Downgrade per-item Created/Moved/Updated sync logs to DEBUG (#11477 follow-up)

Context

#11477 / PR #11480 added priority-based level filtering to logger.mjs + made the CLI default to logLevel: 'info'. That delivered the substrate prerequisite, but the per-item ✨ Created/📦 Moved/✅ Updated events remained at logger.info(...) level. Operator empirical 2026-05-16T18:35Z: post-#11480-merge npm run ai:sync-github-workflow STILL emits thousands of per-item INFO lines because the CLI default surfaces info-level output.

The original #11477 prescription was correct in intent (move per-item events to DEBUG) but couldn't land before PR #11480 added the logger filtering substrate. Now the filtering exists; the per-item downgrade can land.

Problem

CLI sync run with logLevel: 'info' (the default) produces ~35k+ lines on a clean-slate corpus (8.5k issues × per-item create logs + 2.8k PRs + 165 discussions + 166 release-notes × per-item create/move/update). Same operator-stated concern as the original #11477 ticket: "very intense ... would crush your context window."

Architectural Reality

Logger filtering is now real (post-#11480-merge). The level taxonomy:

• error always prints (always-on, fail-loud)
• warn — anomalies + recoverable errors ('⚠️ Could not sync...' etc.)
• info — phase headers + final summaries ('📥 Fetching issues...', '✨ Synced N modified...')
• debug — per-item events + GraphQL pagination details

Per-item events are operationally verbose-trace details — they belong at debug. Operators who want to see them opt-in via npm run ai:sync-github-workflow -- --verbose (already wired by PR #11480) or via NEO_LOG_LEVEL=debug.

The Fix

Downgrade in 4 syncer files:

• ai/services/github-workflow/sync/IssueSyncer.mjs:
  • '✨ Created #N: path' → logger.debug
  • '📦 Moved #N: oldPath → newPath' → logger.debug
  • '✅ Updated #N: path' → logger.debug
  • '🗑️ Removed dropped issue #N: ...' → logger.debug
• ai/services/github-workflow/sync/PullRequestSyncer.mjs:
  • '✨ Synced...' (per-item) → logger.debug
  • '📦 Moved PR #N: ...' → logger.debug
• ai/services/github-workflow/sync/DiscussionSyncer.mjs:
  • '📦 Moved Discussion #N: ...' → logger.debug
  • '✅ Synced discussion #N' → logger.debug
• ai/services/github-workflow/sync/ReleaseNotesSyncer.mjs:
  • '✅ Synced release notes for ${tagName}' → logger.debug

KEEP at INFO (operator visibility): phase headers (📥 Fetching ..., 🔄 Reconciling ...), final per-syncer summary ('✨ Synced N modified pull requests to disk.', '📦 Archived N closed issue(s)').

Acceptance Criteria

• All per-item create/move/update/remove event logs in the 4 syncers use logger.debug instead of logger.info.
• Phase headers + final per-syncer summaries remain at logger.info.
• warn/error levels untouched.
• Existing IssueSyncer + PullRequestSyncer + DiscussionSyncer + ReleaseNotesSyncer unit specs continue to pass (none assert on log level today).
• Operator empirical verification: post-merge npm run ai:sync-github-workflow produces ~O(phases + per-syncer-summaries) info lines instead of ~O(items); operator can scroll output without losing phase progression.
• npm run ai:sync-github-workflow -- --verbose continues to emit per-item events (now at debug level via logLevel: 'debug' set by the CLI flag).

Out of Scope

• Adding batch-summary INFO checkpoints (e.g., every N items processed) — original #11477 AC #4. Defer to a separate ticket if operators want progress signal between phase headers. The per-item DEBUG path provides per-item visibility on demand; phase headers + final summaries provide the bounded INFO progress narrative.
• Sibling KB/Memory-Core/Neural-Link loggers — same pattern may exist; separate sweep ticket if friction surfaces.
• Logger refactor (output sinks, file logging, structured JSON) — narrow scope to level reassignment.

Avoided Traps

• Adding --quiet flag: rejected — NEO_LOG_LEVEL=warn npm run ai:sync-github-workflow already achieves this via the env binding PR #11480 added.
• Removing per-item logs entirely: rejected — operators occasionally need per-item visibility for debugging stuck syncs; preserve via --verbose opt-in.
• Batch-summary checkpoints in this PR: deferred to keep scope tight; can land as a separate enhancement if INFO-level progress signal feels too sparse post-this-fix.

Related

• Direct parent: #11477 / PR #11480 (logger filtering substrate — landed; this ticket completes the prescription's other half)
• Empirical anchor: operator's 2026-05-16T18:35Z empirical paste post-#11480-merge showing per-item INFO logs still flooding
• Authority chain: my original #11477 prescription (info → debug) was correct in intent but couldn't land without #11477's logger filtering substrate first; @neo-gpt's V-B-A correction made it land in two stages instead of one

Origin Session ID: 0064efde-455e-4ecd-a26f-574381b3766a

Retrieval Hint: query_raw_memories(query="syncer per-item Created Moved Updated INFO downgrade DEBUG #11477 follow-up log volume")