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Agent UX: suggested_retry renders boolean flags with a "<value>" placeholder, so following the CLI's own suggestion fails #500
Description
Version: pm 2026.7.10
When a command fails because a boolean flag is missing, the recovery bundle's suggested_retry appends a "<value>" placeholder to the flag — but the flag takes no value, so literally running the suggested command fails with a different error. Agents (the main consumers of suggested_retry) copy these suggestions verbatim.
Repro
$ pm init && pm create task probe --acceptance-criteria n/a # -> pm-nd30
$ pm close pm-nd30 done
$ pm close pm-nd30 done # item already terminal
...
missing: --force
suggested_retry: pm close pm-nd30 done --force "<value>"
$ pm close pm-nd30 done --force "<value>" # literal suggestion
Error: Invalid command usage
error: too many arguments for 'close'. Expected 2 arguments but got 3: pm-nd30, done, <value>.
$ pm close pm-nd30 done --force # what it should have suggested
ok (item re-closed)
Expected
suggested_retry should know each flag's arity: boolean flags rendered bare (--force), value flags with a placeholder. A machine-followable suggestion that errors when followed is worse than none — the agent burns a round-trip and may conclude the recovery bundle is untrustworthy.
Philosophy tie-in: project management = context management — recovery bundles are great context for agents, but only if they're executable as-is.
Activity
coderabbitai commentedon Jul 10, 2026
🔗 Related PRs
#91 - Guard agent query typo recovery after ecosystem dogfood [closed]
#136 - Add package install recovery and collision plans [closed]
#200 - Add validation self-repair and agent ergonomics primitives [closed]
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chore(pm): track GH-500 (pm-6y58 retry-arity) + GH-501 (pm-69nl init-…
unbraind commentedon Jul 10, 2026
Fixed and merged in PR #502 at main commit 6ad4f23. The full bundle passed 100/100/100/100 coverage (5,528 tests), packed smoke, 88-command dogfood, Windows/CodeQL/Trivy/Semgrep/static/typecheck/compatibility gates, and AI review follow-ups.
unbraind commentedon Jul 11, 2026
pm tracker item:
pm-6y58— Agent UX: suggested_retry renders boolean flags with a "<value>" placeholder, so following the CLI's own suggestion fails #500: suggested_retry renders boolean flags with a "" placeholder — literal suggestion fails