Project context preflight before workflow actions: before this skill takes a workflow action, follow the project-constitution skill. Read root CONSTITUTION.md when present, enforce relevant project rules, stop on material conflicts, and follow the strict missing-constitution bootstrap/diagnostic policy. For architecture-sensitive work, also read ARCHITECTURE.md, adr/README.md, and relevant in-force adr/*.md. Read .secrets.local.env only when the current workflow actually needs a listed external system, and never reveal secret values.

OpenSpec Git Discipline

Use this skill whenever OpenSpec lifecycle state changes or git timing affects the workflow.

Project policy: checkpoint discipline is mandatory. Every completed artifact or coherent apply group must be checkpointed before the next lifecycle phase depends on it. Safe scaffold/artifact/apply-group checkpoint commits run automatically by default when session git discipline is auto; manual mode can still require approval.

Core rule: every OpenSpec state change must cross main before the next lifecycle phase depends on it.

• Proposal artifacts may be drafted on a branch, but must be committed and merged to main before apply starts.
• Apply may run on main, a branch, or a worktree only if that exact proposal state is already available on main.
• Archive should run from main after implementation is merged back.
• Safe lifecycle checkpoint commits may be created automatically in auto mode after the changed paths and commit message are shown.
• Never create branches, merges, pushes, pull requests, archives, destructive git operations, or hard-gate bypasses unless the user explicitly asks.

Gates

Hard gates that always require explicit approval: branch creation, merge, push, pull request creation, archive, destructive git operations, dirty unrelated work, and any one-time override of a required gate.

• Before propose: prefer main; otherwise warn and ask whether to continue.
• During continue: checkpoint completed artifact changes according to session git mode before the next artifact consumes them.
• Before apply: run git status --short and verify planning artifacts are not only local uncommitted state.
• Before archive: run git branch --show-current and git status --short; stop if not on main or implementation has not been merged.
• After archive: ask the user whether to commit archive/spec sync changes because archive remains an explicit hard gate.

Required Language

If proposal state has not reached main:

I should not apply this yet because the planning change has not reached main. A proposal can be drafted on a branch, but apply must start only after that proposal state is available on main.

If archive is not running from merged main:

I should not archive this yet because archive must run from main after implementation is merged back. Verify makes a change eligible to merge; it does not replace the merge.

Mandatory Checkpoint Boundaries

Checkpoint after each of these boundaries before a later lifecycle phase depends on the result:

1. openspec new change creates a change directory.
2. Each planning artifact is created or materially updated: proposal, specs, grill, design, design-review, adr, test-plan, tasks.
3. Each coherent apply task group is completed and verified.
4. Verify produces an archive-ready assessment.
5. Archive moves the change and/or syncs specs.

At every checkpoint:

• run git status --short;
• summarize changed files;
• in automatic mode, use scripts/openspec-git-checkpoint when available for safe scoped checkpoint commits; in manual mode, ask before git add/git commit;
• always show affected paths, commit message, resulting commit hash, and re-check status;

Override Policy

Overrides are allowed only when the user explicitly names or clearly confirms the gate being bypassed. An override is one-time and does not disable future gates. Record the override in the response with:

• gate bypassed;
• files/state trusted despite the gate;
• risk accepted;
• next checkpoint where normal discipline resumes.