Markdown task lists — Railspike diagnostics

Intake — 2026-10-23T15:29:13.048146+00:00

Debug mode: enabled by the host root .railspike_debug_on file presence; contents not read. New cycle after the list branch merged; no merged-branch reuse.

Study intake — 2026-10-23T15:27:08.985104+00:00

Standing enrollment: railspike-effort / v3/markdown_task_lists, scope v1, baseline 682ab5b40179624b86b9c53ad3fd7dba98ccec69, R1/P2, Codex single exposed rater. Intake total 0.35 for bounded read-only task presentation with existing list/link/parser and delivery infrastructure, theme/accessibility and publication recovery checks. Prior renderer work, measured task totals and calibration examples were visible before intake; no pristine or independent-rater claim. All three frozen R1 hashes verified including historical feedback at 4f6cfe2b436fae8d939b1349fe724a3879ee0a0e. No implementation, measured labor, accepted outcome or accepted-count change.

The intake preceded this cycle's detailed list-rendering/style/sample-source inspection, but inherited substantial prior renderer/metrics/calibration exposure. It is an exposed judgment rather than pristine/independent scoring.

Step 1 — 2026-10-23T15:29:13.048146+00:00

Necessary/useful instructions

• Step 1 options and vertical slice: compared native disabled state with custom symbols, recommending read-only native presentation through ordinary dynamic/static Docs and recoverable publication. Retain.

• Source metrics and scope: refreshed candidates using existing project-owned scanner against tracked catalog-eligible Markdown at the merged revision; 1,182 candidates in 47 distinct documents replace the older recommendation count without claiming semantic render success. Initial scope follows measured unordered items; code/source fallbacks remain literal. Retain.

• Enhancement Requests and dependency policy: wider Docs layout stays deferred; no editing, persistence, copied parser, new component or dependency proposed. No branch reuse inferred. Retain.

• Continuing study: separate stable ID/intake and total projection, frozen R1 source hashes and prior exposure retained; no parent outcome or accepted-count inflation. Retain.

Redundant/unnecessary instructions

No supported findings.

Inapplicable instructions

Step 4 branch/commits, runtime modifications and UI acceptance do not apply to this Step 1-only handoff. No new tests or renderer output changes claimed. Source scanning is assessment evidence, not an application change or full-suite result.

Uncertain assessments

Native disabled controls need real contrast/accessibility and link-navigation validation; Step 2 must define naming and marker-position boundaries. Existing source-only lists deliberately keep raw markers; future ordered-task support would need explicit scope rather than extrapolation from unordered candidate counts. No screen-reader/platform guarantee inferred from native semantics alone.

Study checkpoint

Stable v3/markdown_task_lists, v1/R1/P2, baseline 682ab5b40179624b86b9c53ad3fd7dba98ccec69, Codex single exposed rater. Intake 0.35, Step 1 0.35 total reaffirmed after source/style inspection and refreshed scan. Includes all planning, bounded task-state presentation, existing inline/list security regressions, theme/phone/keyboard checks, corpus and actual copied-package publication/failure recovery plus documentation. Same R1 anchor verified: report d3a30b6400b83bb25283b4234b41ba07515df9a696ea44de59c10186103771b0, diff 068b3519326e08a939df40b5abe0106ddcbab80bd796616c76b5084a21462b84, feedback ef335604ecd5b51e5c04067d88e4d6f01cb4fdb21b8f4d7dba7b5b90e4012bfc from 4f6cfe2b436fae8d939b1349fe724a3879ee0a0e. No measured labor, independent rating, retrospective completion score, implementation, acceptance or accepted-count change. Parent list functional acceptance and parent removal-retention limits remain distinct records.

Step 2

Recorded 2026-10-23T17:27:24.755117+00:00. Debug mode remains enabled. User explicitly replied Approved Step 1; feature description only, no implementation or Step 3 drafting.

Necessary/useful instructions

• Step 2 scope and completion boundary: fixed marker position/spacing/nonempty label, unordered-only support, one conversion per item, first-paragraph accessible name and immutable disabled state. Retain.

• Shared inventory and risks: preserves canonical inline/link/list behavior and ordinary dynamic/static delivery; disabled contrast/naming and task-link activation need early browser evidence. Retain.

• Enhancement/dependency rules: ordered task support, wider Docs layout, editing/persistence and new components remain outside this slice; no new request inferred from approval. Retain.

Redundant/unnecessary instructions

No supported findings.

Inapplicable instructions

No implementation branch/commit, schema/navigation change, source rewrite, external component, named-device failure, deployment or recovery-storage cleanup. Runtime/UI acceptance is not claimed during planning; native semantics alone do not prove assistive-technology behavior.

Uncertain assessments

Task labels must not swallow links, grandchildren or later paragraphs; implementation must preserve normal navigation and verify names without duplicate identifiers. Native disabled appearance needs real theme contrast review and no added explanatory UI text. Empty/unsupported/source-only forms remain literal rather than inventing labels or expanding list compatibility.

Study checkpoint

railspike-effort / v3/markdown_task_lists, scope v1 clarified/R1/P2, baseline 682ab5b40179624b86b9c53ad3fd7dba98ccec69, Codex single exposed rater. Intake/Step 1 0.35 retained; Step 2 0.35 total reaffirmed including all planning, bounded canonical task presentation, link/security/ownership regressions, accessible naming/state/immutability, phone/theme/corpus and copied-publication/recovery evidence plus documentation. Existing supported-list and publication/browser infrastructure is reused; no broader parser change. R1 report/diff and exact feedback at 4f6cfe2b436fae8d939b1349fe724a3879ee0a0e hashes reverified. No measured labor, independent rating, retrospective completion score, implementation, acceptance or accepted-count change. Parent functional acceptances and historical-retention limits remain separate.

Step 3

Recorded 2026-10-23T17:44:31.329348+00:00. Debug mode remains enabled. User explicitly approved Step 2 and separately requested a todo.txt entry for an in-page Markdown-checkbox counter. Before/Do/After instructions read; draft plan remains uncommitted, no implementation.

Necessary/useful instructions

• Step 3 Completion Contract/Key Risks: normal named read-only state, independent links, literal/source boundaries and real package recovery remain the outcome. Retain.

• Stage sizing/dependencies: four bounded stages separate rendering/boundaries, accessible immutable UI, publication recovery and corpus/closeout evidence; unresolved naming/contrast risks block delivery. Retain.

• Enhancement Requests and root todo rule: explicit user request authorizes the narrow backlog edit; recorded checked/total counter in todo.txt and separate commit ee0f5b173, without including it in task-rendering scope or allocating a new implementation cycle. Retain.

• Planning-commit gate: approved plans/debug log and necessary organization only; keep metrics/substantive ledger/summary for authorized stage work. Counter backlog commit is separate, not a planning or implementation stage. Retain.

Redundant/unnecessary instructions

No supported findings.

Inapplicable instructions

No counter implementation, wider-column change, schema/navigation change, dependency addition, source rewrite, named-device failure, deployment or recovery disposal. No runtime/UI acceptance claimed in this planning-only turn.

Uncertain assessments

Native disabled contrast and label/link interaction still need real browser evidence; browser accessibility checks do not establish physical assistive-technology acceptance. Source candidates need classification against rendered output; a supported-source count is not a guarantee all candidates become controls. Stage sizing is prospective; split oversized work before implementation and reapprove changed scope.

Study checkpoint

Stable v3/markdown_task_lists, v1 clarified/R1/P2, baseline 682ab5b40179624b86b9c53ad3fd7dba98ccec69, Codex single exposed rater. Intake/Steps 1–2 0.35 retained; Step 3 0.35 total reaffirmed after accounting for four stages including all theme/accessibility/corpus/dynamic-static/copied-publication recovery and documentation. Four planned/zero completed implementation stages. Exact R1 report/diff and feedback from 4f6cfe2b436fae8d939b1349fe724a3879ee0a0e hashes reverified. The separately requested todo-only commit is not an implementation or accepted study outcome, does not change the application baseline or authorize a counter, and does not expand the projection. No measured labor, independent rating, retrospective completion score, acceptance or accepted-count change.

Step 4 complete — 2026-10-23T18:28:43.517810+00:00

Debug mode remains enabled, inherited from approved Step 3. Branch feature/markdown-task-lists, planning 2dc733152, stages a6d2591b6, 214612173, c908ec4aa, 42178d76c. Four planned/four completed stages; technical local result complete. Maintainer acceptance, full suite, deployment and physical assistive-technology/devices remain unverified.

Necessary/useful instructions

• Step 4 Before planning gate: organized approved plans/debug log and index before code, excluding metrics/substantive ledger/summary until stage work. Reconciled newer main while preserving the explicitly requested todo counter note and unrelated untracked research. Retain.

• Step 4 Do stage gates: each stage has verification and its summary in a separate commit before dependent work. Parsing/naming boundaries preceded browser/contrast, actual publication/recovery and corpus acceptance. Retain.

• Completion Contract and CONTRIBUTING UI verification: real named checkbox role/state, pointer/Space immutability, Tab skipping, task links, source download equality and four-theme phone screenshots verify presentation instead of inferring usability from source strings. Retain.

• Stable publication snapshots: isolated source/docs/tests prevented unrelated research edits from invalidating active inventory builds; source hashes establish the tested renderer/CSS match this checkout. Full/shared CLI publication, 503 injection, active-release retention and restoration passed. Retain.

• Corpus and study contracts: all 47 measured task documents independently account for checked/unchecked candidates; 1,109 native displays plus 73 source candidates. Native semantics and parsed labels are distinguished from actual browser checks and unperformed physical AT review. Entry/projected 0.35 is retained separately from retrospective 0.40 and unknown maintainer fit. Retain.

Redundant/unnecessary instructions

No supported findings. The complete static inventory check takes several minutes but covers catalog/download/browse behavior beyond fast renderer fixtures; elapsed test duration is not measured labor or evidence of redundancy.

Inapplicable instructions

No new component/dependency, ordered-task extension, counter implementation, wider-column expansion, schema/navigation destination change, source rewrite, merge/push, production activation or recovery-storage disposal. Existing aria region labels and native task names add no visible explanatory legend. Full-suite and physical AT/device acceptance were not claimed.

Uncertain assessments and corrections

• Browse selector initially matched hidden recovery links; narrowed to the visible named Browse all link.

• Pointer checks initially waited for element stability during Space-driven page scrolling; instant positioning plus real pointer/key attempts removed the harness ambiguity, then the full matrix passed. No production workaround was introduced.

• Native disabled visual styling remains platform-dependent. Checked/unchecked distinction was inspected in all affected phone themes and desktop samples; no general contrast certification or physical screen-reader claim.

• Corpus classification is structural and source/state accounting, not exhaustive individual screenshot review. Future ordered/malformed/empty/source-only forms retain the approved literal boundary.

No new feature request or split. Counter remains only the separately authorized todo note ee0f5b173, unchanged. Unrelated research hashes remain unchanged; no research artifacts were committed. Exact frozen R1 sources reverified at closeout, same exposed single rater; no independent rating, measured labor, acceptance or accepted-count increment.

Step 4 UAT correction handoff — 2026-10-23

Debug remains enabled. User reported barely distinguishable states and requested a consolidated relevance-sorted Markdown checklist. Existing approved legibility/contrast requirement reopened; correction committed as fa1d750db, without amending completed stages or starting an optional-feature cycle.

Necessary/useful instructions

• Enhancement disposition before dependent work bounded this as the requested in-scope UAT correction. Native disabled inputs/labels remained canonical; only CSS painting changed. Counter/layout/optional syntax and recovery disposal stayed outside implementation.

• CONTRIBUTING rendered verification exposed Arena's transparent-panel tick failure; opaque page-color ticks resolved it. All 16 themes, Auto light/dark, LCD palettes and forced colors at phone/desktop passed 46 dynamic plus 46 generated cases. All state pairs inspected and generated pairs pixel-identical. Eight final generated reader regressions, 52 PHP cases and actual shared CLI refresh passed. Preserve prior native-paint failure alongside renewed evidence rather than erase it.

• Checklist distinguishes implemented work, pending user acceptance/publication, explicit requests, optional decisions and retained history/recovery limits. Plan index/local links and corrected runbook verified. No todo edit or dependency delta.

• Study identity/reference and score preservation retained: same v3/markdown_task_lists/v1 clarified/R1/P2, baseline, exposed single rater; canonical R1 hashes verified. Projected 0.35 and separate retrospective 0.40 reaffirmed including ordinary correction. User visual failure is recorded; no invented acceptance, measured labor or accepted-count increment.

Redundant/unnecessary instructions

No supported findings.

Inapplicable instructions

No new parser/dependency/component, task editing/counter, wider layout, schema/navigation change, source rewrite, merge/push, production deployment or recovery deletion. No new planning approval gate applies to this explicitly requested in-scope correction. Existing stage commits remain intact; this is the separate log-only handoff after the correction/summary commit.

Uncertain assessments and corrections

The first expanded harness stalled in addStyleTag with JavaScript disabled; replaced it with the existing reader harness's explicit style-node insertion. The first expanded theme sweep then correctly detected Arena's transparent tick. Both were resolved before final 92-case evidence. Initial dynamic reader regression predates the Arena tick refinement; final generated reader regression and both final contrast sweeps use corrected CSS. Computed fixture contrast/Chromium screenshots do not establish general accessibility certification, full-suite success, physical-device/AT behavior or user acceptance. Those remain open, together with merge/publication and maintainer comfortable-fit judgment.