agent_api_docs Railspike debug log

2026-10-20T21:40:43Z — Step 1 (Solution Assessment)

RAILSPIKE.md Railspike Debug Mode, project default: the .railspike_debug_on marker resolved the mode for a new workflow without asking the user. Retain.
step1_solution_assessment.md Structure, "Understood Intent": useful here because the query ("start with Cycle D") only makes sense with the checklist; let the artifact link scope instead of restating it. Retain.
RAILSPIKE.md Experimental Effort Estimation, "Unselected cycles require no score": the ledger check confirmed that no candidate is selected, so no snapshot was needed. Retain.

Follow-up Cycles Before Merge: no branch reuse yet; the current branch (feat/web-ui-instance-upgrade) is unrelated and the branch question is deferred to Step 4.

The Original Query rule ("preserve the request") is awkward when a request mainly refers to an earlier planning document (the onboarding checklist). It may help to clarify that linking to the referenced document satisfies the rule. Suggestion: clarify.

step2_feature_description.md Structure, "Shared component inventory": surfacing /api/version, FeatureFlagRegistry and the About links prevented duplicating an instance-facts source and adding visible copy. Retain.
step2_feature_description.md Structure, "Risks (2–4)": forced the Cycles A-C dependency into an explicit risk with a mitigation instead of a buried note. Retain.

"Known user or environment": the request names no specific user or machine; omitted.
Documentation-only scope fields: the work type is an application change.

The "≤1 page" limit is tight when the inventory has seven surfaces; the inventory names files, which edges toward the "no code details" guardrail. Suggestion: clarify whether naming the owning class is acceptable in the inventory.

step3_development_plan_do.md Structure, "Completion Contract": prompted a deployment check against zenmemes that Step 2 had not named. Retain.
step3_development_plan_do.md "Stages should be about <=1 hour or <=50 lines": surfaced that the route catalog is data-heavy; recorded as a stage risk instead of an artificial split. Retain.

step3_development_plan_before.md Before Checklist largely repeats RAILSPIKE.md commit discipline and debug-state rules already restored in Step 2. Suggestion: consolidate into a pointer.

The 50-line guideline does not distinguish data entries from logic. Suggestion: clarify that declarative data may exceed it.

step3_development_plan_do.md Completion Contract, "end-to-end outcome": requiring the worked example to run in tests caught a real documentation error (create_prepared_post needs record_path, post_id and author_identity_id echoed back), which a source-only review in Steps 1-3 had missed. Retain.
RAILSPIKE.md Enhancement Requests: recording the members-only gate change as an in-scope refinement, and asking first because it changed access policy, kept a policy change out of silent implementation. Retain.
step4_implementation_after.md item 7, "Identify reproduced baseline failures": comparing against the base commit and the runner's history kept 5 pre-existing failures from being reported as regressions. Retain.

Follow-up Cycles Before Merge: a new branch from origin/main was used, not reuse.
Documentation-only scope checks: application change.

The organization rule assumes the planning commit's links resolve. Step 1 linked an untracked source checklist; the user's mid-cycle request to commit it to main resolved this here. Suggestion: clarify how to handle approved plans that link to uncommitted source documents.
Step 3 required a "skip with reason" for missing gpg, but the host runner has no skip mechanism. Suggestion: clarify that Step 3 verification plans should be checked against the host test runner's capabilities.