my-pi/pi-permission-system/docs/retro/0001-external-directory-integration-tests.md

issue, issue_title

issue	issue_title
1	Add integration tests for external_directory tool_call enforcement

Retro: #1 — Add integration tests for external_directory tool_call enforcement

Final Retrospective (2026-05-08T17:36:00-06:00)

Session summary

Planned, implemented, and shipped 35 integration tests for the external_directory tool_call enforcement gate in 5 TDD cycles. No production code was changed. The session covered /plan-issue, /tdd-plan, and /ship-issue with one minor plan re-commit (MD060 table separator) and one Edit mismatch after autoformat.

Observations

What went well

• The plan-to-TDD-to-ship pipeline executed end-to-end in a single session with zero rework on production code.
• The surface-aware makeCheckPermission helper cleanly isolated the external_directory gate from the tool gate, making each test focused and readable.
• All 5 TDD cycles passed on first run (no red→debug loops needed), indicating the plan's test matrix was well-scoped against the existing architecture.

What caused friction (agent side)

• instruction-violation — Used |---|---|---| table separators in the plan instead of | --- | --- | required by MD060 compact style. The markdown-conventions skill was loaded and documents this rule. Impact: one failed pre-commit hook, one fixup edit, one re-commit. Self-identified (caught by hook, not user).
• missing-context — In cycle 2, attempted an Edit using pre-autoformat oldText after Biome had reformatted the file (specifically it.each(OPTIONAL_PATH_TOOLS)( was reflowed). Impact: one failed Edit call, one tail read to get actual text, then successful edit. Added ~10 seconds of friction, no rework.

What caused friction (user side)

• None observed. The user's issue was detailed with an explicit test matrix, acceptance criteria, and suggested implementation approach, which made planning straightforward.