption would be costly.
The trade-off is process and upkeep: someone must review the artifacts and keep useful specifications current. A one-off, low-risk experiment may not need that structure. The official materials describe the workflow but provide no measured comparison of its planning overhead, coding speed, defect rates, or agent reliability against informal prompting. OpenSpec therefore makes intent and history more explicit; it should not be presented as an automatic improvement or a guarantee of correctness.
How do you install OpenSpec?
The homepage’s global npm installation command is:
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npm install -g @fission-ai/openspec@latestAfter installation, initialize OpenSpec in a project and use the prompts in your AI chat, as described in the quickstart. Because CLI flags and schema rules can change, consult the current documentation for initialization, validation, and archive commands rather than assuming an older command sequence remains current. OpenSpec homepage · OpenSpec quickstart · CLI documentation
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