v5.3.0

v5.3.0 (2026-08-16)

• Claiming an issue surfaces its prior failed attempts (#526)
• Stale-claim sweep records the abandoned attempt in the ledger (#525)
• Requeue writes a structured attempt record, not just prose (#524)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#520)
• chore: release v5.2.0 (#510)

5 merged PR(s) since v5.2.0.

v5.2.0

v5.2.0 (2026-07-25)

• A negative assertion may not match a bare substring of whole-process output (#509)
• run-gates strips gate-config env at the spawn, so no suite can inherit CI's config (#508)
• The skills stop claiming human review is the only merge gate (#507)
• The kernel and the human-facing docs state the tiered merge — "human merge" is no longer the whole truth (#506)
• Size gate counts hand-written lines only — generated files excluded by default (#505)
• A gate suite may not depend on a developer's machine — prove it with an agent-CLI-free run (#504)
• Weekly failure-pattern review is scheduled, not ad hoc (#503)
• plan: contracts still say human merge is the only gate after 0201 made it tiered (#500)
• Tiered review — normal-risk PRs auto-merge on green plus recorded verdict, risk-high waits for a human (#499)
• plan: prove the gate suite runs with no agent CLI installed (root cause behind hotfix #495) (#496)
• Deferred scope in merged PRs must become plan files — framework-agnostic debt scan gates the planning PR (#491)
• Gates run on every PR — no branch or path carve-outs — and red is unmergeable (#490)
• hotfix: herd test fixtures required the real agent CLI on PATH, reddening every PR (#495)
• plan: run-gates strips gate-config env at the spawn (root cause behind hotfix #492) (#493)
• hotfix: BASE_GATES_FILE leaks from CI into gate-suite subprocesses, reddening every PR (#492)
• A failing workflow on main fires one alert — no more silent multi-week outages (#489)
• No plan ships a mock as the deliverable — a stub must link its repayment plan in the same batch (#488)
• Risk tier declared in the plan header and inherited by the issue and PR (#487)
• Standing red gates go green — SSE timing flake and gh-api-migration CI failure fixed (#486)
• Plans declare exclusive resources and the sync serializes plans that claim the same resource (#485)
• feat: gate framework changes behind the plan protocol (#477)
• docs: require every acceptance criterion to name how an agent proves it (#476)
• Flag retroactive plans — a plan whose code already exists on a branch needs explicit human approval (#475)
• Declare a size budget in plan frontmatter and reject plans estimating over 400 lines at sync (#474)
• chore: archive closed plans (#465)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#466)
• chore: release v5.1.3 (#464)

27 merged PR(s) since v5.1.3.

v5.1.3

v5.1.3 (2026-07-16)

• Tighten the review-verdict sweep cadence so a missed flip is reconciled within minutes, not half an hour (#463)
• Issue label stays state:in-review for the whole herd review rework — flip to state:changes-requested at rework start (#462)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#460)
• Add a persisted mute/volume control for dashboard milestone cues (#459)
• Play a distinct sound cue on herd agent milestones in the dashboard (#456)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#457)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#453)
• chore: release v5.1.2 (#452)

8 merged PR(s) since v5.1.2.

v5.1.2

v5.1.2 (2026-07-16)

• Herd's review rework triages feedback by scope (#446) (#451)
• fix: treat gh 304 as a conditional-survey cache hit, not a failure (#450)
• Herd's review rework resolves a conflicting base so the reworked PR becomes mergeable (#449)
• Herd picks a changes-requested rework on a conflicted PR without waiting for the label flip (#448)
• Stale claim ref on a closed issue is escalated once, not every poll (#447)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#443)
• chore: archive closed plans (#442)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#439)
• chore: release v5.1.1 (#438)

9 merged PR(s) since v5.1.1.

v5.1.1

v5.1.1 (2026-07-13)

• Routing skips an adapter after consecutive claim failures (circuit breaker) (#437)
• Supervisor auto-recovers a claim ref left by its own dead worker (#436)
• Extract pinned-dispatch worker rules into a skill file and slim the shipped promptTemplate (#435)
• Ship a generated MAP.md workers read before exploring the codebase (#434)
• Deduplicate escalations at the source — one entry per issue and reason-class (#433)
• Headless workers open PRs through ratchet-submit so verify's gates check passes (#432)
• Herd supervisor reacts to local worker events instead of waiting for the tick (#431)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#423)
• Lower the herd default poll interval and keep dashboard heartbeat liveness correct (#424)
• Herd survey uses conditional GitHub requests so unchanged ticks cost no rate limit (#422)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#418)
• chore: release v5.1.0 (#417)

12 merged PR(s) since v5.1.0.

v5.1.0

v5.1.0 (2026-07-13)

• feat: herd dashboard auto-picks a free port when the default is busy (#416)
• Herd dashboard header shows the project name (#415)
• Herd dashboard keeps lifecycle stage headers visible when empty (#414)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#412)
• Herd dashboard renders mascot card for adapters renamed after dispatch (#411)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#408)
• chore: archive closed plans (#403)
• Herd reconcile adopts a finished worker's PR instead of pruning it (#409)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#404)
• chore: release v5.0.2 (#402)

10 merged PR(s) since v5.0.2.

v5.0.2

v5.0.2 (2026-07-12)

• Install seeds the .ratchet runtime directory so herd runs out of the box (#401)
• Updater adopts installs that have no .ratchet-install.json (#400)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#397)
• chore: release v5.0.1 (#396)

4 merged PR(s) since v5.0.1.

v5.0.1

v5.0.1 (2026-07-12)

• fix: break herd supervisor ESM circular-import deadlock (exit 13) (#395)
• Extract herd adapter helpers into a leaf module (cycle-break prep) (#394)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#392)
• Run the version-consistency check on release PRs (#391)
• Auto-deploy the static site when site files change on main (#388)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#389)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#385)
• chore: release v5.0.0 (#384)

8 merged PR(s) since v5.0.0.

v5.0.0

v5.0.0 (2026-07-12)

• Document the kernel, deterministic scripts, and shared client in DOCS.md and README.md (#383)
• feat(gates): protocol-coverage gate for AGENTS.md kernel drift (#382)
• Herd scoped-run eligibility reporting and lifecycle (#357) (#381)
• feat(agents): compress AGENTS.md into an always-loaded safety kernel (#334) (#380)
• feat(herd): direct-issue targeting for run — parse --issues, filter dispatch (#379)
• feat(plan): codify ordering + repo-wide-invariant authoring rules (#362) (#378)
• fix: plan-sync slug resolution survives marker syntax quoted in plan prose (#377)
• fix(herd-ui): remove duplicate supervisor heartbeat indicator (#376)
• feat(install): ship herd in the default bootstrap install (#371)
• feat(scripts): add deterministic claim script ratchet-start.mjs (#373)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#372)
• feat(herd): single-supervisor pidfile lock for run mode (#370)
• refactor(scripts): single-authority plan-id marker in criteria.mjs (#345) (#369)
• refactor(scripts): migrate metrics + pr-size-check, guard one gh-api client (#368)
• feat(scripts): deterministic PR-handoff script ratchet-submit.mjs (#337) (#367)
• refactor(scripts): migrate plan-sync, archive, release to shared gh-api client (#366)
• feat(scripts): deterministic requeue and heartbeat scripts (#336) (#365)
• feat(release): keep static site version in sync with releases (#331) (#364)
• refactor(scripts): migrate verdict + unblock scripts to shared gh-api client (#363)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#360)
• refactor(scripts): migrate sweep/label/conflict scripts to shared gh-api client (#359)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#355)
• Add ratchet-hotfix skill carrying the full hotfix/revert procedure (#354)
• refactor(scripts): add shared GitHub API client scripts/gh-api.mjs (#353)
• Guard the situational detail AGENTS.md delegates to ratchet-next/ratchet-status (#339) (#352)
• feat(herd-ui): split header into "Ratchet" title + "Herd Dashboard" subheading (#351)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#348)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#329)
• chore: release v4.6.0 (#328)

29 merged PR(s) since v4.6.0.

v4.6.0

v4.6.0 (2026-07-12)

• fix(release): make the documented install path provably work end to end (#327)
• fix(bootstrap): clear error when --version ref is missing (#326)
• chore: archive closed plans (#322)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#323)
• feat(herd): combined character cards, modal log console, config-reload resilience (port of the downstream dashboard iteration) (#321)
• plan: revise 0136 to the delivered dashboard design (modal log, combined cards) (#320)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#318)
• feat(herd-ui): flip dashboard columns — agents/workers/logs left, errors right, 100vh scroll regions (#317)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#315)
• feat(herd-ui): show worked issue number and worker status on agent cards (#314)
• Lay out errors & escalations top-left with active agents to the right (#313)
• fix(workflows): grant contents:read to four framework workflows (#312)
• fix(herd-ui): rename dashboard header to "Ratchet herd dashboard" (#311)
• feat(herd-ui): supervisor status details, live dot green when online (#309)
• plan: four framework workflows drop contents:read, checkout fails (#308)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#303)
• feat: herd deck cards track live workers, not configured roster (#302)
• Create index.html (#301)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#299)
• feat: ship mascots/ to host projects via install manifest (#298)
• feat(herd-ui): vinyl-figure mascot deck with pop-out treatment (#297)
• fix: reflect herd.json avatar edits on the dashboard without a restart (#296)
• fix: deck header tally counts live workers, vitals label reads Launched (#295)
• fix: keep herd heartbeat alive across the dispatch claim wait (#285) (#294)
• fix: short-circuit herd claim wait when the worker exits early (#293)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#292)
• Ratchet/mascot (#290)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#284)
• feat(herd-ui): add the Active Agents mascot deck (#276) (#283)
• feat(herd-ui): Santorini reskin — incidents aside & log console (#282)
• feat(herd-ui): Santorini reskin — sections, summary strip, work rows (#281)
• feat(herd-ui): Santorini reskin foundation — palette, type, header, grid (#280)
• plan: split herd dashboard Santorini reskin into 3 slices (#277)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#274)
• docs: require branch update onto main before review; document conflicted-PR CI gap (#273)
• feat: scheduled reconciliation sweep for missed Request Changes verdicts (#272)
• feat: label conflicted open PRs on a schedule (#271)
• fix: review-verdict workflow cannot check out the repo — grant contents:read (#270)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#265)
• chore: archive closed plans (#264)
• fix: stop plugin descriptions from naming a stale subset of skills (#263)
• Closes #260 (#262)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#259)
• docs: bootstrap install/update/uninstall flow + e2e lifecycle test (#258)
• feat: hash-based modified-file protection for ratchet-update (#257)
• fix: strip CI credentials from pr-size-check.test.mjs subprocess env (#256)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#254)
• feat: manifest- and profile-aware ratchet-update (#253)
• feat: manifest-driven ratchet-uninstall (#252)
• test(manifest-check): add per-criterion tests for #248 (#251)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#249)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#247)
• feat(bootstrap): scaffold generated files with clean templates (#246)
• Separate runtime scripts from framework tests and development files (#245)
• Build a bootstrap installer that installs Ratchet into a host project (#244)
• Define the canonical install manifest and core/optional profiles (#243)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#235)
• Move RTK guidance into memory (#234)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#232)
• fix: record resolved update version (#231)
• Fix gate parsing with extra tables (#230)
• docs: document remaining knobs and fix workflow inventory drift (#229)
• fix: release from version bump commit (#228)
• Degrade the size check gracefully on API failure and document glob rules (#227)
• fix(gates): make all-TODO run red in PR checks list (#226)
• feat: fail verification when framework version strings disagree (#82) (#225)
• feat: desktop notification on new herd escalation (#183) (#224)
• feat: one-glance summary strip on the herd dashboard (#177) (#222)
• Bound events.jsonl and herd-escalations.md growth with retention (#175) (#223)
• feat: escalation blocks get copy-command and acknowledge actions (#221)
• feat: aggregate repeated adapter failures into one per-adapter alert (#185) (#220)
• Herd reacts to PR review verdicts — changes-requested triggers rework (#193) (#219)
• feat: state-set instructions remove the previous state label (#213) (#218)
• fix: herd-ui self-count must not read an archivable plan file at runtime (#217)
• feat: review-verdict workflow flips issue to changes-requested (#216)
• Enforce mutually exclusive state:* labels (#207) (#215)
• feat: exclude generated skill mirrors from pr-size-check (#212) (#214)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#211)
• feat(herd-ui): deduplicate and auto-resolve escalations (#210)
• Per-issue activity timeline from the event stream (#209)
• Show per-worker cost and token usage in the herd dashboard (#208)
• Ready-for-review rows show PR CI status (#204)
• feat(herd): dashboard shows a supervisor heartbeat, not just UI-server liveness (#201)
• feat(herd): group dashboard rows by lifecycle — live first, terminal last (#205)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#206)
• Worker rows show issue titles, not bare numbers (#200)
• fix(herd): anchor .ratchet paths at the repo root, not the cwd (#202)
• Stale-claim detection distinguishes closed issues from blocked open ones (#199)
• feat(herd-ui): search and filter in the worker log drill-down (#203)
• fix(herd): stop survey/monitor ping-pong re-escalating stale claims (#195)
• feat(herd): per-adapter mascot avatars in the dashboard (#188)
• Dashboard shows claim age only for live workers, last activity for the rest (#198)
• plan: review-verdict label workflow (0098); 0097 defers label flip to it (#196)
• fix: prune terminal herd state entries with no pid and no open PR (#194)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#192)
• Show herd errors and escalations in a toggleable side panel (#190)
• plan: fix herd-ui.test coupling to archived plan file (0096) (#189)
• feat(herd): capture per-worker cost and token usage on the exit event (#187)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#186)
• chore: archive closed plans (#167)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#168)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#162)
• Round-robin herd dispatch across available adapters (#156) (#161)
• Document an opencode/OpenRouter herd adapter as a claude→codex fallback (#160)
• Fall back to the next available herd adapter when the preferred one is unavailable (#159)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#157)
• feat: pin a herd adapter to a model via {model} placeholder (#155) (#158)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#154)
• feat: default herd adapters let a headless worker claim without a permission prompt (#153)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#150)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#148)
• feat: local web dashboard for the herd (scripts/herd-ui.mjs) (#147)
• Emit herd event stream (#146)
• feat: detect and escalate stale agent/issue-N claim branches (#138) (#145)
• feat: bound herd worker log growth with a retention knob (#141)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#142)
• fix: prune concluded herd state entries so re-queued issues dispatch again (#140)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#136)
• Pin the herd worker prompt to its dispatched issue (#135)
• fix: name the missing claim ref in the dispatch-timeout escalation (#134)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#131)
• chore: bump framework version 3.4.0 -> 3.4.1 (#130)
• Detect herd worker claims by the branch ref, not the state:ready label (#129)
• fix: survive a herd worker spawn failure instead of crashing the supervisor (#128)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#125)
• feat: bump framework version to 3.4.0 for herd supervisor series (#124)
• Guard cross-agent skill parity so every skill works on all three agents (#123)
• fix: stop ratchet-update from overwriting a consumer's .env.example (#122)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#118)
• Update .gitignore (#117)
• feat(herd): add ratchet-herd skill wrapping the supervisor (#108) (#116)
• docs(herd): document config schema, adapter contract, and invariants (#115)
• Verify herd-opened PRs deterministically and route conflict rework (#114)
• feat: monitor herd workers, resume crashes, escalate blocked exits (#106) (#113)
• feat: dispatch herd workers with claim-window serialization (#105) (#112)
• feat: herd survey/reconcile loop, state file, and escalation writer (#104) (#111)
• feat: ratchet-herd config loader, validation, and init (#103) (#110)
• chore: archive closed plans (#101)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#102)
• Judge PRs against base-branch gate config, not their own edits (#97)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#98)
• Harden stale sweep PR detection (#96)
• Filter reserved plan labels case-insensitively (#95)
• Bind ratchet-run verification to picked issue (#94)
• Fix gates coverage parser drift (#93)
• fix(release): discriminate tag-collision 422 and target the default branch (#92)
• Ratchet planning — pending issues (#80)
• Add optional deploy gate to release lane (#79)
• Parse GATES.md rows with pipes in commands correctly (#78)
• fix(metrics): count all three sweep types in ratchet-metrics (#77)
• Run every scripts test suite through the GATES.md table (#76)
• fix(sweep): requeue swept issues safely — criteria re-check and label race (#74)
• feat(archive): run closed-plan archive automatically as a PR (#75)
• Close the title and comment injection channels in ratchet-run (#73)
• Make the release lane idempotent and version-aware (#72)
• fix(archive): duplicate-marker veto + no-overwrite guard in ...