`instructions apply` fails to detect glob-pattern artifacts (e.g. `specs/*/spec.md`)

[Se7enLiu]

Version

@fission-ai/openspec v1.2.0, Windows 11, Node.js

Summary

openspec instructions apply --change <name> reports Missing artifacts: specs even when the spec file exists and openspec status correctly shows specs: done.

The root cause is that instructions.js uses a hand-written glob matcher that does not recurse into subdirectories for single * patterns (only for **), while state.js uses fast-glob which handles all patterns correctly.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a schema with an artifact that uses a glob generates pattern:

   - id: specs
     generates: specs/*/spec.md

2. Create the spec file at the expected location:

   openspec/changes/my-change/specs/my-change/spec.md
   

3. Run status — reports correctly:

   $ openspec status --change "my-change" --json
   # specs artifact status: "done" ✓
   

4. Run apply — incorrectly blocked:

   $ openspec instructions apply --change "my-change"
   ## Apply: my-change
   ### ⚠️ Blocked
   Missing artifacts: specs
   

Root Cause

Two separate artifactOutputExists implementations with different behavior:

File	Method	Glob support
core/artifact-graph/state.js	isArtifactComplete() → hasGlobMatches()	Uses fast-glob (fg.sync) — correct
commands/workflow/instructions.js	artifactOutputExists()	Hand-written: only recurses for **, skips subdirs for * — broken

The hand-written matcher in instructions.js (lines ~167-219 of the original) does this:

// For ** patterns, recurse into subdirectories
if (generates.includes('**') && hasMatchingFiles(path.join(dir, entry.name))) {
    return true;
}

For a pattern like specs/*/spec.md, the * matches at the directory level (specs/ is the dirPath), but the function only checks files in that directory — it never enters subdirectories because generates.includes('**') is false.

Secondary issue: unresolved glob in contextFiles

Even after fixing detection, contextFiles stores the raw glob path:

{
  "contextFiles": {
    "specs": "C:\\...\\specs/*/spec.md"   // not a valid file path
  }
}

This means downstream consumers (skills, agents) cannot read the specs file from the context.

Suggested Fix

Replace the hand-written glob logic in instructions.js with fast-glob, matching what state.js already does:

import fg from 'fast-glob';

function artifactOutputExists(changeDir, generates) {
    const fullPattern = path.join(changeDir, generates);
    if (generates.includes('*') || generates.includes('?') || generates.includes('[')) {
        const normalizedPattern = fullPattern.split(path.sep).join('/');
        const matches = fg.sync(normalizedPattern, { onlyFiles: true });
        return matches.length > 0;
    }
    return fs.existsSync(fullPattern);
}

And resolve glob paths in contextFiles to actual file paths:

// Build context files from all existing artifacts in schema
const contextFiles = {};
for (const artifact of schema.artifacts) {
    if (artifactOutputExists(changeDir, artifact.generates)) {
        if (artifact.generates.includes('*') || artifact.generates.includes('?') || artifact.generates.includes('[')) {
            const fullPattern = path.join(changeDir, artifact.generates).split(path.sep).join('/');
            const matches = fg.sync(fullPattern, { onlyFiles: true });
            if (matches.length > 0) {
                contextFiles[artifact.id] = matches[0];
            }
        } else {
            contextFiles[artifact.id] = path.join(changeDir, artifact.generates);
        }
    }
}

Ideal long-term fix

Extract a shared utility (e.g. in core/artifact-graph/) for glob-aware file existence checking and path resolution, so state.js and instructions.js use the same code path. This eliminates the duplication that caused this divergence.

Workaround

Manually patch node_modules/@fission-ai/openspec/dist/commands/workflow/instructions.js with the suggested fix above.