fix(taskctl): reduce developer-adversarial cycle waste from workflow errors

packages/opencode/src/agent/prompt/adversarial-pipeline.txt

@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ YOU DO NOT:
 4. Ensure error handling covers documented failures
 
 ### Scope Creep
+Your review scope is STRICTLY LIMITED to the task's acceptance criteria. Do NOT flag:
+- Commits from dev that appear in the diff due to branch rebasing
+- Changes in files not related to the task description
+- If a commit SHA appears in the diff that predates this task, ignore it entirely
+
 - Does the implementation add ANYTHING not in the task description?
 - Extra tests not covering the implementation → ISSUES_FOUND (MEDIUM)
 - New functions or helpers not requested → ISSUES_FOUND (HIGH)
@@ -90,6 +95,12 @@ Flag ONLY changes that appear in this diff as out-of-scope.
 
 ## Verdict Categories
 
+**WORKFLOW_ERROR** — For process failures only (not implementation issues):
+- No committed changes found (empty diff)
+- Wrong working directory detected
+- Wrong branch detected
+Use WORKFLOW_ERROR instead of CRITICAL_ISSUES_FOUND for pure process failures.
+
 **CRITICAL_ISSUES_FOUND** — Must fix before proceeding:
 - Security vulnerabilities
 - Data corruption risks

packages/opencode/src/agent/prompt/developer-pipeline.txt

@@ -29,12 +29,11 @@ You will receive a task description with:
 ## First Action: Load Skills
 
 **BEFORE writing any code:**
-1. Identify the domain from the task
-2. Load appropriate skill via `mcp_skill` tool
-3. Confirm: "Loaded [skill-name] for this task"
-4. Use context7 for any related technical documentation
-
-Skills are loaded dynamically based on task domain (Python, Rails, React, Rust, TypeScript, etc.)
+1. This is a TypeScript/Bun project
+2. Load the `bun-file-io` skill via `mcp_skill` tool
+3. DO NOT load go-idiomatic, python-tdd, rails-conventions, or other non-TypeScript skills
+4. Confirm: "Loaded bun-file-io skill"
+5. Use context7 for any related technical documentation
 
 ## Workflow
 

packages/opencode/src/tasks/pulse-scheduler.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { Instance as InstanceImport } from "../project/instance"
 import type { Task, AdversarialVerdict } from "./types"
 import { MAX_ADVERSARIAL_ATTEMPTS } from "./pulse-verdicts"
 import { resolveModel } from "./pulse"
+import * as PulseUtils from "./pulse-utils"
 
 const log = Log.create({ service: "taskctl.pulse.scheduler" })
 
@@ -230,7 +231,7 @@ async function spawnDeveloper(task: Task, jobId: string, projectId: string, pmSe
   )
 
   const model = await resolveModel(pmSessionId)
-  const prompt = buildDeveloperPrompt(task)
+  const prompt = buildDeveloperPrompt(task, worktreeInfo.directory, worktreeInfo.branch)
   try {
     await SessionPrompt.prompt({
       sessionID: devSession.id,
@@ -273,7 +274,16 @@ async function spawnDeveloper(task: Task, jobId: string, projectId: string, pmSe
   }
 }
 
-function buildDeveloperPrompt(task: Task): string {
+function buildDeveloperPrompt(task: Task, worktreeDir: string, branch: string): string {
+  const worktreeWarning = `⚠️ WORKING DIRECTORY: You are working in worktree: ${worktreeDir}
+On branch: ${branch}
+
+BEFORE any file operation:
+1. Verify with: git branch --show-current
+2. If output is NOT "${branch}", STOP immediately and report the error
+3. All file reads/writes must use paths under ${worktreeDir}
+`
+
   return `Implement the following task with TDD:
 
 **Title:** ${task.title}
@@ -307,9 +317,27 @@ async function spawnAdversarial(task: Task, jobId: string, projectId: string, pm
     log.error("invalid worktree for adversarial spawn", { taskId: task.id, worktree: task.worktree })
     return
   }
-  const safeWorktree = task.worktree.replace(/[^\w\-./]/g, "")
+  const safeWorktree = sanitizeWorktree(task.worktree)
   if (!safeWorktree) {
-    log.error("worktree sanitization resulted in empty string", { taskId: task.id, worktree: task.worktree })
+    log.error("worktree sanitization failed or resulted in null", { taskId: task.id, worktree: task.worktree })
+    return
+  }
+
+  await Store.updateTask(projectId, task.id, {
+    pipeline: { ...task.pipeline, stage: "adversarial-running", last_activity: new Date().toISOString() },
+  }, true)
+
+  // Check if developer committed changes
+  const hasChanges = await PulseUtils.hasCommittedChanges(safeWorktree, task.base_commit)
+  if (!hasChanges) {
+    await Store.addComment(projectId, task.id, {
+      author: "system",
+      message: "No committed changes found. Developer wrote code but did not commit. Respawning developer.",
+      created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
+    })
+    await Store.updateTask(projectId, task.id, {
+      pipeline: { ...task.pipeline, stage: "developing", last_activity: new Date().toISOString() },
+    }, true)
     return
   }
 
@@ -326,11 +354,8 @@ async function spawnAdversarial(task: Task, jobId: string, projectId: string, pm
     return
   }
 
-  await Store.updateTask(projectId, task.id, {
-    pipeline: { ...task.pipeline, stage: "adversarial-running", last_activity: new Date().toISOString() },
-  }, true)
-
-  const baseCommitStr = task.base_commit ? `Base Commit: ${task.base_commit}` : "Base Commit: Not captured"
+  const validatedBaseCommit = PulseUtils.validateBaseCommit(task.base_commit) ?? "dev"
+  const baseCommitStr = task.base_commit ? `Base Commit: ${validatedBaseCommit}` : "Base Commit: Not captured"
   const prompt = `Review the implementation in worktree at: ${safeWorktree}
 
 Task ID: ${task.id}
@@ -342,7 +367,7 @@ ${baseCommitStr}
 When reviewing changes, use git diff to see ONLY the developer's changes:
 \`\`\`bash
 cd ${safeWorktree}
-git diff ${task.base_commit || "dev"}..HEAD
+git diff ${validatedBaseCommit}..HEAD
 \`\`\`
 
 This ensures you only review changes made by the developer, not commits that were already in dev.
@@ -444,8 +469,18 @@ async function respawnDeveloper(
     true,
   )
 
+  const worktreeWarning = `⚠️ WORKING DIRECTORY: You are working in worktree: ${task.worktree}
+On branch: ${task.branch || "feature"}
+
+BEFORE any file operation:
+1. Run: git branch --show-current
+2. If output is NOT "${task.branch || "feature"}", STOP and report immediately
+3. All file paths must be under ${task.worktree}
+
+`
+
   const issueLines = verdict.issues.map((i) => `  - ${i.location} [${i.severity}]: ${i.fix}`).join("\n")
-  const prompt = `This is retry attempt ${attempt} of ${MAX_ADVERSARIAL_ATTEMPTS}. The previous implementation had issues that must be fixed.
+  const prompt = `${worktreeWarning}This is retry attempt ${attempt} of ${MAX_ADVERSARIAL_ATTEMPTS}. The previous implementation had issues that must be fixed.
 
 **Task:** ${task.title}
 **Description:** ${task.description}

packages/opencode/src/tasks/pulse-utils.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { $ } from "bun"
+import { Log } from "../util/log"
+
+const log = Log.create({ service: "taskctl.pulse.utils" })
+
+/**
+ * Validate a git commit/branch name is safe to use in shell commands and prompts
+ * Prevents command injection and code execution
+ */
+export function validateBaseCommit(baseCommit: string | null | undefined): string | null {
+  if (baseCommit === null || baseCommit === undefined) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  // Allow only: SHA-1 hashes (40 hex chars), SHA-256 hashes (64 hex chars), or simple branch/tag names
+  // Pattern restricts to: alphanumeric, hyphen, underscore, slash, or dot
+  // Prevents: command substitution, shell metacharacters, flag injection (no leading hyphen)
+  if (!/^[a-fA-F0-9]{40}$/.test(baseCommit) &&
+      !/^[a-fA-F0-9]{64}$/.test(baseCommit) &&
+      !/^[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[-a-zA-Z0-9_./]*[a-zA-Z0-9])?$/.test(baseCommit)) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  return baseCommit
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if there are committed changes in the worktree (for adversarial review validation)
+ * This is extracted into a separate file for easier test mocking
+ */
+export async function hasCommittedChanges(worktreePath: string, baseCommit: string | null): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const validated = validateBaseCommit(baseCommit) ?? "dev"
+
+    const diffCheck = await $`git diff ${validated}..HEAD --stat`.quiet().nothrow().cwd(worktreePath)
+    const diffOutput = new TextDecoder().decode(diffCheck.stdout).trim()
+    return diffOutput.length > 0
+  } catch (e) {
+    log.warn("failed to check for committed changes", { worktreePath, baseCommit, error: String(e) })
+    return false
+  }
+}

packages/opencode/test/fixture/fixture.ts

@@ -42,4 +42,4 @@ export async function tmpdir<T>(options?: TmpDirOptions<T>) {
     extra: extra as T,
   }
   return result
-}
+}

packages/opencode/test/tasks/pulse-happy-path.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, expect, test, spyOn } from "bun:test"
+import { describe, expect, test, spyOn, mock } from "bun:test"
 import { Instance } from "../../src/project/instance"
 import { Store } from "../../src/tasks/store"
 import type { Task, Job } from "../../src/tasks/types"
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@ import { SessionPrompt } from "../../src/session/prompt"
 import { Worktree } from "../../src/worktree"
 import { SessionStatus } from "../../src/session/status"
 
-// Import the tick functions - these need to be exported from pulse.ts
+// Mock hasCommittedChanges BEFORE any imports that use it
+mock.module("../../src/tasks/pulse-utils", () => ({
+  hasCommittedChanges: async () => true,
+}))
+
+// Import the tick functions AFTER the mock is set up
 import {
   scheduleReadyTasks,
   heartbeatActiveAgents,
@@ -20,10 +25,6 @@ describe("taskctl pulse: full happy path integration test", () => {
     // Mock SessionPrompt.prompt to return immediately (simulating developer/adversarial completing)
     const promptSpy = spyOn(SessionPrompt, "prompt").mockImplementation(() => Promise.resolve())
 
-    // Mock Worktree.remove to avoid cleanup noise
-    const removeSpy = spyOn(Worktree, "remove")
-    removeSpy.mockImplementation(async () => true)
-
     await using tmp = await tmpdir({ git: true })
     await Instance.provide({
       directory: tmp.path,
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ describe("taskctl pulse: full happy path integration test", () => {
           pulse_pid: null,
           max_workers: 3,
           pm_session_id: pmSession.id,
+          feature_branch: `feature/issue-257-test`,
         }
 
         // Create a task in open state
@@ -148,6 +150,5 @@ describe("taskctl pulse: full happy path integration test", () => {
 
     // Clean up mocks
     promptSpy.mockRestore()
-    removeSpy.mockRestore()
   })
 })