Avoid Breaking Changes
Review planned repository changes for breaking-change and compatibility risk before implementation or release promotion. This is an interactive SKILL.
What is covered in this Skill?
- Command contract compatibility: names, inputs, owning agents, outputs, safeguards, installer registration, and command inventories
- Skill routing compatibility: identifiers, metadata, descriptions, triggers, references, generated local output, and acceptance coverage
- Generated-output ownership: XML/source files versus
.agents/skills, public skills/, .cursor/commands, .cursor/rules, and docs/
- Source and generator contracts: XML, XInclude, XSLT, Maven modules, schema expectations, and module validation
- README, localized README, changelog, migration, and deprecation guidance
- External and runtime contracts: APIs, schemas, data formats, configuration keys, persistence, CLI behavior, and CI expectations
- Structured compatibility reports with severity-ranked findings and validation guidance
Constraints
Keep the review evidence-based, read-only, and scoped to compatibility risk unless the user explicitly asks for implementation.
- MUST read
references/056-design-avoid-breaking-changes.md before producing compatibility guidance
- MUST identify the source artifacts reviewed and the compatibility surfaces considered
- MUST distinguish confirmed breaking changes, potential risks, non-breaking changes, and unknowns that need maintainer decision
- MUST include migration, deprecation, validation, or release-note guidance for intentional breaking changes
- MUST respect repository source ownership: edit XML and source docs, regenerate generated output through documented workflows, and avoid direct generated-output edits unless the repository explicitly owns that file
- MUST NOT modify plans, specs, source files, generated outputs, or issue descriptions during review unless the user explicitly requests implementation
When to use this skill
- Review breaking changes in this spec
- Check compatibility risks
- Avoid breaking changes in this OpenSpec change
- Review migration impact before release
- Assess command and skill compatibility
- Find generated output compatibility risks
- Review API schema configuration or data contract changes
Workflow
- Read the compatibility reference
Read references/056-design-avoid-breaking-changes.md, then identify the source artifacts to review, their authority, and whether the request is read-only review or approved implementation.
- Inventory compatibility surfaces
Check commands, skills, generated outputs, XML/source ownership, README/docs, tests, CI/build gates, external contracts, runtime behavior, data/configuration contracts, and release or migration guidance relevant to the proposed change.
- Classify findings
Classify each finding as BREAKING, POTENTIALLY BREAKING, NON-BREAKING, or UNKNOWN. Include the affected users, artifacts, contracts, and validation evidence or missing evidence.
- Recommend migration and validation
For each confirmed or potential risk, recommend deprecation, compatibility windows, migration notes, release-note updates, generator checks, focused tests, or owner decisions.
- Report the review outcome
Produce a concise compatibility report with reviewed sources, risk summary by surface, severity-ranked findings, recommended validation, and a clear no-risk statement when no breaking-change risks are found.
Reference
For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see references/056-design-avoid-breaking-changes.md.