last30days-skill/docs/plans/2026-04-22-003-fix-competitors-per-entity-resolution-plan.md

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NOTE (added 2026-05-16): This plan references bash scripts/sync.sh. That script was deleted in PR #405; the install workflow is now npx skills add . -g -y (symlinks the working tree across every detected harness). For context on why sync.sh went away, see docs/solutions/workflow-issues/release-consistency-test-cascade-2026-05-16.md. The decisions captured in this plan remain accurate; only the deploy mechanism changed.

title: "fix: per-entity resolution, default-2, and stale-path guard for --competitors" type: fix status: active date: 2026-04-22 origin: docs/plans/2026-04-22-002-feat-competitors-flag-comparison-fanout-plan.md

fix: per-entity resolution, default-2, and stale-path guard for --competitors

Overview

Three test runs of v3.0.11 --competitors surfaced four real bugs plus one product tweak. This plan fixes all of them in a single follow-up:

1. Competitor sub-runs get no Step 0.55 resolution (no X handle, no subreddits, no GitHub repo). Drake / Kendrick / Travis ran with deterministic-fallback single-word queries while Kanye had the full targeting package. User called it "lazy" and was right.
2. Two of three test windows (Linear, Coinbase) never invoked the new flag at all. They loaded SKILL.md from plugins/marketplaces/last30days-skill/ (a Claude-Code-managed git clone pinned to origin/main, which predates PR #308) instead of plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/3.0.11/, so --help showed no --competitors flag and the model fell back to the manual comparison path.
3. Each competitor sub-run emits a scary [Planner] No --plan passed... deterministic fallback stderr line because LAW 7 targets the hosting-model path, not internal fan-out sub-runs.
4. Default competitor count is 3 (→ 4-way comparison). User wants default 2 (→ 3-way: original + 2 peers). Flag keeps --competitors=N to customize.

Problem Frame

The 3 test runs (Kanye, Linear, Coinbase) showed a pattern:

Window	Loaded SKILL.md from	Invoked --competitors?	Per-entity resolution?	Outcome
Kanye	cache/3.0.11/ (correct)	Yes	Only for main topic (Kanye)	Drake/Kendrick/Travis thin; Reddit 403 fallbacks
Linear	marketplaces/ (stale)	No — fell back to manual comparison	No	Thin run with noisy subreddits
Coinbase	marketplaces/ (stale)	No — fell back to manual comparison	Main only; keyword-search poisoned pool	Top subs: r/survivor, r/Airpodsmax (noise)

Root causes:

• Per-entity resolution gap: scripts/lib/fanout.py calls pipeline.run() with topic + depth + web_backend + lookback_days only. It does not call resolve.auto_resolve() per entity, so sub-runs have no X handle, subreddit, or GitHub targeting. The original plan (2026-04-22-002) acknowledged this as a deliberate v1 simplification ("competitor sub-runs use planner defaults"). In practice this produces visibly asymmetric output and triggers downstream retrieval issues (403 fallbacks, keyword-search noise).
• Stale-path loading: Claude Code's skill loader alphabetizes find results with marketplaces/ before cache/, and the model reads the first plausible SKILL.md it sees. SKILL.md line 823's SKILL_ROOT resolver is the correct path but only fires in engine-invocation blocks, not in the skill-load step.
• LAW 7 in sub-runs: LAW 7 exists because the hosting reasoning model is supposed to pass --plan. For competitor sub-runs, there is no hosting-model planning — it's an engine-internal fan-out. The warning is a false positive there.

Requirements Trace

• R1. Default --competitors count is 2 peers (3-way comparison: original + 2).
• R2. Each competitor sub-run performs Step 0.55 resolution (X handle, subreddits, GitHub user/repos, news context) before its pipeline runs — not just the main topic.
• R3. Sub-runs do not emit the LAW 7 No --plan passed warning; they are internal fan-out, not hosting-model calls.
• R4. The rendered comparison output includes a visible "Resolved entities" block showing per-entity handles/subs/github for debug transparency (answers "did it resolve everyone?" without the user having to read stderr).
• R5. SKILL.md has a canonical-path self-check at the top: if the reader loaded it from anywhere other than plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/{VERSION}/, re-read from the versioned path before proceeding.
• R6. Version bumps to 3.0.12; CHANGELOG entry; scripts/sync.sh deploys.

Scope Boundaries

• No new discovery strategy. The web-search + regex extraction in scripts/lib/competitors.py stays as-is.
• No new CLI flags beyond the behavior changes above. Specifically: no per-entity override flags like --competitor-handles. The hosting-model escape hatch remains --competitors-list.
• No changes to the explicit A vs B comparison path (topic-string parsing in planner._comparison_entities).
• No marketplace-clone auto-restore fix — that's Claude Code harness behavior. This plan only guards against the symptom on the skill side.

Deferred to Separate Tasks

• Caching of per-entity resolution results: separate follow-up once hit rate justifies it.
• Fan-out rate-limiting tuning (currently max_workers=len(entities)+1, capped at 6): defer until we see real-world quota exhaustion.
• Pre-flight cost hint when N ≥ 4 (noted in 2026-04-22-002 risks): defer.

Context & Research

Relevant Code and Patterns

• scripts/last30days.py:205-219 — --competitors / --competitors-list argparse definition (const=3 today; changing to 2).
• scripts/last30days.py:220-290 — resolve_competitors_args() validator; update COMPETITORS_DEFAULT.
• scripts/last30days.py:438-520 — main() fan-out orchestration; currently passes only topic/depth to each _competitor_runner.
• scripts/lib/fanout.py:40-95 — run_competitor_fanout() signature. The competitor_runner callable is where per-entity resolution needs to happen.
• scripts/lib/resolve.py:179-258 — auto_resolve() is the exact per-entity resolver to reuse. Already does X handle + subreddits + GitHub user/repos + news context in parallel via ThreadPoolExecutor.
• scripts/lib/planner.py:80-135 — plan_query() emits the LAW 7 stderr. A quiet: bool keyword or internal_subrun: bool flag will suppress it.
• scripts/lib/pipeline.py:162-220 — pipeline.run() signature. Needs a new keyword to propagate quiet-mode down to the planner.
• scripts/lib/render.py:render_comparison_multi — where the "Resolved entities" block is inserted.
• SKILL.md line 823 — canonical SKILL_ROOT resolver already exists but fires in engine bash, not at skill-load time.

Institutional Learnings

• docs/plans/2026-04-22-002-feat-competitors-flag-comparison-fanout-plan.md acknowledged the per-entity-resolution gap as a v1 tradeoff. This plan closes that gap.
• Kanye run stderr: [Planner] No --plan passed... deterministic fallback × 3 (once per competitor sub-run). That's the LAW 7 noise R3 targets.
• Linear / Coinbase runs loaded plugins/marketplaces/last30days-skill/CLAUDE.md as the first hit. That's the stale-path issue R5 targets.

External References

• None. All patterns are in-repo.

Key Technical Decisions

• Per-entity resolve happens inside fanout, not in SKILL.md. The user-facing promise of --competitors is "one flag, engine does the work." Pushing resolution onto the hosting model creates another path-of-least-resistance trap (model skips it, output looks lazy). Auto-resolve inside each sub-run when a web backend is available makes the feature self-contained.
• Stale-path guard is a SKILL.md self-check, not a code change. We cannot stop Claude Code from auto-restoring the marketplace clone. But we can put a 3-line banner at the top of SKILL.md that forces any path-mismatched read to re-read from the versioned cache. Both the marketplace copy (once main catches up) and the cache copy carry the guard.
• LAW 7 suppression is opt-in via internal_subrun=True keyword. Do not remove the warning from the default path — it's load-bearing for the hosting-model contract. Add an explicit bypass for engine-internal fan-out only.
• Default 2, hard max 6 unchanged. "Original + 2" matches the Kanye/Drake/Kendrick mental model from the feature description. Still allow --competitors=N from 1 to 6.
• Resolved block is inside the EVIDENCE envelope, not above it. Keeps the rendered output structure stable for the synthesis contract (LAW 1–8). The block is context, not output.
• Skip auto-resolve when --mock or no web backend. Mirrors the existing resolve.auto_resolve() fast-fail and keeps the mock test path deterministic.

Open Questions

Resolved During Planning

• Where does per-entity resolve live? Inside fanout.run_competitor_fanout, not in main(). Each sub-run calls auto_resolve() just before pipeline.run().
• Should the hosting model still be able to override? Yes — --competitors-list remains the escape hatch. When an explicit list is passed, the engine still does auto-resolve per entity; the user's list just skips discovery.
• Should sub-runs run auto-resolve in parallel with each other? Yes. The existing ThreadPoolExecutor in fanout already parallelizes sub-runs; auto-resolve happens inside each sub-run's thread, so resolve calls for different entities run concurrently.
• Default count: 2 peers (3-way). Confirmed.

Deferred to Implementation

• Whether to expose a --no-auto-resolve-competitors flag for power users who want the fast, shallow behavior. Probably not needed v2; ship auto-resolve always-on and revisit if someone complains about cost.
• Whether to surface the per-entity resolution context back into the main topic's planner (cross-entity context sharing). Stays deferred.
• Whether the Resolved block should be collapsible or always inline. Start inline; revisit based on output length feedback.

Implementation Units

• Unit 1: Default --competitors to 2 peers

Goal: Change the bare --competitors default from 3 to 2 per user feedback. --competitors=N still overrides; range 1..6 unchanged.

Requirements: R1

Dependencies: None

Files:

• Modify: scripts/last30days.py (COMPETITORS_DEFAULT, --competitors const, stderr messages if any reference 3)
• Modify: SKILL.md Competitor mode section ("discovered 2-6" wording, bare-flag default line)
• Modify: README.md auto-discovered example line (if it references count)
• Test: tests/test_cli_competitors.py

Approach:

• Change COMPETITORS_DEFAULT = 3 → 2 in scripts/last30days.py.
• Change argparse --competitors const=3 → const=2.
• Update any SKILL.md / README copy referencing "3 peers" to "2 peers" (default) or "2-6 peers" (range).

Patterns to follow:

• Existing default constants in scripts/last30days.py argparse block.

Test scenarios:

• Happy path: bare --competitors yields count=2, enabled=True, empty explicit_list.
• Edge case: --competitors=3 still works (explicit override).
• Edge case: existing test_bare_flag_defaults_to_three test is updated to test_bare_flag_defaults_to_two and asserts count=2.
• Edge case: --competitors=5 with a --competitors-list of length 2 still logs the mismatch warning and uses the list.

Verification:

• pytest tests/test_cli_competitors.py -v passes with the updated default.

• Unit 2: Per-entity Step 0.55 resolution inside fanout

Goal: Each competitor sub-run auto-resolves its own X handle, subreddits, GitHub user/repos, and news context via resolve.auto_resolve() before its pipeline.run() call — just like the main topic.

Requirements: R2

Dependencies: None (but Unit 3 should land together so sub-runs don't emit LAW 7 stderr while the resolution context is being passed)

Files:

• Modify: scripts/lib/fanout.py
• Modify: scripts/last30days.py (_competitor_runner closure builds the resolved args)
• Test: tests/test_competitor_fanout.py
• Test: tests/test_competitors_resolve_integration.py (new; covers the auto-resolve path)

Approach:

• _competitor_runner(entity) in main() does:
  1. Call resolve.auto_resolve(entity, config) when not args.mock and a web backend is configured (reuse _has_backend).
  2. Extract resolved x_handle, subreddits, github_user, github_repos, context.
  3. Pass them to pipeline.run() for that sub-run.
  4. Inject resolved context into a per-entity config copy (so _auto_resolve_context does not leak across sub-runs — deep-copy the config or use a local dict).
  5. Store the resolved block on the Report's artifacts so the renderer can surface it (Unit 4).
• When args.mock is True or no backend is available, skip auto-resolve (fall through to planner defaults, matching the existing auto_resolve() early-return contract).
• Update fanout.run_competitor_fanout docstring to note that auto-resolve happens inside the caller-provided runner.

Execution note: Start with a failing integration test that exercises two-entity fanout + auto-resolve via a mocked resolve.auto_resolve and asserts that pipeline.run receives the resolved x_handle/subreddits for each entity.

Patterns to follow:

• scripts/last30days.py main topic branch (if args.auto_resolve and not external_plan) already calls resolve.auto_resolve and propagates results — mirror the shape for competitors.
• Config isolation: scripts/lib/pipeline.py:162-220 reads config as-is; use dict(config) to avoid cross-sub-run mutation of _auto_resolve_context.

Test scenarios:

• Happy path: 3 entities, mocked auto_resolve returns distinct handles per entity; pipeline.run receives x_handle=@drake for Drake, x_handle=@kendricklamar for Kendrick, etc.
• Happy path: the main topic still uses the user-supplied --x-handle / --subreddits overrides (not overwritten by auto-resolve for the main). Competitors use their own auto-resolved values.
• Edge case: --mock skips auto-resolve entirely for all sub-runs (no resolve.auto_resolve calls).
• Edge case: resolve.auto_resolve returns empty dicts for one entity (low-signal topic) — the sub-run still executes with planner defaults; doesn't crash.
• Edge case: no web backend configured — auto-resolve returns empty for every entity, sub-runs fall through to planner defaults, no stack trace.
• Error path: resolve.auto_resolve raises — the sub-run logs a warning and continues with planner defaults (does not fail the whole comparison).
• Integration: config _auto_resolve_context from entity A does not leak into entity B's pipeline.run. Assert each sub-run gets its own context string.

Verification:

• New integration test passes.

• End-to-end smoke (mock mode + explicit list): each sub-run's stderr shows [AutoResolve] lines per entity with distinct values.

• Unit 3: Suppress LAW 7 warning for engine-internal sub-runs

Goal: The [Planner] No --plan passed... deterministic fallback warning does not fire during competitor sub-runs. LAW 7 is load-bearing for hosting-model contracts and must stay on the default path; this is an opt-in bypass for internal fan-out only.

Requirements: R3

Dependencies: Unit 2 (so the sub-run call site is already being modified)

Files:

• Modify: scripts/lib/planner.py (plan_query signature + conditional stderr)
• Modify: scripts/lib/pipeline.py (run signature + propagation)
• Modify: scripts/last30days.py or scripts/lib/fanout.py (pass internal_subrun=True for competitor runners)
• Test: tests/test_planner_v3.py (or new tests/test_planner_quiet_mode.py)
• Test: tests/test_competitor_fanout.py (assert sub-runs don't emit LAW 7 stderr)

Approach:

• Add a keyword internal_subrun: bool = False to planner.plan_query. When True, skip the two print(..., file=sys.stderr) blocks that emit the LAW 7 banner and the [Planner] No --plan passed capability message.
• Add the same keyword to pipeline.run(); pass through to plan_query.
• In main()/fanout, set internal_subrun=True for every competitor sub-run's pipeline.run call. The main topic's pipeline.run keeps the default (LAW 7 stays on for the hosting-model path).
• Also suppress the LAW 7-triggered degraded-run warning block in the render layer for sub-reports when the envelope is going to be merged into a comparison output (or accept that the block is per-entity and surfaces once per entity).

Patterns to follow:

• Existing keyword-only parameters on pipeline.run (mock, x_handle, etc.).
• planner.plan_query signature is already keyword-only.

Test scenarios:

• Happy path: plan_query(..., internal_subrun=True, provider=None, model=None) returns the deterministic fallback plan WITHOUT writing the LAW 7 stderr block.
• Happy path: plan_query(...) with default internal_subrun=False still writes the LAW 7 warning (unchanged behavior).
• Integration: end-to-end competitor fanout; assert captured stderr contains zero occurrences of No --plan passed and zero of YOU ARE the planner.
• Integration: main topic is not part of competitor mode; if the user invokes bare /last30days OpenAI without --plan, LAW 7 stderr fires exactly once (regression test).

Verification:

• Running the Kanye-style smoke test shows zero [Planner] No --plan passed lines for Drake / Kendrick / Travis sub-runs.

• Unit 4: "Resolved entities" block in comparison output

Goal: The rendered comparison output includes a visible block listing per-entity handles, subreddits, GitHub user, and resolved context. Answers "did it resolve everyone?" at a glance without reading stderr.

Requirements: R4

Dependencies: Unit 2 (needs resolved data on report artifacts)

Files:

• Modify: scripts/lib/render.py (render_comparison_multi and render_comparison_multi_context)
• Test: tests/test_render_comparison_multi.py

Approach:

• When each entity's Report.artifacts contains a resolved dict (populated by Unit 2), render_comparison_multi emits a ## Resolved Entities block early in the EVIDENCE envelope:

  ## Resolved Entities
  - **Kanye West**: X @kanyewest | Subs r/Kanye, r/hiphopheads | GitHub: — | Context: BULLY released, UK ban…
  - **Drake**: X @Drake | Subs r/DrakeTheType, r/hiphopheads | GitHub: — | Context: ICEMAN rollout…
  - **Kendrick Lamar**: X @kendricklamar | Subs r/KendrickLamar | GitHub: — | Context: Grammy wins, dormant…
  

• Missing fields render as — not empty.
• When no entity has a resolved payload (mock mode, no web backend), omit the block entirely rather than emit an empty section.
• Context strings are truncated at 120 chars to keep the block scannable.

Patterns to follow:

• Existing render_comparison_multi envelope structure (lines ~395-480 in render.py).
• Existing per-entity evidence block format (## {label}) for consistency.

Test scenarios:

• Happy path: 3 entities each with a resolved artifact → block lists all 3 with their fields.
• Happy path: 2 entities, one with full resolution, one with partial (x_handle only) → missing fields render as —.
• Edge case: no entity has a resolved artifact → block is omitted entirely.
• Edge case: context string > 120 chars → truncated with ellipsis.
• Integration: rendered output passes through the same EVIDENCE envelope comments and synthesis contract (LAW 1–8 unchanged).

Verification:

• Snapshot tests confirm the block appears in the right spot with the right formatting.

• End-to-end smoke shows a realistic 3-entity Resolved block in the rendered output.

• Unit 5: SKILL.md canonical-path self-check

Goal: A top-of-file SKILL.md directive forces any reader (Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, Gemini) to verify they loaded from plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/{VERSION}/SKILL.md before proceeding. If loaded from marketplaces/ or any other path, re-read from the pinned versioned cache.

Requirements: R5

Dependencies: None

Files:

• Modify: SKILL.md (prepend a STEP 0 block before the existing STEP 0 / LAW list)

Approach:

• Add a numbered first step at the top (before or bundled with existing "STEP 0: ToolSearch preload"):

  ## STEP 0: Canonical Path Self-Check (must run first)
  
  Before reading anything else below, verify you loaded this SKILL.md from
  the versioned cache, not the marketplace clone:
  
      CANONICAL=$HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/
      CANONICAL_LATEST=$(ls -d "$CANONICAL"*/ 2>/dev/null | sort -V | tail -1)
  
  If the SKILL.md you just read is not under $CANONICAL_LATEST, STOP. Re-read
  $CANONICAL_LATEST/SKILL.md and restart from here. Marketplace clones
  (`plugins/marketplaces/last30days-skill/`) are pinned to origin/main and
  can be stale; the versioned cache is the ground truth.
  

• Reinforce in the existing LAW 7 block that --help output must be read from the same pinned SKILL_ROOT to avoid flag-list skew.

Patterns to follow:

• Existing STEP 0 ToolSearch preload (top of SKILL.md) for tone / imperative voice.
• Existing SKILL_ROOT resolver snippet (line ~823).

Test scenarios:

• Test expectation: none — SKILL.md is documentation; no unit test, verified by follow-up user invocation.

Verification:

• In a fresh Claude Code window, /last30days Test --competitors loads SKILL.md, the model executes the STEP 0 self-check, and (if it had loaded from marketplaces/) switches to the cache path before running --help or the engine. Observable via the model's announced reasoning / task list.

• Unit 6: Version bump, CHANGELOG, sync

Goal: Ship 3.0.12 and deploy to all local targets.

Requirements: R6

Dependencies: Units 1-5

Files:

• Modify: .claude-plugin/plugin.json (version 3.0.11 → 3.0.12)
• Modify: CHANGELOG.md
• Run: bash scripts/sync.sh

Approach:

• CHANGELOG entry under ## [3.0.12] dated 2026-04-22 covering the four fixes (Fixed: per-entity resolution; Fixed: LAW 7 sub-run noise; Changed: default count 3→2; Added: Resolved entities block; Added: canonical-path self-check in SKILL.md).
• sync.sh deploys to ~/.claude/plugins/cache/last30days-skill-private/..., ~/.agents/, ~/.codex/, Hermes.
• Manual hot-copy to ~/.claude/plugins/cache/last30days-skill/last30days/3.0.12/ so the public /last30days slash command picks up the new version before PR merge (matches the 3.0.11 testing pattern).

Test scenarios:

• Test expectation: none — packaging only. Verification is by inspection.

Verification:

• grep version .claude-plugin/plugin.json returns 3.0.12.
• sync.sh exits 0 with "Import check: OK" for each target.
• Hot-copied 3.0.12 directory contains the new files and /last30days picks up the new version (highest-version resolver).

System-Wide Impact

• Interaction graph: Fanout sub-runs now call resolve.auto_resolve per entity. Each sub-run is independent; no shared mutable state with other sub-runs or with the main topic.
• Error propagation: auto_resolve failures inside a sub-run log a warning and degrade to planner defaults; do not propagate up to abort the comparison. Same contract as today for the main topic.
• State lifecycle risks: Config dict is mutated by auto_resolve (via config["_auto_resolve_context"]). Must deep-copy per sub-run or scope context to a local mapping — otherwise two sub-runs' context strings race.
• API surface parity: pipeline.run gains a keyword (internal_subrun); callers that don't pass it get the existing behavior. planner.plan_query gains the same. Backward compatible.
• Integration coverage: New integration test for the fanout + auto-resolve + render chain. Existing snapshot tests update to include the Resolved block.
• Unchanged invariants: Single-entity /last30days invocations (no --competitors) behave identically. Explicit A vs B comparison topics behave identically. LAW 7 still fires on the default hosting-model path. render_compact path is untouched.

Risks & Dependencies

Risk	Mitigation
Auto-resolving per competitor triples the WebSearch call volume (4 queries × 3 competitors = 12 extra web searches).	Fast-fail when no backend; user can pass --competitors-list to skip discovery but still get auto-resolve. Cost note in CHANGELOG.
Config mutation across sub-runs via _auto_resolve_context.	Unit 2 deep-copies config per sub-run before each auto_resolve + pipeline.run call. Integration test asserts no cross-entity leak.
LAW 7 suppression leaks onto the hosting-model path via a wrong default.	Default internal_subrun=False. Only fanout's competitor sub-runs set True. Unit test asserts bare-topic invocation still emits LAW 7.
SKILL.md STEP 0 banner gets ignored by the model (same failure mode as line 823 today).	Put it in the guaranteed-read top band (before LAW 1, above all other content), imperative voice, concrete STOP verb. Still not bulletproof but strictly better than current.
Default count change breaks assumptions in downstream tools or existing user muscle memory.	Changelog calls it out as Changed; --competitors=3 still works for users who want the old default.

Documentation / Operational Notes

• Beta channel first: merge behind /last30days-beta via the private repo before cherry-picking to public. Follows the same process as 3.0.11.
• Version 3.0.12 is a fix release; no marketing post required.
• After merge, add a line to the PR description pointing at this plan.

Sources & References

• Origin plan: docs/plans/2026-04-22-002-feat-competitors-flag-comparison-fanout-plan.md
• Related PR: #308 (v3.0.11 shipping --competitors)
• Test windows that surfaced the bugs: Kanye, Linear, Coinbase (2026-04-22 session)
• Related code: scripts/lib/fanout.py, scripts/lib/resolve.py (auto_resolve), scripts/lib/planner.py (plan_query), scripts/lib/render.py (render_comparison_multi)