Integrating related work

Break a big feature into tickets, collect their changes on one branch, and merge the verified feature on main once. Work forms a tree rooted at baseBranch:

• Work tickets are leaves.
• Node tickets are finite integration points that collect children, then merge into their parent.
• Repositories without nodes send every work ticket to the root.

Targets form the tree

A node opens an ab-node/<slug> branch at its parent's sampled head; nodes can nest. A work ticket targets a node by ticket id, or the root by default:

bun ab ticket create "Checkout redesign" --body checkout.md --kind node
bun ab ticket create "Cart summary" --body cart.md --target <node-id>

Claim freezes the destination build generation and branch; editing a claimed ticket can't redirect its change.

Leaves run the normal build pipeline. A node collects, verifies, merges, and closes. It finishes collecting when its targeting tickets are done or cancelled, frozen child claims have settled, and at least one contribution has merged.

• Idle nodes need no runner; empty nodes have no PR.
• Repair a failed node check with a child ticket targeting the node.
• Merge closes admission; a node isn't a perpetual staging branch.

One identity per leaf change

A leaf contributes one canonical net change, however many commits it took.

• Identity. The Autobuild-Build: <slug> trailer carries it across SHA rewrites. Root squash merges keep it; node integration keeps each contributing identity, in order, rather than one node commit.
• Restacks. When a destination moves, Autobuild restacks onto it and cascades through descendants. Clean replay is automatic; a conflict attaches a reconcile runner with the source change's context, then verification as required.
• Reverification. Node verification covers the exact node head and parent; a change to either voids merge eligibility until reverified, even after a clean restack. A cleanly restacked waiting leaf can keep its prior verification; reports cite their actual head and base.

Blockers are a separate graph

A target says where work integrates; a blocker says what must be available before dependent work starts.

bun ab ticket block <id> <blocker-id>

• With nodes, a blocker that has a build resolves when its change is present in the dependent's sampled destination. Sibling work may need to merge into a common ancestor and cascade first.
• Presence is checked at claim, without interrupting existing builds; missing or ambiguous evidence keeps the dependent queued.
• Without nodes, and for blockers without builds, the source ticket's done state resolves it.

Policy authorizes merge

Ordered [[merge]] rules in autobuild.toml select auto or consent; the first match wins. Rules match source kind (from), destination (into), and ticket label. Without a match, leaves default to auto and nodes to consent.

# Leaves merge on the root automatically; everything else needs consent.
[[merge]]
from = "leaf"
into = "root"
mode = "auto"

[[merge]]
mode = "consent"

Your operator agent manages consent:

• ab merge <slug> records consent to a ready merge and clears a hold.
• ab hold <slug> suppresses merge, even before readiness, and withdraws consent.

Neither control, nor automatic authorization, bypasses readiness, verification, forge checks, protection, or merge gates.

Tickets and specs covers the input side of the tree.