Frank
8af40c402b
Landing blocker for #61 and #63: the deployment checkout is 12 commits behind and `merge --ff-only` refuses while tracked paths are dirty. Discard is not available here (workspace policy: no `checkout`/`stash` on shared state), so the dirt is committed. - `agent/APPEND_SYSTEM.md`: the point-of-use / one-work-log / PR-link doctrine, already byte-identical to `origin/main` (`cmp` against the trunk blob: no difference). No new prose — the commit exists so the trunk merge can proceed. - `agent/config.yml` and `agent/managed-skills/**`: the machine-live tier the heartbeat owns (AGENTS.md § Live-sync tiers). `ALLOW_SECRETS=1` was used, deliberately and after auditing the staged diff by hand: the only credential-shaped strings in it are two copies of `AKIA0000000000000EXAMPLE` — the inert all-zero AWS example id — and they appear inside the two skill pages that teach that exact placeholder shape. This checkout is still running the pre-#61 hook; the merged gate (value-scoped placeholder filter, `71601f7`) exempts this value, so the refusal dies with this landing. No `--no-verify` was used: the gate ran and its verdict is recorded here. Refs #61
50 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: recover-externally-reverted-file
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description: "Rebuild a worktree file that an external process (stale editor buffer, watcher) keeps reverting mid-session: idempotent script rebuild, verify, immediate commit, cat-file restore instead of checkout."
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---
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# Recovering a File an External Process Keeps Reverting
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Symptom: edits to one file flip-flop under you — grep/wc/read return two different
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versions minutes apart; tool edit warnings say "file modified externally" repeatedly;
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committed content disagrees with reads of the same path. Typical cause on Frank's
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boxes: an IDE window with a stale buffer auto-saving the old version, or another
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agent's git operation in a sibling worktree.
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## Procedure
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1. **Stop editing surgically.** Line-anchored `edit` calls are unsafe when the disk
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identity of the file is unstable. Take one snapshot:
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`cp <file> /tmp/obs1.bats` (twice, a few seconds apart; differing hashes confirm the flapping).
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2. **Write an idempotent rebuild script** (`/tmp/rebuild-*.py`) that transforms
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whichever known version is on disk into the target:
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- every patch is `sub_if_present(pattern, exact_replacement)` /
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`insert_before(anchor, block)` / `insert_after(anchor, block)`;
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- each helper first checks whether the block is already present and skips;
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- anchors must be taken from the committed/original file text, re-grepped,
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never from memory of an edit that may have been reverted;
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- print `ok/skip/FAIL` per patch so a mismatch is visible.
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3. **Apply + verify + commit in ONE bash invocation**:
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`python3 /tmp/rebuild.py && <syntax check e.g. bats -c / tsc> && git add <file> && git commit ...`
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The commit is the stable artifact; the disk is not.
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4. **Restore from git without checkout** (workspace policy blocks `git checkout/reset`
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in shared checkouts): `git cat-file blob HEAD:<path> > <path>`.
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Never `git checkout -- <path>` blindly — it silently nukes uncommitted work.
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5. **Run consumers immediately after the restore/commit** (tests etc. in the same
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invocation where practical); re-check content with one hash compare
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(`md5sum <path>; git cat-file blob HEAD:<path> | md5sum`) when results look impossible.
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6. If duplicates crept in from double-application (flapping + reruns), dedupe by
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occurrence span (`src.find(marker)` twice, cut the second span) — full-block dedupe
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fails when the two copies differ in a byte of comment text.
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## Distinguishing real failure from flapping evidence
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If a test fails, re-run the exact command once before believing it: the failing read
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may have run against the reverted file, not the committed one. Verify what the runner
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saw (`git hash-object <path>` vs `git rev-parse HEAD:<path>`).
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## Afterward
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Flag the reverter to the user (open editor buffer / watcher / sibling agent); do not
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fight it — commits and cat-file restores make it harmless.
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