From 902646a96550195b6564b50057f8aff45872064b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wren-nutthouse <wren-nutthouse@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 22:34:17 +1100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] chore(kickoff): start #28 workstream

---
 plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md | 15 +++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md

diff --git a/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md b/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9559fd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Issue #28 kickoff
+
+Title: automation: handle stale CHANGES_REQUESTED gate after bot re-review
+
+## Goal
+Implement and ship issue #28 with tests and docs.
+
+## First slice (next PR updates)
+- [ ] Reproduce/validate current behavior
+- [ ] Implement minimal end-to-end path
+- [ ] Add tests for success + failure cases
+- [ ] Update docs/changelog/versioning per policy
+
+## Blockers
+- None yet (kickoff PR)

From 936188b3f7d90604d2b1fa160441dd03984a04c8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wren-nutthouse <wren-nutthouse@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:31:16 +1100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] docs: refine kickoff plan for issue #28 stale review gate

---
 plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md b/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md
index 9559fd4..7dfc537 100644
--- a/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md
+++ b/plans/issue-kickoff/issue-28.md
@@ -1,15 +1,32 @@
-# Issue #28 kickoff
+# Issue #28 kickoff — stale `CHANGES_REQUESTED` gate handling
 
-Title: automation: handle stale CHANGES_REQUESTED gate after bot re-review
+Issue: https://github.com/nutthouse/tutti/issues/28
 
-## Goal
-Implement and ship issue #28 with tests and docs.
+## Problem framing
+Merge orchestration can deadlock when GitHub keeps `CHANGES_REQUESTED` from an older review even after follow-up commits and green checks.
 
-## First slice (next PR updates)
-- [ ] Reproduce/validate current behavior
-- [ ] Implement minimal end-to-end path
-- [ ] Add tests for success + failure cases
-- [ ] Update docs/changelog/versioning per policy
+## Focused implementation slices
+1. **Readiness evaluator**
+   - Add a helper that compares:
+     - latest actionable review timestamp
+     - latest head commit timestamp
+     - required-checks all-green state
+2. **Stale-review rule**
+   - Mark stale when:
+     - checks are green
+     - latest commit is newer than latest actionable review
+     - no newer actionable comments/reviews exist
+3. **Orchestrator handling**
+   - Trigger one re-review request/ping path
+   - Add bounded wait + poll loop
+   - Terminal fallback: `needs-human-unblock`
+4. **Operator-visible output**
+   - PR summary line includes stale-review diagnosis and chosen action.
 
-## Blockers
-- None yet (kickoff PR)
+## Acceptance mapping
+- Distinguish unresolved feedback vs stale review lock ✅
+- Terminal status includes merged/needs-human-unblock ✅
+- Deterministic summary comment path ✅
+
+## Next code change in this branch
+- Implement readiness decision enum + tests for stale/non-stale scenarios.