openspec-ext-explain

name

openspec-ext-explain

description

Create or update OpenSpec change explanation docs that capture developer-facing questions and answers under `openspec/changes/.../explain/`. Use when the user explicitly mentions `openspec` or points to a path under `openspec/` while asking to create, update, document, or maintain a Q&A, FAQ, explain note, or question-and-answer doc for an OpenSpec change based on user questions, implementation notes, review questions, or current chat context.

OpenSpec Extension: Explain

Create or update a concise Q&A markdown document for an OpenSpec change and keep it under that change's explain/ directory.

Goal: turn implementation questions into a durable, repo-grounded explain note for developers without relying on separate instruction files.

Inputs

Accept any of:

• a change name
• a path under openspec/changes/<change>/
• a path to openspec/changes/<change>/explain/
• a request that clearly refers to the current OpenSpec change

The user may provide:

• one or more explicit questions to document
• a source to extract questions from, such as the current chat, an OpenSpec review, or implementation notes
• only a request to create the doc

Output

Write or update one markdown file under the selected change's explain/ directory.

Default filename:

• qa-<what>.md

For an OpenSpec change, prefer:

• qa-<change-name>.md

unless the user gives an explicit filename or there is already a more specific existing Q&A file that the request clearly targets.

Report:

• which file you created or updated
• whether the doc contains placeholder sections or concrete Q&A
• any questions that were intentionally left unanswered because the code/docs do not support them yet

Required Document Shape

Use this structure:

# Q&A: <what>

## Introduction

<1-2 sentences describing what the Q&A covers and who it is for>

**Related docs**
- `path/to/doc.md`

**Key entrypoints and modules**
- `path/to/code.py`

## <complete question sentence>
> Last revised at: `<UTC ISO-8601>` | Last revised base commit: `<git commit>`

- <concrete answer bullet>

Rules:

• Keep the title as # Q&A: <what>.
• Default audience is developers, including future maintainers.
• Include both **Related docs** and **Key entrypoints and modules**.
• Put per-question revision metadata immediately under each question heading.
• Do not add a global metadata block.
• Keep answers concrete: commands, defaults, artifacts, paths, behavior, constraints.
• Use 3-8 bullets or 1-3 short paragraphs per answer.

Workflow

1. Resolve The Target Change With OpenSpec CLI

Prefer deriving the change from any explicit path under:

• openspec/changes/<change>/...

Other valid signals:

• an explicit change name from the user
• a request that clearly refers to the current OpenSpec change

If the target change is still ambiguous, inspect active changes first:

openspec list --sort recent --json

If needed, ask the user to choose the intended change.

Once the change is known, always gather authoritative context first:

openspec status --change "<change-name>" --json
openspec instructions apply --change "<change-name>" --json

Use these outputs to determine:

• changeDir
• schema
• contextFiles
• current artifact status

Treat the CLI output as the source of truth for where the change lives and which artifacts define it.

2. Resolve The Output Path

• If the user gives an explicit output file path, use it.
• If the user gives an explain/ directory, create or update qa-<change-name>.md there unless the user specifies another filename.
• Otherwise, use changeDir/explain/qa-<change-name>.md.
• Create the explain/ directory if it does not exist.

3. Gather Grounding Context

Read every existing file referenced by contextFiles. If a contextFiles value is a glob such as specs/**/*.md, expand it on disk and read the matching files.

Also read:

• any existing Q&A doc that the request clearly targets
• relevant demo docs or README files
• the implementation entrypoints or modules directly implicated by the requested questions

Also collect:

• current base commit via git rev-parse HEAD
• current UTC timestamp via date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ

Only read additional repository files when they are needed to answer the requested questions accurately.

4. Decide Which Questions To Record

Question capture policy:

• Do not automatically invent or extract questions unless the user explicitly asks for that.
• If the user provides explicit questions, document those questions.
• If the user explicitly asks to extract questions from the current chat, a review file, or notes, extract the relevant questions from that source.
• If the user asks to create the Q&A doc but provides no questions and does not ask for extraction, create placeholder question sections only.

Placeholder format:

• question heading: ## [question title]
• answer body: - [answer/code]

When updating an existing Q&A doc:

• preserve unrelated questions and answers
• preserve each unchanged question's revision metadata
• only update the metadata line for questions whose content actually changed

5. Write Practical Answers

Each question must be:

• a complete sentence
• concise
• practical for maintainers or operators

Good examples:

• How do I run the canonical persistence second step for this change?
• What data is persisted into canonical storage and what is skipped?
• How are demo-local ids translated into canonical identifiers?

Answering rules:

• Ground answers in the repository's current docs and code, not guesses.
• Reference files with inline paths like scripts/.../persist_canonical.py.
• Prefer concrete artifacts, defaults, produced files, and failure modes.
• If a question cannot be answered from the code/docs, state:
  • what is missing
  • the minimal next step to confirm it
  • where that answer should be documented

6. Keep The Doc Self-Contained

• Include enough context in the introduction and answers that the reader does not need another instruction document to understand the Q&A file.
• Do not tell the reader to consult an external meta-instruction file for format rules.
• Summarize important repo-specific behavior directly in the Q&A answers when it matters.

7. Sanity-Check The Result

After writing:

• re-read the markdown file
• confirm the title, introduction, related-doc list, and entrypoint list are present
• confirm each question has exactly one metadata line directly beneath it
• confirm unchanged questions did not get fresh timestamps or commit hashes
• confirm placeholder sections were used when no explicit questions were provided

Example Prompts

• create an explain Q&A doc for openspec/changes/<change> and document these two questions
• under openspec/changes/<change>/explain, add Q&A entries for the questions we just discussed
• create a placeholder Q&A doc for this OpenSpec change
• extract the implementation questions from this review and turn them into an explain Q&A doc for the change
• update the existing explain Q&A with an answer to why frame_uri reuses the tmp keyframe path in this demo

Pointing to a file or directory under openspec/ counts as the same trigger signal as explicitly saying openspec.

Guardrails

• Do not write the Q&A outside the change's explain/ directory unless the user explicitly asks.
• Do not skip the OpenSpec CLI discovery step when the request is about an OpenSpec change; use openspec status and openspec instructions apply before deciding artifact context.
• Do not auto-extract questions from chat history, reviews, or notes unless the user explicitly asks for extraction.
• Do not fabricate unsupported answers when the code/docs are silent.
• Do not refresh all per-question metadata just because the file was touched.
• Do not turn the Q&A doc into a changelog or implementation diary.
• Do not add auxiliary files unless the user explicitly asks; this skill should usually need only SKILL.md and agents/openai.yaml.