os-sdlc: repair-bound exhaustion conflates test-infrastructure failures with production failures #521

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opened 2026-08-27 16:14:49 +00:00 by jared · 0 comments

jared commented

2026-08-27 16:14:49 +00:00

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During pb-mirror ticket #3 (2026-08-27), the poodr-implementation map's programmer-repair bound was exhausted (bound_exhausted:programmer-repair/fail) by a gate red the programmer role could not legally fix: a pre-existing test file (test/pb_mirror/binary_test.rb) errored on a missing require "minitest/mock" in test_helper — a test-infrastructure failure, and programmers never edit tests. Each repair round burned the bound with no reachable fix, and the implementation terminated even though production code was correct and later verified green. Related precedent: cc-os #475's bound_exhausted:test-writer/fail dead-end (green-when-red impasse) — same class of problem: the map's failure bounds don't distinguish 'agent failing at its job' from 'gate red for a cause outside the agent's authority'.

Possible directions: an escalation edge when the same gate failure repeats verbatim across repair rounds; a wiring/infra role allowed to touch test scaffolding; or gate output classification (production vs test-infra) feeding the fail edge.

Discoverer: /home/jared/dev/ruby-gems/pb-mirror, session 51f31316-ea77-459f-87b6-59d35472f56b, 2026-08-27. Pipeline dead-ended on an unfixable-by-role gate red; work finished manually outside the pipeline.

## Context During pb-mirror ticket #3 (2026-08-27), the poodr-implementation map's programmer-repair bound was exhausted (`bound_exhausted:programmer-repair/fail`) by a gate red the programmer role could not legally fix: a pre-existing test file (`test/pb_mirror/binary_test.rb`) errored on a missing `require "minitest/mock"` in test_helper — a test-infrastructure failure, and programmers never edit tests. Each repair round burned the bound with no reachable fix, and the implementation terminated even though production code was correct and later verified green. Related precedent: cc-os #475's bound_exhausted:test-writer/fail dead-end (green-when-red impasse) — same class of problem: the map's failure bounds don't distinguish 'agent failing at its job' from 'gate red for a cause outside the agent's authority'. Possible directions: an escalation edge when the same gate failure repeats verbatim across repair rounds; a wiring/infra role allowed to touch test scaffolding; or gate output classification (production vs test-infra) feeding the fail edge. -------- **Discoverer:** /home/jared/dev/ruby-gems/pb-mirror, session 51f31316-ea77-459f-87b6-59d35472f56b, 2026-08-27. Pipeline dead-ended on an unfixable-by-role gate red; work finished manually outside the pipeline.

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jared/cc-os#521

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