With check-gates-merge false a head is ready and asked before any verdict exists, yet the ask said "<pr> passed its
checks" (a group: "passed its checks"): on 2026-10-26 the operator approved mesh-delivery #79 and a six-repository group
on that claim while their checks had not answered.
The ask now reads the checker's verdict at exactly the heads it covers (checkAt, beside checkerAt): "passed its check"
only for a pass there; otherwise "its check has no verdict yet[: it is running (since HH:MM UTC)]" or "its check failed:
<first failure>", and the Approve clause says it merges "now, before its check ends" or "although its check failed".
While the check gates no merge, a pending ask whose check then passes or fails (or loses a pass it named) is withdrawn
and asked again in new words (the ask's AskCheck against the state now, endStaleAsks, the review-record path's
withdrawAsk); a check that starts running is no new word, so the wait stays one message. Whether a merge waits is
unchanged. The gate's log lines and stalled lines that claimed a pass for a ready head say the same state.
Quick fix: replace "passed its checks" by neutral words in the two summaries. Thorough fix: one reader of the check's
state at the ask's heads (checkAt) used by every text that names it, and the ask re-said when that state changes.
Chosen: thorough, as it costs one helper and one case in endStaleAsks, and the quick one would still leave a pending
ask silent about a failure that came after it.
Tests: rows in TestAnApprovedPullRequestIsMergedThroughTheMergeTool (gated pass; ungated no verdict, running, then
passed, then failed) and the ungated group's wording; no new test function.
jschoubben
099605ec70