fix(backlog-manager): fix false "Backlog Blocked" when dependencies are already merged

src/agents/definitions/backlog-manager.yaml

@@ -29,15 +29,13 @@ triggers:
     defaultEnabled: false
     contextPipeline: [pipelineSnapshot]
   - event: pm:status-changed
-    label: Item Added to Backlog
-    description: When an item is moved to Backlog, check if pipeline is empty and it should be moved to TODO immediately
+    label: Backlog / Merged Card Move
+    description: >
+      Triggers when a card is moved to the Backlog list (new work available) OR to the
+      Merged list (a blocking dependency was resolved). Both cases may allow the next
+      backlog item to be pulled into TODO. Note: when enabled, this fires for both
+      list moves — they cannot be independently toggled.
     defaultEnabled: false
-    parameters:
-      - name: targetStatus
-        type: select
-        label: Target Status
-        options: [backlog]
-        defaultValue: backlog
     contextPipeline: [pipelineSnapshot]
   - event: internal:auto-chain
     label: Auto-chain after Splitting

src/agents/definitions/contextSteps.ts

@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ function appendPipelineSection(
 
 	if (!PIPELINE_DETAIL_LISTS.has(list.name)) {
 		for (const item of items) {
-			sections.push(`- [${item.id}] ${item.title}`);
+			sections.push(`- [${item.id}] ${item.title}${item.url ? ` (${item.url})` : ''}`);
 		}
 		sections.push('');
 		return;

src/agents/prompts/templates/backlog-manager.eta

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ A **Pipeline Snapshot** has been pre-loaded into your context containing the cur
 
 3. **Only if the active pipeline count is below the capacity limit**, proceed to backlog selection. The number of <%= it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards' %> you may move = capacity limit (<%= it.maxInFlightItems ?? 1 %>) minus current active count.
 
-Note: DONE and MERGED <%= it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards' %> are completed work and do not block new work from being selected. The snapshot shows their titles for dependency checking.
+Note: DONE and MERGED <%= it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards' %> are completed work and do not block new work from being selected. The snapshot shows their titles and URLs for dependency checking.
 
 ## Backlog Selection Process
 
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ When the active pipeline has capacity:
    - References to other <%= it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards' %>: "blocked by", "depends on", "waiting for", "after"
    - Cross-references to <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> IDs, URLs, or titles
    - Comments indicating external dependencies
-   - **IMPORTANT**: Before declaring a <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> blocked, check whether the dependency exists in the MERGED list. A dependency in MERGED is **resolved** — it does NOT block. Check the pre-loaded Pipeline Snapshot MERGED section (titles are provided for dependency checking).
+   - **Stale annotations**: Text like "(not yet merged)" in a description was written when the <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> was created and is **always stale**. Do NOT use it as evidence of blocked status — only the MERGED list itself is authoritative.
+   - **IMPORTANT — MERGED check**: Before declaring a <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> blocked, scan the MERGED section of the Pipeline Snapshot. Use **substring matching**: if the dependency name (e.g., "SCMIntegration", "OpenCodeEngine", "integrationRoles") appears anywhere within a MERGED title, that dependency is **resolved** and does NOT block. Each MERGED entry also shows its URL in parentheses — if the description references a <%= it.pmName || 'PM' %> link, match it against the URL too. A module or class name found anywhere in a title counts as a match.
 4. **Select the best unblocked <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %>(s)** considering:
    - Smaller, self-contained <%= it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards' %> are preferred
    - <%= it.workItemNounPluralCap || 'Cards' %> with clear acceptance criteria
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ Manual intervention may be needed to unblock the backlog.
 - ALWAYS read <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> contents before making a selection decision
 - <%= it.maxInFlightItems == null || it.maxInFlightItems === 1 ? 'ALWAYS move exactly ONE ' + (it.workItemNoun || 'card') + ' per run' : 'Move only as many ' + (it.workItemNounPlural || 'cards') + ' as needed to reach capacity (limit: ' + it.maxInFlightItems + ')' %>
 - ALWAYS post a comment BEFORE moving the <%= it.workItemNoun || 'card' %> — comment first, then move to TODO
-- BE CONSERVATIVE with dependency detection - when unsure, treat as blocked
+- CONSERVATIVE on detecting dependencies — when unsure if text implies a dependency, treat it as one. But GENEROUS on MERGED resolution — use substring matching and prefer resolved over blocked for ambiguous matches.
 - LOOK FOR dependency keywords: "blocked by", "depends on", "waiting for", "after", "requires"
+- IGNORE "(not yet merged)" and similar stale annotations in descriptions — they are written at card creation and never updated. The MERGED list is the only source of truth.
 - EXECUTE COMMANDS — DO NOT JUST DESCRIBE THEM: When you decide to post a comment or move a card, you MUST actually invoke the command as a tool call. Writing a command inside a code block without invoking it does NOT execute it — text output has no effect on the system. If you find yourself writing out a command without calling it, stop and call it instead.

src/triggers/trello/register.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { TrelloCommentMentionTrigger } from './comment-mention.js';
 import { ReadyToProcessLabelTrigger } from './label-added.js';
 import {
 	TrelloStatusChangedBacklogTrigger,
+	TrelloStatusChangedMergedTrigger,
 	TrelloStatusChangedPlanningTrigger,
 	TrelloStatusChangedSplittingTrigger,
 	TrelloStatusChangedTodoTrigger,
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ export function registerTrelloTriggers(registry: TriggerRegistry): void {
 	registry.register(TrelloStatusChangedPlanningTrigger);
 	registry.register(TrelloStatusChangedTodoTrigger);
 	registry.register(TrelloStatusChangedBacklogTrigger);
+	registry.register(TrelloStatusChangedMergedTrigger);
 
 	registry.register(new ReadyToProcessLabelTrigger());
 }

src/triggers/trello/status-changed.ts

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { type TrelloWebhookPayload, isTrelloWebhookPayload } from './types.js';
 interface StatusChangedConfig {
 	name: string;
 	description: string;
-	listKey: 'splitting' | 'planning' | 'todo' | 'backlog';
+	listKey: 'splitting' | 'planning' | 'todo' | 'backlog' | 'merged';
 	agentType: 'splitting' | 'planning' | 'implementation' | 'backlog-manager';
 }
 
@@ -115,3 +115,11 @@ export const TrelloStatusChangedBacklogTrigger = createStatusChangedTrigger({
 	listKey: 'backlog',
 	agentType: 'backlog-manager',
 });
+
+export const TrelloStatusChangedMergedTrigger = createStatusChangedTrigger({
+	name: 'trello-status-changed-merged',
+	description:
+		'Re-triggers backlog-manager when any card is moved to MERGED, so manually resolved dependencies unblock the backlog',
+	listKey: 'merged',
+	agentType: 'backlog-manager',
+});

tests/unit/agents/definitions/pipelineSnapshot.test.ts

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ describe('fetchPipelineSnapshotStep', () => {
 		expect(output).toContain('Full details here');
 	});
 
-	it('uses title-only format for DONE and MERGED lists', async () => {
+	it('uses title-and-url format for DONE and MERGED lists', async () => {
 		mockGetPMProviderOrNull.mockReturnValue(mockProvider as never);
 
 		const card = { id: 'card-done', title: 'Done Card', url: 'http://trello.com/c/2', labels: [] };
@@ -161,8 +161,25 @@ describe('fetchPipelineSnapshotStep', () => {
 		expect(mockReadWorkItem).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('card-done', true);
 
 		const output = result[0].result as string;
-		// Title-only format
+		// Title + URL format
 		expect(output).toContain('[card-done] Done Card');
+		expect(output).toContain('http://trello.com/c/2');
+	});
+
+	it('omits URL parentheses for DONE/MERGED items when url is empty', async () => {
+		mockGetPMProviderOrNull.mockReturnValue(mockProvider as never);
+
+		const card = { id: 'card-done', title: 'Done Card', url: '', labels: [] };
+		mockProvider.listWorkItems.mockImplementation(async (listId: string) => {
+			if (listId === 'list-done') return [card];
+			return [];
+		});
+
+		const result = await fetchPipelineSnapshotStep(makeParams({}, makeProject()));
+
+		const output = result[0].result as string;
+		expect(output).toContain('[card-done] Done Card');
+		expect(output).not.toContain('()');
 	});
 
 	it('handles list fetch errors gracefully', async () => {

tests/unit/triggers/backlog-status-changed.test.ts

@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ describe('TrelloStatusChangedBacklogTrigger', () => {
 		expect(result?.agentType).toBe('backlog-manager');
 		expect(result?.workItemId).toBe('card789');
 		expect(result?.agentInput.workItemId).toBe('card789');
+		expect(result?.agentInput.triggerEvent).toBe('pm:status-changed');
 	});
 
 	it('returns null when card ID is missing from payload', async () => {

tests/unit/triggers/builtins.test.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ vi.mock('../../../src/triggers/trello/status-changed.js', () => ({
 	TrelloStatusChangedPlanningTrigger: { name: 'trello-status-changed-planning' },
 	TrelloStatusChangedTodoTrigger: { name: 'trello-status-changed-todo' },
 	TrelloStatusChangedBacklogTrigger: { name: 'trello-status-changed-backlog' },
+	TrelloStatusChangedMergedTrigger: { name: 'trello-status-changed-merged' },
 }));
 vi.mock('../../../src/triggers/trello/comment-mention.js', () => ({
 	TrelloCommentMentionTrigger: vi
@@ -87,8 +88,8 @@ describe('registerBuiltInTriggers', () => {
 
 		registerBuiltInTriggers(registry as unknown as TriggerRegistry);
 
-		// Should have registered all 20 built-in triggers (18 + 2 Sentry alerting triggers)
-		expect(registry.register).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(20);
+		// Should have registered all 21 built-in triggers (19 + 2 Sentry alerting triggers)
+		expect(registry.register).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(21);
 	});
 
 	it('registers TrelloCommentMentionTrigger first', () => {
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ describe('registerBuiltInTriggers', () => {
 		expect(firstCall.name).toBe('trello-comment-mention');
 	});
 
-	it('registers all four status-changed triggers (Trello)', () => {
+	it('registers all five status-changed triggers (Trello)', () => {
 		const registry = createMockRegistry();
 
 		registerBuiltInTriggers(registry as unknown as TriggerRegistry);
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ describe('registerBuiltInTriggers', () => {
 		expect(registeredNames).toContain('trello-status-changed-planning');
 		expect(registeredNames).toContain('trello-status-changed-todo');
 		expect(registeredNames).toContain('trello-status-changed-backlog');
+		expect(registeredNames).toContain('trello-status-changed-merged');
 	});
 
 	it('registers GitHub triggers', () => {