fix: strip checkboxes from scope section in follow-up issues

.github/scripts/__tests__/issue_scope_parser.test.js

@@ -357,9 +357,10 @@ test('extracts "To Do" as Tasks alias', () => {
 
 test('hasNonPlaceholderScopeTasksAcceptanceContent detects PR meta fallback placeholders', () => {
   // Content with only PR meta manager fallback placeholders should return false
+  // Note: scope uses italicized text (not checkbox) since it's informational
   const prMetaPlaceholders = [
     '## Scope',
-    '- [ ] Scope section missing from source issue.',
+    '_Scope section missing from source issue._',
     '',
     '## Tasks',
     '- [ ] Tasks section missing from source issue.',

.github/scripts/issue_scope_parser.js

@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ const PLACEHOLDERS = {
 };
 
 // Fallback placeholders used by PR meta manager when source issue lacks sections
+// Note: scope uses plain text (not checkbox) since it's informational, not actionable
 const PR_META_FALLBACK_PLACEHOLDERS = {
-  scope: '- [ ] Scope section missing from source issue.',
+  scope: '_Scope section missing from source issue._',
   tasks: '- [ ] Tasks section missing from source issue.',
   acceptance: '- [ ] Acceptance criteria section missing from source issue.',
 };

.github/scripts/verifier_issue_formatter.js

@@ -49,6 +49,45 @@ function looksLikeReferenceLink(text) {
   return /^[-–•]?\s*(PR|Issue|Pull\s+Request)\s*#\d+/i.test(trimmed);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Convert checkbox items to plain text bullets.
+ * Scope is informational, not something to be checked off.
+ * Also filters out empty/blank lines and placeholder content.
+ *
+ * @param {string} content - Content possibly containing checkboxes
+ * @returns {string} Content with checkboxes converted to plain bullets
+ */
+function stripCheckboxesFromScope(content) {
+  if (!content) return '';
+
+  const lines = String(content).split('\n');
+  const result = [];
+
+  for (const line of lines) {
+    const trimmed = line.trim();
+
+    // Skip empty lines
+    if (!trimmed) continue;
+
+    // Skip placeholder content
+    if (isPlaceholderContent(trimmed)) continue;
+
+    // Convert checkbox to plain bullet
+    const checkboxMatch = line.match(/^(\s*)[-*]\s+\[[\sxX]\]\s+(.+)$/);
+    if (checkboxMatch) {
+      const [, indent, text] = checkboxMatch;
+      // Skip if text is also a placeholder
+      if (!isPlaceholderContent(text)) {
+        result.push(`${indent}- ${text}`);
+      }
+    } else {
+      result.push(line);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return result.join('\n');
+}
+
 /**
  * Simple similarity score between two strings (0-1).
  * Uses Jaccard similarity on word sets for fuzzy matching.
@@ -466,9 +505,10 @@ function formatFollowUpIssue({
     sections.push(['## Why', '', `<!-- Preserved from parent issue -->`, why].join('\n'));
   }
 
-  // Scope section
-  if (merged.scope) {
-    sections.push(['## Scope', '', `<!-- Updated scope for this follow-up -->`, `Address unmet acceptance criteria from PR #${prNumber || 'N/A'}.`, '', 'Original scope:', merged.scope].join('\n'));
+  // Scope section - strip checkboxes since scope is informational, not actionable
+  const cleanedScope = stripCheckboxesFromScope(merged.scope);
+  if (cleanedScope) {
+    sections.push(['## Scope', '', `<!-- Updated scope for this follow-up -->`, `Address unmet acceptance criteria from PR #${prNumber || 'N/A'}.`, '', 'Original scope:', cleanedScope].join('\n'));
   } else {
     sections.push(['## Scope', '', `Address unmet acceptance criteria from PR #${prNumber || 'N/A'}.`].join('\n'));
   }
@@ -608,4 +648,5 @@ module.exports = {
   isPlaceholderContent,
   looksLikeSectionHeader,
   looksLikeReferenceLink,
+  stripCheckboxesFromScope,
 };

templates/consumer-repo/.github/scripts/issue_scope_parser.js

@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ const PLACEHOLDERS = {
 };
 
 // Fallback placeholders used by PR meta manager when source issue lacks sections
+// Note: scope uses plain text (not checkbox) since it's informational, not actionable
 const PR_META_FALLBACK_PLACEHOLDERS = {
-  scope: '- [ ] Scope section missing from source issue.',
+  scope: '_Scope section missing from source issue._',
   tasks: '- [ ] Tasks section missing from source issue.',
   acceptance: '- [ ] Acceptance criteria section missing from source issue.',
 };