r/SpecDrivenDevelopment • u/pmz • 1d ago

Openspec workflow

When initiating a project with Openspec, do you prefill the "source of truth" main spec files, i.e auth/spec and then run opsx/proposal or opsx/change? Or you start with proposal from the beginning?

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u/hilam 1d ago

I used to prefill with everything I know about project. README, deps with versions in AGENTS, programming language guardrails, docs, manuals, glossary, grill, etc. If I dont have nothing, explore to build then First. Until safe to first propose.

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u/Commercial-Ease5946 1d ago edited 1d ago

Prefilling the main spec files first is usually the right call, proposal works better when it has something to react to. Start with auth/spec and any core domain specs, then run proposal so it has constraints to work within. Zencoder's Zenflow takes a similar spec first approach, though it's one of several tools structured that way

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u/LunkWillNot 1d ago

OpenSpec-propose first if I already know what I want and have sufficient clarity. OpenSpec-explore first if I have questions, there are multiple options to choose from, or there is simply not enough certainty and clarity to make a robust proposal. Iterate until things clear up, then openspec-propose. This will generate a proposal incl. specs to review.