Work Item 01 Evidence

2026-05-20 Initial Direction Lock

Completed before this work item folder was created:

Added locked disposition to roadmap.md.
Added locked product boundary to direction.md.
Marked openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/START_HERE.md as historical reference.
Marked openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/HISTORICAL_DIRECTION.md as historical reference.
Marked openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/ as historical reference.
Marked workspace-apply-repo-slice and workspace-verify-and-archive as deferred until initiative-linked repo-local changes exist.

Research findings:

Current workspace setup, link, relink, list, open, update, and doctor behavior is useful beta local-view infrastructure and should be preserved.
Live specs describe current workspace-planning behavior. They should not be rewritten during the initial direction lock; initiative artifacts should carry future product intent until behavior changes.
Existing runtime behavior should remain intact until initiatives and linked repo-local changes can replace workspace-level planning.

Verification:

git diff --check passed after the initial direction-lock edits.
openspec validate workspace-reimplementation-roadmap --no-interactive, openspec validate workspace-apply-repo-slice --no-interactive, and openspec validate workspace-verify-and-archive --no-interactive failed because those existing active changes have no spec deltas. That predates the disposition wording and is tracked as an active-change cleanup question.

2026-05-21 Initiative Entry Point

Added README.md as the initiative entry point and linked it from .initiative.yaml.

The README explains:

this initiative is the source of product intent
the reading order for direction, roadmap, tasks, decisions, questions, and work items
specs remain the current behavioral contract behind the code
specs should not be rewritten for future intent until behavior changes

Updated work-items/01-lock-the-direction/tasks.md to mark the initiative source-of-intent review complete.

2026-05-21 Historical Workspace Roadmap Review

Reviewed the historical workspace reimplementation entry points:

openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/START_HERE.md
openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/HISTORICAL_DIRECTION.md
openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/README.md
openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/proposal.md
openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/POC_REFERENCE_GUIDE.md

Added a guard near the top of openspec/changes/workspace-reimplementation-roadmap/HISTORICAL_DIRECTION.md stating that the remaining sections are historical POC follow-up direction and should not be treated as active implementation guidance.

The roadmap README and handoff prompt already direct agents to the initiative direction first and warn not to continue the old flat sibling queue unless a later initiative-linked repo-change design reactivates it.

2026-05-21 Active Workspace Proposal Review

Reviewed active workspace proposal artifacts:

workspace-reimplementation-roadmap
workspace-agent-guidance
workspace-apply-repo-slice
workspace-verify-and-archive

Added small notes to workspace-apply-repo-slice and workspace-verify-and-archive clarifying that the remaining proposal sections are preserved for later reference, not discarded, and should become relevant again after initiatives and initiative-linked repo-local changes exist.

Left workspace-agent-guidance untouched because it already has unrelated worktree edits and should be handled as a separate active-change disposition decision.

2026-05-21 User-Facing Docs Decision

Decision: Do not update docs/cli.md as part of the initial direction lock unless it misrepresents current user-facing behavior.

Reasoning:

The direction lock is for contributors and agents deciding what to build next.
User-facing docs should describe current CLI behavior, not future initiative intent.
Initiatives do not have a CLI surface yet, so announcing the pivot in user docs would draw attention to an internal product direction before users can act on it.

Revisit user-facing docs when initiative or context-store commands exist, or if current docs promise unavailable workspace apply, verify, or archive behavior.

Verification:

git diff --check passed.
No files under openspec/specs/ or schemas/workspace-planning/ were modified in this pass.

2026-05-21 Active Change Disposition

Decision: Keep the active workspace changes as deferred reference placeholders.

Rationale:

Workspace agent guidance, apply, verify, and archive are still expected to matter after initiative infrastructure exists.
The immediate focus should be context stores, initiatives, and initiative-linked repo-local changes.
Keeping the proposals preserves research and continuity without making them the next implementation queue.

Follow-up:

Revisit the deferred workspace changes after initiative-linked repo-local changes define the durable handoff model.

Final Item 1 State

Item 1 is complete.

What is locked:

Initiative artifacts are the source of product intent for context stores, collections, initiatives, workspaces, and repo-local changes.
Specs and schemas remain the current behavioral contract and were not edited for future intent.
Historical workspace roadmap artifacts remain available as reference, not as the active shipping queue.
Deferred workspace changes remain active reference placeholders because their domains are expected to matter after initiative infrastructure exists.
User-facing docs were intentionally left unchanged unless they misrepresent current behavior.

Remaining risks:

openspec list still shows deferred workspace changes as active no-task changes. This is intentional for now but may remain visually noisy.
workspace-agent-guidance has unrelated worktree edits and should be handled carefully before any future commit or archive decision.
Future agents still need to read the initiative README first; the historical workspace docs are safer now, but still contain useful old lifecycle details deeper in the file.