fix(FN-8817): stop no-op lifecycle bounce

Honor verified intentional no-ops and preserve durable merger parks during workflow graph unwind.

Fusion-Task-Id: FN-8817

.changeset/calm-noop-finalization.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@runfusion/fusion": patch
+---
+
+summary: Stop verified no-op tasks from repeatedly bouncing between lifecycle states.
+category: fix
+dev: Trust verified intentional skips and preserve durable merger blockers during graph unwind.

packages/core/src/__tests__/no-commits-finalize-guard.test.ts

@@ -40,6 +40,34 @@ describe("evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize", () => {
     })).toEqual({ blocked: false, doneCount: 5, incompleteCount: 1 });
   });
 
+  it("allows intentional no-op tasks when all remaining steps are done", () => {
+    expect(evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize({
+      noCommitsExpected: true,
+      steps: namedSteps([
+        ["Preflight", "done"],
+        ["Restore the invariant if needed", "skipped"],
+        ["Apply the invariant everywhere", "skipped"],
+        ["Add regressions if needed", "skipped"],
+        ["Testing & Verification", "done"],
+        ["Documentation & Delivery", "done"],
+      ]),
+    })).toEqual({ blocked: false, doneCount: 3, incompleteCount: 3 });
+  });
+
+  it("still blocks an equal done/skipped split without completed verification", () => {
+    expect(evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize({
+      noCommitsExpected: true,
+      steps: namedSteps([
+        ["Preflight", "done"],
+        ["Apply", "done"],
+        ["Document", "done"],
+        ["Deploy", "skipped"],
+        ["Announce", "skipped"],
+        ["Follow up", "skipped"],
+      ]),
+    })).toMatchObject({ blocked: true, doneCount: 3, incompleteCount: 3 });
+  });
+
   it("blocks pending or in-progress work on no-commits tasks", () => {
     expect(evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize({
       noCommitsExpected: true,

packages/core/src/merge/no-commits-finalize-guard.ts

@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ export function evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize(
   const noCommitsExpected = task.noCommitsExpected === true;
 
   const skippedSteps = steps.filter((step) => step.status === "skipped");
+  const hasCompletedVerification = steps.some((step) =>
+    step.status === "done" && VERIFICATION_STEP_NAME.test(step.name ?? ""),
+  );
 
   // FN-8141: skipped step + empty diff. Applies to ALL tasks regardless of `noCommitsExpected`.
   if (skippedSteps.length > 0) {
@@ -65,13 +68,20 @@ export function evaluateNoCommitsNoOpFinalize(
   }
 
   // Legacy FN-6461 rule: no-commits ops tasks whose incomplete work (incl. pending/in-progress)
-  // ties or outweighs completed work must not finalize on step evidence alone.
+  // ties or outweighs completed work must not finalize on step evidence alone. A verified
+  // no-op is the exception: skipped implementation steps are intentional when every other
+  // step is done and a verification/review step positively confirmed there was no work to land.
+  const verifiedIntentionalNoOp =
+    skippedSteps.length > 0 &&
+    skippedSteps.length === incompleteCount &&
+    hasCompletedVerification;
   if (
     noCommitsExpected &&
     steps.length > 0 &&
     incompleteCount > 0 &&
-    // Equal counts still block: requeueing is recoverable, but silently dropping ops work is not.
+    // Equal counts still block unless positive verification proves the skips were intentional.
-    incompleteCount >= doneCount
+    incompleteCount >= doneCount &&
+    !verifiedIntentionalNoOp
   ) {
     return {
       blocked: true,

packages/engine/src/__tests__/merger-ai.test.ts

@@ -741,6 +741,40 @@ describe("runAiMerge", () => {
     expect(store.moveTask).toHaveBeenCalledWith("FN-1", "done", expect.objectContaining({ moveSource: "engine", preserveProgress: true }));
   });
 
+  it("finalizes a verified intentional no-op instead of bouncing it back to todo", async () => {
+    const { dir } = initRepoWithBranch({ branch: "fusion/fn-1" });
+    git(dir, "merge -q fusion/fn-1");
+    const { store, task } = makeStore(dir, {
+      noCommitsExpected: true,
+      steps: [
+        { name: "Preflight", status: "done" },
+        { name: "Restore the invariant if needed", status: "skipped" },
+        { name: "Apply the invariant everywhere", status: "skipped" },
+        { name: "Add regressions if needed", status: "skipped" },
+        { name: "Testing & Verification", status: "done" },
+        { name: "Documentation & Delivery", status: "done" },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const result = await runAiMerge(store, dir, "FN-1", { manual: true }, {
+      mergeAgent: vi.fn(async () => { /* nothing to do */ }),
+      reviewAgent: vi.fn(async () => "REVIEW_VERDICT: approve"),
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ noOp: true, merged: false, ok: true });
+    expect(task.column).toBe("done");
+    expect(store.moveTask).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "FN-1",
+      "done",
+      expect.objectContaining({ moveSource: "engine", preserveProgress: true }),
+    );
+    expect(store.moveTask).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "FN-1",
+      "todo",
+      expect.anything(),
+    );
+  });
+
   /*
    * FN-8141 regression: the AI empty-merge lane laundered a task whose branch was empty ONLY because
    * the executor reverted its own work. A commit-expected empty branch must not finalize `done` without

packages/engine/src/__tests__/reliability-interactions/merge-node-paused-abort-retryable.test.ts

@@ -194,6 +194,34 @@ describe("merge-node paused-abort retry classification (FN-6735)", () => {
     expect(store.updateTask).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    "merge",
+    "requestMerge",
+    "merge-gate",
+    "merge-attempt",
+    "manual-merge-hold",
+    "merge-manual-hold",
+    "retry-backoff",
+    "merge-retry",
+  ] as const)("honors a durable merger blocker at node %s after the task rebounded", async (nodeId) => {
+    const blocker = "no-commits task has incomplete work with no net branch changes";
+    const { store, task, executor, mergeRequester } = makeHarness({
+      column: "todo",
+      status: null,
+      error: blocker,
+      paused: false,
+    });
+
+    await invokeGraphFailure(executor, task, nodeId, blocker);
+
+    expect(mergeRequester).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(store.updateTask).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(store.moveTask).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const messages = logText(store);
+    expect(messages).toContain("honoring park, not retrying or resuming merge");
+    expect(messages).not.toContain("routed to bounded auto-merge retry");
+  });
+
   it.each([
     "merge",
     "requestMerge",

packages/engine/src/executor.ts

@@ -11435,6 +11435,28 @@ export class TaskExecutor {
         return;
       }
       /*
+      FNXC:WorkflowMerge 2026-08-06-14:41:
+      A merge requester can deliberately reject finalization, persist the blocker in `error`, and
+      rebound the task to its workflow hold column. The graph then unwinds as a merge-node failure.
+      Retrying or resuming that stale graph overrides the merger's durable decision and creates an
+      unbounded hold -> merge -> hold loop. Honor the fresh parked row before any retry router; an
+      operator retry can clear the error and start a new graph run explicitly.
+      */
+      const parkedMergeNode = result.visitedNodeIds[result.visitedNodeIds.length - 1];
+      if (
+        live.error != null &&
+        live.column === failureLanes.hold &&
+        this.isMergeGraphFailure(parkedMergeNode)
+      ) {
+        this.clearPausedAborted(task.id);
+        this.activeWorktrees.delete(task.id);
+        const mergerParkHonored = `Workflow graph run ended after merger parked task with blocker (${live.error}) — honoring park, not retrying or resuming merge`;
+        executorLog.log(`${task.id}: ${mergerParkHonored}`);
+        await this.store.logEntry(task.id, mergerParkHonored, undefined, this.getRunContextFor(task.id));
+        await this.persistTokenUsage(task.id);
+        return;
+      }
+      /*
       FNXC:WorkflowIrPin 2026-07-19-21:10 (KTD-3 drift park, PR #2342):
       A graph run that exited on the drift guard carries WORKFLOW_DRIFT_PARK_CONTEXT_KEY
       and visited no nodes. Before this branch existed the result fell through to the