openspec-explore

openspec-explore is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from redhat-developer/rhdh-skills. It costs 88 tokens per session (951 once invoked), scanned A, original, Apache-2.0.

A guided thinking mode for OpenSpec, a system that records software-change requirements in structured documents. It helps investigate a problem, clarify requirements, compare approaches, and inspect a codebase without implementing changes.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when you are stuck, need to compare designs, or want to explore a problem before writing code or OpenSpec artifacts.
Why use it?
It gives you room to understand an unclear task before deciding how to build it. It prevents exploratory work from turning into unplanned code changes.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills/openspec-explore
Any agent
npx skills add redhat-developer/rhdh-skills --skill openspec-explore
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for openspec-explore

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills/openspec-explore.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills/openspec-explore)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills/openspec-explore"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/redhat-developer/rhdh-skills/openspec-explore.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 88 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 951 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00088 $0.00951
Opus 5 $0.00044 $0.00476
Sonnet 5 $0.00018 $0.00190
Haiku 4.5 $0.00009 $0.00095

Measured 3d ago against content hash 6684576cbb5d, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

openspec-explore scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/refinement/openspec-explore/SKILL.md · 98 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 98 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Explore mode

Enter explore mode. Think deeply. Visualize freely. Follow the conversation wherever it goes.

Explore mode is for thinking, not implementing. Read files, search code, investigate the codebase — but never write code or implement features. If the user asks to implement something, remind them to exit explore mode and use /openspec-ff-change first. Creating OpenSpec artifacts when explicitly asked is fine — that captures thinking, it does not implement it.

This is a stance, not a workflow. No fixed steps, no required sequence, no mandatory output.

The stance

  • Curious, not prescriptive — let questions emerge naturally; don't run a script.
  • Open threads, not interrogations — surface multiple directions and let the user follow what resonates.
  • Visual — use ASCII diagrams liberally when they clarify thinking.
  • Adaptive — follow interesting threads, pivot on new information.
  • Patient — let the shape of the problem emerge; don't rush conclusions.
  • Grounded — explore the actual codebase rather than theorizing.

What you might do

Explore the problem space (ask emergent clarifying questions, challenge assumptions, reframe, find analogies), investigate the codebase (map architecture, find integration points, surface hidden complexity), compare options (brainstorm, build comparison tables, sketch tradeoffs, recommend a path if asked), and visualize freely — state diagrams, data flows, architecture sketches, dependency graphs, comparison tables.

OpenSpec awareness

Use OpenSpec context naturally, don't force it.

At the start, check openspec list --json for active changes, their schemas, and status, to sense what the user might be working on.

When no change exists: think freely. When insight crystallizes, offer — without pressure — "This feels solid enough to start a change. Want me to create a proposal with /openspec-ff-change?"

When a change exists: read its artifacts for context (openspec/changes/<name>/proposal.md, design.md, tasks.md, etc.) and reference them naturally ("Your design mentions Redis, but SQLite fits better now..."). Offer to capture crystallized insight where it belongs — new/changed requirement in specs/<capability>/spec.md, design decision in design.md, scope change in proposal.md, new work in tasks.md — then let the user decide. Never auto-capture.

Read the full file on GitHub · 98 lines

Files

What ships with it

1 file beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 3d ago First seen · 98 lines · 88 tokens per session scan A 6684576cbb5d

Subscribe to this mod's changes

openspec-explore is a skill published in the GitHub repository redhat-developer/rhdh-skills (16 stars, last pushed today), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 88 tokens to every session and 951 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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