# Muse-Choices Deny/Escalate Policy — DECISION RECORD (Final)

Topic: add deny/escalate decisions to the `muse-choices` auto-approve daemon
(`bin/muse_choice_watcher.py`), which today only approves (top choice per
prompt kind). Interviewed 2026-10-06/07 per grill contract; accepted
verbatim below, which flipped this record from Draft to Final.

## Standing constraints (settled by user)

- All prompts must resolve: no stuck states are acceptable in any outcome.
- The full-auto top-choice flow must always exist as a path.
- Model review of choices is a FUTURE layer. Deferred out of this interview.

## Settled decisions

- D0 (helper form): a checked-in repo rules file informs decisions.
  Source: user's structured answerquared 2026-10-06 ("Repo rules file
  (Recommended)" for "which helper should inform approve/deny/hold
  decisions"). Rationale recorded at selection time: deterministic,
  versioned, sub-second, unit-testable; no agent round-trip latency.

## Settled during interview

- D0b (approve path needs no helper): straightforward prompts resolve
  locally with top-choice keys (the five matcher kinds, already
  implemented and live). Helpers (D0 rules file) govern deny/hold
  judgments only. Source: user direction 2026-10-06 ("the watcher
  itself should be able to input 1"; "always have the flow for full
  auto just top choice").
- D1 (rule match dimensions): command pattern first, plus kind and
  text pattern. Source: user selected option 1, 2026-10-06.
  Rationale: the observed risk lives in the `$ command` of approval
  dialogs; kind/text add precision around it.
- D2 (deny mechanics): deny exists only for permission kinds --
  `muse-approval` dialogs receive `2` + Enter, `y/n` prompts receive
  `n` + Enter. Question kinds (interview, letter, numbered) always
  resolve top-choice and are never denied. Source: user selected
  option 1, 2026-10-06. Rationale: deny is only meaningful where a
  permission is refused; questions stay total.
- D3 (hold mechanics): hold leaves the dialog untouched, suppresses
  auto-answer, raises a HELD entry in `box muse-choices status` plus
  an audit record; the operator resolves via a box command, otherwise
  a SHORT window expires back to top-choice approve. Source: user
  selected option 1 with "short window", 2026-10-06. Exact duration
  proposed below (2 minutes, tunable); accepted or amended with the
  scope text in D5.

- D4 (unmatched default): approve top-choice, exactly today's
  behavior. Source: user selected option 1, 2026-10-06. Rationale:
  follows from the standing constraints; rules carve out only
  deny/hold exceptions, so an empty rules file changes nothing.

## Open questions (unresolved)

None. All interview questions resolved and the scope accepted.

## Scope contract (ACCEPTED)

Artifact boundary, IN:

- `docs/MUSE-CHOICES-POLICY.md`: this record (Draft -> Final on acceptance).
- New `muse-choices-rules.json` at repo root (beside
  `keepalive-config.json`): the checked-in deny/hold rules.
- `bin/muse_choice_watcher.py`: rule evaluation, deny/hold paths, HELD
  state with short-window expiry, resolve plumbing.
- `bin/super-cli.py`: `box muse-choices resolve` command + HELD display
  in status.
- `tests/test_muse_choice_watcher.py`: rule eval, per-kind deny keys,
  hold/suppress/expiry, resolve flow.

Artifact boundary, OUT (rejected or deferred, each needs its own
interview to re-enter):

- Model review of choices (deferred future stage).
- Peer-agent consultation (rejected in D0).
- New matcher shapes (matcher suite's lane).
- `box runtime` work (adjacent lane, untouched).
- Timer cadence / daemon supervision changes.

Done means (all observable):

- [ ] This record marked Final with the acceptance quoted.
- [ ] Rules file loads; empty rules == today's behavior exactly.
- [ ] Deny sends `2`+Enter / `n`+Enter per D2: unit tests + one live
      scratch proof per permission kind.
- [ ] Hold suppresses + shows HELD + resolves via box + expires to
      approve: unit tests + one live scratch proof of hold and one of
      expiry.
- [ ] Audit records for deny/hold/resolve/expire in `box-ctl.jsonl`.
- [ ] Full suite green; fleet reloaded; desired state left as found.

Acceptance (quoted verbatim, chat, 2026-10-07T00:19:57Z): "ACCEPT".
Accepted as written, including the 2-minute tunable hold window. Per the
grill scope contract, later work outside the IN boundary needs explicit
owner approval or its own follow-up interview; "go" authorizes only this
boundary. No owning issue exists in this workflow, so this record is the
lane-coordination evidence.

## Non-goals (accepted with the scope)

- Model-based review of choices (deferred future layer).
- Peer-agent consultation over sidechat (rejected in favor of D0).
- Changes to approval matching shapes (covered by the matcher test suite).