post-approval-merge-flow

name	post-approval-merge-flow
description	Merge a reviewed PR after human approval using repository merge gates, then optionally continue through Issue close and local cleanup. Use when Codex is asked to own the post-approval sequence for a bot-created or task-owned PR.

Post Approval Merge Flow

Overview

Use this skill when the user wants Codex to take over after human review and approval. This flow governs merge authorization, merged-state verification, and the optional downstream sequence of Issue close and local cleanup. Return merge-gate evidence and downstream status, not a substitute for explicit merge authority.

Inputs

• Target PR URL or number
• Source of truth:
  • Issue
  • tasks/*.md
  • accepted bounded scope
• Execution profile (Standard or High-Risk)
• PR read-back of author.login / author.is_bot
• Merge authority lane derived from read-back (bot-created PR / task-owned / user-authored PR)
• Human approval state
• Required checks state
• Review thread state
• Whether single-maintainer same-account deadlock is claimed
• Whether current request includes:
  • merge only
  • merge + close
  • merge + close + cleanup

Workflow

1. Confirm request boundary:

   • Stop if the current request does not authorize merge.
   • Keep scope anchored to the PR's source Issue / tasks/*.md.

2. Confirm merge gate:

   • Verify the human reviewer approval state. If Standard + task-owned / user-authored PR strict fallback is claimed, record whether approval is unavailable because of same-account deadlock instead of pretending approval exists.
   • Verify required checks are green, or stop with BLOCKED unless explicit skip authority exists.
   • Verify unresolved actionable review threads do not remain.
   • Verify follow-up detection / close prerequisites are ready if close will follow.
   • Read back author.login / author.is_bot and stop as BLOCKED if the merge lane cannot be fixed from evidence.

3. Apply approval authority rule:

   • Determine the merge authority lane from author.login / author.is_bot, not from the intended publish path.
   • Standard + bot-created PR: a human Approve may serve as merge authorization when all merge gates are green.
   • Standard + task-owned / user-authored PR: do not reuse the bot-created lane. If same-account single-maintainer deadlock is not proven, keep the normal approval requirement and stop as BLOCKED when it is missing. If deadlock is proven, require explicit user merge authorization (mergeしてOK or equivalent), required checks green, no unresolved actionable review threads, and follow-up detection / close prerequisites ready. Human Approve alone is not enough for this strict fallback.
   • High-Risk: require explicit user merge authorization or auto-merge permission in addition to approval.

4. Merge the PR:

   • Use the repository/default merge method unless the user asked for a specific one.
   • Do not self-approve.
   • Do not merge if approval/check/thread state is ambiguous.

5. Confirm merged state:

   • Require PR read-back showing merged state, merge commit SHA, or equivalent strong evidence.
   • Empty or silent write responses are not enough.

6. Run downstream steps only if requested:

   • merge + close: run $issue-close-evidence-flow
   • merge + close + cleanup: after close, run $worktree-branch-cleanup-guard

7. Report final status:

   • COMPLETE only if every requested downstream step finished and was verified.
   • Otherwise return BLOCKED or ESCALATION with the exact missing gate.

Do not:

• replace user/approval authority with skill-local assumptions
• treat an intended publish lane as evidence of the actual merge lane

Output Contract

Always return:

1. Merge recommendation
2. Missing merge evidence
3. Merge execution summary
4. Downstream sequence status
5. Final status

Use this template:

Merge recommendation:
- <READY|BLOCKED|ESCALATION>
- reason: <summary>

Missing merge evidence:
- <none or list>

Merge execution summary:
- target PR: <pr>
- execution profile: <profile>
- author identity: <author.login / author.is_bot>
- merge lane: <bot-created PR / task-owned / user-authored PR>
- approval state: <summary>
- required checks: <summary>
- review threads: <summary>
- merge result: <not run|merged>
- merged evidence: <merge commit sha / PR merged flag / URL>

Downstream sequence status:
- close: <not requested|complete|blocked>
- cleanup: <not requested|complete|blocked>

Final status: <COMPLETE|BLOCKED|ESCALATION>

Rules

• Do not treat Codex-authored approval as merge authorization.
• Do not infer bot-created PR from the intended publish path when read-back evidence says otherwise or is missing.
• Do not use task-owned / user-authored PR strict fallback without explicit user merge authorization and deadlock evidence.
• Do not merge a High-Risk PR on approval alone.
• Do not merge with pending/failing required checks unless explicit authority exists and the skip is recorded.
• Do not close the Issue before merged state is confirmed.
• Do not run local cleanup before merged state is confirmed.
• Do not claim completion while any requested merge/close/cleanup step lacks read-back evidence.
• Do not invent extra process steps when merge authority, merged-state evidence, and requested downstream scope already determine the outcome.

References

• references/merge-checklist.md