feat(app): revise a groomed change's spec and owned sections through change.groom (change 0445)

docs/results/2026-09-24-revise-a-groomed-change-s-spec-and-owned-sections-through-a-results.md

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+<!-- docket:backlink:start (generated — do not hand-edit) -->
+> ↩ **[Change 0445 — Revise a groomed change's spec and owned sections through a typed operation](https://github.com/danielhanold/docket/blob/docket/docs/changes/active/0445-revise-a-groomed-change-s-spec-and-owned-sections-through-a.md)**
+<!-- docket:backlink:end -->
+# Revise a groomed change's spec and owned sections through a typed operation — Results
+
+**Human action:** No action is required before merge. One optional walkthrough below lets you try the new revise path by hand.
+
+## Outcome
+
+Before this change, the only way to adjust a change after grooming was to hand-edit its files and commit them directly. That skipped the version check and the `updated:` stamp that every other metadata write gets.
+
+`change.groom` now accepts a third outcome, `revise`. It works only on a `proposed` change that is already groomed, meaning it has a linked spec or was marked trivial. A revise request can replace the whole spec body (the file stays at its existing path and keeps its backlink block), splice the change's owned sections (Why / What changes / Out of scope / Open questions), or both. Everything lands in one transaction, pinned to the exact version. A revise never writes `spec:` or `trivial:`, so it cannot turn a spec'd change into a trivial one or the other way round. You can revise a change as many times as you like while it stays `proposed`.
+
+The operation refuses, and writes nothing, in these cases:
+
+- `not-revisable`: the change is not groomed yet, or is not `proposed`.
+- `spec-not-linked`: the request sends spec text for a change that has no spec.
+- `spec-file-missing`: the linked spec file is absent.
+- `empty-revise`: the request carries no effective edit.
+
+The result now reports its `outcome` and prints `change NNNN revised — …`.
+
+The `docket-groom-next` skill now sends an explicit id for an already-groomed change to a revise flow. It used to report an error and suggest clearing `spec:` by hand. `docket-new-change` now points to that same flow for adjusting a spec right after it lands.
+
+Review found problems that were fixed before the PR opened, and two of the fixes add to the design:
+
+- **Spec-body revises need a version pin.** A revise that replaces the spec body must also send `spec_version`, the git blob id of the spec the record's `spec:` field links (for example `git -C .docket rev-parse HEAD:<spec>`). If the spec changed after you read it, the call returns `contended` with a `spec-version-mismatch` finding and writes nothing, so a concurrent edit can no longer be silently overwritten. Without `spec_version` the request is refused with `empty-spec_version`; `spec_version` on any other request is refused with `invalid-spec_version`. The check runs in the operation's plan step, against the path the record links, so the caller never names the spec path.
+- **Identical revises are a no-op.** If the revise would not change the record or the spec (for example, a same-day revise with identical text), the call returns `no-op`. Before the fix, the engine failed it.
+- **`spec_markdown` cannot contain a backlink block.** On both `spec` and `revise`, `spec_markdown` that includes a `docket:backlink` block is refused with `invalid-spec_markdown`. The operation stamps that block itself, and a second copy would corrupt the spec file.
+
+Departure from the plan: the skill-size word budgets in `internal/repoguard/budgets_test.go` were raised: docket-groom-next from 1650 to 1889 words (raised in steps as the review fixes added wording), docket-new-change from 1700 to 1706. The plan prescribed the new prose word for word, and without the raise the guard would fail.
+
+## Human actions and testing
+
+### Optional — revise a groomed change by hand
+
+Run this if you want to see the new path work end to end. It changes metadata, so use a scratch repository and never the real docket backlog.
+
+Prerequisites: a docket binary built from this branch (`go build -o /tmp/docket-445 ./cmd/docket`) and a disposable repository where docket is initialized and has one `proposed` change with a linked spec.
+
+1. Write a request file `{"id":<id>,"version":"<record blob from docket status --json>","path":"<change path>","outcome":"revise","sections":[{"heading":"## Why","action":"replace","markdown":"New why text."}]}` and run `/tmp/docket-445 change groom --input req.json --json`.
+   Expected: `result` is `applied`, and the change's `## Why` now holds the new text.
+2. Run the same request again with the new version.
+   Expected: `result` is `no-op`.
+3. Send `spec_markdown` without `spec_version`.
+   Expected: `invalid-input`, with an `empty-spec_version` finding.
+
+Cleanup: delete the scratch repository.
+
+## Verification performed
+
+Each build task and each review fix ran its own tests through the gate driver, both failing (RED) and passing (GREEN). The new guards were mutation-checked: when a guard was removed, its test failed. The guards covered are the revise gate, the only-changed-paths declarations, the spec version pin (including a real-git race test where a stale version now returns `contended`), the backlink refusal, and the receipt spec_path.
+
+The first full-suite build gate failed because the embedded skill copies were stale after the skill edits. They were regenerated, and the second run passed (54/54 files). Deep-rung review then returned 6 findings: 1 blocker, 2 important, 3 minor. All six were fixed in-branch, and the full suite ran again on the final head before the PR opened.
+
+After the PR opened, the human reviewer asked to drop the `spec_path` request field that the version-pin fix had added: it could only ever repeat the record's `spec:` value, and a wrong value produced a confusing error. The spec's blob id is now checked in the plan step against the path the record links. The three new guards (the plan-step version check, the refusal-to-`contended` mapping, and the `invalid-spec_version` shape rule) were mutation-checked, and each removal reddened its tests.
+
+## Known issues and follow-ups
+
+### Skill word budgets were raised rather than trimmed
+
+The docket-groom-next and docket-new-change skill word ceilings were raised to fit the new revise instructions. Status: deliberate. If you would rather keep the skills shorter, trimming the prose is a reasonable follow-up.