Phase 0 Research — Mission-Lifecycle Tooling Friction

Source: pre-planning adversarial squad (planner-priti, architect-alphonso, debugger-debbie, paula-patterns), profile-loaded, live-repro'd against upstream/main c44a4fa82. Convergent unless noted. This IS the brownfield/code-state check for this mission.

Scope reshape (the squad's headline catches)

retrospective: --mission <slug> scope (migrate_cmd.py:315-322 → backfill_topology.py:228-240) and the pure non-persisting read_topology() (backfill_topology.py:68-106, #1814). Also idempotent-skip (:182-189) — never overwrites a set topology, so the witnessed 203-file churn only hit legacy missions lacking the field. Residual = a regression test + close. Landed via 0e270b10a/5b8e317aa. (debbie confirmed live: migrate backfill-topology --help shows --mission.)

contract is independently encoded in three drifting places: doctrine prose (tasks/guidelines.md:9 "absolute"), the template (task-prompt-template.md:1-18, omits owned_files/authoritative_surface/ execution_mode/create_intent), and the validator (ownership/validation.py:77 _CODE_PREFIXES, repo-relative). SSOT ratchet = one golden round-trip test (template-authored WP validates + finalizes first time). Campsite: the template under-lists owned_files too (#2221 +1).

validate_issue_matrix (review/_issue_matrix.py enforces one-table/closed-verdict/ deferred-needs-handle/mandatory-columns only); the completeness check lives in the approve-gate spec-scan. Errors are already structured (:226, :342). Net-new = wire the existing rule-engine as a finalize-tasks advisory lint (one engine, two callers); do NOT relax a non-existent rule.

coord branch → :431 classifies COORD. The classify_topology SSOT is healthy; the defect is the unconditional mint. A --topology flag threads cleanly, BUT a create-time non-coord mission is a third shape the coord-or-legacy fallbacks across implement.py/merge must handle → needs an end-to-end proof. Causally amplifies #2222 (more non-coord missions → more lock friction).

  • #2219 — ALREADY FIXED upstream → verify-and-close. Both asks shipped after our
  • #2220 + #2221 — ONE defect, FOLDED (paula's only accepted consolidation). The WP-frontmatter
  • #2223 — RE-SCOPED. debbie: the "row for every #NNNN" rule does NOT exist in
  • #2218 — the one hidden-depth item. core/mission_creation.py:416 unconditionally mints the

Per-issue live verdicts (debbie, on c44a4fa82)

IssueVerdictRed-first surface
#2217REPRODUCES (no traces/ glob in retrospective/generator.py)spec-kitty retrospect create
#2218REPRODUCES (specify --help has no --topology; scaffold wrote topology:coord + coord branch)spec-kitty specify --json
#2219ALREADY-FIXED (drop to verify-close)n/a
#2220REPRODUCES (doctrine "absolute" ⇄ validator repo-relative; both guidelines.md copies)validate_glob_matches/validate_execution_mode_consistency
#2221REPRODUCES (template frontmatter lacks the 4 keys)software-dev task-prompt-template.md frontmatter
#2222REPRODUCES (only auto_commit=False; implement.py lock self-write at ~:843 → next claim Exit(1) at ~:374)spec-kitty agent action implement
#2223REPRODUCES (strict + approve-time-only; "every-#ref" rule does not exist)validate_issue_matrix(path)

Seam findings (alphonso) + the two operator decisions

enum values single_branch | lanes | coord | lanes_with_coord — NOT "flat". Conditional coord-branch mint; default coord (backward-compat). Create-time lanes sets the field; lanes.json materializes at finalize.

guard (the lock is one-time VCS-type state, never the concurrency mutex; no race introduced). NOT auto-commit.

fix the doctrine TEXT, not the validator.

(workflow-failures-log/analysis-report/mission-review) — slot a tracer reader into that exact seam; don't fork.

  • #2218 flag vocabulary (operator-decided): --topology accepts the 4 canonical MissionTopology
  • #2222 fix (operator-decided): STOP-GATING — exclude the vcs-lock self-write from the dirty-tree
  • #2220 authority (alphonso): code is canonical (the whole ownership subsystem is repo-relative);
  • #2217 seam: generator.py already ingests free-text artifacts via _build_ingestor_findings
  • #2223 seam: extract the rule-engine to one validator + two callers (approve-gate + finalize lint).

Coupling / sequencing (alphonso + priti)

(#2222) with/before Lane B (#2218)** (C-005), or include the C fix in B's flat-mission proof.

  • Topology authority (#2218/#2219): shared domain, distinct CLI seams; SSOT healthy → keep separate.
  • #2218 ↔ #2222 causal: fixing #2218 mints more non-coord missions → exposes #2222. **Land Lane C
  • #2220 + #2221 strong coupling (same doctrine doc-set + validator) → one lane.
  • #2217 + #2223 parallel-safe (different files; same "reuse existing seam" pattern, different surfaces).

Don't-rebuild flags

  • #2219 (read_topology + --mission exist) · #2223 (validate_issue_matrix already structured — reuse) · #2217 (ingestor seam exists — extend).

Open questions for /spec-kitty.tasks

1. IC-02: exact decomposition of the single_branch end-to-end proof (which implement/merge fallback sites need the third-shape handling). 2. IC-05: where the completeness scan (currently approve-gate) is best factored so both callers share it without a cycle.