fix(org): log state changes into LOGBOOK and drop no-op transitions

State-change log lines were written inline (org-log-into-drawer nil), where a line landing between a heading and its DEADLINE/SCHEDULED line broke org's planning-line parser and dropped the entry from agenda views. org also logged no-op "State X from X" transitions that carry no information.

Set org-log-into-drawer to t so state changes land in :LOGBOOK: drawers, and add an around-advice on org-add-log-setup that skips identical from/to transitions. The suppression decision lives in a pure predicate so it's tested without driving org-todo. This removes the cause rather than stripping the lines after they appear.

2 files changed, 84 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/modules/org-config.el b/modules/org-config.el
index 6f25752f..a9fc4811 100644
--- a/modules/org-config.el
+++ b/modules/org-config.el
@@ -263,6 +263,23 @@ whole row line."
 
 ;; ----------------------------- Org TODO Settings ---------------------------
 
+(defun cj/org--noop-state-log-p (purpose state prev-state)
+  "Return non-nil when a state-change log carries no information.
+PURPOSE is the `org-add-log-setup' purpose symbol; STATE and PREV-STATE
+are the new and previous TODO states.  A \\='state transition whose new
+and previous states are identical (and non-nil) is a no-op worth
+suppressing."
+  (and (eq purpose 'state)
+       state prev-state
+       (equal state prev-state)))
+
+(defun cj/org--suppress-noop-state-log (orig-fn &optional purpose state prev-state how extra)
+  "Around-advice for `org-add-log-setup' that drops no-op state logs.
+Call ORIG-FN with PURPOSE STATE PREV-STATE HOW EXTRA unless the entry is
+a no-op identical-state transition (see `cj/org--noop-state-log-p')."
+  (unless (cj/org--noop-state-log-p purpose state prev-state)
+    (funcall orig-fn purpose state prev-state how extra)))
+
 (defun cj/org-todo-settings ()
   "All org-todo related settings are grouped and set in this function."
 
@@ -283,9 +300,16 @@ whole row line."
   (setq org-enforce-todo-checkbox-dependencies t)
   (setq org-deadline-warning-days 7)    ;; warn me w/in a week of deadlines
   (setq org-treat-insert-todo-heading-as-state-change nil) ;; log task creation
-  (setq org-log-into-drawer nil) ;; don't log into drawer
+  ;; state changes log into :LOGBOOK: drawers, never inline: an inline log
+  ;; line can wedge between a heading and its planning line and break org's
+  ;; planning-line parser (dropping the entry from agenda views)
+  (setq org-log-into-drawer t)
   (setq org-log-done 'time) ;; record a CLOSED timestamp on TODO->DONE
 
+  ;; drop no-op "State X from X" transitions (identical from/to) that carry
+  ;; no information; the advice dedups, so re-running this is safe
+  (advice-add 'org-add-log-setup :around #'cj/org--suppress-noop-state-log)
+
   ;; inherit parents properties (sadly not schedules or deadlines)
   (setq org-use-property-inheritance t))
 
diff --git a/tests/test-org-config-noop-state-log.el b/tests/test-org-config-noop-state-log.el
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..125eb300
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-org-config-noop-state-log.el
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+;;; test-org-config-noop-state-log.el --- Suppress no-op state-change logs -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
+
+;;; Commentary:
+;; org's state-change logging writes "- State X from X" lines for no-op
+;; transitions (identical from/to state), which carry no information.  With
+;; `org-log-into-drawer' nil those lines also land inline, where they wedge
+;; between a heading and its planning line and break org's parser.  Two fixes
+;; in `cj/org-todo-settings': log state changes into :LOGBOOK: drawers
+;; (`org-log-into-drawer' t), and suppress no-op state logs at the
+;; `org-add-log-setup' choke point via `cj/org--suppress-noop-state-log'.
+
+;;; Code:
+
+(require 'ert)
+(require 'org)          ;; declares the org-log-* vars special
+(require 'org-config)
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-log-into-drawer-enabled ()
+  "Normal: cj/org-todo-settings enables org-log-into-drawer (LOGBOOK)."
+  (let ((org-log-into-drawer nil))
+    (cj/org-todo-settings)
+    (should (eq org-log-into-drawer t))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-noop-state-log-p-identical-is-noop ()
+  "Normal: identical from/to state on a 'state purpose is a no-op."
+  (should (cj/org--noop-state-log-p 'state "TODO" "TODO")))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-noop-state-log-p-real-change-not-noop ()
+  "Normal: a genuine state change is not a no-op."
+  (should-not (cj/org--noop-state-log-p 'state "DONE" "TODO")))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-noop-state-log-p-nil-prev-not-noop ()
+  "Boundary: a nil previous state (initial log) is not a no-op."
+  (should-not (cj/org--noop-state-log-p 'state "TODO" nil)))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-noop-state-log-p-non-state-purpose-not-noop ()
+  "Boundary: identical strings under a non-state purpose are not suppressed."
+  (should-not (cj/org--noop-state-log-p 'note "x" "x")))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-noop-state-log-p-nil-both-not-noop ()
+  "Error: a nil/nil state pair is not a suppressible no-op."
+  (should-not (cj/org--noop-state-log-p 'state nil nil)))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-suppress-advice-skips-noop ()
+  "Normal: the advice does NOT call through for a no-op state transition."
+  (let ((called nil))
+    (cj/org--suppress-noop-state-log
+     (lambda (&rest _) (setq called t)) 'state "TODO" "TODO")
+    (should-not called)))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-config-suppress-advice-passes-real-change ()
+  "Normal: the advice calls through for a genuine state change."
+  (let ((called nil))
+    (cj/org--suppress-noop-state-log
+     (lambda (&rest _) (setq called t)) 'state "DONE" "TODO")
+    (should called)))
+
+(provide 'test-org-config-noop-state-log)
+;;; test-org-config-noop-state-log.el ends here