Merge modes: local or PR, with a round cap

Status: proposed · 2026-09-04

Context

Today the loop merges --no-ff into main itself and never pushes. Some repositories want GitHub review bots to see the change first, which means a PR, which means pushing a branch.

Proposal

A [merge] table per target: mode = local | pr. In pr mode the loop pushes the branch, opens a PR carrying the ticket body and its FINDINGS entry, then runs a shepherd loop until terminal: fetch unresolved review threads, verdict each on merit, fix the accepted ones, reply with what changed and the sha, resolve, wait for CI and new threads, repeat. Each pass is a reviewRounds row with route github:<bot>, so FINDINGS and the ledger show it like a Codex round. pr_rounds = 5 caps the passes; past it the run parks for the operator with the open threads listed. Rejects and genuine questions are never auto-replied; they park too.

"The factory never pushes" becomes "the factory never pushes main".

Consequences

A second merge path with its own tests; a GitHub token on the writer host; the standing decision in the roadmap is amended.

Tickets

To file after note 8, which it shares the parking mechanism with.