fix(evi): serialize gated writes to one Approve card per step

[HugoRCD]

Two set_vercel_env calls that each pause for Slack Approve, issued in the same step, park the session after Hugo Approves. Externally both tools stay running, the run stays waiting, and Phase 1 results are never posted, even when the REST upserts land.

eve's defineTool / approval APIs have no serial or exclusive option (Tools and TypeScript API, eve 0.49). The write path (decideEnvVarWrite, execute, vercel/mcp token default) is unchanged.

The guard is instructional, which is what the model sees before it fans out:

• System prompt: one Approve card per step. Independent reads stay parallel.
• set_vercel_env description and Vercel connection instructions share SEQUENTIAL_APPROVAL_RULE.
• A colocated test pins the rule on those three surfaces.

Call, wait for Approve, report the result, then the next.

Checks: evi typecheck clean, eslint clean on the changed TS, 203 evi tests passed.

  

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved approval handling for Vercel environment-variable updates by processing approval-gated writes one at a time.
  • Independent read operations can continue to run in parallel.
  • Prevented workflows from becoming stuck when multiple environment-variable approvals are requested together.

• Documentation

  • Added guidance explaining the approval sequence and expected workflow behavior.

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
evi	Ready	Preview	Sep 19, 2026 8:52am UTC

4 Skipped Deployments

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
evlog-docs	Skipped		Sep 19, 2026 8:52am UTC
evlog-render-lab	Skipped		Sep 19, 2026 8:52am UTC
evlog-telemetry	Skipped		Sep 19, 2026 8:52am UTC
just-use-evlog	Skipped		Sep 19, 2026 8:52am UTC

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Advanced

Run ID: c025720f-23ca-40b9-b9ad-42b55a870f31

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 0b12e49 and 5f2534a.

📒 Files selected for processing (6)

• apps/evi/agent/connections/vercel.ts
• apps/evi/agent/instructions.md
• apps/evi/agent/lib/vercel-env.test.ts
• apps/evi/agent/lib/vercel-env.ts
• apps/evi/agent/tools/set-vercel-env.ts
• apps/evi/docs/notes.md

Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 4 included reviews per hour; 3 remain after this review.

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The change adds shared guidance for sequential approval-gated environment writes. It applies the guidance to the tool, Vercel connection, and system instructions, documents the observed approval behavior, and adds coverage for the rule and its references.

Changes

Approval guidance

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Shared rule and write surfaces apps/evi/agent/lib/vercel-env.ts, apps/evi/agent/tools/set-vercel-env.ts, apps/evi/agent/connections/vercel.ts	Adds SEQUENTIAL_APPROVAL_RULE and includes it in the Vercel environment tool description and connection write instructions.
Orchestration guidance apps/evi/agent/instructions.md, apps/evi/docs/notes.md	Requires approval-gated tools to run one at a time while allowing independent reads in parallel. Documents the observed behavior when multiple approval-gated tools run together.
Rule validation apps/evi/agent/lib/vercel-env.test.ts	Checks the rule contents and verifies references in the tool, connection, and system instructions.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix · Severity of issue fixed: Medium

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title uses the conventional commit format and clearly describes the main change: serializing approval-gated Vercel writes so one Approve card is issued per step.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly explains the failure mode, the root cause, the implemented instructional guard, affected surfaces, testing, and validation results. It does not include the template's linked-is…
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 4…
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

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🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Commit to this branch
• Create a new PR

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[github-actions]

Thank you for following the naming conventions! 🙏

[pkg-pr-new]

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@evlog/cli@717

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/evlog@717

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@evlog/nuxthub@717

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@evlog/telemetry@717

commit: 5f2534a