forgeplan reopen

forgeplan reopen is the “let’s think about this again” transition. It deprecates the current artifact (moving it into the terminal deprecated state with the reason you supply) and simultaneously creates a new draft artifact of the same kind, linked back to the original as a lineage pointer. Use it when a decision has aged out and needs a fresh pass through Shape → Validate → ADI rather than a quick extension. Unlike supersede, you are not replacing with an already-active successor — you are starting the exploration over.

When to use

An ADR went stale and a review concluded the approach itself needs rethinking, not just a validity extension.
A PRD’s original assumptions no longer match reality and you want to rewrite it rather than patch it.
A RefreshReport flagged multiple red signals on a previously active decision — reopen to start a fresh draft.
A ProblemCard you thought was solved has resurfaced in a new form and you need a new artifact to re-scope it.

When NOT to use

The decision is still valid and just needs a fresh expiry — use forgeplan renew.
You already have an active replacement — use forgeplan supersede with --by.
The decision is simply retired with nothing to take its place — use forgeplan deprecate.
You need a small amendment — edit the artifact directly or create a follow-up artifact without disturbing the current one.

Usage

forgeplan reopen --reason <REASON> <ID>

Arguments

  <ID>  Artifact ID to reopen

Options

      --reason <REASON>  Reason for reopening
  -h, --help             Print help
  -V, --version          Print version

Examples

Example 1: Reopen an ADR for full re-evaluation

forgeplan reopen ADR-007 --reason "storage strategy needs rethinking after LanceDB v0.8 changes"

ADR-007 enters deprecated (terminal), and a fresh ADR draft is created with a lineage link back to ADR-007. Fill it out and take it through the normal Shape → Validate → ADI cycle.

Example 2: Reopen a PRD whose assumptions drifted

forgeplan reopen PRD-010 --reason "target users changed after 2026 Q1 persona research"

The new draft inherits the kind (PRD) and is linked as the successor under re-evaluation. The old PRD stays readable for historical context.

Example 3: Use reopen as part of a refresh cycle

forgeplan stale
forgeplan refresh ADR-012
forgeplan reopen ADR-012 --reason "refresh report identified 3 invalidated invariants"

Combine with refresh when the re-evaluation needs a structured report before the new draft is opened.

How it fits the workflow

Reopen is the most expensive lifecycle transition: it restarts the Shape → Validate → ADI → Code → Evidence → Activate cycle for an entire decision. After reopening, you should treat the new draft as a full-depth artifact — fill in MUST sections, run forgeplan reason if the depth warrants it, produce fresh evidence, and only then activate. The old artifact survives in terminal state so links from historical context (other artifacts, git history, prior discussions) still resolve. Reach for it when a simple renew would hide a real change, and when there isn’t yet a successor to supersede with.

Common errors

Error	Cause	Fix
`--reason is required`	Flag omitted	Pass `--reason "..."` explaining why re-evaluation is needed
`Cannot reopen from draft`	Original never activated	Edit the existing draft directly instead
`Cannot reopen from terminal state`	Already `deprecated` or `superseded`	Create a new artifact from scratch with `forgeplan new`
`New draft created but still empty`	Expected — reopen only scaffolds	Open the new draft, fill MUST sections, then validate