[ptr727]

Summary

Copilot's hosted review runs once per change, at the develop -> main promotion pull request, and not on feature pull requests into develop.

Why: measured on 2026-10-16 to 2026-10-23, the four most active fleet repositories ran 418 Copilot reviews and about 2,200 workflow runs for 382 merged pull requests, and a promotion re-reviews content its feature pull requests already carried. So the hosted review runs once per change, at the promotion, and the feature pull request carries the local pass and CI. Decision (ptr727, 2026-10-23) on #3391, item 4.

• repo-config/develop.json: the copilot_code_review rule is removed. repo-config/main.json is unchanged and keeps it.
• scripts/pr_review.py: round_before_head is removed from holds and local_cover, and the function itself is deleted since nothing else reads it. On a pull request whose base is not the repository's default branch, wait requests no Copilot review, and an attested local pass alone satisfies coverage on the head (review_on_head=local coverage=local), with the digest saying so. Exceptions kept as they were: a partial Copilot round on record, a review history past the 100-review window, or a request already pending. A pull request into the default branch is unchanged. Every exit code keeps its meaning: 49 is still "no round covers this head, none was requested, and no attestation vouches for it", now reachable on the first head too. The docstring, the --request help, the held note, the exit-49 message, and the COVERAGE IS READ FROM THE LOCAL PASS digest line are edited in place.
• tests/test_pr_review.py: constructed fixtures for both base-branch cases. A feature pull request with no Copilot round is never requested (unattested exits 49, attested exits 0 with coverage=local), status reads review_on_head=local there, a promotion with no round reads review_on_head=NO and no local cover, and a promotion is still requested with or without an attestation. The tests that asserted the old first-round rule now assert the new one, and holds/local_cover are tested directly on both bases. No test calls the live API.
• .agents/skills/drive-pr/SKILL.md step 3, plus its regenerated mirrors only: request no Copilot round on the feature PR, read the attestation as coverage=local, and what clears exit 49. The promotion steps are unchanged.
• In-place sentence edits where a statement became false: repo-config/README.md "Rulesets", scripts/README.md (the pr_review.py review-moment paragraph), docs/pr-reviewer-reference.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, and TODO.md.

Applying the Ruleset Change

configure.sh apply updates an existing ruleset with a PUT that replaces the whole document, so removing the rule from develop.json removes it from the live develop ruleset when apply runs, rather than only no longer asserting it. configure.sh check compares the rule-type set in both directions, so until apply runs it reports drift on every release-model repository, and the live develop ruleset keeps requesting a Copilot review when a feature pull request opens. Nothing here ran configure.sh against any repository. Per repo-config/README.md, run it from a hub checkout at main once this change is promoted. For one repository:

repo-config/configure.sh apply ptr727/ProjectTemplate release

Then repo-config/configure.sh check ptr727/ProjectTemplate release confirms it. Each other release-model repository takes the same command with its own name.

Follow-up: pr-review-conduct Merge Gate text

.agents/skills/pr-review-conduct/SKILL.md is held by another lane, so this pull request leaves it alone. Until the follow-up lands, it and GOVERNANCE.md "PR Review Etiquette" still state the first-round rule this change retires.

Merge Gate item 2. Replace the sentence that opens "On a pull request into a branch other than the default, a head after Copilot's first round can carry an attested local pass instead" with:

On a pull request into a branch other than the default, every head can carry an attested local pass instead, coverage=local in the digest, where the whole review history is in view and no round on record states or appears to state partial coverage. A promotion re-reviews content its feature pull requests already carried, so the hosted review runs once per change, at the promotion. A pull request into the default branch, a promotion among them, always carries a Copilot round on its head.

The same follow-up also owes these sentences, which state the same retired rule:

• pr-review-conduct "Expected review loop" step 3, the first four sentences and the sentence beginning "status and wait never read", replaced by: "Request a Copilot round at one defined moment only: the head of a pull request into the default branch, a promotion among them. Auto-trigger is unreliable, so request it explicitly, which step 4's wait is what does. On a pull request into any other branch, wait requests nothing and reads step 1's attestation as coverage=local. Pass wait --request where a change deserves a Copilot round anyway." The sentences from "wait also skips the request" onward stay as they are.
• pr-review-conduct "Which Reviewers a Repository Actually Has", the "Copilot's absence blocks, and is answered elsewhere." bullet: "Merge Gate item 2 requires Copilot's own coverage of the current head, or on a fix push into a branch other than the default an attested local pass," becomes "Merge Gate item 2 requires Copilot's own coverage of the current head, or on a pull request into a branch other than the default an attested local pass,". The rest of that bullet stays as it is.
• GOVERNANCE.md "PR Review Etiquette", a verbatim-carried section: "Request a review at defined moments rather than on every push: when the pull request opens, and on the head of a pull request into the default branch, a promotion among them." becomes "Request a Copilot review at one defined moment rather than on every push: the head of a pull request into the default branch, a promotion among them." And "On a pull request into any other branch, a fix push after the first round is covered instead by the recorded local pass the push already owes, published to the pull request so the review status can read it." becomes "On a pull request into any other branch, every head is covered instead by the recorded local pass the push already owes, published to the pull request so the review status can read it."

Verification

Run from the worktree with COVERAGE_FILE, MYPY_CACHE_DIR, UV_CACHE_DIR, and RUFF_CACHE_DIR under a scratch cache directory, per OPERATIONS.md. Results, the full suite rerun at the final head as the second test row shows:

Command	Result
uvx ruff@latest format --check .	257 files already formatted, exit 0
uvx ruff@latest check .	All checks passed!, exit 0
uvx mypy@latest (the [tool.mypy] CI checker in pyproject.toml)	Success: no issues found in 63 source files, exit 0
python3 -m unittest tests.test_pr_review	Ran 958 tests in 23.203s / OK
uvx coverage@latest run --source=scripts,spec,host-setup -m unittest discover -s tests	Ran 3059 tests in 206.598s / OK (skipped=7), exit 0
python3 -m unittest discover -s tests, rerun at the final head 5b5ae9ad	Ran 3059 tests in 214.314s / OK (skipped=7)
spec/audit.py --selftest under coverage	SELFTEST PASS, exit 0
spec/workflow_reuse.py --selftest under coverage	workflow_reuse selftest OK, exit 0
gh-write-guard.py --selftest under coverage	SELFTEST PASS, exit 0
python3 scripts/build_dist.py --check	Generated skill distributions are current., exit 0
python3 scripts/canonical_review.py status	exit 0
python3 scripts/repo_gate.py	every check [ok ], exit 0
python3 scripts/prose_lint.py . --check charset --check semicolon --check dash --check dupword --check spelling --check comment-wrap --check comment-case --check home-path --check dead-path --check issue-ref	scope: 378 file(s) read, whole tree, exit 0
python3 scripts/prose_lint.py --diff origin/develop	scope: 12 of 378 file(s) read, 130 changed line(s), exit 0 (same result at the final head)
jq empty over registry/*.json spec/*.json repo-config/*.json	no output, exit 0
python3 spec/validate.py	Spec validation OK: 22 cataloged repos classify cleanly., exit 0

Not run: scripts/docker_lint.py, which needs Docker and repository-exposure approval this seat does not hold, the live-repository spec/audit.py, and repo-config/configure.sh check, which this change was briefed not to run against any repository. OPERATIONS.md names the last two for a change to repo-config/, so they are the maintainer's after the apply step above. The opt-in --check sentence-length run is listed under the local review below.

Local Review

Five recorded local-strict-review passes, at the frontier tier, against develop: 10 findings, then 4, then 2 before the first push, then 3 after Copilot's round, then 0, then 0 again after merging develop to clear a conflict in the generated drive-pr digest. Every introduced finding is fixed, so none remains open.

One first-round finding is answered here rather than in code: a release-model repository keeps its live Copilot rule on develop until configure.sh apply runs there, and the spec's branch.ruleset.develop check reports drift until then. "Applying the Ruleset Change" above names the command.

Copilot's round raised three findings. One, on docs/pr-reviewer-reference.md, is fixed. Two, on the drive-pr step and the Copilot instructions, are the known disagreement with pr-review-conduct and GOVERNANCE.md that the follow-up above carries, and are declined in their threads on that boundary.

Pre-existing findings, not filed

Per Decision (ptr727, 2026-10-23) on #3391, item 2, these are listed rather than filed. Each is a sentence over the opt-in 25-word sentence-length cap that this branch did not write and only trimmed, rewrapped, or left beside an edit:

• .github/copilot-instructions.md:31: six sentences in the "GitHub Copilot Review Runbook" paragraph.
• docs/pr-reviewer-reference.md:27: the 55-word and 28-word sentences after the edited ones.
• repo-config/README.md:15: the 43-word opener of the operational bullet.
• repo-config/README.md:17: the 38-word opener of the main paragraph.
• scripts/README.md:181: five sentences in the review-moment paragraph.
• TODO.md:140: the 42-word Settled bullet.
• scripts/pr_review.py: the sentences at lines 100, 306 (the 58-word bot-id sentence), 310, and 6067.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[ptr727]

A recorded local strict-review pass covers head ceb6bd0c981741b5675070dc7ee4fb038c2130fe, the content this pull request carries at that commit against develop, and it recorded 2 findings.

[coderabbitai]

Important

• 🔍 Trigger review

This repository does not receive automatic reviews because it has fewer than 10 stars.

⚙️ Run configuration

• Source mode: Auto
• Repository: ptr727/ProjectTemplate
• Branch: feature/copilot-review-at-promotion-only
• File: .coderabbit.yaml
• Commit: 3ad8c2a
• Layers: Repository YAML
• Review profile: CHILL
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: bdbd9881-ba8c-49a7-b52d-9b9e90b0ecad

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[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Unresolved review findings remain in the review guidance and feature-head coverage messaging.

3 open issues

• Align review-loop step with canonical follow-up contract · New
• Align runbook wording with authoritative review contract · New
• Correct no-round request condition in reference · New

What changed in this PR

This pull request changes fleet review policy so feature pull requests rely on an attested local review and CI, while Copilot review runs at the develop → main promotion.

Changes:

• Removes the Copilot review rule from the develop ruleset while retaining it for main.
• Updates pr_review.py and its tests for local coverage on non-default branches and hosted review at promotion.
• Synchronizes documentation, review guidance, and generated skill distributions.

File	Description
TODO.md	Updates the settled ruleset note.
tests/​test_pr_review.py	Covers feature and promotion review behavior.
scripts/​README.md	Documents the revised Copilot request flow.
scripts/​pr_review.py	Implements local coverage for eligible feature heads.
repo-config/​README.md	Documents the ruleset split and promotion review model.
repo-config/​develop.json	Removes Copilot review from develop.
docs/​pr-reviewer-reference.md	Updates operational reviewer guidance.
.github/​skills/​drive-pr/​SKILL.md	Updates the generated drive-pr instructions.
.github/​copilot-instructions.md	Updates the Copilot review runbook.
.claude-plugin/​fleet-skills/​skills/​drive-pr/​SKILL.md	Regenerates the Claude skill mirror.
.claude-plugin/​fleet-skills/​.source-digests/​drive-pr	Updates the generated skill digest.
.agents/​skills/​drive-pr/​SKILL.md	Updates the canonical drive-pr workflow instructions.

_{Review effort: Lite}

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
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Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             develop    #3403   +/-   ##
==========================================
  Coverage           ?   81.60%           
==========================================
  Files              ?       19           
  Lines              ?    10231           
  Branches           ?        0           
==========================================
  Hits               ?     8349           
  Misses             ?     1882           
  Partials           ?        0           

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[ptr727]

A recorded local strict-review pass covers head 5b5ae9ad9cbecfabe06105a3a3ef05adb33db82f, the content this pull request carries at that commit against develop, and it recorded 0 findings.

[ptr727]

A recorded local strict-review pass covers head 3ad8c2ad27ed7642c07e8ffd51bed9426b4183bb, the content this pull request carries at that commit against develop, and it recorded 0 findings.