Night Policy

The Two-Layer Release Model

HPNC uses two layers to control what runs overnight:

Layer 1: Story Frontmatter (may run)

The night_ready: true flag in a story's frontmatter declares that this task is prepared for autonomous execution. Required fields:

• executor — which AI agent implements (opus, codex)
• reviewer — which AI agent reviews (different from executor)
• tests_required — tests must be defined
• gates_required — quality gates to pass
• blocking_questions — must be empty

Layer 2: Night Queue (should run tonight)

Adding a story to _hpnc/night-queue.yaml via hpnc queue add schedules it for the next run. The queue controls timing and order.

Cross-Model Review

The reviewer is never the executor. If Claude Code implements, Codex reviews — and vice versa. This catches blind spots that the implementing model would miss.

Quality Gates

Every task must pass all configured gates before reaching done:

• build — project compiles/imports without errors
• tests — test suite passes
• lint — code quality checks pass

A gate only passes when the subprocess exits with code 0. No false positives.

Worktree Isolation

Each task runs in its own Git worktree on a night/<task-name> branch. The main branch is never modified directly. Worktrees are cleaned up after completion regardless of outcome.