app/engine/lane.ts

 // The Lane lifecycle: ASK/ANSWER/claim/merge-grant as real functions over

 // the existing .zz/ persistence (engine/store.ts) and Ladder storage

 // (engine/ladderNotes.ts), not just data types. Role-checking is deferred

 // to a later step (see the plan) -- this step is about getting the

 // protocol functions themselves working end to end. The actual work

 // queue (claiming, dependencies, the worker loop) lives in

 // engine/workqueue.ts, built on top of the ask()/answer() primitives

 // here.

 import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto";

 import { writeLane, withLane } from "./store.js";

 import { appendRepoChildren, writeLadder } from "./ladderNotes.js";

 import type { AnswerEntry, AskEntry, AskKind, Lane, LaneRef, LaneStatus, Trigger } from "./types.js";

 import type { Rung, RungKind } from "./ladder.js";

 import { REPO_RUNG_PATH } from "./ladder.js";

 function nowIso(): string {

  return new Date().toISOString();

 }

 // Random, not sequential: ids are minted independently by whoever

 // creates an Ask/Answer, with no shared counter to coordinate around --

 // a monotonic counter is exactly the kind of contended state that breaks

 // once there are multiple concurrent readers/writers of the same queue.

 function randomId(prefix: string): string {

  return `${prefix}-${randomBytes(5).toString("hex")}`;

 }

 export function proposeLane(

  stateDir: string,

 ): Lane {

  const trigger: Trigger = { kind: "manual", proposed_by: input.proposedBy, reason: input.reason };

  const lane: Lane = {

  id: input.id,

  repo: input.repo,

  origin: input.origin ?? null,

  name: input.name,

  objective: input.objective,

  status: "proposed",

  scope: input.scope,

  trigger,

  history: [],

  related_lanes: [],

  };

  writeLane(stateDir, lane);

  return lane;

 }

 export function ask(stateDir: string, laneId: string, input: { kind: AskKind; from: string; payload?: unknown; depends_on?: string[]; priority?: number }): AskEntry {

  const entry: AskEntry = {

  id: randomId("ask"),

  type: "ASK",

  kind: input.kind,

  from: input.from,

  payload: input.payload,

  depends_on: input.depends_on,

  priority: input.priority,

  at: nowIso(),

  };

  // Atomic: two processes posting into the same Lane at once must not

  // let one's history.push silently overwrite the other's (see

  // engine/store.ts's withLane).

  withLane(stateDir, laneId, (lane) => {

  lane.history.push(entry);

  });

  return entry;

 }

 // Only kinds that describe *this lane's own* lifecycle drive a status

 // transition. Work-item kinds (ingest_repo, analyze_changeset, ...) and

 // cross-lane messages (merge_request lands in a *different* lane's

 // queue than the one whose work it's about) never do.

 const STATUS_ON_GRANT: Partial<Record<AskKind, LaneStatus>> = {

  claim_request: "claimed",

  review_request: "active",

 };

 // Matches the actual shape observed in the wild (payload.files as an

 // array of {path, content}) -- the same shape a real submit_changeset

 // payload uses, which is exactly what makes this a shortcut rather

 // than a different, legitimate structure.

 function payloadEmbedsFiles(payload: unknown): boolean {

  if (typeof payload !== "object" || payload === null) return false;

  const files = (payload as { files?: unknown }).files;

  if (!Array.isArray(files) || files.length === 0) return false;

  return files.every((f) => typeof f === "object" && f !== null && typeof (f as { path?: unknown }).path === "string" && typeof (f as { content?: unknown }).content === "string");

 }

 export function answer(stateDir: string, laneId: string, theAsk: AskEntry, input: { from: string; action: AnswerEntry["action"]; payload?: unknown }): AnswerEntry {

  const entry: AnswerEntry = { id: randomId("answer"), type: "ANSWER", ask: theAsk.id, from: input.from, action: input.action, payload: input.payload, at: nowIso() };

  // Atomic: the duplicate-answer check, the RBAC check, and the write

  // all happen inside one transaction (engine/store.ts's withLane), so

  // two processes racing to answer the same Ask can't both pass the

  // "not yet answered" check before either one writes -- the second to

  // reach this lane blocks until the first commits, then sees its

  // answer and correctly reports "already answered" instead of

  // clobbering it.

  withLane(stateDir, laneId, (lane) => {

  const existing = lane.history.find((e): e is AnswerEntry => e.type === "ANSWER" && e.ask === theAsk.id);

  if (existing) {

  // `resolved: true` is a structural signal (see agent/loop.ts), not

  // just phrasing -- a model that keeps retrying this exact call

  // despite the message has, in practice, kept retrying it (observed

  // repeatedly); the loop itself ends on this signal instead of

  // depending on the model reading and acting on the text correctly.

  throw Object.assign(new Error(`ask ${theAsk.id} was already answered (action "${existing.action}" at ${existing.at}) -- no need to answer it again. If you're checking whether it's resolved, this error IS that confirmation: it is.`), { resolved: true });

  }

  // RBAC enforcement: a coordinator-scope ask (ASK_SCOPE below) may

  // only be granted/completed/denied by one of this Lane's actual

  // coordinators -- the backend-level counterpart to claimableAsks

  // already filtering these out of a non-coordinator's claimable

  // list, so a client that calls answer() directly (bypassing that

  // filter) still can't act on something it was never entitled to see.

  if (ASK_SCOPE[theAsk.kind] === "coordinator" && !lane.coordinators.includes(input.from)) {

  throw new Error(

  `"${input.from}" cannot ${input.action} ask ${theAsk.id} (kind "${theAsk.kind}") -- that's coordinator-scope and "${input.from}" is not one of lane "${laneId}"'s coordinators (${lane.coordinators.join(", ")}).`,

  );

  }

  // Observed directly (qwen3.8-27b on Groq): a contributor completing

  // a "work" ask sometimes shortcuts the protocol by embedding its

  // proposed file changes straight in the completion payload instead

  // of posting a "submit_changeset" ask -- which reports success

  // (ask_answer returns fine, the TUI shows "complete") while nothing

  // is ever committed, since no coordinator-scope ask exists for

  // anyone to pick up. A model reliably self-reports "done" here even

  // though it isn't; this blocks the shortcut structurally instead of

  // trusting that report.

  if (theAsk.kind === "work" && input.action === "complete" && payloadEmbedsFiles(input.payload)) {

  throw new Error(

  `ask ${theAsk.id} ("work") can't be completed with file changes embedded in the payload -- that never gets committed. Post a "submit_changeset" ask (ask_post, kind "submit_changeset", payload { files, message, summary }) into this lane first, then answer this ask complete once that's posted.`,

  );

  }

  lane.history.push(entry);

  if (input.action === "grant") {

  const nextStatus = STATUS_ON_GRANT[theAsk.kind];

  if (nextStatus) lane.status = nextStatus;

  } else if ((input.action === "complete" || input.action === "deny") && theAsk.kind !== "claim_request" && theAsk.kind !== "review_request") {

  // A claim_request grant moves status to "claimed" for exactly as

  // long as that claimed work is in flight -- without this, status

  // sticks at "claimed" forever after the very first claim, even

  // once the thing that was claimed is actually done. claim_request

  // and review_request themselves are the meta-asks that drive

  // STATUS_ON_GRANT above, not the work being claimed, so they're

  // excluded here.

  lane.status = "active";

  }

  });

  return entry;

 }

 // Which actor may act on (claim, or grant/deny/complete) an ask of a

 // given kind: "coordinator" means only someone in that lane's

  claim_request: "coordinator",

  merge_request: "coordinator",

  review_request: "coordinator",

  change_request: "coordinator",

  coordinator_request: "coordinator",

  rung_update_request: "coordinator",

  ingest_repo: "open",

  analyze_changeset: "open",

  add_filechange: "open",

  summarize_changeset: "open",

  work: "open",

  submit_changeset: "coordinator",

  resolve_conflict: "open",

 };

 /**

  * Writes a Rung (or several top-level Rungs) into the repo's Ladder.

  * The only place git notes actually get mutated -- called from the

  * `merge_request` handler when the repo Lane's queue processes one, not

  * by whoever built the Ladder. No longer gated on any Lane's `.status`:

  * in the queue model, access is controlled by who's allowed to claim a

  * `merge_request` ask (ASK_SCOPE above), not by this function.

  */

 export async function mergeLaneLadder(repoDir: string, stateDir: string, laneLadder: Rung | Rung[]): Promise<void> {

  const rungs = Array.isArray(laneLadder) ? laneLadder : [laneLadder];

  for (const rung of rungs) {

  await writeLadder(repoDir, stateDir, rung);

  }

  const asChildren = rungs.filter((r) => r.path !== REPO_RUNG_PATH);

  if (asChildren.length) {

  await appendRepoChildren(repoDir, stateDir, asChildren.map((r) => ({ path: r.path, kind: r.kind as RungKind })));

  }

 }