Review: Content sweep: rename Betty Sue to Ava across pal-e-docs notes

review-646-2026-03-28 Doc

review needs-refinement

Project

Template Completeness

[x] Type — Feature
[x] Lineage — references claude-custom#224
[x] Repo — forgejo_admin/pal-e-api
[x] User Story — well-formed (As Lucas, I want..., So that...)
[x] Context — clear motivation, references parent ticket
[x] File Targets — N/A for filesystem (MCP operations); note targets listed but incomplete (see below)
[x] Acceptance Criteria — 3 criteria present, verifiable
[x] Test Expectations — manual search verification described
[x] Constraints — clear (update_block only, no archived notes, no content rewrites beyond name)
[x] Checklist — present
[x] Related — project + parent ticket

Traceability

[x] story:pm-scope — present on board item, matches PM scoping role
[x] arch:note-system — present on board item, matches note content operations
[x] Forgejo issue — forgejo_admin/pal-e-api#247, open

File Targets

No filesystem file targets — this is a pal-e-docs MCP operation via update_block. Verified the listed notes exist and contain Betty Sue references:

[x] agent-workflow — verified: exists, Betty Sue references confirmed via search (role descriptions)
[x] project-pal-e-agency — verified: exists, Betty Sue in user stories table (PM row, block 13984) and likely architecture diagram
[x] convention-agent-autonomy-levels — verified: exists, Betty Sue in per-agent table (block 8688, row: "Betty Sue", "L2 with L0 escalation")
[x] convention-escalation-triggers — verified: exists, Betty Sue in escalation chain diagram
[x] convention-validation-checkpoints — verified: exists, Betty Sue in 3 blocks (paragraph-4, paragraph-8, paragraph-12)
[ ] INCOMPLETE — Issue says "Any other notes found via search_notes" but does not enumerate them. Search reveals 8 additional active notes with Betty Sue references not listed in the issue (see Blast Radius).

Repo Placement

Issue is filed on pal-e-api — correct, that is where the pal-e-docs data and API live. No code file changes needed, only MCP update_block operations against the database. Repo placement is correct. Single-repo scope (Dottie agent operates via MCP, not filesystem).

Dependencies

[ ] claude-custom#224 (board item #643, "Evolve main session agent: Betty Sue → Ava") — currently in_progress. HARD BLOCKER. This ticket must NOT execute until #643 merges, otherwise pal-e-docs notes will reference "Ava" while the running agent is still "Betty Sue." The issue's Lineage section documents this relationship but the board item lacks a depends:643 label.

Acceptance Criteria

All 3 criteria are agent-verifiable:

[x] search_notes(query="Betty Sue") returns only archived/historical — verifiable via MCP call
[x] All active SOPs/conventions reference "Ava" — verifiable via MCP search
[x] Block-level updates only — enforceable by instruction (use update_block not update_note)

Missing criterion: No AC explicitly excludes completed phase notes. Several completed phases reference "Owner: Betty Sue" (historical records). Should be explicitly listed as excluded, same as archived notes.

Blast Radius

The issue significantly underestimates scope. It lists 5 notes plus a wildcard search, but search reveals 12+ active notes with Betty Sue references.

Listed in issue (5 notes): agent-workflow, project-pal-e-agency, convention-agent-autonomy-levels, convention-escalation-triggers, convention-validation-checkpoints

NOT listed in issue but found via search (8 additional active notes):

sop-index — "Betty Sue (main session)" in multiple table rows
agent-spawn-conventions — Betty Sue in agent role descriptions
pr-lifecycle — "Betty Sue (MCP)" in multiple action items
decision-agent-dottie — "Betty Sue" in Dottie constraint descriptions
sop-board-workflow — "Betty Sue has triaged"
agent-dottie — "Betty Sue's assistant" in mission statement
convention-cross-pillar-triggers — "Betty Sue is responsible"
plan-pal-e-agency — Betty Sue in plan description

Completed phases (should be explicitly excluded as historical): phase-pal-e-platform-14a-webhook-fix, phase-pal-e-docs-project-taxonomy, phase-postgres-7f-3-template-drift

Already correctly excluded: agent-betty-sue (archived), project-pal-e-portfolio (archived), review notes (historical)

Rollback is straightforward — update_block calls are individually reversible by swapping "Ava" back to "Betty Sue".

Decomposition Assessment

13 active notes with potentially 20-30 update_block calls total. Each call is mechanical (find "Betty Sue" in block content, replace with "Ava"). Applying the rules:

>3 discrete changes? Yes — 13 notes. However, each change is identical in nature (text substitution). This is a single-pattern sweep, not 13 distinct features.
>5 minutes? Borderline. A Dottie agent with a complete note list can execute this in ~5 minutes if the list is pre-enumerated. Without enumeration (relying on runtime search), the agent wastes time discovering targets.
Independent subtasks? All note updates are independent — could be parallelized, but the overhead of spinning up multiple agents for text substitution exceeds the time saved.

No decomposition needed — but the issue body MUST enumerate ALL target notes upfront so the agent does not waste time discovering them. The wildcard "search for more" approach is insufficient for a scoped spec.

Recommendation

[BODY] Add the 8 missing active notes to the File Targets / notes-to-update list: sop-index, agent-spawn-conventions, pr-lifecycle, decision-agent-dottie, sop-board-workflow, agent-dottie, convention-cross-pillar-triggers, plan-pal-e-agency
[BODY] Add explicit exclusion for completed phase notes to the "Files the agent should NOT touch" section (historical records, same treatment as archived notes and review notes)
[BODY] Add acceptance criterion: "Completed phase notes are NOT modified (historical records)"
[LABEL] Add depends:643 label to board item #646 — hard dependency on personality evolution merging first