rdr-close

RDR Close Skill

Gates on open bead status before closing. Optionally delegates post-mortem archival to the knowledge-tidier agent (haiku). See registry.yaml.

When This Skill Activates

• User says "close this RDR", "RDR done", "finish RDR"
• User invokes /nx:rdr-close
• Implementation is complete and the RDR should be finalized

Inputs

• RDR ID (required) — e.g., 003
• Reason (required): Implemented | Reverted | Abandoned | Superseded

Path Detection

Resolve RDR directory from .nexus.yml indexing.rdr_paths[0]; default docs/rdr. Use the Step 0 snippet from the rdr-create skill, stored as RDR_DIR. All file paths below use $RDR_DIR in place of docs/rdr.

Pre-Check

1. Read T2 record: mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__memory_get(project="{repo}_rdr", title="NNN"
2. If status is not "accepted" (or "final") and reason is "Implemented":
   • Warn: "RDR NNN status is '{current_status}' — expected 'accepted'. Close anyway?"
   • Require --force or explicit user confirmation to proceed
3. If T2 record not found, check filesystem for the markdown file

Flow: Implemented

Step 1: Divergence Notes

Ask: "Did implementation diverge from the plan? If so, describe the divergences."

If diverged:

Step 2: Create Post-Mortem

Create $RDR_DIR/post-mortem/NNN-kebab-title.md from the post-mortem template. Populate:

• RDR Summary: Extract from the RDR's Problem Statement
• Implementation Status: "Implemented"
• What Diverged: User's divergence notes
• Drift Classification: Prompt user to classify each divergence into categories:
  • Unvalidated assumption
  • Framework API detail
  • Missing failure mode
  • Missing Day 2 operation
  • Deferred critical constraint
  • Over-specified code
  • Under-specified architecture
  • Scope underestimation
  • Internal contradiction
  • Missing cross-cutting concern

Step 3: Bead Status Gate

If T2 record has an epic_bead field (set during accept-time planning):

1. Read epic bead ID from T2: mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__memory_get(project="{repo}_rdr", title="NNN"
2. Run /beads:show <epic-id> to get child bead statuses
3. Display bead status table to user:
   • Bead ID, title, status (open/in_progress/closed)
   • Highlight any unclosed beads
4. Do NOT automatically mark beads complete — the human decides which beads to close.

If T2 record has no epic_bead field (user skipped planning at accept time):

• Check the command output for open beads listed by the pre-check script.

HARD GATE — if ANY open or in-progress beads exist:

• Display the open beads to the user
• Ask explicitly: "These beads are still open. Close this RDR anyway?"
• Do NOT proceed until the user confirms. This is not advisory — it is a gate.
• If the user says no, stop and let them resolve the beads first.

Step 4: Update State

1. Update T2 record: mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__memory_put(content="... (same fields, status: Implemented, closed: YYYY-MM-DD, close_reason: Implemented, archived: true)", project="{repo}_rdr", title="NNN", ttl="permanent", tags="rdr,{type},closed" If T3 archive fails, set archived: false — retryable by re-running /nx:rdr-close

2. Update status in RDR markdown metadata

3. Regenerate docs/rdr/README.md index

4. Run nx index rdr to update T3 semantic index

Step 5: Catalog Links (if catalog initialized)

After nx index rdr in Step 4, the RDR has a catalog entry. Create links to capture implementation provenance:

1. Code→RDR links: The indexer hook auto-generates implements-heuristic links via title substring matching. These are created automatically — no action needed here.

2. RDR→prior-RDR links: If the RDR's T2 record has a supersedes field, create the catalog link:

   mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__catalog_link(from_tumbler="<this-rdr-title>", to_tumbler="<superseded-rdr-title>", link_type="supersedes", created_by="rdr-close")
   

3. RDR→research links: If research findings reference indexed papers, create cites links:

   • Read T2 research findings for this RDR
   • For each finding with a URL or paper title as source, search catalog: mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__catalog_search(query="<source>")
   • If found, create: mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__catalog_link(from_tumbler="<rdr-title>", to_tumbler="<paper-tumbler>", link_type="cites", created_by="rdr-close")

Skip all catalog steps silently if catalog is not initialized. The T2 record and markdown are the authorities — catalog links are supplementary graph enrichment.

Step 6: T3 Archive (post-mortem only)

The main RDR is already semantically indexed by Step 4's nx index rdr (CCE embeddings, section-level chunks). Do not duplicate it with store_put tool — that would create voyage-4 blob entries in the same collection, degrading search quality.

If a post-mortem exists, archive it to a separate collection (using the exact file path from Step 2, not a glob): mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__store_put(content=(contents of $RDR_DIR/post-mortem/NNN-kebab-title.md), collection="knowledge__rdr_postmortem__{repo}", title="PREFIX-NNN Title (post-mortem)", tags="rdr,post-mortem,{drift-categories}"

Dispatch knowledge-tidier agent for post-mortem archival if the post-mortem contains substantial divergence analysis that benefits from knowledge organization.

Flow: Reverted or Abandoned

1. Prompt for reason (free text)
2. Offer post-mortem (useful for capturing what was learned, even from abandoned work)
3. Update T2 record with close reason
4. Update markdown metadata
5. Run nx index rdr to update T3 semantic index (research findings are valuable even for failed RDRs)
6. Archive post-mortem to knowledge__rdr_postmortem__{repo} (if created)
7. Regenerate index

Flow: Superseded

1. Prompt for superseding RDR ID
2. Cross-link both RDRs (bidirectional):
   • Old RDR: In T2, set superseded_by: "NNN". In markdown, add "Superseded by RDR-NNN" note
   • New RDR: In T2, set supersedes: "MMM". In markdown, add "Supersedes RDR-MMM" note
3. Run nx index rdr to update T3 semantic index
4. Catalog link (if catalog initialized): Create supersedes link in the catalog so the graph reflects the relationship:

   # Find both RDRs by title in catalog
   mcp__plugin_nx_nexus__catalog_link(from_tumbler="<new-rdr-title>", to_tumbler="<old-rdr-title>", link_type="supersedes", created_by="rdr-close")
   

   If catalog is not initialized or either RDR is not found, skip silently — the T2 record is the authority.
5. Regenerate index

Failure Handling

The close operation performs multiple state mutations. If any step fails:

• Each step emits clear status (e.g., "T2 updated ✓", "Bead gate ✓", "T3 archive ✗ FAILED")
• T2 archived flag tracks whether T3 archival succeeded
• Re-running /nx:rdr-close is idempotent: checks T2 state and skips completed steps

Relay Template (Use This Format)

When dispatching the knowledge-tidier agent via Agent tool for post-mortem archival, use this exact structure:

## Relay: knowledge-tidier

**Task**: Archive RDR NNN post-mortem to T3 with drift classification metadata.
**Bead**: none

### Input Artifacts
- nx store: [prior archived RDRs or "none"]
- nx memory: {repo}_rdr/NNN (status, research records, close metadata)
- nx scratch: [scratch IDs or "none"]
- Files: docs/rdr/post-mortem/NNN-kebab-title.md

### Deliverable
Post-mortem archived to `knowledge__rdr_postmortem__{repo}` with drift categories as tags.

### Quality Criteria
- [ ] Post-mortem content fully archived to T3
- [ ] Tags include divergence/drift categories
- [ ] Title includes RDR prefix and ID

Required: All fields must be present. Agent will validate relay before starting.

For additional optional fields, see RELAY_TEMPLATE.md.

Success Criteria

• RDR directory resolved from .nexus.yml indexing.rdr_paths[0] (default docs/rdr)
• Pre-check completed (status verified, warnings issued for non-Final RDRs)
• Divergence notes captured from user (if implementation diverged)
• Post-mortem created with drift classification (if diverged or reverted/abandoned)
• Open beads displayed and user asked for explicit confirmation before proceeding
• Beads NOT auto-closed — human decides
• T2 record updated with close reason, date, epic bead ID, and archived flag
• T3 semantic index updated via nx index rdr
• Post-mortem archived to knowledge__rdr_postmortem__{repo} (if exists)
• README index regenerated
• Idempotent: re-running skips completed steps

Agent-Specific PRODUCE

Outputs produced by this skill directly:

• Console output: Bead status gate table (if epic_bead in T2)
• T2 memory: Close metadata via memory_put tool: project="{repo}_rdr", title="NNN", ttl="permanent", tags="rdr,{type},closed"
• T3 semantic index: Updated via nx index rdr (CCE embeddings, section-level chunks)
• Filesystem: Post-mortem at $RDR_DIR/post-mortem/NNN-kebab-title.md, updated README

Outputs generated by the knowledge-tidier agent (post-mortem archival only):

• T3 knowledge: Post-mortem archive via store_put tool: content=(post-mortem contents), collection="knowledge__rdr_postmortem__{repo}", title="PREFIX-NNN Title (post-mortem)"
• T1 scratch: Working notes via scratch tool: action="put", content="RDR NNN close: archiving post-mortem", tags="rdr,close"

Does NOT

• Force close if gate hasn't passed (warns, allows override)
• Delete the markdown file (it stays in the repo permanently)
• Auto-commit (user decides when to commit)