fix(apply): warn when a change is ready to implement with no specs

.changeset/apply-warns-missing-specs.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@fission-ai/openspec': minor
+---
+
+Apply now says when a change has no delta specs. Apply gates on the schema's `apply.requires` alone, so a change whose `tasks.md` was written ahead of its specs read as ready to implement even though it had no spec deltas at all — the state `openspec validate` rejects. `openspec instructions apply` now reports that gap as a warning (text and `--json`), naming both ways out: write the specs, or declare `skip_specs: true`. Changes that have specs, declare `skip_specs`, or are still blocked on their own required artifacts are unaffected.
+
+A blocked apply also names the whole chain now, not just the first hop: a change holding only a proposal reported `Missing artifacts: tasks` while the specs that `tasks` depends on were missing too, which reads as an instruction to write the tracking file straight from the proposal. The full build order is reported as `missingPrerequisites` in `--json`. The remedies these messages give are CLI commands (`openspec instructions <artifact> --change <name>`) rather than the `openspec-continue-change` skill, which the `core` profile never installs.

docs/agent-contract.md

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Change: `{ "id", "title", "deltaCount", "deltas": [...], "root" }`. Spec: `{ "id
 `ReferenceIndexEntry`: `{ "store_id", "root"?, "specs"?: [{id,summary}], "fetch"?, "status": [] }` — resolved entries carry root/specs/fetch; unresolved carry store_id + warning status. Index capped at 50KB (`reference_index_truncated`).
 
 ### 4.6 `instructions apply --json`
-`{ "changeName", "changeDir", "schemaName", "contextFiles": { "<artifactId>": ["/abs", ...] }, "progress": {total,complete,remaining}, "tasks": [{id,description,done}], "state": "blocked"|"all_done"|"ready", "missingArtifacts"?, "instruction", "references"?, "context"?, "operationGuidance"?, "root" }`. Both optional fields are read from the selected root on every invocation. `context` is a required prompt-level input whose relevant project facts, conventions, and constraints must be applied; `operationGuidance` is advisory input whose entries are followed only when applicable and compatible with the built-in workflow. Both remain separate from state, tasks, progress, context files, and the built-in instruction.
+`{ "changeName", "changeDir", "schemaName", "contextFiles": { "<artifactId>": ["/abs", ...] }, "progress": {total,complete,remaining}, "tasks": [{id,description,done}], "state": "blocked"|"all_done"|"ready", "missingArtifacts"?, "missingPrerequisites"?, "warnings"?, "instruction", "references"?, "context"?, "operationGuidance"?, "root" }`. `missingArtifacts` is what apply blocks on (the schema's `apply.requires`); `missingPrerequisites` is everything still to build before apply can run, in build order - the transitive closure of those requires, so it can be the longer list. `warnings` lists non-blocking problems with the change itself - today, a change that is ready to implement with no delta specs and no `skip_specs: true`, the state `openspec validate` rejects. Both optional root fields (`context`, `operationGuidance`) are read from the selected root on every invocation. `context` is a required prompt-level input whose relevant project facts, conventions, and constraints must be applied; `operationGuidance` is advisory input whose entries are followed only when applicable and compatible with the built-in workflow. Both remain separate from state, tasks, progress, context files, and the built-in instruction.
 
 ### 4.7 `instructions archive --json`
 `{ "changeName", "context"?, "operationGuidance"?, "root" }`. Requires a valid `--change` in the resolved repo/store root and uses the same required-context/advisory-guidance semantics as apply. This is a read-only runtime-input surface: it does not return the static archive workflow, inspect or merge delta specs, write main specs, or move the change.

src/commands/workflow/instructions.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   resolveArtifactOutputs,
   type ArtifactInstructions,
 } from '../../core/artifact-graph/index.js';
+import { isSpecsArtifactPath } from '../../core/artifact-graph/outputs.js';
 import {
   getChangeDir,
   resolveCurrentPlanningHomeSync,
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ import {
   type ArchiveInstructions,
 } from './shared.js';
 import { parseTaskLines, type ParsedTask } from '../../utils/task-progress.js';
+import { METADATA_FILENAME } from '../../utils/change-metadata.js';
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Types
@@ -350,6 +352,126 @@ function toTaskItems(parsed: ParsedTask[]): TaskItem[] {
   return tasks;
 }
 
+/**
+ * The command that builds one artifact.
+ *
+ * Every earlier remedy here named the `openspec-continue-change` skill, which
+ * the `core` profile never installs - the advice was a dead end for the default
+ * install. The CLI verb exists on every profile and is what the skill runs.
+ */
+function describeArtifactRemedy(
+  changeName: string,
+  artifactId?: string,
+  options: { many?: boolean } = {}
+): string {
+  const target = artifactId ?? '<artifact>';
+  const verb = options.many ? 'Create each with' : 'Create it with';
+  return (
+    `${verb} \`openspec instructions ${target} --change ${changeName}\`` +
+    ` (\`openspec status --change ${changeName}\` shows what is left).`
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Finds the artifact a schema path is generated by, so a remedy can name it.
+ */
+function findArtifactIdFor(
+  schema: { artifacts: { id: string; generates: string }[] },
+  generates: string
+): string | undefined {
+  return schema.artifacts.find((artifact) => artifact.generates === generates)?.id;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Everything still to build before apply can run, in build order.
+ *
+ * Apply blocks on the schema's `apply.requires` alone, so its own list stops at
+ * the first hop: a change with only a proposal is told "Missing artifacts:
+ * tasks" while the specs `tasks` depends on are missing too. An agent that
+ * takes that literally writes the tracking file straight from the proposal and
+ * skips the artifacts in between - the failure reported in #834 and #869.
+ * Walking `requires` names the whole chain, the same set and order
+ * `openspec status` already prints, without changing what apply blocks on.
+ */
+function collectMissingPrerequisites(input: {
+  requiredArtifactIds: string[];
+  schema: { artifacts: { id: string; requires: string[] }[] };
+  buildOrder: string[];
+  completed: Set<string>;
+}): string[] {
+  const { requiredArtifactIds, schema, buildOrder, completed } = input;
+  const byId = new Map(schema.artifacts.map((artifact) => [artifact.id, artifact]));
+  const missing = new Set<string>();
+  const queue = [...requiredArtifactIds];
+  const seen = new Set<string>(queue);
+
+  while (queue.length > 0) {
+    const id = queue.shift() as string;
+    const artifact = byId.get(id);
+    if (!artifact) continue;
+    if (!completed.has(id)) missing.add(id);
+    for (const dependency of artifact.requires) {
+      if (seen.has(dependency)) continue;
+      seen.add(dependency);
+      queue.push(dependency);
+    }
+  }
+
+  const order = new Map(buildOrder.map((id, index) => [id, index]));
+  return [...missing].sort(
+    (a, b) => (order.get(a) ?? 0) - (order.get(b) ?? 0)
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Warnings apply reports alongside its instruction.
+ *
+ * Apply gates on the schema's `apply.requires` only, so a change whose tasks
+ * file was written ahead of its specs reads as ready even though no delta spec
+ * exists - the state `openspec validate` rejects. Blocking here would be a
+ * policy change; naming the gap is not, and it is what keeps apply from being
+ * the one surface that green-lights a change every other surface flags.
+ *
+ * Only reported once apply is past its own gate: for a change that has not
+ * reached tasks yet, the missing specs are the next step rather than a warning.
+ * Schemas that declare no spec-producing artifact carry `skip_specs` from
+ * creation, so this never fires on them.
+ */
+function collectApplyWarnings(input: {
+  state: ApplyInstructions['state'];
+  schema: { artifacts: { id: string; generates: string }[] };
+  changeDir: string;
+  changeName: string;
+  skippedArtifacts?: Set<string>;
+}): string[] {
+  const { state, schema, changeDir, changeName, skippedArtifacts } = input;
+  if (state === 'blocked') return [];
+
+  const specArtifacts = schema.artifacts.filter((artifact) =>
+    isSpecsArtifactPath(artifact.generates)
+  );
+  if (specArtifacts.length === 0) return [];
+  if (specArtifacts.some((artifact) => skippedArtifacts?.has(artifact.id))) return [];
+  const hasDeltas = specArtifacts.some(
+    (artifact) => resolveArtifactOutputs(changeDir, artifact.generates).length > 0
+  );
+  if (hasDeltas) return [];
+
+  const metadataPath = path.join(changeDir, METADATA_FILENAME);
+  // The command names the artifact this schema actually declares, never the
+  // literal `specs`. A schema whose spec-producing artifact is `contracts` was
+  // told to run `openspec instructions specs`, an artifact it does not have,
+  // so the warning dead-ended at the exact step meant to resolve it. With more
+  // than one such artifact there is no single right answer, so the id becomes
+  // a placeholder rather than a guess.
+  const specTarget = specArtifacts.length === 1 ? specArtifacts[0].id : '<artifact-id>';
+  return [
+    `This change has no delta specs and does not declare \`skip_specs: true\`, so \`openspec validate ${changeName}\` fails on it. ` +
+      `Write the delta specs before implementing (\`openspec instructions ${specTarget} --change ${changeName}\`), ` +
+      `or add \`skip_specs: true\` to ${metadataPath} if this change really changes no specified behavior.`,
+  ];
+}
+
 export interface GenerateApplyInstructionsOptions {
   planningHome?: PlanningHome;
   references?: ReferenceIndexEntry[];
@@ -403,6 +525,14 @@ export async function generateApplyInstructions(
     }
   }
 
+  // Everything still to build, not just the first hop apply blocks on.
+  const missingPrerequisites = collectMissingPrerequisites({
+    requiredArtifactIds: [...requiredArtifactIds],
+    schema,
+    buildOrder: context.graph.getBuildOrder(),
+    completed: context.completed,
+  });
+
   // Build context files from all existing artifacts in schema
   const contextFiles: Record<string, string[]> = {};
   for (const artifact of schema.artifacts) {
@@ -437,18 +567,35 @@ export async function generateApplyInstructions(
 
   if (missingArtifacts.length > 0) {
     state = 'blocked';
-    instruction = `Cannot apply this change yet. Missing artifacts: ${missingArtifacts.join(', ')}.\nUse the openspec-continue-change skill to create the missing artifacts first.`;
+    const chain =
+      missingPrerequisites.length > missingArtifacts.length
+        ? `\nNot created yet, in build order: ${missingPrerequisites.join(', ')}.` +
+          ` Build the ones this change needs before applying - the schema says which are conditional.`
+        : '';
+    instruction =
+      `Cannot apply this change yet. Missing artifacts: ${missingArtifacts.join(', ')}.${chain}` +
+      `\n${describeArtifactRemedy(
+        changeName,
+        // Only name one when one is left: the first of several would be the
+        // schema's conditional artifact as often as not.
+        missingPrerequisites.length === 1 ? missingPrerequisites[0] : undefined,
+        { many: missingPrerequisites.length > 1 }
+      )}`;
   } else if (tracksFile && !tracksFileExists) {
     // Tracking file configured but doesn't exist yet
     const tracksFilename = path.basename(tracksFile);
     state = 'blocked';
-    instruction = `The ${tracksFilename} file is missing and must be created.\nUse openspec-continue-change to generate the tracking file.`;
+    instruction =
+      `The ${tracksFilename} file is missing and must be created.` +
+      `\n${describeArtifactRemedy(changeName, findArtifactIdFor(schema, tracksFile))}`;
   } else if (tracksFile && tracksFileExists && tasks.length === 0) {
     // Tracking file exists but lists nothing an agent can work on: either no
     // checkboxes at all, or only checkboxes with no text after them.
     const tracksFilename = path.basename(tracksFile);
     state = 'blocked';
-    instruction = `The ${tracksFilename} file exists but contains no tasks to work on.\nAdd tasks to ${tracksFilename} or regenerate it with openspec-continue-change.`;
+    instruction =
+      `The ${tracksFilename} file exists but contains no tasks to work on.` +
+      `\nAdd tasks to ${tracksFilename}, or rebuild it: ${describeArtifactRemedy(changeName, findArtifactIdFor(schema, tracksFile))}`;
   } else if (tracksFile && remaining === 0 && total > 0) {
     state = 'all_done';
     instruction = 'All tasks are complete! This change is ready to be archived.\nConsider running tests and reviewing the changes before archiving.';
@@ -461,6 +608,14 @@ export async function generateApplyInstructions(
     instruction = schemaInstruction?.trim() ?? 'Read context files, work through pending tasks, mark complete as you go.\nPause if you hit blockers or need clarification.';
   }
 
+  const warnings = collectApplyWarnings({
+    state,
+    schema,
+    changeDir,
+    changeName,
+    skippedArtifacts: context.skippedArtifacts,
+  });
+
   return {
     changeName,
     changeDir,
@@ -470,6 +625,8 @@ export async function generateApplyInstructions(
     tasks,
     state,
     missingArtifacts: missingArtifacts.length > 0 ? missingArtifacts : undefined,
+    ...(missingPrerequisites.length > 0 ? { missingPrerequisites } : {}),
+    ...(warnings.length > 0 ? { warnings } : {}),
     instruction,
     ...(references !== undefined ? { references } : {}),
     ...operationInputs,
@@ -524,7 +681,7 @@ export async function applyInstructionsCommand(options: ApplyInstructionsOptions
 }
 
 export function printApplyInstructionsText(instructions: ApplyInstructions): void {
-  const { changeName, schemaName, contextFiles, progress, tasks, state, missingArtifacts, instruction } = instructions;
+  const { changeName, schemaName, contextFiles, progress, tasks, state, missingArtifacts, warnings, instruction } = instructions;
 
   console.log(`## Apply: ${changeName}`);
   console.log(`Schema: ${schemaName}`);
@@ -540,7 +697,23 @@ export function printApplyInstructionsText(instructions: ApplyInstructions): voi
     console.log('### ⚠️ Blocked');
     console.log();
     console.log(`Missing artifacts: ${missingArtifacts.join(', ')}`);
-    console.log('Use the openspec-continue-change skill to create these first.');
+    if (
+      instructions.missingPrerequisites &&
+      instructions.missingPrerequisites.length > missingArtifacts.length
+    ) {
+      console.log(
+        `Not created yet, in build order: ${instructions.missingPrerequisites.join(', ')}`
+      );
+    }
+    console.log();
+  }
+
+  if (warnings && warnings.length > 0) {
+    console.log('### ⚠️ Warnings');
+    console.log();
+    for (const warning of warnings) {
+      console.log(`- ${warning}`);
+    }
     console.log();
   }
 

src/commands/workflow/shared.ts

@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ export interface ApplyInstructions {
   tasks: TaskItem[];
   state: 'blocked' | 'all_done' | 'ready';
   missingArtifacts?: string[];
+  /**
+   * Everything still to build before apply can run, in build order - the
+   * transitive closure of the schema's `apply.requires`, so it can be longer
+   * than `missingArtifacts`, which stops at the first hop apply blocks on.
+   */
+  missingPrerequisites?: string[];
+  /** Non-blocking problems with the change, reported alongside the instruction. */
+  warnings?: string[];
   instruction: string;
   /** Referenced-store index (read-only upstream context; omitted when none declared) */
   references?: ReferenceIndexEntry[];