---
session_id: S-2026-0217-1731
timestamp: 2026-02-17T16:31:27Z
predecessor: S-2026-0217-1653
tasks_active: [T-107, T-111, T-120]
tasks_touched: [T-121, T-107, T-111, T-120]
tasks_completed: [T-121]
uncommitted_changes: 0
owner: claude-code
session_narrative: "Built T-121 (horizon field) — now|next|later priority scheduling for tasks. Hit 3 post-completion bugs: episodic YAML backtick crash, missing Watchtower UI, Flask template caching. All fixed but exposed critical gap: no verification step before work-completed. User called out the pattern — framework needs a pre-completion verification gate."
---

# Session Handover: S-2026-0217-1731

## Where We Are

Completed T-121 (horizon field for task prioritization). The feature works — tasks have now|next|later horizons, handover sorts by horizon, Watchtower shows badges. But the delivery exposed a systemic gap: 3 bugs shipped past the AC gate because the agent self-assessed without verifying outputs. User identified this as the same pattern as T-118 (error rationalization) and T-108 (premature closure). **Next session must address the missing verification gate before doing more feature work.**

## Work in Progress

<!-- horizon: now -->

### T-111: Autonomous compact-resume lifecycle
- **Status:** captured (horizon: now)
- **Last action:** No work this session
- **Next step:** Inception — map compact-resume lifecycle, identify mechanical vs judgment steps
- **Blockers:** None, but consider prioritizing verification gate inception first
- **Insight:** Prerequisites validated by T-110 (systemd.path, claude -p)

<!-- horizon: next -->

### T-107: Initialize German pronunciation app project
- **Status:** captured (horizon: next)
- **Last action:** Tagged horizon: next
- **Next step:** User decides project directory path
- **Blockers:** User decision on directory path
- **Insight:** fw setup wizard validated and bug-free after T-108 fixes

<!-- horizon: later -->

### T-120: Review Google Context Engineering whitepaper against framework
- **Status:** captured (horizon: later)
- **Last action:** Tagged horizon: later
- **Next step:** Fetch and review whitepaper (deferred — user explicitly does not want this prioritized yet)
- **Blockers:** None
- **Insight:** User created this as a backlog item, not for active work

## Inception Phases

**3 inception task(s) pending decision** — T-107, T-111, T-120 all captured.

## Gaps Register

**1 spec-reality gap(s) being watched** — see `.context/project/gaps.yaml`

- **G-004** [low]: Multi-agent collaboration untested

**NEW GAP IDENTIFIED THIS SESSION:** No pre-completion verification gate. Agent self-assesses AC and marks complete without verifying outputs work end-to-end. Three bugs shipped in T-121 that would have been caught by basic verification (YAML parse check, page load test, template reload).

## Decisions Made This Session

1. **Horizon field design: now|next|later in frontmatter**
   - Why: User observed T-120 (deferred) being suggested as primary handover action. `captured` status conflates "ready" with "backlog."
   - Alternatives rejected: blocked_by dependencies (different concern), tags convention (instructional not structural), separate directory (too heavy)

## Things Tried That Failed

1. **Bash echo|sort|while pipeline for horizon sorting in handover** — `\n` not interpreted as newlines by echo, subshell breaks variable tracking. Rewrote in Python.
2. **grep with set -euo pipefail** — `grep "^horizon:"` returns exit 1 on no match, killing the script. Fixed with `|| true`.
3. **Shipped T-121 without verifying outputs** — episodic had invalid YAML (backticks), Watchtower had no horizon display, Flask cached old templates. All caught by user, not by framework.

## Open Questions / Blockers

1. **Critical: How to structurally enforce pre-completion verification?** The AC gate checks boxes are checked, not that the work actually works. Need an inception task for this.
2. Flask runs without --debug, so template changes require restart. Should the launch script use --debug or add TEMPLATES_AUTO_RELOAD?
3. testdev user on this machine still needs cleanup (carried over)

## Gotchas / Warnings for Next Session

- Horizon field is live — all new tasks default to `now`, use `--horizon later` for backlog
- Handover now sorts tasks by horizon and instructs enricher to skip `later` from suggestions
- Episodic generator now quotes outcomes (prevents YAML-unsafe chars like backticks)
- Flask was restarted this session (PID changed) — template changes now visible
- 3 active tasks: T-111 (now), T-107 (next), T-120 (later)
- **User is frustrated about repeated pattern of shipping bugs.** Next session should lead with the verification gap, not more features.

## Suggested First Action

Create inception task: "Design pre-completion verification gate" — the pattern of self-assessed AC + no output verification has now caused issues in T-108, T-118, and T-121. This is the highest-priority structural gap.

## Files Changed This Session

- Modified: .tasks/templates/default.md, .tasks/templates/inception.md (horizon field)
- Modified: agents/task-create/create-task.sh (--horizon flag)
- Modified: agents/task-create/update-task.sh (--horizon flag + backward compat)
- Modified: agents/handover/handover.sh (Python sorting by horizon)
- Modified: agents/context/lib/episodic.sh (quote outcomes, sanitize summary)
- Modified: bin/fw (work-on horizon passthrough)
- Modified: CLAUDE.md (horizon documentation)
- Modified: web/templates/tasks.html (horizon badges on board + list)
- Modified: web/templates/task_detail.html (horizon in metadata table)
- Completed: .tasks/completed/T-121-*.md, .context/episodic/T-121.yaml

## Recent Commits

- 6bf5de4 T-121: Add horizon to Watchtower UI + fix episodic YAML quoting
- c332fc1 T-121: Quote outcomes and sanitize summary in episodic generator
- d43ea64 T-121: Fix episodic YAML — backticks are invalid YAML tokens
- 65099f7 T-121: Add horizon field to task lifecycle (now|next|later)
- 3982248 T-012: Session handover S-2026-0217-1653 — enriched

---

## Handover Quality Feedback (for next session to complete)

- Did this handover help? [ ]
- What was missing?
- What was unnecessary?
