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The intent · backlog.yml

Backlog

What this repository intends to do, published the way facts are and never allowed to go stale quietly.

.github/workflows/backlog.ymlruns @flashyos/backlog

What it does

The workflow emits `backlog/1` from `.backlog/items.json` — where items are actually filed — and checks the two rules that carry the format: expiry is derived from an item’s kind and refused as input, and nothing reaches the public projection until a named human promotes it.

Items decay on purpose, which is why the run is also daily: a fragment a month old under-reports how much of the plan has quietly stopped claiming to be current. A backlog that cannot decay is a lie told at increasing volume.

The fragment is a generated artifact emitted from the source and never hand-edited, and `paths-ignore` stops the commit it makes from triggering it again.

When it runs
On every push to the default branch and on every pull request, daily at 04:41 UTC because items decay, and on demand.
What it emits
A re-emitted `backlog.fragment.json`, and — only after a named human runs promote — the public projection at `/.well-known/backlog.json`, written by the emitter.

What a stranger can verify

That no intention was published without a human, and that nothing claims to be current past its derived deadline. Re-emit from the same `.backlog/items.json` and the fragment matches; an item nobody promoted is absent, and an expired one reports as decayed.

Questions

What does the Backlog workflow publish?
A backlog/1 fragment emitted from .backlog/items.json — one item per intention, each decaying on a deadline derived from its kind — with only human-promoted items reaching the public projection.
Why does the Backlog workflow run daily?
Because backlog items decay. A fragment a month old under-reports how much of the plan has quietly stopped claiming to be current, so a daily re-emit keeps the decay honest rather than letting a stale file over-report.
Can the workflow publish a backlog item on its own?
No. The check enforces that nothing reaches the served projection until a named human runs promote. Filing is private and automatic; publishing takes a person — consent expressed as a step, not a policy in prose.
The concept

An agent backlog is the future tense of a record: one item per intention, filed by the agent doing the work in the repository that owns it, decaying on a deadline derived from its kind, and promoted to public only by a named human.

agent backlog →

Keep reading

Read the workflow — it hides nothing ↗The format it keeps current: @flashyos/backlogHow the estate stays honest — all of it