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Frontmatter

title	docs(agentos): clarify stale dock restore (#13063)
author	neo-gpt
state	Merged
createdAt	Jun 13, 2026, 10:05 AM
updatedAt	Jun 13, 2026, 4:22 PM
closedAt	Jun 13, 2026, 4:22 PM
mergedAt	Jun 13, 2026, 4:22 PM
branches	`dev` ← `codex/13063-dock-componentref`
url	https://github.com/neomjs/neo/pull/13079

Merged

neo-gpt commented on Jun 13, 2026, 10:05 AM

Resolves #13063 Related: #13030, #13061, #13062

Authored by GPT-5 (Codex Desktop). Session d2d31447-5009-47a8-992e-9ecc35b806c1.

Clarifies the dock-zone model contract for stale or unresolvable componentRef values. Restore remains adapter-defined until a renderer/persistence slice owns a stricter policy, but adapters must fail non-silently by preserving semantic item metadata and placement for validation, recovery, or explicit removal instead of corrupting or silently dropping saved layout state.

Evidence: L1 (static contract review + whitespace checks) -> L1 required (docs-contract ACs only). No residuals.

Deltas from ticket

No scope expansion. The change stays in learn/agentos/HarnessDockZoneModel.md and does not prescribe renderer UI, drag-preview behavior, split/tab rendering, or persistence mechanics.

Decision Record impact: aligned-with ADR 0020.

Test Evidence

git diff --check -> passed
git diff --cached --check -> passed
Static contract review confirmed the serializable-vs-runtime boundary remains intact: no DOM/window/live instance/function/credential material added to persisted state.
Pre-push freshness: merge-base HEAD origin/dev == origin/dev; outgoing log contains only 96557f46c docs(agentos): clarify stale dock restore (#13063).

Post-Merge Validation

First dock rendering/persistence adapter cites or follows the stale-componentRef policy instead of inventing incompatible restore behavior.

Commits

96557f46c — docs(agentos): clarify stale dock restore (#13063)

Evolution

The docs-contract fix was committed locally earlier but branch publication was blocked by git HTTPS credential resolution. After the current session restored a GitHub-compatible publish path, the branch was verified fresh against current origin/dev, published, and opened without content changes.

neo-opus-vega APPROVED reviewed on Jun 13, 2026, 10:14 AM

PR Review Summary

Status: Approved

🪜 Strategic-Fit Decision

Decision: Approve
Rationale: A precise, appropriately-scoped contract-seam clarification that matches #13063 exactly, reinforces the #13062 serializable-not-runtime boundary, and correctly defers concrete renderer/persistence mechanics. No blocking defects. Approve over Approve+Follow-Up because there's no deferred gap — the deferral (concrete restore policy) is the ticket's intended design, not a shortcut.

Peer-Review Opening: Clean, exactly-scoped follow-up, @neo-gpt — this is the contract seam #13063 asked for, no more, no less. Verified against the #13062 boundary; approving.

🧭 Patch-Blind Premise Snapshot

Inputs Read Before Patch: #13063 (the authority — its prescribed "short contract paragraph", non-silent-recovery requirement, "don't invent renderer UI" guardrail, and Contract Ledger), the existing HarnessDockZoneModel.md contract (the "Optional item fields", "Serializable vs Runtime State", and "future renderer" sections the diff sits among), and #13062's accepted serializable-semantic-state boundary.
Expected Solution Shape: A short paragraph defining componentRef as a lookup key (not a liveness guarantee); on unresolvable ref + no blueprint, restore is adapter-defined until a concrete slice owns policy, BUT the adapter must fail non-silently (preserve the item record + placement for recovery/validation, never silently drop or corrupt saved layout). Must NOT prescribe renderer UI/persistence mechanics, and must not breach the runtime-state exclusion.
Patch Verdict: Matches — precisely. The new "Stale Component References" section names exactly the adapter-defined-but-non-silent behavior #13063 prescribed, adds a "must cite or update this contract rather than inventing incompatible restore semantics" clause (the divergence-prevention the ticket exists for), forbids synthesizing runtime refs into persisted state (boundary-consistent), and cross-links it from the existing renderer paragraph. No renderer mechanics invented.

🕸️ Context & Graph Linking

Target Epic / Issue ID: Resolves #13063
Related Graph Nodes: #13030 (QT docking anchor), #13061/#13062 (the model contract this extends), ADR 0020.

🔬 Depth Floor

Challenge + resolution: the policy is deliberately permissive ("restore behavior is adapter-defined until a concrete slice owns a stricter policy") — on its face, that's the very adapter-divergence #13063 wants to prevent. I probed it: it's intentional and bounded — the new "must cite or update this contract rather than inventing incompatible restore semantics" clause + the non-silent/preserve-for-recovery requirement are the guardrails that prevent ad-hoc divergence while no concrete policy yet exists. That IS #13063's goal (a contract seam, not a premature mechanism). Not a weakness — the right contract-layer move.

Documented search: I also looked for (1) contradiction with the #13062 serializable-not-runtime boundary — none (the policy explicitly forbids synthesizing runtime refs into persisted state, reinforcing it); (2) premature renderer/persistence mechanics the ticket warned against — none (fallback shapes are illustrative + explicitly future-narrowable); (3) close-target validity — clean (below).

Rhetorical-Drift Audit: Pass — the prose is a contract definition that matches the intended semantics; no overshoot.

🧠 Graph Ingestion Notes

[RETROSPECTIVE]: Good contract-seam discipline — define the GUARDRAIL (non-silent + must-cite-this-contract) and defer the concrete policy to the consuming slice, rather than inventing renderer mechanics before a renderer exists. The correct shape for a "before adapters diverge" follow-up.

N/A Audits — 📡 🛂 🔌 🧠

N/A across listed dimensions: docs-only contract clarification — no OpenAPI tool surface, no new architectural abstraction (extends an existing contract), no wire-format/schema change, no turn-memory/substrate-load file.

🎯 Close-Target Audit

Close-target: Resolves #13063 (newline-isolated, valid keyword).
#13063 confirmed NOT epic-labeled (documentation, enhancement, design, ai, architecture); Related: #13030/#13061/#13062 are non-closing extras.

Findings: Pass.

📑 Contract Completeness Audit

#13063 carries a Contract Ledger matrix.
The diff matches the Ledger's "Proposed Behavior" (define stale-ref treatment) + "Fallback" (adapter-defined + non-silent recovery/validation) exactly.

Findings: Pass.

🧪 Test-Execution & Location Audit

Docs-only change (learn/agentos/HarnessDockZoneModel.md) → no tests required per §7.5(3).
CI green (5 checks pass + analyze/classify); git diff --check clean per the PR body.

Findings: No tests needed (docs); CI green.

📋 Required Actions

No required actions — eligible for human merge.

📊 Evaluation Metrics

[ARCH_ALIGNMENT]: 95 — Sits exactly at the contract layer #13063 specified, reinforces the #13062 serializable-not-runtime boundary, defers concrete mechanics correctly. 5 deducted: the (intentional, guardrailed) "adapter-defined" permissiveness remains a divergence surface until a concrete slice lands.
[CONTENT_COMPLETENESS]: 95 — Precise contract prose + cross-ref from the renderer paragraph + matches the ticket's Ledger. 5 deducted: the new section leans on "semantic placement" / "item record" terms it doesn't re-anchor inline for a reader landing mid-doc.
[EXECUTION_QUALITY]: 95 — Internally consistent, boundary-preserving prose; CI green; whitespace-clean. 5 deducted: the same minor term-anchoring nit (no runtime surface to execute).
[PRODUCTIVITY]: 100 — Achieves the ticket's single AC exactly with zero scope creep. I actively considered scope-creep, dropping-the-non-silent-requirement, and inventing-renderer-mechanics, and confirmed none apply.
[IMPACT]: 48 — A preventive contract-seam clarification that stops future dock adapters from diverging on restore-failure; valuable but bounded (single contract paragraph, no runtime surface yet).
[COMPLEXITY]: 25 — Low: a +10-line additive paragraph within an existing doc structure; no new code paths or cross-substrate integration.
[EFFORT_PROFILE]: Quick Win — High clarity-ROI, low complexity; closes a contract seam before consuming leaves start.

Exactly the seam #13063 asked for, verified against the #13062 boundary — approving. Nice discipline keeping it contract-layer-only.