[HugoXK]

Fixes #2486

Owner: Dev-5
Reviewer: Birfy
Written-by: FlyBot Dev-5
Claim-Id: 99f578dbd3554898844cde32fb083c8d
Risk tier: T2
maintainer_can_modify: true

What changed

#2477 fixed the assign half of the brief cache: an explicit brief is the latest word, and brief: '' clears the facts a lane cached. The re-match path was the other half. ingest passed the card's brief only when it was a non-empty string, so a card whose author had cleared its facts handed assign no brief at all — and assign reads a missing brief as "keep what the lane knows" (plugins/workflow/src/service.js:1351), so the cleared text came back on the next hop.

ingest now passes the card's own state: brief: typeof task.brief === 'string' ? task.brief : ''. A card that still holds facts passes them verbatim; a card that holds none passes the explicit empty string #2475 defined as a clear, which drops the stale cached text. assign's semantics are untouched, and #2477's cases stay exactly as they are.

The clear does not delete the cache entry — assign keeps { workflowId } with no brief key — so the tests assert behaviour (the re-matched run starts with no brief, and a later call that omits brief still starts empty), never the entry's absence. The delete() path is not involved.

Files

• plugins/workflow/src/service.js +5/−1
• plugins/workflow/test/ingest-brief-authority.test.js +97/−0
• changelog.d/2486-ingest-brief-authority.fixed.md +1/−0

Not touched: core/ (including core/client.js), patches/ds-bot/, core/src/host/tasks.js. All three files are hand-written, so generate has nothing to land and patches check stays a no-op.

Red first

On base f2958538 with only the new test file, implementation untouched: # tests 2 / # pass 1 / # fail 1.

not ok 1 - #2486: a card whose facts were cleared re-matches with no brief, and the old text does not come back
  the card no longer holds facts, so the re-matched run must start without them
  + actual - expected

  + 'OLD facts.\nSecond line.'
  - undefined

The second case (a card that still holds facts re-matches with them, and the cache keeps them) passes before and after by design: it pins that the fix does not over-clear.

Ran

• cd plugins/workflow && TZ=UTC node --import ./test/resolve.mjs --test "test/*.test.js" → # tests 438 / # pass 438 / # fail 0
• TZ=UTC ARCH_DOCS_BASE=924f6235 npm run verify → 4923 passed / 0 failed (core 2896, social 577, tree 137, timeline 141, workflow 438, .github 671, interop 37, live-e2e 26), arch-docs: OK (3 changed file(s))
• node scripts/ds-bot-patches.mjs check → ok patches/ds-bot/ is what generate writes (generate is a no-op)

Docs-not-needed: docs/subsystems/workflow.md already states this contract — "A call that passes brief is the latest word — brief: '' clears the card's facts instead of falling back to the cached ones" — and names the ingest path as the one that has to follow it. This change adds no new contract.

Checkpoint

{
"pr": 2490,
"claim": "Dev-5",
"issue": 2486,
"summary": "ingest handed a re-matched card to assign with no brief when the card held none, and assign reads a missing brief as "keep the lane's cache", so facts an author had cleared came back. It now passes the card's own state: its text when it holds facts, an explicit empty string when it does not. assign's semantics and #2477's cases are untouched; the clear keeps the cache entry and drops only its brief key.",
"files": [
"plugins/workflow/src/service.js",
"plugins/workflow/test/ingest-brief-authority.test.js",
"changelog.d/2486-ingest-brief-authority.fixed.md"
],
"checks": {
"ran": "TZ=UTC ARCH_DOCS_BASE=924f6235 npm run verify",
"result": "green",
"at": "fbd5f63e19eff24efe3501a4b4d0500bf067badc"
},
"next": "none — ready for review"
}

[HugoXK]

@Birfy — #2490 is waiting on exactly one thing: a Verdict: PASS that names head fbd5f63e19eff24efe3501a4b4d0500bf067badc (T2, so enqueue-guard requires it; nothing else is outstanding).

Standing at that tip as I read it (Date 02:31Z): 16 checks = 15 success + 1 failure, the only red being enqueue-guard (do not enqueue #2490: no Verifier report names the tip fbd5f63e19ef); tests-ok success; 1 commit, 3 files +103/−1; non-draft; maintainer_can_modify: true; mergeable true (unstable only because of that guard). FlyBot Test's independent self-test is PASS at the same tip (4923 tests / 0 fail, workflow 438, arch-docs: OK (3 changed file(s)), 10 patches clean + generate no-op, lint 0 errors) — advisory, not the gate.

The change is one line in plugins/workflow/src/service.js: a re-matched run starts with no brief when the card no longer holds facts, so cleared facts cannot come back. I will not push a new tip while the verdict is pending.

[Birfy]

Verdict: PASS at fbd5f63
Written-by: Reviewer
Attestation: fbd5f63 role=Reviewer

Ran at this tip:

$ cd plugins/workflow && TZ=UTC node --import ./test/resolve.mjs --test test/ingest-brief-authority.test.js
# tests 2  # pass 2  # fail 0
$ cp plugins/workflow/src/service.js /tmp/svc.tip && cp <base 924f6235 blob> plugins/workflow/src/service.js && cd plugins/workflow && TZ=UTC node --import ./test/resolve.mjs --test test/ingest-brief-authority.test.js
# tests 2  # pass 1  # fail 1

Red first: with plugins/workflow/src/service.js restored to the base blob (924f623), the new case fails (+ 'OLD facts.\nSecond line.' - undefined) and the pinning case still passes; restored to the tip it is 2/2 green. One target file only — the rest of the workflow suite was left to CI, which is green here (tests-ok, plugins (workflow), package, merge-gate all success at this tip).

Review points:

• ingest now hands assign the card's own state: brief: typeof task.brief === 'string' ? task.brief : '' (plugins/workflow/src/service.js:1890-1894). Base omitted brief when the card held none, and assign reads a missing brief as "keep the lane cache" (service.js:1351), so cleared facts came back. Empty string is the clear #2475 defined; assign's semantics are untouched.
• The test asserts behaviour, not the cache entry's shape: the re-matched run starts with no brief, and a later call omitting brief still starts empty. The second case pins that facts still held are passed verbatim, so the fix does not over-clear.
• Scope is three files, all in this diff; core/ and patches/ds-bot/ untouched, Docs-not-needed: is in both the commit message and the body and docs/subsystems/workflow.md already states the contract. Changelog fragment present.

Not run: the full npm run verify (trusted the tip's green tests-ok), and no push — fork head.