# Epic 2 Retrospective — Role-Driven Dashboard & Command Center

**Date:** 2026-03-24
**Facilitator:** Bob (Scrum Master)
**Epic:** 2 — Role-Driven Dashboard & Command Center
**Status:** Complete (4/4 stories done)
**Previous Retrospective:** Epic 1 (2026-03-20)

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## Team Participants

- Bob (Scrum Master) — Facilitator
- Alice / John (Product Owner/PM) — Product perspective
- Charlie / Amelia (Senior Dev / Developer) — Implementation insights
- Dana / Quinn (QA Engineer) — Quality perspective
- Elena (Junior Dev) — Learning perspective
- Winston (Architect) — Architecture decisions
- Saad (Project Lead) — Direction & decisions

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## Epic Summary & Metrics

**Delivery:**

- Stories Completed: 4/4 (100%)
- Test Suite Growth: 182 → 222 tests (+40 new, +22%)
- Assertions Growth: 677 → 1127+ (+66%)
- Code Review Findings: 3 deferred items (D-1, D-2, D-3) from adversarial 3-layer review on Story 2.3
- Blockers: 0
- Production Incidents: 0
- Execution Time: ~3 days (March 20–22, 2026)

**Stories Delivered:**

| Story | Title | Key Outcome |
|-------|-------|-------------|
| 2.1 | Owner/Manager Command Center Dashboard | DashboardController rewrite, StatCard component, KPI grid, Redis cached aggregation, 11 new tests |
| 2.2 | Priority Alerts Panel | 3-tier severity alerts (critical/warning/info), PriorityAlertsPanel component, 10 new tests |
| 2.3 | Worker Scoped Dashboard | Worker subtitle, EmptyState, hidden assignee column, `isWorker` prop, 9 new tests |
| 2.4 | Dashboard Activity Feed | Spatie Activity Log feed, ActivityFeed component, French relative timestamps, responsive 2-column layout, 7 new tests |

**FRs Covered:** FR24 (KPI Dashboard), FR25 (Worker Dashboard), FR26 (Priority Alerts), FR52-FR55 (Activity Feed — dashboard panel only)
**NFRs Addressed:** NFR5 (3-second render), NFR12 (audit trail via activity feed)

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## What Went Well

1. **Context management across stories was excellent.** Rich story specs with "Previous Story Intelligence" sections meant each story started with full awareness of prior learnings. The `due_date` vs `deadline` gotcha was caught once in Story 2.1 and proactively avoided in all 3 subsequent stories.

2. **Strong foundations compound.** The `forUser()` scope built in Epic 1 (Story 1.5) made Worker scoping in Story 2.3 effortless — zero debug issues, zero backend query changes needed. The cleanest story in the epic.

3. **Incremental extension pattern worked perfectly.** All 4 stories cleanly extended the same `DashboardController` and `Cache::remember()` block. Story 2.1 built the foundation, 2.2 added alerts, 2.3 tweaked for Workers, 2.4 added the feed — no story broke a previous one.

4. **100% completion with zero blockers.** 4 stories in ~3 days, all acceptance criteria met, all tests passing, all code linted. Stories 2.1–2.3 shipped on the same day (March 20).

5. **Adversarial code review on Story 2.3 surfaced valuable deferred items.** 3 documented findings (D-1 nudge/reassign, D-2 assignee param, D-3 cache invalidation) — all correctly scoped to future epics rather than blocking current work.

6. **README cold-start guide and epic status discipline delivered.** Both commitments from Epic 1 retro were completed and proved their value during Epic 2.

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## What Didn't Go Well

1. **15 pre-existing test failures surfaced in Story 2.4.** 14 Folder feature tests with missing routes/tables + 1 WorkerDashboardTest session edge case. These have been accumulating since Epic 0 and have now been flagged for THREE retrospectives. The number is growing, not shrinking.

2. **Architecture doc drift.** `deadline` vs `due_date` column name mismatch, non-existent `Declaration::workspace()` scope, undocumented `mise_en_demeure` status — flagged in 4/4 stories. Story specs compensated with "CRITICAL" notes, but source docs remain stale.

3. **Story 2.4 environment friction.** Windows Docker stdin hang, Vite manifest missing in tests, duplicate function name conflict — all infrastructure issues, not code logic. Cross-platform (Windows vs Linux) friction is an ongoing environmental challenge.

4. **`withoutVite()` global workaround.** Added to Pest.php to fix Vite manifest issue — works but could mask real Vite build problems in future tests. Documented as known debt.

5. **2 of 5 Epic 1 action items still unresolved.** A4 (pre-existing test failures) and A5 (withPivot documentation) were not addressed during Epic 2.

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## Key Insights & Lessons Learned

1. **Context management is the team's superpower.** Investing in rich story context (Previous Story Intelligence, architecture constraints, code patterns) pays off exponentially across an epic. Small errors are expected — the system self-corrects when context is strong.

2. **Load retrospective files as context during story creation.** Saad's process fix: with Opus 4.6's 1M token window, loading a retro file during story creation is essentially free and organically carries forward lessons learned, action items, and architecture corrections into every new story spec.

3. **Pre-existing test failures must be resolved within the same epic.** No more carrying debt across retros. Three-retro flags indicate a systemic accountability gap.

4. **Strong foundations compound — invest early.** The `forUser()` scope, `Cache::remember()` pattern, and role-based shared props from Epics 0-1 made Epic 2 dramatically smoother. Each epic should leave foundations for the next.

5. **Cross-platform friction is environmental, not architectural.** Windows vs Linux differences cause occasional debugging overhead. Document workarounds and move on — don't over-engineer solutions.

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## Previous Retrospective (Epic 1) Follow-Through

| # | Action Item | Status | Evidence |
|---|-------------|--------|----------|
| A1 | Create README.md with cold-start guide | ✅ Completed | README.md exists with Cold-Start Guide, Vite gotcha, verification checklist |
| A2 | Update epic-1 to done in sprint-status.yaml | ✅ Completed | sprint-status.yaml shows epic-1: done |
| A3 | Epic status update discipline | ✅ Completed | epic-2 correctly marked done after all stories done |
| A4 | Resolve pre-existing test failures | ❌ Not Addressed (3rd retro flag) | 15 pre-existing failures surfaced in Story 2.4 |
| A5 | Document pivot withPivot gotchas in project-context.md | ❌ Not Addressed | project-context.md does not mention withPivot |

**Score: 3/5 completed, 0/5 in progress, 2/5 not addressed.**

Key concern: A4 is now a THIRD retro flag. Made critical blocker for Epic 3.

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## Deferred Code Review Items (from Story 2.3 Review)

| ID | Description | Severity | Affects |
|----|-------------|----------|---------|
| D-1 | Nudge/Reassign dropdown items unconditionally disabled | Medium | Epic 3, Story 3.2 |
| D-2 | StatCard `assignee` param not consumed by declarations index | Low (intentional) | Epic 4, Story 4.1 |
| D-3 | Cache not invalidated on role change (5-min TTL mitigates) | Low | Cross-cutting |

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## Action Items

| # | Action | Owner | Priority | Success Criteria |
|---|--------|-------|----------|------------------|
| A1 | Load retrospective file as context during every story creation | Bob (SM) | Critical | Every new story spec references latest retro and incorporates relevant lessons |
| A2 | Fix 15 pre-existing test failures (THIRD retro flag — BLOCKS Epic 3) | Quinn (QA) + Amelia (Dev) | Critical | All 222+ tests pass with zero failures |
| A3 | Document `withPivot` gotchas in project-context.md (carried from Epic 1) | Amelia (Dev) | Medium | project-context.md contains WorkspaceUser pivot field gotchas |
| A4 | Update architecture doc: correct `deadline` → `due_date` and other drift | Winston (Architect) | Medium | Architecture doc matches actual DB schema and scope names |
| A5 | Review `withoutVite()` global workaround compatibility with Epic 3 | Quinn (QA) | Low | Confirmed compatible or replaced with targeted fix |
| A6 | Maintain epic status update discipline (proven — keep enforcing) | Bob (SM) | Ongoing | No stale epic statuses |

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## Team Agreements

- **Load retrospective file as context during every story creation** — non-negotiable new agreement
- Code review remains mandatory on every story — never skip it
- "Previous Story Intelligence" sections continue in every story spec
- Wayfinder routes remain the ONLY way to reference URLs in Vue
- **Pre-existing test failures must be resolved within the same epic** — no more carrying across retros (new agreement)

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## Next Epic Preview — Epic 3: Collaboration, Nudge System & Notifications

**Dependencies on Epic 2:**

- D-1: Dashboard nudge/reassign dropdown actions need enabling in Story 3.2
- Activity feed Spatie Activity Log infrastructure (Story 2.4) — foundation for notification events
- Dashboard layout stability — notification bell goes in app header, not dashboard
- `forUser()` scope and role-based patterns — reused for notification scoping

**Stories Planned:** 5 (3.1–3.5)

| Story | Title | Key Focus |
|-------|-------|-----------|
| 3.1 | Notification Infrastructure Setup | notifications table, NotificationType enum, ShouldQueue patterns |
| 3.2 | One-Click Nudge System | NudgeController, NudgePopover, enable D-1 dropdown |
| 3.3 | Notification Center and Bell | In-app notification center with badge count |
| 3.4 | Bulk Client Notification Scheduling | Document request campaigns to multiple clients |
| 3.5 | Email Notification Enhancement | Mail channel for key events |

**Infrastructure Ready:**

- Redis queue — running (Epic 0, Story 0.4)
- Queue worker — configured in Docker Compose
- Spatie Activity Log — proven in Story 2.4
- `Notifiable` trait — already on User model via Fortify
- Laravel notification channels (database + mail) — framework-provided
- Test fakes (`Notification::fake()`, `Mail::fake()`) — framework-provided

**Significant Changes Required:** None — Epic 2 discoveries do not change Epic 3's plan.

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## Preparation Tasks for Epic 3

**Critical (blocks Epic 3 start):**

- [ ] Fix 15 pre-existing test failures — Owner: Quinn + Amelia
- [ ] Update story creation process to load retro as context — Owner: Bob (SM)

**Before story creation:**

- [ ] Update architecture doc drift items — Owner: Winston
- [ ] Add `withPivot` gotchas to project-context.md — Owner: Amelia

**Nice-to-have:**

- [ ] Confirm `withoutVite()` compatibility with notification tests — Owner: Quinn

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## Readiness Assessment

| Area | Status | Notes |
|------|--------|-------|
| Testing & Quality | ✅ Strong | 222 tests, 1127+ assertions, manually verified by Saad |
| Deployment | ✅ Expected | Local dev only — production is Epic 7 scope |
| Stakeholder Acceptance | ✅ Approved | Positive feedback received: "good work" |
| Technical Health | ✅ Stable | Saad confirms codebase feels solid |
| Unresolved Blockers | ✅ None | Clean slate for Epic 3 |
| Infrastructure | ✅ Ready | Redis, queue worker, notifications, mail — all in place |

**Verdict:** Epic 2 is fully complete. Team is clear to proceed with Epic 3 after completing 2 critical path items (fix test failures + update story creation process to load retro).

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## Next Steps

1. **Fix 15 pre-existing test failures** — critical blocker
2. **Update story creation workflow to load latest retro** — critical process fix
3. Review action items in next standup
4. Begin Epic 3 — start creating stories with SM agent's `create-story`
5. Epic will be marked as `in-progress` automatically when first story is created

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## Team Performance

Epic 2 delivered 4 stories with outstanding velocity in ~3 days. 40 new tests added, zero blockers, zero production incidents. The "morning command center" dashboard received positive stakeholder feedback. The retrospective surfaced 4 key insights and 0 significant plan-changing discoveries. The team is well-positioned for Epic 3 success.

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*Retrospective facilitated by Bob (Scrum Master) on 2026-03-24*
