dev-loops 0.4.0 → 0.6.0

package/.claude/skills/docs/ui-e2e-scoping-step.md

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+# UI e2e scoping step
+
+Canonical owner for **when the shared UI/mobile e2e loop is required**. Inclusion
+is **path-triggered and deterministic** — it does not depend on a human annotating
+the PR or a phase doc.
+
+## Trigger: a rendered-artifact change requires UI e2e coverage
+
+A PR that **adds or modifies a rendered HTML artifact** MUST run the shared UI e2e
+assertions (mobile + desktop) AND register that artifact in the e2e suite. A
+"rendered artifact" is anything that renders to a served page or component:
+
+- a presentation deck — `docs/presentations/*.html` (registered in `DECK_REGISTRY`)
+- an article page — `docs/articles/*.html` (registered in `ARTICLE_REGISTRY`; the
+  intro article is the published landing page)
+- the inspect-run viewer's served page/component — `scripts/loop/inspect-run-viewer.mjs`
+
+The trigger is the PR's **changed-file set** matched against these explicit globs.
+It is conservative on purpose (issue #976 scope): only artifacts that render to a
+page/component, matched by exact directory + single-segment `*.html` globs (no
+recursion) and the viewer source path.
+
+Registration is keyed on the **full repo-relative path**, not the basename, so
+`docs/articles/X.html` and `docs/presentations/X.html` (which share basenames,
+e.g. `introducing-dev-loops.html`) are **distinct** artifacts and can never alias
+onto each other — editing the article never counts as deck coverage and vice versa.
+
+### Examples — required
+
+- `docs/presentations/introducing-dev-loops.html` edited → UI e2e **required**
+  (deck-smoke CI job runs the deck fit specs).
+- `docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.html` (the landing page) edited → UI e2e
+  **required** (article-smoke CI job runs the article fit specs); it is its own
+  registration, NOT covered by the same-named deck.
+- A new `docs/articles/new-page.html` added → UI e2e **required**, and because the
+  new page is not yet in `ARTICLE_REGISTRY` the gate **fails closed** until it is
+  registered (add an entry + a thin spec calling `defineArticleSuite`).
+- `scripts/loop/inspect-run-viewer.mjs` edited → UI e2e **required** (the viewer is
+  registered in `VIEWER_REGISTRY`).
+
+### Examples — not required
+
+- `packages/core/src/loop/copilot-loop-state.mjs`, `README.md`, `*.test.mjs`,
+  `docs/articles/foo.md` (not `.html`), or a nested `docs/articles/sub/x.html`
+  (the glob is single-segment) → UI e2e **not required**; the gate passes through.
+
+## Register the artifact in the suite
+
+"Registered" means the artifact appears in the shared registries:
+
+- decks → `DECK_REGISTRY` in `test/playwright/harness/deck-fit-harness.mjs`
+  (served from `docs/presentations/<deck>`) with a thin spec calling `defineDeckSuite`.
+- articles → `ARTICLE_REGISTRY` in `test/playwright/harness/deck-fit-harness.mjs`
+  (served from `docs/articles/<file>`) with a thin spec calling `defineArticleSuite`
+  (shared fit/CSP/no-horizontal-scroll assertions, minus the deck's per-section
+  named captures).
+- the viewer → `VIEWER_REGISTRY` in
+  `test/playwright/harness/inspect-run-viewer-harness.mjs`.
+
+The deterministic membership list the gate checks against lives in
+`packages/core/src/loop/ui-e2e-scoping.mjs` (`REGISTERED_ARTIFACT_PATHS`, keyed by
+full repo-relative path; `VIEWER_ARTIFACT_ID`). A sync test keeps
+`REGISTERED_ARTIFACT_PATHS` from drifting from `DECK_REGISTRY` + `ARTICLE_REGISTRY`;
+the single-valued `VIEWER_ARTIFACT_ID` is not import-checked against `VIEWER_REGISTRY`
+(that harness pulls `@playwright/test` into core), so keep the two in sync by hand.
+
+## Fail-closed semantics
+
+The check is wired as a gate precondition in `evaluatePrGateCoordination`
+(`packages/core/src/loop/pr-gate-coordination.mjs`), at a seam distinct from the
+mergeability (#980) and retrospective (#982) preconditions. It fails closed:
+
+- **Unregistered rendered artifact touched** → gate blocks with
+  `nextAction: run_ui_e2e_suite`, reason naming the artifact and that it needs
+  registration in the suite.
+- **Registered, but UI e2e suite did not pass for this head** (`uiE2ePassed` is
+  `false`/unknown) → gate blocks with the same action, reason that the suite must
+  run and pass first.
+- **Non-UI change** → `required: false`, gate passes through untouched.
+
+The detect layer reads the changed-file set from `gh pr view --json files` and
+derives `uiE2ePassed` from the `statusCheckRollup` UI e2e check(s)
+(`UI_E2E_CHECK_NAMES`): present UI e2e checks must all be `SUCCESS`; if none is
+present the value is unknown and the gate fails closed.
+
+Each rendered-artifact family has a stable, satisfiable CI job in
+`.github/workflows/ci.yml`, path/diff-conditioned in the `changes` job and named
+to match `UI_E2E_CHECK_NAMES` so the gate can read a real signal:
+
+- `viewer-smoke` → inspect-run viewer spec (triggered by the viewer source set).
+- `deck-smoke` → both presentation deck fit specs (triggered by
+  `docs/presentations/**` and the deck specs/harness/configs).
+- `article-smoke` → both article fit specs (triggered by `docs/articles/**` and the
+  article specs/harness/configs).
+
+So a deck- or article-only PR has a CI check that can actually satisfy the gate;
+without these jobs such a PR would fail closed with no satisfiable signal.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+Not always-on screenshot testing; not mandatory multi-browser. The criterion is
+only the conservative path-glob + registry-membership + passing-coverage check.

package/.claude/skills/local-implementation/SKILL.md

@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ After the phase plan passes review:
 3. Run local validation:
    - `npm run verify`
    - when a narrower local check is more honest for the touched slice, say so explicitly and run the narrowest justified subset instead of pretending the full verify path was unnecessary
-   - for user-facing HTML/UI/component slices when the user opts in, add a bounded deterministic browser smoke harness (prefer fixture-backed Playwright WebKit plus screenshot capture); use `npm run test:playwright:viewer` when that viewer/browser surface is part of the slice, and wire it into CI once it becomes required validation for that slice
+   - for a *rendered* HTML artifact (a deck `docs/presentations/*.html`, an article `docs/articles/*.html`, or the inspect-run viewer source) UI e2e coverage is **required and auto-scoped** — not opt-in. Touching one obliges you to register it in the shared harness and have a passing UI e2e suite, or the gate fails closed (see [UI e2e scoping step](../docs/ui-e2e-scoping-step.md)); run the matching shared suite locally, e.g. `npm run test:playwright:intro-deck` / `:intro-article` / `:viewer`. For a bespoke local UI surface that is not a registered rendered artifact, the WebKit smoke seam (fixture-backed Playwright WebKit plus screenshot capture) remains available without being mandatory
    - **Commit immediately after validation passes.** Once `npm run verify` (or the narrowest justified validation subset) is green, stage and commit the current slice of work with an atomic commit message. For tracker-backed sessions, also push the commit. In non-interactive subagent sessions, commit authorization is implicit — the subagent was dispatched to implement and must commit before exiting. In interactive sessions, wait for coordination agent authorization. Do not defer commits — uncommitted changes when the session terminates are a workflow defect.
 4. Review the implementation against the merged phase plan.
 5. Run the default pre-approval gate as a full review / fix loop on the branch before calling it review-complete, approval-ready, merge-ready, or ready for final handoff:

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,79 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## 0.6.0 - 2026-06-29
+
+### Added
+
+- **`/start-spike` — first-class command to start a spike from a question (#988, P2; closes #988).** `/dev-loops:start-spike <question>` (and the Pi `/dev-loops start-spike` subcommand) starts a time-boxed dev-loop spike, a thin wrapper over the already-shipped `--spike` intake (#964/#965/#966). Inline free-text scaffolds a startable findings artifact and `--file <path>` uses a pre-authored one; both then run `resolve-dev-loop-startup.mjs --spike <path>` and hand the bundle to the `dev-loop` skill (gates.spike, exit via `exit-spike.mjs` — discard/graduate per `skills/docs/spike-mode-contract.md`). Because the argument is free text/a path rather than a number, `start-spike` is parsed on a **separate path** from the numeric verbs (start/auto/continue/info), keeping their numeric-validation invariant intact. The one new piece is `scripts/refine/scaffold-spike-file.mjs --question <text> --out <path>`, a pure section builder + file writer that fills `## Question` from the arg and stubs `## Approach`/`## Findings` (leaving `## Recommendation` for the spike) so the result passes `validateSpikeExplorationSections` and is immediately startable (JSON `{ ok, path, question }` + `--jq`/`--silent` via the shared `scripts/lib/jq-output.mjs`). No new spike behavior, gate, or format. `node:test` coverage for the scaffold (startable/in-progress, empty-question fail-closed, CLI write + end-to-end startability), the separate free-text/`--file` parse path (numeric verbs unaffected), and the generated-command presence + no-strategy-leak guard. Also widened the Pi command-palette `description` string's `continue <pr>` to `continue [issue|pr]` for consistency with the P1 surface widening.
+
+- **Path-triggered UI e2e auto-scoping gate criterion (#976, P2; replaces opt-in-by-annotation).** A PR that adds or modifies a *rendered* HTML artifact now MUST run the shared UI e2e assertions (mobile + desktop) AND register that artifact in the suite — inclusion is triggered by the changed-file set, never by a human annotating the PR/phase doc. The deterministic core is `packages/core/src/loop/ui-e2e-scoping.mjs` (`evaluateUiE2eScoping`): explicit, conservative path globs (`docs/articles/*.html`, `docs/presentations/*.html`, single-segment, plus the viewer source `scripts/loop/inspect-run-viewer.mjs`) classify changed paths into rendered-artifact descriptors and check each against the registry-membership list keyed by full repo-relative path (`REGISTERED_ARTIFACT_PATHS` mirrors `DECK_REGISTRY` at `docs/presentations/<deck>` + `ARTICLE_REGISTRY` at `docs/articles/<file>`; `VIEWER_ARTIFACT_ID` mirrors `VIEWER_REGISTRY`, kept in sync by hand — the deck/article sync test asserts only that `REGISTERED_ARTIFACT_PATHS` matches `DECK_REGISTRY` + `ARTICLE_REGISTRY`, since the viewer harness pulls `@playwright/test` into core). Full-path keying (not basename) means a deck and an article that share a basename are distinct artifacts. Each artifact family has a stable, path-conditioned CI job (`viewer-smoke`/`deck-smoke`/`article-smoke`) named to match `UI_E2E_CHECK_NAMES`, so a deck- or article-only PR has a satisfiable signal. It is wired as a gate precondition in `evaluatePrGateCoordination` (`packages/core/src/loop/pr-gate-coordination.mjs`), at a seam distinct from the mergeability (#980) and retrospective (#982) preconditions, and **fails closed**: a rendered-artifact change that is unregistered, or registered but whose UI e2e suite has not passed for this head, blocks with `nextAction: run_ui_e2e_suite` and a reason naming the artifact (and that it needs registration / the suite must pass). Non-UI changes pass through (`required: false`). The detect layer reads the changed-file set from `gh pr view --json files` (`extractChangedFiles`) and derives `uiE2ePassed` from the `statusCheckRollup` UI e2e check(s) (`deriveUiE2ePassed` / `UI_E2E_CHECK_NAMES`); a UI e2e check that is absent reads as unknown and fails closed. Standard-step doc: [ui-e2e-scoping-step](skills/docs/ui-e2e-scoping-step.md). `node:test` coverage: helper trigger/negative/fail-closed (unregistered + not-passed) cases + registry sync, gate-level integration (required-pass, non-UI, both fail-closed paths), and detect-helper unit tests.
+
+- **`/continue` dual-routing — bare resumes the current in-progress board item (#988, P1).** `/dev-loops:continue` (and the Pi `/dev-loops continue` subcommand) is now dual-routed: with an argument it continues that artifact (the `continue` verb widened from PR-only to `either`, so `123`/`#123`/a GitHub issue-or-PR URL all normalize and the resolver picks the canonical artifact); bare (no argument) it picks up the single in-progress board item. The bare path adds one new thin helper, `scripts/projects/resolve-active-board-item.mjs --repo <owner/name> --project <number|id>`, a pure list→single-target collapse over `list-queue-items.mjs --column "In Progress"` (JSON `{ ok, target: { kind, number } }` + `--jq`/`--silent` via the shared `scripts/lib/jq-output.mjs`): exactly one in-progress item → that target (prefers the linked PR over the issue); **zero or more than one → fails closed** (exit 3) with a reason naming the items and instructing `/continue #N` — it never guesses. No new routing logic: both `/continue` branches hand the resolved target/intent to the existing `dev-loop` skill (`loop startup` → build-envelope → route), still stopping at the human-approval checkpoint. `/dev-loops:dev-loop` remains the catch-all router. `node:test` coverage for the resolver (1/0/multiple), the widened verb + bare/`#`/URL arg normalize, and the no-strategy-leak guard.
+
+- Direct dev-loop slash commands as thin wrappers over the public contract (#972): `/dev-loops:start <issue>`, `/dev-loops:auto <issue>`, `/dev-loops:continue [issue|pr]`, `/dev-loops:info <issue|pr>`, and `/dev-loops:status` for the Claude Code plugin (generated under `.claude/commands/` from `commands/*.command.md`), with equivalent `/dev-loops start|auto|continue|info|status` subcommands in the Pi extension (`status` already existed; the start/auto/continue/info entrypoint subcommands are the new parity). `/dev-loops:dev-loop` remains the catch-all router; no new routing logic was added.
+
+- **Wrapped the last three agent-level `gh` reads + re-armed the #982 internal-tooling discipline (#993).** Three reads the loop still shelled out for now have thin dev-loops wrappers, following the #981 convention (JSON result + `--jq`/`--silent` via the shared `scripts/lib/jq-output.mjs` helper — `JQ_OUTPUT_PARSE_OPTIONS`/`JQ_OUTPUT_USAGE`/`emitResult`, so the jq-subset filter, fail-closed-on-invalid-filter exit `2`, and exit-code-only `--silent` behavior are reused, not reimplemented): `scripts/github/fetch-ci-logs.mjs --repo --pr [--failed-only] [--tail <n>]` resolves the PR's current head SHA, lists the Actions runs for that commit, and returns each run's log tail (`--log-failed` for a failed run, `--log` otherwise; a per-run log fetch failure records an `<log unavailable: …>` note instead of aborting) — the LOG complement to `probe-ci-status.mjs`, which names the failed checks; `scripts/github/list-issues.mjs --repo [--state open|closed|all] [--label <l>…] [--limit <n>]` returns `{ ok, issues: [{ number, title, state, labels }] }` (state lowercased, labels flattened) for arbitrary issue queries the queue/board tool doesn't cover; `scripts/github/comment-issue.mjs --repo --issue (--body <text> | --body-file <path>)` posts a comment via `gh issue comment` and returns `{ ok, commentUrl }` (sibling to the PR comment/verdict posters). Each is a thin wrapper over `gh` (the script calling gh internally IS the allowed tooling). With these in place, every agent-level raw `gh` read now has a wrapper, so a fully clean internal-tooling record is achievable — the repo-root `.devloops` flips `workflow.requireRetrospectiveInternalTooling` back to `true` (it was set false in #995 pending this), re-arming the hard retro check (#982) on our own retros; the developer-mode rationale comment is restored to the enforce-on posture. The token-economical reading convention in `skills/dev-loop/SKILL.md` (+ generated `.claude/` mirror) names the three wrappers as THE path — never raw `gh run view`/`gh issue list`/`gh issue comment`. `node:test` coverage per wrapper (gh stubbed via the injected `run`): arg parsing/validation, the success path (failing-job log tail for a red PR, filtered issues, comment URL returned), and the shared output flags exercised through `runCli` — `--jq` extraction, invalid-filter fail-closed exit `2`, `--silent` exit-code-only, and gh-failure exit `1`.
+
+- **Automated GitHub Release on tag push (#996).** Pushing a `v*` tag now creates the GitHub Release automatically, which fires `npm-publish.yml` — tag → Release → publish is hands-off (closing the gap where v0.5.0 was tagged but never published because no Release was created). New `.github/workflows/release.yml` triggers `on: push: tags: ['v*']`: it mirrors npm-publish's on-main guard (tag commit must be an ancestor of `origin/main`), extracts the release notes from the `## <version>` CHANGELOG.md section, is idempotent (no-op if a Release for the tag already exists), and fails closed if the version has no CHANGELOG section (no empty/auto-generated release for an undocumented version). Notes extraction is factored into `scripts/release/extract-changelog-section.mjs` (`--version <v> [--changelog <path>]`) with `node:test` coverage: present section, fail-closed absent version, the `## Unreleased`-above-latest layout, stop-at-next-`## ` boundary, and version-prefix disambiguation. `npm-publish.yml` is unchanged (still `on: release: published`). Tagging stays the only manual step — see [release-runbook](skills/docs/release-runbook.md).
+
+### Changed
+
+- **Reconciled the UI-validation docs to the auto-scoped model and added a worked example (#977, docs-only; UI-e2e epic UE3, follows #975/#976).** The four `docs/ui-*.md` docs no longer describe UI validation as an opt-in-by-annotation convention. `docs/ui-validation-contract.md` now leads with the path-triggered, registry-backed, fail-closed criterion, lists the shared harness assertions (section visibility, CSP-meta lock, 390px mobile fit, wide-element negative control), and carries a worked end-to-end example for the intro deck (`docs/presentations/introducing-dev-loops.html`): `DECK_REGISTRY["intro-deck"]` + thin `defineDeckSuite` spec → `REGISTERED_ARTIFACT_PATHS` membership → `ui_e2e_scoping` gate requirement (fails closed if unregistered) → the satisfiable `deck-smoke` CI signal (`UI_E2E_CHECK_NAMES`). `docs/ui-smoke-harness.md` reframes `webkit-smoke-harness.mjs` as the lower WebKit/config/capture seam the shared deck/article/viewer suites build on and drops the stale "not mandatory CI" claim; `docs/ui-artifact-contract.md` renames CI promotion to auto-scoped CI enforcement; `docs/ui-designer-review-loop.md` notes it is the optional design-review pass, distinct from the required gate. All four now cross-link the canonical owner `skills/docs/ui-e2e-scoping-step.md` and the shared harness. No behavior/harness/gate change. Closes #939 (its slide responsive-fit goal is delivered by the #975 mobile-fit harness).
+
+- **Taught the direct subcommand structure across the how-to surfaces (#1001, follows #972).** The intro article (`docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.{md,html}`) and the intro deck setup slide (`docs/presentations/introducing-dev-loops.html`) now show the direct named commands from #972 (`/dev-loops:start`, `:auto`, `:continue`, `:info`, `:status`), framing `/dev-loops:dev-loop` as the catch-all router for plain-language intent (with the Pi `/dev-loops start|auto|continue|info|status …` parity noted on both surfaces — the article spells out the full set, the deck setup slide flags that Pi drops the colon). The deck slide stays within the 390px mobile-fit harness (#975); section ids unchanged. Conceptual/routing-contract prose (deep-dive article + deck, public-dev-loop-contract, main-agent-contract) was left untouched.
+
+- **Per-artifact Playwright deck assertions extracted into a shared harness + registry (#975, generalizes #939).** The two presentation-deck specs (`test/playwright/intro-deck.spec.mjs`, `test/playwright/deep-dive-deck.spec.mjs`) were ~190 lines of near-identical assertions each (same server, same three tests, only the deck path / section ids / mobile-capture id differed). The reusable assertions now live once in `test/playwright/harness/deck-fit-harness.mjs`: the single-file deck server, the `networkidle`+`innerWidth===390`+`document.fonts.ready` layout-settle barrier, the per-element `getBoundingClientRect().right <= innerWidth + 1` mobile-fit check (no overflow-x scroller exemption) with the defensive `scrollingElement.scrollWidth` guard and the per-section vertical-clip check (`clientHeight < scrollHeight` while `overflow-y` is hidden/clip), section-id presence + no-horizontal-scroll, a CSP-`<meta>` guard (`default-src 'none'`), and the guard-the-guard test (a deliberately-wide element MUST fail the fit check). A `DECK_REGISTRY` holds each deck as data (`{ sliceId, deck, sectionIds, mobileCapture }`) and `defineDeckSuite(entry)` generates the full per-deck suite; the two deck specs shrink to thin registrations that resolve the deck path and call `defineDeckSuite`. The inspect-run viewer (an interactive dashboard, not a fit-checked deck) registers via `test/playwright/harness/inspect-run-viewer-harness.mjs` (`startViewer`/`openTab`/`waitForMermaidGraph`/`captureViewerState`/`VIEWER_REGISTRY`), removing the duplicated server-setup + repeated capture blocks from its spec, and now runs the shared `assertSectionIdsAndNoHorizontalScroll` over its registered panel ids. The per-artifact `playwright.*.config.mjs` files and `test:playwright:*` scripts are unchanged (each config's `testMatch` still scopes which registration runs). All existing assertions still pass — `intro-deck` 3/3, `deep-dive-deck` 3/3, `inspect-run-viewer` 7/7 green.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Robust, bounded `<dev-loops-package-root>` resolution for user-level installs (#1009).** The `dev-loop` agent prompt (`agents/dev-loop.agent.md`) and the `dev-loop` skill (`skills/dev-loop/SKILL.md`) previously told the Pi runtime to resolve the package-local CLI by assuming a single fixed `../..` (agent) / `../../..` (skill) package-relative layout. Under a Pi user-level install the agent file is synced to `~/.agents/` and the package itself lives at `~/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/dev-loops/` (skills are exposed via `package.json` `pi.skills`, loaded from that package location, not copied into `~/.agents/`), so the fixed relative guess missed the package root, the CLI could not be found, and the agent improvised an unbounded `find / -name dev-loop.agent.md` full-filesystem walk that stalled 60s+ and tripped the async needs-attention timeout. The resolution prose now lists an ordered set of **bounded** candidate roots — a best-effort `require.resolve('dev-loops/cli/index.mjs')` probe (cwd-dependent; reliable only when `dev-loops` is on Node's module search path; wrapped in try/catch so a miss exits non-zero silently instead of printing a stack trace that reads as a hard failure), the Pi user-agent npm root (`~/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/dev-loops`, the reliable path for user-level installs), the legacy package-relative path, and the global npm root — taking the first whose `cli/index.mjs` exists. The prose now explicitly **forbids** `find /` / any unbounded filesystem walk and instructs the agent to stop and ask the orchestrator/operator for the path when every bounded candidate fails. Pi-only prose, stripped from the generated `.claude/` mirrors (which already pin `npx dev-loops@<version>` and rely on Node resolution); `.claude/` regenerated and in sync; cli-invocation contract test green.
+
+- **Restored `PI_SUBAGENT_RUN_ID` as a recognized async-context run-id alias — the Pi async-start gate no longer fails closed (#1008, regression from #905).** The Pi runtime injects only `PI_SUBAGENT_RUN_ID` (never the neutral `DEVLOOPS_RUN_ID`) into each async-subagent child env, but #905 dropped that alias from `RUN_ID_MARKERS` as a "deliberate breaking change", leaving the sole marker absent under Pi. With `workflow.asyncStartMode: "required"` this made `validateAsyncStartContext` return `rejected` at startup step 1, so no dev-loop work could start under Pi. `RUN_ID_MARKERS` in `packages/core/src/loop/run-context.mjs` is now `["DEVLOOPS_RUN_ID", "PI_SUBAGENT_RUN_ID"]` — the neutral var stays the primary (and the only var dev-loops mints/propagates), with the Pi-injected name honored as a precedence-after alias. The alias threads through everywhere the primary does (`resolveRunId`/`ensureRunId` loop the markers; `ASYNC_CONTEXT_MARKERS` re-exports them, so the async-start gate recognizes it), and the rejection message names both again ("Set DEVLOOPS_RUN_ID (or the PI_SUBAGENT_RUN_ID alias) to proceed", matching #830). `PI_SUBAGENT_RUN_ID` is an externally-injected Pi-runtime contract var (not a dev-loops-owned `PI_*` name — #905's rename of owned vars to `DEVLOOPS_*` stands), so the harness-agnostic env guard (`test/contracts/cli-harness-agnostic.test.mjs`) allowlists it as a runtime-injected marker confined to the run-context/async-start modules + their tests (and the generated `.claude` mirror). `node:test`: Pi-only-marker recognition under `required` (the regression reproduction), neutral-primary precedence, and the both-markers rejection message.
+
+## 0.5.0 - 2026-06-28
+
+### Added
+
+- **Conflict-free (mergeable) is a required gate precondition + deterministic auto-resolve (#980).** A PR that conflicts with its base gets no `pull_request` CI run (GitHub can't compute the merge ref), so the gate silently stalls green-less. Mergeability is now a required precondition checked at every gate (draft + pre-approval) and again before merge: the detect layer fetches `gh pr view --json mergeable,mergeStateStatus` and the evaluator (`evaluatePrGateCoordination`) blocks a `CONFLICTING`/`DIRTY`/`BEHIND` PR (`gateBoundary: conflict_resolution`, `nextAction: resolve_merge_conflicts`). Because GitHub computes `mergeable` asynchronously, a freshly-pushed head briefly reads `UNKNOWN`; `fetchPrFactsWithSettledMergeable` re-polls a bounded number of times and, if it never settles, the gate fails closed to a recheck (`nextAction: wait_for_ci`) — an unsettled merge state is never treated as clean. A new conservative helper `scripts/loop/resolve-pr-conflicts.mjs` merges `origin/<base>` into the PR branch and resolves ONLY the safe additive case — a `CHANGELOG.md` conflict where both sides only ADD list/section entries (keep BOTH sides, in order) — then runs `npm run test:docs` and (with `--push`) pushes; ANY other conflicted path, or a non-additive CHANGELOG edit, FAILS CLOSED naming the conflicted paths (no general conflict-resolution engine). `loop info` surfaces a `Mergeable:` line (mergeStateStatus included) so a conflict is diagnosed immediately rather than mistaken for missing CI. `node:test` coverage: CONFLICTING/UNKNOWN/MERGEABLE evaluator cases, the bounded UNKNOWN re-poll, and real-git fixtures for the additive-CHANGELOG resolve, the non-CHANGELOG fail-closed (path named), the non-additive-CHANGELOG fail-closed, and a clean merge. Docs: [merge-preconditions](skills/docs/merge-preconditions.md) documents the conflict-check-and-resolve step (before CI/Copilot and before merge).
+
+### Changed
+
+- **Pages decks auto-deploy on push to `main`** (#941, closes #940; supersedes the operator-gated deploy from #930). Pages is enabled (Source: GitHub Actions), so the deploy job no longer needs the `workflow_dispatch` gate `#930` shipped while Pages was off. `.github/workflows/pages.yml` now scopes the deploy job to the main ref (`if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'`) instead of `if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'`, so a merge to `main` publishes the assembled `site/` automatically. A manual `workflow_dispatch` still deploys, but only when run against `main`; dispatching any other branch/tag builds the artifact and skips deploy. The workflow header comment, the deploy-job inline comment, and `docs/presentations/README.md` were updated to describe auto-deploy on merge in place of the one-time operator "Run workflow" step.
+- **Public materials reframed around the pull principle** (#991). The handoff-framing passages across the four public pieces now lead with the Kanban-style insight that the next step is always known: the authoritative resolver/state graph computes the next action for any change at any time, `loop info` surfaces it, and the board mirrors it, so whoever is free — agent or human — pulls the next bounded step from the visible state. The handoff becomes optional, at most additive: when one happens it adds a note and stays a recorded decision, and it is no longer a load-bearing blocking step, which is what dissolves the waiting-for-handoff. Edited in sync (`.md` + `.html`): the intro article's lede, "Model-agnostic by construction", and "Where to go deeper" pointer (`docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.md`/`.html`); the deep-dive article's Part 1 — the two-part intro, "The one idea" (retitled "the next step is always known"), "What a known next step buys you", "Why a state graph beats a prompt" (recast as the thing that makes the next step always-known and pullable), and the close (`docs/articles/dev-loops-deep-dive.md`/`.html`); the intro deck's hero, the idea slide (retitled "The Next Step Is Always Known"), the model-agnostic slide, and the companion-pieces note (`docs/presentations/introducing-dev-loops.html`); and the deep-dive deck's hero, core-idea slide (retitled "The Next Step Is Always Known"), why-graphs slide, and close (`docs/presentations/dev-loops-deep-dive.html`). The "still a recorded decision when it happens" point is kept, now subordinate to the pull framing. Diagrams and the Diagram 1–8 caption numbering are unchanged; the deck section ids and 390px mobile-fit are intact (deep-dive deck Playwright spec green). The A/B-contrast deslop step (`docs/ab-contrast-deslop-step.md`) was applied to all rewritten prose — the pull idea is stated as plain declaratives with no "pull, not push" / "rather than" / "instead of" antithesis.
+- **Public materials consolidated to ONE deep dive per format** (#978). The two deep-dive articles (`eliminating-coordination-delay` + `make-the-waiting-visible`) merged into one `docs/articles/dev-loops-deep-dive.md`/`.html`, and the two deep-dive decks (`applied-dev-loops.html` + `process-observability.html`) merged into one `docs/presentations/dev-loops-deep-dive.html`. Each merged piece runs in two parts — Part 1 eliminating coordination delay (explicit handoffs, fan-out/fan-in review, mid-flight steering, the state graph), then Part 2 make the waiting visible (interrupt cost, handoff discovery, the git blind spot, the four fields, the measurement loop, grounding in real mechanisms) — under one title/hero, one intro, and one close. The deep-dive article reuses the article design system (glass cards, inline-flow nodes, inline SVG diagrams) and the deck reuses the deck design system with stable per-slide section ids and mobile-fit layout. The old four published files are removed (and the orphaned `*-notes.md` review records for the two removed articles). `scripts/pages/build-site.mjs` `ARTICLES`/`DECKS`/`NAV_LINKS` collapse to the single deep-dive in each format (nav labels "Deep dive" / "Deep dive (deck)"); the article and deck share the source basename `dev-loops-deep-dive.html` under different `docs/` dirs, so the deck publishes as `dev-loops-deep-dive-deck.html` to avoid clobbering the article in `site/`. The Pages nav is now Intro article (landing) + Deep-dive article + Intro deck + Deep-dive deck. The two old deck Playwright specs/configs (`applied-deck`, `observability-deck`) and the `test:playwright:deck`/`:obs-deck` scripts are replaced by one `deep-dive-deck.spec.mjs` + `playwright.dev-loops-deep-dive.config.mjs` + `test:playwright:deep-dive` (section-ids, 390px mobile fit/no-clip, CSP, guard-the-guard). The intro article's "Where to go deeper", `docs/index.md`, and `docs/presentations/README.md` point at the consolidated pages. The A/B-contrast deslop step was applied to the merged prose (new part-divider headlines and bridge sentences kept clean; the source pieces were already deslopped).
+- **Local-first low-noise posture made the coherent default (#953, builds on #949/#950/#951/#952).** The shipped extension-defaults layer (`packages/core/src/config/extension-defaults.yaml`) — the local-first opinion that sits above the built-in github-first code defaults and below repo config — now sets three existing knobs to their low-noise values, each with an inline intent comment: `autonomy.humanMergeOnly: true` (local-first never auto-merges; a human always merges), `queue.maxAutoFiledIssues: 1` (local-first is PR-first per #952, so auto-filing issues is near-zero; a low cap keeps tracker noise minimal), and an explicit `gates.postFindingsComments: true` (gate findings live ON the PR as review evidence, not tracker noise — keep them on). No new resolver and no new `strategy → knob` coupling: the values come purely from the existing config-merge layering (built-in < extension < repo `.pi/dev-loop/defaults.*` < repo `.devloops`), which already permits all three knobs at the file/extension layer (the runtime Zod schema needed no change). The published JSON-schema artifact `schemas/dev-loop-config.schema.json` was reconciled to match that runtime contract — its `gates` block (which used `additionalProperties: false`) now lists `postFindingsComments` plus the previously-missing `requireFanoutEvidence`/`maxFanoutReviewers`, so the schema no longer rejects the shipped config. The github-first/built-in posture is unchanged — `BUILT_IN_DEFAULTS` still yields `humanMergeOnly: false`, `maxAutoFiledIssues: 10`, and a resolved `postFindingsComments: true`. The post-promotion draft→pre-approval→human-merge flow is untouched. `node:test` coverage locks it: a merged-config assertion (`humanMergeOnly === true`, `maxAutoFiledIssues === 1`, `postFindingsComments === true` under the shipped defaults), built-in-default assertions for the unchanged github-first posture, and an explicit local-first phase-doc intake test (strategy from the shipped extension default, inputSource phase-docs from repo settings) asserting via a logging `gh` stub that NO `gh issue create` / `gh pr create` and NO Copilot request fire before promotion.
+- **Both presentation decks deslopped — shorter headlines + A/B-contrast prose removed** (#936, applies the #944 standard step). Every slide headline on `docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops.html` and `docs/presentations/process-observability.html` was shortened to a short 3–7 word claim and stripped of the binary-contrast antipattern: "The Work Is One Loop Inside Another — and a Handoff Is Never Guessed" → "Loops Inside Loops"; "Prompt-Only Workflows Drift; a State Graph Can't" → "State Graphs Pin Behavior"; "One Interrupt Costs Five Transitions, Not Five Minutes" → "One Interrupt, Five Transitions"; "Those Four Fields Aren't a Wish — They're Where the Work Already Lives" → "The Fields Already Live in the Work"; "The Cheapest Speed-Up Is Making the Waiting Visible" → "Make the Waiting Visible" (and the rest). Slide body text in the publishable HTML renders lost the same "X, not Y" / negation-by-contrast construction in both orderings ("verified, never assumed" → "verified against the real result"; "don't add up. They multiply" → "multiply"; "Stop optimizing… Start measuring…" → "Measure how long the work waits"), with load-bearing distinctions kept plain. The HTML renders are the published source of truth; the Slidev `*-presentation.md` sources mirror the shortened headlines only (their body text already predates the HTML restructure — see `docs/presentations/README.md`). The dark visual identity, section ids, CSP guard, mobile-fit responsiveness, and all six Playwright deck tests are unchanged. Deploys to GitHub Pages on merge.
+
+### Added
+- **First-class `--jq` field-selection, `--silent`/`-s` exit-code checks, and concise output across the read/action scripts** (#981, subsumes #963). One shared helper `scripts/lib/jq-output.mjs` (`evaluateJqFilter`, `emitResult`, `JQ_OUTPUT_PARSE_OPTIONS`, `JQ_OUTPUT_USAGE`, `JqFilterError`) gives the loop a token-economical way to read tool JSON so it never falls back to `gh api | python3` or inline `node -e`. `--jq <filter>` applies a gh-style jq-subset filter (field access, `.a.b` chains, `.[]`/`.field[]` iteration, `.[N]` index, `|` pipes, `select(...)`, `==`/`!=`/`<`/`<=`/`>`/`>=`, `length`, `keys`) to the script's result and prints only the filtered value; an unsupported filter fails closed (stderr + exit `2`). `--silent`/`-s` suppresses stdout and maps the result to an exit code only (`0` pass/truthy, `1` fail/falsy) for zero-output yes/no checks — composing with `--jq` as a predicate (`… --jq '.ciStatus=="success"' -s; echo $?`), where an invalid filter still fails closed at exit `2`, distinct from a clean predicate-false silent exit `1`. Without these flags every script's JSON shape is unchanged. The full subset (not full jq — overkill for the loop's field/predicate needs) is applied uniformly to `scripts/github/capture-review-threads.mjs`, `scripts/loop/copilot-pr-handoff.mjs`, `scripts/loop/pr-runner-coordination.mjs`, `scripts/github/upsert-checkpoint-verdict.mjs`, and the queue scripts `scripts/projects/add-queue-item.mjs`/`move-queue-item.mjs`/`list-queue-items.mjs` (the #963 operator-action-scripts-JSON-only goal folded in here). In addition, the two scripts that emitted a large blob with no concise mode — `scripts/loop/run-watch-cycle.mjs` and `scripts/github/probe-copilot-review.mjs` — gain a `--concise`/`--summary` human-readable mode covering loop state, Copilot round count, unresolved/actionable thread counts, round-cap-clean eligibility, CI status, next action, and (the field `loop info --pr` omits) the current round's NEW Copilot comment bodies. The token-economical reading convention (subcommand/concise → `--silent` → `--jq` → `gh --jq` → never `| python3`/`node -e`) is documented in `skills/dev-loop/SKILL.md` and referenced from the round-cap gate-cadence rule. `node:test` coverage: a helper unit spec (subset extraction success, fail-closed on unsupported syntax, `emitResult` jq/silent/invalid-filter exit-code semantics), an end-to-end CLI spec (`--jq` extraction, invalid filter exit `2` + stderr, `--silent` pass exit `0` silent, predicate-false exit `1` silent, silent+invalid-filter exit `2`, unchanged JSON shape), and concise-mode specs for run-watch-cycle/probe-copilot-review.
+- **Developer-mode internal-tooling-only retrospective check (#982).** A new opt-in workflow flag `workflow.requireRetrospectiveInternalTooling` (default **OFF**, defined in `packages/core/src/config/config.mjs`, shipped explicitly false in `extension-defaults.yaml`, declared in `schemas/dev-loop-config.schema.json`) gates an internal-tooling-only check in the retrospective merge gate. **It is scoped to developer mode — the dev-loops maintainers dogfooding the tooling on themselves — and never blocks consumers** of the extension, who may legitimately use raw `gh`/`python`/`node -e` in their own workflow. When the flag is ON, the merge-approval evaluator (`evaluateRetrospectiveMergeApproval(checkpoint, { developerMode })` in `packages/core/src/loop/pr-gate-coordination.mjs`, routed through at every merge-ready boundary in `evaluatePrGateCoordination`) requires `behavioralReview.internalToolingOnly: true` and `behavioralReview.rawCallViolations: []`, blocking (`retrospective_gate_pending`) when `internalToolingOnly` is not `true` **OR** `rawCallViolations` is missing/non-empty. When the flag is OFF (the consumer default) the check is inert: a complete, merge-approved checkpoint passes exactly as before — even if it omits the fields or records a violation — so a consumer's state changes are never blocked (this also resolves the draft-review back-compat concern: old checkpoints only fail closed in developer mode). The dev-loops repo opts in via its own repo-root `.devloops` (`workflow.requireRetrospectiveInternalTooling: true`), so the discipline still applies to our own retros. The rule treats agent-level top-level raw `gh` (incl. `gh api`/`--jq`), `python`/`python3`, and `node -e`/`node --eval` as the same breach; `node scripts/*.mjs` and dev-loops subcommands are allowed (the scripts call gh/GraphQL internally — that IS the tooling). The dependency-free, deterministic verifier `scripts/loop/check-retro-tooling.mjs` (pure `analyzeTranscript(transcript)` export) is unchanged: it reads a newline-delimited transcript of the agent's shell commands (`--transcript <path>` or stdin) and returns the `rawCallViolations` list, distinguishing script-internal gh from agent-level raw calls and keeping a small explicit write-op allowlist (`gh pr merge`/`gh pr ready`/`gh issue create`/`gh issue edit`, recorded as `allowedWriteOps`). `node:test` coverage: developer-mode-ON gate tests for a recorded violation / `internalToolingOnly:false` / missing-field-old-checkpoint (all block) and a clean record (allows `FINAL_APPROVAL_READY`), the key developer-mode-OFF test asserting a consumer is NOT blocked even with missing fields OR a recorded violation, plus the unchanged verifier spec (`test/loop/check-retro-tooling.test.mjs`). The retrospective-checkpoint contract doc (`skills/docs/retrospective-checkpoint-contract.md` + generated `.claude/` mirror) documents the developer-mode scoping, the opt-in flag, and that consumers are never blocked. Known verifier limitation: segment splitting does not parse shell quoting, so a separator inside a quoted argument can over-report (never under-report) — the fail-closed direction.
+- **"Introducing dev-loops" presentation deck** (#973, companion to the #971 overview article). A self-contained, CSP-safe `docs/presentations/introducing-dev-loops.html` (9 slides: the coordination-delay problem, how manual handoffs compound, every handoff a recorded decision, one bounded decision per change, model-agnostic by construction (open-source models drive the work), the aggregate proof data, install/run, and the companion pieces) reusing the existing decks’ dark glass-card design system, CSP meta, and mobile-fit responsiveness. Added to `scripts/pages/build-site.mjs` `DECKS` (navLabel "Intro (deck)") so it publishes and joins the shared Pages nav; a mirror Playwright spec + config + `test:playwright:intro-deck` script match the existing per-deck tests. Aggregate data only (no internal PR/issue numbers or script paths in slide prose); the A/B-contrast deslop step was applied.
+- **Model-agnostic section in the intro article + open-source model proof** (#979). A new "Model-agnostic by construction" section in `docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.md`/`.html` (the Pages landing page) explains that the guardrails — every handoff a recorded decision, the same draft → review → green-CI gate, fail-closed on ambiguity, a person merging — bound how far any single step can stray, so a strong open-source model can drive most or all of the work (cheaper, self-hostable, no single-vendor dependence; the gate holds the quality bar). Names the concrete proof: the loop has driven real work end to end on DeepSeek V4, Kimi K2.6, MiniMax M3, Qwen 3.6, and GLM 5.2. Aggregate/conceptual only; A/B-contrast deslop applied.
+
+- **Spike-mode contract doc + worked example** (#966, docs-only; phase 3 of 3 of the spike-mode track #955, closing it; builds on #964/#965). A new canonical operator-sequence doc [`skills/docs/spike-mode-contract.md`](skills/docs/spike-mode-contract.md) walks spike mode end to end against the merged surfaces: author the exploration scaffold and validate it (`scripts/refine/validate-spike-file.mjs`, base sections Question/Approach/Findings/Recommendation), start it (`scripts/loop/resolve-dev-loop-startup.mjs --spike`, `buildSpikeInput` + `evaluateSpikeIntakeState`, intake states `spike_in_progress`/`spike_ready_for_exit`/`ambiguous_fail_closed`), run it under the relaxed `gates.spike` profile, then exit via `scripts/refine/exit-spike.mjs` with disposition `discard` (zero tracker artifacts; the findings doc is the whole record) or `graduate` (`buildGraduatedPlanBody` emits a #947-consumable plan file that enters the existing plan→PR promotion path #952). The doc documents the relaxed gate profile and its rationale — `angles: [scope, docs]`, `required: false`, `requireCi: false` (`packages/core/src/config/extension-defaults.yaml`), resolved through the same `resolveGateConfig(config, "spike")` path and absent for non-spike work — and carries one worked example (`spike-cache.md`) from a question through findings to BOTH exits, showing the actual commands/states and, for graduate, the resulting plan-file body. Cross-referenced from the [Artifact Authority Contract](skills/docs/artifact-authority-contract.md) relationship table and `docs/index.md`; the generated `.claude/skills/docs/` mirror was regenerated. No behavior, schema, defaults, or scripts changed.
+- **Spike-mode relaxed gate profile + discard/graduate exits** (#965, phase 2 of the spike-mode track #955; builds on #964 and reuses #951/#952/#953). A spike is now runnable to a conclusion: a lighter gate posture plus an explicit exit that either discards (zero tracker artifacts) or graduates (emits a #947-consumable plan file). **Relaxed gate profile (config):** a new `gates.spike` profile (same `GateConfig` shape as `gates.draft`/`gates.preApproval`) resolved through the SAME `resolveGateConfig(config, "spike")` path and the existing config-merge layering — no new `strategy → knob` resolver. The shipped extension default (`packages/core/src/config/extension-defaults.yaml`) is intentionally lighter than the production draft → pre-approval → Copilot set: a small docs-first angle set (`scope`, `docs`), `required: false`, and `requireCi: false`, because a spike's deliverable is a findings doc, not production code. Runtime zod (`GatesConfig`/`FileGatesConfig` in `packages/core/src/config/config.mjs`) and the published JSON-schema artifact (`schemas/dev-loop-config.schema.json`, `gates.spike` → `$defs/gateConfig`) were kept in sync (#953's lesson). The github-first/production posture is UNCHANGED: `draft`/`preApproval` stay `required: true`/`requireCi: true`, and `gates.spike` is absent for non-spike work. **Discard/graduate exit contract (pure):** a new `packages/core/src/loop/spike-exit-contract.mjs` (no `scripts/` import, no fs/network/gh; mirrors spike-intake-contract) exports frozen `SPIKE_EXIT_DISPOSITION`/`SPIKE_EXIT_ACTION` plus `evaluateSpikeExit({ spikeIntakeState, disposition }) -> { ok, action?, reason?, spikeIntakeState? }`, eligible ONLY from `spike_ready_for_exit` and failing closed with `not_ready_for_exit` (non-ready/ambiguous state) or `unknown_disposition` (anything but `discard`/`graduate`). `buildGraduatedPlanBody({ question, approach, findings, recommendation })` maps the spike's four sections onto a #947-consumable plan-file body with the four base authoring sections (Status/Objective/In scope/Explicit non-goals) so it passes `validatePlanFile` and enters the existing plan→PR promotion path (#952) unchanged; it is idempotent and fails closed (throws) on an empty required section. The export is added to `packages/core/package.json`. **Thin CLI:** `scripts/refine/exit-spike.mjs` (`--spike-file`/`--disposition`/`--plan-file`/`--json`, mirroring promote-plan.mjs) owns all I/O — it reads the spike, computes intake-state facts via the P1 surfaces (`validateSpikeExplorationSections` for the scaffold + the Recommendation exit-marker), classifies via the pure contract, and on graduate writes the local-first plan file; discard creates ZERO tracker artifacts and graduation opens nothing on the tracker (it only writes a local plan file, then promotes via the existing path). Structured success/error JSON matches the sibling refine/promote scripts. `node:test` coverage: the pure exit contract (discard/graduate eligible from ready; fail-closed on unknown disposition + non-ready/ambiguous/missing state) + the plan-body builder (base-valid output passes `validatePlanFile`, carries the spike content, idempotent, throws on empty sections); the gate-profile resolution (spike profile resolves; shipped default is relaxed and lighter than draft, with draft/preApproval unchanged); and the CLI (discard → empty gh-stub log + exit 0, graduate → base-valid plan file written + empty gh log + idempotent re-run, fail-closed not-ready/unknown-disposition → empty gh log + exit 1, arg validation). Narrative skill docs are #966 (NOT in this phase); no production-flow change for non-spike work.
+- **Top-of-funnel article "Introducing dev-loops" + CSP-safe HTML render** (#971, sibling of the #942/#943 article PRs). `docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.md` is the single what/why/how-do-I-start entry point the two concept articles lacked: a plain-language introduction to the idea (coordination delay is where AI-assisted lead time goes; the loop makes every handoff an explicit, recorded decision; a person merges by default; work starts from a durable plan or issue), a "what it does to the work" section that uses the repository’s own ~two-week history (~100 merged PRs, ~7/day, about seven in eight tied to a tracked item, every one drafted, reviewed, green-CI gated, and human-merged) to show the straightforward, repeatable process the loop produces, and concrete setup instructions (the Claude Code plugin slash commands, the Pi extension install, the plain-language `start/auto/continue dev loop` entrypoint, and a minimal `.devloops` covering start-local vs issue intake, Copilot rounds on/off, and human-merge). A self-contained, CSP-safe `docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.html` ports the dark glass-card identity from the sibling renders (no font/CDN/remote assets). Cross-linked from a new Articles section in `docs/index.md`, and the two existing articles gain a one-line "start here" pointer so they read as deep dives beneath the intro. Aggregate figures are gh-verified; the A/B-contrast deslop step (`docs/ab-contrast-deslop-step.md`) was applied (zero flagged constructions). The intro article is also made the **GitHub Pages landing page**: `scripts/pages/build-site.mjs` now publishes `docs/articles/introducing-dev-loops.html` as `site/index.html` (superseding the prior generated "Presentation Decks" card index from #930), publishes the two deep-dive articles and two decks alongside it, and injects a shared navigation bar into the article pages linking the other resources (`injectNav`, which fails closed if a page lacks its `<style>`/`<body>` anchors); the decks are copied as-is. `test/pages/build-site.test.mjs` updated. On merge, `pages.yml` rebuilds and deploys the new landing page.
+- **Spike-mode entry + findings-artifact format** (#964, phase 1 of the spike-mode track #955; reuses #949/#950). A spike is a time-boxed exploratory loop startable from a local question with no GitHub issue. A new spike artifact format mirrors the plan-file format with base sections **Question / Approach / Findings / Recommendation**; a focused sibling validator `scripts/refine/validate-spike-file.mjs` exports `validateSpikeFile(markdownText) -> { checker: "validate-spike-file", ok, errors }` with a distinct `missing_*` code per absent/empty section (`missing_question`/`missing_approach`/`missing_findings`/`missing_recommendation`) plus a thin `--input`/`--json`/`--help` CLI mirroring `validate-plan-file.mjs`. The base-section-checking loop is shared with `validatePlanFile` via a small parameterized helper `checkBaseSections(markdownText, checker, sectionCodes)` in `scripts/refine/_refine-helpers.mjs` (DRY without forcing a shared abstraction across the distinct heading sets). `scripts/loop/resolve-dev-loop-startup.mjs` gains `--spike <path>`, mutually exclusive with `--issue`/`--pr`/`--input`/`--plan-file`: it reuses the `local_implementation` strategy and the existing `local_phase` target as a work-origin addition, makes ZERO `gh` calls / no tracker artifacts at entry (no production-gate ceremony), is exempt from the worktree-isolation `needs_reconcile` guard (a spike has no issue to key a worktree on), and fails closed (exit 1, no bundle) on a missing/unreadable spike file or one missing the exploration scaffold (Question/Approach/Findings). A new pure, deterministic contract `packages/core/src/loop/spike-intake-contract.mjs` (no `scripts/` import, no fs/network/gh) exports a frozen `SPIKE_INTAKE_STATE` and `evaluateSpikeIntakeState({ baseSectionsValid, hasRecommendation }) -> { state }` classifying the spike as `spike_in_progress` (exploration ongoing, no Recommendation yet — phase 2's discard exit) or `spike_ready_for_exit` (Recommendation reached — phase 2's discard/graduate exit seam), failing closed (`ambiguous_fail_closed`) on a malformed artifact. These states are DISTINCT from `PLAN_FILE_INTAKE_STATE` (a spike is not a plan-needing-refinement). The resolver threads the resulting `spikeIntakeState` onto its JSON output and the new core export is added to `packages/core/package.json`. `node:test` coverage: the pure contract spec, the validator spec (all sections ok / each missing→its code / empty-body / CLI), and resolver specs (valid spike → `spike_ready_for_exit` with zero `gh` calls via the empty-log stub, in-progress spike → `spike_in_progress`, missing/malformed → fail closed, mutual exclusivity with `--issue`/`--plan-file`). The relaxed gate profile + discard/graduate exits (#965) and narrative docs (#966) are NOT in this phase; no production-flow change.
+- **Local-first plan-file flow documented end to end + worked example** (#954, docs-only; builds on #949/#950/#951/#952/#953). The canonical [Artifact Authority Contract](skills/docs/artifact-authority-contract.md) (at `skills/docs/`; the `docs/` path in the original stub was stale) now documents the full local-first flow across P1–P5: the plan-file artifact + `localPlanning.plansDir` default (`docs/phases/`) and validator from P1; the `--plan-file` startup entry + `PLAN_FILE_INTAKE_STATE` states (`new_plan_needs_refinement` / `plan_refined_ready_for_promotion` / `ambiguous_fail_closed`) from P2; the in-place refine + `local_human_review` checkpoint (AC/DoD/`Coverage matrix`/`Docs-grill findings` sections) from P3; PR-first promotion + the bidirectional plan↔PR link (`prNumber` front-matter, `already_promoted` idempotency) from P4; and the low-noise extension defaults from P5. The contract was reconciled to the shipped posture: the effective default is `strategy.default: local-first` from `packages/core/src/config/extension-defaults.yaml` (decision #7 of #947), which sits above the `BUILT_IN_DEFAULTS` github-first fallback in `packages/core/src/config/config.mjs`; the stale `.pi/dev-loop/defaults.yaml` shipped-default claim and the "dev-loops is tracker-first" statement were corrected (the package ships defaults via the extension layer and the repo's own `.devloops` sets `local-first`). A new operator-sequence skill doc [`skills/docs/local-planning-flow.md`](skills/docs/local-planning-flow.md) walks validate-plan-file → resolve-dev-loop-startup `--plan-file` → refine-plan-file → promote-plan, and a worked example [`skills/docs/local-planning-worked-example.md`](skills/docs/local-planning-worked-example.md) shows one plan file (`docs/phases/phase-42.md`) evolving through every stage (base sections → refinement sections + coverage matrix + docs-grill findings → `prNumber` front-matter). All three docs are reachable from `docs/index.md` and cross-link the contract; the generated `.claude/skills/docs/` mirror was regenerated. No behavior, schema, defaults, or scripts changed.
+- **Local-first PR-FIRST plan promotion — no issue ever minted** (#952, builds on #949/#950/#951). A pure contract `packages/core/src/loop/plan-file-promote-contract.mjs` exports `evaluatePromoteEligibility({ baseSectionsValid, hasAcceptanceCriteria, hasDefinitionOfDone, existingPrNumber }) -> { ok, action, reason, planFileIntakeState, existingPrNumber }` (`PLAN_FILE_PROMOTE_ACTION` `promote`/`already_promoted`), `buildPromotionPrBody({ planDocPath, acceptanceCriteria, definitionOfDone })`, and a minimal additive plan front-matter parser/serializer (`parsePlanFrontMatter`, `readLinkedPrNumber`, `writeLinkedPrNumber`, `PLAN_FILE_PR_FRONT_MATTER_KEY`). Eligibility is fail-closed: promotion acts ONLY on P3's `plan_refined_ready_for_promotion` state (composed via P2's `evaluatePlanFileIntakeState`); any other state returns `not_ready_for_promotion` with no action so the caller makes zero GitHub mutation. The PR body is the self-contained spec-of-record — it references the committed plan-doc path and carries the FULL `Acceptance criteria` + `Definition of done` extracted from the refined plan, and never an issue-close keyword (no issue is minted). The module is pure (no GitHub, no network, no filesystem I/O). A thin CLI `scripts/refine/promote-plan.mjs` (`--plan-file <path> [--base <branch>] [--branch <name>] [--json]`) owns all I/O: it reads the plan, computes the section-presence facts with the P1 `validatePlanFile`/`extractSection` surfaces, runs the eligibility gate, and on `promote` commits the plan doc to a branch and opens EXACTLY ONE draft PR via the canonical `scripts/github/create-pr.mjs` wrapper (always `--draft`, self-assigned; never raw `gh pr create`), then writes the returned PR number back into the plan's `prNumber:` front-matter and commits the link — the bidirectional plan↔PR link (doc path in PR body, PR number in plan front-matter). The opened draft PR is a normal-shaped PR that enters the existing loop unchanged via `loop startup --pr <n>`; no new lifecycle state and no separate authority artifact. Idempotent: a plan already carrying `prNumber` returns `already_promoted`, opens nothing, and reports the existing PR. The front-matter is a minimal additive extension to P1's plan-file format (documented in `skills/docs/plan-file-contract.md`): plans without a leading `---` block are unchanged and fully valid. A `node:test` contract spec plus a CLI spec cover the ready-gate (refuse non-ready/ambiguous/partially-refined with zero gh calls), the single draft-PR open (one `gh pr create --draft`, asserted via a logging `gh` stub), the plan-doc commit + bidirectional link, idempotency, the fail-closed reasons, zero-pre-promotion activity (empty gh-stub log on refusal and on the idempotent no-op), and the PR body carrying the full AC + DoD.
+- **Local-first refine + human-review checkpoint (off-tracker)** (#951, builds on #949/#950, consumes #948). A pure contract `packages/core/src/loop/plan-file-refine-contract.mjs` exports `refinePlanFileInPlace({ markdownText, baseSectionsValid, hasAcceptanceCriteria, hasDefinitionOfDone, payload }) -> { ok, planFileIntakeState, refinedMarkdown, grillDispositions, stop }` plus `PLAN_FILE_REFINE_STOP`/`DOCS_GRILL_FINDINGS_HEADING`/`COVERAGE_MATRIX_HEADING`. It generalizes the proposal-first intake pattern (emit a local artifact, human-gate it, make zero tracker mutation, stop and ask) to plan files: starting from P2's `new_plan_needs_refinement`, it writes the refiner-produced `Acceptance criteria`, `Definition of done`, `Coverage matrix`, and recorded `Docs-grill findings` sections in place into the single canonical plan file, advances P2's intake state to `plan_refined_ready_for_promotion` via `evaluatePlanFileIntakeState`, and returns a `local_human_review` stop so the loop pauses for human review before any promotion. The docs-grill runs as a step of refinement: each finding is classified with #948's `classifyDocsGrillFinding` and recorded into the plan file, and a malformed finding fails the grill closed. The rewrite is idempotent — a re-run strips any prior copy of each refinement section before appending, so the section count stays at one each. It is pure (no GitHub, no network, no filesystem I/O): the caller supplies the section-presence facts and the refiner payload and writes the returned markdown back, keeping the zero-tracker-mutation guarantee structural. Fail-closed paths cover a non-`new_plan_needs_refinement` starting state, an ambiguous/base-invalid plan, missing AC/DoD/coverage-matrix payload pieces, and a failed grill — each surfaces a reason and advances/writes nothing. A thin CLI `scripts/refine/refine-plan-file.mjs` (`--plan-file <path> --payload <path> [--json]`) reads the plan and the refiner output, computes the facts with the P1 `validatePlanFile`/`extractSection` surfaces, calls the contract, writes the refined plan back in place on success (exit 0, `local_human_review` stop), and fails closed without writing on a fail-closed reason (exit 1). A `node:test` contract spec plus a CLI spec cover refine-from-needs-refinement, the docs-grill-as-a-step recording, in-place idempotency, state advance + local stop, the fail-closed cases, and a zero-tracker-mutation assertion (the logging `gh` stub's call log is empty across the whole path).
+- **Autonomous in-loop docs-grill formalized as a standard step** (#948, sibling of #944 and #929). `docs/docs-grill-step.md` documents the repeatable step that interrogates a change against the repo's own contracts/docs while the loop runs — without a manual main-agent pass: what it checks (claims vs contracts, code-vs-doc drift, stale references, contract-surface accuracy), where it fires (the [refiner](agents/refiner.agent.md) cross-checks the active phase against the contracts it references during refinement, and the existing `docs` pre-approval angle resolves to the [docs persona](agents/docs.agent.md) review mode as one fan-out angle of the [gate review sub-loop](docs/gate-review-sub-loop-contract.md)), and the keep/fix rule. The rule is codified as a pure classifier `classifyDocsGrillFinding` in `scripts/loop/docs-grill-contract.mjs` (`DOCS_GRILL_FINDING_KINDS` `drift`/`stale_reference`/`cosmetic`; `DOCS_GRILL_DISPOSITIONS` `record_finding`/`fix_in_place`/`route_followup`/`ignore_cosmetic`): real drift between code/behavior and a contract claim is recorded as a finding, doc-only drift is fixed in place or routed as a follow-up, and a cosmetic nit never blocks a gate; an unknown kind fails closed (`invalid_finding`). The refiner agent gains an explicit docs cross-check line pointing at the step. The two firing surfaces already ran in-loop, so this captures the contract without adding a new entrypoint. The local-first epic (#947) tree refinement is recorded as the first run (each node was grilled against the contracts it reuses during the refiner+grill fan-out). Cross-linked from `docs/index.md`.
+- **`--plan-file` startup entry + local-planning intake state machine** (#950, builds on #949). `scripts/loop/resolve-dev-loop-startup.mjs` gains `--plan-file <path>`, mutually exclusive with `--issue`/`--pr`/`--input`. It reuses the `local_implementation` strategy and the existing `local_phase` target as a work-origin addition: a valid plan resolves to a `local_phase` bundle with the plan path carried as the target `phase` and no issue/PR number. The path is read-only (zero tracker mutation, no `gh` calls) and exempt from the worktree-isolation `needs_reconcile` guard, because a pre-promotion plan has no issue to key a worktree on. A missing/unreadable plan, or one failing the `validatePlanFile` base-section contract, fails closed (exit 1, no readiness bundle). A new pure, deterministic intake evaluator `evaluatePlanFileIntakeState({ baseSectionsValid, hasAcceptanceCriteria, hasDefinitionOfDone }) -> { state }` (frozen `PLAN_FILE_INTAKE_STATE` enum, no I/O) in `packages/core/src/loop/plan-file-intake-contract.mjs` classifies the plan as `new_plan_needs_refinement` (base sections only), `plan_refined_ready_for_promotion` (base sections plus `Acceptance criteria` + `Definition of done`), or `ambiguous_fail_closed` (invalid base, or exactly one of the two refinement sections). The resolver detects refined-vs-needs-refinement via `extractSection` for each `PLAN_FILE_REFINEMENT_SECTIONS` heading and threads the resulting `planFileIntakeState` onto its JSON output.
+- **Plan-file contract + validator for local-planning mode** (#949). The persisted markdown plan file reuses the existing phase-doc format under `docs/phases/`; a new `localPlanning` config family adds `plansDir` (default `docs/phases/`) across all four config locations (`DevLoopConfigSchema`, `FileConfigSchema`, `BUILT_IN_DEFAULTS`, and the packaged `extension-defaults.yaml`), with `resolvePlansDir(config)` returning the configured directory or the default. A pure validator `scripts/refine/validate-plan-file.mjs` exports `validatePlanFile(markdownText) -> { checker: "validate-plan-file", ok, errors }` that checks the base authoring sections a plan carries before refinement (`Status`, `Objective`, `In scope`, `Explicit non-goals`), reporting each absent or empty-body section under a distinct `missing_*` code; its thin CLI takes `--input`/`--json`/`--help`, reports the verdict in the JSON payload, and exits non-zero on argument or path errors. The format and required sections are documented in `skills/docs/plan-file-contract.md` (mirrored to `.claude/skills/docs/`) and linked from the Artifact Authority Contract.
+- **A/B (binary-contrast) prose removal formalized as a standard deslop step + applied to the two articles** (#944). `docs/ab-contrast-deslop-step.md` documents a repeatable editorial step that removes the binary-contrast / negation-by-contrast antipattern in both orderings ("X, not Y" and "Y, not X") — the strongest single AI tell in generated prose: the detection spec, the parallel-analysis → final-check → human-likeness flow, and the keep-load-bearing-distinctions/cut-the-scaffolding rewrite rule (with a keep-vs-cut table). It is the first documented sub-step of the broader deslop step tracked in #936. Applied as the first run to both Medium articles (`eliminating-coordination-delay`, `make-the-waiting-visible`) and their HTML renders: an audit found ~120 constructions across the articles and decks; the article prose now states each point directly while keeping real technical distinctions plain (the merge signal stays read-from-CI, automation stays state-gated), followed by a human-likeness pass to keep the cadence natural. Each article's `-notes.md` records the pass; a residual check finds zero flagged constructions in the article `.md`/`.html`.
+- **Presentation decks publishable to GitHub Pages** (#930). `.github/workflows/pages.yml` runs the standard Pages pipeline (`actions/configure-pages` + `actions/upload-pages-artifact` + `actions/deploy-pages`, with `permissions: { pages: write, id-token: write, contents: read }` and `concurrency: { group: pages }`). A committed, reusable build script (`scripts/pages/build-site.mjs`, exported `buildSite`/`DECKS`) deterministically assembles `site/` — copying the self-contained deck renders (`docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops.html`, `process-observability.html`) and generating a CSP-safe dark-aesthetic `site/index.html` linking both. The deck HTML stays the single source of truth; `site/` is assembled (gitignored), never hand-maintained. The **build** job (assemble + upload, which validates the assembly) runs on push to `main` + `workflow_dispatch`. At the time of this PR the **deploy** job was gated to `workflow_dispatch` (`if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'`) until an operator enabled Pages, with the build job validating the assembly on every push; **#941 (below) superseded that gate** once Pages was enabled, so the deploy job now auto-publishes on every push to `main`. `docs/presentations/README.md` documents the decks, local viewing, the deploy flow, and the private-repo plan caveat (a public Pages site from a private repo needs Pro/Team/Enterprise). Also adds the missing `@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)` guard to `applied-dev-loops.html` for parity with the observability deck (disables `scroll-behavior: smooth` on `html`, `scroll-snap-type` on `body`, `scroll-snap-align` on `.slide`). A `node:test` spec (`test/pages/build-site.test.mjs`) asserts the build produces `index.html` + both decks and that the index links both.
+- **Medium-ready long-form article: "Eliminating Coordination Delay in AI-Assisted Dev Workflows"** (#934). `docs/articles/eliminating-coordination-delay.md` is a public-audience, ~1500-word prose piece derived from the Applied dev-loops narrative — zoomed-out and durable (no version-pegging, no raw enum/identifier dumps): hook (cheap code, leaky guessed handoffs) → the one idea (never guess a handoff; make every handoff an explicit, observable decision) → what it buys (safe pauses, mid-flight steering, parallel review → one consolidated verdict, "done" that means merged and read from the real merge signal) → why a state graph beats prompt-only → a one-line close. It carries four captioned `mermaid` diagrams (nested-loops state diagram, PR gate lifecycle flowchart, fan-out/fan-in evidence→verdict flow, mid-flight steering flow) plus a "Rendering the diagrams on Medium" note. A self-contained, CSP-safe preview render `docs/articles/eliminating-coordination-delay.html` ports the dark glass-card identity (navy gradient, glass cards, violet accent, blue kicker, system fonts) in an article layout (~65ch measure) with the four diagrams as inline CSS-flow / inline SVG (no mermaid runtime, no remote resources, wide diagrams scroll in their own container). One prose-adapted storytelling/editorial review pass is recorded and applied in `docs/articles/eliminating-coordination-delay-notes.md`.
+- **Long-form article "Make the Waiting Visible" + a self-contained HTML preview render** (#935). `docs/articles/make-the-waiting-visible.md` adapts the [Process Observability deck](docs/presentations/process-observability-presentation.md) into a Medium-ready public-audience essay (~1.6k words, optional title/dek/tags front-matter): AI writes code in seconds, then the work *sits* — the slow part is the invisible waiting between actions. The arc runs hook → interrupt cost (one interrupt = five transitions) → handoffs restart discovery → git history hides the waiting → make state observable (owner / blocker / latest decision / safe next step) → measure → change → verify → ground it in real mechanisms (board lifecycle, gate evidence trail, deterministic next-action resolver, provider-agnostic CI waits, post-merge reclaim/archive) → close (*"The next agent will write your code in seconds. The lever you control is how long it waits afterward, so measure that."*). Four captioned `mermaid` diagrams (interrupt-cost chain, handoff round trip, measurement loop, observable-state grounding) plus a "rendering on Medium" note. A standalone, CSP-safe `docs/articles/make-the-waiting-visible.html` renders the full article in the dark glass-card identity (navy gradient, glass cards, violet accent, blue kicker, system fonts) as an article layout (~65ch measure), drawing the four diagrams as inline CSS flow / inline SVG — no mermaid runtime, no font/CDN/remote assets. One editorial/storytelling review pass (lens from [docs/slides-story-review-loop.md](docs/slides-story-review-loop.md), adapted for prose) is recorded and applied in `docs/articles/make-the-waiting-visible-notes.md`.
+- **Slides content & storytelling review loop formalized as a bounded reviewer mode** (#929). A sibling of the [UI Designer + Vision Review Loop](docs/ui-designer-review-loop.md) behind `dev-loop` that judges a deck's *narrative*, not its pixels — "does it land?" rather than "does it look right?". `docs/slides-story-review-loop.md` defines the contract: the public entrypoint/dependency boundary (no new public name), a fail-closed REQUIRED INPUT BUNDLE (deck source path + slice-level acceptance criteria + a short storytelling brief + optional captured slide screenshots from the UI smoke harness), the public-audience REVIEW LENS (arc/hook/close, one message per slide + claim titles, sequencing/no-forward-refs, jargon translation, cut/merge/reorder), and a REQUIRED OUTPUT BUNDLE (findings + corrective actions + a single structured outcome `story_review_satisfied` | `needs_iteration`). The pure module `scripts/loop/slides-story-review-contract.mjs` exports the outcome constants plus a fail-closed input-bundle validator and a result-shape validator (no I/O); the prompt template lives at `skills/dev-loop/templates/slides-story-review.md`. The two inline applications already run over the decks are recorded as the first two runs (`docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops-review-notes.md` #926, `docs/presentations/process-observability-review-notes.md` #927). Cross-linked from the UI loop doc, the README, and `docs/index.md`.
+- **Process Observability deck refreshed + a self-contained shareable HTML render** (#927). `docs/presentations/process-observability-presentation.md` (Slidev) is restructured into one 9-slide public-audience story arc in the existing dark glass-card style: claim-style titles, one message per slide, jargon trimmed (`task state` / `pipeline latency` pills cut), the two overlapping handoff-cost slides merged, and a memorable close (*"Stop optimizing how fast you write code. Start measuring how long it waits."*) replacing the bare metric grid. A new grounding slide (`instrumented`) ties the abstract "observable state cuts delay" claim to what actually exists — the queue board lifecycle (owner / safe next step), the gate evidence trail (latest decision + findings), the deterministic next-action resolver, and "automate only where state supports safe continuation" via provider-agnostic CI waits and operator-induced post-merge worktree reclaim / long-done archival — in plain language, no version labels or raw identifiers. A standalone, CSP-safe `docs/presentations/process-observability.html` ships the full deck with all CSS inline (ported from `style.css`: navy gradient, glass cards, violet accent, blue kicker, mono pills) and the flowcharts rendered as inline CSS/HTML flow (no mermaid/CDN, no remote resources) — each slide is a stable-id `<section>` (`hero`, `interrupt-cost`, `handoff`, `blind-spot`, `observable-state`, `measurement-loop`, `instrumented`, `metrics`, `close`). A thin WebKit smoke spec (`test/playwright/observability-deck.spec.mjs` + `playwright.observability-deck.config.mjs`, `npm run test:playwright:obs-deck`) asserts every named section is present with no body horizontal overflow and captures the `hero`, `interrupt-cost`, `observable-state`, `measurement-loop`, `instrumented`, `metrics`, and `close` states under `test-results/ui-smoke/observability-deck/`; one designer/vision review pass (notes in `docs/presentations/process-observability-review-notes.md`, storytelling + visual sections) confirmed equal-height cards, legible flow diagrams, and a landing close with no corrective CSS required beyond the ported baseline.
+- **Applied dev-loops deck refreshed for v0.4.0 + a self-contained shareable HTML render** (#926). `docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops-presentation.md` (Slidev) gains two slides in the existing dark glass-card style: the **gate fan-out/fan-in sub-loop** (build-once neutral bundle = full diff + 1-hop import adjacency, size-guarded; independent per-angle reviewers seeded with the identical bundle; `consolidateFanin` merges per-angle verdicts; no fork primitive / no Workflow dependency; fail-closed `fanout_fanin` verdict with enforced severity counts) and **the coordination runtime owning the full lifecycle** (enforced human merge via `autonomy.humanMergeOnly`, managed `tmp/worktrees/dev-loops/` worktrees, provider-agnostic `watch-ci`, queue board as a deterministic adapter). A standalone, CSP-safe `docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops.html` ships the full deck with all CSS inline and the mermaid diagrams rendered as inline CSS flow (no font/mermaid CDN, no remote resources) — each slide is a stable-id `<section>` for UI smoke targeting. A thin WebKit smoke spec (`test/playwright/applied-deck.spec.mjs` + `playwright.applied-deck.config.mjs`, `npm run test:playwright:deck`) captures the `hero`, `core-idea`, `parallel-review`, `trust`, and `impact` named states under `test-results/ui-smoke/applied-deck/`; one designer/vision review pass (notes in `docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops-review-notes.md`) fixed ragged card heights via equal-height grid rows. A follow-up **public-audience storytelling pass** restructured the deck to one ~8-slide narrative arc (claim-style titles, jargon translated to plain language, raw enum/pill walls cut to at most one identifier per slide as evidence, mechanism→outcome close) while keeping the dark glass-card visual identity unchanged.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`promote-plan` pushes the head branch before opening the PR, and the plan-commit step is re-runnable (#969).** Promotion committed the plan doc and then called `create-pr.mjs` (`gh pr create --head <branch>`) without first pushing the fresh local branch; when `gh pr create` did not auto-push, promotion failed `pr_create_failed` AFTER the plan commit had landed — an unrecoverable partial state (plan committed, no PR, no `prNumber`) where a re-run re-entered PROMOTE, found nothing to stage, and dead-ended on `git_commit_failed`. Fix in `scripts/refine/promote-plan.mjs`: (1) the head branch is now pushed with `git push -u origin <branch>` BEFORE invoking `create-pr.mjs`, so a fresh branch exists on the remote and `gh pr create --head` succeeds; a push failure fails closed with the new `git_push_failed` reason + detail and makes ZERO `gh` mutation. (2) The plan-commit step is idempotent: when the plan doc is already committed at HEAD (`git diff --cached --quiet` reports nothing staged), the commit is skipped instead of failing `git_commit_failed`, so a prior partial run recovers on a plain re-run — it pushes, opens the draft PR, and writes the plan↔PR link. The existing fail-closed ready-gate (zero `gh`), `already_promoted` idempotency, and the post-PR-open `failAfterPrOpen` link-commit recovery are unchanged. `test/loop/promote-plan.test.mjs` gains a real bare `origin` remote in its setup and three asserts: the fresh-branch run pushes the branch (asserted via `git ls-remote`) then opens exactly one draft PR, a partial state (plan committed at HEAD on the head branch, no `prNumber`) recovers on re-run with one `gh` call, and a missing-remote push failure surfaces `git_push_failed` with a detail and zero `gh` calls.
+- **Decks fit the phone screen — no horizontal scroll, no clipped content (~390px)** (#937). On a phone the inline flow diagram (`.flow { min-width: max-content }`, `.node { white-space: nowrap }`) forced its grid track wider than the viewport, and `.slide { overflow: hidden }` then **clipped** anything taller than one screen (bullets cut mid-word, flow nodes sheared, slide bottoms cut off). The requirement is that content **fits** both dimensions, not that it scrolls inside a card. Fix (both `docs/presentations/applied-dev-loops.html` and `process-observability.html`): (1) **diagrams fit by stacking** — at `≤600px` `.flow` switches to `flex-direction: column` with arrows rotated to point down and `.node { white-space: normal }`, so the diagram lays out vertically and fits the width (measured 319px flow in a 319px card, zero internal scroll); `.flow { flex-wrap: wrap }` keeps desktop rows fitting too, and `.flow-scroll { overflow-x: auto }` is now a never-triggered last-resort safety, not the fix; (2) **no vertical clip** — `.slide { overflow: hidden }` → `overflow: visible` so a tall slide grows and the page scrolls between slides instead of cutting content off; (3) **mobile sizing** — a `≤600px` breakpoint reduces heading/card/padding scale and top-aligns slides so content fits comfortably. `min-width: 0` on grid children and `overflow-wrap: anywhere` on `p`/`li`/`code` are added. The CSS lives only in the HTML renders (the Slidev `*-presentation.md` sources carry none of it). The dark visual identity, section ids, CSP guard, and reduced-motion guard are unchanged. Both Playwright deck specs (`test/playwright/applied-deck.spec.mjs`, `observability-deck.spec.mjs`) are hardened to enforce **fit** at mobile (390×844): a settle barrier (`waitForLoadState("networkidle")` + `waitForFunction(innerWidth === 390)` + `document.fonts.ready`) removes the cold-start false-fail that measured desktop geometry; the horizontal check now fails if **any** element's `getBoundingClientRect().right > innerWidth + 1` (the `overflow-x:auto` scroller exemption is dropped — diagrams must fit) and asserts `document.scrollingElement.scrollWidth <= innerWidth + 1` (no horizontal page scroll); a vertical-clip check fails any section whose `clientHeight < scrollHeight` while `overflow-y` is `hidden`/`clip`; a guard-the-guard test confirms the fit check fails on a deliberately-wide element. Each spec also captures one mobile named state.
+
 ## 0.4.0
 
 ### Added

package/README.md

@@ -30,6 +30,21 @@ Use **`dev-loop`** as the single public workflow entrypoint:
 
 The `dev-loop` entrypoint resolves authoritative state, picks the correct internal strategy, and routes work deterministically. Users never need to choose internal strategy names. See the canonical shorthand example mapping in the [Public Dev Loop Contract](./skills/docs/public-dev-loop-contract.md).
 
+### Direct commands
+
+The same entrypoints are also available as direct named commands — thin wrappers over the public contract, no separate routing:
+
+| Command | Equivalent intent |
+| --- | --- |
+| `/dev-loops:start <issue>` | start dev loop on issue `<issue>` |
+| `/dev-loops:auto <issue>` | auto dev loop on issue `<issue>` (autonomous until human approval) |
+| `/dev-loops:continue [issue\|pr]` | continue dev loop on `<issue\|pr>`; bare resumes the single in-progress board item |
+| `/dev-loops:start-spike <question>` | start a time-boxed spike from a question (or `--file <path>` for a pre-authored findings file) |
+| `/dev-loops:info <issue|pr>` | read-only state summary (`loop info`) |
+| `/dev-loops:status` | dev-loop readiness (gh auth, git repo, subagent) |
+
+`/dev-loops:dev-loop` remains the catch-all router. Inside Pi the same set is reachable as `/dev-loops start|auto|continue|start-spike|info|status …`.
+
 ## Install from npm
 
 ### CLI only
@@ -231,9 +246,13 @@ subagent({
 
 Do not call internal routed skills such as `local-implementation`, `copilot-pr-followup`, or `final-approval` directly; `dev-loop` selects them from the current GitHub/repo state.
 
-The `/dev-loops` command surface is for readiness and configuration UX:
+The `/dev-loops` command surface covers the direct dev-loop entrypoints plus readiness and configuration UX:
 
 ```bash
+/dev-loops start <issue>     # dispatch: start dev loop on issue <issue>
+/dev-loops auto <issue>      # dispatch: auto dev loop on issue <issue>
+/dev-loops continue [issue|pr] # dispatch: continue dev loop on <issue|pr>; bare = current in-progress board item
+/dev-loops info <issue|pr>   # read-only state summary
 /dev-loops status
 /dev-loops doctor
 /dev-loops gates
@@ -274,3 +293,4 @@ CI splits into a small changed-files gate plus parallel `verify` and conditional
 - [UI Smoke Harness](./docs/ui-smoke-harness.md) — reusable local Playwright/WebKit smoke baseline
 - [UI Artifact Contract](./docs/ui-artifact-contract.md) — screenshot/state artifact contract and CI-promotion rules
 - [UI Designer Review Loop](./docs/ui-designer-review-loop.md) — designer + vision (`uiReviewMode: vision`) review loop contract
+- [Slides Story Review Loop](./docs/slides-story-review-loop.md) — bounded slides content & storytelling reviewer (narrative, not pixels)

package/agents/dev-loop.agent.md

@@ -26,7 +26,14 @@ The envelope is the primary handoff artifact — it is derived from resolver out
 
 **Construction sequence:**
 <!-- pi-only -->
-**CLI invocation (`<dev-loops-package-root>`):** dev-loop CLI commands are invoked as `node <dev-loops-package-root>/cli/index.mjs <verb...>` using the package-local CLI rather than `npx`, so they resolve unambiguously from the installed package without a global install. Resolve `<dev-loops-package-root>` from this agent's own installed path: this agent is installed at `<package-root>/.pi/agents/dev-loop.agent.md`, so the package root is `../..` from this agent's directory (`agents` → `.pi` → package root). (The `dev-loop` skill resolves it analogously from its own installed path.)
+**CLI invocation (`<dev-loops-package-root>`):** dev-loop CLI commands are invoked as `node <dev-loops-package-root>/cli/index.mjs <verb...>` using the package-local CLI rather than `npx`, so they resolve unambiguously from the installed package without a global install. Resolve `<dev-loops-package-root>` via the first of these **bounded** candidates whose `cli/index.mjs` exists — never assume a single fixed layout (this agent may be installed user-level at `~/.agents/`, where the old `../..` package-relative guess resolves to `~`, not the package):
+
+1. **Node module resolution** (best-effort first try): `node -e "try{const p=require('node:path');console.log(p.resolve(p.dirname(require.resolve('dev-loops/cli/index.mjs')),'..'))}catch{process.exit(1)}"` — resolves the package root when `dev-loops` is reachable from Node's module search path (notably under `~/.pi/agent/npm`); this is cwd-dependent and commonly misses from a target-repo cwd, so the probe is wrapped in try/catch (no stack trace, exits non-zero on miss) — treat a non-zero exit as "probe missed, try the next candidate", not a hard failure.
+2. **Pi user-agent npm root** (reliable for user-level installs): `~/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/dev-loops`.
+3. **Package-relative (legacy):** `../..` from this agent's own directory (the original package-local install layout).
+4. **Global npm root:** `$(npm root -g)/dev-loops`.
+
+NEVER fall back to `find /` or any unbounded filesystem walk to locate the CLI — it stalls and trips the needs-attention timeout. If every bounded candidate fails, stop and ask the orchestrator/operator for the dev-loops package root rather than searching. (The `dev-loop` skill resolves it analogously.)
 <!-- /pi-only -->
 
 1. Run the deterministic startup resolver to produce the authoritative state bundle: `node <dev-loops-package-root>/cli/index.mjs loop startup --issue <n>` for issues, or `node <dev-loops-package-root>/cli/index.mjs loop startup --pr <n>` for PRs.

package/agents/refiner.agent.md

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ For the active phase, require and produce:
 - Do not invent audit findings when no audit artifact was provided
 - when the phase includes watcher or predicate-driven behavior: explicit timeout semantics and negative-case expectations for non-target identities/events
 - when the phase relies on package-first shared helpers inside a source-loaded workspace: explicit integration expectations about whether local callers use published package imports or a thin source/workspace adapter during development
+- cross-check the phase's claims against the contracts and docs they reference (the autonomous docs-grill step, see ../docs/docs-grill-step.md): surface code-vs-doc drift, stale references, and contract-surface inaccuracies as refinement findings while the claims are still being verified
 
 ## Working style
 - Prefer parallel fresh-context fan-out/fan-in when it improves refinement quality or surfaces materially different variants.

package/cli/index.mjs

@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ const SUBCOMMAND_ROUTES = {
     "archive-done": "scripts/projects/archive-done-items.mjs",
     "sync-status": "scripts/projects/sync-item-status.mjs",
     ensure:  "scripts/projects/ensure-queue-board.mjs",
+    "resolve-active": "scripts/projects/resolve-active-board-item.mjs",
   },
   queue: {
     run:            "scripts/loop/run-queue.mjs",
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ const SUBCOMMAND_ROUTES = {
     "archive-done": "scripts/projects/archive-done-items.mjs",
     "sync-status": "scripts/projects/sync-item-status.mjs",
     ensure:  "scripts/projects/ensure-queue-board.mjs",
+    "resolve-active": "scripts/projects/resolve-active-board-item.mjs",
   },
   inspect: {
     run:    "scripts/loop/inspect-run.mjs",

package/extension/index.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { createExtensionCoreRuntime } from './checks.ts';
 import { createPostMergeUpdateHook } from './post-merge-update.ts';
 import { createPiExtensionAdapter, type ExtensionAPI } from './pi-extension-adapter.ts';
 import {
+  buildEntrypointLines,
   buildHelpLines,
   buildInspectLines,
   buildInspectNotification,
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI, runtimeOverrides: ExtensionRuntimeOve
   });
 
   adapter.registerCommand('dev-loops', {
-    description: 'Manage dev-loops readiness and inspect-run local UI lifecycle: /dev-loops [help|status|doctor|gates|hide|inspect ...]',
+    description: 'Run a dev-loop entrypoint or manage readiness: /dev-loops [start <issue>|auto <issue>|continue [issue|pr]|start-spike <question>|info <issue|pr>|status|doctor|gates|hide|inspect ...]',
     handler: async (args, ctx) => {
       const result = await executeDevLoopsCommand({
         input: args,
@@ -89,6 +90,14 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI, runtimeOverrides: ExtensionRuntimeOve
           ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildHelpLines(), { placement: 'belowEditor' });
           ctx.ui.notify('dev-loops help', 'info');
           return;
+        case 'entrypoint':
+          ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildEntrypointLines(result.action, result.intent), { placement: 'belowEditor' });
+          ctx.ui.notify(`dev-loops ${result.action}: ${result.intent}`, 'info');
+          return;
+        case 'start_spike':
+          ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildEntrypointLines('start-spike', result.intent), { placement: 'belowEditor' });
+          ctx.ui.notify(`dev-loops start-spike: ${result.intent}`, 'info');
+          return;
         case 'checks':
           ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildWidgetLines(result.action as Extract<DevLoopsAction, 'doctor' | 'status'>, result.checks), {
             placement: 'belowEditor',

package/extension/presentation.ts

@@ -35,11 +35,26 @@ export function orderedSetupSteps(checks: DevLoopCheck[]): string[] {
   ];
 }
 
+export function buildEntrypointLines(action: string, intent: string): string[] {
+  return [
+    `dev-loops ${action}`,
+    `Dispatch this public intent through the dev-loop skill:`,
+    `/skill:dev-loop ${intent}`,
+    'The dev-loop skill resolves authoritative state and routes deterministically — no strategy choice needed.',
+  ];
+}
+
 export function buildHelpLines(): string[] {
   return [
     'dev-loops help',
     'Workflow entry:',
     '- /skill:dev-loop — single public entrypoint; routing handles the rest',
+    'Direct entrypoints:',
+    '- /dev-loops start <issue>',
+    '- /dev-loops auto <issue>',
+    '- /dev-loops continue [issue|pr]',
+    '- /dev-loops start-spike <question>',
+    '- /dev-loops info <issue|pr>',
     'Commands:',
     '- /dev-loops status',
     '- /dev-loops doctor',