From 0ea0cf50af6a52cf79397c407f0b1d1732f2017f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: codex-bot-andresmgsl
 <codex-bot-andresmgsl@noreply.forgejo.heavyduty.builders>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:18:20 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] test: guard needs-triage label description

---
 test/labels.test.sh | 9 +++++++++
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/test/labels.test.sh b/test/labels.test.sh
index 8c908ef..35fcd4b 100755
--- a/test/labels.test.sh
+++ b/test/labels.test.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@ attention_row='attention|D93F0B|A demand is parked here for the assignee: pick u
 check "attention core row is emitted once, byte-exact" 0 "1" bash -c \
   'source "$1"; core_label_rows | grep -cxF "$2"' _ \
   "$ROOT/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh" "$attention_row"
+needs_triage_row='needs-triage|FBCA04|Did not come through triage — owes normalization into work or a reasoned refusal'
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansion belongs to the nested bash
+check "needs-triage core row is emitted once, byte-exact" 0 "1" bash -c \
+  'source "$1"; core_label_rows | grep -cxF "$2"' _ \
+  "$ROOT/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh" "$needs_triage_row"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansion belongs to the nested bash
+check "core label rows carry no stale discussion path" 1 "" bash -c \
+  'source "$1"; core_label_rows | grep -i discussion' _ \
+  "$ROOT/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016 # fields are intentionally split in the nested shell
 check "attention description survives label field splitting" 0 \
   "A demand is parked here for the assignee: pick up the thread, ack by removing this label" \

From 53b7856012c5fa0fbb66fe6b29716c86086cbac1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: codex-bot-andresmgsl
 <codex-bot-andresmgsl@noreply.forgejo.heavyduty.builders>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:19:58 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] fix: align needs-triage label description

---
 actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh | 4 ++--
 changelog.d/265.md                           | 3 +++
 2 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changelog.d/265.md

diff --git a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
index bb792c4..ca11fa1 100755
--- a/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/labels-reconcile/labels-reconcile.sh
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ offsite|CFD3D7|Issue deliverable is a PR in another repository — claim clock p
 needs-ruling|D4C5F9|A human decision is pending — question, options and a recommendation are in the comment
 attention|D93F0B|A demand is parked here for the assignee: pick up the thread, ack by removing this label
 release|0E8A16|Release flow and version/packaging work
-needs-triage|FBCA04|Did not come through triage — owes normalization or conversion to a discussion
+needs-triage|FBCA04|Did not come through triage — owes normalization into work or a reasoned refusal
 ready|0E8A16|Triaged, spec complete, unblocked — a builder can start now and succeed
 claimed|1D76DB|A builder owns it: assignee set, draft PR expected shortly
 post-merge|006B75|Refs-linked PR merged; post-merge criteria remain and triage owns completion
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ epic|5319E7|Organizes other issues via a dependency-ordered task list — builde
 EOF
 }
 
-retired_label_names() { # the GitHub defaults LABELS.md retires — a `question` is a discussion
+retired_label_names() { # the GitHub defaults LABELS.md retires — a `question` belongs in a proposal, not a work issue
   # One registry, kept beside core_label_rows() for the same reason those rows
   # are not in labels.conf: a rule that must hold in every governed repo
   # cannot live in a per-repo file. The six names match LABELS.md exactly.
diff --git a/changelog.d/265.md b/changelog.d/265.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73c7b2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/265.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- The `needs-triage` label now directs untriaged issues toward work normalization or a reasoned refusal instead of an unavailable discussion path (#265).