fix(gmail-sync,outcome): keep free-form tracker notes free of CSV-breaking characters (#454) (#455)

* fix(gmail-sync): strip CSV-breaking characters from the email subject

Step 7a interpolated the raw subject line of a received email into the
`notes` column of job_search_tracker.csv. No writer here emits a quoted
tracker field, so an unescaped comma splits the row - for csv.DictReader
just as much as for a naive split, which matters because
tools/rank_state.py is the repo's only machine reader and uses exactly
that. `notes` is column 10 of 14, so a subject as ordinary as
"Re: Your application, Data Scientist" shifted cv_file,
cover_letter_file and source a column left. A line break is worse: it
ends the row and starts a second one.

The rule now sits on the append instruction itself rather than in a
general note a writer can miss. The subject survives verbatim in the
archive's outcome.md, which is Markdown and carries no such constraint.

/outcome Step 4 (outcome.md:195) is also free-form and has the same
exposure, but its text is model-authored in a turn the user is watching
rather than copied from third-party mail unattended. Left out
deliberately, to be filed separately.

* fix(outcome): keep the Step 4 tracker note free of CSV-breaking characters

/outcome Step 4 appended "a short dated note" to `notes` with no
constraint on its content, the same exposure /gmail-sync Step 7a had:
nothing quotes a tracker field, so `rejected, no feedback given` shifts
cv_file, cover_letter_file and source a column left under
csv.DictReader, and a line break ends the row. The append instruction
now requires a note with no commas, double quotes or line breaks.

Folded in at the maintainer's request on #455 so one entry and one rule
cover both free-form writers. The CSV-safety tests move out of
test_gmail_sync_command.py into test_tracker_notes_csv_safe.py, where a
CASES table pins the rule on each writer's append line.
This commit is contained in:
Jakob Stender Guldberg
2026-09-16 06:45:55 +02:00
committed by GitHub
parent 1b65f7198a
commit c93609cd22
4 changed files with 159 additions and 2 deletions
+3 -1
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@@ -124,7 +124,9 @@ Approving the whole batch in one reply is expected UX - the requirement is that
For every row the user approved:
1. **Tracker (`job_search_tracker.csv`):** update the matched row's `status` column per the Step 5 table, and append to `notes`: `<date> gmail-sync: <signal> ("<email subject>")`. Never restructure the CSV, reorder rows, or touch unrelated rows - same rule `/outcome` follows. The rewrite touches only `status`, `notes` (and `date` when the drafted-rule below fires): preserve every other field of the row, parsed or not, so the `deadline` column written by `/apply` Step 6b - or any column added in the future - is never blanked by a status sync.
1. **Tracker (`job_search_tracker.csv`):** update the matched row's `status` column per the Step 5 table, and append to `notes`: `<date> gmail-sync: <signal> ("<email subject>")`, **with every comma, double quote and line break deleted from the subject first**. No writer here emits a quoted tracker field and no reader unquotes one, so an unescaped comma splits the row identically for a naive split and for the `csv.DictReader` the shipped reader actually uses (`tools/rank_state.py`): `cv_file`, `cover_letter_file` and `source` each shift a column left. A line break is worse - it ends the row and starts a second one. The double quote is stripped as cheap insurance for the day something does quote a field; on today's readers it is harmless. The subject is a human-readable breadcrumb here, not data anything reads back - item 2 below keeps it verbatim in `outcome.md`, which is Markdown and carries no such constraint. This matters more than it looks: `/gmail-sync` is the only tracker writer that copies *third-party* text, and the only one that runs unattended, so nobody is watching the row it edits.
Never restructure the CSV, reorder rows, or touch unrelated rows - same rule `/outcome` follows. The rewrite touches only `status`, `notes` (and `date` when the drafted-rule below fires): preserve every other field of the row, parsed or not, so the `deadline` column written by `/apply` Step 6b - or any column added in the future - is never blanked by a status sync.
**If the matched row was still `drafted`,** also set `date` to the email's date. The employer replying proves the user submitted by hand without running `/outcome`, so the drafting date now in that column is wrong. The email's date is an upper bound on the real submission date, tight for an ack and loose for a rejection weeks later, which is why Step 6 shows it and lets the user supply the actual date instead.
2. **`outcome.md`:** tick the relevant stage checkbox (adding the date in parentheses) or update `Status`/`Date resolved` per the table. Append a dated entry to `## Notes`, never overwrite existing Notes history:
+1 -1
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@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ Update rules: tick stage checkboxes as they are reached (add the date in parenth
## Step 4: Update the Tracker
Update the matched row's `status` column using the canonical spellings from **Tracker status vocabulary** above (e.g. `drafted` → `applied` → `interview` → `offer` → `hired` / `rejected` / `no_response` / `offer_declined` / `withdrawn`) and append a short dated note to the `notes` column. Never restructure the CSV, reorder rows, or touch other rows. The rewrite touches only the `status` and `notes` columns: preserve every other field of the row, parsed or not, so a value the row carries - the `deadline` written by `/apply` Step 6b, or any column added in the future - is never blanked by a status update.
Update the matched row's `status` column using the canonical spellings from **Tracker status vocabulary** above (e.g. `drafted` → `applied` → `interview` → `offer` → `hired` / `rejected` / `no_response` / `offer_declined` / `withdrawn`) and append a short dated note to the `notes` column, **containing no commas, double quotes or line breaks**. No writer here emits a quoted tracker field, so a comma in the note shifts `cv_file`, `cover_letter_file` and `source` a column left for `csv.DictReader` (`tools/rank_state.py`) as much as for a naive split, and a line break ends the row - `rejected, no feedback given` is exactly the sentence that corrupts it; write `rejected - no feedback given`. `/gmail-sync` Step 7a applies the same rule to the email subjects it appends. Never restructure the CSV, reorder rows, or touch other rows. The rewrite touches only the `status` and `notes` columns: preserve every other field of the row, parsed or not, so a value the row carries - the `deadline` written by `/apply` Step 6b, or any column added in the future - is never blanked by a status update.
**Moving a row off `drafted`:** rows written by `/apply` Step 6b carry the date the documents were drafted, not the date they were sent. Whenever this step advances such a row to any other status - `applied`, or straight to `interview` or `rejected` when the user reports an outcome for something they submitted without recording it - overwrite its `date` column with the actual submission date. The `date` column is read as "applied on" by `/notion-sync` and drives `/html-report`'s year/season grouping and this command's own days-quiet count, so leaving the draft date in place would misreport the application.