fix(QuickFiler): prevent ConversationResolver re-entry and add empty-conversation fallback

[drmoisan]

fix(QuickFiler): prevent ConversationResolver re-entry and add empty-conversation fallback

Summary

• Fixes the ConversationResolver conversation-loading path so LoadConversationInfoAsync() assigns ConversationInfo before UI updates and passes pair.Expanded directly, avoiding a lazy-property re-entry that could trigger the synchronous loader.
• Adds a safe synchronous fallback for Count.Expanded == 0 so the conversation panel can return a single-item result instead of throwing InvalidOperationException for recoverable cases such as filtered Junk E-mail conversations.
• Updates QuickFiler.Test/Helper Classes/ConversationResolverTests.cs to cover the ordering/fallback behavior and keep the ConversationResolver regression suite green.
• Adds issue, plan, fail-before evidence, and QA gate artifacts under docs/features/active/2026-03-26-conversation-info-updateui-ordering-103/.

Why

The captured issue states that LoadConversationInfoAsync() called UpdateUI(ConversationInfo.Expanded) before assigning the local pair back to ConversationInfo. That ordering caused the lazy getter to re-enter LoadConversationInfo() synchronously, and when Count.Expanded == 0 the synchronous path threw InvalidOperationException.

The issue and plan both describe two required constraints for the fix:

• assign ConversationInfo = pair before any UI read of the conversation payload
• return a safe single-item fallback from LoadConversationInfo() when the expanded conversation is empty, rather than throwing for a recoverable scenario

This change implements those two behaviors and records the supporting validation artifacts for Issue #103.

What Changed

• Core behavior / architecture

  • Updated QuickFiler/Helper Classes/ConversationResolver.cs so the async conversation-loading path caches pair before invoking UpdateUI.
  • Updated the UI callback path to use pair.Expanded directly instead of re-reading ConversationInfo.Expanded.
  • Added the sync-path fallback described in the issue/plan so empty expanded conversations return a single-item MailHelper pair with an error log entry.

• Tests

  • Updated QuickFiler.Test/Helper Classes/ConversationResolverTests.cs to cover the read-before-write regression and the zero-expanded fallback behavior.
  • Preserved the focused ConversationResolver test filter path used by the QA evidence.

• Docs / templates / agents

  • Added issue.md, plan.2026-03-26T18-43.md, fail-before evidence, QA gate outputs, and audit artifacts under docs/features/active/2026-03-26-conversation-info-updateui-ordering-103/.

Architecture / How It Fits Together

ConversationResolver has two relevant flows described in the issue and plan:

• Async path

  • builds the conversation pair
  • now assigns ConversationInfo = pair
  • then dispatches UpdateUI(pair.Expanded)

• Sync path

  • if Count.Expanded <= 0, it now returns a logged single-item fallback containing MailHelper
  • this avoids escalating a recoverable empty-conversation case into an exception

Together, those changes remove the read-before-write loop that previously caused the async path to fall back into the synchronous loader at the wrong time.

Verification

Completed

• Format

  • dotnet tool run csharpier format .
  • EXIT_CODE: 0
  • Output summary recorded: formatted 969 files with 0 files changed

• Lint / analyzer build

  • pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/vscode/Invoke-VSBuild.ps1 -SolutionPath TaskMaster.sln -Configuration Debug -Platform "Any CPU" -EnableNETAnalyzers -EnforceCodeStyleInBuild
  • EXIT_CODE: 0
  • Output summary recorded: build succeeded, 0 errors, 16 warnings noted as incremental/pre-existing

• Nullable / type-check build

  • pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/vscode/Invoke-VSBuild.ps1 -SolutionPath TaskMaster.sln -Configuration Debug -Platform "Any CPU" -EnableNullable -TreatWarningsAsErrors
  • EXIT_CODE: 0
  • Output summary recorded: build succeeded, 0 warnings, 0 errors

• Targeted regression tests

  • & "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TestWindow\vstest.console.exe" "QuickFiler.Test\bin\Debug\QuickFiler.Test.dll" /InIsolation /TestCaseFilter:"FullyQualifiedName~ConversationResolver"
  • EXIT_CODE: 0
  • Output summary recorded: Passed 8 / Failed 0 / Total 8

• QuickFiler test suite with coverage

  • & "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TestWindow\vstest.console.exe" "QuickFiler.Test\bin\Debug\QuickFiler.Test.dll" /InIsolation /EnableCodeCoverage
  • EXIT_CODE: 0
  • Output summary recorded: Total 82 / Passed 82 / Failed 0

• Fail-before evidence

  • A live Outlook exception record was captured showing ConversationInfo cannot be loaded if Df cannot be resolved from QuickFiler.Helper_Classes.ConversationResolver.LoadConversationInfo() before the fix.

Recommended

• dotnet tool run csharpier format .
• pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/vscode/Invoke-VSBuild.ps1 -SolutionPath TaskMaster.sln -Configuration Debug -Platform "Any CPU" -EnableNETAnalyzers -EnforceCodeStyleInBuild
• pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/vscode/Invoke-VSBuild.ps1 -SolutionPath TaskMaster.sln -Configuration Debug -Platform "Any CPU" -EnableNullable -TreatWarningsAsErrors
• & "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TestWindow\vstest.console.exe" "QuickFiler.Test\bin\Debug\QuickFiler.Test.dll" /InIsolation /TestCaseFilter:"FullyQualifiedName~ConversationResolver"
• & "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\TestWindow\vstest.console.exe" "QuickFiler.Test\bin\Debug\QuickFiler.Test.dll" /InIsolation /EnableCodeCoverage

Backward Compatibility / Migration Notes

• No public API signature changes are described in the context bundle.
• Behavior changes for one edge case: when Count.Expanded == 0, the synchronous path now returns a single-item fallback instead of throwing InvalidOperationException.
• Callers that explicitly depended on the previous exception behavior should be reviewed, but the issue/plan describe the new fallback as the intended outcome.

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: the async ordering fix could still miss an indirect property read in future edits.

  • Mitigation: the targeted ConversationResolver regression suite is recorded and should be rerun for future changes in this area.

• Risk: callers may implicitly expect an exception from the synchronous zero-expanded path.

  • Mitigation: the issue and plan explicitly define the fallback as the desired behavior, and the tests were updated to assert the new contract.

• Risk: the Outlook/VSTO scenario is difficult to reproduce purely through unit tests.

  • Mitigation: the branch includes both focused regression tests and captured live fail-before evidence.

Review Guide

• Start with docs/features/active/2026-03-26-conversation-info-updateui-ordering-103/issue.md for the bug statement and expected behavior.
• Review docs/features/active/2026-03-26-conversation-info-updateui-ordering-103/plan.2026-03-26T18-43.md for the intended fix sequence and acceptance mapping.
• Review QuickFiler/Helper Classes/ConversationResolver.cs for the async assignment ordering and sync fallback behavior.
• Review QuickFiler.Test/Helper Classes/ConversationResolverTests.cs for the updated regression coverage.
• Use the QA artifacts in docs/features/active/2026-03-26-conversation-info-updateui-ordering-103/evidence/qa-gates/ if you want to confirm the recorded command outputs.

Follow-ups

• Perform a live Outlook validation in the Junk E-mail scenario described in issue.md to confirm the conversation panel now loads without error.
• Refresh PR context artifacts before later PR authoring passes if branch state changes again, since the repository tooling treats artifacts/pr_context.summary.txt and artifacts/pr_context.appendix.txt as the canonical sources.

GitHub Auto-close

• None (no verified closing issues listed; fill “Author-asserted autoclose issues” in PR Intent to enable auto-close)

Related issues / PRs

• Related issue: Bug: conversation-info-updateui-ordering #103