openspec-explore

To explore requirements without writing code, you need a guided discovery process that reads existing files and maps architecture to surface assumptions. This approach lets you investigate problems and evaluate design options while enforcing guardrails that prohibit code changes.

Mapping integration points safely requires reading existing repository files and artifacts to understand architecture. You can reframe problems and expand the solution space as a thinking partner, ensuring you capture decisions as proposals or specs without forcing execution.

Capturing design options during pre-implementation discovery involves documenting insights as OpenSpec artifacts when they crystallize. You evaluate failure modes and integration points, then produce proposals or designs that clarify what to implement next.

Investigating failure modes without implementation is exactly what this exploration process supports. It guides you to evaluate integration points and decide what to propose next, explicitly avoiding code changes while allowing you to read files and produce design artifacts.

Requirement exploration works directly with existing OpenSpec artifacts by reading them to ground the investigation. It maps architecture and integration points from your current repository files, ensuring your decision capture is based on actual codebase analysis.

You should not use an exploration-first approach when you are ready to execute implementation changes immediately. This mode strictly prohibits code writing and is designed only for pre-implementation discovery, requirement clarification, and option comparison.