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ci: run comment-hygiene locally in check-affected so a comment violation fails before push #9648
Description
Problem
The comment-hygiene check is CI-only (scripts/check-affected-gates.txt:32, "comment-hygiene ci-only ci-workflows composite"). Neither the pre-push hook nor check-affected.sh runs it, so a PR that adds an issue number, run id or date to a code comment finds out only after a full CI round. The lint-repo annotation then says only "Hygiene check comment-hygiene finished with outcome: failure", because the composite action's output is not captured, so finding the line takes another step.
On 2026-10-24 this happened three times:
- fix(pr-merge): recompute an unverified-stale post-merge answer in lane_room and annotate room holds #9602 (lint-repo job 120802693376, four
issue #9577comments): red about 1 h. - fix(pr-merge): bind a cost decision to the pull request it names #9569 (run 40076212602): red about 4.5 h.
- fix(pr-pipeline): derive a lane PR's link line from the remaining work it names #9630 (run 40076369625): red about 4.5 h.
Fix
Run the same patterns locally in check-affected.sh, against the changed files' comment lines. Read them from the pinned ci-workflows check-comment-markers/comment-hygiene-patterns.sh, not from a copy, so the local and CI checks cannot drift. Optionally, have the composite action print the offending file:line to the job log, so the CI annotation points at it.
Who uses it: every builder that pushes, before CI spends a run on it.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Oct 24, 2026
Proposed work class: work-class: scoped
Basis: automated intake triage; the lanes App applied this class.
Size: Small
Complexity: Medium
Uncertainty: Known
Flags: none
Blocked by: none
Understood: run the comment-hygiene patterns locally in check-affected.sh, fetched from the pinned ci-workflows SHA, so comment violations fail before push. A fetch failure is a SKIP, and the gates file moves comment-hygiene from ci-only to a run row.
Decision (#9648 (comment)), quoted from its opening lines:
That decision settles the open questions (pattern source, fetch failure, out-of-scope composite output). Nothing further is asked.
Automated triage, applied by the lanes App.
melodic-automation-lanes commentedon Oct 24, 2026
Not admitted to the issue lane: no trusted-human acceptance criteria: a listed human must put the confirmed
- [ ]criteria in the body or post them as their own comment, or, on an issue a listed human filed, intake's newest refinement comment must hold them unedited. Admission takes the issue once each of those is met, when intake triages it again (.github/actions/resolve-config/admission-rules.json).kyle-sexton commentedon Oct 25, 2026
Released for re-triage under the owner's 2026-10-24 rule: an issue stops for a person only for an intent or vision question, a security call, a host or attended run, or spend outside prepaid credit. The hold label came off and intake triage runs again now; it re-applies a hold, with a numbered question, when one of those applies.
To hold this issue again, add
needs-human(orstatus: needs-decision) and say why in a comment.melodic-automation-lanes commentedon Oct 25, 2026
The latest triage verdict holds nothing: the issue is at
status: ready.melodic-automation-lanes commentedon Oct 25, 2026
Refinement. A read-only run explored this repository, searched its issues and pull requests, and read the allowed docs to draft what follows. On an issue a listed human filed, it counts as the issue's spec once posted, while unedited; it is still model text, so check it.
Intended outcome: check-affected.sh runs the pinned ci-workflows comment-hygiene patterns over the changed files' comment lines and fails before push, and the gate row moves from ci-only to run.
Related work
Open questions
RECOMMENDED: Fetch the one file at the pinned SHA, read from the workflow's uses line, into a cache directory. That keeps the local and CI pins from drifting. Basis: .github/workflows/pr-require-checks.yml:1037
RECOMMENDED: Warn and skip, printing
CI only: comment-hygiene, so an offline push is not blocked. CI stays the enforcing gate. Basis: judgmentRECOMMENDED: No. That change lives in the separate ci-workflows repo, so track it as its own issue and keep this one to the local check. Basis: scripts/check-affected-gates.txt:32
Sources read
Automated refinement by the lanes App. Answer with a comment whose first line is
**Decision recorded.**.kyle-sexton commentedon Oct 26, 2026
Decision recorded. The owner answered in the Refinement and Issue Triage sessions (2026-10-25), deciding the open items below on the facts:
No owner ledger (
.work/*/interview-checklist.md,.work/gh-monitor-owner-decisions/) names this issue.Questions from intake's refinement (2026-10-25):
check-affected.shgetcomment-hygiene-patterns.sh?Decided: Fetch that one file from public
melodic-software/ci-workflowsat the SHA in this repo'scheck-comment-markersuses line (.github/workflows/pr-require-checks.yml:1037,5e18f3d6, v0.58.0). It is fetched on each run, ascheck-affected.shalready fetches the base on each run (scripts/check-affected.sh:214-215); no cache. The pin stays the single source, so the local and CI checks cannot drift (DRY/SSOT). The file is.github/actions/check-comment-markers/comment-hygiene-patterns.shat that SHA.Decided: SKIP with its reason, never a failure.
check-affected.shalready says so for every check: "A missing tool, a failed fetch, or a check that exits 2 (could not run) is a SKIP with its reason, never a failure" (scripts/check-affected.sh:69-70). CI stays the enforcing gate.file:lineoutput?Decided: Out of scope here. It is a ci-workflows change.
Acceptance criteria:
check-affected.shruns the comment-hygiene patterns from the pinned ci-workflows SHA over the changed files' comment lines and fails on a match, with the matchingfile:line.check-comment-markersuses line in.github/workflows/pr-require-checks.yml; no copy of the patterns is committed here.scripts/check-affected-gates.txtlistscomment-hygieneas a run row, notci-only.