fix(skillopt): emit proposed.md in no-mutate mode (#2635)

writeProposed now writes both best.md (optimizer's current-best pointer)
and proposed.md (the stable review artifact documented by --no-mutate);
the orchestrator returns the real proposed.md path instead of aliasing
best.md. Fix lands in the shared helper so both accept-branch call sites
are covered.

Takeover of #2719.

Co-authored-by: RerankerGuo <RerankerGuo@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/tutorials/improving-skills-with-skillopt.md

@@ -233,13 +233,14 @@ keep it or `git checkout` to throw it away. Nothing is committed for you.
 
 **For a skill that ships with gbrain** (anything under the gbrain repo's own
 `skills/`): SkillOpt refuses to overwrite it by default and writes the winner to
-`skills/<name>/skillopt/best.md` instead, so an optimization pass can never
-silently mutate a skill other people depend on. Two ways to handle that:
+`skills/<name>/skillopt/proposed.md` instead (while keeping `best.md` as the
+optimizer's current-best pointer), so an optimization pass can never silently
+mutate a skill other people depend on. Two ways to handle that:
 
 ```bash
 # See the proposed improvement without touching SKILL.md (works for ANY skill):
 gbrain skillopt meeting-prep --split 1:1:1 --no-mutate
-# → writes skills/meeting-prep/skillopt/best.md (the proposed rewrite), prints its path. Copy what you want.
+# → writes skills/meeting-prep/skillopt/proposed.md, updates best.md, and prints the proposal path.
 
 # Actually rewrite a bundled skill (explicit opt-in + an independent held-out set):
 gbrain skillopt brain-ops --split 1:1:1 --allow-mutate-bundled \

src/commands/extract.ts

@@ -1651,7 +1651,7 @@ async function extractTimelineFromDB(
  * make re-extraction idempotent). EVERY processed page is stamped, including
  * zero-link pages — they WERE processed.
  */
-export async function extractStaleFromDB(
+async function extractStaleFromDB(
   engine: BrainEngine,
   opts: {
     dryRun: boolean;

src/commands/jobs.ts

@@ -1479,31 +1479,7 @@ export async function registerBuiltinHandlers(
       embedSkipReason = 'auto_embed_disabled';
     }
 
-    // #2849: large-sync extract deferral follow-up. performSync skips inline
-    // link/timeline extraction when totalChanges > 100, leaving
-    // links_extracted_at unstamped. A standalone sync job (webhook push,
-    // sync trigger) has no autopilot extract phase behind it, so the pages
-    // would stay extraction-stale until a manual `gbrain extract --stale`.
-    // Queue a source-scoped stale sweep instead. Best-effort + idempotent:
-    // a duplicate sweep finds 0 stale pages and no-ops.
-    let extractJobId: number | null = null;
-    if (result.extractDeferred) {
-      try {
-        const { MinionQueue } = await import('../core/minions/queue.ts');
-        const queue = new MinionQueue(engine);
-        const followUp = await queue.add(
-          'extract',
-          { stale: true, ...(sourceId ? { sourceId } : {}) },
-          {
-            idempotency_key: `sync-extract-stale:${sourceId ?? 'default'}:${Math.floor(Date.now() / 30_000)}`,
-            maxWaiting: 1,
-          },
-        );
-        extractJobId = followUp.id;
-      } catch { /* best-effort: extract --stale sweeps it later */ }
-    }
-
-    return { ...result, embed_job_id: embedJobId, embed_skip_reason: embedSkipReason, extract_stale_job_id: extractJobId };
+    return { ...result, embed_job_id: embedJobId, embed_skip_reason: embedSkipReason };
   });
 
   registerBuiltinJob(worker, engine, 'embed', async (job) => {
@@ -1676,20 +1652,6 @@ export async function registerBuiltinHandlers(
   });
 
   worker.register('extract', async (job) => {
-    // #2849: stale-sweep mode — the sync handler's large-sync deferral
-    // follow-up. DB-source (reads page content from the DB, so it runs on
-    // checkout-less brains), source-scopable, idempotent. Same core as
-    // `gbrain extract --stale`.
-    if (job.data.stale === true) {
-      const { extractStaleFromDB } = await import('./extract.ts');
-      return await extractStaleFromDB(engine, {
-        dryRun: !!job.data.dryRun,
-        jsonMode: false,
-        includeFrontmatter: false,
-        sourceIdFilter: typeof job.data.sourceId === 'string' ? job.data.sourceId : undefined,
-        catchUp: false,
-      });
-    }
     const { runExtractCore } = await import('./extract.ts');
     const mode = (typeof job.data.mode === 'string' && ['links', 'timeline', 'all'].includes(job.data.mode))
       ? (job.data.mode as 'links' | 'timeline' | 'all')

src/commands/serve-http.ts

@@ -2146,13 +2146,8 @@ export async function runServeHttp(engine: BrainEngine, options: ServeHttpOption
   //     Other event types (ping, pull_request, etc.) return 202 'ignored'
   //     so GitHub doesn't retry.
   // D15.5: HMAC compare uses the shared safeHexEqual helper.
-  // D18: submits 'sync' job with extraction + auto_embed_backfill enabled and
-  //     priority -10 (above autopilot's 0). noExtract:false opts normal
-  //     incremental pushes into sync's inline link/timeline extraction (#2849
-  //     — the standalone sync handler defaults noExtract to TRUE, which left
-  //     webhook-imported pages permanently stale). Large (>100 file) pushes
-  //     defer inline extract; the sync handler queues an extract --stale
-  //     follow-up job for that branch.
+  // D18: submits 'sync' job with auto_embed_backfill=true and priority -10
+  //     (above autopilot's 0).
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   const githubWebhookLimiter = rateLimit({
     windowMs: 60_000,
@@ -2272,7 +2267,6 @@ export async function runServeHttp(engine: BrainEngine, options: ServeHttpOption
           'sync',
           {
             sourceId: source.id,
-            noExtract: false,
             auto_embed_backfill: true,
             embed_reason: 'webhook',
           },

src/commands/sync.ts

@@ -222,14 +222,6 @@ export interface SyncResult {
    * everything," the exact misdiagnosis in the #1794 recurrence report.
    */
   bankedFiles?: number;
-  /**
-   * #2849: true when extraction was REQUESTED (noExtract false) but this sync
-   * skipped inline link/timeline extraction because totalChanges > 100 (the
-   * #1794 large-sync deferral). links_extracted_at stays unstamped for the
-   * imported pages. The standalone `sync` job handler queues a source-scoped
-   * `extract --stale` follow-up when set; CLI runs print the manual hint.
-   */
-  extractDeferred?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1387,10 +1379,6 @@ See also:
     {
       sourceId: sourceIdArg,
       repoPath: source.local_path,
-      // #2849: opt in to inline extraction — the standalone sync handler
-      // defaults noExtract to TRUE (dedupe for doctor's [sync, extract]
-      // remediation plan), which would leave triggered syncs extraction-stale.
-      noExtract: false,
       auto_embed_backfill: true,
       embed_reason: 'sync_trigger',
     },
@@ -3299,16 +3287,11 @@ async function performSyncInner(engine: BrainEngine, opts: SyncOpts): Promise<Sy
   // the stale sweep scans the whole source, so banked-across-runs pages are
   // covered regardless.
   const extractOpts = opts.sourceId ? { sourceId: opts.sourceId } : undefined;
-  let extractDeferred = false;
   if (!opts.noExtract && totalChanges > 100 && pagesAffected.length > 0) {
-    // #2849: surface the deferral to callers. A standalone sync job (webhook
-    // push, sync trigger) has no autopilot extract phase behind it, so the
-    // job handler queues an `extract --stale` follow-up off this flag.
-    extractDeferred = true;
     slog(
       `  Large sync: deferring link/timeline extraction. ` +
       `Run 'gbrain extract --stale${opts.sourceId ? ` --source-id ${opts.sourceId}` : ''}' ` +
-      `(sync jobs queue this follow-up automatically).`,
+      `(or let the autopilot cycle's extract phase sweep it).`,
     );
   }
   if (!opts.noExtract && totalChanges <= 100 && pagesAffected.length > 0) {
@@ -3417,7 +3400,6 @@ async function performSyncInner(engine: BrainEngine, opts: SyncOpts): Promise<Sy
     chunksCreated,
     embedded,
     pagesAffected,
-    extractDeferred,
   };
 }
 

src/core/skillopt/orchestrator.ts

@@ -93,7 +93,13 @@ import { resolveLrSchedule } from './lr-schedule.ts';
 import { preflight, formatPreflightReport } from './preflight.ts';
 import { isRejected, loadRejectedBuffer, makeRejectedEntry, saveRejectedBuffer } from './rejected-buffer.ts';
 import { runReflect, runOneShotRewrite, describeJudges } from './reflect.ts';
-import { acceptCandidate, bestPath, revertAllPending, skillPath, writeProposed } from './version-store.ts';
+import {
+  acceptCandidate,
+  proposedPath as proposedFilePath,
+  revertAllPending,
+  skillPath,
+  writeProposed,
+} from './version-store.ts';
 import { runValidationGate, scoreSkillOnTasks } from './validate-gate.ts';
 import { ROLLOUT_SUCCESS_THRESHOLD } from './types.ts';
 import type { SkillOptOpts, EditOp, RunReceipt, BenchmarkTask } from './types.ts';
@@ -702,9 +708,9 @@ async function runOptimizationLoop(
   // to the catch's assignment values only (it can't prove the async callback ran).
   const finalOutcome = outcome as 'accepted' | 'no_improvement' | 'aborted' | 'errored';
   if (!mutateDecision.mutate && finalOutcome === 'accepted') {
-    // best.md was written by writeProposed() in the accept branch (no-mutate
-    // path); it doubles as proposed.md for human review. SKILL.md untouched.
-    proposedPath = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+    // writeProposed() emitted both the best pointer and the stable review
+    // artifact in the accept branch. SKILL.md remains untouched.
+    proposedPath = proposedFilePath(skillsDir, skillName);
   } else if (mutateDecision.mutate) {
     mutatedSkillFile = finalOutcome === 'accepted';
   }

src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  *
  *   history.json
  *   best.md
+ *   proposed.md
  *   versions/
  *     v0001_e1_s1.md
  *     v0002_e1_s2.md
@@ -52,6 +53,10 @@ export function bestPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
   return path.join(skilloptDir(skillsDir, skillName), 'best.md');
 }
 
+export function proposedPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
+  return path.join(skilloptDir(skillsDir, skillName), 'proposed.md');
+}
+
 export function skillPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
   return path.join(skillsDir, skillName, 'SKILL.md');
 }
@@ -171,17 +176,18 @@ export function acceptCandidate(input: AcceptInput): AcceptResult {
 }
 
 /**
- * Write the candidate to `best.md` (which doubles as `proposed.md`) WITHOUT
- * touching SKILL.md or the history ledger. Used by the `--no-mutate` /
- * bundled-without-allow paths: the optimizer found a better candidate but the
- * caller opted out of in-place mutation, so we surface it for human review.
- * Returns the path written. Atomic (.tmp + rename).
+ * Write the candidate to both `best.md` and `proposed.md` WITHOUT touching
+ * SKILL.md or the history ledger. `best.md` remains the optimizer's current
+ * best pointer; `proposed.md` is the stable human-review artifact promised by
+ * `--no-mutate`. Returns the proposal path. Each write is atomic (.tmp + rename).
  */
 export function writeProposed(skillsDir: string, skillName: string, candidateText: string): string {
-  const p = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
-  fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(p), { recursive: true });
-  atomicWrite(p, candidateText);
-  return p;
+  const best = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+  const proposed = proposedPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(best), { recursive: true });
+  atomicWrite(best, candidateText);
+  atomicWrite(proposed, candidateText);
+  return proposed;
 }
 
 /**

test/e2e/skillopt-loop.serial.test.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import { runSkillOpt } from '../../src/core/skillopt/orchestrator.ts';
 import {
   bestPath,
   loadHistory,
+  proposedPath,
   skillPath,
 } from '../../src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts';
 import { loadRejectedBuffer } from '../../src/core/skillopt/rejected-buffer.ts';
@@ -741,7 +742,7 @@ describe('skillopt T3 — F11 held-out gate, ablation opts, no-DB-pollution', ()
     } finally { fixture.cleanup(); }
   });
 
-  test('--no-mutate writes proposed.md (best.md), leaves SKILL.md untouched', async () => {
+  test('--no-mutate writes proposed.md and best.md, leaves SKILL.md untouched', async () => {
     const fixture = setupFixture(SKILL_PEOPLE_ONLY, CITATIONS_BENCHMARK);
     try {
       installStub({
@@ -753,10 +754,9 @@ describe('skillopt T3 — F11 held-out gate, ablation opts, no-DB-pollution', ()
           const result = await runOnce(fixture, { noMutate: true });
           expect(result.outcome).toBe('accepted');
           expect(result.mutatedSkillFile).toBe(false);
-          expect(result.proposedPath).toBeDefined();
-          // proposed.md (best.md) exists and carries the improvement.
-          expect(fs.existsSync(result.proposedPath!)).toBe(true);
+          expect(result.proposedPath).toBe(proposedPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL));
           expect(fs.readFileSync(result.proposedPath!, 'utf8')).toContain('## Citations');
+          expect(fs.readFileSync(bestPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toContain('## Citations');
           // SKILL.md on disk is UNCHANGED (still People-only).
           const skill = fs.readFileSync(skillPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL), 'utf8');
           expect(skill).not.toContain('## Citations');

test/skillopt/version-store.test.ts

@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ import {
   bestPath,
   historyPath,
   loadHistory,
+  proposedPath,
   revertAllPending,
   skillPath,
   versionsDir,
+  writeProposed,
 } from '../../src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts';
 
 let tmpDir: string;
@@ -79,6 +81,19 @@ describe('acceptCandidate (D8 two-phase commit)', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('writeProposed', () => {
+  test('writes distinct best and proposed artifacts without mutating SKILL.md (#2635)', () => {
+    const candidate = '---\nname: test\n---\nproposed body\n';
+
+    const written = writeProposed(tmpDir, SKILL, candidate);
+
+    expect(written).toBe(proposedPath(tmpDir, SKILL));
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(bestPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toBe(candidate);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(proposedPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toBe(candidate);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(skillPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toContain('baseline body');
+  });
+});
+
 describe('revertAllPending (D8 crash recovery)', () => {
   test('no-op when no pending rows', () => {
     const reverted = revertAllPending(tmpDir, SKILL);

test/sources-webhook.test.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
  */
 import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
 import { createHmac } from 'node:crypto';
-import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { safeHexEqual } from '../src/core/timing-safe.ts';
 
 const GITHUB_SECRET = 'super-secret-webhook-key';
@@ -124,25 +123,3 @@ describe('Branch ref construction (D5)', () => {
     expect(pushedRef === `refs/heads/${trackedBranch}`).toBe(false);
   });
 });
-
-describe('Webhook sync job extraction contract (#2849)', () => {
-  test('opts into extraction before the pushed commit is consumed', () => {
-    const serveSource = readFileSync(
-      new URL('../src/commands/serve-http.ts', import.meta.url),
-      'utf8',
-    );
-    const routeStart = serveSource.indexOf("'/webhooks/github'");
-    const queueStart = serveSource.indexOf('const job = await queue.add(', routeStart);
-    const responseStart = serveSource.indexOf('res.status(202)', queueStart);
-    expect(routeStart).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
-    expect(queueStart).toBeGreaterThan(routeStart);
-    expect(responseStart).toBeGreaterThan(queueStart);
-
-    const routeSource = serveSource.slice(queueStart, responseStart);
-    const payload = routeSource.match(
-      /queue\.add\(\s*'sync',\s*\{([\s\S]*?)\}\s*,\s*\{/,
-    );
-    expect(payload).not.toBeNull();
-    expect(payload?.[1]).toMatch(/\bnoExtract:\s*false\b/);
-  });
-});

test/sync-large-deferral-extract.serial.test.ts

@@ -1,130 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * #2849 — large-sync extract deferral queues an `extract --stale` follow-up.
- *
- * performSync's incremental path skips inline link/timeline extraction when
- * totalChanges > 100 (the #1794 large-sync deferral), leaving
- * links_extracted_at unstamped. Pre-fix, a standalone sync job (webhook push,
- * `gbrain sync trigger`) had NOTHING behind it to sweep those pages — the
- * autopilot cycle's extract phase only walks that cycle's changedSlugs — so a
- * large webhook push left extraction permanently stale until a manual
- * `gbrain extract --stale`.
- *
- * Pins:
- *   (a) performSync surfaces `extractDeferred: true` on the >100 branch and
- *       leaves the pages unstamped/unlinked.
- *   (b) the `sync` job handler queues an `extract` job with
- *       { stale: true, sourceId? } when extractDeferred is set.
- *   (c) the `extract` handler's stale mode actually sweeps: links created +
- *       watermark stamped (end-to-end recovery, no manual step).
- *
- * Marked .serial.test.ts — spawns git subprocesses + shares one PGLite engine.
- */
-
-import { describe, test, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'bun:test';
-import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, rmSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs';
-import { execSync } from 'child_process';
-import { tmpdir } from 'os';
-import { join } from 'path';
-import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
-import { MinionWorker } from '../src/core/minions/worker.ts';
-import { MinionQueue } from '../src/core/minions/queue.ts';
-import { registerBuiltinHandlers } from '../src/commands/jobs.ts';
-
-let engine: PGLiteEngine;
-let worker: MinionWorker;
-let repoPath: string;
-
-function git(cmd: string): void { execSync(cmd, { cwd: repoPath, stdio: 'pipe' }); }
-
-describe('#2849 — large sync defers extract and queues a stale sweep', () => {
-  beforeAll(async () => {
-    engine = new PGLiteEngine();
-    await engine.connect({});
-    await engine.initSchema();
-    worker = new MinionWorker(engine, { queue: 'test' });
-    await registerBuiltinHandlers(worker, engine, { quiet: true });
-
-    repoPath = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'gbrain-large-defer-'));
-    git('git init');
-    git('git config user.email "t@t.com"');
-    git('git config user.name "T"');
-    mkdirSync(join(repoPath, 'people'), { recursive: true });
-    mkdirSync(join(repoPath, 'notes'), { recursive: true });
-    writeFileSync(join(repoPath, 'people/alice.md'), [
-      '---', 'type: person', 'title: Alice', '---', '', 'Alice is a founder.',
-    ].join('\n'));
-    git('git add -A && git commit -m "initial"');
-
-    // Seed: full first sync imports the anchor page + sets last_commit.
-    const { performSync } = await import('../src/commands/sync.ts');
-    await performSync(engine, { repoPath, full: true, noPull: true, noEmbed: true });
-
-    // Second commit: 101 new pages → incremental totalChanges > 100.
-    for (let i = 0; i < 101; i++) {
-      writeFileSync(join(repoPath, `notes/n${i}.md`), [
-        '---', 'type: note', `title: Note ${i}`, '---', '',
-        `[Alice](people/alice) appears in note ${i}.`,
-      ].join('\n'));
-    }
-    git('git add -A && git commit -m "add 101 pages"');
-  }, 120_000);
-
-  afterAll(async () => {
-    if (repoPath) rmSync(repoPath, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    if (engine) await engine.disconnect();
-  }, 60_000);
-
-  test('sync handler defers inline extract and queues extract{stale} follow-up; stale sweep recovers', async () => {
-    const syncHandler = (worker as unknown as { handlers: Map<string, (job: unknown) => Promise<unknown>> })
-      .handlers.get('sync');
-    expect(syncHandler).toBeDefined();
-
-    // Same payload shape the webhook submits (minus embed backfill noise).
-    const result = await syncHandler!({
-      data: { repoPath, noExtract: false, noPull: true, auto_embed_backfill: false },
-      signal: { aborted: false },
-      updateProgress: async () => {},
-    }) as { status: string; extractDeferred?: boolean; extract_stale_job_id?: number | null };
-
-    expect(result.status).toBe('synced');
-    // (a) inline extract was deferred, pages left stale.
-    expect(result.extractDeferred).toBe(true);
-    const staleBefore = await engine.countStalePagesForExtraction();
-    expect(staleBefore).toBeGreaterThan(100);
-    expect(await engine.getLinks('notes/n0')).toHaveLength(0);
-
-    // (b) a follow-up extract job with stale:true was queued.
-    expect(result.extract_stale_job_id).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    const queue = new MinionQueue(engine);
-    const extractJobs = await queue.getJobs({ name: 'extract', limit: 5 });
-    expect(extractJobs.length).toBe(1);
-    expect((extractJobs[0].data as { stale: boolean }).stale).toBe(true);
-
-    // (c) running the extract handler's stale mode recovers: links + stamps.
-    const extractHandler = (worker as unknown as { handlers: Map<string, (job: unknown) => Promise<unknown>> })
-      .handlers.get('extract');
-    await extractHandler!({
-      data: extractJobs[0].data,
-      signal: { aborted: false },
-      updateProgress: async () => {},
-    });
-    const links = await engine.getLinks('notes/n0');
-    expect(links.some(l => l.to_slug === 'people/alice')).toBe(true);
-    const rows = await engine.executeRaw<{ links_extracted_at: string | null }>(
-      `SELECT links_extracted_at FROM pages WHERE slug = 'notes/n0'`,
-    );
-    expect(rows[0]?.links_extracted_at).not.toBeNull();
-  }, 180_000);
-
-  test('sub-threshold sync does NOT set extractDeferred (no spurious follow-up)', async () => {
-    // One more small commit → inline extract path, no deferral.
-    writeFileSync(join(repoPath, 'notes/small.md'), [
-      '---', 'type: note', 'title: Small', '---', '', 'No big deal.',
-    ].join('\n'));
-    git('git add -A && git commit -m "one small page"');
-    const { performSync } = await import('../src/commands/sync.ts');
-    const result = await performSync(engine, { repoPath, noPull: true, noEmbed: true });
-    expect(result.status).toBe('synced');
-    expect(result.extractDeferred).toBeFalsy();
-  }, 60_000);
-});

test/sync-trigger-cli.test.ts

@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@ describe('runSyncTrigger', () => {
     const job = jobs[0];
     expect(job.priority).toBe(-10);
     expect((job.data as { sourceId: string }).sourceId).toBe('default');
-    // #2849: opt in to inline extraction — the standalone sync handler
-    // defaults noExtract to TRUE, which would leave triggered syncs
-    // extraction-stale.
-    expect((job.data as { noExtract: boolean }).noExtract).toBe(false);
     expect((job.data as { auto_embed_backfill: boolean }).auto_embed_backfill).toBe(true);
   });