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Feature plan: Step 1 · Step 2 · Step 3 · Step 4

Debug mode: enabled (inherited from Step 3)

Effort study: railspike-effort / v3/theme_directive; host ledger. Standing P2 enrollment. Builds on v3/engagify_theme.

Extended estimates: enabled (inherited)

Cycle estimate: 0.75

Branch feat/theme_directive, from feat/engagify_theme (unmerged; this cycle depends on its page themes). Planning commit bcf05898. Earlier Step 1–3 drafts stay on plan/theme_directive.

Step 4 entry

2026-11-07T15:20:40Z, Step 3 explicitly approved ("approved step 3"). Step 3 projection 0.75 reaffirmed at entry; scope v2 unchanged. Stage identities and original stage-work estimates copied from the Step 3 plan, not re-rated: Stage 1 0.15, Stage 2 0.07, Stage 3 0.15, Stage 4 0.10, Stage 5 0.12, Stage 6 0.06. R1/P2, single exposed Claude rater.

Stage 1 - Visible theme: line sets the thread's theme

Original estimate: 0.15 Retrospective: 0.12

  • Changes:

    • New Support/ThemeDirective: reads a whole unquoted theme: <name> line; none clears.

    • New View/ThreadTheme::forThread(): latest valid line from an unretracted, verified post by the thread's verified author or a current operator; names the site does not permit are skipped, so the earlier setting stays.

    • ThreadAndPostPageController passes threadTheme; TemplateRenderer uses it ahead of the site profile's page theme list, with the existing permitted-theme check.

    • New tests/ThreadThemeTest.php, registered in tests/run.php.

  • Verification:

    • php tests/run.php ThreadThemeTest: 3 passed (directive parsing; author, operator, other user, none, unknown name, retraction, unverified; precedence over the site list and a foreign site's theme).

    • php tests/run.php --smoke ThreadThemeTest EventStatusTest SiteProfileRegistryTest --jobs=4: 451 run, 450 passed. The one failure, BoardListTest::testPinnedThreadsComeFirstAndLatestThreadsArePaged, also fails on the base branch with this stage stashed; recorded by the runner as long-standing.

    • Full suite not run, per project practice.

  • Notes:

    • Authority is judged on read, like event:, so a theme set by someone who stops being an operator stops applying.

    • The visible line stays in the post as written.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned; uncertainty low; no revisions. Retrospective: smaller than planned because the renderer already had the page-theme path; measured labor unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Stage 2 - Baked thread pages follow theme changes

Original estimate: 0.07 Retrospective: 0.04

  • Changes:

    • No application change was needed. Every reply path already drops its thread's baked page (invalidateReply() in LocalWriteService and the signed-post path), and retraction drops all generated pages (invalidateRetractedPostArtifacts()).

    • ThreadThemeTest::testBakedThreadPageFollowsAThemeReply: bakes a thread, posts a theme reply, checks the baked file is gone, rebuilds and reads data-page-theme.

  • Verification:

    • php tests/run.php ThreadThemeTest: 4 passed.

    • Retraction invalidation confirmed by reading the code, not by a new test; signing a retraction in a test needs the prepare/finalize flow, which existing retraction tests already cover.

  • Notes:

    • As with event:, a baked page does not change when someone stops being an operator; it updates on the thread's next write or rebuild.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned; uncertainty low; no revisions. Retrospective: tracing only, no code change; measured labor unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Stage 3 - Hidden Theme: header in records

Original estimate: 0.15 Retrospective: 0.13

  • Changes:

    • docs/specs/canonical_post_record_v1.md: optional Theme on roots and replies; in the client-signed subset it follows Body-Format.

    • PostRecord gains ?string $theme; PostRecordParser reads and validates it (isThemeValue(): lowercase name or none).

    • SignedPostBundleValidator accepts it only after Body-Format, once, lowercase.

    • LocalWriteService: normalizeTheme() reads the theme input on create and prepare paths for threads and replies; the record builders append Theme: after Body-Format. Site permission and authority stay on read.

    • Tests: CanonicalRecordParsersTest (parse and builders), SignedPostBundleValidatorTest (order, repeats, case), SingleRequestPostingTest::testSignedReplyCarriesHiddenThemeHeader (signed round trip), ThreadThemeTest::testThemeInputWritesTheHiddenHeader.

  • Verification:

    • php tests/run.php CanonicalRecordParsersTest SignedPostBundleValidatorTest: 61 passed.

    • php tests/run.php SingleRequestPostingTest: 8 passed. ThreadThemeTest: 5 passed.

    • Smoke plus changed tests (--jobs=4): 451 run, 449 passed. BoardListTest::testPinnedThreadsComeFirstAndLatestThreadsArePaged fails on the base branch too. LocalAppSmokeTest::testApplicationRendersTextApisAndRss failed once under parallel jobs and passed twice alone; not touched by this stage.

  • Notes:

    • The header does not set a theme yet; Stage 4 reads it.

    • Clients that never send Theme produce the same bytes as before.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned; uncertainty medium, resolved: Body-Format gave an exact pattern. No revisions. Measured labor unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Stage 4 - Read model keeps the hidden header; both forms share one rule

Original estimate: 0.10 Retrospective: 0.11

  • Changes:

    • posts.theme (TEXT NULL) in ReadModelSchema; SCHEMA_VERSION 50 → 51.

    • ReadModelBuilder and both IncrementalReadModelUpdater insert paths fill it; retraction placeholders clear it.

    • ThreadTheme reads posts.theme and the body line from the same rows; latest setting wins across both forms, and a header beats a line in the same post.

    • docs/specs/read_model_schema_v1.md: version 51 note; body_format and theme rows in the posts table.

    • Tests: ThreadThemeTest::testHiddenAndVisibleSettingsShareOneLatestWins (mixed forms, none, header over line, other user, full rebuild) and testStartupRebuildsASchema50ReadModel.

  • Verification:

    • php tests/run.php ThreadThemeTest: 7 passed.

    • Smoke plus ThreadThemeTest EventStatusTest SingleRequestPostingTest PostFormatRecordTest WriteApiSmokeTest (--jobs=4): 669 run, 668 passed; the one failure is the base branch's BoardListTest failure.

  • Notes:

    • Posts written in the same second can swap order after a full rebuild, as they can for event: and title:; the rebuild test checks stored values rather than which one is latest.

    • PublicOfflineSnapshotBuilder keeps its own posts table and is unchanged; offline snapshots do not show page themes.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned plus the prior-version startup test the schema contract requires; uncertainty low. No revisions. Measured labor unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Stage 5 - Theme choice in the browser composer

Original estimate: 0.12 Retrospective: 0.12

  • Changes:

    • templates/partials/composer.php: a theme select in the ··· menu, after Formatting help. New threads: "Theme" with "Site default" plus the site's permitted themes. Replies: "Thread theme" with "Unchanged", the themes and "Clear thread theme" (none), and a tooltip saying it counts only from the thread's author or an operator.

    • ThreadTheme::choices() supplies names and labels; compose.css lays the select out on one row.

    • browser_signing.js: the signed submit sends theme with body_format; Outbox sends carry it; Discard draft resets the choice.

    • outbox_compose.js: Outbox drafts keep the chosen theme.

    • ThreadThemeTest::testComposersOfferTheThemeChoiceAndTheFormPathWritesIt covers the markup and the unsigned form path.

  • Verification:

    • Smoke plus ThreadThemeTest, the Markdown composer test and BrowserSigningNormalizationTest (--jobs=4): 530 run, 529 passed; the one failure is the base branch's BoardListTest failure.

    • Browser check with headless Chrome against a local server on a fixture copy, signed in as a fresh browser identity:

      • New thread with Word 97 picked in the menu: a fresh 380px reader sees data-page-theme="word97"; the post text has no theme line.

      • Reply with Midnight picked: the reader sees Midnight after reload.

      • Reply with "Clear thread theme": a fresh reader sees no page theme.

      • Screenshots of the menu at 1280px (new thread) and 380px (reply, Midnight) looked right; the select fits on one row.

  • Notes:

    • Thread pages are baked, so the reply menu shows the choice to everyone; the tooltip says who it counts for. This was the planned fallback for the baked composer risk.

    • A thread posted anonymously has no verified author, so only an operator can theme it.

    • After posting a theme reply, the poster sees the new theme on the next page load, not instantly.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned; uncertainty medium, resolved: the browser sends fields to prepare_* and signs the server's record, so no client-side record building changed. Measured labor unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Stage 6 - Docs and close-out

Original estimate: 0.06 Retrospective: 0.06

  • Changes:

    • docs/concepts/page_theme.md: thread-set themes in the scenario; ThreadTheme and the directive in sources.

    • docs/runbooks/theme_development_guide.md: page themes section covers thread-set themes and why they need no manual rebuild.

    • docs/reference/agent_api.md and LlmsTxtRenderer (served llms.txt): the theme: line and the theme input beside event:.

  • Verification:

    • Local links in changed docs and plan files resolve (scripted check).

    • Smoke plus ThreadThemeTest LlmsTxtRendererTest PlatformDocsCatalogTest (--jobs=4): 457 run, 456 passed; the one failure is the base branch's BoardListTest failure.

    • Final diff review of the cycle (22 files in src, templates, public and tests); git diff --check clean.

  • Notes: none.

  • Estimate details: original scope as planned; uncertainty low. Measured labor unknown.

Closeout

  • Completion Contract:

    • Normal entry (both forms, new thread and reply, browser and signed API): passed. Browser check in Stage 5; signed API round trip in Stage 3.

    • End-to-end outcome (theme before first paint, hidden form not in the text, other pages unchanged): passed.

    • Recovery (retraction, theme: none, Exit, old records unchanged): passed; Exit is the existing page-theme mechanism, unchanged and not re-checked in a browser this cycle.

    • Deployment (read-model rebuild for schema 51, baked pages): startup rebuild from schema 50 tested; production deploy pending, not run from here.

    • Release condition: smoke and changed tests pass apart from the base branch's BoardListTest failure. Full suite not run, per project practice.

  • Base-branch failure reproduced: BoardListTest::testPinnedThreadsComeFirstAndLatestThreadsArePaged fails on feat/engagify_theme without this cycle's changes.

  • Merge order: this branch is based on feat/engagify_theme; merge that first, or merge this branch, which contains it.

Cycle retrospective: 0.58 (stage retrospectives 0.12, 0.04, 0.13, 0.11, 0.12, 0.06; projection was 0.75)

Retrospective scope assessment, 2026-11-07T15:32:51Z: delivered scope v2 as approved, with no scope changes during Step 4. Smaller than projected mainly because Stage 2 needed no code and Stage 5 needed no client-side record building. Rater: Claude, single exposed rater, also the planner. Maintainer comfortable-fit judgment: pending. Measured labor: unknown.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5

Integration with main

  • Changes: feat/engagify_theme (which now contains this cycle through #56) merged with main. Main's Inbox work also used read-model version 51 (posts_parent_idx), so a database built by main would have skipped the rebuild and lacked posts.theme. Version advanced to 52; ThreadThemeTest::testStartupRebuildsASchema51ReadModel now starts from main's 51; the schema reference records both lineages.

  • Verification: smoke plus ThreadThemeTest InboxPageTest EventStatusTest SingleRequestPostingTest SignedPostBundleValidatorTest LlmsTxtRendererTest WriteApiSmokeTest (--jobs=4): 690 run, 688 passed. BoardListTest::testPinnedThreadsComeFirstAndLatestThreadsArePaged also fails on main. WriteApiSmokeTest::testPrepareThreadRejectsMalformedEventTimeBeforeIssuingToken failed once under parallel jobs and passed twice alone.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5