---
id: LOOP-WP-0002
type: workplan
title: "Reactive Quality Escalation (signal-driven improvement)"
domain: coulomb_social
repo: coulomb-loop
status: finished
owner: coulomb-loop
topic_slug: coulomb_social
supplier: kaizen-agentic
created: "2026-06-18"
updated: "2026-06-18"
depends_on:
  - LOOP-WP-0001
tasks:
  - id: T01
    status: done
    title: Define escalation signals and thresholds
  - id: T02
    status: done
    title: Draft low-success-rate ActivityDefinition for coulomb-loop
  - id: T03
    status: done
    title: Specify kaizen.metrics.recorded event emitter contract
  - id: T04
    status: done
    title: Hourly metrics sweep fallback until event bus is live
  - id: T05
    status: done
    title: Wire activity-core event trigger and smoke test
  - id: T06
    status: done
    title: Add test-maintenance escalation path for CI-degraded repos
  - id: T07
    status: done
    title: Promote sweep cadence from hourly to daily after stabilization
state_hub_workstream_id: "d4d3b624-dad3-4e1d-9db3-e84548d133de"
---

# LOOP-WP-0002 — Reactive Quality Escalation

**Status:** finished
**Owner:** coulomb-loop (customer)
**Supplier:** kaizen-agentic
**Depends on:** LOOP-WP-0001 (metrics scaffold on pilot repos)

## Goal

Complement calendar-based improvement (LOOP-WP-0001) with **signal-driven**
escalation: when agent performance or test health degrades, activity-core creates
a high-priority task before drift compounds.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  REC[metrics record at session close]
  EVT[kaizen.metrics.recorded]
  RULE[low-success-rate-review]
  TASK[high-priority hub task]
  AGT[optimization / test-maintenance session]
  REC --> EVT --> RULE --> TASK --> AGT
```

## Escalation signals

| Signal | Threshold | Agent | Priority |
|--------|-----------|-------|----------|
| Agent success rate | < 0.8 over ≥ 5 executions | `optimization` | high |
| Agent quality trend | declining 3 consecutive records | `optimization` | medium |
| Test failure streak | ≥ 2 CI failures in 24h (pilot) | `test-maintenance` | high |
| Optimizer recommends action | `recommendations.jsonl` non-empty + unacted | `optimization` | medium |

Thresholds live in `loops/quality-escalation/thresholds.yml` (created in T01).

## Cadence ramp

| Phase | Mechanism | Cadence |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| Bootstrap | Hourly metrics **sweep** (poll `.kaizen/metrics/`) | `0 * * * *` |
| Stabilize | Event-driven `kaizen.metrics.recorded` primary; sweep daily backup | daily `0 6 * * *` |
| Operate | Event-only; sweep weekly health check | weekly |

Hourly sweep exists because the event emitter may lag LOOP-WP-0001 bootstrap.
The sweep is **temporary scaffolding**, not the long-term design.

## Part 1 — Signal contract

## Define escalation signals and thresholds

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T01
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "f6f549e5-0d67-49b8-8165-346c64000696"
```

Create `loops/quality-escalation/thresholds.yml` and document each signal's
rationale. Align with supplier `low-success-rate-review` defaults (0.8, min 5).

## Draft low-success-rate ActivityDefinition

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T02
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "a19c2ade-029d-4b1c-ba08-8fd82729e649"
```

Copy `kaizen-agentic/docs/integrations/activity-definitions/low-success-rate-review.md`
to `coulomb-loop/activity-definitions/low-success-rate-review.md`.

Adjust:

- `owner: coulomb-loop`
- `trigger.type: event` with `event_type: kaizen.metrics.recorded`
- task `labels` include `coulomb-loop`, `quality-escalation`
- `enabled: false` until smoke test

## Specify event emitter contract

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T03
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "6dbdb335-9c1d-4db0-ad7d-4342c966cd47"
```

Completed 2026-06-18: `loops/quality-escalation/event-payload.md`; supplier shipped
`metrics record --emit-event`. activity-core R1 posted to state-hub.

Document expected NATS payload in `loops/quality-escalation/event-payload.md`:

```json
{
  "agent": "coach",
  "project": "kaizen-agentic",
  "summary": {
    "success_rate": 0.75,
    "execution_count": 12,
    "avg_quality": 0.81
  }
}
```

Supplier action item: emit event from `kaizen-agentic metrics record` when
`--emit-event` flag set (or always in engagement mode). Track in supplier-notes;
implementation stays in kaizen-agentic.

## Part 2 — Bootstrap sweep (hourly)

## Hourly metrics sweep fallback

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T04
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "604a9515-0f6b-47e4-8a37-6bfc374ca4f3"
```

Completed 2026-06-18: `hourly-metrics-health-sweep.md` synced (disabled). Enable
after event path smoke or as fallback per DEC-002.

Draft `coulomb-loop/activity-definitions/hourly-metrics-health-sweep.md`:

- Resolver: shell `discover_kaizen_projects` with marker `.kaizen/metrics`
- Filter: pilot roster from LOOP-WP-0001
- Condition: read `summary.json`; flag `success_rate < 0.8 && execution_count >= 5`
- Action: create review task with `metrics show` + `metrics optimize` commands

Cron: `45 * * * *` (offset from LOOP-WP-0001 hourly chain).

## Wire activity-core and smoke test

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T05
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "a5d8a6e1-9908-49a5-8976-900c433cd325"
```

Completed 2026-06-18 after activity-core ACTIVITY-WP-0011 event-payload resolver:

1. `low-success-rate-review` enabled and synced (`da7a9af7-7bec-5677-9520-3c6ee6d01964`)
2. Pilot metrics seeded on `kaizen-agentic` (coach `success_rate: 0.75`, `execution_count: 8`)
3. Event router + NATS publish `activity.kaizen.metrics.recorded` → `tasks_spawned=1`
4. Context snapshot confirmed `context.metrics.summary.success_rate=0.75`

Optimization close-out deferred to next scheduled optimization cycle (LOOP-WP-0001).

## Part 3 — Test health path

## test-maintenance escalation for CI-degraded repos

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T06
status: done
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "206d33c2-0a8a-4274-8361-f69291f11b94"
```

Completed 2026-06-18: `hourly-ci-health-escalation.md` (disabled; CI probe resolver deferred).

Draft `hourly-ci-health-escalation.md` (bootstrap) / `daily-ci-health-escalation.md`
(stabilize):

- Context: state-hub or shell resolver listing pilot repos
- Signal: open CI failure indicator (Gitea API or `make test` exit code in scheduled probe)
- Agent: `test-maintenance` via `schedule prepare test-maintenance`
- Scope: pilot repos only in bootstrap

Defer full fleet CI integration until daily phase.

## Promote sweep to daily

```task
id: LOOP-WP-0002-T07
status: done
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "fa4205f4-6058-495c-bcaa-40c20f27f9aa"
```

Completed 2026-06-18:

1. Hourly sweep retired (`enabled: false`, cron promoted to `0 6 * * *`)
2. Event-driven `low-success-rate-review` primary (`enabled: true`)
3. `loops/quality-escalation/cadence.yml` → `phase: stabilize`

## Definition of done

- Below-threshold metrics on a pilot repo create a task within one bootstrap cycle
- Optimization session closes loop (success rate recovers or recommendation filed)
- Event payload spec handed to kaizen-agentic supplier
- Cadence promotion path documented

## Out of scope

- Full fleet CI integration in bootstrap phase
- Implementing NATS emitter in coulomb-loop (supplier + activity-core)

## Supplier feedback

Note whether `metrics record --emit-event` should become standard for customer
engagements. Feed into kaizen-agentic customer bootstrap playbook.