pi-gauntlet 5.0.7 → 5.0.8

package/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v5.0.8 - 2026-08-31
+
+- shape-ticket: ticket bodies must be self-contained - new wording contract in `skills/shape-ticket/reference/ticket-wording.md` (repo-stranger reader, strip-test, plain-words lead + example per asserted failure, jargon defined, references demoted to deletable parenthetical pointers, big chunks linkable with a summary line - no spiderman tickets). Wired into the draft step, every roast brief (members, worker fallback, runtime conditional; fidelity exempts contract-driven unpacking from `added`), and the repair-mode no-op check (a violating body is non-conforming and gets a proposed rewrite). Generic repo density norms can no longer override ticket prose; only an explicit ticket-wording overrides section can. Fixes #18. Spec: `doc/specs/2026-08-31-gh-18-self-contained-ticket-wording.md`.
+
 ## v5.0.7 - 2026-08-31
 
 - `subagent-driven-development`: the after-all-tasks whole-diff code review and the full verification set now run **concurrently by default** (async review dispatch + foreground verification in the same turn), gated by a fail-closed write-destination classifier over the plan's `**Verification:**` commands - a set that rewrites tracked files (write-mode formatters, autofixers, codegen, migrations) degrades to today's serial order with a one-line notice, never a prompt (gh-21).

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "pi-gauntlet",
-  "version": "5.0.7",
+  "version": "5.0.8",
   "description": "Opinionated, gated workflow skills, subagent personas, and runtime extensions for the pi coding agent.",
   "author": "Jacek Juraszek",
   "type": "module",

package/skills/shape-ticket/SKILL.md

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ One question at a time, only when intent is unclear or no AC is derivable. Never
 
 ### 4 - Draft
 
-Full replacement body: `Context` / `Problem` / `Idea` / `Acceptance Criteria`, plus optional `Out of scope / Follow-up` and `Post-deployment housekeeping`. Apply the wording rules (below). Preserve links and tracker fields.
+Full replacement body: `Context` / `Problem` / `Idea` / `Acceptance Criteria`, plus optional `Out of scope / Follow-up` and `Post-deployment housekeeping`. Read the ticket wording contract in `reference/ticket-wording.md` (resolve the path against this skill's own directory) and apply it at draft time, plus the wording rules (below). Preserve links and tracker fields.
 
 The draft may propose **at most one comment per approved issue**, e.g.
 `Reporter note: <demoted detail>`. Overflow test: the Idea section keeps
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@ Before any subagent dispatch, inline and cheap: AC integrity gate, evidence gate
 
 If the body already conforms AND the metadata audit is clean AND no Reporter note is proposed: report "conforms, no changes proposed" and stop. No write, no confirmation prompt, no roast. A conforming ticket never pays for a dispatch - a conforming body with pending overflow still reaches the gate.
 
+"Conforms" includes the ticket wording contract (`reference/ticket-wording.md`, resolved against this skill's own directory), applied inline as a short checklist over Context/Problem/Idea: strip test passes (rule 2)? plain-words lead per asserted failure (rule 4)? example or `none (<reason>)` per failure (rule 5)? jargon defined or dropped (rule 6)? references parenthetical and deletion-safe (rule 7)? links summarized, no spiderman hops (rule 8)? Any "no" makes the body non-conforming: repair proposes a rewrite through the normal draft -> gates -> roast -> gate path instead of reporting "conforms" - the contract-briefed roast backstops this inline judgment. The rewrite touches Context/Problem/Idea prose only; ACs are never rewritten for self-containment.
+
 ### 7 - Roast
 
 See Roast below. Unambiguous findings are applied to the draft (one re-pass max - never a third pass). Ambiguous findings are surfaced at the confirmation gate, never auto-applied. Any roast-applied edit re-runs step 5's deterministic gates before the draft reaches the gate - a fix must not reintroduce a failing AC.
@@ -172,12 +174,12 @@ No block, no split. A block failing the identity or outcome test, or naming a no
 
 Inline council dispatch, reusing spec-council config and personas - **not** `/skill:roasting-the-spec` (that skill's contract is spec-file apply mechanics; a tracker draft is not a spec file). No new agents.
 
-1. Resolve `gauntlet_setting({ key: "specCouncil" })` when the tool exists. Verdict `council` -> dispatch `spec-council-member`s in parallel plus a `spec-council-synthesizer` chair. Verdict `worker` (or empty members) -> one fresh `worker` critique. Malformed config -> one warning line, then branch on verdict.
-2. **Dispatch shape**, mirroring `/skill:roasting-the-spec`: write the draft body and the source snapshot (original ticket + comments, or the create-mode inputs) to absolute temp files under `mktemp -d`; delimit untrusted snapshots as data. When a split is proposed, the draft artifact holds all N proposed bodies plus their three-line justification blocks (see Split rule) in one file, not a single body. Two separate calls - never fuse members and chair into one chain (a fused chain lets one member failure kill the roast before the chair runs). Call 1: one member fanout with `cwd` = repo root, absolute `output` paths per member, run-level `control: { needsAttentionAfterMs: 60000, inFlightSilenceCeilingMs: 240000, inFlightSilenceKillMs: 300000 }` (sits beside `tasks`, not inside each task; effective silence-kill max(300s, 240+60) = 300s - record all three fields verbatim so a pi-cohort default change cannot stretch the kill). Then probe the member output files on disk with item 7's usable test. Call 2: the chair, with the usable member files via `reads`, the same control block (`:low` chair turns are short), and task text that (a) forbids repository access - member disagreement on a fact is reported in the synthesis, never verified against the repo - and (b) states coverage: `Coverage: N of M members reported; <slug>: <reason>` (pi-cohort's kill diagnostic when present, else "no output produced"; omit reasons at full coverage; singular wording when one member reported). Member task text: *the draft at `<path>` is the artifact under review; this ticket brief supersedes your spec-axis template - emit the same findings format against the draft; content-only review: the temp files plus the referenced split-axes reference path are the entire permitted input - do not read, search, or scan the repository; do not edit any file.* Include the absolute path to `reference/split-axes.md` (resolved against this skill's own directory) in each member's task text - members run with `cwd` = the consumer repo, where a package-relative path does not resolve.
+1. Resolve `gauntlet_setting({ key: "specCouncil" })` when the tool exists. Verdict `council` -> dispatch `spec-council-member`s in parallel plus a `spec-council-synthesizer` chair. Verdict `worker` (or empty members) -> one fresh `worker` critique, its task text carrying the absolute path to `reference/ticket-wording.md` (resolved against this skill's own directory). Malformed config -> one warning line, then branch on verdict.
+2. **Dispatch shape**, mirroring `/skill:roasting-the-spec`: write the draft body and the source snapshot (original ticket + comments, or the create-mode inputs) to absolute temp files under `mktemp -d`; delimit untrusted snapshots as data. When a split is proposed, the draft artifact holds all N proposed bodies plus their three-line justification blocks (see Split rule) in one file, not a single body. Two separate calls - never fuse members and chair into one chain (a fused chain lets one member failure kill the roast before the chair runs). Call 1: one member fanout with `cwd` = repo root, absolute `output` paths per member, run-level `control: { needsAttentionAfterMs: 60000, inFlightSilenceCeilingMs: 240000, inFlightSilenceKillMs: 300000 }` (sits beside `tasks`, not inside each task; effective silence-kill max(300s, 240+60) = 300s - record all three fields verbatim so a pi-cohort default change cannot stretch the kill). Then probe the member output files on disk with item 7's usable test. Call 2: the chair, with the usable member files via `reads`, the same control block (`:low` chair turns are short), and task text that (a) forbids repository access - member disagreement on a fact is reported in the synthesis, never verified against the repo - and (b) states coverage: `Coverage: N of M members reported; <slug>: <reason>` (pi-cohort's kill diagnostic when present, else "no output produced"; omit reasons at full coverage; singular wording when one member reported). Member task text: *the draft at `<path>` is the artifact under review; this ticket brief supersedes your spec-axis template - emit the same findings format against the draft; content-only review: the temp files plus the two referenced reference paths (split-axes, ticket-wording) are the entire permitted input - do not read, search, or scan the repository; do not edit any file.* Include the absolute paths to `reference/split-axes.md` and `reference/ticket-wording.md` (both resolved against this skill's own directory) in each member's task text - members run with `cwd` = the consumer repo, where a package-relative path does not resolve.
 3. **Effort: cheap by default.** Append a `:low` thinking suffix to each member's model string at dispatch (this beats the persona's frontmatter `xhigh` pin). Same for the chair: a configured chair string gets any existing suffix replaced with `:low`; an unconfigured chair is dispatched as the parent's model with `:low` appended. The `worker` fallback carries no thinking pin - it runs at the preset's default. **Full-roast escape:** the user may request a full roast, dispatching all model strings bare/as-configured, restoring the xhigh pins; a full roast reuses the spec-roast control blocks (members `{ needsAttentionAfterMs: 300000, inFlightSilenceCeilingMs: 300000, inFlightSilenceKillMs: 600000 }`, chair `{ needsAttentionAfterMs: 300000, inFlightSilenceCeilingMs: 600000, inFlightSilenceKillMs: 900000 }`) - the 5-minute figures in item 2 are `:low`-only.
-4. **Brief covers three axes**, absorbing the fidelity-review role without a new persona: *fidelity* - compare draft against source intent (original ticket + comments in repair; prompt + answers in create), flag `lost` / `added` / `gap`; and *quality* - problem framing, AC integrity beyond the deterministic gate, scope, wording; and *split soundness* - if the draft proposes a split, test each slice against the split-axes reference (path provided in the task text); an architecture-shaped boundary is reported as a finding line containing the marker `split-axis:` (members keep their existing spec-axis findings template; the marker is a substring flag within it, not a new findings kind), e.g. `- [major] split-axis: <slice> - <why> -> merge`. Members may argue toward one ticket, never propose or endorse a split.
+4. **Brief covers three axes**, absorbing the fidelity-review role without a new persona: *fidelity* - compare draft against source intent (original ticket + comments in repair; prompt + answers in create), flag `lost` / `added` / `gap` (unpacking existing claims to satisfy the ticket wording contract is not `added`; contract-conformance findings on Context/Problem/Idea outrank fidelity flags that only object to extra explanation of the same claims); and *quality* - problem framing, AC integrity beyond the deterministic gate, scope, wording, and conformance to the ticket wording contract (reference path provided in every roast brief); and *split soundness* - if the draft proposes a split, test each slice against the split-axes reference (path provided in the task text); an architecture-shaped boundary is reported as a finding line containing the marker `split-axis:` (members keep their existing spec-axis findings template; the marker is a substring flag within it, not a new findings kind), e.g. `- [major] split-axis: <slice> - <why> -> merge`. Members may argue toward one ticket, never propose or endorse a split.
 5. Disposition: unambiguous concrete fixes applied to the draft (one re-pass max); ambiguous findings surfaced at the confirmation gate. Roast edits affect the body draft pre-write only, never posted as a tracker comment, and re-run the deterministic gates (pipeline step 5). Additionally, the parent scans the **usable member output files (item 7's structural test) directly** for lines containing `split-axis:` (substring match), independent of the chair synthesis; any such finding auto-applies a merge - the split is withdrawn and the draft becomes one ticket with phased AC groups, inside the same one-re-pass budget, and the pre-merge N-body draft is kept alongside: a human re-request of the split at the gate re-presents those N bodies old->new as the approval diff (see the Split rule's sticky override). The chair keeps every other axis; clearing a `split-axis:` finding is not on its path. The same directional rule - toward one ticket, never toward a split - binds the `worker` fallback and the runtime conditional (item 6).
-6. **Runtime conditional (the one allowed):** on a harness with no `gauntlet_setting`/`subagent()` (e.g. Claude Code), dispatch fresh general-purpose subagents via that harness's native facility at low effort, with the same three-axis brief and temp-file artifacts.
+6. **Runtime conditional (the one allowed):** on a harness with no `gauntlet_setting`/`subagent()` (e.g. Claude Code), dispatch fresh general-purpose subagents via that harness's native facility at low effort, with the same three-axis brief (including the absolute `reference/ticket-wording.md` path) and temp-file artifacts - on such a harness this conditional IS the roast, so the contract path must ride along.
 7. **Usable outputs, targeted retry, and roast failure.** A member output
    file is usable iff it is non-empty AND contains both a
    `^verdict:\s*(sound|needs-work|unsound)` line and an
@@ -244,9 +246,9 @@ Claims about user-visible/UI behavior need evidence: screenshots/artifacts via r
 
 ## Ticket wording
 
-The repo's own documented comms style (found via the ladder) overrides these defaults:
+Read `reference/ticket-wording.md` (resolve the path against this skill's own directory) and apply it - the self-containment contract lives there; a link alone is not the contract in hand. Repo comms style (found via the ladder) still tunes tone and format - where tone and format explicitly exclude density and brevity - but the contract (its rules 2-8) yields only to an overrides-file section that explicitly addresses ticket wording (e.g. a `## Ticket wording` heading in the gauntlet overrides file). Generic density/brevity doc norms never reach ticket prose: neither the capability ladder's comms-style rung, nor AGENTS.md density language, nor this skill's closing "Project overrides" block (whose by-topic relevance matching does not reach the contract) can weaken it. Remaining defaults:
 
-- **Minimal-to-actionable:** the shortest body a stranger (human or LLM) can act on AND verify; every sentence earns its place.
+- **Minimal-to-actionable, split scoping:** Context/Problem/Idea are the shortest prose that passes the contract's self-containment test - understandable and triagable by a reader who has never opened the repo; the ACs remain the part a stranger (human or LLM) can act on AND verify - implementer-facing per contract rule 1. Every sentence earns its place.
 - Active voice, named actor; no filler ("comprehensive", "successfully", restated-goal paragraphs).
 - No heading scaffolding beyond the four template sections plus the two named optional ones (`Out of scope / Follow-up`, `Post-deployment housekeeping`) - the only exceptions. ASCII punctuation.
 - References use the tracker-native link/mention form, never bare identifiers; link the specific thing, not its container; never invent an id or URL.
@@ -255,7 +257,7 @@ One built-in bad->good ticket exemplar (Discovery pair) is in Examples and ratio
 
 ## Examples and rationalizations
 
-Read this when applying the AC integrity gate (drafting, repairing, or adjudicating a hard-stop/park/relocate outcome).
+Read this when applying the AC integrity gate (drafting, repairing, or adjudicating a hard-stop/park/relocate outcome). The bad->good ticket body exemplar (self-containment) lives in `reference/ticket-wording.md` - not duplicated here.
 
 ### Bad -> good AC examples
 
@@ -292,6 +294,7 @@ Read this when applying the AC integrity gate (drafting, repairing, or adjudicat
 | "Park it quietly so the gate passes" | Parking without naming the missing value hides the defect it exists to surface |
 | "Split by layer to keep tickets small" | Layers are not deliverables - apply the split test in `reference/split-axes.md` or keep one ticket |
 | "Write it now, the human said it twice" | Repetition is not confirmation - the gate needs an explicit yes on the presented diff |
+| "shortest body / our docs say dense" | Density norms bind docs, not ticket prose; compression starts only after the self-containment test passes |
 
 ## Edge cases
 

package/skills/shape-ticket/reference/ticket-wording.md

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# Ticket wording contract (self-containment)
+
+Consumed by `shape-ticket`'s SKILL.md (draft step, no-op check, and every roast brief). Normative: "must" means must.
+
+## Reader and scope
+
+1. **Reader definition.** The "stranger" the ticket body serves is a reader who has never opened the repo. Acceptance Criteria are exempt throughout this contract - they address the implementer and may name files, symbols, and settings freely.
+
+Scope: Context/Problem/Idea prose only. ACs, split justification blocks, metadata rationale lines, and Reporter-note comments are out of this contract's scope.
+
+## Rules
+
+2. **Self-containment test.** Remove every code/doc reference from Context, Problem, and Idea; what remains must still make the problem and its impact understandable and triagable by that reader. Deleting the references may lose depth, never comprehension. The test is a reviewer judgment with a mechanical framing (strip, re-read, ask "triagable?"), not a keyword scan.
+3. **Precedence.** Self-contained human comprehension wins over brevity and retrieval-density norms; compression applies only after the test passes. "Shortest body" survives as a constraint on what may be omitted, never a license to leave jargon undefined or mechanisms unexplained.
+4. **Plain-words lead.** Each independently asserted failure or impact in Problem opens with a plain-words sentence of what goes wrong and what it costs, before any mechanism. (The lead and example rules bind Problem; Context and Idea are bound by the general self-containment test.)
+5. **Example per failure.** Each independently asserted failure carries a concrete example: real numbers, a before/after, or a short transcript. One example may serve multiple sentences describing the same failure. `none (<reason>)` is permitted only when no observable exists yet (pure rename/removal, or discovery work whose deliverable is the observable); the reason is part of the draft and thus roast-reviewable. A disputed reason is an ordinary roast finding handled by the existing disposition machinery (applied if unambiguous, surfaced at the gate if not) - no new disposition class.
+6. **Jargon.** Domain jargon - including repo-native terms - is defined at first use in plain words, or dropped. A link is not a definition when the term is load-bearing for triage.
+7. **Pointer demotion.** Code/doc references in Context/Problem/Idea are demoted to parenthetical pointers whose deletion loses no meaning, e.g. "(Pointer for the implementer: detectChains, src/chain-detector.ts.)". Composition with the tracker-native-links rule in SKILL.md's `## Ticket wording`: that rule governs *how* a reference is written (native link/mention form, never bare identifiers); pointer demotion governs *where* it may sit (parenthetical, deletion-safe).
+8. **Link-vs-inline (anti-spiderman).** Linking stays legitimate for targets impractical to inline - a whole design doc, a KB page, a long log - and for general-knowledge material; every such link carries a one-line plain-words statement of what the reader needs from it. What is forbidden is the spiderman shape: many small load-bearing hops, where the full picture must be assembled from N places even when each individual inline would be cheap. Discriminator: "is this definition load-bearing for triage?" - load-bearing small definitions get inlined; big chunks get linked with a summary line.
+
+## Exemplar
+
+One bad->good body pair: a reference-laden mechanism-first fragment vs its self-contained rewrite. Genericized from the pi-condense#13 pair quoted in pi-gauntlet#18 - shape and numbers kept (they carry the persuasive force), repo-specific identifiers swapped for neutral ones, references reduced to the parenthetical-pointer form rule 7 mandates. The exemplar anchors roast review of the mechanism-first failure mode (the most common one); the other rules are checked from their normative statements above.
+
+> Bad: "detectSpans stayed idle from the previous span's close (11:05) until the next real user message (22:26): the registry jumps from s25 (10:47-11:05) directly to s26 (22:26-00:02), leaving the active 11:06->13:43 work stretch unspanned."
+>
+> Good: "When the workflow auto-continues from one phase to the next, no human message marks the transition - and the context-trimming machinery only recognizes work that starts with a human message. So a 2.5-hour stretch of work became invisible to trimming: every prompt sent to helper agents during it (169KB, a quarter of what remains in the model's context) is stuck there for the rest of the session. (Pointer for the implementer: detectSpans, src/span-detector.ts.)"
+
+Both versions are accurate; only the second is understandable without opening the repo.