# docs/ — task-signal map

Purpose: route a fresh contributor/agent to the minimal set of docs for the task at hand, instead of
a mandatory front-to-back read. **Update this doc in the same PR that adds, removes, or retitles a
doc below, or that changes which sections a task signal points to.**

## Start here, always

- **`CLAUDE.md`** (repo root) — project intro: architecture, layout, dev commands, conventions,
  Task Completion Protocol.
- **`docs/contributing.md`** — established code patterns (CQRS/MediatR, LanguageExt, the ChicoryTV
  SPA, EF Core dual-provider migrations, FFmpeg pipeline, analyzers, testing). Read before any
  non-trivial change.

## Task signal → minimal sections

| Signal | Read |
| --- | --- |
| Session startup / "what's next" (no issue named) | `docs/handoffs/chicorytv-issue-queue.md` (standing kickoff — two concurrent tracks: orientation ‖ `scripts/select-queue.sh 5`) |
| Running SEVERAL issues in parallel under one orchestrator (the `orchestrator-prompt.md` kickoff) | `docs/handoffs/orchestration.md` — roles and sizing, one worktree per issue under `~/orca/workspaces/ersatztv/`, the landing order (gate + review before the single push; verdict via `scripts/post-review-verdict.sh`; merge through the consent hook), resuming a paused branch; rule: `process.orchestrated-session`. The queue rules and HARD CONSTRAINTS stay in `chicorytv-issue-queue.md` |
| Named-issue pickup | Skip queue selection; go straight to focused retrieval — see "Knowledge retrieval" below, then the issue body |
| Adding/changing a `/api/*` endpoint | `docs/api-conventions.md` checklist + `docs/endpoint-index.md` |
| Adding a ChicoryTV SPA screen | `docs/spa-conventions.md` |
| Explaining a consequential settings field in the SPA (summary → hover/tap panel → docs link) | `docs/spa-conventions.md` §15 — use the shared `FieldHelp` trigger and put the copy in the screen's own `FIELD_HELP` record; the icon, the gesture and the a11y contract are fixed |
| Graphics element / overlay work (text bug, On Now / Next, watermark-vs-`[vge]`) | `docs/graphics-elements.md`, then decisions catalog rows keyed `graphics.*` |
| Scheduling / playout engine work | `docs/domain-model.md` + decisions catalog rows keyed `sched.*` (`docs/decisions/README.md`) |
| Adding or changing a paged list handler (a page plus a `TotalCount`) | Resolve `api.paged-count-matches-page-query` via `docs/decisions/README.md` — for an EF-backed filtered list, count the SAME query you page, with includes appended to the page chain only; where the count and the page are separate methods, a test pins their agreement. Then `api.paging-zero-based` for the `pageNum`/`pageSize` contract |
| Concurrency / optimistic-locking work | `docs/api-conventions.md` §7a/b/c + `docs/decisions/optimistic-concurrency.md` |
| Auth / security-surface work | `docs/decisions/api-auth-security.md` |
| CI / release pipeline work | `docs/ci-cd.md` + `docs/decisions/release-ci-governance.md` |
| Proposing a new guard / CI check / regression test convention | `docs/defect-shapes-773.md` §4 (detector menu + the classes where no detector is plausible), then the rules every guard must satisfy: `docs/decisions/records/testing/guard-derives-population-from-source.md`, `…/guard-ships-with-mutation-proof.md` and `…/mutation-claims-are-executed.md` (a `MUTATION` grade carries a DECLARED clause mutation that is re-run every suite — and so does a PROSE claim that some mutation reddens, or does not redden, a named test, wherever it is written: it is a `CLAIMS` entry in the same manifest, bound to its site and verbatim quote, or it is not written) — plus `…/verification-code-needs-its-own-proof.md`, which extends the same obligation BEYOND guards to the harness, wrapper or checker doing the checking, and says where its proof lives when the checker holds no row |
| Adding or bounding a consequential numeric config field (an FFmpeg profile tunable, a pipeline knob) | `docs/api-conventions.md` §3d — reject out of range with a 422 naming the bound and its consequence, never accept-then-rewrite; validate against the constants the renderer reads, keep the render-time clamp for pre-existing rows, and let an UNCHANGED legacy value through on update. Then `api.ffmpeg-profile-numeric-bounds` |
| Testing a surface gated by config / an env var / a credential | `docs/decisions/records/testing/deny-path-at-production-config-value.md` — cover the setting absent, at its production value, and each opt-out, and assert the DENY branch |
| Touching a full-replace write path or a hand-built request object | `docs/decisions/records/testing/full-replace-asserts-field-list.md` — derive the field list from the DTO and assert set equality; reconcile by id where child state exists. In the SPA the same rule is enforced by the type system: `docs/spa-conventions.md` §4b — build the body as `Complete<T>`, annotating BOTH the wrapper parameter and every construction site |
| Writing or editing any doc, or answering a review finding in prose | `docs/decisions/records/docs/no-session-narrative.md` — the doc records the END STATE; the path to it goes in the commit message. Apply the who-benefits test, and read the carve-out before you cut (dated measurements, stated snapshot boundaries and tested-and-rejected results stay) |
| Adding, renaming or removing a workflow JOB | `docs/ci-cd.md` → "Per-job declarations" — every job declares `env.CI_JOB_ROLE` (and, in `docker-build.yml`, `env.CI_EXECUTION_CLASS`); a missing or unknown value fails `scripts/tests/test_workflow_job_guards.py` / `…/test_ci_image_pin_population.py`, and a `guard` **or `report-only`** job also needs a row in `docs/guard-inventory.md` → "Workflow-job guards". Rationale: `docs/decisions/records/testing/workflow-declares-its-own-job-metadata.md` |
| Adding / changing / deleting a guard file | `docs/guard-inventory.md` — every guard's row is machine-checked by `scripts/tests/test_guard_inventory.py`, so a new guard must acquire a row before the suite goes green, and a row graded `MUTATION` must also acquire a declared clause in `scripts/tests/mutation_manifest.py` |
| Writing code that reads live Gitea/remote state and then acts on it | `docs/decisions/records/process/check-and-use-pins-a-version.md`, then `docs/remote-state-inventory.md` — a new executable under `scripts/` (**excluding `scripts/tests/`**), `.claude/hooks/`, `.husky/` or `.gitea/workflows/` must acquire a row there before `scripts/tests/test_remote_state_inventory.py` goes green |
| Finding every site that references a symbol (multi-site fix/sweep) | `docs/local-lsp-tooling.md` — which of the three surfaces answers, and why a delegated agent must be pointed at an MCP server (`csharp-lsp`, or `serena` after an `activate_project`) rather than the `LSP` tool, which no subagent has been observed to reach |
| Live local run / Playwright-MCP verification | `docs/e2e-local.md` + `scripts/e2e-local.sh` |
| Adding/changing a UI-E2E browser flow | `docs/e2e-local.md` → "UI-E2E harness" + `scripts/e2e-ui.sh` |
| What does a test suite cover | `docs/testing.md` |
| Writing a test whose behaviour is PROVIDER-SPECIFIC (collation, a value converter, data-migration DML) | `docs/testing.md` → "Provider-parity fixtures (opt-in MySQL)" — run one fixture body against both providers via `ETV_TEST_MYSQL_CONNECTION`; without it the MySQL arm `Assert.Ignore`s visibly, and CI does not currently run it (ersatztv#627) |
| Legacy Blazor route lookup | `docs/blazor-route-parity.md` (historical #91 phase (b) inventory) |
| "Why do we do X this way" / challenging a convention | **Catalog-first**: `docs/decisions/README.md` (active rows) → follow the row's link to `docs/decisions/records/<area>/<topic>.md` for full rationale. `docs/decisions/archive/<area>/` only for "what did the rule used to be." |

## Knowledge retrieval (MemPalace + catalog + Gitea)

These four rules are the seam agreed with server-management#642 (the Gitea→MemPalace exporter).
They apply whether the question comes up via MemPalace, a grep, or a stale comment:

1. **Current conventions/decisions → catalog-first.** Start at `docs/decisions/README.md`; discover
   via the `ErsatzTV-Decisions` wing (active) / `ErsatzTV-Decisions-Archive` (superseded/retired).
   **Resolve by topic/key, never by chasing a file path.**
2. **Issue history → evidence, not authority.** The `Gitea-ErsatzTV` wing is historical narrative
   that may be stale; it never overrides current Markdown.
3. **The breadcrumb rule (the crux behavior change).** A file path named inside a *historical issue
   comment* (e.g. "grep `docs/decisions.md` 2026-07-17", "see …") is a **breadcrumb, not a live
   pointer.** Find the current rule via the catalog / active wing **by concept**; do not treat the
   named path as current. (Why it's safe: still-current → in the active wing, breadcrumb resolves;
   superseded → the active wing returns the *successor* and a literal follow lands on a record that
   announces its own `status: superseded`; retired → the active wing returns nothing, which is
   itself the signal. The validator-enforced move-to-`archive/` is what prevents the catastrophic
   "superseded rule read as current" case.)
4. **Fallback when MemPalace is stale/down:** `docs/decisions/README.md` catalog, then
   `` rg '^`key: <dotted.key>`' docs/decisions/ ``. MemPalace is never authority nor sole fallback.

MemPalace is candidate discovery only — every passage is verified against its cited Markdown/Gitea
source before use. Never derive live queue state from MemPalace, #237, or historical comments; queue
state is live Gitea state, retrieved via `scripts/select-queue.sh` (see
`docs/handoffs/chicorytv-issue-queue.md`). Full retrieval contract (altitude/precedence, staleness
bounds, what's mined per issue): `docs/handoffs/chicorytv-issue-queue.md` → "Knowledge retrieval".

## Also present in `docs/`

- **`docs/domain-model.md`** — what the app IS: entity glossary, channel→playout→schedule/block
  concept map, where each concept is edited in the SPA.
- **`docs/api-conventions.md`** — checklist for adding/changing a `/api/*` endpoint (controllers,
  DTOs, error mapping, auth, OpenAPI regen, tests).
- **`docs/spa-conventions.md`** — playbook for adding a screen to the ChicoryTV React SPA.
- **`docs/e2e-local.md`** (+ `scripts/e2e-local.sh`) — how to run a live local instance for manual
  or Playwright-MCP verification.
- **`docs/local-lsp-tooling.md`** — the code-intelligence surfaces (the `LSP` tool's three servers,
  the `csharp-lsp` MCP server, and `serena`): how each is configured, which ones a **subagent** can
  actually reach, the traps (a cold server answers the first query with a confidently partial result;
  serena needs an `activate_project` per directory), and `scripts/check-local-lsp.sh` to verify the
  preconditions. Read before briefing an agent to find every site referencing a symbol.
- **`docs/testing.md`** — testing map: what each `*.Tests` project / `web` suite covers,
  golden-file nets, the timezone-independence rule, how to run subsets, the per-PR verification
  gate.
- **`docs/blazor-route-parity.md`** — historical record of the completed #91 phase (b) cutover:
  the Blazor Server UI is removed and every legacy route now 302-redirects to its SPA equivalent
  (or falls through to the catch-all → `/app`). Read it for the full legacy→SPA route inventory.
- **`docs/decisions/records/<area>/<topic>.md`** — one active decision record per file, YAML
  frontmatter (`key`/`title`/`status`/`since`/`supersedes`/`superseded-by`, plus optional
  `stale-after`/`sources` — ersatztv#603), rationale prose in the body. The **filename is the key**,
  so one-active-record-per-key is a filesystem property (ersatztv#610). `docs/decisions.md` and the
  topic files remain as the lifecycle-schema narrative plus a "Records formerly in this file" index,
  which is what keeps older date-based pointers resolvable. **Generated active view**:
  `docs/decisions/README.md`
  (catalog / task router) — start there. Superseded/retired records live in
  `docs/decisions/archive/` and are read only for history, never for "what is the current rule."
- **`docs/ci-cd.md`** — build/test/release pipeline, versioning, dependency management.
- **`docs/rest-api.md`** — REST API design doc for ersatztv#2 (goals, conventions, per-slice plan).
  Largely superseded day-to-day by `docs/api-conventions.md`; read this for the original rationale.
- **`docs/mcp.md`** — the `ErsatzTV.Mcp` stdio JSON-RPC MCP server (#58): how it wraps `/api/v1` as
  read + cautious-write tools, its config/env vars, auth, security posture, and the tool catalog.
- **`docs/graphics-elements.md`** — graphics element (overlay) schema reference: how elements are
  discovered and attached, the YAML parsing traps (an unknown key disables the element outright), the
  full text-element field table including the #732 background box, and why `[vge]` in a filter graph
  does not imply a graphics element is bound.
- **`docs/channels.md`** — Channel entity field reference.
- **`docs/m3u-xmltv.md`** — M3U/XMLTV generation overview (`ChannelPlaylist`, `GetChannelGuideHandler`).
- **`docs/fork-strategy.md`** — divergence policy vs upstream ErsatzTV.
- **`docs/design-sync.md`** — Claude Design ↔ repo screen workflow (#92).
- **`docs/endpoint-index.md`** — generated REST endpoint index (method/path/operationId/summary per
  OpenAPI tag). Do not edit by hand; regenerated by `scripts/generate-endpoint-index.py` /
  `scripts/update-openapi.sh`.
- **`docs/handoffs/chicorytv-issue-queue.md`** — static session kickoff prompt + workflow lore.
  Queue state is **live Gitea state**, retrieved each session via `scripts/select-queue.sh` — see
  that file's standing kickoff for the two concurrent tracks (orientation ‖ selection). ersatztv#237
  is a closed, archival historical tracker (superseded by `startup.parallel-orientation` in
  `docs/decisions.md`) — not a live pointer.
- **`docs/handoffs/orchestration.md`** — mechanics of an orchestrated session: roles, isolation, landing a branch through the gate (`process.orchestrated-session`), resume, incidents. Workflow scripts: `.claude/workflows/ersatztv-{pick-next,issue-build,resume-branch}.js`.
- **`docs/handoffs/orchestrator-prompt.md`** — the standing prompt that starts an orchestrated session; the single-issue kickoff stays in `chicorytv-issue-queue.md`.
- **`docs/defect-shapes-773.md`** — root-cause analysis of the recurring defect shapes across the
  whole closed-issue corpus (#773): the measured class ranking, the four families they consolidate
  into, the cheapest mechanical detector per class, the classes where **no** detector is plausible,
  and an audit of which configured hooks/MCP servers/LSPs are actually invoked. Read it before
  proposing a new guard or CI check — §4 is the detector menu, and it argues against enumerating
  cases one incident at a time.
- **`docs/remote-state-inventory.md`** — every executable in `scripts/` (**excluding
  `scripts/tests/`**), `.claude/hooks/`, `.husky/` and `.gitea/workflows/` that reads live remote
  state and acts on that read, classified `PINNED` / `CAS` / `UNSAFE-KNOWN` / `N/A` with the window
  and what bounds it. Code outside those directories — C#/TypeScript guards, `web/`, and the test
  suites themselves — is out of scope, and the doc states that rather than implying coverage.
  The population is derived from `git ls-files` and compared for set equality by
  `scripts/tests/test_remote_state_inventory.py`, so a new script that talks to a remote service
  cannot ship unclassified. Read it with `process.check-and-use-pins-a-version`; it is that record's
  detector, since the class has no plausible linter (`docs/defect-shapes-773.md` §4 detector D).
- **`docs/guard-inventory.md`** — every executable guard file, what it blocks, whether it is a
  `GUARD` or `TOOLING`, and whether it ships a mutation proof (`MUTATION` / `BEHAVIOUR-ONLY` /
  `NONE`) with a `file::function` ref. The population is derived from the GIT INDEX (not a
  filesystem walk, since ersatztv#806) and the workflow/hook call sites, and compared for set
  equality by `scripts/tests/test_guard_inventory.py`,
  so a new guard cannot ship unclassified and a renamed test cannot leave a row claiming coverage it
  has lost. Guards implemented inline in workflow YAML are deliberately outside that population —
  the doc states the limit rather than implying coverage.
- **`docs/tracker-retrofit-triage-237.md`** — audit trail for the #524 triage of ersatztv#237's 111
  comments (method, per-comment classification, totals). Evidence for the
  `docs.tracker-comment-retrofit` decision; read it only when triaging another over-cap tracker.
- **`docs/handoffs/rest-api.md`** — original handoff prompt for kicking off the REST API work (#2).