# Review by Principal Systems Engineer (Google/Stripe caliber) (Round 1)

---

VERDICT: request-changes

FINDINGS:
- [src/colonyos/daemon.py:2555-2568]: `_check_maintenance_budget()` checks `daily_maintenance_spend_usd >= budget` but nothing ever increments that counter — the budget cap is non-functional. CI-fix items will be enqueued without limit regardless of spend. FR-5 requires tracking actual CI-fix costs after items complete.
- [src/colonyos/daemon.py:1713-1720]: Maintenance cycle runs in the `finally` block unconditionally, even if `restore_to_branch()` failed. If the daemon is on a feature branch instead of `main`, `git pull --ff-only` pulls into the wrong branch, potentially corrupting branch state.
- [src/colonyos/daemon.py:2430-2436]: Branch sync report is posted to Slack after every queue item with no cooldown. Diverged branches (which we explicitly don't rebase) will generate identical Slack messages 20+ times per day.
- [src/colonyos/maintenance.py]: Two separate `gh pr list` calls (`_fetch_open_prs_for_prefix` and `_fetch_open_prs_for_ci`) in a single maintenance cycle — minor API inefficiency.
- [src/colonyos/maintenance.py:223]: `_GH_TIMEOUT = 10` seconds may be too tight for repos with many PRs, causing silent empty results.

SYNTHESIS:
The implementation is well-structured with excellent error isolation, comprehensive test coverage (132 new tests, all passing), and clean separation between the pure-function maintenance module and the daemon orchestrator. The architecture follows established project conventions and delivers all six functional requirements. However, two issues need fixing before merge: (1) the maintenance budget cap (FR-5) is non-functional because `daily_maintenance_spend_usd` is never incremented after CI-fix items run — this is the exact safety mechanism meant to prevent CI-fix loops from consuming all resources; and (2) the maintenance cycle doesn't verify it's on `main` before pulling, creating data corruption risk if `restore_to_branch` fails. The Slack spam from branch sync reports is a quality-of-life issue that could be deferred.
