feat(merge): enqueue picks into GitHub's merge queue

README.md

@@ -470,22 +470,28 @@ hold a PR like any `quest:*` label; passing their token to `quest iterate`
 swaps them for `quest:active`. Their `quest:merge` holds nothing and is
 ignored.
 
-`quest merge` takes no label: the head-pinned auto-merge it enables is the
-queue signal, so a queued PR shows no hold. It refuses while any session holds
-the PR, so release your own hold first. `--land` needs the full 40-character
+`quest merge` takes no label: the head-pinned auto-merge or merge-queue entry
+it creates is the queue signal, so a queued PR shows no hold. It refuses while
+any session holds the PR, so release your own hold first. `--land` needs the full 40-character
 head SHA and refuses once the head moves.
-It enables auto-merge bound to that SHA, which enters GitHub's merge queue
-when the base has one, or merges at once when nothing is left to wait for.
-`--squash` or `--rebase` picks the method, and it refuses one the repository
-disallows; otherwise it uses the only method the repository allows, or else a
-merge commit, and refuses when merge commits are off and more than one method
-remains. A merge queue applies its own. On a base that requires the `quest land` check, it
+It enables auto-merge bound to that SHA, or merges at once when nothing is
+left to wait for. `--squash` or `--rebase` picks the method, and it refuses one
+the repository disallows; otherwise it uses the only method the repository
+allows, or else a merge commit, and refuses when merge commits are off and more
+than one method remains. On a base that requires the `quest land` check, it
 queues the PR for [`quest land`](#land-a-batch-with-quest-land) instead.
-On an ungated base with auto-merge disabled, it refuses. Follow the repository’s own landing
+On a base with GitHub's merge queue, which applies its own method, it enqueues
+that head, or arms auto-merge bound to it while required checks may still be
+pending. The queue builds each PR on the current base, so a head behind it is
+enqueued as is. When GitHub refuses to enqueue the head, such as after the
+base moved into a conflict, the command fails: fix the PR, for example with
+`/quest-iterate`, and land it again.
+On a base with neither the `quest land` check nor a merge queue, it refuses
+while repository auto-merge is disabled. Follow the repository’s own landing
 instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md or AGENTS.md, such as its label queue; never
 retry with `--direct` unless the user asks. `--direct` permits the usual landing
 behavior despite that repository setting.
-On an ungated base, it compares the live base against that head and refuses a
+On such a base, it also compares the live base against that head and refuses a
 head that is behind or diverged: merge the base, rerun the repository's checks,
 and land the new head. This is a preflight check; GitHub can still move the base
 between that comparison and its head-pinned merge mutation. A PR that leaves

assets/skills/merge.md

@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@ A finding means the PR leaves its quest inaccurate: recommend `/quest-iterate`.
 Queue the head with `quest merge <pr> --land <full 40-character head SHA>`.
 It uses the only merge method the repository allows, or else a merge commit; add `--squash` or `--rebase` when the repository's root instructions name that method for the PR's base.
 On a base that requires the `quest land` check, it queues the PR for `quest land`, whose chain merges and tests against the current base.
-On an ungated base with auto-merge disabled, it refuses. Follow the repository’s own landing instructions (for example, its label queue); never retry with `--direct` unless the user explicitly asks.
-On an ungated base, it refuses a head that does not contain the current base: recommend `/quest-iterate` to merge the base.
+On a base with GitHub's merge queue, it enqueues the head; if GitHub refuses, such as after the base moved into a conflict, it fails: recommend `/quest-iterate`.
+On an ungated base without a merge queue, it refuses while auto-merge is disabled. Follow the repository’s own landing instructions (for example, its label queue); never retry with `--direct` unless the user explicitly asks.
+There, it also refuses a head that does not contain the current base: recommend `/quest-iterate` to merge the base.
 
 Report once it is queued, and do not wait for it to merge.
 Plan the PR's suggested follow-ups as soon as it is queued, as if it lands, rather than waiting for the merge, unless a coordinator such as `/quest-complete` called this skill and batches them.

quest/m0/land-fixer/README.md

@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ Decision prompts, selected options marked ✅:
   this epic keeps only the fixer's own quality work. Moved to the watcher:
   the attempt budget (now the stop rules,
   [moq-dev/quest#384](https://github.com/moq-dev/quest/pull/384)),
-  local mergeability and CI-failure parking (now
-  [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md)), and flaky tests (now
+  local mergeability and CI-failure parking (then
+  [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md), dropped 2026-11-02: a
+  pick GitHub refuses fails `quest merge` instead), and flaky tests (now
   [Flaky failures](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/flaky.md), without the rerun).
   Deleted: the batch quest check, pre-checks, and throughput tuning, which
   only served batches (the fixer cap and reasoning effort moved to

quest/m0/land-fixer/pr-signal.md

@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ non-required check failed on the head it is about to pick, without refusing.
 The fixer gets a summary of the PR's checks (check name, conclusion, run URL,
 and a trimmed log of each failure) in its job input, next to the queue's
 failure log. A failing non-required check never stops a PR on its own; a
-failing required check keeps GitHub from enqueuing it, which
-[Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md) handles.
+failing required check keeps GitHub from enqueuing it: `/quest-merge`
+refuses such a head, `quest merge` fails when GitHub refuses it, and either
+way the PR needs `/quest-iterate`.
 
 Retargeted 2026-11-01 to the [queue watcher](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md),
 which replaces the batched host gate.

quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md

@@ -79,9 +79,30 @@ Decision prompts, selected options marked ✅:
   - ✅ The fixer re-enqueues them unchanged, and a test seen flaking twice is
     disabled in a separate PR with a follow-up quest; the rerun before blame
     (#375) is dropped. See [Flaky failures](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/flaky.md).
-- Picks GitHub refuses to enqueue:
-  - ✅ The watcher fixes them, then enqueues; see
-    [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md)
+- Pick record (decided 2026-11-02, replacing "Picks GitHub refuses to
+  enqueue: ✅ The watcher fixes them"):
+  - ✅ GitHub's records only. Drop the comment and `pick.ts`. The watcher
+    reads queue events and auto-merge state. A pick GitHub refuses fails the
+    command, and /quest-merge recommends /quest-iterate as it does today.
+    `bad-picks.md` shrinks to enqueueing PRs with auto-merge armed that
+    GitHub never queued
+    ([community#209348](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/209348)).
+  - Comment only on refusal
+  - Keep the comment on every pick
+
+  Reasons: for queued picks, GitHub already keeps a durable,
+  writer-authenticated record. `AddedToMergeQueueEvent` and
+  `RemovedFromMergeQueueEvent` give the enqueuer (who must have write
+  access), the head before removal, and the reason, and `autoMergeRequest`
+  gives `enabledBy`/`enabledAt` for picks waiting on checks. Auto-merge can't
+  reliably be armed on a conflicting PR, and on merge-queue bases enabling it
+  returns HTTP 422 unless every requirement is met
+  ([community#190610](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/190610),
+  [community#50327](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/50327)).
+  /quest-merge already refuses heads with failing checks or conflicts, so a
+  refusal only happens if the base moves between that check and the enqueue.
+  See [Queue removals](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/removals.md) and
+  [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md).
 - Milestone:
   - ✅ m0, at the top
 
@@ -109,10 +130,9 @@ Shared shape, for the children to follow:
 
 ## Required
 
-- [Picks enter the merge queue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/pick.md) - `quest merge --land` enqueues the pinned head into GitHub's merge queue and records the pick where the watcher reads it
 - [Queue removals](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/removals.md) - the watcher sees each PR the queue drops, why, and the failing build's log
 - [Fix and re-enqueue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/fix.md) - the fixer runs on each dropped PR in the background, and the watcher re-enqueues it at the back
-- [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md) - a pick GitHub refuses to enqueue is merged locally with the quest driver or fixed, then pushed and enqueued
+- [Bad picks](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md) - a pick whose auto-merge is armed on a ready PR GitHub never queued is enqueued at the head it was armed on
 - [Flaky failures](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/flaky.md) - a flaky failure is re-enqueued unchanged, and a test seen flaking twice is disabled in a separate PR with a follow-up quest
 - [Watcher on the host](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/host.md) - kixelated/nixos runs the watcher for moq-dev/moq beside its fixer container
 - [The other repositories follow](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/follow.md) - condition: moq's queue is proven; then moq-dev/quest switches and the others plan theirs

quest/m0/queue-watcher/bad-picks.md

@@ -1,49 +1,44 @@
-# [M] The watcher fixes a pick GitHub refuses to enqueue
+# [S] The watcher enqueues an armed pick GitHub never queued
 
 ## Goal
 
-A picked PR that GitHub refuses to enqueue, because it conflicts with the
-base or otherwise can't merge, is fixed by the watcher instead of handed back.
-The watcher merges the base into it locally with the quest merge driver; a
-clean merge is pushed and enqueued. When the local merge still conflicts, or
-the PR's own required checks fail, the fixer resolves it with the conflicting
-paths or the failing checks' logs, and the watcher pushes and enqueues the
-result. The PR reaches a person only on a handback. The watcher never trusts
-GitHub's mergeability flag alone.
+A PR on a merge-queue base whose auto-merge a writer armed, as
+`quest merge --land` does while required checks are pending, and that is now
+ready (its required checks passed and it doesn't conflict) but still not in
+the queue, is enqueued by the watcher at the head auto-merge was armed on.
+Since about 2026-09-10 GitHub often leaves such PRs out of the queue
+([community#209348](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/209348)),
+while `enqueuePullRequest` works. A head pushed since by anyone but the fixer
+is not enqueued.
 
 ## Plan
 
-Decided 2026-11-01 (maintainer, /quest-plan; see the
-[epic](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md)):
-
-- Picks GitHub refuses to enqueue:
-  - ✅ The watcher fixes them, including conflicts resolved with the quest
-    merge driver, then pushes and enqueues
-  - Hand them back
-
-This quest was the host gate's local mergeability quest, decided 2026-10-31
-(user, /quest-plan of the follow-ups from a moq-dev/moq `/quest-complete`
-run): GitHub reported conflicts on
-[moq-dev/moq#7407](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/pull/7407), which merges
-cleanly, and on [moq-dev/moq#7382](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/pull/7382),
-whose only conflict was in quest link lists, which the driver resolves. It
-also absorbs the host gate's plan to park a PR whose own required CI fails for
-the fixer with the failing check's log (decided 2026-11-01, settling
-[moq-dev/quest#355](https://github.com/moq-dev/quest/pull/355)'s decision 8),
-since on a merge-queue base such a PR is a pick GitHub won't enqueue.
-
-- The watcher learns of refused picks from the marker
-  [Picks enter the merge queue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/pick.md) records, and
-  from picks whose auto-merge stays armed while the PR is conflicting or its
-  required checks failed.
-- Merge locally with `mergeBase` (`src/cli/land.ts`), which already uses the
-  driver; the host gate's `prepareHead` (`src/cli/land-head.ts`) shows the
-  push. A clean driver merge needs no review: it is a conflict-free base merge.
-- Fetch failing required checks' logs through the App's `checks: read` and
-  `actions: read`, trimmed like a queue failure's.
-- The same stop rules apply (`stopRule` in `src/cli/land-fixer.ts`).
+Decided 2026-11-02 (maintainer, /quest-plan; see the
+[epic](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md)), narrowing this quest from fixing
+every pick GitHub refuses: GitHub's records are the only pick record, and a
+pick GitHub refuses to enqueue fails `quest merge`, which says to fix the PR
+with `/quest-iterate` and land it again. The plans this quest held for
+refused picks are dropped with it: merging the base locally with the quest
+driver (the host gate's local mergeability, from
+[moq-dev/moq#7407](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/pull/7407) and
+[moq-dev/moq#7382](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/pull/7382)), and parking a
+PR whose own required checks fail for the fixer
+([moq-dev/quest#355](https://github.com/moq-dev/quest/pull/355)'s
+decision 8).
+
+- Find the candidates in the pass
+  [Queue removals](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/removals.md) runs: open PRs with an
+  `autoMergeRequest`, no `mergeQueueEntry`, and a ready `mergeStateStatus`
+  (`CLEAN`, `HAS_HOOKS`, or `UNSTABLE`).
+- Enqueue with `enqueuePullRequest` and `expectedHeadOid` set to the head
+  `enabledHead` (`src/cli/status.ts`) says auto-merge was armed on, only when
+  that is the current head. GitHub keeps auto-merge across a writer's push,
+  but that push ends the pick; a head `enabledHead` can't tell yet waits for
+  the next pass. An "already queued" refusal means GitHub moved it first.
+- An armed pick whose own required checks fail, or that turns conflicting,
+  is left alone: it needs `/quest-iterate` and a new pick, and
+  `quest status` shows its checks.
 
 ## Required
 
-- [Fix and re-enqueue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/fix.md) - the fixer path and re-enqueue this reuses
-- [Picks enter the merge queue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/pick.md) - the pick marker a refused pick leaves
+- [Queue removals](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/removals.md) - the pass that reads each PR's auto-merge and queue state

quest/m0/queue-watcher/removals.md

@@ -15,16 +15,28 @@ Decided 2026-11-01 (maintainer, /quest-plan; see the
 [epic](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md)).
 
 - Poll, don't receive webhooks: the host has no public endpoint. Reconcile
-  from the picks, not from queue snapshots alone: a PR enqueued and dropped
-  between two polls, or while the watcher was down, never shows in a
-  snapshot. Each pass reads every open PR holding an active pick (the marker
-  [Picks enter the merge queue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/pick.md) records) with
-  its `mergeQueueEntry` and its `RemovedFromMergeQueueEvent`s newer than the
-  last one handled, with `reason`, `actor`, and `enqueuer`. `quest status`
-  already reads that event (`src/cli/status.ts`). The base's
-  `mergeQueue { entries }` can still serve as a cheap change signal. The App's
-  installation token has its own rate limit, separate from the maintainers'
-  sessions.
+  from GitHub's records of each pick, not from queue snapshots alone: a PR
+  enqueued and dropped between two polls, or while the watcher was down,
+  never shows in a snapshot. Each pass reads the base's open PRs, many per
+  GraphQL query, with their `mergeQueueEntry`, their
+  `autoMergeRequest { enabledBy enabledAt }`, and their
+  `AddedToMergeQueueEvent`s and `RemovedFromMergeQueueEvent`s newer than the
+  last one handled (`timelineItems(since:)`): `enqueuer`, `actor`, `reason`,
+  and the removal's `beforeCommit`. `quest status` already reads the removal
+  event (`src/cli/status.ts`). The base's `mergeQueue { entries }` can still
+  serve as a cheap change signal. The App's installation token has its own
+  rate limit, separate from the maintainers' sessions.
+- A pick is GitHub's own record, with no marker of quest's
+  (decided 2026-11-02; see the [epic](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/README.md)):
+  the PR was enqueued, or had auto-merge armed while its required checks were
+  pending, as `quest merge --land` does on a merge-queue base. GitHub lets
+  only a writer enqueue a PR or enable auto-merge, so the `enqueuer` or
+  `enabledBy` is the trust signal; nothing reads comments or checks a
+  commenter's permission. The removal's `beforeCommit` is the head the queue
+  dropped. A pick covers that head and the heads the fixer pushes from it,
+  which the watcher's App then enqueues itself, and stays active until a
+  handback, a push by anyone else, or a person's removal; a writer enqueuing
+  the PR again starts a new one.
 - For a failed build, find the PR's `merge_group` workflow runs (event
   `merge_group`, head branch `gh-readonly-queue/<base>/pr-<n>-<sha>`) and
   fetch the failing jobs' logs through the App's `actions: read`, trimmed the
@@ -39,7 +51,3 @@ Decided 2026-11-01 (maintainer, /quest-plan; see the
 - Start it as `quest land watch` beside `quest land serve`, sharing its App
   credential options, state directory, and comment marker and
   deduplication.
-
-## Required
-
-- [Picks enter the merge queue](/quest/m0/queue-watcher/pick.md) - the durable pick marker the watcher reconciles from