Documentation-only milestones create infinite QR loop

[Alan-Chen99]

Description

Milestones marked is_documentation_only: true are routed through the plan-code phase (steps 7-10), which applies code validation rules to documentation. This creates infinite QR loops that never converge.

Reproduction

1. Create a documentation-only task (e.g., "Rewrite AGENTS.md notes")
2. Run planner — architect sets is_documentation_only: true in plan.json
3. Observe workflow:

   Step 6  → Routes to step 7 (plan-code)
   Step 7  → Developer writes documentation diffs
   Step 8  → QR-Code decompose: context lines, format rules, test coverage
   Step 9  → QR-Code verify: FAIL (style inconsistencies)
   Step 10 → Gate fails → back to step 7
   

Loop continues indefinitely — each iteration finds different style issues in prose rewrites.

Expected Behavior

Documentation-only milestones should skip plan-code (steps 7-10) and route directly to plan-docs (steps 11-14).

The planner has separate validation phases:

• plan-code (steps 7-10): QR-Code validates code diffs
• plan-docs (steps 11-14): QR-Docs validates documentation

Actual Behavior

Step 6 (plan-design-qr-route) always routes to step 7 regardless of is_documentation_only flag.

Example QR failures from code validation on documentation:

• "Line 531 not covered by diff" — legitimate for partial doc rewrites
• "Inconsistent bullet detail levels" — normal prose variation
• "Mixed annotation formats" — expected in natural language

These are subjective style choices, not bugs. Code checks don't converge on prose.

Root Cause

orchestrator/planner.py:518-523 — Step 6 uses hardcoded routing:

6: qr_route_step(
    pass_step=7,  # Always routes to plan-code
    ...
),

The is_documentation_only flag exists in shared/schema.py:220 but routing never checks it.

Environment

• Commit: 6e72bc2 (2026-02-16)
• File: skills/scripts/skills/planner/orchestrator/planner.py:518
• Affects: All documentation-focused planning workflows