# Nate — History

## Core Context

- **Project:** A Windows COM interop MCP server and CLI for programmatic Excel automation with 25 tools and 225 operations.
- **Role:** Tester
- **Joined:** 2026-03-15T10:42:22.623Z
- **Testing posture:** Start by checking the live tool surface and distinguishing real product gaps from discoverability/documentation gaps before calling something a defect.
- **Stability posture:** Synthetic serial-workflow controls can prove the ComInterop/session layer is healthy, but real lingering-Excel bugs may only reproduce with real workbooks and external-data failure modes.
- **LLM test posture:** Many early-April failures were harness or test-authoring problems, not product defects; calculation-mode tests should assert workflow completion, and pytest-skill-engineering v0.5.9 can fail by planning without ever executing tools.

## Learnings

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- 2026-04-27: **Plugin skill packaging tests must assert source-owned per-skill references, not only shared references.** The excel-cli SKILL.md can delegate command detail to `skills\excel-cli\references\cli-commands.md`, so Build-Plugins regression coverage needs to build from a synthetic template that lacks that file and then prove the built plugin includes the source reference byte-for-byte.
- 2026-04-08: **Best screenshot regression trio for this bug family is inactive sheet + off-screen range + repeated capture.** McCauley’s triage matches the evidence: when the target content is not already visible, current HEAD either returns blank-ish output or blows up in the export path. I extended the red Core coverage to include a repeated off-screen capture loop so the eventual fix has to prove both first-capture correctness and clipboard/render stability across back-to-back captures.
- 2026-04-08: **Screenshot regressions need visual assertions, not transport assertions.** The existing Screenshot Core tests mostly proved file format, byte length, and metadata, so blank/mostly-white captures could still pass. Added focused red regressions that decode the returned PNG and sample pixels for non-white/dark/colorful content; on current HEAD, one non-active offscreen range returns a mostly-white image and one non-active sheet capture crashes with `RPC_E_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE`, which cleanly maps to issues #563 and #583.
- 2026-04-02: **Pre-commit deliverable coverage must mirror all five release build families, not just smoke tests plus VS Code packaging.** Release.yml proves the releasable surfaces are (1) CLI publish+NuGet+ZIP, (2) MCP Server publish+NuGet+ZIP, (3) VS Code `npm run package`, (4) MCPB via `mcpb\Build-McpBundle.ps1`, and (5) agent skills packaging (`dotnet build -c Release` plus the release.yml ZIP/npm package staging). Tester verdict: anything less is not true “all deliverables” coverage. Separate blocker still present: `scripts\Test-CliWorkflow.ps1` is red on current HEAD because the `rangeformat format-ranges` step times out the service and cascades into session-close failures, so even a correct deliverable gate would not currently yield a green pre-commit.
- 2026-04-02: **VS Code extension release mismatch only trips at packaging, not install/compile.** For `vscode-extension`, both `npm install` and `npm run compile` passed while `npm run package` failed immediately with `@types/vscode ^1.110.0 greater than engines.vscode ^1.109.0`. Tester verdict: pre-commit coverage is insufficient unless it includes the extension packaging path itself (or an equivalent `vsce package` validation), because lighter checks do not prove the manifest is releasable.
- 2026-03-31: **Claude Desktop Reproduction Plan for Issue #585.** Analyzed MCPB bundle architecture, MCP protocol layer, and regression test coverage for `range_format.format-range` failure in v1.8.40. Plan is minimal and trustworthy: install latest .mcpb from release, prompt Claude to format range A1:J1 with bold + dark blue fill + white font in a new workbook, and expect success on current HEAD. Regression tests in both MCP and CLI layers now pass, confirming the fix above v1.8.40.
- 2026-03-31: Issue #585 (`range_format format-range` failing via MCP in v1.8.40) does not reproduce on current HEAD; focused MCP protocol coverage with the exact reported payload passes and round-trips persisted formatting, so treat it as a version-specific regression already fixed above the current branch.
- 2026-04-01: **Worksheet parameter discoverability bug isolated at MCP schema layer.** Added a red MCP integration test proving the `worksheet` tool published rename/create parameters without schema descriptions, so Claude/Desktop clients could not reliably infer the correct workflow even when runtime aliases existed.
- 2026-04-01: **#585 and #587 validation closed green on current HEAD.** Focused MCP coverage passes for worksheet schema contract fixes and the exact #585 formatting payload, and the Claude Desktop evidence round-trips the saved workbook with the expected rename and formatting state.
- 2026-04-02: **LLM test suite execution with refreshed dependencies (pytest-skill-engineering 0.5.9).** MCP collection succeeded (58 tests: 33 MCP, 25 CLI), but targeted execution still showed expensive timeouts and harness-side failures, reinforcing the need for selective tiered runs.
- 2026-04-02: **MCP LLM workflow failure investigation.** Classified the observed failures as incomplete test implementations, timeout configuration, or expectation drift; zero failures mapped to confirmed ExcelMcp product bugs.
- 2026-04-02: **LLM test harness repairs completed.** Fixed missing prompt/execution paths and assertion drift, then confirmed the remaining failure mode was harness regression (`Tools called: none`), not product behavior.
- 2026-04-02: **Diagnostics parity for issue #585 is safest as an additive contract.** Keep CLI/MCP failure payloads backward-compatible by preserving `error` while adding `errorMessage`, `isError`, `exceptionType`, `hresult`, and `innerError`. To make that parity durable, enrich the shared `ServiceResponse` transport itself; otherwise MCP can expose richer failures than CLI even when both wrap the same service error.
- 2026-04-02: **Team closeout for the first diagnostics slice.** Targeted CLI/MCP parity and protocol buckets are green with the additive shared-transport contract. Broader full-class MCP runs still show pre-existing `ProgramTransport` / session flake noise, so focused slices remain the trustworthy gate for this milestone.
- 2026-04-24: **Phase 5 E2E plugin install testing complete — both plugins production-ready.** Validated full installation workflow for excel-mcp (MCP server) and excel-cli (skill-only) plugins from mcp-server-excel-plugins repo. Used workaround: built standalone mcp-excel.exe from source and manually placed in plugin bin directory (no v0.0.1 GitHub release exists yet). All scripts work perfectly: `start-mcp.ps1` launches server, `install-global.ps1` merges MCP config, `copilot mcp list` shows server, MCP protocol handshake succeeds. Both plugins install cleanly, skill content (SKILL.md + 19 references for excel-mcp, 59.9 KB SKILL.md for excel-cli) present and accessible. Only blocker for published release: missing GitHub release asset. Plugins are production-ready; scripts are production-ready; installation flow validated end-to-end with real GitHub Copilot CLI.
- 2026-04-24: **Reverted unrelated RangeCommands.Formulas.cs working-tree change per explicit user instruction.** User directed revert of unrelated product-code edit that was in dirty tree. Repo working tree cleaned.
- 2026-04-25: **Legacy distribution cleanup is only truly done when publish, local validation, and user-facing wording all converge.** This branch correctly removes the `excel-cli-skill` / `excel-mcp-skill` package directories plus their release and pre-commit packaging logic, but verification still needs a final wording sweep because stale phrases like “Install via npm” or “npm skill tarballs” can survive after the actual npm publish path is gone.
- 2026-04-26: **Issue #585 regression surface is broader than the original fresh-session smoke test.** I extended coverage to the two most plausible real-client variants the old tests missed: formatting after reopening an existing workbook (`file open` / `session open`, matching the issue’s actual repro path) and MCP payloads that include explicit `null` optional formatting fields. Current HEAD stays green across both MCP and CLI, so #585 remains unreproduced here, but future fixes now have guardrails around the historical “manual MCP setup vs CLI” surface instead of only the fresh-workbook happy path.
- 2026-04-26: **Best durable guard for Gemini-style schema failures is recursive enum scanning over live `ListToolsAsync()` output, plus one focused optional-enum spot check.** For issue #607 I consolidated the regression shape into one MCP integration test that walks every published `enum` node across all tool schemas and fails on blank or non-string members, then kept a focused `calculation_mode` check to prove optional enum properties (`mode`, `scope`) stay optional without `""` sentinels.
- 2026-04-26: **Validation for issue #607 is currently blocked by a pre-existing MCP source-generator compile break (`CS1737` in generated tool signatures).** The new schema regression test is in place, but a clean `dotnet build src\ExcelMcp.McpServer\ExcelMcp.McpServer.csproj --no-restore` currently fails before tests run because generated MCP methods place optional parameters before required ones.
- 2026-04-26: **Dependency-upgrade validation needs a lock-aware release gate before any verdict is trustworthy, and packaging can still be green while the .NET test/build graph is red.** The reliable first step is `dotnet build-server shutdown` plus `-nodeReuse:false`; without that, repo-local build tasks and generated artifacts produce misleading lock failures. With the actual upgraded manifests in place (`global.json` 10.0.203, central package bumps, VS Code engine/typescript/types updates), the focused matrix showed: solution Release build red from a CLI test compile break (`CS0122` in `ActionValidatorTests` against `ListActionsCommand`), direct CLI/MCP test runs blocked by generated/missing-reference compile failures, but VS Code extension packaging still green and producing `vscode-extension\excel-mcp-1.6.9.vsix`. Also, `npm outdated` still reports `@vscode/vsce` behind (`2.25.0` vs wanted `2.32.0` / latest `3.9.1`).
- 2026-04-27: **Plugin packaging regressions need a real script-smoke assertion, not just file-copy checks.** `tests\ExcelMcp.SkillGeneration.Tests\PluginBootstrapBuildTests.cs` now has to prove `scripts\Build-Plugins.ps1` exits 0 and prints the final ASCII summary lines, because the real failure mode was a PowerShell parse break in the closing status output even while packaging assertions stayed green. I also tightened the synthetic template fixture to current shipped names (`bin\download.ps1`, runtime-created state under `%USERPROFILE%\.copilot\plugin-runtime\...`) and assert legacy `download-mcp.ps1` / `download-cli.ps1` / `bootstrap-state.json` files do not survive packaging.
- 2026-04-26: **Dependency upgrade validation phase completed.** Spawned as background agent to validate dependency upgrade surface before Cheritto's implementation phase. Validated baseline blocker detection (identified pre-existing compile errors), npm audit state, VS Code extension packaging readiness, and CLI/MCP test graph state. Summary: found baseline blockers first (not unresolvable), confirmed VSIX packaging surface, clarified repo was unreleasable until build/test state was repaired *before* dependency upgrade could proceed safely. Handed off to Cheritto for manifest upgrade phase with clear blocker inventory and readiness state.
- 2026-04-27: **Bootstrap runtime coverage is safest as script-level integration with a sandboxed USERPROFILE and mocked GitHub/download/archive calls.** For the Copilot plugin bootstrap flow I added focused SkillGeneration tests that run the real download.ps1, start-*.ps1, Build-Plugins.ps1, and Sync-PublishedPluginRepo.ps1 surfaces under pwsh, prove first-run download/latest-release selection/session freshness behavior without touching the real user profile, and avoid Windows PowerShell 5.1 because the current build script summary path misbehaves there while pwsh runs cleanly.

- 2026-04-27: **Bootstrap script regression and expectations alignment completed.** Added smoke-style regression in PluginBootstrapBuildTests proving scripts\Build-Plugins.ps1 exits cleanly and prints final ASCII summary (real regression was PowerShell parse failure in closing lines, not file-copy logic). Updated synthetic bootstrap fixture expectations to current shipped surface (removed legacy download-mcp.ps1, download-cli.ps1, packaged ootstrap-state.json). All 13 tests pass; direct script invocation validated clean. Real gap: fixture mocks downloaded ZIP contents and stops at download.ps1 validation; does not execute real xcelcli.exe or mcp-excel.exe binaries.

- 2026-05-13: **Daemon Integration Test Review — Test Coverage Blindness Exposed.** Analyzed CLI integration test landscape for daemon lifecycle coverage. **Finding: CLI tests are daemon-light.** Most tests use in-process `ServiceFixture` (`[Collection("Service")]`), bypassing real `excelcli service run`, `DaemonAutoStart`, named-pipe startup readiness, daemon idle shutdown, and tracked-process recovery. These tests validate command wiring and parameter parsing, not real daemon lifecycle. **Real-daemon flakes reproduced in parallel:** `scripts\Test-CliWorkflow.ps1` timed out on reopen with `ConnectionLostException` after close/save on default pipe. `ParallelCliWorkflowTests` timed out on `workflow-1-reopen` after 30s on unique pipe. `CliDaemonTests` pass (no Excel work, only pipe/mutex tests). **Root cause of test blindness:** `Test-CliWorkflow.ps1` uses shared default pipe without reset, no daemon artifact capture, `CliProcessHelper` throws timeout without preserving partial output. **Recommendation:** Focused daemon tests needed for startup readiness, reopen recovery, stale process tracker behavior, and concurrent operation protection — deterministic tests, not flaky scripts.
- 2026-05-13: **Daemon lifecycle regressions need real-daemon CLI tests plus failure snapshots.** Added focused `ServiceDaemon` coverage for default-pipe close/save/status/reopen loops and cold unique-pipe concurrent `session create` auto-start races. These tests intentionally use real `excelcli.exe` subprocesses and named-pipe daemon state instead of `ServiceFixture`, and `CliProcessHelper` now includes stdout/stderr, pipe name, mutex state, tracker file path/content, and tracked process state in timeout/invalid-JSON diagnostics. Shutdown-during-inflight still needs a minimal gated diagnostic hook; timing-based Excel work would be a flaky test, not a deterministic regression.
- 2026-05-13: **Blocking daemon close regressions now cover teardown quarantine and in-flight close busy semantics.** Added focused ServiceDaemon tests for failed session Dispose retaining/quarantining the session and for deterministic close-while-save-in-flight behavior using real ExcelMcpService/SessionManager state transitions with a blocking test batch. Both individual regressions pass, and the full `Feature=ServiceDaemon` CLI test slice passes (19/19). Remaining precision gap: this avoids sleeps and product hooks, but the in-flight case is an in-process deterministic service regression rather than a real named-pipe daemon long-running Excel COM operation.
- 2026-05-13: **Default-pipe daemon lifecycle failure is product, with cleanup contamination risk.** Focused `DefaultPipe_RepeatedCloseSaveStatusReopen_KeepsDaemonResponsiveAndSessionless` currently fails before workbook validation: `session create` returns `Failed to start daemon: Daemon process exited before becoming ready (exit code -1)`, while a delayed default daemon can appear afterward with a live session. That means the regression is not an OnDemand ComInterop verdict; it contaminates later Excel/daemon tests until the default pipe and tracked daemon are fully stopped. The test flaw is cleanup trusting a single `service stop` result while daemon startup may still be racing; smallest test-side correction is cleanup-only polling/assertion for default-pipe mutex/tracker/session absence, not retries around the product operation.

## Daemon Rescue Session Finalization (2026-05-13T09:13:35Z)

Session: Inbox consolidation, orchestration logging, agent history sync
Status: ✅ APPROVED — All gates passed

- Decisions.md consolidated (9 inbox entries merged, 1 archived)
- Team orchestration logs created
- Session ready for production deployment
- Residual risk (prompts) accepted and documented
