docs(rfc): refine live-to-final RFC (fix issue/PR links, add ownership + sidebar sections)

[franksong2702]

Follow-up to #3464, which merged the first revision of the long-running
live-to-final assistant reply RFC. This PR refines that document. It is
docs-only (docs/rfcs/live-to-final-assistant-replies.md) and uses
Refs #3400; it does not close the umbrella issue.

What changed

Correctness — fixed wrong issue/PR link types. The merged revision linked
six PRs as /issues/. These are corrected to /pull/, verified against the
GitHub API:

• #2283, #3015, #1370, #3391, #3316, #3345 are all PRs (were
  mislinked as issues).
• #3058, #3014, #3315, #3344 are confirmed issues and kept as-is.

Structure — filled real gaps. Adds a Reply ownership subsection, a
Cancel and interruption edge case, Tool-only or low-prose runs, and
Sidebar and session ownership; splits Scope into explicit owns / does-not-own;
replaces the linear Slice 1–4 plan with a Delivery And Follow-Up Map.

Artifact handoff — added long-session output semantics. Adds produced
artifacts/output handoff as a long-running edge case without expanding this RFC
into a rich-artifact renderer or workspace feature spec. The new language ties
existing Artifacts and workspace:// surfaces to the live-to-final lifecycle:
settle, replay, reconnect, session switch, cancel, interruption, and no-final
terminal paths should preserve enough metadata for users to find files created
or edited during the turn.

Hardening (this PR, on top of the refinement):

• Status: Proposed -> Accepted, since the doc is now referenced as the parent
  contract for follow-up slices. Live implementation status stays in Redesign live-to-final assistant replies for running agent sessions #3400.
• Keep volatile PR/merge state out of the RFC body: the Public Inventory and
  Delivery map now record durable scope, with Redesign live-to-final assistant replies for running agent sessions #3400 named authoritative for
  open/merged/superseded status. Dropped point-in-time "has shipped through
  release" / "remains an active PR" phrasing that would drift.
• Normalize terminal-state naming to the backticked snake_case identifiers
  (cancelled, compression_exhausted, tool_limit_reached, no_response,
  interrupted, error) and add a note that these name product states, not a
  wire/enum or persisted schema contract — consistent with Scope, which does
  not own a backend schema change.

Scope

Docs only. No code, no behavior change. The four referenced lower-level
contract docs all still exist and resolve.

Verification

• git diff --check
• Private-context leak check for /Users, Obsidian, syncthings, private,
  and local-only in the edited RFC
• GitHub Actions on the pushed PR head: browser-smoke, lint, and all Python test
  shards passed

AI assistance: Claude Code drafted earlier revisions; OpenAI Codex GPT-5 made
this artifact-handoff update and verification pass.

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This docs-only PR refines the live-to-final assistant replies RFC (follow-up to #3464): it corrects six /issues/ links that should be /pull/, fills structural gaps with new subsections (Reply ownership, Cancel and interruption, Tool-only or low-prose runs, Sidebar and session ownership, Produced artifacts and output handoff), replaces the linear Slice 1–4 plan with a durable Delivery And Follow-Up Map, and promotes the document status from Proposed to Accepted.

• Link corrections: Six PR references (#2283, #3015, #1370, #3391, #3316, #3345) are moved from /issues/ to /pull/; confirmed issues (#3058, #3014, #3315, #3344) are unchanged; all four downstream contract files referenced in the Relationship section still exist on disk.
• New content: Terminal-state identifiers are normalized to backticked snake_case, the scope section is split into explicit owns/does-not-own halves, and the Mermaid lifecycle diagram is extended to cover cancel, interruption, artifact handoff, and sidebar ownership paths.
• Process note: The status was changed to Accepted by the RFC author in this same PR, without a separate maintainer sign-off commit; the docs/rfcs/README.md process notes that Accepted status gates implementation PR coordination, so maintainers may want to confirm this promotion explicitly before merging.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Docs-only change with no code, no schema, and no behavior modification; all four downstream contract files it references exist on disk.

The change is entirely documentation: link type corrections, new subsections, and a restructured delivery map. The only open item is a process question about the self-asserted status promotion, not a defect in the document itself.

No files require special attention beyond a maintainer confirming the status promotion in docs/rfcs/live-to-final-assistant-replies.md.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
docs/rfcs/live-to-final-assistant-replies.md	RFC refined from Proposed to Accepted: fixes 6 /issues/ to /pull/ mislinks, adds Reply ownership, Cancel/interruption, Tool-only, and Sidebar/session ownership sections, replaces the linear Slice plan with a Delivery And Follow-Up Map; one process question on the self-asserted status promotion.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A([PR opens RFC file]) --> B[Read existing document]
    B --> C{Link type check}
    C -- issue but is PR --> D[Fix /issues/ to /pull/]
    C -- already correct --> E[Keep as-is]
    D --> F[6 links corrected]
    E --> G[4 links confirmed issues]
    B --> H[Add new RFC sections]
    H --> H1[Reply ownership]
    H --> H2[Cancel and interruption]
    H --> H3[Tool-only or low-prose runs]
    H --> H4[Sidebar and session ownership]
    H --> H5[Produced artifacts and output handoff]
    B --> I[Restructure delivery plan]
    I --> J[Replace linear Slice 1-4 with Delivery And Follow-Up Map]
    B --> K[Status change]
    K --> L[Proposed to Accepted]
    L --> M{Maintainer sign-off?}
    M -- explicit in thread --> N[Safe to merge]
    M -- only author assertion --> O[Process question]

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_{Reviews (5): Last reviewed commit: "Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/mas..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[franksong2702]

Branch refresh pushed in 55b2a276.

What changed:

• Merged latest origin/master (4c545a33) into franksong2702/live-to-final-rfc-refresh.
• No conflicts. The final diff against current master remains docs-only: docs/rfcs/live-to-final-assistant-replies.md.

Verification:

• git diff --check origin/master..HEAD -> passed
• /Users/xuefusong/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/test_contract_review_gate.py -q -> 3 passed
• GitHub Actions on 55b2a276 -> 11/11 passed
• GitHub mergeability -> MERGEABLE / CLEAN

AI assistance: Codex refreshed the branch to current master and verified the docs-only diff stayed scoped to the RFC.

[franksong2702]

Referencing the earlier flowchart comment, I think this is the ideal product-level flow for the live-to-final reply lifecycle. The main adjustment is that this is explicitly a product-state model, not a backend schema or wire-event contract: settle should derive the visible reply state from durable transcript truth, available terminal evidence, and reply ownership.

%%{init: {"theme": "neutral"}}%%
flowchart TD
    A([User sends message]) --> B["Turn created<br/>reply ownership established"]
    B --> C["Live phase<br/>process prose + quiet tool activity"]
    C --> D{Lifecycle event}

    D -- stream continues --> C
    D -- reload / reconnect / session switch --> E["Recovery and replay<br/>rebuild the same lifecycle from durable state"]
    E --> F{Same turn recovered?}
    F -- yes --> C
    F -- not yet --> G["Restoring or degraded state<br/>do not mark completed from missing live data"]
    G --> D

    D -- user cancels --> H["Cancel requested<br/>settle only the owned reply"]
    H --> I["Settle decision<br/>durable transcript truth + terminal evidence + reply ownership"]
    D -- run ended / terminal evidence --> I

    I --> J{Event belongs to<br/>the current visible reply?}
    J -- no --> K["Ignore stale event<br/>do not mutate the current visible reply"]
    J -- yes --> L{Final assistant answer present<br/>and terminal evidence is normal?}

    L -- yes --> M["completed<br/>activity summary above final answer"]
    L -- no --> N{Specific terminal outcome}
    N -- cancelled --> O["cancelled<br/>user stopped the turn"]
    N -- interrupted --> P["interrupted<br/>continuity lost before final answer"]
    N -- compression_exhausted --> Q["compression_exhausted<br/>compression could not continue safely"]
    N -- tool_limit_reached --> R["tool_limit_reached<br/>tool / retry / iteration ceiling hit"]
    N -- no_response --> S["no_response<br/>no usable assistant final content"]
    N -- other failure --> T["error<br/>fallback for other terminal failures"]

    M --> U["Settled reply visible<br/>supporting activity collapsed;<br/>artifacts and workspace outputs findable"]
    O --> U
    P --> U
    Q --> U
    R --> U
    S --> U
    T --> U

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[franksong2702]

Branch refresh pushed in 4400c623.

What changed:

• Merged latest origin/master (f1211e1f, v0.51.267) into franksong2702/live-to-final-rfc-refresh.
• No conflicts. The final diff against current master remains docs-only: docs/rfcs/live-to-final-assistant-replies.md.

Verification:

• git diff --check origin/master..HEAD -> passed
• python -m pytest tests/test_contract_review_gate.py -q -> 3 passed
• GitHub Actions on 4400c623 -> 11/11 passed
• GitHub mergeability -> MERGEABLE / CLEAN

AI assistance: Codex Autopilot refreshed the branch to current master and verified the docs-only diff stayed scoped to the RFC.