Branch protection ruleset defaults — recommend strict_required_status_checks_policy: false for fast-moving repos

[mabry1985]

Context

While setting up branch protection on protoLabsAI/escape-from-qud (which currently has the most active sprint cadence in the org), discovered a friction pattern worth capturing as a default recommendation across org repos.

The friction

GitHub rulesets with `required_status_checks.strict_required_status_checks_policy: true` enforce that a PR's branch must be up-to-date with the base before merge. The intent (prevent stale-branch regressions slipping into main) is sound for multi-collaborator repos with frequent conflicting changes.

For solo-dev or small-team repos with linear sprint stacks (PR A → PR B stacked on A → PR C stacked on B), strict mode forces this loop after every merge:

1. Merge PR A → main advances
2. PR B is now `mergeState: BEHIND`
3. `gh pr update-branch B` → CI re-runs on B
4. Wait ~4 min for CI (Rust workspace builds)
5. Merge PR B → main advances
6. PR C now BEHIND → repeat

For a stack of N PRs, that's N × CI-cycle of serial waiting. Observed on escape-from-qud during Phase 5 game-loop work: 5-PR stack took ~25 min of CI-wait instead of ~5 min for a single cycle.

Recommendation for org defaults

For repos in the `protoLabsAI` org with these characteristics, flip strict to false:

• 1-3 contributors
• Linear sprint cadence (rare conflicting parallel work)
• Strong test coverage (the actual safety net — stale branches that would break main usually fail their own CI)
• Active PR-stacking workflow

# Update the ruleset on a single repo
gh api -X PUT repos/protoLabsAI/<repo>/rulesets/<id> --input ruleset.json
# where ruleset.json has:
#   required_status_checks.strict_required_status_checks_policy: false

For larger repos (5+ contributors, parallel feature branches, frequent semantic-conflict potential), keep strict on.

What this PRESERVES even with strict: false

• PR required before merging to main ✓
• All required status checks must pass on the PR's last CI run ✓
• Force-push to main blocked ✓
• Branch deletion blocked ✓
• Auto-delete head branch on merge ✓

What it CHANGES:

• `mergeState: BEHIND` no longer blocks merge
• The PR can merge whenever its OWN CI is green, regardless of how far main has advanced since
• Slight risk: stale branch + new main change could combine to break main if (a) merge succeeds silently AND (b) post-merge regression isn't caught by an existing test. In practice this is rare for linear-stack workflows.

Proposed action items for this repo

• Add `docs/branch-protection-defaults.md` capturing the recommendation + a sample ruleset JSON
• Add a section to the README under "Defaults" linking to the new doc
• Optionally: a `scripts/apply-branch-protection.sh` that takes a repo + applies the recommended ruleset (loose vs strict mode flag)

Reference

• escape-from-qud's working ruleset (loose mode after flip): `gh api repos/protoLabsAI/escape-from-qud/rulesets/16770552`
• GitHub docs on rulesets: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-rulesets/about-rulesets

🤖 Filed by Claude Code during escape-from-qud Phase 5 sprint work