**Nine operator-visible defects in a class the census cannot see, plus
the audit method that found them.**
The census scans for lifecycle-column **comparisons**. This PR is about
guards that have no literal to find: a helper takes an optional
*resolved* lane set, its own test passes it, the census entry is gone —
and the callers pass nothing. **A resolved seam nobody wired is
indistinguishable from no seam at all.**
## What was broken
| defect | operator sees |
| --- | --- |
| `getTaskMergeBlocker` unwired in `mergeTaskImpl` | `Cannot merge FN-1:
task is in 'checking', must be in 'in-review'` — **a reviewed card
cannot merge** |
| …and in the completion move | `Cannot move FN-1 to done: …` — **and
cannot complete** |
| `isParkedTaskColumn` unwired ×2 (`agent-heartbeat`) | a durable agent
keeps claiming a parked card; **Health Check renders it RUNNING** |
| `resolveLinkSyncColumnRoles` first-per-role | link hygiene skips a
**second hold lane** entirely |
| `executor` active-task predicate first-per-role | a card in a **second
wip lane reads as INACTIVE**; its prompt file becomes reclaimable |
| `isPlanningContinuationTaskDispatchable` partially threaded | a board
declaring `done` as *non-terminal* stalls its cards — **stalled by a
lane name** |
| `default-workflow-hooks:72`, `executor:2404` | resolved gate admits
the move, unresolved blocker refuses it |
## The recurring shape, which is sharper than "a caller forgot an
argument"
Four sites resolve the lane and then re-ask with the literal, **a few
lines apart in the same function**:
- `task-artifacts-ops` resolves `completeColumn`, then asks the blocker
with the literal.
- `default-workflow-hooks:72` gates on `lifecycleColumns?.review`, then
the literal.
- `executor:2404` compares `resolveResumeLanes(…).review`, then the
literal.
- `resolvePlanningContinuationCandidate` applies the caller's terminal
set, then delegates without it.
**Grep for the helper, not the literal.** The literal is one function
away, correctly annotated as a fallback — which is exactly why the
census is blind to all of it.
## The arity trap, named and measured (six occurrences, one caught by
review here)
`resolveLifecycleColumns` answers *"which column is **the** hold
lane?"*. A `.includes()`/`.has()` test asks *"is this **any** hold
lane?"*. Nothing distinguishes them — same types, no literal.
**A default-vs-renamed differential cannot catch it**, because the
default board declares one column per role and therefore cannot express
the failing shape. It needs a *structurally* different fixture. That is
a sharper rule than "test both vocabularies", and it would have caught
all six.
Scanned: 12 candidate sites. **4 fixed · 3 blocked (2 on the inert sync
IR reader; `triage:833` also query-shaped) · 1 needs a hook-contract
change · 3 not defects (a returned tuple; an ordering-sensitive
precedence list) · 1 false positive of my own scan.**
A sweep over all twelve would have broken the ordering-sensitive pair,
delivered nothing at the sync-blocked ones, and "fixed" a site that was
already correct.
## Two traps in fixing this class — I hit both here
1. **The legacy id is a FALLBACK, not a member.** Pre-seeding
`"in-review"` admits a board that *declares* `in-review` as its WIP
column — a card mid-implementation merges prematurely. A real resolved
answer must **replace** the default. (Caught by review; it is the same
unscoped-legacy-acceptance the glasses plugin's review caught earlier,
which I had read and reintroduced.)
2. **Two guards, one assertion.** `toContain("must be in")` passed with
`mergeTaskImpl` reverted, because the *completion* guard caught the card
instead. The assertion now names the site (`Cannot merge` vs `Cannot
move … to done`) so the two fail independently.
## Corrections I made to my own work, recorded rather than quietly fixed
- My first PG test was **vacuous three ways**:
`saveWorkflowDefinition?.()`/`setTaskWorkflowSelection?.()` do not exist
(the `?.` swallowed both, so the task kept the builtin workflow),
`updateTask({column})` does not move a card, and a two-node IR made
every setup move illegal. Premise is now **asserted**, not assumed.
- My doc claimed the audit was complete. It enumerated **helpers**, not
every **caller** — `getTaskMergeBlocker` alone has 13 call sites.
Corrected in place, with the still-unwired ones listed by file and line
and a note to distrust any "audit complete" claim including mine.
- A severity correction to another worker's E2E:
`selectActionablePlanningContinuations` has **no production caller**, so
its stated consequence is latent, not live.
## Verification
- `pnpm test:gate` — 161 + 487 + 13 + 71
- `tsc` on core and engine; `pnpm lint`; `check:changesets`; census
`--strict` — all clean, each run explicitly
- Every fix revert-measured; each has a non-vacuous companion. The
two-hold-lane and repurposed-`in-review` cases exist because the default
board cannot express those shapes.
## Deliberately not done, with reasons in
`resolved-seams-nobody-wired.md`
`isTaskReadyForMerge` (dead in production — wiring it would be the
anti-pattern itself); `getTaskHardMergeBlocker` (3 of 4 callers are
query-gated sweeps); `getInReviewStallReason` (needs a **batch
prefetch**, not a per-task resolve — its callers decorate every task on
every list read; the in-review stall badge is wrong on renamed boards
until then); `default-workflow-hooks` planning/live-work sets (needs
`DefaultWorkflowMoveContext` to carry the IR — a shared contract
change).