---
id: T-1859
name: "backfill 3 missing episodic summaries flagged by audit (T-1829/T-1830/T-1831)
  and investigate root cause"
description: >
  backfill 3 missing episodic summaries flagged by audit (T-1829/T-1830/T-1831) and
  investigate root cause

status: work-completed
workflow_type: build
owner: agent
horizon:
tags: [housekeeping, episodic, memory-completeness, audit-followup]
components: [.context/episodic/]
related_tasks: [T-1829, T-1830, T-1831, T-017]
created: 2026-05-15T18:17:12Z
last_update: '2026-06-11T22:24:01Z'
date_finished: 2026-05-15T18:24:17Z
bvp_scores_proposed:
  - ts: '2026-06-11T22:24:01Z'
    estimator: bvp-estimator-v1-heuristic
    scores:
      D1: 4
      D2: 4
      D3: 0
      D4: 0
      F-RECALL: 1
      F-ORCH: 0
      F3: 0
      F1: 1
      F2: 0
    rationale: D1=4 (body:structural-gate); D2=4 (body:fw-audit-or-doctor); D3=0
      (no-signal); D4=0 (no-signal); F-RECALL=1 (body:episodic-only); F-ORCH=0 
      (no-signal); F3=0 (no-signal); F1=1 
      (body/components:context-fabric-incidental); F2=0 (no-signal)
    rubric_sha: e4a00f38e801
---

# T-1859: backfill 3 missing episodic summaries flagged by audit (T-1829/T-1830/T-1831) and investigate root cause

## Context

`fw audit` on 2026-05-15 flagged 3 completed tasks with no episodic summary: T-1829 (version-stamping), T-1830 (fw-upgrade-incident meta-RCA), T-1831 (AC-checkbox-vs-content drift). All three closed on 2026-05-14 via `fw inception decide ... go`, which calls `update-task.sh --status work-completed` (auto-trigger path at `agents/task-create/update-task.sh:1431`). Either the auto-trigger was bypassed for these calls, or it ran and exited non-zero silently. The `.last-episodic-gen.log` only retains the most recent invocation, so the forensic trail is lost.

## Acceptance Criteria

### Agent
- [x] **A1** Episodic YAMLs exist at `.context/episodic/T-1829.yaml`, `T-1830.yaml`, `T-1831.yaml` and are valid YAML
- [x] **A2** Each episodic has non-empty `task_id` matching the file name and basic structure (status, summary, duration)
- [x] **A3** Root-cause analysis: determine why the auto-trigger missed these 3 specifically. Document finding in RCA section. (Possibilities: inception-decide bypassed the trigger; trigger ran but silently failed; or `--skip-sovereignty --reason` arg path skipped it.)
- [x] **A4** If RCA reveals a reproducible structural defect, file a follow-up build task referencing T-1859 — filed T-1860 (forensic log overwrites itself) (one bug = one task — do NOT fix the trigger in this task)
- [x] **A5** `fw audit` no longer warns on T-1829/T-1830/T-1831 episodic-missing

### Human
<!-- Criteria requiring human verification (UI/UX, subjective quality). Not blocking.
     Remove this section if all criteria are agent-verifiable.
     Each criterion MUST include Steps/Expected/If-not so the human can act without guessing.
     Optionally prefix with [RUBBER-STAMP] or [REVIEW] for prioritization.
     Example:
       - [ ] [REVIEW] Dashboard renders correctly
         **Steps:**
         1. Open https://example.com/dashboard in browser
         2. Verify all panels load within 2 seconds
         3. Check browser console for errors
         **Expected:** All panels visible, no console errors
         **If not:** Screenshot the broken panel and note the console error
-->

## Verification

test -s .context/episodic/T-1829.yaml && test -s .context/episodic/T-1830.yaml && test -s .context/episodic/T-1831.yaml
python3 -c "import yaml; [yaml.safe_load(open(f'.context/episodic/T-{t}.yaml')) for t in (1829, 1830, 1831)]"
[ "$(grep -cE 'T-(1829|1830|1831).*no episodic' .context/audits/2026-05-15.yaml)" = "0" ]

## RCA

**Symptom:** `fw audit` on 2026-05-15 flagged 3 completed tasks missing episodic summaries: T-1829, T-1830, T-1831. All closed on 2026-05-14 via `fw inception decide ... go`.

**Root cause:** Inconclusive — see "Why structurally allowed" below. The episodic-gen auto-trigger at `agents/task-create/update-task.sh:1431` IS wired correctly for the inception-decide path (lib/inception.sh:696 → update-task.sh --status work-completed → trigger fires at line 1409 when PARTIAL_COMPLETE=false). The Human ACs on all three tasks were checked at completion, so PARTIAL_COMPLETE should have been false. Yet no episodic landed. Possible causes (untestable now): (1) `--skip-sovereignty` + concurrent state caused an exit before line 1409; (2) the `generate-episodic` subprocess exited non-zero silently on a transient error (out-of-disk / file lock); (3) a regression on 2026-05-14 was reverted within the same day so the auto-trigger now works correctly.

**Why structurally allowed:** The forensic log at `.context/working/.last-episodic-gen.log` is overwritten on every invocation (`agents/task-create/update-task.sh:1429` uses single `>`). T-1371/G-054 added this log specifically to capture forensic context for silent failures — but truncation guarantees that by the time a NEXT failure occurs, the prior failure's context is gone. The RCA mechanism defeats itself. **Filed as T-1860** (one bug = one task — fix shipped separately).

**Prevention:**
1. The 3 episodics are backfilled (mitigation).
2. T-1860 will fix the log retention so the next silent failure is diagnosable (prevention).
3. The audit warning class (`Completed task T-XXX has no episodic summary`) is the detective control — it caught this drift on 2026-05-15 without human intervention. Detective is in place; preventive (T-1860) lands next.

## Evolution

<!-- REQUIRED for arc-tagged build tasks (tags include arc:*). Captures how
     understanding evolved during build — what was learned that wasn't known at
     filing, what in the original plan no longer fits, what triggered pivots
     or new sub-tasks. Mandatory at slice boundaries (when applicable) and
     before --status work-completed.

     Origin: T-1717 grill Q4 — "the understanding of what we need and want
     evolves with the process of materialisation." Structural counter to §ACD:
     spec-vs-build divergence is logged as soon as it happens, not lost as
     folklore.

     Format (one entry per slice boundary or significant insight):
       ### YYYY-MM-DD — [topic]
       - **What changed:** [what we learned that we didn't know at filing]
       - **Plan impact:** [what in the plan no longer fits]
       - **Triggered:** [new sub-task / pivot / scope cut, with task ID if filed]

     The completion gate (T-1718) blocks --status work-completed when this
     section exists but is empty/template-only. Use --skip-evolution to bypass
     (logged Tier-2). Non-arc tasks may leave this empty.
-->

## Decisions

<!-- Record decisions ONLY when choosing between alternatives.
     Skip for tasks with no meaningful choices.
     Format:
     ### [date] — [topic]
     - **Chose:** [what was decided]
     - **Why:** [rationale]
     - **Rejected:** [alternatives and why not]
-->

## Decision

<!-- Filled at completion of inception tasks via:
     fw inception decide T-XXX go|no-go|defer --rationale "..."

     For non-inception tasks this section is ignored. Kept in template
     so `fw inception decide` (lib/inception.sh) finds the anchor heading
     without auto-creating; T-1832 added auto-create as fallback for
     legacy tasks lacking this section. -->

## Updates

### 2026-05-15T18:17:12Z — task-created [task-create-agent]
- **Action:** Created task via task-create agent
- **Output:** /opt/999-Agentic-Engineering-Framework/.tasks/active/T-1859-backfill-3-missing-episodic-summaries-fl.md
- **Context:** Initial task creation

## Reviewer Verdict (v1.5)

- **Scan ID:** R-7b215dbf
- **Timestamp:** 2026-06-02T15:00:05Z
- **Catalogue:** v1.3-seed
- **Overall:** PASS
- **Needs Human:** no
- **Findings:** none
### 2026-05-15T18:24:17Z — status-update [task-update-agent]
- **Change:** status: started-work → work-completed
