From de2e401e98f639b2ec35d506b2f2305404086728 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Self-Managing Codebase Manager
 <7004983+WillTaylor22@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 26 May 2026 09:27:30 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] memory: vercel-bot-status as deploy-health fallback

When both Vercel MCP and `vercel` CLI auth are broken (ENG-24), the
GitHub Vercel-bot's commit status on the latest PR HEAD is
signal-equivalent for step 1 of the loop. Don't skip the step.
---
 .claude/memory/MEMORY.md                                       | 1 +
 .../2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md  | 3 +++
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .claude/memory/learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md

diff --git a/.claude/memory/MEMORY.md b/.claude/memory/MEMORY.md
index 17e87ea..17b77f2 100644
--- a/.claude/memory/MEMORY.md
+++ b/.claude/memory/MEMORY.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Keep this file under 200 lines — anything longer is content bloat, not memory.
 - [learnings/sentry-mcp-no-comment-tool](learnings/2026-05-26-sentry-mcp-no-comment-tool.md) — Sentry MCP can't comment on issues; back-link from Linear only
 - [learnings/vercel-blocks-unknown-author-email](learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-blocks-unknown-author-email.md) — Vercel preview deploys block when commit author email has no GitHub account; use the noreply alias
 - [learnings/sandbox-cant-clone-private-repo](learnings/2026-05-26-sandbox-cant-clone-private-repo.md) — Don't `git clone` from sandbox bash; the `github_repository` resource is auth'd, raw `git clone` is not
+- [learnings/vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback](learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md) — When Vercel MCP/CLI auth is broken, read the GitHub Vercel-bot's commit status on the latest PR HEAD as a deploy-health fallback
 
 ## Decisions
 - [decisions/mcp-for-small-writes-checkout-for-big](decisions/2026-05-26-mcp-for-small-writes-checkout-for-big.md) — Single-file writes go through GitHub MCP; multi-file or test-needing changes use the mounted checkout + `git push`
diff --git a/.claude/memory/learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md b/.claude/memory/learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..112c24c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/memory/learnings/2026-05-26-vercel-bot-status-as-deploy-health-fallback.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Use GitHub Vercel-bot status as a deploy-health fallback
+
+Step 1 of the loop (deployment health) assumes either `mcp__vercel__list_deployments` or `vercel ls --token $VERCEL_TOKEN` works. Both routinely fail in this session — MCP token is scoped to the wrong team (403, see ENG-24) and `VERCEL_TOKEN` is empty in env despite ENG-13 being closed Done. When that happens, don't skip the step — read the Vercel bot's GitHub commit status on the latest PR's HEAD via `mcp__github__pull_request_read({method: "get_status"})`. The bot posts a `Vercel` context with `state: success|failure|pending` and `target_url` pointing at the deployment, which is enough to answer "is the latest deploy on fire?". Also check the bot's auto-comment on a recently-merged PR for the production deployment URL and Ready/Error state. This is signal-equivalent for the health check without needing Vercel auth at all.