docs: plan retiring the CI Claude reviewer

docs/plans/2026-10-01-retire-claude-blocking-review.md

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+# Retire the CI Claude reviewer (#154, Phase 5)
+
+Status: PLAN, 2026-10-01. Phases 1–4 of #154 are done: `standards-check.yml`
+exists (#162, #164, #165) and W3 flipped the required check fleet-wide.
+
+## Decisions already made
+
+- **No judgment reviewer in CI** (2026-09-08, dev-env `STATUS.md`). This
+  answers #154's decision questions 1 and 2: no advisory CI reviewer either.
+- **`claude-assistant.yml` is out of scope.** It is `@claude`-triggered, not a
+  merge gate, and it keeps `CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN`.
+- **`nightowl-restore-blocking-review.sh` retires** with W3.
+- **kebab-tax and kebab-tax-netlify are out of scope.** Do not touch them.
+- **`networth-agent` stays on `claude-review`** (`IGNORED` by decision, finish
+  line plan §141).
+- **Never zero required checks.** No caller comes out of a repo that still
+  requires `claude-review / run-review`.
+
+## Survey (measured 2026-10-01, not estimated)
+
+Read-only, all three owners, non-archived, non-fork. 33 repos visible.
+
+| Group | Count |
+| --- | --- |
+| Caller present, `claude-review` NOT required | 26 |
+| Caller present, `claude-review` still required | 2 |
+| No caller | 4 |
+| The reusable workflow itself (`github-workflows`) | 1 |
+
+- Still required (2): `crazy-larry`, `networth-agent`.
+- No caller (4): `smartwatermelon/.github`, `claude-config-backup`,
+  `infinite-yaks`, `twistedmelonman/parmesan`.
+- `github-workflows` also runs the reviewer on itself via `self-review.yml`.
+
+The 26: `mac-server-setup`, `swift-progress-indicator`, `homebrew-tap`,
+`claude-config`, `claude-wrapper`, `smartwatermelon-marketplace`,
+`vpn-lan-bridge`, `mac-dev-server-setup`, `dotfiles`, `projectinsomnia`,
+`archive-resolver`, `slack-mcp`, `spokane-snow`, `dev-env`, `scripts`,
+`lock-sync`, `qwen-sidebar`, `personify`, `pr-review`,
+`claude-code-workflows-agents`, `repo-template`, `huddle-transcribe`,
+`gmail-newsletter-filter` (all `smartwatermelon`), and `tnjcleaning`,
+`amelia-boone`, `.github` (all `nightowlstudiollc`).
+
+Every caller pins `claude-blocking-review.yml@v3`. The kebab-tax repos did not
+appear in any token's `nightowlstudiollc` listing; they are out of scope.
+
+### What the survey changes in the plan
+
+1. **The reusable workflow stays.** `crazy-larry`, `networth-agent` and
+   possibly the kebab-tax repos still call it, and two of them require its
+   check. Deleting it breaks them. Keep the file and mark it deprecated.
+2. **`v3` is shared** with `claude-assistant.yml`. Moving `v3` for the
+   assistant keeps the reviewer working as long as the file still exists on
+   `main`. So "keep the file" is enough; no new major is needed now.
+3. **smartwatermelon/github-workflows#177 is not moot.** The handoff called
+   it moot, but `claude-assistant.yml` also uses `claude-code-action` at the
+   same pin. Review and merge it on its own merits.
+4. **The secret mostly stays.** Every caller repo except `dev-env` also has
+   `claude.yml` (the assistant), which needs `CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN`. Only
+   `dev-env` can drop it.
+
+## Steps
+
+### 1. Stop new repos being born with the reviewer — AGENT
+
+- `repo-template`: delete `.github/workflows/claude-blocking-review.yml`;
+  fix `README.md` lines 20–21 and 37.
+- `smartwatermelon/.github`: delete
+  `workflow-templates/claude-blocking-review.yml` and its
+  `.properties.json`.
+
+Do these first, so no new repo picks up a caller during the sweep.
+
+### 2. Fleet sweep — AGENT (one agent, Sonnet, scripted)
+
+For each of the other 25 repos (the 26 minus `repo-template`, done in
+step 1). `nightowlstudiollc/.github` has a real caller, so it is in the sweep.
+
+1. Re-read required checks. **Skip the repo** if `claude-review / run-review`
+   is required (guards against drift since the survey).
+2. Branch, `git rm .github/workflows/claude-blocking-review.yml`, commit,
+   push, open a PR. Title: `ci: retire the CI Claude reviewer`. Body names
+   #154.
+3. Stop at PR open. The main session polls CI and asks Andrew for one batch
+   merge-lock (`merge-lock auth owner/a#1,owner/b#2 "ok"`).
+
+Merge order: `claude-config` is `strict`, so its PR merges alone. Others in
+any order.
+
+### 3. github-workflows itself — AGENT
+
+- `self-review.yml`: remove the `claude-review` job; keep
+  `guard-no-checkout`.
+- `claude-blocking-review.yml`: add a header saying DEPRECATED, which callers
+  remain, and "do not delete while any caller exists".
+- Retire `bulk-install-claude-review.sh`, `claude-review-audit.sh`,
+  `nightowl-restore-blocking-review.sh`; fix `README.md` and `zizmor.yml`.
+
+### 4. References elsewhere — AGENT
+
+- `dotfiles`: `zizmor/zizmor.yml:93` ignore entry; comment at
+  `git/hooks/pre-push:93`.
+- `dev-env`: `README.md:35,44`; `docs/STATUS.md` (with the end-of-stint
+  update); `docs/token-rotation.md` (the reviewer is no longer a token user).
+- `claude-wrapper`: `CLAUDE.md:181`.
+- Leave `claude-config` test fixtures alone: they are recorded API responses.
+
+### 5. Secret — HUMAN
+
+Delete `CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN` from `smartwatermelon/dev-env` only. Agent
+tokens get HTTP 403 on the secrets API, so this is Andrew's.
+
+### 6. Verify — AGENT
+
+Re-run the survey (`survey154.sh` in the session scratchpad; commit it under
+`scripts/` if it is worth keeping). Expect: callers only in `crazy-larry`
+and `networth-agent` (plus kebab-tax, unseen); no repo requires
+`claude-review` except those two.
+
+### 7. Close #154 — AGENT
+
+Comment with the survey before/after, the holdouts and why, and a pointer to
+this plan. Close it. Leave a note that the reusable file can be deleted once
+the last caller is gone.
+
+## Open question for Andrew
+
+**`crazy-larry`:** flip it to `standards-check` now and retire its caller in
+the sweep, or leave it on `claude-review` like `networth-agent`? Its
+`standards-check.yml` exists but has never run, so the flip needs one PR to
+prove it green first.
+
+## Cost and size
+
+- Agent time: about 1–1.5 h for steps 1–4, mostly mechanical.
+- Andrew: one batch merge-lock (about 30 PRs), one sequential lock for
+  `claude-config`, and one secret deletion.
+- Saves one Claude CI run per PR on 26 repos, and the fleet's dependency on
+  `claude-code-action` being up for merges (#133).