Fix lifecycle updates after acceptance and activation

test/gh-aw-lifecycle-upsert.test.ts

@@ -376,6 +376,55 @@ describe('#1916: deterministic lifecycle safe output', () => {
     '| Plan | ✅ Done |',
     '| Activate | ✅ Done |',
   ].join('\n');
+  const liveScopeAcceptanceBody = [
+    '## 🧭 Squad Planning Lifecycle',
+    '',
+    '**State:** Scope Accepted',
+    '',
+    '| Field | Value |',
+    '|---|---|',
+    '| Research | ✅ Done |',
+    '| Triage | ✅ Done |',
+    '| Program Plan | ✅ Done (revised) |',
+    '| Implementation Plan | ✅ Done |',
+    '| Validation | ✅ Done (PASS) |',
+    '| Scope | ✅ Done |',
+    '| Implementation Acceptance | ⬜ Pending |',
+    '',
+    '**Last command:** `/squad plan accept scope`',
+    '',
+    '**Next action:** `/squad plan accept implementation`',
+  ].join('\n');
+  const liveImplementationAcceptanceBody = [
+    '## Planning Lifecycle',
+    '',
+    '| Phase | Status | Artifact | Updated |',
+    '|-------|--------|----------|---------|',
+    '| Intent | ✅ Done | (issue body) | 2026-09-15 |',
+    '| Scope Accepted | ✅ Done | comment | 2026-09-15 |',
+    '| Impl Accepted | ✅ Done | (this run) | 2026-09-15 |',
+    '| Activated | ⬚ Pending | — | — |',
+    '',
+    '**Current state:** Implementation Accepted',
+    '**Last command:** `/squad plan accept implementation` by @bradygaster at 2026-09-15 15:16 UTC',
+    '**Next action:** `/squad plan activate`',
+    '**Guidance:** Create sub-issues and begin execution.',
+  ].join('\n');
+  const liveActivatedBody = [
+    '## 🧭 Squad Planning Lifecycle',
+    '',
+    '**State:** Activated',
+    '',
+    '| Field | Value |',
+    '|---|---|',
+    '| Scope Acceptance | ✅ Done |',
+    '| Implementation Acceptance | ✅ Done (full, 5 tasks) |',
+    '| Activation | ✅ Done — 4 epics, 5 tasks created as sub-issues of #4 |',
+    '',
+    '**Last command:** `/squad plan activate`',
+    '',
+    '**Next action:** No further planning command required — this plan is fully activated. Begin implementation execution starting with the Epic 1.1 spike task.',
+  ].join('\n');
 
   it('creates the first tracker with the fixed structured envelope', async () => {
     const result = await runLifecycleUpsert([
@@ -497,7 +546,10 @@ describe('#1916: deterministic lifecycle safe output', () => {
     ['progress-table activation with command attribution', terminalTableBody],
     ['plain progress-list activation', terminalProgressBody],
     ['activate-stage table row', terminalActivateTableBody],
-  ])('accepts live terminal presentation: %s', async (_name, liveBody) => {
+    ['scope acceptance from the E2E planning run', liveScopeAcceptanceBody],
+    ['implementation acceptance with separate guidance', liveImplementationAcceptanceBody],
+    ['terminal granular activation from run 34987615314', liveActivatedBody],
+  ])('accepts live lifecycle presentation: %s', async (_name, liveBody) => {
     const result = await runLifecycleUpsert([
       { type: 'upsert_lifecycle_state', body: liveBody },
     ]);
@@ -561,6 +613,25 @@ describe('#1916: deterministic lifecycle safe output', () => {
     expect(result.created).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it('rejects the live implementation-acceptance mutation from run 34986842391', async () => {
+    const result = await runLifecycleUpsert([
+      {
+        type: 'upsert_lifecycle_state',
+        body: liveImplementationAcceptanceBody
+          .replace(
+            '**Next action:** `/squad plan activate`',
+            '**Next action:** `/squad plan activate` — create sub-issues and begin execution.',
+          )
+          .replace('\n**Guidance:** Create sub-issues and begin execution.', ''),
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    expect(result.failures).toEqual([
+      'Lifecycle body must include an H2 lifecycle heading plus state, last-command, and a nonterminal next-action value consisting of a backticked /squad command.',
+    ]);
+    expect(result.created).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it.each([
     ['state', body.replace('**Current state:** Planned\n', '')],
     ['last command', body.replace('**Last command:** `/squad plan`\n', '')],
@@ -607,6 +678,19 @@ describe('#1928: deterministic terminal lifecycle repair', () => {
     created_at: '2026-08-28T01:00:00Z',
     user: { login: 'github-actions[bot]' },
   };
+  const activated = {
+    id: 11,
+    body: [
+      '## Plan activated',
+      '',
+      'Structured data:',
+      '```json',
+      '{"squad_artifact":"activated","schema_version":"1","origin_issue":5,"phases":[1,2]}',
+      '```',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    created_at: '2026-08-28T01:30:00Z',
+    user: { login: 'github-actions[bot]' },
+  };
   const lifecycleEnvelope =
     '{"squad_artifact":"lifecycle-state","schema_version":"1","origin_issue":5,"phases":[]}';
   const stale = {
@@ -640,6 +724,19 @@ describe('#1928: deterministic terminal lifecycle repair', () => {
     expect(result.updated[0].body).toContain(lifecycleEnvelope);
   });
 
+  it('repairs granular /squad plan activate lifecycle state from a trusted phased activation', async () => {
+    const result = await runLifecycleRepair(
+      [activated, stale],
+      '/squad plan activate',
+    );
+
+    expect(result.failures).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.created).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.updated).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(result.updated[0].body).toContain('- **State:** Activated');
+    expect(result.updated[0].body).toContain('- **Last command:** `/squad plan activate`');
+  });
+
   it('does nothing when the newest tracker is already terminal', async () => {
     const terminal = {
       ...stale,
@@ -657,6 +754,37 @@ describe('#1928: deterministic terminal lifecycle repair', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it('preserves a live terminal tracker with detailed activation and command attribution', async () => {
+    const terminal = {
+      ...stale,
+      body: [
+        '## 🧭 Squad Lifecycle State — Issue #5',
+        '',
+        '**State:** Activated',
+        '',
+        '| Stage | Status |',
+        '| --- | --- |',
+        '| Activation | ✅ Done — created 3 task issues and milestone v1 |',
+        '',
+        '**Last command:** `/squad plan activate` by @maintainer',
+        '**Next action:** Track progress on the created task issues; no further planning action is required.',
+        '',
+        'Structured data:',
+        '```json',
+        lifecycleEnvelope,
+        '```',
+      ].join('\n'),
+    };
+    const result = await runLifecycleRepair([activated, terminal], '/squad plan activate');
+
+    expect(result.failures).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.created).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.updated).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.info).toContain(
+      'The newest lifecycle tracker already records terminal activation.',
+    );
+  });
+
   it('does not trust a user-authored acceptance artifact', async () => {
     const result = await runLifecycleRepair([
       { ...accepted, user: { login: 'untrusted-user' } },
@@ -667,7 +795,7 @@ describe('#1928: deterministic terminal lifecycle repair', () => {
     expect(result.created).toEqual([]);
     expect(result.updated).toEqual([]);
     expect(result.info).toContain(
-      'No trusted whole-plan acceptance artifact; lifecycle repair is not applicable.',
+      'No trusted whole-plan acceptance or activation artifact; lifecycle repair is not applicable.',
     );
   });
 

test/gh-aw-plan-lifecycle.test.ts

@@ -1031,6 +1031,7 @@ describe('#1916: fast-path commands maintain the planning lifecycle state', () =
     expect(lifecycle).toContain('Activation = `✅ Done`');
     expect(lifecycle).toContain('state =\n  Activated');
     expect(lifecycle).toContain('This is terminal');
+    expect(lifecycle).toContain('explicit terminal prose');
   });
 
   it('repairs stale lifecycle state on an idempotent activate rerun', () => {

test/gh-aw-quality.test.ts

@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ describe('#1916: lifecycle comment updates use a deterministic safe-output job',
       "!contains(needs.agent.outputs.output_types, 'upsert_lifecycle_state')",
     );
     expect(shared).toContain("github.event.comment.body == '/squad activate'");
-    expect(shared).toContain('envelope?.squad_artifact === "plan-accepted"');
+    expect(shared).toContain('["plan-accepted", "activated"].includes(e?.squad_artifact)');
     expect(shared).toContain('name: Repair terminal lifecycle after idempotent activation');
   });
 
@@ -1661,6 +1661,10 @@ describe('gh-aw: compiled workflow shell input security contract', () => {
     );
     expect(compiled).toContain('github.rest.repos.getCollaboratorPermissionLevel');
     expect(compiled).toContain('["admin", "maintain", "write"].includes(permission)');
+    expect(compiled).toContain("github.event.comment.body == '/squad plan activate'");
+    expect(compiled).toContain(
+      '["/squad activate", "/squad plan accept", "/squad plan activate"].includes(command)',
+    );
   }, 20000);
 
   it('compiles Cast failure into a queryable post-agent job that fails the run', () => {

workflows/shared/squad-planning-ontology.md

@@ -395,10 +395,15 @@ This comment is created on first transition and updated on every subsequent tran
 
 **Current state:** Triaged
 **Last command:** `/squad triage` by @user at <timestamp>
-**Next action:** `/squad plan program` — create a program plan from triage dispositions
+**Next action:** `/squad plan program`
+**Guidance:** Create a program plan from triage dispositions.
 **Also available:** `/squad triage revise <feedback>` — adjust triage before planning
 ```
 
+For nonterminal states, `Next action` is only the backticked `/squad` command;
+put prose elsewhere. `Activated` is terminal and may use terminal prose there.
+Its canonical granular command is `/squad plan activate`.
+
 Status icons: `✅ Done` · `⏳ In Progress` · `⬚ Pending` · `❌ Failed` · `⏭ Skipped`
 
 ---

workflows/shared/squad.md

@@ -247,11 +247,11 @@ safe-outputs:
               const hasNextCommand = /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Next (?:action|command|recommended):\*\*\s+`\/squad\b[^`]*`[ \t]*$/im.test(body);
               const hasActivationDone =
                 /^(?:[-*]\s+)?(?:\*\*)?Activation:(?:\*\*)?\s+✅\s+Done\b/im.test(body) ||
-                /^\|\s*Activat(?:e|ion|ed)\s*\|\s*✅\s+Done\s*\|/im.test(body);
+                /^\|\s*Activat(?:e|ion|ed)\s*\|\s*✅\s+Done\b[^|]*\|/im.test(body);
               const hasTerminalState =
                 /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*(?:Current state|State):\*\*\s+Activated\s*$/im.test(body) &&
                 hasActivationDone &&
-                /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Last command:\*\*\s+`\/squad (?:activate|plan accept)(?: phase \d+)?`(?:\s+.*)?$/im.test(body) &&
+                /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Last command:\*\*\s+`\/squad (?:activate|plan accept|plan activate)(?: phase \d+)?`(?:\s+.*)?$/im.test(body) &&
                 /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Next (?:action|command|recommended):\*\*\s+\S.+$/im.test(body);
               const hasNextAction = hasNextCommand || hasTerminalState;
               if (!hasLifecycleHeading || !hasState || !hasLastCommand || !hasNextAction) {
@@ -315,7 +315,8 @@ jobs:
         !contains(needs.agent.outputs.output_types, 'upsert_lifecycle_state') &&
         github.event_name == 'issue_comment' &&
         (github.event.comment.body == '/squad activate' ||
-         github.event.comment.body == '/squad plan accept')
+         github.event.comment.body == '/squad plan accept' ||
+         github.event.comment.body == '/squad plan activate')
       }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-slim
     permissions:
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ jobs:
             if (
               !Number.isInteger(issueNumber) ||
               issueNumber <= 0 ||
-              !["/squad activate", "/squad plan accept"].includes(command)
+              !["/squad activate", "/squad plan accept", "/squad plan activate"].includes(command)
             ) {
               core.setFailed("A valid whole-plan activation command and issue number are required.");
               return;
@@ -387,16 +388,16 @@ jobs:
               comment,
               envelope: envelopeFor(comment),
             }));
-            const accepted = artifacts.some(
-              ({ envelope }) =>
-                envelope?.squad_artifact === "plan-accepted" &&
-                envelope?.schema_version === "1" &&
-                envelope?.origin_issue === issueNumber &&
-                Array.isArray(envelope?.phases) &&
-                envelope.phases.length === 0,
+            const ok = artifacts.some(
+              ({ envelope: e }) =>
+                ["plan-accepted", "activated"].includes(e?.squad_artifact) &&
+                e?.schema_version === "1" &&
+                e?.origin_issue === issueNumber &&
+                Array.isArray(e?.phases) &&
+                (e.squad_artifact === "activated" || e.phases.length === 0),
             );
-            if (!accepted) {
-              core.info("No trusted whole-plan acceptance artifact; lifecycle repair is not applicable.");
+            if (!ok) {
+              core.info("No trusted whole-plan acceptance or activation artifact; lifecycle repair is not applicable.");
               return;
             }
 
@@ -414,8 +415,9 @@ jobs:
             const lifecycleBody = String(lifecycle?.body || "");
             const terminal =
               /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*(?:Current state|State):\*\*\s+Activated\s*$/im.test(lifecycleBody) &&
-              /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Activation:\*\*\s+✅\s+Done\s*$/im.test(lifecycleBody) &&
-              /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Last command:\*\*\s+`\/squad (?:activate|plan accept)`\s*$/im.test(lifecycleBody);
+              (/^(?:[-*]\s+)?(?:\*\*)?Activation:(?:\*\*)?\s+✅\s+Done\b/im.test(lifecycleBody) ||
+                /^\|\s*Activat(?:e|ion|ed)\s*\|\s*✅\s+Done\b[^|]*\|/im.test(lifecycleBody)) &&
+              /^(?:[-*]\s+)?\*\*Last command:\*\*\s+`\/squad (?:activate|plan accept|plan activate)(?: phase \d+)?`(?:\s+.*)?$/im.test(lifecycleBody);
             if (terminal) {
               core.info("The newest lifecycle tracker already records terminal activation.");
               return;

workflows/squad.md

@@ -395,6 +395,8 @@ matching the exact structured fields, and choosing the newest match.
 
 For each lifecycle-state write, call `upsert_lifecycle_state` once with the
 complete body. It updates the newest trusted tracker or creates the first one.
+For nonterminal states, `Next action` MUST be only the backticked `/squad`
+command; put prose elsewhere. `Activated` may use terminal prose instead.
 
 # Squad — `/squad` Slash Command
 
@@ -2553,7 +2555,8 @@ accepted label — that manufactures a defect.
 ##### Step 5: Update Lifecycle
 
 Phase: `🔄 Phase {N} of {total} activated`. Next: accept/activate next phase.
-Full/last: `✅ Done`, state = Activated. Terminal — no next action needed.
+Full/last: `✅ Done`, state = Activated, last command = invoked
+`/squad plan activate`. Terminal — use terminal prose for Next action.
 
 ## end skill: `squad-plan-activate`