>>> [!note] Migrated issue <!-- Drupal.org comment --> <!-- Migrated from issue #3588798. --> Reported by: [ajv009](https://www.drupal.org/user/3653917) >>> <h3 id="summary-problem-motivation">Problem/Motivation</h3> <p>The artifact-checker's tabular output format &mdash; one row per check, <code>| Check | Status | Details |</code> &mdash; is the only communication format proven to survive context compaction verbatim. The compaction algorithm's 8-point summary structure explicitly carries a "Files and Artifacts" section where table rows are quoted verbatim. Prose paragraphs like "everything looks good" or "fixed styling differences" are summarised and lose specifics.</p> <p>Currently only the artifact-checker uses this format by design. Other agents (storybook-qa, phase-verifier, visual-verifier, upload-verifier) produce varying output: some tables, some numbered lists, some narrative paragraphs. After a compaction boundary, the prose is paraphrased further and the specific evidence ("smallest file is section-01-topbar at 2.9K") is lost. The orchestrator cannot determine whether a phase actually succeeded without re-running verification.</p> <p>Concrete consequence observed in the corpus: one compact preserved all CSS pixel values in a table and the orchestrator could verify them five iterations later. A compact that narrated "fixed styling differences" left the orchestrator unable to confirm which values were correct at iteration 6/10.</p> <h4 id="summary-steps-reproduce">Steps to reproduce</h4> <ol> <li>Run a long migrate-site session that triggers compaction.</li> <li>Inspect post-compaction context for sub-agent reply summaries.</li> <li>Observe: table-bearing replies (artifact-checker) preserve specific evidence verbatim; prose-bearing replies (storybook-qa, visual-verifier) collapse to "checked styling" with no values.</li> </ol> <h3 id="summary-proposed-resolution">Proposed resolution</h3> <p><strong>Step 1 &mdash; Add a mandatory "Output format" section to every sub-agent definition.</strong> The reference implementation lives in <code>.claude/agents/artifact-checker.md</code>. The template to add to <code>storybook-qa.md</code>, <code>phase-verifier.md</code>, <code>visual-verifier.md</code>, <code>upload-verifier.md</code>, and <code>component-builder.md</code>:</p> <pre>## Output format End your reply with a results table. NEVER summarize results in prose &mdash; tables survive context compaction; paragraphs do not. | Check | Status | Evidence | |-------|--------|----------| | [Specific check] | PASS / FAIL / WARN | [Exact value, count, or file path] | Also write a JSON checklist to docs/migration/workflow/&lt;phase&gt;-&lt;agent-name&gt;-checklist.json: { "agent": "&lt;name&gt;", "phase": &lt;N&gt;, "timestamp": "&lt;ISO8601&gt;", "overall": "pass" | "fail" | "warning", "items": [ {"check": "&lt;description&gt;", "status": "pass|fail|warn", "detail": "&lt;exact evidence&gt;"} ] }</pre><p><strong>Step 2 &mdash; Update <code>SKILL.md</code> orchestrator instructions:</strong> phase gates are determined by reading the agent's JSON checklist, not by parsing the agent's prose output. If no JSON checklist is present, dispatch artifact-checker.</p> <p><strong>Step 3 &mdash; Why this works.</strong> Tables are structurally immune to paraphrase &mdash; the cell content is either there or it isn't. Compaction quotes table rows verbatim from the "Files and Artifacts" section. Table format also forces per-check atomicity: an agent that writes a table with 12 rows must verify 12 things individually, while an agent that writes a paragraph can claim holistic success without verifying each item.</p> <h3 id="summary-remaining-tasks">Remaining tasks</h3> <ul> <li>Add the "Output format" section to <code>storybook-qa.md</code> with checklist write to <code>workflow/3.5-storybook-qa-checklist.json</code>.</li> <li>Add the "Output format" section to <code>phase-verifier.md</code>.</li> <li>Add the "Output format" section to <code>visual-verifier.md</code> with checklist write to <code>workflow/8-visual-verifier-checklist.json</code>.</li> <li>Add the "Output format" section to <code>upload-verifier.md</code> with checklist write to <code>workflow/4-upload-verifier-checklist.json</code>.</li> <li>Formalize the existing tabular output in <code>component-builder.md</code> (one checklist per phase, not per component).</li> <li>Update <code>migrate-site/SKILL.md</code> orchestrator: phase gates read JSON checklists, not prose.</li> <li>Verify on a short migration: <code>ls docs/migration/workflow/*.json</code> shows checklist files for each completed phase.</li> </ul> <h3 id="summary-ui-changes">User interface changes</h3> <p>None.</p> <h3 id="summary-api-changes">API changes</h3> <p>None.</p> <h3 id="summary-data-model-changes">Data model changes</h3> <p>New artifact convention: <code>docs/migration/workflow/&lt;phase&gt;-&lt;agent-name&gt;-checklist.json</code> with required fields <code>agent</code>, <code>phase</code>, <code>timestamp</code>, <code>overall</code>, <code>items[]</code>.</p> <h3 id="summary-internal-references">Internal references</h3> <ul> <li>Source markdown: <code>RESEARCH-2026-04-28/99-final/ISSUES/Sprint-8-Patterns-To-Encode/01-NEW-1-pass-fail-table-all-agents.md</code> (id: NEW-1)</li> <li>Pattern definition: <code>RESEARCH-2026-04-28/07-cross-cutting/what-actually-works.md</code> &sect; P5</li> <li>Verbatim examples: <code>RESEARCH-2026-04-28/04-efi-ed/subagent-communication-patterns.md</code> &sect; Example 3 (artifact-checker Phase 1)</li> <li>Encoding recommendation: <code>RESEARCH-2026-04-28/99-final/NEW-things-to-try.md</code> &sect; 5</li> <li>Reference implementation: <code>.claude/agents/artifact-checker.md</code></li> <li>Related bug: <code>RESEARCH-2026-04-28/99-final/consolidated-issues.md</code> &sect; P0-7 (gate summaries mislead user)</li> </ul> <h3 id="summary-open-questions">Open questions</h3> <ul> <li>Should the JSON checklist write be mandatory (agent must write it) or advisory (orchestrator reads it if present)? Recommend mandatory.</li> <li>Should <code>component-builder</code> produce one checklist per component or one per phase? Recommend per phase to avoid file proliferation.</li> </ul>