feat: record_directive — the PM's ledger in pm-state (P4, completes Reginald)

The last agent tool. When the PM states standing intent ("pilots come first"),
Reginald logs it verbatim to an append-only JSONL ledger in the pm-state repo —
a directive is intent; its effects still land through propose_change. This
completes Reginald's tool surface: query_project · propose_change · capture_work
· record_directive.

core (@commitea/core):
- directives/record-directive-v0: schema (kind/quote/target/params/rationale +
  id/ts/status), serialize/parseDirectiveLog (ts-ordered, seq computed on read,
  corrupt lines skipped), appendDirective (concatenation merge), toDirectiveInput.
- RECORD_DIRECTIVE_TOOL + system prompt update ("log standing intent; never claim
  a change is applied").
- gitea client: getFile/putFile (contents API, base64-agnostic) for the pm-state repo.

app:
- main: a pm-state client (same token, `commitea-pm-state` repo — the purity
  split, D4); appendDirectiveEntry (read→append→write, id/ts stamped here),
  readDirectives. model:chat executes record_directive; pmstate:directives reads
  the ledger. Degrades cleanly when the pm-state repo is absent.
- Directives screen shows the real ledger when present, the fixture demo otherwise.

Note: the pm-state repo isn't created yet — my token lacks write:user (repo
creation). Create `commitea-pm-state` (private) to activate the live path; all the
code + tests are in place. Override with COMMITEA_PMSTATE_REPO.

Verified: 116 core tests green (8 directive + 2 contents-API added), desktop
typecheck clean, 14 fixture e2e green. Gated live test: the real gemma-4-26b calls
record_directive for "pilots come first" (logs intent, doesn't claim to apply it);
the append/read + POST/PUT contents paths are unit-tested.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/core/src/agent/agent-live.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
 import { extractLabelFacts } from '../labels/label-schema.js'
 import type { FetchLike, GiteaIssue } from '../gitea/types.js'
@@ -10,11 +10,22 @@ import { buildProjectView, type ProjectSnapshot } from './query-project.js'
 /**
  * Opt-in (COMMITEA_MODEL_LIVE=1). Drives the real chat client + agent loop
  * against a local OpenAI-compatible server (LM Studio on :1234 by default),
- * proving the model calls query_project and narrates the real result.
+ * proving the model calls the tools and narrates the real result. The model is
+ * whatever is loaded (via LM Studio's native API), so it never JIT-swaps.
  */
 const LIVE = !!process.env.COMMITEA_MODEL_LIVE
 const BASE = process.env.COMMITEA_MODEL_URL ?? 'http://localhost:1234/v1'
-const MODEL = process.env.COMMITEA_MODEL_SMALL ?? 'google/gemma-4-e4b'
+let MODEL = process.env.COMMITEA_MODEL_SMALL ?? ''
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  if (!LIVE || MODEL) return
+  const root = BASE.replace(/\/v1\/?$/, '')
+  const loaded = await fetch(`${root}/api/v0/models`)
+    .then((r) => (r.ok ? (r.json() as Promise<{ data?: { id: string; state?: string; type?: string }[] }>) : null))
+    .then((d) => d?.data?.find((m) => m.state === 'loaded' && m.type !== 'embeddings')?.id)
+    .catch(() => undefined)
+  MODEL = loaded ?? 'google/gemma-4-e4b'
+})
 
 function issue(over: Partial<GiteaIssue>): GiteaIssue {
   const labels = over.labels ?? []
@@ -59,4 +70,34 @@ describe('agent loop (live model)', () => {
     },
     60_000,
   )
+
+  it.skipIf(!LIVE)(
+    'records a standing instruction via record_directive',
+    async () => {
+      const client = createChatClient({ baseUrl: BASE, model: MODEL }, globalThis.fetch as unknown as FetchLike)
+      const recorded: unknown[] = []
+      const turn = await runAgentTurn({
+        complete: (m, t) => client.complete(m, t),
+        messages: [
+          { role: 'system', content: REGINALD_SYSTEM },
+          { role: 'user', content: 'Log this standing directive: pilots come first, everything else waits.' },
+        ],
+        tools: REGINALD_TOOLS,
+        execute: async (name, args) => {
+          if (name === 'record_directive') {
+            recorded.push(args)
+            return { recorded: { kind: (args as { kind?: string }).kind ?? 'note' } }
+          }
+          return name === 'query_project'
+            ? buildProjectView((args as { view: any }).view, (args as any).filters, SNAP, new Date())
+            : { error: `unknown tool ${name}` }
+        },
+      })
+
+      // the model logged the directive rather than trying to apply it
+      expect(turn.steps.some((s) => s.tool === 'record_directive')).toBe(true)
+      expect(recorded.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    },
+    60_000,
+  )
 })

packages/core/src/agent/agent-tools.ts

@@ -52,13 +52,40 @@ export const PROPOSE_CHANGE_TOOL: ToolDecl = {
   },
 }
 
-export const REGINALD_TOOLS: ToolDecl[] = [QUERY_PROJECT_TOOL, PROPOSE_CHANGE_TOOL]
+export const RECORD_DIRECTIVE_TOOL: ToolDecl = {
+  name: 'record_directive',
+  description:
+    'Log a standing instruction from the PM to the durable directive ledger — a reprioritization, ' +
+    'a re-estimate policy, a deadline, a scope or capacity call, or a plain note. Use it when the user ' +
+    'states intent that should persist ("pilots come first", "freeze scope for beta"). This records the ' +
+    'intent verbatim; the actual issue edits still go through propose_change.',
+  parameters: {
+    type: 'object',
+    properties: {
+      kind: { type: 'string', enum: ['reprioritize', 'reestimate', 'set-deadline', 'scope', 'capacity', 'note'] },
+      quote: { type: 'string', description: "the PM's own words, stored verbatim" },
+      target: {
+        type: 'object',
+        properties: {
+          issue: { type: 'number' },
+          milestone: { type: 'number' },
+          member: { type: 'string' },
+        },
+      },
+      rationale: { type: 'string', description: 'why (optional)' },
+    },
+    required: ['kind', 'quote'],
+  },
+}
+
+export const REGINALD_TOOLS: ToolDecl[] = [QUERY_PROJECT_TOOL, PROPOSE_CHANGE_TOOL, RECORD_DIRECTIVE_TOOL]
 
 export const REGINALD_SYSTEM = [
   'You are Reginald, the calm, dry project manager inside CommiTea — a tool that runs projects on Gitea.',
   'Call query_project to ground every answer in the real project; never invent issues, numbers, or dates.',
   'The scheduler and forecasts are deterministic code — report their output, do not recompute it.',
   'To change an estimate or priority, call propose_change — it shows the human a diff to approve.',
+  'When the PM states standing intent ("pilots first", "freeze scope"), call record_directive to log it.',
   'Never claim a change is applied; you propose, the human approves. Forecasts are ranges, never single dates.',
   'Refer to issues as #<number>. Be brief and plain — a sentence or two. No preamble, no bullet dumps.',
 ].join(' ')

packages/core/src/directives/record-directive-v0.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import {
+  appendDirective,
+  makeDirectiveEntry,
+  parseDirectiveLog,
+  serializeDirective,
+  toDirectiveInput,
+} from './record-directive-v0.js'
+
+describe('toDirectiveInput', () => {
+  it('keeps a valid kind + target and drops an empty target', () => {
+    const input = toDirectiveInput({ kind: 'reprioritize', quote: 'pilots first', target: { issue: 87 }, rationale: 'blocked' })
+    expect(input).toEqual({ kind: 'reprioritize', quote: 'pilots first', target: { issue: 87 }, params: undefined, rationale: 'blocked' })
+    expect(toDirectiveInput({ kind: 'note', quote: 'x', target: {} }).target).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  it('falls back to note for an unknown kind', () => {
+    expect(toDirectiveInput({ kind: 'nonsense', quote: 'hmm' }).kind).toBe('note')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('serialize + parse round-trip', () => {
+  const entry = makeDirectiveEntry(
+    { kind: 'reprioritize', quote: 'pilots come first', target: { issue: 87 } },
+    'id-1',
+    '2026-02-01T09:00:00Z',
+  )
+
+  it('serializes to one JSON line', () => {
+    const line = serializeDirective(entry)
+    expect(line).not.toContain('\n')
+    expect(JSON.parse(line)).toMatchObject({ id: 'id-1', kind: 'reprioritize', status: 'accepted' })
+  })
+
+  it('parses a log, orders by ts, and assigns a 1-based seq', () => {
+    const a = serializeDirective(makeDirectiveEntry({ kind: 'note', quote: 'later' }, 'b', '2026-02-02T00:00:00Z'))
+    const b = serializeDirective(makeDirectiveEntry({ kind: 'note', quote: 'earlier' }, 'a', '2026-02-01T00:00:00Z'))
+    const records = parseDirectiveLog(`${a}\n${b}\n`)
+    expect(records.map((r) => r.quote)).toEqual(['earlier', 'later'])
+    expect(records.map((r) => r.seq)).toEqual([1, 2])
+  })
+
+  it('skips blank and corrupt lines without losing the rest', () => {
+    const good = serializeDirective(entry)
+    const records = parseDirectiveLog(`\n{not json\n${good}\n\n`)
+    expect(records).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(records[0].id).toBe('id-1')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('appendDirective', () => {
+  it('concatenates a newline-terminated entry, normalizing a missing trailing newline', () => {
+    const e1 = makeDirectiveEntry({ kind: 'note', quote: 'one' }, 'i1', '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z')
+    const e2 = makeDirectiveEntry({ kind: 'note', quote: 'two' }, 'i2', '2026-01-02T00:00:00Z')
+    let log = appendDirective('', e1)
+    log = appendDirective(log, e2)
+    expect(parseDirectiveLog(log).map((r) => r.quote)).toEqual(['one', 'two'])
+    expect(log.endsWith('\n')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('handles existing text without a trailing newline', () => {
+    const e = makeDirectiveEntry({ kind: 'note', quote: 'x' }, 'i', '2026-01-01T00:00:00Z')
+    expect(appendDirective('{"id":"prev","ts":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"}', e).split('\n').filter(Boolean)).toHaveLength(2)
+  })
+})

packages/core/src/directives/record-directive-v0.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+/**
+ * record_directive — the PM's standing instructions ("pilots come first"),
+ * appended to an append-only JSONL ledger in the pm-state repo (decisions.md D4,
+ * pm-state.md). A directive is *intent*: it's logged verbatim; its effects land
+ * later through apply_changes. Merge is concatenation — order derives from `ts`
+ * at read time, so two writers never conflict. `seq` is a display ordinal
+ * computed on read, never stored. This module is pure serialize/parse; the
+ * append (read → concat → write) is the bridge's job.
+ */
+
+export type DirectiveKind = 'reprioritize' | 'reestimate' | 'set-deadline' | 'scope' | 'capacity' | 'note'
+
+export type DirectiveStatus = 'proposed' | 'accepted' | 'amended' | 'withdrawn'
+
+export interface DirectiveTarget {
+  issue?: number
+  milestone?: number
+  member?: string
+}
+
+/** What the record_directive tool captures. */
+export interface DirectiveInput {
+  kind: DirectiveKind
+  /** Verbatim PM words, shown in the ledger. */
+  quote: string
+  target?: DirectiveTarget
+  /** Structured effect the scheduler applies, e.g. { priority: 1 }. */
+  params?: Record<string, unknown>
+  rationale?: string
+}
+
+/** A ledger entry — an input plus its durable id/ts/status. */
+export interface DirectiveEntry extends DirectiveInput {
+  id: string
+  ts: string
+  status: DirectiveStatus
+}
+
+/** A ledger entry as read back, with a computed display ordinal. */
+export interface DirectiveRecord extends DirectiveEntry {
+  seq: number
+}
+
+const DIRECTIVE_KINDS: readonly DirectiveKind[] = [
+  'reprioritize',
+  'reestimate',
+  'set-deadline',
+  'scope',
+  'capacity',
+  'note',
+]
+
+/** Normalize a raw tool payload into a DirectiveInput (unknown kind → note). */
+export function toDirectiveInput(raw: unknown): DirectiveInput {
+  const r = (raw ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>
+  const kind = DIRECTIVE_KINDS.includes(r.kind as DirectiveKind) ? (r.kind as DirectiveKind) : 'note'
+  const target = (r.target ?? undefined) as DirectiveTarget | undefined
+  return {
+    kind,
+    quote: typeof r.quote === 'string' ? r.quote : '',
+    target: target && (target.issue || target.milestone || target.member) ? target : undefined,
+    params: (r.params && typeof r.params === 'object' ? (r.params as Record<string, unknown>) : undefined),
+    rationale: typeof r.rationale === 'string' ? r.rationale : undefined,
+  }
+}
+
+/** Build a full entry from an input + externally-supplied id/ts (Date/uuid live in the caller). */
+export function makeDirectiveEntry(
+  input: DirectiveInput,
+  id: string,
+  ts: string,
+  status: DirectiveStatus = 'accepted',
+): DirectiveEntry {
+  return { ...input, id, ts, status }
+}
+
+/** One JSONL line (no trailing newline — the caller joins). */
+export function serializeDirective(entry: DirectiveEntry): string {
+  return JSON.stringify(entry)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse a JSONL log into records ordered by `ts` (then id for stability), with a
+ * 1-based `seq` assigned on read. Blank/corrupt lines are skipped, not fatal.
+ */
+export function parseDirectiveLog(text: string): DirectiveRecord[] {
+  const entries: DirectiveEntry[] = []
+  for (const line of text.split('\n')) {
+    const trimmed = line.trim()
+    if (!trimmed) continue
+    try {
+      const e = JSON.parse(trimmed) as DirectiveEntry
+      if (e && typeof e.id === 'string' && typeof e.ts === 'string') entries.push(e)
+    } catch {
+      // skip a corrupt line rather than lose the whole ledger
+    }
+  }
+  entries.sort((a, b) => (a.ts === b.ts ? a.id.localeCompare(b.id) : a.ts.localeCompare(b.ts)))
+  return entries.map((e, i) => ({ ...e, seq: i + 1 }))
+}
+
+/** Append a serialized entry to existing log text (concatenation merge). */
+export function appendDirective(existing: string, entry: DirectiveEntry): string {
+  const base = existing.endsWith('\n') || existing === '' ? existing : existing + '\n'
+  return `${base}${serializeDirective(entry)}\n`
+}

packages/core/src/gitea/client.test.ts

@@ -146,6 +146,28 @@ describe('createGiteaClient.getIssue', () => {
     ])
   })
 
+  it('getFile returns null on 404 and content+sha on hit', async () => {
+    const miss = stubFetch('nope', 404)
+    expect(await createGiteaClient(CONFIG, miss.fetch).getFile('directives/log.jsonl')).toBeNull()
+
+    const hit = stubFetch({ content: 'aGVsbG8=\n', sha: 'abc123' })
+    const file = await createGiteaClient(CONFIG, hit.fetch).getFile('directives/log.jsonl')
+    expect(file).toEqual({ contentBase64: 'aGVsbG8=', sha: 'abc123' })
+    expect(hit.calls[0].url).toContain('/contents/directives/log.jsonl')
+  })
+
+  it('putFile POSTs to create and PUTs to update (with sha)', async () => {
+    const create = stubFetch({}, 201)
+    await createGiteaClient(CONFIG, create.fetch).putFile('directives/log.jsonl', { contentBase64: 'eA==', message: 'seed' })
+    expect(create.calls[0].init?.method).toBe('POST')
+    expect(JSON.parse(create.calls[0].init?.body ?? '{}')).toEqual({ content: 'eA==', message: 'seed' })
+
+    const update = stubFetch({}, 200)
+    await createGiteaClient(CONFIG, update.fetch).putFile('directives/log.jsonl', { contentBase64: 'eQ==', message: 'append', sha: 's1' })
+    expect(update.calls[0].init?.method).toBe('PUT')
+    expect(JSON.parse(update.calls[0].init?.body ?? '{}')).toEqual({ content: 'eQ==', message: 'append', sha: 's1' })
+  })
+
   it('createIssue POSTs title/body/labels and returns a normalized issue', async () => {
     const created = { ...RAW_ISSUE, number: 44, title: 'Retry token refresh', labels: [{ name: 'est/2d' }, { name: 'p/2' }] }
     const { fetch, calls } = stubFetch(created, 201)

packages/core/src/gitea/client.ts

@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ export interface GiteaClient {
   setIssueLabels(index: number, labelIds: number[]): Promise<void>
   /** Open a new issue with a title, optional body, and label ids. Write. */
   createIssue(input: { title: string; body?: string; labelIds?: number[] }): Promise<GiteaIssue>
+  /** Read a repo file's base64 content + blob sha; null if it (or the repo) is absent. */
+  getFile(path: string): Promise<{ contentBase64: string; sha: string } | null>
+  /** Create or update a repo file with base64 content (pass `sha` to update). Write. */
+  putFile(path: string, input: { contentBase64: string; message: string; sha?: string }): Promise<void>
 }
 
 /** Map raw gitea issue JSON to the normalized domain shape. Pure. */
@@ -232,5 +236,25 @@ export function createGiteaClient(config: GiteaConfig, fetchImpl: FetchLike): Gi
       })) as RawIssue
       return normalizeIssue(raw)
     },
+
+    async getFile(path) {
+      const res = await fetchImpl(`${repoBase}/contents/${path}`, {
+        headers: { Authorization: `token ${config.token}`, Accept: 'application/json' },
+      })
+      if (res.status === 404) return null
+      if (!res.ok) {
+        const body = await res.text().catch(() => '')
+        throw new GiteaApiError(res.status, `GET contents/${path} failed (${res.status})`, body)
+      }
+      const json = (await res.json()) as { content?: string; sha: string }
+      return { contentBase64: (json.content ?? '').replace(/\n/g, ''), sha: json.sha }
+    },
+
+    async putFile(path, input) {
+      await request(`/contents/${path}`, {
+        method: input.sha ? 'PUT' : 'POST',
+        body: { content: input.contentBase64, message: input.message, ...(input.sha ? { sha: input.sha } : {}) },
+      })
+    },
   }
 }

packages/core/src/index.ts

@@ -85,8 +85,30 @@ export { pickModel } from './agent/model-router.js'
 export type { ModelRouter, TaskKind } from './agent/model-router.js'
 export { runAgentTurn } from './agent/agent-loop.js'
 export type { AgentStep, AgentTurn, ToolExecutor } from './agent/agent-loop.js'
-export { PROPOSE_CHANGE_TOOL, QUERY_PROJECT_TOOL, REGINALD_SYSTEM, REGINALD_TOOLS } from './agent/agent-tools.js'
+export {
+  PROPOSE_CHANGE_TOOL,
+  QUERY_PROJECT_TOOL,
+  RECORD_DIRECTIVE_TOOL,
+  REGINALD_SYSTEM,
+  REGINALD_TOOLS,
+} from './agent/agent-tools.js'
 export { buildProjectView } from './agent/query-project.js'
 export type { ProjectSnapshot, ProjectView, QueryFilters } from './agent/query-project.js'
 export { CAPTURE_SYSTEM, captureWork, parseCaptureArgs, PROPOSE_ISSUES_TOOL } from './agent/capture-work.js'
 export type { CaptureProposal, ProposedIssue } from './agent/capture-work.js'
+
+export {
+  appendDirective,
+  makeDirectiveEntry,
+  parseDirectiveLog,
+  serializeDirective,
+  toDirectiveInput,
+} from './directives/record-directive-v0.js'
+export type {
+  DirectiveEntry,
+  DirectiveInput,
+  DirectiveKind,
+  DirectiveRecord,
+  DirectiveStatus,
+  DirectiveTarget,
+} from './directives/record-directive-v0.js'