Documents the cascade pattern surfaced during this session's install-modernization
arc: a `test_sync_cache_path_uses_skill_version` test asserted that a hardcoded
version pin in `sync.sh` matched the version frontmatter in SKILL.md. When a
release bumped SKILL.md, every open PR's CI failed simultaneously on the
unrelated stale-pin assertion. Affected at least 5 PRs across the 2026-05-13
to 2026-05-15 window (#400, #390, #392, and two others) plus required hotfix
PR #397 to unblock the queue.
The permanent fix shipped in PR #405 (deleted sync.sh + the test). This doc
captures the design lesson so the pattern doesn't reappear: don't write
consistency tests that read two files and assert one matches a value derived
from the other. Either derive at runtime from a single source of truth, or
self-skip / merge-base-scope the test so deletion is a non-event.
Created via /ce-compound. Includes:
- docs/solutions/workflow-issues/release-consistency-test-cascade-2026-05-16.md
(the new learning — first entry under docs/solutions/)
- CONCEPTS.md (new — 4 entries: Skill, Engine, Harness, Beta channel,
capturing project-specific vocabulary that surfaced across the session)
- AGENTS.md (added one-line Structure entries surfacing docs/solutions/ and
CONCEPTS.md so fresh agents discover them)
- docs/plans/2026-04-22-{002,003,005,006}-*-plan.md (added deprecation banner
to each, pointing readers at PR #405 and the new docs/solutions entry —
these 4 historical plans still reference the deleted sync.sh inline)
Also: closed PR #379 (j-sperling's workaround for the same cascade,
superseded by PR #405's permanent fix).
Four fixes based on 2026-04-22 test-window feedback on v3.0.11 --competitors:
- Each competitor sub-run now runs Step 0.55 (X handle / subreddits /
GitHub) via resolve.auto_resolve inside the fanout closure. Deep-copied
config per entity prevents _auto_resolve_context leak across sub-runs.
Resolved data stored on report.artifacts["resolved"] for the renderer.
- New internal_subrun keyword on planner.plan_query and pipeline.run
suppresses the LAW 7 "No --plan passed" stderr for engine-internal
fan-out only. Default path unchanged.
- Default --competitors count is now 2 (3-way total). --competitors=N
still customizes; range 1..6.
- SKILL.md STEP 0 canonical-path self-check forces readers who loaded
from marketplaces/ (auto-restored to origin/main, stale) to re-read
from plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/{VERSION}/SKILL.md.
Two of three 2026-04-22 test windows hit this stale-path trap.
- New ## Resolved Entities block in render_comparison_multi shows
per-entity handles/subs/github for debug visibility.
Bumps plugin.json to 3.0.12. 12 new tests; 1,175 total passing.
Co-authored-by: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Trevin Chow