Classify XQUIC Issue Complexity

Estimate the work needed to resolve an issue. Do not use complexity as proof that a report is valid or as a proxy for priority or severity.

Select the operation

• Use preliminary triage for backlog scans. Produce a provisional level and confidence. Do not mutate issue labels unless the user explicitly authorizes a batch classification and the complexity boundary is high confidence for every issue being changed.
• Use verified classification before applying a label. Satisfy every evidence gate and resolve material uncertainty first.
• Use label mutation only when the user authorizes GitHub changes. Preserve unrelated labels and make no other issue mutation.
• Use forced recheck only when the user explicitly asks to recheck or reclassify already-labeled issues. This bypasses only the existing-label skip gate; it does not authorize a GitHub mutation.

Gate repeated classification

1. Read harness/spec/issue-complexity/spec.md in full.
2. Resolve the repository and issue, then fetch its current labels before refreshing main, reading source, or investigating protocol behavior.
3. Select the labels whose names are exactly L1, L2, L3, or L4.
4. Continue normally when no complexity label exists.
5. When exactly one complexity label exists and no explicit forced recheck applies, stop work on that issue. Report skipped-existing-label and the existing level without rerunning classification or calling a label API. In a batch, continue with the remaining issues and count the skipped row.
6. When exactly one complexity label exists and the user explicitly forces a recheck for that issue or batch scope, record the existing level and continue. A general request to rerun triage is not a forced recheck.
7. When multiple complexity labels exist, report inconsistent-existing-label and stop without mutation.

Load evidence for issues that proceed

1. Resolve the current issue state, body, comments, assignees, and milestone.
2. Refresh the intended base and record the full origin/main commit SHA. Classify current behavior, not a stale release or issue-provided line number.
3. Use harness/spec/architecture.md and harness/spec/harness-manifest.yml to identify affected modules, public APIs, feature gates, tests, and validation boundaries.
4. Read current source, callers, tests, and the closest module documentation.
5. For protocol claims, read the exact RFC Editor section or exact active Internet-Draft revision and section. Treat issue text and comparisons with another implementation as leads, not authority.

For batch triage, use issue text and focused current-source inspection for the first pass. Record missing evidence rather than expanding every issue into a full investigation.

Separate truth from complexity

Route a claimed QUIC, HTTP/3, QPACK, TLS, recovery, DATAGRAM, multipath, or MoQT defect through issue-check before calling it a verified defect, closing it as not-a-problem, implementing a fix, or applying a high-confidence label based on that claim.

Use these disposition values independently from the L1-L4 level:

• verified-defect
• not-a-problem
• duplicate-or-obsolete
• feature-request
• question-or-support
• inconclusive

A not-a-problem closure can be L1 work. A localized interoperability defect can be L2 despite high severity. An unsupported major feature can be L4 even when no defect exists.

Choose the level

Apply every scenario in harness/spec/issue-complexity/spec.md. Evaluate:

• resolution type and whether production behavior changes;
• affected modules, layers, public APIs, and TLS backends;
• state-machine and lifetime complexity;
• protocol negotiation and backward-compatibility risk;
• paired unit-test, endpoint, and interoperability obligations; and
• migration or ecosystem impact.

Choose the highest level required by any dimension. Do not average dimensions or lower the level because the apparent code diff is short. If one issue mixes independent requests, recommend splitting it; until split, use the highest level and explain which sub-request controls it.

Set confidence to:

• high: current source, intended behavior, affected boundaries, and required validation are established;
• medium: the likely boundary is established but one non-decisive observation or test obligation remains;
• low: source applicability, intended behavior, protocol version, or blast radius is unresolved.

Only high confidence is eligible for label mutation. Confidence applies to the resolution-complexity boundary, not to whether the issue claim is true. A preliminary batch may contain medium or low confidence rows when their gaps are explicit, but those rows remain unlabelled.

Report the result

For one issue, return:

issue: <URL>
status: classified
existing_level: L1 | L2 | L3 | L4 | none
forced_recheck: true | false
inspected_main: <full SHA>
level: L1 | L2 | L3 | L4
confidence: high | medium | low
disposition: <independent disposition value>
rationale: <concise controlling complexity reason>
affected_boundaries:
  - <module, API, or state boundary>
protocol:
  source: <exact RFC/draft section or not-applicable>
  compatibility_risk: low | medium | high
validation:
  unit: <paired coverage or gap>
  endpoint: <paired coverage or gap>
  interoperability: <evidence or gap>
blocking_evidence:
  - <missing evidence; empty when high confidence>
next_action: <verification, closure explanation, design, or implementation gate>

For a skipped issue, return only its URL, status: skipped-existing-label, existing level, and skip reason. Do not claim current-main revalidation.

For a batch, add one row per issue. Classified rows include issue, level, confidence, disposition, reason, and next action; skipped rows include issue, status, and existing level. Include level totals, confidence gaps, skipped count, and the inspected main SHA for classified issues. Keep full evidence available outside any compact summary.

Apply GitHub labels

Use these repository labels exactly:

Label	Color	Description
L1	5CC665	L1 - Local change with simple logic and no peer-visible interoperability impact.
L2	F1F665	L2 - Bounded feature with moderate state reasoning and verified backward-compatible peer behavior.
L3	EC5C03	L3 - Complex state interactions with interoperability or potential legacy-version risk.
L4	481BCB	L4 - Protocol-wide change with extreme reasoning complexity or known incompatibility.

Before mutation, restate the repository, issue, old complexity label, new label, inspected SHA, and confidence. Stop if multiple L1-L4 labels already exist or if the target label definition differs from this table.

When authorized and high confidence:

1. If the recommended label is already the issue's only L1-L4 label, do not remove or re-add it.
2. Otherwise, remove the prior L1-L4 label, if any, and add exactly one recommended L1-L4 label.
3. Preserve every unrelated label.
4. Re-fetch the issue and verify the final single-label state.
5. Report the mutation or verified no-op; do not close, edit, assign, milestone, or comment on the issue unless separately requested.

Guardrails

• Do not classify pull requests as issues in an age-based issue scan.
• Do not treat a repeated batch-triage request as permission to recheck uniquely labeled issues.
• Do not expose private logs or security-sensitive reproduction details.
• Restart active or forced classification after relevant input changes; an input change alone does not permit rechecking a labeled issue.