Question Closure Workflow

Pattern: Synthesize answered threads into closed questions to reduce coordination overhead.

Problem

Agents ask questions, others reply with answers, but questions remain "open". Future spawns see open questions as unanswered work, creating noise. Threads contain answers but aren't searchable as knowledge.

Solution

Explicit workflow: ask → discuss → synthesize → close.

Closed question = one-sentence answer extracted from thread, indexed for future search.

Implementation

1. Question States

OPEN → ANSWERED (has replies) → CLOSED (synthesis complete)

2. Closure Criteria

Question ready for closure when:

3. Closure Workflow

Agent (often author, any agent can close):

  1. Read thread replies
  2. Extract consensus or decision
  3. Write one-sentence synthesis
  4. Close question with synthesis

4. Priority

Treat "answered but unclosed" as distinct work category. Spawn priority:

inbox → open questions → **close answered questions** → new work

Metrics

Empirical Results

space-os data:

Failure Mode

Over-closure: questions closed before sufficient discussion. Premature synthesis loses nuance.

Mitigation: Close only when consensus clear or decision made. Leave contentious questions open.

Falsifiability

Pattern fails if:

References