---
title: "Session Review S-2026-0218-1920"
date: 2026-02-18
status: complete
tags: [session-review, audit]
---

# Session Review: S-2026-0218-1920

## Summary

Comprehensive audit of session S-2026-0218-1920. The session was highly productive: completed T-174 inception, created 6 new tasks (T-173 through T-179), persisted 5 research documents, recorded L-055, and ran a sub-agent persistence experiment. Found **9 action items**: 2 missing decisions in decisions.yaml, 2 missing learnings, 1 missing gap registration, incomplete task files (AC/verification not filled on 6 tasks), T-175 file/name mismatch, T-174 episodic missing spawned tasks T-178/T-179, and the zombie MCP orphan reaper cross-project question.

## A. Missing Tasks

**None found.** All topics discussed this session have corresponding tasks:

- T-173: Budget gate handover fix
- T-174: Compaction vs handover investigation (completed)
- T-175: Eliminate emergency/full handover distinction
- T-176: Adjust budget gate thresholds
- T-177: Clean up compact hooks
- T-178: Research artifact persistence (inception)
- T-179: Auto-restart mechanism (inception)

The zombie MCP orphan reaper topic is a cross-project concern (see Section H).

## B. Missing Decisions

**2 decisions NOT recorded in decisions.yaml:**

1. **T-174: Option B — disable compaction, rely on handovers.** This decision IS recorded in the T-174 task file (Decisions section) and in the T-174 episodic YAML, but it is NOT in `.context/project/decisions.yaml`. This is a project-level architectural decision (changes how the entire framework handles context lifecycle) and should be in decisions.yaml as D-027.

2. **T-175 scope revision: "eliminate emergency/full distinction" replaces "strengthen emergency handover".** The T-175 frontmatter `name` was updated to reflect this, but no decision is recorded anywhere explaining WHY the scope changed. The rationale (task system is the real safety net, budget gate leaves room for full handover, emergency skeleton is unnecessary) should be captured as a decision — either in T-175's Decisions section or in decisions.yaml.

**Decisions adequately recorded:**
- T-174 task file has the Option B decision with full rationale
- T-174 episodic has the decision
- T-174 inception GO decision recorded via `fw inception decide`

## C. Missing Learnings

**2 learnings NOT captured:**

1. **"Task system is the primary memory, not handover."** This was the key architectural insight from the crash resilience analysis: ~95% of state survives a zero-handover crash because task files, git history, episodic YAML, project memory, and patterns are all on disk. The handover is convenience (saves 16 seconds of resume time), not safety. This insight drove the T-175 scope revision. It is documented in docs/reports/T-174-crash-resilience-analysis.md but NOT in learnings.yaml. Should be L-056.

2. **"fw bus (result ledger) has never been used despite being built and documented in CLAUDE.md."** The bus directories exist (.context/bus/results/, .context/bus/blobs/, .context/bus/inbox/) and are all empty. D-026 decided to build it, T-109 built it, the Sub-Agent Dispatch Protocol in CLAUDE.md references it. Yet in this session, 5+ sub-agents were dispatched without using fw bus. This is a significant gap signal — either the bus doesn't solve the problem it was designed for, or the dispatch protocol is not being followed. The T-178 problem statement notes this ("fw bus has NEVER been used") but it's not captured as a learning. Should be L-057.

**Learnings adequately captured:**
- L-055: Explore agents are read-only, general-purpose can write — YES, captured
- autoCompactEnabled: false already set — documented in T-174 task file but this is operational knowledge, not a learning per se (it was already set by a previous session)

## D. Missing Research Docs

**None missing.** All sub-agent outputs were persisted:

| Agent Output | Persisted To | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Agent 1: Compaction internals | docs/reports/T-174-compaction-vs-handover.md (section 1) | OK |
| Agent 2: Gap analysis | docs/reports/T-174-compaction-vs-handover.md (section 2) | OK |
| Agent 3: Architecture options | docs/reports/T-174-compaction-vs-handover.md (section 3) | OK |
| Crash resilience analysis | docs/reports/T-174-crash-resilience-analysis.md | OK |
| Sub-agent persistence patterns | docs/reports/T-178-sub-agent-persistence-patterns.md | OK |
| Session restart mechanisms | docs/reports/T-179-session-restart-mechanisms.md | OK |
| Zombie MCP orphan reaper | docs/reports/experiment-zombie-mcp-orphan-reaper.md | OK |

Note: T-178 and T-179 research docs have `experiment: "Agent instructed to write to this file — could not (Explore agents are read-only)"` in frontmatter — these were manually written after the Explore agent experiment failed, then re-run with general-purpose agents.

## E. Task File Completeness

**All 6 active tasks created this session have skeleton templates with unfilled AC and Verification sections.** This is expected for tasks at `captured` status — they'll be filled when work starts. However, three tasks warrant attention:

| Task | Status | AC Filled? | Verification? | Context? | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-173 | captured | NO (placeholder) | NO | NO | Description is good but AC has `[First criterion]` placeholders |
| T-175 | captured | NO (placeholder) | NO | NO | Name revised but body unchanged from skeleton. Filename mismatch: `T-175-strengthen-emergency-handover-for-post-c.md` vs name `"Eliminate emergency/full handover distinction"` |
| T-176 | captured | NO (placeholder) | NO | NO | Description has concrete thresholds but AC has placeholders |
| T-177 | captured | NO (placeholder) | NO | NO | Description lists 5 concrete subtasks but AC has placeholders |
| T-178 | captured | YES (inception) | NO | YES (problem statement filled) | Good — problem statement and exploration context filled. Go/No-Go criteria still placeholder. |
| T-179 | captured | YES (inception) | NO | NO (problem statement placeholder) | Problem statement NOT filled despite good description. Exploration plan/scope fence empty. |

**Key issue:** T-175's filename no longer matches its content after the scope revision. The file is `T-175-strengthen-emergency-handover-for-post-c.md` but the task is now about eliminating the emergency/full distinction entirely.

## F. Gaps Register

**1 gap should be registered but is NOT:**

**"Research artifact persistence has no structural enforcement"** — This is the core finding of the T-178 problem statement: sub-agent research outputs exist only in conversation context and vanish at session end. The fw bus was built but never used. The sub-agent dispatch protocol says "write to disk" but nothing enforces it. This session demonstrated the pattern: 5+ agent dispatches, all returning to orchestrator context, manually persisted only because the human asked.

This gap is related to G-008 (sub-agent dispatch protocol has no structural enforcement) but is specifically about the PERSISTENCE of research artifacts, not just context explosion. G-008 focuses on token management; the persistence gap focuses on knowledge loss. T-178 exists as an inception task but the gap should ALSO be in gaps.yaml since it's a systemic spec-reality divergence.

**However:** T-178 exists as an inception task, and the problem is well-documented there. The gap would largely duplicate T-178's problem statement. **Borderline — register only if the inception won't be started soon.** Given T-178 is at horizon `next`, registering a gap is defensive but justified because tasks can be deferred while gaps remain visible.

## G. Episodic Completeness

**T-174 episodic is mostly complete but has 2 gaps:**

1. **Missing spawned tasks:** The `related_tasks.spawned` field lists `[T-175, T-176, T-177]` but T-178 and T-179 were ALSO spawned from T-174's investigation insights (T-178's description references T-174's agent research, T-179 relates to T-174's Option D). Should be `[T-175, T-176, T-177, T-178, T-179]`.

2. **Empty git_timeline:** The `git_timeline` section says "No git timeline available" but there are at least 2 commits tagged T-174: `1fcb323 T-174: Inception GO...` and `90bb39d T-174: Persist research doc...` and `7ea07d8 T-174: Persist crash resilience research...`. The auto-mining may have failed because the task was completed before these commits were made (task completed at 18:51, research persistence commits were after).

3. **Summary is empty:** The `summary` field contains only `>` (empty YAML block scalar). The auto-generator couldn't extract a summary from git commits (likely same timing issue — commits came after completion).

## H. Cross-Project Item

**Zombie MCP orphan reaper** — The sprechloop brief (`/opt/001-sprechloop/.context/briefs/framework-zombie-mcp-cleanup.md`) describes a problem with orphaned MCP server processes. The research doc `docs/reports/experiment-zombie-mcp-orphan-reaper.md` was written in THIS repo.

**Assessment:** The orphan reaper is a FRAMEWORK concern, not a sprechloop concern. MCP zombies affect any project using the framework with MCP servers. The research doc is correctly located here. However, there is NO task in this repo for building an orphan reaper. T-178 covers research artifact persistence (a different topic). The zombie MCP reaper is an independent deliverable that should have its own task.

**Recommendation:** Create a task in this repo (horizon: later) for the orphan reaper implementation. The research is done (docs/reports/experiment-zombie-mcp-orphan-reaper.md). The sprechloop brief can reference it.

## Action Items

1. **Add D-027 to decisions.yaml** — T-174 Option B decision (disable compaction, rely on handovers). This is a project-level architectural decision.

2. **Add D-028 to decisions.yaml** — T-175 scope revision: eliminate emergency/full distinction instead of strengthening emergency. Record the rationale (task system is primary memory, budget gate ensures room for full handover).

3. **Add L-056 to learnings.yaml** — "Task system (task files, git, episodic, project memory) is the primary durable memory, not handover. ~95% of state survives a zero-handover crash. Handover is convenience (saves 16s of fw resume), not safety. This means emergency handover is unnecessary if budget gate leaves room for full handover." Source: T-174 crash resilience analysis.

4. **Add L-057 to learnings.yaml** — "fw bus (result ledger) has never been used despite being designed (D-026), built (T-109), and documented in CLAUDE.md. 5+ sub-agent dispatches in this session alone bypassed it. Either the bus doesn't match the workflow (too many steps vs. simple Write-to-file), or the protocol needs structural enforcement. Evidence: .context/bus/results/ and .context/bus/blobs/ both empty across 170+ tasks." Source: T-178 observation.

5. **Update T-174 episodic** — Add T-178 and T-179 to `related_tasks.spawned`. Fix empty `summary` and `git_timeline` if possible (3 commits exist with T-174 prefix).

6. **Fill T-179 problem statement** — The inception task has a good description in frontmatter but the body's Problem Statement section is still a placeholder comment. Copy key content from the description.

7. **Register gap G-009 (optional)** — "Research artifact persistence relies on agent discipline, not structural enforcement." Related to G-008 but specifically about knowledge loss, not context explosion. T-178 inception covers it but gaps are more visible (Watchtower, audit, resume). Register if T-178 won't start soon.

8. **Create task for zombie MCP orphan reaper** — The research is done (docs/reports/experiment-zombie-mcp-orphan-reaper.md) but there's no task in this repo for building it. Create T-180 at horizon: later.

9. **Note T-175 filename mismatch** — The file is `T-175-strengthen-emergency-handover-for-post-c.md` but the task name is now "Eliminate emergency/full handover distinction — single handover". The framework doesn't rename files on task update. This is cosmetic but could confuse future sessions. No automated fix exists — note it in the task's Context section.
