fix: feat: dev-poll checks priority-labeled issues before plain backlog (#555)

Add two-tier backlog pickup in dev-poll.sh:
1. in-progress issues (existing)
2. priority + backlog issues (FIFO within tier)
3. plain backlog issues (FIFO within tier)

The priority label coexists with backlog (not a replacement).
ensure_priority_label() auto-creates the label if missing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

AGENTS.md

@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ Issues flow: `backlog` → `in-progress` → PR → CI → review → merge →
 | Label | Meaning | Set by |
 |---|---|---|
 | `backlog` | Issue is queued for implementation. Dev-poll picks the first ready one. | Planner, gardener, humans |
+| `priority` | Queue tier above plain backlog. Issues with both `priority` and `backlog` are picked before plain `backlog` issues. FIFO within each tier. | Planner, humans |
 | `in-progress` | Dev-agent is actively working on this issue. Only one issue per project is in-progress at a time. | dev-agent.sh (claims issue) |
 | `blocked` | Issue is stuck — agent session failed, crashed, timed out, or CI exhausted. Diagnostic comment on the issue has details. Also used for unmet dependencies. | dev-agent.sh, action-agent.sh, dev-poll.sh (on failure) |
 | `tech-debt` | Pre-existing issue flagged by AI reviewer, not introduced by a PR. | review-pr.sh (auto-created follow-ups) |

dev/dev-poll.sh

@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 #
 # Priority:
 #   1. Orphaned "in-progress" issues (agent died or PR needs attention)
-#   2. Ready "backlog" issues (all deps merged)
+#   2. Ready "priority" + "backlog" issues (FIFO within tier)
+#   3. Ready "backlog" issues without "priority" (FIFO within tier)
 #
 # Usage:
 #   cron every 10min
@@ -590,18 +591,38 @@ done
 
 # =============================================================================
 # PRIORITY 2: find ready backlog issues (pull system)
+#
+# Two-tier pickup: priority+backlog issues first (FIFO), then plain backlog
+# issues (FIFO). The "priority" label is added alongside "backlog", not instead.
 # =============================================================================
 log "scanning backlog for ready issues"
-BACKLOG_JSON=$(curl -sf -H "Authorization: token ${CODEBERG_TOKEN}" \
+
+# Ensure the priority label exists on this repo
+ensure_priority_label >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
+# Tier 1: issues with both "priority" and "backlog" labels
+PRIORITY_BACKLOG_JSON=$(curl -sf -H "Authorization: token ${CODEBERG_TOKEN}" \
+  "${API}/issues?state=open&labels=priority,backlog&limit=20&type=issues&sort=oldest") || true
+PRIORITY_BACKLOG_JSON="${PRIORITY_BACKLOG_JSON:-[]}"
+
+# Tier 2: all "backlog" issues (includes priority ones — deduplicated below)
+ALL_BACKLOG_JSON=$(curl -sf -H "Authorization: token ${CODEBERG_TOKEN}" \
   "${API}/issues?state=open&labels=backlog&limit=20&type=issues&sort=oldest")
 
+# Combine: priority issues first, then remaining backlog issues (deduped)
+BACKLOG_JSON=$(jq -n \
+  --argjson pri "$PRIORITY_BACKLOG_JSON" \
+  --argjson all "$ALL_BACKLOG_JSON" \
+  '($pri | map(.number)) as $pnums | $pri + [$all[] | select(.number as $n | $pnums | map(. == $n) | any | not)]')
+
 BACKLOG_COUNT=$(echo "$BACKLOG_JSON" | jq 'length')
 if [ "$BACKLOG_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
   log "no backlog issues"
   exit 0
 fi
 
-log "found ${BACKLOG_COUNT} backlog issues"
+PRIORITY_COUNT=$(echo "$PRIORITY_BACKLOG_JSON" | jq 'length')
+log "found ${BACKLOG_COUNT} backlog issues (${PRIORITY_COUNT} priority)"
 
 # Check each for readiness
 READY_ISSUE=""

lib/ci-helpers.sh

@@ -27,6 +27,27 @@ ensure_blocked_label_id() {
   printf '%s' "$_BLOCKED_LABEL_ID"
 }
 
+# ensure_priority_label — look up (or create) the "priority" label, print its ID.
+# Caches the result in _PRIORITY_LABEL_ID to avoid repeated API calls.
+# Requires: CODEBERG_TOKEN, CODEBERG_API (from env.sh), codeberg_api()
+ensure_priority_label() {
+  if [ -n "${_PRIORITY_LABEL_ID:-}" ]; then
+    printf '%s' "$_PRIORITY_LABEL_ID"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  _PRIORITY_LABEL_ID=$(codeberg_api GET "/labels" 2>/dev/null \
+    | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "priority") | .id' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -z "$_PRIORITY_LABEL_ID" ]; then
+    _PRIORITY_LABEL_ID=$(curl -sf -X POST \
+      -H "Authorization: token ${CODEBERG_TOKEN}" \
+      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+      "${CODEBERG_API}/labels" \
+      -d '{"name":"priority","color":"#f59e0b"}' 2>/dev/null \
+      | jq -r '.id // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  fi
+  printf '%s' "$_PRIORITY_LABEL_ID"
+}
+
 # diff_has_code_files — check if file list (stdin, one per line) contains code files
 # Non-code paths: docs/*, formulas/*, evidence/*, *.md
 # Returns 0 if any code file found, 1 if all files are non-code.