From b4e8d5287d7aa7e6171ecdbd5e36430649ad6e2e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ZeroPoint95 <329227198+ZeroPoint95@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 21:45:25 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] fix: keep senior-dev help within eighty columns

---
 .github/workflows/ci.yml        | 3 +++
 Makefile                        | 9 +++++++--
 docs/rules/ci.md                | 7 ++++++-
 internal/seniordev/seniordev.go | 6 +++---
 4 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 12f2a78f50..82ba8dc39f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -188,6 +188,9 @@ jobs:
           go test ./internal/manual/
           go test -run 'Manual' ./internal/tui3/ ./internal/session/
 
+      - name: Carried program help fits eighty columns
+        run: make test-carried-help
+
       # THE LAWS HOLD. Every test that reads the tree itself — the endings
       # ratchet, the guard, the taxonomy, the words the e2e suite waits for —
       # found by what it does (scripts/laws.sh) and run as one target, about
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 87c42b913d..b122e04013 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # anywhere else — so a stale copy can't shadow a fresh one.
 BINARY := bin/codeaf
 
-.PHONY: all build build-check build-cross debug demo-home clean-run embed manual-pack-law furrow test test-focus test-report test-quick test-tooling test-touched test-touched-preflight pr-ready test-laws fmt-check test-packed-manual manual-gates test-remote test-e2e test-e2e-tui vet check size clean \
+.PHONY: all build build-check build-cross debug demo-home clean-run embed manual-pack-law furrow test test-focus test-report test-quick test-tooling test-touched test-touched-preflight pr-ready test-laws test-carried-help fmt-check test-packed-manual manual-gates test-remote test-e2e test-e2e-tui vet check size clean \
         changelog changelog-new changelog-check changelog-preview
 
 # What the shipped binary is allowed to weigh, in bytes, checked in beside the
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ test-report:
 build-check:
 	go build ./...
 
-test-quick: build-check vet fmt-check test-packed-manual changelog-check manual-gates test-laws
+test-quick: build-check vet fmt-check test-packed-manual changelog-check manual-gates test-laws test-carried-help
 
 # The shell runners are executable infrastructure that Go's package walk cannot
 # discover, so their acceptance scripts are named here. The benchmark clone
@@ -269,6 +269,11 @@ pr-ready: test-touched-preflight
 test-laws:
 	./scripts/laws.sh
 
+# Carried help spans the registered programs, so testing only a changed program
+# package misses a description that no longer fits the shared eighty-cell page.
+test-carried-help:
+	go test ./internal/delegate/builtin -run '^TestEveryCarriedProgramsHelpFitsEightyColumns$$' -count=1
+
 # gofmt is not a preference here. A file gofmt would rewrite is a file the next
 # editor's save rewrites, and that diff lands in somebody else's pull request.
 fmt-check:
diff --git a/docs/rules/ci.md b/docs/rules/ci.md
index bc39345a2a..6cea851643 100644
--- a/docs/rules/ci.md
+++ b/docs/rules/ci.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ one required name, is green only when both halves are.
 
 ## What the light gate actually checks
 
-Seven things in `ci.yml`, job name `light gate`, then the touched packages, then `check`:
+Eight things in `ci.yml`, job name `light gate`, then the touched packages, then `check`:
 
 - **`go build ./...`** — several sessions work this tree at once and a
   half-finished file breaks the build for everybody. Cheapest possible answer to
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ Seven things in `ci.yml`, job name `light gate`, then the touched packages, then
   after the link. Every test in a file that carries the marker runs, so a file
   whose behavioural half is slow should move its laws out rather than argue with
   the script.
+- **Carried program help fits eighty columns.** `make test-carried-help` runs
+  the existing width test against every registered program and command, with
+  the shared flags included. It runs on every light gate and in `test-quick`,
+  because the touched-package selector does not follow reverse dependencies
+  from a program's flags to the registry's help test.
 
 **`touched packages`** is the aggregate job: the full suite of every package
 this change touched runs with `-count=1` in concurrent tui3, session, codeaf and
diff --git a/internal/seniordev/seniordev.go b/internal/seniordev/seniordev.go
index 3fea3fd38a..f5d1d14be9 100644
--- a/internal/seniordev/seniordev.go
+++ b/internal/seniordev/seniordev.go
@@ -192,12 +192,12 @@ func bindRun(fs *flag.FlagSet) delegate.Body {
 	asked := fs.Bool("asked", false, "the --high models were asked for by name; none is skipped")
 	// The project's own check, named by whoever started the run, for a project
 	// whose build or test discovery cannot find (fullverification/declared.go).
-	verifyBuild := fs.String("verify-build", "", "the project's build command, run on the frozen tree in place of the one discovered")
-	verifyTest := fs.String("verify-test", "", "the project's test command, run on the frozen tree in place of the one discovered")
+	verifyBuild := fs.String("verify-build", "", "build command on the frozen tree; replaces discovery")
+	verifyTest := fs.String("verify-test", "", "test command on the frozen tree; replaces discovery")
 	// Where the session store lives when the folder's own .senior-dev is not
 	// safe to keep it in: a rig that resets the folder, or one that collects the
 	// store after the run (app/state_dir.go).
-	stateDir := fs.String("state-dir", "", "keep the session database and conversation here, outside the folder (default: $"+app.StateDirEnv+", else .senior-dev)")
+	stateDir := fs.String("state-dir", "", "session store path (see manual for defaults)")
 	return func(ctx context.Context, host delegate.Host, args []string) error {
 		run(ctx, host, app.Options{
 			Goal:        strings.Join(args, " "),

From 98d7d83b0c1ace0e6ba1a4643fa74ec28cc9f9e9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ZeroPoint95 <329227198+ZeroPoint95@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:02:57 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] changelog: record senior-dev help width repair (#1810)

---
 docs/changes/unreleased/1810-senior-dev-help-width.md | 9 +++++++++
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/changes/unreleased/1810-senior-dev-help-width.md

diff --git a/docs/changes/unreleased/1810-senior-dev-help-width.md b/docs/changes/unreleased/1810-senior-dev-help-width.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..95d0b36054
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changes/unreleased/1810-senior-dev-help-width.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+kind: fixed
+title: senior-dev help fits eighty columns and is checked before merging
+pr: 1810
+surface: [engine, build, docs]
+invalidates:
+  - "The senior-dev run help printed --state-dir, --verify-build and --verify-test beyond eighty columns. Their descriptions now fit, and the state-dir line points to the manual's record-folder and environment defaults."
+  - "A change to a carried program's flags could pass the PR gate without running the registry's help-width test. The light gate and make test-quick now run that test for every carried program and command."
+---