---
id: LSN-0017
ticket: packer-docs-import
title: Packer docs import pattern
created: 2026-03-26
tags:
  - packer
  - migration
  - discussion-framework
  - import-pattern
---

## Context

This lesson summarizes the completed migration of `docs/packer` into `discussion/`.

The original migration control artifacts were:

- `AGD-0003`
- `DEC-0002`
- `PLN-0002`

Those workflow files are being deleted during housekeeping. The index remains the permanent historical record.

## Key Decisions

### Packer domain import follows the same retained-set migration pattern as Studio

**What:** The `docs/packer` migration imported only retained artifacts, promoted retained open agendas into new discussions, preserved the empty retained sets for decisions and plans, rewrote retained `learn` into legacy lessons, and kept `specs` outside `discussion/`.
**Why:** The packer domain already had two live agendas and a didactic learn corpus, but no retained decisions or plans. The migration needed to preserve that real operational state instead of fabricating symmetry.
**Trade-offs:** The pattern keeps workflow truth honest, but it requires explicit editorial rewriting and separate migration bookkeeping before the resulting discussions can continue normally.

## Patterns and Algorithms

- Treat README-declared empty retained sets as authoritative.
- Create one new discussion per retained agenda.
- Backfill retained learn documents as legacy lessons in the migration discussion directory.
- Keep normative specs external to the workflow control plane.
- Delete completed migration control artifacts after recording the durable pattern lesson.

## Pitfalls

- Manufacturing missing decisions or plans to make the imported tree look symmetric.
- Forgetting to separate imported open agendas into their own discussions.
- Keeping completed migration scaffolding around after the lesson already captures the reusable pattern.

## Takeaways

- Domain migration is a repeatable workflow: preserve retained truth, normalize into framework templates, split open agendas into real discussions, and delete completed migration scaffolding after housekeeping.
- This lesson captures the migration pattern; the imported packer legacy lessons capture the domain knowledge itself.