Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P17: stable


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: routine, all healthy


gt channel publish command

New CLI command for ephemeral broadcast to channels.

## Deliverables

1. New command: gt channel publish <channel> <message>
   - Example: gt channel publish #witnesses "Swarm incoming"
2. Resolve channel to running sessions
3. Nudge each session with message
4. Report delivery status

## Usage
```bash
gt channel publish #town "Handoff in 5 minutes"
gt channel publish #rig/gastown "Merge queue paused"
```

## Dependencies
- #channel resolution (gt-???)

## Acceptance
- Command works with #channel syntax
- Message delivered to running sessions
- Clear output showing delivery status


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: All clear


Add gt hook command (wrapper for bd hook)

Add a thin wrapper command `gt hook` that calls `bd hook` to inspect what's pinned to an agent's hook.

## Usage

```bash
gt hook                    # Show what's on current agent's hook
gt hook --agent deacon     # Show Deacon's hook
gt hook --agent gastown/furiosa  # Show polecat's hook
```

## Implementation

Thin wrapper in gt that:
1. Determines current agent identity
2. Calls `bd hook [--agent <name>]`
3. Formats output for gt context

## Why gt wrapper?

- Consistent with gt ecosystem (gt mail, gt status, etc.)
- Can add gt-specific context (session status, etc.)
- Easier discovery for gt users

## Related

- bd hook command (implemented by Dave)
- Chemistry UX design: gastown/mayor/rig/docs/chemistry-design-changes.md


Review: Refinery patrol template changes (gt-qz2l)

Polecat dementus implemented refinery template changes: banners, wisp-based execution, propulsion protocol. Review for correctness and consistency with witness/deacon patterns.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: All healthy


Merge: gt-3x1.3

branch: polecat/Doof
target: main
source_issue: gt-3x1.3
rig: gastown


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: All healthy


gt prime should detect mayor role from any rig's mayor/ folder

Currently gt prime only detects the Mayor role when run from town root (~/gt). It should also detect Mayor when run from:
- ~/gt/gastown/mayor/rig (rig's internal mayor dir)
- Any path containing /mayor/ under a rig

This would allow the mayor session to work correctly regardless of which rig directory it's attached to.


Update prompts.md: Engineer role and templates

Update docs/prompts.md with Engineer role:

1. Role Prompts table: Change Refinery to Engineer
2. Add Engineer-specific prompts:
   - Session restart request template
   - Subtask filing template
   - Handoff mail template
3. Update refinery.md template name to engineer.md
4. Ensure consistency with architecture.md


Remove all hardcoded gastown dependencies from gt codebase

The Go codebase should not have hardcoded dependencies on gastown (the rig name).

Found in prime.go outputDeaconPatrolContext() - FIXED in this session.

Other potential issues to audit:
- Check all patrol context functions (Witness, Refinery) for similar patterns
- Ensure rig-specific paths are derived from context, not hardcoded
- Test with a different rig name to verify

The principle: Gas Town should work with any rig name, not just gastown.

Audit complete: no hardcoded gastown dependencies in runtime logic. Patrol contexts use ctx.Rig dynamically. Help examples use gastown as concrete example (acceptable). Legacy doctor check for .gastown/ dirs is correct migration behavior.


mol-deacon-patrol

Mayor's daemon patrol loop.

The Deacon is the Mayor's background process that runs continuously,
handling callbacks, monitoring rig health, and performing cleanup.
Each patrol cycle runs these steps in sequence, then loops or exits.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P10: stable


Day 4.5: Test multi-step molecule lifecycle

Integration test:
1. Create 3-step molecule
2. Sling to polecat
3. Watch step 1 complete → recycle
4. Watch step 2 complete → recycle
5. Watch step 3 complete → MERGE_READY
6. Watch merge → nuke
7. Verify clean state

Parent: gt-4a2qt


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: Quiet


Polecat auto-start: Claude doesn't process initial nudge

After gt sling spawns a polecat, the 'Work slung' message is sent to tmux but Claude sits idle at the prompt. The SessionStart hook doesn't fire because no user input was received.

Observed:
- gt sling successfully spawns polecat, creates worktree, starts Claude
- Sends 'Work slung: gt-xxx. Start working on it now...' to the pane
- Claude shows idle prompt 'Try refactor...' and doesn't process the message

Expected:
- Polecat should auto-start working on the slung issue

Root cause hypothesis:
- The nudge is sent as tmux send-keys which goes to the input line
- Claude needs Enter to be pressed to submit the prompt
- SessionStart hook only fires after first user message

Workaround:
- Send extra Enter after the nudge message
- Or use daemon's triggerPendingSpawns to send Enter after Claude is ready


Code review: handoff.go changes (gt-yt6g, gt-tocb)

Review ~80 lines of Go changes to internal/cmd/handoff.go:

## Commits to review
- 1414081: Standardize session end with gt handoff (gt-yt6g)
  - Detect polecats via GT_POLECAT env var
  - Call gt done instead of respawning for polecats
  - +31/-11 lines

- 9c85b83: Support full session paths in gt handoff (gt-tocb)
  - resolveRoleToSession accepts <rig>/crew/<name>, <rig>/witness, <rig>/refinery
  - +46/-3 lines

## Review focus
- Error handling in path resolution
- Edge cases in polecat detection
- Test coverage needed?


Add tests for gt crew restart --all

Add integration tests for the crew restart flow:

- Test getAgentSessions() correctly identifies crew sessions
- Test --rig filtering works correctly
- Test --dry-run outputs correct targets
- Test session kill/recreate cycle (without Claude)

Consider extracting a SessionStarter interface to mock the claude-launching bit.

Related: gt crew restart --all was just implemented.


CLI: workspace commands (init, add, list)

GGT needs workspace management commands beyond install.

## Commands (beyond gt-f9x.3 install)

### gt workspace list
List all rigs in current workspace.
```
gt workspace list [--json]
```
Essentially `gt rig list` but framed as workspace view.

### gt workspace add
Add existing rig to workspace (alternative to gt rig add).
```
gt workspace add <git-url> [--name NAME]
```

### gt onboard
Interactive first-time setup wizard.
```
gt onboard
```
- Prompts for workspace location
- Creates structure via gt install
- Offers to add first rig

## Note
May be redundant with gt-f9x.3 (install) and gt-u1j.16 (rig commands).
Consider if this is needed or should be closed as covered by those.

## PGT Reference
gastown-py/src/gastown/cli/workspace_cmd.py


town handoff command (optional)

CLI commands for session handoff workflow (optional convenience).

## Commands

### gt handoff
Generate handoff interactively.
```
gt handoff [--send]
```
- Collects current state (status, inbox, beads)
- Prompts for additional notes
- --send: Mail to self and exit

### gt resume
Check for and display pending handoff.
```
gt resume
```
- Checks inbox for handoff message
- Displays formatted handoff if found
- Suggests next actions

## Implementation

These are convenience wrappers. The same workflow can be done manually:
```bash
# Manual handoff
town status > /tmp/handoff
town inbox >> /tmp/handoff
bd ready >> /tmp/handoff
# Edit and send
town mail send mayor/ -s "Session Handoff" -f /tmp/handoff
```

## Priority

P2 - Optional. Manual workflow works fine. Nice to have for UX.

## Notes

Part of session cycling workflow designed in [deleted:gt-u82].


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15


Interactive prompts for destructive operations

Add interactive confirmations for destructive operations.

## Operations Needing Confirmation
- `gt swarm cancel` - Cancels active swarm
- `gt swarm land --force` - Force landing
- `gt polecat decommission` - Removes polecat
- `gt rig remove` - Removes rig
- `gt stop --all` - Stops all sessions
- `gt mail purge` - Permanently deletes mail

## Implementation Options

### Option 1: promptui library
```go
import "github.com/manifoldco/promptui"

prompt := promptui.Prompt{
    Label:     "Delete polecat Toast",
    IsConfirm: true,
}
result, err := prompt.Run()
```

### Option 2: Simple stdin
```go
func confirm(prompt string) bool {
    fmt.Printf("%s [y/N]: ", prompt)
    var response string
    fmt.Scanln(&response)
    return strings.ToLower(response) == "y"
}
```

## Bypass Flags
All confirmations skippable with --force or --yes:
```go
if !force && !confirm("Really cancel swarm?") {
    return nil
}
```

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Destructive ops prompt by default
- [ ] --force or --yes bypasses
- [ ] Clear prompt text explaining action
- [ ] Non-interactive mode (piped input) auto-fails


🤝 HANDOFF: Investigate beads-sync divergence (221 files)

## Context

gt doctor now detects orphaned code on beads-sync branch. Running it shows:

  beads-sync-orphans: 221 file(s) on beads-sync not in main

This is in the gastown repo (checking from crew/max).

## Background

- Earlier today we recovered orphaned mail migration code lost in merge 96c773f
- Recently simplified architecture: all workers use mayor/rig/.beads (redirects)
- This simplification may have caused beads-sync branch to diverge unexpectedly

## Investigation Steps

1. From crew/max run: git diff main..beads-sync --stat
2. Check if beads-sync should even exist anymore (was for multi-clone sync)
3. If obsolete with redirect architecture, consider deleting it
4. If it has legitimate changes, cherry-pick or merge to main

## Key Question

With all workers using mayor/rig/.beads via redirects, is beads-sync still needed?

## Commands

git log main..beads-sync --oneline | head -20
git diff main..beads-sync -- *.go | head -100


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: all healthy


Human escalation path design

Flesh out the human escalation mechanism for Gas Town errors. Currently: errors mail Mayor, Mayor startup prompts about escalations. Need: structured escalation channel, escalation severity levels, and clear documentation. All edge cases in molecular algebra can write warnings to this channel.


gt swarm is implemented but undocumented

internal/swarm/ package is fully implemented with:
- gt swarm create
- gt swarm status
- gt swarm list
- gt swarm land
- gt swarm cancel
- gt swarm start

But no documentation exists for it:
- Not in README
- Not in architecture.md (uses different terminology)
- Not in any role prompts

Either:
1. Document gt swarm as the canonical mechanism
2. Or deprecate it in favor of gt sling

Related to gt-6n13 (competing molecule mechanisms)


Create activity aggregator

Component that connects to multiple rig beads daemons and merges their activity into a unified view. Polls GetMutations and GetWorkerStatus from each rig, groups by rig/worker. Handles connection failures gracefully.

BLOCKED BY (Beads rig):
- bd-gqxd: Enrich MutationEvent with title and assignee
- bd-l13p: Add GetWorkerStatus RPC endpoint
- bd-0oqz: Add GetMoleculeProgress RPC endpoint


Day 3.6: Polecat closes steps for activity feed

**REVISED**: Step completion is for visibility, not session control.

Polecats close molecule steps as they complete them:
```bash
# After completing implement step:
bd close <step-bead-id>  # Or: mol step done implement
```

This provides:
1. **Activity feed visibility** - Observers see progress in real-time
2. **Audit trail** - Step completion timestamps in beads
3. **Stuck detection** - Witness can see 'long time on same step'

What this does NOT do:
- Trigger session recycle (polecat self-manages)
- Block next step (polecat continues immediately)
- Require Witness intervention

Implementation options:
- Option A: Polecat runs `bd close <step-id>` manually
- Option B: Formula `on_complete` hook auto-closes step bead
- Option C: `mol step done <step>` convenience command

Priority lowered: Nice-to-have for visibility, not launch-blocking.

**Dependency removed**: No longer depends on gt-zb0io (recycle between steps).


Day 2.4: Add timeout fallback for dead agents

For truly dead agents that can't report their own death:
- Daemon tracks last_seen timestamp from heartbeats
- If no heartbeat for N minutes AND state=running, mark state=dead
- This is fallback only, not primary state source

Parent: gt-d0jqp


CLI: cleanup commands for stale state

Cleanup commands for recovering from stale state.

## Commands

### gt cleanup <polecat>
Clean stale state for specific polecat.
```
gt cleanup <rig>/<polecat> [--dry-run]
```

Actions:
- Remove orphaned state.json if clone missing
- Clear stale session references
- Reset stuck state (working → idle after timeout)

### gt cleanup --all
Clean all polecats in workspace.
```
gt cleanup --all [--dry-run]
```

## Implementation
```go
func CleanupPolecat(rigName, polecatName string, dryRun bool) (*CleanupResult, error)

type CleanupResult struct {
    OrphanedStateRemoved bool
    SessionsCleared      int
    StateReset           bool
    Warnings             []string
}
```

## Overlap with Doctor
- Doctor diagnoses and offers --fix
- Cleanup is more aggressive state recovery
- Consider merging into doctor --fix

## New File
internal/cmd/cleanup.go

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Removes orphaned state files
- [ ] Clears stale session refs
- [ ] --dry-run shows what would happen
- [ ] Reports all actions taken


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: routine


list: static mailing list lookup

Static mailing list support via config file.

## Deliverables

1. Load lists from ~/gt/config/lists.json
2. Parse list:name syntax in router
3. Fan-out at send time (same as @group)
4. Error handling for unknown list names

## Example
```bash
gt mail send list:oncall -s "Alert" -m "System down"
# Expands to: mayor/, gastown/witness, beads/witness
# Creates 3 message copies
```

## Dependencies
- Config directory (gt-i6jvc)

## Acceptance
- list:oncall resolves to configured members
- Each member gets own message copy
- Unknown list returns clear error


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19: all healthy


Plugin surface for daemon lifecycle hooks

Allow rigs to customize daemon behavior via hooks/plugins.

## Hook Points

- on_heartbeat: Called during daemon heartbeat cycle
- on_worker_idle: Called when worker goes idle
- on_worker_stuck: Called when stuck detection triggers
- on_lifecycle_request: Called before processing lifecycle

## Configuration

```
<rig>/config/daemon-hooks.json
{
  "on_heartbeat": "./hooks/check-ci-status.sh",
  "on_worker_idle": "./hooks/maybe-assign-work.sh",
  "idle_threshold": "5m",
  "custom_signals": [
    {"name": "ci_status", "command": "./hooks/get-ci.sh"}
  ]
}
```

## Signal Contribution

Hooks can return signals that feed into decision engine:
- SKIP_POKE: Don't poke this agent
- FORCE_POKE: Override backoff, poke now
- CUSTOM_DATA: Extra context for logging

## Use Cases

- Check CI status before interrupting test runs
- Auto-assign work when worker becomes idle
- Custom stuck detection for specific workflows


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13


Error handling improvements: retry logic and recovery hints

Improve error handling across GGT codebase.

## Issues Found

### 1. Silent Failures in Refinery
manager.go ProcessMR():
- git pull errors ignored
- Continues processing even on partial failures

### 2. Missing Beads CLI
Many operations silently continue if `bd` not found:
```go
// Current
tasks, err := m.loadTasksFromBeads(epicID)
if err != nil {
    // Non-fatal - swarm can start without tasks
}

// Better
if err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("beads required: %w", err)
}
```

### 3. No Retry Logic
Network/lock errors should retry:
```go
func withRetry(attempts int, delay time.Duration, fn func() error) error {
    for i := 0; i < attempts; i++ {
        if err := fn(); err == nil {
            return nil
        }
        time.Sleep(delay)
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("failed after %d attempts", attempts)
}
```

### 4. Recovery Hints
Error messages should include fix suggestions:
```go
// Current
return fmt.Errorf("polecat not found")

// Better
return fmt.Errorf("polecat '%s' not found. Use 'gt polecat list' to see available polecats", name)
```

## Domain Error Types
```go
type SessionError struct {
    Op      string
    Polecat string
    Err     error
}

func (e *SessionError) Error() string {
    return fmt.Sprintf("session %s for %s: %v", e.Op, e.Polecat, e.Err)
}
```

## Files to Review
- internal/refinery/manager.go
- internal/swarm/manager.go
- internal/session/manager.go
- All cmd/*.go files

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] No silent error swallowing
- [ ] Retry logic for transient failures
- [ ] Helpful error messages with hints
- [ ] Consistent error types per domain


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: all healthy


Plugin: plan-oracle (work decomposition)

Plugin that helps decompose epics/issues into sub-tasks. Analyzes scope, identifies dependencies, estimates complexity for parallelization, creates beads for sub-tasks with dependency links.


Day 2.1: Daemon reads agent bead state field

Daemon queries agent beads for state instead of inferring from PID/tmux.

Change getAgentState() to:
1. Look up agent bead by ID (gt-mayor, gt-witness, etc.)
2. Read state field (idle|running|stuck|stopped)
3. Trust the value

Parent: gt-d0jqp

Implemented getAgentBeadState() and integrated into daemon. ensureDeaconRunning now checks agent bead state first (ZFC compliant). Dependent tasks gt-psuw7 (remove tmux) and gt-2hzl4 (timeout fallback) remain for full migration.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: routine


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: All healthy


Test Patrol for Bonding

Parent issue for mol bond CLI test


Default polecat names: Mad Max theme instead of AdjectiveNoun

Current default naming for new polecats uses AdjectiveNoun convention.
Since rigs already provide namespacing, we can use more thematic names.

Suggestion: Use Mad Max / Fury Road character and vehicle names as defaults.
Examples: Furiosa, Nux, Slit, Morsov, Toast, Rictus, Warboy, etc.

Could also include:
- War Rig parts: Guzzler, Tanker, Pursuit
- Citadel roles: Imperator, Blackthumb, Organic
- Wasteland terms: Chrome, Witness, Shiny

Implementation:
- Add name generator in internal/polecat/ or similar
- Use when --create flag is used without explicit name
- Cycle through pool to avoid duplicates within a rig


Mail orchestrator daemon

Background mail orchestrator daemon.

## Command
```
gt mail orchestrate [--interval N] [--once] [--verbose]
```

## Purpose
Background process that:
1. Monitors outbox for pending mail
2. Delivers to recipient inboxes
3. Handles offline recipients (retry later)
4. Cleans delivered messages from outbox

## Why Needed?
Current mail is synchronous. If recipient is offline or mailbox locked, send fails.
Orchestrator enables async delivery with retry.

## Implementation
```go
func (o *Orchestrator) Run(interval time.Duration) error {
    ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
    for range ticker.C {
        o.processOutbox()
    }
}

func (o *Orchestrator) processOutbox() {
    // List outbox/*.json
    // For each, attempt delivery
    // On success, delete from outbox
    // On failure, increment retry count
}
```

## Outbox Structure
```
<town>/mayor/mail/outbox/
├── msg-abc123.json
└── msg-def456.json
```

## Lower Priority
Current synchronous delivery works. Orchestrator is optimization.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Background daemon mode
- [ ] Retry failed deliveries
- [ ] --once for single pass
- [ ] Configurable interval


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: all healthy, no callbacks


Witness Patrol

Per-rig worker monitor patrol loop with progressive nudging.


Blocked issues: gt-um6q, gt-lz13, gt-5xph depend on missing beads features

Template/docs updates blocked on: bd-nurq (bd mol current), bd-29fb (bd close --continue). These gastown issues should be marked blocked on the beads issues once cross-rig deps work.


Implement gt watch command scaffold

Basic bubbletea TUI scaffold for 'gt watch' command. Discovers rigs, connects to daemons, renders placeholder view. Foundation for the full activity feed TUI.


Day 3.0: Document mail protocol contracts

Document the formal mail protocol for Gas Town agent coordination.

Mail Types:

**POLECAT_DONE** (polecat → witness)
```
Subject: POLECAT_DONE: <name>
Body: {"issue": "gt-xyz", "status": "complete|failed", "notes": "..."}
```

**MERGE_READY** (witness → refinery)
```
Subject: MERGE_READY: <branch>
Body: {"worker": "nux", "issue": "gt-xyz", "branch": "polecat/nux/gt-xyz"}
```

**MERGED** (refinery → witness)
```
Subject: MERGED: <branch>
Body: {"issue": "gt-xyz", "sha": "abc123", "worker": "nux"}
```

**LIFECYCLE:Shutdown/Cycle/Restart** (agent → deacon/)
```
Subject: LIFECYCLE:Shutdown
Body: {"action": "shutdown"}
```

**HELP** (polecat → witness → mayor)
```
Subject: HELP: <brief>
Body: {"issue": "gt-xyz", "problem": "...", "context": "..."}
```

Create: docs/mail-protocol.md

Duplicate of P1 beads gt-5v8ls and gt-k294l


Phase 4.2: Witness/Refinery patrol molecules

Extend ephemeral patrol pattern to Witness and Refinery.

## Witness Patrol Cycle

mol-witness-patrol-cycle:
1. scan-polecats: Check each polecat status
2. detect-stalls: Find stuck/idle polecats
3. nudge-or-escalate: Take action on stalls
4. log-status: Record cycle results
→ Squash with summary

## Refinery Patrol Cycle

mol-refinery-patrol-cycle:
1. scan-queue: Check merge queue
2. process-ready: Merge ready MRs
3. handle-failures: Deal with conflicts/failures
4. log-status: Record cycle results
→ Squash with summary

## Quiescent Mode

When no work: just log 'no activity' summary.
Witness and Refinery can sleep between cycles until triggered.


Phase 5.2: Ephemeral error handling and recovery

Handle edge cases in ephemeral molecule lifecycle.

## Scenarios

### Agent dies mid-molecule
- Ephemeral state persists
- Witness detects stall (no heartbeat)
- Options:
  a. Nudge agent to resume
  b. Reassign to new agent
  c. Escalate to Mayor

### Squash fails
- Retry with exponential backoff
- If persistent failure, escalate
- Don't lose the ephemeral state until squash succeeds

### Orphaned molecules
- Molecule started, never completed
- gt doctor detects (>24h old with no activity)
- Options:
  a. Manual review
  b. Auto-abandon with 'abandoned' digest
  c. Reassign

### Ephemeral repo corruption
- Re-init from scratch
- Active molecules are lost
- Main beads is source of truth for assigned work

## Implementation

Add error handling to:
- bd mol bond (handle init failures)
- bd squash (retry logic)
- gt doctor (recovery suggestions)


Agent monitoring and status inference

Agent monitoring with status inference from activity, like PGT.

## Agent Status Enum
```go
type AgentStatus string
const (
    StatusAvailable AgentStatus = "available"
    StatusWorking   AgentStatus = "working"
    StatusThinking  AgentStatus = "thinking"
    StatusBlocked   AgentStatus = "blocked"
    StatusWaiting   AgentStatus = "waiting"
    StatusReviewing AgentStatus = "reviewing"
    StatusIdle      AgentStatus = "idle"
    StatusPaused    AgentStatus = "paused"
    StatusError     AgentStatus = "error"
    StatusOffline   AgentStatus = "offline"
)
```

## Status Sources (priority order)
```go
type StatusSource string
const (
    SourceBossOverride StatusSource = "boss"      // Witness/Mayor sets
    SourceSelfReported StatusSource = "self"      // Agent reports own status
    SourceInferred     StatusSource = "inferred"  // Detected from activity
)
```

## Activity Detection

### Pattern Registry
```go
var activityPatterns = []struct {
    Pattern string
    Status  AgentStatus
}{
    {"Thinking...", StatusThinking},
    {"BLOCKED:", StatusBlocked},
    {"Error:", StatusError},
    // etc
}
```

### Idle Detection
No pane output for N seconds → StatusIdle

### Resource Monitoring (optional)
CPU/memory via os.Process

## New Package
internal/monitoring/
├── types.go      # AgentStatus, StatusReport
├── detector.go   # PatternRegistry, detect from output
├── tracker.go    # Per-agent status tracking
└── idle.go       # Idle timeout detection

## Integration
- Session capture output → monitoring detector
- Status shown in gt status, gt session list

## PGT Reference
gastown-py/src/gastown/monitoring/

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Status enum with 10 states
- [ ] Pattern-based detection from pane output
- [ ] Idle detection with configurable timeout
- [ ] Status visible in CLI output


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: All clear


Pillar 3: Polecat Lifecycle

Session-per-step model with automated recycle/nuke.

Key deliverables:
- gt polecat recycle <name> - kill session, preserve sandbox
- gt polecat nuke <name> - kill everything
- Witness calls recycle between molecule steps
- Refinery calls nuke after merge

Subsumes existing work:
- gt-budeb: Witness auto-nuke polecats after merge
- gt-1dbcp: Polecat auto-start nudge fix

Reference: ~/gt/docs/liftoff-plan.md

Parent: gt-oki8p


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P18: stable


Improve looksLikeFormulaName heuristic in mol_bond

The looksLikeFormulaName() function in mol_bond.go uses simple heuristics that could have edge cases:

Current checks:
- starts with 'mol-'
- contains '.formula'
- contains path separators

Potential improvements:
- Check if operand matches issue ID format (prefix-hash pattern)
- Consider formula search paths when determining if something could be a formula
- Add --formula flag to explicitly mark an operand as a formula name

Low priority since edge cases are rare in practice.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: Quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: all clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14


Epic: Fix swarm orchestration - witness/refinery/polecat lifecycle

## Problem Statement

The bd-9115 swarm execution required excessive manual intervention from Mayor. The witness, refinery, and polecat lifecycle components didn't coordinate automatically.

## What Should Have Happened

```
Mayor slings 6 beads to rig
    ↓
Polecats auto-spawn with synced beads, work pinned
    ↓
Polecats work autonomously
    ↓
Witness monitors progress, nudges stuck polecats
    ↓
Polecat completes → pushes branch → signals completion
    ↓
Refinery detects ready branch → rebases → merges → deletes branch
    ↓
Witness detects merge → nukes polecat worktree
    ↓
When all done → Witness notifies Mayor
```

## What Actually Happened

1. **gt sling failed to pin beads** - polecat worktrees had stale JSONL
2. **Manual intervention** - had to checkout latest JSONL, pin, nudge each polecat
3. **Witness was passive** - never nudged or checked on polecats
4. **Refinery waited for requests** - didn't detect completed branches
5. **Manual lifecycle** - Mayor had to close beads, nuke polecats
6. **Manual merge coordination** - had to mail refinery with merge order

## Root Cause: Branch Hysteresis

Polecat branches persist across runs and drift from main/beads-sync:
- `polecat/foo` created weeks ago from old main
- New work slung to `polecat/foo`
- JSONL in branch doesn't have new beads
- Pin fails

## Open Questions

### Q1: Fresh branches per run?
Should each polecat spawn create a NEW branch from latest main/beads-sync?
```
gt sling bd-xxx rig
  → creates polecat/foo-20251227-1630 from origin/main
  → ensures JSONL is current
  → after merge, branch deleted forever
```
Pros: No drift, always current
Cons: Branch proliferation, naming complexity

### Q2: Rebase existing branches?
Or should we rebase persistent polecat branches before work?
```
gt sling bd-xxx rig/foo
  → git fetch origin
  → git rebase origin/main
  → now JSONL is current
```
Pros: Keeps simple naming
Cons: Rebase can fail with conflicts

### Q3: Just cherry-pick JSONL?
Minimal fix - grab latest JSONL before pinning:
```
git checkout origin/beads-sync -- .beads/issues.jsonl
bd import  # refresh DB
bd pin bd-xxx
```
Pros: Simple, surgical
Cons: Doesn't fix code drift, just beads

### Q4: Shared beads DB?
Could polecats share a DB (via symlink or sqlite over network)?
Pros: Always consistent
Cons: Locking complexity, daemon conflicts

### Q5: Who owns polecat lifecycle?
- Witness? (current assumption)
- Refinery? (after merge)
- gt sling? (on spawn)
- New "foreman" role?

## Proposed Solutions

See child issues for implementation details. Need to resolve open questions first.


Build activity stream component

Bubbletea component showing scrollable activity stream for a selected worker. Shows mutation events with timestamps, symbols, and issue titles. Displayed when user expands/selects a worker.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: All healthy


ZFC #10: Polecat reports cleanup status instead of Go checking git

**ZFC Violation:** internal/polecat/manager.go:192-215

Go examines git state to decide if polecat removal is safe:
```go
status, err := polecatGit.CheckUncommittedWork()
if status.StashCount > 0 || status.UnpushedCommits > 0 {
    return &UncommittedWorkError{...}
}
```

**ZFC-compliant solution:**
Polecat reports its own cleanup status via agent bead:
- state: stopped
- cleanup_status: clean | has_uncommitted | has_stash | has_unpushed
- Witness reads cleanup_status before calling nuke
- Polecat is authority on whether it's safe to remove

**Relates to:** Day 4.1/4.2 (recycle/nuke commands)

Reference: ~/gt/docs/zfc-violations-audit.md #10


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19


Day 5.2: Fix integration issues

Address any issues found in Day 5.1:
- Debug failures
- Fix edge cases
- Retry integration test
- Document remaining gaps

This is buffer time for reality.

Parent: gt-oki8p


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: All healthy


Day 2.3: Agent writes state on lifecycle events

Agents update their bead state:
- On startup: bd update gt-<role> --state=running
- On shutdown: bd update gt-<role> --state=stopped
- On stuck: bd update gt-<role> --state=stuck

State is self-reported, not inferred.

Parent: gt-d0jqp


Witness: aggregate completion and notify Mayor

## Problem
No signal when swarm completes. Mayor must manually check.

## ZFC-Compliant Solution
Add step to `mol-witness-patrol.formula.toml`:

```toml
[[step]]
id = "check-swarm-completion"
title = "Report swarm completion to Mayor"
description = """
1. Check state.json for active swarm tracking:
   - swarm_id, start_time, assigned_beads[], completed_beads[]
2. For each completed merge (from cleanup step):
   - Add bead to completed_beads
3. If all assigned_beads are in completed_beads:
   - Calculate duration
   - Send summary to Mayor:
     gt mail send mayor/ -s "SWARM_COMPLETE: <swarm_id>" -m "All N polecats merged in Xm"
   - Clear swarm tracking from state.json
"""
depends_on = ["cleanup-merged-polecats"]
```

## Swarm Initialization
When Mayor slings a batch, they should:
```bash
# Mayor creates swarm tracking
gt mail send <rig>/witness -s "SWARM_START" -m '{"swarm_id": "batch-123", "beads": ["bd-a", "bd-b", "bd-c"]}'
```

Witness parses SWARM_START and initializes tracking in state.json.

## Why This Works
- Mayor initiates batch with SWARM_START mail
- Witness tracks progress in its own state
- Witness signals completion via mail
- All coordination is agent-to-agent via mail

## Files
- formulas/mol-witness-patrol.formula.toml


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: full check, all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17


Add 'wit' alias for witness command

ref works as alias for refinery, but wit doesn't work for witness. Add Aliases: []string{"wit"} to witnessCmd.


Day 3.6: Witness pings Deacon for second-order monitoring

Implement WITNESS_PING protocol for second-order monitoring.

Witnesses collectively monitor Deacon health:
1. Each Witness sends WITNESS_PING to Deacon during patrol
2. Deacon responds (or doesn't if dead)
3. If no response after threshold, Witness escalates to Mayor

This prevents the 'who watches the watchers' problem - if Deacon dies, Witnesses detect it.

Implementation:
- Add WITNESS_PING step to mol-witness-patrol
- Deacon acknowledges pings (updates last_activity)
- Witness checks Deacon agent bead last_activity
- Escalate if stale beyond threshold


Preflight molecule: verify baseline health before work

Before assigning work, verify baseline (main branch) is healthy.

**From VC**: Self-healing state machine (HEALTHY → SELF_HEALING → ESCALATED). ~200 lines.

**Gas Town implementation**: Preflight molecule or refinery feature:
```yaml
preflight:
  gates: [test, lint, build]
  on_failure: create-fix-issue
```

Run at session start. If baseline broken, file a P0 fix issue and work on that first.

**Value**: Self-healing baseline. Agents don't start from broken state.

**VC lesson**: Prevents cascading failures. Agent shouldn't start work on broken code.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: all healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 19: All healthy


Hook system for event extensibility

GGT needs hook system for extensibility like PGT.

## Event Types
```go
type Event string
const (
    EventPreSessionStart  Event = "pre-session-start"
    EventPostSessionStart Event = "post-session-start"
    EventPreShutdown      Event = "pre-shutdown"
    EventPostShutdown     Event = "post-shutdown"
    EventOnPaneOutput     Event = "on-pane-output"
    EventSessionIdle      Event = "session-idle"
    EventMailReceived     Event = "mail-received"
    EventWorkAssigned     Event = "work-assigned"
)
```

## Hook Configuration
File: .claude/hooks.json or .gastown/hooks.json
```json
{
  "hooks": {
    "pre-shutdown": [
      {"type": "command", "cmd": "./scripts/pre-shutdown.sh"}
    ],
    "on-pane-output": [
      {"type": "command", "cmd": "./scripts/activity-monitor.sh"}
    ]
  }
}
```

## Hook Types
1. **Command**: Execute external script
2. **Built-in**: Internal Go functions (pre-shutdown checks)

## Hook Interface
```go
type HookRunner struct {
    config *HookConfig
}

type HookResult struct {
    Success bool
    Message string
    Block   bool  // For pre-* hooks: should operation be blocked?
}

func (r *HookRunner) Fire(event Event, ctx *HookContext) []HookResult
```

## CLI Commands
```
gt hooks list [<event>]    # List registered hooks
gt hooks fire <event>      # Manually fire for testing
gt hooks test [--all]      # Validate hook config
```

## Integration Points
- internal/session/manager.go: Fire pre/post session hooks
- internal/mail/router.go: Fire mail-received hook

## New Package
internal/hooks/
├── types.go    # Event, HookConfig, HookResult
├── runner.go   # HookRunner, Fire()
└── builtin.go  # Built-in hooks (pre-shutdown checks)

## PGT Reference
gastown-py/src/gastown/hooks/

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Hook config loading from JSON
- [ ] Command hooks execute subprocess
- [ ] Pre-shutdown hook integration with session stop
- [ ] CLI for listing and testing hooks


Test Patrol Parent

[RESURRECTED] This issue was deleted but recreated as a tombstone to preserve hierarchical structure.

Original description:
Test parent for Christmas Ornament pattern


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: All clear


bd create --dedup: semantic deduplication before issue creation

Before creating issue, check for semantic duplicates using AI similarity.

**From VC**: internal/deduplication/ - AI-powered batch comparison. ~300 lines.
VC had issue pollution problem: 438 issues with ~350+ spam because no early dedup.

**Gas Town implementation**: CLI flag on bd create:
```bash
bd create --dedup --title="Fix auth bug" --description="..."
```

Checks recent issues (7-day window) with AI similarity. If confidence >0.85, warns or blocks.

**Value**: Prevents pollution from parallel workers discovering same issues.

**VC lesson**: 115 issues filed in single day (Nov 2) because supervisor over-discovered without dedup. Rate limiting + dedup are essential.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12


Daemon should auto-start as part of town bootstrap

The Go daemon should be started automatically when the town boots up (mol-gastown-boot). Currently it requires manual 'gt daemon start'.

The daemon is critical infrastructure - it monitors the Deacon and nudges it when naked. Without it, the Deacon patrol loop doesn't run.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: Quiet


Deacon patrol: Janitorial cleanup patterns

Patterns discovered during town cleanup that could be automated in Deacon's patrol step:

## Stale Issue Detection

1. **Stale in_progress issues** - Issues marked in_progress for >N days without activity
   - Example: 9 issues in_progress, some likely complete
   - Action: Report list, optionally nudge assignee

2. **Duplicate issues** - Same title with different IDs
   - Example: gt-87jz and gt-qp2w both 'mol-witness-patrol'
   - Action: Flag for human review

3. **Orphaned issues** - Referenced in commits but still open
   - bd doctor already detects: 'hq-65jk (commit f9e9034d)'
   - Action: Report, suggest closing

4. **Stale test messages** - Messages with 'test' in title older than N days
   - Example: gt-54kn, gt-1ero, gt-nriy, gt-wrw2, gt-pnu4, gt-g1ud, gt-b5sh
   - Action: Auto-close or flag

## File System Cleanup

5. **Log file accumulation** - daemon.log and rotated .log.gz files
   - Found 8+ log files across rigs
   - Action: Rotate, compress, delete old (>7 days)

6. **Beads directory size** - Town .beads/ is 65MB
   - Action: Monitor growth, alert on threshold

## Database Health

7. **Legacy database fingerprints** - Older DBs without fingerprint
   - bd doctor warns about this
   - Action: Report, suggest migration

## Cross-Reference Integrity

8. **Gastown↔Beads issue sync** - Issues filed in wrong project
   - Example: gt-8tmz.* describes Beads work but no bd-* issues
   - Action: Detect cross-references, verify both sides exist

## Implementation Notes

These could be added to mol-deacon-patrol.formula.yaml as cleanup substeps:
- Daily: Log rotation, stale issue report
- Weekly: Duplicate detection, orphan check
- Monthly: Size monitoring, archive old closed issues


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: All healthy


Add await-work and plugin-run steps to mol-refinery-patrol

## Context

The mol-refinery-patrol needs two additional steps:

### 1. await-work (Decision Point)

Not just 'wait for signal' but a crossroads:
- Check for pending signals (mail, nudge, human)
- Check plugin gates (any plugins need to run?)
- Check maintenance schedule (daily/weekly due?)
- Evaluate context and decide next action

Position: Between burn-or-loop and inbox-check (the loop point)

### 2. plugin-run (Like Deacon)

Refinery needs plugin support for:
- **Monitors**: Flag PRs touching sensitive code
- **Gates**: Block merges under certain conditions
- **Schedulers**: Reorder queue based on priority/urgency
- **Maintenance**: Weekly cleanup, audits, stats
- **Audits**: Log merge statistics, track patterns

Position: After queue-scan, before process-branch

## Implementation

Update RefineryPatrolMolecule() in builtin_molecules.go to include:
- await-work step with decision tree
- plugin-run step with gate types

## Related
- gt-7920 (original mol-refinery-patrol)
- docs/deacon-plugins.md (existing plugin model)


Bug: bd update --parent doesn't persist

The --parent flag on bd update reports success but doesn't persist the parent field.

**Confirmed behavior:**
```bash
bd update gt-9kp3t --parent=gt-d0jqp --no-daemon -v
# Output: ✓ Updated issue: gt-9kp3t

bd show gt-9kp3t --json | jq '.[0].parent'
# Returns: null

grep gt-9kp3t .beads/issues.jsonl | head -1 | jq '.parent'
# Returns: null (field not present)
```

**Root cause hypothesis:**
The update handler processes the --parent flag but either:
1. Doesn't write it to the Issue struct
2. Doesn't include it in the JSONL export
3. The field name doesn't match what export expects

**Files to check:**
- cmd/bd/show.go:638-640 (flag handling)
- cmd/bd/show.go:810-814 (reparenting logic)
- internal/rpc/server_issues_epics.go (RPC handler)
- internal/rpc/protocol.go (UpdateArgs.Parent field)

Related: bd-cj2e (the original feature implementation)

Not a bug - parent stored in dependencies[] per Decision 004. bd show display could add computed .parent field for convenience.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P14: stable


Tmux session scanner for running agents

Scan tmux for running Gas Town agent sessions.

## Deliverables

1. Function: ScanRunningSessions() -> []AgentAddr
   - Parse tmux list-sessions
   - Filter for Gas Town session naming pattern
   - Return addresses of running agents

2. Function: ScanRigSessions(rig) -> []AgentAddr
   - Filter running sessions by rig prefix

3. Alias resolution:
   - #rig/gastown → running sessions in gastown
   - #town → all running Gas Town sessions
   - #witnesses → running witness sessions

## Location
internal/discovery/tmux.go

## Acceptance
- Scanner finds running sessions
- Correctly parses session names to addresses
- Handles no-sessions case gracefully


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: All healthy


Session pre-shutdown checks

Session stop should verify clean state before killing, like PGT.

## Pre-Shutdown Checks

### 1. Git Working Tree Clean
```go
func checkGitClean(clonePath string) error {
    // git status --porcelain
    // Fail if any output
}
```

### 2. All Commits Pushed
```go
func checkCommitsPushed(clonePath string) error {
    // git log origin/HEAD..HEAD
    // Fail if any unpushed commits
}
```

### 3. Assigned Issues Handled
```go
func checkIssuesHandled(polecat *Polecat) error {
    // If polecat.Issue != "", check if closed or reassigned
}
```

### 4. Beads Synced
```go
func checkBeadsSynced(clonePath string) error {
    // bd sync --status in clone directory
}
```

## Behavior on Failure
1. First attempt: Nudge worker to fix
2. Retry up to 3 times with delay
3. After retries: Escalate to Witness/Mayor

## Integration
Modify internal/session/manager.go Stop():
```go
func (m *Manager) Stop(polecat string, force bool) error {
    if !force {
        if err := m.runPreShutdownChecks(polecat); err != nil {
            return fmt.Errorf("pre-shutdown checks failed: %w", err)
        }
    }
    // existing stop logic
}
```

## Flags
- --force: Skip checks
- --grace-period N: Time to wait for fixes

## Dependencies
- Ties into gt-69l (hook system) - can be hook-based
- Ties into gt-f8v (Witness pre-kill verification)

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Stop fails if uncommitted changes (without --force)
- [ ] Stop fails if unpushed commits
- [ ] Clear error messages with fix instructions
- [ ] --force bypasses all checks


Day 3.5: Test polecat → refinery → merged flow

Integration test:
1. Spawn polecat with work
2. Polecat completes (updates state, closes bead)
3. Witness detects completion
4. Witness sends MERGE_READY
5. Refinery processes and merges
6. MERGED signal received

Parent: gt-hwka3


HOP: Skill vectors on work items

Add skill embeddings to work items for capability-based matching. See ~/ai/stevey-gastown/hop/CONTEXT.md. Post-v0.1 work.


Default crew name should be something better than 'main'

When creating a new rig, the default crew worker name is 'main'. This is confusing since:

1. 'main' is also the git branch name
2. It doesn't convey that this is the user's personal workspace
3. Crew names should feel more personal/distinct

Consider alternatives like:
- 'home' - the user's home base
- 'desk' - their personal desk
- 'joe/max/etc' - actual name-based defaults
- Let user pick during rig init


Day 3.4: Refinery processes MERGE_READY mail

Refinery patrol handles merge requests:
1. Check inbox for MERGE_READY messages
2. For each, verify branch exists
3. Run merge checks (tests, lint)
4. If passing, merge to main
5. Send MERGED signal back

Parent: gt-hwka3


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8


Add compaction recovery protocol to role templates

After context compaction (summarization), agents may be disoriented.

Add guidance to recognize and recover:
- 'If you feel you've lost earlier context or are disoriented, run: gt prime'
- 'This re-injects your role, current work, and pending messages'
- 'It's safe to prime multiple times - it just outputs context'

This is the fallback path when self-check is missed and compaction happens.
Compaction isn't catastrophic if priming is robust.


Review: Witness patrol template changes (gt-h1n5)

Polecat rictus implemented significant witness.md.tmpl changes: banners, wisp-based execution, handoff bead attachment, loop-or-exit, patrol summary. Review for correctness and consistency with deacon pattern.


CLI: plugin commands (list, status)

Add gt plugins <rig> to list plugins and gt plugin status <name> to check plugin state. Simple directory scan of <rig>/plugins/.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

P12: stable


Comprehensive help text and examples

Improve help text with examples and cross-references.

## Improvements

### 1. Examples Section
Add to Long description:
```go
var spawnCmd = &cobra.Command{
    Long: `Spawn a polecat with work assignment.

Examples:
  gt spawn gastown/Toast --issue gt-abc
  gt spawn gastown --issue gt-def          # auto-select polecat
  gt spawn gastown/Nux -m "Fix the tests"  # free-form task`,
}
```

### 2. Cross-References
Reference related commands:
```
See also:
  gt polecat list    List available polecats
  gt session attach  Attach to spawned session
```

### 3. Flag Descriptions
More detail on flags:
```go
cmd.Flags().StringVar(&issue, "issue", "",
    "Beads issue ID to assign. The polecat will work on this issue.")
```

### 4. Common Workflows
Add workflow docs to gt --help:
```
Common Workflows:
  Start a swarm:
    gt swarm preflight
    gt swarm create gastown --epic gt-abc --worker Toast --worker Nux --start
    gt refinery start gastown

  Check status:
    gt status
    gt swarm status <id>
```

## Files to Update
All internal/cmd/*.go files

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All commands have Examples
- [ ] Related commands cross-referenced
- [ ] Flags have detailed descriptions
- [ ] Root help shows workflows


Update Deacon template to emphasize staying in ~/gt/deacon directory

The Deacon template should instruct the agent to stay in ~/gt/deacon/ as much as possible, and always return there after any excursion. This prevents issues with identity detection (mail, mol status) which depend on cwd.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: all healthy


Plugin/molecule catalog integration design

Two currently independent systems:
1. Disk-based plugins (~~/gt/plugins/) - Deacon patrol extensions
2. Molecule catalog (protos in beads) - bd pour/wisp/bond

Investigate integration points:
- User-contributed molecules bonded to catalog
- Dynamic molecule attachment during execution (e.g., 'attach security sniffer because we noticed condition X')
- How plugins could contribute protos
- How protos could trigger plugins

Not blocking launch. Future design investigation.


Enhance Mayor CLAUDE.md with GGT milestone tracking

Update ~/ai/CLAUDE.md (Mayor startup context) with:

1. GGT Self-Hosting Milestone section
   - Track progress toward gt replacing town
   - Key blockers: gt-h5n (merge queue), gt-974 (daemon)
   - What "self-hosting" means (GGT working on itself)

2. Recent Architecture Decisions
   - Engineer = role, Refinery = place
   - Merge queue in Beads (not branch discovery)
   - Session restart protocol

3. Transition Plan
   - Current: use town commands (PGT)
   - Target: use gt commands (GGT)
   - Switch criteria: gt-b1g closed

Keep it concise - Mayor context should be quick to scan.


Define meta-formula YAML schema

Define the YAML schema for meta-formulas that generate multiple formulas.

## Proposed Schema

    type: meta-formula
    name: multi-lang-shiny
    generates:
      for-each:
        var: lang
        values: [go, python, typescript]
      formula:
        name: "shiny-{lang}"
        extends: base-shiny
        vars:
          language: "{lang}"

## Key Decisions

- Use "generates" key to distinguish from regular formulas
- for-each at generation level (not runtime)
- Output is N formula files or in-memory formulas

## Deliverables

1. Add MetaFormula type to types.go
2. Add ForEachGenerate struct
3. Document schema in comments


Implement meta-formula generator in parser

Implement the generator that expands meta-formulas into concrete formulas.

## Implementation

1. Detect type: meta-formula in parser
2. Evaluate for-each values
3. For each value, instantiate the formula template
4. Substitute {var} placeholders with current value
5. Return list of generated Formula structs

## API

    func (p *Parser) ExpandMetaFormula(mf *MetaFormula) ([]*Formula, error)

## Edge Cases

- Empty values list: return empty slice
- Duplicate generated names: error
- Nested meta-formulas: error (not supported initially)


Add multi-lang-shiny example and tests

Create example meta-formula and test suite.

## Example

Create .beads/formulas/multi-lang-shiny.meta.yaml:
- Generates shiny-go, shiny-python, shiny-typescript
- Each extends base-shiny with language-specific vars

## Tests

1. Test basic expansion (3 languages -> 3 formulas)
2. Test variable substitution in names and content
3. Test error on duplicate generated names
4. Test empty values list
5. Integration: cook a generated formula


Design org formula hierarchy pattern

Design how organizational formula hierarchies work.

## Pattern

    company-base.formula.yaml (org-wide policies)
      └── team-frontend.formula.yaml (extends company-base)
           └── project-dashboard.formula.yaml (extends team-frontend)

## Key Questions

1. How are org formulas discovered? (search path? explicit import?)
2. How do aspects merge across levels?
3. Can child override parent aspects?
4. How to handle aspect conflicts?

## Proposed Design

- Formulas use extends: just like today
- Aspect lists merge (child appends to parent)
- Child can exclude parent aspects via "exclude-aspects: [name]"
- Search path: local -> rig -> org (configurable)

## Deliverables

1. Document pattern in docs/formula-inheritance.md
2. Define conflict resolution rules
3. Identify implementation tasks


Implement aspect merging across formula chain

Implement merging of aspects when formulas extend each other.

## Current State

extends: already works for steps and vars.
Aspects need similar merge behavior.

## Implementation

1. In Resolve(), collect aspects from entire extends chain
2. Merge lists: parent aspects first, then child
3. Support exclude-aspects field to remove inherited aspects
4. Dedupe by aspect name (child wins on conflict)

## Files

- internal/formula/parser.go: Resolve()
- internal/formula/types.go: add ExcludeAspects field

## Tests

1. Child inherits parent aspects
2. Child adds additional aspects
3. Child excludes parent aspect
4. Three-level chain merges correctly


Add org formula examples and tests

Create example organizational formula hierarchy and tests.

## Examples

Create in .beads/formulas/:
- acme-base.formula.yaml: Company-wide (security-audit aspect)
- acme-frontend.formula.yaml: extends acme-base, adds accessibility-audit
- acme-backend.formula.yaml: extends acme-base, adds sql-injection-scan

## Tests

1. Three-level inheritance resolves correctly
2. Aspect merge order is correct
3. exclude-aspects removes parent aspect
4. Cooking org formula produces expected steps
5. Error on missing parent formula


Formula error handling and recovery

Specify how cooking errors are reported and recovered:
- What happens when extends chain is broken (missing formula)?
- What happens when aspect pointcut matches nothing?
- What happens when expansion produces invalid structure?
- Graceful degradation vs fail-fast semantics
- Error metadata in cooked protos

Deferred: post-launch polish


Formula versioning and migration strategy

Define how formula versions are managed:
- What does the version field mean? Semver? Integer?
- When a formula changes, what happens to existing protos?
- Do protos track their source formula version?
- Migration path: old proto + new formula = ?
- Backwards compatibility guarantees (if any)

Deferred: post-launch polish


Proto debugging and inspection tools

Proto debugging and inspection tools.

With ephemeral protos (gt-4v1eo), this becomes:
- `bd cook <formula> --dry-run` - preview cooked output without persisting
- `bd cook <formula> --json` - output proto as JSON for inspection
- `bd cook <formula> --graph` - visualize step DAG

No persistent proto beads to inspect - formulas are the source of truth.


Formula validation specification

Complete validation rules for formulas:
- Required vs optional fields
- Valid step ID patterns
- Valid pointcut glob syntax
- Variable reference validation
- Compose rule ordering constraints
- Type-specific validation (workflow vs expansion vs aspect)

Deferred: post-launch polish


Support nested expansion formulas


Polecat prompting: gt mq submit on completion

Update Polecat CLAUDE.md prompting to:

1. On task completion, run: gt mq submit --issue <id>
2. This creates a merge-request bead in the queue
3. Engineer will process it

The Polecat self-reports completion to the merge queue.


Schematic: Domain-Level Formula Composition

A Schematic is a coordinated set of formulas defining an entire workflow domain.

## Concept

Like an orchestra score to instrument parts - says how formulas fit together.

```toml
# shiny-engineering.schematic
[schematic]
name = "The Shiny Way"
description = "Full engineering workflow from issue to production"

[formulas]
planning = "@gastown/shiny"
development = "@gastown/polecat-work"
review = "@gastown/review"
release = "@gastown/release"

[flow]
default = "planning >> development >> review >> release"

[constraints]
all_code_reviewed = true
tests_before_deploy = true
```

## Relationship to Other Concepts

- **Schematic** (workflow dimension) = composition of Formulas
- **Campaign** (work dimension) = composition of Epics
- Schematic compiles to Campaign, like Formula compiles to Molecule

## Use Cases

1. Define "The Shiny Way" for a team/org
2. Encode compliance requirements
3. Standardize workflows across projects
4. Enable workflow reuse and sharing

## Open Questions

1. File format - TOML? YAML? Extend formula syntax?
2. Validation - how to verify schematic consistency?
3. Overrides - can project override org schematic?

## Related

- docs/formula_evolution.md
- gt-8tmz - molecule algebra


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: All healthy


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: Quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 12: All healthy


Add crew lifecycle support to Deacon

Currently crew sessions (like gastown/crew/max, beads/crew/dave) are marked as 'human-managed' and excluded from automated lifecycle.

## Current State
- `getManager(RoleCrew)` returns `"human"` (handoff.go:273)
- `gt handoff` for crew just prints a message, no lifecycle request sent
- Crew cannot request automated refresh from Deacon

## Desired State
Crew members should be able to request lifecycle actions from Deacon:
- `gt handoff --cycle` sends request to Deacon, which kills/restarts the crew session
- Useful when: context full, running molecules that need fresh session, automation

## Implementation
1. Change `getManager(RoleCrew)` to return `"deacon/"` (or new crew manager)
2. Teach Deacon to recognize crew session naming pattern
3. Add crew to Deacon's respawn loop handling
4. Test with `gt nudge` for reliable message delivery

## Use Case
Running a molecule (e.g., version-bump) and discovering mid-workflow that a fresh session is needed. Agent should be able to request refresh automatically rather than requiring human intervention.

## Related
- gt nudge: reliable message delivery to Claude sessions
- bd mol bond: molecule instantiation (coming in beads)


Messaging infrastructure: lists, queues, channels

Multi-recipient and broadcast messaging for Gas Town.

## Phases

**Phase 1 - Foundation**: Config directory (gt-i6jvc)
**Phase 1 - Core**: list:, queue:, @group (requires agent-as-bead for @group)
**Phase 2 - Channels**: announce:, #channel, gt channel publish

## Addressing Syntax

| Prefix | Resolution | Storage | Claim? |
|--------|------------|---------|--------|
| `@group` | Dynamic (bead queries) | Fan-out (N copies) | No |
| `list:name` | Static config | Fan-out (N copies) | No |
| `queue:name` | Static config | Shared (1 copy) | Yes |
| `announce:name` | Static config | Shared (1 copy) | No |
| `#channel` | Dynamic (tmux) | None (ephemeral) | No |

## Alignment with Agent-as-Bead

@group resolution now uses agent bead queries:
- @rig/gastown → bd list --type=agent --rig=gastown
- @witnesses → bd list --type=agent --role_type=witness

This replaces the originally planned filesystem scanner (gt-xo05b, now closed).

## Independent Work

Config-based features (list:, queue:, announce:) can proceed without agent identity.
Only @group requires the agent schema from Pillar 1.


CLI: worker status reporting commands

Worker status reporting CLI for polecats to report progress.

## Commands

### gt worker started
```
gt worker started <issue-id> [-m MESSAGE]
```
Reports work started on issue.

### gt worker progress
```
gt worker progress <issue-id> <0-100> [-m MESSAGE]
```
Reports percentage complete.

### gt worker blocked
```
gt worker blocked <issue-id> <reason> [-m MESSAGE]
```
Reports blocked status with reason.

### gt worker completed
```
gt worker completed <issue-id> [-m MESSAGE]
```
Reports task completion.

### gt worker failed
```
gt worker failed <issue-id> <reason> [-m MESSAGE]
```
Reports task failure.

## Implementation
Each command sends mail to refinery with structured content:
```go
type WorkerStatusReport struct {
    IssueID    string
    Status     string  // started|progress|blocked|completed|failed
    Progress   int     // 0-100 for progress
    Reason     string  // for blocked/failed
    Message    string  // optional detail
    ReportedAt time.Time
}
```

## Message Format
Subject: "[STATUS] <issue-id>: <status>"
Body: JSON-encoded WorkerStatusReport

## Default Recipient
```go
// Determine from context
func getDefaultRecipient() string {
    rig := os.Getenv("GT_RIG")
    if rig != "" {
        return rig + "/refinery"
    }
    return "refinery/"
}
```

## New File
internal/cmd/worker.go

## PGT Reference
gastown-py/src/gastown/cli/worker_cmd.py

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All 5 commands implemented
- [ ] Status sent as mail to refinery
- [ ] Structured JSON body for parsing
- [ ] Works from polecat session context


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: all healthy, no incidents


Day 1.4b: Create Deacon agent bead

Create gt-deacon agent bead for the Deacon (daemon beacon).

The Deacon is a separate Claude Code agent from Mayor:
- Receives the ONLY mechanical daemon heartbeats in the system
- Runs town plugins, cleanup, and monitoring
- Has own top-level directory: ~/gt/deacon/
- No rig preassignment (town-level, like Mayor)
- role_type: deacon

Agent bead structure:
```yaml
id: gt-deacon
type: agent
entity_platform: gastown
entity_org: steveyegge
entity_id: deacon
hook_bead: null  # or current patrol wisp
role_bead: gt-deacon-role
state: idle
role_type: deacon
```

Must be created alongside mayor, witness, refinery agent beads.

Created gt-deacon agent bead with role_type=deacon, rig=null, role_bead=gt-deacon-role


Refinery startup: Use Claude agent instead of foreground mode

WIP found in stash: Refactor refinery startup to spawn Claude as the refinery agent rather than using gt refinery start --foreground.

Changes needed:
- Use refineryDir (refinery/rig) as working directory
- Start Claude with --dangerously-skip-permissions
- Wait for shell ready, then Claude ready
- Send gt prime, then refinery startup prompt
- Remove foreground mode complexity

Related: gt-n7z7 (refinery --foreground race condition bug)


Refinery not processing merge-requests - stale MRs accumulating

Discovered 15 stale merge-request issues in beads rig that were never processed by the refinery. These appear to be from polecat branches that completed work but the refinery didn't pick up the merge-requests.

Closed issues:
- bd-r06v, bd-bhg7, bd-754r, bd-fcl1, bd-3zzh
- bd-bijf, bd-5rj1, bd-kptp, bd-rdzk, bd-ibl9
- bd-gfo3, bd-aq3s, bd-x2bd, bd-s1pz, bd-h27p

Need to investigate:
1. Why refinery isn't picking up merge-requests
2. Whether the polecat branches have valid work to merge
3. Add monitoring/alerting for stale MRs


gt mail inbox shows wrong identity when run from deacon directory

When running 'gt mail inbox' from ~/gt/deacon/, it shows 'Inbox: mayor/' instead of 'Inbox: deacon/'. The role detection works (deacon checks in correctly), but mail identity detection is broken.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11


Merge: gt-a95

branch: polecat/Ace
target: main
source_issue: gt-a95
rig: gastown


Critical packages lack test coverage

Several packages have no test files:
- internal/lock/ - Core identity locking (212 lines UNTESTED)
- internal/witness/ - Worker monitoring
- internal/mrqueue/ - MR queue management
- internal/claude/ - Claude integration
- internal/style/ - Terminal styling
- internal/constants/ - Constants

Priority for testing:
1. lock/ - prevents duplicate agents, critical for correctness
2. witness/ - agent lifecycle management
3. mrqueue/ - merge request processing

Overall: 37 test files for 160 Go files (23% by file count)


gt sling reports hook occupied but bd hook shows empty

gt sling thinks a hook is occupied when bd hook shows it empty. Example: bd hook --agent beads/crew/dave shows (empty), but gt sling bd-hobo beads/crew/dave says 'hook already occupied by bd-ul59'. They should use the same source of truth (beads database pinned field).


gt spawn should verify daemon is running for polecat triggering

gt spawn notifies the Deacon (via mail) that a polecat was started, expecting the Deacon to trigger it once Claude is ready. But if the daemon isn't running, the mail sits unread and the polecat never gets triggered.

## Current Behavior
1. gt spawn starts polecat session
2. gt spawn sends POLECAT_STARTED to deacon/
3. (assumes daemon will trigger polecat)

## Problem
If gt daemon isn't running, step 3 never happens and polecat sits at prompt.

## Solution
In gt spawn, after session start:
1. Check if daemon is running (gt daemon status)
2. If not running, either:
   a. Start daemon: gt daemon start
   b. Or warn user: 'Daemon not running, polecat may not auto-start'

## Alternative
The user can manually trigger with gt nudge, but automated flow should work.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 14: quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11: quiet


File locking for concurrent access

Add file locking for concurrent access safety.

## At-Risk Files
- .gastown/swarms.json (or per-swarm state.json)
- .gastown/refinery.json
- polecats/<name>/state.json
- inbox.jsonl files

## Go File Locking
Use syscall.Flock for advisory locking:
```go
type FileLock struct {
    file *os.File
}

func AcquireLock(path string, timeout time.Duration) (*FileLock, error) {
    f, err := os.OpenFile(path+".lock", os.O_CREATE|os.O_RDWR, 0644)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    // Use syscall.Flock with timeout
}

func (l *FileLock) Release() error
```

## Integration Pattern
```go
func (m *Manager) saveState(ref *Refinery) error {
    lock, err := AcquireLock(m.stateFile(), 5*time.Second)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("could not acquire lock: %w", err)
    }
    defer lock.Release()

    // Read-modify-write cycle
}
```

## New Package
internal/filelock/
├── lock.go     # FileLock, AcquireLock
└── lock_test.go

## Apply To
- internal/refinery/manager.go: loadState/saveState
- internal/cmd/swarm.go: SwarmStore
- internal/mail/mailbox.go: Append, rewrite
- internal/polecat/manager.go: state operations

## Timeout Handling
Default 5 second timeout. Return error if lock not acquired.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Lock files created (.lock extension)
- [ ] Timeout on lock contention
- [ ] All state files protected
- [ ] Locks released on error paths


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 8: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: routine


Test Patrol Parent

[RESURRECTED] This issue was deleted but recreated as a tombstone to preserve hierarchical structure.

Original description:
Test parent for Christmas Ornament pattern


Day 1.4: Create agent beads for core roles

Create agent beads with deterministic IDs:
- gt-mayor (Mayor coordinator)
- gt-witness (per-rig polecat monitor)
- gt-refinery (per-rig merge processor)

Each with role_type, rig, and initial state.

Parent: gt-d0jqp

Created agent beads: gt-mayor (Mayor coordinator), gt-witness-gastown (Witness), gt-refinery-gastown (Refinery). Each with role_type, rig, and initial state in description.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 7: all clear


stderr suppression hides critical errors

Multiple files set cmd.Stderr = nil:
- prime.go
- up.go
- orphans.go
- daemon.go

This hides git errors and command failures.

Should capture stderr for debugging and log when errors occur,
rather than suppressing entirely.


Human escalation: notify overseer when self-heal fails

Lightweight escalation extracted from Deacon epic (gt-5af).

**Implementation**: Config in town.json or similar:
```yaml
escalation:
  contact: steve@example.com  # or slack webhook
  triggers:
    - daemon_cant_restart
    - session_missing_5min
```

**Trigger points**:
- Go daemon can't restart a session after N attempts
- Agent detects it's stuck and can't recover
- Witness can't reach polecat

**Mechanism**:
- Simple: `gt mail send --human` already exists
- Enhanced: email/slack via external script

**Weight**: Small config + one code path in daemon
**Value**: High for unattended operation - human gets notified instead of silent failure


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 4: All healthy


Test Patrol Parent


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: routine


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 13: quiet


CLI: all command for batch polecat operations

Batch operations across multiple polecats.

## Commands

### gt all start
```
gt all start [--awake-only] [<specs>...]
```
Start sessions for multiple polecats.
- --awake-only: Only start awake polecats
- specs: Polecat names, rig/polecat patterns

### gt all stop
```
gt all stop [<specs>...] [--force]
```
Stop sessions for multiple polecats.

### gt all status
```
gt all status [<specs>...] [--json]
```
Show status of multiple polecats.

### gt all attach
```
gt all attach [<specs>...]
```
Attach to multiple sessions in tmux panes/windows.

### gt all run
```
gt all run <command> [<specs>...]
```
Run command in multiple polecat sessions.

## Spec Patterns
- `Toast`: Specific polecat (in default/current rig)
- `gastown/Toast`: Specific rig/polecat
- `gastown/*`: All polecats in rig
- `*`: All polecats everywhere

## Implementation
```go
func expandSpecs(specs []string, awakeOnly bool) ([]*polecat.Polecat, error) {
    // Expand patterns to list of polecats
}

func runForAll(polecats []*polecat.Polecat, action func(*polecat.Polecat) error) error {
    // Run action for each, collect errors
}
```

## New File
internal/cmd/all.go

## PGT Reference
gastown-py/src/gastown/cli/all_cmd.py

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Pattern expansion works
- [ ] Parallel execution where safe
- [ ] Aggregate error reporting
- [ ] --awake-only filter works


Campaign: Large-Scale Work Graph Execution

A Campaign is a Molecule-wrapped Epic graph ready for orchestrated execution.

## Concept

Campaign = Molecule + Epics + Dependency Graph + Execution Strategy

Key properties:
1. **Work graph**: Linked epics with dependency edges (possibly from different authors)
2. **Combinators as glue**: >>, |, wrap define bridging/shaping between epics
3. **Molecule shell**: Provides execution state, persistence across sessions
4. **Witness-aware**: Can be parallelized across polecats on independent branches
5. **Single-rig scoped**: One rig executes it (spans sessions/polecats)

## The "Maximum Speed" Model

Witness becomes a scheduler that:
- Watches campaign progress
- Identifies ready nodes (all dependencies satisfied)
- Spawns/assigns polecats to ready nodes
- Respects parallelism constraints
- Handles failures (retry? skip? escalate?)

## Where Campaign Fits in MEOW

Campaign is the convergence point where work-tracking meets workflow-execution:
- An Epic-of-Epics (work dimension)
- A Molecule (workflow dimension)

## Open Questions

1. Campaign creation UX - manual wire vs declare intent?
2. Partial completion - can you commit progress and resume?
3. Distinct entity type or molecule with type="campaign"?
4. Cross-rig campaigns - can graph span multiple rigs?

## Related

- docs/formula_evolution.md - original discussion
- gt-8tmz - molecule algebra (foundation)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: routine


Wisp squash design: cadences, rules, templates

Design how wisps squash to digests: When to squash (cadences), what to include (summary templates), retention rules. Currently under-designed. Should cover patrol wisps (squash per cycle) and work wisps (squash on completion). Consider allowing formulas to define squash templates.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 1: all agents healthy, no callbacks, clone divergence detected (zoey 52 behind)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 6: routine


Haiku-based smart stuck detection

Use Haiku to analyze tmux state when signals are ambiguous.

## When to Invoke

Only as escalation tier:
1. Keepalive is stale (> 2 min)
2. Tmux shows claude is running (not idle shell)
3. Heuristics can't determine state

## Prompt

Capture last 50 lines of tmux pane, ask Haiku:
'Is this Claude agent: WORKING | STUCK | IDLE | WAITING_FOR_HUMAN?'

## Cost

~$0.001 per check. At 1 check/min worst case = $0.06/hour.
In practice, most checks avoided by keepalive signal.

## Configuration

```toml
[daemon]
smart_detection = true
smart_model = "haiku"
smart_threshold = "2m"  # only check if stale > 2min
```


Pillar 1: Agent Identity (agent-as-bead)

Agents become beads with deterministic IDs, hook slots, role beads, and self-reported state.

Key deliverables:
- Agent bead schema (type=agent, hook_bead, role_bead, state fields)
- bd slot set/clear commands
- Agent beads for mayor, witness, refinery
- Role beads from current CLAUDE.md content
- Hook lookup via agent bead

Reference: ~/gt/docs/agent-as-bead.md

Parent: gt-oki8p


Mail CLI: archive, purge, search, mark

GGT mail CLI needs more commands for mail management.

## Commands to Add

### gt mail check
Check for new mail without full inbox display.
```
gt mail check [--quiet] [--inject]
```
- --quiet: Only output if new mail (for scripts)
- --inject: Send notification to running session

### gt mail mark
Change read status.
```
gt mail mark <id> --read
gt mail mark <id> --unread
```

### gt mail delete
Remove message from inbox.
```
gt mail delete <id> [--force]
```
- Confirm unless --force

### gt mail archive
Move old/read messages to archive.
```
gt mail archive [--older-than DAYS] [--all-read] [--dry-run]
```
- Creates inbox.jsonl.archive or separate archive.jsonl

### gt mail purge
Permanently delete archived messages.
```
gt mail purge [--older-than DAYS] [--dry-run] [--force]
```

### gt mail search
Find messages by content.
```
gt mail search <query> [--from SENDER] [--subject] [--body]
```

### gt mail reply
Reply to a message.
```
gt mail reply <id> -m BODY
```
- Auto-sets reply_to and thread_id
- Auto-addresses to original sender

## Files to Modify
- internal/cmd/mail.go: Add commands
- internal/mail/mailbox.go: Add Archive(), Search(), Delete()

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] All commands implemented
- [ ] Archive stores in separate file
- [ ] Search supports regex patterns
- [ ] Delete confirms by default


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 9: routine


gt-deacon

Deacon (daemon beacon) - receives mechanical heartbeats, runs town plugins and monitoring.

role_type: deacon
rig: null
agent_state: idle
hook_bead: null
role_bead: gt-deacon-role


P4: Graceful degradation without tmux

Low-priority: Add graceful degradation for environments without tmux.

Current state: Patrol formulas use tmux capture-pane for observing agent state.

tmux-independent alternatives (degraded mode):
1. Tail Claude Code session logs if available
2. Rely solely on agent bead state (less real-time)
3. Use claude --output-file and tail that
4. IPC mechanisms (named pipes, sockets)

NOT launch-blocking. By summer 2025, Claude Code is expected to add signaling and reflection features that will obviate tmux scraping.

For now:
- Keep tmux as primary observation mechanism
- Document the tmux dependency
- Add --no-tmux flag that falls back to bead-only observation

This is P4 backlog - address after liftoff.


Add gate checking to Deacon patrol loop

Integrate gate checking into Deacon's patrol cycle.

## Patrol Integration
```go
func (d *Deacon) checkGates(ctx context.Context) {
    gates, _ := d.store.ListOpenGates(ctx)

    for _, gate := range gates {
        // Check timeout
        if time.Since(gate.CreatedAt) > gate.Timeout {
            d.notifyWaiters(gate, "timeout")
            d.closeGate(gate, "timed out")
            continue
        }

        // Check condition
        if d.checkCondition(gate.AwaitType, gate.AwaitID) {
            d.notifyWaiters(gate, "cleared")
            d.closeGate(gate, "condition met")
        }
    }
}
```

## Moved from beads
Originally bd-is6m. Deacon is in gastown, not beads.


gt handoff deadlock at handoff.go:125

When running 'gt handoff -m "message"' after successful MR submit, go panics with 'fatal error: all goroutines are asleep - deadlock\!' at handoff.go:125. The shutdown request still appears to be sent successfully but the command crashes. Stack trace shows issue is in runHandoff select statement.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: quiet


Review: Deacon town-level wisp storage (gt-ci84)

Polecat slit implemented town-level wisp storage for deacon patrol. Review the changes to ensure deacon wisps are correctly stored in ~/gt/.beads-wisp/ instead of gastown rig beads.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 11


Update swarm terminology to streams

Gas Town moved from batch swarms to continuous streaming of polecats. Update:
- Docs and designs
- Code comments
- CLI flags (remove --swarm if present, or reframe)
- Variable/function names where appropriate

Streams reflect the reality: polecats flow continuously, not in discrete batches.


gt sling: Make target path parsing more forgiving

Current parsing rejects valid-looking paths like 'gastown/nux' or 'gastown/polecats/nux'.

Should accept:
- gastown/nux (polecat)
- gastown/Nux (polecat, case-insensitive)
- gastown/polecats/nux (explicit)
- gastown/crew/max (crew)
- gastown (auto-spawn)

The help says 'gastown/Toast' works but it doesn't. Parser is too strict.

Fixed path parsing to accept polecat shorthand


Remove redundant gt prime SendKeys from crew commands

The crew commands (gt crew at, gt crew restart) still send 'gt prime' via SendKeys after session creation:
- internal/cmd/crew_at.go:97, 121
- internal/cmd/crew_lifecycle.go:202

This is now redundant because SessionStart hook handles priming automatically.

**Low priority** - these aren't causing bugs (just duplicate work), unlike the spawn race condition that was fixed. Can be cleaned up when convenient.


Workspace cleanup: preflight and postflight

Workspace preflight and postflight commands for clean state management.

## Preflight
```
gt preflight [--rig <rig>] [--dry-run]
```

Run before starting batch work:
1. Clean stale mail in inboxes
2. Check for stuck workers (warn)
3. Check rig health (polecats, refinery)
4. Verify git state is clean
5. Run bd sync to ensure beads current

## Postflight
```
gt postflight [--rig <rig>] [--archive-mail] [--dry-run]
```

Run after batch work completes:
1. Archive old mail with --archive-mail
2. Clean up stale integration branches
3. Sync beads
4. Report on rig state

## Implementation
```go
func Preflight(rigName string, dryRun bool) (*PreflightReport, error)
func Postflight(rigName string, opts PostflightOptions) (*PostflightReport, error)
```

## Report Structures
```go
type PreflightReport struct {
    MailCleaned    int
    RigHealthy     bool
    StuckWorkers   []string
    Warnings       []string
}

type PostflightReport struct {
    MailArchived   int
    BranchesCleaned int
    Warnings       []string
}
```

## Note

These are workspace maintenance commands, not tied to "swarm" lifecycle. Run them anytime to keep the rig clean.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Preflight cleans stale state
- [ ] Postflight archives old mail
- [ ] Both have --dry-run mode
- [ ] Clear reports of actions taken


CLI: names commands for polecat naming pool

Polecat naming pool for auto-generated names.

## Commands

### gt names generate
```
gt names generate [--count N]
```
Generate N names from pool.

### gt names add
```
gt names add <name>...
```
Add custom names to pool.

### gt names list
```
gt names list
```
Show available and used names.

### gt names reset
```
gt names reset [--keep-used]
```
Reset pool to defaults.

## Config File
<rig>/town/naming.json:
```json
{
  "enabled": true,
  "auto_refill": true,
  "refill_threshold": 5,
  "pool": {
    "available": ["Toast", "Nux", "Capable", ...],
    "used": ["Alice", "Bob"]
  }
}
```

## Default Pool
Mad Max themed: Toast, Nux, Capable, Furiosa, Immortan, etc.

## Integration
gt polecat add calls naming pool if no name given:
```go
if name == "" {
    name, err = naming.Generate(rigPath)
}
```

## New Package
internal/naming/
├── pool.go     # Pool management
└── defaults.go # Default name lists

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Auto-generate names on polecat add
- [ ] Track used vs available
- [ ] Auto-refill when low
- [ ] Custom names addable


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 2: all agents healthy, no issues


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 15: Quiet


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 10: All clear


Pinned bead naming convention for all roles

Establish consistent naming convention for pinned beads across all roles.

## Problem

Every role needs a pinned bead for molecule attachment, handoff state, and identity.
We need a consistent naming convention so gt tools can find the pinned bead for any role.

## Proposed Convention

  {role}.pinned                    - Singleton roles (deacon, mayor)
  {rig}-{role}.pinned              - Per-rig roles (witness, refinery)
  {rig}-{name}.pinned              - Named agents (polecats, crew)

Examples:
- deacon.pinned
- mayor.pinned
- gastown-witness.pinned
- gastown-refinery.pinned
- gastown-furiosa.pinned (polecat)
- gastown-max.pinned (crew)

## Storage Location

| Role | Pinned Bead Location |
|------|---------------------|
| Mayor | ~/gt/.beads/ (town level) |
| Deacon | ~/gt/.beads/ (town level) |
| Witness | {rig}/.beads/ (rig level) |
| Refinery | {rig}/.beads/ (rig level) |
| Polecat | {rig}/polecats/{name}/.beads/ |
| Crew | {rig}/crew/{name}/.beads/ |

## Why This Matters

1. Name recycling: Polecats reuse names so their pinned beads persist
2. Molecule attachment: gt mol bond needs to find the pinned bead
3. gt prime: Can show you are working on X from pinned bead
4. Crash recovery: Resume from pinned beads attached molecule

## Tasks

- Document naming convention in architecture.md
- Update gt prime to find pinned bead by convention
- Update gt mol bond to use conventional name
- Create pinned beads on role startup if missing
- Add gt pinned command to show/manage pinned beads

## Related

- gt-rana.1: Attachment field on pinned beads (closed)
- gt-id36.2: Deacon marching orders (pinned bead)


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 17: all clear


Town & Rig Management: install, doctor, federation

Reify the Gas Town installation as a first-class concept.

## Goals
- Installable: gt install [path] creates complete installation
- Diagnosable: gt doctor checks and fixes issues
- Federable: Clone town to VMs with central control

## Architecture Reference

See docs/architecture.md for full design, especially:
- Directory structure (Town Level / Rig Level sections)
- Configuration (town.json, rigs.json schemas)
- Key design decisions (visible config dir, decentralized agents)


Extended addressing: Parse [machine:]rig/polecat

Extended addressing for cross-machine operations.

## Address Format

```
[machine:]rig/polecat
```

Examples:
- `wyvern/Toast` - Local machine, wyvern rig, Toast polecat
- `gcp-vm-1:wyvern/Toast` - Remote machine
- `wyvern/` - Broadcast to rig
- `gcp-vm-1:wyvern/` - Broadcast to remote rig

## Parser

```go
type Address struct {
    Machine  string  // empty = local
    Rig      string
    Polecat  string  // empty = broadcast
}

func ParseAddress(s string) (*Address, error)
func (a *Address) String() string
func (a *Address) IsLocal() bool
func (a *Address) IsBroadcast() bool
```

## Validation

```go
func (a *Address) Validate(registry *MachineRegistry) error
```
- Machine must exist in registry (if specified)
- Rig must exist on machine
- Polecat must exist (if specified)

## Usage

All CLI commands that take addresses use ParseAddress:
```go
// gt mail send gcp-vm-1:wyvern/Toast -s "Hello"
addr, _ := ParseAddress("gcp-vm-1:wyvern/Toast")
conn, _ := registry.Connection(addr.Machine)
// Use conn for operations
```

## Backward Compatibility

Existing `rig/polecat` addresses work unchanged (Machine defaults to local).


Workspace doctor checks: Config, state, mail, Mayor, rigs

Workspace-level doctor checks.

## Checks

### ConfigExists
- Verify config/ directory exists
- Verify config/town.json exists
- Fix: Cannot auto-fix (need gt install)

### ConfigValid
- Parse town.json
- Verify required fields (type, version, name)
- Verify type == "town"
- Fix: Cannot auto-fix

### RigsRegistryValid
- Parse config/rigs.json
- Verify each registered rig directory exists
- Warn on missing rigs
- Fix: Remove missing rigs from registry

### MayorExists
- Verify mayor/ directory exists
- Verify mayor/CLAUDE.md exists
- Fix: Create from template

### MayorMailboxExists
- Verify mayor/mail/ directory exists
- Verify mayor/mail/inbox.jsonl exists (can be empty)
- Fix: Create directory and empty file

### MayorStateValid
- Parse mayor/state.json if exists
- Verify valid JSON
- Fix: Reset to default state

## Implementation

```go
var WorkspaceChecks = []Check{
    &ConfigExistsCheck{},
    &ConfigValidCheck{},
    &RigsRegistryValidCheck{},
    &MayorExistsCheck{},
    &MayorMailboxExistsCheck{},
    &MayorStateValidCheck{},
}
```


Rig doctor checks: Refinery health, clones, gitignore

Rig-level doctor checks.

## Checks

### RigIsGitRepo
- Verify .git/ directory exists
- Verify git status works
- Fix: Cannot auto-fix

### GitExcludeConfigured
- Check .git/info/exclude contains Gas Town dirs
- Required entries: polecats/ witness/ refinery/ mayor/
- Fix: Append missing entries

### WitnessExists
- Verify witness/ directory exists
- Verify witness/rig/ is a git clone
- Verify witness/mail/inbox.jsonl exists
- Fix: Create structure, clone repo

### RefineryExists
- Verify refinery/ directory exists
- Verify refinery/rig/ is a git clone
- Verify refinery/mail/inbox.jsonl exists
- Fix: Create structure, clone repo

### MayorCloneExists
- Verify mayor/ directory exists
- Verify mayor/rig/ is a git clone
- Fix: Create structure, clone repo

### PolecatClonesValid
- For each polecat in polecats/:
  - Verify is a git clone
  - Verify on polecat branch
  - Warn if has uncommitted changes
- Fix: Cannot auto-fix (data loss risk)

### BeadsConfigValid (if applicable)
- If .beads/ exists, verify bd commands work
- Check beads sync status
- Warn if out of sync
- Fix: Run bd sync

## Implementation

```go
var RigChecks = []Check{
    &RigIsGitRepoCheck{},
    &GitExcludeConfiguredCheck{},
    &WitnessExistsCheck{},
    &RefineryExistsCheck{},
    &MayorCloneExistsCheck{},
    &PolecatClonesValidCheck{},
    &BeadsConfigValidCheck{},
}
```


Connection interface: Protocol for local/remote ops

Abstract interface for local vs remote (SSH) operations.

## Concept

Enable Gas Town to manage rigs on remote machines via SSH. The Connection interface abstracts whether operations happen locally or remotely.

## Interface

```go
type Connection interface {
    // Identification
    Name() string
    IsLocal() bool

    // File operations
    ReadFile(path string) ([]byte, error)
    WriteFile(path string, data []byte, perm os.FileMode) error
    MkdirAll(path string, perm os.FileMode) error
    Remove(path string) error
    Stat(path string) (os.FileInfo, error)
    Glob(pattern string) ([]string, error)

    // Command execution
    Exec(cmd string, args ...string) ([]byte, error)
    ExecDir(dir, cmd string, args ...string) ([]byte, error)

    // Tmux (for session management)
    TmuxNewSession(name, dir string) error
    TmuxKillSession(name string) error
    TmuxSendKeys(session, keys string) error
    TmuxCapturePane(session string, lines int) (string, error)
}
```

## Implementations

- LocalConnection (gt-f9x.8): Direct file/exec operations
- SSHConnection (future): Operations via SSH

## Usage

```go
func NewRigManager(conn Connection, ...) *RigManager

// Operations work the same regardless of connection type
rm.DiscoverRigs()  // uses conn.Glob, conn.ReadFile
```

## Design Notes

- Connection obtained from MachineRegistry (gt-f9x.9)
- Default is always local
- SSH connection requires machine config (host, key, user)


LocalConnection: Local file/exec/tmux operations

LocalConnection implementation for local machine operations.

## Implementation

```go
type LocalConnection struct {
    tmux *Tmux
}

func NewLocalConnection() *LocalConnection

func (c *LocalConnection) Name() string { return "local" }
func (c *LocalConnection) IsLocal() bool { return true }
```

## File Operations

Direct passthrough to os package:
```go
func (c *LocalConnection) ReadFile(path string) ([]byte, error) {
    return os.ReadFile(path)
}
// etc.
```

## Command Execution

Uses exec.Command:
```go
func (c *LocalConnection) Exec(cmd string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
    return exec.Command(cmd, args...).Output()
}
```

## Tmux

Delegates to Tmux wrapper:
```go
func (c *LocalConnection) TmuxNewSession(name, dir string) error {
    return c.tmux.NewSession(name, dir)
}
```

## Notes

Straightforward implementation - this is the "baseline" connection that SSHConnection will mirror remotely.


Machine registry: Store and manage machine configs

Registry for managing remote machines in federation.

## Data Model

```go
type Machine struct {
    Name     string `json:"name"`
    Type     string `json:"type"`      // "local", "ssh", "gcp"
    Host     string `json:"host"`      // for ssh: user@host
    KeyPath  string `json:"key_path"`  // SSH key path
    TownPath string `json:"town_path"` // Path to town on remote
}
```

## Interface

```go
type MachineRegistry struct {
    path     string  // config/federation.json
    machines map[string]*Machine
}

func NewMachineRegistry(configPath string) *MachineRegistry
func (r *MachineRegistry) Get(name string) (*Machine, error)
func (r *MachineRegistry) Add(m *Machine) error
func (r *MachineRegistry) Remove(name string) error
func (r *MachineRegistry) List() []*Machine
func (r *MachineRegistry) Connection(name string) (Connection, error)
```

## Storage

federation.json in config/:
```json
{
  "version": 1,
  "machines": {
    "local": {"type": "local"},
    "gcp-vm-1": {
      "type": "ssh",
      "host": "user@10.0.0.1",
      "key_path": "~/.ssh/gcp_key",
      "town_path": "/home/user/ai"
    }
  }
}
```

## Connection Factory

```go
func (r *MachineRegistry) Connection(name string) (Connection, error) {
    m := r.machines[name]
    switch m.Type {
    case "local":
        return NewLocalConnection(), nil
    case "ssh":
        return NewSSHConnection(m.Host, m.KeyPath), nil
    }
}
```


os.Exit() calls in library code prevent proper error handling

internal/cmd/mail.go and other files have os.Exit() calls.

Issues:
- Hard to test
- Prevents graceful shutdown
- Can lose unsaved state
- Doesn't compose well in library code

Should return errors instead of calling os.Exit() directly.
Let main() decide how to exit.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 3: All clear


Add gate timeout tracking and notification

Implement timeout and notification logic for gates.

## Timeout Behavior
1. Gate created with timeout (e.g., 30m)
2. Deacon tracks elapsed time during patrol
3. If timeout reached:
   - Notify all waiters: 'Gate timed out'
   - Close gate with timeout reason
   - Waiter can retry, escalate, or fail gracefully

## Notification
- Use gt mail send to notify waiters
- Include gate ID, await type, and reason in message
- Support multiple waiters notification

## Moved from beads
Originally bd-ykqu. Gate notifications are Deacon's job in gastown.


Daemon patrol should clean stale locks

The gt daemon patrol cycle should detect and clean up stale locks.

## Problem
If daemon crashes or there are orphaned locks, they can block operations indefinitely.

## Proposed Solution
During patrol cycle:
1. Check for lock files older than threshold (e.g., 5 minutes)
2. Verify owning process is dead (check PID if stored)
3. Remove stale locks
4. Log cleanup for audit


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: clear


Day 3.2: Witness reads agent beads for polecat state

Witness patrol reads polecat state from agent beads:
- bd list --type=agent --role_type=polecat
- For each, check state field
- If state=running, check progress
- If state=stuck, handle stuck protocol

No more PID/tmux inference.

Parent: gt-hwka3


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: quiet


MQ conflict prediction: file hotspot tracking

Track which files change frequently to predict conflicts before spawn.

## Goal
Before spawning a polecat on an issue, warn if the target files are "hot" (recently changed by other MRs).

## Approach
1. Track file change frequency per MR (sliding window, e.g., last 24h)
2. At spawn time, analyze issue description / planned changes
3. If touching hot files, either:
   - Warn and proceed
   - Suggest waiting for queue to clear
   - Auto-assign to ownership zone (future)

## Implementation
- Add file_changes log to refinery state (or separate hotspot.json)
- After each merge, record changed files with timestamp
- gt spawn checks hotspots before assignment
- Optional: Witness patrol aggregates hotspot data

## Example
```
$ gt spawn --issue gt-xyz
Warning: This issue likely touches auth/login.go
  - Changed 3 times in last 2 hours
  - 2 MRs pending that also touch this file
Proceed anyway? [y/N]
```

## Parent
gt-lxxh2


Witness cleanup should know worktree parent repo

Witness had to discover that polecat worktrees are created from mayor/rig, not the rig root.

## Problem
When cleaning up polecat/tracer:
- Witness ran git worktree remove from gastown/ - failed
- Had to discover worktree was from mayor/rig
- Then removed correctly

## Improvement
Witness should know the worktree parent repo path (mayor/rig) and clean up from there directly.

## Evidence
Tracer bullet 2025-12-23: Witness took extra steps to figure out cleanup path.


Optimize: Share stepMap across control flow operators

In ApplyControlFlow, both ApplyBranches and ApplyGates call buildStepMap() separately:

```go
func ApplyBranches(steps []*Step, compose *ComposeRules) ([]*Step, error) {
    stepMap := buildStepMap(steps)  // Called here
    ...
}

func ApplyGates(steps []*Step, compose *ComposeRules) ([]*Step, error) {
    stepMap := buildStepMap(steps)  // Called again here
    ...
}
```

This is inefficient for large formulas. Options:

1. Pass stepMap as a parameter to ApplyBranches/ApplyGates
2. Create an internal version that accepts stepMap, keep public API unchanged
3. Build once in ApplyControlFlow and pass down

Low priority since formula sizes are typically small.


Integration test: agent waits for CI via gate

End-to-end test of the gate workflow.

## Test Scenario
1. Agent creates gate: bd gate create --await gh:run:123 --timeout 5m --notify beads/dave
2. Agent writes handoff and exits
3. Deacon patrol checks gate condition
4. (Mock) GitHub run completes
5. Deacon notifies waiter and closes gate
6. New agent session reads mail and resumes

## Test Requirements
- Mock GitHub API responses
- Test timeout path
- Test multiple waiters
- Verify mail notifications sent

## Moved from beads
Originally bd-rl5t. Tests Deacon patrol which is in gastown.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 16: All clear


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 5: All clear


Day 1.1b: Add type=role to bead schema

Add role as a valid bead type in the schema.

Role beads define agent behavior:
- Priming instructions (from current CLAUDE.md content)
- default_molecule field
- capabilities list

This enables Day 1.5 (creating role beads from CLAUDE.md).

Must be done alongside type=agent schema work.

Implemented: type=agent and type=role added to schema (927e8374)


Add keyboard navigation and filtering

Keyboard navigation: j/k or arrows to move, enter to expand/collapse, q to quit. Filtering: by rig name, worker name, event type. Search within activity stream.


bd ready --blockers: prioritize issues that block other work

bd ready should prioritize issues that are blocking other work.

**From VC**: Blocker-first prioritization in GetReadyWork(). ~100 lines.
Algorithm: baseline-failure first, then discovered:blocker, then by priority.

**Gas Town implementation**: CLI flag or default behavior:
```bash
bd ready --blockers-first  # Or make this default
```

Checks dependency graph. Issues with many dependents surface first.

**Value**: Unblocks parallelism faster. Critical path gets cleared.

**VC lesson**: Without blocker priority, work can starve on discovered issues.


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 18: all healthy, handled 1 handoff msg


Digest: mol-deacon-patrol

Patrol 20: final check, all healthy, handoff threshold


Patrol hygiene: Witness/Refinery/Deacon inbox cleanup

## Summary
Patrol roles should clean up their inboxes as part of normal operation, not let messages accumulate.

## Witness Patrol Cleanup
- POLECAT_STARTED: archive after acknowledging
- POLECAT_DONE: archive after cleanup complete
- LIFECYCLE requests: archive after processing
- Keep only: active work, unprocessed requests

## Refinery Patrol Cleanup
- MR Ready: archive after merge/reject decision
- Swarm notices: archive after dispatch
- Keep only: pending MRs in queue

## Deacon Patrol Cleanup
- Rotate daemon.log when >10MB
- Prune state.json of dead sessions
- Archive old daemon logs (gzip, date-suffix)

## Implementation
Each patrol molecule should have a 'cleanup' phase at end of cycle.

## Related
- mol-town-shutdown (nuclear cleanup)
- mol-witness-patrol, mol-refinery-patrol, mol-deacon-patrol


Auto-rebase on conflict: optional automatic rebase

Implement automatic rebase as conflict resolution option.

When on_conflict=auto_rebase and conflicts detected:
1. Attempt: git rebase <target> <source-branch>
2. If clean rebase: update source branch, continue merge
3. If conflicts in rebase: abort, fall back to assign_back
4. Force push rebased branch (worker's branch)

Requires:
- Worker branch must be force-pushable
- Config: on_conflict: auto_rebase

Risks:
- Force push can confuse workers
- Complex conflicts still need manual resolution

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#conflict-resolution-strategies


Retry logic: exponential backoff for transient failures

Implement retry logic for transient failures.

Retryable failures:
- Push failed (network, auth transient)
- Test flaky (config: retry_flaky_tests)
- Fetch failed (network)

Retry strategy:
- Max retries: 3 (configurable)
- Backoff: 1s, 2s, 4s (exponential)
- On final failure: treat as permanent, assign back

Non-retryable failures:
- Merge conflict
- Test consistently fails
- Build error

Track retry count in MR metadata for debugging.

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#failure-recovery


MQ metrics: pending count, processing time, success rate

Implement merge queue metrics collection.

Metrics to track:
- mq_pending_count: MRs waiting
- mq_processing_time: Time from submit to merge (histogram)
- mq_success_rate: Merges vs rejections
- mq_conflict_rate: How often conflicts occur
- mq_test_failure_rate: Test failures

Storage options:
- Simple: JSON file with rolling stats
- Advanced: Prometheus-compatible metrics endpoint

Display via:
- gt mq stats: summary statistics
- Dashboard widget (separate task)

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#observability


MQ dashboard widget: queue status in TUI

Add merge queue status widget to the Bubbletea TUI dashboard.

Display:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              MERGE QUEUE STATUS                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Pending: 3   In Progress: 1   Merged (24h): 12  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ QUEUE:                                          │
│   ► gt-mr-004  P0  Nux/gt-xyz     Processing... │
│     gt-mr-005  P1  Toast/gt-abc   Ready         │
│     gt-mr-006  P1  Capable/gt-def Blocked (005) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Interactive features:
- Navigate queue entries
- View MR details
- Retry/reject from dashboard

Depends on: gt-u1j.2 (Bubbletea TUI dashboard)

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#dashboard


Direct landing integration: gt land uses MR or bypasses

Integrate direct landing with merge queue.

'gt land --direct' should:
1. Check if MR exists for the polecat's work
2. If MR exists: process it directly (skip queue)
3. If no MR: create temporary MR, process, close

Options:
- --direct: bypass queue (existing)
- --via-queue: ensure goes through queue (new)
- --force: skip safety checks (existing)

This ensures direct landing still creates proper records.

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#direct-landing-bypass-queue


Rollback support: gt mq revert for problematic merges

Implement 'gt mq revert <mr-id>' for rolling back merges.

Actions:
1. Find merge commit from closed MR
2. Create revert commit: git revert <merge-commit>
3. Push revert to target branch
4. Create 'reverted' MR tracking the revert
5. Optionally reopen source issue

Options:
- --reason REASON: required explanation
- --reopen-issue: reopen the source work item

Track revert in MR metadata for audit trail.

Reference: docs/merge-queue-design.md#open-questions