From 29618f431959ad614c966314a9e5879af649a1fc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul O'Reilly <hello@pauloreilly.nz>
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2026 23:38:29 +1200
Subject: [PATCH] idle-draft: stop committing state file with machine commits
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idle-draft.state.json is now gitignored in the target repo; explicitly
git add-ing an ignored path errors, which broke every success commit.
The state file is still written atomically — just no longer tracked.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Lgv4Qn82boNFC1jn8QXSNw
---
 scripts/idle-draft       | 2 +-
 specs/idle-draft.spec.md | 9 ++++++---
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/idle-draft b/scripts/idle-draft
index 7b94723..b030cb7 100755
--- a/scripts/idle-draft
+++ b/scripts/idle-draft
@@ -1420,7 +1420,7 @@ def run_dispatch(args, config: dict, repo: Path, state_path: Path) -> int:
                         f"(7d {before_pct}%→{after_pct}%)"
                     )
                     rel_canonical = str(Path(canonical).relative_to(repo))
-                    ok, reason = git_commit(repo, [rel_canonical, "idle-draft.state.json"], msg)
+                    ok, reason = git_commit(repo, [rel_canonical], msg)
                     log_event(repo, f"success: {cand['item_key']} -> {rel_canonical}; commit={ok} ({reason})")
                 elif outcome == "content_failure":
                     blocked_reason = apply_failure_state(state, cand, defaults["max_attempts"])
diff --git a/specs/idle-draft.spec.md b/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
index 3717088..aa5c45b 100644
--- a/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
+++ b/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
@@ -305,10 +305,13 @@ For the selected `(item_or_dossier, work_type, provider)`:
 11. On success: write `idle-draft.state.json` atomically (temp file + `os.replace()` in
     the same directory), then:
     ```
-    git -C <repo> add -- <produced-file> idle-draft.state.json
-    git -C <repo> commit -m "<message>" -- <produced-file> idle-draft.state.json
+    git -C <repo> add -- <produced-file>
+    git -C <repo> commit -m "<message>" -- <produced-file>
     ```
-    Never `git add -A`, never `git commit -a`. Commit message:
+    Never `git add -A`, never `git commit -a`. `idle-draft.state.json` is
+    machine-managed churn and is gitignored in the target repo — it is written
+    atomically but never staged or committed (explicitly `git add`-ing an ignored
+    path fails, which would break every machine commit). Commit message:
     `idle-draft: <work_type> <item> via <provider> (7d <before>%→<after>%)`, where
     before/after are that provider's `seven_day.utilization_pct` immediately before
     dispatch and immediately after re-probe on completion. No push.