msd-core/CONTEXT.md

Context

Domain terms

Dispatch Policy Module

Module owning dispatch error mapping, fallback policy, timeout classification, and CLI exit mapping contract.

Canonical error kind set:

• unknown_command
• native_failure
• native_timeout
• fallback_failure
• validation_error
• internal_error

Command Definition Module

Canonical command metadata Interface powering alias, catalog, and semantics generation.

Query Runtime Context Module

Module owning query-time context resolution for projectDir and ws, including precedence and validation policy used by query adapters.

Native Dispatch Adapter Module

Adapter Module that satisfies native query dispatch at the Dispatch Policy seam, so policy modules consume a focused dispatch Interface instead of closure-wired call sites.

Query CLI Output Module

Module owning projection from dispatch results/errors to CLI { exitCode, stdoutChunks, stderrLines } output contract.

Query Execution Policy Module

Module owning query transport routing policy projection (preferNative, fallback policy, workstream subprocess forcing) at execution seam.

Query Subprocess Adapter Module

Adapter Module owning subprocess execution contract for query commands (JSON/raw invocation, @file: indirection parsing, timeout/exit error projection).

Query Command Resolution Module

Canonical command normalization and resolution Interface (query-command-resolution-strategy) used by internal query/transport paths after dead-wrapper convergence.

Command Topology Module

Module owning command resolution, policy projection (mutation, output_mode), unknown-command diagnosis, and handler Adapter binding at one seam for query dispatch.

Query Pre-Project Config Policy Module

Module policy that defines query-time behavior when .planning/config.json is absent: use built-in defaults for parity-sensitive query Interfaces, and emit parity-aligned empty model ids for pre-project model resolution surfaces.

SDK Package Seam Module

Module owning SDK-to-get-shit-done-cc compatibility policy: legacy asset discovery, install-layout probing, transition-only error messaging, and thin Adapter access for CJS-era assets that native SDK Modules have not replaced yet.

Runtime-Global Skills Policy Module

Module owning runtime-aware global skills directory policy for SDK query surfaces. Resolves runtime-global skills bases/skill paths from runtime + env precedence, renders display paths for warnings/manifests, and reports unsupported runtimes with no skills directory.

MVP Mode

Phase-level planning mode that frames work as a vertical slice (UI → API → DB) of one user-visible capability instead of horizontal layers. Resolved at workflow init via the precedence chain: --mvp CLI flag → ROADMAP.md **Mode:** mvp field → workflow.mvp_mode config → false. All-or-nothing per phase (PRD #2826 Q1). Surfaced as MVP_MODE=true|false to the planner, executor, verifier, and discovery surfaces (progress, stats, graphify). Canonical parser: roadmap.cjs **Mode:** field; canonical resolution chain documented in workflows/plan-phase.md. Concept index: references/mvp-concepts.md.

User Story

Phase-goal format under MVP Mode: As a [role], I want to [capability], so that [outcome]. Required regex shape: /^As a .+, I want to .+, so that .+\.$/. Used as the framing input by gsd-planner (emits as bolded ## Phase Goal header in PLAN.md) and as the verification target by gsd-verifier (the [outcome] clause is the goal-backward verification anchor). Authored interactively by /gsd-mvp-phase, validated by SPIDR Splitting when too large.

Walking Skeleton

Phase 1 deliverable under --mvp on a new project: the thinnest end-to-end stack proving every layer (framework, DB, routing, deployment) works together. Emitted as SKELETON.md capturing the architectural decisions subsequent vertical slices inherit. Gate fires when phase_number == "01" AND prior_summaries == 0 AND MVP_MODE=true. Scope intentionally narrow (PRD #2826 Q2) — does not retrofit existing projects.

Vertical Slice

Single-feature task that moves one user capability from open-to-close (happy path) end-to-end. Contrast with the horizontal layer (all models, then all APIs, then all UI). The MVP Mode planning unit; SPIDR Splitting axes (Spike, Paths, Interfaces, Data, Rules) are the canonical decomposition tools when a slice is too large for one phase.

Behavior-Adding Task

Predicate over a PLAN.md task: tdd="true" frontmatter AND <behavior> block names a user-visible outcome AND <files> includes at least one non-*.md / non-*.json / non-*.test.* source file. Pure doc/config/test-only tasks are exempt. The MVP+TDD Gate (in references/execute-mvp-tdd.md) only halts execution on this predicate; the gsd-executor agent applies all three checks at runtime. Currently a prose-only specification — no shared utility.

MVP+TDD Gate

Per-task runtime gate in /gsd-execute-phase that, when both MVP_MODE and TDD_MODE are true, refuses to advance a Behavior-Adding Task until a failing-test commit (test({phase}-{plan})) exists for it. The tdd_review_checkpoint end-of-phase review escalates from advisory to blocking under the same condition. Documented contract: references/execute-mvp-tdd.md. Reserved escape hatch --force-mvp-gate is documented but not implemented.

SPIDR Splitting

Five-axis story decomposition discipline (Spike, Paths, Interfaces, Data, Rules) used by /gsd-mvp-phase when a User Story is too large for one phase. Full interactive flow per PRD #2826 Q3 (not a lightweight filter). Reference: get-shit-done/references/spidr-splitting.md.

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Recurring PR mistakes (distilled from CodeRabbit reviews, 2026-05-05)

Tests — no source-grep

• Rule: never bind readFileSync result to a var then call .includes() / .match() / .startsWith() on it. CI runs scripts/lint-no-source-grep.cjs and exits 1.
• Escape: add // allow-test-rule: <reason> anywhere in the file to exempt the whole file. Use when reading product markdown or runtime output (not .cjs source).
• Pattern to reach for instead: call the exported function, capture stdout/JSON, assert on typed fields.

Tests — no unescaped RegExp interpolation

• new RegExp(\prefix${someVar}`)— ifsomeVarcan contain.or other metacharacters (e.g. phase id5.1), the pattern is wrong. Always escapeRegex(someVar). The escapeRegexutility is incore.cjs` and already imported in most modules.

Tests — no dead regex branches in .includes()

• src.includes('foo.*bar') is always false — .* is a regex metacharacter, not a wildcard in includes. Either use new RegExp('foo.*bar').test(src) or delete the branch.

Tests — guard top-level readFileSync against ENOENT

• Module-level const src = fs.readFileSync(...) throws before any test() registers, aborting the runner with an unhandled exception instead of a named failure. Wrap in try/catch and rethrow with a helpful message.

Changesets — pr: field must be the PR number, not the issue number

• The pr: key in .changeset/*.md frontmatter must reference the PR introducing the fix (e.g. 3142), not the issue it closes (e.g. 3120). Changelog tooling links to GitHub PRs by this value.

Shell hooks — never interpolate $VAR into single-quoted JS strings

• node -e "require('$HOOK_DIR/lib/foo.js')" breaks silently if $HOOK_DIR contains a single quote (POSIX-legal). Pass paths via env vars: GIT_CMD_LIB="$HOOK_DIR/lib/foo.js" node -e "require(process.env.GIT_CMD_LIB)".

Shell guards — [ -f .git ] does not detect worktrees from main repo

• In the main repo .git is a directory, so [ -f .git ] is false and the entire guard is skipped. Use git rev-parse --git-dir and match *.git/worktrees/* in a case statement instead.

Shell guards — absolute-path containment must use root/ prefix, not glob

• [[ "$PATH" != "$ROOT"* ]] matches sibling prefixes (/repo-extra passes when ROOT=/repo). Use [[ "$P" != "$ROOT" && "$P" != "$ROOT/"* ]]. Also: check [ -z "$ROOT" ] and exit 1 before the containment test. Warn → fail-closed for security-relevant path checks.

Docs — keep internal reference counts consistent

• When a heading says (N shipped) and a footnote says N-1 top-level references, update the footnote. CodeRabbit catches this every time.

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Workflow learnings (distilled from triage + PR cycle, 2026-05-05)

Skill consolidation gap class — missing workflow files

• When a command absorbs a micro-skill as a flag (e.g. capture --backlog), the old command's process steps must be ported to a get-shit-done/workflows/<name>.md file. The routing wrapper in commands/gsd/*.md declares an execution_context @-reference to that workflow — if the file doesn't exist the agent loads nothing and has no steps to follow.
• Detection: tests/bug-3135-capture-backlog-workflow.test.cjs adds a broad regression — every execution_context @-reference in any commands/gsd/*.md must resolve to an existing file on disk. This test will catch all future gaps of this class immediately.
• Prior art: reapply-patches.md was the first gap found and fixed in PR #2824 itself. add-backlog.md was missed in the same PR and caught later in #3135. Run the regression test after every consolidation PR.

CodeRabbit thread resolution — stale threads after allow-test-rule fixes

• After adding // allow-test-rule: to silence lint, CodeRabbit's existing inline threads remain open even though the acknowledged fix is in place. Resolve them via resolveReviewThread GraphQL mutation before merging — open threads block clean merge history and mislead future reviewers.
• Pattern: gh api graphql -f query='mutation { resolveReviewThread(input:{threadId:"PRRT_..."}) { thread { isResolved } } }'

PR discipline — split unrelated changes into separate PRs

• A bug fix and a docs rewrite committed to the same branch produce a noisy diff and a PR that reviewers can't cleanly approve. Cherry-pick doc changes to a dedicated branch (docs/) immediately, then force-push the original branch to remove the commit. One concern per PR.

INVENTORY.md must be updated alongside every workflow file addition/removal

• docs/INVENTORY.md tracks the shipped workflow count (## Workflows (N shipped)) and has one row per file. Adding or removing a workflow without updating INVENTORY produces an internally inconsistent doc.
• Also update docs/INVENTORY-MANIFEST.json — it is the machine-readable manifest and must stay in sync with the filesystem.
• When a flag absorbs a micro-skill, the old skill's Invoked by attribution in INVENTORY must move to the new parent (e.g. add-todo.md incorrectly claimed /gsd-capture --backlog until #3135 corrected it).

README — keep root README as storyline only; all detail lives in docs/

• Root README.md should be ≤300 lines: hero, author note, 6-step loop, install, core command table, why-it-works bullets, config key dials, docs index, minimal troubleshooting.
• Every removed detail section needs a link to the canonical doc that covers it. All doc links must resolve before committing.
• Markdownlint rules to watch: MD001 (heading level skip — don't use ### directly inside admonitions; use bold instead), MD040 (fenced code blocks must declare a language identifier).

Issue triage — always check for existing work before filing as new

• Before writing an agent brief for a confirmed bug, check: (1) local branches (git branch -a | grep <issue>), (2) untracked/modified files on that branch, (3) stash, (4) open PRs with matching head branch. A crash may have left work 90% done — recover and commit rather than re-implementing.

SDK-only verbs — golden-policy exemption required

• Any gsd-sdk query verb implemented only in the SDK native registry (no gsd-tools.cjs mirror) must be added to NO_CJS_SUBPROCESS_REASON in sdk/src/golden/golden-policy.ts. Without this entry the golden-policy test fails, treating the verb as a missing implementation rather than an intentional SDK-only path.

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Recurring findings from ADR-0002 PR review (2026-05-05)

allowed-tools must include every tool the workflow uses

When a command delegates to a workflow via execution_context, the command's allowed-tools must cover every tool the workflow calls — including Write for file creation. The thin wrapper pattern makes this easy to miss: the process steps live in the workflow, but the tool grant lives in the command frontmatter. Missing a tool silently fails at runtime.

User-supplied slug/path args always need sanitization before file path construction

Any workflow step that takes user input (subcommand argument, $ARGUMENTS, or parsed remainder) and constructs a .planning/…/{SLUG}.md path must sanitize first: strip non-[a-z0-9-] chars, reject ..///\, enforce max length. Document the sanitization inline at the step, not just in <security_notes>. Steps that say "(already sanitized)" must trace back to an explicit sanitization guard — not just a preceding describe block.

RESUME/fallback modes bypass sanitization guards written for primary modes

CLOSE and STATUS modes that document "(already sanitized)" do not automatically cover RESUME or default modes. Each mode that constructs a file path from user input needs its own guard — don't assume sibling modes share state.

Shared helpers prevent lint/test disagreement

When a lint script and a test suite both implement the same constant (CANONICAL_TOOLS) or parser (parseFrontmatter, executionContextRefs), they will silently diverge. Extract to a scripts/*-helpers.cjs module required by both. A tool added to the lint's allowlist but not the test's (or vice versa) causes one layer to pass while the other fails.

readFileSync outside test() crashes the runner before any test registers

Module-level or suite-registration-time readFileSync throws as an unhandled exception if the file is absent, aborting the runner with no test output. Move reads inside test() callbacks so failures surface as named test failures.

Global regex with g flag carries lastIndex state between calls

A const RE = /pattern/g shared across functions retains lastIndex after .test() or .exec(). Use a non-global pattern for boolean checks (/pattern/.test(s)) and create a new RegExp(pattern, 'g') per iteration when you need exec() loops. Forgetting lastIndex = 0 resets causes intermittent false negatives.

ADR files need Status + Date headers

Every docs/adr/NNNN-*.md file must open with - **Status:** Accepted (or Proposed/Deprecated) and - **Date:** YYYY-MM-DD immediately after the title. Without them the ADR is undatable and untriageable when the list grows.

Step names in workflow XML must use hyphens, not underscores

All workflow file names use hyphens; <step name="..."> attributes inside those files must match: extract-learnings not extract_learnings. Tests asserting content.includes('<step name=') should tighten to the exact hyphenated name so renames are caught.

INVENTORY-MANIFEST.json has two workflow lists — only families.workflows is canonical

docs/INVENTORY-MANIFEST.json has families.workflows (canonical, read by tooling) and a stale top-level workflows key (introduced by a node update script that wrote to the wrong key). Always update families.workflows. Delete any top-level workflows key if it appears.

"Follow the X workflow" prose fragments are non-standard — use "Execute end-to-end."

After stripping prose @-refs, some command <process> blocks retained bolded "Follow the X workflow" fragments. ADR-0002 standard is Execute end-to-end. for single-workflow commands. Routing commands with flag dispatch use execute the X workflow end-to-end. in routing bullets (no bold, no redundant path).

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Recurring CodeRabbit review patterns (2026-05-05, PRs #3152/#3154/#3155)

Changeset metadata drift (pr: points at issue instead of PR)

• In .changeset/*.md, reviewers repeatedly flag pr: values that accidentally reference issue ids.
• Rule: pr: must equal the GitHub PR number carrying the change.
• Pre-flight check: before push, verify each new changeset file against current branch PR number.

Test diagnostics quality for command-output parsing

• Even when behavior is correct, CR requests clearer failure surfaces before .map() on parsed output.
• Rule: after JSON.parse, assert output object shape (e.g., Array.isArray(output.phases)) with raw-output-prefix diagnostics.
• This prevents opaque TypeError failures and shortens triage loops when CLI output shape changes.

Merge gate discipline: CodeRabbit pass is necessary but not sufficient

• CI/checks can be green while unresolved review threads still block clean merge policy.
• Rule: always gate on all three together: required checks green, CodeRabbit pass, unresolved thread count = 0.
• Keep using GraphQL reviewThreads as authoritative unresolved state, not summary comments/check badge alone.

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SDK Runtime Bridge review synthesis (PR #3158, 2026-05-05)

What we fixed

• Deepened one SDK Runtime Bridge Module seam (sdk/src/query-runtime-bridge.ts) for dispatch routing and observability.
• Replaced orphan event typing with a canonical union (RuntimeBridgeEvent).
• Made bridge observability non-intrusive: onDispatchEvent now runs behind a safe emitter so callback failures cannot alter dispatch outcomes.
• Corrected strict-mode event semantics: strict native-adapter rejection now reports dispatchMode: 'native' (no fake subprocess attempt).
• Preserved execution policy defaults by passing allowFallbackToSubprocess through as undefined when unset (no forced override in GSDTools).
• Fixed transport decision ordering: fallback-disabled guard now throws before emitting subprocess decision events.
• Added explicit invariant in subprocessReason for impossible states (fail loud on contract drift).
• Updated user-facing docs (README.md, docs/CLI-TOOLS.md, docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) and ADR narrative consistency.

What we should not do again

• Do not let observability callbacks sit on the critical path without isolation.
• Do not emit structured events that claim a transport mode that never happened.
• Do not force option defaults at call sites when policy Modules already define defaults.
• Do not keep duplicate/inert exported types; expose one canonical union Interface.
• Do not emit decision events before guard checks that may reject the path.
• Do not leave architectural docs with ambiguous seam ownership between CLI and SDK paths.