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OpenSpec

Getting Started

OpenSpec aligns humans and AI coding assistants with spec-driven development so you agree on what to build before any code is written.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • Bun runtime installed

Installation

Section titled “Installation”

Run OpenSpec with bunx (recommended):

Terminal window
bunx @clanker-guru/openspec

Or install globally:

Terminal window
bun install -g @clanker-guru/openspec

Verify installation:

Terminal window
openspec --version

Initialize Your Project

Section titled “Initialize Your Project”

Navigate to your project directory and run:

Terminal window
cd my-project
openspec init

This will:

  1. Create the openspec/ directory structure
  2. Generate openspec/AGENTS.md with AI instructions
  3. Create project.md for project context
  4. Configure slash commands for your selected AI tools

Your First Change

Section titled “Your First Change”

Ask your AI assistant to create a change proposal:

Create an OpenSpec change proposal for adding user profile search

Or use the slash command (if supported by your tool):

/openspec:proposal Add user profile search

The AI will scaffold:

  • proposal.md - Why and what changes
  • tasks.md - Implementation checklist
  • specs/ - Requirement deltas

Verify the Change

Section titled “Verify the Change”
Terminal window
openspec list                    # See active changes
openspec validate my-change      # Check spec formatting
openspec show my-change          # Review details

Implement and Archive

Section titled “Implement and Archive”

Once specs are approved, implement the tasks:

/openspec:apply my-change

After deployment, archive:

Terminal window
openspec archive my-change --yes

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”