feat: boost in-progress items and ancestors in computeScore sorting

Co-authored-by: rgardler-msft <108765066+rgardler-msft@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: Copilot

src/database.ts

@@ -197,9 +197,27 @@ export class WorklogDatabase {
 
   private sortItemsByScore(items: WorkItem[], recencyPolicy: 'prefer'|'avoid'|'ignore' = 'ignore'): WorkItem[] {
     const now = Date.now();
+
+    // Pre-compute ancestors of in-progress items for O(1) per-item lookup.
+    // For each in-progress item, walk up the parent chain and record ancestor IDs.
+    const MAX_ANCESTOR_DEPTH = 50;
+    const ancestorsOfInProgress = new Set<string>();
+    for (const item of items) {
+      if (item.status === 'in-progress') {
+        let currentParentId = item.parentId ?? null;
+        let depth = 0;
+        while (currentParentId && depth < MAX_ANCESTOR_DEPTH) {
+          ancestorsOfInProgress.add(currentParentId);
+          const parent = this.store.getWorkItem(currentParentId);
+          currentParentId = parent?.parentId ?? null;
+          depth++;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     return items.slice().sort((a, b) => {
-      const scoreA = this.computeScore(a, now, recencyPolicy);
-      const scoreB = this.computeScore(b, now, recencyPolicy);
+      const scoreA = this.computeScore(a, now, recencyPolicy, ancestorsOfInProgress);
+      const scoreB = this.computeScore(b, now, recencyPolicy, ancestorsOfInProgress);
       if (scoreB !== scoreA) return scoreB - scoreA;
       const createdA = new Date(a.createdAt).getTime();
       const createdB = new Date(b.createdAt).getTime();
@@ -1062,14 +1080,20 @@ export class WorklogDatabase {
    * Compute a score for an item. Defaults: recencyPolicy='ignore'.
    * Higher score == more desirable.
    */
-   private computeScore(item: WorkItem, now: number, recencyPolicy: 'prefer'|'avoid'|'ignore' = 'ignore'): number {
+   private computeScore(
+    item: WorkItem,
+    now: number,
+    recencyPolicy: 'prefer'|'avoid'|'ignore' = 'ignore',
+    ancestorsOfInProgress?: Set<string>
+  ): number {
     // Weights are intentionally fixed and not configurable per request
     //
     // Ranking precedence (highest to lowest):
     //   1. priority          — primary ranking (weight 1000 per level)
     //   2. blocksHighPriority — boost for items that unblock high/critical work
-    //   3. blocked penalty   — heavy penalty for blocked items
-    //   4. age / effort / recency — fine-grained tie-breakers
+    //   3. in-progress multipliers — boost active items and their ancestors
+    //   4. blocked penalty   — heavy penalty for blocked items
+    //   5. age / effort / recency — fine-grained tie-breakers
     const WEIGHTS = {
       priority: 1000,
       blocksHighPriority: 500,  // boost when this item unblocks high/critical items
@@ -1134,6 +1158,19 @@ export class WorklogDatabase {
     // Blocked status - heavy penalty
     if (item.status === 'blocked') score += WEIGHTS.blocked;
 
+    // In-progress score multiplier boosts (applied after all additive components).
+    // Non-stacking: direct in-progress boost takes precedence over ancestor boost.
+    // Blocked items receive no boost (the -10000 penalty remains dominant).
+    const IN_PROGRESS_BOOST = 1.5;
+    const PARENT_IN_PROGRESS_BOOST = 1.25;
+    if (item.status !== 'blocked') {
+      if (item.status === 'in-progress') {
+        score *= IN_PROGRESS_BOOST;
+      } else if (ancestorsOfInProgress?.has(item.id)) {
+        score *= PARENT_IN_PROGRESS_BOOST;
+      }
+    }
+
     return score;
   }
 

tests/database.test.ts

@@ -1893,4 +1893,105 @@ describe('WorklogDatabase', () => {
       expect(afterAvoidA.sortIndex).toBeGreaterThan(afterAvoidB.sortIndex);
     });
   });
+
+  describe('in-progress boost in computeScore / reSort', () => {
+    it('should boost an in-progress item above a same-priority open item', () => {
+      const open = db.create({ title: 'Open item', priority: 'medium' });
+      const inProgress = db.create({ title: 'In-progress item', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress' });
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedOpen = db.get(open.id)!;
+      const updatedInProgress = db.get(inProgress.id)!;
+      // In-progress item should sort first (lower sortIndex = higher rank)
+      expect(updatedInProgress.sortIndex).toBeLessThan(updatedOpen.sortIndex);
+    });
+
+    it('should boost an ancestor of an in-progress item above a same-priority open item', () => {
+      const parent = db.create({ title: 'Parent epic', priority: 'medium' });
+      const child = db.create({ title: 'In-progress child', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress', parentId: parent.id });
+      const unrelated = db.create({ title: 'Unrelated open item', priority: 'medium' });
+
+      // Suppress unused-variable lint warning
+      void child;
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedParent = db.get(parent.id)!;
+      const updatedUnrelated = db.get(unrelated.id)!;
+      // Parent with in-progress child should sort above the unrelated open item
+      expect(updatedParent.sortIndex).toBeLessThan(updatedUnrelated.sortIndex);
+    });
+
+    it('should apply only the in-progress boost (not ancestor boost) when item is itself in-progress', () => {
+      // Parent has an in-progress child AND is itself in-progress:
+      // it should get the 1.5x boost, not both 1.5x and 1.25x
+      const parent = db.create({ title: 'In-progress parent', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress' });
+      const child = db.create({ title: 'In-progress child', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress', parentId: parent.id });
+      const open = db.create({ title: 'Open item', priority: 'medium' });
+
+      void child;
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedParent = db.get(parent.id)!;
+      const updatedOpen = db.get(open.id)!;
+      // Parent is in-progress so it gets the 1.5x boost (not stacked 1.5x * 1.25x)
+      expect(updatedParent.sortIndex).toBeLessThan(updatedOpen.sortIndex);
+    });
+
+    it('should not boost a blocked item even if it is an ancestor of an in-progress item', () => {
+      const blockedParent = db.create({ title: 'Blocked parent', priority: 'medium', status: 'blocked' });
+      db.create({ title: 'In-progress child', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress', parentId: blockedParent.id });
+      const open = db.create({ title: 'Open item', priority: 'medium' });
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedBlockedParent = db.get(blockedParent.id)!;
+      const updatedOpen = db.get(open.id)!;
+      // Blocked parent should still sort below the open item due to -10000 penalty
+      expect(updatedBlockedParent.sortIndex).toBeGreaterThan(updatedOpen.sortIndex);
+    });
+
+    it('should not modify the stored priority field when applying in-progress boost', () => {
+      const item = db.create({ title: 'In-progress item', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress' });
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updated = db.get(item.id)!;
+      expect(updated.priority).toBe('medium');
+    });
+
+    it('should still boost ancestor when multiple in-progress children exist at different depths', () => {
+      const grandparent = db.create({ title: 'Grandparent', priority: 'medium' });
+      const parent = db.create({ title: 'Parent', priority: 'medium', parentId: grandparent.id });
+      db.create({ title: 'In-progress grandchild', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress', parentId: parent.id });
+      const unrelated = db.create({ title: 'Unrelated open item', priority: 'medium' });
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedGrandparent = db.get(grandparent.id)!;
+      const updatedUnrelated = db.get(unrelated.id)!;
+      // Grandparent should be boosted because it is an ancestor of an in-progress item
+      expect(updatedGrandparent.sortIndex).toBeLessThan(updatedUnrelated.sortIndex);
+    });
+
+    it('should not boost ancestor when in-progress child is completed', () => {
+      const parent = db.create({ title: 'Parent', priority: 'medium' });
+      const child = db.create({ title: 'Child', priority: 'medium', status: 'in-progress', parentId: parent.id });
+      const unrelated = db.create({ title: 'Unrelated open item', priority: 'medium' });
+
+      // Close the in-progress child
+      db.update(child.id, { status: 'completed' });
+
+      db.reSort();
+
+      const updatedParent = db.get(parent.id)!;
+      const updatedUnrelated = db.get(unrelated.id)!;
+      // Parent no longer has any in-progress descendants; no ancestor boost.
+      // With equal priority and no boost, createdAt is the tie-breaker:
+      // parent was created first so it naturally gets a lower sortIndex.
+      expect(updatedParent.sortIndex).toBeLessThan(updatedUnrelated.sortIndex);
+    });
+  });
 });