approved-plan-continuity-hard-gate/docs/plans/2026-04-24-approved-plan-continuity-hard-gate.md

Approved-Plan Continuity Hard-Gate Implementation Plan

For Claude: REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task.

Goal: Prevent approved-plan flows from stopping after a task completes by requiring a real next-dispatch receipt unless the workflow explicitly transitions to waiting_user, blocked, or pending_verification.

Architecture: Build this in very small slices. First define continuity receipt fields and failure states, then pin the continuity failure with fail-first tests, then implement a minimal evaluator, then bind planner output to real dispatch receipts, then enforce reply-closure continuity. Keep every slice narrow enough to verify in isolation.

Tech Stack: Node.js, MJS test runners, file-backed JSON receipts, force-recall hook integration

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Task 1: Define continuity receipt fields

Files:

• Create: docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md

Step 1: Write only the receipt field list

• Define:
  • planId
  • currentTask
  • nextDerivedAction
  • dispatchedAt

Step 2: Verify file exists Run: test -f docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md && echo OK Expected: OK

Step 3: Commit

git add docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md
git commit -m "docs: define continuity dispatch receipt core fields"

Task 2: Define receipt linkage fields

Files:

• Modify: docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md

Step 1: Add linkage fields

• Define:
  • dispatchRunId
  • childSessionKey
  • replyClosureState

Step 2: Verify field names exist Run: grep -n "dispatchRunId\|childSessionKey\|replyClosureState" docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md Expected: matching lines found

Step 3: Commit

git add docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md
git commit -m "docs: define continuity receipt linkage fields"

Task 3: Define legal terminal states

Files:

• Modify: docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md

Step 1: Add legal closure states

• Define the only legal non-dispatch closures:
  • waiting_user
  • blocked
  • pending_verification

Step 2: Verify text exists Run: grep -n "waiting_user\|blocked\|pending_verification" docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md Expected: matching lines found

Step 3: Commit

git add docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md
git commit -m "docs: define legal approved-plan terminal states"

Task 4: Create continuity gate script skeleton

Files:

• Create: scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Add CLI skeleton

• Support --input and placeholder JSON output.

Step 2: Verify it runs Run: node scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs --compact --input /dev/null || true Expected: placeholder response or controlled failure

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "chore: add approved-plan continuity gate skeleton"

Task 5: Create continuity gate test skeleton

Files:

• Create: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Add test harness skeleton

• Basic runner + fixture helper only.

Step 2: Verify it runs Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs || true Expected: test runner executes

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: add continuity gate test skeleton"

Task 6: Add fail-first test for missing dispatch receipt

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• task complete
• next action known
• no dispatch receipt
• not waiting/blocked/pending_verification
• expect continuity failure

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: fail when approved plan step stops without dispatch receipt"

Task 7: Add pass test for existing dispatch receipt

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• task complete
• next action known
• dispatch receipt exists
• expect pass

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL until evaluator exists

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: allow approved plan step with dispatch receipt"

Task 8: Add pass test for waiting_user closure

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• task complete
• next action known
• no dispatch receipt
• replyClosureState=waiting_user
• expect pass

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL until evaluator exists

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: allow waiting_user continuity closure"

Task 9: Add pass test for blocked closure

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• replyClosureState=blocked
• expect pass

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL until evaluator exists

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: allow blocked continuity closure"

Task 10: Add pass test for pending_verification closure

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• replyClosureState=pending_verification
• expect pass

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL until evaluator exists

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: allow pending verification continuity closure"

Task 11: Implement minimal continuity evaluator

Files:

• Modify: scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Add evaluator logic

• Fail only when:
  • approved plan task complete
  • next action known
  • no dispatch receipt
  • and not in legal terminal state

Step 2: Run tests Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: PASS for Tasks 6-10

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "feat: evaluate approved-plan continuity closure"

Task 12: Create dispatch binding skeleton

Files:

• Create: scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs

Step 1: Add CLI skeleton

• Support input parsing and placeholder receipt output.

Step 2: Verify it runs Run: node scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs --compact --input /dev/null || true Expected: placeholder response or controlled failure

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs
git commit -m "chore: add approved-plan dispatch binding skeleton"

Task 13: Add fail-first test for planner action without bound dispatch

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• planner returns derivedAction
• but no dispatch receipt is written
• expect fail

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: fail when derived action has no bound dispatch"

Task 14: Add pass test for planner action with bound dispatch receipt

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the test

• planner returns derivedAction
• receipt is written
• expect pass

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: FAIL until binding exists

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: pass when derived action is bound to dispatch receipt"

Task 15: Define continuity receipt state storage

Files:

• Create: state/approved-plan-continuity/.gitkeep
• Create: state/approved-plan-continuity/README.md

Step 1: Write the state shape

• Include receipt filenames and minimum fields.

Step 2: Verify files exist Run: test -f state/approved-plan-continuity/README.md && test -f state/approved-plan-continuity/.gitkeep && echo OK Expected: OK

Step 3: Commit

git add state/approved-plan-continuity/.gitkeep state/approved-plan-continuity/README.md
git commit -m "docs: define approved-plan continuity receipt storage"

Task 16: Implement minimal dispatch receipt writer

Files:

• Modify: scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs

Step 1: Write dispatch receipts

• When a known action is truly bound, write file-backed receipt.

Step 2: Run tests Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: binding tests pass

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs state/approved-plan-continuity/.gitkeep state/approved-plan-continuity/README.md
git commit -m "feat: write approved-plan continuity dispatch receipts"

Task 17: Add fail-first regression for “task done but stopped”

Files:

• Modify: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Write the regression test

• completed task
• next step known
• no dispatch receipt
• reply tries to close anyway
• expect violation

Step 2: Run tests to verify it fails if regression exists Run: node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs Expected: PASS after fix, but must detect regression if broken

Step 3: Commit

git add scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
git commit -m "test: lock regression for task done but stopped"

Task 18: Hook continuity gate into force-recall handler

Files:

• Modify: hooks/force-recall/handler.ts

Step 1: Wire continuity gate into reply closure path

• Enforce continuity before normal closeout.

Step 2: Run targeted verification Run:

• node scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
• node scripts/test_force_recall_long_task_preflight.mjs
• node --check hooks/force-recall/handler.ts Expected: PASS

Step 3: Commit

git add hooks/force-recall/handler.ts scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
 git commit -m "feat: enforce approved-plan continuity at reply closure"

Task 19: Peer review continuity evaluator and binding

Files:

• Review: scripts/approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs
• Review: scripts/approved_plan_dispatch_binding.mjs
• Review: scripts/test_approved_plan_continuity_gate.mjs

Step 1: Request review

• Focus: does this really fix continuity failure instead of adding prompt-only guidance?

Step 2: Record verdict

• Include commands and findings.

Step 3: Apply follow-up fixes if needed

# only if reviewer requests changes
git add <changed-files>
git commit -m "fix: address continuity gate review feedback"

Task 20: Peer review hook integration and handoff

Files:

• Review: hooks/force-recall/handler.ts
• Review: docs/runbooks/approved-plan-continuity.md
• Review: state/approved-plan-continuity/README.md

Step 1: Request review

• Focus: can approved-plan task completion still stop without dispatch receipt?

Step 2: Record verification output

• Include commands and reviewer verdict.

Step 3: Final state

• Leave task in pending_verification; do not mark complete.