automaton/tasks/complete/add-outputs-retention/CODE_REVIEW.md

Code Review: add-outputs-retention

SPEC coverage

Requirement	Status
R1 — _get_retention helper from outputs.retention	✓
R2 — GC executes on every tick (post-write)	✓ step 10.5 inside _loop_lock
R3 — Retention = 0 means no GC	✓ if retention <= 0: return
R4 — GC failure doesn't crash tick	✓ OSError caught → WARNING log + swallow
R5 — No new pip deps	✓ stdlib only

Cross-script impact

• scripts/loop-runner.py: pure addition; no existing function changed.
• templates/loops/self-improvement/loop.json: new outputs.retention: 20 field.
• scripts/status.py: no changes needed (create-loop template provides the default; runner reads, not status.py).

Off-by-one fix

GC formula was cutoff = max_seen - retention (kept retention+1 groups). Found during test execution when test_gc_keeps_recent_deletes_old showed 21 remaining instead of 20. Fixed to cutoff = max_seen - retention + 1. Good test coverage.

Verdict

PASS — proceed to bug_find.