Feature: preserve specodelic frontmatter and four-layer tables when openspec archive deploys a delta #2017

Context

We dual-author spec files in the specodelic four-layer markdown format (YAML frontmatter id/kind/EARS statement + ## Constraints, ## Model, ## Properties tables) alongside the openspec grammar — one file, two parsers (specodelic's documented dual-format protocol).

Our migration change: openspec/changes/migrate-specs-to-dual-format in charly-vibes/espectacular.

Problem

openspec archive (v0.19.0) merges the openspec half of a delta into the deployed spec but strips the specodelic half — frontmatter and the three tables do not survive the deploy. Verified against docs we wrote: docs/src/dual-format-authoring.md ("Archive round-trip").

Consequences:

• Deployed specs silently lose their machine-linted layers after every archive touching the capability.
• Repos that mandate dual-format corpus-wide (like ours now does) need a manual re-derivation recipe after each archive: copy frontmatter from the archived delta, carry surviving constraint/property rows from git history, add rows for merged requirements, re-run gates.

Request

Preserve YAML frontmatter and the ## Constraints / ## Model / ## Properties tables when openspec archive merges a delta into a deployed spec (e.g., carry them verbatim from the delta, or merge table rows when both sides have them).

This keeps deployed specs lint-clean under specodelic lint without post-archive surgery, and matches openspec's design principle that specs are the source of truth — the formal layers are part of that truth.

Workaround

Documented in our repo: staged-file frontmatter mandate in pre-commit + CI (just spec-lint) makes the strip non-silent and forces re-derivation.

Thanks for a great tool — happy to provide more detail or a failing example.