fix-plans-dropdown

name	Fix Plans Dropdown
description	Diagnose and fix stale or missing plan entries in the Switchboard plans dropdown.

Fix Plans Dropdown Skill

Use this skill when the Switchboard sidebar dropdown shows stale plans that should be gone, or expected plans that are missing.

Decision Gate

First, determine which case you are dealing with:

• Stale plan visible → a plan appears in the dropdown but should no longer be active (e.g., completed or deleted).
• Expected plan missing → a plan you created or know about does not appear in the dropdown.

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Step 1: Identify the Workspace Root

vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders[0].uri.fsPath

All paths below are relative to this root. Confirm it is correct before proceeding.

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Step 2: Inspect Runsheets

Runsheets are the source-of-truth records for known plans.

• Location: .switchboard/sessions/*.json
• Each file contains: sessionId, planFile, brainSourcePath (if from brain), completed (if finished), events.

What to look for:

Field	What it means
completed: true	Plan is finished — should not appear in dropdown unless tombstone is missing
brainSourcePath present	Plan came from a brain source — registry membership controls visibility
brainSourcePath absent	Local plan — always visible (no registry gate)

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Step 3: Verify Registry Membership

Brain-sourced plans are only visible if their path is registered in switchboard.workspaceBrainPaths.

To inspect:

1. Open VS Code Command Palette → Preferences: Open Workspace Settings (JSON)
2. Look for switchboard.workspaceBrainPaths — an array of absolute file paths.
3. Normalize paths for comparison: lowercase on Windows, resolve symlinks, strip trailing separators.

Missing-plan diagnosis:

• If the plan's brainSourcePath (normalized) is not in workspaceBrainPaths, it will not appear. The fix is to register it.
• To register: add the normalized absolute path to the workspaceBrainPaths array in workspace settings.

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Step 4: Inspect Tombstones

Tombstones permanently exclude plans from the dropdown.

• Location: .switchboard/plan_tombstones.json
• Format: a JSON array of SHA-256 hex hashes (64 hex characters each).
• Each hash is computed as: SHA-256(normalizedAbsoluteBrainPath) where the path is lowercased on Windows.

Stale-plan diagnosis:

• If a plan is still visible but completed: true in its runsheet, check whether its path hash is in plan_tombstones.json.
• If the hash is absent, the tombstone write may have failed. Add the hash manually to the array as a string entry.

Missing-plan diagnosis:

• If a plan is unexpectedly absent, check whether its path hash is in plan_tombstones.json.
• If the hash is present, the plan has been tombstoned. Remove the hash entry to restore visibility (if intentional).

Computing the hash (PowerShell):

$path = "c:\path\to\plan.md".ToLower()  # normalize on Windows
$bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($path)
$hash = [System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256]::Create().ComputeHash($bytes)
($hash | ForEach-Object { $_.ToString("x2") }) -join ""

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Step 5: Remediation

Case A — Stale plan still visible

1. Confirm completed: true in the runsheet for that sessionId.
2. Compute the SHA-256 hash of the plan's normalized brainSourcePath.
3. Add the hash to .switchboard/plan_tombstones.json.
4. Reload the Switchboard sidebar (reload window or re-open the extension panel).

Case B — Expected plan missing

1. Confirm the runsheet file exists in .switchboard/sessions/ for that plan.
2. Check if brainSourcePath is set. If so, verify the path exists on disk.
3. Verify the normalized path is in switchboard.workspaceBrainPaths. Add it if absent.
4. Verify the normalized path hash is not in plan_tombstones.json. Remove it if present.
5. Reload the Switchboard sidebar.

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Guardrails

• Do not bulk-delete runsheet files — this removes plan history permanently.
• Do not clear workspaceBrainPaths entirely — this hides all brain-sourced plans.
• Do not modify plan_tombstones.json entries you cannot identify — only edit the specific hash for the affected plan.
• Always normalize paths before computing hashes — mismatched casing on Windows is the most common source of false negatives.

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Quick Reference

Symptom	First check	Fix
Plan visible, should be gone	completed in runsheet + hash in tombstones	Add hash to tombstones
Plan missing, no brainSourcePath	Should always be visible — check runsheet exists	Restore runsheet or re-create plan
Plan missing, has brainSourcePath	workspaceBrainPaths registration	Add normalized path to registry
Plan missing, registered but gone	Hash in tombstones	Remove hash from tombstones