fix(orb): gate the ai_review_inconclusive hold on aiReviewGateMode

packages/loopover-engine/src/advisory/gate-advisory.ts

@@ -582,7 +582,13 @@ function evaluateGateCheckCore(advisoryResult: Advisory, policy: GateCheckPolicy
     // automatically — NEVER a failure, so a contributor PR is never auto-CLOSED because a model hiccupped. This
     // is evaluated AFTER the deterministic blockers above, so a real violation (secret_leak, duplicate,
     // missing-issue, slop, quality) still blocks: an inconclusive AI can no longer bury a blocked PR in a hold.
-    if (advisoryResult.findings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive")) {
+    // #10016: mirrors isEvaluationBlocker's CLA case -- the finding is produced in every aiReviewGateMode (the
+    // two producers in ai-review-orchestration.ts don't consult the mode), so only "block" should ever HOLD the
+    // gate on it. "advisory"/"off" mode's whole contract is "surface findings, never affect the verdict";
+    // unconditionally holding here diverted a clean, green advisory-mode PR to manual review over a race or a
+    // transient model failure the repo never opted into blocking on. The finding still reaches the panel via
+    // `gateWarnings` below either way -- only the HOLD is mode-gated, never the visibility.
+    if (gatePolicyBlocks(effective.aiReviewGateMode, "advisory") && advisoryResult.findings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive")) {
       return {
         enabled: true,
         conclusion: "neutral",

packages/loopover-engine/test/gate-advisory-ai-inconclusive-hold.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+import { evaluateGateCheck } from "../dist/advisory/gate-advisory.js";
+import type { Advisory, AdvisoryFinding } from "../dist/types/predicted-gate-types.js";
+
+function inconclusiveAdvisory(extraFindings: AdvisoryFinding[] = []): Advisory {
+  const finding: AdvisoryFinding = {
+    code: "ai_review_inconclusive",
+    title: "AI review could not complete for this PR head",
+    severity: "warning",
+    detail: "The AI review attempt did not produce a result.",
+    action: "The review is retried automatically after a short cooldown.",
+  };
+  return {
+    id: "advisory-1",
+    targetType: "pull_request",
+    targetKey: "JSONbored/loopover#1",
+    repoFullName: "JSONbored/loopover",
+    conclusion: "success",
+    severity: "warning",
+    title: "LoopOver review",
+    summary: "",
+    findings: [finding, ...extraFindings],
+    generatedAt: "2026-07-31T00:00:00.000Z",
+  };
+}
+
+// #10016 (gate-decision twin of src/rules/advisory.ts, kept in sync per checkGateDecisionVersionBump): mirrors
+// the host copy's own regression tests for the ai_review_inconclusive hold's aiReviewGateMode gating.
+
+test("REGRESSION: an inconclusive review does not hold an advisory-mode repo's otherwise-clean gate", () => {
+  const evaluation = evaluateGateCheck(inconclusiveAdvisory());
+  assert.equal(evaluation.conclusion, "success");
+  assert.ok(evaluation.warnings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive"));
+});
+
+test("stays non-blocking under an explicit advisory or off mode", () => {
+  const advisory = inconclusiveAdvisory();
+  const advisoryMode = evaluateGateCheck(advisory, { aiReviewGateMode: "advisory" });
+  assert.equal(advisoryMode.conclusion, "success");
+  assert.ok(advisoryMode.warnings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive"));
+
+  const offMode = evaluateGateCheck(advisory, { aiReviewGateMode: "off" });
+  assert.equal(offMode.conclusion, "success");
+  assert.ok(offMode.warnings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive"));
+});
+
+test("still HOLDS the gate (neutral) under aiReviewGateMode: block, with the unchanged title", () => {
+  const evaluation = evaluateGateCheck(inconclusiveAdvisory(), { aiReviewGateMode: "block" });
+  assert.equal(evaluation.conclusion, "neutral");
+  assert.equal(evaluation.title, "LoopOver Orb Review Agent — held for human review");
+  assert.equal(evaluation.blockers.length, 0);
+});
+
+test("the unconditional secret_scan_incomplete hold still fires once the AI hold no longer does", () => {
+  const advisory = inconclusiveAdvisory([
+    {
+      code: "secret_scan_incomplete",
+      title: "Patch-less file(s) could not be fully scanned for secrets (1)",
+      severity: "critical",
+      detail: "GitHub omitted inline diff for: secrets.env.",
+      action: "Ensure patch-less files are within scan limits or split the change so secrets can be verified.",
+    },
+  ]);
+  const evaluation = evaluateGateCheck(advisory);
+  assert.equal(evaluation.conclusion, "neutral");
+  assert.equal(evaluation.blockers.length, 0);
+});

src/rules/advisory.ts

@@ -838,7 +838,16 @@ function evaluateGateCheckCore(advisoryResult: Advisory, policy: GateCheckPolicy
     // automatically — NEVER a failure, so a contributor PR is never auto-CLOSED because a model hiccupped. This
     // is evaluated AFTER the deterministic blockers above, so a real violation (secret_leak, duplicate,
     // missing-issue, slop, quality) still blocks: an inconclusive AI can no longer bury a blocked PR in a hold.
-    if (advisoryResult.findings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive")) {
+    // #10016: mirrors isEvaluationBlocker's CLA case -- the finding is produced in every aiReviewGateMode (the
+    // two producers in ai-review-orchestration.ts don't consult the mode), so only "block" should ever HOLD the
+    // gate on it. "advisory"/"off" mode's whole contract is "surface findings, never affect the verdict";
+    // unconditionally holding here diverted a clean, green advisory-mode PR to manual review over a race or a
+    // transient model failure the repo never opted into blocking on. The finding still reaches the panel via
+    // `gateWarnings` below either way -- only the HOLD is mode-gated, never the visibility.
+    if (
+      gateMode(effective.aiReviewGateMode ?? "advisory") === "block" &&
+      advisoryResult.findings.some((finding) => finding.code === "ai_review_inconclusive")
+    ) {
       return {
         enabled: true,
         conclusion: "neutral",

test/unit/gate-check-policy.test.ts

@@ -157,12 +157,14 @@ describe(".loopover.yml settings override (resolveEffectiveSettings)", () => {
 });
 
 describe("AI fail-closed hold (#ai-fail-closed)", () => {
-  it("holds the gate NEUTRAL (held for human, never a failure-close) when an AI review is inconclusive", () => {
+  it("holds the gate NEUTRAL (held for human, never a failure-close) when an AI review is inconclusive under aiReviewGateMode: block", () => {
     const adv: Advisory = {
       ...missingIssueAdvisory(),
       findings: [{ code: "ai_review_inconclusive", title: "AI review could not be completed", severity: "warning", detail: "no usable verdict", action: "held for human" }],
     };
-    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings(), null, true));
+    // #10016: the hold is gated on aiReviewGateMode -- this suite's own repo default is unset (resolves
+    // "advisory"), so the block-mode hold this describe block exercises must opt in explicitly.
+    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings({ aiReviewMode: "block" }), null, true));
     expect(result.conclusion).toBe("neutral");
     expect(result.blockers).toEqual([]);
   });
@@ -175,13 +177,13 @@ describe("AI fail-closed hold (#ai-fail-closed)", () => {
         { code: "ai_review_inconclusive", title: "AI review could not be completed", severity: "warning", detail: "no usable verdict", action: "held for human" },
       ],
     };
-    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings(), null, true));
+    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings({ aiReviewMode: "block" }), null, true));
     // An inconclusive AI can no longer bury a real violation in a "held" state — the secret_leak still hard-blocks.
     expect(result.conclusion).toBe("failure");
     expect(result.blockers.map((blocker) => blocker.code)).toContain("secret_leak");
   });
 
-  it("holds the gate NEUTRAL (never a failure-close) when the AI review lock is held by another in-flight pass (#confirmed-bug)", () => {
+  it("holds the gate NEUTRAL (never a failure-close) when the AI review lock is held by another in-flight pass under aiReviewGateMode: block (#confirmed-bug)", () => {
     // Same code, different finding text — the lock-contention finding constructed by runAiReviewForAdvisory's
     // new claim-failure branch. advisory.ts only keys on `code`, so this proves the mechanism end-to-end for
     // the new finding shape without needing to touch advisory.ts.
@@ -197,7 +199,7 @@ describe("AI fail-closed hold (#ai-fail-closed)", () => {
         },
       ],
     };
-    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings(), null, true));
+    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings({ aiReviewMode: "block" }), null, true));
     expect(result.conclusion).toBe("neutral");
     expect(result.blockers).toEqual([]);
   });
@@ -216,11 +218,21 @@ describe("AI fail-closed hold (#ai-fail-closed)", () => {
         },
       ],
     };
-    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings(), null, true));
+    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings({ aiReviewMode: "block" }), null, true));
     expect(result.conclusion).toBe("failure");
     expect(result.blockers.map((blocker) => blocker.code)).toContain("secret_leak");
   });
 
+  it("REGRESSION (#10016): an inconclusive AI review no longer holds the gate when aiReviewGateMode resolves to advisory (the repo default)", () => {
+    const adv: Advisory = {
+      ...missingIssueAdvisory(),
+      findings: [{ code: "ai_review_inconclusive", title: "AI review could not be completed", severity: "warning", detail: "no usable verdict", action: "held for human" }],
+    };
+    const result = evaluateGateCheck(adv, gateCheckPolicy(settings(), null, true));
+    expect(result.conclusion).toBe("success");
+    expect(result.warnings.map((finding) => finding.code)).toContain("ai_review_inconclusive");
+  });
+
   it("an enforced pre-merge check (pre_merge_check_required) hard-blocks; the advisory variant never does (#review-pre-merge-checks)", () => {
     const enforced: Advisory = {
       ...missingIssueAdvisory(),

test/unit/predicted-gate-engine.test.ts

@@ -684,7 +684,8 @@ describe("predicted-gate engine module coverage (#2283)", () => {
         findings: [{ code: "ai_review_inconclusive", severity: "warning", title: "ai", detail: "ai" }],
         generatedAt: "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
       },
-      {},
+      // #10016: the hold only fires under aiReviewGateMode: block now -- an unset mode resolves "advisory".
+      { aiReviewGateMode: "block" },
     );
     expect(aiHold.conclusion).toBe("neutral");
 

test/unit/rules.test.ts

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import {
   resolveAiReviewLowConfidenceHold,
 } from "../../src/rules/advisory";
 import type { CollisionReport } from "../../src/signals/engine";
-import type { IssueRecord, PullRequestRecord, PullRequestFileRecord, RepositoryRecord } from "../../src/types";
+import type { Advisory, IssueRecord, PullRequestRecord, PullRequestFileRecord, RepositoryRecord } from "../../src/types";
 
 const repo: RepositoryRecord = {
   fullName: "JSONbored/loopover",
@@ -738,6 +738,67 @@ describe("advisory rules", () => {
     expect(evaluateGateCheck(splitAdvisory).conclusion).toBe("success");
   });
 
+  describe("ai_review_inconclusive hold is gated by aiReviewGateMode (#10016)", () => {
+    const inconclusiveAdvisory = (extraFindings: Advisory["findings"] = []) => ({
+      ...buildPullRequestAdvisory(repo, null),
+      findings: [
+        {
+          code: "ai_review_inconclusive" as const,
+          title: "AI review could not complete for this PR head",
+          severity: "warning" as const,
+          detail: "The AI review attempt did not produce a result.",
+          action: "The review is retried automatically after a short cooldown.",
+        },
+        ...extraFindings,
+      ],
+    });
+
+    it("REGRESSION: an inconclusive review does not hold an advisory-mode repo's otherwise-clean gate", () => {
+      const result = evaluateGateCheck(inconclusiveAdvisory());
+      expect(result.conclusion).toBe("success");
+      expect(result.warnings.map((finding) => finding.code)).toContain("ai_review_inconclusive");
+    });
+
+    it("stays non-blocking under an explicit advisory or off mode", () => {
+      const advisory = inconclusiveAdvisory();
+      const advisoryMode = evaluateGateCheck(advisory, { aiReviewGateMode: "advisory" });
+      expect(advisoryMode.conclusion).toBe("success");
+      expect(advisoryMode.warnings.map((finding) => finding.code)).toContain("ai_review_inconclusive");
+
+      const offMode = evaluateGateCheck(advisory, { aiReviewGateMode: "off" });
+      expect(offMode.conclusion).toBe("success");
+      expect(offMode.warnings.map((finding) => finding.code)).toContain("ai_review_inconclusive");
+    });
+
+    it("still HOLDS the gate (neutral) under aiReviewGateMode: block, with the unchanged title", () => {
+      const result = evaluateGateCheck(inconclusiveAdvisory(), { aiReviewGateMode: "block" });
+      expect(result.conclusion).toBe("neutral");
+      expect(result.title).toBe("LoopOver Orb Review Agent — held for human review");
+      expect(result.blockers).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it("the unconditional secret_scan_incomplete hold still fires once the AI hold no longer does", () => {
+      const advisory = inconclusiveAdvisory([
+        {
+          code: "secret_scan_incomplete",
+          title: "Patch-less file(s) could not be fully scanned for secrets (1)",
+          severity: "critical",
+          detail: "GitHub omitted inline diff for: secrets.env.",
+          action: "Ensure patch-less files are within scan limits or split the change so secrets can be verified.",
+        },
+      ]);
+      const result = evaluateGateCheck(advisory);
+      expect(result.conclusion).toBe("neutral");
+      expect(result.blockers).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it("dry-run: displayConclusion previews the block-mode hold while the posted conclusion stays success", () => {
+      const result = evaluateGateCheck(inconclusiveAdvisory(), { aiReviewGateMode: "advisory", dryRun: true });
+      expect(result.conclusion).toBe("success");
+      expect(result.displayConclusion).toBe("neutral");
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("aiReviewLowConfidenceDisposition (#4603)", () => {
     const consensusAdvisory = (confidence: number) => ({
       ...buildPullRequestAdvisory(repo, null),