restore-thread

name	restore-thread
description	Bring an archived thread back to active. Inverse of discard-thread. Moves archive/<slug>/ back to threads/<slug>/, flips status archived→active, restores maturity (default refining), strips archive metadata, rebuilds indexes. Use when the user says "restore this thread", "unarchive <slug>", "I want to keep working on the discarded thread", or "bring back <slug>".
version	1.0.0-rc4
pack	project-brain
requires	["read:[brain-root]","write:[brain-root]"]

restore-thread

Brings an archived thread back to active. The inverse of discard-thread. Moves archive/<slug>/ to threads/<slug>/, flips frontmatter status: archived → active, restores maturity (defaults to refining since the thread had work in flight before discard), removes the archive metadata fields (archived_at, archived_by, discard_reason), rebuilds aggregate indexes. The original archive metadata is preserved in the thread body as a one-line audit comment so the restore is auditable later.

When to invoke

• "Restore the X thread" / "unarchive X" / "bring X back"
• "I changed my mind on discarding X — keep working on it"
• "Mistakenly discarded — restore"
• After cleaning up a list-threads --include-archived review and picking one to revive

Inputs

Name	Source	Required	Description
slug	user prompt	yes	Thread slug to restore. Must currently exist under archive/<slug>/.
--maturity	flag	no	One of `exploring
--reason	flag	no	Free-text reason for the restore. Appended as an audit comment to the thread body.
--by	flag	no	Actor email. Default [e-mail] placeholder.
--brain=<path>	cwd inference	no	Absolute path to brain. Defaults to nearest ancestor project-brain/ containing CONVENTIONS.md.

Preconditions

The skill refuses if any are not met:

1. Brain root reachable (<brain>/CONVENTIONS.md exists).
2. archive/<slug>/thread.md exists.
3. The thread's frontmatter has status: archived (defends against running on a non-archived thread that somehow ended up under archive/).
4. threads/<slug>/ does NOT exist (no slug collision with an active thread).
5. --maturity if supplied is one of exploring | refining | locking.

Process

⛔️ HARD CONSTRAINT — ONE TOOL CALL

Call ${PROJECT_BRAIN_PACK_ROOT}/scripts/restore-thread.sh ONCE. No Read of thread.md, no manual mv, no manual frontmatter edit. The script reads, validates, mutates, moves, rebuilds — all atomic.

Derive --reason from context when the user provided one ("I want to bring X back because Y" → --reason='Y'). Only prompt the user if no rationale was given and you genuinely don't know — but for a restore the rationale is usually optional anyway.

One call:

"${PROJECT_BRAIN_PACK_ROOT}/scripts/restore-thread.sh" \
  --brain=<absolute brain path> \
  --slug=<thread-slug>          \
  [--maturity=refining]         \  # default; pass exploring or locking if known
  [--reason='<why restoring>']  \
  [--by=<email>]

After success, echo the script's stdout in your response message verbatim — don't rely on the Bash tool's result card to display it; the user should see the script's output as part of your reply. The script prints the new status + maturity, the optional reason, and Done.

Failure modes

• archived thread not found → exit 1. The slug doesn't exist under archive/. Check spelling or run /list-threads --include-archived to list archived slugs.
• target already exists → exit 1. An active thread with the same slug exists. Either pick a different slug or rename the existing one first.
• cannot restore a <status> thread (expected: archived) → exit 1. The thread under archive/ doesn't have status: archived in frontmatter — the brain is half-broken. Run verify-tree to diagnose.

Postconditions

• threads/<slug>/ contains the restored thread (all sibling files moved verbatim — transcript.md, decisions-candidates.md, etc., come back too).
• archive/<slug>/ no longer exists.
• Thread frontmatter: status: active, maturity: <chosen>, no archived_* fields, last_modified_at updated.
• Thread body has a <!-- <ts> — restored from archive by <by> [— <reason>] --> audit line at the bottom.
• thread-index.md and current-state.md reflect the restore.
• verify-tree --brain <brain> exits clean.

Related skills

• discard-thread: the operation this undoes.
• discard-promotion: when an in-review thread's PR closed unmerged — different recovery path (thread is still in threads/, just stuck in in-review). Don't use restore-thread for that case.
• list-threads --include-archived: lists archived threads so you can find the slug to restore.

Compatibility

The restore appends an HTML-comment audit line to the thread body so the round-trip is visible. The original archived_at / archived_by / discard_reason are NOT preserved in frontmatter — they're cleaned out as part of the status flip. If the thread is later re-discarded, a fresh set of archive fields gets written; the previous archive episode lives only in the body audit comment.

Changelog

1.0.0-rc4 — Initial release. Closes the gap where discard-thread was one-way; previously the only restore path was manual file moves + frontmatter edits, which violated the pack's one-tool-call discipline.