## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents for zero-human companies
> - The issue graph and liveness recovery system decide whether assigned
work is executable or parked
> - Assigned issues created without an explicit status could silently
land in backlog, making parents look blocked with no productive wake
path
> - The server, shared validators, recovery analysis, and UI all need to
agree on that execution semantic
> - This pull request makes assigned issue creation default to `todo`,
flags assigned backlog blockers, and surfaces the state in the board
> - The benefit is that parked assigned work becomes intentional and
visible instead of creating silent liveness stalls
## What Changed
- Adds contract tests for assigned issue creation defaults.
- Defaults assigned issue creation to `todo` when status is omitted
while preserving explicit `backlog` parking.
- Exposes `resolveCreateIssueStatusDefault` through shared validators.
- Teaches liveness/blocker attention paths to distinguish assigned
backlog blockers.
- Adds UI notices, row/header badges, and issue detail safeguards for
assigned backlog blockers.
- Adds Storybook fixtures and execution-semantics documentation for the
assigned-backlog behavior.
## Verification
- `pnpm run preflight:workspace-links && pnpm exec vitest run
packages/shared/src/validators/issue.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-assigned-backlog-contract-routes.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-blocker-attention.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-liveness.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-issue-liveness-escalation.test.ts
ui/src/components/IssueAssignedBacklogNotice.test.tsx
ui/src/components/IssueRow.test.tsx` — 50 passed, 23 skipped.
- Skipped tests were embedded Postgres suites on this host with the repo
skip message: `Postgres init script exited with code null. Please check
the logs for extra info. The data directory might already exist.`
- Pairwise merge check against the issue-controls PR branch completed
without conflicts via `git merge --no-commit --no-ff` in a temporary
worktree.
- Screenshots for assigned-backlog UI states:
[light](docs/pr-screenshots/pr-5428/assigned-backlog-light.png),
[dark](docs/pr-screenshots/pr-5428/assigned-backlog-dark.png).
- Follow-up checks: `pnpm --filter /ui typecheck`; `pnpm --filter
/mcp-server build`; `pnpm --filter /mcp-server test`; `pnpm exec vitest
run packages/shared/src/validators/issue.test.ts`; focused UI component
tests.
- Remote PR checks on head `6300b3c`: policy, verify, serialized server
shards 1/4-4/4, Canary Dry Run, e2e, Greptile Review, and Snyk all
passed.
## Risks
- Medium: changes status defaulting for assigned issue creation when the
caller omits status. Explicit `backlog` remains supported, and
server/shared tests cover both paths.
- Medium: liveness classification changes can affect blocker attention
labels; focused service and UI tests cover the new assigned-backlog
state.
> For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and
discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap
with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap
first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
## Model Used
- OpenAI Codex coding agent, GPT-5 model family (`gpt-5`), tool-enabled
Paperclip heartbeat environment. Context window and internal reasoning
mode are not exposed by the runtime.
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents for zero-human companies.
> - The heartbeat harness is responsible for waking agents, reconciling
issue state, and keeping execution moving.
> - Some dependency graphs can become live-locks when a blocked issue
depends on an unassigned, cancelled, or otherwise uninvokable issue.
> - Review and approval stages can also stall when the recorded
participant can no longer be resolved.
> - This pull request adds issue graph liveness classification plus
heartbeat reconciliation that creates durable escalation work for those
cases.
> - The benefit is that harness-level deadlocks become visible,
assigned, logged, and recoverable instead of silently leaving task
sequences blocked.
## What Changed
- Added an issue graph liveness classifier for blocked dependency and
invalid review participant states.
- Added heartbeat reconciliation that creates one stable escalation
issue per liveness incident, links it as a blocker, comments on the
affected issue, wakes the recommended owner, and logs activity.
- Wired startup and periodic server reconciliation for issue graph
liveness incidents.
- Added focused tests for classifier behavior, heartbeat escalation
creation/deduplication, and queued dependency wake promotion.
- Fixed queued issue wakes so a coalesced wake re-runs queue selection,
allowing dependency-unblocked work to start immediately.
## Verification
- `pnpm exec vitest run
server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-dependency-scheduling.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-liveness.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-issue-liveness-escalation.test.ts`
- Passed locally: `server/src/__tests__/issue-liveness.test.ts` (5
tests)
- Skipped locally: embedded Postgres suites because optional package
`@embedded-postgres/darwin-x64` is not installed on this host
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck`
- `git diff --check`
- Greptile review loop: ran 3 times as requested; the final
Greptile-reviewed head `0a864eab` had 0 comments and all Greptile
threads were resolved. Later commits are CI/test-stability fixes after
the requested max Greptile pass count.
- GitHub PR checks on head `87493ed4`: `policy`, `verify`, `e2e`, and
`security/snyk (cryppadotta)` all passed.
## Risks
- Moderate operational risk: the reconciler creates escalation issues
automatically, so incorrect classification could create noise. Stable
incident keys and deduplication limit repeated escalation.
- Low schema risk: this uses existing issue, relation, comment, wake,
and activity log tables with no migration.
- No UI screenshots included because this change is server-side harness
behavior only.
> For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and
discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap
with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap
first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
## Model Used
- OpenAI Codex, GPT-5-based coding agent. Exact runtime model ID and
context window were not exposed in this session. Used tool execution for
git, tests, typecheck, Greptile review handling, and GitHub CLI
operations.
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
Dotta