fix(issues): derive queue prose from the row it cites, so a stale cell cannot misdirect

.claude/hooks/issues-surface.sh

@@ -44,22 +44,52 @@ rows="$(awk '
 ' "$ledger" 2>/dev/null || true)"
 
 # --- parse the recommended execution queue ----------------------------------
+# The prose shown per queue row is taken from the cited row's own Detail cell,
+# NOT from the queue's Outcome cell. The two used to be independent copies of
+# the same prose, so they drifted — and because this hook prints the queue, the
+# drifted copy was the one every session read and acted on. That is not
+# hypothetical: the queue cell for #231, the top clinical P1, spent days telling
+# sessions to pursue an approach #231's own detail records as tested and
+# rejected. The queue cell cannot simply be re-corrected, because the ledger
+# inbox has no request type that reaches it and check:ledger-write-discipline
+# rejects a direct edit — so the duplication is removed instead of re-synced.
+# The queue keeps what only it carries: order, acuity, capability, timing.
+# Falls back to the queue cell for a composite ID(s) row or an id with no open
+# row, which is the only case where there is no single detail to show.
+# Two passes over the file: the queue table is printed BEFORE "## Open items",
+# so a single forward pass would read every queue row while the detail lookup
+# was still empty and silently fall back to the stale cell every time.
 queue_rows="$(awk '
+ NR==FNR {
+ if ($0 ~ /^## Open items/) { inopen=1; next }
+ if ($0 ~ /^## /) { inopen=0 }
+ if (inopen && $0 ~ /^\| #[0-9]/) {
+ split($0, oc, "|")
+ oid=oc[2]; odetail=oc[6]
+ gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", oid)
+ gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", odetail)
+ detail[oid]=odetail
+ }
+ next
+ }
  /^## Recommended execution queue/ { inqueue=1; next }
  /^## / { if (inqueue) inqueue=0 }
  inqueue && /^\|[[:space:]]*[0-9]+[[:space:]]*\|/ {
-n=split($0, c, "|")
+ split($0, c, "|")
  ord=c[2]; ids=c[3]; acuity=c[4]; capability=c[5]; timing=c[6]; summary=c[8]
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", ord)
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", ids)
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", acuity)
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", capability)
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", timing)
  gsub(/^[ \t]+|[ \t]+$/, "", summary)
+ lookup=ids
+ gsub(/`/, "", lookup)
+ if (lookup !~ /,/ && lookup in detail && length(detail[lookup]) > 0) summary=detail[lookup]
  if (length(summary) > 110) summary=substr(summary, 1, 107) "..."
  printf "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n", ord, ids, acuity, capability, timing, summary
  }
-' "$ledger" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+' "$ledger" "$ledger" 2>/dev/null || true)"
 
 total="$(printf '%s' "$rows" | grep -c . || true)"
 queue_total="$(printf '%s' "$queue_rows" | grep -c . || true)"

docs/branch-review-records/f37513763ecace3c1eeca5c8977abe2b890cbde5f09f3f5566f432fbd5f675e0.record.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+| 2026-08-13 | claude/fix-231-queue-misdirection | 315199c16f7093aeac26281618483871c985c7e8 | derive recommended-queue prose from the cited row's detail; removes the #231 misdirection class | handoff: PR #1902 opened for review | verify:pr-local 8/8 failed:(none); check:ledger-write-discipline passed (no canonical edit); issues-report 6/6; mutation-tested (revert fails the new test); typecheck 0 errors; bash -n hook OK |

scripts/issues-report.mjs

@@ -84,12 +84,32 @@ export function buildIssuesReport(markdown, source) {
  added: cells[6],
  };
  });
+ // Report each queue row's prose from the cited row's own Detail cell rather
+ // than the queue's Outcome cell. They were independent copies of the same
+ // prose and drifted, and since this report is what /issues reads back, the
+ // drifted copy was the one acted on — the #231 queue cell spent days pointing
+ // at an approach that row had already refuted. The queue cell cannot be
+ // re-corrected in place (no inbox request type reaches it, and
+ // check:ledger-write-discipline rejects a direct edit), so the duplication is
+ // removed at the point of use instead. Order, acuity, capability, when and
+ // estimate stay from the queue, which is the only place they exist.
+ const detailById = new Map(openRows.map((row) => [row.id, row.detail]));
+ const derived = queue.map((row) => {
+ // A composite ID(s) cell has no single row to speak for it; keep the queue
+ // text there rather than arbitrarily picking one of the cited rows.
+ if (row.ids.length !== 1) return row;
+ const detail = detailById.get(row.ids[0]);
+ return detail ? { ...row, outcome: detail } : row;
+ });
  return {
  source,
- counts: { open: openRows.length, recommended: queue.length },
- priorityBlockers: queue.filter((row) => row.acuity === "A1"),
- recommended: queue,
+ counts: { open: openRows.length, recommended: derived.length },
+ priorityBlockers: derived.filter((row) => row.acuity === "A1"),
+ recommended: derived,
  open: openRows,
+ // Keep queue-only stop conditions in the safe-win classifier. `derived` is
+ // presentation text, while the queue outcome also carries safety gates that
+ // may not appear in the cited row's Detail cell.
  agentSafeWins: classifyAgentSafeWins(queue),
  };
 }

tests/issues-report.test.ts

@@ -138,6 +138,79 @@ describe("issues report", () => {
  expect(report.open[0].added).toBe("2026-01-01");
  });
 
+ it("reports queue prose from the cited row's detail, so a stale queue cell cannot misdirect", () => {
+ // The regression this pins: the queue Outcome cell and the row Detail cell
+ // were independent copies of the same prose. They drifted, and because the
+ // queue is what /issues and the SessionStart hook read back, the drifted
+ // copy was the one acted on — for #231, the top clinical P1, the queue spent
+ // days pointing at an approach that row had already recorded as refuted.
+ const markdown = [
+ "# Outstanding",
+ "<!-- issues:next-id=5 -->",
+ "## Recommended execution queue",
+ "| Order | ID(s) | Acuity | Capability | When | Estimate | Outcome, gate, verification, and stopping condition |",
+ "| ----: | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| 1 | `#001` | A1 | Operator | Now | 1 hour | STALE: do the refuted thing |",
+ "| 2 | `#002`, `#003` | A2 | Standard | Next | 30 min | composite stays as written |",
+ "## Open items",
+ "| ID | Pri | Type | Summary | Detail / next action | Source | Added |",
+ "| ---- | --- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| #001 | P1 | task | urgent | CURRENT: that approach was refuted; do this instead | src | 2026-01-01 |",
+ "| #002 | P2 | task | left | detail two | src | 2026-01-01 |",
+ "| #003 | P2 | task | right | detail three | src | 2026-01-01 |",
+ "## Resolved / archive",
+ "| ID | Type | Summary | Outcome | Resolved |",
+ "| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| #004 | task | old | done | 2026-01-01 |",
+ ].join("\n");
+ const report = buildIssuesReport(markdown, { ref: "origin/main", revalidated: true });
+
+ type QueueRow = { ids: string[]; outcome: string; acuity: string; when: string };
+ const solo = report.recommended.find((row: QueueRow) => row.ids[0] === "#001");
+ expect(solo, "the #001 queue row must be reported").toBeDefined();
+ expect(solo!.outcome).toBe("CURRENT: that approach was refuted; do this instead");
+ expect(solo!.outcome).not.toContain("STALE");
+ // The A1 blocker list is a separate projection and must carry the same text.
+ expect(report.priorityBlockers[0].outcome).not.toContain("STALE");
+ // Metadata that exists only on the queue row is still the queue's.
+ expect(solo!.acuity).toBe("A1");
+ expect(solo!.when).toBe("Now");
+
+ // A composite row has no single row to speak for it, so it keeps its own text.
+ const composite = report.recommended.find((row: QueueRow) => row.ids.length > 1);
+ expect(composite, "the composite queue row must be reported").toBeDefined();
+ expect(composite!.outcome).toBe("composite stays as written");
+ });
+
+ it("keeps queue-only safety gates when deriving displayed queue prose", () => {
+ const markdown = [
+ "# Outstanding",
+ "<!-- issues:next-id=255 -->",
+ "## Recommended execution queue",
+ "| Order | ID(s) | Acuity | Capability | When | Estimate | Outcome, gate, verification, and stopping condition |",
+ "| ----: | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| 1 | \`#118\` | A3 | High — CI/visual/perf gates | Next | 2–4 hours | Commit CI-uploaded baselines. **Stop:** never commit developer-machine baselines. |",
+ "| 2 | \`#253\` | A2 | High — phone results UI | Next | 15–30 min | Close #1606 as superseded. **Stop:** the decision is a human's; do not close automatically. |",
+ "## Open items",
+ "| ID | Pri | Type | Summary | Detail / next action | Source | Added |",
+ "| ---- | --- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| #118 | P2 | task | visual baselines | Displayed #118 detail | src | 2026-01-01 |",
+ "| #253 | P3 | task | hand-merge | Displayed #253 detail | src | 2026-01-01 |",
+ "## Resolved / archive",
+ "| ID | Type | Summary | Outcome | Resolved |",
+ "| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |",
+ "| #254 | task | old | done | 2026-01-01 |",
+ ].join("\n");
+ const report = buildIssuesReport(markdown, { ref: "origin/main", revalidated: true });
+
+ expect(report.recommended.map((row: { outcome: string }) => row.outcome)).toEqual([
+ "Displayed #118 detail",
+ "Displayed #253 detail",
+ ]);
+ expect(report.agentSafeWins.map((row: { ids: string[] }) => row.ids[0])).not.toContain("#118");
+ expect(report.agentSafeWins.map((row: { ids: string[] }) => row.ids[0])).not.toContain("#253");
+ });
+
  it("labels a readable origin/main ref as cached rather than remotely revalidated", () => {
  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "issues-report-"));
  try {