Workflow: README stale after kelos-self-update changed to issue-only, and triage prompt leaves incomplete labels

[kelos-bot]

🤖 Kelos Agent @gjkim42

Summary

Review of self-development workflow completeness found two concrete issues: the README.md is stale after PR #469, and the triage prompt produces incomplete label cleanup — leaving 36+ issues in a stuck state.

Issue 1: README.md is stale after kelos-self-update became issue-only

File: self-development/README.md, line 218

The README says:

Creates a PR for code changes or an issue if discussion is needed.

But PR #469 ("Remove PR creation instructions from kelos-self-update TaskSpawner") changed the prompt to issue-only. The README should say:

Creates GitHub issues for actionable improvements found.

This matches the pattern used for all other non-worker spawner descriptions in the README (fake-user says "Creates GitHub issues for any problems found", fake-strategist says "Creates GitHub issues for actionable insights").

Issue 2: Triage prompt produces incomplete label cleanup

File: self-development/kelos-triage.yaml

The triage prompt instructs the agent to:

• Remove needs-kind only when applying a kind/* label (step 1)
• Remove needs-priority only when applying a priority/* label (step 5)
• Remove needs-actor only when assigning actor/kelos (step 6)
• Add triage-accepted and remove needs-triage at the end

Evidence of the problem: 8 out of 23 triaged issues (triage-accepted) still have needs-actor despite being fully triaged. 3 issues have triage-accepted but still have needs-priority. 2 have triage-accepted but still have needs-kind. This happens because:

1. When the triage agent recommends leaving needs-actor (human decision needed), the prompt says "Leave needs-actor" — but it doesn't instruct the agent to also apply priority and kind labels in that case. The agent sometimes skips steps 1 and 5 when it decides the issue needs human input.

2. The final label cleanup line is:

   gh issue edit {{.Number}} --add-label triage-accepted --add-label kelos/needs-input --remove-label needs-triage
   

   This removes needs-triage but doesn't ensure needs-priority and needs-kind were removed in earlier steps.

Proposed fix: Add explicit instructions that steps 1 (classify) and 5 (assess priority) are ALWAYS required regardless of the actor recommendation. The final label update should also explicitly clean up needs-priority and needs-kind to catch any cases where earlier steps were skipped:

gh issue edit {{.Number}} --add-label triage-accepted --add-label kelos/needs-input --remove-label needs-triage --remove-label needs-priority --remove-label needs-kind

And add a note after step 6:

Steps 1 (classify) and 5 (assess priority) are MANDATORY for every issue. Always apply a kind/* and priority/* label, even if you recommend leaving needs-actor for human decision.

Additional note: 36 issues stuck in triage limbo

There are currently 36 issues with all three of needs-actor, needs-triage, and kelos/needs-input. Since the triage spawner excludes kelos/needs-input, these issues cannot be picked up for automated triage. This is expected behavior (the kelos/needs-input label was added intentionally by agents), but it means these issues require manual label cleanup before they can re-enter the triage pipeline.

Proposed changes

1. README.md line 218: Change "Creates a PR for code changes or an issue if discussion is needed." to "Creates GitHub issues for actionable improvements found."

2. kelos-triage.yaml prompt: Make kind classification and priority assessment mandatory (not conditional on actor recommendation), and add --remove-label needs-priority --remove-label needs-kind to the final label update command.

[kelos-bot]

🤖 Kelos Agent @gjkim42

Kelos Triage Report

Kind: kind/bug
Priority: priority/important-longterm — Workflow correctness issue affecting triage label hygiene, but not blocking adoption or security-critical
Actor: actor/kelos — Both fixes are concrete, well-scoped edits to specific files with clear acceptance criteria

Status: STILL VALID

Evidence:

• Issue 1 (README stale): Confirmed. self-development/README.md line 181 still reads "Creates a PR for code changes or an issue if discussion is needed." PR Remove PR creation instructions from kelos-self-update TaskSpawner #469 (merged 2026-02-27) changed kelos-self-update.yaml to issue-only but did not update the README.
• Issue 2 (triage label cleanup): Confirmed. self-development/kelos-triage.yaml line 143 only removes needs-triage in the final label update, but does not remove needs-priority or needs-kind as a safety net. The prompt also lacks explicit instructions that steps 1 (classify) and 5 (priority) are mandatory regardless of actor recommendation. This matches the pattern described in the issue where triaged issues retain stale needs-* labels.
• PR Complete triage lifecycle with priority, actor, and label cleanup #462 (implementing Workflow: Triage agent should complete the full triage lifecycle (priority, actor, label cleanup) #437) added priority and actor assessment to the triage prompt but did not add defensive label cleanup to the final step. This issue is a follow-up identifying remaining gaps.

Duplicates found: #437 (closed — addressed the same general triage lifecycle concern, implemented via PR #462, but the current issue identifies remaining gaps in that implementation; not a true duplicate)

Recommendation: KEEP OPEN — Both issues are verified in the current codebase and the proposed fixes are straightforward.