.github/scripts/labels-reconcile.sh

@@ -365,21 +365,29 @@ reconcile_pr() { # $1 = PR number; relies on the globals set from its fetch
   # Removals need no filter: they are built from has_label, so the label
   # provably exists. REPO_LABELS unreadable means no filtering rather than
   # filtering everything out — a failed read must not silently strip the board.
+  local skip_edit=false
   if [ -n "${REPO_LABELS:-}" ]; then
     local kept="" missing="" want
-    for want in ${add//,/ } "$desired"; do
-      [ "$want" = "$desired" ] && continue
+    for want in ${add//,/ }; do
       if grep -qxF "$want" <<<"$REPO_LABELS"; then kept="$kept,$want"
       else missing="$missing $want"; fi
     done
     add="${kept#,}"
+    # A missing STATE label skips only the EDIT — never the rest of this
+    # function. Everything below is independent of the state:* taxonomy, and
+    # returning here stranded it: `merge-next` kept claiming "merge this one
+    # next" on a PR the board had moved to the agent, and the stale sweep
+    # stopped running. That is the original false-invitation bug, reintroduced
+    # in the very fix meant to survive a cold-start repo — and a regression
+    # against the old behaviour, which failed the edit and fell through.
     if ! grep -qxF "$desired" <<<"$REPO_LABELS"; then
-      log "#$n: WARNING: state label '$desired' does not exist — run the workflow manually to bootstrap"
-      return
+      log "#$n: WARNING: state label '$desired' does not exist — skipping the label edit; dispatch the workflow to bootstrap"
+      skip_edit=true
+    elif [ -n "$missing" ]; then
+      log "#$n: WARNING: missing label(s)$missing — state still converged; dispatch the workflow to bootstrap"
     fi
-    [ -n "$missing" ] && log "#$n: WARNING: missing label(s)$missing — state still converged; dispatch the workflow to bootstrap"
   fi
-  if ! has_label "$desired" || [ -n "$remove" ] || [ -n "$add" ]; then
+  if [ "$skip_edit" = false ] && { ! has_label "$desired" || [ -n "$remove" ] || [ -n "$add" ]; }; then
     args=(--add-label "$desired${add:+,$add}")
     [ -n "$remove" ] && args+=(--remove-label "$remove")
     if run gh issue edit "$n" -R "$REPO" "${args[@]}" >/dev/null; then

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -38,8 +38,10 @@ which records not just what changed but what each drill run proved.
   call on one unknown name, so on a repo whose taxonomy predates this change
   an unbootstrapped `blocker:*` would otherwise take the state convergence
   down with it, on exactly the PRs the change exists to fix. Adds are filtered
-  against the repo's real label set and the shortfall is logged.
-  Fixtures 51 → 66.
+  against the repo's real label set and the shortfall is logged — and a
+  taxonomy gap skips only the label edit, never the `merge-next` clearing or
+  the stale sweep, which do not depend on the `state:*` set.
+  Fixtures 51 → 72.
 
 - **The tenant templates carry rig's family suffix: `claude` → `claude-box`,
   `codex` → `codex-box`, `grok` → `grok-box`, `staging` → `staging-box`**

test/labels-reconcile.sh

@@ -379,5 +379,38 @@ DRAFT=true MERGEABLE=CONFLICTING
 expect "a draft is building even when conflicted" state:building "$(decide_state)"
 DRAFT=false MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# reconcile_pr's cold-start path. Everything above tests pure functions, which
+# is exactly why a per-PR `return` in the label pre-flight got through review:
+# the fixtures could not reach it. A missing state:* label must skip the label
+# EDIT only — merge-next clearing and the stale sweep are independent of the
+# taxonomy, and stranding them reintroduced the false-invitation bug (a
+# `merge-next` claim surviving on a PR the board had moved to the agent).
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+reconcile_probe() { # $1 = REPO_LABELS content → the log lines reconcile_pr emits
+  (
+    REPO_LABELS="$1" REPO=owner/repo NOW="$(date +%s)"
+    LABELS="merge-next"                      # the PR carries a queue claim
+    DRAFT=false HEAD_SHA=head1 REQUESTED="" REVIEWS_JSON='[]'
+    MERGEABLE=MERGEABLE CHECKS=SUCCESS
+    PR_JSON='{"created_at":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z"}'
+    run() { :; }                              # swallow mutations
+    gh() { :; }                               # no network
+    reconcile_pr 777 2>&1
+  )
+}
+
+cold="$(reconcile_probe "merge-next")"        # state:* labels absent entirely
+expect "a cold-start repo still clears merge-next" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'cleared merge-next' <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...and still runs the stale sweep" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'stale (' <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+expect "...while warning that the state label is missing" \
+  yes "$(grep -q "state label 'state:addressing' does not exist" <<<"$cold" && echo yes || echo no)"
+
+warm="$(reconcile_probe "$(printf 'state:addressing\nmerge-next\nstale\nblocker:unrequested')")"
+expect "a bootstrapped repo converges the state as well" \
+  yes "$(grep -q 'state -> state:addressing' <<<"$warm" && echo yes || echo no)"
+
 printf 'labels-reconcile tests: %d passed, %d failed\n' "$pass" "$fail"
 [ "$fail" -eq 0 ]