fix(kanban): report actual unblock status + document triage escalation - #66571
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The reported confusion was an unblocked task 'unpredictably' ending up in triage. unblock itself only ever routes to ready/todo; a subsequent same-cause re-block hitting BLOCK_RECURRENCE_LIMIT is what escalates to triage. Document this deterministic loop-breaker at the human-facing lifecycle level so users stop reading it as an LLM decision.
This was referenced Jul 17, 2026
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Summary
kanban_unblocknow reports the status the DB actually assigns, and the docs explain why an unblocked task can later land intriage.Salvage of #66503 (which superseded #28728). Preserves Dusk1e's original response-status fix and Gille's doc clarification, then completes the missing piece: the reporter's real confusion — "I unblock a task and it unpredictably ends up in Triage" — was never documented at the human-facing lifecycle level.
Root cause of the reporter's symptom:
unblock_taskonly ever routes toready(all parents done) ortodo(a parent still open). It never touchestriage. The task reaching triage is a subsequent same-cause re-block hittingBLOCK_RECURRENCE_LIMIT(default 2) — a deterministic loop-breaker, not an LLM judgment call, and a task's body text cannot opt out of it (the recurrence counter deliberately survives each unblock).Changes
tools/kanban_tools.py:_handle_unblockreturns the persisted status viaget_task()instead of hardcodingready; schema + docstring updated.hermes_cli/kanban.py: CLI help reflectsready/todorouting.website/docs/reference/tools-reference.md+website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md: table entries corrected.website/docs/user-guide/features/kanban.md: new "Where an unblocked task lands" note explaining theready/todosplit AND the recurrence→triage loop-breaker (the actual user confusion).tests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py: regression test — unblock with an unfinished parent returnstodo.Validation
Live E2E against a temp
HERMES_HOMEwith the realkanban_db:donereadyreadytodotodotriageTargeted tests:
scripts/run_tests.sh tests/tools/test_kanban_tools.py -k unblock→ 5 passed.Infographic