Execution Log: the Slack channel acknowledges an accepted reply with a reaction

Append-only log of progress for the user's visibility.

Phase transitions

Phase	Entered	Reviewed/approved by	Notes
phase-selection	2026-09-08	—	Tier 3 (human-approves-pr; below humanSignOffMinTier: 4): one reaction-only Slack write under the token the channel already holds, an additive block in cli-config.schema.json (an autonomy.sensitivePaths entry), two event types. Brainstorming skipped: the ticket's Proposed section is the requirement. No authorized the-loop execute reaches this cloud session, so the selection is recorded here and every phase is walked
requirements-definition	2026-09-08		requirements.md — four requirements, six abuse cases
design	2026-09-08		design.md — a block, a method, two calls, two event types; decision-111
test-planning	2026-09-08		testing-plan.md — thirteen rows, six applicable
tasks-breakdown	2026-09-08		tasks.md — five tasks
implementation	2026-09-08		On claude/github-issue-325-b62wbf
verification	2026-09-08		evidence/verification.md — rows T1, T2, T8, T10, T12; evidence/security-review.md — six abuse cases, six closed
needs-review	2026-09-08		PR raised; awaiting the owner (tier 3: human-approves-pr)
complete

Pull requests

PR	Scope / tasks	Status
#326	tasks 1–5: the whole work item	open

Progress entries

2026-09-08 — implemented, verified, ready for review

• Phase: implementation → verification → needs-review
• Did: tasks 1–5, red first. SlackReactionConfig (grammar, colon stripping, per-state refusal) and SlackChannelConfig.reactions; SlackBotChannel.react (never raises; channel.reaction_added / channel.reaction_failed); the two calls on each accepted path of process_reply and process_kickoff; client_factory on both socket handlers and the pressed message's ts on a button press; the reactions block in both schema copies (byte-identical, additive); a reactions: line in channels status; the docs.
• Checkpoint/tests: make check — see evidence/verification.md. New tests: 27 unit (test_channels.py), 3 scenarios (test_channels_integration.py). Existing assertions changed: one — the channels status output test gains the new line.
• Self-review: three passes over the diff. Pass one found that a relayed control.command on a standing session's thread — no ledger to reach, nothing delivered — would have been acknowledged ✅ under the first "landed" rule; narrowed the standing-session exception to work-item.reply, with a test. Pass two verified three design claims against the code: the socket listener reaches the handlers with the default client builder resolved at call time (so a channel built inside them uses the same token rule as post); nothing but react reads a button press's ts (the action path advances no cursor); poll_once hands the same channel instance to both process_reply and process_kickoff. Pass three found nothing new.
• Next: the owner's review.
• Blockers: none.

2026-09-08 — spec chain drafted

• Phase: requirements-definition → tasks-breakdown
• Did: read reactions.py, channels/slack.py, channels/inbound.py, channels/base.py, the channels.slack and routing.reactions schema blocks, the issue-84 and issue-321 specs and the channel test suites at 1920a03; confirmed the ticket's reading (no reactions.add anywhere; target_from_event is GitHub-only); found the injection points the tests already use (client_factory on poll_once, the module-level build_client), which the socket handlers lacked. Wrote the four artifacts and the decision.
• Checkpoint/tests: baseline — test_channels.py, test_channels_integration.py, test_reactions.py green (114 passed).
• Next: task 1 (the config block and schema), red first.
• Blockers: none.

Verification results

Only when this work item declared test-planning away. It did not: results live in testing-plan.md.

What was verified	Command	Outcome	Evidence
—	—	—	see testing-plan.md

Design critic review

Not selected for this work item.

Round	Critic (<harness>/<model>)	Outcome	Findings → disposition	Link

Review cycles

Cycle	Type (self/critic/security)	Reviewer	Outcome	Link
1	self	the-loop (this session)	new finding — a relayed keyword on a standing session's thread would have read as ✅ though nothing landed: the standing exception narrowed to replies, tested	this log
2	self	the-loop (this session)	zero new findings — three design claims verified against the code (the listener's default client builder, the sole reader of a press's ts, the shared channel instance in poll_once)	this log
3	self	the-loop (this session)	zero (converged)	this log
—	critic	—	unavailable — reviews.critics is empty in this repository's config; does not count toward criticReviewCount	—
4	security	the-loop checklist	pass; no human sign-off at tier 3	evidence/security-review.md

Security review (gate)

• Mechanism: the-loop checklist (security.review.mechanism: auto; no security-review skill is invocable from this session's plugin set)
• Outcome: pass — evidence/security-review.md, six abuse cases closed
• Human sign-off: not required (tier 3 < humanSignOffMinTier: 4); the owner's PR approval is the gate

Final validation evidence

Requirement	Proof
R1.1, R1.2	test_an_accepted_reply_is_acknowledged_received_then_completed, test_the_received_reaction_precedes_the_record; Scenario: An accepted Slack reply is acknowledged on the reply itself
R1.2 (per type)	test_a_relayed_gate_answer_completes_on_its_record, test_a_standing_sessions_reply_completes_on_delivery, test_a_kickoff_is_acknowledged_received_then_completed
R1.3	test_an_undeliverable_reply_is_acknowledged_with_error, test_a_failed_mirror_is_acknowledged_with_error, test_a_failed_kickoff_is_acknowledged_with_error
R1.4	test_a_dropped_message_gets_no_reaction (×5), test_an_unauthorized_kickoff_gets_no_reaction
R1.5	test_react_adds_the_named_reaction_on_the_message, test_react_uses_the_replys_channel_id_over_the_configured_one; Scenario: A button press is acknowledged on the message carrying the button
R1.6	react calls self._client() — the same token rule as post; test_react_without_a_token_is_a_quiet_noop
R2.1, R2.4	test_reaction_config_defaults_match_the_schema; make validate
R2.2	test_reactions_can_be_disabled_or_skipped_per_state, test_react_disabled_or_skipped_makes_no_call
R2.3	test_a_malformed_reaction_name_is_refused_and_the_state_skipped, test_colons_around_a_reaction_name_are_stripped, test_a_non_mapping_reactions_block_keeps_the_defaults
R2.5	test_a_config_without_the_block_reacts_with_the_defaults; every pre-existing channel test unchanged and green
R3.1	test_react_never_raises_and_records_the_failure, test_a_refused_reaction_changes_no_outcome; Scenario: A Slack that refuses the reaction never fails the delivery
R3.2	test_react_without_a_token_is_a_quiet_noop
R3.3, R3.4	test_react_adds_the_named_reaction_on_the_message, test_reaction_events_carry_no_text_or_token
R3.5	test_the_received_reaction_precedes_the_record; the first scenario's second poll cycle (no cursor movement, no second reaction)
R4.1, R4.2	test_docs_parity.py (P3–P5 over the four new leaves), test_eventlog.py (catalog), make validate (both templates); markdownlint over 985 files
A1–A6	evidence/security-review.md

Capability docs

Capability doc	What changed	History row
channels.md	a current-behaviour bullet (the acknowledgment on the accepted message, the per-type meaning of landed, the drop rule, the best-effort contract); the two new event types in the observability bullet; two design links	issue-325 row

Documentation

Document	What changed
docs/config/cli/channels-options.md	the reactions block in the example; the reactions:write scope beside the bot token; a new Acknowledgments section — slack.reactions.enabled / received / completed / error with type, default and the grammar (parity-tested)
docs/config/cli/routing-options.md	a paragraph under reactions.enabled pointing at the Slack mirror
docs/cli/commands/channels.md	the acknowledgment in the pipeline paragraph; the reactions: line of status
skills/the-loop/templates/cli-config.yaml, .the-loop/cli-config.yaml	the reactions block at its defaults, commented
.the-loop/cli-config.schema.json, cli/the_loop/schemas/cli-config.schema.json	the reactions block (byte-identical copies; purely additive)
docs/decisions/decision-111.md, decisions.md	the decision and its index row
README.md, skills/the-loop/SKILL.md, skills/the-loop/reference/*	unchanged — none enumerates the Slack channel's options, and the operating model itself did not change (a reply is still recorded on the ledger and judged there; this adds a visible receipt)