OpenSpec · SDD Observatory

Stars: 61.4K
Contributors: 73
Open issues: 449
Age: 11 months
Last push: 14 hours ago
Latest release: v1.6.0 Jul 10, 2026

Commits per week, last 12 months · 585 total

Metrics updated Jul 18, 2026 · collected automatically from the GitHub API

Core approach

Each unit of work is a change folder under openspec/changes/ containing a proposal, requirement deltas (ADDED/MODIFIED blocks with WHEN/THEN scenarios), a design doc, and a task list. On completion the change is archived and its deltas merge into living specs under openspec/specs/. The workflow was recently rebuilt around the artifact-guided "OPSX" commands.

Workflow

/opsx:explore — optional no-stakes thinking partner to shape the idea
/opsx:propose — create openspec/changes/<id>/ with proposal, spec deltas, design, and tasks
/opsx:apply — implement the task checklist
/opsx:sync — reconcile artifacts with reality
/opsx:archive — archive the change and update the living specs
Expanded profile adds /opsx:new, /opsx:continue, /opsx:ff, /opsx:verify, /opsx:bulk-archive, /opsx:onboard

Supported tools

Claude Code
Cursor
Codex
Gemini CLI
GitHub Copilot
Windsurf
Amazon Q Developer
Kiro
OpenCode
RooCode
Cline
Qwen Code

Strengths

Heavily dogfooded — the repo itself carries 36 live capability specs and over a dozen in-flight changes
Explicitly brownfield-friendly; artifacts are plain Markdown with no special syntax
Very broad tool support — 34 documented integrations via skills and slash commands
Stores (beta) share planning repos across teams and repositories for cross-repo features

Limitations

Fast-moving: the workflow was just rebuilt (legacy to OPSX), so guidance churn is real
The Stores multi-repo feature is still in beta
Requires Node.js 20.19+ and a global npm install
The spec-delta format (ADDED/MODIFIED requirement blocks) has its own conventions to learn

Tracked projects using OpenSpec

Akka.NET
drift: none

The canonical actor-model implementation for .NET — a major, long-running OSS project routing its modernization work through OpenSpec change folders.

akkadotnet/akka.net · using OpenSpec · ★ 5.1K stars · pushed 3 hours ago
OpenSpec
drift: none

The OpenSpec CLI and toolkit itself, developed with its own change-folder workflow — "OpenSpec is built with OpenSpec".

Fission-AI/OpenSpec · using OpenSpec · ★ 61.4K stars · pushed 14 hours ago

Notes

OpenSpec’s change-folder model is the clearest instance of “diff-based” specs: instead of one big spec that slowly rots, every change carries its own requirement deltas that merge into living specs on archive. It is also the best-dogfooded framework we track — OpenSpec is built with OpenSpec, and its spec directory moves on the same days as its code. GitHub code search finds roughly 8,000 openspec/changes proposal files across public repos, the largest observable adopter base of the frameworks tracked here.

Added Jul 18, 2026 · Assessment last reviewed Jul 18, 2026 · How we track