fix: remove maturity from synthesis file frontmatter, seed sidecar instead

[RyanNg1403]

Summary

• synthesize.ts was writing maturity: 'draft' into markdown frontmatter of newly created synthesis files — missed during the runtime-signals migration (ENG-2160)
• Removed maturity from synthesis frontmatter, added sidecar seeding via createDefaultRuntimeSignals() after file write (best-effort, fail-open)
• Threaded runtimeSignalStore through SynthesizeDeps and DreamExecutor.runOperations

Type of change

• Bug fix (synthesis files dirtied brv vc status with ranking field in markdown)

Scope

• Server / Daemon — synthesize.ts, dream-executor.ts

Root cause

synthesize.ts:246 had maturity: 'draft' hardcoded in the frontmatter object. Every other write path (curate ADD/UPDATE/MERGE, consolidate, prune/archive) was migrated to write ranking signals to the sidecar only. Synthesize was missed.

Test plan

• Updated existing test: expect(content).to.include('maturity: draft') → expect(content).to.not.include('maturity:')
• New test: synthesis file has no ranking fields in markdown (importance, recency, maturity, accessCount, updateCount)
• New test: sidecar seeded with default signals after write
• New test: multi-candidate run seeds sidecar for each file
• New test: succeeds without runtimeSignalStore (graceful no-op)
• Interactive verification: brv dream --force created 4 synthesis files, all with clean frontmatter (no maturity)

Evidence

Synthesis file frontmatter before fix:

---
confidence: 0.9
maturity: draft          # <-- leaked ranking field
sources: [...]
synthesized_at: '...'
type: synthesis
---

Synthesis file frontmatter after fix:

---
confidence: 0.9
sources: [...]
synthesized_at: '...'
type: synthesis
---

Full suite: 6505 passing / 0 failing. Lint: 0 errors. Types: clean.

Checklist

• Tests added or updated and passing (npm test)
• Lint passes (npm run lint)
• Type check passes (npm run typecheck)
• Build succeeds (npm run build)
• Commits follow Conventional Commits format
• No breaking changes
• Branch is up to date with proj/runtime-signal

[github-actions]

Claude finished @RyanNg1403's task in 2m 21s —— View job

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PR Review: fix/synthesize-maturity-sidecar

• Gather context and read changed files
• Review synthesize.ts changes
• Review dream-executor.ts changes
• Review synthesize.test.ts changes
• Post inline comments for specific issues
• Post overall summary with score

---

Summary

Score: 4 / 5

The fix is correct and minimal. Removing maturity: 'draft' from synthesis file frontmatter and seeding the sidecar after write is exactly the right migration — consistent with every other write path that was already updated (curate ADD/UPDATE/MERGE, consolidate, prune/archive). dream-executor.ts threads the dependency cleanly. The path traversal guard is untouched, and the fail-open try/catch around runtimeSignalStore.set() is the right pattern.

Two issues worth addressing in the tests:

1. False-positive sidecar-seeding tests (issue)
The "seeds sidecar with default signals" and "seeds sidecar for each file" tests assert signals.importance === 50 and signals.maturity === 'draft', but createMockRuntimeSignalStore().get() returns createDefaultRuntimeSignals() for any missing path — meaning these assertions pass even if set() was never called. A regression that removed the if (runtimeSignalStore) block would go undetected. Spy on set with .callThrough() to make the assertions load-bearing. See inline comment at line 529.

2. Missing fail-open test (suggestion)
The try/catch around runtimeSignalStore.set() is the core behavioral guarantee of the sidecar-seed path — a store failure must not fail the synthesis write. That guarantee currently has no test. Adding a stub that rejects on set and asserting results.length === 1 would lock in this contract. See inline comment at line 565.

Minor nit: warnSidecarFailure(undefined, ...) silently no-ops — the synthesize path gets zero observability when sidecar seeding fails, unlike curate/prune which pass real loggers. Low-priority, but worth considering if operators need to monitor sidecar health. See inline comment at line 283.

The implementation changes themselves are clean and correct — happy to approve once the test reliability issue is addressed.

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[github-actions]

Claude finished @RyanNg1403's task in 1m 34s —— View job

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PR Review: fix/synthesize-maturity-sidecar (re-review)

• Gather context and read changed files
• Review updated synthesize.ts changes
• Review updated synthesize.test.ts changes
• Post summary with score

---

Summary

Score: 5 / 5

All three issues from the previous review have been addressed cleanly.

Test reliability (issue → resolved)
Both sidecar-seeding tests now spy on set with .callThrough() before calling synthesize, then assert setSpy.calledOnce / setSpy.calledTwice and verify the exact path argument. The assertions are no longer trivially satisfied by the mock's get() ?? createDefaultRuntimeSignals() fallback — a regression that skips the set() call will now fail.

Fail-open test (suggestion → resolved)
The new 'creates file even when sidecar store.set throws (fail-open)' test stubs brokenStore.set to reject, then asserts both results.length === 1 and that the file content contains type: synthesis. The dual assertion is important: it would catch the regression where atomicWrite drifts inside the try-block (file wouldn't be written), not just the case where the result array is empty.

Logger threading (nit → resolved as designed)
logger?: ILogger was added to SynthesizeDeps, making sidecar-failure observability available when callers supply one. The executor call site doesn't pass a logger — but that's consistent with how prune is also called from dream-executor.ts (no logger threaded there either). The nit was about consistency, and synthesize is now on the same footing as the rest of the dream pipeline. Making the full executor→logger wiring would require adding logger to DreamExecutorDeps, which is a separate concern beyond the scope of this fix.

Implementation remains correct and minimal: maturity: 'draft' is removed from frontmatter, sidecar seeding is best-effort with a proper fail-open guard, runtimeSignalStore is threaded through SynthesizeDeps and the executor, and the JSDoc comments on the new fields are clear.