fix: pre-landing review fixes — import --by takes the owner alone, the controller checks the row against its relay, brief.md spells the full answer command and carries the run dir, first act after the install check (GSTA-130)

Co-authored-by: capy-ai[bot] <230910855+capy-ai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 ### Changed
 - **`captain/SKILL.md.tmpl`**: the approvals part carries a "Plan before build" paragraph pointing at the section and the brief, and the rules enumeration names the rule.
 - **`capy/skill/gstack/SKILL.md` § Plan, approve, ship**: the short form every Capy thread follows, under a Captain or on its own (the owner, 2026-10-27: "Also incorporate the autoplan and eli5 and ship instructions for Capy-specific gstack usage"): /autoplan sized to the work before new functionality, the ELI5 with `rec` as the one-word default and a "do it" reply, the build only after the word and an `APPROVED` run, /ship at the final pushed head before a PR is called ready with the receipt naming that head, no merge without the owner's word, the review inside /ship and the autoplan sized to the change, and the exempt work. References are plain text, since the folder is copied to a Drive without the repository; the owner copies `capy/skill/gstack/` over the Drive skill folder to pick it up.
-- **`capy/skill/gstack/captain.md` § 3**: the lane-side pointer, so a thread launched on Capy sees the first-act rule where it reads the plan-ask shape, linking to the SKILL.md section.
+- **`capy/skill/gstack/captain.md` § 3**: the lane-side pointer, so a thread launched on Capy sees the first-act rule where it reads the plan-ask shape, pointing at the SKILL.md section.
 - **`captain/templates/plan-ask.md`**: the record line names the autoplan path (`gstack-autoplan answer … --owner-reply`, then `gstack-approvals import --autoplan`) and keeps `gstack-approvals add` for plans that are not autoplan gates.
 - **`docs/captain.md` Setting it up, step 5**: lanes start with the brief.
 

captain/SKILL.md

@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ with one line saying what it covers. `gstack-owner-brief render --captain` print
 a plan; relay it whole. Template: `captain/templates/plan-ask.md`.
 
 **Plan before build.** A lane that builds something runs a sized `/autoplan` on its brief as
-its first act and sends the controller the plan ask above; the controller relays it, and the
+its first act after the session-start check and sends the controller the plan ask above; the controller relays it, and the
 lane builds only after the owner's word is answered into the run and it reports `APPROVED`.
 New scope taken on part-way gets its own plan. Read-only lanes, the flaky pass's repairs,
 slot stamps, CHANGELOG resolves and cap re-pins under a grant are exempt. The brief a

captain/SKILL.md.tmpl

@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ with one line saying what it covers. `gstack-owner-brief render --captain` print
 a plan; relay it whole. Template: `captain/templates/plan-ask.md`.
 
 **Plan before build.** A lane that builds something runs a sized `/autoplan` on its brief as
-its first act and sends the controller the plan ask above; the controller relays it, and the
+its first act after the session-start check and sends the controller the plan ask above; the controller relays it, and the
 lane builds only after the owner's word is answered into the run and it reports `APPROVED`.
 New scope taken on part-way gets its own plan. Read-only lanes, the flaky pass's repairs,
 slot stamps, CHANGELOG resolves and cap re-pins under a grant are exempt. The brief a

captain/templates/CREW.md

@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Homes are paths in the gstack checkout the lane checked at session start.
     `/ship` and `/review` skills.
 
 24. **Plan before build.** If you build something, a `/autoplan` run on your brief, sized
-    to the work, is your first act; send `CONTROLLER` the plan and its gate in plain
+    to the work, is your first act after the session-start check; send `CONTROLLER` the plan and its gate in plain
     language with the recommended reply named; build only after the owner's word is
     answered into the run and it reports `APPROVED`; record it with `gstack-approvals
     import --autoplan`. New scope taken on part-way gets the same. Exempt: read-only

captain/templates/brief.md

@@ -9,21 +9,23 @@ is filled by the controller; `Plan:` says whether the lane plans first
 Lane: <thread code> · Controller: <CONTROLLER> · Rules: <drive>/CREW.md · Base: <BASE>
 Owns: <the files and directories this lane may edit; everything else is routed through the controller>
 Do not touch: <files other live lanes own, each with its lane>
-Plan: required | approved: <autoplan run id> | exempt: <reason from the exemption list>
+Plan: required | approved: <autoplan run dir, or its checkpoint dir> | exempt: <reason from the exemption list>
 Spend cap: <focused paid runs per PR, from SPEND>
 
-1. Plan (when Plan: required). Install for autoplan, write the plan with its
-   ## Before → after, ## Why it matters, ## What caused this work, ## Big decisions and
-   ## Implementation plan sections, and run
-   gstack-autoplan next --out <run dir> --plan <plan.md> <scope flags> sized to this brief
-   (a one-file fix: --no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1 --spend-cap <small>). At the gate send
-   me the output of gstack-owner-brief render --captain --out <run dir> whole, as a
-   needs-you report. Build nothing yet.
+1. Plan (when Plan: required). After the session-start install check, install for autoplan
+   and follow autoplan/DRIVER.md "On Capy" (launch file sourced, GSTACK_AUTOPLAN_CHECKPOINT_DIR
+   set, run dir under ~/.capy/work). Write the plan with its ## Before → after,
+   ## Why it matters, ## What caused this work, ## Big decisions and ## Implementation plan
+   sections, then run gstack-autoplan next --out <run dir> --plan <plan.md> <scope flags>
+   sized to this brief (a one-file fix: --no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1 --estimate-usd <n>
+   --spend-cap <small>). At the gate send me the output of
+   gstack-owner-brief render --captain --out <run dir> whole, as a needs-you report.
+   Build nothing yet.
 2. Build after the word. I bring the owner's exact words back. Answer them into the run
-   (gstack-autoplan answer … --by agent:<your thread> --owner-reply "<their words>"),
-   incorporate every accepted plan change (revise), finish every reopened phase, and start
-   product edits only when the run reports APPROVED. Then
-   gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner> (via <controller>)".
+   (gstack-autoplan answer --out <run dir> --gate-rev <n> --reply <tokens> --rec-hash <h>
+   --by agent:<your thread> --owner-reply "<their words>"), incorporate every accepted plan
+   change (revise), finish every reopened phase, and start product edits only when the run
+   reports APPROVED. Then gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner>".
    New scope you take on part-way goes back to step 1 with its own plan.
 3. Ship. CHANGELOG entry under [Unreleased]; GUARD_CHECKS, pregate and /ship at the final
    head; one unstamped READY block (captain/templates/READY.md) to me; the PR body carries
@@ -34,5 +36,7 @@ and its Approvals table carries the plan approval row (the owner's words, the da
 Plan: exempt reason.
 ```
 
-A lane whose brief says `approved: <run>` starts at step 2 with that run; a lane whose brief
-says `exempt:` starts at step 3. A brief with no `Plan:` line reads as `Plan: required`.
+A lane whose brief says `approved: <dir>` starts at step 2 with that run (restore it with
+`gstack-autoplan resume --out <new dir> --from <dir>` when it lives on another machine); a
+lane whose brief says `exempt:` starts at step 3. A brief with no `Plan:` line reads as
+`Plan: required`.

captain/templates/plan-ask.md

@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ named: docs, trains, cleanups>, and carry them through to done with no further a
 
 When the answer comes back, record it before the work starts. For an autoplan gate:
 `gstack-autoplan answer --out <run dir> --gate-rev <n> --reply <tokens> --by agent:<thread> --owner-reply "<exact words>"`,
-then `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner> (via <controller>)"`. For any
+then `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner>"` (the tool records the relayer). For any
 other plan: `gstack-approvals add --ask "<what>" --words "<exact words>" --by "<owner> (via <controller>)" --scope "<what it covers>"`.

capy/skill/gstack/SKILL.md

@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ Capy checklist for `/autoplan`: drive `gstack-autoplan`, never a hand adaptation
 
 Every Capy thread that uses gstack follows these for new work, under a Captain or on its own. The rule in full is `docs/captain.md`, "Plan before build"; the lane side is section 3 of captain.md in this folder.
 
-- **Plan first.** Before building new functionality, run `/autoplan` on it as the first act, sized to the work (scope flags and `--max-rounds`; a one-file fix gets `--no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1` and a small `--spend-cap`, never no run).
-- **ELI5, then the word.** Send the plan and gate to the person, or the Captain, in plain language: `gstack-owner-brief render --captain --out <run dir>`, with `rec` as the one-word default and a "do it" reply that takes every recommendation at full scope. Build only after their word is answered into the run and it reports `APPROVED`; then `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir>`.
+- **Plan first.** Before building new functionality, run `/autoplan` on it as the first act after the install check, sized to the work (scope flags and `--max-rounds`; a one-file fix gets `--no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1` with `--estimate-usd` and a small `--spend-cap`, never no run).
+- **ELI5, then the word.** Send the plan and gate to the person, or the Captain, in plain language: `gstack-owner-brief render --captain --out <run dir>`, with `rec` as the one-word default and a "do it" reply that takes every recommendation at full scope. Build only after their word is answered into the run and it reports `APPROVED`; then `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner>"`.
 - **/ship before ready.** Run /ship at the final pushed head before a PR is called ready; `SHIP_RECEIPT: pr=<n> head=<head>` must name that head, and a later push needs a new /ship. The review inside /ship, like the autoplan, is sized to the change.
 - **No merge without the owner's word.** A thread never merges on its own; under a Captain the controller merges on a recorded standing approval, and a thread with no Captain asks the person.
 

docs/captain.md

@@ -124,10 +124,11 @@ alone is not an ask.
 
 ## Plan before build
 
-A lane that builds something plans first. Its first act, before any product code, is a
-`/autoplan` run on its brief, sized to the work. The phases run in order, CEO, then design,
-then DX, then eng, with design and DX only when the scope has them, and a one-file fix
-gets a short run (`--no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1` and a small `--spend-cap`), not no run. On Capy the
+A lane that builds something plans first. Its first act after the session-start install
+check, before any product code, is a `/autoplan` run on its brief, sized to the work. The
+phases run in order, CEO, then design, then DX, then eng, with design and DX only when the
+scope has them, and a one-file fix gets a short run (`--no-ui --no-dx --max-rounds 1`, with
+`--estimate-usd` set so a small `--spend-cap` still seats its attempts), not no run. On Capy the
 unattended loop is `autoplan/DRIVER.md` in the gstack checkout. New functionality a lane
 takes on part-way, scope its brief did not name, gets its own plan and its own ask before
 the lane builds it. In the rules file this is rule 24 of the
@@ -157,11 +158,13 @@ finished, and the run reports `APPROVED` (`status=complete` after `export`). An
 gate that still prints `PLAN_AMEND_PENDING` or `REOPENED:` is not a completed plan, and an
 imported approval row alone is not completion.
 
-**The record.** `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner> (via <controller>)"`
-writes the approval row (date, the ask, the owner's exact words, who relayed them, what it
-covers); `gstack-approvals render` puts it in the report and the PR body, where the
-controller reads it before training the PR (shape A). The brief's done line names the row.
-A plan approval is not a READY field; the [READY contract](#the-ready-contract) is unchanged.
+**The record.** `gstack-approvals import --autoplan <run dir> --by "<owner>"` writes the
+approval row (date, the ask, the owner's exact words, the lane that answered as relayer,
+what it covers); `gstack-approvals render` puts it in the report and the PR body. Before
+training the PR the controller compares that row's words and `gate_rev` with the ask it
+relayed and the reply it carried back; a row that does not match is not READY (shape A).
+The brief's done line names the row. A plan approval is not a READY field; the
+[READY contract](#the-ready-contract) is unchanged.
 
 **Exemptions.** Read-only lanes (triage, research, measurement, a review voice), the daily
 flaky pass's repairs, slot stamps, CHANGELOG-only conflict resolves and a size or budget

test/captain-skill.test.ts

@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ describe('/captain skill', () => {
     for (const h of ['## Lane discipline', '## Plan before build', '## Contributions from outside the crew']) expect(doc).toContain(h);
     expect(doc).toMatch(/## Plan before build[^]*?reports `APPROVED`[^]*?## Contributions from outside the crew/);
     const brief = read('captain/templates/brief.md');
-    expect(brief).toContain('Plan: required | approved: <autoplan run id> | exempt: <reason');
+    expect(brief).toContain('Plan: required | approved: <autoplan run dir, or its checkpoint dir> | exempt: <reason');
+    expect(brief).toContain('gstack-autoplan answer --out <run dir> --gate-rev <n> --reply <tokens>');
     expect(brief).toMatch(/^1\. Plan[^]*?^2\. Build after the word[^]*?^3\. Ship[^]*?^Done when:/m);
     expect(brief).toContain('gstack-approvals import --autoplan');
     expect(flat).toContain('**Plan before build.**');