0086: Limit session-name changes to start and done

Status: accepted (2026-08-20) · Scope: product tier (core/agents, commands/agents)

Context

Harnery originally projected every explicit lifecycle state into the session title. Entering blocked produced a [BLOCKED] - title, reopening produced the unprefixed title again, and entering done produced [DONE] - . Each change also activated the display latch, so agents printed several copyable name blocks during one session.

The session title is an operator handle, not a live lifecycle dashboard. Activity and lifecycle already have canonical fields and event-backed UI projections. Repeated title output adds noise and makes a mid-session state change look like a new naming ritual.

Alternatives

Project all lifecycle states into the title. Rejected because it creates extra name blocks and duplicates canonical lifecycle state in an editable human label.

Never change the initial title. Rejected because a terminal marker remains useful in client sidebars and preserves the established Claude Desktop cleanup convention for older sessions.

Remove the done marker when a session is reopened. Rejected because that would require another title mutation and display block, violating the start-and-done-only rule. Canonical lifecycle state, not the title, determines whether a reopened session is active.

Decision

buildLifecycleSuggestedName() receives the stored session name and returns null for active and blocked. For done, it returns that name with exactly [DONE] prepended. It also normalizes the old [BLOCKED] - form so sessions started before this decision finish with one clean terminal prefix.

The existing command path already emits suggested_session_name, sets name_reminted: true, and activates the display latch only when the helper returns a value different from the stored name. No adapter-specific branch is needed. Initial set-task naming and terminal done naming therefore use the same cross-adapter display protocol from ADR 0085.

Repeating done is a no-op. Reopening to active or moving to blocked changes lifecycle state without changing or displaying the title.

Result

An agent displays a session name at most twice: once after the initial task declaration and once after the first successful transition to done. Ordinary lifecycle changes stay visible through lifecycle fields and events without creating extra copyable blocks.