cancel

cancel

Mark a spec as permanently abandoned. Terminal status — cannot be un-cancelled.

Prereqs

• docs/maxi/constitution.md must exist — hard stop if missing: "No constitution found. Run /maxi:constitution first."
• Locate the target spec in docs/maxi/specs/. If multiple specs at an active status, ask which one.
• Refuse if spec is already at status: cancelled → "Spec is already cancelled."
• Refuse if spec is at status: parked → "Spec is parked. Run /maxi:resume first, then /maxi:cancel."
• Refuse if spec is at status: done → "Spec is done (shipped). Cancellation is for in-progress work, not shipped features."

Process

1. Display spec summary: slug, title, current status, updated date.
2. Ask for reason: "Reason for cancellation?" — require a non-empty answer. Do NOT proceed without one.
3. Confirm: "About to mark <slug> as CANCELLED (terminal — cannot be un-cancelled). Reason: <reason>. Proceed? (yes/no)"
4. On explicit yes only: write spec.md —
   • status: cancelled
   • updated: <today's ISO date>
   • Append to ## Clarifications: **Cancelled (YYYY-MM-DD):** <reason>
5. Report: "Spec <slug> cancelled. It will appear in the cancelled bucket of /maxi:board."

Invariants

• Never write without explicit yes. Ambiguous responses ("ok", "sure", "fine", silence) = no. Ask once more, then stop.
• Terminal: once cancelled, no /maxi:resume. The pipeline has no un-cancel path.
• Reason is mandatory: do not cancel without a written reason, even if the user says "obvious" or "you know why".
• Never modify plan.md, tasks.md, analysis.md, constitution.md, or any ADR file.
• Only spec.md is written — and only the status:, updated: fields and ## Clarifications section.

Rationalization Counters

Rationalization	Counter
"User said ok / sure / fine"	Not explicit yes. Ask one more time. If still ambiguous, stop.
"The spec is obviously dead, I'll just cancel it"	Still need reason + explicit yes. No exceptions.
"User said to cancel without giving a reason"	Ask for the reason before proceeding. Do not skip.
"Cancelling is non-destructive, no need for confirmation"	Terminal operations require consent. Always confirm.
"I'll update plan.md too since it's stale now"	Only spec.md. Touch nothing else.