Ticket Comments, Retries, and Publish Recovery

MergeLoom has more than one recovery path. Use the one that matches what failed.

Continuation Comments

Use a continuation comment when a completed or blocked run needs another AI pass.

Add a new comment on the same ticket or issue that starts with:

MergeLoom - please also cover retry backoff

Also accepted:

MergeLoom: please also cover retry backoff
MergeLoom -> please also cover retry backoff

Then move the ticket back to the configured ready state.

Current behavior:

• MergeLoom checks for a new continuation comment before creating the next attempt.
• The new attempt receives the previous run summary and the new instructions.
• MergeLoom attempts to reuse the existing branch when possible.
• If a PR or MR already exists, MergeLoom updates the same review branch when possible.
• The new attempt has its own job/run history and audit evidence.

When a Continuation Is Required

MergeLoom requires a new continuation comment for automatic continuation after a completed or blocked job when the previous job left an actionable comment.

If the ticket is moved back to ready state without a new MergeLoom - ... comment, controller-side audit can record that the item is waiting for continuation.

Retry Publish

Use Retry publish when AI execution already produced branch artifacts but PR/MR creation failed.

Retry Publish:

• is available from the customer job detail page for eligible failed standalone jobs
• requires the job to have publish_failed
• requires stored publishable branch artifacts
• does not rerun the AI coding step
• re-attempts PR/MR creation from stored branch artifacts
• can consume a prepaid run credit because it can produce review output
• is workspace-admin only

Retry Publish is not the same as asking MergeLoom to make another code change. Use a continuation comment for another code pass.

Full Reruns

MergeLoom does not use a general customer Rerun job button for normal recovery.

Use the recovery path that matches the situation:

• continuation comments for another code attempt
• Retry Publish for publish-stage recovery
• fixing intake labels/states and letting scheduled intake pick up eligible work

If MergeLoom support enables a workspace-specific rerun workflow for your workspace, follow that support guidance. Otherwise, use continuation comments for another AI coding pass.

Ticket-Level Directives

Ticket directives belong in the ticket description inside a [JCA]...[/JCA] block:

[JCA]
work_repos=api
context_repos=shared-docs
context_files=api:MERGELOOM.md
provider=codex-api
model=gpt-5.5-custom
[/JCA]

Model labels such as model:sonnet can also be applied where the workspace exposes allowed model aliases. A directive in the ticket description wins over a model label.

Audit Visibility

Recovery path	Where to inspect
Continuation comment	Controller Audit for intake and continuation decision; Ticket Audit for the new execution.
Retry Publish	Customer job detail, Controller Audit, and code host PR/MR result.
Self Hosted execution detail	Local Worker UI Ticket Audit, Code Audit, live stream, and Runs.
Cloud Hosted execution detail	Customer controller Cloud Runtime and Audit.