P0: Agent work coordination lock

[geromet]

Purpose

Central coordination point for concurrent PZTools fleet work. This is not implementation backlog. Actual default branch is master.

Absolute authority boundary

Fleet/manual agents may create, update, review, merge and consolidate work only on NON-DEFAULT branches. They must never merge any branch or PR into master. Final default review/merge belongs exclusively to Gerome's coding-agent/human workflow.

Claim protocol — two phase

Before overlapping mutation, refresh this issue body + recent comments, target issue/PR, current master, target/stable head; post one concrete 🔒 CLAIM with lane, unique run=<token>, exact issue/PR/branch/package/seam and head SHA where practical; immediately reread comments. Earlier GitHub comment ID wins overlaps. Later claimant edits its own comment to 🔓 RELEASED and chooses independent work. Two failed acquisitions => back off. Release the same claim when work stops.

Head CAS

Before every remote branch/PR/stable mutation compare the current head to the expected SHA. Unexpected movement => stop and reconcile. Never force-push through a coordination race.

Current live state — 2026-09-05 13:54 Europe/Amsterdam

Current master: f015a0b5593331186cc410831e8e05f80d80824e after Gerome merged #75.

Open fleet PR pressure: 1/5.

Current Gerome-facing rollup — #78

PR #78 is the single review surface from NON-DEFAULT fleet/stable/project-reference-layers @ 17a2b27ff0b385cda877aca2cb4c4821304d7f71.

Absorbed packages:

• Fix Lua reference lookup initialization on inline-only fixtures #76 — post-merge inline-only Lua reference lookup repair. It initializes the reference helper for an empty sibling-reference set without changing named-reference behavior.
• Add deterministic selected reference-layer core #77 / Add support for importing all/specific mods #51 — selected-reference-layer core: persisted ordered/enabled read-only roots, symlink-aware canonical validation + overlap rejection, deterministic later-layer precedence, winner+shadowed provenance, disabled/unconfigured source rejection, and fail-closed imported-reference edit behavior until collision-safe project-owned routing exists.

Exact proof retained by the stable:

• Add deterministic selected reference-layer core #77 CI 33963434757 green + Data tests 33963434798 59/59 green;
• combined stable CI 33963519074 green + Data tests 33963519029 59/59 green;
• rollup Roll up stable project/reference-layer foundation #78 is mergeable against current master.

The fleet merged #76/#77 only into the explicit NON-DEFAULT stable. It must not merge #78 into master; final review/merge belongs to Gerome.

Completed foundations — do not recreate

• Preserve named item references during Lua round-trip #73/Improve Lua serialization — edge cases #36 named-reference parser→writer→parser preservation;
• Future-proof structural item distribution classification #74/Add new Bags/Items that are now defaulted as Room #37 structural item-family classification;
• Establish safe project lifecycle and distribution save routing #75/Add support for creating projects #54 project foundation: safe project/reference roots, provenance, project-only save routing, override/reveal semantics, deterministic create/open scaffolding and path/symlink negatives;
• Fix Lua reference lookup initialization on inline-only fixtures #76 inline-only reference-helper regression repair is now represented inside Roll up stable project/reference-layer foundation #78 rather than as an independent open PR.

#54 remains closed completed. Remaining selected-mod requirements are canonical in #51.

Remaining #51 frontier

Continue through the existing project/reference-layer workstream rather than recreating foundations:

1. installed/manual mod discovery and selection UI;
2. parser/load orchestration for enabled selected roots;
3. collision-safe project-owned aggregation/routing before imported definitions can become editable;
4. reorder/deselect/reopen end-to-end behavior;
5. expanded imported-write/symlink/path negatives once routing exists.

Independent evidence frontier

• Validate compatibility against Project Zomboid Build 42.20 Stable #65 — Build 42.20 compatibility evidence: real-format/version-root evidence should be routed into existing parser/classifier/project seams rather than creating parallel abstractions.
• Improve Lua serialization — edge cases #36/Add new Bags/Items that are now defaulted as Room #37/Add semantic validation diagnostics for unresolved/unsafe distribution data #67: evidence-driven umbrellas only; extend only for a demonstrated new gap.

Capacity / stable topology

Default capacity is up to five independent implementation packages and five open fleet PRs; five is not a quota. Before a sixth, extend compatible work, use a bounded NON-DEFAULT stable branch, do proof/research/issue compaction, or move repos. Never merge a stable rollup into master.

Verification / safety

Prefer executable proof: real NLua parser→writer→parser fixtures, real filesystem ownership/path negatives, hosted CI, and representative Build-42.20 data. Missing safely obtainable tooling is agent work, not a human blocker.

Outside-contributor/human branches must never be overwritten, retargeted or closed by the fleet.

Human blockers

None evidenced.

Done when

Keep this coordination issue open while concurrent lanes exist; close only if concurrency is removed or replaced by stronger mechanical coordination.

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | issue=#29 | pr=#70 | branch=fix/shared-search-semantics | result=PR opened; mergeable; local build unavailable in runtime (no .NET SDK / no GitHub DNS) | released=2026-09-04T20:20:30Z

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | issue=none | pr=#71 | branch=ci/pr-build | result=opened focused CI bootstrap PR; mergeable; workflow will begin validating implementation PRs after it lands on master | released=2026-09-04T20:39:20Z

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | issue=#29 | pr=#70 | branch=fix/shared-search-semantics | result=reconciled merged CI workflow; hosted restore/build green; PR mergeable | released=2026-09-04T20:51:00Z

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | issue=#36 | pr=none | branch=test/serialization-roundtrip-foundation | result=abandoned before branch/edit; confirmed concrete loss candidate: ordinary WriteJunkBlock inlines JunkChances despite tracked JunkItemsReference; safe targeted patch deferred because current connector can only whole-file replace this large serializer | released=2026-09-05T00:20:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | issue=#67 | pr=#72 | branch=feat/semantic-malformed-diagnostics | result=merged externally after hosted full-solution CI green and Data tests 3/3 green; M1 performed no merge action | released=2026-09-05T00:21:30+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=MANUAL-MANAGER | issue=#36 | pr=#73 | branch=fix/preserve-junk-items-reference | result=first confirmed serializer-loss seam fixed; named JunkItemsReference now survives WriteJunkBlock; parser→writer→parser regression plus inline junk and existing named items controls added; PR mergeable; CI 33933329247 green; Data tests 33933329255 green; no unresolved review threads; #36 remains open as umbrella for additional concrete round-trip losses | released=2026-09-05T02:34:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=MANUAL-MANAGER | issue=#68 | pr=#73 | branch=none | result=reconciled canonical LOCK body to live state: #73 is the sole open fleet PR, mergeable with hosted CI 33933329247 + Data tests 33933329255 green; removed stale no-open-PR and #67-next instructions; added drain gate preventing duplicate #36 work and explicit no-default-branch-merge boundary; no code/default branch touched | released=2026-09-05

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=MANUAL-MANAGER | run=stable-rollup-pzt-41c2 | issue=#68 | scope=coordination-policy-only | result=replaced repository-wide single-PR serialization with max five independent packages plus five-open-fleet-PR pressure ceiling; added bounded fleet/stable/* integration branches, child-only non-default merge authority, combined proof, rollup-to-master handoff that fleet may never merge, and master→stable refresh direction; preserved #73/#36 overlap boundary; no implementation/default-branch mutation

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | run=m1-20260905-0510-roundtrip | issue=#36 | pr=#73 | branch=fix/preserve-junk-items-reference | result=extended existing round-trip package so ordinary nested-container items named references are retained via the existing Container.ItemsReference seam alongside junk/bags reference preservation; expanded one real-NLua parser→writer→parser fixture with named+inline controls and resolved-semantics proof; removed accidental comment drift; final head a94b4ca; CI 33941383643 + Data tests 33941383475 green; PR mergeable/coding-agent-ready; no default merge | mode=ENGINEER | repo=PZTools | research=#36 demonstrated nested-container named-item reference preservation | released=2026-09-05T05:18:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | run=m1-20260905-0610-container-junk-ref | issue=#36 | pr=#73 | branch=fix/preserve-junk-items-reference | result=extended the existing named-reference round-trip package to preserve ordinary nested-container whole junk = NamedTable identity through existing Container.JunkReference/JunkReferenceFile; expanded the real-NLua parser→writer→parser fixture with named whole-junk plus inline-junk negative control; an intermediate test exposed an ambiguous dual-path Lua alias and the fixture was corrected without weakening production behavior; final head 42b1d27; CI 33944078071 + Data tests 33944078077 green; PR mergeable/exact-head reviewed/coding-agent-ready; no default merge | mode=ENGINEER | repo=PZTools | research=#36 demonstrated ordinary nested-container whole-junk symbolic-reference preservation | released=2026-09-05T06:18:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | run=m1-20260905-0620-top-level-items-ref | issue=#36 | pr=#73 | branch=fix/preserve-junk-items-reference | result=completed the same named-reference round-trip package by preserving top-level Distribution.items named-table identity through existing ItemsReference plus reference-aware writer path; added named+inline top-level controls to the real-NLua parser→writer→parser fixture; final head 12e239c; CI 33944288587 + Data tests 33944288590 green; PR mergeable/exact-head reviewed/coding-agent-ready; no default merge | mode=ENGINEER | repo=PZTools | research=#36 top-level Distribution.items symbolic-reference preservation | released=2026-09-05T06:22:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | run=m1-20260905-0810-bag-classifier | issue=#37 | pr=#74 | branch=fix/bag-distribution-classification | result=opened focused classifier simplification PR: replaced hundreds of explicit Bag_* entries with narrow case-insensitive Bag_ structural Item fallback while preserving explicit cache/non-bag item/profession behavior; added future-name/case-insensitive/near-miss negative regression tests; final head=175d78ba2ed066c624b100d73ffda03d6bacc371; CI 33949747810 + Data tests 33949747811 green; PR mergeable/exact-head reviewed/coding-agent-ready; #37 remains open for evidence-backed non-Bag_* misclassifications; no default merge | mode=ENGINEER | repo=PZTools | research=#37 structural Bag_ classification removes per-build name maintenance | released=2026-09-05T08:28:00+02:00

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=AUDIT-COMPACT | run=audit-20260905-0850-pzt65 | issue=#65 | scope=canonical Build 42.20 compatibility contract only | result=deepened existing #65 rather than creating backlog: added authoritative Build-42 versioned common/42* root selection checks, registry/identifier evidence boundary, routing to #36/#37/#67/#54/#51 only after demonstrated 42.20 fixtures, and explicit source-version UI/proof requirements; no code/branch/default mutation | mode=EXTERNAL-RESEARCH+ISSUE-COMPACTION

[geromet]

🔓 RELEASED | lane=M1 | run=m1-0905-0913-classifier | issue=#37 | pr=#74 | branch=fix/bag-distribution-classification | result=extended #74 from Bag_-only handling to fifteen evidence-backed underscore-delimited item families already represented by explicit vanilla entries; removed redundant per-build entries; added future-variant/base/near-miss regression coverage; final head f1c7d51; CI 33952095410 green; Data tests 33952095459 green; PR mergeable and exact-head reviewed; no default-branch merge | mode=ENGINEER | repo=PZTools | research=#37 structural item-family classification