ISSUE-WP-0004: align issue-core with the work-record canon (connector, not landing zone)
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INTENT.md currently claims to be 'a single, observable place where tasks
land' -- exactly the landing-zone role CUST-WP-0060's founder-reviewed
architecture draft (WorkOrchestrationArchitectureDraft.md v0.2, section
4.2) assigned away from issue-core, decided while reviewing the live
incident this repo caused: activity-core's daily-todo-md-stale-review
routed through IssueSink -> issue-core -> Forgejo, producing 5 issues
nobody was meant to see (now paused).

5 tasks: rewrite INTENT.md/SCOPE.md/README/ROADMAP for the connector
framing (work records originate as repo files per ADR-001; issue-core
is the optional external-tracker projection), design (not implement)
the UUID<->external-id mapping surface, and file the activity-core-side
follow-up to fix the IssueSink default. Docs-only scope; stage-3
implementation work stays in the-custodian.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
tegwick 2026-07-21 00:08:52 +02:00
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---
id: ISSUE-WP-0004
type: workplan
title: "Align issue-core with the work-record canon (connector, not landing zone)"
domain: infotech
repo: issue-core
status: ready
owner: codex
topic_slug: infotech
created: "2026-07-20"
updated: "2026-07-20"
---
# Align issue-core with the work-record canon (connector, not landing zone)
## Origin
The-custodian's `canon/standards/work-record-types_v0.1.md` (ratified
2026-07-20, `CUST-WP-0060`) and its architecture draft
(`research/WorkOrchestrationArchitectureDraft.md` v0.2, founder-reviewed
2026-07-20, §4.2) settled issue-core's fleet role — a decision made *while
reviewing a live incident this repo caused*: `activity-core`'s
`daily-todo-md-stale-review` ActivityDefinition routed its findings through
`IssueSink` → issue-core → Forgejo, producing 5 issues nobody was meant to
see (Forgejo issue tracking is not the fleet coordination mechanism). That
activity is now paused pending a proper fix (`the-custodian`
technical-debt-adjacent follow-up in `CUST-WP-0060`'s closure review, item 6).
**issue-core's current `INTENT.md` directly contradicts the agreed role.**
It states: *"The Coulomb org needs a single, observable place where tasks
land — regardless of whether they were created by a human ... an automation
like activity-core ... or by an agent."* That is precisely the
landing-zone role the fleet decided issue-core should **not** hold — work
records originate as repo files per ADR-001; issue-core was never meant to
be an alternative origin.
**Founder-reviewed decision (verbatim, `WorkOrchestrationArchitectureDraft.md`
§4.2, "issue-core: third-party connector, not core loop"):**
> issue-core's role is a **connector framework to external issue-tracking
> systems** (Forgejo issues, Jira, GitHub, …): it maintains the mapping
> between internal work-record UUIDs and external issue ids and provides
> two-way, transclusion-like sync *at the boundary* when we collaborate
> through a third-party tracker. It is not part of the internal execution
> loop — claiming and execution run on work records directly (harness
> intake via NATS/activity-core per its stated target). Until an external
> integration is actually switched on, the connector layer adds zero load.
This workplan brings issue-core's own docs, scope, and (where cheap) code
in line with that decision. It does not remove issue-core's existing
capability — Gitea/GitHub backend CRUD stays useful — it retargets *what
issue-core is for*.
## Task: Rewrite INTENT.md — connector, not landing zone
Replace the "single, observable place where tasks land" framing with the
connector framing above. Keep the honest history (it *was* built as a
landing zone; note the pivot and why, dated). Update the "What it is NOT"
section to explicitly add: *not the origin of work records; work records
originate as repo files per ADR-001 (`the-custodian/canon/architecture/
adr-001-workplans-as-repo-artefacts.md`) — issue-core provides the
external-tracker projection when one is in use.* Green lane (docs only).
```task
id: ISSUE-WP-0004-T01
status: todo
priority: high
```
## Task: Rewrite SCOPE.md — mapping table, not ingestion primary path
Current SCOPE.md lists activity-core's `POST /issues/` `TaskSpec` path as
"Primary integration." Reframe: CLI/REST ingestion stays for direct
human/backend use, but the *primary* fleet path is no longer "automation
emits a task into issue-core" — it is "a work record exists in a repo
file; issue-core optionally projects it to an external tracker and tracks
the UUID ↔ external-id mapping." Add an explicit mapping-table concept to
scope (internal work-record UUID ↔ backend issue id), even if not yet
implemented — name the target shape before building it. Green lane.
```task
id: ISSUE-WP-0004-T02
status: todo
priority: high
```
## Task: Audit and update README / ROADMAP for the same framing
`README.md`'s "Why Issue Tracking for Agent Coordination?" section and
`ROADMAP.md`'s feature trajectory both currently assume issue-core is the
coordination substrate. Update both to point at the work-record canon as
the coordination substrate and issue-core as its optional external-tracker
bridge. Cross-link `the-custodian/canon/standards/work-record-types_v0.1.md`
and the architecture draft. Green lane.
```task
id: ISSUE-WP-0004-T03
status: todo
priority: medium
```
## Task: Design the UUID ↔ external-id mapping surface (design only)
Specify (not implement) how issue-core will record the internal work-record
UUID alongside the backend issue id it creates, so a future
`kind: intake` (or any) work record can carry a
`state_hub_*_id`-style back-reference to its external-tracker projection —
mirroring the pattern already used for workplan/task UUIDs. Note where this
intersects `TaskSpec.triggering_event_id` (currently the only
traceability field) and whether it should be superseded or extended.
Output: a design note in `docs/`, no code yet — implementation is stage-3
scope in the-custodian's work-record architecture, not this workplan.
Green lane.
```task
id: ISSUE-WP-0004-T04
status: todo
priority: medium
```
## Task: Fix activity-core's IssueSink call site to match
`activity-core`'s `issue_sink.py` (`IssueCoreRestSink`) currently treats
`POST /issues/` as the default, always-on path for any matched rule
(`ISSUE_SINK_TYPE=rest` is the deployment default). Once T01T03 land here,
open the corresponding activity-core-side task: the default sink should not
silently create Forgejo issues for internal findings. Cross-repo — this
task in issue-core is to **file that follow-up** (workplan or task in
activity-core, referencing this workplan and `CUST-WP-0060` item 6), not to
implement the activity-core change itself. Green lane.
```task
id: ISSUE-WP-0004-T05
status: todo
priority: medium
```