fix(tracker): persist the application deadline end to end (#319) (#324)

The deadline is written at every moment it is provably in hand and survives
every write that follows: seen_jobs.json base field, /rank stored-value urgency
+ expiry sweep with Step 4 persistence, tracker 14th column with header-line-only
migration for existing files, /scrape-path extraction (assistant SKILL.md 1.3.2
-> 1.3.3), preserve-unparsed-fields in /outcome and /gmail-sync, notion-sync
deadline precedence. Design, scope analysis, and the folded refinements by
jakob1379 (#319, #328).

Co-authored-by: Jakob Stender Guldberg <17257805+jakob1379@users.noreply.github.com>

tests/test_apply_records_application.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ SCRAPER = REPO / ".claude" / "skills" / "job-scraper" / "SKILL.md"
 
 TRACKER_HEADER = (
     "date,company,sector,role,role_type,channel,status,contact_person,"
-    "fit_rating,notes,cv_file,cover_letter_file,source"
+    "fit_rating,notes,cv_file,cover_letter_file,source,deadline"
 )
 
 
@@ -67,7 +67,17 @@ class ApplyRecordsApplication(unittest.TestCase):
             )
 
     def test_tracker_header_matches_outcome(self):
-        """Byte-identical, or the two commands create incompatible CSVs."""
+        """Byte-identical, or the two commands create incompatible CSVs.
+
+        The exact-equality loop below is load-bearing, not decoration. `assertIn`
+        on its own cannot see an *additive* drift: a 13-column header is a
+        substring of a 14-column one, so appending a column to `/apply` and
+        forgetting `/outcome` passed this test cleanly until the loop was added.
+
+        It is also what makes the constant-only assertions in this class mean
+        anything: they reason about TRACKER_HEADER, and this is the test that
+        anchors TRACKER_HEADER to what both spec files actually say.
+        """
         self.assertIn(TRACKER_HEADER, OUTCOME.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
         self.assertIn(
             TRACKER_HEADER,
@@ -75,6 +85,29 @@ class ApplyRecordsApplication(unittest.TestCase):
             "Step 6b's header drifted from outcome.md's - whichever command ran "
             "first would decide the schema",
         )
+        for name, text in (("outcome.md", OUTCOME.read_text(encoding="utf-8")),
+                           ("apply.md Step 6b", self.step_6b)):
+            header = next(
+                (ln.strip() for ln in text.splitlines() if ln.strip().startswith("date,company,")),
+                None,
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(
+                header,
+                TRACKER_HEADER,
+                f"{name}'s header line is not exactly the canonical header - a column "
+                "appended to one file and not the other leaves both containing the "
+                "shorter header as a substring, which assertIn alone cannot catch",
+            )
+
+    def test_tracker_header_ends_with_deadline(self):
+        """/apply appends rows with one field per header column, so inserting
+        `deadline` anywhere but the end shifts every value in every existing
+        row by one position."""
+        self.assertTrue(
+            TRACKER_HEADER.endswith(",deadline"),
+            "deadline must be the last column - a mid-header insert shifts every "
+            "existing row's values by one position",
+        )
 
     def test_step_runs_before_the_optional_offer_that_ends_the_turn(self):
         """The optional application-form offer asks the user a question.
@@ -250,5 +283,55 @@ class ApplyArchivesThePosting(unittest.TestCase):
                 self.assertIn(needle, section(path, heading), why)
 
 
+class DeadlineSurvivesEveryWrite(unittest.TestCase):
+    """#319: the deadline is carried through the whole pipeline and never dropped.
+
+    The header migration must be header-line-only (inserting it mid-column
+    shifts every value of every existing row), and every path that rewrites
+    a tracker row (/outcome Step 4, /gmail-sync Step 7a) must preserve
+    fields it does not parse - the deadline is the first such field.
+    """
+
+    CASES = [
+        (APPLY, "### Step 6b: Record the Application", "append `,deadline` to the header line only",
+         "a mid-header insert shifts every existing row's values by one position"),
+        (OUTCOME, "## Step 1: Load State and Identify the Application",
+         "append `,deadline` to the header line only",
+         "the two commands must migrate identically, or whichever runs first sets the schema"),
+        (APPLY, "## Step 0: Parse Input", "application deadline",
+         "Step 6b's value is supposed to come from Step 0's extraction, so the extraction "
+         "must be stated where the posting text is still held in full"),
+        (APPLY, "### Step 6b: Record the Application", "Never guess one",
+         "the deadline must stay empty when the posting states none - a guessed date is "
+         "the urgency clock firing on a date nobody set"),
+        (APPLY, "### Step 6b: Record the Application", "leave an existing deadline alone",
+         "absence is not a correction: a run that extracted no deadline must not blank "
+         "the one /apply already wrote"),
+        (OUTCOME, "## Step 1: Load State and Identify the Application", "Deadline urgency",
+         "a drafted row has nothing applied so the quiet clock must not run on it - the "
+         "deadline is the only clock that applies, and it must not be omitted"),
+        (OUTCOME, "## Step 1: Load State and Identify the Application", "never chased",
+         "surfacing the deadline must not drag drafted rows into the follow-up offer"),
+        (OUTCOME, "## Step 4: Update the Tracker", "preserve every other field of the row",
+         "a status update that rewrites the row would blank the deadline column"),
+        (GMAIL_SYNC, "### Step 7a: Write Approved Updates", "preserve every other field",
+         "the sync path rewrites the row too - it must carry the same preservation rule"),
+        (NOTION_SYNC, None, "**Deadline precedence: the tracker wins too**",
+         "the tracker's deadline (written from the posting the application was actually "
+         "built on) must override the scraper's stored value"),
+        (NOTION_SYNC, None, "tracker `deadline` column",
+         "the Deadine property must name the tracker column as its source"),
+        (SKILL, "### Step 3b: Record the Application", "`deadline` is the application deadline",
+         "the /scrape path reaches Step 3b without running /apply Step 0, so it must "
+         "still be told what the field is and where it comes from"),
+    ]
+
+    def test_deadline_survives_every_write(self):
+        for path, heading, needle, why in self.CASES:
+            with self.subTest(file=path.name, rule=needle):
+                haystack = section(path, heading) if heading else path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+                self.assertIn(needle, haystack, why)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()