From 63351bd425cbbf45851ec50cef3f5d96b93dd1b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:03:53 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 1/7] feat(issueflow): post-merge evidence nudge fires on 7
 quiet days
MIME-Version: 1.0
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WIP checkpoint: the nudge itself, tests still owed. Reuses
ruling_nudge_decision so the 7-day rule keeps one spelling, addresses the
triage actor (post-merge is triage's completion queue), and carries no
idempotency marker — the comment is itself activity, so it self-rate-limits.

Refs #254
---
 .../issueflow-reconcile.sh                    | 37 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 37 insertions(+)

diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index 7c3bda2..1c15f8b 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -606,12 +606,49 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
     fi
   elif has_issue_label post-merge; then
     assignees="$(jq '.assignees | length' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
+    # The evidence nudge's clock is read BEFORE any comment this branch
+    # posts. `ensure_comment` below is itself activity, so reading after it
+    # would let the assigned-flag comment silence the nudge for another 7
+    # days — the same self-silencing the ruling nudge avoids by reading its
+    # facts once, at the top of the pass.
+    created="$(jq -r '.created_at' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
+    guarded_read age last_issue_activity "$n" "$created" \
+      || skip_issue "$n" "could not read its activity history: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
     if [ "$assignees" -gt 0 ] || has_issue_label attention; then
       ensure_comment "$n" post-merge-assigned \
         'This `post-merge` issue has an assignee or `attention`. The sweep will not undo hand-set intent; triage must clear the invalid composition or move the issue back into buildable queue state.'
       log "#$n: assigned or attention-bearing post-merge issue flagged"
     fi
     attention_suppression=post-merge-assigned
+    # ---- the post-merge evidence nudge (#254), the ruling nudge's twin ----
+    # A `post-merge` item waits on named evidence with a named owner, and
+    # nothing nudged when the wait went quiet: crew#181's real-host criterion
+    # starved four separate times across two releases, crew#240/#264 sat
+    # until an operator happened to run the right read. Same 7-day rule, same
+    # constant, same no-marker property — `ruling_nudge_decision` is the one
+    # spelling of all three (lib/ruling.sh), and a second `7 * 24 * 3600`
+    # here is the drift that file exists to prevent.
+    #
+    # The addressee is the triage actor, not `HUMAN_REVIEWER`: `post-merge`
+    # is triage's completion queue by contract (TRIAGE.md), so a starving
+    # wake condition is triage's to answer, and routing it to the operator
+    # asks the wrong party for a move it does not owe. `triage-actors=` is
+    # mandatory config — `load_issueflow_config` refuses to run without it —
+    # so there is nothing to fall back to, and a silent fallback is exactly
+    # how the wrong addressee comes back.
+    if [ "$(ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$age")" = NUDGE ]; then
+      local quiet_days=$(((NOW - age) / 86400))
+      run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "@${TRIAGE_ACTORS[0]} — this \`post-merge\` item has had no activity for ${quiet_days} days: https://github.com/$REPO/issues/$n
+
+Its wake evidence is still owed. \`post-merge\` means the merge landed and
+triage owns completion — judge the remaining criteria against the evidence
+and close the issue, or say what is still outstanding and who owes it. The
+sweep names no criterion: which one starved is prose, and the machine never
+judges prose (the link is the payload).
+
+*This nudge is comment-only and carries no idempotency marker on purpose: the comment itself is activity, so posting it resets the 7-day window and the rule self-rate-limits to one nudge per 7 quiet days. Do not add a marker.*" >/dev/null
+      log "#$n: post-merge evidence nudge (${quiet_days}d quiet — triage owes the wake evidence)"
+    fi
   elif has_issue_label blocked; then
     refs="$(blocked_references <<<"$(jq -r '.body // ""' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")")"
     cross_refs="$(blocked_cross_references <<<"$(jq -r '.body // ""' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")")"

From b3fd26b21b4093187e8b0362d4ebbca1caf0b4fd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:06:47 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/7] =?UTF-8?q?test(issueflow):=20the=20evidence=20nudge's?=
 =?UTF-8?q?=20fixtures=20=E2=80=94=20window,=20addressee,=20no=20marker?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Covers the must-nudge pair (8 quiet days; post-merge + needs-ruling both
speak), the must-not set (6 days, fresh comment, every other queue state),
self-rate-limiting proven by sweeping again a day later rather than by
asserting a marker's absence, and zero writes across every probe.

Two existing probes move: #36's 'no comment' assertion described the
starvation this issue ends, and #67 gets recent activity so its precedence
count stays the assertion doing the work.

Refs #254
---
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh | 132 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 130 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index ec9e83b..3ea95c7 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -431,7 +431,11 @@ issue_probe() { # $1 issue, $2 labels, $3 assignees, $4 false|closing|refs, $5 m
     local assignees="${3:-1}" open_pr="${4:-false}" merged_ref_prs="${5:-}"
     local body="${6:-}" assignee_json='[]' open_pr_records="" spec pr merged_at
     [ "$assignees" -eq 0 ] || assignee_json='[{"login":"owner-bot"}]'
-    REPO=owner/repo NOW="$INOW"
+    # `PROBE_NOW` moves the sweep's clock without moving the fixtures — the
+    # only way to prove a rule that self-rate-limits on its own comment's
+    # timestamp (#254): sweep, then sweep again a day later and watch the
+    # nudge stay silent because the comment it posted is now the activity.
+    REPO=owner/repo NOW="${PROBE_NOW:-$INOW}"
     ISSUE_LABELS="$2"
     ISSUE_JSON="$(jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 10 * 86400)))" \
       --argjson assignees "$assignee_json" --arg body "$body" \
@@ -517,6 +521,13 @@ check "...drawing the #252 parse echo and nothing else" 0 "1" \
   grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-66"
 
 attention_episode 67 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 60)))"
+# Recent activity keeps the evidence nudge (#254) off this probe: it is a
+# precedence case, and "exactly one comment" is the assertion doing the work.
+# The nudge's own coexistence with the post-merge diagnostic is pinned in its
+# section below, on a probe that is quiet on purpose.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 60)))" \
+  '[{"user":{"login":"triage-one"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/c67","body":"still waiting on the tag"}]' \
+  >"$(cfix 67)"
 post_merge_attention="$(issue_probe 67 $'post-merge\nattention' 0)"
 check "post-merge precedence leaves exactly its existing comment" 0 "1" \
   grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-67"
@@ -617,7 +628,13 @@ printf '[]\n' >"$(cfix 36)"
 post_merge_quiet="$(issue_probe 36 post-merge 0)"
 check "quiet unassigned post-merge work is not reclaimed" 1 "" \
   grep -q 'reclaimed' <<<"$post_merge_quiet"
-check "...and causes no comment or edit" 1 "" test -f "$TMP/posted-36"
+# The quiet itself is now visible (#254) — this probe is 10 days old with no
+# activity, so it draws the evidence nudge and nothing else. It used to
+# assert no comment at all; that assertion described the starvation this
+# issue exists to end, and the edit half of it is what still matters.
+check "...and causes no edit" 1 "" grep -qF -- 'issue edit 36' "$TMP/issue-edits"
+check "...only the evidence nudge speaks" 0 "1" \
+  grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-36"
 
 printf '[]\n' >"$(cfix 37)"
 issue_probe 37 post-merge 1 >/dev/null
@@ -625,6 +642,117 @@ check "assigned post-merge is flagged" 0 "" \
   grep -qF '<!-- issueflow:post-merge-assigned -->' "$TMP/posted-37"
 check "...and the hand-assignment is not repaired" 1 "" \
   grep -qF -- 'issue edit 37' "$TMP/issue-edits"
+# The flag and the nudge answer different questions — a board bug and a
+# starved wake condition — so neither suppresses the other (#254).
+check "...and the evidence nudge rides beside it, neither suppressed" 0 "2" \
+  grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-37"
+
+# -- the post-merge evidence nudge (#254), the ruling nudge's twin ----------
+# The ruling nudge solved "a wait goes quiet and nobody is told" for
+# `needs-ruling`; `post-merge` had no equivalent, and crew#181's real-host
+# criterion starved four times across two releases for want of one. Same
+# 7-day constant (`ruling_nudge_decision`, reused not mirrored), same
+# deliberate absence of an idempotency marker, and — unlike the ruling
+# nudge — addressed to the triage actor, because `post-merge` is triage's
+# completion queue and the operator owes nothing here (#254 D1).
+nudge_edits_before="$(wc -l <"$TMP/issue-edits")"
+
+quiet_comment() { # $1 issue, $2 seconds of quiet — one ordinary comment, then silence
+  jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - $2)))" \
+    '[{"user":{"login":"triage-one"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/c","body":"evidence pending"}]' \
+    >"$(cfix "$1")"
+  printf '[]\n' >"$(tfix "$1")"
+}
+
+quiet_comment 80 $((8 * 86400))
+nudged="$(issue_probe 80 post-merge 0)"
+check "8 quiet days on a post-merge item draws the evidence nudge" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$nudged"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansions belong to the isolated bash -c process
+check "...addressed to the triage actor, never the human reviewer" 0 "" \
+  bash -c 'grep -qF "@triage-one" "$1" && ! grep -qF "@danmt" "$1"' _ "$TMP/posted-80"
+check "...with the issue link as the payload" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/80' "$TMP/posted-80"
+check "...carrying the do-not-add-a-marker warning in the comment" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'Do not add a marker.' "$TMP/posted-80"
+# Asserted directly, not merely omitted: a marker would turn "once per 7
+# quiet days" into "once per issue, forever" — the exact "fix" lib/ruling.sh's
+# header records as the thing that breaks this rule.
+check "...and no idempotency marker on the path" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF '<!-- issueflow:' "$TMP/posted-80"
+
+# Self-rate-limiting, proven by the property and not by the mechanism: sweep
+# again a day later, against fixtures the first sweep's own comment mutated.
+nudged_again="$(PROBE_NOW=$((INOW + 86400)) issue_probe 80 post-merge 0)"
+check "a sweep one day after the nudge holds its silence" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$nudged_again"
+check "...so exactly one nudge exists across both sweeps" 0 "1" \
+  grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-80"
+
+quiet_comment 81 $((6 * 86400))
+six_days="$(issue_probe 81 post-merge 0)"
+check "6 quiet days is inside the window and draws nothing" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$six_days"
+check "...and posts no comment at all" 1 "" test -f "$TMP/posted-81"
+
+# Label churn is not activity, or the sweep resets its own clock. The rule is
+# `last_issue_activity`'s, shared with the reclaim and ruling clocks rather
+# than restated here — this probe pins that the nudge inherits it.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 3600)))" \
+  '[{"event":"labeled","label":{"name":"scope:docs"},"created_at":$at},
+    {"event":"unlabeled","label":{"name":"scope:docs"},"created_at":$at}]' >"$(tfix 82)"
+printf '[]\n' >"$(cfix 82)"
+churn="$(issue_probe 82 post-merge 0)"
+check "an hour-old label churn does not reset the 7-day clock" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$churn"
+
+quiet_comment 83 3600
+fresh="$(issue_probe 83 post-merge 0)"
+check "an hour-old comment does reset it" 1 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$fresh"
+
+# Both waits are quiet, both are owed, and to different parties: suppressing
+# one because the other spoke is a starved criterion, which is the failure
+# this nudge exists to remove.
+jq -n --arg l "$(iso_at $((INOW - 9 * 86400)))" \
+  '[{"event":"labeled","label":{"name":"needs-ruling"},"actor":{"login":"setter"},"created_at":$l}]' \
+  >"$(tfix 84)"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 9 * 86400 - 60)))" \
+  --arg b $'Options:  A — x   B — y\nRecommend: A, because x.\nBlocked:  z\nDefault:  none — hard block' \
+  --arg r12 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 9 * 86400 + 13 * 3600)))" \
+  --arg r24 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 9 * 86400 + 25 * 3600)))" \
+  '[{"user":{"login":"setter"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/esc84","body":$b},
+    {"user":{"login":"sweep-bot"},"created_at":$r12,"html_url":"https://x/r12","body":"<!-- ceremony:needs-ruling-rung12 -->\nrung"},
+    {"user":{"login":"sweep-bot"},"created_at":$r24,"html_url":"https://x/r24","body":"<!-- ceremony:needs-ruling-rung24 -->\nrung"}]' \
+  >"$(cfix 84)"
+both="$(issue_probe 84 $'post-merge\nneeds-ruling' 0)"
+check "a quiet post-merge item under a pending ruling nudges both waits" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$both"
+check "...and the ruling nudge is not suppressed by it" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'ruling nudge' <<<"$both"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # expansions belong to the isolated bash -c process
+check "...each addressing its own party" 0 "" \
+  bash -c 'grep -qF "@triage-one" "$1" && grep -qF "@danmt" "$1"' _ "$TMP/posted-84"
+
+# Every other queue state: the nudge is `post-merge`'s alone. Each is equally
+# quiet, and `claimed` carries an open PR so its own reclaim clock — the one
+# other 10-day rule on this path — stays out of the way.
+non_post_merge=(85:ready:0:false 86:claimed:1:true 87:blocked:0:false 88:epic:0:false 89:needs-triage:0:false)
+for spec in "${non_post_merge[@]}"; do
+  IFS=: read -r n state probe_assignees probe_pr <<<"$spec"
+  printf '[]\n' >"$(cfix "$n")"
+  printf '[]\n' >"$(tfix "$n")"
+  check "a 10-day-quiet $state issue draws no evidence nudge" 1 "" \
+    grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' \
+    <<<"$(issue_probe "$n" "$state" "$probe_assignees" "$probe_pr")"
+done
+
+# `post-merge` is the one queue state whose whole meaning is that the machine
+# owes nothing (LABELS.md: the sweep never reclaims it). This issue makes the
+# quiet visible; it must never make it actionable.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # positional parameter belongs to the isolated shell
+check "the evidence-nudge probes perform no issue edits" 0 "$nudge_edits_before" \
+  bash -c 'wc -l <"$1"' _ "$TMP/issue-edits"
 
 # -- non-triggers stay byte-for-byte outside the transition ------------------
 recent_timeline() {

From b18168b4f3728515deaa08e50824c8bc11af7935 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:08:11 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 3/7] docs(labels): quiet post-merge is visible, still never
 reclaimed
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

LABELS.md said the sweep never reclaims post-merge and stopped there, which
now reads as 'the machine says nothing' — after this change it says one
thing, once per 7 quiet days. Plus the fragment.

Refs #254
---
 LABELS.md          |  8 +++++++-
 changelog.d/254.md | 14 ++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 changelog.d/254.md

diff --git a/LABELS.md b/LABELS.md
index 0f6acd4..7f62a58 100644
--- a/LABELS.md
+++ b/LABELS.md
@@ -68,7 +68,13 @@ assignee, and comments with the remaining criteria verbatim. The comment says
 that the claim is released and that triage owes a follow-up naming the owner
 and wake condition for completion. Triage writes that full transition comment
 in the same tick when it or the operator makes the move by hand. The sweep
-never reclaims `post-merge`: weeks of quiet can be the state working.
+never reclaims `post-merge`: weeks of quiet can be the state working. It does
+make the quiet visible — after 7 days without a comment, a review or a commit
+the sweep posts one nudge naming the triage actor, saying the wake evidence is
+owed and linking the item. Which criterion starved is prose the machine never
+judges; the link is the payload. Like the ruling nudge it carries no
+idempotency marker on purpose — the comment is itself activity, so the rule
+self-rate-limits to one nudge per 7 quiet days — and it writes no label.
 
 `post-merge` never composes with `blocked`; the transition comment carries the
 wait. It never composes with `attention`, because releasing the claim clears
diff --git a/changelog.d/254.md b/changelog.d/254.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b0761e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/254.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+### Added
+
+- A `post-merge` item with no comment, review or commit for 7 days now draws
+  one nudge from the issue sweep: the wake evidence is owed. A starving
+  criterion used to be found only when someone happened to run the right read
+  (#254).
+- The nudge names the triage actor from `triage-actors=`, not the human
+  reviewer: `post-merge` is triage's completion queue, so the starved wake
+  condition is triage's to answer (#254).
+- It links the item and parses nothing from the body — which criterion
+  starved is prose, and the machine never judges prose (#254).
+- Like the ruling nudge it carries no idempotency marker on purpose: the
+  comment is itself activity, so the rule self-rate-limits to one nudge per 7
+  quiet days. Comment-only — no path here writes a label (#254).

From 37d138fecfbbf28d0b0319e8688e3c87c79eb126 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:10:42 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 4/7] test(issueflow): prose is never judged, and the constant
 has one spelling

The two 'must fail loudly' cases from the plan: an unparseable body still
nudges and the nudge quotes none of it, and a grep-level pin that no second
7-day constant appears in the sweep.

Refs #254
---
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+)

diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index 3ea95c7..eec84b1 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -747,6 +747,28 @@ for spec in "${non_post_merge[@]}"; do
     <<<"$(issue_probe "$n" "$state" "$probe_assignees" "$probe_pr")"
 done
 
+# The machine never judges prose: which criterion starved is not a fact the
+# sweep reads, so a body it could not parse if it tried still nudges.
+quiet_comment 90 $((8 * 86400))
+unparseable_body="$(issue_probe 90 post-merge 0 false "" '¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wake: ask danmt sometime')"
+check "an unparseable body still nudges — the link is the payload" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$unparseable_body"
+check "...and the nudge quotes none of it" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'ask danmt sometime' "$TMP/posted-90"
+
+# One spelling of the 7-day rule. `lib/ruling.sh` exists because this family
+# already paid for two copies of a constant; a second one here is the drift,
+# and it is cheap to pin at the grep level.
+# Code lines only: the branch's comment names the constant it must not
+# respell, which is the sentence a future reader needs and not a second copy.
+check "the 7-day rule is not respelled in the sweep" 1 "" \
+  grep -nE '^[^#]*(7 \* 24 \* 3600|604800)' \
+  "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # the call site is asserted as a literal
+check "...it is reused from lib/ruling.sh" 0 "" \
+  grep -qF 'ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$age"' \
+  "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
+
 # `post-merge` is the one queue state whose whole meaning is that the machine
 # owes nothing (LABELS.md: the sweep never reclaims it). This issue makes the
 # quiet visible; it must never make it actionable.

From d4a82707f2d55eca00d28a7f30302163985cfccb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:38:53 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 5/7] fix(issueflow): the evidence clock is not the claim clock
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

The nudge rode `last_issue_activity`, which counts `assigned` timeline
events because assignment is the claim the 48-hour reclaim protects.
`post-merge` has no claim: an assignee there is the invalid composition
the flag beside it reports, so counting the assignment let a broken board
buy the item another 7 days of silence — this issue's failure direction
taken backwards.

One computation, two clocks over it: `issue_activity_at` is the body,
`last_issue_activity` keeps the reclaim and ruling clocks byte-identical,
and `last_issue_comment_activity` is the evidence clock. Both clocks are
read before this branch posts anything, the ruling one included — read
after, it would date the issue by the evidence nudge's own comment and
silence the ruling nudge, which is the self-silencing the branch already
guarded against in the other direction.

Refs #254
---
 .../issueflow-reconcile.sh                    | 64 +++++++++++++++---
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh              | 66 ++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 119 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index 1c15f8b..40292b8 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -491,7 +491,11 @@ offsite_timeline() { # unreadable timelines are deliberately silent
   gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$1/timeline" 2>/dev/null || return 1
 }
 
-last_issue_activity() { # $1 issue, $2 created_at → epoch; non-zero if a read failed
+issue_activity_at() { # $1 issue, $2 created_at, $3 with-assignment|comments-only
+  # One body, two clocks over it — a second activity computation is the drift
+  # the reuse exists to prevent, and the two callers below are the whole
+  # difference between them.
+  #
   # Both reads are checked, and a failure reports rather than answering an age
   # (#247 D1). Swallowed, the comments read falls back to `created_at`, and a
   # `claimed` issue created months ago but commented on seconds earlier is
@@ -499,19 +503,42 @@ last_issue_activity() { # $1 issue, $2 created_at → epoch; non-zero if a read
   # hours of silence. `needs-triage` is cheap to remove; that is not.
   # gh's stderr is left to flow to this function's own, where the caller's
   # guarded_read captures it for the reason line.
-  local n="$1" created="$2" comments timeline latest
+  local n="$1" created="$2" mode="$3" comments timeline="" latest
   comments="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/comments" --jq '.[].created_at')" \
     || return 1
-  # Assignment is the claim itself. Ignoring it would let an old issue be
-  # reclaimed in the seconds between assignment and its required draft PR.
-  timeline="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline" \
-    --jq '.[] | select(.event == "assigned") | .created_at')" || return 1
+  if [ "$mode" = with-assignment ]; then
+    timeline="$(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues/$n/timeline" \
+      --jq '.[] | select(.event == "assigned") | .created_at')" || return 1
+  fi
   latest="$(printf '%s\n%s\n%s\n' "$created" "$comments" "$timeline" | sort | tail -n1)"
   date -d "$latest" +%s
 }
 
+last_issue_activity() { # $1 issue, $2 created_at → epoch; non-zero if a read failed
+  # The claim clock, and the ruling clock with it. Assignment is the claim
+  # itself. Ignoring it would let an old issue be reclaimed in the seconds
+  # between assignment and its required draft PR.
+  issue_activity_at "$1" "$2" with-assignment
+}
+
+last_issue_comment_activity() { # $1 issue, $2 created_at → epoch; non-zero on a failed read
+  # The evidence nudge's clock (#254). Same computation, one input fewer, and
+  # the input it drops is the one that would starve the criterion: on
+  # `post-merge` there is no claim for an assignment to protect, and an
+  # assignee there is the invalid composition the `post-merge-assigned` flag
+  # reports. Counting it would let a broken board buy the item another 7 days
+  # of silence — the failure direction of #254 taken backwards.
+  #
+  # A comment the sweep itself wrote is still activity here, deliberately:
+  # the nudge carries no marker, so its own comment is what rate-limits it,
+  # and no machine comment can be exempted without exempting that one too.
+  # Reading authorship back into the clock would mean a body read this issue
+  # forbids.
+  issue_activity_at "$1" "$2" comments-only
+}
+
 reconcile_issue() {
-  local n="$1" decision refs cross_refs states age created assignees open_pr=false label owners
+  local n="$1" decision refs cross_refs states age evidence_age created assignees open_pr=false label owners
   local merged_ref_pr="" transition_marker="" transition_handled=false parsed_set="" parse_marker=""
   local unchecked="" remove_claimed=claimed
   local attention_active=true attention_suppression=""
@@ -611,9 +638,26 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
     # would let the assigned-flag comment silence the nudge for another 7
     # days — the same self-silencing the ruling nudge avoids by reading its
     # facts once, at the top of the pass.
+    #
+    # Its own variable, not `age`: the ruling block below reuses `age` when
+    # it is already set, and the evidence clock is deliberately narrower than
+    # the ruling clock. Leaking it there would silently change what a ruling
+    # nudge means depending on which queue label the issue sits under.
     created="$(jq -r '.created_at' <<<"$ISSUE_JSON")"
-    guarded_read age last_issue_activity "$n" "$created" \
+    guarded_read evidence_age last_issue_comment_activity "$n" "$created" \
       || skip_issue "$n" "could not read its activity history: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
+    # The ruling clock is read HERE, not in the ruling block, for the same
+    # reason the evidence clock is: that block reads only when `age` is
+    # unset, and by the time it runs this branch may have posted the
+    # evidence nudge — so its read would date the issue by this sweep's own
+    # comment and silence the ruling nudge. Both waits are answered from
+    # facts that predate anything this pass writes. The cost is one extra
+    # comments read on `post-merge` + `needs-ruling`, and only there: an
+    # ordinary `post-merge` issue reads once.
+    if has_issue_label needs-ruling; then
+      guarded_read age last_issue_activity "$n" "$created" \
+        || skip_issue "$n" "could not read its activity history: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
+    fi
     if [ "$assignees" -gt 0 ] || has_issue_label attention; then
       ensure_comment "$n" post-merge-assigned \
         'This `post-merge` issue has an assignee or `attention`. The sweep will not undo hand-set intent; triage must clear the invalid composition or move the issue back into buildable queue state.'
@@ -636,8 +680,8 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
     # mandatory config — `load_issueflow_config` refuses to run without it —
     # so there is nothing to fall back to, and a silent fallback is exactly
     # how the wrong addressee comes back.
-    if [ "$(ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$age")" = NUDGE ]; then
-      local quiet_days=$(((NOW - age) / 86400))
+    if [ "$(ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$evidence_age")" = NUDGE ]; then
+      local quiet_days=$(((NOW - evidence_age) / 86400))
       run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "@${TRIAGE_ACTORS[0]} — this \`post-merge\` item has had no activity for ${quiet_days} days: https://github.com/$REPO/issues/$n
 
 Its wake evidence is still owed. \`post-merge\` means the merge landed and
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index eec84b1..7c9fde9 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -637,6 +637,14 @@ check "...only the evidence nudge speaks" 0 "1" \
   grep -c -- '^----$' "$TMP/posted-36"
 
 printf '[]\n' >"$(cfix 37)"
+# The live shape of an assigned `post-merge` issue: the assignee in the issue
+# payload AND the `assigned` event that put it there in the timeline. With an
+# empty timeline this fixture could not see the defect it exists to guard —
+# the evidence clock counting that hour-old assignment as activity and
+# silencing the nudge for another 7 days, on the one board state where an
+# assignee is itself the bug being reported.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 3600)))" \
+  '[{"event":"assigned","created_at":$at}]' >"$(tfix 37)"
 issue_probe 37 post-merge 1 >/dev/null
 check "assigned post-merge is flagged" 0 "" \
   grep -qF '<!-- issueflow:post-merge-assigned -->' "$TMP/posted-37"
@@ -711,6 +719,40 @@ fresh="$(issue_probe 83 post-merge 0)"
 check "an hour-old comment does reset it" 1 "" \
   grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$fresh"
 
+# Neither is an assignment. That event is the *claim* clock's activity fact —
+# 48 hours of silence must not include the seconds between a claim and its
+# required draft PR — and `post-merge` has no claim for it to protect: an
+# assignee here is the invalid composition the flag above reports. Counting
+# it would let a broken board buy the item another 7 days of quiet, which is
+# this issue's failure direction taken backwards. No current assignee on this
+# probe, so nothing stands between the clock rule and the nudge.
+quiet_comment 93 $((8 * 86400))
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 3600)))" \
+  '[{"event":"assigned","created_at":$at},{"event":"unassigned","created_at":$at}]' >"$(tfix 93)"
+assigned_clock="$(issue_probe 93 post-merge 0)"
+check "an hour-old assignment does not reset the evidence clock either" 0 "" \
+  grep -q 'post-merge evidence nudge' <<<"$assigned_clock"
+
+# The two clocks over the one computation, asserted directly rather than
+# through a probe: same fixture, one input's difference, and the reclaim
+# clock is pinned unmoved by the split.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 5 * 86400)))" \
+  '[{"user":{"login":"triage-one"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/c95","body":"evidence pending"}]' \
+  >"$(cfix 95)"
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 3600)))" \
+  '[{"event":"assigned","created_at":$at}]' >"$(tfix 95)"
+two_clocks="$( (REPO=owner/repo; gh() { issue_stub_gh "$@"; }
+  printf '%s %s\n' \
+    "$(last_issue_activity 95 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 10 * 86400)))")" \
+    "$(last_issue_comment_activity 95 "$(iso_at $((INOW - 10 * 86400)))")") )"
+check "the claim clock counts the assignment, the evidence clock the comment" 0 \
+  "$((INOW - 3600)) $((INOW - 5 * 86400))" printf '%s\n' "$two_clocks"
+# One body, two callers: a second activity computation is the drift the
+# reuse exists to prevent, so the timeline read has exactly one spelling.
+check "the timeline read is not respelled for the evidence clock" 0 "1" \
+  grep -c 'issues/\$n/timeline' \
+  "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
+
 # Both waits are quiet, both are owed, and to different parties: suppressing
 # one because the other spoke is a starved criterion, which is the failure
 # this nudge exists to remove.
@@ -766,7 +808,7 @@ check "the 7-day rule is not respelled in the sweep" 1 "" \
   "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2016 # the call site is asserted as a literal
 check "...it is reused from lib/ruling.sh" 0 "" \
-  grep -qF 'ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$age"' \
+  grep -qF 'ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$evidence_age"' \
   "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"
 
 # `post-merge` is the one queue state whose whole meaning is that the machine
@@ -1188,6 +1230,28 @@ check "...no unassign, no label swap, and no reclaim comment" 0 "" \
   bash -c 'test "$1" -eq "$(wc -l <"$2")" && test ! -f "$3"' _ \
   "$claim_edits_before" "$TMP/issue-edits" "$TMP/posted-50"
 
+# -- the quiet diagnostic: a 504 on a post-merge activity read (#254) --------
+# The guarded read is unconditional at the top of the branch, so a
+# `post-merge` issue can be skipped where before this change it never could —
+# and the assigned flag, which needed no read at all, goes quiet with it.
+# That is #247 D1's direction (a whole pass or none of it, never a verdict
+# derived from a read that did not answer) and the trade `claimed`, `blocked`
+# and `needs-ruling` already make. It is still a new way for that diagnostic
+# to fall silent, so it is pinned here rather than left to inspection.
+jq -n --arg at "$(iso_at $((INOW - 10 * 86400)))" \
+  '[{"user":{"login":"triage-one"},"created_at":$at,"html_url":"https://x/c94","body":"evidence pending"}]' \
+  >"$(cfix 94)"
+printf '%s\n' "$GH_STUB_ERROR_BODY" >"$(cfix 94).http-error"
+post_merge_skip_edits="$(wc -l <"$TMP/issue-edits")"
+check "a 504 on a post-merge activity read skips the issue" \
+  3 "#94: skipped this pass — could not read its activity history: $GH_STUB_STDERR" \
+  issue_probe 94 post-merge 1
+check "...so neither the nudge nor the assigned flag speaks" 1 "" test -f "$TMP/posted-94"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # positional parameters belong to bash -c
+check "...and the skipped pass edits nothing" 0 "" \
+  bash -c 'test "$1" -eq "$(wc -l <"$2")"' _ \
+  "$post_merge_skip_edits" "$TMP/issue-edits"
+
 # -- the suppressed comment: a 504 on the marker read -----------------------
 # The marker is on the issue. Read as "no marker", a failed read re-posts the
 # comment the marker exists to suppress — every sweep, forever.

From fd9da98abf2661323a38fbe5b02ca002493d13a4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:40:48 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 6/7] docs(labels): the evidence clock names what the sweep
 actually reads

"a comment, a review or a commit" is the ruling nudge's house phrasing and
false on the issue surface twice over: there is no review or commit fact in
what the sweep reads, and an assignment is no longer counted here. Say
what is read, and say what does not buy another 7 days of silence.

Refs #254
---
 LABELS.md                        | 15 +++++++++------
 changelog.d/254.md               | 10 ++++++----
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh |  1 +
 3 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/LABELS.md b/LABELS.md
index 7f62a58..406455c 100644
--- a/LABELS.md
+++ b/LABELS.md
@@ -69,12 +69,15 @@ that the claim is released and that triage owes a follow-up naming the owner
 and wake condition for completion. Triage writes that full transition comment
 in the same tick when it or the operator makes the move by hand. The sweep
 never reclaims `post-merge`: weeks of quiet can be the state working. It does
-make the quiet visible — after 7 days without a comment, a review or a commit
-the sweep posts one nudge naming the triage actor, saying the wake evidence is
-owed and linking the item. Which criterion starved is prose the machine never
-judges; the link is the payload. Like the ruling nudge it carries no
-idempotency marker on purpose — the comment is itself activity, so the rule
-self-rate-limits to one nudge per 7 quiet days — and it writes no label.
+make the quiet visible — after 7 days with no comment on the issue, the sweep
+posts one nudge naming the triage actor, saying the wake evidence is owed and
+linking the item. Only a comment resets that clock: label churn does not, and
+neither does an assignment, which is the claim clock's fact and on this queue
+state is the invalid composition flagged below. Which criterion starved is
+prose the machine never judges; the link is the payload. Like the ruling nudge
+it carries no idempotency marker on purpose — the comment is itself activity,
+so the rule self-rate-limits to one nudge per 7 quiet days — and it writes no
+label.
 
 `post-merge` never composes with `blocked`; the transition comment carries the
 wait. It never composes with `attention`, because releasing the claim clears
diff --git a/changelog.d/254.md b/changelog.d/254.md
index 4b0761e..92ca2d5 100644
--- a/changelog.d/254.md
+++ b/changelog.d/254.md
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 ### Added
 
-- A `post-merge` item with no comment, review or commit for 7 days now draws
-  one nudge from the issue sweep: the wake evidence is owed. A starving
-  criterion used to be found only when someone happened to run the right read
-  (#254).
+- A `post-merge` item with no comment for 7 days now draws one nudge from the
+  issue sweep: the wake evidence is owed. A starving criterion used to be
+  found only when someone happened to run the right read (#254).
+- Label churn does not reset that clock, and neither does an assignment: on
+  `post-merge` an assignee is an invalid composition, not activity, and it
+  must not buy the item another 7 days of silence (#254).
 - The nudge names the triage actor from `triage-actors=`, not the human
   reviewer: `post-merge` is triage's completion queue, so the starved wake
   condition is triage's to answer (#254).
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index 7c9fde9..a1b9486 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -749,6 +749,7 @@ check "the claim clock counts the assignment, the evidence clock the comment" 0
   "$((INOW - 3600)) $((INOW - 5 * 86400))" printf '%s\n' "$two_clocks"
 # One body, two callers: a second activity computation is the drift the
 # reuse exists to prevent, so the timeline read has exactly one spelling.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016 # the read is asserted as a literal, unexpanded
 check "the timeline read is not respelled for the evidence clock" 0 "1" \
   grep -c 'issues/\$n/timeline' \
   "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh"

From 3fffb8d84937bfce8a51d5c6f0cb41134e9843b3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cndgrr <59120057+cndgrr@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2026 23:42:19 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 7/7] fix(issueflow): the nudge says what it measured
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

"no activity for N days" was true of the old clock and is now imprecise:
an assignment no longer counts, so an item assigned yesterday would read
a nudge claiming nine days of nothing. It says "no comment" instead —
the fact the sweep actually read.

Refs #254
---
 actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index 40292b8..ab331bd 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ The merge releases the claim; no builder owes a draft. Triage owes completion in
     # how the wrong addressee comes back.
     if [ "$(ruling_nudge_decision "$NOW" "$evidence_age")" = NUDGE ]; then
       local quiet_days=$(((NOW - evidence_age) / 86400))
-      run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "@${TRIAGE_ACTORS[0]} — this \`post-merge\` item has had no activity for ${quiet_days} days: https://github.com/$REPO/issues/$n
+      run gh issue comment "$n" -R "$REPO" --body "@${TRIAGE_ACTORS[0]} — this \`post-merge\` item has had no comment for ${quiet_days} days: https://github.com/$REPO/issues/$n
 
 Its wake evidence is still owed. \`post-merge\` means the merge landed and
 triage owns completion — judge the remaining criteria against the evidence