fix: honor mission branchStrategy in triage; skip validation for inactive missions (#1910)

## Summary

Two related mission-loop fixes, both observed wedging a live autonomous
board.

### 1. Triage ignores `mission.branchStrategy` when `branchAssignment`
is omitted (dashboard)

`resolveBranchAssignmentContext` fabricated `{ mode: "shared" }` for
absent input, so the mission triage routes (`triage`, `triage-all`)
always passed an explicit `assignmentMode` into
`missionStore.triageFeature`/`triageSlice`. That defeats the store's
fallback — `branchOptions?.assignmentMode ??
strategyDefaults.assignmentMode` — so a mission configured with
`branchStrategy: auto-per-task` still produced a **shared** branch
group, named after the base branch.

docs/missions.md documents the intended behavior: missions "can also
persist a `branchStrategy` used whenever triage is triggered without
explicit branch options."

**Fix:** absent input resolves to `{ mode: undefined }`; callers pick
their own default. The mission routes need no change (undefined now
flows through to the strategy fallback). The two planning-subtask call
sites keep their historical `shared` default via a destructure default,
since they have no strategy to fall back to. Explicit
`branchAssignment.mode` is unchanged and still overrides the strategy.

**Observed impact:** with `baseBranch: main`, every triaged task joined
a shared group literally named `main` — tasks tried to push to `main` /
open PRs with head=main base=main, and the whole group wedged in
`merge-retries-exhausted`. The only workaround was remembering to send
`{"branchAssignment": {"mode": "per-task-derived"}}` on every triage
call, which silently ignores the mission's configured strategy the rest
of the time.

### 2. Task-completion validation runs for parked missions (engine)

`MissionExecutionLoop.processTaskOutcome` validated every completed
feature-linked task with no mission-status check — unlike
`recoverActiveMissions`, which already skips missions with `status !==
"active"`. A parked mission (`status: planning`) kept minting validator
runs, and on validator failure, new "Fix:" features — for tasks that
completed after parking. On our board a stale validator workspace
produced a `Fix: → Fix: Fix: → Fix: Fix: Fix:` spiral of bogus features
for already-merged work; the only mitigation was re-parking the mission
after every release and manually archiving the minted features.

**Fix:** gate `processTaskOutcome` on the resolved mission being active,
mirroring the `recoverActiveMissions` guard. The gate sits before the
`needs_fix → implementing` transition so an inactive mission's features
get zero state mutation; the skip logs a `warning` mission event
(`validation_skipped_mission_inactive`) so it's visible in the mission
log. Features that don't resolve to a mission keep the current behavior.

(Out of scope but worth noting: the validator that triggered the spiral
was judging merged work against a stale workspace checkout — that
freshness issue is a separate problem this PR doesn't attempt.)

## Tests

- `branch-selection.test.ts` — updated: absent/`{}` input resolves
`mode: undefined`; explicit modes and the bad-mode error unchanged.
- `mission-execution-loop.test.ts` — two new tests: parked mission skips
validation and logs the warning event; active mission still validates.
- Existing `mission-store.test.ts` coverage ("uses mission
branchStrategy … when branch options are omitted", explicit `shared`
override still creates a group) pins the store side end-to-end — those
pass unchanged, as do the planning/branch-group route suites (182 tests)
and full workspace `pnpm typecheck`.

Changeset included (`patch`, category `fix`).

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->

## Summary by CodeRabbit

* **Bug Fixes**
* Branch selection now keeps an unspecified mode unset and falls back to
the mission’s configured branch strategy where appropriate.
* Task outcome processing now skips validation for missions that are not
active, preventing unnecessary follow-up actions.
* Added coverage for branch selection and mission execution behavior to
verify the updated handling.

<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->

.changeset/mission-triage-branch-strategy-and-parked-validation.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@runfusion/fusion": patch
+---
+
+summary: Honor mission branchStrategy when triage omits branchAssignment; skip validation for inactive missions.
+category: fix
+dev: resolveBranchAssignmentContext returns undefined for absent mode so triage falls back to mission.branchStrategy; processTaskOutcome gates on mission.status === "active" like recoverActiveMissions.

packages/dashboard/src/__tests__/branch-selection.test.ts

@@ -38,7 +38,12 @@ describe("branch-selection", () => {
   });
 
   it("resolves assignment context", () => {
-    expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext(undefined)).toEqual({ mode: "shared" });
+    // Absent input resolves to undefined so callers fall back to their own
+    // default (e.g. mission triage uses mission.branchStrategy).
+    expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext(undefined)).toEqual({ mode: undefined });
+    expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext(null)).toEqual({ mode: undefined });
+    expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext({})).toEqual({ mode: undefined });
+    expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext({ mode: "shared" })).toEqual({ mode: "shared" });
     expect(resolveBranchAssignmentContext({ mode: "per-task-derived" })).toEqual({ mode: "per-task-derived" });
     expect(() => resolveBranchAssignmentContext({ mode: "bad" })).toThrow("branchAssignment.mode must be one of");
   });

packages/dashboard/src/routes/branch-selection.ts

@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ export interface BranchAssignmentContext {
 }
 
 export interface ResolvedBranchAssignmentContext {
-  mode: PlanningBranchMode;
+  /** undefined when the request did not specify a mode; callers pick their own default. */
+  mode: PlanningBranchMode | undefined;
 }
 
 function normalizeOptionalBranch(value: unknown, fieldName: string): string | undefined {
@@ -133,7 +134,10 @@ export function resolveBranchSelection(
 
 export function resolveBranchAssignmentContext(input: unknown): ResolvedBranchAssignmentContext {
   if (input === undefined || input === null) {
-    return { mode: "shared" };
+    // No explicit assignment requested: leave mode undefined so callers can
+    // apply their own default (e.g. mission triage falls back to the
+    // mission's branchStrategy instead of being forced into a shared group).
+    return { mode: undefined };
   }
   if (typeof input !== "object" || Array.isArray(input)) {
     throw badRequest("branchAssignment must be an object");
@@ -143,9 +147,7 @@ export function resolveBranchAssignmentContext(input: unknown): ResolvedBranchAs
   if (mode !== undefined && mode !== "shared" && mode !== "per-task-derived") {
     throw badRequest("branchAssignment.mode must be one of: shared, per-task-derived");
   }
-  return {
+  return { mode };
-    mode: mode === "per-task-derived" ? "per-task-derived" : "shared",
-  };
 }
 
 export function sanitizeSegment(input: string): string {

packages/dashboard/src/routes/register-planning-subtask-routes.ts

@@ -238,7 +238,8 @@ export function registerPlanningSubtaskRoutes(ctx: ApiRoutesContext, deps: Plann
 
       const { branch: resolvedBranch, baseBranch: resolvedBaseBranch } =
         resolveBranchSelection(branchSelection, branch, baseBranch);
-      const { mode: branchMode } = resolveBranchAssignmentContext(branchAssignment);
+      // Planning subtasks have no strategy fallback; keep the historical shared default.
+      const { mode: branchMode = "shared" } = resolveBranchAssignmentContext(branchAssignment);
       // Stamp the real BranchGroup id (BG-…) so listTasksByBranchGroup(group.id)
       // resolves members. The group is only ensured (and the id set) in shared
       // mode below. Non-shared members get NO groupId — stamping a synthetic
@@ -1323,7 +1324,8 @@ export function registerPlanningSubtaskRoutes(ctx: ApiRoutesContext, deps: Plann
 
       const { branch: resolvedBranch, baseBranch: resolvedBaseBranch } =
         resolveBranchSelection(branchSelection, branch, baseBranch);
-      const { mode: branchMode } = resolveBranchAssignmentContext(branchAssignment);
+      // Planning subtasks have no strategy fallback; keep the historical shared default.
+      const { mode: branchMode = "shared" } = resolveBranchAssignmentContext(branchAssignment);
       // Stamp the real BranchGroup id (BG-…) so listTasksByBranchGroup(group.id)
       // resolves members. The group is only ensured (and the id set) in shared
       // mode below. Non-shared members get NO groupId — stamping a synthetic

packages/engine/src/__tests__/mission-execution-loop.test.ts

@@ -823,6 +823,56 @@ describe("MissionExecutionLoop", () => {
       );
     });
 
+    it("skips validation when the feature's mission is not active", async () => {
+      missionStore._setMission(createMockMission({ id: "M-TEST1", status: "planning" }));
+      const feature = createMockFeature({ loopState: "implementing", taskId: "FN-001" });
+      missionStore._setFeature(feature);
+      missionStore.getFeatureByTaskId = vi.fn().mockReturnValue(feature);
+
+      loop = new MissionExecutionLoop({
+        taskStore: taskStore as any,
+        missionStore: missionStore as any,
+        rootDir: "/tmp",
+      });
+      loop.start();
+
+      await loop.processTaskOutcome("FN-001");
+
+      expect(missionStore.startValidatorRun).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(missionStore.logMissionEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.any(String),
+        "warning",
+        expect.stringContaining("Validation skipped"),
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          code: "validation_skipped_mission_inactive",
+          featureId: "F-001",
+          taskId: "FN-001",
+          missionId: "M-TEST1",
+          missionStatus: "planning",
+        }),
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("validates when the feature's mission is active", async () => {
+      missionStore._setMission(createMockMission({ id: "M-TEST1", status: "active" }));
+      const feature = createMockFeature({ loopState: "implementing", taskId: "FN-001" });
+      missionStore._setFeature(feature);
+      missionStore.getFeatureByTaskId = vi.fn().mockReturnValue(feature);
+      taskStore._setTask({ id: "FN-001", title: "Test", description: "Test task", log: [] });
+
+      loop = new MissionExecutionLoop({
+        taskStore: taskStore as any,
+        missionStore: missionStore as any,
+        rootDir: "/tmp",
+      });
+      vi.spyOn(loop as any, "runValidation").mockResolvedValue({ status: "pass", summary: "ok" });
+      loop.start();
+
+      await loop.processTaskOutcome("FN-001");
+
+      expect(missionStore.startValidatorRun).toHaveBeenCalledWith("F-001", "task_completion");
+    });
+
     it("requeues needs_fix features back through validation", async () => {
       const assertions = makeAssertions(1);
       const response = JSON.stringify({

packages/engine/src/mission-execution-loop.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import type {
   AgentStore,
   Settings,
   Milestone,
+  Mission,
 } from "@fusion/core";
 import { normalizeMissionAssertionType } from "@fusion/core";
 import type { VerificationOutcome } from "./mission-verification.js";
@@ -417,6 +418,21 @@ export class MissionExecutionLoop extends EventEmitter {
         return;
       }
 
+      // Only validate features of active missions — mirrors the
+      // recoverActiveMissions guard. A parked/blocked/completed mission must
+      // not keep minting validations (and Fix features) for completed tasks.
+      // Features that don't resolve to a mission keep the current behavior.
+      const mission = this.resolveFeatureMission(feature);
+      if (mission && mission.status !== "active") {
+        loopLog.log(`Feature ${feature.id} belongs to mission ${mission.id} with status "${mission.status}"; skipping validation`);
+        this.logFeatureWarningEvent(feature.id, "validation_skipped_mission_inactive", `Validation skipped: mission ${mission.id} status is "${mission.status}" (expected "active").`, {
+          taskId,
+          missionId: mission.id,
+          missionStatus: mission.status,
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+
       if (feature.loopState === "needs_fix") {
         this.missionStore.transitionLoopState(feature.id, "implementing");
         feature.loopState = "implementing";
@@ -1189,6 +1205,15 @@ ${taskContext ? `\n\nImplementation context:\n${taskContext}` : ""}`;
     return this.missionStore.getMilestone(slice.milestoneId);
   }
 
+  private resolveFeatureMission(feature: MissionFeature): Mission | undefined {
+    const milestone = this.resolveFeatureMilestone(feature);
+    if (!milestone) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    return this.missionStore.getMission(milestone.missionId);
+  }
+
   private completeValidatorRunIfStillRunning(
     runId: string | undefined,
     status: "passed" | "failed" | "blocked" | "error",