Start issues with in-progress and gate optional SDD before branching

[efraespada]

The branch adds an opt-in pre-branch SDD gate and makes issue start and branch readiness explicit, validated, and remotely verified. It also updates setup, documentation, specifications, generated artifacts, and tests to enforce the new workflow and trust boundaries.

What changed

• Added issue-managed-branches and pre-branch-sdd configuration, replacing legacy branch-launcher settings and aligning generated setup/profile guidance.
• Changed issue processing to require an explicit authorized start, route eligible work through SDD clarification and validation, and distinguish branch-required from branchless help flows.
• Added catalog ownership and SDD validation, isolated drafting and allowlisted publication, first-commit path checks, exact linked-branch handling, and remote readiness reconciliation with fail-closed recovery states.
• Documented the issue-start and pre-branch SDD lifecycle, updated the specification catalog and related user/operator guidance, and expanded automated coverage.

Review notes

• Controlled GitHub UX verification and dogfooding remain outstanding; the repository specification explicitly places that evidence outside this local implementation task.

[docs-page]

To preview the documentation for this pull request, visit the following URL:

docs.page/vypdev/copilot~396

Documentation is deployed and generated using docs.page

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 85.32884% with 87 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 92.21%. Comparing base (55067b9) to head (4eb75d9).

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
...infrastructure/pre_branch_sdd_workspace_adapter.ts	81.65%	8 Missing and 23 partials ⚠️
...ation/usecases/sdd/pre_branch_sdd_gate_use_case.ts	88.65%	2 Missing and 14 partials ⚠️
src/domain/pre_branch_sdd.ts	82.97%	2 Missing and 14 partials ⚠️
src/application/usecases/issue_use_case.ts	58.82%	4 Missing and 3 partials ⚠️
...ication/policies/setup_configuration_validation.ts	60.00%	2 Missing and 2 partials ⚠️
src/application/usecases/issue_comment_use_case.ts	60.00%	1 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️
src/application/usecases/issue_workflow.ts	95.12%	0 Missing and 2 partials ⚠️
...steps/issue/reconcile_branch_readiness_use_case.ts	93.33%	0 Missing and 2 partials ⚠️
src/utils/repository_agent_guidance.ts	66.66%	1 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️
src/actions/common_action.ts	50.00%	1 Missing ⚠️
... and 4 more

Additional details and impacted files

@@             Coverage Diff             @@
##           develop     #396      +/-   ##
===========================================
- Coverage    92.42%   92.21%   -0.21%     
===========================================
  Files          658      664       +6     
  Lines        18252    18797     +545     
  Branches      4760     4938     +178     
===========================================
+ Hits         16869    17334     +465     
- Misses         566      585      +19     
- Partials       817      878      +61     

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/actions/configuration_builders.ts	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)
src/actions/github_action_execution.ts	87.50% <100.00%> (ø)
src/actions/github_action_label_inputs.ts	100.00% <ø> (ø)
src/actions/input_boolean_policy.ts	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)
src/actions/local_action_configuration_sections.ts	88.70% <100.00%> (ø)
src/actions/local_action_execution.ts	92.30% <ø> (ø)
src/actions/setup_execution_boundary.ts	100.00% <ø> (ø)
src/application/contracts/input_keys.ts	100.00% <ø> (ø)
...pplication/policies/deployment_lifecycle_policy.ts	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)
...tion/policies/initial_label_provisioning_policy.ts	100.00% <100.00%> (ø)
... and 36 more

... and 1 file with indirect coverage changes

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[vypbot]

Current status: Overall coverage is partial; this snapshot does not prove that all of its findings are resolved.
Last reconciled on 4eb75d9. See aggregate Bugbot status.

🤖 Bugbot review snapshot

Bugbot reported 1 potential problem when commit c7a0661 was analyzed. This snapshot is historical; use the status block above for current state. 1 finding is linked to changed code.

Findings

• medium: Do not mark issue working before branch readiness is verified — src/application/policies/lifecycle_state_policy.ts:83

[vypbot]

Bugbot: review incomplete

Current status: The review of 4eb75d9 has partial coverage and cannot declare the whole pull request clean.

Action: Do not treat this review as complete. Review the sources under Incomplete coverage and manually inspect omitted items; rerun only after reducing the relevant scope or restoring provider access.

Incomplete coverage

• selection: complete; retained=1
• pull-request-comments: complete; retained=2
• review-threads: complete; retained=2
• diff: partial; retained=35, omitted=101, truncated=9
• previous-findings: complete; retained=0
• human-conversation: complete; retained=0
• rules: complete; retained=0

Pull request · Verified commit · Workflow run

[vypbot]

Current status: Overall coverage is partial; this snapshot does not prove that all of its findings are resolved.
Last reconciled on 4eb75d9. See aggregate Bugbot status.

🤖 Bugbot review snapshot

Bugbot reported 1 potential problem when commit 1e11837 was analyzed. This snapshot is historical; use the status block above for current state. 1 finding is linked to changed code.

Findings

• medium: Issue start does not create the managed branch — src/application/usecases/issue_workflow.ts:148