governance: eliminate repeated AI stop and confirmation loops

.ai/NEXT-ACTION-OPTIONS.md

@@ -4,27 +4,25 @@ This repository adopts the Vertex Systems Network interactive AI-development han
 
 ## User-facing handoff
 
-Do not hand control back merely because an internal milestone completed, one lane became blocked, or one external check is waiting. While execution can continue and at least one safe authorized task exists, synchronize durable progress and continue automatically; do not pre-estimate a host/token budget as a stopping rule.
+This repository overrides interactive-choice handoffs in favor of autonomous continuation.
 
-Expose 1 to 3 currently valid next actions only at a **terminal execution-window handoff**, and only after the mandatory fallback work scan in `AGENTS.md` proves no safe automatic lane remains. A completed milestone, waiting CI/provider lane, repairable failure, available maintenance task, state drift, or host-token conservation preference is not a valid reason to present options. Do not emit next-action options after internal continuous Fast-Batch progress updates or routine milestone boundaries.
-
-- Always include the canonical/recommended next action, but do not bind it permanently to option 1.
-- When two or more valid options exist, reshuffle the visible 1/2/3 numbering on every handoff.
-- If the previously selected action identity and number are known, that same action must move to a different visible number on the next handoff. With only one valid action, number reuse is allowed.
-- Mark the canonical action as **Recommended**. Numbering is ephemeral presentation state and never changes priority, safety, scope, or authorization.
-- A reply containing only an option number starts the corresponding continuous execution window. Re-read current repository state before any mutation. If the option became stale or unsafe, fail closed on that option and continue/recompute any other safe authorized path; show new options only if no safe automatic path remains.
-- Interactive buttons may be used when the host supports them; otherwise numbered one-line options are the mandatory fallback.
+- Do **not** present numbered 1/2/3 engineering choices during ordinary development, after milestone completion, after CI failure, after a merge, during external waits, or because compact state moved.
+- Run the mandatory fallback work scan and select the highest-priority safe authorized action automatically.
+- At a genuine terminal condition, report the exact blocker/status without asking the owner to choose between engineering tasks.
+- Ask a single minimal concrete question only when a user-owned fact, secret, legal/commercial decision, explicit new product scope, or separately protected destructive/provider/production/release/migration authority is actually required and no independent safe lane remains.
+- If the user explicitly asks for options, up to 3 current safe choices may be shown; otherwise autonomous execution is the default.
+- A numeric reply, when the user explicitly requested options earlier, starts the selected continuous execution window after fresh revalidation.
 
 ## URL-only repository entry
 
-When the user's message contains only this repository's canonical GitHub URL (optionally with surrounding whitespace), treat it as a read-only development entry request.
+When the user's message contains only this repository's canonical GitHub URL (optionally with surrounding whitespace), treat it as a **resume/rehydration entry**, not as a forced choice prompt.
 
 1. Resolve the repository and default/protected branch.
-2. Read this repository's durable/current state and governing instructions.
-3. Reconcile open Issues first, then open PRs, then any repository-specific coordination/runner state required by local rules.
-4. Do **not** create a branch, commit, PR, merge, deployment, provider call, destructive action, or other mutation from the URL alone.
-5. Respond with 1 to 3 shuffled valid next-action options and mark the canonical one **Recommended**.
-6. The user's subsequent number selection initiates the normal fully revalidated development turn.
+2. Read durable/current state and governing instructions.
+3. Reconcile OPEN Issues first, then OPEN PRs, reviews/checks, coordination and Runner state.
+4. If safe authorized work exists under current repository/standing maintenance authority, continue it automatically using Continuous Fast-Batch.
+5. Do not invent new product scope, bypass protected authority, or perform destructive/provider/production/release/migration actions merely from a URL.
+6. If no safe automatic lane exists, return terminal status. Do not ask the user to choose engineering options unless the user explicitly requested options; ask only for a genuinely required user-owned fact or authority.
 
 ## Safety and local authority
 

AGENTS.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Repository-native authority outranks chat memory, generated plans, Linear commen
 
 A lower layer cannot broaden a higher layer. One repository cannot authorize changes in another repository.
 
-At the current post-M13 checkpoint, no repository-native M14 product implementation authority exists. GitHub Issue #50 is the current planning/product-authority gate only; it authorizes no product implementation until a concrete owner-approved scope names the acceptance evidence and exact starting Git state. Do not invent M14 features, migrations, APIs, UI, release changes or product scope until that authority exists.
+Historical GitHub Issue #50 is closed and must **not** be treated as a live approval gate or a reason to prompt the owner. Resolve current authority from protected `main`, currently accepted OPEN Issues/PRs, and current repository architecture/status contracts. The active M14 release-trust/configuration lane is tracked by Issue #62; it does not authorize unrelated new product features. New product scope outside currently accepted repository-native authority still requires an explicit owner-approved scope, but stale or closed authority records must be reconciled automatically rather than surfaced as a user-confirmation request.
 
 ## Compact durable state and source of truth
 
@@ -58,6 +58,30 @@ Never weaken tests, security, review, tenant isolation, release trust, destructi
 
 A single blocked lane, pending CI run, provider wait, unavailable credential, external approval, or deferred task must **not** stop the whole execution window when another safe authorized task exists. Mark the lane `WAITING_EXTERNAL` or `BLOCKED`, preserve evidence, and continue elsewhere.
 
+### User-prompt suppression and authority reconciliation
+
+For ordinary repository development, maintenance, CI repair, review resolution, dependency maintenance, state reconciliation, and next-safe-task selection, the default interaction is **execute, not ask**.
+
+Before requesting any user decision:
+1. reconcile protected `main`, OPEN Issues, OPEN PRs, current reviews/checks, compact state, and the standing maintenance authority;
+2. discard closed/superseded authority records as live gates;
+3. automatically choose the highest-priority safe authorized lane;
+4. if the current lane needs unavailable external/user/protected authority, mark only that lane blocked and run the fallback scan;
+5. request user input only when **all** safe authorized lanes are exhausted and the missing item is genuinely user-owned or cannot legally/safely be inferred (for example a secret, legal/commercial decision, new product scope, or separately protected destructive/provider/production/release/migration authority).
+
+Do not ask the owner to choose between multiple safe engineering tasks. Do not turn repository drift, a closed historical Issue, CI failure, stale state, branch movement, merge completion, or an external wait into a confirmation prompt.
+
+### Committed state is a semantic checkpoint, not a live transaction ledger
+
+Committed `docs/ai-state/CURRENT-STATE.yaml` and the README progress block must remain valid across a PR merge without requiring an immediate follow-up state-only PR.
+
+- Live PR number, working branch, check run IDs, merge SHA, and exact post-merge pointer state come from GitHub at runtime and belong on PR/Issue evidence surfaces.
+- `active_pr`, `active_branch`, `observed_main_sha`, and merge metadata in committed compact state are resume hints only, never authority for deciding whether to prompt or stop.
+- Committed state should use stable semantic work/module/blocker/continuation text that remains truthful before and after the current PR merges.
+- Do not create a new PR solely to change a just-merged PR number, branch name, merge SHA, check-run identity, or `Last Completed` transaction sentence.
+- README's compact AI progress block must exclude volatile PR/branch/merge transaction fields. It mirrors stable semantic progress; live transaction facts are read from GitHub when reporting status.
+- A follow-up source mutation is justified only by a substantive code/governance/documentation change or real semantic status change, not by the fact that the previous PR merged.
+
 ### Mandatory fallback work scan — no idle
 
 Before any voluntary terminal handoff, perform a fresh repository-wide safe-work scan. Use this deterministic priority order:
@@ -126,7 +150,7 @@ Before every material read-write sequence:
 3. re-read this contract and the exact issue/specification that grants authority;
 4. compare working state with current protected `main`;
 5. inspect required checks, review state, unresolved conversations, and authorization boundaries when a PR exists;
-6. stop and rehydrate if main/head/scope/governance/authorization moved materially;
+6. if main/head/scope/governance/authorization moved materially, rehydrate immediately inside the same execution window, recompute the safe lane, and continue automatically; do not hand control back merely because repository state moved;
 7. never treat a previously green SHA as evidence for a newer head.
 
 ## Product and architecture

README.md

@@ -6,17 +6,14 @@ WorkIntel is a single Laravel 13 + React/TypeScript workforce operations platfor
 ## AI Development Progress
 
 - **Repo:** `Vertex-Systems-Network/workforce-intelligence`
-- **Current Work:** PR #146 README M14 subtask table is open; exact-head CI and Windows Certification exposed a failing README/compact-state synchronization contract, and the docs/state repair is in progress.
+- **Current Work:** M14 release-trust evidence remains partially external; repository development continues through automatic live-PR/Issue reconciliation, CI repair, maintenance, and fallback work without routine owner prompts.
 - **Current Module:** M14 — Production Release Trust & Real-Target Readiness
 - **Module Progress:** [███████░░░] **70%**
 - **Overall Progress:** [██████████] **100%** — active release-scope modular maturity
 - **Active Issue:** #62
-- **Active PR:** #146
-- **Active Branch:** `docs/m14-readme-subtask-progress-20261008`
-- **Last Completed:** PR #144 merged to protected main as 33411a06b2585705880181f056d7b42d3bdf7458 after all six required PR-head checks passed on 989ededc74ce6bc72191ca740ae313aae64babde.
-- **Next Action:** Synchronize the README AI progress block with compact state in PR #146, then require exact-head CI, Code Quality and Windows Certification to pass before merge. Keep M14 at 70%; external release-policy, signing, publication, real-target and restore evidence remain unverified, deferred or not run.
+- **Next Action:** On every resume, reconcile live GitHub OPEN PRs and Issues first and automatically repair/review/merge the highest-priority safe authorized lane. If M14 Issue #62 remains externally blocked, continue the deterministic fallback ladder without asking the owner to choose routine engineering work. Ask only when all safe lanes are exhausted and a genuinely user-owned fact, new product/legal-commercial decision, or separately protected authority is required.
 
-> Apple/macOS release trust is deferred to future Issue #123 and is not represented as complete. Overall progress is scoped to active release-scope modular maturity.
+> Live PR number, working branch, check run IDs, and merge SHA are intentionally read from GitHub at runtime rather than committed here. Apple/macOS release trust remains deferred under Issue #123.
 <!-- AI-PROGRESS:END -->
 
 
@@ -39,7 +36,7 @@ WorkIntel is a single Laravel 13 + React/TypeScript workforce operations platfor
 
 ## Audit snapshot and incomplete tracked work
 
-This continuation index reflects the state observed on **2026-10-08** at protected `main` `dfb4fc7ec9536a304b7df582027968dc60f3e53a`. GitHub Issues, PRs, `AGENTS.md`, and exact-head checks remain authoritative.
+This continuation index reflects the repository's 2026-10-08 semantic state. Live protected-`main`, PR, branch and check identities are resolved from GitHub at runtime rather than embedded here as continuation gates. GitHub Issues, PRs, `AGENTS.md`, and exact-head checks remain authoritative.
 
 | Priority | Work item | Current state | Completion condition |
 |---|---|---|---|

docs/ai-state/COORDINATION-QUEUE.yaml

@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
   "schema_version": 1,
   "non_authoritative_resume_index": true,
   "repository": "Vertex-Systems-Network/workforce-intelligence",
-  "observed_main_sha": "33411a06b2585705880181f056d7b42d3bdf7458",
+  "observed_main_sha": "09e9dac0d09b5ac8521006721001eca9611f5c8a",
   "reconciled_at": "2026-10-08",
   "issues": [
     {
       "number": 62,
       "title": "M14 external release configuration — immutable tags and production-release gate",
       "state": "open",
-      "action": "owner-deferred-provider-signing;gate-a-a2-verified;remaining-admin-target-evidence-open"
+      "action": "gate-a-a2-verified;remaining-admin-target-evidence-waiting-external;provider-signing-deferred"
     },
     {
       "number": 70,
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@
     {
       "number": 146,
       "title": "docs(m14): track release-trust subtasks in README",
-      "state": "open",
+      "state": "merged",
       "draft": false,
       "head_ref": "docs/m14-readme-subtask-progress-20261008",
-      "head_sha": "d9793944dde9fdada1cf3041bc01bf1160504796",
-      "action": "repair-readme-compact-state-sync-before-recertification"
+      "head_sha": "c2ad9c6cd4a309e9daefc3717bfaf26a98b2cb8b",
+      "base_sha": "33411a06b2585705880181f056d7b42d3bdf7458",
+      "action": "all-three-exact-head-checks-green;resulting-main-09e9dac0d09b5ac8521006721001eca9611f5c8a"
     },
     {
       "number": 144,