📖About

When a step-creation initiative exists for an initiative, the original must stay blocked until the step-creation completes. The step-creation close-hook then retriggers the original. Otherwise both run in parallel and the step-creation is wasted. Fix: (1) prevent unblocking an initiative when an open step-creation exists. (2) step-creation close-hook checks if original is already executing and skips retrigger.

⚖️Decisions

• Elrond's bypass methodology checklist (a reminder, not a gate -- you've got this): 0. File it requested_mode='bypass' (planner-vs-bypass is a deliberate choice). bypass_start REFUSES a non-bypass initiative (CAROL-INI-1846), and the dispatcher only skips the bypass lane when the mode says bypass -- a 'planner' mistag lets Merlin's pipeline grab the placeholder step and block your finished work. 1. Filed as planned status -- let the bypass claim/activate it; never file active. 2. Open the bypass (bypass_start) with your droid id + the remediation answer (remediates_initiative_id=NNN, or remediates_nothing=True). 3. Work the blocks for your work-type: template -> design -> code -> test -> review. Do the real work; record decisions on the initiative as you make them. 4. Reality is recorded for you at close -- code (files changed), each decision, and the twin-review verdict become real activities tied to this initiative and show in the Activity Tracker like a planner run (CAROL-INI-1840). No dummy rows. 5. Keep the initiative status moving; it parks in 'reviewing' and is tagged uat-pending for you at close (CAROL-INI-1836), so the stuck-watchdog leaves it alone until UAT. 6. Close runs the gates (design/architecture compliance + caller-audit). If a gate flags something pre-existing or unrelated to your change, waive it with a clear written rationale -- audit, don't skip. 7. Bypass skips the planner's auto-orchestration, NOT the standards. Same template checklist, same review, same observability as a planner run. (elrond)
• Follow-on to parent INI 999900413 (orion)
• Scope inherited verbatim from parent INI 999900413 per CAROL-INI-361. (elrond.initiative_author)
• Validator-refinement (CAROL-INI-509): Refine 'Cookbook entry #381 documenting sequential constraint': Cookbook entry #381 does not exist in the present-day index; new entry to be created with sequential constraint documentation. (elrond.initiative_author)
• [status-router] planned -> dispatched | event=dispatch | RSI: auto-promoted bypasses depth limit (CAROL-INI-2198) (spb-01)
• [status-router] dispatched -> blocked | event=stuck_10min_no_activity | Elrond safety net: initiative has had no activity for 10+ minutes. Blocking under the parallel safety mechanism. (el-watchdog)
• Elrond blocked initiative under the CAROL-INI-2162 dead-Albus protocol. Albus was supposed to wake for step 0 (cause=albus_no_show) but did not respond. Cause: albus_no_show. Reason: Elrond safety net: initiative stranded 10+ min. Albus wake failed or produced no useful result. (el-s1)
• Orion remediated: Albus RSI group diagnosis (via INI 999900649): [infra, confidence high] The initiative blocked because the Albus agent failed to respond to the wake call for step 0, triggering the dead-Albus protocol under the parallel safety mechanism. No execution history exists, and the block event occurred immediately after dispatch, indicating a procedural/infra failure in the wake mechanism rather than a work failure. (orion)
• Orion remediated: Albus RSI group diagnosis (via INI 999900661): [infra, confidence high] The initiative never executed because the Albus agent did not wake to process it after dispatch; the wake mechanism failed (possibly due to the dead-Albus protocol), resulting in no activity for 10+ minutes and triggering Elrond's safety net. The queue row was never created, and no execution history exists, confirming no work was attempted. (orion)
• [status-router] blocked -> closed | event=operator_put | PUT /api/initiatives (operator)
• [rsi-group-cure] Cured by the group diagnosis on INI 999900661 (shared cause stuck_10min_no_activity); retriggered as INI 999900915. Root cause: [infra, confidence high] The initiative never executed because the Albus agent did not wake to process it after dispatch; the wake mechanism failed (possibly due to the dead-Albus protocol), resulting in no activity for 10+ minutes and triggering Elrond's safety net. The queue row was never created, and no execution history exists, confirming no work was attempted. (elrond.rsi_loop)

✅Success criteria

• Step-creation close-hook checks if parent is already executing before retriggering (must_have)
• Cookbook entry documenting sequential constraint (must_have)