zoom-out audit: roadmap doc stale + 5 issues parked in decision-limbo (project_plan.md, #201/#223/#197/#219/#155)

[domattioli]

First live zoom-out invocation (operator-directed 2026-07-22; precondition gate would normally block — 11 open issues — run under explicit operator override).

• Rationale

  ▸ On-mission check: PASS

    ↪ Recent shipped work (fort.14/fort.15 byte-faithful I/O, `split_edge`/`split_boundary_edge` mutation API #237, .2dm roundtrip test, quad angle-metric fix #260, boundary-presence fix #259) is core to the constitution's library-first / correctness-over-perf mission — no drift in what ships.
  

  ▸ Stale roadmap doc

    ↪ `.planning/project_plan.md` (dated 2026-04-26) still describes a v0.2.0 Phase 0-5 plan; the repo is at v1.4.1 with C++/Rust backends and the full mutation API — the doc is obsolete and misleads any reader treating it as the live roadmap.
  

  ▸ Decision-queue bottleneck

    ↪ 5 issues sit without an operator decision for 5-6+ weeks: #201 (chil-format, 14 comments, no decision), #223 (skeletonize() rule — decision-needed comment unanswered >5wk, blocks impl), #197 (smoother vs size-function), #219 (cartograms, zero comments), #155 (`priority: now` yet untouched 17d). The bottleneck is decisions, not execution.
  

  ▸ Folded flags (not separate issues per anti-noise cap)

    a. #167 GPU render backend vs the constitution's "viz = smoke-test only" bar — not a violation, but unauthorized scope; worth an explicit call before Phase A starts
  
    b. constitution demands >=90% public-API test coverage; no issue tracks measuring it — currently an unverified claim
  

• What context operator attention is needed on

  ↪ Whether .planning/project_plan.md is intentionally retired (README now carries live status) or needs a refresh pass; a direction (or explicit defer) for each of task: investigate where chil file format can be used in the existing codebase #201/Implement a real skeletonize() — connectivity-preserving thinning peel, distinct from _layerize (needs the precise medial rule) #223/adapt fem smooth and the iterative smoother to have optional inputs for optimizing for size function #197/Add size-controlled mesh cartograms (non-contiguous, layer-unrolled, focus+context) for per-element scalar fields #219; whether priority: now on Benchmarking should detail all steps of potential chilmesh lifecycle (not including the generation). #155 is still accurate.

• What is needed from operator

  ↪ One-line decision per item: refresh-doc / retire-doc / defer-issue / pick-direction / unstick-Benchmarking should detail all steps of potential chilmesh lifecycle (not including the generation). #155. Routing decisions only — no code or build action requested.

[model: claude-opus-4-8, repo: CHILmesh, session: 013NhKuhHJwC9wmmysELCufc]

[domattioli]

refresh