Docs only — no code. Companion to #2462.
##
`docs/solutions/architecture-patterns/workflow-node-column-placement-and-graph-entry-contract.md`
Why a workflow node's `column` is a lifecycle contract rather than a
display choice: it decides **who can drive the node**, **whether the
card holds a WIP slot**, and **whether anything can move it onward**.
Contents:
- The graph **entry contract** (`resolveColumnResumeNode`, shipped in
#2462) with the resume table.
- The **plan-in-place chain** — triage → finalize → continuation seed →
drain → resume → capacity suspend → release — annotated with the check
each link performs. Notably `todo`, not `triage`: an intake column has
no releaser, so a card parked there waits for a human.
- Why the pre-release gate must be narrow (column match **and**
enablement).
- The measured failure table from three reverted placement attempts.
- Why removing a column is a lifecycle-vocabulary refactor, not a
workflow edit: **82 guards** that silently stop matching, **43 writes**
to a column that no longer exists, **59 dashboard literals**. A guard
that never fires doesn't fail a test — it disables a recovery path.
## `docs/plans/2026-07-26-001-refactor-workflow-owned-lifecycle-plan.md`
The program that finishes the job, in four movements:
1. Resolve lifecycle columns from the workflow instead of ~207 string
literals.
2. Move every lane — planning, execution, review, merge — behind graph
nodes; lane services keep substrate only (storage, leases, timers,
supervision, capacity, recovery, audit).
3. A **post-commit event seam**: transitions commit transactionally,
*then* emit; subscribers react and may enqueue durable work items, but
no subscriber performs a transition. Enforced by test — dropping every
subscriber must change no lifecycle outcome.
4. Only then merge Todo into a single Planning column.
Phased so each phase lands green independently, with the IR change
deliberately **last** (KTD-7). Changing the workflow first makes the
suite green over dead guards — that's how the earlier attempts hid their
own breakage.
The merge lane **adopts** the existing design in
`docs/plans/2026-06-09-003-refactor-workflow-owned-merge-full-migration-slices-plan.md`
(slices S02–S08, still `draft-stack-handoff`) rather than authoring a
competing one, with a note to re-validate against current `main` since
it was drafted seven weeks ago.
Scale is stated honestly: ~48k lines across the four lane services, with
the executor unit explicitly landing across several commits rather than
one sweep.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
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Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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