fix(cli): let --change find change names that exist on disk

.changeset/change-lookup-accepts-existing-names.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@fission-ai/openspec': patch
+---
+
+`--change` now accepts any change name that exists on disk (e.g. date-prefixed names like `2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1`), matching what `list`, `validate`, and `archive` already resolve. Lookup still rejects unsafe names (path separators, `..`, hidden entries); the kebab-case naming rule still applies when creating a change.

src/commands/workflow/shared.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import { getSchemaDir, listSchemas } from '../../core/artifact-graph/index.js';
 import type { ReferenceIndexEntry } from '../../core/references.js';
 import { isRootSelectionError } from '../../core/root-selection.js';
-import { validateChangeName } from '../../utils/change-utils.js';
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Types
@@ -134,6 +133,31 @@ export async function getAvailableChanges(
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Validates a change name used to look up an existing change directory.
+ * Lookup accepts any directory name that `getAvailableChanges` could return
+ * (the kebab-case convention in `validateChangeName` applies at creation
+ * time only); it only rejects names that would escape the changes directory
+ * or address hidden entries.
+ *
+ * @returns An error message, or undefined if the name is safe to look up
+ */
+function validateChangeLookupName(changeName: string): string | undefined {
+  if (changeName === '.' || changeName === '..') {
+    return 'Change name cannot be a relative path segment';
+  }
+  if (changeName.includes('/') || changeName.includes('\\')) {
+    return 'Change name cannot contain path separators';
+  }
+  if (changeName.includes('\0')) {
+    return 'Change name cannot contain null characters';
+  }
+  if (changeName.startsWith('.')) {
+    return 'Change name cannot start with a dot';
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
+
 /**
  * Validates that a change exists and returns available changes if not.
  * Checks directory existence directly to support scaffolded changes (without proposal.md).
@@ -159,9 +183,9 @@ export async function validateChangeExists(
   }
 
   // Validate change name format to prevent path traversal
-  const nameValidation = validateChangeName(changeName);
-  if (!nameValidation.valid) {
-    throw new Error(`Invalid change name '${changeName}': ${nameValidation.error}`);
+  const lookupError = validateChangeLookupName(changeName);
+  if (lookupError) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid change name '${changeName}': ${lookupError}`);
   }
 
   // Check directory existence directly

test/commands/artifact-workflow.test.ts

@@ -212,6 +212,24 @@ describe('artifact-workflow CLI commands', () => {
       const output = getOutput(result);
       expect(output).toContain('Invalid change name');
     });
+
+    it('rejects hidden directory names', async () => {
+      const result = await runCLI(['status', '--change', '.hidden'], { cwd: tempDir });
+      expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+      const output = getOutput(result);
+      expect(output).toContain('Invalid change name');
+    });
+
+    it('accepts digit-leading change names that exist on disk (#1308)', async () => {
+      await createTestChange('2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1', ['proposal', 'design']);
+
+      const result = await runCLI(['status', '--change', '2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1'], {
+        cwd: tempDir,
+      });
+      expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.stdout).toContain('2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1');
+      expect(result.stdout).toContain('2/4 artifacts complete');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('instructions command', () => {
@@ -290,6 +308,17 @@ describe('artifact-workflow CLI commands', () => {
       expect(output).toContain("Artifact 'unknown-artifact' not found");
       expect(output).toContain('Valid artifacts');
     });
+
+    it('accepts digit-leading change names that exist on disk (#1308)', async () => {
+      await createTestChange('2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1', ['proposal']);
+
+      const result = await runCLI(
+        ['instructions', 'design', '--change', '2026-07-04-voice-copilot-v1'],
+        { cwd: tempDir }
+      );
+      expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(result.stdout).toContain('<artifact id="design"');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('templates command', () => {