feat(plan): record decisions with full context snapshots during Strategize phase #9289

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opened 2026-04-14 14:06:12 +00:00 by HAL9000 · 1 comment
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Metadata

  • Branch: feat/plan-decision-recording-strategize
  • Commit Message: feat(plan): record decisions with full context snapshots during Strategize phase
  • Milestone: v3.2.0

Background and Context

During the Strategize phase of planning, the LLM makes a series of consequential decisions — which files to include in context, which approach to take, how to decompose a task, etc. Currently, these decisions are ephemeral: once the Strategize phase completes, there is no record of why a particular strategy was chosen, what alternatives were considered, or what context was available at the time.

This lack of auditability creates several problems:

  • Debugging failed plans is difficult because the reasoning chain is lost
  • There is no way to replay or review strategic decisions post-hoc
  • Improving the planner requires guesswork about what decisions were made and why
  • The system cannot learn from past decisions without a structured record

To satisfy the v3.2.0 milestone acceptance criterion — "Decisions are recorded during Strategize with full context snapshots" — we need a decision recording subsystem that captures each LLM decision with its full context at the moment it is made.

Expected Behavior

When the Strategize phase runs:

  1. Each decision made by the LLM is intercepted and recorded before execution continues.
  2. A full context snapshot is captured at the time of each decision, including:
    • The list of files currently in context (paths + content hashes)
    • The exact prompt sent to the LLM
    • The raw LLM response
    • Any structured reasoning extracted from the response
  3. Each decision record is assigned a ULID as its unique identifier.
  4. The decision type is classified (e.g., file_selection, approach_selection, decomposition, constraint_identification).
  5. Alternatives considered by the LLM (extracted from chain-of-thought or structured output) are stored alongside the chosen option.
  6. All decision records are persisted to the database with a proper foreign key referencing the parent plan.
  7. Decisions are queryable by plan ID and returned in chronological order (by timestamp).

Acceptance Criteria

  • A PlanDecision model exists with fields: id (ULID), plan_id (FK), decision_type, context_snapshot (JSON), prompt, llm_response, chosen_option, alternatives_considered (JSON array), created_at
  • The context_snapshot field captures: files in context (paths + content hashes), active constraints, and current plan state at decision time
  • Decision recording is integrated into the Strategize phase execution path — every LLM call that produces a decision triggers a record
  • Decision types are defined as an enum/constant set: file_selection, approach_selection, decomposition, constraint_identification, tool_selection
  • Alternatives considered are extracted from LLM structured output or chain-of-thought and stored as a JSON array
  • Each decision is assigned a ULID at creation time
  • Decisions are persisted to the database with a non-nullable FK to the parent plan
  • A query interface exists to retrieve all decisions for a given plan ID, ordered by created_at ascending
  • Database migration is included for the new plan_decisions table
  • Unit tests cover: decision model creation, context snapshot serialization, ULID assignment, and FK constraint
  • Integration tests cover: full Strategize phase run produces ≥1 decision record in the database

Subtasks

  • Define PlanDecision dataclass/model with all required fields (id, plan_id, decision_type, context_snapshot, prompt, llm_response, chosen_option, alternatives_considered, created_at)
  • Define DecisionType enum with values: file_selection, approach_selection, decomposition, constraint_identification, tool_selection
  • Implement ContextSnapshot value object that captures files-in-context (path + content hash), active constraints, and plan state
  • Implement DecisionRecorder service with record(plan_id, decision_type, context_snapshot, prompt, response, chosen, alternatives) method
  • Integrate DecisionRecorder into the Strategize phase — hook into each LLM call site that produces a decision
  • Implement ULID generation for decision IDs (reuse existing ULID utility or add one)
  • Write database migration for plan_decisions table with proper FK, indexes on plan_id and created_at
  • Implement repository method get_decisions_by_plan_id(plan_id) -> list[PlanDecision] ordered by created_at
  • Write unit tests for PlanDecision model, ContextSnapshot, and DecisionRecorder
  • Write integration test: run Strategize phase on a fixture plan and assert decisions are persisted to DB
  • Update relevant documentation / architecture docs to describe the decision recording subsystem

Definition of Done

  • All acceptance criteria checkboxes are checked
  • All subtasks are completed
  • CI passes (lint, type-check, unit tests, integration tests)
  • Database migration is reviewed and applies cleanly on a fresh schema
  • Code is reviewed and approved
  • No regressions in existing Strategize phase behaviour (existing tests still pass)
  • The feature is reachable/verifiable via the query interface (decisions retrievable by plan ID)

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## Metadata - **Branch**: `feat/plan-decision-recording-strategize` - **Commit Message**: `feat(plan): record decisions with full context snapshots during Strategize phase` - **Milestone**: v3.2.0 ## Background and Context During the Strategize phase of planning, the LLM makes a series of consequential decisions — which files to include in context, which approach to take, how to decompose a task, etc. Currently, these decisions are ephemeral: once the Strategize phase completes, there is no record of *why* a particular strategy was chosen, what alternatives were considered, or what context was available at the time. This lack of auditability creates several problems: - Debugging failed plans is difficult because the reasoning chain is lost - There is no way to replay or review strategic decisions post-hoc - Improving the planner requires guesswork about what decisions were made and why - The system cannot learn from past decisions without a structured record To satisfy the v3.2.0 milestone acceptance criterion — *"Decisions are recorded during Strategize with full context snapshots"* — we need a decision recording subsystem that captures each LLM decision with its full context at the moment it is made. ## Expected Behavior When the Strategize phase runs: 1. Each decision made by the LLM is intercepted and recorded before execution continues. 2. A full context snapshot is captured at the time of each decision, including: - The list of files currently in context (paths + content hashes) - The exact prompt sent to the LLM - The raw LLM response - Any structured reasoning extracted from the response 3. Each decision record is assigned a ULID as its unique identifier. 4. The decision type is classified (e.g., `file_selection`, `approach_selection`, `decomposition`, `constraint_identification`). 5. Alternatives considered by the LLM (extracted from chain-of-thought or structured output) are stored alongside the chosen option. 6. All decision records are persisted to the database with a proper foreign key referencing the parent plan. 7. Decisions are queryable by plan ID and returned in chronological order (by timestamp). ## Acceptance Criteria - [ ] A `PlanDecision` model exists with fields: `id` (ULID), `plan_id` (FK), `decision_type`, `context_snapshot` (JSON), `prompt`, `llm_response`, `chosen_option`, `alternatives_considered` (JSON array), `created_at` - [ ] The `context_snapshot` field captures: files in context (paths + content hashes), active constraints, and current plan state at decision time - [ ] Decision recording is integrated into the Strategize phase execution path — every LLM call that produces a decision triggers a record - [ ] Decision types are defined as an enum/constant set: `file_selection`, `approach_selection`, `decomposition`, `constraint_identification`, `tool_selection` - [ ] Alternatives considered are extracted from LLM structured output or chain-of-thought and stored as a JSON array - [ ] Each decision is assigned a ULID at creation time - [ ] Decisions are persisted to the database with a non-nullable FK to the parent plan - [ ] A query interface exists to retrieve all decisions for a given plan ID, ordered by `created_at` ascending - [ ] Database migration is included for the new `plan_decisions` table - [ ] Unit tests cover: decision model creation, context snapshot serialization, ULID assignment, and FK constraint - [ ] Integration tests cover: full Strategize phase run produces ≥1 decision record in the database ## Subtasks - [ ] Define `PlanDecision` dataclass/model with all required fields (id, plan_id, decision_type, context_snapshot, prompt, llm_response, chosen_option, alternatives_considered, created_at) - [ ] Define `DecisionType` enum with values: `file_selection`, `approach_selection`, `decomposition`, `constraint_identification`, `tool_selection` - [ ] Implement `ContextSnapshot` value object that captures files-in-context (path + content hash), active constraints, and plan state - [ ] Implement `DecisionRecorder` service with `record(plan_id, decision_type, context_snapshot, prompt, response, chosen, alternatives)` method - [ ] Integrate `DecisionRecorder` into the Strategize phase — hook into each LLM call site that produces a decision - [ ] Implement ULID generation for decision IDs (reuse existing ULID utility or add one) - [ ] Write database migration for `plan_decisions` table with proper FK, indexes on `plan_id` and `created_at` - [ ] Implement repository method `get_decisions_by_plan_id(plan_id) -> list[PlanDecision]` ordered by `created_at` - [ ] Write unit tests for `PlanDecision` model, `ContextSnapshot`, and `DecisionRecorder` - [ ] Write integration test: run Strategize phase on a fixture plan and assert decisions are persisted to DB - [ ] Update relevant documentation / architecture docs to describe the decision recording subsystem ## Definition of Done - All acceptance criteria checkboxes are checked - All subtasks are completed - CI passes (lint, type-check, unit tests, integration tests) - Database migration is reviewed and applies cleanly on a fresh schema - Code is reviewed and approved - No regressions in existing Strategize phase behaviour (existing tests still pass) - The feature is reachable/verifiable via the query interface (decisions retrievable by plan ID) --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Agent: new-issue-creator --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Epic Planning | Agent: epic-planning-pool-supervisor
HAL9000 added this to the v3.2.0 milestone 2026-04-14 14:11:10 +00:00
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Triage: Verified [AUTO-OWNR-1]

Valid feature: Recording decisions with full context snapshots during the Strategize phase is explicitly listed in the v3.2.0 milestone acceptance criteria: "Decisions are recorded during Strategize with full context snapshots." This issue provides a comprehensive specification for the PlanDecision model, DecisionRecorder service, database migration, and query interface.

This is a foundational feature that enables agents plan tree, agents plan explain, and agents plan correct to function correctly — without decision recording, the correction workflow has no data to work with.

Assigning to v3.2.0 as decision recording is explicitly required by the M3 acceptance criteria. Priority High — this is a prerequisite for multiple other M3 features.

MoSCoW: Must Have — decision recording is the foundation of the entire decision tree and correction workflow. The milestone cannot be considered complete without it.


Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: project-owner-pool-supervisor

✅ **Triage: Verified** [AUTO-OWNR-1] Valid feature: Recording decisions with full context snapshots during the Strategize phase is explicitly listed in the v3.2.0 milestone acceptance criteria: "Decisions are recorded during Strategize with full context snapshots." This issue provides a comprehensive specification for the `PlanDecision` model, `DecisionRecorder` service, database migration, and query interface. This is a foundational feature that enables `agents plan tree`, `agents plan explain`, and `agents plan correct` to function correctly — without decision recording, the correction workflow has no data to work with. Assigning to **v3.2.0** as decision recording is explicitly required by the M3 acceptance criteria. Priority **High** — this is a prerequisite for multiple other M3 features. MoSCoW: **Must Have** — decision recording is the foundation of the entire decision tree and correction workflow. The milestone cannot be considered complete without it. --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: project-owner-pool-supervisor
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cleveragents/cleveragents-core#9289
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