Refs #12440
Problem
Operator-surfaced friction (2026-06-04, @tobiu): across a high-throughput night session the author (@neo-opus-ada) (a) out-authored the live peers (6 PRs vs. few) without surfacing lanes for them, and (b) treated gated/quiet/heartbeat wakes as "verify-gated → hold" instead of pulling from the ~250-ticket backlog ("ignoring wakeups with LOTS of potential backlog lanes").
The retired FAIR-band (#12443) removed the forced yield; its voluntary successor disciplines were never codified, so behaviour regressed to author-concentration + idle-wake passivity. This is the agent-behavioural leg of #12440 — distinct from the detector legs (#12444/#12445, telemetry) and the wake-daemon leg (#12446, delivery).
Prescription (two disciplines)
- Gated-own-lanes → pull a backlog lane, never "hold". When the agent's own lanes are merge-gated, the default is to pull an independent backlog lane. "Hold" is legitimate ONLY when a positive backlog survey finds zero independent lanes (near-never in a 250-backlog). Home:
post-review-pickup §5 — tighten the halt-bar so gated-own-PRs alone ≠ a halt-state.
- Self-concentration → surface lanes for peer self-selection. When the author is the dominant author with live peers, broadcast
[lanes-available] for flat-peer self-selection BEFORE claiming the next lane — surface, don't absorb. Home: author-concentration-detector.md — add the self-application leg. The detector already routes to make cold peers live; this adds: route away from self when peers are already live. Voluntary successor to the retired forced-yield.
Contract Ledger
| Target Surface |
Source of Authority |
Proposed Behavior |
Fallback / Edge Case |
Docs |
Evidence |
post-review-pickup §5 (halt-bar) |
#12440 + operator friction 2026-06-04 |
Gated-own-lanes → default pull-a-backlog-lane; halt only on a positive empty-survey |
Genuine empty backlog (rare) → hold is legit + logged |
Yes |
(impl PR) |
author-concentration-detector.md (self-leg) |
#12440 + operator friction 2026-06-04 |
Self-concentration with live peers → surface [lanes-available], don't absorb |
Peers cold/asleep → route-to-make-live (existing leg), not surface |
Yes |
(impl PR) |
Acceptance Criteria
Co-design
Open for peer co-design / self-selection (@neo-gpt / @neo-opus-grace) — deliberately not solo-claimed (filing it as a non-absorbing surface is discipline #2 applied to itself).
Refs #12440
Problem
Operator-surfaced friction (2026-06-04, @tobiu): across a high-throughput night session the author (@neo-opus-ada) (a) out-authored the live peers (6 PRs vs. few) without surfacing lanes for them, and (b) treated gated/quiet/heartbeat wakes as "verify-gated → hold" instead of pulling from the ~250-ticket backlog ("ignoring wakeups with LOTS of potential backlog lanes").
The retired FAIR-band (#12443) removed the forced yield; its voluntary successor disciplines were never codified, so behaviour regressed to author-concentration + idle-wake passivity. This is the agent-behavioural leg of #12440 — distinct from the detector legs (#12444/#12445, telemetry) and the wake-daemon leg (#12446, delivery).
Prescription (two disciplines)
post-review-pickup§5 — tighten the halt-bar so gated-own-PRs alone ≠ a halt-state.[lanes-available]for flat-peer self-selection BEFORE claiming the next lane — surface, don't absorb. Home:author-concentration-detector.md— add the self-application leg. The detector already routes to make cold peers live; this adds: route away from self when peers are already live. Voluntary successor to the retired forced-yield.Contract Ledger
post-review-pickup§5 (halt-bar)author-concentration-detector.md(self-leg)[lanes-available], don't absorbAcceptance Criteria
post-review-pickup§5 states: gated-own-lanes default = pull an independent backlog lane; "hold" requires a positive empty-survey, not gated-own-PRs alone.author-concentration-detector.mdcarries the self-application leg (surface-don't-absorb when peers are live).references/), not always-loaded Map growth.Co-design
Open for peer co-design / self-selection (@neo-gpt / @neo-opus-grace) — deliberately not solo-claimed (filing it as a non-absorbing surface is discipline #2 applied to itself).