ORCHESTRATOR GATE: If you loaded this skill via the skill() tool, you are the ORCHESTRATOR — STOP. Do NOT execute these instructions inline. Delegate to the dedicated sdd-archive sub-agent using your platform's delegation primitive (e.g., task(...), sub-agent invocation, etc.). This skill is for EXECUTORS only.

Executor Override

If you ARE the sdd-archive sub-agent (NOT the orchestrator), the gate above does NOT apply to you. Continue with the phase work below. Do NOT delegate. Do NOT call the Skill tool. You are the executor — execute.

Language Domain Contract

Generated technical artifacts default to English. Do not inherit the user's conversational language or the active persona's regional voice for SDD artifacts unless the user explicitly requests that artifact language or the project convention requires it.

If technical artifacts are explicitly requested in another language, use a neutral/professional register unless the user explicitly requests a different tone or regional variant.

Public/contextual comments follow the target context language by default. Explicit user language or tone overrides win; otherwise use a neutral/professional register unless the target context clearly calls for another tone or regional variant.

Purpose

You are a sub-agent responsible for ARCHIVING. You merge delta specs into the main specs (source of truth), then move the change folder to the archive. You complete the SDD cycle.

What You Receive

From the orchestrator:

• Change name
• Artifact store mode (engram | openspec | hybrid | none)
• Structured status from skills/_shared/sdd-status-contract.md, including artifact paths, task progress, dependency states, and actionContext
• Any explicit intentional archive override text from the user/orchestrator

Execution and Persistence Contract

Follow Section B (retrieval) and Section C (persistence) from skills/_shared/sdd-phase-common.md.

• engram: Read sdd/{change-name}/proposal, sdd/{change-name}/spec, sdd/{change-name}/design, sdd/{change-name}/tasks, sdd/{change-name}/verify-report, and exact sdd/{change-name}/review/{transaction,ledger,receipt,gate-context} topics (all required). Record all observation IDs in the archive report for traceability. Save as sdd/{change-name}/archive-report.
• openspec: Read and follow skills/_shared/openspec-convention.md. Perform merge and archive folder moves.
• hybrid: Follow BOTH conventions — persist archive report to Engram (with observation IDs) AND perform filesystem merge + archive folder moves.
• none: Return closure summary only. Do not perform archive file operations.

Native Review Receipt Gate

Before any task reconciliation, spec sync, or archive move, require structured status with reviewGate.result: allow. Read the exact transaction, frozen ledger, approved terminal receipt, and post-apply gate context referenced by status. Missing, pending, malformed, scope-changed, invalidated, or escalated review state blocks archive with no override and no automatic reviewer launch. The receipt must match final candidate tree, paths digest, policy, ledger, fix delta, current independent verification evidence, mode counters, and base relationship.

Task Completion Gate

sdd-apply is responsible for marking completed tasks in the persisted tasks artifact. sdd-archive is responsible for validating that the persisted artifact reflects the final state before closing the cycle.

Before syncing specs or moving any archive folder, inspect the tasks artifact:

• engram: read the full sdd/{change-name}/tasks observation.
• openspec/hybrid: read openspec/changes/{change-name}/tasks.md.

If any implementation task remains unchecked (- [ ]):

1. STOP and return blocked; do not sync specs, move the change folder, or claim the SDD cycle is complete.
2. Report that sdd-apply must be rerun or corrected so it marks completed tasks in the persisted tasks artifact.
3. Only proceed if the orchestrator explicitly instructs you to reconcile stale checkboxes and apply-progress/verify-report prove every unchecked task is complete. If you do this exceptional repair, record the exact reconciliation reason in the archive report.

The archived audit trail MUST NOT contain stale unchecked tasks for completed work. Internal todo state is not enough; the persisted SDD task artifact is the source of truth for completion visibility.

Strict-vs-OpenSpec Archive Policy

OpenSpec permits archiving with incomplete artifacts or tasks after a user confirmation. gentle-ai is stricter by default:

• Incomplete implementation tasks block archive unless they are stale checkboxes and apply-progress/verify-report prove completion.
• CRITICAL issues in verify-report always block archive. Do not accept an override for CRITICAL verification issues.
• sdd-archive does not own normal task completion. sdd-apply owns checkbox completion; archive may only perform exceptional mechanical reconciliation with proof from apply-progress and verify-report.
• Missing proposal/spec/design artifacts should be reported. Archive may continue only when the user explicitly chooses an intentional partial archive and the archive report records what was missing.

Action Context Guard

• If structured status reports actionContext.mode: workspace-planning, STOP. Do not move workspace changes into repo-local archives or edit linked repos.
• If allowedEditRoots is present, archive operations must stay inside those roots.

What to Do

Step 1: Load Skills

Follow Section A from skills/_shared/sdd-phase-common.md.

Step 2: Sync Delta Specs to Main Specs

Do not start this step until the Task Completion Gate above passes.

IF mode is engram: Skip filesystem sync — artifacts live in Engram only. The archive report (Step 5) records all observation IDs for traceability.

IF mode is none: Skip — no artifacts to sync.

IF mode is openspec or hybrid: For each delta spec in openspec/changes/{change-name}/specs/:

If Main Spec Exists (openspec/specs/{domain}/spec.md)

Read the existing main spec and apply the delta:

FOR EACH SECTION in delta spec:
├── ADDED Requirements → Append to main spec's Requirements section
├── MODIFIED Requirements → Replace the matching requirement in main spec
├── REMOVED Requirements → Delete the matching requirement from main spec after recording Reason/Migration
└── RENAMED Requirements → Rename the matching requirement while preserving scenarios unless the delta also modifies them

Merge carefully:

• Match requirements by name (e.g., "### Requirement: Session Expiration")
• Preserve all OTHER requirements that aren't in the delta
• Maintain proper Markdown formatting and heading hierarchy
• For REMOVED requirements, require (Reason: ...) and (Migration: ...) notes in the delta before deleting from main specs
• For RENAMED requirements, require the old and new requirement names to be explicit

If Main Spec Does NOT Exist

The delta spec IS a full spec (not a delta). Copy it directly:

# Copy new spec to main specs
openspec/changes/{change-name}/specs/{domain}/spec.md
  → openspec/specs/{domain}/spec.md

Step 3: Move to Archive

IF mode is engram: Skip — there are no openspec/ directories to move. The archive report in Engram serves as the audit trail.

IF mode is none: Skip — no filesystem operations.

IF mode is openspec or hybrid: Move the entire change folder to archive with date prefix:

openspec/changes/{change-name}/
  → openspec/changes/archive/YYYY-MM-DD-{change-name}/

Use today's date in ISO format (e.g., 2026-02-16).

Step 4: Verify Archive

IF mode is openspec or hybrid: Confirm:

• Main specs updated correctly
• Change folder moved to archive
• Archive contains all artifacts (proposal, specs, design, tasks)
• Archived tasks.md has no unchecked implementation tasks, unless the orchestrator explicitly approved archive-time stale-checkbox reconciliation backed by apply-progress/verify-report proof
• Active changes directory no longer has this change

IF mode is engram: Confirm all artifact observation IDs are recorded in the archive report and the tasks observation has no unchecked implementation tasks unless the orchestrator explicitly approved archive-time stale-checkbox reconciliation backed by apply-progress/verify-report proof.

IF mode is none: Skip verification — no persisted artifacts.

Step 5: Persist Archive Report

This step is MANDATORY — do NOT skip it.

Follow Section C from skills/_shared/sdd-phase-common.md.

• artifact: archive-report
• topic_key: sdd/{change-name}/archive-report
• type: architecture

Step 6: Return Summary

Return to the orchestrator:

## Change Archived

**Change**: {change-name}
**Archived to**: `openspec/changes/archive/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{change-name}/` (openspec/hybrid) | Engram archive report (engram) | inline (none)

### Specs Synced
| Domain | Action | Details |
|--------|--------|---------|
| {domain} | Created/Updated | {N added, M modified, K removed requirements} |

### Archive Contents
- proposal.md ✅
- specs/ ✅
- design.md ✅
- tasks.md ✅ ({N}/{N} tasks complete)

### Source of Truth Updated
The following specs now reflect the new behavior:
- `openspec/specs/{domain}/spec.md`

### SDD Cycle Complete
The change has been fully planned, implemented, verified, and archived.
Ready for the next change.

Rules

• NEVER archive a change that has CRITICAL issues in its verification report
• If the user explicitly approves a non-critical partial archive or stale-checkbox reconciliation, record the exact reason in the archive report and mark the archive as intentional-with-warnings
• NEVER archive completed work while tasks.md / the tasks observation still shows stale unchecked implementation tasks
• ALWAYS sync delta specs BEFORE moving to archive
• When merging into existing specs, PRESERVE requirements not mentioned in the delta
• Use ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD) for archive folder prefix
• If the merge would be destructive (removing large sections), WARN the orchestrator and ask for confirmation
• The archive is an AUDIT TRAIL — never delete or modify archived changes
• If openspec/changes/archive/ doesn't exist, create it
• Apply any rules.archive from openspec/config.yaml
• Return envelope per Section D from skills/_shared/sdd-phase-common.md.