Should graph expansion honour the inactive-status filter?

Gap: issue-8c37bf22ba3c Blocking: yes · Rank: 5 · Asked: 2026-07-26 · Answered: 2026-07-27 Authority: repo maintainer (chose "hidden", explicitly, over "returned but flagged")

Question¶

A resolved issue is returned by docir context without --include-resolved, because graph expansion checks archived but not status — while search and query hide it correctly. Should graph-reached documents obey the same visibility rules as ranked ones?

What the system does today¶

OBSERVED: issue-0001 (status resolved) referenced by adr-0001 is returned by docir context auth --limit 5 with via_graph: true; the same document is hidden by docir search auth and docir query. Evidence: document_service.py:265-268 vs :297-307.

Proposed answer¶

Yes — same predicate, extracted to one function so the two paths cannot diverge again. (If closed neighbours are deliberately valuable as context, say so and mark them.)

Why it matters¶

There is a defensible argument for the current behaviour — "the issue this decision resolved is worth seeing even though it is closed" — but nothing states it, and the inconsistency across the four read paths suggests oversight rather than intent.

Answer¶

An oversight — the filter applies. Asked as a two-option choice (hide the closed neighbour, matching the other three read paths, vs return it marked inactive so the "issue this decision resolved" stays visible); the maintainer chose hide. One _is_visible predicate now serves both the ranked and the graph path. --include-resolved remains the way to ask for closed work, and now governs both paths equally. See issue-8c37bf22ba3c resolution.

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Migrated from the discovery question queue (Q-005); the queue itself now lives in this store.