porch: plan_phases:[] populated empty on plan→implement transition (causes implement→implement loop)

[waleedkadous]

Problem

For ASPIR projects, status.yaml shows plan_phases: [] even when the plan file's machine-readable JSON block is well-formed, with multiple phases defined. This breaks the phase state machine: porch never transitions implement → review on completion because the "all phases complete" predicate cannot fire when the list is empty, and the default on_complete: "implement" action sends it back to itself. The builder observes an endless stream of alternating phase-transition and build-complete porch commits with no advancement.

Observed behavior

Seen on at least two ASPIR projects:

• 694 (team-page-surface-review-block): plan's JSON block had 4 phases. After each porch done, porch re-entered implement phase, iteration 1, and returned the same initial implement tasks. Workaround: bypass porch and create the PR directly after the 3-way implementation consultation approved unanimously.
• 494 (new-air-protocol-autonomous-im): stuck in specify with empty plan_phases.

Here's the relevant excerpt from 694's status.yaml after the plan phase supposedly completed:

id: '694'
title: team-page-surface-review-block
protocol: aspir
phase: implement
plan_phases: []             # <-- never populated
current_plan_phase: null

And the plan's JSON block (well-formed):

{
  \"phases\": [
    {\"id\": \"phase_1_wire_type\", \"title\": \"Extend wire type with reviewBlocking array\"},
    {\"id\": \"phase_2_query_and_parser\", \"title\": \"Extend GraphQL query and add two-pass relationship derivation\"},
    {\"id\": \"phase_3_dashboard_ui\", \"title\": \"Render review-blocking section in MemberCard\"},
    {\"id\": \"phase_4_e2e_and_docs\", \"title\": \"Add E2E coverage and update docs\"}
  ]
}

Expected behavior

After the plan phase completes (plan file written and committed), porch should parse the JSON block from the plan file and populate status.yaml.plan_phases with the list so that:

• current_plan_phase can advance through each phase in order during implement
• The on_all_phases_complete predicate fires and transitions to review

Reproduction steps

1. afx spawn <id> --protocol aspir on a project with a multi-phase plan
2. Let porch run through specify → plan
3. After plan is approved, observe status.yaml shows plan_phases: []
4. porch done <id> during implement never advances to review — loops back to implement iteration 1

Suspected root cause

The plan→implement transition handler is not extracting/populating plan_phases from the plan file. The JSON block parses cleanly with python3 -c \"import json; json.load(open(...))\", so the extractor either:

• Is not being called at the expected time, OR
• Is being called but its results are not being written to status.yaml, OR
• Is looking at the wrong file path (ASPIR vs SPIR path resolution)

Impact

• Breaks autonomous ASPIR workflow — builders must manually work around by creating PRs without porch's state machine
• Creates noisy commit history with 15+ porch state commits that never advance state
• Blocks the optional verify phase from being reached through porch

Follow-up

Identified during work on project 694 (review). See that file's Follow-up Items section for additional context.