From 07c8db9939dae018d0113c00e51ef593a0ba10e6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: codex-bot-andresmgsl
 <304681515+codex-bot-andresmgsl@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:57:11 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: union repeated blocked-by declarations

---
 .../issueflow-reconcile.sh                    | 34 +++++++++----------
 changelog.d/184.md                            |  3 ++
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh              |  8 +++++
 3 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changelog.d/184.md

diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index c5ab519..c69cb11 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -178,26 +178,26 @@ issue_references() { # text on stdin -> LOCAL/CROSS<TAB>reference
 
 blocked_reference_records() { # body on stdin -> classified reference records
   # Dependency declarations sometimes soft-wrap after a comma. Continue
-  # through the first sentence terminator; if prose omits one, conservatively
-  # retain later references so ambiguity can keep an issue blocked, never
-  # promote it prematurely.
+  # each occurrence through its sentence terminator. Unioning every occurrence
+  # can over-retain historical prose, but a stale block is safer than falsely
+  # promoting work whose live dependency was dropped (#184).
   awk '
     {
-      line = $0
-      lower = tolower(line)
-      if (!active) {
-        marker = "blocked by"
-        start = index(lower, marker)
-        if (!start) next
-        line = substr(line, start + length(marker))
-        active = 1
+      body = body (NR == 1 ? "" : "\n") $0
+    }
+    END {
+      marker = "blocked by"
+      rest = body
+      while ((start = index(tolower(rest), marker))) {
+        clause = substr(rest, start + length(marker))
+        if (match(clause, /[.;]/)) {
+          print substr(clause, 1, RSTART - 1)
+          rest = substr(clause, RSTART + 1)
+        } else {
+          print clause
+          break
+        }
       }
-      if (line ~ /[.;]/) {
-        sub(/[.;].*/, "", line)
-        print line
-        exit
-      }
-      print line
     }
   ' | issue_references
 }
diff --git a/changelog.d/184.md b/changelog.d/184.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a7336c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/184.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- Issue-flow reconciliation unions every `Blocked by` clause, preventing a closed first dependency from hiding later open blockers (#184).
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index d1a8f15..d228f61 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -115,6 +115,12 @@ check "empty offsite timeline extracts nothing" 0 "" offsite_cross_referenced_pr
 # Invariant 3: blocked declarations parse and release only when all close.
 refs="$(blocked_references <<< $'Context #99. Blocked by #12 (first), #7 (second). Blocks #44.')"
 check "blocked declaration extracts only declared refs" 0 $'7\n12' printf '%s\n' "$refs"
+body='Part of #151. Blocked by #152. Blocked by #153. Blocked by #148 — prose. Blocks #155.'
+check "repeated blocker declarations retain every clause" 0 "" test \
+  "$(blocked_references <<<"$body")" = $'148\n152\n153'
+body=$'Note: restored because it is blocked by an operator act. See below.\nBlocked by #152, #153, #148.'
+check "earlier blocker prose does not hide a later declaration" 0 "" test \
+  "$(blocked_references <<<"$body")" = $'148\n152\n153'
 body=$'Blocked by #12 (first),\n#7 (soft-wrapped second). Blocks #44.'
 check "soft-wrapped blocker declaration retains continuation refs" 0 "" test \
   "$(blocked_references <<<"$body")" = $'7\n12'
@@ -143,6 +149,8 @@ check "slash-adjacent local references survive" 0 $'14\n15' \
 check "comma-adjacent local references survive" 0 $'11\n12' \
   blocked_references <<<"Blocked by #11, #12."
 check "open blocker keeps issue blocked" 0 "KEEP" blocked_decision "$refs" $'CLOSED\nOPEN'
+check "an open blocker in a repeated declaration prevents promotion" 0 "KEEP" \
+  blocked_decision $'12\n13' $'CLOSED\nOPEN'
 check "all closed blockers release issue" 0 "READY" blocked_decision "$refs" $'CLOSED\nCLOSED'
 check "missing blocked declaration is flagged" 0 "FLAG_UNPARSEABLE" blocked_decision "" ""
 check "unreadable blocker is flagged" 0 "FLAG_UNPARSEABLE" blocked_decision "12" "UNKNOWN"
-- 
2.45.2