Instruction file imported from softwaresalt/intercom (.github/instructions/learned-closure-frontmatter-seed.instructions.md). Copyright stays with the author.

PROPOSAL: Seed post-merge closure artifact frontmatter from a prior example

This is a learn/evolve proposal awaiting operator review — it is not yet applied as binding guidance. Do not treat this file as authoritative until an operator (or a later evolve --mode apply invocation) promotes it.

Rationale

Across 3 independent shipments (008-S, 012-S, 013-S), Ship authored a docs/closure/*.md post-merge closure artifact without the YAML frontmatter block already established by every earlier closure doc in this repository (title, description, status, tags, date, mode, shipment, feature, pr, merge_commit_sha, compaction_status, closure_status, releasability). In all 3 cases, Copilot's automated PR review caught the omission on the closure PR, costing a fix → reply → resolve cycle each time that could have been avoided entirely.

Proposed addition

Add to the Ship agent template's Step 6 ("Post-Merge Closure"), immediately before "Invoke operational-closure in mode=post-merge":

Before drafting a new docs/closure/*.md artifact, copy the YAML frontmatter block from the most recently merged prior closure doc in docs/closure/ (matching field names: title, description, status, tags, date, mode, shipment, feature, pr, merge_commit_sha, compaction_status, closure_status, releasability) and populate it with this shipment's own values before writing the prose body. Do not defer the frontmatter to a later editing pass or rely on review to catch its absence.

Evidence

1. Branch chore/008-s-closure-evidence-frontmatter-fix — retrofitted frontmatter onto the 008-S closure doc after review.
2. Branch post-merge/012-s-retire-d6a-gate-narrowing, commit f2afdd9 — "fix closure frontmatter schema, compound learning section ref, and compacted-memory frontmatter/paths per Copilot review (PR #37)".
3. This session — PR #41 (013-S post-merge closure), review thread PRRT_kwDOTPuhps6gcjSY, fixed in commit 3653ff0.

Recommendation

Promote to an instruction (stable rule/reminder), not a skill — this is a single-step authoring reminder, not a multi-step workflow. Suggested location if applied: .github/instructions/learned-closure-frontmatter-seed.instructions.md, or fold directly into the Ship agent template's Step 6 preamble (preferred, since it is Ship-specific and narrowly scoped).