0.53.0 · core 2026-07-14

release 0.53.0 on GitHub →

Breaking Change

• Eliminated .stelow/{date}/{hash}/index.json mirror entirely — stelow.json is now the single canonical source of truth. No mirrors, no write-through, no drift detection. All TUI consumers (muxy panel, herdr TUI, doctor, pulse) read directly from stelow.json.

Removed

• extensions/stelow/state.ts — updateWorkflowIndexJson() function (110+ lines). archiveWorkflowOnDisk() function. scanWorkflowDirs() rewritten to read stelow.json instead of scanning index.json files. writeTracking() no longer iterates over workflows to mirror state.
• extensions/stelow/start.ts — cmdStart no longer writes index.json (only stelow.json).
• extensions/stelow/commands.ts — 3 sites that called updateWorkflowIndexJson after archiveWorkflowOnDisk.
• extensions/stelow/index.ts — agent-end hook no longer calls updateWorkflowIndexJson.
• extensions/stelow/doctor.ts — readWorkflowIndexSnapshot() removed. Drift detection removed (single source = no drift possible). Zombie detection now reads stelow.json instead of scanning index.json files.
• extensions/stelow/pulse/pulse.sh — existence check now looks for stelow.json entry instead of per-workflow index.json.
• skills/stelow-product-orchestrator/stages/setup.md — workflow existence checks + resume workflow logic now reads stelow.json directly.
• integrations/muxy/stelow/src/panel/data.js — scanArtifactDirs() rewritten to read stelow.json workflow entries directly.
• integrations/herdr/stelow/src/main.rs — load_index_json() removed. WorkflowEntry struct now deserializes draftContent and scopes[] directly from stelow.json#workflows[].i.
• tests/unit/scan-workflow-dirs.test.ts — deleted (function now reads from stelow.json).
• tests/unit/config-symmetry.test.ts — rewritten (removed TS write-through tests).
• tests/unit/state-real.test.ts — removed reconcileTracking/archiveWorkflowOnDisk blocks.
• tests/unit/doctor.test.ts — removed detects missing index and global mismatch test.

Architecture

Before v0.53.0:

   stelow.json              index.json (per workflow)
   ──────────               ────────────────────
   config (canonical)  →→   config (mirror)
   scopes (canonical)  →→   scopes (mirror)
   status (canonical)  →→   status (mirror)
   ...                     draft (canonical here only!)

Two sources, must be kept in sync via write-through loop, drift detection.

After v0.53.0:

   stelow.json
   ──────────
   config ✓
   scopes ✓
   status ✓
   draftContent ✓
   phases ✓
   artifacts ✓
   ...all in one place

One source. No sync. No drift. KISS / DRY / CoC compliant.

Migration

• In-flight workflows: Nothing to do. stelow.json already has all the data. The index.json file becomes orphaned but is harmless (no code reads it).
• Integrations (muxy, herdr): Updated automatically (this release). No user action.
• Custom scripts reading index.json: Update to read stelow.json#workflows[].i for the workflow of interest (by name or dirHash).
• Filesystem artifacts: .stelow/{date}/{hash}/ directory layout unchanged. Plans, interfaces, critiques, scopes still live there. Only the index.json file inside is gone.

Tests

• 806 tests passing (was 835 in v0.52.1). Net change: -29 (removed tests for eliminated code paths).