Getting started in a brownfield project

[samueller]

What is the process for creating OpenSpec specs for an existing large project? Do I simply /opsx:new create specs and Claude Code will fill in proposal.md, design.md, and specs/* based on the existing code? Then I simply /opsx:archive? After that, I can start /opsx:newing features/bug fixes?

[steveardis]

This relates to a proposal I just submitted: #739

[laurentftech]

I am also looking for this feature and found this promising project:

https://github.com/clay-good/spec-gen

[clay-good]

Close, with one correction: you don't need a "create specs" change first.

Skip the baseline step entirely. Pick a small, real change you were going to make this week and run the normal loop:

/opsx:explore     # optional but earns its keep on a large codebase
/opsx:propose add-api-rate-limiting
/opsx:apply
/opsx:archive

After archiving, openspec/specs/ describes exactly the slice that change touched — and nothing else. That's correct. The rest fills in over the following changes.

If you'd rather watch the whole loop run on your own code with narration, the expanded /opsx:onboard command does that.

Both are documented in Using OpenSpec in an Existing Project.

Closing as answered — reopen or comment if your case is different.