Archive exact open PR handoff representations

[aragora-automation-fable]

Summary

• add a narrow exact-open-PR representation terminal path to reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• require exact branch, base, and full desired head before writing a synthetic representation receipt and archiving
• keep mismatched open PRs protected instead of treating them as represented

Validation

• /Users/armand/.pyenv/versions/3.11.11/bin/python -m pytest -q tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• /Users/armand/.pyenv/versions/3.11.11/bin/python -m pytest -q tests/scripts/test_classify_handoff_state.py
• /Users/armand/.pyenv/versions/3.11.11/bin/python -m ruff check scripts/reconcile_automation_outbox.py tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• git diff --check

Live dry-run proof

• read-only reconcile dry-run against shared state found satisfied_by_exact_open_pr=1 for open-pr-codex-rbac-openapi-coverage-primary-20260615-dd112baf.json via PR rbac-openapi-coverage-primary-20260615 #8652 at 3628f5c
• no receipts or archives were written

[github-actions]

Aragora Code Review

Advisory-only review. No issues found.

[scarmani]

OpenAI independent model review

Reviewer: codex/openai - independent focused dogfood review by a non-author lane, grounded on the exact PR head.
Head: 79c4fac
PR: #8677
Model family: openai

Verdict: PASS

Blocking findings: none.

Files reviewed:

• scripts/reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py

Focused dogfood verdict: The change is narrowly scoped to exact-open-PR terminal handling in the outbox reconciler. It requires narrow GitHub evidence, exact branch match, and full desired-head match before archiving an outbox item, and it preserves a keep decision when an open PR exists at a different head or branch. The tests cover the archive/receipt path and the mismatch keep path, which directly exercises the queue-pressure scenario this PR is meant to resolve.

Validation observed: live required checks for lint, typecheck, Generate & Validate, sdk-parity, and TypeScript SDK Type Check are green; aragora-merge-quorum is the only failing required check and is failing because model evidence is missing. I reviewed the current PR diff and existing comments/reviews. I did not run local tests in this lane.

dogfood: yes

This is not merge authorization.

[scarmani]

OpenAI independent model review

Reviewer: codex/openai independent focused dogfood review by a non-author lane, grounded on the exact PR head.
Head: f77c2a6
PR: #8677
Model family: openai

Verdict: PASS

Blocking findings: none.

Files reviewed:

• scripts/reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py

Focused dogfood verdict: The change makes exact-open-PR outbox archival proof-gated instead of relying on broad open-PR branch presence alone. It requires publication intent, non-conflicting local evidence, no local-work markers, full desired-head matching, branch/base agreement, non-draft exact PR evidence, and owner-liveness safety before synthesizing a terminal receipt. The tests cover archive success, head/base/branch/draft mismatch keeps, local work/conflicting local evidence keeps, owner possible-unpushed-work/live-owner keeps, idempotency-key routing, and unhealthy GitHub fail-closed behavior.

Validation observed: live required checks for lint, typecheck, Generate & Validate, sdk-parity, and TypeScript SDK Type Check are green. The only failing required check is aragora-merge-quorum because current-head model evidence is missing. I reviewed the current PR diff and visible comments/reviews. I did not run local tests in this lane.

dogfood: yes

This is not merge authorization.

[scarmani]

OpenAI independent focused dogfood review

Reviewer: codex/openai independent focused dogfood review by a non-author lane, grounded on exact PR head.
Head: d74cbcb
PR: #8677
Model family: openai

Verdict: PASS

Blocking findings: none.

Files reviewed:

• scripts/reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py

Focused dogfood verdict: The current-head change adds a stricter exact-open-PR terminal archival path for automation outbox handoffs. It gates archival on publication intent, non-conflicting local evidence, no local-work markers, full desired-head equality, matching branch/base GitHub evidence, non-draft exact open PR evidence, and owner-liveness checks before writing a synthetic receipt. The tests exercise archive success, narrow REST and bulk-cache miss cases, local evidence conflicts, draft, head, branch, and base mismatch keeps, unhealthy GitHub fail-closed behavior, and owner state plumbing. This reduces stale outbox pressure without broad-draining or deleting uncertain work.

Validation observed: live required checks for lint, typecheck, Generate and Validate, sdk-parity, and TypeScript SDK Type Check are green; aragora-merge-quorum is failing because current-head model evidence is incomplete. I reviewed the exact current diff, comments and reviews, and failed quorum log. I did not run local tests in this lane.

dogfood: yes

This is not merge authorization.

[scarmani]

Closing as a queue-drain churner, not as a judgment that the idea can never return.

Current live state at close:

• Head: d74cbcb
• Commits: 10 across repeated heads
• Scope: scripts/reconcile_automation_outbox.py and tests/scripts/test_reconcile_automation_outbox.py
• Non-quorum required checks are green
• aragora-merge-quorum is still failing with status=needs_model_review_quorum
• Recent exact-head evidence remains single-family OpenAI only after multiple head turns

Under the current queue-drain objective, this meets the FREEZE CHURNERS rule: do not keep patching or recollecting on a PR that has churned across 3+ heads and still fails quorum. The reversible drain action is to close this PR and let any future attempt return as a simpler replacement that removes the fragile abstraction or narrows the scope enough to settle cleanly.

[scarmani]

Queue-drain freeze: closing this reopened churner again under the hard anti-treadmill rule.

Live state before this close:

• PR Archive exact open PR handoff representations #8677 is open/non-draft at exact head e0f5103 on branch codex/handoff-state-exact-open-pr-transition.
• The PR now has 12 commits across repeated heads, after a prior queue-drain close at d74cbcb.
• Non-quorum required checks are green, but aragora-merge-quorum is still failing.
• The comment history shows repeated OpenAI-only exact-head evidence across older heads, followed by a prior churner close.
• No operator-steering messages were pending for the claimed freeze lane.

Per the queue-drain FREEZE CHURNERS rule, this should not receive another patch or evidence cycle in this loop. The reversible drain action is to close it and preserve the branch for a deliberately smaller replacement if this outbox/handoff transition needs to return.