Make GitHub Issues the single source of truth for outstanding DPROD work

[jgeluk]

Problem

Outstanding DPROD work is being maintained in branch-local planning files, especially dprod-contracts/docs/changes-plan.md and dprod-contracts/docs/recurrence-redesign.md.

These files have diverged across develop, topic branches, and forks. That makes status and decisions depend on which branch somebody reads, prevents clean parallel ownership, and hides review comments and design discussion from the shared GitHub workflow.

The divergence is already visible:

• develop contains an older changes-plan.md than Tony Seale’s contracts branches.
• Issues DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184 through Docs: remove internal planning docs (changes-plan.md, recurrence-redesign.md) from published doc tree (4.8) #201 cover most of the unresolved plan, but the Markdown files still present themselves as active trackers.
• Tony’s later commits changed decisions after the first issue migration. For example, commit 3a41133 implements the multiple-acceptsOffer part of DPROD Contracts: DataOffer target and DataContract acceptsOffer cardinality — basket model (5.8 + 5.9) #189 while the plan still describes 5.8/5.9 as rejected or undecided.
• The later Request/Ticket changes (f6f0542, 09c938f) and the unresolved question about formal Request semantics need explicit issue triage.
• Long-form analysis, such as the 5.8/5.9 modelling comparison, exists only in a branch copy of the plan instead of in DPROD Contracts: DataOffer target and DataContract acceptsOffer cardinality — basket model (5.8 + 5.9) #189 where collaborators can comment on it.
• Multiple lingering branches and PRs carry overlapping or already-merged work. PRs feat(contracts): dprod:lifeCycleStatus super-property; reject \xc2\xa75.8/\xc2\xa75.9 pending Stephen #203 and Open acceptsOffer to multiple DataOffers in 5.9 pattern #212 contain the same commit chain from branches with the same name in different repositories, while merged PR branches such as add-dprod-contracts, ns-dprod-segment, and complete-dprod-migration still exist on the EKGF remote.

The root problem is not merely that internal notes are published. The project currently has multiple mutable sources of truth for outstanding work and multiple overlapping delivery vehicles for that work.

Desired outcome

GitHub Issues is the only authoritative backlog for DPROD. Repository documents may contain stable specification or design material, but must not maintain parallel lists of open work, decisions, assignees, or status.

Each active change is developed in an issue-scoped branch and delivered by a clearly linked, non-duplicated PR. Merged, superseded, duplicate, or abandoned branches and PRs are closed or removed after confirming that they contain no unique work that still needs preservation.

Historical copies can remain in Git history and independent forks; they must no longer be treated as current project state. Branches in independent forks can only be removed by their owners, so the EKGF repository should record their disposition and ask the owner to clean them up where useful.

Work

Migrate the hand-maintained trackers

1. Inventory every unresolved, deferred, or decision-needed item in the latest known copies of the contracts planning documents.
2. Map each item to exactly one GitHub issue, reusing DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184–Docs: remove internal planning docs (changes-plan.md, recurrence-redesign.md) from published doc tree (4.8) #201 where applicable and creating issues only for genuine gaps.
3. Move useful rationale, alternatives, meeting notes, and verification criteria into the corresponding issue body or comments. In particular, move the 5.8/5.9 modelling comparison to DPROD Contracts: DataOffer target and DataContract acceptsOffer cardinality — basket model (5.8 + 5.9) #189.
4. Reconcile post-migration commits from Tony’s branches with issue state and discussion, including 3a41133, f6f0542, and 09c938f.
5. Record dependencies between issues using GitHub links rather than execution-order lists in Markdown.
6. Delete dprod-contracts/docs/changes-plan.md from develop and every maintained EKGF branch after verifying the issue mapping. Do not merge another copy of this file from an outstanding PR.
7. Move any still-relevant recurrence design into DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184, then delete dprod-contracts/docs/recurrence-redesign.md as part of DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184.
8. Update CONTRIBUTING.md to state that outstanding work and design decisions must be tracked in GitHub Issues and that PRs must link the relevant issue.
9. Reconcile or close Docs: remove internal planning docs (changes-plan.md, recurrence-redesign.md) from published doc tree (4.8) #201 once its narrower document-removal scope is covered here.

Clean up branches and PRs

10. Inventory all open PRs and remote branches and classify each as active, merged, superseded, duplicate, abandoned, or blocked on a named issue.
11. Resolve PRs feat(contracts): dprod:lifeCycleStatus super-property; reject \xc2\xa75.8/\xc2\xa75.9 pending Stephen #203 and Open acceptsOffer to multiple DataOffers in 5.9 pattern #212 explicitly. They currently carry the same seven-commit chain from tonyseale:contracts/lifecycle-abstract-and-reject-5.8-5.9 and EKGF:contracts/lifecycle-abstract-and-reject-5.8-5.9. Preserve valid changes under their corresponding GitHub issues, then close the duplicate or superseded PRs with a comment linking the replacement issue/PR.
12. Split surviving unrelated changes from the combined contracts branch into issue-scoped branches and PRs. Do not keep one long-lived branch as a replacement backlog.
13. For every merged or superseded EKGF remote branch, compare it with its base and related merged PR before deletion. Delete it only after confirming that it has no unique commits or file changes that still need migration. Initial candidates include:
    • add-dprod-contracts (PRs Add dprod-contracts folder #156 and feat(contracts): SKOS-typed lifecycle properties; remove dprod:select #199 merged)
    • ns-dprod-segment (PR feat(ontology)!: move vocabulary to DPROD/dprod; hyphenless version IRIs #205 merged)
    • complete-dprod-migration (PR fix(ontology): bind dprod sh:namespace to DPROD/dprod + update comments #209 merged)
    • contracts/lifecycle-abstract-and-reject-5.8-5.9 after feat(contracts): dprod:lifeCycleStatus super-property; reject \xc2\xa75.8/\xc2\xa75.9 pending Stephen #203/Open acceptsOffer to multiple DataOffers in 5.9 pattern #212 are resolved
14. Review other stale open PRs independently; close those that are obsolete, duplicated, or already implemented elsewhere, with a final comment explaining the disposition and linking any replacement issue or PR.
15. Ask fork owners to delete obsolete fork branches where appropriate. Do not rewrite repository history merely to erase historical copies of the tracker.

Acceptance criteria

• Every unresolved item from the latest planning documents has exactly one open GitHub issue.
• Completed or rejected items are represented by closed issues or comments recording the decision; they are not left as status text in a branch document.
• Relevant analysis and reviewer context are preserved in GitHub.
• DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184–Docs: remove internal planning docs (changes-plan.md, recurrence-redesign.md) from published doc tree (4.8) #201 accurately reflect current implementation and decision status.
• dprod-contracts/docs/changes-plan.md is deleted from develop and all maintained EKGF branches.
• dprod-contracts/docs/recurrence-redesign.md is deleted after its relevant design content is preserved in DPROD Contracts: Bucket 4 — recurrence redesign #184.
• No maintained branch contains an active Markdown backlog or outstanding-issues list.
• CONTRIBUTING.md identifies GitHub Issues as the canonical and exclusive backlog.
• PRs feat(contracts): dprod:lifeCycleStatus super-property; reject \xc2\xa75.8/\xc2\xa75.9 pending Stephen #203/Open acceptsOffer to multiple DataOffers in 5.9 pattern #212 are reconciled; no duplicate PRs carry the same commit series.
• Every surviving PR links its GitHub issue and has a coherent, non-overlapping scope.
• Merged, superseded, and abandoned branches on the EKGF remote are removed after a unique-work audit.
• Stale PRs have an explicit close/keep decision recorded in GitHub.
• A repository check fails if the retired tracker files are reintroduced.

Related: #184, #185, #186, #188, #189, #190, #197, #198, #201, #203, #212.