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Issue-lifecycle M2 - conversation (Triage discuss / Conversation idle) - Implementation Plan

For agentic workers: REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development. Steps use - [ ] checkboxes.

Goal: Close the conversation loop: the agent posts questions (discuss, wired in M0), the maintainer's comment re-spawns the agent fed the thread, the loop runs until triggerLabel (-> Implement) or 1h continuous silence (-> Stopped), and the re-spawned agent sees the full issue thread as context.

Architecture: Per spec, parts A+C. Idle is webhook-primary + scan backstop; conversation context is read via a new ListIssueComments reader (prompt construction only, never idle timing). Repos: tatara-operator + tatara-cli.

Task 1: ListIssueComments SCM reader cap

Files: internal/scm/scm.go (IssueComment{Author,Body,CreatedAt} + interface method), github.go, gitlab.go, fakes; Tests.

  • Failing tests (httptest): ListIssueComments(ctx, owner, repo, number) returns ordered []IssueComment from the GitHub issue-comments API / GitLab notes API.
  • Implement on both providers; add to SCMReader; satisfy fakes + wire.go.
  • Test PASS. Commit feat(scm): ListIssueComments reader cap.

Task 2: Conversation-prompt construction (thread as context)

Files: internal/controller/lifecycle.go, turnloop.go; Tests.

  • Failing test: the Triage turn prompt (when re-entering from Conversation) includes the issue body + the rendered comment thread (author + body per comment) so a fresh pod has full context.
  • Implement: before spawning the Triage agent run, fetch ListIssueComments for the source issue and render a thread block into the plan prompt. Cap length (most-recent-N or a char budget) to bound the prompt. On the first Triage entry (no prior comments) the block is just the issue body.
  • Test PASS. Commit feat(controller): conversation thread injected into triage prompt.

Task 3: Conversation idle state + Stopped

Files: internal/controller/lifecycle.go; Tests.

  • Failing tests for the Conversation handler: now < DeadlineAt -> RequeueAfter until the deadline (no pod); now >= DeadlineAt -> Stopped (resumable), giveup{reason="idle"} counter NOT incremented (idle stop is normal, use a distinct tatara_lifecycle_idle_stop_total).
  • Implement the Conversation handler. Ensure the pod is torn down on entry (the discuss transition in M0 already tears down; assert no pod recreated in Conversation).
  • Test PASS. Commit feat(controller): Conversation idle state stops after deadline.

Task 4: issue_comment webhook reaction

Files: internal/webhook/server.go, internal/controller/lifecycle.go; Tests server_test.go.

  • Failing tests:
  • an issue_comment (created) on an issue with a live lifecycle Task in Conversation -> reset LastActivityAt+DeadlineAt, set state to Triage, nudge a reconcile (so the agent re-spawns fed the new comment).
  • the same on a Stopped task -> re-open: set Triage, reset timers.
  • triggerLabel applied (labeled) on a Conversation task -> Implement.
  • a comment by the bot itself -> ignored (no reset; avoid self-trigger loops).
  • Implement: extend handleWorkItem to find the issue's live lifecycle Task and patch state/timers via a helper (RetryOnConflict). Author-gate: only human (non-bot) comments reset the timer. Keep the existing approval-unlabel reaction.
  • Test PASS. Commit feat(webhook): issue_comment continues the lifecycle conversation.

Task 5: issueScan conversation backstop

Files: internal/controller/projectscan.go; Tests.

  • Failing test: issueScan finds an issue whose updatedAt is newer than the bound lifecycle Task's LastActivityAt while the Task is Conversation/Stopped -> it reactivates the Task (state -> Triage, reset timers) rather than creating a duplicate. (Covers a missed issue_comment webhook.)
  • Implement in the issueScan dedup/bind path.
  • Test PASS. Commit feat(controller): issueScan re-activates stale conversation tasks.

Task 6: cli issue_outcome=discuss schema test

Files: tatara-cli/internal/mcp/tools.go; Tests. (The operator-side discuss handling is M0 Task 5; this confirms the cli surface.)

  • Failing test: issue_outcome accepts action=discuss (enum implement;close;discuss) with the comment field; the POST body carries it.
  • Implement the enum addition. Test PASS. Commit (cli repo) feat(cli): issue_outcome discuss action.

Self-review

  • Idle stop uses LastActivityAt/DeadlineAt only; no comment polling on the idle path.
  • Only human comments reset the timer (no bot self-trigger).
  • ListIssueComments used solely for prompt construction + the scan backstop, not idle.
  • Full suite green; lint clean (both repos).