feat(update): add --append-notes flag (#1304)

* feat(update): add --append-notes flag (bd-b5qu)

Add --append-notes flag that appends to existing notes with a newline
separator instead of overwriting. This prevents data loss in workflows
where multiple steps need to add info to notes (e.g., tackle workflows).

- Errors if both --notes and --append-notes specified
- Handles both daemon and direct mode paths
- Combines existing notes + newline + new content

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(update): add tests for --append-notes flag

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cmd/bd/cli_fast_test.go

@@ -400,6 +400,64 @@ func TestCLI_UpdateEphemeralMutualExclusion(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCLI_UpdateAppendNotes(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("skipping slow CLI test in short mode")
+	}
+	tmpDir := setupCLITestDB(t)
+	out := runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "create", "Issue for append-notes test", "-p", "2", "--notes", "Original notes", "--json")
+
+	var issue map[string]interface{}
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(out), &issue)
+	id := issue["id"].(string)
+
+	// Test appending notes
+	runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "update", id, "--append-notes", "Appended content")
+
+	out = runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "show", id, "--json")
+	var updated []map[string]interface{}
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(out), &updated)
+	notes := updated[0]["notes"].(string)
+	if notes != "Original notes\nAppended content" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 'Original notes\\nAppended content', got: %q", notes)
+	}
+
+	// Test appending to empty notes
+	out = runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "create", "Issue with empty notes", "-p", "2", "--json")
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(out), &issue)
+	id2 := issue["id"].(string)
+
+	runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "update", id2, "--append-notes", "First note")
+
+	out = runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "show", id2, "--json")
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(out), &updated)
+	notes = updated[0]["notes"].(string)
+	if notes != "First note" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 'First note', got: %q", notes)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCLI_UpdateAppendNotesMutualExclusion(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("skipping slow CLI test in short mode")
+	}
+	tmpDir := setupCLITestDB(t)
+	out := runBDInProcess(t, tmpDir, "create", "Issue for notes mutual exclusion", "-p", "2", "--json")
+
+	var issue map[string]interface{}
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(out), &issue)
+	id := issue["id"].(string)
+
+	// Both --notes and --append-notes should error
+	_, stderr, err := runBDInProcessAllowError(t, tmpDir, "update", id, "--notes", "New notes", "--append-notes", "Appended")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("Expected error when both --notes and --append-notes specified, got none")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr, "cannot specify both --notes and --append-notes") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected mutual exclusion error message, got: %v", stderr)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCLI_Close(t *testing.T) {
 	if testing.Short() {
 		t.Skip("skipping slow CLI test in short mode")

cmd/bd/flags.go

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ func registerCommonIssueFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().String("design", "", "Design notes")
 	cmd.Flags().String("acceptance", "", "Acceptance criteria")
 	cmd.Flags().String("notes", "", "Additional notes")
+	cmd.Flags().String("append-notes", "", "Append to existing notes (with newline separator)")
 	cmd.Flags().String("external-ref", "", "External reference (e.g., 'gh-9', 'jira-ABC')")
 }
 

cmd/bd/update.go

@@ -78,10 +78,17 @@ create, update, show, or close operation).`,
 			design, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("design")
 			updates["design"] = design
 		}
+		if cmd.Flags().Changed("notes") && cmd.Flags().Changed("append-notes") {
+			FatalErrorRespectJSON("cannot specify both --notes and --append-notes")
+		}
 		if cmd.Flags().Changed("notes") {
 			notes, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("notes")
 			updates["notes"] = notes
 		}
+		if cmd.Flags().Changed("append-notes") {
+			appendNotes, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("append-notes")
+			updates["append_notes"] = appendNotes
+		}
 		if cmd.Flags().Changed("acceptance") || cmd.Flags().Changed("acceptance-criteria") {
 			var acceptanceCriteria string
 			if cmd.Flags().Changed("acceptance") {
@@ -243,6 +250,22 @@ create, update, show, or close operation).`,
 				if notes, ok := updates["notes"].(string); ok {
 					updateArgs.Notes = &notes
 				}
+				if appendNotes, ok := updates["append_notes"].(string); ok {
+					// Fetch existing issue to get current notes
+					showArgs := &rpc.ShowArgs{ID: id}
+					resp, err := daemonClient.Show(showArgs)
+					if err == nil {
+						var existingIssue types.Issue
+						if err := json.Unmarshal(resp.Data, &existingIssue); err == nil {
+							combined := existingIssue.Notes
+							if combined != "" {
+								combined += "\n"
+							}
+							combined += appendNotes
+							updateArgs.Notes = &combined
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				if acceptanceCriteria, ok := updates["acceptance_criteria"].(string); ok {
 					updateArgs.AcceptanceCriteria = &acceptanceCriteria
 				}
@@ -372,10 +395,19 @@ create, update, show, or close operation).`,
 				// Apply regular field updates if any
 				regularUpdates := make(map[string]interface{})
 				for k, v := range updates {
-					if k != "add_labels" && k != "remove_labels" && k != "set_labels" && k != "parent" {
+					if k != "add_labels" && k != "remove_labels" && k != "set_labels" && k != "parent" && k != "append_notes" {
 						regularUpdates[k] = v
 					}
 				}
+				// Handle append_notes: combine existing notes with new content
+				if appendNotes, ok := updates["append_notes"].(string); ok {
+					combined := issue.Notes
+					if combined != "" {
+						combined += "\n"
+					}
+					combined += appendNotes
+					regularUpdates["notes"] = combined
+				}
 				if len(regularUpdates) > 0 {
 					if err := issueStore.UpdateIssue(ctx, result.ResolvedID, regularUpdates, actor); err != nil {
 						fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error updating %s: %v\n", id, err)
@@ -486,10 +518,19 @@ create, update, show, or close operation).`,
 			// Apply regular field updates if any
 			regularUpdates := make(map[string]interface{})
 			for k, v := range updates {
-				if k != "add_labels" && k != "remove_labels" && k != "set_labels" && k != "parent" {
+				if k != "add_labels" && k != "remove_labels" && k != "set_labels" && k != "parent" && k != "append_notes" {
 					regularUpdates[k] = v
 				}
 			}
+			// Handle append_notes: combine existing notes with new content
+			if appendNotes, ok := updates["append_notes"].(string); ok {
+				combined := issue.Notes
+				if combined != "" {
+					combined += "\n"
+				}
+				combined += appendNotes
+				regularUpdates["notes"] = combined
+			}
 			if len(regularUpdates) > 0 {
 				if err := issueStore.UpdateIssue(ctx, result.ResolvedID, regularUpdates, actor); err != nil {
 					fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error updating %s: %v\n", id, err)