From 9175eb0aa37b474873c3f0bfe76b7b536095e096 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tom Boucher <trekkie@nomorestars.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2026 10:03:06 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: treat needs-remediation as terminal validation verdict
 to prevent hard loop (#832) (#848)

---
 src/resources/extensions/gsd/state.ts                |  6 +++++-
 .../extensions/gsd/tests/validate-milestone.test.ts  | 12 ++++++++----
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/state.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/state.ts
index 780e870c6..ef76fb648 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/state.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/state.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,11 @@ export function isValidationTerminal(validationContent: string): boolean {
   if (!match) return false;
   const verdict = match[1].match(/verdict:\s*(\S+)/);
   if (!verdict) return false;
-  return verdict[1] === 'pass' || verdict[1] === 'needs-attention';
+  // 'pass' and 'needs-attention' are always terminal.
+  // 'needs-remediation' is treated as terminal to prevent infinite loops
+  // when no remediation slices exist in the roadmap (#832). The validation
+  // report is preserved on disk for manual review.
+  return verdict[1] === 'pass' || verdict[1] === 'needs-attention' || verdict[1] === 'needs-remediation';
 }
 
 // ─── State Derivation ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/validate-milestone.test.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/validate-milestone.test.ts
index d0e0f4c2d..7bdf687a3 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/validate-milestone.test.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/validate-milestone.test.ts
@@ -97,9 +97,11 @@ test("isValidationTerminal returns true for verdict: needs-attention", () => {
   assert.equal(isValidationTerminal(content), true);
 });
 
-test("isValidationTerminal returns false for verdict: needs-remediation", () => {
+test("isValidationTerminal returns true for verdict: needs-remediation (#832)", () => {
+  // needs-remediation is treated as terminal to prevent infinite loops
+  // when no remediation slices exist in the roadmap.
   const content = "---\nverdict: needs-remediation\nremediation_round: 0\n---\n\n# Validation";
-  assert.equal(isValidationTerminal(content), false);
+  assert.equal(isValidationTerminal(content), true);
 });
 
 test("isValidationTerminal returns false for missing frontmatter", () => {
@@ -145,14 +147,16 @@ test("deriveState returns completing-milestone when VALIDATION exists with termi
   }
 });
 
-test("deriveState returns validating-milestone when VALIDATION exists with needs-remediation verdict", async () => {
+test("deriveState treats needs-remediation as terminal — does not re-enter validating-milestone (#832)", async () => {
   const base = makeTmpBase();
   try {
     writeRoadmap(base, "M001", ALL_DONE_ROADMAP);
     writeValidation(base, "M001", "---\nverdict: needs-remediation\nremediation_round: 0\n---\n\n# Validation\nNeeds fixes.");
 
     const state = await deriveState(base);
-    assert.equal(state.phase, "validating-milestone");
+    // needs-remediation is now terminal — milestone needs a SUMMARY to be fully complete
+    // Without SUMMARY, it enters completing-milestone (not validating-milestone)
+    assert.notEqual(state.phase, "validating-milestone");
     assert.equal(state.activeMilestone?.id, "M001");
   } finally {
     cleanup(base);