Fold the August fleet findings into the policies, or drop them (closes #62)

Of the cross-repository findings recorded on 2026-08-09, two were rules a repository must follow that `prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md` did not yet state, and each now sits in the paragraph a reader would be in. A new or changed check is proven by planting a defect it must catch and watching the run fail, since a green run alone does not show the check ran. A separate workflow limited to `main` by a `branches` list is first run from the feature branch by adding that branch to the list and removing it before merging, with any publishing job kept behind `if: github.ref_name == 'main'`.

The other findings are dropped, each with its reason on the issue; the `config verify` warning goes by sneak's ruling on #40 that there is no config check step.

Model: opus-5-5

.dockerignore

@@ -18,9 +18,16 @@
 # does not need .git/config; that file can hold a credential, such as a
 # password in a remote URL or the token the CI checkout step stores there.
 # Each submodule keeps a config with the same exposure in its git directory
-# under .git/modules/, nested again for a submodule's own submodules.
-.git/config
-.git/modules/**/config
+# under .git/modules/, nested again for a submodule's own submodules, or in
+# its own .git directory when it keeps one.
+# KNOWN GAP: a submodule whose name has a `config` segment (`config`,
+# `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole git directory, because
+# `**/.git/modules/**/config` also matches that segment's directory
+# under .git/modules/. Go's version stamping then fails the build;
+# nothing leaks. Name such a submodule without that segment:
+# `git submodule add --name`.
+**/.git/config
+**/.git/modules/**/config
 
 # Agent scratch: one full checkout of the repo per in-flight agent.
 # Anchored because it occurs once where agents run at the repo root.

.gitattributes

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Every PR adds an entry at the top of TODO.md's Completed Steps; union keeps
+# both sides instead of conflicting. Git never reports a conflict here: read
+# the merged entries after every merge or rebase.
+TODO.md merge=union

TODO.md

@@ -21,6 +21,41 @@ fmt-check, and commit.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-04: Went through the fleet findings recorded on 2026-08-09 (issue 62)
+  and added the two rules `REPO_POLICIES.md` did not yet state: a new or changed
+  check is proven by planting a defect it must catch; and a change to a separate
+  workflow limited to `main` is first run from the feature branch, added to that
+  workflow's `branches` list and removed again before merging. The other
+  findings were already stated, replaced by `--no-cache`, about git worktrees,
+  or about how agents work together. The warning against
+  `golangci-lint config verify` is dropped because sneak ruled on
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts/issues/40 (2026-08-10) that there is no
+  config check step and the config is assumed valid; a vendored `.golangci.yml`
+  stays byte-identical to the canonical copy. The issue gives each reason.
+- 2026-10-04: `REPO_POLICIES.md` now says which `Dockerfile` stages run
+  `script/bootstrap` (issue 90). The gate phases and the build stage start from
+  their pinned base images and install what those images lack either inline, as
+  the canonical Go `Dockerfile` does for `git`, or by running
+  `script/bootstrap`, as this repo's own `Dockerfile` does for its yarn
+  packages. The development environment stage, the final stage of a non-server
+  repo, runs `script/bootstrap`. The new repo checklist says the same.
+- 2026-10-04: Added a root `.gitattributes` that merges `TODO.md` with git's
+  union merge (issue 98), so two branches that each add an entry at the top of
+  Completed Steps merge without a conflict. Git now never reports a conflict in
+  `TODO.md`: a real conflict elsewhere keeps both versions of the line, and when
+  two new entries share an identical line, one is inserted into the middle of
+  the other, which a rebase can do to an entry already on `next`. Read the
+  merged entries after every merge or rebase. This applies to this repository
+  only; no canonical file changed.
+- 2026-10-04: The canonical `.dockerignore` now also keeps out the git `config`
+  of a submodule that keeps its own `.git` directory, which still reached the
+  image (issue 88): both git patterns now carry the `**/` prefix. A submodule
+  whose name has a `config` segment (`config`, `deploy/config`, `config/lib`)
+  still loses its whole git directory, so Go's version stamping fails the build;
+  the file records this as a `KNOWN GAP:` with the remedy,
+  `git submodule add --name`. Closing it would take a wildcard re-include, which
+  makes BuildKit walk every excluded directory, such as `node_modules`, on every
+  build. `REPO_POLICIES.md` and both checklists say so in the same words.
 - 2026-10-04: The note under the canonical Go `Dockerfile` example in
   `REPO_POLICIES.md` now installs lint-phase system libraries with `apt-get`
   under their Debian package names (issue 83). The `golangci/golangci-lint`

prompts/EXISTING_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

@@ -63,10 +63,15 @@ with your task.
       here run anywhere other than the repo root, the anchored entry misses
       `services/api/.claude/`: add anchored entries for those directories.
 - [ ] If the repo embeds a version in a binary: `.dockerignore` lets `.git` into
-      the build context. It keeps out `.git/config` and each submodule's
-      `config` under `.git/modules/` at any depth (`.git/modules/**/config`),
-      which `git describe` does not need and which can hold a credential: a
-      password in a remote URL, or the token the CI checkout step stores there.
+      the build context. It keeps out every git `config` at any depth
+      (`**/.git/config`, `**/.git/modules/**/config`): the repository's own,
+      each submodule's under `.git/modules/`, and that of a submodule keeping
+      its own `.git` directory. `git describe` does not need them, and each can
+      hold a credential: a password in a remote URL, or the token the CI
+      checkout step stores there. A submodule whose name has a `config` segment
+      (`config`, `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole git directory to
+      `**/.git/modules/**/config`, and Go's version stamping then fails the
+      build: give it a name without that segment (`git submodule add --name`).
       The stage that compiles has `git` (the Debian Go image has it; an alpine
       one needs `apk add --no-cache git`) and takes the version from the
       `VERSION` build argument when one is given, otherwise from

prompts/NEW_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

@@ -71,10 +71,15 @@ Template files can be fetched from:
       will run them in subdirectories, `services/api/.claude/` needs its own
       anchored entry.
     - If the image embeds a version in a binary: `.dockerignore` lets `.git`
-      into the build context. It keeps out `.git/config` and each submodule's
-      `config` under `.git/modules/` at any depth (`.git/modules/**/config`),
-      which `git describe` does not need and which can hold a credential: a
-      password in a remote URL, or the token the CI checkout step stores there.
+      into the build context. It keeps out every git `config` at any depth
+      (`**/.git/config`, `**/.git/modules/**/config`): the repository's own,
+      each submodule's under `.git/modules/`, and that of a submodule keeping
+      its own `.git` directory. `git describe` does not need them, and each can
+      hold a credential: a password in a remote URL, or the token the CI
+      checkout step stores there. A submodule whose name has a `config` segment
+      (`config`, `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole git directory to
+      `**/.git/modules/**/config`, and Go's version stamping then fails the
+      build: give it a name without that segment (`git submodule add --name`).
       The stage that compiles has `git` (the Debian Go image has it; an alpine
       one needs `apk add --no-cache git`) and takes the version from the
       `VERSION` build argument when one is given, otherwise from
@@ -119,8 +124,10 @@ are thin shims calling them. Model scripts:
 - [ ] `script/bootstrap` / `make bootstrap` — installs all dependencies,
       idempotently, assuming nothing (pkg manager detection nix/apt/brew/apk;
       node used if present, else pinned version via nvm from a hash-verified
-      archive; pinned yarn via corepack); Dockerfile runs it instead of inline
-      installs
+      archive; pinned yarn via corepack); a non-server repo's development
+      environment stage runs it instead of inline installs; a gate phase or the
+      build stage installs what its base image lacks either inline or by running
+      it
 - [ ] `script/setup` / `make setup` — readies a fresh clone: runs `bootstrap`,
       then `install-precommit`, plus repo-specific init
 - [ ] `script/test` / `make test` — `docker build --no-cache --target test .`,

prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md

@@ -104,10 +104,14 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   `lint` phase and a `test` phase, with the final stage depending on both so the
   image cannot be built unless they pass. For non-server repos the final stage
   brings up a development environment; for server repos it is the runtime image.
-  Dockerfiles install development prerequisites by running `script/bootstrap`
-  rather than duplicating installs inline; COPY `script/` and the dependency
-  manifests (`package.json` + `yarn.lock`, `go.mod` + `go.sum`, etc.) before
-  running it.
+  The gate phases and the build stage start from their pinned base images and
+  install what those images lack either inline, as the canonical Go `Dockerfile`
+  below does for `git`, or by running `script/bootstrap`, as the `prompts`
+  repo's own `Dockerfile` does for its yarn packages. The development
+  environment stage installs development prerequisites by running
+  `script/bootstrap` rather than duplicating its installs inline. A stage that
+  runs `script/bootstrap` COPYs `script/` and the dependency manifests
+  (`package.json` + `yarn.lock`, `go.mod` + `go.sum`, etc.) before running it.
 
 - **Linting and testing run in Docker, as phases of the `Dockerfile`.** There is
   no separate lint file. `script/lint` and `script/test` each build one phase
@@ -156,6 +160,9 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   not evidence that anything ran: a sub-second build reporting success is a
   cache hit, not a result. Never invalidate by pruning — `docker builder prune`
   and friends destroy a build cache shared with every other build on the host.
+  When a check is added or changed, prove it works by planting a defect it must
+  catch and watching the run fail on it, then revert the defect. A green run
+  alone shows neither that the check ran nor that it covers what it should.
 
 - **The gate phases are separate stages, and the build stage depends on both.**
   The lint phase is based on the `golangci/golangci-lint` image (pinned by
@@ -248,11 +255,16 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
             && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
         ```
 
-    - `.dockerignore` lets `.git` into the build context. It keeps out
-      `.git/config` and each submodule's `config` under `.git/modules/` at any
-      depth (`.git/modules/**/config`), which `git describe` does not need and
-      which can hold a credential: a password in a remote URL, or the token the
-      CI checkout step stores there. The stage that compiles has `git` (the
+    - `.dockerignore` lets `.git` into the build context. It keeps out every git
+      `config` at any depth (`**/.git/config`, `**/.git/modules/**/config`): the
+      repository's own, each submodule's under `.git/modules/`, and that of a
+      submodule keeping its own `.git` directory. `git describe` does not need
+      them, and each can hold a credential: a password in a remote URL, or the
+      token the CI checkout step stores there. A submodule whose name has a
+      `config` segment (`config`, `deploy/config`, `config/lib`) loses its whole
+      git directory to `**/.git/modules/**/config`, and Go's version stamping
+      then fails the build: give it a name without that segment
+      (`git submodule add --name`). The stage that compiles has `git` (the
       Debian Go image has it; an alpine one needs `apk add --no-cache git`) and
       takes the version from the `VERSION` build argument when one is given,
       otherwise from `git describe --tags --always`. That gives the tag on a
@@ -274,7 +286,12 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
   carry the same guarantee, because its gate phases may come from the cache. The
   image build is uncached and so runs the gate phases a second time. That is the
   price of the rule above, and it is worth paying: the image that ships is built
-  from a run of its own gates rather than from a cache entry.
+  from a run of its own gates rather than from a cache entry. A separate
+  workflow limited to `main` by a `branches` list under `on: push` cannot be
+  checked by review: to try a change to it, add the feature branch to that list
+  and push, then remove the branch from the list again before merging. Keep any
+  job in it that publishes behind `if: github.ref_name == 'main'`, so the run
+  from the feature branch publishes nothing.
 
 - Use platform-standard formatters: `black` for Python, `prettier` for
   JS/CSS/Markdown/HTML, `go fmt` for Go. Always use default configuration with