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Merged
clay-good merged 11 commits into from
Aug 26, 2026
Merged

fix(explore): use ASCII in diagram examples #1010

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dc3d14f
fix: Use ASCII arrows instead of unicode
Dansyuqri Apr 25, 2026
8ec4e12
fix: Update remaining docs within explore to use ASCII
Dansyuqri Apr 28, 2026
2ecc90e
fix(explore): finish the ASCII conversion and guard it
clay-good Aug 20, 2026
583dd2c
test(explore): cover every check/cross dingbat in the ASCII guard
clay-good Aug 20, 2026
f5ff932
fix(explore): require explicit confirmation before writing files
aymanxdev Aug 22, 2026
4d2435e
test(explore): harden write confirmation guardrail
clay-good Aug 24, 2026
13266ba
Merge branch 'main' into fix/visual-defect-unicode-characters
clay-good Aug 24, 2026
ac51106
Merge branch 'main' into fix/explore-explicit-write-confirmation
clay-good Aug 24, 2026
62ef54f
fix(explore): scope write confirmation precisely
clay-good Aug 24, 2026
d0e366c
Merge commit '62ef54f4e' into codex/harden-pr-1010
clay-good Aug 24, 2026
0e21347
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into r1010
clay-good Aug 26, 2026
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions .changeset/plain-ascii-explore-diagrams.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
---
'@fission-ai/openspec': patch
---

Draw explore-mode diagrams with plain ASCII. The worked examples in the explore skill and `/opsx:explore` command used Unicode box-drawing, arrow, and marker glyphs, whose display width varies across terminals, fonts, and locales. Agents copied the style, causing padded boxes and aligned tables to drift.
109 changes: 56 additions & 53 deletions skills/openspec-explore/SKILL.md
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Expand Up @@ -54,22 +54,25 @@ Depending on what the user brings, you might:

**Visualize**
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Use ASCII diagrams liberally │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │
│ │ State │────────▶│ State │ │
│ │ A │ │ B │ │
│ └────────┘ └────────┘ │
│ │
│ System diagrams, state machines, │
│ data flows, architecture sketches, │
│ dependency graphs, comparison tables │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
+------------------------------------------+
| Use ASCII diagrams liberally |
+------------------------------------------+
| |
| [State A] -------> [State B] |
| | |
| v |
| [State C] |
| |
| System diagrams, state machines, |
| data flows, architecture sketches, |
| dependency graphs, comparison tables |
| |
+------------------------------------------+
```

**Draw with plain ASCII only** — borders `+` `-` `|`, arrows `-->` `<--` `^` `v`, markers `*` `x`.
Unicode diagram glyphs can render at different widths across terminals, fonts, and locales, so padded boxes and aligned tables can drift. Keep every diagram character ASCII.

**Surface risks and unknowns**
- Identify what could go wrong
- Find gaps in understanding
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -170,17 +173,17 @@ User: I'm thinking about adding real-time collaboration
You: Real-time collab is a big space. Let me think about this...

COLLABORATION SPECTRUM
════════════════════════════════════════════
============================================

Awareness Coordination Sync
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐
│Presence│ │Cursors │ │ CRDT │
│ "3 │ │ Multi │ │Conflict│
│online" │ │ select │ │ free │
└────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘
│ │ │
| | |
v v v
+--------+ +--------+ +--------+
|Presence| |Cursors | | CRDT |
| "3 | | Multi | |Conflict|
|online" | | select | | free |
+--------+ +--------+ +--------+
| | |
trivial moderate complex

Where's your head at?
Expand All @@ -192,27 +195,27 @@ User: The auth system is a mess

You: [reads codebase]

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CURRENT AUTH FLOW │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ Google │ │ GitHub │ │ Email │
│ OAuth │ │ OAuth │ │ Magic │
└────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘
│ │ │
└─────────────┼─────────────┘
▼
┌───────────┐
│ Session │
└─────┬─────┘
│
▼
┌───────────┐
│ Perms │
└───────────┘
+---------------------------------------------+
| CURRENT AUTH FLOW |
+---------------------------------------------+
|
+-------------+-------------+
v v v
+---------+ +---------+ +---------+
| Google | | GitHub | | Email |
| OAuth | | OAuth | | Magic |
+----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
| | |
+-------------+-------------+
v
+-----------+
| Session |
+-----+-----+
|
v
+-----------+
| Perms |
+-----------+

I see three tangles. Which one's burning?
```
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -244,19 +247,19 @@ User: A CLI tool that tracks local dev environments

You: That changes everything.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CLI TOOL DATA STORAGE │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+-------------------------------------------------+
| CLI TOOL DATA STORAGE |
+-------------------------------------------------+

Key constraints:
• No daemon running
• Must work offline
• Single user
- No daemon running
- Must work offline
- Single user

SQLite Postgres
Deployment embedded ✓ needs server ✗
Offline yes ✓ no ✗
Single file yes ✓ no ✗
Deployment embedded needs server
Offline yes no
Single file yes no

SQLite. Not even close.

Expand Down
140 changes: 73 additions & 67 deletions src/core/templates/workflows/explore.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -56,22 +56,25 @@ Depending on what the user brings, you might:

**Visualize**
\`\`\`
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Use ASCII diagrams liberally │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │
│ │ State │────────▶│ State │ │
│ │ A │ │ B │ │
│ └────────┘ └────────┘ │
│ │
│ System diagrams, state machines, │
│ data flows, architecture sketches, │
│ dependency graphs, comparison tables │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
+------------------------------------------+
| Use ASCII diagrams liberally |
+------------------------------------------+
| |
| [State A] -------> [State B] |
| | |
| v |
| [State C] |
| |
| System diagrams, state machines, |
| data flows, architecture sketches, |
| dependency graphs, comparison tables |
| |
+------------------------------------------+
\`\`\`

**Draw with plain ASCII only** — borders \`+\` \`-\` \`|\`, arrows \`-->\` \`<--\` \`^\` \`v\`, markers \`*\` \`x\`.
Unicode diagram glyphs can render at different widths across terminals, fonts, and locales, so padded boxes and aligned tables can drift. Keep every diagram character ASCII.

**Surface risks and unknowns**
- Identify what could go wrong
- Find gaps in understanding
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -172,17 +175,17 @@ User: I'm thinking about adding real-time collaboration
You: Real-time collab is a big space. Let me think about this...

COLLABORATION SPECTRUM
════════════════════════════════════════════
============================================

Awareness Coordination Sync
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐
│Presence│ │Cursors │ │ CRDT │
│ "3 │ │ Multi │ │Conflict│
│online" │ │ select │ │ free │
└────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘
│ │ │
| | |
v v v
+--------+ +--------+ +--------+
|Presence| |Cursors | | CRDT |
| "3 | | Multi | |Conflict|
|online" | | select | | free |
+--------+ +--------+ +--------+
| | |
trivial moderate complex

Where's your head at?
Expand All @@ -194,27 +197,27 @@ User: The auth system is a mess

You: [reads codebase]

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CURRENT AUTH FLOW │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ Google │ │ GitHub │ │ Email │
│ OAuth │ │ OAuth │ │ Magic │
└────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘
│ │ │
└─────────────┼─────────────┘
▼
┌───────────┐
│ Session │
└─────┬─────┘
│
▼
┌───────────┐
│ Perms │
└───────────┘
+---------------------------------------------+
| CURRENT AUTH FLOW |
+---------------------------------------------+
|
+-------------+-------------+
v v v
+---------+ +---------+ +---------+
| Google | | GitHub | | Email |
| OAuth | | OAuth | | Magic |
+----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
| | |
+-------------+-------------+
v
+-----------+
| Session |
+-----+-----+
|
v
+-----------+
| Perms |
+-----------+

I see three tangles. Which one's burning?
\`\`\`
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -246,19 +249,19 @@ User: A CLI tool that tracks local dev environments

You: That changes everything.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CLI TOOL DATA STORAGE │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+-------------------------------------------------+
| CLI TOOL DATA STORAGE |
+-------------------------------------------------+

Key constraints:
• No daemon running
• Must work offline
• Single user
- No daemon running
- Must work offline
- Single user

SQLite Postgres
Deployment embedded ✓ needs server ✗
Offline yes ✓ no ✗
Single file yes ✓ no ✗
Deployment embedded needs server
Offline yes no
Single file yes no

SQLite. Not even close.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -371,22 +374,25 @@ Depending on what the user brings, you might:

**Visualize**
\`\`\`
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Use ASCII diagrams liberally │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │
│ │ State │────────▶│ State │ │
│ │ A │ │ B │ │
│ └────────┘ └────────┘ │
│ │
│ System diagrams, state machines, │
│ data flows, architecture sketches, │
│ dependency graphs, comparison tables │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
+------------------------------------------+
| Use ASCII diagrams liberally |
+------------------------------------------+
| |
| [State A] -------> [State B] |
| | |
| v |
| [State C] |
| |
| System diagrams, state machines, |
| data flows, architecture sketches, |
| dependency graphs, comparison tables |
| |
+------------------------------------------+
\`\`\`

**Draw with plain ASCII only** — borders \`+\` \`-\` \`|\`, arrows \`-->\` \`<--\` \`^\` \`v\`, markers \`*\` \`x\`.
Unicode diagram glyphs can render at different widths across terminals, fonts, and locales, so padded boxes and aligned tables can drift. Keep every diagram character ASCII.

**Surface risks and unknowns**
- Identify what could go wrong
- Find gaps in understanding
Expand Down
41 changes: 41 additions & 0 deletions test/core/templates/explore.test.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -29,6 +29,25 @@ function occurrenceCount(body: string, value: string): number {
return body.split(value).length - 1;
}

const NON_ASCII = /[^\x00-\x7F]/;

function fencedBlockLines(body: string): Array<[number, string]> {
const lines: Array<[number, string]> = [];
let inFence = false;

body.split('\n').forEach((line, index) => {
if (line.trimStart().startsWith('```')) {
inFence = !inFence;
return;
}
if (inFence) {
lines.push([index + 1, line]);
}
});

return lines;
}

describe('explore templates', () => {
// Regression for #696: explore never loaded the project's declared
// context, so it reasoned without the tech stack, conventions, and
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -223,6 +242,28 @@ describe('explore templates', () => {
}
});

// Regression for #983: the worked examples drew boxes and tables with
// Unicode box-drawing, arrow, and marker glyphs. Agents copy those
// examples verbatim, and on terminals that render the glyphs
// double-width the right border of every padded box drifted loose.
it('draws every fenced example with plain ASCII only (#983)', () => {
for (const [label, body] of bodies) {
const offenders = fencedBlockLines(body)
.filter(([, line]) => NON_ASCII.test(line))
.map(([lineNumber, line]) => `${lineNumber}: ${line}`);

expect(offenders, `${label} fenced examples must be pure ASCII`).toEqual([]);
}
});

it('tells the agent to draw with ASCII and says why (#983)', () => {
for (const [label, body] of bodies) {
expect(body, label).toContain('**Draw with plain ASCII only**');
expect(body, label).toContain('render at different widths');
expect(body, label).toContain('Keep every diagram character ASCII');
}
});

it('stops after scaffolding when the user requests only a new change (#668)', () => {
for (const [label, body] of bodies) {
const transition = newChangeTransition(body, label);
Expand Down
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