Openspec Update Change

---
name: openspec-update-change
description: Update an OpenSpec change by revising its existing planning artifacts and keeping them coherent with one another. Use when the user wants to revise a change's plan, fold new decisions into it, or reconcile its artifacts after an edit. Never edits code.
allowed-tools: Bash(openspec:*)
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires openspec CLI.
metadata:
    author: openspec
    version: "1.0"
    generatedBy: "1.12.0"
---

Revise a change's existing planning artifacts and keep them coherent. Never edit code.

**Store selection:** If the user names a store (a store is a standalone OpenSpec repo registered on this machine) or the work lives in one, run `openspec store list --json` to discover registered store ids, then pass `--store <id>` on the commands that read or write specs and changes (`new change`, `status`, `instructions`, `list`, `show`, `validate`, `archive`, `doctor`, `context`, `schemas`, `view`). Once selected, treat `--store <id>` as sticky for the rest of the workflow. Every unscoped example of those commands below is shorthand: before running it, append the flag. For example, run `openspec status --change "<name>" --json --store "<id>"`, not the unscoped form shown below. Other commands do not take the flag. Hints printed by commands already carry the flag; keep it on follow-ups. Without a store, commands act on the nearest local `openspec/` root.

**Input**: Optionally specify a change name. If omitted, check if it can be inferred from conversation context. If vague or ambiguous you MUST prompt for available changes.

`/opsx-continue` is an optional workflow and may not be installed. Before suggesting it anywhere below, verify that it is available. If it is unavailable, `openspec status --change "<name>" --json` shows the next artifact and `openspec instructions "<artifact-id>" --change "<name>" --json` explains how to create it.

**Steps**

1. **Select the change**

    If a name is provided, use it. Otherwise:
    - Infer from conversation context if the user mentioned a change
    - Auto-select if only one active change exists
    - If ambiguous, run `openspec list --json` to get available changes sorted by most recently modified, and ask the user to select one

    When prompting, present the top 3-4 most recently modified changes as options, showing:
    - Change name
    - Schema (from `schema` field if present, otherwise "spec-driven")
    - Status (e.g., "0/5 tasks", "complete", "no tasks")
    - How recently it was modified (from `lastModified` field)

    Mark the most recently modified change as "(Recommended)" since it's likely what the user wants to update.

    Always announce: "Using change: <name>" and how to override (e.g., `/opsx-update <other>`).

2. **Get the change's artifacts**

    ```bash
    openspec status --change "<name>" --json
    ```

    Parse the JSON to understand current state. The response includes:
    - `schemaName`: The workflow schema being used (e.g., "spec-driven")
    - `artifacts`: Array of artifacts with their status ("done", "skipped", "ready", "blocked")
    - `isPlanningComplete`: Boolean indicating if all planning artifacts are complete. Older CLI versions expose the same value as `isComplete`.
    - `planningHome`, `changeRoot`, `artifactPaths`, and `actionContext`: path and scope context. Use these instead of assuming repo-local paths.

    The artifact ids and paths come from the active schema - do NOT assume them, and do NOT branch on hardcoded artifact names. Custom schemas must work unchanged.

    The files to edit are `artifactPaths.<id>.existingOutputPaths` - the concrete files that exist on disk, already glob-expanded for glob artifacts (e.g. `specs/**/*.md`). Do NOT write to `resolvedOutputPath`: for a glob artifact it is still the glob pattern, not a real file.

3. **Understand the request**
    - If the user asked for a specific revision ("the design now uses X"), that is the starting edit.
    - If they only said "update" / "make this coherent", treat it as a coherence review: read the existing artifacts and check them against each other for contradictions, gaps, and duplication.

4. **Read and reconcile**
    - Read the artifact(s) the request touches and the change's other existing artifacts.
    - Apply the requested edit. Then check every other existing artifact against it - in ANY direction: an edit to a later artifact may require revising an earlier one, not only the other way around. Build order is a useful reading order, not a constraint on which artifacts may be revised.
    - Note everything that is now inconsistent, missing, or contradictory.
    - Revise only files that already exist (`existingOutputPaths`). Do NOT create artifacts that don't exist yet, and do NOT invent new files under a glob artifact - note them and point the user to `/opsx-continue` to create them.
    - If the change is already coherent, say so and make no edits.

5. **Confirm and apply, one artifact at a time**
    - Show each proposed revision and why. Write only after the user confirms.
    - If the user rejects a revision, do not write it - leave that artifact unchanged.
    - When a substantial rewrite is needed, get that artifact's rules and template first:
        ```bash
        openspec instructions "<artifact-id>" --change "<name>" --json
        ```

6. **Point to the next step (guidance only - NEVER act on it)**
    - Artifacts still missing -> suggest `/opsx-continue` to create them.
    - Change already implemented (tasks checked off / already applied) -> the code may no longer match the revised plan; suggest `/opsx-apply` to carry the delta into code.
    - Everything done and implemented -> suggest `/opsx-archive`.

**Output**

After each invocation, show:

- Which artifacts were revised (and which proposed revisions were rejected)
- Anything deferred to `/opsx-continue` (not-yet-created artifacts or files)
- Where the change stands and the recommended next command

**Guardrails**

- Planning artifacts only - NEVER edit implementation code. If the revised plan implies code changes, stop and point to `/opsx-apply`.
- Use the artifact ids and paths reported by `openspec status`; never branch on hardcoded artifact names.
- Edit only the concrete files in `existingOutputPaths`; never write to a glob `resolvedOutputPath`.
- Do not advance the build frontier: no new artifacts, no new files under glob artifacts - that is `/opsx-continue`'s job.
- Confirm every edit with the user before writing.
- If the request changes the change's _intent_ rather than refining it, first verify whether the optional `/opsx-new` workflow is available. If it is, recommend starting fresh with `/opsx-new` (the "Update vs. Start Fresh" heuristic). If it is unavailable, ask for a distinct unused change name and recommend `openspec new change "<new-change-name>"` instead.