perf(cli): load each command's implementation only when it runs

[TabishB]

Status: Draft. Ready for review once CI is green on all three platforms.

What was wrong: src/cli/index.ts statically imported every command module, so every call, even openspec --version, loaded 485 modules before commander ran: zod (95), yaml (72), fast-glob and its dependencies (~70), ora (~25), diff (19), and every command's implementation. Telemetry wasn't involved, since --version skips the hooks. OpenSpec Desktop runs the CLI many times (--version as its CLI check under a 5 s deadline, doctor --json, store list --json, config list/path, list --json, schemas, …). On a GitHub Windows runner node -e 0 takes ~80 ms and openspec --version 555–645 ms on every run, cold or warm, so about 500 ms of each call is module loading. @TabishB measured this from the desktop app.

How it was fixed: Command definitions (names, options, descriptions, help) still load up front, so help and completions don't change. Each command's implementation now loads with await import() inside its action, the pattern init already used.

• src/cli/index.ts: the inline commands import their implementation in the action. failWithError loads ora (and asStatus) only when it's reporting an error. The preAction and postAction hooks load telemetry and the completion tip when they run.
• The seven register*Command modules that mixed definitions with heavy imports (config, schema, store, doctor, context, workset, spec) are split. The definitions move to src/cli/commands/<name>.ts. Each action body moves unchanged into an exported function in src/commands/<name>.ts (git diff -w shows the real change, about 60 lines added and 470 removed in src/commands/). Store and workset build their StoreCommand/WorksetCommand instance inside the action.
• Inside commands: config profile loads its drift check (every tool's command adapter) and UpdateCommand only when it needs them, and the completion tip loads the shell generators and installers only on the run that still owes the tip.
• DEFAULT_SCHEMA gets its own module so templates/new change help can show it without loading the workflow implementation.

Before / after (macOS, Node 23.10, built CLI via bin/openspec.js; modules = non-builtin modules loaded, counted with a module.registerHooks load hook; time = median of 20 runs; node -e 0 = 18 ms):

Command	Modules before	Modules after	Median before	Median after
--version	485	24	157 ms	32 ms
--help	485	24	147 ms	33 ms
validate --help	485	24	150 ms	37 ms
config list --json	485	132	150 ms	60 ms
store list --json	485	213	156 ms	82 ms
doctor --json	485	220	160 ms	83 ms
schemas --json	485	306	159 ms	108 ms
list --json	485	305	193 ms	130 ms

After the change, --version and --help load commander plus 16 definition modules, and no other package. The remaining modules for store, doctor, list and schemas are zod and yaml, which those commands actually use. Windows wasn't measured here. Module loading was ~500 of the ~600 ms per call there, so the drop should be at least proportional; the Windows CI lane runs the new test.

What was checked:

• New regression test, which fails on main: test/cli-e2e/startup-modules.test.ts spawns the built CLI with test/helpers/record-loaded-modules.mjs, which records every loaded module. It uses module.registerHooks where it exists and falls back to module.register on Node 20, which CI uses. The test asserts that:

  • --version, --help and validate --help load no package except commander and no command implementation;
  • config list --json, config path, store list --json, doctor --json, schemas --json and list --json each load only their own implementation.

  It asserts which modules are present and absent, not a module count. On main all 9 cases fail; with this change all 9 pass.

• Behavior unchanged: before refactoring, I captured stdout, stderr and the exit code for 173 invocations against a copy of this repo's openspec/ folder: --help and help <cmd> for the root and all 57 commands and subcommands (hidden ones too), completion generate for bash/zsh/fish/powershell plus an unknown shell, __complete for every type, and about 80 success and error cases (--json failure shapes, store/workset with a missing or unknown subcommand, config --scope project, --store-path, unknown commands and options, deprecated change/spec warnings, the schema experimental note, and outside a project). After the change they're byte-identical, apart from relative times (6m ago), durationMs and a temp path.

• Telemetry unchanged: with telemetry on and fetch stubbed, the first-run notice, the command_executed events (command path and version), no event for --version/--help, and the stored config are identical before and after.

• pnpm build, pnpm exec tsc --noEmit, pnpm lint: clean.

• pnpm test: 6407 passed and 2 failed. The two failures (artifact-workflow "creates skills for Cursor tool" and config-profile "confirmed project apply should update in process…") also fail on an unmodified main checkout on the same machine with the same errors, so they come from the local environment and not this change.

• Tests that called register*Command from src/commands/* now import it from src/cli/commands/*. Their mocks and spies (@inquirer/prompts, UpdateCommand.prototype, schemaInitFileOperations) still apply, because vitest resolves dynamic imports through the same module registry.

Assumptions:

• I treated this as an internal performance refactor with no change to behavior or architecture, so there's no change proposal. I can add one if you'd rather.
• The changeset is a patch, since users only notice the speed.

No linked issue yet; this comes from the OpenSpec Desktop startup measurements above.

Written with Claude Code (Claude Opus 5.5) and verified as described above.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Performance
  • CLI startup loads 24 modules instead of 485 for --version and --help.
  • Running a command loads only the functionality it needs, reducing unnecessary loading at startup and during command execution.
• Compatibility
  • Command output, help text, shell completions, exit codes, and telemetry remain unchanged.

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• test/cli-e2e/startup-modules.test.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The CLI now loads command implementations and supporting modules when their actions run. Command registration is separated from handler code, and end-to-end tests record module loading during startup and command execution.

Changes

Lazy CLI command loading

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Expose command handlers src/commands/config.ts, src/commands/context.ts, src/commands/doctor.ts, src/commands/schema.ts, src/commands/spec.ts, src/commands/store.ts, src/commands/workset.ts	Command implementation modules expose standalone handlers or command classes. The extracted handlers contain the operations previously connected through Commander registration.
Register commands and defer handler imports src/cli/commands/*	New registration modules define the config, context, doctor, schema, spec, store, and workset commands. Their actions dynamically import the corresponding handlers.
Defer CLI startup dependencies src/cli/index.ts, src/core/completion-tip.ts, src/commands/workflow/default-schema.ts, src/commands/workflow/shared.ts	The CLI entry point dynamically loads command implementations and supporting modules when required. Completion tips load CompletionFactory after shell detection. The default schema value is exported from a separate module.
Verify startup loading and command routing test/cli-e2e/*, test/commands/*, test/core/global-config.unparseable.test.ts, test/helpers/record-loaded-modules.mjs, .changeset/lazy-cli-commands.md, CONTRIBUTING.md	End-to-end tests record loaded modules and check startup and command invocations. Existing command test helpers use the new registration modules. The changeset and contributor guidance describe lazy loading.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~60 minutes

Change: Refactor

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant CLIEntry as CLI entry point
  participant Commander
  participant ConfigRegistrar as Config command registrar
  participant ConfigHandler as Config command handler
  CLIEntry->>Commander: register commands
  Commander->>ConfigRegistrar: invoke config action
  ConfigRegistrar->>ConfigHandler: dynamically import and invoke handler

Loading

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to ee46c

No substantiated merge-blocking issue remains. The reported startup-test path fix is present, and the instructions command does not load extra modules by importing its shared handler module before routing.

Security Architecture Review

Security architecture risk: 🔵 Low · up to ee46c

The inspected dispatch paths retain their existing controls and do not show increased execution authority. Risk is low rather than minimal because cleanup after deferred-loading failures and some failure-state comparisons remain unresolved.

Retained concerns
No architecture-level concerns identified.

Security review details

Security Blast Radius

• inferred — The inspected change alters when local CLI code loads rather than introducing another execution identity. No additional tenant, service or credential authority was identified in those dispatch paths; this conclusion is limited to the inspected paths.

Trust Boundaries and Controls

• observed — Representative boundary checks remain ahead of handler execution: config scope validation occurs before its deferred import, and store registration continues to pass the explicit --yes choice into identity-creation authorization. The inspected import specifiers are not selected from user input.

Resilience and Maintainability Implications

• inferred — Deferred imports can now fail after preAction but before a handler starts. Some registrar imports lack a local catch, while cleanup belongs to postAction. Whether that cleanup executes after import rejection remains unverified; no resulting insecure persistent state was established.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 11.76% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 51 functions across 29 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: command implementations load only when their commands run.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @test/cli-e2e/startup-modules.test.ts:
- Line 15: Canonicalize distRoot before comparing it with loaded module paths;
since the dist directory may not exist until ensureCliBuilt() runs, resolve it
lazily inside loadedModules after the build. Use realpathSync.native so the
expected path matches Node’s canonical module paths.

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📒 Files selected for processing (31)

• .changeset/lazy-cli-commands.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• src/cli/commands/config.ts
• src/cli/commands/context.ts
• src/cli/commands/doctor.ts
• src/cli/commands/schema.ts
• src/cli/commands/spec.ts
• src/cli/commands/store.ts
• src/cli/commands/workset.ts
• src/cli/index.ts
• src/commands/config.ts
• src/commands/context.ts
• src/commands/doctor.ts
• src/commands/schema.ts
• src/commands/spec.ts
• src/commands/store.ts
• src/commands/workflow/default-schema.ts
• src/commands/workflow/shared.ts
• src/commands/workset.ts
• src/core/completion-tip.ts
• test/cli-e2e/startup-modules.test.ts
• test/commands/config-edit.test.ts
• test/commands/config-profile.test.ts
• test/commands/config.test.ts
• test/commands/schema-fork-fidelity.test.ts
• test/commands/schema.test.ts
• test/commands/store-git.test.ts
• test/commands/store.test.ts
• test/commands/workset.test.ts
• test/core/global-config.unparseable.test.ts
• test/helpers/record-loaded-modules.mjs

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