1. README

The quackitect report — gated milestones (left), the trace graph (center), and coverage metrics (right).

	Spec Kit · Kiro · OpenSpec	quackitect
Job	spec → plan → generate code	spec → gated ledger + deliverable
Output	source code	auditable + deliverable
On input change	re-generate	every check the change touches reopens for review - you re-approve it
User role	review the diff	adjudicate the gates (never auto-passed)
Runtime	varies	one dependency-free Go binary

Link	What it is
The book (this document — you are reading it)	quackitect's whole spec as one page. Works locally and on GitHub.
Read the book in your browser (this document — you are reading it)	The same book on GitHub Pages. No clone needed.
	From an empty folder to a shipped Pong game, measured. Opens as slides; the last slide plays the game.

2. Introduction and IFUs What this book is, how to read it, and how to use the system.

2.1 Document overview

This book is the full specification of quackitect. It holds the needs, the requirements, the design, and the proof, all generated from one . Read it when the README is not enough. The chapter lines below say where each question is answered.

What the system IS lives on the home page.
How to use it: see the IFUs below.

— What this book is, how to read it, and how to use the system.
— where we want to be, and why we can get there.
— The key concepts, references, and glossary this document stands on.
— the whole system on one page.
— context, stakeholders, and every checkable claim on the system.
— the architecture derived, then the design deep down.
— verification and validation: thing built right, right thing built.
— the approach, the record, and the risks, mostly derived.
— internals, rationales, and how this document is made.

2.2 IFUs

An is an instruction for use: it teaches one thing a user can do with the system, told as that user's story.

The IFUs, in reading order

name brief

ifu0001 setup from a fresh machine to quackitect idle. open the slides

ifu0001-setup

From zero to a running ledger

A design ledger only helps if starting it is trivial. This IFU takes a fresh machine to a running quackitect in a few minutes. --- # Starting state Truly nothing: a machine without the repo, without the engine, without a session. This is the one IFU that starts from scratch. Every other IFU starts where this one ends. --- # Get the repo, run the launcher Clone or copy the project, then run `.\quack version` at its root. The launcher bootstraps the ONE global engine binary from the vendored source. No Go on the machine? The bundled shim builds anyway. --- # Attest the session An agent channel earns its session key through the contract's attest ritual: the owner mints a grant at the console, the agent redeems it after the visible recital. The interactive console itself is never gated. --- # Pair a phone, if you want one `quack pair` mints the topic credential and renders a QR code. From then on a gate question can ride to the lockscreen, and one tap answers it. Optional, and worth it. --- # The idle state This is the state every IFU calls idle:

The global engine binary is built and current.
The workspace loads: `quack boot` reports green or yellow.
`quack next` names the next ready check, or says done.
The command surface of your choice is up, CLI or MCP.

flowchart TD
  subgraph workspace
    spec["spec/ - the graph"]
  end
  subgraph engine
    quack["the global quack binary"]
  end
  subgraph surfaces
    cli["CLI"]
    mcp["MCP tools"]
  end
  cli -->|commands| quack
  mcp -->|commands| quack
  quack -->|reads and checks| spec

--- # Covered use cases Setting up exercises these journeys: , . Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. Story slides stay clean.

ifu0002 pong a five-minutes walkthrough from an empty folder to a shipped Pong game. open the slides

ifu0002-pong

Get it

Two ways in. Both end with a verified toolchain.

Prerequisites - either way:

An AI agent on your system (Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) - it drives the loop for you.
Windows: Winget. It ships with Windows 11 and current Windows 10.
Linux: apt-get, dnf, or apk.
The Go toolchain. Missing? The installer puts it there for you, and says why.

Option A - clone the repo, run the installer:

git clone https://github.com/mb-89/quackitect
tools\RUNME.ps1    (Windows)
tools/RUNME.sh     (Linux)

Option B - say to your agent, verbatim:

clone https://github.com/mb-89/quackitect, and lets start a new project

Your agent handles the rest, including the install. Minutes: 0.5 Note: the installer only installs and verifies. It creates no workspace and no project. This deck is self-contained on purpose - everything you need is on the slides. --- # Start the loop Three moves open a project.

Tell your agent what you want. One sentence is enough.
The agent starts the loop. quackitect confirms the project type and the rigor WITH you. It never assumes the fit.
The grant - your one console command. It proves the contract was read before any work moves the ledger:

./quack attest --grant

The start exchange, message by message:

What to see above: the whole start step is four messages. The rigor warning is part of it - systematic is overkill for pong, kept deliberately to show every milestone. Minutes: 1.0 Note: the grant is one console command; composing the checklist takes the agent about a minute. After that, the board shows all 25 checks - the whole road, visible before any work. --- # Design input First the WHAT: agreed before anything is built.

M1 - vision. Say why, in one paragraph. The board turns its first row green.
M2 - requirements. Short, testable statements - each with a test. The engine computes the pairing; nobody ticks that box by hand.

Pong's three most important requirements:

paddle control - the player moves the left paddle with the keyboard
ball physics and scoring - the ball bounces off paddles and walls; first to five wins
single file - the whole game ships as one HTML file, zero dependencies

Pong's design-input register, as its own book renders it:

What to see on the right: pong's whole design input - one need, one use case, three requirements, each with its test. The engine computes the pairing; this book's own is the same table at project scale.

fig: sample-register Minutes: 1.0 Note: three requirements, three tests, pairing computed by the engine - about a minute of walk. --- # Design output Then the HOW: the architecture, the design, the deliverable taking shape.

M3 - candidates. One real fork: canvas rendering vs DOM elements. Both written down before deciding.
M4 - decision. One line decides: canvas wins on frame cost. The decision is a recorded ADR - traced, never folklore.
M5 - spike. Nothing risky left? Say so, on the record. Here the whole build IS the spike.
M6 - build. About 110 lines later: a playable game. The engine computes "every requirement has realized design".

Pong's architecture, rendered the way every model renders in a quackitect book:

flowchart TD
  subgraph state
    game-state["ball, paddles, score"]
  end
  subgraph update
    player-input["keyboard input"]
    paddle-ai["right-paddle ai"]
    physics["bounce and scoring rules"]
  end
  subgraph render
    game-loop["frame loop"]
    canvas-draw["canvas renderer - the recorded ADR"]
  end
  player-input -->|paddle intent| game-state
  paddle-ai -->|paddle intent| game-state
  physics -->|ball and score updates| game-state
  game-loop -->|tick| physics
  game-state -->|state to draw| canvas-draw
  game-loop -->|frame| canvas-draw

Minutes: 1.5 Note: the build is the meat of the walk - about two minutes to a playable game, with two headless screenshots as run proof. --- # Validation and packaging

M7 - validate. The code is read back against each requirement. "Meets the need" is a judged gate, not a feeling.
M8 - ship. One command packages everything.

It ships MORE than the deliverable:

the game - pong.html, 3.8 KB
a small BOOK - pong's own spec, rendered like this document
the report - the live board, 25 of 25 checks green
the README - the project's front door, scaffolded at the start
RUNME - the installer, so the zip's receiver can set up the toolchain too
one zip carrying all of it

What to see above: five artifacts go in, one zip comes out - install, docs, and deliverable travel together. Minutes: 0.5 Note: the timeline across the bottom is the real walk, about five minutes from empty folder to shipped zip - measured, with the friction this iteration fixed taken out. --- # Discussion

The shipped game, live from this page. The court is always here; start runs the simulation, stop halts it, start runs it fresh again. Leaving the slide stops it too.

// re-homed for the book: this page has no #court/#msg/#start, so the embed builds
// its own elements inside its slot on the slide's first entry (the court shows
// immediately, static). START runs the simulation; STOP halts it; START again
// restarts fresh. Leaving the slide stops the loop through slot.__stop; the
// court and the buttons stay.
var slot = document.getElementById('ifu0002-pong-s6-e1').parentNode;
Array.prototype.slice.call(slot.querySelectorAll('.pong-el')).forEach(function(n){ n.parentNode.removeChild(n); });
var raf = 0, stopped = true;
var msg = document.createElement('p');
msg.className = 'pong-el';
msg.textContent = 'First to 5 wins. W/S or the arrow keys move the left paddle.';
var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
canvas.className = 'pong-el';
canvas.width = 800; canvas.height = 500;
canvas.style.cssText = 'background:#000;border:2px solid #444;max-width:100%;display:block';
var bs = 'font-size:1rem;padding:8px 22px;cursor:pointer;border-radius:6px;border:1px solid #666;background:#222;color:#eee;margin-right:10px';
var startBtn = document.createElement('button');
startBtn.className = 'pong-el';
startBtn.textContent = 'start';
startBtn.style.cssText = bs;
var stopBtn = document.createElement('button');
stopBtn.className = 'pong-el';
stopBtn.textContent = 'stop';
stopBtn.style.cssText = bs;
stopBtn.disabled = true;
slot.appendChild(msg); slot.appendChild(canvas); slot.appendChild(startBtn); slot.appendChild(stopBtn);
startBtn.addEventListener('click', function(){ startPong(); });
stopBtn.addEventListener('click', function(){ haltPong(); });
slot.__keys = slot.__keys || {};
if (!slot.__keysWired) {
  slot.__keysWired = true;
  document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e){ slot.__keys[e.key] = true; });
  document.addEventListener('keyup',   function(e){ slot.__keys[e.key] = false; });
}
function haltPong() {
  stopped = true;
  if (raf) cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
  startBtn.disabled = false;
  stopBtn.disabled = true;
}
slot.__stop = haltPong;
drawCourt();
function drawCourt() {
  var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
  ctx.fillStyle = '#000'; ctx.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  ctx.strokeStyle = '#333'; ctx.setLineDash([8, 12]);
  ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(canvas.width/2, 0); ctx.lineTo(canvas.width/2, canvas.height); ctx.stroke(); ctx.setLineDash([]);
  ctx.fillStyle = '#eee';
  ctx.fillRect(0, (canvas.height-90)/2, 12, 90);
  ctx.fillRect(canvas.width-12, (canvas.height-90)/2, 12, 90);
  ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(canvas.width/2, canvas.height/2, 8, 0, 7); ctx.fill();
}

function startPong() {
  var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
  var W = canvas.width, H = canvas.height;
  var PW = 12, PH = 90, R = 8, WIN = 5;
  var keys = slot.__keys;
  var state;

  function reset(dir) {
    return { bx: W/2, by: H/2, vx: 5*dir, vy: 3*(Math.random()*2-1),
             ly: state ? state.ly : (H-PH)/2, ry: state ? state.ry : (H-PH)/2,
             ls: state ? state.ls : 0, rs: state ? state.rs : 0, over: false };
  }

  function step() {
    // left paddle: player keys
    if (keys['w'] || keys['ArrowUp'])   state.ly -= 7;
    if (keys['s'] || keys['ArrowDown']) state.ly += 7;
    state.ly = Math.max(0, Math.min(H-PH, state.ly));
    // right paddle: simple AI follows the ball
    var target = state.by - PH/2;
    state.ry += Math.max(-5, Math.min(5, target - state.ry));
    state.ry = Math.max(0, Math.min(H-PH, state.ry));
    // ball
    state.bx += state.vx; state.by += state.vy;
    if (state.by < R)   { state.by = R;   state.vy = -state.vy; }
    if (state.by > H-R) { state.by = H-R; state.vy = -state.vy; }
    // paddle bounces (angle depends on where the ball hits the paddle)
    if (state.vx < 0 && state.bx-R < PW && state.by > state.ly && state.by < state.ly+PH) {
      state.bx = PW+R; state.vx = -state.vx*1.03;
      state.vy += (state.by-(state.ly+PH/2))/12;
      // moving WITH the hit puts spin on the ball: the paddle's motion bends the angle
      if (keys['w'] || keys['ArrowUp'])   state.vy -= 2.5;
      if (keys['s'] || keys['ArrowDown']) state.vy += 2.5;
    }
    if (state.vx > 0 && state.bx+R > W-PW && state.by > state.ry && state.by < state.ry+PH) {
      state.bx = W-PW-R; state.vx = -state.vx*1.03;
      state.vy += (state.by-(state.ry+PH/2))/12;
    }
    // score
    if (state.bx < -R)  { state.rs++; endRally(-1); }
    if (state.bx > W+R) { state.ls++; endRally(1); }
  }

  function endRally(dir) {
    if (state.ls >= WIN || state.rs >= WIN) {
      state.over = true;
      msg.textContent = (state.ls > state.rs ? 'You win!' : 'Computer wins!');
      startBtn.disabled = false; stopBtn.disabled = true;
    } else {
      var keep = state; state = reset(dir); state.ls = keep.ls; state.rs = keep.rs;
    }
  }

  function draw() {
    ctx.fillStyle = '#000'; ctx.fillRect(0, 0, W, H);
    ctx.strokeStyle = '#333'; ctx.setLineDash([8, 12]);
    ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(W/2, 0); ctx.lineTo(W/2, H); ctx.stroke(); ctx.setLineDash([]);
    ctx.fillStyle = '#eee';
    ctx.fillRect(0, state.ly, PW, PH);
    ctx.fillRect(W-PW, state.ry, PW, PH);
    ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(state.bx, state.by, R, 0, 7); ctx.fill();
    ctx.font = '40px monospace'; ctx.textAlign = 'center';
    ctx.fillText(state.ls, W/2-60, 50); ctx.fillText(state.rs, W/2+60, 50);
  }

  function loop() {
    if (stopped) return;
    if (!state.over) { step(); draw(); raf = requestAnimationFrame(loop); }
  }

  document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e){ keys[e.key] = true; });
  document.addEventListener('keyup',   function(e){ keys[e.key] = false; });
  stopped = false;
  startBtn.disabled = true; stopBtn.disabled = false;
  msg.textContent = 'First to 5 wins.';
  state = null; state = reset(1); state.ls = 0; state.rs = 0;
  draw();
  raf = requestAnimationFrame(loop);
}
startPong();

Pong is not an example you would usually use quackitect for. That is why quackitect warned you that it is overkill. We used Pong as a small example to show you how the workflow works. The bigger the project, the more the rigor pays off. quackitect itself will tell you if the rigor does not match the project.

Behind that, two points:

the rigor mismatch catches misfit in BOTH directions - too much ceremony for a toy, too little structure for a real system
for throwaway vibe coding you would not use quackitect at all

Minutes: 0.5 Note: the same lazy law the shipped file obeys - the embed stays inert text until you press start; leaving the slide stops the game, and coming back asks for a fresh start. --- # Covered use cases The five-minute walk exercises the loop end to end: , , , . Minutes: 0.0 Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. The game stays the finale of the story.

ifu0003 work loop the work loop. Plan, walk, refine, ship. open the slides

ifu0003-work-loop

Work that advances without eroding trust

The problem with agent-built work is not speed. It is trust in work you did not watch. The loop makes every advance a filled check and every judgment call an adjudicated gate. --- # Starting state The idle state from : engine current, workspace loaded, session attested. --- # Plan with engage start `/engage start` opens an iteration: retro first, then triage, then the baked checklist. The plan becomes checks in the ledger, not prose in a document. --- # Walk with engage next `/engage next` walks ONE ready check: fill it, propose the adjudication, stop at gates. The agent fills. The owner blesses. A killer gate always waits for its person.

flowchart TD
  next["next - the ready check"]
  fill["fill - evidence in"]
  bless["bless - the adjudication"]
  next -->|walk| fill
  fill -->|propose| bless
  bless -->|reopens on change| next

--- # Refine in a spike `/engage refine` explores an idea without touching the ledger, then captures the keeper backward. Once a build exists, refine is the default lane. --- # Grants, phones, and gates A standing grant scopes what an agent may bless alone. A paired phone answers a gate with one tap. Everything else stops and asks. That split is the whole trust model. --- # Ship `/engage ship` packages the deliverable once the gates are green. An iteration ends with its record complete and its output out the door. --- # Covered use cases The loop journey exercises: , , , , , , , . Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. Story slides stay clean.

ifu0004 review review - notes, readout, report, retro. open the slides

ifu0004-review

Work you did not watch still needs explaining

A week later, nobody remembers why a check went red or where an idea went. The review lanes make the record answer those questions instead of your memory. --- # Starting state The idle state from , with some walked work on the board. --- # Capture with note `/note` captures an idea the moment it appears, frictionless, into the inbox. Triage sorts it later. Nothing gets lost because capture cost nothing. --- # Ask the board with readout `/review readout` answers "where am I": the progress bar, the suspects, the next move. It is pure display, safe at any time. --- # Render the record with report `/review report` renders the live HTML board, and the book renders the whole trace as a document. Both are snapshots: the reader re-renders when they want it current.

fig: project-timeline --- # Learn with retro The retro turns wasted effort into method changes: field feedback in, baked rules out. A lesson that stays in one person's head is a lesson half-learned. --- # The record explains itself Notes hold the loose ends, the readout answers the present, the report and the book answer the past, the retro changes the future. That is the whole review story. --- # Covered use cases The review journey exercises: , , , , . Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. Story slides stay clean.

ifu0005 reader the book. Reading, presenting, and commenting the record. open the slides

ifu0005-reader

A graph nobody can read is not a record

The ledger's truth lives in hundreds of nodes. A stakeholder needs ONE readable, self-contained book: chapters, figures, tables, and a way to talk back. --- # Starting state The idle state from , with a workspace worth reading. --- # Read and navigate The book renders as one HTML file: contents tree, search with visible hits, deep links to every anchor. Terms explain themselves in the details pane instead of throwing the reader out of the page. --- # Tables, figures, and models Registers render as filterable tables. Declared models render through one interactive onion: click to inspect, drill into a layer, zoom like a map. The architecture review rides these same views. --- # Present and deep-link A deck opens in present mode straight from the guides table, and every slide carries a stable deep link. An IFU is a book citizen, not an attachment. --- # Comment and read back A reviewer marks up a COPY of the book: annotations, discussions, pre-marks. The engine lists the marked copy back as note candidates, roles and quotes intact. Feedback flows in without anyone retyping it. --- # Template and white-label A vehicle ships the same book under its own brand: palette, voice, and templates overlay cleanly. The structure is the engine's; the face is yours. --- # One book, the whole record Everything the ledger knows arrives as one file anyone can open, read, present, and mark up. That file is the project's public face. --- # Covered use cases The reader journey exercises: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Note: The coverage slide is deliberately link-dense. It is the coverage index, not the teaching body.

ifu0006 workspace workspaces and vehicles. One engine, many projects. open the slides

ifu0006-workspace

One engine should carry many projects

Copying a method into every repo means every repo drifts. The engine stays ONE global binary; each project carries only its truth and its overlay. --- # Starting state The idle state from , on a machine that may hold several workspaces. --- # Drive any workspace Every command takes `--base <path>`: the same binary drives another project's workspace without switching context. Caches and outputs land in that workspace's own data home, never in the repo. --- # Vendor a vehicle `quack start init` scaffolds a full vehicle: vendored engine source, a committed method overlay, its own brand. The vehicle ratchets its engine forward from its OWN repo and works offline.

flowchart TD
  subgraph vehicle
    overlay["method overlay + brand"]
  end
  subgraph vendored
    src["vendored engine source"]
  end
  subgraph global
    bin["one global binary"]
  end
  overlay -->|overrides| src
  src -->|ratchets| bin

--- # Modules scope the graph A grown workspace splits into modules: imported, nested, each with scoped views. A team sees its slice; the trace stays whole underneath. --- # The MCP lane A harness with MCP support gets the command surface as discoverable tools, per-session attested, hot-swapped mid-session when the engine rebuilds. The CLI stays the universal fallback. --- # Portable by construction Any machine, any harness, any number of projects: the truth sits in each repo, the engine sits once on the machine, and nothing else is required. --- # Covered use cases The workspace journey exercises: , , , , , , , . Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. Story slides stay clean.

ifu0007 trust trust - how the record stays honest. open the slides

ifu0007-trust

Why believe a record an agent wrote

A ledger is only worth its enforcement. If anything could be stamped green without evidence, the whole record is decoration. These are the mechanisms that keep it honest. --- # Starting state The idle state from . Trust mechanisms are always on; this journey just makes them visible. --- # Guards at the point of writing Field schemas type every register row. Authoring guards refuse malformed content at the door. EARS lint shapes requirements while they are written, not after. --- # Models that must conform A declared model is checked against the code it claims to describe, and structure can be DERIVED from the graph instead of asserted. A diagram that cannot drift is a diagram you can cite. --- # Edges, pruning, and honest change Connections are first-class edges; a changed input turns its dependents SUSPECT, never silently stale. Pruning retires what no longer earns its place, with its reason recorded. --- # The battery seals it Every mechanism is itself test-first: the selftest battery runs the whole engine against its own spec, and a verification gate rides on the battery's verdict. The workshop stays smooth because the machine sweats the checks. --- # Honesty as a property, not a promise No single mechanism carries the trust. The stack does: typed writes, conforming models, suspect propagation, recorded pruning, and a battery over all of it. --- # Covered use cases The trust journey exercises: , , , , , , , , , . Note: The coverage slide is the machine-readable reference home. Story slides stay clean.

show

2.3 How to read this document

Everything here sits in one of three layers:

Normative - binds. Requirements, constraints, decisions, and design rules.
Informative - explains. Ledes, rationales, references, and fundamentals.
Evidence - records. Verification results and the states.

Every unit starts shallow. The statement comes first. The rationale, the children, and the evidence each sit one link away. Stop when you have enough. A term links to its glossary entry on first use.

Three pointers for later:

Deep whys live in .
What was skipped, and why, is in the .
How this document is made - and how to correct it - is in .

2.4 Who reads this document

Find your row below. Click the view pill on your row. It narrows this document to the chapters that serve your role. A second click clears it.

Stakeholders

name	brief	view
acquirer	The acquirer of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-acquirer Decides whether to adopt quackitect for a project. Ten minutes, no internals - owes them the what, the why, and the soundness. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
agent	The agent of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-agent Fills checks and drafts prose under the contract. Owes it a machine-readable book, stable anchors, and deterministic tools. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
assessor	The assessor of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-assessor Audits claims against evidence. Owes them the trace, the identity stamp, and gates that cannot be quietly greened. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
communicator	The communicator of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-communicator Presents the project outward - the deck rides the same source. Owes them presentable views that never drift from the truth. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
developer maintainer	The developer-maintainer of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
role: developer-maintainer stk-developer-maintainer Maintains the engine and the method. Owes them designs in code, selftests, and internals quarantined to guidance. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
integrator	The integrator of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-integrator Wires quackitect into other harnesses and workspaces. Owes them the entry-file chain and the workspace drive surface. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
newcomer	The newcomer of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-newcomer Meets the method cold, may read one chapter out of context. Owes them standalone ledes and a glossary that carries them. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
operator sysadmin	The operator-sysadmin of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
role: operator-sysadmin stk-operator-sysadmin Installs and updates the global binary. Owes them the ratchet, the data-home layout, and clean version output. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
project owner	The project-owner of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
role: project-owner stk-project-owner Owns every published artifact, whatever the AI share. Owes them adjudication points, provenance marks, and a ledger that computes ripple. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
tester	The tester of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-tester Exercises the deliverable against its requirements. Owes them the verification matrix and red-before-green discipline. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)
user	The user of quackitect, as a project stakeholder.
stk-user Drives projects through the loop - the owner wearing the practitioner hat. Owes them working commands, honest boards, low ceremony. (Backfilled at the i12 pilot migration from the M2 audience model.)

show

3. Motivation where we want to be, and why we can get there.

3.1 The big idea

Let an AI agent run ungoverned and you get slop: work that looks right and cannot be trusted. The cure is not a better model. It is design input - the intent, written down before the agent builds, in a form a machine can check. The industry is rediscovering this principle right now, under the name spec-driven development. The concept is old: systematic engineering has worked this way for over forty years. Quackitect integrates that existing process knowledge into an harness - the agent fills the checks, a person adjudicates the , and a deterministic keeps the record honest.

3.2 Where we want to be

The vision: you tell an AI agent what you want, relatively unstructured. The agent knows the methods. It knows the process. It carries the quality . So it leads you - to good design input, to sound decisions, to a reproducible design output. For software, and for any other design.

The thesis behind that vision: design input matters more with AI than it ever did before. A human developer reads between the lines. They infer unstated constraints from context, conventions, and the reason behind a request. A model does not. Where context is missing, it fills the gap with a plausible invention. So the intent must be explicit before implementation starts:

the needs, and who holds them
the constraints that bind
the decisions, and their reasons

The framework governs that loop instead of trusting the run:

Design input is verifiably present before building starts. The enforce it.
The agent never passes its own work. A person holds every .
Implementation cannot drift from recorded intent unnoticed. A changed input turns every dependent check , and the shows it.

The project drives toward three goals, in priority order:

Trust. Every load-bearing claim about the work carries a recorded human adjudication.
Durability. The record is deterministic. It survives sessions, models, and tools. It compiles into a book any stakeholder can read.
Speed. The AI does the heavy work. Each human move costs one command.

The goals conflict, and the conflicts are accepted openly:

Trust against speed. A stops the until a person decides. That wait is the price of the record.
Durability against freedom. Typed items and stable identifiers constrain the authoring. Free-form notes would be faster to write and worthless to derive from.

When goals collide, trust wins. The carries the tensions this forces.

For the owner of an AI-driven project, who needs to trust work they did not watch happen, quackitect is a user-driven that turns that work into adjudicated, traceable checks. Unlike raw agent sessions and hand-written process documents, its record is deterministic, and it compiles into the book you are reading.

3.3 Where we are

Three witnesses describe the same failure, from three angles:

Practitioner experience across the industry. Reviewing AI output has become the bottleneck. Changes arrive confident and wrong. Field research finds the same pattern: AI assistance lifts throughput and hurts stability where governance is missing ().
Our own project history. Changes were reversed because the intent behind them was never written down. A later session rebuilt what an earlier one had already rejected.
The pattern agentic-coding teams report. Decisions live in chat scrollback. The context evaporates when the session ends. Trust rests on the agent's self-report.

Documentation does not close the gap either. Hand-written documents fall behind the work silently. A stakeholder outside the loop holds nothing readable.

3.4 The delta, and what closes it

The gap, as a claim: every existing alternative sheds one half of the pair.

Manual process sheds the speed. Reviews and documents a person must write do not survive next to an agent that moves in minutes.
Agent autonomy sheds the trust. A check the agent grants itself proves nothing.
Build pipelines shed the meaning. They verify that code compiles and tests run. They do not verify that a claim traces to a person's decision.

The cure is the discipline the big idea names, collected:

requirements engineering, in the lineage of
requirement shapes that make every statement checkable ()
decision records that keep the why next to the what ()
verification and validation, paired along the

The spec-driven wave works the same ground:

That wave concentrates on the design output phase: structuring the path from spec to code. Our bet is the opposite end. Models keep getting better at producing output and will need less structure there. That moves the decisive leverage to the design input phase - and to keeping the decision history first-class.

The two ends compose. Quackitect covers the design input; an output-side framework slots in behind it. Combine Quackitect for the input with your favorite programming harness for the output.

Why the gap is closable now: two abilities matured together. Agents follow a written contract well enough to fill structured checks. A dependency-free recomputes every verdict from the record alone. Together they make the cheap enough to run on every move.

The idea above composes into a set of needs quackitect has to serve. They are the top rows of the : each names the stakeholder it serves, and its expand carries the pass lines that accept it. The traces each one to its outcome.

3.5 Business case

The case is internal and strategic. Quackitect drives its own development and every project its owner runs with an agent. The learning compounds: each makes the method of working with AIs cheaper and the record stronger.

4. Fundamentals The key concepts, references, and glossary this document stands on.

Each concept below is a one-liner; the full body is one link away. The references list every source this document cites. The glossary closes the chapter.

4.1 Key concepts

Fundamentals

name	brief
ai involvement	AI involvement shows as zero to three robot icons per paragraph
AI involvement shows as zero to three robot icons per paragraph - an involvement measure, never quality or trust. fund-ai-involvement Every prose paragraph in this document carries a recorded AI-involvement value, drawn in the margin as robot icons. Three robots mean a full AI draft. One robot means a person reworked most of it. No robot means the author's own words. A person's rework removes robots; any AI touch resets them to three. The measure answers one question only: how much of this text did the AI write? It says nothing about correctness or review. The author owns everything published, whatever the share. Field evidence on AI in delivery pipelines: DORA on gen-AI.

name

brief

ai involvement

AI involvement shows as zero to three robot icons per paragraph

show

4.2 References

References

accessed

name	brief	accessed
AWS Kiro	AWS's agentic IDE built around spec-driven development	2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2025 url: https://kiro.dev ref-kiro AWS's agentic IDE built around spec-driven development. A feature starts as three generated files: requirements, design, and a task checklist the agent works through. Named in the motivation as part of the spec-driven wave.
BMAD-METHOD		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2025 url: https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD ref-bmad An open-source framework of role agents and guided workflows over an agile pipeline: analysis, planning, architecture, implementation. Named in the motivation as part of the spec-driven wave.
Caudill, Lessons from 6 software rewrite stories		2026-07-18
kind: informative version: 2019 url: https://medium.com/@herbcaudill/lessons-from-6-software-rewrite-stories-635e4c8f7c22 ref-rewrite-stories Six rewrite case studies; every successful one replaced incrementally beside the running system (Fowler's strangler fig), never big-bang. Added at i0027: the execution shape the rewrite-eagerness fundamental prescribes even when the architecture ruling says rewrite.
DORA Report - Generative AI in Software Development
kind: informative version: 2024 url: https://dora.dev/research/ai/ ref-dora-genai The DORA research program's findings on generative-AI adoption in software delivery: throughput gains, stability risks, and the conditions under which AI assistance helps or hurts. Grounds the AI-involvement fundamental in field data.
EARS - Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: RE'09 url: https://alistairmavin.com/ears/ ref-ears Mavin, Wilkinson, Harwood, and Novak, 17th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (2009), doi 10.1109/RE.2009.9. Five sentence shapes that force the trigger, the system, and the response apart. The requirement lint checks every statement against these shapes mechanically.
Fowler, Phoenix Server		2026-07-18
kind: informative version: 2012 url: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/PhoenixServer.html ref-phoenix-server The origin of regenerate-from-definition: a server should rise from the ashes regularly, rebuilt from its recorded definition, so configuration drift cannot accumulate. The root idea behind immutable infrastructure. Added at i0027: the named prior art for always-regenerate, which the rewrite-eagerness fundamental positions against.
GitHub spec-kit		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2025 url: https://github.com/github/spec-kit ref-spec-kit GitHub's open-source toolkit for spec-driven development: spec, plan, tasks, implement, each phase a Markdown artifact feeding the next. Named in the motivation as part of the spec-driven wave that structures the design output phase.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 - Requirements engineering	The requirements-engineering standard	2026-07-06
kind: informative version: 2018 url: https://www.iso.org/standard/72089.html ref-iso-29148 The requirements-engineering standard. The template takes the individual-requirement characteristics (singular, verifiable, traceable among them) and the set characteristics the register unit binds to: complete, consistent, affordable, bounded. Its clause structure (references apart from terms, normative apart from informative) also shapes the fundamentals chapter.
Nygard - Documenting Architecture Decisions		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2011 url: https://cognitect.com/blog/2011/11/15/documenting-architecture-decisions ref-nygard-adr The blog post that named the architecture decision record: one short document per architecturally significant decision, with its context and its consequences. The decision nodes and the one decisions table follow this lineage.
OpenSpec	Fission AI's spec-driven development tool for coding assistants	2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2025 url: https://github.com/Fission-AI/OpenSpec ref-openspec Fission AI's spec-driven development tool for coding assistants. Changes are proposed as delta specs the assistant and the person agree on before code is written. Named in the motivation as part of the spec-driven wave.
Spolsky, Things You Should Never Do		2026-07-18
kind: informative version: 2000 url: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/ ref-spolsky-rewrite The canonical anti-rewrite essay, written on the Netscape collapse: working code embeds hard-earned corner-case knowledge nobody wrote down, and rewrite years hand the market away. Added at i0027: the argument the rewrite-eagerness fundamental answers - a traced, test-first spec externalizes exactly the knowledge Spolsky says is trapped.
Structural Complexity Management — An Approach for the Field of Product Design (Lindemann, Maurer, Braun)		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: Springer 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-87889-6 url: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-87889-6 ref-structural-complexity-management The dedicated DSM/DMM/MDM reference. It fixes the matrix taxonomy (intra-domain DSM, inter-domain DMM, computed multi-domain MDM), a construction procedure for an MDM system model, a six-case Boolean derivation scheme for indirect/derived cross-domain dependencies, and a catalog of single-DSM structure-analysis operations — partitioning/triangularization, clustering, banding, tearing, structural pareto analysis — with supporting node/subset/system metrics. It is taxonomic rather than an algorithms cookbook: for clustering it names the objective (high internal density, low external density) and points to the literature that supplies the actual search (Fernandez 1998; Thebeau 2001's cost/bid stochastic hill-climb, styled IGTA; Yu et al. 2003's genetic-algorithm+MDL; Pimmler & Eppinger 1994's canonical 16-element automotive climate-control clustering). This project leans on it for the vocabulary and the structure-analysis catalog behind the method notes `meth-dsm`, `meth-dsm-clustering`, `meth-dsm-partitioning`, `meth-dsm-tearing`, `meth-dsm-banding`, `meth-dmm`, and `meth-mdm`.
Systementwurf mechatronischer Systeme (Janschek)	Mechatronic system design along the VDI 2206 V-model with a named artifact per phase	2026-07-06
kind: informative version: Springer url: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-78877-5 ref-systementwurf-mechatronik Mechatronic system design along the VDI 2206 V-model with a named artifact per phase. The template takes the requirement-to-metric-to-budget chain, the agreed summation rules for budgets, the model-first verification rule, and the V-model pairing of success criteria with validation from it.
Tessl		2026-07-11
kind: informative version: 2025 url: https://tessl.io ref-tessl A platform for spec-driven, AI-native development: the spec is the primary artifact and the code derives from it. Named in the motivation as part of the spec-driven wave.

show

4.3 Glossary

name	brief
ADR	ADR (architecture decision record)
A recorded architecture decision: one node stating what was chosen, what it addresses, and why - traced in the ledger, never folklore. used in: ifu0002-pong
attest	attest (earn a session key)
The one-time ritual that proves an agent read the contract and earns it a session key. Every ledger-advancing command then carries that key. used in: ifu0001-setup
bless	bless (approve a check)
The user's recorded approval of a check. A bless turns a check DONE at its current content. used in: man-verification-validation, ifu0003-work-loop
determinizer	the determinizer (the engine)
The tool side of the method: everything that computes the same answer every time, with no judgment involved. used in: man-design-output
EARS	EARS (easy approach to requirements syntax)
Five sentence shapes for requirements, each with a shall. The lint checks new requirement statements against them. used in: ifu0007-trust
engine	the quackitect engine
The one program that reads the spec, computes the board, and renders the report and the book. used in: man-motivation, man-design-input, ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong, ifu0003-work-loop, ifu0005-reader, ifu0006-workspace, ifu0007-trust
gate	user-adjudicated gate
A check that a person must approve. The agent fills it; the user decides it. used in: man-intro-ifus, man-motivation, man-design-input, man-verification-validation, ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong, ifu0003-work-loop, ifu0007-trust
grant	the grant (attest --grant)
The adjudicator's one console command that opens an agent session. The grant exists to prove the contract was read: the challenge it mints asks for a word of the contract itself, so a session key can only be earned by an agent that actually loaded the rules. used in: ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong, ifu0003-work-loop
IFU	Instructions for Use
An IFU is a field-known document type. In this book, an IFU is a slideshow guide whose markdown source is rendered into the compiled book. used in: man-intro-ifus, man-design-input, ifu0001-setup, ifu0005-reader
iteration	iteration (one version)
One planned walk from idea to shipped result. Every iteration carries its own checks and evidence. used in: man-motivation, man-project, ifu0003-work-loop
ledger	the gate ledger
The recorded list of every check, its state, and every adjudication. The ledger is the single place where progress is true. used in: man-motivation, man-verification-validation, man-project, ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong, ifu0003-work-loop, ifu0005-reader, ifu0007-trust
LLM	LLM (large language model)
A text model that drafts and reasons. The agents driving this method run on one. used in: man-motivation
milestone	milestone gate
A stop in the walk where the user reviews the collected evidence and decides whether the work stands. used in: man-verification-validation, man-project, ifu0002-pong
rigor	rigor level (vibe, lean, systematic)
How much structure and gating a project uses, chosen once at start. vibe: no gates. Build it, and record one line why. lean: light structure. One review gate per concern. systematic: full rigor. Every concern is gated, and killer checks always reach the adjudicator. used in: ifu0002-pong
spike	spike (a scoped expedition)
A scoped exploration that tries an idea outside the ledger. Only its promoted keeper ever enters the spec. used in: ifu0002-pong
suspect	SUSPECT state
The state a finished check falls into when one of its inputs changes. Suspect means: re-look, then re-approve. used in: man-motivation, man-verification-validation, ifu0007-trust
TBD	TBD (a to-be-decided marker)
The explicit marker a minted field carries when no default exists. The register counts them; no field reaches the user blank. used in: man-design-input
trace	the design trace
The connected content of the project: needs, use cases, requirements, designs, tests, and decisions, each linked to why it exists. used in: man-intro-ifus, man-overview, man-design-input, man-design-output, ifu0004-review, ifu0006-workspace
vehicle	vehicle (a project the engine drives)
A project the engine drives. The engine is one shared tool; each vehicle is the workspace it works in. used in: ifu0005-reader, ifu0006-workspace
walk	walk (drive a check forward)
To take the next ready check, fill it with real work, and stop at its gate. One check at a time, never ahead. used in: man-motivation, ifu0002-pong

5. Overview the whole system on one page.

5.1 The system at a glance

This chapter is the , rendered one page per need. Pick a need above; its whole subtree shows:

use cases
requirements
designs
tests
decisions

Click any node to jump to its row in the chapter that owns it; the badge on each node names that chapter.

Click any node to open its row in the chapter that owns it:

needs, use-cases, and requirements — chapter 6
designs — chapter 7
tests — chapter 8
decisions — chapter 9

6. Design input context, stakeholders, and every checkable claim on the system.

6.1 What the system must do

The show what users can do with the system. Every tells a user story. Those stories compose the idea into needs, and the needs refine into every checkable claim below. The one flat index over all of them - needs, use cases, functions, requirements, qualities, constraints - is the later in this chapter.

This chapter is the binding input:

the context and its boundary
the intended use, and what falls outside it
the design input register, qualities and constraints included
the stakeholder tensions

Everything below either binds the design or names who it binds for.

6.2 Context and scope

The boundary encloses two things. The project workspace, whose `spec/` folder holds all truth. And the global binary, which reads and checks that folder. Everything else is outside. Each external interface is one neighbour note; the table and the star below derive from them.

6.2.1 Intended use

One person drives a design project with an AI agent and needs to trust work they did not watch happen. The system serves that pair. The agent fills structured checks, the person adjudicates the , and the deterministic record compiles into this book. It fits any design whose intent can be written down before building - software first, other engineering deliverables the same way.

6.2.2 Excluded from intended use

The system does not:

adjudicate. People decide. The records.
replace git. History and merging stay with git.
run a server or a database. It is files and one binary.
judge prose truth. It checks structure, hashes, and recorded states.
call the network at runtime. The one exception is the pinned Vale pull, loud when absent.

The neighbours

name	brief
nbr agent	The agent channel
The agent channel. An AI harness drives the same commands. An attested session key gates every ledger-advancing call. nbr-agent
nbr console	The console. The adjudicator types commands there and blesses gates.
nbr-console
nbr git	Git. It versions the workspace and carries collaboration. The engine works without it.
nbr-git
nbr obsidian	Obsidian. An optional authoring preview over the same notes and queries. The engine owns the rendered truth.
nbr-obsidian
nbr reader	The reader's browser. It opens the rendered book, one self-contained file. It makes no further requests.
nbr-reader
nbr vale	Vale. An optional prose register, version-pinned, pulled on demand. Its findings stay advisory.
nbr-vale

show

6.3 The design input register

How the rows interconnect lives in one place: the , one page per need, in the . The register below is the one flat index over every input type - use cases and functions included, each traced to its need. Expand a row to read its definition; the type facet filters to any one kind:

A use case is one interaction that serves a need, told from the user's side.
A function is something the system must do for a need - verb plus noun, solution-neutral.
A quality is a requirement that states how well, measured by a scenario.
A constraint is a requirement imposed from outside, bound by a cited norm.

Needs are the user level; requirements are the system level; deeper tiers hang off refines. Statements are -shaped and carry their tolerances; no survives the detail . The register's filter columns carry the facet coverage - a zero-count value is the completeness check, live. Click values to filter; several combine.

Design input register

need

type

phase

discipline

quality

name brief type

docu Stakeholders consume the spec: readable, portable, trustworthy. They need no AI, no repo, and no engine. need

need-docu

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The docu thread's driver: the first quackitect-made tool ships to real users, and the project presents itself. AI writes upstream into the graph; everything downstream is deterministic.

Success criteria

Each preset audience answers its entry question from the book alone. Metric: preset read sessions that answer the preset's entry question using only the compiled book. Target: one real read session per preset.

engage need

As a builder I need to advance an iteration from plan through build to delivery, with the work and its checks visible.

need-engage

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

Success criteria

Every killer gate of a shipped iteration carries a user adjudication. Metric: the share of killer gates blessed by the agent rather than the user. Target: zero. A bless under a standing grant the owner confirms at its morning review counts as owner-authorized (q-grant-honesty, ruling A).
A stalled gate is answerable away from the desk. Metric: a gate ask reaches the paired phone and the answer records as the adjudication, end-to-end on a real gate. Target: demonstrated on ntfy (further channels demonstrate when their wave ships).

implementation As a builder I need the build phase to be test-first need

As a builder I need the build phase to be test-first. Author the tests, observe them RED, then implement to GREEN. The test-designer, implementer, and tester stay pluggable per deliverable. So implementation rigor is enforced structurally, not by agent goodwill.

need-implementation

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own build method, typed. New in i0007.

Success criteria

Every mechanized test is observed failing before it first passes. Metric: the share of mechanized tests with a recorded RED observation before their first pass. Target: all of them.

module ownership A vehicle owner needs independent product areas without splitting the project timeline or ledger. need

need-module-ownership

Modules scope ownership, views, imports, and method resources. They do not create separate projects.

note As a builder I need to capture an idea the moment it occurs, without friction or losing flow. need

need-note

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

Success criteria

An idea becomes a durable note with one command, without leaving the check in hand. Metric: commands from idea to durable note. Target: one.

review As a builder and stakeholder I need to see where the project stands and look back to improve. need

need-review

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

Success criteria

The project's standing is readable from one live board at any moment. Metric: commands from question to current board, plus the board's freshness. Target: one command, recomputed live on every render.

vehicle independence A vehicle owner needs a shareable repository that imports only the required Quackitect capability. need

need-vehicle-independence

A vehicle repository must be cloneable by colleagues without access to the Quackitect checkout.

architecture review use case

An architect reviews one model on its own and sees which layers changed, then drills the mark down to the changed element.

uc-architecture-review

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The M4 diagram-review gate needs a usable artifact. The reviewer wants one model, rendered alone, small enough to open anywhere. The change must show at every level of the drill-down, not just the leaf.

author ifu The owner edits an IFU as a markdown slideshow and lets the book render the HTML deck. use case

uc-author-ifu

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The source of truth stays editable in Obsidian. The rendered slideshow is derived.

authoring guard The lint flags an authored statement that breaks the voice rules use case

The lint flags an authored statement that breaks the voice rules. The selftest guards the contract's recital wording chain.

uc-authoring-guard

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The m7-gaps RAID statements read unclear (owner, 2026-07-14). The recital mechanism was ruled twice in one day and deserves a mechanical guard.

battery trust A battery verdict is honest and its run is watchable use case

A battery verdict is honest and its run is watchable. A busy run records nothing. A first green needs a recorded red.

uc-battery-trust

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The busy-guard hazard poisoned a cached verdict once (NOTE-20260714-164933). The progress and frequency leads came from the owner (NOTE-20260714-171206).

book agent use case

An agent retrieves layered spec content from the same artifact and can tell normative from informative and verified from suspect.

uc-book-agent

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Self-describing layers in the standards vocabulary (RFC-2119 tradition); trust metadata rides data-* attributes.

book content use case

A reader gets living content: seeded examples, reader-first prose, and a system overview, instead of empty queries and internals.

uc-book-content

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

book navigate A reader moves through the book by sections, sidebar, and search without losing their place. use case

uc-book-navigate

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

book present The owner presents the project from a deck compiled out of the spec use case

The owner presents the project from a deck compiled out of the spec. It is hash-backed. None of it is hand-written.

uc-book-present

Rationale (not load-bearing)

For the quackitect presentation the extractive deck IS the pitch.

book read use case

A stakeholder opens one portable file, selects a view and depth, and reads the chapters that answer their question.

uc-book-read

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The stakeholder/view matrix is the entry page; presets pre-bake the common selections.

book tables A reader reads every listed fact as a clean, filterable table free of spec internals. use case

uc-book-tables

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

comment annotate A reader opens a shipped book copy, marks prose or a figure, writes a comment, and saves the commented copy use case

A reader opens a shipped book copy, marks prose or a figure, writes a comment, and saves the commented copy. This needs no server and no installed tool.

uc-comment-annotate

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The killer path in: Acrobat-like marking on a self-contained HTML.

comment discuss A reader replies in a comment thread, marks agree or reject, and closes settled threads use case

A reader replies in a comment thread, marks agree or reject, and closes settled threads. The history stays in the file.

uc-comment-discuss

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Word modern-comments pattern: resolve hides, never deletes.

comment premark FUTURE use case

FUTURE - the owner marks regions for commenting before sending a copy out; readers comment on the pre-marked spans. Not built this iteration; the design must not rule it out.

uc-comment-premark

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner directive 2026-07-07. The Word school (markers in the document) shows the shape; the island schema keeps the door open.

comment readback use case

The driving agent extracts every comment from a returned copy deterministically, triages them as an unreliable source (rejection is normal), and applies only accepted suggested edits to the source documents.

uc-comment-readback

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The killer path out: the owner uses reader comments to improve the docu; the agent must read them back without interpretation.

connections use case

The owner models relations between items as first-class connections: typed, queryable, prose-bearing where human-facing. These are stored in one connections home and maintained by determinizers.

uc-connections

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner rulings 2026-07-06 (notes: connection-system, connection-storage option A, red-team trust lens). One system for semantic relations; two lanes per kind (edges.jsonl + con- notes); implements stays code-declared; depends_on/parent join at the owner's discretion (M4).

deck deep link use case

A reader follows a plain link straight into a slideshow inside the book, from the README, from a guides-table row, or from a colleague's message. They land on the deck, not the book's top.

uc-deck-deep-link

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Decks currently have no address. The owner wants the five-minutes deck VERY discoverable; an artifact nobody can link to is not discoverable. The URL anchor is the primitive the whole discoverability triangle stands on.

declare models use case

After the architecture decision, the owner declares the structural models the implementation follows, in the same files they edit.

uc-declare-models

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

derive structure use case

An architect asks the engine to derive a model's structure from real coupling, and gets a proposed module grouping, a layer ordering, and the residual cycles to reconsider.

uc-derive-structure

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The band and layer allocations are authored by hand today. The architect wants a data-driven second opinion from the code's real coupling. The proposal names where the computed structure agrees with the hand-authored bands and where it does not.

engage next Walk the next forward check: fill it, then a human adjudicates the gate. use case

uc-engage-next

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

engage refine Explore an idea in a throwaway spike and capture the keeper backward into design input. use case

uc-engage-refine

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

engage ship Output the iteration's deliverable. use case

uc-engage-ship

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

engage start Plan and begin an iteration. Retro, triage, version-plan, compose the checklist, then bless. use case

uc-engage-start

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

engine mediated io An agent's file edits travel one engine-mediated lane: byte-safe, dry-runnable, audited use case

An agent's file edits travel one engine-mediated lane: byte-safe, dry-runnable, audited. No careless write can corrupt the workspace, and every edit leaves a record.

uc-engine-mediated-io

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The apply-generalization the owner reopened at i21 start (NOTE-20260710-213201): quack apply shipped in i18 as the bulk lane; the generalization makes engine mediation the norm for agent file-IO. The two historical UTF-8 corruptions are the motivating incidents - the byte-safe rule today holds by discipline; mediation makes it structural.

evidence authoring use case

The walker authors milestone evidence cheaply from templates, and the adjudicator reads it without decoding ad-hoc structure.

uc-evidence-authoring

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Two recorded field findings: M3-candidates.md and M4-decision.md were hard to read at the gate. Plus the i11 authoring friction (re-baseline wedges).

field schemas A builder fills node and item fields against machine-checkable definitions use case

A builder fills node and item fields against machine-checkable definitions. The engine catches a wrong type, a value outside its enum, or a missing core field before any reviewer does.

uc-field-schemas

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner scope addition NOTE-20260711-181244, from the sebot precedent: one schema then generates the template, the form widgets, the lint rules, and the future color derivation. The onboarding UX consumes the finished keystone in i0020.

find ifu A reader finds the IFU that explains a workflow from the document overview or the guides table. use case

uc-find-ifu

Rationale (not load-bearing)

IFU is a familiar field term. The book should not hide it in appendix-only guide rows.

ifu coverage Before ship, the owner sees whether every use case is covered by at least one IFU. use case

uc-ifu-coverage

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Coverage is checked at M8. It should not distract the earlier build walk.

lawful walk The agent channel moves through lawful lanes only use case

The agent channel moves through lawful lanes only. The engine refuses an unlawful move and names the lawful lane.

uc-lawful-walk

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The walk's laws lived in prompts and bent under drift. i21 logged the slips. The engine takes them over: battery gating, and the MCP lane over the bare CLI.

mcp drive An external program drives quack over MCP use case

An external program drives quack over MCP. Each command is a tool call with a structured result. There is no shell quoting or encoding seam, and one resident server serves per client session.

uc-mcp-drive

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner lead NOTE-20260710-214719: the per-call launch tax and the shell seams fall away structurally when the harness holds the commands as first-class tools.

mobile adjudicate use case

The adjudicator answers a gate or decision ask from the paired phone; the answer records as the adjudication and the walk resumes.

uc-mobile-adjudicate

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The i15 seed use-case (owner rulings 2026-07-04..09): the ask loop is the point - the OPEN gate is the durable stall, the mobile channel makes it remotely answerable. Channels: ntfy and Slack first, corporate later.

model conformance The engine checks the code against the declared models on every run and surfaces drift as SUSPECT. use case

uc-model-conformance

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

model in book A reader studies the declared models in the book's design output chapter. use case

uc-model-in-book

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

module import update The vehicle maintainer imports and updates one module from another project deterministically. use case

uc-module-import-update

The import is exact by default. Children are not imported unless requested later.

module nesting The reader selects a parent module and sees its dotted child modules as a rollup. use case

uc-module-nesting

This is a view and filter rollup. It is not a separate recursive process.

module scoped views The reader filters every derived view by module before filtering by need. use case

uc-module-scoped-views

The single-module case hides module controls.

note capture Record a note with provenance. Triage routes or rejects it later. use case

uc-note-capture

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

onboard newcomer use case

A stranger clones the repository and reaches a working understanding, what this is, how to install, how a project runs, in five minutes. This happens through the onboarding chapter and the Pong walkthrough, without tripping over undefined terms.

uc-onboard-newcomer

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The cold-reader red team's verdict, condensed: the book over-serves the maintainer and under-serves the newcomer it names. This use case is the iteration's reason.

prune The owner prunes accumulated structure: trace, prose, logs, code use case

The owner prunes accumulated structure: trace, prose, logs, code. This happens without losing ledger truth or evidence.

uc-prune

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - the use case stands on the need it refines; the journey IFUs carry the story.

review readout Summarize the board: done / suspect / open, and the next gate. use case

uc-review-readout

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

review report Render a deterministic, self-contained HTML snapshot of the ledger. use case

uc-review-report

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

review retro Look back and turn wasted effort into durable improvements. use case

uc-review-retro

note (not load-bearing)

Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed.

run dep free Run the engine on a fresh machine from an unzipped folder, with no Python, no uv, and no web download use case

Run the engine on a fresh machine from an unzipped folder, with no Python, no uv, and no web download. One self-contained binary.

uc-run-dep-free

note (not load-bearing)

i0003 use-case. Solves the Windows SmartScreen and antivirus friction from web-downloaded executables, and slow startup.

scoped grant The owner records a scoped standing grant use case

The owner records a scoped standing grant. The agent walks that stretch unattended. A morning review presents every collected bless for confirmation.

uc-scoped-grant

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The overnight i21 batch ran on a chat convention. A recorded grant makes the stretch bounded, auditable, and reviewable (NOTE-20260714-090128).

spec template use case

The owner drives the specification from a template set: skeleton chapter manifests with permanent fill guidance, typed item notes, and derived views. These are authored in Obsidian and projected deterministically.

uc-spec-template

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner direction (2026-07-05): the i12 book is a tech demo, not proper output. The path to proper output: a template defines the structure with fill instructions in markdown comments; the agent drafts the markdown spec from it; the owner reviews and corrects the SOURCE notes; deterministic adapters project it. Two markdowns: the authored source is truth, any assembled form is ephemeral. The full walk of rulings lives in the 2026-07-05 notes (ch0-ch8 SETTLED series).

vehicle extends use case

An integrator creates a vehicle carrying committed method extensions the engine cannot contain (IP-restricted norms), and that vehicle creates and drives project stubs that resolve the merged method surface.

uc-vehicle-extends

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The field case behind the vehicle model: on a second machine, quackitect is installed once, a vehicle adds the IEC-norm methods that may not enter quackitect's repository, and every stub the vehicle creates works against the vehicle's merged methods - install, extend, drive.

vehicle se doc use case

The vehicle maintainer builds an empty vehicle, imports the Quackitect systematic-engineering module, and creates local documentation modules.

uc-vehicle-se-doc

The first target layout is `se`, `doc`, and an example child such as `doc.review`.

vendor engine use case

Vendor the engine into a vehicle's .quack/ and run every quack command through the vehicle, resolving guidance, templates, and the report shell along a vehicle-to-engine chain.

uc-vendor-engine

note (not load-bearing)

i0003 use-case. The overlay resolver. Most-specific (vehicle) wins. Un-overridden resources inherit from the engine.

white label book An organization reader opens the book a VEHICLE rendered and reads it as the vehicle's own document use case

An organization reader opens the book a VEHICLE rendered and reads it as the vehicle's own document. It carries the vehicle's name and brand throughout, the same structure and method content, with quackitect credited as the engine rather than presented as the identity.

uc-white-label-book

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner spreads the VEHICLE into the organization (it carries the IP-restricted norms), never quackitect bare. Mentions of quackitect are fine - the engine credit is honest; only identity confusion is a defect (the vehicle presenting ITSELF as quackitect in title, wordmark, or self-referential voice). The brand-asset half is already proven (placeholder logos seed at start init); the BOOK lane was never verified from a vehicle.

work register The user works the hand-off page instead of authoring forms use case

The user works the hand-off page instead of authoring forms. Decisions arrive as proposals with defaults: bless accepts, reopen dissents. A filling session is vetoing proposals, never writing into blanks.

uc-work-register

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The blank-template problem (seed NOTE-20260711-141259-seed-onboarding-experience): slot-count x node-count presented flat is hundreds of undifferentiated authoring decisions. The hand-off vision (seed NOTE-20260711-141259-seed-html-register-vision, né register; adr-handoff-html) inverts it: the agent proposes everything, the page says where judgment is owed, and the bless records it. This use case is the iteration's reason.

workshop smooth The owner and the agent drive the determinizer surface without tripping over known defects use case

The owner and the agent drive the determinizer surface without tripping over known defects. Captures, mints, builds, lints, and retros run clean and fast.

uc-workshop-smooth

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The engine workshop family: ten fix-sized items from i12 dogfood and the i13 retro.

capture a note function

fn-capture-a-note

compute coverage function

fn-compute-coverage

emit the entry files function

fn-emit-the-entry-files

evaluate a query function

fn-evaluate-a-query

mint an item function

fn-mint-an-item

pick the next check function

fn-pick-the-next-check

record a connection function

fn-record-a-connection

record an adjudication function

fn-record-an-adjudication

render the board function

fn-render-the-board

render the book function

fn-render-the-book

reopen a changed check function

fn-reopen-a-changed-check

command surface requirement

The surface is three default-closed intents: note (capture), engage (start/next/ship), and review (readout/retro). A separate determinizer lane runs status, why, and bless. Ship is engage's terminal output. Field feedback is a retro question, not a milestone.

command-surface

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Mirrors sebot's todo/work/review default-closed surface: sub-operations (triage, defer, retire, retro, ship) are reached through an intent, never promoted unless proven. Ship has no home under "assess" — it is the output at the end of engage. The old field-feedback milestone was cumbersome (nothing to measure on a fresh build, so the agent gold-plated and could not terminate); folding it into retro's opening question at the next engage start removes the termination trap.

composition The agent composes the iteration checklist from the FULL gathered content of the rigor and type folders requirement

The agent composes the iteration checklist from the FULL gathered content of the rigor and type folders. Any format counts: checklist, prose, prompt, spreadsheet, links. Nothing is parsed from a fixed format. quack gather collects everything. The agent synthesises the check nodes. The human approves.

composition

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The rigor and type folders hold heterogeneous source, so baking cannot be a deterministic parse. `quack gather` enumerates the whole rigor (floor cascade: vibe→lean→systematic) and type (tree cascade: default→…) content, inlines text, and flags spreadsheets / PDFs / images and URLs for the agent to open or follow. The agent composes the concrete checklist from ALL of it, tailored to the idea; the human approves and blesses. Everything in the folders is considered — drop a new format in and the agent picks it up.

fill adjudicate Every check records filled_by and adjudicated_by separately requirement

Every check records filled_by and adjudicated_by separately. A gate is a check whose adjudicator must be human. Killer checks are always gates.

fill-adjudicate

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Separating who does the work from who blesses it lets an agent take the boring checks later without a rewrite — the manual walker is just gate_frequency = all.

guidance Guides load lazily through a description catalog requirement

Guides load lazily through a description catalog. A guide body loads by trigger: always, by-type cascade, by-rigor ladder, browse, or check-recommended. The trigger resolves live off a type/rigor breadcrumb.

guidance

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Progressive disclosure keeps context cheap; the breadcrumb is the only thing the advice layer reads — the engine stays type-agnostic.

notes pipeline Capture is frictionless: one file per note requirement

Capture is frictionless: one file per note. It records provenance and asks once. Triage routes or rejects each note. Migration at quack start pulls scope. Retro runs at start, seeded by an end-of-iteration friction dump. A note is not a check.

notes-pipeline

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Capture must stay separate from commitment, or either capture dies or the plan rots. Provenance is asked, never inferred.

planning quack start composes a nestable project TYPE over a RIGOR floor requirement

quack start composes a nestable project TYPE over a RIGOR floor. It tailors them to the idea. It may add above the floor. It never removes a killer check. It runs a plausibility check. Then it bakes a self-contained checklist.

planning

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Two axes compose instead of multiplying; type/rigor are generators that fall away, leaving a self-contained checklist plus a breadcrumb for guidance only.

refine track Refine is a track, orthogonal to rigor requirement

Refine is a track, orthogonal to rigor. Explore an idea in a gitignored spike. Capture the keeper backward into a design-input check. That reopens the affected cone via suspect. Then re-walk. Refine is the default working mode in late phases, when no new iteration is started.

refine-track

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The step-back is already mechanical: capturing a discovery edits a design-input check and the Merkle DAG sizes the blast radius (contained change → small cone; architecture-break → step back to M3). So refine only adds the explore front (idea → light coherence check → spike → keep/discard) and the capture-backward step. "Backwards" is safe precisely because capturing a discovery reopens whatever it invalidates — design input can never end up lying about the build. M5's spike, iterated post-M6, IS the refine loop, which is why this is an integration, not a bolt-on.

adopt honest The ratchet shall adopt honestly or say why it cannot. requirement

req-adopt-honest

Statements

1. If adoption cannot replace the binary, then quack build shall report staged and pending with the blocker. 2. The ratchet shall park displaced binaries under unique names, so a pinned image never wedges later adoptions.

The wedge class cost two debug loops on 2026-07-15. The supervisor pin made it chronic.

ai provenance AI-drafted prose shall enter and render with provenance marks that only the user reduces requirement

AI-drafted prose shall enter and render with provenance marks that only the user reduces. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-ai-provenance

Statements

1. When the book needs prose, the AI drafting step shall receive the spec-graph context and the style exemplars mechanically, and every draft shall enter carrying its provenance marks - unmarked prose never enters the book. *(was req-ai-drafting)* 2. The book shall render every AI-drafted paragraph with its provenance marks - the count starts at three when the AI drafts it, only the user reduces it, and an unreduced edit overstates AI involvement, never understates it. *(was req-provenance-icons)*

apply default lane The method prompts shall name quack apply the default lane for a mechanical bulk edit requirement

The method prompts shall name quack apply the default lane for a mechanical bulk edit. Editor tooling stays the lane for a single edit. The byte-safe scripted lane is the recorded exception.

req-apply-default-lane

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A method requirement, precedent req-contract-delivery. The apply engine shipped in i17 (req-apply-manifest); what remains is the method layer naming it the default, per the owner approval NOTE-20260710-213201. The all-agent-file-IO generalization stays unbuilt until the owner reopens it.

apply field ops requirement

The apply lane shall edit a single scalar frontmatter field structure-aware (replace in place or insert into the block), leaving every other byte untouched.

req-apply-field-ops

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Byte-exact old-text matching is brittle for frontmatter surgery; the field is the unit the editor thinks in. Nested blocks refuse - scalar surgery only, sized to this spec's flat frontmatter.

apply general requirement

The apply lane shall generalize beyond byte-exact replacement: create, write, replace, one audit trail, dry-run-first and all-or-nothing throughout. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-apply-general

Statements

1. The apply manifest shall support create, whole-file write, and byte-exact replace operations. 2. When an apply manifest executes, the engine shall record the touched files and the outcome in the call log. 3. The apply lane shall stay dry-run-first and all-or-nothing across every operation kind.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Generalizing i18's req-apply-default-lane: today apply handles only old->new replacements, so creation and whole-file writes fall back to harness tools outside the engine's audit. How FAR mediation goes (default lane vs universal) is q-io-lane-scope - the owner rules at M3/M4; this requirement only makes the lane capable of it.

apply manifest The engine shall apply a judged manifest of exact-string edits byte-safely in one run requirement

The engine shall apply a judged manifest of exact-string edits byte-safely in one run. It shall refuse any edit whose old text matches zero times or more than once. It shall provide a dry-run mode that changes nothing.

req-apply-manifest

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

apply undo requirement

The engine shall keep the last few applied manifests revertible, so one command undoes the most recent bulk edit byte-exactly.

req-apply-undo

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-18)

`quack apply` journals every applied manifest: the touched files' full prior bytes, the last few applies kept (three or four).
`quack apply --undo` restores the most recent journaled apply and pops it. Repeatable down the journal.
The undo refuses when a touched file drifted since the apply. A silent clobber is worse than no undo.
The ledger stays out, as it is for apply itself.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The b25 incident showed one careless bulk edit can destroy a session's work. The apply lane is the default for bulk edits; giving it a bounded undo makes the safe lane also the forgiving one.

ask context When the agent hands over a gate, the ask shall carry the hand-off narrative below the pager card requirement

When the agent hands over a gate, the ask shall carry the hand-off narrative below the pager card. It is one generated text, with the card first. Both lanes show the same content.

req-ask-context

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

ask hardening requirement

The ask store shall merge on save, await shall reload its store per loop and exit when nothing pends, and an answer older than its ask shall not apply.

req-ask-hardening

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

ask loop The engine shall run the ask loop requirement

The engine shall run the ask loop. Each ask is rendered, dispatched, distinctly gated, resolved exactly once, and recorded with its actor. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-ask-loop

Statements

1. The engine shall render an ask as one question, one to three answer options with stable option ids, and a unique correlation id. *(was req-ask-format)* 2. When a gate ask or decision ask awaits adjudication and a device is paired, the engine shall send the ask to the paired device over every paired channel. *(was req-ask-dispatch)* 3. When an ask reaches its timeout unanswered, the engine shall expire the ask and clear or supersede its device notification. *(was req-ask-timeout)* 4. When a well-formed answer carrying a pending correlation id arrives on a paired channel, the engine shall record the answer as the adjudication and mark the ask resolved. *(was req-answer-apply)* 5. If an answer arrives for a resolved or expired ask, then the engine shall ignore it and keep the first resolution. *(was req-answer-idempotent)* 6. While several asks are pending, the engine shall keep each ask independently answerable by its correlation id. *(was req-multi-ask)* 7. While an ask is pending, the engine shall accept the first answer from any lane and resolve the ask for every other lane, and a combined hand-off shall travel as one ask whose answer adjudicates every member. *(was req-first-wins-lanes)* 8. The engine shall render a gate ask visibly distinct from a decision ask on the device. *(was req-gate-distinct)* 9. When a mobile answer resolves a gate ask, the engine shall record the bless with actor user and the answering channel in the record. *(was req-mobile-actor)*

authoring cheap When spec content changes, one quack build shall restore an honest board requirement

When spec content changes, one quack build shall restore an honest board. No stale verdict, no self-wedge, and no false delta row survives the pass.

req-authoring-cheap

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

await console exit requirement

While an await runs, the engine shall end the await when the workspace call log records an engine call from another process, handing the walk back to drain mode.

req-await-console-exit

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner escalation-ladder ruling NOTE-20260710-192031: every quack call already logs to calls.jsonl, so the await loop can watch for foreign console activity and exit. The prompt rule "stop await when the user types" then enforces itself; the method keeps only the judgment of when to start one.

base view queries The engine shall evaluate deterministic base view queries over node data, including map values requirement

The engine shall evaluate deterministic base view queries over node data, including map values. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-base-view-queries

Statements

1. Where a spec note embeds a base block, the engine shall evaluate it deterministically within the pinned subset - filter trees, comparisons, file predicates, order, sort, limit, groupBy with count - and shall refuse volatile functions and out-of-subset constructs with an error. *(was req-base-views)* 2. The parser shall accept a one-level map value in node frontmatter and expose its entries to views. *(was req-ratings-map)*

battery batch requirement

When selftest runs with no content change since the last full run, the engine shall answer from the verdict cache.

req-battery-batch

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Full re-runs belong after a recompile or a content move, once per batch (NOTE-20260714-171206). quack verify stays the eager lane.

battery fail at end The battery shall run its whole scope and report every failure at the end. requirement

req-battery-fail-at-end

Statements

1. The battery shall run every test in scope before reporting. 2. The battery shall list every failure in one report. 3. If any test failed, then the battery shall exit nonzero once, at the end.

The owner law behind it: discover once, fix batched, confirm once. The i24 closing took six discovery runs because the battery aborted at the first failure.

battery isolation The battery shall isolate each run's fixture state. requirement

req-battery-isolation

Statements

1. Fixture homes shall carry run-unique names. 2. The orphan sweep shall run only after the battery finishes.

The i24 closing saw test-graph-suffix-rooted fail under the pool and pass alone. The mid-battery sweep is the suspect.

battery lean The verification battery shall render the book at most once per run. requirement

req-battery-lean

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

battery parallel Where the host offers spare cores, the battery shall run independent selftests concurrently. requirement

req-battery-parallel

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The i13 battery-cost lead chose Go concurrency (NOTE-20260707-172736). Optional feature; M4 sizes it or vetoes it.

battery progress While the battery runs, the engine shall print one numbered progress line per test. requirement

req-battery-progress

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner lead (NOTE-20260714-171206). A watching console shows a real bar, not only the slow outliers.

binary budget The build shall check the binary against its budget nodes. requirement

req-binary-budget

Statements

1. The build shall check binary size and cold start against their budget nodes. 2. If a measure exceeds its target, then the build shall warn. 3. If a measure exceeds its hard cap, then the build shall refuse.

Owner ruling 2026-07-15: size target 25MB and cap 35MB. Cold start target 1000ms and cap 2000ms.

bless preflight The engine shall refuse a review bless when prerequisites are unfinished or first-time evidence is missing. requirement

req-bless-preflight

Rationale (not load-bearing)

This prevents broad grants from turning gate blessing into check-mark theater.

book artifact requirement

The book shall compile to one self-contained, accessible, machine-digestible HTML artifact with an mdbook-style shell. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-book-artifact

Statements

1. The engine shall compile the spec into one self-contained HTML book that renders with no external requests. *(was req-book-single-file)* 2. The book shall render an mdbook-style shell: a fixed sidebar carrying the table of contents, a global search, the compiled filter expression, and a details card, beside the single content column. *(was req-book-shell)* 3. The book shall carry every content layer in the DOM as semantic HTML at render time - script filters and toggles visibility and never creates content. *(was req-book-dom-static)* 4. The book shall be operable by keyboard and readable by assistive technology - semantic structure, focus order, and contrast follow WCAG 2 level AA where applicable. *(was req-book-a11y)* 5. Where a manifest unit references a figure, the book shall embed it inline in a text-based form that a language model reads - no external asset request. *(was req-book-figures)* 6. The book shall be digestible by a language model without a companion artifact - text extraction preserves the layer labels, the normative statements, and the trust metadata; a separate index is emitted only where extraction alone proves insufficient. *(was req-llm-digestible)*

book shell nav requirement

The book shell shall organize navigation: sidebar order, section paging, deck listing, the title card, and stepped search. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-book-shell-nav

Statements

1. The book sidebar shall order its blocks: search, then the filter expression, then the toc; the views live in the details pane; the toc shall show each chapter's number and shall not list the deck. *(was req-sidebar-order)* 2. When the reader opens the book, the shell shall show no page header, and a click on the book title shall open a detail card carrying the iteration and engine info. *(was req-shell-title-card)* 3. The sidebar views shall list slide decks in a slide-decks subsection. *(was req-deck-views-section)* 4. The book shall render one page per top-level section. *(was req-section-paging)* 5. When the reader searches, the book shall step through the matches with a previous/next counter beside the search box, panning to each match and highlighting it fully yellow. *(was req-search-hitlist)*

book trust The book shall render its exact ledger truth: live state, stamped identity, drift flagged at ship requirement

The book shall render its exact ledger truth: live state, stamped identity, drift flagged at ship. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-book-trust

Statements

1. The book shall render each node with its live ledger state - a SUSPECT or unverified node is visibly marked as such. *(was req-book-honesty)* 2. The book shall name the exact spec state it renders - the merkle root, the active iteration, and the engine version are stamped in the artifact. *(was req-book-identity)* 3. If the committed book differs from a fresh render at ship, then quack lint shall flag the drift. *(was req-book-drift)*

boot sequence The engine shall provide a boot command that emits the fixed boot sequence and reports its completion state. requirement

req-boot-sequence

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The 2026-07-18 boot ruling: fresh sessions stalled on ritual mechanics; a deterministic checklist makes boot self-explaining for agents and people alike.

build cheap quack build and dispatch shall stay cheap requirement

quack build and dispatch shall stay cheap. The compile is skipped when unchanged, verdicts are kept surgically, and no needless child process runs. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-build-cheap

Statements

1. When no engine source changed since the last build, quack build shall skip the compile and re-baseline within one second on the reference machine. *(was req-build-fast-path)* 2. When quack build re-baselines, the engine shall keep every verdict whose inputs did not change. *(was req-verdict-surgical)* 3. When a command needs no fresh binary, the engine shall spawn no child engine process. *(was req-launcher-single-dispatch)*

busy no record requirement

While a consulted resource guard reports busy, the engine shall discard that run's verdict rather than record it.

req-busy-no-record

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A busy render guard once recorded a vacuous false verdict that self-perpetuated in the cache (NOTE-20260714-164933, raid-busy-record). Guard the class.

call log lifecycle The engine shall retain a capped call log and surrender its aggregate at the retro requirement

The engine shall retain a capped call log and surrender its aggregate at the retro. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-call-log-lifecycle

Statements

1. When quack calls --summary runs, the engine shall print the call-log aggregate and delete the log. *(was req-calls-summary)* 2. If the call log exceeds its size cap, then the engine shall drop the oldest lines. *(was req-log-retention)*

candidate decisions requirement

The spec shall model decisions choosing among rated candidates, rendered deterministically in their owning chapters. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-candidate-decisions

Statements

1. The engine shall carry candidate nodes - an axis, ratings from zero to one per criterion - that decisions choose or reject through links, and the book shall render the candidates against the criteria as a derived matrix. *(was req-candidates)* 2. The candidate verdict shall not depend on map iteration order, and quack lint shall flag a candidate claimed by more than one decision. *(was req-verdict-order)* 3. The engine shall carry one decision node type with a kind of architecture, project, or waiver, and the book shall render each kind in its owning chapter view. *(was req-decision-kinds)*

card evidence The hand-off card shall show a research-backed fill's evidence. requirement

req-card-evidence

Statements

1. When a fill's evidence doc section carries source links, the decision card shall render an evidence line. 2. The evidence line shall carry the links, readable on the page.

The owner's second lawful lane for the show-research law (engage.md); the chat lane exists, the card lane is unbuilt.

ch2 ifu intro The book shall open chapter 2 as Introduction and IFUs: 2.1 document overview, 2.2 IFUs with audience prose. requirement

req-ch2-ifu-intro

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner ruling: the fundamentals chapter opens IFU-first - a newcomer meets what the system does before any terminology.

ch3 needs intro requirement

The book shall open the design-input chapter with IFU prose and a reference to the design-input register, not a needs list.

req-ch3-needs-intro

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-17)

The needs list is too technical to open chapter 3.
Chapter 3 keeps prose: IFUs show what users can do, each IFU tells a user story, the idea composes into needs.
Chapter 3 drops the needs list. It references the chapter-6 design-input register instead.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The register in chapter 6 is the one home for design-input items. Chapter 3 points there rather than repeating a technical list.

channel adapters Every device channel shall be a zero-dependency adapter behind the ask seam requirement

Every device channel shall be a zero-dependency adapter behind the ask seam. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-channel-adapters

Statements

1. Where a new channel is added, the engine shall require an adapter behind the ask seam and no change to the ask loop. *(was req-channel-seam)* 2. The engine shall implement the ask loop and every channel adapter with the Go standard library only. *(was req-adapter-zero-dep)* 3. Where the ntfy channel is paired, the engine shall send asks and poll answers over HTTP topics using the minted topic set. *(was req-ntfy-channel)* 4. Where the Slack channel is paired, the engine shall send asks and receive answers without an inbound network endpoint. *(was req-slack-channel)*

chapter placement The book shall place reader entry and guidance content in their owning chapters requirement

The book shall place reader entry and guidance content in their owning chapters. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-chapter-placement

Statements

1. The book shall render the agent guide inside the guidance chapter and not as a reader chapter. *(was req-agent-guide-ch8)* 2. The guidance chapter shall render one subchapter per audience class, even when a subchapter has no content. *(was req-ch8-audience-subchapters)* 3. The book shall render the project readme as its own first chapter, the reader's starting point. *(was req-readme-chapter)*

chapter titles requirement

Where a chapter statement carries a subtitle, the book shall render only the short title in the heading and the remainder as a separate subtitle line.

req-chapter-titles

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The split rule cuts at the earliest dash or sentence end. Chapter numbers derive at render, so the fundamentals split renumbered later chapters for free; content references chapters by link, never by number.

chapters canned The chapter skeletons shall ship canned derived units, keeping only judgment fills authored requirement

The chapter skeletons shall ship canned derived units, keeping only judgment fills authored. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-chapters-canned

Statements

1. The book shall derive the fundamentals chapter's lists - references, notation, fundamentals - from usage alone, and an entry without a using link shall not render. *(was req-ch2-derived)* 2. The ch3 skeleton shall ship canned units with pooled views for stakeholders, tensions, use cases, qualities, constraints, and the register, and shall keep functions authored. *(was req-ch3-mech)* 3. The ch4 skeleton shall ship canned ledes, each figure line as its own unit, a strategy decisions view, and the design rules view. *(was req-ch4-mech)* 4. The ch5 to ch8 skeletons shall ship canned generic ledes, keeping authored fills only for the approach paragraph, the guides, the validation tracing, and the type-gated units. *(was req-chapter-canning)*

cli steer requirement

When a ledger command arrives over the bare CLI on the agent channel, the engine shall refuse it and point at the MCP tools.

req-cli-steer

Rationale (not load-bearing)

q-cli-steering ruled A (owner, 2026-07-14): block, do not merely steer. Agents are pushed to the MCP lane. The console channel stays untouched.

comment file2list quack note --file2list shall read a commented copy back as deterministic, role-anonymous note candidates requirement

quack note --file2list shall read a commented copy back as deterministic, role-anonymous note candidates. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-comment-file2list

Statements

1. When quack note --file2list runs on a commented copy, the engine shall print every comment as a note candidate with anchor, quote, thread, marks, and status, byte-identical across two runs. *(was req-comment-readback)* 2. The file2list output shall replace author names with the reader role. *(was req-comment-privacy)*

comment layer The book's comment layer shall capture anchored, threaded reader feedback in an embedded annotation island requirement

The book's comment layer shall capture anchored, threaded reader feedback in an embedded annotation island. It shall save it back safely. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-comment-layer

Statements

1. The comment layer shall offer a changeable name field in the sidebar and stamp its value on new comments and replies. *(was req-comment-author)* 2. When a reader closes a thread, the comment layer shall keep the thread in the island, hide its highlight from the page, and offer a reopen control. *(was req-comment-close)* 3. The comment layer shall leave the rendered book content unchanged outside its own island, root element, and highlight registrations. *(was req-comment-dom-static)* 4. The comment layer shall render stored comment text as text, never as markup. *(was req-comment-escape)* 5. If a marked figure element has no id, then the comment layer shall anchor the comment to the figure's unit anchor. *(was req-comment-figure-fallback)* 6. When a reader marks an element inside a figure, the comment layer shall anchor the comment to that element's id. *(was req-comment-figure-target)* 7. The book shall store every comment in one embedded JSON island that follows the W3C Web Annotation Data Model vocabulary. *(was req-comment-island)* 8. When a reader selects prose in a book copy, the comment layer shall anchor the new comment to the enclosing unit anchor with quote and position selectors. *(was req-comment-mark-prose)* 9. The island schema shall accept targets that name a unit anchor directly, without a reader selection. *(was req-comment-premark-open)* 10. When a reader saves in a browser that grants file access, the comment layer shall write the commented copy back to its own file. *(was req-comment-save)* 11. If in-place saving is unavailable, then the comment layer shall offer the commented copy as a download. *(was req-comment-save-fallback)* 12. While a book copy holds open comments, the comment layer shall list them in a minimizable right sidebar in document order. *(was req-comment-sidebar)* 13. Where a comment proposes replacement text, the island shall carry the original quote and the proposed wording as a suggested edit. *(was req-comment-suggest)* 14. When a reader replies to a comment, the comment layer shall append the reply to the comment's thread with an agree, reject, or neutral mark. *(was req-comment-threads)*

comment ux keep The comment layer shall never lose or dislodge unposted text. The numbered statements bind individually. requirement

req-comment-ux-keep

Statements

1. While a comment textbox holds unposted text, the comment layer shall keep the text when a new item is created and shall post all unposted text on save. *(was req-comment-persist)* 2. While a comment is unsaved, the comment layer shall warn before the book copy closes, shall keep the comment and minimize controls in one place, and shall not shift the comment bar when a comment posts. *(was req-comment-ux)*

compact derived requirement

Every mechanically derivable section shall render as a compact query with exceptions prominent and detail one interaction away. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-compact-derived

Statements

1. The book shall render each derived view within one screen in its default state, keep full detail one interaction away, and render failing or missing items prominently while passing masses collapse into counts. *(was req-compact-renders)* 2. The verification chapter shall open with a derived count of verified requirements and render each unverified requirement prominently before the full matrix. *(was req-vv-exceptions)* 3. Where a book section is mechanically derivable, the template shall render it as a query, and the guidance chapter shall state this rule. *(was req-derived-prose)*

cone triage requirement

When a change suspects many checks, the engine shall emit a triage separating still-holds candidates from needs-re-ruling, and a wave bless shall touch only suspect gates.

req-cone-triage

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

config split requirement

Where a determinizer's rules are data, the rules shall load from configuration files rather than code constants.

req-config-split

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

conformance requirement

The engine shall compare each declared model against the as-built structure derived from the code, reporting convergences, divergences, and absences.

req-conformance

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

connections code Connections mode shall extend to code-derived designs and mint writes requirement

Connections mode shall extend to code-derived designs and mint writes. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-connections-code

Statements

1. The connection referee shall resolve endpoints against code-derived designs as well as spec nodes. *(was req-conn-code-designs)* 2. While a workspace runs connections edge mode, quack mint shall write edges into the connection lanes and none into frontmatter. *(was req-mint-edge-mode)*

connections lanes The engine shall store, mint, migrate, and serve trace edges through the spec connections lanes requirement

The engine shall store, mint, migrate, and serve trace edges through the spec connections lanes. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-connections-lanes

Statements

1. When quack connections runs with a node id, the engine shall print every connection touching that id - from the jsonl lane, the note lane, and code-derived implements edges - in deterministic order. *(was req-conn-adjacency)* 2. While edge membership is unchanged, the engine shall compute byte-identical node hashes for frontmatter-stored and connection-stored edges. *(was req-conn-hash-neutral)* 3. When a kind folder under spec/connections holds edges.jsonl, the engine shall load every line as one edge of that kind, and shall refuse a malformed line or an unresolvable endpoint naming the file and line. *(was req-conn-jsonl)* 4. The type layer shall declare the connection-kind vocabulary with each kind's direction and default lane, and the engine shall refuse an unknown kind. *(was req-conn-kinds)* 5. When a kind folder under spec/connections holds a connection note, the engine shall load it as one edge carrying kind, src, dst, and statement, and shall refuse a note missing one of them or naming an endpoint that does not resolve. *(was req-conn-notes)* 6. If one triple of kind, src, and dst appears in both the note lane and the jsonl lane, then the engine shall refuse the graph naming the duplicate. *(was req-conn-one-lane)* 7. The identity root shall cover connection content - an edge change or a connection-prose change shall change the root. *(was req-conn-root)* 8. While spec/project.toml declares edges = connections, the engine shall refuse a legacy edge key in node frontmatter naming the file and key. *(was req-edge-mode)* 9. Where edges are connection-stored, a base query shall resolve an item's edge properties from the graph exactly as if frontmatter-stored. *(was req-virtual-edges)* 10. When quack mint connection runs with a kind, src, and dst, the engine shall create the edge once in the kind's default lane, with a deterministic id, canonical endpoint order for a symmetric kind, and a stamped statement on the note lane. *(was req-mint-connection)* 11. When quack promote connection names a jsonl edge, the engine shall replace the line with a connection note carrying the same triple, and a repeated promote shall change nothing. *(was req-promote-connection)* 12. When quack migrate-edges runs, the engine shall convert every frontmatter edge to the connections home, shall refuse on a duplicate edge entry or a before-and-after adjacency mismatch, and shall write the edges mode flag last. *(was req-migrate-edges)*

criteria in needs The book shall render each need's success criteria on the need and shall not carry standalone criterion nodes. requirement

req-criteria-in-needs

Rationale (not load-bearing)

field c17 (owner 2026-07-08): the criteria were AI-authored prose. A need carries its own criteria; the crit- node type is retired. Just mention the criteria on the need.

criteria validation requirement

The success criterion shall live as a criterion item, rendered in the motivation chapter and traced by the validation view.

req-criteria-validation

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The ch1/ch5 bridge: validation checks criteria the delta unit currently keeps as prose.

decision rendering requirement

The project chapter shall render decisions as a rationale-bearing table with each iteration's history reachable. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-decision-rendering

Statements

1. The project chapter shall render the decisions as a table only, without a graph. *(was req-ch6-no-graph)* 2. The project chapter's timeline shall make each iteration's candidates and decisions reachable, while the design chapter shall render only the current architecture and link to the project chapter's decisions. *(was req-candidates-timeline)* 3. Where a decision is recorded, the book shall render its rationale rather than a stub placeholder. *(was req-decision-rationale)*

deck discoverable The walkthrough deck shall be reachable from the guides table and from the README requirement

The walkthrough deck shall be reachable from the guides table and from the README. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-deck-discoverable

Statements

1. The guides table shall carry one row linking the walkthrough deck by its anchor, typed honestly as a deck row among the guide rows. 2. The README shall link the walkthrough deck by its anchor from its further-reading references.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The remaining two sides of the owner's discoverability triangle (the onboarding chapter is the third, bound in req-onboarding-chapter.2). Both consume the anchor req-deck-links provides - hence the depends_on.

deck links When a reader opens a slideshow, the book shall reflect it in the URL requirement

When a reader opens a slideshow, the book shall reflect it in the URL. When a URL carries a deck anchor, the book shall open at that deck. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-deck-links

Statements

1. When a reader opens a slideshow in the book, the book shall reflect the deck in the URL fragment, so the address bar is always a shareable link to what is on screen. 2. When the book loads with a URL fragment naming a deck, the book shall open at that deck directly. 3. The book shall give every deck a stable, human-readable anchor id derived from its manifest, so links survive re-renders.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The primitive under the discoverability triangle. Mirrors the stable figure-element ids (go-fig-elem-ids) - decks get the same citizenship figures already have.

deck nav usability requirement

While a deck presents, navigation shall stop at the first and last slide, and a visible ESC pill shall close the deck.

req-deck-nav-usability

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field feedback from the book review: present-mode navigation trapped the reader; the deck must clamp at its edges and reflect its position.

deck semantics The book shall mark every deck section machine-legibly and keep decks out of the table of contents requirement

The book shall mark every deck section machine-legibly and keep decks out of the table of contents. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-deck-semantics

Statements

1. The book shall mark each deck section so a machine reading the raw HTML identifies it as a slideshow with a name and a boundary - never prose that trails an adjacent chapter. 2. The book shall keep decks out of the table of contents; a reader reaches a deck through the derived-documents table, the guides row, or its anchor.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The stranger's parsing complaint: deck content after ch10 read as unlabeled presenter notes. The human never sees the raw HTML; the AI reader does - and the book claims machine digestibility. Owner note: a deck under derived documents MAY carry authored slides (the onboarding deck will) - "derived" names the TABLE it is reached through, not a purity claim; that is accepted and needs no shall.

derived boards requirement

The book shall derive its boards, matrices, and figures from graph facts alone, rendering exceptions prominently. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-derived-boards

Statements

1. The book shall render a requirements coverage board - one count per facet value from the type layer's vocabularies, a zero count visible as a hole, each count filtering the register on selection - and the engine shall refuse a facet value absent from the vocabulary. *(was req-facet-board)* 2. The book shall render the verification matrix and the stakeholder matrix from canned base queries in place of the retired figure kinds. *(was req-fig-tables)* 3. The book shall render failing checks and accepted deviations prominently from ledger state, and shall summarize passing checks as counts. *(was req-results-exception)* 4. The engine shall derive the project's stakeholder classes from the union of its iterations' types, through the class links each project type carries - the book's entry matrix renders exactly that derived set. *(was req-type-stakeholders)* 5. The block-tree figure shall derive from design elements. *(was req-block-tree-design)*

design input register requirement

The book shall render design input as one register folding functions, use cases, functional requirements, and quality requirements, filtered by need and type.

req-design-input-register

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-17)

One register folds every design-input item: functions, use cases, functional requirements, quality requirements.
The type filter distinguishes those four kinds.
The need filter groups by the item's need.
The register replaces the separate use-cases-and-functions section.
Its filter columns follow the generic mechanism in .

Rationale (not load-bearing)

One register is easier to read than scattered sections. Functions are first-class nodes now (see ), so they fold in like any other item.

details context The book shall answer a clicked reference in the always-visible details pane requirement

The book shall answer a clicked reference in the always-visible details pane. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-details-context

Statements

1. The book shall carry an always-visible details pane at the sidebar bottom that expands upward over the sidebar to show context help for a clicked term, link, filter, search, or graph node, and collapses back to a bar. *(was req-details-pane)* 2. A term or ledger reference shall render as a dashed-underlined affordance that shows its definition in the details pane on click, with a jump link to the full entry. *(was req-ref-tooltips)*

details full entry requirement

When a reader follows a reference, the surface shall show the full referenced entry in the details pane where one exists, else as a small toast.

req-details-full-entry

One mechanism, two outputs (owner ruling, 2026-07-18)

The reference-following mechanism is ONE: resolve the referenced entry, produce its full content.
The OUTPUT adapts to the surface. A surface with a details pane (the book, the report) fills the pane. A surface without one (the hand-off) pops the same content as a small toast.
This fixes the hand-off's dead dotted links: today they point at a pane that does not exist there.
The content is identical either way; only the container differs.
ATTENTION PING (owner, 2026-07-18; visibility re-ruled 2026-07-19): whenever a click changes the details pane, three border ECHOES announce it. The pane itself never moves or scales. Each echo is a copy of the border that expands a UNIFORM distance outward on every edge while fading to nothing, ease-out. The travel is 3vmax, identical horizontally and vertically; proportional scaling stays wrong. NO inversion (owner, 2026-07-19): the ripple may ride onto the neighboring text area, and an edge that leaves the screen is accepted. The c1 defect was the SWALLOWED ripple: the sidebar's overflow clip ate every direction but up, and the border's faint color hid the rest - so the clip carries a margin and the echo wears a visible color.
Technique: STATIC absolutely-positioned ring siblings over the pane (dom-static law), re-armed by a class, animating inset and opacity. The echo wears a clearly VISIBLE dark neutral (#555) and rides above the pane content (z-index). The sidebar uses overflow clip with a clip margin so the ripple escapes its box.

#sidebar { overflow: clip; overflow-clip-margin: 4vmax; }
.ping { position: absolute; inset: -2px; border: 2px solid #555; border-radius: inherit; pointer-events: none; z-index: 3; animation: ping .32s ease-out forwards; }
@keyframes ping { 0% { inset: -2px; opacity: .95 } 100% { inset: calc(-2px - 3vmax); opacity: 0 } }

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner found the dotted links dead on the hand-off page. Duplicating a details machinery per surface would drift; one resolver with two output containers cannot.

device pairing The engine shall pair a device in one operation with a QR-rendered subscribe link and the safety disclaimers requirement

The engine shall pair a device in one operation with a QR-rendered subscribe link and the safety disclaimers. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-device-pairing

Statements

1. The engine shall pair a device in one operation that mints a long-lived channel credential and prints the transit disclaimer and the lockscreen instruction. *(was req-pairing)* 2. The engine shall render the pairing subscribe link as a scannable QR code in the console at pairing. *(was req-pair-qr)*

diagram review render The engine shall render one model as a standalone diagram whose change-marks propagate up the drill-down requirement

The engine shall render one model as a standalone diagram whose change-marks propagate up the drill-down. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-diagram-review-render

Statements

1. When an architect requests a model render with marked elements, the engine shall emit a standalone diagram in which each marked element's cluster and layer are themselves marked. 2. The engine shall auto-mark every model element that has no realized code yet, and shall accept an explicit mark list for changed-but-existing elements. 3. The engine shall emit the render as one self-contained HTML file that makes no external request.

divergence suspect requirement

When a declared model diverges from the as-built structure, the engine shall flip the model's conformance check SUSPECT.

req-divergence-suspect

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

docs clean The book's prose and rendered graphs shall pass the owner's review round. requirement

req-docs-clean

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

draft is truth requirement

The engine shall extract each model's semantic graph from the authored model file itself, with no separate transcription artifact.

req-draft-is-truth

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

drawing is spec The engine shall treat a committed drawing as a spec artifact, not a trace node. requirement

req-drawing-is-spec

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A committed drawing is a spec artifact, never a trace node; the fence rule lets drawings live in iteration folders without being parsed.

drivers derived requirement

The book's drivers table shall render the derived union of requirements addressed by an architecture ADR and hand-tagged requirements. Each row shall name its deciding ADRs. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-drivers-derived

Statements

1. The drivers table shall list every requirement addressed by at least one kind:architecture ADR. 2. The drivers table shall additionally list every requirement carrying the architecturally-significant tag. 3. Each drivers row shall name the ADR or ADRs that make the requirement architecturally significant.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner rework note NOTE-20260712-141758: ch 10.5 is a one-row table because curation never happened. Derived-union is self-maintaining - the addresses edges already exist; the hand tag stays for judgment cases no ADR touched. Same philosophy as the register: computed, never confessional.

dsm cluster requirement

When an architect requests a model's structure, the engine shall cluster its design regions by coupling and order the clusters into layers, reporting the residual cyclic couplings. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-dsm-cluster

Statements

1. When an architect requests a model's structure, the engine shall cluster its design regions by coupling and order the clusters into layers, reporting the residual cyclic couplings. 2. The engine shall compute the clustering deterministically, so a given coupling graph always yields the same clusters, layers, and tears.

empty region message If a design region is empty, then the delta message shall name region and fix. requirement

req-empty-region-message

The i19 spike found empty regions counted unrealized with an unclear message.

evidence md tables The hand-off shall render a markdown table in evidence as a real table. requirement

req-evidence-md-tables

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field feedback: evidence docs carry markdown tables that rendered as prose lines; a table must read as a table.

expedition While an expedition runs, its findings shall carry no authority requirement

While an expedition runs, its findings shall carry no authority. A promotion gate records the human ruling before any suspect fires. Interior revisions shall never touch the ledger.

req-expedition

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

field schemas The engine shall check node field values against per-field schemas declared in the method layer requirement

The engine shall check node field values against per-field schemas declared in the method layer. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-field-schemas

Statements

1. The method layer shall declare a per-field schema for node and item fields, carrying the field's type, its enum values where the field is enumerated, its default where one exists, and its tier of core or deferrable. 2. When quack lint runs, the engine shall report every node field value that violates its field schema, naming the node, the field, and the broken rule. 3. When the schema tester runs, the engine shall check the schema set itself, refusing a schema whose type is unknown, whose default falls outside its own enum, or whose tier is missing.

field tier The field schema shall declare each field's tier, either core or deferrable requirement

The field schema shall declare each field's tier, either core or deferrable. Every schema consumer shall honor the tier. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-field-tier

Statements

1. The field schema shall declare each field's tier as core or deferrable. 2. While a core field holds an unadjudicated value, the owning node shall count as undecided. 3. While only deferrable fields hold defaults, the owning node shall count as complete-with-deferrals.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field tiering (seed NOTE-20260711-141259-seed-onboarding-experience, fix 2): extend the TBD mechanism from values to whole fields. Core blocks; deferrable defaults-and-counts. The i18 schemas (req-field-schemas) carry the machine-readable home; this requirement adds the tier dimension and its semantics.

filter feedback requirement

When a reader applies a view filter, the book shall jump to the readme, show the filter in the filter field, ping around it, and gray every irrelevant unit.

req-filter-feedback

The filter round-trip (owner ruling, 2026-07-18)

The README is NEVER filtered. It is always in, whatever the filter.
Applying any view filter jumps the reader to the README - the stable ground from which the filtered world is surveyed.
The applied filter shows in the filter field, and the field announces it with the attention ping (: three border echoes, 3vmax travel, border color).
EVERYTHING irrelevant under the filter grays out - the defect observed today: the current chapter stayed ungrayed.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A filter that leaves you where you stood, with nothing visibly changed and the current chapter not even grayed, reads as a dead click. The jump plus the ping plus honest graying make the filter's effect unmistakable.

filter pill rule requirement

Where a table filters on several dimensions, the book shall render one vertical column per dimension: the header names the category, the chips are its filter values with counts. A single dimension shall render one horizontal pill row.

req-filter-pill-rule

Filter mechanism (owner, 2026-07-17) — generic

A filter is generic. The column header names a category. The chips under it are the values you filter by.
In the design-input register the categories are need and type.
Each chip shows its value's count.
Chips combine: several may be selected, across columns.
An empty value stays visible and clickable, showing zero.
A column of more than ten values scrolls, with a scroll arrow on the top and on the bottom.
One dimension only renders as a single horizontal pill row.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The same mechanism serves every filtered table, not only the register.

first green guard requirement

If an executed test reaches its first pass with no red record and no exemption, then the engine shall withhold the verdict and flag the test.

req-first-green-guard

Rationale (not load-bearing)

i21 b13 slipped two first-greens past the red ritual (NOTE-20260714-091639). The prompt line is baked; this is the engine half.

function nodes requirement

The engine shall represent each function as a first-class node connected to its need, migrated from the need's functions list.

req-function-nodes

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-17)

A function was a string in a need's `functions:` list. It gains no graph citizenship there.
A function becomes its own node type. The need references the functions it needs.
A function is part of the overall graph and is used like any other node type.
For now a function connects only to its need. Functions stay awkward otherwise.
Functions gain importance if risk analysis (FMEA) is added later. That is out of scope now.
The existing `functions:` list entries migrate to function nodes. The list field retires after the migration.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Modeling functions as strings blocked connecting them into the graph. First-class function nodes let the design-input register and any later analysis treat them like use cases and requirements.

go analysis The build shall run Go static analysis and formatting checks and fail on findings. requirement

req-go-analysis

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

graph centering While a rendered graph is narrower than its container, the book shall center it horizontally. requirement

req-graph-centering

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field feedback: the trace graph opened off-centre; a centred graph orients the reader immediately.

handoff lifecycle requirement

When a hand-off page opens, the engine shall serve it from a bounded one-shot server whose life follows the page. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-handoff-lifecycle

Statements

1. When a hand-off renders, the engine shall serve the page from a bounded one-shot server recording at most one answer. 2. While the page stays open, the page shall heartbeat the server; when the heartbeats stop, the server shall exit with no answer and the gate shall stay open. 3. If no page connects or no answer arrives within the bound, then the server shall exit cleanly.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner's ruling (2026-07-14): closing the page without answering is EXPECTED behavior and must degrade properly - the server dies, the gate stays open, nothing dangles. The watchdog is the owner's own sketch: the page heartbeats while open; silence kills the server.

handoff live figures requirement

The hand-off shall render model figures with the book's interactive machinery, browsable in place, never as a static picture.

req-handoff-live-figures

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The handover page reviews models; static snapshots lie - the live figures must carry the same interactivity as the book.

icon density requirement

The book shall render at most one AI-involvement icon per section and shall pad a section shorter than four lines so icons do not collide.

req-icon-density

ifu base state requirement

The book shall define the idle starting state once in a setup IFU that every other IFU references as its start.

req-ifu-base-state

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-17)

The starting state is an idle state, the same for every IFU.
One IFU named "setup" describes the path from a fresh machine to quackitect running.
Every other IFU references that state as its start, rather than restating it.
Exception: the five-minute Pong walkthrough starts completely fresh, from nothing to Pong.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Defining the base state once keeps every IFU short and consistent. A reader learns the idle state once, then each IFU begins from it.

ifu coverage When M8 checks IFU coverage, the engine shall fail when any loaded use case is absent from all IFU decks. requirement

req-ifu-coverage

Rationale (not load-bearing)

This keeps the check late and deterministic.

ifu discovery The book shall make IFU decks discoverable from the document overview and the guides table. requirement

req-ifu-discovery

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Readers should find IFUs before they reach the appendix.

ifu markdown source The book shall treat a markdown deck manifest with `kind: ifu` as an IFU source. requirement

req-ifu-markdown-source

Rationale (not load-bearing)

IFU is a class of slideshow, not a new document type.

ifu quality requirement

The content pass shall review each IFU deck against the seven 82079-1 quality principles, with accessibility and completeness recorded explicitly.

req-ifu-quality

Rationale (not load-bearing)

82079-1 is the governing standard for instructions for use; recording the seven-principle review per deck keeps IFU quality checkable instead of assumed.

ifu split slide requirement

The book shall render each IFU slide as a left text half and a right visual half, the visual an embedded book rendering where one fits.

req-ifu-split-slide

Design decision (owner, 2026-07-17)

Every slide has a left half and a right half.
The left half is text. The right half is a picture, a diagram, or a rendering.
The right half may embed a rendering straight from the book, since the book is HTML.
An embedded rendering stays interactive: the reader can zoom it and click into it. Example: a slide about the timeline renders the real timeline on the right.
The style follows the Perun YouTube channel's clean, structured, analytical slides, in our own palette.
Fireship's punchy split slides are a secondary reference, but not its black and orange.
The deck markdown already splits a slide into columns with a `|||` marker and embeds a figure with a `fig:` line. This requirement extends that toward a live, interactive right half.
M5 spike finding: the drill target resolves by element id while deck copies slide-prefix ids, so drilling in a copy toggles the original figure. The build resolves drill targets WITHIN the host figure.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

This is the assertion-evidence slide pattern: one claim in text, supported by visual evidence, never a bullet list. Sources in the M2 evidence doc.

ifu usecase index The IFU deck shall carry visible links to the use cases it covers. requirement

req-ifu-usecase-index

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The final slide can be link-dense. Teaching slides should stay readable.

ifu user stories requirement

The book shall render each IFU deck as a fixed arc: a problem slide, a starting-state slide, up to six step slides, a result slide, and a coverage slide.

req-ifu-user-stories

The IFU arc (owner, 2026-07-17)

The deck follows one fixed narrative arc. Prior art confirms the shape (see rationale).

1. Problem. What problem do we solve. 2. Starting state. The idle state we start from. Defined once (see ). 3. Steps. How we get there. No more than five or six slides. 4. Result. The second-to-last slide. "This is how we solved it", mirroring the problem. 5. Coverage. The last slide. It links every use case this IFU covers. It is also the machine-readable reference home the `coverage:ifu-usecases` check reads. Concentrating the references here keeps the story slides free of reference clutter.

Each slide uses the split layout in .

Clustering method (owner-confirmed, 2026-07-17)

The hard requirement is only that every use case appears in at least one IFU (the `coverage:ifu-usecases` check, from i0026). The concrete grouping stays a later design detail.

The METHOD is decided: group use cases by USER JOURNEY. One IFU tells one coherent story, so its use cases are exactly the ones a user exercises in that single workflow. Coverage falls out of telling every journey, not listing every id. This replaces the ID-list "coverage theater".

The mechanical check still needs machine-findable references. Rather than clutter every slide, the references live only on the coverage slide (item 5). So the check stays mechanical and the story slides stay clean.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The arc is Before-After-Bridge demo storytelling: the problem is the "before", the result is the "after", the steps are the "bridge". A demo is a setup, a conflict, and a resolution. Sources in the M2 evidence doc.

informed by edges The engine shall accept a decision edge to a model or model element first-class requirement

The engine shall accept a decision edge to a model or model element first-class. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-informed-by-edges

Statements

1. Where a decision addresses a model or a model element, the engine shall load that edge first-class, exactly as an edge to a requirement. 2. The engine shall derive no informed-by citation from name matching (narrowed by adr-s7f5mzi; the first-class addresses edge is the only informing lane). 3. If an addresses edge names a model element that no model declares, then quack lint shall flag the dangling target.

interactive figures The book's figures shall be derived and interactive: fullscreen, layered drill-down, and the context diagram requirement

The book's figures shall be derived and interactive: fullscreen, layered drill-down, and the context diagram. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-interactive-figures

Statements

1. The book shall open any figure in a fullscreen view on a click, and close it on Escape or a second click. *(was req-fig-fullscreen)* 2. The design chapter shall render the system as a layered onion figure entered by clicking a block, with breadcrumbs back to the top and each leaf linking to its trace item. *(was req-figure-drilldown)* 3. The book shall model the system's context neighbours as notes and render them as a derived context diagram whose connector lines end at each node's border. *(was req-context-diagram)*

interface notes requirement

The spec shall model each boundary line of the context diagram as one interface connection note carrying its description.

req-interface-notes

The interface model (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

Neighbors and interfaces are one picture: every line crossing the system boundary in the context model IS an interface, and each is an input or output of quackitect.
An interface is a `con-` note of the DECLARED `interface` connection kind (type layer). It is prose-bearing: an id, a statement, and a description.
The description carries: the neighbor, what flows, the direction, and the channel it rides.
This follows the standing rulings, not a new fight: reifies prose-bearing relations; puts them in `con-` notes, never one-file-per-trivial-edge.
The current 6.2.2 neighbor view lacks these descriptions. Authoring them is part of this iteration's content pass.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The past decisions anticipated exactly this: reify what carries data, keep trivial edges cheap. An interface carries data.

item domain fields Each item kind shall declare its domain fields and the views shall render them requirement

Each item kind shall declare its domain fields and the views shall render them. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-item-domain-fields

Statements

1. The need item template shall declare source and acceptance fields, and the needs view shall render both columns. *(was req-need-item)* 2. The quality requirement shall accept the six scenario fields - source of stimulus, stimulus, artifact, environment, response, and response measure - and the qualities view shall render them grouped by quality facet. *(was req-quality-scenarios)* 3. The stakeholder note shall accept preset and guide fields, and the stakeholder views shall render concern, preset, and guide columns. *(was req-stakeholder-links)* 4. The test item shall declare method and level fields rendered in the verification matrix, and the requirement item shall name its verification field verify_method. *(was req-verify-method)* 5. The rationale and decision nodes shall accept a tags list, and a base query shall filter on it. *(was req-note-tags)*

iterations compacted requirement

When an iteration ships, its working set shall compact to an archival form that preserves ledger truth and evidence.

req-iterations-compacted

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

jargon advisory requirement

When reader-facing prose carries a capitalized or acronym token that is no glossary term, quack lint shall report an advisory jargon finding.

req-jargon-advisory

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Lint blind spot 2 (NOTE-20260712-175741): the glossary IS the term set (correct DRY), so an unregistered term is invisible by construction. The heuristic pairs with it: candidate jargon that is NOT in the glossary gets an advisory - the author either registers the term or rewords. Advisory class; prose judgment stays with the author.

lazy verdicts While a walk command runs, the engine shall answer coverage from cached verdicts only requirement

While a walk command runs, the engine shall answer coverage from cached verdicts only. A moved hash counts unverified, and nothing re-runs. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-lazy-verdicts

Statements

1. While a walk command runs (bless, next, status, and their peers), the engine shall answer coverage from cached verdicts only, counting a moved hash as not-verified without running a test. 2. Only the explicit verification surfaces - the selftest battery and verify - shall re-run tests; every other command, the report and hand-off renders included, answers from the cache.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner's live complaint (2026-07-14): every ledger command after a content edit paid a 15-25 s verdict storm - the walk's own no-over-checking law, never baked into the engine. The why-panel set the precedent ("unverified at this build", no battery); this widens it to the walk. Tightened the same day (owner ruling, second complaint): report/progress/build also went lazy - the full battery belongs to V&V, run ONCE per iteration via an explicit verify or selftest; a render is allowed to say "unverified at this build".

ledger arg guards If a ledger command names a wrong id, then the engine shall refuse it. requirement

req-ledger-arg-guards

Statements

1. If bless names an unknown check id, then the engine shall refuse with near matches. 2. If start names a never-registered version, then the engine shall refuse with a pointer at start --plan. 3. If start names the active version, then the engine shall refuse as a no-op and leave iteration.md untouched.

Owner rulings 2026-07-15: plan-first activation. Both halves of the b3-probe incident die here.

lint classification requirement

The book content lints shall classify correctly: comment interiors skipped, view-rendered nodes counted as referenced. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-lint-classification

Statements

1. When the prose-mark check classifies a unit, it shall skip the interior of HTML comments. *(was req-prose-marks-comments)* 2. When a node renders through a view's rows, the book orphan lint shall count that node as referenced. *(was req-orphan-render-refs)*

lint exit honest requirement

The engine shall exit lint with the agreed three-code contract: zero for clean or advisory-only, one for findings, two for a refused graph.

req-lint-exit-honest

1. If a lint run reports advisories and no findings, then the engine shall exit with code zero. 2. If a lint run reports findings, then the engine shall exit with code one. 3. If the graph is refused at load, then the engine shall exit with code two.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The retro lead NOTE-20260711-180535 (lint): 67 of 80 lint calls "failed" though most carried only the standing adoption advisory. The three-code vocabulary is the owner-agreed contract; consumers of the old advisories-exit-nonzero behavior change meaning - the M2 review checks that no repo consumer relies on it.

manifest render requirement

The engine shall render every document from manifest nodes: transcluded units at derived depth, deck mode, auto-linked prose, emitted entry files. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-manifest-render

Statements

1. The engine shall render chapters, presets, and decks from one manifest node type - each unit a node reference transcluded at its declared depth, or inline markdown, interpreted by the manifest mode. *(was req-book-manifests)* 2. The engine shall derive a node's rendering depth from its anatomy - statement, rationale, children, evidence - never from an authored tag. *(was req-book-depth)* 3. Where a base view declares render refs with a depth, the book shall render each result row through the node renderer at that depth. *(was req-render-refs)* 4. Where a manifest declares deck mode, the engine shall render one unit per slide with a present mode in the same HTML file. *(was req-deck-mode)* 5. When the book renders prose, the engine shall link plain-text occurrences of a note name or alias to that note - authored links win, the longest name wins, code and headings stay untouched - and shall refuse an alias claimed by two notes. *(was req-auto-link)* 6. The engine shall render the book's agent-guide chapter from its manifest source and embed the hand-authored repo-root AGENTS.md into that chapter verbatim - the entry file is never generated (adr-agents-hand-authored). *(was req-agents-emit)*

marker scan The design scan shall stop a region's statement at the next marker. requirement

req-marker-scan

Statements

1. If a comment block runs into the next design marker, then the scan shall end the statement before it.

The i24 wave's assembler found the absorption: a region whose comments touch the next marker pollutes its own derived statement with the neighbor's text.

mcp birth When scaffolding a workspace, the engine shall arm the MCP lane from birth. requirement

req-mcp-birth

Statements

1. When scaffolding a workspace, the engine shall emit .mcp.json with an explicit launcher path. 2. When scaffolding a workspace, the engine shall set agent_lane to mcp.

Covers start init and start stubs. A bare launcher name breaks under NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath.

mcp discoverable When a harness session opens this workspace, the engine shall offer every command as a discoverable MCP tool. requirement

req-mcp-discoverable

Rationale (not load-bearing)

quack mcp shipped in i18, yet the agent still drives the CLI (NOTE-20260714-152053). The gap is the wiring. M2 probes the real channel.

mcp reload When the build stamp moves, the running MCP server shall adopt the staged binary. requirement

req-mcp-reload

Statements

1. When the build stamp moves, the running MCP server shall adopt the staged binary. 2. When the tool surface changes, the server shall emit a list_changed notification. 3. If an in-flight request is open, then the swap shall wait for its reply.

The server becomes a thin supervisor over a child engine process. Whether the harness acts on the notification is probed at M5. The emit is correct per MCP spec either way.

mcp self arm When an existing workspace proves MCP life, the engine shall arm the lane. requirement

req-mcp-self-arm

Statements

1. When a workspace's first MCP session attests, the engine shall set agent_lane to mcp. 2. The engine shall treat workspace path casing as one identity.

The proof-of-life event replaces the hand edit. Casing split this workspace into two harness identities.

mcp server The engine shall serve the command surface as MCP tools over standard input and output requirement

The engine shall serve the command surface as MCP tools over standard input and output. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-mcp-server

Statements

1. When a client starts the MCP serve command, the engine shall expose the command surface as MCP tools over standard input and output, answering each call with the command's structured result. 2. The engine shall evaluate every MCP tool call against the workspace state read at call time. 3. While an MCP session holds no attestation, the engine shall refuse a ledger-advancing tool call under the same attest rules as the agent's command-line channel. 4. When the client connection closes, the MCP server shall exit. 5. If a newer engine build is staged while the server runs, then the server shall not answer a later tool call from the superseded binary. 6. If a tool call fails, then the engine shall return the failure as a structured error result, and shall not break the transport.

method catalog The method layer shall carry the methodology map, and each chapter shall render the methods that declare it requirement

The method layer shall carry the methodology map, and each chapter shall render the methods that declare it. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-method-catalog

Statements

1. The method layer shall carry a methodology map - named methods with sources and when-to-use lines - rendered by the book as a chapter. *(was req-method-map)* 2. The chapter shall render the methods that declare it in applies_chapters, from a pooled methods view. *(was req-methods-view)*

metrics removed The report and readout shall not compute the reversal rate, the rework rate, or the self-cert ratio. requirement

req-metrics-removed

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

migrate layout requirement

When migrate-layout runs on a workspace whose spec still carries manifests or item notes in spec/trace, the engine shall move each to its template-mirroring home. It refuses to overwrite and reports every move.

req-migrate-layout

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner ruling 2026-07-07: the spec mirrors the template. New workspaces seed the mirrored layout via start stubs; EXISTING workspaces convert through this determinizer - never through a shell script outside the engine (one zero-dependency binary drives every platform).

mint from templates requirement

quack mint shall stamp field-complete skeletons from the templates for every item kind and milestone evidence doc. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-mint-from-templates

Statements

1. The mint command shall emit a field-complete skeleton for every item kind. *(was req-mint-all-kinds)* 2. When a milestone opens, quack mint shall stamp the milestone's evidence-doc skeleton from its template. *(was req-mint-skeleton)*

mint prefill requirement

When a node is minted, the engine shall fill every schema field with a proposed value and a one-line justification. No field reaches the user blank. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-mint-prefill

Statements

1. When a node is minted, the engine shall fill every schema field with its schema default or a derived proposal. 2. The engine shall stamp each pre-filled value with a one-line justification naming its source. 3. If a field has no schema default and no derivable proposal, then the engine shall fill it with an explicit TBD marker that the register counts.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The no-blank-fields drafting law (seed NOTE-20260711-141259-seed-onboarding-experience, fix 3): never make a human recall what a machine can list. The justification line is what makes a veto cheap - the user judges the source, not the value from scratch.

model consistency requirement

If a model references an element or flow that no sibling model or dictionary declares, then the lint shall report the dangling reference.

req-model-consistency

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model groom requirement

Where a model kind uses a canvas format, the engine shall normalize the model file's layout on explicit command without changing the extracted semantic graph.

req-model-groom

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model kinds requirement

The method shall define a model-kind catalog naming, for each kind, its question, its format admission tests, and its selection heuristic.

req-model-kinds

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model kinds catalog requirement

The book shall derive the model-kinds section from the templates: prose from the template, the template rendered small, and the kind's uses. A kind used nowhere shall not render.

req-model-kinds-catalog

The catalog mechanism (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

Section 10.6 derives per model kind, from the kind's template in `method/models/`:

1. PROSE: what this kind is, taken from the template body. The prose lives in the template, once. 2. A RENDER of the template itself, as a small model. 3. A USE LIST: every declared model of this kind in the book, linked.

Extending 10.6 means adding one template file. Nothing else.

A kind with a template but no use anywhere does not render.

Consequence for the templates: each carries a small renderable example, so item 2 has something to draw. Today's templates carry prose but no example fence; the build adds them.

First kind walked (owner): CONTEXT. The existing context model is good and stays. Its defect is only that 10.6 never rendered it; this catalog fixes that.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The registry file is already the single source for kinds (the file IS the registration). The catalog extends the same principle to the chapter: the template is the single source of kind prose, example, and membership.

model lint If a model contains an unbound edge or an unattached label, then the lint shall report the model as ambiguous. requirement

req-model-lint

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model nodes requirement

The engine shall load model nodes from the spec and fold each model's extracted semantic graph into the ledger.

req-model-nodes

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model stubs When a model kind is chosen for an iteration, the engine shall emit a valid skeleton model file for that kind. requirement

req-model-stubs

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

model tray requirement

Where a model kind uses a canvas format, the engine shall place elements reported absent by the conformance check into the model file's tray on explicit command.

req-model-tray

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

models complete book requirement

The book shall render every declared model and one example per supported model kind, derived from the registry.

req-models-complete-book

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

models gate build requirement

While a views-chosen decision declares model kinds, the implementation milestone shall depend on the authored model nodes.

req-models-gate-build

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

models in book The book shall render every declared model in the design output chapter. requirement

req-models-in-book

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

models useful requirement

The design chapter shall render each model only after an owner review confirms it answers its declared question; the rest are reworked or dropped.

req-models-useful

The kind walk (owner rulings, 2026-07-17)

Kind	Ruling	Consequence
context	KEEP	good as-is; the catalog () finally renders it in 10.6
element-tree	RENAME to `structural`	a GENERIC structural kind, nothing quack-specific - an assembly is another instance (owner ruling 2026-07-18). Quack is modeled as one instance (); model-product-tree is ABSORBED into it (q-product-tree-absorb, ruling A). Remaining instances follow: model-agent-lanes, model-module-architecture, model-guard-tree
sequence	DROP for now	template deleted; instances model-register-ask-flow and model-reload-sequence dropped; sequence models return when needed
state	DROP for now	template deleted; instance model-check-states dropped
(new) `onion`	CREATE	model-engine-layers IS the onion's source model, badly named and typed `guide` with no kind. It becomes the onion kind's first instance. The template is written so other projects reuse onions
(new) `structural`	CREATE with the model	the layer between context and onion

The principle (owner): no placeholders for unused model kinds. Like rationales and fundamentals, a model is created when needed.

Execution timing: these renames and drops land as a BUILD step, not mid-elicitation. The engine's model-kind selftests couple to the registry (kind scans, kind-example figures); the same walk that moves the files amends those tests under the red ritual. Dropped models take their dangling edges with them (adr-i24-views to model-reload-sequence, adr-register-watch-answers to model-register-ask-flow).

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Each rendered model must answer its declared question for the owner. The walk above is that review's outcome for the kind layer; the per-instance content review of the surviving structural models happens at the M4 diagram session.

module command selector When the first command argument matches a module id, the command shall run with that module subtree selected. requirement

req-module-command-selector

Workspace-wide commands keep their current shape.

module dotted ids The engine shall accept dotted module ids as filterable hierarchy without creating independent timelines. requirement

req-module-dotted-ids

Selecting `doc` includes `doc.*`. Selecting `doc.review` selects that module only.

module filter first When a derived table renders, the renderer shall present the module facet before the need facet. requirement

req-module-filter-first

The need facet is scoped by the selected module set.

module import The engine shall import one module from another project through a dry-runnable byte-exact manifest. requirement

req-module-import

Imported modules are read-only. Local changes live in an overlay or local module.

module registry The engine shall load a workspace module registry from spec/project.toml. requirement

req-module-registry

The registry names module ids, titles, source kind, path, and optional parent.

module update The engine shall update an imported module from recorded provenance through the same manifest lane. requirement

req-module-update

The update records source, commit or content hash, and changed files.

need scoped views The book shall render functions and use-cases per need, shown on the need's expand requirement

The book shall render functions and use-cases per need, shown on the need's expand. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-need-scoped-views

Statements

1. The book shall render functions and use-cases as one deterministic per-need query, with the functions and use-cases of a need shown on expand. *(was req-ch3-ucfn-merge)* 2. When a need row expands, the book shall render the need's use-case list. *(was req-need-expand)*

no flow smell requirement

If a declared layer carries no processing flow, then the conformance report shall flag the layer as a decomposition smell.

req-no-flow-smell

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

node module requirement

The engine shall assign every loaded node to a module, defaulting to the workspace default module when the field is absent.

req-node-module

The current single-module Quackitect case remains hidden and compatible.

note collision If two note captures mint the same filename, then quack note shall write both notes under distinct filenames. requirement

req-note-collision

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Bit us live at the i13 retro: a same-second, same-prefix capture silently overwrote a note.

observe red refresh requirement

When observe-red --refresh runs on a test that still fails, the engine shall re-record the red attestation at the test's current hash.

req-observe-red-refresh

Rationale (not load-bearing)

i12 method lead: amending a statement after observe-red strands the red record. The ordering rule is harvested into engage.md; this is the tool half. A refresh on a PASSING test stays refused.

onboarding chapter requirement

The book shall carry an onboarding chapter as section 2.2 that routes a newcomer to the walkthrough deck and to the newcomer-filtered guides. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-onboarding-chapter

Statements

1. The book shall render an onboarding chapter as section 2.2 of the fundamentals chapter, carrying the newcomer arc: what this is, the prerequisites, and where to go next. 2. The onboarding chapter shall link the five-minutes walkthrough deck where it lives among the derived documents, so the chapter points and the deck stays one artifact. 3. When a reader follows the onboarding chapter's guides link, the book shall scroll to the guides table with its filter preset to the user and newcomer audiences.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner design 2026-07-12 (NOTE-20260712-112639): the chapter POINTS - the deck is the content, the guides table is the depth. The chapter itself stays a short landing, not a third copy.

onion boilerplate requirement

Where a model element carries an owner-assigned boilerplate stamp, the onion shall offer a hide-boilerplate control that folds it from the render.

req-onion-boilerplate

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Ambient pills flooded the onion in review; folding boilerplate keeps the architecture readable while the DOM stays complete.

onion click When the reader single-clicks an onion block, the book shall show that block's details in the details pane. requirement

req-onion-click

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Single-click inspects, double-click drills - matching the review habit; mis-modeled clicks made review sessions stumble.

onion clusters requirement

Where a level contains a coupling cluster, the book shall render the cluster as one enterable block with a top input bus, a bottom output bus, and no core.

req-onion-clusters

Cluster rules (owner, 2026-07-17)

A cluster groups nodes on ONE level so the onion does not grow crowded. Its rules:

1. A cluster is entered by activating it, the same way a ring is entered.

2. Inside, the cluster has its own top input bus and bottom output bus. It has NO core drawn inside.

3. Every input to the cluster comes from its input bus. Every output leaves through its output bus. The cluster block itself never carries a direct arrow to anything; its whole surface is the two buses.

4. A cluster MAY contain a node that talks to the core. That connection rides the cluster's output bus, and on the onion level the bus lane connects onward to the core. The core wiring lives on the level, never on the cluster.

5. Bus lanes are IDENTIFIED. Each input lane names its source; each output lane names its target. Two inputs from two sources are two named lanes.

6. Sides carry no meaning inside a cluster. Nodes sort to avoid crowding and to minimize wire crossings.

7. A node inside a cluster may itself be a cluster. Nesting repeats these rules at every depth, including the bus-only boundary.

8. Clustering is derived from real coupling with a design-structure-matrix method. The goal is low external complexity; high internal complexity is acceptable.

9. The diagram is part of the top-down design process, not documentation of finished code. The build follows the diagram; the diagram comes first.

The layout of a single level, cluster or not, follows and its drawing .

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner specified clusters to keep large onions readable. External simplicity over internal simplicity is the guiding principle.

onion enter requirement

When the reader enters an onion block, the book shall push a browser history entry so the back action exits the block.

req-onion-enter

Interaction rules (owner, 2026-07-17)

A single click on a block shows its details (see ).
A double click enters the block or cluster.
The double click is only needed when a single click already does something. A block with no details may be entered by a single click.
The browser back action exits the entered block. Entering is a normal, reversible browser navigation.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner wants diving into a diagram to behave like normal web navigation, reversible with the browser back button.

onion interfaces requirement

The design chapter shall render the system interfaces as reviewed model content and shall hide a responsibility column that is empty.

req-onion-interfaces

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The interfaces are architecture content and belong beside the onion; an all-empty column is noise, not information.

onion io rendering requirement

The book shall render every onion layer per the committed layout spec onion-io-layout.excalidraw.md: inputs on the top bus, outputs on the bottom bus, node sides by core direction.

req-onion-io-rendering

Layout rules (the diagram is the binding spec)

The committed drawing is the layout specification. Its rules in prose:

1. Inputs enter on horizontal buses at the TOP. Outputs leave on horizontal buses at the BOTTOM. This holds for every layer, including the topmost.

2. The TOPMOST view shows no inner nodes. It shows only the rings, each selectable to dive one level in. Arrows stop at the onion's outside.

3. A node whose output goes INTO the core sits on the LEFT.

4. A node that receives its input FROM the core sits on the RIGHT.

5. An input may run straight to the core. A core output may run straight to the output bus.

6. A pass-through node touches the layer but not the core. It sits left or right, sorted against crowding.

7. Every layer renders the same. The lowest layer is the same minus the core.

8. The onion is always round, with the core centered. Never ovals.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner drew the layout and ruled rendering-first; the interface modeling question is separate and later in this iteration.

onion space requirement

Where a chapter figure hosts the interactive onion, the book shall render the figure beyond the prose column, using the viewport width beside the sidebar.

req-onion-space

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The prose column caps at 1040px for reading measure. The onion is a diagram, not prose. On a wide screen the cap wasted most of the viewport. Fullscreen mode is excluded from the breakout so the fixed modal keeps working.

pager open questions requirement

If a cone question is still open rather than proposed or decided, then progress shall refuse the round and name the question.

req-pager-open-questions

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A round presented over an open question wastes the adjudication: the brief is not ready to rule on, and the refusal must say which unknown blocks it.

pager round end When a pager round ends, progress shall print a machine-readable line naming the gate and the verdict. requirement

req-pager-round-end

Round-end semantics (owner rulings, 2026-07-17/18)

When a round ends, progress prints a machine-readable line naming the gate and the verdict, and writes a pollable result file in the data home, so any harness observes the outcome without improvised file watches.
CLOSING THE PAGE WINDOW ENDS THE ROUND AS A REJECTION. A closed window is an answer, not a limbo: the round records reject, the result line says so, and any waiting agent stops waiting.
A y or n on the page ends the round with that verdict, as today.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The M1 and M3 hand-offs both left the agent blind to the round's outcome: a detached window swallowed the verdict, and a closed window left watchers running on a dead round. The owner ruled the close-as-rejection semantics on 2026-07-18.

pong deck requirement

The book shall carry the five-minutes walkthrough deck as a derived document, from cloning to the delivered Pong game. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-pong-deck

Statements

1. The book shall render the walkthrough deck among the derived documents, covering the whole arc in order: clone, prerequisites, install, each systematic milestone as the newcomer experiences it, and the delivered result. 2. The deck shall show the Pong game as the deliverable - what came out of the walk, pictured, not asserted. 3. Where the playable Pong embed stays within the book's size budget, the final slide shall embed it playable; if the embed would exceed the budget, then the deck shall show the deliverable as a static figure instead. 4. The deck shall carry a prerequisites slide that matches the RUNME scripts' actual checks, so the slides and the installer never disagree. 5. The deck shall carry a timeline across its slides - elapsed minutes from clone to deliverable - whose numbers come from a real timed walk, recorded per milestone so the pace is reconstructable.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner: "pong game is just something that everybody understands." Pong is the canonical simple example project-wide (a method-docs rule baked at build). The size budget in statement 3 is the owner's guard: "only if it doesn't blow up the document" - a JS pong is a few KB against a multi-MB book, so the embed is expected to pass, but the budget decides, not the expectation.

project content roots The engine shall serve glossary and reference content from one workspace-spec source requirement

The engine shall serve glossary and reference content from one workspace-spec source. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-project-content-roots

Statements

1. The engine shall serve glossary entries from one source - lint consumes the term classification and the book renders the entries. *(was req-glossary-shared)* 2. The engine shall load glossary terms, reference notes, fundamentals, and method notes from the workspace spec as project content with aliases, and quackitect's own glossary shall live there. *(was req-spec-content-roots)*

project timeline The book, the report, and the handover shall render iterations through one shared timeline renderer. requirement

req-project-timeline

One renderer, three frames (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

Today several timeline renderers exist. One survives: the HANDOVER pager's, with its drill-down (iteration, then tasks, then evidence).
The same component renders everywhere. Only the frame differs.
Handover: one iteration, phone-width card, as today. No iteration-level scroll; elements inside the iteration may scroll.
Report: the sidebar frame.
Book: width unconstrained, all iterations.
Drill-down behavior: . Anchoring and scroll: .
The RAID matrix is separate: .

Rationale (not load-bearing)

One renderer kills the drift between three hand-maintained timelines.

prose current Method prompts and guides shall name only live mechanisms. Retired vocabulary is a lint finding. requirement

req-prose-current

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

prose rework ch0, ch1, and the README shall carry reader-first prose that follows the voice rules. requirement

req-prose-rework

Rationale (not load-bearing)

field c8 c15: too dry

pugh render requirement

The book and the hand-off shall render an M4 decision's Pugh matrix derived from criterion weights, candidate ratings, and the chosen edge, never from prose.

req-pugh-render

The derived matrix (owner ruling, 2026-07-18)

One table per M4 decision: criteria as rows with their weight, candidates as columns, the datum column marked.
Cells derive as the sign of each rating's delta against the datum (better, same, worse). The raw 0..1 rating stays reachable on expand.
A weighted-totals row closes the table. The winner mark derives from the decision's chosen edge.
Controlled convergence renders as one matrix per recorded run.
The render uses our palette, not the template world's traffic-light cells. The concrete look is an M4/M6 design decision.
Data gaps the build closes: criterion weight becomes a frontmatter field (migrating the prose weights of the existing criteria), and the decision declares its datum candidate.
The Pugh prose in past M4 evidence docs stays as history; new decisions carry the data and get the render.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The Pugh content today is prose in M4 evidence docs, hard to read in hand-offs and the book. Everything the matrix needs already lives in nodes except the weight field and the datum declaration, so the matrix is a view, not new data. External guidance (5-7 weighted criteria, an incumbent or neutral datum) matches the M4 method as written.

quack mv requirement

When an id is renamed, the engine shall follow every reference class the workspace owns in one journaled, undoable command. The classes are the file name, markdown links, bare ids, edge lanes, and the engine source.

req-quack-mv

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The c14 and context-model renames cost hand-swept sessions; half of every rename lives outside markdown where no vault tool reaches. The determinizer law applies verbatim.

query The engine shall answer read queries over the loaded graph. requirement

req-query

Statements

1. The engine shall run a pinned Bases expression over nodes, edges, states, and notes. 2. The query lane shall return filtered rows with chosen fields. 3. quack mcp shall expose the query as a read-only tool. 4. If a query names an unknown field or kind, then the engine shall refuse with the field list.

The read twin of the apply lane. Structured answers replace file dumps and shell greps. The evaluator is the pinned Bases subset the pooled queries already use. No second engine.

question nodes requirement

The spec shall carry open questions as first-class nodes with dependency edges, and decided nodes shall record how they were decided.

req-question-nodes

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

rationale fill The book shall render every rationale with real content or an explicit not-applicable mark. requirement

req-rationale-fill

Rationale (not load-bearing)

An empty rationale slot reads as neglect in a shipped book; the explicit not-applicable mark distinguishes judged silence from forgotten homework.

reader structure The book shall lead every chapter with its lede and keep internals apart in the guidance chapter requirement

The book shall lead every chapter with its lede and keep internals apart in the guidance chapter. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-reader-structure

Statements

1. The book shall open every chapter with its lede - two to four sentences carrying the big idea before any detail; the lede and the chapter TL;DR are one artifact. *(was req-chapter-tldr)* 2. The spec shall keep audience prose apart from internals - internals live in the guidance chapter and other content references them through a guidance tag. *(was req-guidance-split)*

reader tables Every reader-facing query shall render as a compact, in-place filterable, expandable table requirement

Every reader-facing query shall render as a compact, in-place filterable, expandable table. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-reader-tables

Statements

1. Every reader-facing query shall render as a table with a clear header row and separated cells, even with zero rows, under a heading that fits its chapter. *(was req-table-render)* 2. A reader-facing table shall filter and sort in place, and an enum column shall filter by its allowed values. *(was req-table-interact)* 3. The book shall render every reader-facing table row collapsed to the item name, expand a clicked row to the item's full content, offer expand-all and collapse-all controls, and page a need-scoped table by need with at most twenty rows per page. *(was req-table-expand)* 4. The book shall filter a reader-facing table by combinable pill facets above it, always including a need facet for trace items and a facet for each meaningful category, and shall not render a pill for every item. *(was req-table-facets)* 5. The book shall not color zero counts and shall not render bucket rows for empty facet values. *(was req-table-noise)* 6. A reader-facing table shall show the item name and statement and shall not show filename, weight, or source-internal columns. *(was req-reader-columns)* 7. The glossary shall render as an in-place filterable and sortable table. *(was req-glossary-table)*

recital chain The selftest shall verify the recital wording chain across the contract and the entry hub. requirement

req-recital-chain

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The recital mechanism was ruled twice in one day (NOTE-20260714-142453). The chain: contract.md names the question-tool card; AGENTS.md step 3 matches it.

red edit guard If an apply edit strands a red record, then quack apply shall refuse it. requirement

req-red-edit-guard

Statements

1. If an apply manifest edits a red-observed test's statement, then quack apply shall refuse it. 2. The refusal shall point at observe-red with the refresh flag.

The stranding class from i22 b1. The StatementHash on each red event already carries the data.

refusal recovery requirement

When the engine refuses a command or reports a cache miss, it shall name the cause and the one recovery command.

req-refusal-recovery

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The i24-i27 field sessions lost time to refusals that named no way forward; a refusal carrying its recovery is cheaper than any documentation.

The engine shall surface register findings for book prose, readability and plain-language signals for the audience baseline, as advisory output that never blocks a gate.

req-register-advisory

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The audience baseline: average professionals, not assumed native speakers (M1 brief; ISO 24495-1 is the citable norm). Advisory by the production lesson (GitLab): readability metrics misfire too often to gate on; errors block, register advises. The engine's advisory lane precedent is the unrealized-adoption lint.

When a red register row is worked, the engine shall raise a decision ask on the existing ask path and record the answer with its actor and channel. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-register-ask

Statements

1. When a red row is opened, the register shall present its decision as an inline questionnaire with options. 2. When the questionnaire is answered, the engine shall record the decision with actor and channel and recolor the row from its new provenance. 3. The mobile questionnaire shall ride the same renderer as the register's inline one.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The register, the ask loop, and the questionnaires unify into one system (register seed). A red row is a decision ask (kind decision, options) on the i15 ask/bless path - tap red, answer, provenance recorded, green. Also carries the socratic-readiness provenance commitment (NOTE-20260710-114852, soft fifth): the recorded answer IS the provenance field.

The register shall compute each row's traffic-light color from recorded provenance, never from self-reported confidence. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-register-colors

Statements

1. The register shall color a row green when its value is user-adjudicated or mechanically derived. 2. The register shall color a row yellow when a deferrable field holds its default. 3. The register shall color a row red when a core field holds an unadjudicated load-bearing assumption. 4. The register shall derive colors from recorded provenance fields only.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The register vision (seed NOTE-20260711-141259-seed-html-register-vision): self-reported LLM confidence is a mood; provenance is a record. A red row IS an unrecorded decision - the agent marks it explicitly during drafting.

If a decision belongs to a killer check, then the engine shall refuse its resolution on every channel except a hand-off page or a console bless.

req-register-killer-guard

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Killers never resolve as a cheap side effect (owner law). The hand-off page IS the ceremony: there the user rules killer decisions directly, and a page bless is recorded in their name. Every other lane (watch-server register taps, ad-hoc scripts) refuses and names the page. Contract rule 3 is the governing text; this requirement makes the engine enforce it structurally.

register render When a gate reaches its bless moment, the engine shall render one decision-brief hand-off page requirement

When a gate reaches its bless moment, the engine shall render one decision-brief hand-off page. Open decisions are dealt one at a time. No standing register exists anywhere. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-register-render

Statements

1. When a gate reaches its hand-off, the engine shall render one phone-sized HTML page carrying only decisions - the BLUF, the open decisions, the decided-already audit, and the iteration's task tree. 2. The page shall deal open decisions one at a time, each card stating the authored options and the lettered ruling a bless selects, with every field behind one collapsed disclosure. 3. The hand-off page shall render agent-confident green and user-adjudicated green as two visually distinct marks. 4. The report shall carry no standing register section - provenance stays node data outside hand-off moments.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner's design rounds (2026-07-14, nine of them) fixed the shape: adjudication is a MOMENT, not a dashboard (adr-handoff-html supersedes adr-register-in-report), and the page is a decision brief - state, defaults and bookkeeping stay off it. The two greens keep proposals from being laundered into decisions - involvement marks measure involvement, never trust.

report debounce requirement

If a bless triggers a report refresh within the debounce interval of the last render, then the engine shall skip that render.

req-report-debounce

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The retro lead NOTE-20260711-180535 (renders): 143 report renders in one iteration, mostly the detached refresh fired by every bless. A bless wave then spawns dozens of identical renders; the interval collapses them to one.

responsive status quality

When the user runs a status or report command, the engine shall answer within one second on the reference machine.

req-responsive-status

Quality scenario

stimulus source: the user at the console
stimulus: a status or report command
artifact: the verdict evaluation
environment: warm cache, reference machine
response: the board renders
response measure (the pass line): under one second

Rationale (not load-bearing)

seeded quality example (field c26): the six-part scenario grounds the qualities view; realized by the i10 verdict cache

rigor fit requirement

When a version's composed trace size falls outside the chosen rigor's fit band, quack lint shall report an advisory rigor-fit finding. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-rigor-fit

Statements

1. When the composed node count falls outside the configured rigor's fit band, quack lint shall report an advisory rigor-fit finding naming the count and the band. 2. The rigor-fit finding shall remain in the advisory class.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner feature note NOTE-20260712-132653: systematic for a pong-sized project is overkill - detect the mismatch, recommend, never decide. Advisory by design: contract rule 5 keeps the human confirming rigor at start; the engine only hints. The fit bands live with the rigor definitions so the data has one home.

risk matrix requirement

The book shall render RAID items as bubbles on a continuous matrix, impact on the x axis and probability on the y axis, both zero to one.

req-risk-matrix

The matrix (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

One continuous matrix for every RAID item. Impact on x, probability on y, both zero to one. The owner's ruling flips the axes named in the i26 handover note.
One bubble per item. Bubble COLOR encodes the KIND: risk, assumption, issue, dependency. Severity carries no color; position already says it.
The kind is a filter dimension: pills for risk, assumption, issue, dependency, per the generic mechanism in .
Status is a second filter dimension: open or closed. Closed items hide by default.
Clicking a bubble shows the item's details in the details pane.
Consequence for the data: every RAID node carries probability and impact so it can plot. An issue's probability may be one; it has occurred.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A continuous probability-consequence diagram beats the discrete colored grid: no risk ties, full resolution (DTU recommendations; sources in the M2 evidence doc). One matrix over all four kinds replaces both the quadrant-board idea and a risks-only lens: the kind filter gives each kind its view for free.

root content The identity root shall hash pooled queries and reference notes. requirement

req-root-content

Statements

1. The identity root shall hash every pooled query file under spec/queries. 2. The identity root shall hash every reference note under spec/references. 3. If a hashed query or reference changes, then dependent checks shall go suspect.

Closes the i12 trust gap: an edited base file changed every book table silently.

runme orientation The RUNME scripts shall install and verify the toolchain and print orientation requirement

The RUNME scripts shall install and verify the toolchain and print orientation. They shall create no project. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-runme-orientation

Statements

1. The RUNME scripts shall check the prerequisites, install what is missing, and verify the result on both platforms (Windows via Winget, Linux via the package manager). 2. When the toolchain verifies, the RUNME scripts shall print a short orientation naming the next steps a user takes to start a project of their own. 3. If a RUNME script completes, then it shall have created no workspace and no project - a deterministic installer carries no LLM and cannot meaningfully author one.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner correction 2026-07-12 (NOTE-20260712-113045), revising the shipped i18 scripts, which still create a demo workspace and render a board. RUNME slims to install + verify + orient; the walkthrough DECK is where a newcomer sees a project happen (req-pong-deck), and the orientation text hands over to it.

search visible hits requirement

When search navigates to a hit, the book shall reveal it, highlight every hit, and offer previous and next shortcuts.

req-search-visible-hits

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field feedback: search hits inside collapsed sections were invisible; a hit must reveal its host section.

seed skeleton requirement

When a planned version is started, the engine shall seed the rigor checklist's gates and subtasks into the iteration's tasks folder with iteration-unique ids. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-seed-skeleton

Statements

1. When a planned version is started, the engine shall emit every milestone gate and subtask of the configured rigor into spec/iterations/(version)/tasks/. 2. The engine shall namespace every seeded id by the iteration tag. 3. The engine shall seed each statement with the rigor template's wording as a pre-fill for the composer to tailor - seeding proposes, the composer vetoes.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The i20-m4-seed defer lands here (deferred: seeding is this iteration's theme). Today the agent hand-copies the rigor checklist into ~40 task files at every start - mechanical, error-prone, and exactly the authoring-into-blanks this iteration abolishes. The wiring rules (milestone-monotonic, gate depends_on subtasks) are deterministic and belong in the engine.

seeded examples A reader-facing view shall never sit empty requirement

A reader-facing view shall never sit empty. Clearly-marked replaceable examples ship seeded. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-seeded-examples

Statements

1. Where a reader-facing view would otherwise render empty, the book shall ship a clearly-marked example the author can replace or delete. *(was req-example-content)* 2. The spec shall carry a referenced example each of an AI fundamental with an external source, a stakeholder, a quality with a figure, and a method. *(was req-seed-examples)*

selftest gate requirement

When the agent channel calls selftest outside a milestone review, the engine shall refuse the run and name the verify lane.

req-selftest-gate

Statements

1. When the agent channel calls the full selftest battery while no milestone gate of the active version is ready or suspect, the engine shall refuse the run. 2. The refusal shall name the lawful lanes. One check re-runs through quack verify or a single-test selftest. The battery belongs to the gate review.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner's M6 complaint: selftest after every edit is nervous over-checking (NOTE-20260714-152053). This is the trust-the-process law, engine-enforced.

selftest home sweep When the selftest battery finishes, the engine shall remove the data homes of its fixture workspaces. requirement

req-selftest-home-sweep

Rationale (not load-bearing)

241 orphaned fixture data homes accumulated under LOCALAPPDATA/quackitect.

selftest tiers Where the build fast-path runs, quack build shall execute a fast selftest tier only requirement

Where the build fast-path runs, quack build shall execute a fast selftest tier only. quack selftest shall keep running the full battery. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-selftest-tiers

Statements

1. Where the build fast-path runs, quack build shall execute only the fast selftest tier. 2. The quack selftest command shall run the full battery unchanged.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Retro measure (NOTE-20260713-210402): selftest ran slow (>2s) in 39 of 59 calls - the battery is 300+ cases, several spawning stub workspaces, and it rides every build. The responsiveness guide sets the 1-second bound. Tier membership is data, not judgment: the fast core is the set that touches the build's own invariants (parity, golden root, parser).

semantic hash If a model file changes without changing its semantic graph, then dependent checks shall keep their verdicts. requirement

req-semantic-hash

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

spec content lint requirement

quack lint shall flag spec-content violations: dangling anchors, orphans, external links, unfilled slots, bad ids, and meta-term leaks. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-spec-content-lint

Statements

1. If a note refers to a heading anchor that does not exist, then quack lint shall flag the dangling referent. *(was req-anchor-refers)* 2. If a content node is reachable from no manifest and carries no exclusion record, then quack lint shall flag it. *(was req-book-orphans)* 3. If an external link appears in spec content outside a reference note, then quack lint shall flag it as a violation. *(was req-external-links)* 4. If an unfilled slot placeholder remains in spec content, then quack lint shall flag it as a violation. *(was req-residue-lint)* 5. The lint shall refuse a node id containing a character outside lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens, or containing consecutive hyphens outside a connection id's separators. *(was req-id-charset)* 6. If a meta-classified glossary term appears in the content of chapters one to six, then quack lint shall flag it. *(was req-meta-quarantine)* 7. If a glossary term of the meta class appears in any chapter except guidance and the agent guide, then quack lint shall flag it. *(was req-quarantine-scope)*

standing grant Where the owner records a standing grant, the engine shall accept in-scope agent blesses under it requirement

Where the owner records a standing grant, the engine shall accept in-scope agent blesses under it. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-standing-grant

Statements

1. The engine shall record a standing grant with a scope, an expiry, and a collection list. 2. While a grant is live, an agent bless inside its scope shall pass and stamp the grant id. 3. If an agent bless names a killer gate and no live grant covers it, then the engine shall refuse the bless and point at the hand-off pager and the grant. A non-killer agent bless stays lawful. 4. If the agent channel opens or closes a grant without an explicit --by user delegation, then the engine shall refuse - a grant is the owner's act. 5. When a grant closes, the engine shall present every bless collected under it for the owner's confirmation.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The uninterrupted-work lead (NOTE-20260714-090128). q-grant-honesty holds the open criterion question. The grant must keep the review honest, not delete it.

structure layers requirement

The book shall route the reader from the context model into a quack structural model, and from its determinizer element into the onion.

req-structure-layers

The reading path (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

1. The reader starts at the CONTEXT model: quack as a black box, neighbors around it, interfaces crossing the boundary (). 2. Entering quack opens a NEW structural model that describes quack OVERALL. It does not exist yet; this iteration creates it. It holds every part of quack, not only the Go software: the engine, the method resources, the launcher, and whatever else the modeling session allocates. 3. The onion describes ONLY the determinizer, the Go software we wrote. Entering the determinizer element of the structural model opens the onion. 4. The onion is NOT the layer directly under the context model. The structural model sits between them. 5. These models are design input. The implementation follows them, top-down, under the existing conformance discipline (uc-model-conformance). 6. Navigation uses the onion's interaction rules: single click details, enter to descend, browser back to ascend (, ).

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Three altitudes, three models: black box, whole product, written software. Each answers one question and hands the reader down to the next.

stub templates start stubs shall instantiate the full template folder set including the spec skeleton requirement

start stubs shall instantiate the full template folder set including the spec skeleton. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-stub-templates

Statements

1. The stubs command shall instantiate every template folder with its README. *(was req-stubs-folders)* 2. When start stubs seeds a bare workspace, the engine shall emit the spec template skeleton alongside the existing stubs. *(was req-stub-spec)*

supervisor any swap requirement

When the engine binary changes by any means, the MCP supervisor shall swap the child and emit a tools list_changed notification.

req-supervisor-any-swap

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The 2026-07-18 four-process wedge: a swap that cannot force through wedges every later call; the supervisor must kill its child deterministically and sweep the parks.

system overview requirement

The book shall render the trace graph as its own numbered chapter placed before design input, paged one page per need. All nodes shall show by default, each marked with its chapter. When a reader clicks a graph item, the book shall open that item's table row expanded. It shall collapse the sibling rows and link back to the graph.

req-system-overview

template home requirement

The method layer shall carry one template home covering every artifact kind, with improvements flowing template-to-document and back. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-template-home

Statements

1. The method layer shall carry all templates in one folder, each with metadata naming the rigors and types where it applies as the lower bound of use - the agent applies a fitting template beyond its metadata by judgment, and templates cover any artifact kind where applicable, prose, evidence, and code alike. *(was req-template-system)* 2. When a template or a document built from it improves, the improvement shall flow to the other side - the docs-complete review questions documents that strayed from their template and harvests document improvements back into the template. *(was req-template-flow)* 3. The method layer shall carry an item template for each item kind - term, reference, fundamental, method, stakeholder, requirement, usecase, candidate, decision, test case, verification record, raid, and rationale - each declaring every field with its name, semantics, and value range. *(was req-item-templates)* 4. The item templates shall declare fields with name, semantics, and value range for connection, rule, budget with margin, criterion, design element, and guide. *(was req-new-item-kinds)* 5. The method layer shall carry one evidence-doc template per milestone, fixing the section order and card shapes per the voice rules. *(was req-evidence-templates)* 6. The template set shall ship deck, preset, and agent-guide manifest skeletons. *(was req-doc-skeletons)* 7. The method layer shall carry a spec template set - a README and nine chapter manifests whose authored units each open with a heading and carry a fill comment, a gating tag, a provenance mark, and a slot placeholder. *(was req-spec-template-set)* 8. The template set shall ship one deletable example note per derived kind, and the stubs shall instantiate them. *(was req-example-notes)*

terms before use requirement

When the rendered book uses a load-bearing term ahead of its definition, quack lint shall flag the use as a finding naming the term and both locations. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-terms-before-use

Statements

1. When the rendered book's reading order uses a glossary term before the section that defines it, quack lint shall flag the term with the using and the defining location. 2. The lint shall treat the glossary as the set of load-bearing terms, so the check follows the glossary's growth without a second term list. 3. The lint shall report these findings in the advisory class, so a term-order finding informs the author and never blocks a build.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The red-team's finding #1 (owner idea, NOTE-20260711-185516): the stranger met gate, adjudicate, ledger, SUSPECT before any definition existed. Advisory by design - reading order is judgment; the lint points, the author decides. Statement 2 keeps DRY: one glossary, no shadow list.

terms readme scope The terms-before-use lint shall check the README as the first document of the reading order. requirement

req-terms-readme-scope

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Lint blind spot 1 (NOTE-20260712-175741, from the i19 M7 cold-read): the README is the first document a stranger reads and the only reader-facing surface outside the lint's manifest walk. The owner law of 2026-07-12 (entry documents carry no bare method jargon) currently holds by authorship alone; this puts the determinizer under it.

timeline anchor requirement

The timeline shall anchor the current iteration three quarters down, stack earlier iterations upward, and scroll overflow with arrows and the wheel, never pagination.

req-timeline-anchor

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Field feedback: the timeline scrolled away from the current iteration; anchoring keeps now in view.

timeline drilldown requirement

When the reader expands a timeline task, the timeline shall list its decisions, evidence, and trace elements grouped by type, each type expandable.

req-timeline-drilldown

Drill-down (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

Iterations always show. Clicking an iteration always shows all its tasks.
Clicking a task shows everything important that happened in it: decisions, evidence, and the trace elements created there.
The contents render as a small list grouped by type. The reader expands the types that interest them.
Filter pills (first draft) narrow what an expanded task shows, for example decisions only. The pills follow .
Clicking any element fills the details pane and carries a link to the element's source.
Type coloring follows the one shared palette ().
ON THE HAND-OFF (owner ruling, 2026-07-18): the separate milestone-verdict panel DISSOLVES into this drill-down. The tasks view is the one field: evidence hangs inside each task, open tasks are clickable, and the tasks currently under decision wear a yellow background so the deciding surface is unmistakable.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The task is where work happened; its drill-down is the audit trail read inline.

toc order requirement

Where a table-of-contents manifest exists, the book shall order the chapters and decks by it, and a chapter shall not carry its own position.

req-toc-order

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner edits the book's structure by hand. One file says what goes where, as nested markdown lists; a note never knows its own position. The order frontmatter stays the fallback for workspaces without a toc. A chapter the toc misses appends at the end, visibly, never silently.

trace clustered The trace shall carry clustered requirements where concerns belong tightly together requirement

The trace shall carry clustered requirements where concerns belong tightly together. Each clustered statement stays individually sub-addressable for tracing and verification, and tests stay more atomic than requirements. The migrated spec shall hold materially fewer requirement nodes than the 2026-07-10 baseline.

req-trace-clustered

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner rulings 2026-07-10: one requirement may carry several singular shall-statements, numbered (req-x.1, req-x.2); a requirement passes when ALL its tests pass (tests are the atomic layer); the trace-graph RENDER compacts alongside the data. The ISO 29148 singularity divergence is deliberate and mitigated at statement level.

trace collapsible requirement

The book shall collapse homogeneous trace fan-outs into typed cluster nodes joined by double lines, keeping each cluster in its type's place and color.

req-trace-collapsible

The collapse model (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

The past defect. The previous collapsible render moved collapsed groups to the wrong place and lost their color. A collapsed group of requirements IS still a requirement: it stays in the requirements layer and wears the requirement color.

The vector-line model (the Simulink analogy). A clean subgraph collapses by multiplicity, never by structure:

One use case with five requirements, each with one test and one design, renders as: the use case, a DOUBLE LINE down to one requirement-cluster node, a double line down to one test-cluster node, and one design-cluster node.
The double line marks a bundled edge, like a vector line in Simulink.
The graph's overall structure never changes. Only multiplicity bundles.

Opening a cluster. A trace cluster opens exactly like an onion cluster: the busbar interior of . All inputs and outputs of the cluster ride its bus bars, identified.

So an edge from outside to one member, an ADR addressing one clustered requirement for example, surfaces at the root as an edge to the cluster, and inside as an identified bus lane. Nothing hides.

Nesting. Allowed in principle, same rules. Probably rarely used.

The double line carries a small multiplicity label, the way Simulink annotates vector width (owner-confirmed).

Rationale (not load-bearing)

One use case with seven requirements, tests, and designs renders as four nodes and three double lines instead of twenty-two nodes. The chapter-5 size problem shrinks by an order of magnitude, and the reader still reaches every member through the cluster's interior.

type colors quality

The engine shall draw each node type's color in every render from the one palette source in the design language.

req-type-colors

The rule (owner ruling, 2026-07-17)

One color per node type, identical everywhere: trace graph, report, book, timeline drill-down, register, RAID matrix.
The single source is the design language: the type-colors list in `product/brand/palette.md`.
The engine resolves colors from that source. No render carries its own literal.
This binds RAID kinds and new types (function, question) the same way: their color enters the palette before any render uses it.
Today's state is the defect: the same six hex literals are duplicated across the report CSS, the graph style, and the book CSS.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A type the reader learned in one view must mean the same thing in every view. Duplicated literals drift; a single resolved source cannot.

vehicle drives stub The engine shall let a vehicle carry committed method extensions and drive the stubs it creates with them requirement

The engine shall let a vehicle carry committed method extensions and drive the stubs it creates with them. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-vehicle-drives-stub

Statements

1. When a vehicle commits a method resource under its own product overlay (product/<brand>/method mirroring the engine layout), the engine shall resolve that resource before the vendored engine layer, so the extension travels with the vehicle's repository. 2. When start stubs creates a workspace, the engine shall record the creating workspace's engine home in the stub's data home, and engine-root resolution shall prefer that per-stub record over the machine-global pointer, so a vehicle-created stub resolves the vehicle's merged methods. 3. If a workspace does not carry the engine source (product/engine-go), then the engine shall not re-record the machine-global engine home from it, so a vehicle with committed overrides never captures the pointer other workspaces resolve through.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The owner's field case: on a second machine, a vehicle carries IP-restricted methods (IEC norms) quackitect cannot contain; the vehicle creates and drives stubs that see the merged method surface. Statement 3 closes the pointer-hijack hazard the M7 validation walk demonstrated live: a product/quackitect/method override made a scratch vehicle steal the machine-global engine home.

vehicle module setup requirement

The engine shall support creating an empty vehicle that imports Quackitect as module se and creates local doc modules.

req-vehicle-module-setup

The target module tree is `se`, `doc`, and one example `doc.*` child module.

vehicle white label While rendering from a vehicle, the book shall present the vehicle's identity and credit the engine requirement

While rendering from a vehicle, the book shall present the vehicle's identity and credit the engine. The numbered statements bind individually.

req-vehicle-white-label

Statements

1. While rendering from a vehicle workspace, the book shall take its title, wordmark, and brand assets from the vehicle's brand layer, never from the engine's. 2. While rendering from a vehicle workspace, the book's self-referential voice shall name the vehicle - the engine's name appears as credit and reference, never as the document's own identity. 3. The book rendered from a vehicle shall credit the engine by name in its appendix or colophon, so the engine is referenced honestly rather than hidden. 4. When a vehicle's book presents the engine's name as its own identity (title or wordmark), the white-label selftest shall fail naming the leak.

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Owner (field, pre-vehicle-build): the org gets the VEHICLE, never quackitect bare. Mentions are fine - the bar is IDENTITY, not occurrences (NOTE-20260712-113841). The brand-asset half is proven (placeholder seeds at start init, zero duck leakage - probed 2026-07-12); this closes the book lane on top of req-vendor-workspace.4's binary-name branding.

verify pins build requirement

If the engine binary changes during a battery run, then verify shall detect the swap and re-run the battery under the final build.

req-verify-pins-build

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A verify run racing a rebuild judged old code in the field; pinning the build makes the verdict honest about what it measured.

views chosen requirement

When an architecture decision is recorded, the method shall require a views-chosen decision naming the chosen model kinds, each model's question, and the rejected kinds.

req-views-chosen

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Not applicable - not recorded at authoring; the trace edges and the provenance block carry the derivation.

voice lint The lint shall flag an authored statement that joins clauses with a dash or overruns the length bound. requirement

req-voice-lint

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The m7-gaps statements read unclear (NOTE-20260714-175006). The bound and the flag tier (advisory or hard) are design calls at M4.

voice prose The voice lint shall flag unrendered lists in evidence prose. requirement

req-voice-prose

Statements

1. The voice lint shall check evidence docs and node bodies, not only statements. 2. If a prose sentence chains three or more separator-joined items (comma or semicolon), then the lint shall flag it as an unrendered list (adr-ke46cra). 3. The prose lane shall stay advisory until its debt is drained. 4. The lint shall load its exemption tokens from the method config (prose-exemptions.json); an exemption edit shall change behavior with no rebuild.

The owner corrected the comma-chain class twice in one session. The lint mechanizes the correction.

voice zero The workspace's authored statements shall satisfy every voice rule. requirement

req-voice-zero

Statements

1. The workspace's authored statements shall carry zero voice lint findings. 2. If an authored statement violates a voice rule, then quack lint shall fail.

The 564 historical findings are corrected, never exempted. The re-bless wave runs under the recorded grant. Statement 2 arms only when the debt is zero.

vv no test policy requirement

If a verification item carries no test, then the book shall show its recorded reason, and a bare TODO rationale shall count as a defect.

req-vv-no-test-policy

Rationale (not load-bearing)

A requirement without a test needs a stated policy, not silence; retired and deferred nodes owe nothing.

vv result links The book shall link every verification and validation row to its latest recorded result. requirement

req-vv-result-links

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The V&V matrix said pass without showing where; linking each result to its verdict record makes the claim auditable.

why honest delta The why delta lister shall apply the deferral skip set and shall label a cache miss distinctly from a failure. requirement

req-why-honest-delta

Rationale (not load-bearing)

The why lister named inputs that had not changed; the delta must name exactly what moved, or say nothing moved.

state model A check's completion state is derived from its evidence. It is never stored as a verdict. requirement

state-model

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Status is a function of evidence, so a fresh session re-derives 'where am I' from the files; nothing to attest falsely.

suspect bless On any input change a check is flagged SUSPECT requirement

On any input change a check is flagged SUSPECT. It returns to DONE only when a human re-attests it. An explain-log records exactly what changed.

suspect-bless

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Silent auto-reopen feels like the tool undoing your work. Suspect + a one-keystroke bless puts 'done' back in the human's hands. (Doorstop suspect-links.)

versioning Each version is an iteration requirement

Each version is an iteration. An iteration is a git branch or worktree. notes/backlog is trunk-owned, and quack note commits there. Parallel iterations run as worktrees.

versioning

Rationale (not load-bearing)

Worktrees give true parallel iterations; the backlog lives above iterations on trunk so notes survive a discarded experiment.

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6.4 Stakeholder tensions

Where two stakeholders pull against each other, the tension renders below - the reasoning is one click away. Every requirement's source traces to a stakeholder row in the .

Tensions

name	brief

no rows yet — the query renders as items arrive

7. Design output the architecture derived, then the design deep down.

7.1 What we built

This chapter documents the design as it stands, in two parts: part A the architecture, part B the detailed design. How each choice was made - the deciding records and the candidates they weighed - lives with the ; every element here links there. The sorting rule for everything here: a decision is ARCHITECTURAL if it has system-wide impact or affects an important quality - otherwise it is detailed design.

7.2 Architecture

The architecture is the set of choices with system-wide reach: how the system splits into parts, what may depend on what, and which qualities the split protects. It renders below as models, each derived from its authored source. Every model links the decisions that informed it - the reasons it is the way it is.

7.2.1 Partitioning and interfaces

The structure below opens quack into its parts. The part is the software; click it to open the layered onion beneath - the onion details exactly that part.

model-quack-structure — How is quack structured overall? Which parts compose it, and which part is the software the onion details?

The layered figure below derives from the design elements and the layer map. It details the part of the structure above. Enter a layer by clicking it; the breadcrumbs lead back; every leaf links to its item. Each interface is a connection with its contract one click away; the forces that shaped the cut render beneath it.

How a cut like this is found with matrix methods lives in its own guide: .

Interfaces

name	brief	dst
go-base-eval	The authoring preview: Obsidian reads the same notes and .base queries the engine evaluates.	nbr-obsidian
con-interface--go-base-eval--nbr-obsidian Neighbour: Obsidian, an optional authoring environment. What flows: the same markdown notes and pooled .base queries, read by both sides; nothing flows back - the engine owns the rendered truth. Direction: in (an authoring convenience over shared files). Channel: the filesystem - the spec/ tree and its queries folder, interpreted by Obsidian's Bases the way go-base-eval evaluates them.
go-binary	The adjudicator's console: typed commands in, the board and verdicts out.	nbr-console
con-interface--go-binary--nbr-console Neighbour: the interactive console the adjudicator types at. What flows: commands and flags inward (bless, grant, attest --grant among them); the text board, progress lines, and refusals outward. Direction: in (the person drives; the interactive channel is never gated by its own machinery). Channel: process argv and stdout/stderr of the `quack` launcher.
go-book-emitter	The reader's browser: one self-contained book file, no further requests.	nbr-reader
con-interface--go-book-emitter--nbr-reader Neighbour: the reader's browser. What flows: the rendered book - one HTML file carrying every figure, script, and style inline - outward; comment-annotated COPIES of that file come back through the readback lane. Direction: out (the book is the system's public face). Channel: a single HTML file opened locally; a strict no-external-request design keeps it portable and archival.
go-mcp-server	The agent lane: commands and results over stdio MCP, gated by the session key.	nbr-agent
con-interface--go-mcp-server--nbr-agent Neighbour: the AI agent's harness. What flows: tool calls carrying quack commands inward, structured results and refusals outward; ledger-advancing calls carry the attested session key. Direction: in (the agent drives, the engine answers). Channel: newline-delimited JSON-RPC over stdio - the MCP supervisor face - with the CLI (`argv` plus `--key`) as the equivalent fallback lane.
go-register-vale	The optional prose register: Vale findings ride in as advisories.	nbr-vale
con-interface--go-register-vale--nbr-vale Neighbour: Vale, the prose linter. What flows: authored prose outward for checking; style findings back in, always advisory, never gating. Direction: in (an optional quality input). Channel: a version-pinned binary pulled on demand - the one sanctioned network exception, loud when absent - invoked per lint run over the spec's text.
go-truth-in-spec	The shared workspace files: git versions the same spec/ tree the ledger serializes.	nbr-git
con-interface--go-truth-in-spec--nbr-git Neighbour: git. What flows: the workspace's committed truth - spec nodes, connections, evidence docs - outward into history; merged collaboration edits back in. Direction: out (git consumes the files the ledger writes; the engine never calls git and works without it). Channel: the filesystem - the repository IS the medium; caches and verdicts stay outside it in the data home.

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Partitioning forces

name	brief

no rows yet — the query renders as items arrive

7.2.2 Structural models

Each declared model is one row below, rendered from its authored truth - expand a row for the figure and the decisions that informed it. The onion above renders the layer map directly. The compact examples of every supported model kind live with the appendix guidance.

model	brief	kind
agent lanes	Where the agent's read and write lanes and the i24 guards live.	structural
model-agent-lanes
engine layers	what may depend on what in the engine, and how do signals travel through it?	onion
model-engine-layers
guard tree	Where does each new guard part sit? This is the part-of tree of the engine-laws subsystem.	structural
model-guard-tree
module architecture	The module architecture separates workspace process, module ownership, and import/update mechanics.	structural
model-module-architecture
quack structure	How is quack structured overall? Which parts compose it, and which part is the software the onion details?	structural
model-quack-structure

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7.3 Detailed design

Below the architectural line sits the detailed design: choices with local reach, safe to revise inside one element. Each design element is one row below - expand it for the responsibility, the file it lives in, and the requirements it implements.

element	responsibility
brand-design-language	The design language is one overlay-resolved brand bundle (voice, logo set, palette, typography)
The design language is one overlay-resolved brand bundle (voice, logo set, palette, typography). The engine default is generic (neutral voice + [ LOGO GOES HERE ] placeholders); a vehicle overrides in its overlay; deleting the vehicle's files falls back to this default. The report renders the resolved logo-mark left of the project name. Design language file: product/quackitect/design/design-language.md implements: brand-design-language
dep-prompt	A dependency-check prompt lists each build dependency with its winget install path
A dependency-check prompt lists each build dependency with its winget install path. The agent consults it when a tool is missing and asks the user to install. dependencies: what to install, and how. dependencies: what to install, and how file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/dependencies.md implements: dep-prompt
des-ch2-ifu-landing	ch2 is Introduction and IFUs
ch2 is Introduction and IFUs. 2.1 is the document overview above. 2.2 is this IFU landing, the ONE onboarding home. The ifus.base table lists every IFU deck with its name, its statement, and an open pill. The views-home derived table excludes IFU decks, so the book carries exactly one IFU table. IFUs file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-intro-ifus.md implements: des-ch2-ifu-landing
des-ch6-table-only	the chapter renders the walk as the ONE shared timeline, never a graph
the chapter renders the walk as the ONE shared timeline, never a graph. Each iteration opens to its milestones, each milestone to its tasks, each task to its evidence and the decisions it cites. The separate project table and decisions table are gone (owner ruling 2026-07-19): the timeline is THE iterations rendering, and it carries the decisions. The iteration timeline file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-project.md implements: des-ch6-table-only
des-derived-prose	The guidance chapter states the derived-over-authored law, joined by no-green-ocean and one-screen-by-default
The guidance chapter states the derived-over-authored law, joined by no-green-ocean and one-screen-by-default. The ch3 functions tree became the ucfn board. The ch8 guides render as ONE audience-filterable table, with no sibling subchapters. "About this document" and "Baselines and change control" are maintainer ROWS of that table, never subchapters. The one remaining authored-but-derivable list, ch3 interfaces, is recorded residue. Guides. Guides file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-guidance.md implements: des-derived-prose
des-prose-rework
ch0 opens with the document overview: what the document is and why to read it, then the derived chapter lines and derived documents. The reading mechanics and the reader matrix close the chapter. ch1 leads with the moved bottleneck. The README opens story-first and closes on the dogfood claim. All of this is reader-first per the voice rules. Document overview. Document overview file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-intro-ifus.md implements: des-prose-rework
des-seed-examples
One ex- prefixed example note ships per otherwise-empty derived view: stakeholders, trace, usecases, raid, rules, guides, methods. The dogfood spec seeds the reference flow end to end. fund-ai-involvement links from ch8. ref-dora-genai links from ch8 and the fundamental. meth-ears routes to design-input. A quality requirement carries a scenario figure rendered at depth 2 in ch3. file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/README.md implements: des-seed-examples
des-system-overview
The man-overview chapter manifest (template and spec) renders the trace as its own chapter: the ucfn board plus the block tree, both derived. Amended bounds pending their re-walk: numbered chapter before design input, one page per need, all nodes by default, graph-to-table transport. The system at a glance file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-overview.md implements: des-system-overview
expedition-method	An expedition has unlimited epistemic reach and zero authority
An expedition has unlimited epistemic reach and zero authority. Its findings enter the ledger only through the promotion gate, an owner ruling. Interior churn, meaning drafts, dead ends, and reversals inside the spike, never touches the ledger or moves a hash. The expedition invariant. The expedition invariant file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/refine.md implements: expedition-method
go-actor-channels	The bless actor defaults per CHANNEL (adr-actor-channel-stat)
The bless actor defaults per CHANNEL (adr-actor-channel-stat). An interactive console, where BOTH stdin and stdout are char-devices, since this harness proves stdin alone lies, defaults to the user. Any piped or harness-invoked channel defaults to agent, so omission under-claims adjudicator oversight, the harmless direction. An explicit `--by <actor>` overrides either, normalized through normActor so new records always write `user` (go-stamp-user). QUACK_ACTOR is retired, since env state stamped agent blesses as the user when forgotten, blinding the self-cert metric. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-actor-channels
go-adopt-honest
The ratchet parks displaced binaries under unique names and reports a blocked adoption honestly instead of printing a false 'built' line. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-adopt-honest
go-ai-marks
This is the mechanical half of the drafting rule: the mark syntax (`<!-- ai:N -->`, N 0..3, own line above the paragraph) and the refusal predicate. A prose unit without a mark has NO path into the book. ai:0 is explicit pure-human, so "unmarked" never means anything. file: product/engine-go/i12_red.go implements: , go-ai-marks
go-annotator-core	While a comment is unsaved, the layer warns before the copy closes (beforeunload)
While a comment is unsaved, the layer warns before the copy closes (beforeunload). It keeps the comment and minimize controls in one place, and never shifts the bar when a post lands. The comment layer's core is emitted OUTSIDE <main>: one empty island slot plus the quack-annotator script. Anchors equal unit id plus quote/prefix/suffix plus position, the W3C shape. Figure marks target <g id> elements, falling back to the whole figure's unit. Paint goes through the CSS Custom Highlight API, so the content DOM is NEVER mutated. Every comment string renders via textContent, with no innerHTML anywhere in the layer. The island rewrite escapes angle brackets so stored text can never close the script tag. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , , , , , , , , , , , go-annotator-core
go-annotator-static-checks
bookAnnotatorFindings statically checks the emitted book: exactly one island slot and the annotator script, BOTH outside the content region; no markup injection anywhere in the layer's source. Empty findings = the layer holds the dom-static and escape rules. file: product/engine-go/i13_red.go implements: go-annotator-static-checks
go-apply-field-ops
set-field edits ONE frontmatter field, structure-aware: the field's line replaces in place, or inserts before the closing fence when absent; every other byte survives untouched. A nested block refuses. Scalar surgery only. file: product/engine-go/apply.go implements: go-apply-field-ops
go-apply-manifest	This is the judged bulk-edit applier
This is the judged bulk-edit applier. `quack apply <manifest.json>` runs a JSON array of {file, old, new} exact-string edits. Validate first, apply second. Every edit's old text must match its file exactly once, byte-level, or the WHOLE manifest is refused and nothing is written. Edits to one file compose in manifest order against the in-memory content. Bytes in, bytes out: no encoding pass, no BOM handling. Writes are atomic per file, temp plus rename. file: product/engine-go/apply.go implements: , go-apply-manifest
go-apply-undo	The apply journal, ruled by the owner after the b25 corruption incident
The apply journal, ruled by the owner after the b25 corruption incident. Every applied manifest records the touched files' PRIOR bytes plus the sha of what it wrote. The record is a numbered entry under the data home, and the last few entries stay. `apply --undo` restores the newest entry byte-exactly and pops it. It refuses when any touched file drifted since the apply: a silent clobber is worse than no undo. A file the apply CREATED is removed by its undo. The ledger stays out, as it is for apply. file: product/engine-go/apply.go implements: go-apply-undo
go-arg-guards
Wrong-id refusals: an unknown bless target refuses with near matches; start is plan-first (a never-registered version refuses toward --plan) and an active re-start refuses as a no-op, leaving iteration.md untouched. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-arg-guards
go-ask-context	The hand-off narrative is generated ONCE (adr-ask-context-once)
The hand-off narrative is generated ONCE (adr-ask-context-once). The ask carries it below the pager card, one blank line between. Both lanes show the identical text. The card always comes first. An empty narrative returns the card untouched. file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: go-ask-context
go-ask-core
The ask model has one pending question with a correlation id and 1..n id-labelled options; buttons cap at three though the body always lists ALL options. It also has an injectable-clock timeout and FIRST-WINS resolution. The first well-formed answer on a pending correlation id resolves the ask. Late, duplicate, or post-expiry answers are ignored. These are the Home Assistant failure modes, engineered around. file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: , , , go-ask-core
go-ask-hardening	Hardening the ask loop: every save MERGES with the on-disk store instead of clobbering a concurrent writer
Hardening the ask loop: every save MERGES with the on-disk store instead of clobbering a concurrent writer. This is a union by ask id, where the newest state-change stamp wins, swapped in atomically via temp plus rename. `await` reloads the store from disk on every loop pass and exits cleanly when nothing pends anymore. An answer stamped BEFORE its ask's creation belongs to a previous ask generation and is refused at apply time. file: product/engine-go/ask_ops.go implements: go-ask-hardening
go-ask-loop
The loop dispatches every pending, unsent ask through EVERY paired adapter, polls the adapters, then correlates and applies. A resolved GATE answer becomes a bless with actor=user, since the paired device IS the adjudicator, paired equals trustworthy, and the answering channel is noted in the record. Applying rides the EXISTING bless path. The asks themselves never enter the ledger; BlessIntent, the pure answer model, rides in go-ask-core. await-console-exit (req-await-console-exit): an await is AWAY-mode only. Every engine dispatch appends one line to the workspace call log (go-call-log), and the awaiting process writes its OWN line only at exit. So ANY line that lands while the loop runs is a call from another process. awaitForeignCall watches for that growth and ends the await, handing the walk back to drain mode, where the next command drains the pending tap as the fallback. The rule needs no PID, since the awaiter's own line is not on disk until it exits. file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: , , , go-ask-loop
go-ask-pairing	`quack pair ntfy` is ONE operation
`quack pair ntfy` is ONE operation. It mints the high-entropy topic pair, the credential, since answer authenticity equals its possession (adr-answer-authenticity). It writes the machine-local pairing config, in the data home, never the repo. It prints the transit DISCLAIMER and the LOCKSCREEN instruction (raid-lockscreen-actions). file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: go-ask-pairing
go-ask-seam	Adding a channel means one AskAdapter behind the seam; the loop never changes
Adding a channel means one AskAdapter behind the seam; the loop never changes. Everything is stdlib-only. The EXEC LANE (adr-ask-seam-exec-lane) drives an external process over a file contract, so the deferred corporate adapters, PowerShell/Outlook-COM, Teams flow sinks, drop in without engine work. The engine writes ask JSON to the contract dir, invokes the command once per operation, and reads answer JSON lines back. file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: , go-ask-seam
go-asr-list	The drivers section is GENERATED as a reader TABLE, the same table law as every derived view
The drivers section is GENERATED as a reader TABLE, the same table law as every derived view. A requirement joins it as the DERIVED UNION. It is addressed by at least one kind:architecture ADR, self-maintaining since the edges already exist, or it carries the `architecturally-significant` hand tag, the judgment residue no ADR touched. Each derived row's expand names its deciding ADR(s), and the register-row link stays. An empty table renders honestly: the union is derivation, never renderer guesswork. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-asr-list
go-attest-gate	The gate (adr-attest-ritual) covers ledger-ADVANCING commands: next, start, bless, ship, observe-red
The gate (adr-attest-ritual) covers ledger-ADVANCING commands: next, start, bless, ship, observe-red. On the agent channel these refuse to run without a valid session key, the --key flag, with QUACK_KEY env as the second read path. Read-only commands stay open, so debugging is never hostage. The refusal names contract.md and NOTHING else. The unlock instructions live only inside the contract, so the sole path to a key runs through the file. The interactive console, a person, by the channel stat, is never gated by its own machinery. `ask` and `await` advance the ledger too, since an ask can end in a bless, so they ride the gate. The drain-on-run fallback executes the USER's recorded tap and is deliberately ungated, since the paired credential IS its authorization (adr-answer-authenticity). One scope carve-out lives in attestGuard: `start stubs` and `start init` are workspace CREATION, not ledger advancement, since a fresh workspace cannot hold an attest session yet. So those two subverbs bypass the gate while plain `start <version>` stays gated. file: product/engine-go/attest.go implements: , go-attest-gate
go-attest-ritual
The ritual (adr-attest-ritual): a one-time grant code is minted for the interactive console, channel enforcement at the CLI layer. Redeeming it, or renewing with the current key, requires answering a CHALLENGE derived from the live contract. sha256(nonce+text) picks rule K and word N among the rule's LETTER-BEARING words, since raw positions can land on punctuation. The nonce is the code or key being redeemed, so every attest step binds to its own fresh question. The only way to answer is to have the contract text at hand. A successor key supersedes the old one. A superseded key can neither act nor renew. file: product/engine-go/attest.go implements: , , go-attest-ritual
go-attest-state
The attestation state (adr-attest-ritual) is a small JSON file in the workspace data home, a machine-local cache, never the repo. It stores only sha256 HASHES of the grant code and the key chain. The plaintext key exists in exactly one place: the conversation that received it. The current key carries a command budget, default 100, sized so the renewal ritual still fires on long sessions, just not several times a day. Each gated command consumes one. At zero the key expires, and only a renewal, old key plus fresh challenge, issues a successor. The previous key's hash is kept solely to refuse a stale renew. file: product/engine-go/attest.go implements: , go-attest-state
go-authoring-cheap	One build restores an honest board
One build restores an honest board. The re-baseline runs in the FRESHLY BUILT binary, never only the old process, which refuses spec keys it predates. This is the self-wedge: a build dies on its own new frontmatter key until run twice. The verdict cache dies with the old baseline too. A parity FAIL recorded before the re-baseline shares the old binary's buildID and node hash, so it would be served as a stale FAIL forever. Flushing at re-baseline kills it. buildRebaseline computes the root via the fresh exe, writes the golden, and flushes verdicts. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-authoring-cheap
go-auto-link
The deterministic auto-link emit pass links plain-text occurrences of a content-note name or alias (go-spec-content) to their note. Rules apply in order. Authored links and inline code stay untouched, as protected spans. Code fences, headings, comment lines, and raw-HTML lines are exempt whole, since inline SVG carries real text a link would corrupt. The LONGEST name wins at a given position: names are applied longest-first, and an inserted link becomes a protected span. Matching is case-insensitive on word boundaries. Glossary names link through the existing term machinery, [text](term:slug), so usage tracking and first-use expansion ride along. Other kinds link their anchor. An alias claimed by two notes is a HARD error at index build (AliasIndex). The book surfaces it as a finding, never guesses. file: product/engine-go/autolink.go implements: go-auto-link
go-base-eval	This is the pinned-subset Obsidian-Bases evaluator
This is the pinned-subset Obsidian-Bases evaluator. The authoring surface is standard Bases YAML (obsidian.md/help/bases/syntax), so the owner previews queries live in Obsidian, while the engine is the authoritative evaluator. The subset is PINNED and fails loudly. Top-level keys are filters and views only. View type is table only. Filter trees use and/or/not over expression strings. Supported are comparisons, boolean operators, property refs (bare, note.x, file.name, one-level map entries), the file predicates hasLink/inFolder/hasTag, and <list>.contains(). Also supported are order, sort (property plus direction, id tie-break), limit, and groupBy, where multi-valued properties fan out and count per group. Volatile functions, now and today, refuse by name, since byte-identical regeneration is the contract (req-book-trust.2). Everything else gets an "out-of-subset" error naming the construct. Growth happens only on template demand. The view key `render: full` renders results as full sections, statement plus body, instead of a table. Obsidian ignores the unknown key and previews the same rows as a plain table, the understandable fallback. The bare property `referenced` is the pull law as a predicate: true if and only if the emitter's link graph marks the item used. It exists ONLY where the emitter injects that graph (EvalBaseUsed); anywhere else it refuses loudly. In Obsidian the property is absent, so `referenced != false` previews the SUPERSET, all rows, and the book stays the truth. A sort entry on the groupBy property orders the GROUPS: DESC puts normative before informative, ISO clause-2 style. file: product/engine-go/base.go implements: go-base-eval
go-battery-batch
The full battery consults the verdict cache under a battery-scoped key: input = the merkle root, so an unchanged workspace answers from the cache and any content move re-runs. The key prefix keeps battery entries apart from test-node entries. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-battery-batch
go-battery-isolation	Fixture homes carry run-unique names; the orphan sweep waits for the battery end.
file: product/engine-go/i25_hygiene.go implements: go-battery-isolation
go-battery-parallel	A bounded worker pool runs over the SAFE set (adr-battery-run-shape)
A bounded worker pool runs over the SAFE set (adr-battery-run-shape). Tests known free of global seam mutation run concurrently. Everything else stays serial. Results flow back to the main goroutine, which owns every verdict write. This is one serialization point, with no second write path. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-battery-parallel
go-battery-progress	One numbered line per test is printed by the battery loop
One numbered line per test is printed by the battery loop. A watching console sees a real bar, not only the slow outliers. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-battery-progress
go-binary
The engine is one statically-linked Go binary (CGO disabled), built from this module and cross-compiled from a single machine. Zero runtime dependencies; nothing fetched at run time. file: product/engine-go/main.go implements: go-binary
go-binary-budget	quack build checks measures against budget nodes: over target warns, over the margin-derived cap refuses.
file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-binary-budget
go-bless	bless appends an attestation event, adjudicated_by actor plus filled_by, recorded separately
bless appends an attestation event, adjudicated_by actor plus filled_by, recorded separately. Only gates are blessable. Content and executed checks are never blessed. The event stores the full_hash and dep hashes, so any later input change makes the check SUSPECT, the suspect/bless mechanism. The actor is stamped per channel with a --by override (go-actor-channels). QUACK_ACTOR is retired. report-debounce (req-report-debounce): a bless refreshes the board so any open --watch page follows the adjudication. But a bless WAVE must not spawn dozens of identical renders, since a static output may be stale and the consumer regenerates. The refresh is debounced against the last render time, a stamp in the data home. A refresh inside reportDebounceInterval of the last render is SKIPPED. One outside it renders and re-arms the stamp. So a wave collapses to one render. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , , , go-bless
go-bless-preflight	Bless preflight is enforced at the write path
Bless preflight is enforced at the write path. A direct bless cannot skip unfinished prerequisite gates. A first-time review bless in the active iteration also needs an evidence section, so a grant changes authority only, never the work owed. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-bless-preflight
go-block-tree-design
The block tree draws the SYSTEM's design elements, code-marker designs and des- notes, never the book's own chapters. Otherwise every project gets a picture of its document structure in its architecture chapter. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-block-tree-design
go-book-a11y	WCAG 2 AA applies over every surface the views added, the prior-art check's miss, owner-added at M2
WCAG 2 AA applies over every surface the views added, the prior-art check's miss, owner-added at M2. This means landmarks (header, labeled nav, main), a real heading hierarchy, and native focusable controls only (button, input, summary, a, never a click-only div). Contrast is COMPUTED, not eyeballed. The theme colors live in ONE map, the stylesheet renders from it, and the selftest recomputes the WCAG ratio against the page background: text at 4.5:1, graphics at 3:1. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-book-a11y
go-book-drift
Every published book copy, spec/book.html and the Pages copy docs/book.html, both written at ship, must equal a fresh render. The emitter is deterministic by construction, with no timestamps; identity equals the merkle root. So same state means same bytes, and a drifted copy is a lint finding. An absent copy is disarmed, since day-to-day renders live in the data home. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-book-drift
go-book-emitter	This is the deterministic emitter core
This is the deterministic emitter core. Truth, nodes plus manifests, renders to ONE self-contained HTML. The project README opens the book as its own first chapter, the reader's starting point, through the zero-dep renderReadme projection: headings, tables, lists, inline images. Every layer is real text in a semantic DOM at emit time; script never creates content. Depth derives from node anatomy: 1 is statement, 2 adds rationale, 3 adds children, 4 adds evidence. It is never an authored tag; the strict allowlist refuses a `depth:` key on nodes. Every chapter OPENS with its lede, and a missing lede is a finding. Every unit carries a STABLE ANCHOR, <node>-u<idx>, the future comment system's hook. The artifact stamps its source state: merkle root, iteration, engine version. Each node renders a visible meta line, id, type, ledger state, so trust metadata survives plain-text extraction. No timestamps anywhere: same state, same bytes. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , , , , , , go-book-emitter
go-book-figures
The derived figure set (adr-figures-derived-set) has four diagram kinds whose layout is trivial arithmetic, rendering as inline SVG with REAL text: context model, building-block tree, timeline, stakeholder matrix. Each is fed from live graph data, sorted for determinism. A manifest unit references one with a single `fig: <kind>` line. Authored inline SVG passes through mdLite as ordinary, provenance-marked, content, the generous release valve. fig: model takes an optional node-id argument, and the group carries it through. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-book-figures
go-book-glossary
This follows the LaTeX glossaries discipline (adr-glossary-discipline) over one shared source: per-term notes in method/glossary, with frontmatter term, long, class. A USAGE is a marked link `[label](term:slug)`, never trusted plain text. The emitter renders the used-terms-only glossary chapter with back-references and expands the FIRST linked use per chapter to the long form. A link to a missing term is an error finding. A plain-text occurrence of a defined term outside a link is an ADVISORY. The meta-quarantine lint reads the SAME class field: a meta-classified term appearing in a reader chapter's authored content is flagged. The agent guide, mode `agent`, is exempt. Per-vehicle classification keeps the dogfood edge honest, since harness terms ARE domain here. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-book-glossary
go-book-honesty	The book never claims more than the gates (req-book-trust.1)
The book never claims more than the gates (req-book-trust.1). Every transcluded node renders its LIVE ledger state as visible text and a data attribute. A SUSPECT or unverified state carries the warning tag in the reading flow, never only styling. The provenance marks render as a drawn SVG robot column: small icons set vertically in the text margin. There is no font dependency, and each carries a machine-readable label "AI involvement: N of 3". The count comes ONLY from the stored mark, write-time truth (adr-provenance-involvement). Rendering can never show more marks than recorded, and ai:0 renders none. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-book-honesty
go-book-manifests
The manifest node type (adr-book-two-stage; one mechanism): a manifest is trace CONTENT whose body lists UNITS separated by `---` lines. A unit is either a node reference, a plain markdown link to a node id with optional `depth:N`, or inline markdown, ledes and glue, provenance-marked like all prose. `Note:` lines carry speaker notes, deck mode. The book-orphan lint arms once the FIRST manifest exists, fail-safe, the forward-only pattern. Every book-content node, need, usecase, requirement, adr, must be referenced by SOME manifest. An exclude-mode manifest is the explicit exclusion record, referenced-but-not-rendered. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , go-book-manifests
go-book-once	bookOnceHTML is THE one shared real-book render of a process: a global memo of renderBookHTML(LoadAll())
bookOnceHTML is THE one shared real-book render of a process: a global memo of renderBookHTML(LoadAll()). Every battery test that asserts against the real book reads THIS seam. Nineteen doc-tests per battery would otherwise render nineteen roughly-25MB books; selftest:render-once counts the literal call sites and allows at most one. It is guarded against coverage self-recursion, since renderBookHTML computes StatusMap, whose coverage evaluation re-runs the asking test. A nested probe answers ("", false), vacuously ok, and the outer run decides. file: product/engine-go/book_once.go implements: go-book-once
go-book-shell	This is the mdbook-style shell
This is the mdbook-style shell. One fixed sidebar carries the whole apparatus. It holds the chapter TOC, collected above, static DOM, its own scrollbar, the GLOBAL search, ONE hand-editable filter expression every control compiles into, and the DETAILS PANE. The details pane is a bar at the sidebar bottom that expands as the one context-help surface. window.bookDetail fills it for a clicked term, link, node, filter, search, graph node, or the book title. The pane is COMPLETELY context-sensitive: it shows only the clicked thing. The reader views ride the stakeholder rows as pills. The slide decks live in the views home (go-views-home). The baseline controls' placement stays deliberately undecided (q-views-placement). A single click on a node or term reference opens the pane. NAVIGATION runs through the pane's link (window.bookGoto), never a single-click jump. In-page anchors, the toc, keep navigating directly. The content column stays clean. The report's visual language carries over: #fafafa chrome, white panels, the uppercase small labels, the disclosure triangles. The script stays toggle-only. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , , , , , go-book-shell
go-boot-cmd
The boot readout: the FIXED onboarding sequence (AGENTS.md ritual + onboard.md) with mechanical completion state. It is ungated on purpose. Boot runs BEFORE attestation, and a blocked agent must always be able to ask the engine where boot stands. The two ritual steps the engine cannot watch directly (the recital, the channel's key) use mechanical proxies. A minted session key proves a grant was redeemed, since the grant is handed over only after a visible recital. Key validity on THIS channel proves attestation. The verdict line is onboard.md's report shape: blocked outranks yellow, and the deciding step's detail names the one next action. file: product/engine-go/boot.go implements: go-boot-cmd
go-brand	brand is the invoked program name, argv[0] without dir or extension
brand is the invoked program name, argv[0] without dir or extension. A vehicle launched via its own <project>.exe reads as "<project>". The dogfood quack.exe reads as "quack". This is the white-label hook: the engine never hardcodes its own name in user-facing output. It defaults to "quack". file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-brand
go-build
quack build compiles the engine from its source, EngineSrc: vendored, else dogfood, to .quack/engine/<brand>.exe. It also re-baselines the determinism golden in one step. This closes the stale-golden footgun where a hand-run build forgot to re-baseline and produced false milestone FAILs. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-build
go-build-analysis
The build gate runs the stdlib analyzers, gofmt -l for format debt and go vet for correctness, and fails on findings (adr-go-analysis-stdlib-first). This adds zero new dependencies, since both ride the toolchain the build already requires. staticcheck joins grab-if-present when found on PATH. Its absence is never an error. file: product/engine-go/analysis.go implements: go-build-analysis
go-build-fast-path
A content-only build never pays the compiler: when the source fingerprint (every .go file + go.mod, order-stable) matches the one recorded beside the binary, the compile AND the stamp rewrite are skipped (the binary did not change) and the existing binary just re-baselines. Any engine-source edit changes the fingerprint and builds exactly as before. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , go-build-fast-path
go-build-fast-skip	the skip decision: fingerprint unchanged + binary present -> re-baseline only.
file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-build-fast-skip
go-call-log
One redacted JSONL line per dispatch lands in <logs home>/calls.jsonl (adr-call-log): ts, command, args, duration ms, exit code, channel. Secret VALUES never land at rest. --key/--answer values, grant codes, and session keys are replaced by REDACTED at capture time. Exit paths funnel through quackExit so the line carries the real exit code. The retro (review.md) aggregates the file, then deletes it. Retention is retro-bound, with no rotation machinery. file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: go-call-log
go-call-log-cap	capCallLog trims the call log to capBytes, dropping the OLDEST lines
capCallLog trims the call log to capBytes, dropping the OLDEST lines. Retention stays retro-bound, since adr-call-log deletes at every retro. The cap is the safety net for the case the retro never comes. An uncapped live logs dir once grew past 100 MB. file: product/engine-go/i13_red.go implements: go-call-log-cap
go-calls-summary	quack calls --summary IS the retro's log step (review.md)
quack calls --summary IS the retro's log step (review.md). It prints the aggregate the method asks for: per-command counts, failure rate, slow calls, channel mix. Then it deletes the log in the same move, since retention is retro-bound (adr-call-log). It is one deterministic command, never a hand-written aggregation script. file: product/engine-go/i13_build.go implements: go-calls-summary
go-card-evidence	A research-backed fill's evidence links render on the hand-off card.
file: product/engine-go/i25_hygiene.go implements: go-card-evidence
go-card-guard
The card's selection line is never a bare field dump: with options it names the letter; without options it names the authoring defect to fix. The i22 m1 card (an empty value after a bare field name) is this guard's fixture. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-card-guard
go-ch2-derived
This is the pull law of the fundamentals chapter: everything renders from USAGE alone, and an entry nothing links does not render. Usage means a link in the rendered chapters, authored or auto-linked (go-auto-link). The references and fundamentals lists are POOLED QUERIES the ch2/ch8 manifests embed, `referenced != false`, evaluated deferred over the emitter's link graph, with full bodies via `render: full` (go-base-eval). References are the ONLY legal home of an external URL (req-spec-content-lint.3), so the URL prints in that view and nowhere else. Notation and the glossary stay emitter-derived below: their term-anchor (`term-<slug>`) and first-use-expansion machinery is inherently the emitter's. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-ch2-derived
go-chapter-title-split
splitChapterTitle splits a chapter statement at its earliest dash or sentence separator into the short title and the subtitle. A statement with no separator stays whole. The heading renders the short title; the remainder is the sub line. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-chapter-title-split
go-cli-help	One command surface has a shared help preamble
One command surface has a shared help preamble. Every subcommand answers -h, --help, and -? with usage and NO side effect. An id that starts with '-' is rejected. This is the structural fix for 'quack start --help' once activating a stray version named '--help'. file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-cli-help
go-cluster	`cluster --into <id> --statement "<umbrella>" <req-id>...` performs the merge
`cluster --into <id> --statement "<umbrella>" <req-id>...` performs the merge. The cluster node lands beside the FIRST member, same iteration, with statement equal to the umbrella and body as numbered singular statements (1. <original>), each line naming its origin id for the archaeology. Refines edges become the union of the members' upward edges, deduplicated. Inbound verifies/addresses lane edges rewrite member to <into>.N, the sub-address; resolution folds to the base at load (go-sub-addressing). Code design markers rewrite `implements: ...<member>...` to `<into>.N`. Member files delete. The caller owes ONE re-baseline and ONE wave bless. file: product/engine-go/cluster.go implements: go-cluster
go-comment-island
The island is ONE <script type="application/json" id="quack-comments"> block per copy, the single source the sidebar renders from and the read-back reads. The schema follows the W3C Web Annotation vocabulary in compact keys. target carries the unit anchor plus TextQuoteSelector fields (quote/prefix/suffix) plus position (start/end) plus an optional figure element id. thread messages carry the assessing mark (agree\|reject\|neutral). suggest carries a proposed edit, the editing motivation. A target with ONLY a unit id is legal, a premark authored before any reader selection (uc-comment-premark stays buildable). Two islands is malformed, refused, never guessed. file: product/engine-go/i13_build.go implements: , go-comment-island
go-compact
A shipped iteration compacts into ONE container file, <iter>/archive.md, that the loader reads natively (adr-compact-archive-loader). The container is line-oriented. The first line is the header. Each entry is a marker line, then the ORIGINAL file bytes verbatim. The marker names the file's path relative to the iteration dir. For example: <<<quackitect-archive v1>>> <<<node: req-a.md>>> --- id: req-a ... <<<node: tasks/f1-m1-gate.md>>> ... . Verbatim payloads are the whole trick. The loader parses the same bytes as before, so stmtHash and fullHash never move, the kill-criterion. A payload without a final newline writes under <<<node+pad: ...>>>. The splitter strips the one padding newline the writer added. A payload that itself carries a marker line refuses to compact, since the split would corrupt it. Recorded choices: evidence docs (M<n>-*.md) are SKIPPED. They stay beside archive.md, because evidenceDocSeed (engine.go) resolves evidence by disk glob and stays archive-unaware. The selftest fixture has no evidence docs, so its <=1 file bound holds. The strict referee (StrictIssues, trust.go) never flags archive.md. Its first line is the header, not '---', so nodeFence refuses it as a node candidate. Verified: StrictIssues returns at !nodeFence; LoadAll's plain-file path checks the same fence. Known seam: the referee also does not INDEX archived ids, so a live node referencing an archived one would flag dangling. Acceptable while only shipped, self-contained iterations compact. file: product/engine-go/compact.go implements: go-compact
go-compact-cmd	This is the CLI verb for the compactor
This is the CLI verb for the compactor. `quack compact <iteration>` folds ONE shipped iteration into its archive.md; compactIteration does the work and enforces the refusals. The ACTIVE iteration is refused outright, since only shipped history compacts. Ledger truth is untouched by construction, verbatim payloads, so the verb is not attest-gated. The battery around a batch is the safety net. file: product/engine-go/compact_cmd.go implements: go-compact-cmd
go-cone-triage	A `bless --all` wave must never sweep OPEN, never-adjudicated gates alongside the SUSPECT ones
A `bless --all` wave must never sweep OPEN, never-adjudicated gates alongside the SUSPECT ones. There are two moves. First, waveBlessFilter is THE filter cmdBless's --all path runs through: a wave may touch SUSPECT gates only. An OPEN gate, one with no prior adjudication at any hash, is REFUSED with a stderr line naming it. Its first adjudication must be its own walk, `quack next` then individual `bless <id>`, which stays legal. A DONE gate is a no-op as before, skipped with no re-stamp. Second, `quack triage`, read-only and never key-gated since it advances nothing, lists the suspect cone grouped for honest bulk re-adjudication, one row per SUSPECT review gate with its why-delta reasons. The split rule is derived from what the why-delta already reports, never new analysis. A gate lands in NEEDS RE-RULING when its own subject moved. That happens in three cases. First, its own statement changed: the recorded StatementHash versus stmtHash now. Second, its own definition changed, verify or another own field, where the recorded full hash moved with statement and deps unchanged. Third, a direct dependency that is itself a blessed gate had ITS recorded statement hash move, meaning the dep's subject changed under this ruling. Everything else is a STILL-HOLDS CANDIDATE. Every reported delta is upstream content only, an evidence doc, prose, a dep's non-statement fields, or pure propagation, own inputs unchanged, the cone dragged by a named root. Honest limit: the ledger records statement baselines only for blessed gates, so an unblessed content dep's change reads as upstream content. The row still NAMES the changed dep, and the section says "candidates": the owner rules, and the triage only groups. file: product/engine-go/triage.go implements: go-cone-triage
go-conn-code-endpoints
Connection endpoints resolve against code-derived designs too: ch4's interface story (an interface between two design elements) is impossible on a software project while the guard knows only spec-file ids. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-conn-code-endpoints
go-conn-lane-root	Each edges.jsonl joins the identity root as one synthetic lane node whose RegionBody is the file's bytes
Each edges.jsonl joins the identity root as one synthetic lane node whose RegionBody is the file's bytes. An edge-line edit moves the root exactly like a frontmatter edit always did. Lane nodes are content, off the graph whitelist. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-conn-lane-root
go-conn-lanes
The connections home (adr-connections-reified plus adr-connection-lanes) has one subfolder per kind under spec/connections/, with two lanes per kind. edges.jsonl carries trivial edges, one JSON line each ({"src","dst"[,"q"]}). con- notes carry the prose-bearing ones. An edge lives in exactly ONE lane. The same triple in both refuses the graph. The kind vocabulary is TYPE-LAYER data, project_types/*/type.md `connections:` map ("<direction> <lane>"), unioned like the facet vocabularies. An unknown kind refuses. Every refusal is loud and names its file. The empty-statement guard silently dropping a note is the trap this loader exists to avoid. file: product/engine-go/conn.go implements: , , , , go-conn-lanes
go-conn-loader	Adjacency reconstruction is HASH-NEUTRAL by construction
Adjacency reconstruction is HASH-NEUTRAL by construction. A connection-stored edge lands in exactly the Node field its frontmatter twin used, and fullHash sorts deps. So with unchanged membership, the node hashes are byte-identical across the two storages, and blessed history never mass-suspects at migration. Kinds without a legacy adjacency field, interface, conflicts-with, and so on, reconstruct nothing. They are queryable connections only. file: product/engine-go/conn.go implements: go-conn-loader
go-conn-prose-hash	A connection's prose IS edge rationale
A connection's prose IS edge rationale. It folds into the node hash via the RegionBody seam, the design-marker precedent, so a body edit moves the root and flips the cone. Edge reasoning can never mutate trust-invisibly. file: product/engine-go/parse.go implements: go-conn-prose-hash
go-conn-tools	The connection determinizers own the housekeeping, with no AI reasoning in the loop
The connection determinizers own the housekeeping, with no AI reasoning in the loop. mint places an edge ONCE in its kind's default lane with the deterministic id and canonical symmetric order. promote moves a jsonl edge into a note skeleton. connections answers adjacency across ALL THREE lanes, jsonl, notes, code-derived implements, so no consumer ever knows which lane an edge sits in. The view never lies. file: product/engine-go/conn.go implements: , , go-conn-tools
go-context-neighbours
The context model derives from the modeled neighbour notes, type neighbour, id nbr-<name>: one border-connected node per note, sorted for determinism, never an invented actor. direction `in`, or none, feeds the system and sits LEFT. `out` consumes from it and sits RIGHT. With no neighbour notes, the figure says so. rectBorder ends every connector at the node's border, so no line crosses the centre node. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-context-neighbours
go-coverage-ids
The derived coverage rules run over the typed trace, the executed-check runner with its cache, and the id-integrity guard, mint_id plus duplicate_ids. Coverage is cumulative through a version, with no grandfathering. Ids are namespaced so a reuse can never shadow. renderingTests names battery members that RENDER a report. A render recomputes states, which runs this battery again. So inside a render (renderBusy) these are skipped, bounding the recursion the selftestReport comment documents. Top-level evaluation stays exact and complete. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: , , go-coverage-ids
go-data-home
One user-scoped data home exists per WORKSPACE (adr-no-quack-data-home): <base>/quackitect/<slug>/<kind> with kind subfolders (logs, notes, evidence, gather, overlay, out, golden, spikes). This is one deletable dir per workspace, so the amnesia test is a single rm -rf. The slug hashes the CANONICAL workspace path: absolute, symlink-resolved where possible, separator-normalized, case-folded on Windows. So PowerShell (C:\...) and git-bash (c:/...) resolve the SAME home. Machine-local overrides live in ONE global user config (<base>/quackitect/config.toml), never per-repo. A per-repo override stored in the directory it overrides was the chicken-egg. Every regenerable artifact routes through dataDirFor (evidence, gather, overlay, out, golden, spikes, logs, notes). The repo carries NO cache state, and .quack is gone (req-state-layout.2). selftest:clean-status holds the invariant. file: product/engine-go/data.go implements: , , go-data-home
go-decisions	Decision model v2 (adr-decision-model-v2): a decision is born made and never edited
Decision model v2 (adr-decision-model-v2): a decision is born made and never edited. ALL classification derives from graph facts. An edge to the built-in `scrap` sink without ready_when is a VETO. With ready_when it is a DEFER. An incoming supersedes edge means SUPERSEDED. Anything else is an ADOPTION. `scrap` is the /dev/null of the trace: one engine-built-in sink, no file on disk; ref-integrity recognizes it. Placement is forward-only from i0009. A decision minted in a newer iteration outside spec/decisions/ is a lint finding. The roughly 20 historical iteration-folder ADRs stay grandfathered. The realized lint flags an ADOPTION whose addressed requirements lack realized designs. Being class-driven, it can never nag a veto or a defer. `decisions --parked` lists exactly the live defers, no incoming supersedes. The engage-start migration walks THIS list. file: product/engine-go/decisions.go implements: , , , go-decisions
go-decisions-table
There is ONE decisions table: every project, strategy, and architecture decision in one reader table, with human titles, never hash-slug ids. The TYPE renders as a column, with pill facets over type AND iteration. The row expand carries the rationale, the addressed requirements as links, and the candidates the decision weighed: the per-axis rating matrix plus each rejected candidate's reason (q-candidates-placement, decided). Waivers stay with V&V. The verdict scan walks adr ids SORTED. A map-order walk would render a double-claimed candidate nondeterministically. The double claim itself is a lint finding (candidateClaimFindings). file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-decisions-table
go-deck-anchors	This is deck citizenship (adr-deck-anchor-fragment)
This is deck citizenship (adr-deck-anchor-fragment). Every deck keeps ONE stable, human-readable anchor: the manifest's own node id. Each slide keeps `<deck>-s<n>`. The ids derive from the manifest, never from render order, so links survive re-renders. The URL fragment rides the EXISTING hash rail. Present mode WRITES the current slide's anchor with history.replaceState, a silent write, since hashchange keeps its single reader. The rail's reader routes a fragment that lands inside a deck into present mode, on load and on change. The deck boundary is machine-legible in the raw bytes: a named region landmark carrying the slideshow roledescription. Slides are named groups, their first heading's text, else their ordinal, groups, never landmarks, so a long deck cannot become landmark soup. Decks stay OUT of the toc by construction, since the toc collects chapter manifests only. The timeline renders measured per-slide minutes (`Minutes:` unit lines) as a slim bar. Ticks mark slide STARTS, and the bar ends exactly at the LAST slide's tick, so no bar-space can read as a step after the final slide. The measured total is a text caption after the bar, outside it. An ```embed``` fence bakes its script INERT inside a <template>. Two lanes turn the text into code, both lazy relative to page load. One is the start button, the default. The other, with the `auto` marker (```embed auto), is the deck's show() on the slide's FIRST entry in present mode. One embed may add at most deckEmbedBudget bytes to the book. Over it, the executable lane is refused and a static stand-in figure says so; the slide's authored figure carries the deliverable's picture. A standalone `fig:` line INSIDE a slide body resolves to the book's own figure render. The deck reuses figures, never duplicates them by hand. The copy's id attributes get a slide prefix so the reading-flow copy keeps every anchor. A `\|\|\|` marker line splits a slide body into columns, and the first segment stays full-width, the heading lane. FACET-PRESET fragments ride this same rail. An unknown-id fragment of the shape `<base-id>--<facet>=<v1>,<v2>` scrolls to the base element and applies the named pill facet MULTI-value (setFacetMulti). Every reader of the rail delegates to the ONE router (__facetJump): the hashchange reader, the load-time jump, and bookGoto's miss lane. The router writes the fragment with history.replaceState, never a push, so repeated applications stay idempotent and spam no history. That is the deck rail's own discipline. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , , , , , , go-deck-anchors
go-deck-mode	Deck manifests render in the SAME file: one unit per slide
Deck manifests render in the SAME file: one unit per slide. `Note:` lines become the presenter's aside, hidden on screen outside present mode, printed in the handout. The present button flips paged fullscreen driven by arrow keys, CSS and class toggles only. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-deck-mode
go-defer-retire
The stamp lane reads the task file, inserts the key into its frontmatter ahead of the closing delimiter, and writes back byte-safe. A reason is REQUIRED, since an unexplained defer is how scope leaks silently. The stamp is greppable, and the board renders [>] DEFER / [-] RETIRED. file: product/engine-go/defer.go implements: go-defer-retire
go-details-toast	ONE reference-resolution mechanism, two outputs (the owner ruling)
ONE reference-resolution mechanism, two outputs (the owner ruling). A surface with a details pane fills the pane. The hand-off, which has none, pops the SAME full entry as a small toast. The page ships every referenced entry as a template. The ids are scanned from the page's own reference attributes and markdown hrefs, and the script resolves a click against them. The dotted links live everywhere. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-details-toast
go-drawing-not-node	nodeFence is the single recognition rule
nodeFence is the single recognition rule. The strict guard and the loader both share it. A file is a node candidate when its first line is the fence, after a UTF-8 BOM is stripped. One rule means nothing loads unchecked. A committed drawing opens with the same fence but is a spec artifact, never a trace node. Its frontmatter carries an excalidraw-plugin key. The rule rejects it here. So a drawing lives in the iteration folder without being parsed, id-scanned, or strict-refused. drawingFrontmatter reads only the frontmatter block. It stays path-agnostic. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-drawing-not-node
go-dsm-cluster	The DSM pipeline is stdlib-only and fully DETERMINISTIC, no RNG
The DSM pipeline is stdlib-only and fully DETERMINISTIC, no RNG. It computes a symmetric coupling weight over the design regions, then an IGTA-style bid/cost hill-climb with fixed restarts for the clustering. Then it runs Tarjan SCC plus weakest-edge tearing plus Kahn layering over the cluster digraph for the ordering. The same code runs the real engine graph and the selftest's small known fixtures. It is reproducible by construction, so a fixture assertion is a real regression guard. file: product/engine-go/dsm.go implements: go-dsm-cluster
go-ears-lint	EARS enforcement applies over EVERY requirement
EARS enforcement applies over EVERY requirement. There is no anonymous forward-only baseline (adr-grandfathers-historical). Each historical non-EARS statement carries an explicit `ears: exempt - <reason citing its ADR>` marker, so blessed history stays unflaggable by RECORD, not by a silent set-membership file. A checked statement must match one of the five EARS shapes and contain "shall". Blocklisted weasel words are flagged. `ears: exempt - <reason>` skips the check and is COUNTED, while a bare exempt without a reason is itself a finding. This applies to type:requirement at systematic rigor, gated at the lint call site. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-ears-lint
go-edge-mode	The two-source interim gets a referee
The two-source interim gets a referee. spec/project.toml declares edges = "frontmatter" (default) \| "connections". In connections mode, a legacy edge key in node frontmatter REFUSES, naming file and key, so a leftover cannot silently double-count or mask an edit. migrate-edges writes the flag LAST, as its commit point. depends_on and parent, task wiring, plus code-declared implements stay legal in both modes (adr-edges-scope). file: product/engine-go/conn.go implements: go-edge-mode
go-engine-core	This is the identity kernel: the hashing primitive and merkle fold over the typed node graph
This is the identity kernel: the hashing primitive and merkle fold over the typed node graph. These are pure functions, with no file or directory I/O. Every disk read of the load belongs to go-graph-load. norm and full_hash are byte-identical to the Python original. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: , , go-engine-core
go-entry-chain	The contract has ONE copy: method/prompts/contract.md
The contract has ONE copy: method/prompts/contract.md. Harness pointer files (CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md) command following AGENTS.md without exception; AGENTS.md commands the enumerated read -> understand -> recite -> honor ritual on the contract. These selftests keep that chain deterministic: a broken link, a lost ritual, or a re-embedded contract body is a red selftest, never a silent fork. file: product/engine-go/i9_red.go implements: , go-entry-chain
go-evidence-cache-cap
A check's verdict cache is bounded: every write keeps the newest evidenceCacheCap .json files in evidence/<id>/ and deletes the rest, oldest first (mtime, then name for a deterministic tie-break). Each changed input hash adds a file, so without the cap a long-lived check grows its evidence dir forever. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: go-evidence-cache-cap
go-evidence-hash
A milestone gate folds its evidence doc set (M<n>-*.md in the iteration dir) into its full hash (adr-evidence-hash). Editing blessed evidence flips the gate SUSPECT, so the verdict referent can never mutate silently under its report link. It is content-hashed through normWS: reformat churn moves nothing, content edits always do. This is gate-only by the ADR, since subtasks never fold docs. No docs means no seed component, so doc-less history stays stable. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-evidence-hash
go-evidence-honesty	Evidence honesty (#8): a check's cached pass/fail is keyed by the FULL input hash (evidence/<id>/<h>.json)
Evidence honesty (#8): a check's cached pass/fail is keyed by the FULL input hash (evidence/<id>/<h>.json). So any change to a hashed input yields a new key and a cache MISS, meaning re-run, never a stale pass. Selftest and coverage checks bypass this cache entirely, evaluated live in gateState/coverageRule. An unknown selftest returns false, meaning OPEN, so a live-red or unbuilt check is never masked as DONE. runExecuted runs a check's verify command, shell, caching the pass/fail by hash. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: go-evidence-honesty
go-facet-board	This is the faceted coverage board
This is the faceted coverage board. Requirements carry multi-valued classification facets: phase, discipline, quality. The VOCABULARIES live in the type layer and derive like the stakeholder classes, default plus the union of the iterations' types, so the board stores no names. The board renders one count per vocabulary value, and a ZERO count is a visible hole. A facet value outside the vocabulary is a loud finding. The board IS the register's filter row, the recorded exemption from the pills rule: the register's filters live here, not in a second pill set. A click toggles a VISIBLY selected value, and the shell filters the register table's once-rendered rows by their baked f-... classes: OR within a facet, AND across facets, multi-select. The script only toggles visibility, never creates content. Facet tagging is accepted, expected work the AI does, with no advisory valve. file: product/engine-go/board.go implements: go-facet-board
go-fail-at-end	The battery collects failures and reports them once, at the end (adr-fail-at-end)
The battery collects failures and reports them once, at the end (adr-fail-at-end). batteryReport folds per-test verdicts into the one end report; the runner never exits at the first red. file: product/engine-go/i25_hygiene.go implements: go-fail-at-end
go-field-schemas	Load per-field schemas from the method layer, and merge common with the per-type one
Load per-field schemas from the method layer, and merge common with the per-type one. Report every node field value that breaks its schema, naming the node, the field, and the broken rule (req-field-schemas.1, req-field-schemas.2). These are field-SHAPE checks only: enum membership, bool/int typing, pattern, min/max. Referential integrity stays the strict referee's job. file: product/engine-go/schemas.go implements: go-field-schemas
go-field-tier	This is the tier rollup: a node's schema fields fold to ONE state
This is the tier rollup: a node's schema fields fold to ONE state. It is "undecided" while any CORE field is missing or TBD, since an unadjudicated core value blocks. It is "complete-with-deferrals" when the only open fields are DEFERRABLE ones riding their defaults or TBD; they default and count, never block. It is "complete" when every schema field holds a value. The register's colors build on this (go-register-colors). The TBD marker convention is a value starting "TBD" (req-mint-prefill.3). file: product/engine-go/schemas.go implements: go-field-tier
go-fig-elem-ids	Figure sub-elements carry stable ids
Figure sub-elements carry stable ids. Without them, figure part-marking has nothing to grab. Each figure takes the next ordinal at render, reset per emit so regeneration stays byte-identical. Each element wraps in a <g> whose id slugs its label: fig<N>-<label-slug>. The comment layer anchors to these ids. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-fig-elem-ids
go-fig-fullscreen	Every chapter figure wraps with the fullscreen button
Every chapter figure wraps with the fullscreen button. A click flips the fig-full class on THIS existing element, a fixed-inset modal. Escape closes it. The embedded graphs refit on toggle. The script creates nothing. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-fig-fullscreen
go-fig-tables	Tables are tables, figures are figures
Tables are tables, figures are figures. The tabular fig kinds, vv-table and stakeholder-matrix, retire in favor of canned base queries the manifests embed as ```base blocks; they gain live Obsidian preview. fig: keeps only spatial graphics whose selection is topological: context model, block tree, timeline. A retired kind is a FINDING with the pointer to its canned query. A base block in any unit body evaluates through the pinned evaluator (go-base-eval) into a semantic table. Queries pool centrally. An inline block in a manifest is a smell. The canonical home is spec/queries/, and a unit references a pooled query with the Obsidian-native embed ![[name.base]]. Obsidian previews it live, and the emitter inlines the file and evaluates it exactly like an authored block. A missing pooled query is a render-failing finding, never a silent skip. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-fig-tables
go-file2list	quack note --file2list <copy> is the pure lister (adr-comment-readback-lister)
quack note --file2list <copy> is the pure lister (adr-comment-readback-lister). A commented copy becomes a deterministic list of NOTE CANDIDATES the agent triages in context, minting keepers as ordinary notes. It reads the island, never the DOM. Two runs are byte-identical. Author names are replaced by reader roles, reader-1, reader-2 in first-appearance order, at this boundary. No personal data can travel from a copy into the ledger. file: product/engine-go/i13_build.go implements: , go-file2list
go-filter-columns	Combinable pill facets: AND across facets, OR within one
Combinable pill facets: AND across facets, OR within one. The mechanism is GENERIC (the owner's filter rules). The facets COLLECT first, and the emit shape follows their count. SEVERAL dimensions render one VERTICAL column each inside one .ufilters row. The header names the category, and the chips carry counts. An empty value stays visible and clickable at zero, since the need facet lists every need. A column past TEN values scrolls between an arrow on each end. ONE dimension stays a single horizontal .upills row. The chips keep the same data-facet/data-fv wiring, so the shell script needs no fork. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-filter-columns
go-first-wins-lanes
Mobile is the DEFAULT lane when paired: the pager shows at the desk AND the ask rides the channel; the FIRST answer from any lane wins. A console bless resolves the pending mobile asks for the same checks (blessResolvesAsks, hooked into cmdBless), and the later tap is idempotently ignored by askApplyAnswer's first-wins resolution. file: product/engine-go/ask_ops.go implements: go-first-wins-lanes
go-function-nodes	A function is a first-class node: type function, trace content, one refines edge to its need
A function is a first-class node: type function, trace content, one refines edge to its need. This one-shot migrates the retired need-functions lists: one node per list entry, minted beside its need. The edge follows the workspace's edge lane (go-edge-mode): a frontmatter refines key, or a line in the refines jsonl in connections mode. The list line strips in the same pass, so a second run finds nothing. An existing destination file is kept and warned about, never overwritten. The strict referee refuses a leftover list naming this command (the retired-key case in trust.go). file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-function-nodes
go-gather
gather collects the rigor floors (vibe<lean<systematic) and the project-type guides for the active version into one bundle the agent composes the iteration checklist from. Resolved via the overlay. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-gather
go-global-ratchet	ONE global binary serves every workspace (adr-global-ratchet)
ONE global binary serves every workspace (adr-global-ratchet). It lives at <userDataBase>/quackitect/bin/<brand>.exe. The launcher stays dumb: fixed path, existence check, bootstrap build from the workspace's vendored engine source when absent. The RATCHET is the engine's own startup self-check. If the workspace's vendored .go source is newer than the running binary, the engine rebuilds the global binary from that source, swaps itself via the rename dance, and re-execs. The rename dance renames the running exe aside, legal on NTFS, moves the fresh build in, and sweeps the parked .old on a later run. If the binary is newer than the source, it runs as-is, forward-only, with no versioned slots and no downgrade path, the ratchet rule. A missing Go toolchain degrades gracefully: it warns and runs the current binary. The binary and pointer PATHS, globalBinPath, engineSrcPointer, recordEngineHome, recordedEngineHome, live in go-data-home. They are machine-home path helpers the ambient layer may read without reaching outward. file: product/engine-go/ratchet.go implements: , go-global-ratchet
go-grandfathers-decided	No grandfather exists without a recorded decision (adr-grandfathers-historical)
No grandfather exists without a recorded decision (adr-grandfathers-historical). The anonymous EARS baseline file is dead. Every `ears: exempt` marker must cite a resolvable ADR. A pre-i4 requirement without a realized design region must be addressed by an ADR. This is enforced live over the real graph by selftest:grandfathers-decided. An exemption without its decision fails the check. file: product/engine-go/i11_red.go implements: go-grandfathers-decided
go-grant-review	The morning-review surface: the most recent grant's collection, each bless named for the owner's confirmation
The morning-review surface: the most recent grant's collection, each bless named for the owner's confirmation. Reads only; confirming stays the owner's bless/board act. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-grant-review
go-grant-store
A standing grant is a ledger event pair (adr-grant-ledger-events): grant-open carries scope and expiry, grant-close ends the stretch. In-scope agent blesses stamp the grant id on their own bless event; an uncovered agent bless on a KILLER is refused toward the pager. Opening or closing a grant is the owner's act: the console channel, or an explicit --by user delegation on the agent channel (the same channel-actor doctrine as bless). The lifecycle contract: live -> closed -> reviewed, no way back to live. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: , , , go-grant-store
go-graph-load	This is the load band (rim to graph): text on disk to the typed node map
This is the load band (rim to graph): text on disk to the typed node map. LoadAll walks spec/*/.md plus the in-code design markers under product/ and assembles the nodes. Every file and directory read of the load lives here. The kernel takes assembled nodes only. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-graph-load
go-guard-cli	This is the declared agent lane (adr-mcp-lane-declared, q-cli-steering ruling A)
This is the declared agent lane (adr-mcp-lane-declared, q-cli-steering ruling A). With `agent_lane = "mcp"` in spec/project.toml, a piped ledger command is refused with a pointer at the MCP tools; the rule itself lives in walkGuardDecision above. The MCP server dispatches its tool calls to the command functions directly, never through Dispatch, so the MCP lane cannot refuse itself. The engine's offer half of req-mcp-discoverable is `quack mcp` (go-mcp-server). The workspace half is the committed .mcp.json plus the harness approval key in .claude/settings.json. selftest:mcp-surface holds both halves. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: , go-guard-cli
go-guard-selftest	This is the dispatch guard layer (adr-guard-dispatch-layer): ONE pass before any handler
This is the dispatch guard layer (adr-guard-dispatch-layer): ONE pass before any handler. The full selftest battery on the agent channel is lawful only while a milestone gate of the active version is ready or suspect. The battery belongs to gates, the trust-the-process law, engine-enforced. Single-test runs and quack verify stay lawful everywhere. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: , go-guard-selftest
go-guidance-split	Audience prose stays apart from internals
Audience prose stays apart from internals. Internals live as guidance docs (method/guidance/<slug>.md). A content node points at its internals through the `guidance:` frontmatter tag. The tag must RESOLVE, since a dangling guidance pointer is a failure. The book renders guidance only in the agent-guide chapter, the emitter's quarantine, guarded by meta-quarantine. file: product/engine-go/i12_red.go implements: go-guidance-split
go-guide-ch8	The agent guide is no reader chapter
The agent guide is no reader chapter. agent-mode manifests render INSIDE the guidance chapter as one row of the guides TABLE (go-guides-table), with no per-audience subchapters. Every audience class stays visible in that table, with empty ones as an honest no-guide-yet row, the pull law: a guide lands when demand appears. readerChapters collects the reading-flow chapters plus the agent guides, in reading order: explicit Order slot, then id (req-system-overview). The renderer and the terms-order lint (go-terms-order-lint) walk this SAME list. That is one order source. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-guide-ch8
go-guides-table
The guides render as ONE table: one row per guide, with the TARGET AUDIENCE as a rendered, pill-filterable column and the guide's full content in the row expand. There are never per-audience sibling subchapters. Every audience class of the project type stays visible. A class with no guide renders an honest empty row, the pull law: a guide lands the day the audience asks. The agent guide is ONE ROW, audience: agent. Its expand embeds the repo-root AGENTS.md VERBATIM at render time, read, never regenerated, so the book shows exactly the file an agent reads. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-guides-table
go-handoff-lifecycle	serveHandoffOnce is the ONE-SHOT hand-off server, and its life follows the page
serveHandoffOnce is the ONE-SHOT hand-off server, and its life follows the page. An ephemeral port serves the gate's page. The page heartbeats while open, /hb every few seconds, /bye on close. The watchdog ends the server on the first of four events. An answer, y, makes the injected bless fire once. Silence after a connect, "closed", means the user simply closed the page, and the gate stays open. No connect within the bound reads as "unopened". The hard cap reads as "timeout". started, a test seam, receives the base URL once listening; nil skips it. file: product/engine-go/report_watch.go implements: go-handoff-lifecycle
go-handover-pager	The killer-gate hand-off readout renders in one bordered, 80-column-or-less box
The killer-gate hand-off readout renders in one bordered, 80-column-or-less box. It shows the emoji progress bar, biggest decisions, the iteration's ADRs, biggest risks, M1 frame, deterministic readiness facts, and LAST the bless question with thumbs-up and thumbs-down emojis. Decisions and risks point at their trace nodes, not restated. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-handover-pager
go-home-marker
Every data home records its workspace (workspace.txt), so a sweep can map a home back to the directory it serves. Fixture homes leak by the hundreds otherwise. A home whose workspace no longer exists is an orphan the selftest battery removes (sweepOrphanHomes). The same marker family carries the PER-WORKSPACE engine-home record (engine-home.txt). start stubs writes it at creation, so the stub remembers WHICH engine created it. A vehicle-created stub resolves the vehicle's merged methods even when the machine-global pointer names a different engine repo. file: product/engine-go/data.go implements: , go-home-marker
go-home-sweep	sweepOrphanHomes removes data homes whose recorded workspace no longer exists, fixture leftovers
sweepOrphanHomes removes data homes whose recorded workspace no longer exists, fixture leftovers. A markerless home is removed only when it holds NO file at all. A real pre-marker home always has content and is never touched. The live home is always kept. file: product/engine-go/i13_red.go implements: go-home-sweep
go-icon-density
ONE AI-involvement column per unit: the unit's column carries the MAX of its paragraphs' recorded data-ai values; the per-paragraph record stays in the DOM, machine-readable. A short unit (little text) gets bottom padding so neighbouring columns never collide. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: go-icon-density
go-id-charset	The id-charset lint ships BEFORE any edge migration
The id-charset lint ships BEFORE any edge migration. '--' is the connection-id separator, and Windows folds filename case, so an id outside lowercase [a-z0-9-], or with stray consecutive hyphens, can collide or parse ambiguously. Connection ids carry '--' BY GRAMMAR. Their segments are checked, not the separators. file: product/engine-go/i12x_red.go implements: go-id-charset
go-ifu-arc-lint	The IFU arc shape check (owner rulings 2026-07-17)
The IFU arc shape check (owner rulings 2026-07-17). Every kind: ifu deck follows ONE fixed narrative arc: a problem slide, a starting-state slide, at most six step slides, a result slide, and a coverage slide LAST. The coverage slide is the one machine-readable reference home: use cases count as covered only when LINKED there. A bare id list is coverage theater and never counts. A story slide carrying use-case references is clutter, since the refs' home is the coverage slide. The check is pure text over the deck body. The book render runs it for every kind: ifu deck, and the coverage rule (ifu-usecases) reads the same linked-last-slide semantics. file: product/engine-go/ifu.go implements: , , go-ifu-arc-lint
go-ifu-coverage	IFU decks are ordinary markdown deck manifests with `kind: ifu`
IFU decks are ordinary markdown deck manifests with `kind: ifu`. Their source is the authoring truth. The coverage rule reads those sources and requires every in-scope use case to be LINKED on at least one IFU deck's COVERAGE slide. That slide is the last one, the arc's machine-readable reference home (go-ifu-arc-lint, i27). A scattered or bare mention satisfies nothing: that is the coverage theater the owner banned. file: product/engine-go/i26_hygiene.go implements: go-ifu-coverage
go-informed-by-edges
A decision may address a MODEL or a model ELEMENT first-class, exactly as it addresses a requirement (req-informed-by-edges.1). The trace rules, coverage:adr-traced and the hole lister, accept such a target. The strict referee recognizes every DECLARED model element as a resolvable endpoint, so a first-class edge never reads dangling. The book's informed-by list then LEADS with the decisions holding a first-class edge to the model or its elements. It keeps the name-derived citation only for a decision without one (req-informed-by-edges.2). An addresses edge naming an element-shaped target that NO model declares is a dangling model target the lint flags (req-informed-by-edges.3). Elements ARE design regions, the onion physics, so a realized region in a model resolves both ways. The set is derived, never authored. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-informed-by-edges
go-init-stubs	`quack start stubs [target]` makes a workspace drivable from INSIDE
`quack start stubs [target]` makes a workspace drivable from INSIDE. It writes the launcher, AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md, and spec/project.toml stubs (insideStubFiles) into target, default the current workspace ROOT. The launcher resolves an engine at runtime with no engine path committed. It is idempotent, and existing files are kept. The CREATING process's engine root is recorded in the stub's data home (engine-home.txt), so a vehicle-created stub resolves the vehicle's merged methods over any machine-global pointer. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , go-init-stubs
go-inside-agents	This is the committed AGENTS.md entry surface for a bare workspace
This is the committed AGENTS.md entry surface for a bare workspace. It tells an AI to drive via the launcher and load method prompts path-free through `quack resolve` / `quack guides`. It is self-contained, with no hard link to a quackitect checkout. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-inside-agents
go-inside-claude	This is the stub CLAUDE.md pointer
This is the stub CLAUDE.md pointer. Claude Code auto-loads CLAUDE.md only, so a bare workspace carries the same pointer chain as a full vehicle. CLAUDE.md commands AGENTS.md to the letter. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-inside-claude
go-inside-launcher	This is the committed root launcher for a bare workspace
This is the committed root launcher for a bare workspace. It resolves an engine at runtime, the global binary, then the env var, and forwards. With neither present, it fails clearly. No engine binary and no engine path is ever committed, so a clone carries no machine-local state: no .quack internal/pointer lanes (adr-retire-legacy-lanes). file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , go-inside-launcher
go-io-busbar	The disk-I/O busbar (q-coverage-ids-physics, owner ruling B)
The disk-I/O busbar (q-coverage-ids-physics, owner ruling B). File and disk I/O crosses the onion on an I/O busbar like any other input, and a kernel element never touches the world directly. The AST pass classes every I/O selector: disk touches (file reads and writes) apart from console traffic (argv and stdio). The onion's declared "disk" bus is tapped ONLY by blocks whose code actually touches the disk. Every other declared bus keeps the union semantics it always had, so the figure gains honesty without churn. selftest:io-busbar pins the law. The reflexion diff must run clean, forever: a future kernel world-contact fails the battery. file: product/engine-go/io_busbar.go implements: go-io-busbar
go-island-serialize
This is the serializer half of the escape rule, proven live when a probe broke on a comment containing a script-closing sequence. Marshal with HTML escaping: every angle bracket lands as its unicode escape, so island content can never close its own script tag. This is reversible, standard JSON. file: product/engine-go/i13_build.go implements: go-island-serialize
go-items
The item machinery has ONE decision type with a kind (architecture \| project \| waiver; empty = architecture for blessed history). It renders in its owning chapter's view. Candidate nodes carry an axis and 0..1 ratings. DECISIONS choose or reject them through links. Candidate status derives from the links; it is never stored. Rejected candidates stay referenced, so history survives. file: product/engine-go/parse.go implements: , go-items
go-kernel-selftest
The trust kernel proves itself from BAKED deterministic corpora inside the shipped selftest (adr-kernel-corpus). It never runs `go test` (Windows flags fresh test binaries), and never uses unseeded randomness. Golden vectors pin the hash primitives. reopenedSet gives the suspect-cone batteries their exact-set oracle: fullHash folds transitively, so a changed upstream reopens precisely its blessed descendants. verifyAttestChain makes the attest prev_hash chain load-bearing. Per check, the first bless anchors at null (the migrated anchor). Every later bless must back-point to its predecessor's hash, so a rewritten or forged middle event is detected. xorshift64* is a hand-rolled PRNG whose stream WE own across Go versions, for the fixed-seed property DAGs. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-kernel-selftest
go-lazy-verdicts	Verdicts stay lazy everywhere except the EXPLICIT verification surfaces
Verdicts stay lazy everywhere except the EXPLICIT verification surfaces. Only selftest and verify re-run tests on a cache miss. The battery belongs to V&V, once per iteration (owner ruling). Every other command, renders included, answers from the cache. It reads a moved hash as unverified. file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-lazy-verdicts
go-legacy-lanes-retired	The legacy .quack lanes are dead (adr-retire-legacy-lanes)
The legacy .quack lanes are dead (adr-retire-legacy-lanes). The resolver walks data-home overlay -> tools/vendor -> dogfood product only. The stub launcher resolves the global binary, then QUACK_ENGINE. There is no engine.local pointer and no internal .quack engine. This check probes a fake engine root carrying ONLY legacy lanes and demands they stay invisible. file: product/engine-go/i11_red.go implements: go-legacy-lanes-retired
go-lint-ast-cache	The flow is derived ONCE per process
The flow is derived ONCE per process. The engine source cannot change within a run, yet a single lint asks for the flow more than once (the conformance pass, then every model figure of the book-drift render). Each ask used to re-run go/parser over the whole engine source. The memo holds the derived facts for the process lifetime. Callers treat the returned maps as read-only. It stays in-process only; nothing lands on disk, so there is no staleness risk across runs. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-lint-ast-cache
go-lint-exit	The lint command carries a three-code exit contract (req-lint-exit-honest)
The lint command carries a three-code exit contract (req-lint-exit-honest). Exit 0 means clean OR advisory-only: coverage holes, adoption advisories, model/field/schema notes, nothing build-blocking. Exit 1 means one or more BLOCKING findings are present. Exit 2 means the graph was refused at load, such as a malformed node detected before any finding is computed. It is a pure mapping, so the contract is stated once and gated by selftest:lint-exit-honest. file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-lint-exit
go-logs-dir	The engine owns canonical log-dir resolution (adr-logs-user-dir)
The engine owns canonical log-dir resolution (adr-logs-user-dir). Session and research logs live in a STABLE user-scoped data dir: %LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\logs\<slug> on Windows, or $XDG_DATA_HOME (default ~/.local/share)/quackitect/logs/<slug> elsewhere. They never live in the repo (bloat plus foreign personal data), and never in a temp dir (OS-purged; these are durable and cross-project-searchable). slug = workspace dir name + h12(abs path) prefix, readable AND collision-proof. A config.toml `logs_dir = "..."` override wins verbatim. It is surfaced via `quack version`. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-logs-dir
go-marker-scan-stop	The design scan ends a region's statement at the next marker line.
file: product/engine-go/i25_hygiene.go implements: go-marker-scan-stop
go-mcp-birth
Scaffolds arm the MCP lane from birth: an explicit-path .mcp.json (a bare launcher name breaks under NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath) and agent_lane mcp in the toml. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-mcp-birth
go-mcp-errors
While the MCP server is serving, an exit becomes a recoverable panic: the capture layer turns it into a JSON-RPC error result. A served refusal never kills the stdio transport. file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: go-mcp-errors
go-mcp-reload	The supervisor cores: drain gating, swap ordering, the notification frame
The supervisor cores: drain gating, swap ordering, the notification frame. The loop in mcp.go (go-mcp-supervisor) drives them; they stay pure for the battery. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-mcp-reload
go-mcp-self-arm	The first attested MCP session arms an existing workspace; path casing is one identity.
file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-mcp-self-arm
go-mcp-server	The MCP transport is hand-rolled and zero-dependency, over stdio (adr-mcp-transport)
The MCP transport is hand-rolled and zero-dependency, over stdio (adr-mcp-transport). It uses newline-delimited JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdin/stdout, with three methods: initialize, tools/list, tools/call. The protocol version is PINNED. ALL diagnostics go to stderr, so stdout stays pure framing. The tool surface is GENERATED from the command surface: one core, thin faces. So a read-only command (status, why, notes) and a ledger command (next, start, bless) each become a tool. Its call dispatches to the real command and answers with its structured result, read fresh from the workspace at call time. A failed tool call is a RESULT with isError set, never a broken transport. Only a parse failure or an unknown method is a JSON-RPC error. A newer staged build supersedes the running server: the loop exits before answering a later call from stale code. file: product/engine-go/mcp.go implements: , , , , go-mcp-server
go-mcp-session	The per-session attest choke (adr-mcp-attest) treats the server process as the session
The per-session attest choke (adr-mcp-attest) treats the server process as the session. Read-only tools always run. The FIRST ledger-advancing tool call on an unattested session does not run. It returns the attest CHALLENGE as a tool result, not a transport error, the same challenge the command line derives from the live contract. The `attest` tool, given the earned session key, flips an IN-MEMORY flag. Nothing is written at rest. Thereafter ledger tools run with no key per call. The flag dies with the process, so a build swap ends the session and costs one re-attest. file: product/engine-go/mcp.go implements: go-mcp-session
go-mcp-supervisor	The parent never exits and never swaps itself
The parent never exits and never swaps itself. It proxies newline framing to a child engine spawned from the CURRENT binary path. When a newer build stages, it drains open replies, respawns the child from the staged binary, replays the client's initialize, and emits list_changed. This is the sequence model-reload-sequence draws. A child that dies on its own is respawned the same way. file: product/engine-go/mcp.go implements: go-mcp-supervisor
go-migrate-edges
This audited one-shot moves every frontmatter edge of the seven legacy kinds into the connections home's jsonl lanes. It REFUSES on a duplicate list entry, since dups are hash-load-bearing and a lane cannot represent them. It also refuses on a before-and-after adjacency mismatch. The golden re-baseline at migration would otherwise bake a migration bug invisibly, so the migration proves itself before the flag. The mode flag writes LAST, as the commit point. A crash mid-way leaves the loud unfinished-migration state. A re-run resumes idempotently. file: product/engine-go/conn.go implements: go-migrate-edges
go-migrate-layout	This layout determinizer makes the spec MIRROR the template
This layout determinizer makes the spec MIRROR the template. New workspaces seed the mirrored layout through start stubs. An EXISTING workspace converts through this one-shot instead: manifests (man-*, SPEC-README) move to the spec root, and stakeholders, usecases, and raid notes move to their item homes. Needs, criteria, and rationales stay in spec/trace, their template home. It is idempotent. An existing destination is KEPT and warned about, never overwritten. It stays engine-resident on purpose: migrations are determinizers in the one zero-dependency binary, never shell scripts beside it. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-migrate-layout
go-mint
Deterministic minting (adr-deterministic-mint) has the engine emit every node skeleton: typed frontmatter, engine-stamped id, placeholder statement. So a node is schema-valid at BIRTH. The agent fills content and never authors shape. The strict parser guards READ time; mint moves the guarantee to creation. Sugar forms stamp the decision edges the classifier derives from: `mint veto --of <id>`, `mint defer --of <id> --ready-when "<cond>"`, `mint supersede <old>`. So a veto, defer, or supersession can never be misspelled into the wrong class. Decisions land in spec/decisions/; other types land in the active iteration. file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: , , go-mint
go-mint-content	The four content kinds mint their own shapes into the spec content homes
The four content kinds mint their own shapes into the spec content homes. They are notes with dedicated loaders, never node grammar. A content mint requires --id. The filename IS the slug; there is no engine-stamped prefix. file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-content
go-mint-edge-aware	In connections mode a minted node carries NO legacy edge key
In connections mode a minted node carries NO legacy edge key. The strict referee would refuse it on the very next load. mintBody omits the keys when lanes=true. mintNodeAtX writes the same edges into the connection lanes instead. depends_on and the non-legacy keys stay in frontmatter in both modes (adr-edges-scope). file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-edge-aware
go-mint-kinds	Every item kind mints
Every item kind mints. The agent fills content and never authors shape. Hand-copying a skeleton under the strict whitelist punishes every typo with a refused graph. adjudicated_by says user (human is retired vocabulary). file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-kinds
go-mint-prefill	The no-blank drafting law applies at mint time
The no-blank drafting law applies at mint time. Every schema field of the minted kind reaches the user with a value. That is the schema default where one exists, or an explicit `TBD - propose or veto` marker where none does (the register counts TBDs). A provenance block stamps each value's source (adr-provenance-in-node). Skeleton TODOs on schema-covered fields are rewritten to the TBD convention, so the tier rollup (go-field-tier) sees them honestly. file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-prefill
go-mint-skeleton
`quack mint evidence --milestone M<n>` stamps the milestone's evidence-doc skeleton from its template (method/templates/<slug>.md). The template frontmatter is stripped, since evidence docs are prose, never nodes. The placeholders substitute: iteration, rigor, itag. An EXISTING doc is refused. The skeleton never overwrites evidence. file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-skeleton
go-mint-templates	Skeletons come FROM the item templates (adr-rules-as-config, tier b)
Skeletons come FROM the item templates (adr-rules-as-config, tier b). A kind's static frontmatter extras load from the fenced `skeleton` block in method/templates/items/<kind>.md. The template file IS the registry, the modelStubFor pattern. The code keeps only what a file cannot carry: edge keys, per-call interpolation, and the hardcoded fallback for template-less stub workspaces. A `{{edges}}` marker line names where the frontmatter-mode edge lands when it sits mid-skeleton (budget). file: product/engine-go/mint.go implements: go-mint-templates
go-model-asbuilt	This is the as-built side of the engine's own onion
This is the as-built side of the engine's own onion. deriveDesignFlow's region call graph becomes a modelGraph. Elements are the regions the code actually carries, their layer looked up from the DECLARED model, sky-falls empty. Flows are the real calls, and reads/writes mark world contact. The lint runs the reflexion diff live: inward-only calls, rim-only I/O, kernel purity, sky-fall. This is the code's answer to the declared intent, on every lint. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-model-asbuilt
go-model-behavior	The behavior kinds ride the SAME extractor with a header dispatch
The behavior kinds ride the SAME extractor with a header dispatch. A stateDiagram-v2 file maps states to elements and labeled transitions to flows. A sequenceDiagram maps participants to elements and messages to flows. One graph shape, one hash rule, one lint discipline serve every authored kind. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-model-behavior
go-model-conformance
Reflexion models are mechanized: the declared graph (the owner's intent) is diffed against the as-built graph (derived from code). The diff yields convergences: declared and built. It yields divergences: built, never declared, including outward dependencies. It yields absences: declared, never built. It yields sky-falls: elements realized that no model allocates; "no device falls from the sky". modelConforms is the executed verdict. Any divergence, sky-fall, or absence fails the check, and a failing check is a red board. The SUSPECT flip rides the model node's graph hash. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: , , go-model-conformance
go-model-extract
The pinned flowchart subset uses `subgraph <layer>` blocks in rank order, innermost first, with element declarations `id["responsibility"]` inside them, then flows `a -->\|payload\| b` on declared names. A UTF-8 BOM is stripped. A beyond-subset line is a lint FINDING, and the rest still parses. An undeclared flow endpoint or an empty payload lints (the TikZ discipline). The canonical form keeps layer ORDER, which is semantic, and sorts elements and flows, whose line order is cosmetic. So the hash moves only on meaning. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: , , go-model-extract
go-model-lints
The cross-model layer: an element is declared in exactly ONE owning view (adr-edit-paths-unique); siblings reference it by name, so a reference that no model declares is a dangling finding. A model with no covering views-chosen decision lints (the choice is recorded, never implicit). A model node whose file extracts to an empty graph is declared-but-unauthored and holds the build. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: , , go-model-lints
go-model-nodes	A model node (type: model) is trace content
A model node (type: model) is trace content. It is never blessed and never a gate. It ripples through the ledger via its EXTRACTED graph. The hash computes once at load (ParseNode, band work) into Node.ModelHash. The kernel's fullHash folds the FIELD. So dependents reopen exactly when the model's meaning changes, and the kernel never reads a file for it. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-model-nodes
go-model-registry	The kind registry is a FOLDER, not a list: method/models/*.md, engine-scanned
The kind registry is a FOLDER, not a list: method/models/*.md, engine-scanned. The file IS the registration, the rigor/project_types/roles pattern. Each kind names its question, format, choose-when heuristic, and smells in frontmatter. Its fenced example doubles as the mint stub. Kinds are data, and formats are code. A kind reusing a built-in format subset is alive on arrival. A new grammar owes an engine step. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: , go-model-registry
go-model-render
The book's design output chapter renders every declared model from its extracted graph, the derived view of the text truth. Every arrow carries its payload name; unlabeled arrows are useless. One figure line does it: `fig: model <id>`, or bare `fig: model` for all models sorted. The structural-models SECTION renders as the auto-generated table below (`fig: models-table`, the same table law as every other derived view). It carries one row per declared model, with the figure inside the row expand. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-model-render
go-model-standalone	The standalone single-model render shows ONE model's onion drill-down as a small, self-contained HTML page
The standalone single-model render shows ONE model's onion drill-down as a small, self-contained HTML page. It reuses renderOnionOpt, the book's own onion, AND the shared interaction script (go-onion-interact), so the two projections never drift in figure or behavior. It inlines only the CSS and panel glue it needs. It makes no external request, the dom-static, single-file discipline. `marked` names the changed elements. The shell adds a title, a legend, and the drill script. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-model-standalone
go-models-complete-book
The model-kinds CATALOG (`fig: model-kinds`) derives per KIND from the registry file itself (modelKindFiles); the book carries no hand-authored duplicate. Each used kind emits one section marked data-kind-example="<kind>". The template BODY is the kind's prose, living in the template once. The template's fenced example renders small through the normal extractor: a layered example draws as the interactive onion, a flat one as the flow figure. The USE LIST links every declared model of the kind through the details-pane affordance. A kind used nowhere does not render. USE means a model node carries the kind. The derived context kind is the exception, whose use is the neighbour notes the context model computes from. Extending the section means adding one template file, nothing else. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: , go-models-complete-book
go-models-useful	The GLOSSARY PULL LAW for models (owner ruling 2026-07-19)
The GLOSSARY PULL LAW for models (owner ruling 2026-07-19). The book renders a model ONLY when a views decision covers it: an ADR chooses it or names it in its statement, the views-chosen lint's own covered rule. An uncovered model simply does not appear in the book. No row, no stub, no review chatter in the reader surface: that conversation is workshop business and lives in the lint and the ledger. The markdown node stays legal spec truth regardless. Render follows use. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-models-useful
go-module-command-selector	A leading module id selects that module subtree for module-aware commands
A leading module id selects that module subtree for module-aware commands. Single-module workspaces hide the feature by leaving the command line unchanged. file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-module-command-selector
go-module-config	Module registry configuration lives in the workspace root marker
Module registry configuration lives in the workspace root marker. The parser keeps the historical iteration fields and adds workspace/module metadata without a TOML dependency. Config is the iteration breadcrumb from .quack/config.toml. Overlay is the workspace's COMMITTED method-overlay root, relative to the workspace (e.g. "product/<name>"). file: product/engine-go/parse.go implements: , go-module-config
go-module-import-plan	Module import/update is planned as deterministic file operations
Module import/update is planned as deterministic file operations. The planner mirrors a source tree into modules/<id>/import, records provenance in module.toml, reports deletes for files no longer present upstream, and never touches modules/<id>/overlay. file: product/engine-go/module.go implements: , go-module-import-plan
go-monotonic-lint
Milestone-monotonic wiring is enforced mechanically (the escape class: build steps ready before their prior gate). Every task in milestone n≥2 must reach the SAME iteration's milestone-(n-1) gate through its transitive depends_on chain. Otherwise `next` could schedule a later milestone ahead of an unblessed gate. Composer discipline stays in engage.md; this makes the engine catch the miss. It is FORWARD-ONLY, like the EARS lint. Iterations before monotonicSince are grandfathered, since rewiring blessed history would mass-suspect gates for zero new safety. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-monotonic-lint
go-no-test-policy	A verification item with NO test must carry its recorded reason
A verification item with NO test must carry its recorded reason. The reason is the item's rationale body. A bare TODO (the mint prefill) records nothing. noTestReason extracts it for the verdict-first render, and noTestPolicyFindings is the CHECK: one finding per unverified requirement whose reason is missing or TODO. It runs over fixtures and over this workspace alike, so the policy enforces itself in the battery. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-no-test-policy
go-no-trace-gate	Trace-typed nodes (need/usecase/requirement/design/test/adr) are content, never task gates
Trace-typed nodes (need/usecase/requirement/design/test/adr) are content, never task gates. isGate excludes them. selftest:no-trace-gate guards the invariant so it cannot regress. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-no-trace-gate
go-node-module-default	Loading assigns every graph node to a module
Loading assigns every graph node to a module. Historical nodes with no module frontmatter inherit the workspace default module, so single-module workspaces keep working unchanged. LoadAll walks spec/*/.md plus the in-code design markers under product/. It refuses a malformed graph first (strictGuard, go-strict-load): batched findings plus a nonzero exit, instead of a silently-shrunk suspect cone. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-node-module-default
go-note	One-file-per-note capture, recording provenance (origin, timestamp, status)
One-file-per-note capture, recording provenance (origin, timestamp, status). The capture POLICY: the notes home resolution rides here; the file lane itself is go-notes-out. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-note
go-note-dedup
dedupNotePath returns a non-colliding path for a note capture: the plain name when free, else -2, -3, and so on. A same-second, same-prefix capture never overwrites an earlier note. Silent overwrite is the one unforgivable failure of a capture lane. file: product/engine-go/i13_red.go implements: go-note-dedup
go-notes-list	`quack notes [--all]` is the READ lane beside the `note` capture lane
`quack notes [--all]` is the READ lane beside the `note` capture lane. It prints the notes location and each open inbox note with id, age, and first body line. --all adds backlog and archive. It is read-only; nothing is created, moved, or deleted. It exists because the data home makes the inbox invisible from the repo (uc-notes-visible). file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: go-notes-list
go-notes-out	Notes live OUTSIDE the repository (adr-no-quack-data-home)
Notes live OUTSIDE the repository (adr-no-quack-data-home). The capture lane writes beneath the workspace's notes home in the user data dir. Raw notes carry personal data and never belong in a published checkout. The lane is the ONLY minting path (adr-deterministic-mint). A multi-line body arrives via `--file <path>` or `--file -` (stdin), so the note skill CALLS the engine instead of hand-writing files. Id, timestamp, slug, and frontmatter stay engine-stamped. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , go-notes-out
go-ntfy-adapter	The ntfy adapter sends with one HTTP PUT carrying the ask body and headers
The ntfy adapter sends with one HTTP PUT carrying the ask body and headers. It polls with one GET using `since=` (json lines). A GATE ask renders visibly distinct, high priority with a bangbang tag, from a decision ask, default with a question tag. Up to three X-Actions buttons fire `PUT <option-id> <cid>` at the answer topic. This is the exact wire the spike proved, phone tap included. file: product/engine-go/ask.go implements: , go-ntfy-adapter
go-observe-red-refresh	refreshRed builds the re-observation event for an AMENDED, still-failing test
refreshRed builds the re-observation event for an AMENDED, still-failing test. The original red was watched at the old hash; amending the statement moved the hash and stranded the record. The refresh re-runs the test and re-attests at the CURRENT hash. A passing test errors here, exactly like a first observation, so no fabricated red enters the ledger. The caller (observe-red --refresh) appends the event; this seam never writes the log itself. file: product/engine-go/i13_red.go implements: go-observe-red-refresh
go-onion-boilerplate
An ambient-stamped element is BOILERPLATE: its pill carries data-oc-amb, and a hide control folds every stamped pill render-side (the fold-amb CSS class the shared script toggles). The DOM keeps the pills, so the model stays complete. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-onion-boilerplate
go-onion-busbar
The drill-view SVG uses ONE deterministic layout to render both drill shapes (the owner's ONION vs CLUSTER distinction). A BAND/LAYER is an ONION. opts.round draws a ROUND body, and unless it is the innermost KERNEL it carries a CORE, a central circle standing for the layers beneath. Signals go TO the core when a block calls inward, FROM the core when an inner layer calls a block, or across it. The core is the DRILL affordance into the next-inner band. A single-click ENTERS it; drilling is its only action. The kernel onion is round with buses but coreless. A core arrow aims at the core CENTRE and clips to its circular border, so it reads as pointing radially inward. A CLUSTER, a theme or a grouping INSIDE a band, is NOT an onion: a coreless bus-bar BOX, with no round body and no centre. Either way, inputs enter on the TOP and outputs leave on the BOTTOM (the committed layout spec onion-io-layout.excalidraw.md, rule 1). A round band stacks its BLOCKS beside the centred core by the SIDE rule: to-core LEFT, from-core RIGHT, pass-through balanced against crowding. A cluster lays them in a centred grid. Bars carry flow conservation. An input bar is an edge that ENTERS this view from outside a BAND boundary. An output bar LEAVES it. An edge whose two ends are both inside draws as a direct block-to-block SIBLING arrow, never detouring through a bar. In the layer onion an edge crossing to an INNER band routes to the CORE instead of a bar. Each bus is ONE horizontal rail OUTSIDE the body. Its pills sit at the vertical extreme and join the rail with a plain connector; an arrowhead never lands on a pill. A pill is CLICKABLE: a click traces every block the bus signal reaches. A tapping block gets ONE flow arrow between it and the rail. A drillable CLUSTER block hangs a small drill HANDLE off its own bottom edge, never a centre circle, since only a band has a core. Generated SVG keeps the book byte-stable with real, machine-readable text; a canvas library needed live scripts and rendered nothing on paper. Each block group carries a stable id, which the comment layer anchors to. It also carries a <title> with the full untruncated text, its connection ids for the inspect highlight, and either the drill target (clusters) or the trace link (regions). file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-onion-busbar
go-onion-change-marks	This is the review render's change-mark and its upward propagation
This is the review render's change-mark and its upward propagation. onionReview carries the marked element set. renderOnionOpt propagates it up the drill-down: a marked element marks its grouping block, and a marked block marks its ring. It draws an unmistakable orange DOT at EVERY level; dots, never dashes, is the owner's rule. So the overview shows WHICH rings changed. Each grouping view narrows to the changed block, then the element. The mark travels up toward the reader. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-onion-change-marks
go-onion-dsm-groups
Coupling clusters are the ONE grouping source of the onion's interiors (the owner's cluster rules, req-onion-clusters). File themes retired as the source; a file stays secondary info on a single block. dsmGroups splits a member set by its INTERNAL call graph through the deterministic DSM pipeline (go-dsm-cluster). A cluster of two or more members becomes ONE enterable block, and every other member keeps its own block. The recursive emitter renders a cluster's interior as a coreless bus-bar box: top input bus, bottom output bus, identified lanes carrying the group's outer I/O by flow conservation. It re-derives grouping INSIDE each cluster, so a member may itself be a cluster at every depth (rule 7). A member's talk with the core rides the group's output lane. The core wiring stays on the band level (rule 4). file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-onion-dsm-groups
go-onion-figure	The onion figure is a drill-down over the DESIGN ELEMENTS, the marked code regions
The onion figure is a drill-down over the DESIGN ELEMENTS, the marked code regions. The layer map comes from go-onion-model-source. In MODEL mode ring membership is STRAIGHT from the model: elements are design regions, and files are THEMES (secondary info only). A file never earns a ring and never renders as a block. In FALLBACK mode (spec/design-layers.md, stub projects) an element takes the layer of its FILE per the pattern map, the old behavior, untouched. The intra/inter-element flow is the REAL call graph derived by deriveDesignFlow, a static AST pass: consumes[A] = design ids A calls into, and reads[A]/writes[A] = A does external input/output. The ONION is the OVERVIEW ONLY. Level 0 draws concentric layer rings, one per SURVIVING layer, each labelled `name · N elements`. `inputs:` enters from the TOP, and `outputs:` leaves to the BOTTOM as external boxes; every overview arrow STOPS at the onion's outside. No element cards appear here; a changed ring carries a DOT. A layer with NO flow at all, where every element is off-flow infrastructure, is SKIPPED entirely: no ring, no view. Its elements sink INWARD into the next surviving layer's infrastructure pills. Below the overview the drill-down keeps the owner's ONION vs CLUSTER split (go-onion-busbar renders both shapes). Level 1 is the BAND view, and a band is itself an ONION. It has a ROUND body with the band's INPUT bars across the TOP, OUTPUT bars across the BOTTOM, and its BLOCKS beside the centre by the side rule. Unless it is the innermost KERNEL, it also carries a central CORE at the dead centre. The core is the inner bands beneath. It is the drill affordance INTO the next-inner band, a single-click, its only action. Bars follow FLOW CONSERVATION. An input bar is an edge that ENTERS the band from an OUTER band, keyed by the source band, or the external world for os reads. An output bar LEAVES it to an outer band. An edge crossing to an INNER band routes to the CORE instead of a bar; that is signal TO or FROM the core. An edge whose two ends are both in the band draws as a direct block-to-block SIBLING arrow, never detouring through a bar. The kernel band is a round, coreless onion, since nothing lies beneath it. In model mode a BLOCK is a DSM COUPLING MODULE (go-onion-dsm-groups): one cluster per coupling group carrying SEVERAL of the layer's regions, labelled `module k` + `N regions`. An uncoupled region renders itself, with responsibility text as the label and `in file` as the subtitle. Region arrows aggregate to block level, deduplicated; a collapsed multiplicity shows as `×N`. Level 2 opens ONE cluster into a coreless bus-bar BOX; a cluster is NOT an onion, with no round body and no core. The cluster's own INPUT bars sit on top, OUTPUT bars on the bottom, its regions as blocks in the middle, and region-to-region arrows inside. Conservation carries the cluster's band-level I/O down. Exactly the bars it tapped as a band block reappear. A member may itself be a cluster: the interior re-derives its grouping, and the bus-only, coreless boundary repeats at every depth. A band-level SIBLING arrow becomes a `from <sibling>` / `→ <sibling>` bar once that sibling is outside the drilled view. A drillable block hangs a small drill HANDLE off its own bottom edge, double-click to ENTER. A leaf block has none. SINGLE-click a block to INSPECT it, showing details and highlighting its connections while staying at this level; the review render adds a details panel. Every region block transports to its trace item on tap, the conn-code-designs surface. Design elements OFF the flow entirely render as `infrastructure:` pills below the figure, each linking to its trace item. Model-mode AMBIENT elements always render as those pills; they sit on no ring, flow or not. EVERY view, levels 0, 1, and 2, is pre-rendered static DOM with its own breadcrumbs and layer nav. The script only toggles which view shows; it never creates content. Excluded patterns, such as iteration files, stay out. In model mode, non-engine marker files (method/*.md) stay out too. An element no source claims falls into an outermost `unmapped` ring, so the map cannot rot silently. In model mode that ring holds regions the model does not allocate; the sky-fall lint keeps it empty. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-onion-figure
go-onion-interact	ONE onion interaction script for every host
ONE onion interaction script for every host. The book shell and the standalone review page ride the SAME constant, so behavior can never drift (the M5 spike: the standalone lacked history navigation). Single-click INSPECTS a block: highlight plus the host's details lane. The book's data-node-link handler opens its details pane, and a standalone host registers window.__onionInspectHook to fill its own panel. Double-click ENTERS a drillable block. A ring, core, or crumb with no inspect action enters on a single click. Every entry pushes a history state, so browser BACK exits the block (req-onion-enter): entering is normal, reversible navigation. Drill targets resolve HOST-SCOPED by exact id or id-SUFFIX, so a deck slide's id-prefixed copy drills its own views, never the chapter original (the spike's bounded defect). The popstate stack keeps the view ELEMENT, never a global id lookup. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-onion-interact
go-onion-model-source
The onion's layer map derives from the engine-layers MODEL node (spec/models/model-engine-layers.md), the authored truth. spec/design-layers.md stays as the stub-project fallback. Rings are the model's REAL layers in declared order, innermost first; bands and ambient are never rings. The BLOCK unit is the model ELEMENT, a design region. Files never rank and never convert to patterns; elements are design regions, and files are themes. Allocation follows three conventions. A band's ("outer--inner") elements merge into the INNER of its two named rings; the transform feeds it. Ambient elements, and any unranked stray, map to "ambient": NO ring, and the renderer pins them to the innermost view's infrastructure pills. A realized engine region the model does not allocate is ABSENT here; the renderer's `unmapped` ring catches it, and the sky-fall lint keeps it empty. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-onion-model-source
go-onion-space
An onion figure breaks out of the prose column: the wrapper wears fig-wide, and the shell carries the breakout rule with the fullscreen exclusion. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-onion-space
go-overlay-resolver	One resolver walks the vehicle->engine chain
One resolver walks the vehicle->engine chain. The most-specific layer wins; an un-overridden resource is inherited from the engine. The engine layer is READ-ONLY: a vehicle overrides by placing a file in its overlay, never by editing the engine. guides() routes through this. file: product/engine-go/resolver.go implements: , , , , , go-overlay-resolver
go-pager-merge	Merge the HAND-OFF, never the nodes (adr-pager-handoff; order is not dependency)
Merge the HAND-OFF, never the nodes (adr-pager-handoff; order is not dependency). When every undone dependency of a milestone gate is a ready review gate, the pager presents them all as one hand-off. This applies for the gate or any of those ready rows. One y blesses the group, with each bless recorded individually. A split answer stays possible. The substance checks and the review gate remain separate records. Only the ceremony is merged. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-pager-merge
go-pager-noopen
A FOREIGN workspace's pager (driven via --base/-C: fixtures, spikes, other projects) never auto-opens the owner's browser and never rides the phone. A fixture render must not impersonate a live hand-off. The page still serves; the pointer prints. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-pager-noopen
go-pager-result	The round-end contract of the handover pager (owner rulings 2026-07-17/18)
The round-end contract of the handover pager (owner rulings 2026-07-17/18). A round that ends prints ONE machine-readable line and writes ONE pollable result file in the data home, so any harness observes the outcome without improvised file watches. The ruled semantics: CLOSING THE PAGE WINDOW ENDS THE ROUND AS A REJECTION. A close is an answer, never a limbo. And a round never starts over an OPEN cone question. An unknown that is neither proposed nor decided means the brief is not ready to rule on, and the refusal names the question. A PROPOSED question is the opposite: it deals as a card and the bless selects its letter. file: product/engine-go/pager_round.go implements: , go-pager-result
go-pager-scope
A pager for a killer SUBTASK reports the readiness of THAT CHECK, its own upstreams and the evidence doc, never the whole milestone. Milestone scope gives false "ready: NO" alarms, since a milestone's first killer always reads 0/N. Gate pagers keep the milestone scope. The merge path resolves to the gate before readiness is computed, so merged hand-offs stay milestone-scoped too. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-pager-scope
go-pair-qr	GF(256) arithmetic over the QR polynomial 0x11D drives the Reed-Solomon parity
GF(256) arithmetic over the QR polynomial 0x11D drives the Reed-Solomon parity. The matrix builder places finders, timing, alignment, the dark module, the two format copies, and the zigzag data stream under mask 0. The console render draws two modules per character with a quiet zone. The plain link prints beside it. file: product/engine-go/qr.go implements: go-pair-qr
go-parse
Hand-rolled frontmatter and config.toml parsing over the trivial subset in use (key: value lines plus simple [a, b] lists). No third-party TOML or YAML library. file: product/engine-go/parse.go implements: go-parse
go-perf	Fast tooling: a native static binary returns the board inside a short interactive bound
Fast tooling: a native static binary returns the board inside a short interactive bound. selftest:perf measures the full strict load + root and asserts it. file: product/engine-go/selftest.go implements: go-perf
go-progress-bar	A deterministic bordered emoji bar for one iteration: START, each milestone, END, current marked 📍
A deterministic bordered emoji bar for one iteration: START, each milestone, END, current marked 📍. Shown when the agent self-blesses. Colored when a TTY, plain-fenced when captured. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-progress-bar
go-progress-cmd	quack progress [--iter <v>] [--pager <gate>] [--color\|--plain] is the deterministic readout
quack progress [--iter <v>] [--pager <gate>] [--color\|--plain] is the deterministic readout. It shows the bar alone for a self-bless, or the bar plus a handover pager for a killer hand-off. It is colored on a TTY, and plain-fenced when captured. --color and --plain force a mode. It is pure display and never mutates state. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: , go-progress-cmd
go-project-record
The milestones table is SLIM: timeline order and the iteration name in the row, the expand a short introduction only. The decisions and the candidate matrices live OUT in the one decisions table (fig: decisions-table); each iteration's record stays reachable through that table's iteration filter, linked from every expand. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-project-record
go-provenance-block	Per-field provenance is IDENTITY (adr-provenance-in-node)
Per-field provenance is IDENTITY (adr-provenance-in-node). The block parses with the generic frontmatter maps and folds here deterministically. So a value edit and its provenance stamp travel under one hash. The register's colors can trust it. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-provenance-block
go-pugh-matrix-render	The Pugh matrix DERIVES, never prose
The Pugh matrix DERIVES, never prose. Criteria rows come from the union of the candidates' rating keys that are weighted criterion nodes. Candidates come from the decision's chosen and rejected edges, the DATUM column (the decision's datum field) first and marked. A cell is the SIGN of the rating's delta against the datum. Better, same, and worse draw as colored glyphs, the raw 0..1 rating in the title. A weighted-totals row (sum of weight×rating over the weight sum) closes the table, and the winner mark rides the chosen column. A decision without a datum draws nothing: the data gap stays honest. file: product/engine-go/models.go implements: go-pugh-matrix-render
go-q-table	Combinable pill FACETS ride above the table: AND across facets, OR within one
Combinable pill FACETS ride above the table: AND across facets, OR within one. A universal need facet covers trace items, plus one facet per small-enum column. There is never a pill per item. The universal query table uses a real thead with a clear header row and separated cells, rendered even with zero rows. The empty-value "(none)" bucket header never renders, though its rows still do. Interactivity is STATIC DOM. A filter row carries a text input plus one select per enum column, a small distinct value set derived from the rows at emit. Ungrouped tables carry data-sortable, and the shell script sorts by MOVING existing rows. Every row with an id is EXPANDABLE (req-reader-tables.3). A static detail row, with statement, meta, and body prose, follows it, hidden until toggled. Expand-all and collapse-all buttons ride the filter row. A table beyond twenty rows pages BY NEED. Each row is stamped with the first need its item traces up to, walking refines, verifies, and implements upward in deterministic order. Needless rows land on the last page, and buckets chunk at twenty. Off-page rows carry hidden AT EMIT, so the no-script default is one bounded page (req-compact-derived.1); the pager only toggles visibility. The unified reader table is ONE interactive pattern everywhere. A row is the item NAME with a disclosure triangle. The expand carries the statement, the remaining fields, and the body. Combinable FILTER PILL facets ride above the table: a "need" facet plus one per small-distinct-value column. The controls below, filter box, expand/collapse-all, page size, pager, sit right-aligned. Pagination is client-side, default 20, configurable. Rows keep data-node for trace-graph transport; the script only toggles. A row landing in SEVERAL groups, a multi-valued groupBy facet, renders ONCE. The flat reader table shows no group sections, so the duplicate would read as a defect, not a grouping. The first group's key wins for data-gp. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , , , , , , go-q-table
go-quack-mv
The rename determinizer: `quack mv <old-id> <new-id>` renames a node and follows EVERY reference class the workspace owns, in one journaled, undoable pass. The classes: the file name, markdown links, bare ids, edge lanes, and the source. Link maintenance is purely mechanical, so it is an engine command, never an agent hand-sweep. Matching is boundary-safe: an id matches only between non-id characters, so a longer id containing the old one never corrupts. Generated renders (*.html) stay out; they regenerate. History prose renames too: a live old-iteration node referencing a dead id would break ref-integrity, and that outranks archival wording. --dry prints the plan and writes nothing. file: product/engine-go/mv.go implements: go-quack-mv
go-quarantine-scope	This is the boundary: EVERY chapter speaks only about the system, rationales included
This is the boundary: EVERY chapter speaks only about the system, rationales included. The guidance chapter (mode `guidance`, renders as a chapter) and the agent guide (mode `agent`) are the only self-referential surfaces. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-quarantine-scope
go-query
The read lane: a pinned Bases-subset expression over the loaded graph returns filtered rows with chosen fields; an unknown field refuses with the field list. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-query
go-question-nodes	Open unknowns ride the trace as first-class question nodes (adr-question-nodes-provenance)
Open unknowns ride the trace as first-class question nodes (adr-question-nodes-provenance). `type: question` is trace CONTENT like requirement and adr. It is never a gate, never blessed, with no DONE/SUSPECT/OPEN of its own. A question carries a decision state, open, proposed, or decided, and once decided, a `decided_via` provenance line. The ledger records WHAT was decided and via what; it never simulates the deciding. Both fields fold into the node's identity, the fullHash question seed. So deciding a question ripples its dependents through the existing edge lanes like any content edit. The EARS lint never applies, since questions are questions, not shall-statements. The requirement-only rule exempts them by type, the same way every other non-requirement type is exempt. file: product/engine-go/question.go implements: go-question-nodes
go-raid-matrix-render	The RAID bubble matrix: ONE continuous probability-consequence diagram over every RAID item
The RAID bubble matrix: ONE continuous probability-consequence diagram over every RAID item. Impact rides x, probability rides y, both 0..1 (the owner's axis ruling). One bubble draws per item. COLOR encodes the KIND, and position alone carries severity. Kind and status ride the generic filter columns (go-filter-columns). Every status chip starts selected EXCEPT closed, so closed items hide by default while staying in the DOM. A bubble click opens the details pane through the data-node-link lane. The shell's .raid-matrix script reads the initial selection from the pills, so the default is data, not code. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: go-raid-matrix-render
go-ratchet-stamp	The ratchet compares COMMITTED build-time stamps, never file mtimes (adr-ratchet-stamp)
The ratchet compares COMMITTED build-time stamps, never file mtimes (adr-ratchet-stamp). A fresh clone stamps checkout-time mtimes on old source and would rebuild the global binary BACKWARD. `quack build` writes engine-stamp.txt into the source it compiles, committed content that survives every clone, and mirrors it beside the binary (<exe>.stamp). The decision table works like this. Unstamped source is never newer, the pre-stamp era. An unstamped binary defers to any stamped source, one forward hop onto the stamp regime. Otherwise strictly newer wins. file: product/engine-go/ratchet.go implements: go-ratchet-stamp
go-ratings-map	Frontmatter maps go one level deep: a key with an empty value, followed by indented sub: value lines
Frontmatter maps go one level deep: a key with an empty value, followed by indented sub: value lines. They expose generically to views. Only one level is allowed. A deeper nest refuses at strict load. file: product/engine-go/parse.go implements: go-ratings-map
go-rationale-fill	Every rendered rationale carries real content or an EXPLICIT not-applicable mark
Every rendered rationale carries real content or an EXPLICIT not-applicable mark. An empty slot or a bare TODO reads as neglect in a shipped book; the explicit mark distinguishes judged silence from forgotten homework. The lint scans node files (the same fence recognition the loader uses); archives stay history and are skipped. selftest:rationale-fill keeps the live workspace clean forever. file: product/engine-go/rationale_lint.go implements: go-rationale-fill
go-reader-name	The reader-facing `name` property: the node id, its kind prefix stripped, dashes read as spaces
The reader-facing `name` property: the node id, its kind prefix stripped, dashes read as spaces. Reader tables order by [name, statement] and never show filename, weight, or source-internal columns; the queries carry the policy, this helper carries the derivation. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: go-reader-name
go-readout-width	The readout is a bordered box, a fixed 80 columns wide, 76 content plus border, so it never mangles
The readout is a bordered box, a fixed 80 columns wide, 76 content plus border, so it never mangles. The engine never probes chat or terminal width, since that is impossible when output is captured, not a TTY. It renders plain inside a code fence when captured, chat or file, and with ANSI color when isTTY(stdout). Width is measured in DISPLAY columns (dispWidth), because the bar uses emoji at 2 columns each, so the border aligns. selftest:readout asserts every line is <= 80 display columns. file: product/engine-go/readout.go implements: go-readout-width
go-rebaseline-inprocess	The self-exec exists for ONE reason
The self-exec exists for ONE reason. A JUST-COMPILED binary must read the spec, because the old process refuses keys it predates, the self-wedge. When the binary did not change, the fast path, the running process IS the fresh engine. It computes in-process and spawns nothing. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-rebaseline-inprocess
go-recital-chain	This is the wording-chain selftest
This is the wording-chain selftest. The engine's contract resource must carry the question-tool recital mechanism and the TL;DR-card ruling. A workspace AGENTS.md, the entry hub, where present, must still point its step at the recital-in-question mechanism. A missing hub is a vehicle without one. There is nothing to drift, and no vacuous pass on the contract half. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-recital-chain
go-red-edit-guard
quack apply refuses a manifest edit that would strand a red-observed test: the statement line is the red record's anchor; a body edit stays free. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-red-edit-guard
go-ref-tooltips	In-book reference links in prose render as their plain label plus a small (?) marker
In-book reference links in prose render as their plain label plus a small (?) marker. The marker's title carries the referent's statement or long form as the hover tooltip. A click jumps to the definition. External URLs stay real links. This runs per chapter AFTER term expansion, so the term machinery is untouched. Content notes, methods, fundamentals, references, carry their statement as the brief. A method mention in prose is a dashed-underline link; the details pane shows the brief plus the jump to the full method in the appendix. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-ref-tooltips
go-refusal-lint	Every refusal and cache-miss message names its cause and ONE recovery move
Every refusal and cache-miss message names its cause and ONE recovery move. The lint parses the engine source's string LITERALS through go/parser, so comments and test assertions never trip it. It keeps the ones that speak a refusal (refused, BLOCKED, cache miss, cannot be). Each such message must carry a recovery marker: an imperative naming the next command or move. The red batteries and selftest files are excluded, since they assert against these messages. The battery keeps the set clean (selftest:refusal-recovery). The speak pattern is CONCATENATED so this file's own literal never trips the sweep. file: product/engine-go/cli.go implements: go-refusal-lint
go-region-delta	An empty design region's delta message names the region and the fix.
file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-region-delta
go-region-hash-norm	There is ONE design-region hash, over whitespace-collapse-only normalization (adr-region-hash-ws)
There is ONE design-region hash, over whitespace-collapse-only normalization (adr-region-hash-ws). Pure reformatting, such as gofmt or indent churn, never reopens a design. ANY content edit does, including comments, which are design content, and case-only renames, since normWS preserves case unlike the statement norm. It folds at the single region-hash site in fullHash (engine.go). file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-region-hash-norm
go-register-answer	This is the register's answer lane (adr-register-watch-answers)
This is the register's answer lane (adr-register-watch-answers). A red row's ruling arrives over the watch server and dispatches the SAME validated application a console edit would make. The field value and its "user-ruling via <channel>" provenance rewrite the node under one hash (adr-provenance-in-node). The ruling records on the ask store as a resolved DECISION ask carrying the channel (req-register-ask.2). A KILLER row refuses every lane EXCEPT a hand-off channel (req-register-killer-guard). The hand-off page IS the ceremony, so the user rules killer fields there directly. The static render never reaches here; its rows carry the console route instead. file: product/engine-go/report_watch.go implements: , go-register-answer
go-register-colors	The traffic light derives from RECORDED PROVENANCE ONLY (adr-provenance-in-node)
The traffic light derives from RECORDED PROVENANCE ONLY (adr-provenance-in-node). Green-user means the field's provenance records a user ruling, adjudicated. Green-agent means it is mechanically derived: a schema default or a deterministic derivation. Yellow means a DEFERRABLE field riding its default or TBD; it counts but never blocks. Red means a CORE field holding an unadjudicated assumption: an agent proposal, a skeleton value, a TBD, or no provenance at all. Self-reported confidence is NOT an input. No provenance vocabulary carries it. An unknown source reads as an assumption, red on core, never as trust. file: product/engine-go/schemas.go implements: go-register-colors
go-register-fold	THE design input register: ONE table folding every use case, function, constraint, quality, and requirement
THE design input register: ONE table folding every use case, function, constraint, quality, and requirement. A `type` facet sits beside the board facets and the universal need facet, and the generic filter columns (go-filter-columns) carry both. The former use-cases-and-functions board is folded in here (the owner's register ruling), and the need facet carries the per-need view its rows gave. The need never sits in the body. Every node-backed row resolves it through the trace, and a function node's refines edge (go-function-nodes) is that path. Rows emit in type order, then by id, so the render stays byte-deterministic. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: , , go-register-fold
go-register-render	The REGISTER treats fill and adjudicate as UI (adr-register-in-report)
The REGISTER treats fill and adjudicate as UI (adr-register-in-report). One row appears per node, whose TYPE carries its own schema fields. The row collapses to statement plus a computed color chip (go-register-colors). The first disclosure level shows the CORE fields. The second shows every field with its provenance line. The two greens wear DISTINCT marks: adjudicated is filled, and agent-confident is outlined. So a proposal never reads as a decision. A KILLER node's row carries the pager pointer and no answer affordance (req-register-killer-guard). A red non-killer row carries the answer affordance the watch lane activates (b7), and the static file leaves it inert. renderHandoffHTML is the adjudication page (adr-handoff-html): one gate as a DECISION BRIEF on a single phone-sized card, centered unchanged on a desktop, with no page scroll. At the top sit the gate id, the gate's question, and a one-line BLUF wearing the striped agent chip, a proposal, never a ruling. The middle holds the summary lines: you-must-decide, settle later, riding a default, done. Tests and walked steps appear NOWHERE, since they are state, never decisions, and the brief is only about decisions (owner ruling). A killer DEMO settles at its own milestone and rides the "settle later" line. The decide view deals the blockers ONE AT A TIME (‹ › deck). Every card states in plain words WHAT A BLESS ACCEPTS: the agent's defaults become the ruling, and a killer gate is adjudicated individually in the user's name. The bottom carries the page's ONLY two actions, y/n. A y makes handoffBless record everything stated. The buttons POST to the local watch server. On a stale file with no listener they no-op by design (the owner's ruling). It is self-contained: no external asset, ever. handoffCone is the gate's adjudication material: its direct inputs plus every register-eligible trace node of the gate's iteration. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: , go-register-render
go-register-vale	This is the register lane (adr-vale-autopull)
This is the register lane (adr-vale-autopull). Vale, one static MIT Go binary, is AUTO-PULLED once per OS into the data home, a pinned version, the global-binary bootstrap pattern. It runs as a subprocess, never linked and never hand-rolled. When the binary is absent and the pull fails, the engine prints ONE loud warning, "prose linter missing; prose quality is likely to suffer", and the lane stays empty. Findings are ADVISORY by construction. They print on their own channel and never join a fatal exit set. This is the GitLab production lesson: readability signals advise, and only unambiguous rules block. file: product/engine-go/vale.go implements: go-register-vale
go-render-folds	The trace graph renders UNFOLDED, one tab per need, in the report and the book alike
The trace graph renders UNFOLDED, one tab per need, in the report and the book alike. It carries the semantic design dimension ONLY. There are no fold boxes, and no iteration or age grouping (adr-trace-graph-unfolded). Age is the iteration sidebar's concept, and each node gel carries an "iter" attribute for filters. The report adds the (unrooted) leftovers tab for strays the operator must see. The book renders per-need tabs only, with decisions only when architectural (bookGraphTabs). Render compaction for large tabs is an open design discussion, deliberately NOT solved here. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-render-folds
go-render-refs	A refs view hands its rows to the SAME renderer ref units use
A refs view hands its rows to the SAME renderer ref units use. Gate state, verdict links, and depth mechanics ride along. Obsidian previews the rows as a plain table; the render key is ignored there. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-render-refs
go-report	This is a faithful port of the deterministic report shell
This is a faithful port of the deterministic report shell. It uses a 3-column grid. The grid holds an iterations tree with START/END brackets, a trace graph of per-need tabs with server-baked positions plus a type legend, and metric cards plus a detail panel. It is pure display; rendering never runs checks, the engine guard. It adds one filter box over the graph, with iteration predicates (0001, <=0002, >=0001), text or /regex/, combined with AND/OR, and on-focus help. On change it does a breadthfirst relayout of the visible subgraph. reportOutDir returns the directory that report links are made relative to. Node paths are absolute, walked from an absolute SPEC, so outDir must be absolute too. Otherwise filepath.Rel(outDir, path) errors and yields "", blanking every href and verdict link when rendered with a RELATIVE --out. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: , , go-report
go-report-filter-ux	The filter gains four things
The filter gains four things. A clear control returns to the full graph in one click. A descendants:<id> predicate selects the node plus everything tracing into it, successors over the parent->child edges, the same cone the suspect ripple walks. A double-click gesture applies that predicate for the tapped node. On-focus help documents every form, including these. JS only filters and toggles. Content stays server-baked; the report remains a pure display. file: product/engine-go/report_assets.go implements: , , , go-report-filter-ux
go-report-logo
brandLogoInline inlines the resolved brand mark (overlay -> engine default placeholder) into the report titlebar, left of the project name, sized by CSS to ~90% of the titlebar height. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-report-logo
go-report-watch	`quack report --watch [--port N]` serves the report over a tiny zero-dep net/http server
`quack report --watch [--port N]` serves the report over a tiny zero-dep net/http server. It pushes a Server-Sent Event whenever a source input, spec, product, or attest, changes. The page's reload hook, injected by RenderReport, then reloads. So the open board auto-updates ONLY when the source actually changes, not on a blind timer, preserving interactivity between real changes. Static `quack report` is unaffected; the reload hook silently no-ops on file://. file: product/engine-go/report_watch.go implements: go-report-watch
go-report-why	Every check's detail entry carries its CAUSE when not green, baked at render
Every check's detail entry carries its CAUSE when not green, baked at render. The report stays a pure display; nothing is computed client-side. A SUSPECT review names the changed inputs: its own re-stated statement, upstream checks currently reopened, or the scoped need-set. An OPEN derived check names the coverage rule that computes false. This is the report-side answer to "quack why says nothing changed" for coverage-driven suspects. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-report-why
go-results-exception	Ledger-state views are FIG kinds, never base queries
Ledger-state views are FIG kinds, never base queries. State lives in the ledger, not frontmatter. The green mass summarizes as a count. Failures and accepted deviations render prominently, by exception, the lab rule. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-results-exception
go-rigor-fit	This is the rigor-fit advisory
This is the rigor-fit advisory. It compares the ACTIVE iteration's composed trace size against the rigor's fit band (fit_min/fit_max in the rigor definition; the band lives with the rigor, one home). Below the band reads as ceremony overkill, and above reads as a rigor too thin. It is advisory by law. The human confirms rigor at start (contract rule 5), and the engine only hints (req-rigor-fit.2). file: product/engine-go/lints.go implements: go-rigor-fit
go-root-content
Pooled query files and reference notes fold into the identity root: workspaceRoot extends the node merkle with content pairs, so an edited .base or reference flips dependents suspect instead of changing every book table silently. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-root-content
go-rules-config	This is the tier-(a) split
This is the tier-(a) split. Lists load from method/config/*.json, resolved engine-root-relative like the model kind registry (go-model-registry). Two vocabularies ride it. weasel-words.json feeds the EARS lint through weaselWordsFromConfig; trust.go keeps its compiled list ONLY as the stub-workspace fallback. retired-vocabulary.json drives the prose-current check: every method prompt and workspace guide is scanned case-insensitively, and a finding names file and term. file: product/engine-go/config.go implements: , go-rules-config
go-sample-register
The teaching SAMPLE of the register: pong's design input rendered through the SAME component the live register uses, so the demo can never drift from the real look. The pong fixture is the repo's canonical teaching example (the five-minute IFU). file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: go-sample-register
go-schema-tester	This validates the SCHEMA SET itself, the contract test (req-field-schemas.3)
This validates the SCHEMA SET itself, the contract test (req-field-schemas.3). A schema is a finding when it carries an unknown key, a field whose type is unknown, or a malformed enum. It is also a finding when it carries a missing or bad tier, or a default that falls outside its own enum. Each finding names the schema file and the broken rule. file: product/engine-go/schemas.go implements: go-schema-tester
go-seed-skeleton
quack start seeds the rigor checklist SKELETON by parsing the rigor source at seed time (adr-seed-from-rigor-source). It creates one gate per milestone plus its subtask items, with ids namespaced by the iteration tag. It applies milestone-monotonic wiring: subtasks depend on the prior gate, and the gate depends on its subtasks plus the prior gate. It uses the template wording as the statement pre-fill for the composer to tailor. Seeding proposes, and the composer vetoes (req-seed-skeleton.3). Parse-at-seed keeps the checklist the single source of truth. No baked copy exists to drift (raid-seeding-drift). An existing tasks/ dir is never clobbered. A rigor with no checklist seeds nothing. file: product/engine-go/seed.go implements: go-seed-skeleton
go-selftest	The engine verifies ITSELF, in Go, in-process, with zero external toolchain: no uv, no python, no go test
The engine verifies ITSELF, in Go, in-process, with zero external toolchain: no uv, no python, no go test. Executed checks carry 'verify: selftest:<name>', and the engine runs the named check directly. Parity means the merkle root equals the baselined golden root, a determinism regression. A CLUSTERED test node names several checks in one verify value (adr-cluster-numbered-statements), space-separated, and ALL must pass. The node is the ledger unit, and the named checks are its runners. file: product/engine-go/selftest.go implements: go-selftest
go-selftest-registry	There is ONE source for the selftest battery
There is ONE source for the selftest battery. Each test-implementation file declares an ordered []namedTest slice beside its functions. The single init below concatenates them EXPLICITLY, in battery order. The registry drives BOTH the name->func dispatch (runSelftestOne) and the full-battery name list (RunSelftestCLI). So the dispatch and the battery can never drift apart. Why use an init assignment and not a var initializer? The battery is genuinely recursive. Verify-cache and evidence-honesty drive the evaluator, which dispatches THROUGH the registry. So any var initializer that can reach the slices is an initialization cycle, and vet refuses it. The assignment in init is the language's sanctioned break. The order still cannot depend on file names. This is the ONLY init touching the registry, and the concatenation below is the single, explicit order source. Per-file inits appending their own slices WOULD order the battery compiler-alphabetically. That shape stays banned. file: product/engine-go/selftest.go implements: go-selftest-registry
go-shell-title-card	The page header is gone, and so is the standing info block
The page header is gone, and so is the standing info block. The spec-state root, iteration, and engine ride the title button as data attributes, DOM from birth. A title click feeds the DETAILS pane like any other click target. window.bookDetail fills the chrome pane, and the content DOM never changes. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: go-shell-title-card
go-ship	ship packages product/ into a versioned zip under the data home's out/
ship packages product/ into a versioned zip under the data home's out/. The zip is ephemeral output. The BOOK and the REPORT regenerate at ship and ride the ZIP ROOT. A recipient opens the deliverable, and the two reading surfaces sit on top. Every published book copy, spec/book.html plus the Pages copy docs/book.html, same bytes, refreshes in the same move. So the drift lint is green at the shipped state. This works in ANY workspace, not just the dogfood repo. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-ship
go-spec-content	Content notes are PROJECT content, not method machinery
Content notes are PROJECT content, not method machinery. Glossary terms, reference notes, fundamentals, and method notes live under the workspace spec: spec/glossary, spec/references, spec/fundamentals, spec/methods. This holds for every project, including quackitect itself. They are NOT trace nodes. The strict guard, LoadAll, and scanIDs skip these directories, and dedicated loaders read them. Every kind carries Obsidian-native aliases; the auto-link pass and Obsidian's own autocomplete share them. The method layer keeps everything else and stays inherited by driven workspaces unchanged. file: product/engine-go/content.go implements: go-spec-content
go-spec-lints
There are three spec-content lints, all over the node-fenced sources plus the content notes; evidence docs are history and stay exempt. The first is external links. An http(s) URL may live ONLY inside a reference note (spec/references). The body links the note, and the fundamentals chapter derives the list, the pull law. ONE narrow exemption applies: a DECK manifest may carry the repo's OWN clone URL, the git origin remote, with or without .git. This is the owner's self-containment rule. A walkthrough deck is a hand-out, and its get-it slide must carry the clone line verbatim, not a pointer to a pointer. Any OTHER external link in a deck still flags. An xmlns namespace declaration, authored inline SVG, the figures law, is an identifier, not a link, and never counts. The second is slot residue. An unfilled {{slot}} placeholder means an undrafted unit shipped. Fill comments are permanent authoring guidance and are NOT residue. The third is dangling anchors. A refers entry keyed to a heading (id#slug) must resolve. Heading slugs are the stable referents rationale notes key to, and a renamed heading must not silently orphan its rationales. Plain-id refers ride the normal ref integrity. file: product/engine-go/lints.go implements: , , go-spec-lints
go-stamp-user	The ledger says `user` (adr-actor-user-migration)
The ledger says `user` (adr-actor-user-migration). New records write user via resolveActor. `quack migrate-actors` rewrites historical human stamps to user in ONE audited pass. The migration event records the count and timestamp. Bless hashes and the prev_hash chain stay untouched. A second run is a no-op. Readers treat human and user as one value forever (normActor, beside resolveActor in go-actor-channels), so an unmigrated clone still computes. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-stamp-user
go-standalone-suite	A test node carrying `suite: never-cached` is not a member of any verification suite
A test node carrying `suite: never-cached` is not a member of any verification suite. tests-pass skips it, and the board carries it as its own entry with a live verdict (adr-standalone-suite). The parity tamper check moves to this suite, so legitimate authoring no longer reddens history. A moved golden root reddens exactly one row, and that row says what it means. file: product/engine-go/i11_red.go implements: go-standalone-suite
go-start
Version ops: `quack start <id> [--plan] [motivation]` activates a version (writes iteration.md, points config at it) or, with --plan, registers a future one. Ids are i_NNNN_name; only start mints versions. Rejects an id starting with '-' (the help-flag bug). file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-start
go-start-init
`quack start init <target>` runs FROM a quackitect checkout and sets up a NEW vehicle at <target> in the CURRENT world (adr-no-quack-data-home, adr-entry-chain, adr-ratchet-stamp). It vendors the engine, product/ into tools/vendor/, stamp included. It writes spec/project.toml as the root marker, a global-bin bootstrap launcher, and the pointer-chain entry files: CLAUDE.md to AGENTS.md to the vendored contract. There is no .quack anywhere. It deliberately does NOT mint an iteration or write any spec; the user drives that. It is only meaningful from a quackitect checkout. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , , , , , go-start-init
go-strict-load	Strictness applies at EVERY graph load (adr-strict-load)
Strictness applies at EVERY graph load (adr-strict-load). A first-line '---' fence marks a node candidate; evidence docs' mid-document hrules are excluded naturally. iteration.md is its own breadcrumb key class. Malformed lines, keys outside the complete allowlist, duplicate ids, unterminated fences, and dangling references are all collected as BATCHED issues naming file and key. Dangling references cover every declared edge field, checked against the full recognized id set, both directions of the trace. LoadAll refuses the graph with nonzero exit, rather than compute a silently-shrunk suspect cone. `note` loads no graph and stays available mid-repair. The gather lane stays format-promiscuous. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: , go-strict-load
go-structure-layers	The reading path, an owner ruling
The reading path, an owner ruling. The context model's CENTRE routes into the workspace's own structural model, model-<brand>-structure. The id is brand-derived, so a vehicle inherits the path. The structural model's determinizer element routes onward into the onion via its authored `%% route:` line. Each hop rides the book's standard data-node-link click lane. No hop is hardcoded to this workspace. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-structure-layers
go-stub-spec	This is the instantiation path: the spec MIRRORS the template
This is the instantiation path: the spec MIRRORS the template. Top-level files land at the spec ROOT, with README renamed SPEC-README. EVERY template subfolder mirrors 1:1 under spec/: queries, references, fundamentals, the global item homes with their ex- example notes, and the connections kinds. Existing files are KEPT. A second run refuses to overwrite. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: , , go-stub-spec
go-sub-addressing	A clustered requirement carries NUMBERED shall-statements (req-x.2, adr-cluster-numbered-statements)
A clustered requirement carries NUMBERED shall-statements (req-x.2, adr-cluster-numbered-statements). An edge may target the number, and the graph resolves it against the base node (req-x). ONE helper strips the trailing .N. It applies at exactly three resolution points: the strict referee's dangling checks, here and in connectionIssues, the lane merge (applyConnEdges), and the trace graph's edge builder (traceEdges). Code-scanned design markers keep raw suffixed targets, so the graph resolves them itself. It applies ONLY when the raw id resolves nowhere, so a literal dotted node id still wins. Downstream lookups, such as parents, fullHash, and the coverage walks, then see plain ids. file: product/engine-go/trust.go implements: go-sub-addressing
go-supervisor-hardening	The 2026-07-18 four-process wedge, killed at the root by the owner's directive
The 2026-07-18 four-process wedge, killed at the root by the owner's directive. A wanted swap FORCES through once the drain timeout passes: stuck replies drop with a loud log line instead of wedging every later call forever. The swap also SWEEPS stale parked binaries (quack.exe.old*). Deletion succeeds exactly when no process holds one, so the sweep is the leak detector too. The kill path waits bounded and escalates before a new child spawns: never two children alive on purpose. file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-supervisor-hardening
go-suspect-root
A PROPAGATED suspect, raw DONE but effective SUSPECT because some upstream drags the cone, is a different fact than a DIRECT one, where its own inputs changed. The board must say so with the ROOT named. One OPEN executed check can read as dozens of anonymous suspects and cost wasted re-blesses. Roots are the minimal upstream culprits: checks whose RAW state is not DONE and whose own upstreams are all raw-DONE. RawStates exposes the pre-propagation pass. SuspectRoots walks to the culprits. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: go-suspect-root
go-terms-order-lint	This is the terms-before-use ADVISORY
This is the terms-before-use ADVISORY. The rendered book's reading order, readerChapters, the SAME chapter list the renderer walks, is scanned for glossary-term uses that precede the term's definition point. The glossary IS the term set (adr-terms-source-glossary). The function takes the renderer's own glossary map and consults no second list, so the check follows the glossary's growth. The definition point is where the renderer splices the glossary: the end of the fundamentals chapter, or the book end when no fundamentals chapter exists. Matching mirrors go-auto-link's discipline: word boundaries, case-insensitive, and the LONGEST name wins a position, with aliases counting as the term's names. Code fences, headings, comment lines, inline code, and link targets are exempt. One finding appears per term, the FIRST use, naming the using and the defining location. Reading order is judgment. The class is advisory (termOrderBlocking pins it) and never blocks. file: product/engine-go/lints.go implements: , , , , go-terms-order-lint
go-tests-pass-eval	tests-pass evaluates selftest: tests in-process, via runSelftest
tests-pass evaluates selftest: tests in-process, via runSelftest. This is the SAME evaluator the gate state machine uses, not a divergent shell path. selftest:tests-pass-eval guards the unification. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: go-tests-pass-eval
go-tests-red	tests-red enforces test-first
tests-red enforces test-first. `observe-red <test>` RUNS the test and records that it was seen FAILING at its CURRENT full-hash, a run-once attestation on the Event log, mirroring a bless. The tool enforces the observation. A passing test is REFUSED, so a fabricated red can never enter the ledger. The record is machine evidence, not an honor system. The coverage:tests-red rule is satisfied only when every NEW test of the CHECK'S OWN iteration carries a red-observed attestation at its current hash. So a test never run-red, or edited since with a changed hash, fails the rule until re-observed. A recorded observation stays valid while the hash stands. A now-green test needs no re-run to prove it was once red. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-tests-red
go-testsred-marker
A test that predates the red-observation mechanism carries its exemption as an EXPLICIT frontmatter marker on the node. That marker reads `tests_red: exempt - <reason citing its ADR>` (adr-grandfathers-historical), never a source-code date constant. A bare exempt without a reason is not honored. The test owes its red like any other. testDeferred applies when a test's EVERY verified requirement is scrap-deferred: it owes nothing until ready_when, the deferral law extended to the test side. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: go-testsred-marker
go-timeline-drilldown	The task drill-down: expanding a timeline task lists what happened in it
The task drill-down: expanding a timeline task lists what happened in it. The evidence section and the trace elements the section CITES, grouped by type, each group its own expandable details. One horizontal pill row (the single-dimension shape of the filter rule) narrows the groups. Every element row carries BOTH details-pane hooks: data-nid for the report, data-node-link for the book, plus the source link the pane resolves. The evidence sections come from the iteration's M<n>-*.md docs, keyed by the `## heading -> check-id` convention the verdict links already use. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-timeline-drilldown
go-timeline-frames	The REPORT and BOOK frames of the shared timeline (go-timeline-shared)
The REPORT and BOOK frames of the shared timeline (go-timeline-shared). The report's old bracket-lane tree died with the one-renderer ruling: each iteration row keeps its summary count, and its body is the shared component in the report frame. The working milestone starts open. The panel stacks iterations OLDEST FIRST inside .qtl-scroll between an arrow on each end (overflow scrolls by arrow and wheel, never pagination). The shell script anchors the CURRENT iteration three quarters down the viewport, earlier iterations above (req-timeline-anchor). The book frame renders every iteration at full width through the same component, the current one open. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: , go-timeline-frames
go-timeline-shared
ONE timeline renderer for every surface (the owner's one-renderer ruling): the handover pager's milestone-grouped drill-down tree, extracted as the shared component. A frame passes its name (handover \| report \| book) as the CSS hook plus its open milestone. The content (milestone rows with done counts, the task tree, the marked rows) is the same everywhere, so the three surfaces cannot drift. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-timeline-shared
go-timeline-shared-css
ONE stylesheet for the shared timeline component: every surface (report, hand-off, book) embeds this constant verbatim and carries no local variant, so the surfaces cannot drift apart visually. file: product/engine-go/report_assets.go implements: go-timeline-shared-css
go-toc-order
The table of contents OWNS the order: a mode-toc manifest lists the chapters as a markdown list, nested entries placing the decks. A chapter never knows its own position; the Order slot stays the fallback for a workspace without a toc. A chapter the toc misses appends at the END, visibly. Never a silent drop. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: go-toc-order
go-trace-collapsible
Homogeneous fan-outs fold (owner ruling, the M2 sessions): a parent with traceClusterMin or more same-type, single-parent LEAF children renders them as ONE typed cluster node. The type keeps its place and its color. The cluster joins the parent by a DOUBLE line (two parallel bezier edges; the node wears the double border). Opening the cluster shows the BUSBAR INTERIOR, the onion-cluster law (req-onion-clusters): a coreless box, the parent lane as an identified input bar, every member a block riding it. Multi-parent or child-bearing nodes never fold: folding them would tear real edges off the graph. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-trace-collapsible
go-trace-graph
The trace chapter's per-need graph REUSES the report's per-need grouping, traceTabs/subtree/buildTab via bookGraphTabs, with the book's own tab bake. This is the CLEAN per-need trace: no fold boxes, no (unrooted) tab, since a node reaching no need root does not render, and decisions only when architectural. One page appears per need; a tab bar toggles which need's graph shows. Each node is clickable and opens the details pane, data-node-link, a shared handler; the pane's link transports to the table row. Each node carries a [ch N] badge naming the chapter its item's table renders in, so a reader always knows where to read the detail. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-trace-graph
go-trace-nesting
renderSubs nests subtasks: children (parent: <id>) render beneath their parent, collapsible; leaves render flat. The third level (build/test parents) reflects real hierarchy; selftest:report-nesting guards it. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: , go-trace-nesting
go-truth-in-spec	Recorded truth lives in the repository, under spec/ (adr-no-quack-data-home)
Recorded truth lives in the repository, under spec/ (adr-no-quack-data-home). The attest ledger and the EARS baseline sit in spec/ledger/, and the iteration settings sit in spec/project.toml. That file is also the workspace ROOT MARKER, committed, present in every quackitect repo by construction; the legacy .quack marker stays a fallback for not-yet-migrated vehicles. Engine writes into the repo are exactly the deliberate truth mutations: bless, red-observed, baseline re-record, version pointer. Every regenerable artifact targets the user data home instead, so git status stays clean on any other command. Machine-local overrides come from the ONE global user config. file: product/engine-go/truth.go implements: , , go-truth-in-spec
go-type-colors	ONE color per node type, identical in every surface
ONE color per node type, identical in every surface. The single source is the design language's palette (product/brand/palette.md through the brand overlay; the engine's generic template is the fallback and carries the same list). typeColors parses the "## Type colors" list once per process; no render carries its own literal. The type-colors selftest sweeps the Go source for the trace hexes to keep it that way. file: product/engine-go/resolver.go implements: go-type-colors
go-type-stakeholders	Stakeholder classes are one-note-per-class (project_types/classes/)
Stakeholder classes are one-note-per-class (project_types/classes/). Each project TYPE links the classes it adds, markdown links, the lower bound. The project's class set derives as default's set plus the union over its ITERATIONS' types. It is never a stored flag, so a doc-only iteration cannot flip the project. cyber_physical links both parent sets: union by links, no duplication. file: product/engine-go/i12_red.go implements: go-type-stakeholders
go-user-wording
The sweep's enforcement: every prose/prompt/entry surface is scanned line by line; the word "human" survives only inside the frozen recorded vocabulary (adr-stamp-vocabulary) or voice.md's mention of the banned phrase. The two retired CLI display strings are asserted dead. test-user-wording -> selftest:user-wording file: product/engine-go/i10_red.go implements: go-user-wording
go-vehicle-misuse-guard	This is the cheap lint that catches a driven project composed inside a vehicle's own spec
This is the cheap lint that catches a driven project composed inside a vehicle's own spec. The workspace IS a vehicle, since its engine layer resolves through tools/vendor/. Its spec holds iterations. Its product/ is effectively empty, nothing beyond the seeded brand and method-overlay README. This is exactly the observed field failure. One warning line names the fix. file: product/engine-go/defer.go implements: go-vehicle-misuse-guard
go-verdict-cache
There is one JSON verdict map in the data home (adr-verdict-cache): test id maps to {input hash, build id, result, ms}. The build identity is the sha256 self-hash of the running binary (adr-build-identity). A rebuild always invalidates, so a forgotten version bump cannot lie. The evaluators, the tests-pass battery and gateState's selftest checks, consult the map through runSelftestCached and re-run ONLY on a miss: an edited input or a new build. Verdicts of both colors are recorded, since determinism makes a red verdict as cacheable as a green one. Spike-proven at M5: this key discipline cannot serve a stale verdict. file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: , , go-verdict-cache
go-verdict-guard	The two trust guards wrap the ONE verdict-write path (adr-verdict-write-guard), inside runSelftestCached
The two trust guards wrap the ONE verdict-write path (adr-verdict-write-guard), inside runSelftestCached. A run that consulted a busy resource guard is discarded, never recorded; the i21 poisoned-cache class dies at the write. A first green on a CURRENT-iteration test node with no red record and no exemption is withheld and flagged, the red ritual, engine-enforced. Historical iterations are untouched. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: , go-verdict-guard
go-verdict-link
Every DONE check surfaces its VERDICT: the bless attestation, actor · short-hash, for a review check, or "engine-verified" for an executed check, read from the attest log. So a DONE check shows WHY it passed, even when NO milestone evidence doc exists. The optional verdict_href deep-links the M<n>-*.md doc when one is present. selftest:report-verdict guards it. file: product/engine-go/report.go implements: go-verdict-link
go-verdict-order	candidateClaimFindings flags a candidate chosen or rejected by more than one decision as a finding
candidateClaimFindings flags a candidate chosen or rejected by more than one decision as a finding. The render stays deterministic, a sorted adr walk. But a double claim is a content error the owner must resolve, never a silent first-wins. file: product/engine-go/i12x_red.go implements: go-verdict-order
go-verdict-surgical	This is surgical, not wholesale
This is surgical, not wholesale. Green verdicts survive the re-baseline. They stay self-validating on (input hash, buildID) and can only go stale through a change those keys already catch. Red verdicts die here. A FAIL recorded against the OLD golden shares input and build after a content-only re-baseline, and would be served forever, the stale-FAIL wedge. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-verdict-surgical
go-verify-feedback	A re-running battery announces itself once on stderr BEFORE the first test
A re-running battery announces itself once on stderr BEFORE the first test. It names each test that runs longer than one second, the responsiveness guide: visible feedback within a second. A fully cached run stays silent; silence means nothing ran. feedbackW is the selftest seam. file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: go-verify-feedback
go-verify-pin
A battery run PINS the on-disk binary at start (a fresh hash, never the process memo) and re-checks it at the end. A mid-run swap means every recorded verdict belongs to a superseded build. The run RE-EXECUTES itself once (the new binary, the same arguments) so the work lands under the final build. A second swap refuses with the recovery named; a build storm should not chase its own tail. The wave order carries this early so every later build step inherits the protection (the owner's wired-wave ruling). file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: go-verify-pin
go-views-home	The views home is BOOK CONTENT (`fig: views-home` in the orientation chapter)
The views home is BOOK CONTENT (`fig: views-home` in the orientation chapter). It opens with the DOCUMENT OVERVIEW: one line per chapter with its link. That line derives from the book structure at render time, the same order and numbers the shell uses, never a hand-maintained list. Then come the derived documents: the deck manifests baked into this same file, compiled from book content only, one row each with its present button. The reader views moved to the stakeholder rows, a view pill per reader. No preset table renders here. An empty population says so out loud. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , , go-views-home
go-virtual-edges	Edge properties resolve from the GRAPH when the file lacks them
Edge properties resolve from the GRAPH when the file lacks them. After migration the frontmatter no longer carries verifies, refines, and similar keys, but the loader reconstructed the adjacency. So a query sees exactly what frontmatter storage showed. Obsidian previews of edge-driven views go empty post-migration, the named, owner-accepted cost. The book is the truth. file: product/engine-go/base.go implements: go-virtual-edges
go-voice-gate	The voice lane arms at zero debt: with the debt drained, a finding fails lint.
file: product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go implements: go-voice-gate
go-voice-lint
The statement lint, ADVISORY like the terms lane: an authored statement that joins clauses with a spaced dash, or runs a sentence past the length bound, draws a flag. Authored = a typed trace node; task/gate prefills stay out of scope. file: product/engine-go/i22_laws.go implements: go-voice-lint
go-voice-prose
The voice lint learns evidence prose: a sentence chaining three or more separator-joined items (comma or semicolon, adr-ke46cra) flags as an unrendered list. Exemption tokens load from method config (prose-exemptions.json) so an exemption edit needs no rebuild. Advisory until its debt drains. file: product/engine-go/i25_hygiene.go implements: go-voice-prose
go-vv-exceptions
The verdict-first block (the no-green-ocean law): the verified mass is ONE derived count; every requirement with no verifying test renders prominently by name before the full matrix. Zero exceptions collapse to one green sentence. file: product/engine-go/book.go implements: , go-vv-exceptions
go-vv-time-scope	Derived V&V looks backward only
Derived V&V looks backward only. A check computes over trace nodes from its own iteration and earlier; iteration ids are ordered, and non-iteration nodes count as baseline, always in scope. tests-pass filters its suite by inscope above, and the validates-needs digest folds needsDigestAsOf. So mere ADDITION in a later iteration never reopens an earlier verdict. A genuinely failing old test still flips its own iteration red, an honest regression signal, kept. file: product/engine-go/coverage.go implements: go-vv-time-scope
go-walk
next walks the determinizer: pick the version (named, else latest-not-done, else earliest planned), then the next ready gate whose upstream gates are all DONE. The trace is content and never blocks. file: product/engine-go/ops.go implements: go-walk
go-white-label-identity	A rendered book's identity comes from the WORKSPACE, never from the binary's invocation name
A rendered book's identity comes from the WORKSPACE, never from the binary's invocation name. brand() is argv[0]-based, the right seam for console output but the wrong one for a published artifact. A vehicle usually drives an engine binary named quack, and its book must not present the engine as itself (adr-white-label-hybrid). The name source, most explicit first, works like this. First is product/brand/name.txt, the brand layer's name asset, WORKSPACE-ONLY. The engine design fallback is deliberately not consulted; an engine default here would BE the leak. Second is the overlay key's product/<name>, the vehicle's committed product home. Third is the workspace basename. whiteLabelLeaks is the identity guard. It scans ONLY the identity surfaces: title, wordmark. Mentions in prose are legal; identity is the bar, not occurrences. file: product/engine-go/i14_build.go implements: , , , go-white-label-identity
go-why-derived
`why` on a coverage-verified check names the RULE, its computed answer over the check's scope, and the DELTA: exactly which counted inputs fail it. The delta collector mirrors each rule's evaluation but gathers offenders instead of failing fast. tests-pass consults ONLY the verdict cache; a miss reads "unverified at this build". Asking why never triggers a battery. file: product/engine-go/i10_build.go implements: , go-why-derived
go-workspace-base	The engine operates on a selectable WORKSPACE, separate from the ENGINE install
The engine operates on a selectable WORKSPACE, separate from the ENGINE install. ROOT, and all state, SPEC/QUACK/ATTEST/NOTES, is the cwd walk-up by default, or an explicit --base/-C target. So one engine drives its own or ANOTHER project's workspace, sebot base-style, like git -C. ENGINE, the binary plus vendored resources, resolves from the executable's own location, independent of the workspace. In self mode the two roots coincide, and behaviour is unchanged. file: product/engine-go/engine.go implements: , , go-workspace-base
integrate-prompt	The integrate prompt is a documented path: vendor, build, configure, overlay, run
The integrate prompt is a documented path: vendor, build, configure, overlay, run. It carries a worked example for an external vehicle to run on the quackitect engine. The engine is vendored under tools/vendor/. One `start init` scaffolds it. The launcher bootstraps the global binary (adr-retire-legacy-lanes: no sidecar data lanes, no repo-local engine copy). integrate: run a vehicle on the quackitect engine. integrate: run a vehicle on the quackitect engine file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/integrate.md implements: integrate-prompt
method-adjudication	Rule 3 is adjudication: FILL versus ADJUDICATE
Rule 3 is adjudication: FILL versus ADJUDICATE. The agent may bless a killer only on the user's explicit, gate-specific authorization (actor=agent). A user "y" to a presented handover pager IS that authorization, recorded actor=user as a console bless. Rule 3: the user adjudicates the gates. 3. The user adjudicates the gates file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md implements: , method-adjudication
method-ai-drafting	This is the drafting method
This is the drafting method. The AI writes every first draft of book prose FROM injected context: the manifest's referenced nodes, the glossary terms, the audience row, the voice. It stamps every prose unit with its involvement mark at write time. Unmarked prose has no path into the book; the emitter refuses it. Later touches adjust the mark on the surface-versus-core line. draft: how book prose gets written. draft: how book prose gets written file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/draft.md implements: method-ai-drafting
method-apply-default-lane	This is the mechanical-edit lane, named in the method
This is the mechanical-edit lane, named in the method. quack apply is the DEFAULT lane for a mechanical bulk edit (byte-exact old, dry-run first, all-or-nothing). Editor tooling stays the lane for a single edit. A byte-safe scripted edit is the recorded exception, never the default. Editing lane: how a change reaches the files file: product/quackitect/method/rigor/_shared/implementation.md implements: method-apply-default-lane
method-bootstrap	On "start a new project" the agent runs a fixed onboarding
On "start a new project" the agent runs a fixed onboarding. It confirms intent to start an iteration, asks the target folder, and asks vendor-engine versus drive-from-inside stubs. Then it scaffolds, start init or start stubs, lands in the workspace, and immediately opens the first iteration's M1 vision interview. A workspace with zero iterations auto-triggers this framing instead of dead-ending on a status board. The README leads with this flow. The raw clone/build CLI is a slim "get the engine" step beneath it. file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/integrate.md implements: , , method-bootstrap
method-ch3-mech
ch3 is mechanized, with canned units and pooled views for the context: a neighbours table, then the star, and the design input register. That register is ONE faceted table over every input type: use cases and functions included, folded in by owner ruling (req-design-input-register). Qualities and constraints are filterable TYPE values there, never own sections. A quality row's expand carries its six scenario fields. The stakeholder tensions sit at the chapter bottom. The chapter OPENS with IFU prose, never a technical needs list (owner ruling, req-ch3-needs-intro). The authored residue is the context prose and the deferred functions unit. What the system must do. What the system must do file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-design-input.md implements: , method-ch3-mech
method-ch4-mech	ch4 is mechanized, current-state only, with TWO spine subchapters
ch4 is mechanized, current-state only, with TWO spine subchapters. Part A is ARCHITECTURE. It contains the structural-models section as ONE auto-generated table, a row per declared model, with the figure and its derived informed-by decision links in the row expand. It also contains the partitioning onion with interface connections and tagged force-rationales, and the type-gated budgets. Part B is DETAILED DESIGN: the auto-generated design-regions table, a row per design element, responsibility brief-promoted, with the expand carrying file and implements links, plus the design rules view. Ledes are canned, and every figure line is its own unit. The drivers table, the generated asr-list figure, and the kind examples render with the appendix guidance. The candidates matrix and the decision tables live with the project chapter, since the design chapter documents what IS and the project chapter documents how it came to be. The authored residue is the type-gated budgets unit. What we built. What we built file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-design-output.md implements: , method-ch4-mech
method-chapter-canning
ch5 through ch8 generic ledes ship canned: the V&V split, the strategy fields, the matrix and waiver intros, and the ch6 ledger prose. The annex lede and the ch8 quarantine and about-text ship canned too. The authored residue is exactly the approach paragraph, the guides, the validation tracing, and the type-gated units. How we know it works. How we know it works file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-verification-validation.md implements: method-chapter-canning
method-contract-delivery
The contract reaches the agent through each harness's native, auto-loaded channel: CLAUDE.md for Claude Code, .github/copilot-instructions.md for Copilot. It arrives as an unbroken chain of ACTIVE, enumerated imperatives. The pointer file commands following AGENTS.md to the letter. AGENTS.md commands reading this file in full, paraphrasing its specifics back, and confirming you will obey. It is never a passive pointer; every link is a command. The paraphrase is the detectable proof the rules loaded. Attest is the structural backstop when it doesn't. file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md implements: , , method-contract-delivery
method-criteria-items	Success criteria live ON the need
Success criteria live ON the need. Each need carries its own `## Success criteria` pass lines. The standalone crit- node type is retired. The needs register renders in the delta section with the pass lines one expand away. The ch5 validation view traces the same rows to their outcomes, the V-model's outer arc as data. The big idea. The big idea file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-motivation.md implements: , method-criteria-items
method-decision-rationale	A recorded decision always carries its why
A recorded decision always carries its why. The skeleton mandates the MADR-shaped rationale body: context, options, decision, consequences. So the book renders reasoning, never a stub placeholder. A decision without its why is half a record. file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/decision.md implements: method-decision-rationale
method-doc-skeletons	The deck, preset, and agent-guide manifests ship as skeletons
The deck, preset, and agent-guide manifests ship as skeletons. The engine modes predate them; only the shapes were missing. Slots keep the drafting duty loud. file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/man-deck.md implements: method-doc-skeletons
method-doc-tests
For a non-code deliverable the testdesigner pushes each acceptance criterion toward class:executed wherever it is MECHANIZABLE. That means a check with a fixed expected result, mechanical evaluation, and a gating pass/fail, the FIT/doctest/Vale pattern. The irreducible residue stays class:review. It is the same executed/review spectrum the engine already walks. file: product/quackitect/method/roles/README.md implements: method-doc-tests
method-ears-block
The compose reference carries the five EARS pattern shapes and the authoring instruction, integrated with the tests-red and roles content. New requirement statements at systematic rigor are authored EARS-shaped at compose time and checked by quack lint. Historical non-EARS statements carry explicit ears exempt markers citing adr-grandfathers-historical. EARS: requirement statements (systematic rigor). EARS: requirement statements (systematic rigor) file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/compose-reference.md implements: method-ears-block
method-item-templates
There are twenty item templates, one per kind: term, reference, fundamental, method, stakeholder, requirement, usecase, candidate, decision, test-case, verification-record, raid, rationale, need, connection, rule, budget, criterion, design-element, guide. Every field is declared with its name, semantics, and value range, the Attributierungsschema duty. Scales are 0..1 floats everywhere. Budget carries margin, so the summation lint flags erosion. Kind-specific guidance rides one template where kinds exist. item templates: one shape per kind. item templates: one shape per kind file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/README.md implements: , , method-item-templates
method-lean-trace
Lean rigor carries the derived coverage checks, req-traced, req-has-test, adr-traced, designs-realized, in addition to tests-pass. So even at the lean floor the trace is structurally enforced. Only the user review-gate count is reduced, to one review per concern. Lean: the checklist template. Lean: checklist template file: product/quackitect/method/rigor/lean/checklist.md implements: method-lean-trace
method-map
The methodology map has one note per named method, covering essence, when-to-use, and pointer-level source, in method/map. It is a quiver, not a gate; the agent pulls entries opportunistically. The book renders the folder as a chapter. map: the methodology catalog. map: the methodology catalog file: product/quackitect/method/map/README.md implements: method-map
method-methods-view	Methods route themselves
Methods route themselves. A method note names its chapters in applies_chapters. Each chapter embeds its own view of the pooled methods.base. It is demand-driven; no chapter hard-codes a method. file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/README.md implements: method-methods-view
method-note-tags	Rationale and decision nodes accept a tags list, a whitelisted key
Rationale and decision nodes accept a tags list, a whitelisted key. Base queries filter on it via file.hasTag. This is the hook behind the tensions, force, and strategy views. rationale: one cross-cutting why, keyed to its clause. rationale â€” one cross-cutting why, keyed to its clause file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/rationale.md implements: method-note-tags
method-onboarding-surface	The onboarding surface is authored CONTENT with one contract
The onboarding surface is authored CONTENT with one contract. The fundamentals chapter carries an Onboarding section as its second unit. That is the newcomer arc: what this is, the prerequisites, where to go next. It only ROUTES. It links the walkthrough deck by its anchor and the guides table through the audience-preset fragment. The deck stays the one artifact. The deck (spec/ifu0002-pong.md) walks the whole arc in order: clone, prerequisites, install, each systematic milestone as the newcomer experiences it. Then comes the delivered Pong game pictured in a figure, then the honest discussion. Its prerequisites slide names exactly what the RUNME scripts check, so slides and installer never disagree. Its Minutes lines are the real timed walk, recorded per milestone, spike timings, 624 s, so the pace stays reconstructable. Discoverability is a triangle around that one deck: the onboarding section, the guides-table deck row, typed honestly as a deck, and the README's further-reading Pages link. All three point by the same anchor. selftest:onboarding-surface and selftest:pong-deck hold this contract against the rendered book. The onboarding surface is the stranger's route in. The onboarding surface: the stranger's route in file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/dependencies.md implements: , , , , , , , method-onboarding-surface
method-quality-scenarios
Quality requirements declare the six-part scenario as FIELDS: stimulus_source, stimulus, artifact, environment, response, response_measure. So the qualities view renders them grouped by quality facet. A quality without a measure is a mood. requirement: one checkable claim on the system. requirement â€” one checkable claim on the system file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/requirement.md implements: method-quality-scenarios
method-research-ref	Research (prior-art at M3, field/retro scans at start) is a REFERENCED capability, never vendored
Research (prior-art at M3, field/retro scans at start) is a REFERENCED capability, never vendored. Claude Code delegates to the built-in deep-research skill (parallel fan-out + adversarial verification); any other harness runs the SAME method inline. Do NOT copy a harness's research implementation into the repo. file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/engage.md implements: method-research-ref
method-role-seam	A role is a strategy behind a stable FILE-BASED interface
A role is a strategy behind a stable FILE-BASED interface. Default binding for every role is INLINE; the driving agent performs it, today's behaviour. Bindings resolve at seed: iteration.roles, then type.roles, then default(inline). The engine never runs a role. It only gates the output: tests-red, designs-realized, tests-pass. file: product/quackitect/method/roles/README.md implements: method-role-seam
method-runme-orientation	RUNME.ps1 and RUNME.sh follow one contract: check, install, verify, orient
RUNME.ps1 and RUNME.sh follow one contract: check, install, verify, orient. They never build a project. Check looks for each dependency before touching anything. Install runs Winget on Windows, or the package manager with the go.dev tarball as a fallback on Linux. Verify runs `quack version`, which bootstraps the global binary from this repo's vendored source. Orient prints the next steps once verification succeeds: starting a project through the agent, or through `quack start stubs`, and where the book's onboarding chapter lives. Neither script creates a workspace or a project. A deterministic installer carries no LLM and cannot meaningfully author one. Windows only opens the book with the explicit `-OpenBook` flag; without it, the script just prints the path. Linux stays headless and only prints paths, so a CI log shows them and the exit code stays honest. RUNME scripts: install, verify, orient. RUNME scripts: install, verify, orient file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/dependencies.md implements: , , method-runme-orientation
method-shared-implementation
There is ONE shared implementation fragment, imported by BOTH lean and systematic: single source, no duplication. It replaces the old lean L4 and systematic M6 build content. gather() bundles it with the rigor source. The composer inlines it at the importing milestone's gate density: lean means one review gate plus derived checks, and systematic means one sub-gate per acceptance item. Implementation: shared fragment (test-first). Implementation: shared fragment (test-first) file: product/quackitect/method/rigor/_shared/implementation.md implements: method-shared-implementation
method-spec-template	The spec template set has nine chapter manifests
The spec template set has nine chapter manifests. Their units open with a stable heading and carry a permanent fill comment, Contents/Motivation/Form/Sources plus a machine-readable gating tag, a pre-seeded provenance mark, and a slot placeholder. The canned base queries ship beside them. start stubs instantiates the set into a bare workspace. Where a reader-facing view would otherwise render empty, the set ships a clearly-marked ex- example seed that the author replaces or deletes. Its statement opens EXAMPLE, and its body says delete me. the spec template is nine chapters that drive a specification. the spec template: nine chapters that drive a specification file: product/quackitect/method/templates/documents/spec/README.md implements: , method-spec-template
method-stakeholder-links	Stakeholder notes carry preset and guide links; no reverse join exists in the pinned subset
Stakeholder notes carry preset and guide links; no reverse join exists in the pinned subset. The matrix renders concern, preset, and guide columns. One note feeds the ch0 reader matrix and the ch3 concerns table. stakeholder: one project stakeholder of a derived class. stakeholder â€” one project stakeholder of a derived class file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/stakeholder.md implements: method-stakeholder-links
method-templates	There is one method/templates home for ALL templates
There is one method/templates home for ALL templates. Frontmatter metadata, applies_rigor and applies_type, is the lower bound, and judgment reaches beyond it with a retro mention. The eight milestone evidence templates are the first population. Straying is questioned at the docs-complete review. Improvements flow both ways, template to document and back. templates: one home for all of them. templates: one home for all of them file: product/quackitect/method/templates/README.md implements: , , method-templates
method-verify-method	Method and level are declared FIELDS on test items, rendered in the verification matrix's columns
Method and level are declared FIELDS on test items, rendered in the verification matrix's columns. The requirement item's field is named verify_method, because the bare verify key is the executed-check referent and must never collide. test-case: one verification or validation check. test-case â€” one verification or validation check file: product/quackitect/method/templates/items/test-case.md implements: method-verify-method
planning-method	quack start composes the project type over a rigor floor
quack start composes the project type over a rigor floor. It tailors it to the idea, above the floor, never removing a killer. It runs a plausibility check. It bakes a self-contained checklist of gates and subtasks. file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/engage.md implements: planning-method
refine-method	Refine is a track orthogonal to rigor
Refine is a track orthogonal to rigor. Run an expedition in a spike outside the repo. Promote the keeper backward through the owner's gate, which reopens the affected cone via suspect. Then re-walk. It is the default working mode in late phases. refine (run an expedition, promote the keeper backward) is the default in late phases. refine (run an expedition, promote the keeper backward) ← default in late phases file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/engage.md implements: refine-method
versioning-method	A version IS an iteration
A version IS an iteration. Create a planned one by writing iteration.md; ids are i_NNNN_name; only engage start mints versions; notes stay trunk-owned. file: product/quackitect/method/prompts/engage.md implements: versioning-method

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7.3.1 Design rules

Detailed design honors the rules below. A rule is internally chosen governance - drift against it is detectable because it is written.

Design rules

name	brief
no embedded data	The engine binary carries no embedded data
The engine binary carries no embedded data. Resources resolve from the live layer beside it, never from a frozen copy inside the executable. Owner ruling 2026-07-16. scope: the engine binary and its build refers: adr-m3zsxta rule-no-embedded-data Rationale (not load-bearing) An embedded copy freezes at compile time. The layer it copied keeps moving, and the two drift apart silently. The live layer stays the single source: templates, method prompts, and schemas resolve from the vendored source and the workspace at run time. Violating this costs a stale-resource class of bugs that no test sees, because the binary carries its own truth.

name

brief

no embedded data

The engine binary carries no embedded data

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8. V&V verification and validation: thing built right, right thing built.

8.1 How we know it works

Verification checks the thing was built right - every requirement against its evidence. Validation checks the right thing was built - the outcome against the needs and the success criteria. Both derive from the below; the book can never claim more than the states. The check-state lifecycle behind every verdict renders as a model example with the appendix guidance.

8.2 The verdict first

The count below says how much is verified. Anything unverified renders here by name, before everything else - a hole never hides on page nine of a green table.

✓ 264 / 264 requirements verified.

8.3 Strategy

Each test declares two fields, and the matrix renders both:

its method: test, analysis, inspection, or demonstration
its level: unit, integration, system, or acceptance

Verify on models early: an analytic reference case is the cheapest experiment. Integration-level evidence outweighs paper compliance - written compliance did not stop a receiver failing in orbit.

8.4 Verification

Every requirement below stands against its verifying evidence, cumulative across iterations. An empty row is a mechanically visible unverified requirement - the matrix cannot hide one, and the verdict block above renders every such row by name. A turns a row verified; a changed input turns it .

Verification matrix

need

name	brief
engine selftest	The product package imports cleanly.
verifies: state-model engine-selftest result: pass · 1817ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fedbcfe1239b Rationale (not load-bearing) A minimal executed check: the machine adjudicates it by running `verify`. Demonstrates the executed verifier class alongside the judgment decisions — result is cached in .quack/evidence/ keyed by the input hash, re-run only when inputs change.
adopt honest	A blocked adoption reports itself and a pinned park slot never wedges the next one.
verifies: req-adopt-honest test-adopt-honest result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 316d5c5428e5
ai provenance	AI-drafted prose enters and renders with provenance marks that only the user reduces.
verifies: req-ai-provenance test-ai-provenance result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9afdf63e4c76 Statements 1. The drafting prompt in the method layer mandates graph-context injection and style exemplars; the emitter refuses a prose unit without provenance marks. (was test-ai-drafting) 2. An AI-drafted fixture paragraph renders with three marks; a user-reduced value renders reduced; a paragraph can never render more marks than its recorded value. (was test-provenance-icons)
answer validated
A decision answer whose token is not one of the ask's declared option ids does not resolve the ask; a declared option does. verifies: req-ask-loop test-answer-validated result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 0d49b09929e5 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
apply default lane	The shipped method prose names quack apply the default lane for a mechanical bulk edit.
verifies: req-apply-default-lane test-apply-default-lane result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 81dafead48b3 Rationale (not load-bearing) The selftest:contract-rules pattern - a doc-test over the shipped method source. Arrives RED at M6.
apply field ops
set-field replaces a scalar in place, inserts a missing field inside the block, and refuses no-frontmatter files and nested blocks. verifies: req-apply-field-ops test-apply-field-ops result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 2f97efaf456d Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: an insert that lands after the closing fence would corrupt the body while containing the right text, so the insert position is asserted against the fence.
apply general
An apply manifest mixing create, write, and replace operations dry-runs first, lands all-or-nothing, and logs the touched files with outcome; one failing operation rolls back the whole manifest. verifies: req-apply-general test-apply-general result: pass · 2437ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 45c4e700322d
apply manifest
quack apply replaces exact strings from a manifest byte-safely, refuses ambiguous and missing matches whole (no partial application), and dry-run leaves every file untouched. verifies: req-apply-manifest test-apply-manifest result: pass · 3099ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input eebd1360e5e9 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
apply undo
An applied manifest reverts byte-exactly with one undo command; a drifted file refuses the undo; the journal keeps only the last few applies. verifies: req-apply-undo test-apply-undo result: pass · 10433ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 95058e7936e6 Rationale (not load-bearing) The guard covers the class: revert-exact, drift-refusal, and the bounded journal.
ask context
An ask sent with context renders the pager card first and the narrative below it; chat and phone carry the same text. verifies: req-ask-context test-ask-context result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 5698682a2bc2 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ask hardening
Concurrent ask saves merge instead of clobbering, await reloads its store each loop, and an answer stamped older than its ask is refused. verifies: req-ask-hardening test-ask-hardening result: pass · 20ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e19b754c2c4b Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ask loop	The ask loop runs end to end
The ask loop runs end to end. Each ask is rendered, dispatched, distinctly gated, resolved exactly once, and recorded with its actor. verifies: req-ask-loop test-ask-loop result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 6914b3d2044d Statements 1. A well-formed answer on a pending correlation id records the adjudication and resolves the ask. (was test-answer-apply) 2. A late or duplicate answer on a resolved ask changes nothing; the first resolution stands. (was test-answer-idempotent) 3. A ready gate ask reaches every paired channel adapter exactly once. (was test-ask-dispatch) 4. A rendered ask carries the question, one to three id-labelled options, and a unique correlation id. (was test-ask-format) 5. An unanswered ask expires at its timeout and its notification clears or supersedes. (was test-ask-timeout) 6. A gate ask and a decision ask render distinguishably on the device. (was test-gate-distinct) 7. A mobile gate answer records actor user with the channel named in the record. (was test-mobile-actor) 8. Two pending asks resolve independently, each by its own correlation id. (was test-multi-ask)
attest freshness
A resident process sees a ledger bless written by another process; the attest memo never masks an external write. verifies: req-evidence-honesty test-attest-freshness result: pass · 4ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8e1ce4fba0ed Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
authoring cheap
After a spec content change, one quack build yields a green honest board: no stale verdict survives, no second build is needed, no false delta row shows. verifies: req-authoring-cheap test-authoring-cheap result: pass · 2447ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 0b0014e581f5 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
await console exit
A running await ends when the call log records an engine call from another process on the workspace, and reports the handback to drain mode. verifies: req-await-console-exit test-await-console-exit result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 60c655746b1e Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
base view queries	Deterministic base view queries evaluate over node data including map values.
verifies: req-base-view-queries test-base-view-queries result: pass · 206ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4a2d12d06549 Statements 1. A fixture base block filters, sorts, limits, and groups with counts over fixture notes deterministically - two evaluations are byte-identical; a volatile function and an out-of-subset construct each refuse with an error. (was test-base-views) 2. A node with a one-level frontmatter map parses; its entries are readable; a two-level map refuses; unknown top-level keys still refuse. (was test-ratings-map)
battery batch	A repeat selftest with unchanged content answers from the cache without re-running.
verifies: req-battery-batch test-battery-batch result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 5cc28655a740
battery fail at end	A scope with two seeded failures reports both and exits once at the end.
verifies: req-battery-fail-at-end test-battery-fail-at-end result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c562e4ebd63f
battery isolation	Two concurrent fixture homes never collide and the sweep waits for the battery end.
verifies: req-battery-isolation test-battery-isolation result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f345ca6f6f8d
battery parallel	Independent selftests overlap in time on a multi-core host.
verifies: req-battery-parallel test-battery-parallel result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b4d4b986191e
battery progress	A battery run prints one numbered progress line per test.
verifies: req-battery-progress test-battery-progress result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cedd282efb7d
battery tiers
The build fast-path runs only the fast selftest tier; quack selftest runs the full battery; the fast tier contains the build-invariant cases (parity, golden root, parser). verifies: req-selftest-tiers test-battery-tiers result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 6c104af86d06
binary budget	A measure over target warns, over cap refuses, and within budget stays silent.
verifies: req-binary-budget test-binary-budget result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f48adb632d49
bless preflight	A direct bless refuses unfinished prerequisites and missing first-time review evidence.
verifies: req-bless-preflight test-bless-preflight result: pass · 7ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d91b709e68b0
book artifact
The book compiles to one self-contained, accessible, machine-digestible HTML artifact with an mdbook-style shell. verifies: req-book-artifact test-book-artifact result: pass · 348ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 12b414ab7bcc Statements 1. The rendered fixture book carries landmarks and a heading hierarchy; every interactive toggle is a real focusable element, never a click-only div; the theme's contrast pairs pass the AA bound. (was test-book-a11y) 2. Every content layer of a probe node is present in the emitted HTML source; the script block contains no content-creating call. (was test-book-dom-static) 3. A fixture manifest with a figure reference renders it inline as text-based markup; the book makes no external request for it; the figure's text content survives plain-text extraction. (was test-book-figures) 4. The rendered book carries the sidebar shell: the chapter TOC, the search input, the filter-expression input, and the details card - all static DOM, script toggles only. (was test-book-shell) 5. A rendered book is one file; it names no external URL in any src, href-to-asset, or fetch. (was test-book-single-file) 6. Plain text extraction of a rendered fixture book preserves the layer labels, the normative statements, and the node trust metadata; nothing load-bearing exists only in script. (was test-llm-digestible)
book graph membership	The book trace graph pages one tab per need, with that need as the tab's root
The book trace graph pages one tab per need, with that need as the tab's root. It carries only decisions of frontmatter kind architecture and leaves no unrooted stray. The display fold that relabels kind-less decisions as architecture never feeds the graph. verifies: req-system-overview test-book-graph-membership result: pass · 63479ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ac5f6af43b3a Rationale (not load-bearing) Guards the class the post-ship batch regressed: the book graph folded the kind-less "general" decisions in beside the honest architecture-kind set, and the needs stopped reading as the per-need roots. Arrives RED against the folded build; the fix restores the pre-fold, kind-honest membership.
book shell nav	The book shell organizes navigation: section paging, the deck views listing, and the title card.
verifies: req-book-shell-nav test-book-shell-nav result: pass · 27ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4ebd9ba2b8dc Statements 1. The sidebar views render a slide-decks subsection listing the decks. (was test-deck-views-section) 2. The rendered book pages one top-level section at a time. (was test-section-paging) 3. The rendered book carries no page header and the title opens the info detail card. (was test-shell-title-card)
book trust	The book renders its exact ledger truth: live state, stamped identity, drift flagged at ship.
verifies: req-book-trust test-book-trust result: pass · 1049ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d337f20accb7 Statements 1. A committed book differing from a fresh render is flagged; regeneration over an unchanged spec is a no-op. (was test-book-drift) 2. A fixture with a SUSPECT node renders that node marked; a DONE node renders unmarked with its verdict metadata. (was test-book-honesty) 3. A rendered book carries the merkle root, the active iteration, and the engine version; the stamped root equals the live root at render time. (was test-book-identity)
boot sequence	The boot command emits the fixed sequence and its completion state.
verifies: req-boot-sequence test-boot-sequence result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input df165e0925c6 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
build cheap	quack build and dispatch stay cheap: the compile is skipped when unchanged, verdicts kept surgically.
verifies: req-build-cheap test-build-cheap result: pass · 8953ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input dbd535e76377 Statements 1. A second quack build with unchanged engine source skips the compile; a build after touching a .go file compiles. (was test-build-fast-path) 2. After a content-only re-baseline, an unchanged test's verdict is served from cache; a verdict whose node hash or buildID changed is dropped (the i11 stale-FAIL wedge stays dead). (was test-verdict-surgical)
busy no record	A run that meets a busy guard leaves no cache entry.
verifies: req-busy-no-record test-busy-no-record result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9ad480507d46
call log lifecycle	A capped call log is retained and its aggregate surrendered at the retro.
verifies: req-call-log-lifecycle test-call-log-lifecycle result: pass · 203ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 537f86cb1484 Statements 1. quack calls --summary on a fixture log prints counts, failure rate, slow calls, and channel mix, then deletes the log; a second run reports an empty log. (was test-calls-summary) 2. A call log grown past its cap is trimmed to the cap with the newest lines kept. (was test-log-retention)
candidate decisions	Decisions choosing among rated candidates are modeled and rendered deterministically in their owning chapters.
verifies: req-candidate-decisions test-candidate-decisions result: pass · 212ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 28786f186922 Statements 1. Fixture candidates with ratings render a candidates-against-criteria matrix; a decision's chosen and rejected links derive the candidate status; a rating outside zero to one refuses. (was test-candidates) 2. Fixture decisions of the three kinds each render in their owning chapter view - architecture in design output, waiver in verification and validation, project in the project chapter - and an unknown kind refuses. (was test-decision-kinds) 3. A candidate claimed by two decisions is a lint finding; the rendered verdict is identical across repeated renders. (was test-verdict-order)
candidates timeline
A reviewer reaches an iteration's candidates and decisions from the project timeline and finds only the current architecture in the design chapter. verifies: req-decision-rendering test-candidates-timeline no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-candidates-timeline as agreed at the bs20 design discussion (2026-07-08).
card empty register	A decision card with an empty register still renders options and a default.
verifies: req-register-render test-card-empty-register result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8c0db455aa74 The class guard for the i22 m1 card defect. Reproduce first, then observe red.
card evidence	A fill with linked evidence renders an evidence line on its card; one without renders none.
verifies: req-card-evidence test-card-evidence result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a118468023f3
ch2 ifu intro	The rendered book carries chapter 2 as Introduction and IFUs with the 2.1 and 2.2 split.
verifies: req-ch2-ifu-intro test-ch2-ifu-intro result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input bf0b8aed34f8 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ch3 needs intro	The needs chapter opens with linking prose before the needs list.
verifies: req-ch3-needs-intro test-ch3-needs-intro result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input dc1561ce336c Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ch6 no graph	The project chapter renders the decisions table and no decisions graph.
verifies: req-decision-rendering test-ch6-no-graph result: pass · 3ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 79fe0c22c787 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
channel adapters	Every device channel is a zero-dependency adapter behind the ask seam.
verifies: req-channel-adapters test-channel-adapters no recorded result yet Statements 1. The adapter sources import the Go standard library only. (was test-adapter-zero-dep) 2. A dummy adapter behind the seam receives asks and returns answers with no ask-loop change. (was test-channel-seam) 3. The ntfy adapter sends an ask to the topic and picks the answer from since-polling. (was test-ntfy-channel)
chapter canning
The ch5 to ch8 skeletons carry no slot in canned units; authored fills remain only for the approach paragraph, the guides, the validation tracing, and the type-gated units. verifies: req-chapters-canned test-chapter-canning result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cee019b883eb
chapter placement	Reader entry and guidance content sit in their owning chapters.
verifies: req-chapter-placement test-chapter-placement result: pass · 21ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b24b03fb93c3 Statements 1. The agent guide renders inside the guidance chapter and no reader chapter carries it. (was test-agent-guide-ch8) 2. The guidance chapter renders a subchapter for every audience class, including empty ones. (was test-ch8-audience-subchapters)
chapter titles
Every chapter heading carries only the short title, and the split rule handles both dash and sentence separators. verifies: req-chapter-titles test-chapter-titles result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b4a6fc1f8396 Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: asserting one known chapter passes while another leaks, so every rendered heading is length-bounded besides the pinned ch2 split.
chapters canned	The chapter skeletons ship canned derived units, keeping only judgment fills authored.
verifies: req-chapters-canned test-chapters-canned result: pass · 70ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fde441079d5f Statements 1. A used reference note and a used fundamental render in the fundamentals chapter's lists; an unused one does not render; normative and informative references render apart. (was test-ch2-derived) 2. The ch3 skeleton carries no unfilled slot in its mechanized units, embeds the stakeholder, tensions, usecase, qualities, constraints, and register views, and keeps the functions fill. (was test-ch3-mech) 3. The ch4 skeleton carries canned ledes, every fig line as its own unit, and embeds the strategy decisions and design rules views. (was test-ch4-mech)
cli steer	A bare-CLI ledger command on the agent channel is refused with a pointer to the MCP tools.
verifies: req-cli-steer test-cli-steer result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e40268437188
cold run fixes	The cold-run fix battery holds
The cold-run fix battery holds. The go-bin shim ships where launchers wire it. Init scaffolds connections mode. The stub template carries no trace-entering examples. Defer and retire are registered commands. Config resolves through the engine layer. verifies: req-go-port, req-connections-lanes test-cold-run-fixes result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d8b21ced6be9
comment author	In a live browser session, the sidebar's name field persists per browser and is changeable
In a live browser session, the sidebar's name field persists per browser and is changeable. New comments and replies carry its value. No popup appears anywhere. The session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-author no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment close	In a live browser session, closing a thread hides its highlight while the island still carries the full thread
In a live browser session, closing a thread hides its highlight while the island still carries the full thread. Reopen restores it. Delete removes it from the island. The session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-close no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment figure fallback
In a live browser session, marking an id-less figure element anchors the comment to the figure's unit anchor; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-figure-fallback no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment figure target
In a live browser session, marking an id-carrying SVG element anchors the comment to that element id; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-figure-target no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment file2list	note --file2list reads a commented copy back as deterministic, role-anonymous note candidates.
verifies: req-comment-file2list test-comment-file2list result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e3b813b96d71 Statements 1. The file2list output for a fixture copy with named authors carries the reader role and no author name. (was test-comment-privacy) 2. quack note --file2list on a commented fixture copy prints every comment as a note candidate (anchor, quote, thread, marks, status); two runs are byte-identical. (was test-comment-readback)
comment layer	The comment layer captures anchored reader feedback in an embedded annotation island and saves it back safely.
verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-layer result: pass · 52115ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 46b0c615760c Statements 1. The emitted book with the comment layer differs from one without only in the island, the layer's root element, and its script - the content region is byte-identical. (was test-comment-dom-static) 2. A fixture island with hostile markup in the comment text renders inert - the annotator writes comment bodies through text assignment only, never markup injection. (was test-comment-escape) 3. A commented fixture copy holds exactly one JSON island; every entry parses against the W3C-shaped schema. (was test-comment-island) 4. A fixture island entry whose target names a unit anchor directly (no selection selectors) parses and appears in the read-back listing. (was test-comment-premark) 5. A fixture island entry with a suggested edit carries both the original quote and the proposed wording; the read-back lists both fields. (was test-comment-suggest)
comment mark prose
In a live browser session on a book copy, selecting prose creates a comment anchored to the enclosing unit anchor with quote and position selectors; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-mark-prose no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Browser interaction - irreducible review residue; the anchor SHAPE it produces is covered by selftest:comment-island.
comment persist	Creating a new comment item keeps unposted textbox content, and save posts every unposted text.
verifies: req-comment-ux-keep test-comment-persist result: pass · 10ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9e8d7941a160 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment save
In a live Chromium session, saving writes the copy back to its own file; reopening shows the comments; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-save no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment save fallback
In a live session without file access, saving offers the commented copy as a download; the download reopens with the comments; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-save-fallback no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment sidebar
In a live browser session, open comments list in the right sidebar in document order; the sidebar minimizes and restores; the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-sidebar no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment threads
In a live browser session, a reply lands in its thread carrying one of the three marks (agree, reject, neutral); the session evidence is recorded. verifies: req-comment-layer test-comment-threads no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
comment ux	A reviewer checks req-comment-ux against the rendered book.
verifies: req-comment-ux-keep test-comment-ux no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-comment-ux (owner review 2026-07-08).
compact renders	A reviewer checks the candidates view, design figures, and verification matrix against the discussed bounds.
verifies: req-compact-derived test-compact-renders no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
cone triage
quack triage lists the suspect cone split into still-holds and needs-re-ruling, and bless --all refuses to touch OPEN gates. verifies: req-cone-triage test-cone-triage result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 3b2527fcfe92 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
config split
The chosen rule-sets load from configuration files and a config edit changes behavior without a rebuild of logic. verifies: req-config-split test-config-split result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e27ac6e82d7e Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
conformance
The conformance check reports convergence, divergence, and absence between a declared model and the code-derived structure. verifies: req-conformance test-conformance result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input eef96d14397a Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
connections code	Connections mode extends to code-derived designs and mint writes.
verifies: req-connections-code test-connections-code result: pass · 299ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 89db4541589b Statements 1. A connection note between two code-derived design ids passes the strict endpoint guard. (was test-conn-code-designs) 2. In a connections-mode fixture workspace, a minted node carries no frontmatter edge keys and its edge lands in the connection lane; the strict referee accepts it. (was test-mint-edge-mode)
connections lanes	Trace edges are stored, minted, migrated, and served through the spec connections lanes.
verifies: req-connections-lanes test-connections-lanes result: pass · 834ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 93447f185f8e Statements 1. quack connections on a fixture id prints its jsonl, note, and code-derived implements edges in deterministic order across two runs. (was test-conn-adjacency) 2. A fixture graph stored with frontmatter edges and the same graph stored with connection edges produce byte-identical node hashes and identical check states. (was test-conn-hash-neutral) 3. A fixture edges.jsonl loads its lines as edges; a malformed line and a dangling endpoint each refuse naming the file and line. (was test-conn-jsonl) 4. The type layer's kind vocabulary declares direction and default lane per kind; an unknown kind refuses at load and at mint. (was test-conn-kinds) 5. A fixture connection note loads as one edge with kind, src, dst, and statement; a note missing a field and a note with a dangling endpoint each refuse naming the file. (was test-conn-notes) 6. A triple present in both lanes refuses the graph naming the duplicate; removing one lane loads clean. (was test-conn-one-lane) 7. Editing a jsonl edge line and editing a connection note body each change the identity root; an untouched workspace re-renders byte-identical. (was test-conn-root) 8. With edges = connections in project.toml, a node carrying a legacy verifies key refuses naming the file and key; in frontmatter mode it loads. (was test-edge-mode) 9. migrate-edges on a fixture converts every edge, prints the audit counts, and refuses on an injected duplicate entry and on an injected adjacency mismatch; the mode flag is written last. (was test-migrate-edges) 10. Minting a directed edge creates it in the kind's default lane; minting the same edge again is a no-op; a symmetric kind mints canonical endpoint order; an unknown kind refuses. (was test-mint-connection) 11. Promoting a jsonl edge removes the line and creates the note with the same triple; a second promote changes nothing. (was test-promote-connection) 12. With connection-stored edges, the vv-matrix fixture query renders the same rows, columns, and groups as with frontmatter edges. (was test-virtual-edges)
context diagram	The context model derives from the neighbour notes
The context model derives from the neighbour notes. Each nbr- note renders as one border-connected node. With no neighbour notes, the figure says so instead of inventing actors. verifies: req-interactive-figures test-context-diagram result: pass · 3ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input bccd0151d8cb Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-context-diagram (owner review 2026-07-08; built on the owner's 2026-07-09 ruling). Mechanized from the review stub: the derivation is pure render logic, so it checks itself.
context model interfaces
Every boundary line of the context model carries its interface label, and a click opens the full interface note. verifies: req-interface-notes test-context-model-interfaces result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b1fe1e62e1af Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: a link anywhere in the book passes a bare contains, so the assertion scopes to the context model's own svg and pins one concrete boundary (the agent lane) by note id and label text.
criteria in needs	A reviewer checks req-criteria-in-needs against the rendered book.
verifies: req-criteria-in-needs test-criteria-in-needs no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-criteria-in-needs (owner review 2026-07-08).
criteria validation	A fixture criterion renders in the motivation chapter view and the validation view traces it to its evidence.
verifies: req-criteria-validation test-criteria-validation result: pass · 13ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cf5c130cd30d
decision rationale	A reviewer scans the decision records and finds no stub or TODO rationale body.
verifies: req-decision-rendering test-decision-rationale no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-decision-rationale (owner ruling 2026-07-08).
deck goto
A details-pane goto whose target sits inside a deck routes through the deck delegation and enters present mode at the target slide; a goto to chapter prose scrolls as before. verifies: req-deck-links test-deck-goto result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 96909d109dcd Rationale (not load-bearing) Bugfix class guard (NOTE-20260712-150519): bookGoto reached deck targets without the delegation the hash rail has, scrolling an off-screen deck. Guards the class - ANY bookGoto entry to a deck target - not just the termref instance. Verifies the existing req-deck-links.
deck links	Opening a deck reflects its stable anchor in the URL
Opening a deck reflects its stable anchor in the URL. Loading with that fragment opens the deck. The anchor derives from the manifest and survives a re-render. The deck section carries a machine-legible slideshow marking with a name and boundary. No deck appears in the table of contents. verifies: req-deck-links, req-deck-semantics test-deck-links result: pass · 132ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ec5ffc7aec39 Rationale (not load-bearing) The deep-link primitive: reflection, jump-on-load, and anchor stability - the three ways a shared link can break.
deck nav usability	The rendered deck clamps navigation at both ends and carries a clickable ESC pill that exits present mode.
verifies: req-deck-nav-usability test-deck-nav-usability result: pass · 26ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 615e0e0eccd8 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
defer excludes coverage
A requirement a defer or veto decision scrap-addresses owes nothing to the coverage rules until its ready_when: no design, no test, no trace hole. verifies: req-trace-model test-defer-excludes-coverage result: pass · 394ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a0429535dc03 Rationale (not load-bearing) Class-guard (bugfix law): found live at i15 b8 - the deferred req-slack-channel holed designs-realized forever. The defer mechanism (scrap edge + ready_when, go-decisions) must carry through the coverage rules. Verifies req-coverage.
derived boards	The book derives its boards, matrices, and figures from graph facts alone, rendering exceptions prominently.
verifies: req-derived-boards test-derived-boards result: pass · 381ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8dbc1823ae6a Statements 1. The block-tree fixture renders design elements and their nesting, not chapter manifests. (was test-block-tree-design) 2. Fixture requirements with facets render a board counting per vocabulary value with a zero-count hole visible; a facet value outside the type layer's vocabulary refuses with an error; the counts carry the register filter hooks. (was test-facet-board) 3. The verification matrix and the stakeholder matrix render from the shipped base queries; the retired figure kinds refuse with a pointer to the query. (was test-fig-tables) 4. A fixture with one failing check and one waived check renders both prominently with a passing-count summary line. (was test-results-exception) 5. One class file exists per stakeholder class; every type file links only existing class files; the derived class set for a fixture project equals the union over its iterations' types. (was test-type-stakeholders)
derived prose
A reviewer finds no mechanically derivable section rendered as authored prose, and the guidance chapter states the rule. verifies: req-compact-derived test-derived-prose no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
design input register	The rendered register folds use cases and functions with need and type filters.
verifies: req-design-input-register test-design-input-register result: pass · 12ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8015dc361a66 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
details full entry	Following a reference shows the full entry: in the details pane where one exists, as a toast on the hand-off.
verifies: req-details-full-entry test-details-full-entry result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ac9136155e32 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
details pane	A reviewer checks req-details-pane against the rendered book.
verifies: req-details-context test-details-pane no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-details-pane (owner review 2026-07-08).
device pairing	A device pairs in one operation with a QR-rendered subscribe link and the safety disclaimers.
verifies: req-device-pairing test-device-pairing result: pass · 89ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c3ba011bf66c Statements 1. The pairing output renders a structurally valid QR matrix (finder, timing, format) encoding the subscribe link, beside the plain link. (was test-pair-qr) 2. One pairing operation mints the credential and prints the disclaimer and the lockscreen instruction. (was test-pairing)
diagram review render
The standalone model render marks a changed element and carries the mark up to its cluster and its ring; the output is one self-contained HTML file with no external request. verifies: req-diagram-review-render test-diagram-review-render result: pass · 881ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d940a91fb344 Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-diagram-review-render. It asserts the propagation up the drill-down and the self-contained property.
divergence suspect	A code change that breaks a declared model flips the conformance check SUSPECT.
verifies: req-divergence-suspect test-divergence-suspect result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f368b49aa62e Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
docs clean	The owner's documentation review round is recorded with its verdicts.
verifies: req-docs-clean test-docs-clean no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) The irreducible review residue (doc-tests law): the owner reads, rules, and the round is recorded in the M5 evidence - no mechanical evaluator can hold this criterion.
draft is truth	The extractor reads the authored model file directly; no transcription artifact exists in the spec.
verifies: req-draft-is-truth test-draft-is-truth result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 10927eec3c2d Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
drawing is spec	A committed Excalidraw drawing in an iteration folder loads without becoming a node or a strict issue.
verifies: req-drawing-is-spec test-drawing-is-spec result: pass · 266ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input aaa19aa952f0 Rationale (not load-bearing) The graph refused to load because a committed drawing opened with the `---` fence and was parsed as a trace node. The recognition rule now rejects an `excalidraw-plugin` frontmatter, so the drawing is ignored unless a requirement links it. The assertion rides the structural-strictness selftest, which owns the recognition rule.
drivers derived
On a fixture spec, the drivers table lists the union of requirements addressed by kind:architecture ADRs and hand-tagged requirements. Each row names its deciding ADRs. A requirement with neither stays absent. verifies: req-drivers-derived test-drivers-derived result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input beac6396fb77
dsm cluster
On a two-clusters-plus-bridge fixture the algorithm separates the two clusters, layers them in bridge direction, and tears nothing; on a directed 3-cycle it tears exactly one edge. verifies: req-dsm-cluster test-dsm-cluster result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ba14bfa2abc3 Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-dsm-cluster on small known fixtures. It asserts the clustering separates two obvious modules and never tears a clean bridge. It asserts a cluster cycle is broken by exactly one tear.
ears baseline
On the shipped tree quack lint reports zero non-exempt EARS findings and a clean tree exits 0; every historical exemption cites adr-grandfathers-historical. verifies: req-ears-authoring test-ears-baseline result: pass · 646ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d02706963ad1 Rationale (not load-bearing) The class guard for the grandfather sweep (NOTE-20260712-113752): after the ~18 historical statements carry their exempt markers, a NEW finding stands out and lint's exit code regains meaning. Verifies the existing req-ears-authoring - the sweep is data, not a new requirement.
empty region message	An empty design region's delta message names the region and the fix.
verifies: req-empty-region-message test-empty-region-message result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e60ce5a76ab3
engine core	The core engine realizes suspect/bless, the fill/adjudicate split, and version-aware walking.
verifies: fill-adjudicate, suspect-bless, versioning test-engine-core result: pass · 1617ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cde4a431ea53 Rationale (not load-bearing) Baseline executed test. Asserts the core engine: suspect/bless exists, the fill/adjudicate split (filled_by recorded separately), and version-aware walking.
evidence md tables	A markdown table in a milestone evidence section renders as an HTML table on the hand-off, never as raw pipes.
verifies: req-evidence-md-tables test-evidence-md-tables result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4c042f3d6beb Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
example content
A reviewer opens each otherwise-empty reader-facing view and confirms it carries one example, marked as an example and safe to delete. verifies: req-seeded-examples test-example-content no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-example-content (owner ruling 2026-07-08).
expedition authority
The refine method carries the expedition invariant: findings hold zero authority, a promotion gate precedes any ledger effect, and interior churn stays off the merkle. verifies: req-expedition test-expedition-authority result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d63aa84c76c0 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
external engine root	The global binary resolves its resource layer LIVE for an external workspace
The global binary resolves its resource layer LIVE for an external workspace. The workspace wins when it carries the layer, else the recorded engine home applies. After one run inside the repo, a complete external stub drives a full-graph command clean. verifies: req-vendor-workspace test-external-engine-root result: pass · 377ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 304dcb2fea2a Rationale (not load-bearing) Class-guard for `bugreport-external-stub-engineroot.md` (owner, 2026-07-08): `engineRoot()` walked for a dead `.quack` ancestor and fell back to the driven workspace, so an external stub lost the type layer and strict refused the example connection. Guards the CLASS (owner rule 2026-07-09): the resolution matrix + the cross-machine chain (no pointer -> one run inside the repo heals it -> the FULL stub skeleton drives clean). Resources resolve LIVE from the engine repo, never a copy - a resource edit there changes every stub (owner ruling). Verifies req-workspace-split. Bugfixes ride the active iteration - no dedicated iteration (owner rule 2026-07-09).
field schemas	Field schemas load from the method layer
Field schemas load from the method layer. Lint reports a node value breaking its schema by node, field, and rule. The schema tester refuses a schema with an unknown type, an out-of-enum default, or a missing tier. verifies: req-field-schemas test-field-schemas result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e043211e0b88 Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
field tier
A fixture schema declares core and deferrable tiers; a node with an unadjudicated core field counts undecided; a node whose only defaults sit in deferrable fields counts complete-with-deferrals. verifies: req-field-tier test-field-tier result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c112e843e0bc
fig fullscreen	A reviewer opens a figure fullscreen with its button, the graph refits, and Escape closes it.
verifies: req-interactive-figures test-fig-fullscreen no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-fig-fullscreen (owner ruling 2026-07-09). A review walk: interaction behavior in a live browser.
figure drilldown
A reviewer enters the layered figure by clicking a block, walks the breadcrumbs back to the top, and follows a leaf link to its trace item. verifies: req-interactive-figures test-figure-drilldown no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-figure-drilldown as agreed at the bs20 design discussion (2026-07-08).
filter feedback
Applying a filter lands on the readme, the filter field shows it and pings, and no irrelevant unit stays ungrayed. verifies: req-filter-feedback test-filter-feedback result: pass · 50ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4cd219559a15 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
filter pills	Filter rendering follows the one-horizontal, many-vertical pill rule with counts.
verifies: req-filter-pill-rule test-filter-pills result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d2a8757a8eda Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
filter unification
The board facets ride the register's filter columns with zero-count holes visible, and the separate coverage board is gone from the book. verifies: req-derived-boards test-filter-unification result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 310b7539fb1d Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: new columns alone pass while the board coexists, so the board's absence and the multi-valued class-matching wiring are asserted too.
first green guard	A first pass with no red record and no exemption is withheld and flagged.
verifies: req-first-green-guard test-first-green-guard result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input efba03df1ab0
first wins lanes
A console bless on an asked check resolves the pending mobile ask; the later tap is ignored and the first resolution stands. verifies: req-ask-loop test-first-wins-lanes result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ece1cb817b3a Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-first-wins-lanes. Observed red 2026-07-09 before the build; the requirement's statement later gained the combined-card ruling, moving this test's input hash.
function nodes
Each former need-functions entry loads as a function node connected to its need, and appears in the design-input register. verifies: req-function-nodes test-function-nodes result: pass · 119ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7ef00419abe5 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
go analysis	The build fails on a planted vet or formatting finding and passes clean.
verifies: req-go-analysis test-go-analysis result: pass · 1430ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 03260492a306 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
graph centering	A narrow graph renders horizontally centered in its container.
verifies: req-graph-centering test-graph-centering result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 44781a55954b Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
graph suffix rooted
A design implementing a numbered statement (req-x.2) and a test verifying one (req-x.1) root under req-x's need tab, with no (unrooted) tab. Iterations and age never enter the trace graph: no age-fold box and no phantom i0000_baseline group renders, fixture and live. The engine's own workspace renders fully rooted. verifies: req-trace-clustered test-graph-suffix-rooted result: pass · 641ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4b6679069924 Rationale (not load-bearing) Bugfix class guard (owner catch at i21 plan review): 151 design nodes - every marker written in the numbered-statements style - rendered unrooted as gray fold boxes. The one suffix helper (go-sub-addressing) applied at the strict referee and the lane merge but not at the graph's edge builder, so code-scanned implements targets matched nothing. Guards the class end-to-end: unit fixture plus the live workspace staying fully rooted. Verifies the existing req-trace-clustered.
handoff lifecycle	A one-shot hand-off server exits "unopened" when no page connects within the bound
A one-shot hand-off server exits "unopened" when no page connects within the bound. It exits "closed" when a connected page stops heartbeating (no answer recorded, the injected bless never fires). It exits "y" when the page answers. The recorded answer fires the injected bless exactly once. verifies: req-handoff-lifecycle test-handoff-lifecycle result: pass · 1306ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a88fc881165d
handoff live figures	A model figure on the hand-off is browsable like in the book: clickable, enterable, not a flat image.
verifies: req-handoff-live-figures test-handoff-live-figures result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 98e4d198736d Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
icon density	At most one AI-involvement icon renders per section and short sections carry the collision padding.
verifies: req-icon-density test-icon-density result: pass · 7ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 62c101e22490 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
id charset
Fixture ids with an uppercase letter, an underscore, and consecutive hyphens each fail the lint; every existing workspace id passes. verifies: req-spec-content-lint test-id-charset result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 02c65580b664
ifu base state	A setup IFU defines the idle state, and another IFU references it as its start rather than restating it.
verifies: req-ifu-base-state test-ifu-base-state result: pass · 595ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 5feb16f06bcf Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ifu deck pills	Every IFU guide row in the guides table carries the open-the-slides pill at its end, wired to its deck.
verifies: req-ifu-discovery test-ifu-deck-pills result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fcf77f4b4fba Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: a pill anywhere in the book would pass a bare contains, so the assertion pins the setup pill's exact wiring and a count of at least one pill per IFU deck.
ifu quality	Each IFU deck carries a recorded review against the seven 82079-1 principles.
verifies: req-ifu-quality test-ifu-quality result: pass · 611ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 2c7489a1ed84 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ifu split slide	An IFU slide renders text on the left and a visual on the right, with an embedded live book rendering.
verifies: req-ifu-split-slide test-ifu-split-slide result: pass · 123ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input eb6b38647e56 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
ifu system	IFU decks are markdown sources, appear in both discovery surfaces, and cover their linked use cases.
verifies: req-ifu-markdown-source, req-ifu-discovery, req-ifu-usecase-index, req-ifu-coverage test-ifu-system result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 39e43632d1a9
ifu user stories	No IFU deck satisfies coverage with a bare id list.
verifies: req-ifu-user-stories test-ifu-user-stories result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b2552e10f43f Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
informed by edges	A decision's addresses edge to a model element loads first-class
A decision's addresses edge to a model element loads first-class. The first-class edge set is the only informing lane; no name-derived citation exists. A dangling model target is a lint finding. verifies: req-informed-by-edges test-informed-by-edges result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 06933649d3a9 Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
interface notes	Each context boundary line has an interface connection note with a description, and the book renders them.
verifies: req-interface-notes test-interface-notes result: pass · 588ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8f03c417b127 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
io busbar
The reflexion diff runs clean (no world contact outside the rim, no sky-fall, no inward violation) and the onion carries an honestly-tapped disk busbar. verifies: req-conformance test-io-busbar result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 0fb2f3cff88a Rationale (not load-bearing) The b29 physics enforcement. The ruling (q-coverage-ids-physics, B): external I/O goes through the layers; a kernel element never touches the world directly; disk I/O crosses the onion on an I/O busbar like any other input. This test pins the law mechanically - any future kernel world-contact or unallocated region fails the battery.
item domain fields	Each item kind declares its domain fields and the views render them.
verifies: req-item-domain-fields test-item-domain-fields result: pass · 145ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e385ecbbc95c Statements 1. The need template declares source and acceptance fields; the needs view renders both columns for a fixture need. (was test-need-item) 2. A tagged fixture rationale loads strict-clean and a file.hasTag query filters to it. (was test-note-tags) 3. A quality requirement carrying the six scenario fields loads strict-clean and the qualities view renders it grouped by its quality facet. (was test-quality-scenarios) 4. A stakeholder note with preset and guide fields loads strict-clean and the matrix view renders concern, preset, and guide columns. (was test-stakeholder-links) 5. A test item with method and level renders both in the verification matrix; the requirement item template carries verify_method and no bare verify key. (was test-verify-method)
iterations compacted
Compacting a shipped fixture iteration preserves its ledger hashes and evidence while shrinking its working set. verifies: req-iterations-compacted test-iterations-compacted result: pass · 6ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 0858e8a2330b Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
jargon advisory
Reader-facing fixture prose with a capitalized non-glossary token yields an advisory jargon finding; glossary terms and common-word capitals yield none; the finding never gates the exit code. verifies: req-jargon-advisory test-jargon-advisory result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cffcae98bae5
launcher single dispatch	With the global binary present, one launcher invocation produces exactly one engine dispatch in the call log.
verifies: req-build-cheap test-launcher-single-dispatch result: pass · 108ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 96141bbfb866 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
lazy verdicts	In lazy mode, a cache-missed coverage test returns not-verified WITHOUT executing (the run counter stays flat)
In lazy mode, a cache-missed coverage test returns not-verified WITHOUT executing (the run counter stays flat). In eager mode, the same miss executes and records. A cached verdict answers identically in both modes. verifies: req-lazy-verdicts test-lazy-verdicts result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input de8900d37733
ledger arg guards	A typo bless, a bogus start, and an active re-start are each refused.
verifies: req-ledger-arg-guards test-ledger-arg-guards result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7bcb1d46296d
lint exit honest	quack lint exits zero when the output carries only advisories, and exits nonzero when a finding is present.
verifies: req-lint-exit-honest test-lint-exit-honest result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 477e9caf2476 Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
manifest render
Every document renders from manifest nodes: transcluded units at derived depth, deck mode, auto-linked prose, emitted entry files. verifies: req-manifest-render test-manifest-render result: pass · 501ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a97a28a7c4f5 Statements 1. The book's agent-guide chapter renders from its manifest source; the hand-authored repo-root AGENTS.md is embedded verbatim, never generated. (was test-agents-emit) 2. Prose mentioning a term by alias renders linked; an authored link stays untouched; a longer name wins over its substring; code blocks and headings stay untouched; two notes claiming one alias refuse with an error. (was test-auto-link) 3. Depth per node is computed from anatomy; an authored depth tag is refused by the parser. (was test-book-depth) 4. A chapter manifest transcludes a node ref at depth and passes inline markdown through; a deck manifest slices units into slides. (was test-book-manifests) 5. A deck manifest renders one unit per slide; the same HTML carries the present mode and the print handout path. (was test-deck-mode) 6. A render refs view with depth 2 renders each fixture row through the node renderer - statement, state, and children present; Obsidian-shape fallback stays a plain table. (was test-render-refs)
marker scan	Two adjacent marker blocks derive two clean statements with no absorbed neighbor text.
verifies: req-marker-scan test-marker-scan result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 253eea1104aa
mcp birth	A scaffolded workspace carries agent_lane mcp and an explicit-path .mcp.json.
verifies: req-mcp-birth test-mcp-birth result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 22e6208e26d4
mcp discoverable	A session handshake lists every ledger command as an MCP tool.
verifies: req-mcp-discoverable test-mcp-discoverable result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4d3e969dca65
mcp reload	A stamp move swaps the child engine and emits list_changed after open replies.
verifies: req-mcp-reload test-mcp-reload result: pass · 18ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 6054e2a2649b
mcp self arm	A first attested MCP session arms the lane under either path casing.
verifies: req-mcp-self-arm test-mcp-self-arm result: pass · 4ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 09ae811f0b16
mcp serve	The MCP server lists the command surface as tools over stdio
The MCP server lists the command surface as tools over stdio. It answers a call with the command's structured result read fresh from the workspace. It refuses an unattested ledger-advancing call. It exits when its client closes the connection. verifies: req-mcp-server test-mcp-serve result: pass · 618ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 57f2b927b333 Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
method	The guide catalog resolves, and the planning and refine tracks are realized as control-file designs.
verifies: guidance, planning, refine-track test-method result: pass · 32ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 6c906052ae17 Rationale (not load-bearing) Baseline executed test. Asserts the guide catalog resolves (guidance), and that the planning and refine tracks are realized as control-file designs.
method catalog	The method layer carries the methodology map and each chapter renders the methods that declare it.
verifies: req-method-catalog test-method-catalog result: pass · 11ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8ad00b26cbc4 Statements 1. The methodology map exists in the method layer and the book renders it as a chapter with sources per method. (was test-method-map) 2. A fixture method note declaring applies_chapters renders in that chapter's methods view and in no other chapter. (was test-methods-view)
metrics removed	The report and readout surfaces carry none of the three retired metrics.
verifies: req-metrics-removed test-metrics-removed no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
migrate layout
migrate-layout moves trace-resident manifests, stakeholders, use cases, and raid notes to their template homes; a second run moves nothing; an existing destination is kept and warned about. verifies: req-migrate-layout test-migrate-layout result: pass · 15ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 438e2d7c95ab Rationale (not load-bearing) Guards the converter's contract on a fixture workspace: the moves, the idempotence, and the refusal to overwrite.
mint from templates	quack mint stamps field-complete skeletons from the templates for every item kind and milestone evidence doc.
verifies: req-mint-from-templates test-mint-from-templates result: pass · 68ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 54346e0501c7 Statements 1. Every item kind mints a skeleton containing its template's declared fields; no skeleton says human where user is the vocabulary. (was test-mint-all-kinds) 2. quack mint stamps an evidence-doc skeleton for the active milestone from its template; an existing doc is never overwritten. (was test-mint-skeleton)
mint prefill
Minting a node on a fixture schema fills every field with a default or derived proposal plus a one-line source justification. A field with neither yields an explicit TBD marker. No field is emitted blank. verifies: req-mint-prefill test-mint-prefill result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input dbd8c1f5257f
model consistency	A model referencing an undeclared element or flow is reported; balanced sibling models pass.
verifies: req-model-consistency test-model-consistency result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input bfaa58978344 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
model kinds	The model-kind catalog file exists and names, for every kind, its question, admission tests, and heuristic.
verifies: req-model-kinds test-model-kinds result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cda31d88388d Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
model kinds catalog
The model-kinds section lists each used kind with template prose, a small render, and use links; unused kinds are absent. verifies: req-model-kinds-catalog test-model-kinds-catalog result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 71fbff121d6a Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
model lint	Lint reports a model with an unbound edge or an unattached label as ambiguous.
verifies: req-model-lint test-model-lint result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1e0dd6d739d6 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
model nodes	A model node loads from the spec and its semantic-graph hash folds into the ledger.
verifies: req-model-nodes test-model-nodes result: pass · 6ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 2c08defa1889 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
model stubs	Choosing a kind emits a valid skeleton model file that the extractor parses.
verifies: req-model-stubs test-model-stubs result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b8f1c3a93a14 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
models complete book	The rendered book contains a figure for every declared model and one example figure per supported model kind.
verifies: req-models-complete-book test-models-complete-book result: pass · 608ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 3fc409b72e1b Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
models gate build	A declared-but-unauthored model holds the implementation milestone's readiness.
verifies: req-models-gate-build test-models-gate-build result: pass · 10ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b408ed8d8704 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
models in book	The book's design output chapter renders every declared model.
verifies: req-models-in-book test-models-in-book result: pass · 49ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d934713f1435 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
models useful	Each rendered model carries its owner-review verdict.
verifies: req-models-useful test-models-useful result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a9386a837b62 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
module command selector	A command prefixed with a module id filters status and next to that module subtree.
verifies: req-module-command-selector test-module-command-selector result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a61b163583b7
module import	A module import dry run reports create, write, delete, and provenance entries without writing files.
verifies: req-module-import test-module-import result: pass · 8ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 48e76467efbc
module registry	A project.toml fixture with modules loads default, imported, local, and parent fields.
verifies: req-module-registry test-module-registry result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c6c1ffcf816d
module subtree filter	Selecting module doc includes doc.review, while selecting doc.review excludes sibling modules.
verifies: req-module-dotted-ids test-module-subtree-filter result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 88e4ec2fb16a
module table filter	A derived table renders module pills before need pills and scopes needs to the selected module.
verifies: req-module-filter-first test-module-table-filter result: pass · 7ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 04085794e0b3
module update	A module update applies the recorded import source and preserves local overlays.
verifies: req-module-update test-module-update result: pass · 13ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input efc157f66755
need scoped views	Functions and use-cases render per need, shown on the need expand.
verifies: req-need-scoped-views test-need-scoped-views result: pass · 11ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e3130f0bbdc9 Statements 1. Functions and use-cases render as one per-need query whose rows expand to both lists. (was test-ch3-ucfn-merge) 2. An expanded need row renders its use-case list. (was test-need-expand)
no flow smell	A declared layer with no processing flow is flagged as a decomposition smell.
verifies: req-no-flow-smell test-no-flow-smell result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7f0319ca4ced Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
node module default	A node without module frontmatter receives the workspace default module.
verifies: req-node-module test-node-module-default result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f71b89db0486
note collision	Two same-second captures whose text shares the slug prefix yield two note files.
verifies: req-note-collision test-note-collision result: pass · 8ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1133f43937c9 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
observe red refresh
observe-red --refresh on a still-failing amended test re-records the red at the new hash; on a passing test it is refused. verifies: req-observe-red-refresh test-observe-red-refresh result: pass · 343ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 768708786868 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onboarding surface	The rendered book carries section 2.2 with the newcomer arc, its deck link, and its filtered guides link
The rendered book carries section 2.2 with the newcomer arc, its deck link, and its filtered guides link. The guides table carries the deck row. The README carries the deck reference. This holds against a fixture and the live book. verifies: req-onboarding-chapter, req-deck-discoverable test-onboarding-surface result: pass · 28ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9e814ce22611 Rationale (not load-bearing) One test for the whole onboarding surface: chapter, triangle rows, links. Clustered because every assertion reads the same rendered book - cheap to rerun whole, invalidated together.
onion boilerplate
A boilerplate-stamped element folds from the onion render when the hide control is on, and the model itself stays complete. verifies: req-onion-boilerplate test-onion-boilerplate result: pass · 819ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input dddd7d91aa95 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion click	Single-clicking an onion block shows its details in the details pane.
verifies: req-onion-click test-onion-click result: pass · 686ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 030e3bdc034d Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion clusters
A clustered level renders the cluster as one enterable block with input and output buses and no core, nesting the same way. verifies: req-onion-clusters test-onion-clusters result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1e58372ef8dd Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion enter	Entering an onion block pushes browser history; the back action exits it.
verifies: req-onion-enter test-onion-enter result: pass · 665ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e48d9a55bc36 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion interfaces	The interfaces render as model content; an empty responsibility column is hidden.
verifies: req-onion-interfaces test-onion-interfaces result: pass · 4ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 837d8ca5885e Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion io rendering	Each onion layer renders top-bus inputs, bottom-bus outputs, core-direction sides, and a round centered core.
verifies: req-onion-io-rendering test-onion-io-rendering result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1331d5d864be Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
onion space
The onion figure wears the breakout class, the shell carries the breakout rule, and a narrow screen reverts to the column. verifies: req-onion-space test-onion-space result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1c4247059f3a Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: asserting the CSS rule alone passes while no figure wears the class. Both halves are pinned, plus the narrow-screen revert and the fullscreen exclusion.
orphan render refs
A node rendered only through a base view's rows raises no orphan finding; a node reachable through no manifest and no view still does. verifies: req-lint-classification test-orphan-render-refs result: pass · 4386ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b48cc76d45ee Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
pager open questions	A pager round refuses while a cone question is open, and names it; a proposed question deals as a card.
verifies: req-pager-open-questions test-pager-open-questions result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 61c75bafcf92 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
pager round end	A finished pager round prints the machine-readable round-end line.
verifies: req-pager-round-end test-pager-round-end result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 818810a5b716 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
pong deck
The rendered book carries the walkthrough deck with the full arc in order: clone, prerequisites, install, the milestones, the deliverable. The prerequisites slide names what RUNME checks. The deck carries the measured per-milestone timeline. The final slide embeds the playable game only while the size budget holds, else the static figure. verifies: req-pong-deck test-pong-deck result: pass · 67ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a09395c2c80f Rationale (not load-bearing) Content-shape assertions over the deck plus the budget guard both ways: embed present under budget, figure fallback over it. The RUNME-agreement assertion keeps slides and installer from drifting apart (req-pong-deck.4).
pong register render
The pong deck's register slide renders the sample register through the real component, and the deck source carries no authored HTML table. verifies: req-design-input-register test-pong-register-render result: pass · 3ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d6d18f88088c Rationale (not load-bearing) A render is not slide text, so the arc scan has nothing to flag by construction. The singularity rule applies: the old table's absence is asserted, not assumed.
project content roots	Glossary and reference content is served from one workspace-spec source.
verifies: req-project-content-roots test-project-content-roots result: pass · 170ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c153878e9f74 Statements 1. Lint and the book emitter read the same glossary file; a term classification change moves both. (was test-glossary-shared) 2. Terms, references, fundamentals, and methods load from the workspace spec with aliases readable; quackitect's own glossary resolves from spec; the retired method-layer glossary path no longer loads project terms. (was test-spec-content-roots)
project timeline	The project chapter renders the decision-bearing timeline and the risk matrix.
verifies: req-project-timeline test-project-timeline result: pass · 6ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input cf9a64208361 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
prose current	The retired-vocabulary lint runs clean over prompts and guides.
verifies: req-prose-current test-prose-current result: pass · 3ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 218479bd3430 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
prose marks comments	A unit whose only unmarked text sits inside a multi-line HTML comment passes the prose-mark check.
verifies: req-lint-classification test-prose-marks-comments result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 96bb76b57392 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
prose rework	A reviewer reads ch0, ch1, and the README against the voice rules and finds them reader-first.
verifies: req-prose-rework test-prose-rework no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
provenance block	A provenance block parses from node frontmatter into the per-field map
A provenance block parses from node frontmatter into the per-field map. Changing one provenance line moves the node's full hash. Value and provenance travel under one identity. verifies: req-mint-prefill test-provenance-block result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 2c77fe951e9e Rationale (not load-bearing) The substrate test for adr-provenance-in-node: the register's colors (test-register-colors) and the mint justifications (req-mint-prefill.2) both stand on this parse+fold. Composed mid-build when the walk found the substrate deserved its own red - the b3 step's slice.
pugh render
An M4 decision renders its Pugh matrix from criterion and candidate nodes, with the datum marked, weighted totals, and the chosen winner. verifies: req-pugh-render test-pugh-render result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 71263a769726 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
quack mv
One mv renames the file and follows links, bare ids, edge lanes, and source, boundary-safe; a collision refuses; dry writes nothing. verifies: req-quack-mv test-quack-mv result: pass · 17ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7b1c733a0519 Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: a rename that only moves the file passes a file-exists check, so every reference class is asserted separately, and the longer-id fixture (man-ab beside man-a) pins the boundary rule.
query	A pinned expression returns the fixture's filtered rows and refuses unknown fields.
verifies: req-query test-query result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7fc4e869feb4 Conformance fixtures pin the Bases subset against documented behavior.
question nodes
The parser accepts a question node with an open/decided state, and a decided node carries a provenance field naming how it was decided. verifies: req-question-nodes test-question-nodes result: pass · 11ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f968971e3882 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
rationale fill	No rendered rationale is empty or a bare TODO.
verifies: req-rationale-fill test-rationale-fill result: pass · 234ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 36d2c18d960c Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
reader structure	Every chapter leads with its lede and internals stay apart in the guidance chapter.
verifies: req-reader-structure test-reader-structure result: pass · 692ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 7fdc57eb1d90 Statements 1. A chapter manifest without a lede unit is flagged; a rendered chapter opens with its lede before any section. (was test-chapter-tldr) 2. Internals live in the guidance chapter; a guidance tag on a content node resolves to it; audience chapters carry no internals prose. (was test-guidance-split)
reader tables	Every reader-facing query renders as a compact, in-place filterable, expandable table.
verifies: req-reader-tables test-reader-tables result: pass · 14ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ffa708bfd685 Statements 1. The glossary renders as a filterable, sortable table. (was test-glossary-table) 2. No reader-facing table carries a filename, weight, or source-internal column. (was test-reader-columns) 3. Zero counts render uncolored and no empty-value bucket row appears. (was test-table-noise) 4. Every query renders a table with a header row and cell separation, including zero-row queries. (was test-table-render)
readme chapter	A reviewer checks req-readme-chapter against the rendered book.
verifies: req-chapter-placement test-readme-chapter no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-readme-chapter (owner review 2026-07-08).
recital chain	A broken recital wording chain fails the selftest.
verifies: req-recital-chain test-recital-chain result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 427cd6aab899
red edit guard	An apply manifest touching a red-observed test's statement is refused.
verifies: req-red-edit-guard test-red-edit-guard result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d73519dcdeb6
ref tooltips
References render as dashed-underlined term affordances carrying their definition into the details pane, with a jump to the full entry. verifies: req-details-context test-ref-tooltips result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d47853df1fa6 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
refusal recovery	Every refusal string in the engine carries a recovery clause; the lint proves it.
verifies: req-refusal-recovery test-refusal-recovery result: pass · 69ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b235780dc40f Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
register advisory
Over-register fixture prose yields advisory findings; the lint exit stays zero on advisory-only findings and the signals name the offending units. verifies: req-register-advisory test-register-advisory result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 62ab074ff309 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
register ask
Answering a red row's questionnaire records the decision with actor and channel, and the row recolors from its new provenance. The mobile ask renders from the same questionnaire source as the inline one. verifies: req-register-ask test-register-ask result: pass · 10ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f2da95618980
register colors
On fixture nodes the register computes green for user-adjudicated and mechanically derived values, yellow for deferrable defaults, red for unadjudicated core fields; a self-reported confidence field changes no color. verifies: req-register-colors test-register-colors result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 5966a358bf0a
register killer guard
A register row belonging to a killer check refuses row-tap resolution and the surface routes to the handover pager; a non-killer row resolves by tap. verifies: req-register-killer-guard test-register-killer-guard result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 76aaafe5c6d7
register render	A gate's hand-off page renders its cone as color-coded rows
A gate's hand-off page renders its cone as color-coded rows. Statement plus color is collapsed; core fields show on first expand, all fields with provenance on second. The rows carry distinct marks for the two greens. y/n actions serve a non-killer flow, and the pager-law variant serves killers. The report carries no register section. verifies: req-register-render test-register-render result: pass · 18821ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 4e626ef2f3b1
render once	No i-battery test renders the real book outside the shared memo; the battery pays for at most one real render.
verifies: req-battery-lean test-render-once result: pass · 6ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fc6ceca2ebb0 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
report debounce
A bless-triggered report refresh inside the debounce interval of the last render is skipped; one outside the interval renders. verifies: req-report-debounce test-report-debounce result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ad9c2e1edbe8 Rationale (not load-bearing) Arrives RED at M6; the selftest does not exist at compose time.
responsive status	The status evaluation completes inside one second on a warm cache.
verifies: req-responsive-status test-responsive-status result: pass · 1199ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8e32a0152f92 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
rigor fit
A fixture workspace with a trace far below the systematic fit band lints with an advisory rigor-fit finding naming count and band. A fitting trace yields none. The finding never gates the exit code. verifies: req-rigor-fit test-rigor-fit result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input f6831ddf7d7b
risk matrix
The matrix renders one bubble per open RAID item, colored by kind, filterable by kind and status, and a bubble click fills the details pane. verifies: req-risk-matrix test-risk-matrix result: pass · 18ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 08085d91e319 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
root content	An edited pooled query or reference moves the identity root.
verifies: req-root-content test-root-content result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ba681a3ece8d
runme orientation	Both RUNME scripts check, install, and verify the toolchain
Both RUNME scripts check, install, and verify the toolchain. Both print the orientation naming the next steps. Neither contains a workspace-creating call. This is asserted over the script contents on both platforms. verifies: req-runme-orientation test-runme-orientation result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 0fea07253ded Rationale (not load-bearing) Content assertions over tools/RUNME.ps1 and tools/RUNME.sh, the selftestStubs pattern - no subprocess install on the battery machine. The no-workspace assertion is the negative that guards req-runme-orientation.3 (the i18 scripts DID create one; this test pins the revision).
search hitlist
A search shows the previous/next matches counter, and stepping pans to the match and highlights it fully yellow. verifies: req-book-shell-nav test-search-hitlist result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input c4fe49c742bd Rationale (not load-bearing) Amended 2026-07-09 to the sidebar-rework counter (the hit list died 2026-07-08); the red record predates the amendment.
search visible hits	A search hit inside a collapsed row or graph is revealed and highlighted.
verifies: req-search-visible-hits test-search-visible-hits result: pass · 26ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 1320559c62de Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
seed examples
A reviewer follows each seeded example from its chapter appearance back to its item file and its downstream reference. verifies: req-seeded-examples test-seed-examples no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
seed skeleton
Starting a planned fixture version emits every gate and subtask of its rigor into tasks/, with iteration-tag-namespaced ids, milestone-monotonic wiring, and template statements as pre-fill. The emitted set passes quack lint. verifies: req-seed-skeleton test-seed-skeleton result: pass · 54ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d74df4ac4da0
selftest gate
An agent-channel full-battery selftest with no ready or suspect milestone gate is refused, and the refusal names the verify lane; a single-test run passes the guard. verifies: req-selftest-gate test-selftest-gate result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8ec4bcd8ee96
selftest home sweep	After a selftest run, no fixture workspace data home remains under the engine's data root.
verifies: req-selftest-home-sweep test-selftest-home-sweep result: pass · 6ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9f278e8971da Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
semantic hash	A cosmetic-only model edit leaves dependent verdicts standing; a semantic edit flips them.
verifies: req-semantic-hash test-semantic-hash result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e9ba9091337f Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
sidebar order	The rendered sidebar blocks appear in the order search, filter, toc; the views live in the details pane.
verifies: req-book-shell-nav test-sidebar-order result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 8fb3d394adaa Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
slack channel	The Slack adapter completes the ask loop without any inbound endpoint.
verifies: req-channel-adapters test-slack-channel no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Parked with its requirement: req-slack-channel deferred to the corporate wave (adr-dmvbh5y, owner 2026-07-09). Mechanizes when the Slack adapter builds.
spec content lint
quack lint flags spec-content violations: dangling anchors, orphans, external links, bad ids, and meta-term leaks. verifies: req-spec-content-lint test-spec-content-lint result: pass · 172ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fa5bf8ae3773 Statements 1. A note referring to an existing heading anchor passes lint; the same refer after the heading is renamed flags a dangling referent. (was test-anchor-refers) 2. A node in no manifest and without an exclusion record is flagged; an excluded one is not. (was test-book-orphans) 3. An http link in a fixture spec note flags a lint violation; the same link inside a reference note passes. (was test-external-links) 4. A meta-classified glossary term inside a chapter one-to-six unit is flagged; the same term in the agent guide is not. (was test-meta-quarantine) 5. A meta-class term in the rationales chapter flags; the same term in the guidance chapter and the agent guide passes. (was test-quarantine-scope) 6. An unfilled slot placeholder in a fixture spec note flags a lint violation; a fill comment alone does not. (was test-residue-lint)
standing grant	A recorded grant carries scope and expiry
A recorded grant carries scope and expiry. An in-scope agent bless stamps the grant id. An uncovered agent bless on a killer is refused. An agent-channel grant open is refused. The close presents the collection. verifies: req-standing-grant test-standing-grant result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 546384c1df7d
structure layers
Entering quack from the context model shows the structural model, and its determinizer element enters the onion. verifies: req-structure-layers test-structure-layers result: pass · 614ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 9553c9f02009 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
stub templates	start stubs instantiates the full template folder set including the spec skeleton.
verifies: req-stub-templates test-stub-templates result: pass · 261ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 23f887bbba9a Statements 1. start stubs into a bare workspace emits the nine chapter skeletons, the README, and the canned queries; a second run refuses to overwrite. (was test-stub-spec) 2. start stubs into a bare dir creates every template folder with its README; a second run overwrites nothing. (was test-stubs-folders)
supervisor any swap	A ratchet rebuild swaps the MCP child without a harness reconnect.
verifies: req-supervisor-any-swap test-supervisor-any-swap result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 59f61a7a6145 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
surface	The command surface, composition (gather), and notes pipeline are present and runnable.
verifies: command-surface, composition, notes-pipeline test-surface result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a90523125d9e Rationale (not load-bearing) Baseline executed test. Asserts the command surface (the determinizer commands exist), composition (gather), and the notes pipeline (add_note).
system overview	The book renders a system overview chapter carrying the trace view.
verifies: req-system-overview test-system-overview result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fd23fad0bf57 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
table expand
A reviewer expands and collapses table rows singly and via the expand-all and collapse-all controls, and pages a need-scoped table by need at twenty rows per page. verifies: req-reader-tables test-table-expand no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-table-expand as agreed at the bs20 design discussion (2026-07-08).
table facets	A reviewer checks req-table-facets against the rendered book.
verifies: req-reader-tables test-table-facets no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-table-facets (owner review 2026-07-08).
table interact	Tables carry in-place filter and sort controls, with combinable pill facets above the table.
verifies: req-reader-tables test-table-interact result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 626ac83b945b Rationale (not load-bearing) Amended 2026-07-09 to the pill facets (req-table-facets superseded the enum selects); the red record predates the amendment.
template flow
At the docs-complete review, every document that strayed from its template carries a recorded reason, and every harvested document improvement landed in its template. verifies: req-template-home test-template-flow no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) The irreducible judgment residue (doc-tests doctrine): stray-vs-harvest is the adjudicator's read at M8, not a mechanical diff. The mechanizable half (templates exist, metadata resolves) lives in test-template-system.
template home	One template home covers every artifact kind, with improvements flowing template-to-document and back.
verifies: req-template-home test-template-home result: pass · 238ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 859d65ddc591 Statements 1. Deck, preset, and agent-guide skeletons ship and instantiate; each renders through its engine mode without findings. (was test-doc-skeletons) 2. Eight milestone templates exist in the method layer, each with the fixed section order and the card shape. (was test-evidence-templates) 3. Every derived kind ships one ex- example note; stubs instantiate them; deleting one leaves the views consistent. (was test-example-notes) 4. All thirteen item templates exist in the templates home and each declares its fields with name, semantics, and value range. (was test-item-templates) 5. Item templates for connection, rule, budget, criterion, design element, and guide each declare fields with name, semantics, and value range; budget declares margin. (was test-new-item-kinds) 6. The template set exists - README plus nine chapter manifests - and every authored unit in them opens with a heading and carries a fill comment, a gating tag, a provenance mark, and a slot placeholder. (was test-spec-template-set) 7. All templates live in the one method templates folder with metadata; every metadata link names an existing rigor or type; the eight milestone evidence templates are present among them. (was test-template-system)
terms before use
On a fixture book with a term used ahead of its glossary definition, the lint flags the term with both locations in the advisory class. A book with definitions ahead of every use passes. The term set follows the glossary with no second list. verifies: req-terms-before-use test-terms-before-use result: pass · 5ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input dfdd936673f3 Rationale (not load-bearing) Both directions on fixtures plus the DRY guard (the glossary IS the term list). Advisory class asserted so the finding can never block a build (req-terms-before-use.3).
terms readme
A fixture README using a glossary term without a one-click definition yields a terms finding; the shipped README passes; the README sits first in the lint's reading order. verifies: req-terms-readme-scope test-terms-readme result: pass · 21ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 19933fc07c32
timeline anchor
The current iteration anchors three quarters down with earlier iterations above, scrollable by arrows and wheel. verifies: req-timeline-anchor test-timeline-anchor result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input fe2e92016ca4 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
timeline drilldown
An expanded task lists typed contents, pills narrow them, and an element click fills the details pane with a source link. verifies: req-timeline-drilldown test-timeline-drilldown result: pass · 2ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input bb450eae99a1 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
timeline singular
Every surface embeds the one shared timeline stylesheet exactly once, the old timeline fig kind is retired, and the dot-line svg is gone from the book. verifies: req-project-timeline test-timeline-singular result: pass · 9ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a03c4effc2ab Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: asserting the shared block's presence alone passes while a local variant coexists, so the occurrence count is pinned to exactly one per surface. The replacement rule (a step that replaces a surface asserts the old one is GONE) applies: the retired fig kind and the absent svg are asserted, not assumed.
toc order
The toc manifest reorders the chapters, an unlisted chapter appends at the end visibly, and without a toc the order slots rule unchanged. verifies: req-toc-order test-toc-order result: pass · 11ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 09d157e26976 Rationale (not load-bearing) Red-teamed at design: asserting only the reorder passes while the no-toc fallback breaks, so both lanes are pinned on one fixture.
trace clustered
The requirement count sits materially below the recorded 2026-07-10 baseline and every cluster still traces and verifies. verifies: req-trace-clustered test-trace-clustered result: pass · 650ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 004f41d6f63b Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
trace collapsible
A collapsed requirement cluster sits in the requirements layer in its color, joins by double lines, and opens with the busbar interior. verifies: req-trace-collapsible test-trace-collapsible result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input a0949276fd59 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
type colors	Every surface resolves a type's color from the one palette source, and no render carries its own literal.
verifies: req-type-colors test-type-colors result: pass · 24ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input d3e2d45144f7 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
unknown type
A node whose type is outside the known set (a stray type:note, a typo) is refused by the strict referee naming the type. It never silently becomes a blessable gate. Every known type still loads clean. verifies: req-structural-strictness test-unknown-type result: pass · 96ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 857a91778bc8 Rationale (not load-bearing) The i19 M5 spike's finding 6 (the engine-hygiene priority): a stray type:note in an iteration dir loaded as an OPEN gate because isGate defaults unknown types to true. The class guard makes the referee fail loud at the door instead - pulled into i0021 by the owner while the M6 gate waited. Verifies the existing req-structural-strictness.
vehicle chain	End to end in a hermetic home, a vehicle with a committed method override creates a stub
End to end in a hermetic home, a vehicle with a committed method override creates a stub. The stub resolves the vehicle's override. The machine-global engine home survives untouched. verifies: req-vehicle-drives-stub test-vehicle-chain result: pass · 771ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 5c2169a522bb Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-vehicle-drives-stub as one chain, the way the owner will drive it: create a vehicle, commit an override into its product overlay, let the vehicle create a stub, drive the stub, and assert the stub sees the vehicle's method while the global pointer still names the engine repo. The chain is the test - the layers were unit-tested before (split, engine-root) and the gap between them is exactly what those tests missed.
vehicle module setup	A vehicle fixture imports se from Quackitect and creates local doc modules.
verifies: req-vehicle-module-setup test-vehicle-module-setup result: pass · 567ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 01aa3fa540d2
verify pins build	A binary swap mid-battery is detected and the battery re-runs under the final build.
verifies: req-verify-pins-build test-verify-pins-build result: pass · 8ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e2466b825cf3 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
views chosen	A composed iteration with models carries a views-chosen decision node naming chosen and rejected kinds.
verifies: req-views-chosen test-views-chosen result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 57161f9e8607 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
voice lint	A dash-joined or overlong authored statement draws the lint flag.
verifies: req-voice-lint test-voice-lint result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 40e5c3e54add
voice prose	A seeded comma-chain in body prose flags; a rendered markdown list stays silent.
verifies: req-voice-prose test-voice-prose result: pass · 0ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e0a46fd86c54
voice zero	The live spec carries zero voice findings and a seeded flaw fails lint.
verifies: req-voice-zero test-voice-zero result: pass · 581ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input e837530fe679
vv exceptions
A reviewer finds the unverified-requirements block with its derived count before the full matrix and checks the count against the trace. verifies: req-compact-derived test-vv-exceptions no recorded result yet Rationale (not load-bearing) Verifies req-vv-exceptions as agreed at the bs20 design discussion (2026-07-08).
vv no test policy	An unexplained no-test item or a TODO rationale fails the check.
verifies: req-vv-no-test-policy test-vv-no-test-policy result: pass · 576ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input b9acc55f5ae4 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
vv result links	Each verification row links its latest recorded result.
verifies: req-vv-result-links test-vv-result-links result: pass · 8ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 47878b034353 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.
white label book
A book rendered from a fixture vehicle carries the vehicle's title, wordmark, and self-referential voice, with the engine credited in the colophon. A planted engine-name-as-identity leak fails the check naming the leak. verifies: req-vehicle-white-label test-white-label-book result: pass · 691ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input 986d85d10cad Rationale (not load-bearing) The book lane on top of the proven brand-asset lane: render FROM a vehicle (hermetic fixture, the vehicle-chain pattern), assert identity and credit, and prove the check can fail by planting a leak. Mentions of the engine stay legal - only identity is flagged (owner bar, NOTE-20260712-113841).
why honest delta	The why delta skips deferred tests and labels cache misses distinctly.
verifies: req-why-honest-delta test-why-honest-delta result: pass · 1ms the latest recorded run — build 00eec7149fa7, input ff1adac1f508 Rationale (not load-bearing) Not applicable - the verify line binds this test to its check; the why lives with the requirement it verifies.

show

8.5 Validation

Validation closes the V: the outcome stands against the needs of the . The table below carries one row per need; expand a row for its pass lines. Acceptance state derives from the gates - the validation carries the adjudication, and this chapter never restates it.

Success criteria

name	brief
docu	Stakeholders consume the spec: readable, portable, trustworthy. They need no AI, no repo, and no engine.
need-docu Rationale (not load-bearing) The docu thread's driver: the first quackitect-made tool ships to real users, and the project presents itself. AI writes upstream into the graph; everything downstream is deterministic. Success criteria Each preset audience answers its entry question from the book alone. Metric: preset read sessions that answer the preset's entry question using only the compiled book. Target: one real read session per preset.
engage
As a builder I need to advance an iteration from plan through build to delivery, with the work and its checks visible. need-engage note (not load-bearing) Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed. Success criteria Every killer gate of a shipped iteration carries a user adjudication. Metric: the share of killer gates blessed by the agent rather than the user. Target: zero. A bless under a standing grant the owner confirms at its morning review counts as owner-authorized (q-grant-honesty, ruling A). A stalled gate is answerable away from the desk. Metric: a gate ask reaches the paired phone and the answer records as the adjudication, end-to-end on a real gate. Target: demonstrated on ntfy (further channels demonstrate when their wave ships).
implementation	As a builder I need the build phase to be test-first
As a builder I need the build phase to be test-first. Author the tests, observe them RED, then implement to GREEN. The test-designer, implementer, and tester stay pluggable per deliverable. So implementation rigor is enforced structurally, not by agent goodwill. need-implementation note (not load-bearing) Dogfood: quackitect's own build method, typed. New in i0007. Success criteria Every mechanized test is observed failing before it first passes. Metric: the share of mechanized tests with a recorded RED observation before their first pass. Target: all of them.
module ownership	A vehicle owner needs independent product areas without splitting the project timeline or ledger.
need-module-ownership Modules scope ownership, views, imports, and method resources. They do not create separate projects.
note	As a builder I need to capture an idea the moment it occurs, without friction or losing flow.
need-note note (not load-bearing) Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed. Success criteria An idea becomes a durable note with one command, without leaving the check in hand. Metric: commands from idea to durable note. Target: one.
review	As a builder and stakeholder I need to see where the project stands and look back to improve.
need-review note (not load-bearing) Dogfood: quackitect's own spec, typed. Success criteria The project's standing is readable from one live board at any moment. Metric: commands from question to current board, plus the board's freshness. Target: one command, recomputed live on every render.
vehicle independence	A vehicle owner needs a shareable repository that imports only the required Quackitect capability.
need-vehicle-independence A vehicle repository must be cloneable by colleagues without access to the Quackitect checkout.

show

8.6 Accepted deviations

A row below is a failed check the project accepted anyway - a wvr- decision addressing the failed requirement and linking the evidence. An undecided deviation never lands here; it stays loudly visible above.

Accepted deviations

name	brief

no rows yet — the query renders as items arrive

9. Project the approach, the record, and the risks, mostly derived.

9.1 How this project runs

This chapter is mostly the , rendered:

the timeline, decisions included
the risk register
the baseline identity

One authored paragraph states the approach; everything else derives - nothing here is restated by hand.

9.2 Approach

The project runs in short iterations, each walked through its gates: the agent fills the checks, the owner adjudicates. Documentation is sized deliberately full: this book is the project's own product demonstration, so the whole spec template applies - anything less would leave the template unproven. Two type-gated units are skipped with their tags recorded: budgets and physical verification records serve manufactured and cyber-physical deliverables, not software. The project-kind decision nodes carry that tailoring record; open an in the timeline below to reach them.

9.3 The iteration timeline

Every , oldest first, through the same timeline that drives the report and the handover. Open an for its milestones; open a for its tasks. The current starts open.

i0000_baseline 1/1

standalone1 / 1 done

✓pivot

i0001_reporting 4/4

standalone4 / 4 done

✓report-frame ✓report-impl ✓report-docs ✓report-packaged

i0002_disentangle_trace 36/36

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem & vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m1-problem-agreed ✓m1-success-measurable ✓m1-top-risks-logged ✓m1-vision-scope-stated ✓m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m2-inputs-captured ✓m2-requirements-traced auto ✓m2-requirements-verifiable auto ✓m2-stakeholder-coverage ✓m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m3-alternatives-elaborated ✓m3-criteria-weighted ✓m3-feasibility-checked ✓m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m4-adr-recorded auto ✓m4-architecture-stated ✓m4-choice-traced ✓m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m5-design-buildable ✓m5-riskiest-validated ✓m5-spike-recorded ✓m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build & verify) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓m6-internal-quality-ok ✓m6-verification-green auto ✓m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate & accept) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m7-acceptance-obtained ✓m7-meets-need ✓m7-validation-gaps ✓m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package & hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m8-config-baselined ✓m8-docs-complete ✓m8-handover-accepted ✓m8-packaged-versioned ✓m8-gate

i0003_engine_vehicle_go 48/48

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m1-problem-agreed

✓i3-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Each criterion maps to an executed test (the acceptance contract):

1. A single built binary runs every command on a fresh machine from an unzipped folder. No Python. No uv. No network. → `test-binary-deps` 2. The Go report determinism root is byte-identical to the Python report for the same spec. → `test-parity-golden` 3. A vehicle run resolves engine + vehicle resources through one overlay chain and never writes under the engine. → `test-split-readonly` 4. No node id is declared twice; `quack lint` fails on any collision. → `test-unique-ids` (already green) 5. Every subcommand answers `-h` / `--help` / `-?` with usage and no side effects; ids starting with a dash are rejected. → `test-cli-help` 6. A dependency-check prompt lists each build dependency with its winget path. → `test-dep-prompt` 7. The report trace graph filters live and relayouts without changing the committed HTML (one box: iteration + text/regex, AND/OR). → `test-trace-filter` 8. An external vehicle can integrate quackitect as an engine via a documented path (vendor → build → configure → overlay → run); a vehicle's `quack gather` resolves the engine's resources through the overlay chain. → `test-integrate` *(added at M7: the integration was wrongly deferred; captured backward as `req-integrate`)*

designs (1)

tests (8)

✓i3-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high): Report determinism breaks in Go — randomized map iteration yields a non-deterministic integrity root. *Mitigation:* sort every keyed loop; `report-determinism` + `test-parity-golden` guard it.
R2 (Risk, high): Behavior drift — subtle Python/Go differences (hashing, ordering, parsing) silently change the method. *Mitigation:* golden-output parity suite over a fixture vehicle.
R3 (Risk, medium): The hand-rolled parser misreads an edge case the Python `split`-based parser tolerated. *Mitigation:* parser fixtures in the parity suite; keep the parsed subset trivial.
R4 (Assumption, low): The Go toolchain is present on dev machines (build-time only). *Mitigation:* the dependency-check prompt + winget path.
R5 (Issue, medium): The exact engine-vs-vehicle line in `product/` is undecided. *Mitigation:* settled by M2–M4 (`req-engine-vehicle-split`, `adr-engine-vehicle-overlay`).
R6 (Dependency, medium): Scope is large; interruption could lose build progress. *Mitigation:* the M6 plan-build step seeds resumable subtasks; milestone-monotonic gating.

decisions (1)

tests (2)

✓i3-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Moore frame (For / Who / The / That / Unlike):

For builders who ship quackitect to other projects and run it on fresh machines,
Who need an engineering-gate engine without a runtime to install or executables to download,
The quackitect engine is a single self-contained binary,
That other projects vendor and overlay without forking, and that runs from an unzipped folder with nothing to install,
Unlike the current Python-plus-uv engine, which downloads executables (tripping Windows security), starts slowly, and tangles the engine with quackitect's own project files.

Scope (the agreed FIRST move): the Go port is the engine/vehicle separation, in one iteration. In scope:

the Go rewrite
the engine/vehicle split
one overlay resolver
hand-rolled parsing
the cli-help fix
the dependency-check prompt
the unique-id guard
the report trace-graph filter

Out of scope: `drive_as_engine` / `integrate_as_engine` (the manifest + extension-API prompt) — a later version.

✓i3-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

System-in-focus: the quackitect engine (the single binary, post-port).

Inputs (IN): `spec/` (the typed trace + the gate/subtask ledger), `.quack/config.toml`, `.quack/attest.json`, `.quack/evidence/`, the vehicle's overlay resources (guides, prompts, templates), CLI arguments.
Outputs (OUT): the status board (stdout), `report.html`, the `ship` zip, appended attest events, the `gather` bundle.
Environment: the host vehicle (one or more overlay layers above the engine), the human adjudicator, the AI filler, the filesystem (unzipped folder, no network), `winget` (install path for missing build tools), `git` (optional, only the report stamp).

✓i3-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i3-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i3-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Vehicle author — builds a host project that vendors the engine; wants to overlay, not fork; wants a dependency-free run.
Vehicle end user — runs the vehicle on a fresh or locked-down machine; never sees "quackitect"; wants zero install friction.
Human adjudicator — blesses gates; wants trustworthy state and a clear report.
AI filler (the agent) — fills checks and writes code; wants deterministic tooling and unambiguous prompts.
Engine maintainer — keeps quackitect (the open-source engine); wants a stable extension surface and parity guarantees.
OS / security tooling (Windows SmartScreen, antivirus) — a constraint-bearing actor: no web-downloaded executables.
Determinism / CI — consumes the report integrity root; wants byte-identical output for the same spec.

No role from M1's vision is left out:

the distribution pain maps to the end user + OS tooling
the reuse goal maps to the vehicle author + maintainer
the gate trust maps to the adjudicator + determinism

✓i3-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m3-alternatives-elaborated ✓i3-m3-criteria-weighted ✓i3-m3-feasibility-checked ✓i3-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i3-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Implementation: the engine is a single statically-linked Go binary; trivial config/frontmatter parsing is hand-rolled (zero-dependency). → `adr-go-language`, `adr-handroll-parse`
Boundary: `product/` splits into a read-only engine and the vehicle; one overlay resolver walks vehicle→engine, file-level for prompts/guides, with the existing semantic merge retained for rigor/checklists. → `adr-engine-vehicle-overlay`
Identity integrity: node ids are namespaced by iteration tag and guarded by a duplicate-id check. → `adr-unique-ids`

decisions (4)

✓i3-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Pugh scoring for Decision A. Datum = A3 (status quo). Cells are −1 / 0 / +1 versus the datum, times the M3 weight.

The headline criterion is real-world AV/SmartScreen cleanliness, not merely "nothing downloaded". That is the pain we are solving, so it is scored on how the artifact behaves in practice.

criterion (weight)	A1 Go	A2 PyInstaller	A4 Rust
AV/SmartScreen-clean in practice (5)	+5	−5	+5
Fast startup (4)	+4	0	+4
Zero runtime dep (4)	+4	+4	+4
Parity risk — lower better (4)	−4	0	−4
Rewrite cost — lower better (3)	−3	0	−3
Cross-compile (3)	+3	0	+3
Toolchain simplicity (4)	+4	+4	−4
Weighted total	+13	+3	+5

A1 Go = +13 — the clear winner.
A2 PyInstaller = +3 — a frozen `.exe` is a known AV false-positive magnet, so it scores negative on the exact pain we are solving. The real-world penalty is the whole point: scored honestly, the apparent tie disappears. Zero rewrite cost does not offset failing the goal.
A4 Rust = +5 — a true runtime peer of Go, sunk by toolchain simplicity: non-technical vehicle authors cannot easily set up rustup and clippy. A static binary that no one in the audience can build is a poor fit.

✓i3-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The engine maps cleanly onto the Go standard library:

`crypto/sha256`
`sort`
`strings`
`os`
`encoding/json`
`html/template`
`archive/zip`

No third-party dependency is needed, so `req-zero-dep-parse` and `req-go-engine` hold. Hand-rolled frontmatter/TOML parsing is trivial for the subset in use.

✓i3-m5-riskiest-validated ✓i3-m5-spike-recorded ✓i3-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.17 / 17 done

✓i3-m6-build-planned

✓i3-m6-build

✓i3-m6-go-scaffold ✓i3-m6-go-parser ✓i3-m6-go-engine-core ✓i3-m6-go-coverage-ids ✓i3-m6-go-cli-help ✓i3-m6-go-report ✓i3-m6-go-trace-filter ✓i3-m6-overlay-resolver ✓i3-m6-deps-prompt ✓i3-m6-parity-perf

✓i3-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i3-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

Determinism (R1): mitigated. Sorted keys everywhere; the merkle root is stable and parity-checked; selftest:determinism + selftest:parity guard it.
Behavior parity (R2): mitigated. status/lint byte-identical to Python; root identical; golden baselined as a regression gate.
Parser edges (R3): CRLF + trailing-line handled to match Python splitlines (caught by the parity check).
No-Python end state: the 6 old Python-engine tests are migrated to fast Go selftest:. The Python engine is transitional scaffolding, deleted at ship.
Distribution: ship Go source, rebuilt locally (adr-ship-source); Go is a build dependency (dependency-check prompt). Code-signing for other SAC machines is an M7/release concern, not a dev blocker.

Residual to carry to M7:

validate against the M1 success criteria
confirm the ship deletes the Python engine
decide signing for public distribution

decisions (1)

✓i3-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

The Go engine is `product/engine-go/` (one module, ~9 files):

parse
engine (load/hash/merkle/attest/gate-state)
coverage (rules + mint_id + duplicate-id guard)
cli (+ shared help preamble)
report (html/template + cytoscape, read from file, inlined for a self-contained email-able file)
resolver (vehicle->engine overlay)
selftest (in-process, zero external toolchain)

Parity proven: the Go merkle root equals the Python root over the full graph, re-confirmed after every change.
Determinism: the report is a pure display (rendering never runs checks — a re-entrancy guard), so it is byte-identical across renders and fast (responsiveness).
The build is decomposed into 10 resumable subtasks; each left a green, tested tree.
13 in-process selftest checks, all green; coverage 0 holes; no duplicate ids.

✓i3-m6-verification-green auto ✓i3-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The human walked M1–M6 and blessed each gate in increasing-scrutiny rounds. The acceptance evidence:

the working engine (`quack status/next/start/bless/note/gather/ship/lint/report/verify/selftest`)
the parity-proven core
the tuned report

`status`: 105 gates, 0 suspect.

✓i3-m7-meets-need

✓i3-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

req-signed-release (carry forward). To run an UNSIGNED binary on someone else's SAC/WDAC machine,

it must be code-signed. Ship-source sidesteps this (the vehicle builds locally), but a signed release binary is the proper answer for non-builders. A release/M8 or follow-on concern.

Parity is now a self-regression. Byte-identical-to-Python was validated during the port (three

build hashes matched Python exactly) but Python is deleted, so it is no longer continuously checked; `selftest:parity` now guards the engine against itself (golden root).

Scope deferred (by design). `drive_as_engine` / `integrate_as_engine` — the vehicle manifest and

the documented extension API — were deferred to a later version. The overlay resolver exists; the full vehicle-onboarding flow does not yet.

Full-HTML determinism is implied by deterministic data + static template and proven across renders

during M6, but is not asserted byte-for-byte in a standing check (only the integrity root is).

✓i3-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml` — the iteration breadcrumb (type/rigor/version).
`.quack/engine/golden-root.txt` — the determinism baseline (`selftest:parity` regresses against it).
`.gitignore` — excludes build artifacts (`.quack/engine/`, `product/engine-go/*.exe`, `.gotmp`): ship source, not binaries.
`attest.json` — the append-only adjudication ledger.

✓i3-m8-docs-complete

✓i3-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The human accepts: a single static Go binary, shipped as source, that runs from an unzipped folder, self-verifies, and is vendored + overlaid by vehicles. quackitect dogfoods its own Go engine.

✓i3-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages `product/` (the engine source + method + project_types + assets) into `.quack/out/quackitect-i0003_engine_vehicle_go.zip`. The zip is ephemeral output; not committed.

✓i3-m8-gate

i0004_vendoring_out 47/47

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m1-problem-agreed

✓i4-m1-success-measurable

evidence

The killer end-to-end (the user's bar): *a vehicle (from `start init`) creates a dummy workspace. The engine drives that workspace through a full systematic iteration with empty content — a "machinery test", every milestone argued as exercising the machinery. All milestones go green, with state resolving under the workspace.* → `test-machinery-e2e` (`i4-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated`).

Every requirement maps to a test (`req-has-test`):

`selftest:workspace`
`:split`
`:integrate`
`:brand`
`:claude-vendor`
`:build`
`:tests-pass-eval`
`:no-trace-gate`
`:report-verdict`
`:report-nesting`

tests (1)

✓i4-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high): workspace-split touches `findRoot` + the state paths (`QUACK`/`ATTEST`/`NOTES`/evidence/gather/out). Scattered edits could regress dogfood. *Mitigation:* centralize state-path resolution behind a workspace root; `selftest` + `status` guard regression (`i4-m6-impl-risks-acceptable`).
R2 (Risk, high): the machinery test must pass on empty content at max rigor — coverage rules must be vacuously green on an empty trace and review gates blessable with a machinery-test rationale. *Mitigation:* validate in the M5 spike before committing the design.
R3 (Issue, medium): the stale-golden footgun produced false milestone FAILs ~repeatedly this session. *Mitigation:* `req-quack-build` makes build→re-baseline atomic.
R4 (Risk, medium): scope is broad (workspace + 5 folded retro items). *Mitigation:* M6 plan-build seeds small resumable steps; milestone-monotonic gating.
R5 (Assumption, low): the sebot `base` model transfers cleanly. *Mitigation:* M3 elaborates ≥2 alternatives; M5 spikes the riskiest.

✓i4-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Moore frame:

For builders who drive multiple projects with one engineering-gate engine,
Who need the engine decoupled from any single project's data,
The quackitect engine operates on a selectable workspace,
That holds the driven project's product + spec + state, defaulting to the local one or pointed at another,
Unlike today, where the engine is welded to its own ROOT and driving another project means vendoring a second engine.

In scope: 1. Workspace separation (the headline) — engine drives a selectable workspace; all project state lives under it. `adr-workspace-base`. 2. Grandfathered vendoring-out (shipped this session) — vendor model under `.quack/vendor/`, `quack start init`, argv[0] white-label, `.claude` command vendoring. 3. `quack build` — compile + re-baseline golden in one step (kills the stale-golden footgun). 4. Engine hardening from the i3 retro — tests-pass/gateState unification, the no-trace-gate invariant. 5. Report — DONE→verdict/evidence link; build/test nesting (3rd level).

Out of scope:

a multi-workspace registry/switcher UI
remote workspaces
signed-release binary (carried from i3)

decisions (1)

✓i4-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

The 6 i3-retro inbox notes (quack build, M7 killer-uc demo, report verdict-link, graph nesting, tests-pass/gateState unify, no-trace-gate invariant).
The vendoring-out work shipped this session (vendor model, start init, white-label, .claude vendoring).
Prior art: sebot tools take a `base`; all project state under it (engine stateless). git -C.
The user's acceptance bar: vehicle → dummy workspace → full systematic iteration on empty content → all green.

✓i4-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i4-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i4-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Builders shipping branded engines → uc-ship-branded-engine.
Users driving other projects → uc-drive-other-workspace.
Dogfood / self → uc-self-workspace. Board reader → uc-review-board. Maintainer ergonomics → req-quack-build.

use cases (4)

✓i4-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i4-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Least vendoring (0.3), backward-compatible default (0.3), minimal findRoot/state change (0.2), sebot parity / familiarity (0.2). (A) wins on all but is slightly heavier on state-path centralization; (B) loses on complexity; (C) loses on the core need.

✓i4-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

The touch points are `findRoot()` and the package-level state vars (`ROOT/SPEC/QUACK/ATTEST/NOTES`) in engine.go, plus report/gather/ship which already build paths off those. Centralizing them behind a resolved workspace root + adding a `--base/-C` flag is tractable and localized. Default (cwd walk-up) preserves today's behavior exactly.

✓i4-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i4-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Alternative (A) — the base selector. The engine resolves a WORKSPACE root (default: walk up from cwd to the `.quack` marker, exactly as today; override with `--base <path>` / `-C`). All project state derives from the workspace root. Engine resources resolve independently (vendor → dogfood). The engine is stateless w.r.t. the project. See `adr-workspace-base`.

decisions (1)

✓i4-m4-choice-traced

evidence

req-workspace-split → adr-workspace-base → the base-selector design (realized in M6). Backward-compatible default keeps every existing dogfood/vehicle path working with no flag.

decisions (1)

✓i4-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The base selector decomposes into small build steps (seeded under i4-m6-build): quack build, workspace-base, grandfather-design relink, no-trace-gate invariant, tests-pass unify, report verdict-link, report nesting, machinery selftest.

✓i4-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i4-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Recorded here; throwaway artifacts discarded (duckpond v1_machinery removed).

✓i4-m5-gate

M6 no-trace-gate invariant + selftest:no-trace-gate. Realizes req-no-trace-gate.15 / 15 done

✓i4-m6-build-planned

✓i4-m6-build

✓i4-m6-bs-quack-build ✓i4-m6-bs-grandfather-designs ✓i4-m6-bs-workspace-base ✓i4-m6-bs-no-trace-gate ✓i4-m6-bs-tests-pass-eval ✓i4-m6-bs-report-verdict ✓i4-m6-bs-report-nesting ✓i4-m6-bs-machinery

✓i4-m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓i4-m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓i4-m6-internal-quality-ok ✓i4-m6-verification-green auto ✓i4-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The human walked M1–M7 and blessed each gate. The working engine (workspace base selector, quack build, white-label, .claude vendoring, the unified evaluators, 22 green selftests) is the evidence.

✓i4-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated ✓i4-m7-meets-need

✓i4-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

The verdict-link shows the milestone evidence doc, not yet the raw bless attestation (who/when/hash);

the deeper attestation view is a follow-on.

selftest:workspace asserts the ENGINE/ROOT split wiring; the full --base drive is proven by the live

M7 demonstration rather than a standing in-process check.

Signed-release binary still carried forward from i3.

✓i4-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/engine/golden-root.txt` re-baselined by `quack build` (the determinizer now owns it).
`attest.json` — the append-only adjudication ledger (i4 gates recorded).

✓i4-m8-docs-complete

✓i4-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Delivered: workspace separation (one engine drives its own or another project's workspace via `--base`), grandfathered vendoring-out (vendor model, `start init`, white-label, .claude vendoring), `quack build`, the no-trace-gate invariant + tests-pass/gateState unification (guarded by selftests), and report verdict-link + nesting — 23 green selftests, 0 suspect. The machinery test passes: a vehicle creates a dummy workspace and is driven through a full systematic iteration on empty content, all milestones green.

Also delivered (the qualities NFR, `need-qualities`): a design language. Each project's brand lives at `product/brand/` (voice + logos + palette). The engine ships a generic template (`design/`) that `start init` seeds and `resolveBrand` falls back to. The report renders the resolved mark left of the project name at 80% titlebar height (duck for quackitect, `[ LOGO GOES HERE ]` placeholder for a fresh vehicle). Guarded by `selftest:brand-resolves`.

Late refinement (a mechanism that did not work as intended): global validation is now structural. A gate with `validates: needs` folds the digest of EVERY need into its hash, so adding/changing/removing any need reopens it (SUSPECT). That closes the gap where "validated against all needs" was prose rather than a wired input (the same class of miss the i3 retro caught). Applied to both `i*-m7-meets-need`; guarded by `selftest:validation-global`. Validation now has the reach `coverage:tests-pass` already gave verification.

✓i4-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packaged `product/` into `.quack/out/` for i4. Ephemeral; not committed.

✓i4-m8-gate

i0005_workspace_stubs 43/43

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m1-problem-agreed

✓i5-m1-success-measurable

evidence

1. From inside a bare workspace, `.\quack status` runs and prints its board via the linked engine. 2. The committed tree carries no absolute engine path and no vendored engine binary — resolved at runtime (internal → gitignored pointer → env). 3. The AI opening the workspace reads an in-repo `AGENTS.md` stub and knows to drive via `.\quack`. 4. The roundtrip machinery test exercises this drive-from-inside path and stays green.

✓i5-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk): engine-location indirection resolves to a stale/wrong engine → drift. *Mitigation:* fixed resolution order + machinery test.
R2 (Risk): the local pointer leaks into version control → breaks on another clone. *Mitigation:* `req-engine-loc-untracked` + `.gitignore`.
R3 (Risk): launcher not portable across OS. *Mitigation:* plain `.cmd`, Windows-first; other-OS deferred.
A1 (Assumption): an engine binary already exists reachable on the machine.
D1 (Dependency): resolution order settled before the launcher is designed (→ M4).
D2 (Dependency): the machinery test is extendable to drive a bare workspace from inside.

✓i5-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For someone opening a bare quackitect workspace on its own,
Who wants `.\quack` to work from inside without a vendored engine,
The workspace ships a committed launcher + `AGENTS.md` stub that resolve an engine at runtime,
That keeps the engine location out of version control,
Unlike today, where the only way to drive a project is `--base` from an external engine checkout.

In scope: committed root launcher (`quack.cmd`) resolving an engine at runtime; committed `AGENTS.md` stub; `.gitignore` for the local engine pointer/binary; extend the roundtrip machinery test to drive from inside.

Out of scope:

building/installing the engine (assumed present)
retrofitting existing bare workspaces like `adapter_obs_pola` (deferred)
any change to the `--base` external-drive path

✓i5-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context: the engine drives external workspaces via `--base`; it exposes `quack resolve <rel>` and `quack guides` for path-free resource access. A bare workspace has no in-repo entry surface.
Prior inputs: the two backlog retro notes (bare-workspace-stubs, roundtrip-test-uses-feature); the existing `--base` mechanism; `quack resolve` for prompts.
Use cases: drive a bare workspace from inside; AI reads the `AGENTS.md` stub; roundtrip test drives from inside.

✓i5-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i5-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i5-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Human operator — drives from inside via `.\quack`.
AI agent — reads the `AGENTS.md` entry surface; loads prompts via `quack resolve` / `quack guides`.
Version control — must not carry the engine path or binary.
Engine maintainer — unaffected; the `--base` path is untouched.

✓i5-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i5-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Criterion	Weight
Engine path out of version control	High
Drives from inside (no `--base`)	High
No engine copied in	High
Portability (Windows-first)	Medium
Simplicity / low setup	Medium

✓i5-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

Verified live against the existing engine:

The current `quack.cmd` already implements the internal-engine case (`%~dp0.quack\engine\quack.exe %*`); adding B/A fall-through is trivial `.cmd` logic — no engine change.
`quack resolve method/prompts/engage.md` returned a resolved absolute path → path-free prompt loading works from inside a workspace.

✓i5-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i5-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

A bare workspace reaches its engine through a committed root launcher (`quack.cmd`) that resolves a `quack.exe` in a fixed order and forwards all args: 1. Internal — `%~dp0.quack\engine\quack.exe` if it exists (self/dogfood). 2. B — gitignored pointer — `%~dp0.quack\engine.local` (contents = path to a `quack.exe`), if present. 3. A — env var — `%QUACK_ENGINE%`, if set. 4. Else exit with a clear message.

Plus a committed `AGENTS.md` stub (drive via `.\quack`, load prompts via `quack resolve` / `quack guides`) and a `.gitignore` excluding `.quack/engine.local` and any vendored engine. The engine location lives only in gitignored/machine-local places. The engine itself is unchanged. See `adr-engine-resolution`.

decisions (1)

✓i5-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Criterion	How the choice satisfies it
Out of VC	Location only in gitignored `.quack/engine.local` or `QUACK_ENGINE`.
Drives from inside	Committed root `quack.cmd`; no `--base`.
No engine copied in	Launcher resolves; nothing binary committed.
Portability	Plain `.cmd`, no symlinks.
Simplicity	Reuses the existing launcher shape; one optional pointer file + one gitignore rule.

Internal → B → A dominates the rejected C/D on the High criteria.

✓i5-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The design decomposes into small pieces with no engine core rework:

Extend `quack.cmd` with the B→A fall-through (the internal case already exists).
Add a committed `AGENTS.md` stub (static text).
Add a `.gitignore` rule for `.quack/engine.local` and any vendored engine.
Extend `selftest:workspace` (the roundtrip) to drive a bare workspace from inside; add `selftest:stubs` for the unit-level checks.

M3 feasibility already proved the two load-bearing facts (launcher internal case works today; `quack resolve` gives path-free prompts).

✓i5-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i5-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Spike lives at `.quack/spikes/i5-inside-drive/` (gitignored). Keeper captured backward into the M4 architecture (`adr-engine-resolution`) and the M6 build plan: the launcher shape (label-goto resolution, `set /p` pointer read) is the design to realize in `quack.cmd`, and the run becomes the `selftest:workspace` extension.

decisions (1)

✓i5-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.11 / 11 done

✓i5-m6-build-planned

✓i5-m6-build

✓i5-m6-bs-stub-templates ✓i5-m6-bs-emit ✓i5-m6-bs-selftest-stubs ✓i5-m6-bs-roundtrip

✓i5-m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓i5-m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓i5-m6-internal-quality-ok ✓i5-m6-verification-green auto ✓i5-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The killer UC passes both live and in the automated roundtrip. Sign-off recorded here; the human delegated adjudication for this run (self-blessed) with the evidence docs as the audit trail.

✓i5-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated ✓i5-m7-meets-need

✓i5-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Gap (deferred): the launcher is Windows-only (`.cmd`); a POSIX launcher for other OSes is out of scope (logged in M1).
Gap (deferred): retrofitting existing bare workspaces (e.g. `adapter_obs_pola`) — explicitly deferred in M1 scope.
Cost (accepted): `selftest:workspace` spawns a time-boxed subprocess per status; bounded, cannot hang or recurse.

✓i5-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml` remains `type=default` + `rigor=systematic` + `version=i0005_workspace_stubs`. The engine binary is rebuilt and golden re-baselined (`c13f042ae80b`).

✓i5-m8-docs-complete

✓i5-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Delivered:

drive-from-inside stubs + emitter + automated roundtrip
all 25 selftests green
`status` non-recursive

Follow-ups logged: POSIX launcher and existing-workspace retrofit (both deferred in M1); the report should mark killer-gates in the task view (captured as a note for i0001_reporting).

✓i5-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

The feature ships as engine code plus the i0005 spec. The engine code:

`insideStubFiles`
`quack start stubs`
extended `selftest:workspace`
`selftest:stubs`

`quack build` re-baselined the golden root; `quack ship` packages `product/` when desired.

✓i5-m8-gate

i0006_harness_and_readout 18/18

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame) passed its review.2 / 2 done

✓i6-m1-problem-success ✓i6-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i6-m2-requirements-stated ✓i6-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i6-m2-req-traced auto ✓i6-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Design) passed its review.3 / 3 done

✓i6-m3-approach-chosen ✓i6-m3-adr-traced auto ✓i6-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Build & test) passed its review.6 / 6 done

✓i6-m4-build-planned

evidence

The build was decomposed by requirement cluster: (1) readout engine functions, (2) contract/method edits, (3) Copilot channel, (4) bootstrap onboarding, (5) README, (6) correctness/lean-trace, (7) selftests. Two retro "bug" notes (no-trace-gate, tests-pass-eval) were found already realized in i0004 and dropped as duplicates; their notes archived.

✓i6-m4-build

evidence

Realized across product/:

`product/engine-go/readout.go` — `ProgressBar`, `HandoverPager`, `fence`/width, `cmdProgress`

(designs go-progress-bar, go-handover-pager, go-readout-width, go-progress-cmd).

`product/engine-go/cli.go` — `progress` command wired into dispatch + usage.
`product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md` — confirm-back + active-imperative delivery

(method-contract-delivery); y=console-bless + killer-relax (method-adjudication).

`product/quackitect/method/prompts/integrate.md` — "Start a new project" flow + empty-spec rule

(method-bootstrap).

`product/quackitect/method/rigor/lean/checklist.md` — derived coverage checks (method-lean-trace).
`.github/copilot-instructions.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `README.md` — root artifacts (design specs live in

the method files above, since only product/ is scanned for design markers).

designs (8)

✓i6-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

Every i6 requirement has a `design:` marker under product/ (coverage:designs-realized). `quack lint` reports 0 holes for i6 after the build.

✓i6-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Engine compiles clean via `quack build`; golden re-baselined. Readout output is deterministic and width-bounded (asserted by selftest:readout). Duplicate correctness reqs removed (DRY).

✓i6-m4-tests-pass auto

evidence

New selftests all pass live: `selftest:readout`, `selftest:contract`, `selftest:bootstrap`, `selftest:correctness`. CAVEAT (open): `selftest:workspace` (an i5 drive-from-inside test) FAILs when re-run live via `quack selftest`, though `status` shows tests-pass DONE via cached evidence. Not an i6 regression (launcher/driveFromInside/status untouched) — captured as a note for investigation. This means the global `tests-pass` is honestly SUSPECT when re-run, and the human should weigh it.

✓i6-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Docs & ship) passed its review.3 / 3 done

✓i6-m5-docs-match

evidence

A consistency pass over every user/agent-facing prose surface, reconciling it with the i6 changes:

README — leads with conversational onboarding ("start a new project"); raw CLI demoted; report

called the "live HTML board".

AGENTS.md — command list now includes `progress [--pager]` and `report [--watch]`; the report

line fixed from "HTML snapshot" to "live HTML board (recomputed fresh)".

.github/copilot-instructions.md — carries the contract inline in Copilot's native channel with

the active read→paraphrase→confirm imperative; lists `progress`.

contract.md — active-imperative delivery + confirm-back (§ top); rule 3 = killer-bless explicit

authorization + y=console-bless via the handover pager.

engage.md / compose-reference.md — plan-time `bless --all` guidance corrected (gates start OPEN,

blessed one milestone at a time via the pager); ADJUDICATE mandates the pager on killer/milestone.

review.md — report prose corrected to "recomputes live, no cached snapshot".
Swept for stale references: no lingering "72" (now 80), no stale "snapshot" (report is live), no

`need-engine-reuse` edges (merged into `need-workspace-drive`). Removed the stray Python `__pycache__` (project is Go-only). `quack lint` clean.

requirements (1)

✓i6-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages `product/` into `.quack/out/` (see ship output). The zip is ephemeral, not committed.

✓i6-m5-gate

i0007_tdd_implementation 46/46

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m1-problem-agreed

✓i7-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 acceptance criteria for i0007:

Lean and systematic resolve their build milestone to one shared implementation fragment (fragment content appears once).
A `tests-red` coverage rule exists; a requirement with a green test and no realized design reports SUSPECT.
Roles default to inline (behaviour unchanged) with a demonstrated non-inline swap; resolution order iteration ▸ type ▸ default holds.
The evidence-mask bug is fixed: a live-red `selftest` is reflected as not-DONE in `status`.
The report shows a verdict link on every DONE check and build/test nesting (3 levels).
The contract is present in each harness's native channel, rendered from the single `contract.md`; a bypassing commit is rejected by a git pre-commit gate.

✓i7-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high) — deterministic RED observation. Tests pass after implementation, so a re-run can't see the earlier red. Mitigation: run-once attestation of failing test-hashes, re-suspect on hash change. Spiked at M5 before building on it.
R2 (Risk, med) — scope. Eight notes across TDD + reliability + report in one systematic iteration; M6 will be large. Accepted by the human at version planning (all-in-one, fixes first).
R3 (Assumption) — file-based role interface suffices for prompt/subagent/tool bindings (incl. spec-kit via its constitution). Validated by prior art (spec-kit/OpenSpec are file-based & separable); revisit if a binding needs more.
R4 (Issue) — verdict-link regression. `req-verdict-link` was blessed in i0004 but doesn't work in the field; its realization is reopened here.
D1 (Dependency) — `tests-red` (R1) depends on the evidence-honesty fix (#8) landing first; sequenced accordingly in M6.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For a builder driving systematic/lean work with an AI agent, who needs the build phase to be as rigorous and auditable as the design phase, the i0007 iteration is a test-first implementation subsystem that (a) extracts the build milestone into ONE shared, imported implementation checklist (lean + systematic, no duplication), (b) makes it test-first — author tests → plan → observe RED → implement GREEN — enforced by a new `tests-red` coverage rule, and (c) makes the test-designer / implementer / tester pluggable roles (default inline, swappable per deliverable), unlike today's unstructured build step that bolts tests on after the fact.

Scope (the 8 triaged notes):

the shared fragment + TDD sequence (#1)
pluggable roles (#1)
doc-tests spectrum (#1)
research-as-pluggable-capability (#2)
the evidence-cache honesty fix (#8)
verdict-links on DONE checks (#9)
build/test report nesting (#6)
cross-harness obedience — contract-render + git commit gate (#3/#4/#7)

Fixes first, then TDD.

decisions (1)

✓i7-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Sources folded into the requirements:

The 8 triaged notes (the iteration's scope) — TDD+roles, research-pluggable, evidence-cache bug, verdict-link, nesting, contract-skip, Copilot-bypass, thin-harness delivery.
The systematic rigor template (`method/rigor/systematic/checklist.md`) — the M1–M8 floor.
The current build content — systematic M6 and lean L4 (what the shared fragment replaces).
The evidence + selftest machinery (`selftest:workspace`, the `.quack/evidence` cache) — subject of the #8 honesty fix.
The report renderer — subject of #9 (verdict link) and #6 (nesting).
The native contract channels — `AGENTS.md`, `.github/copilot-instructions.md`, and the source `contract.md` — subject of #3/#4/#7.
Prior art (5-search verified sweep): AgentCoder role split, Beck/Uncle-Bob TDD red gate, FIT/doctest/Vale doc-tests, Berkeley MAST failure taxonomy.

✓i7-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i7-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i7-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Builder — drives the loop; needs a structured, test-first build. (need-implementation)
Maintainer — renders the per-harness entry files at build. (req-contract-chain.1)
Reader/auditor — reads the report; needs verdicts + honest hierarchy. (need-review)
Thin-harness agent (Copilot) — must be bound and unable to bypass. (uc-reliability)

No role left out.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i7-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i7-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements. Weights 1 (minor) … 5 (vital):

C1 · DRY / single-source (5) — no duplicated data in code or output (req-shared-impl-fragment).
C2 · Determinism / honesty (5) — the gate must be engine-observed, not agent-asserted; evidence must not lie (req-tdd-sequence, req-evidence-honesty).
C3 · Minimal engine change (3) — keep the trust surface small; prefer method/composition over new engine code.
C4 · Portability of handoff (3) — role handoffs should be durable, tool-agnostic artifacts (req-role-seam).
C5 · Resumability (2) — durable across interruption.

requirements (2)

✓i7-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

D1-A feasible: the engine already hashes evidence and re-suspects on input change; recording failing-hashes extends that, not a new subsystem. (Confirm at M5.)
D2-A feasible: roles are a method/composition concept; the engine only gates outputs (tests-red, designs-realized, tests-pass) — no engine change for the seam itself. Prior art (spec-kit/OpenSpec) is file-based and separable.

Neither surviving candidate is infeasible; the only real unknown is D1 (RED observation), which M5 spikes.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i7-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

1. Shared implementation fragment — one `method/rigor/_shared/implementation.md`, imported by lean (one review gate) and systematic (full sub-gate density). Replaces today's L4/M6 build content. 2. `tests-red` coverage rule (new, the only engine change) — RED observed by run-once attestation (Decision 1-A): the tester runs the new suite pre-build, the engine records the observed-failing test-hashes, a hash change re-suspects. A green test with no realized design = SUSPECT. 3. File-based role Strategy seam (Decision 2-A) — testdesigner / implementer / tester behind a files-in/files-out interface; default binding inline (behaviour unchanged); resolved at seed iteration ▸ type ▸ default. 4. Doc-tests — mechanizable acceptance criteria → `class:executed`, residue → `class:review`. 5. Fixes it rests on — evidence-cache honesty (#8, unblocks trustworthy RED), verdict-link on DONE checks (#9, realizing i0004's `req-verdict-link`), build/test report nesting (#6). 6. Research — referenced pluggable capability, never vendored (#2).

✓i7-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Shared fragment ← C1 (DRY, single source).
`tests-red` run-once attestation ← C2 (engine-observed honesty; beats re-run which fails C2) and C3 (extends existing machinery).
File-based seam ← C1/C3/C4 (durable tool-agnostic handoff, no orchestration engine; MAST evidence rules out the multi-agent framework on C3).
Evidence honesty ← C2 (the ledger must not show green when red — and `tests-red` depends on it, so it lands first in M6).

✓i7-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m5-design-buildable

evidence

All six work-items are buildable:

Shared fragment, role seam, doc-tests — method/composition only, no engine change (the engine merely gates outputs).
`tests-red` — the small engine addition proven above.
Fixes: `#8` evidence honesty (root cause to fix in `runExecuted`/`selftestWorkspace` `ENGINE==""` guard); `#9` verdict-link and `#6` nesting — hooks already exist (`selftestReportVerdict`, `selftestReportNesting`) to strengthen so they catch the field-observed gap.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i7-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Spike at `.quack/spikes/tests-red/` (gitignored throwaway). One refinement carried to M6: the exact interaction between a `red-observed` attestation and `designs-realized` (a test may only require a prior red *before* its design existed) is a build-time detail; the core mechanism is validated here.

✓i7-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.14 / 14 done

✓i7-m6-build-planned

✓i7-m6-build

✓i7-m6-bs-evidence-honesty ✓i7-m6-bs-verdict-link ✓i7-m6-bs-nesting ✓i7-m6-bs-tests-red ✓i7-m6-bs-shared-fragment ✓i7-m6-bs-role-seam ✓i7-m6-bs-research-ref

✓i7-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i7-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

The one real risk (deterministic RED observation) was spiked at M5 and built exactly as designed. The descoped cross-harness cluster (contract-render, commit gate) is parked in the backlog. No open risks block validation.

✓i7-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Minimal engine footprint (one new coverage rule + a reused attestation action, no new subsystem — as the M5 spike promised). Hermetic selftests (no real-ledger pollution). Two requirements were honestly narrowed during build on evidence: `req-evidence-honesty` (the #8 "selftest masking" premise didn't reproduce → retargeted to the hash-keyed cache + no-vacuous-pass invariant) and `req-build-test-nesting` (the "testing parent" clause superseded by the trace/task separation).

requirements (2)

✓i7-m6-verification-green auto ✓i7-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

M1–M6 killer/milestone gates were adjudicated by the human via handover pagers (stamped `actor=human`); non-killer reviews stamped `actor=agent`. Sign-off recorded in the attest log.

✓i7-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

Demonstrated live, not merely "tests green": 1. Import reaches compose — `quack gather` now bundles `_shared/implementation.md` + `roles/` (a real gap caught and fixed during this validation — `gather` had iterated only the vibe/lean/systematic floors). 2. tests-red loop — `observe-red <test>` records a red-observation at the test's current hash; an edit changes the hash and re-suspects it (`selftest:tests-red` proves record → match → re-suspect → re-observe, and that a bless is not a red-observation). 3. Verdicts render — every DONE check exposes its bless attestation even without an evidence doc.

✓i7-m7-meets-need

✓i7-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Fixed in-flight: `gather` omitted `_shared/` — would have broken the import at the next compose. Fixed + re-verified.
Intentional: `tests-red` is built as a capability (rule + op + selftest) and seeded into the shared fragment for future iterations to gate on; it is not retro-wired as a gate on i0001–i0007. This iteration builds the capability; later iterations walk it.
Parked: the descoped cross-harness cluster (contract-render, commit gate) sits in the backlog.

✓i7-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`golden-root.txt` re-baselined via `quack build` after every engine change; `config.toml` points at i0007; attest log clean (demo `red-observed` events removed).

✓i7-m8-docs-complete

✓i7-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Handed to the human for acceptance at the M8 gate.

✓i7-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`i0007_tdd_implementation` active; golden root baselined. `engage ship` packages `product/` → `.quack/out/`.

✓i7-m8-gate

i0008_trust_hardening 49/49

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m1-problem-agreed

✓i8-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 acceptance criteria for i0008:

A node file with malformed frontmatter or an unknown key makes the engine exit nonzero naming file and key; every existing repo node parses clean (day-one no-brick, verified live).
A non-interactive bless records `actor=agent` by default; `--by human` overrides; the console path records `human`; `QUACK_ACTOR` is retired.
A whitespace-only reformat of a `design:` region changes no hash; a comment edit inside the region reopens the design.
`quack selftest` carries kernel batteries (vectors, cone-exactness, gate walk, parser strictness, attest chain) from baked corpora, no unseeded randomness, all green from the shipped binary.
`.quack/logs/` is empty and migrated to the stable user dir (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\logs\<project-slug>`, XDG elsewhere), config-overridable; no engine log lands in the repo again.
`quack lint` flags a new non-EARS/weasel requirement at systematic rigor, honors and counts `ears: exempt` (reason required), and flags zero pre-existing blessed statements.
Housekeeping: `quack.exe~` gone; README image reference resolves or is dropped; `.gitattributes` policy holds.
Every subcommand answers `-h`/`--help`/`-?` with usage, exit 0, zero side effects; `quack start --help` activates nothing; a dash-prefixed id is rejected. *[correction, M5: criterion already met by i0003's `req-cli-help` + `selftest:help`, verified green 2026-07-02 — no i8 work item]*
`quack lint` flags a milestone subtask wired past the prior milestone's gate on a fixture; the live repo passes.

✓i8-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high) — incomplete key allowlist bricks the repo on day one. Mitigation: build the allowlist from the full parser surface incl. i7 additions (`roles`, `milestone`, `validates`, `parent`, `verify: coverage:tests-red`, `ears`), then spike-verify at M5: strict-parse the entire live repo, zero false rejections before the gate.
R2 (Risk, med) — channel detection mis-stamps the actor. TTY detection on Windows terminals (conhost, Windows Terminal, MSYS pipes) is quirky; a wrong default silently falsifies the record in the direction we chose to be harmless (under-claiming human). Alternatives + spike at M3/M5.
R3 (Risk, med) — EARS lint flags blessed history. The new/blessed discrimination must be mechanical, or forward-only quietly becomes retrofit. Design decision at M3/M4; test explicitly asserts zero flags on pre-existing blessed statements.
R4 (Risk, low) — log migration touches foreign personal data. Move-don't-delete, verify counts+sizes after, target dir outside any git tree.
R5 (Assumption) — hash-normalization change reopens designs once. Changing the region hash function makes existing design hashes recompute; expect a one-time SUSPECT ripple, handled inside this iteration's walk, not a mass re-bless of history.
D1 (Dependency) — kernel parser-strictness tests depend on the strict parser landing first; sequenced in M6.

---

✓i8-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For an engineer whose ledger must stand as evidence, who needs certainty that a recorded pass means what it claims, the i0008 iteration is a trust-hardening release of the engine that (1) refuses malformed or unknown node input loudly instead of silently shrinking the suspect cone, (2) stamps the bless actor honestly by channel — console = human, harness = agent, `--by` overrides, (3) hashes design regions once, whitespace-collapsed, so reformatting never reopens and content edits always do, (4) proves its own trust kernel with baked deterministic corpora inside `quack selftest`, (5) moves session logs to a stable user-scoped directory outside the repo, and (6) enforces EARS-shaped, weasel-free statements on NEW requirements at systematic rigor — forward-only, unlike a ledger that trusts agent discipline and silently records whatever it is fed.

Scope (the red-teamed directive, six items + housekeeping):

strict node parser with a complete key allowlist
per-channel actor defaults
design-region hash normalization
kernel tests into selftest
logs out of the repo (migration incl. foreign personal data)
EARS forward-only enforcing lint + compose-reference block
Housekeeping folded in: delete `quack.exe~`, fix the README `docs/report.png` reference, verify `.gitattributes` holds.
Pulled in at the M1 gate (the owner, 2026-07-02, from backlog — both ready-when conditions fired):
(7) CLI-help hardening — help flags side-effect-free on every subcommand, dash-prefixed ids rejected (`req-cli-help`) *[correction, M5 spike: already realized in i0003 — same req id existed with a green `selftest:help`; the i8 duplicate was removed, the stale backlog note re-archived; see M5-spike-findings.md]*
(8) milestone-monotonic lint — mis-wired checklists flagged mechanically (`req-monotonic-lint`)
Deferred (not dead): evidence-into-merkle/bless-provenance; notes-graduate-into-ledger.
Rejected (do not resurrect): unforgeable bless.
Later release: the decision model (backlog).

✓i8-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context diagram (system-in-focus + environment). In focus: the quack engine's trust path — `parse.go` (node files → nodes) → `engine.go` (graph, norm/h12/fold hashing, suspect cone) → gates/coverage (`coverage.go`) → attest chain (`ops.go`) → readout/report. Environment: IN — node frontmatter under `spec/`, `design:` regions under `product/`, CLI invocations (console or harness channel), blesses, `config.toml`, the OS user profile; OUT — exit codes (now load-bearing: nonzero on refusal), attest events with actor stamps, status/report/pager, session logs (moving to the user-scoped dir), lint findings (now including EARS and monotonicity).

Sources.

The red-teamed scope directive plus its six review notes (strict parser, actor channels, hash normalization, kernel tests, logs-out, EARS) — all archived-as-baked with this iteration.
The two backlog notes pulled at the M1 gate (CLI-help incident of 2026-06-30, i0002 milestone-jump incident).
The cli-help guide (`project_types/default/guides/cli-help.md`) as the pre-existing convention `req-cli-help` realizes.

Use cases. Eight, composed:

`uc-fail-loud-parsing` (+CLI refusal)
`uc-honest-adjudication`
`uc-stable-design-hashes`
`uc-kernel-selftested`
`uc-workspace-hygiene`
`uc-ears-requirements`
`uc-monotonic-walk`

Each hangs under an existing need — `need-qualities` or `need-workspace-drive` or `need-engage`; no new needs minted.

Quality tree (ISO 25010).

Reliability/integrity: strict parse, ref integrity, kernel selftest, attest chain.
Functional correctness of the record: actor channels, hash normalization.
Maintainability: EARS statements, monotonic lint.
Portability/privacy: logs-out (Windows + XDG).
Usability/safety: CLI help without side effects.

use cases (7)

✓i8-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i8-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i8-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

No role left out:

The adjudicator (owner) — gates and stamps must mean what they say: `req-actor-channels`, `req-design-hash-norm` (no rubber-stamp training), `req-ears-lint` (blessable statements).
Driving agent — needs loud refusal over silent acceptance (`req-strict-frontmatter`, `req-ref-integrity`), a `next` that cannot jump milestones (`req-monotonic-lint`), and safe help flags (`req-cli-help`).
Auditor / record reader — a verifiable chain and honest self-cert metric: `req-kernel-selftest` (attest battery), `req-actor-channels`.
Other-machine / field user — the kernel proves itself locally with no toolchain: `req-kernel-selftest`, and logs land in a predictable per-user place: `req-logs-out-of-repo`.
Foreign-data owners (trader/sebot) — their session/memory files leave the published repo: `req-logs-out-of-repo`.
Future composer (next `engage start`) — authoring instruction present at compose time: `req-ears-method`; wiring mistakes caught: `req-monotonic-lint`.
Maintainer — refactors guarded by golden vectors; gofmt without ledger churn: `req-kernel-selftest`, `req-design-hash-norm`.

requirements (4)

✓i8-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i8-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirement set and the directive's red-team history: 1. Record fidelity — the ledger cannot lie by accident (weight 5): C1a>C1b>C1c; C2a≈C2c>C2b; C3b>C3a>C3c. 2. Determinism / cross-machine reproducibility (4): kills C2b, C5-`math/rand`; favors C3b's set test. 3. Day-one non-brickage on the live repo (4): demands C1's recognition rule + M5 spike; favors C3b (blessed history structurally unflaggable). 4. Zero-dependency single binary (3): C2a stdlib-stat over any terminal lib; C4b env-reads over new deps. 5. Churn containment / forward-only (3): C3b, C6b (one-time recompute ripple accepted as R5). 6. Simplicity / maintainability (2): C4b, C5a; tolerated complexity in C1a's batched error collection because criterion 1 outweighs.

✓i8-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

Against the real code, per candidate:

C1: `parse.go:50` `ParseNode` swallows the read error (`txt, _ :=`) and the switch default silently drops unknown keys — both single-site fixes; error aggregation needs `ParseNode` to return `(Node, []error)` and `loadNodes` to batch. Discovered hazards, feeding the M5 spike: evidence docs (`M1-frame.md` etc.) contain `---` hrules that `strings.Split(txt,"---")` would misread as frontmatter under strictness → the first-line-`---` recognition rule is load-bearing; `iteration.md` carries breadcrumb keys (`iteration`, `status`, `rigor`) needing their own class. Allowlist inventory from the live switch: `id,type,statement,class,verify,killer,milestone,parent,depends_on,refines,implements,verifies,addresses,validates` + new `ears` (+ `roles` if/where iteration.md is strict-classed).
C2: `ops.go:37` `env("QUACK_ACTOR","human")` is the single stamp site; swap to channel-default + `--by` flag threading through `cli.go`'s arg handling — which `req-cli-help`'s shared arg preamble touches anyway (one seam, two requirements).
C3: `stmtHash` (`engine.go:100`) already exists; baseline = map of req-id→stmtHash written once in M6, checked in `cmdLint` (`cli.go:277`), which already exits nonzero on duplicate ids — the pattern to extend.
C4: engine writes no logs; add a resolver-level `logsDir()` (resolver.go owns workspace paths), surface it, and migrate the 122 MB with a verified move (count+size before/after), foreign folders included.
C5: selftest.go is a flat battery of `func selftestX() bool` — kernel tests slot in as peers; existing fixtures already build temp workspaces, so DAG fixtures have precedent.
C6: `engine.go:118` folds `h12(n.RegionBody)` raw — the churn bug confirmed at its exact site; either variant is a one-line change plus the R5 one-time ripple.
Pulled items: `req-cli-help` → shared preamble at `cli.go`'s command dispatch (the `start --help` incident site) *[correction, M5: the preamble already exists — cli.go:61/84, landed with i0003's identical `req-cli-help`; item dissolved]*; `req-monotonic-lint` → lint walk over tasks' `depends_on` reachability to the prior gate — graph machinery exists.

---

✓i8-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i8-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

One sentence per choice, scored against M3's Pugh criteria (fidelity 5 · determinism 4 · non-brickage 4 · zero-dep 3 · churn 3 · simplicity 2): 1. Strict at every load (`adr-strict-load`): C1a beat C1b/C1c 19–14–9 — the read path is where the lie reaches the human; recognition rule = first-line `---` fence, `iteration.md` as its own strict class. 2. Char-device channel stat + `--by` (`adr-actor-channel-stat`): C2a beat C2c/C2b 17–15–8 — stdlib-only, deterministic per channel, quirk errs harmless. 3. Committed EARS baseline corpus (`adr-ears-baseline`): C3b beat C3c/C3a 18–12–10 — one set-membership test gives exactly "new or genuinely re-stated", blessed history structurally unflaggable. 4. User-dir log resolution, engine-owned (`adr-logs-user-dir`): C4b beat C4a/C4c 16–9–8 — durable-data semantics, directive-exact paths, name+hash slug. 5. In-code corpora + fixed-seed xorshift (`adr-kernel-corpus`): C5a+c beat C5b 16–13 — the kernel's truth stays in one reviewed file; the PRNG stream is ours. 6. Case-preserving `normWS` region hash (`adr-region-hash-ws`): C6b beat C6a 17–15 — a case rename is content; only whitespace is noise.

decisions (6)

✓i8-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Every winner wins on record fidelity first — the criterion the directive weighted highest — and no winner loses on determinism or zero-dep. Sensitivity checks on the two closest calls:

C6 (17–15): if "same norm as statements" is read literally (lowercase), the decision flips on DRY/simplicity alone; it does NOT flip on any fidelity/determinism criterion — and fidelity outweighs. Robust.
C2 (17 vs 15): if the M5 terminal spike shows char-device stat unreliable on real consoles, C2c (always-agent) takes over with zero fidelity loss — the fallback is pre-agreed in the ADR, so the decision is spike-proof.
All other margins ≥3 and stable under ±1 weight perturbation on any single criterion.

✓i8-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m5-design-buildable

evidence

No blocked path remains: the allowlist is final and live-verified; the recognition rule survived contact with the real tree; the channel rule is validated on the harness side with the console side down to a one-command check; baseline-corpus, log-dir, corpus-baking, and normWS designs need no new decisions. Spike learnings folded backward: (1) load-time duplicate-id rejection confirmed in the strict-parse scope (live specimen caught), (2) the AND-of-both-chardev rule is load-bearing, (3) one legacy cleanup step added to the build plan.

✓i8-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i8-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Both spikes persisted under `.quack/spikes/i8-*` for the M6 build to crib from (the spike.go strict loop is a working draft of the production parser change); findings and design advances recorded above; spikes remain gitignored throwaways per method.

---

✓i8-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.17 / 17 done

✓i8-m6-build-planned ✓i8-m6-tests-red-observed auto

✓i8-m6-build

✓i8-m6-bs-runners ✓i8-m6-bs-strict-parser ✓i8-m6-bs-actor-by ✓i8-m6-bs-normws ✓i8-m6-bs-ears ✓i8-m6-bs-monotonic ✓i8-m6-bs-logsdir ✓i8-m6-bs-kernel ✓i8-m6-bs-cleanup

✓i8-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i8-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

R1 closed: the strict flip landed with zero false rejections on the live repo (the M5 spike's allowlist verbatim; the one legacy file cleaned in the same step). R2 closed: channel detection validated both sides (harness→agent live in this walk, console→human by the owner at M5); fallback documented in the ADR. R3 closed: forward-only held live — zero EARS flags on blessed history, and the monotonic lint got the same grandfather treatment when the live sweep demanded it. R4 closed: migration verified by count+size, nothing deleted. R5 closed: one re-baseline, zero reopened gates. Residual (accepted, recorded): the EARS baseline is diffable-not-tamper-proof (deferred to evidence-into-merkle); vehicles with unconventional spec files will now fail loudly instead of silently — that is the feature.

---

✓i8-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Self-review against the engine's idiom: all new code is stdlib-only, hand-rolled parsing (no deps), single-design-region per concern, deterministic output ordering (sorted findings/hashes), fail-safe defaults (missing baseline disarms EARS; missing `--by` falls to channel; strictGuard exits batched, never partial). Edge cases checked: `--by` as last arg falls through safely; hyphenated words don't false-hit the weasel scan; empty-workspace probes (driveFromInside) pass strictness; `note` loads no graph and stays available mid-repair. The two runner defects were in test code, found by the tests' own failure modes, fixed before green.

✓i8-m6-verification-green auto ✓i8-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The owner adjudicated every milestone gate M1–M6 in person this session (attest: `actor=human` on each gate and killer subtask), pulled two backlog items in at M1, amended the report-PNG target at M3, ordered the log-location prompt pointer at M4, and ran the console half of the M5 channel spike themselves. The M7 gate bless below completes acceptance; sign-off is the attest record itself.

✓i8-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

Each exercised against the SHIPPED binary on the LIVE repo, not merely "tests green": 1. A bad key rejected live — a `depends-on` typo node written into `spec/`: `STRICT: 1 issue(s) — graph refused`, exit 1, file+key named; removal restores a clean board. Demonstrated for both a plain file AND the realistic accident (PowerShell's BOM'd UTF-8 — see the discovery below). 2. Agent blesses stamped agent — the attest record of this walk: all nine `i8-m6-bs-*` blesses carry `actor=agent` (the last six via pure channel default — no env var involved), `i8-m6-gate` carries `actor=human` via `--by human`. 3. Reformat reopens nothing; content does — live root comparison: whitespace-mangling a code line inside a `design:` region left `quack root` byte-identical; a one-word comment edit inside the region changed it; revert restored it. 4. Kernel proves itself from the shipped binary — full battery 44/44 ok, including the four kernel batteries and the real attest chain verifying end-to-end. 5. Logs outside the repo — `quack version` prints `%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\logs\quackitect-c5212d`; 577 files / 122.1 MB live there; `.quack/logs` no longer exists. 6. A weasel requirement flagged — a new "should respond quickly and be user-friendly" requirement drew `ears: 2 finding(s)` (no EARS shape; should, quickly, user-friendly) with exit 1; blessed history drew zero flags before, during, and after.

Validation discovery (the demo doing its job). Demo 1's first run used PowerShell's default BOM'd UTF-8 — and the BOM slipped the file past the strict guard's recognition while the lenient loader still parsed it: guard and loader disagreed on what a node IS. Fixed test-first at M7: a BOM fixture case added to `selftest:parser-strict` (red), then `nodeFence` — ONE recognition rule (BOM-tolerant first-line fence) now shared by guard + `LoadAll` + `scanIDs` — nothing loads unchecked. Battery re-run green; the original failing scenario re-demonstrated refused.

✓i8-m7-meets-need

✓i8-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

R (accepted): the EARS baseline is diffable, not tamper-proof — attest-grade protection belongs to the deferred evidence-into-merkle work (recorded in `adr-ears-baseline`).
R (accepted): exotic-terminal channel detection — MSYS/mintty consoles read as pipes and stamp `agent`; the error direction is designed-harmless and `--by human` is the escape (recorded in `adr-actor-channel-stat`).
**R (open, recorded): evidence docs (`M<n>-*.md`) are still not hashed** — a post-bless edit does not reopen the gate; this IS the deferred evidence-into-merkle item, unchanged in i8 by directive.
I (minor): a node file in a non-UTF-8 encoding (e.g. UTF-16) is not recognized and silently absent — if anything references it, the dangling-ref check fires loudly; an unreferenced one is invisible. Judged acceptable: the repo convention is UTF-8, and the failure requires an unreferenced node nothing depends on.

---

decisions (2)

✓i8-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml`: version `i0008_trust_hardening`; the `logs_dir` override documented inline.
`.quack/ears-baseline.json`: the 72-statement feature-land corpus, committed and diffable.
`.gitattributes`: verified holding (`text: auto`, `eol: lf` on sampled files) — the post-i7 CRLF policy stands.
Golden root current at `f40b28014507`.

✓i8-m8-docs-complete

✓i8-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The iteration record is self-explaining: eight evidence docs (M1–M8) with review rounds and verdicts, six ADRs carrying their losers and kill-criteria, and dated correction notes where the walk corrected itself (cli-help dissolution; the two grandfather calls; the BOM catch). `HANDOVER-i8.md` deleted per its own instruction — its content is fully absorbed into this record. Notes inbox at ZERO: the six scope notes archived with their realized outcomes, the backlog holds only genuinely-future items with ready-when lines. Field-loop hook: the next `engage start` retro asks how the strict engine behaves on the other machines (the thin-harness backlog family waits on exactly that evidence).

---

✓i8-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

Final `quack build`: engine compiled, golden re-baselined (`f40b28014507`). Full battery from the shipped binary: 44/44 ok, zero FAIL. `quack lint`: coverage clean (no holes), ears clean, monotonic clean, exit 0. Stray `quack.exe~` deleted. The ship zip is `engage ship`'s output at the very end, per method.

✓i8-m8-gate

i0009_contract_attestation 55/55

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

Two deltas, both field-proven:

The contract is dodgeable. Prompt-level delivery of the binding rules fails in practice — obedience is a property of the harness, not the wording. Evidence:

(1) Copilot never followed the AGENTS.md → contract.md pointer and never ran the engine at all (i6 field feedback, archived note `origin-field-i6-field-feedback-b`).
(2) On 2026-07-04, Claude Code — a *thick* harness, mid-`engage start` — skipped the per-engage contract re-read and reordered retro steps until the owner intervened twice (origin of note `block-the-ledger-until-the-contr`).

Both ready-when conditions on the parked thin-harness notes fired on this evidence. The failure mode is drift/optimization, not malice. The countermeasure must be structural, not advisory.

The repo holds more than truth. `.quack/` mixes committed truth (attest ledger + ears baseline + config) with regenerable caches (evidence + gather + overlay + report + golden) and private material (raw notes with personal data, 2026-07-03 walkthrough). Decisions live scattered as iteration-folder ADRs plus raw backlog notes with no derived classification. Notes and trace nodes are hand-minted by agents, which produced format drift in this very session. The owner's directive 2026-07-04: fold the agreed data-leg redesign into this iteration rather than a separate one.

✓i9-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria, each mechanically checkable at M7: 1. A keyless agent-channel ledger command exits nonzero naming contract.md (selftest:attest-block). 2. A granted session renews keys without further grants for its whole life (selftest:attest-renewal). 3. Entry files regenerate byte-identically from contract.md. Drift is linted (selftest:contract-render, render-drift). 4. `git status` is clean after every non-truth command (selftest:clean-status). 5. Deleting the user data dir loses nothing adjudicated; a fresh clone renders the same board (amnesia test). 6. Every minted node passes the strict parser at birth (selftest:mint). 7. One log/data home per workspace regardless of shell or path casing (selftest:logs-canonical).

✓i9-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risks:

R1 Grant friction: an unattended run's FIRST session stalls on the console grant. Mitigation: grant is once-per-session by design (owner-accepted); challenge-only renewals carry the rest.
R2 Grep-gameable challenge: proves file-in-context, not comprehension. Accepted: target is drift, not adversaries; recitation covers comprehension socially.
R3 Key lost to compaction mid-session → stall for re-grant. Accepted as rare-and-arguably-correct; agent may restate the key in working notes.
R4 MSYS/mintty channel quirk mis-stamps console as agent → over-asks. Harmless direction (i8 precedent).
R5 findRoot migration: switching the root marker breaks any existing vendored vehicle (duckpond). Mitigation: M5 spike + migration step; ratchet rebuild covers old engines.
R6 Ship-a-zip bootstrap: client without global install AND without Go toolchain cannot run. Unchanged from today (build was always local); documented, not solved.
R7 Migration churn: notes (30+), state files, split log homes — verified-move pattern (count+size) as in i8.
R8 Scope: two themes in one iteration (owner-directed). Mitigation: M6 build plan slices them into independent resumable chains.

Assumptions: Go toolchain present wherever rebuild is needed; i8 channel detection remains sound. Issues: logs already split across two homes (c5212d/9cb46b) — merge rides the build. Dependencies: contract.md stability during the iteration (renders re-run on change); spec/project.toml format lands before findRoot flips.

✓i9-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For the owner (and anyone driving a quackitect workspace with an AI agent),
who needs agents that provably operate under the contract and checkouts that hold nothing but truth,
the i9 trust-and-data hardening is an engine release that
(a) gates ledger-advancing commands behind an attestation ritual — read the contract, answer a deterministic challenge, recite to the adjudicator, one grant per session, chained context-bound keys with autonomous renewal —
(b) renders every harness entry file (AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md) from contract.md as single source, and
(c) restructures state so the repository contains only recorded truth: no .quack anywhere, caches and raw notes in the per-workspace user data home, one global ratcheting engine binary, decisions as immutable classified nodes in spec/decisions/, all nodes engine-minted.
Unlike advisory instructions and TTL/PID session heuristics, the session boundary is defined by key possession — the only storage that is born and dies with a context window.

Out of scope:

spec-book (parked, backlog)
methodology map
SyA gap bundles
evidence-merkle (parked)

The engine-bypass ceiling stands: a harness that never runs quack is detected (pre-commit/status), not prevented. Recorded, not solved here.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context (system-in-focus + environment). The Go engine (`product/engine-go`, one static binary) is driven through `quack.cmd` by:

an interactive console (a person)
thick harnesses (Claude Code)
thin harnesses (Copilot — known to bypass the engine entirely)
CI/pipes

State surfaces today:

the repo (`spec/`, `product/`, `.quack/`)
the per-workspace user data home (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\...`, logs since i8)
generated entry files (AGENTS.md; copilot-instructions.md missing today)

IN: contract.md (single rule source) + notes + blesses + engine source. OUT: refusals/keys (attest) + rendered entry files + report + ship zip.

Source notes (all archived with TRIAGE-CLOSE stamps 2026-07-04):

`block-the-ledger-until-the-contr` (attestation design, settled with the owner)
`thin-harness-contract-delivery` + `origin-field-i6-field-feedback-b` (ready-when fired)
`raw-notes-out-of-repo`
`decision-model-v2`
`eliminate-quack-folder` (incl. the owner's informal ratchet call)
`deterministic-minting`
`logs-dir-fragments-by-path-casin`

Plus live directives from the owner this session:

fold data-leg into i9
ratchet rule
report suspect-why while adjudicating M1

Use cases (this iteration):

uc-attested-session
uc-contract-delivery
uc-stable-data-dir
uc-repo-holds-only-truth
uc-global-engine
uc-notes-private
uc-decisions-never-relitigated
uc-deterministic-minting

Plus refined global surfaces — owner directives at the M1–M3 stops:

uc-review-report (req-report-why)
uc-backward-vv (req-vv-time-scope)
the filter-UX family (req-filter-clear/descendants/dblclick/help)

All folded under existing needs (need-qualities + need-engage + need-note + need-workspace-drive), no new needs minted.

requirements (2)

use cases (10)

✓i9-m2-requirements-traced auto

evidence

Derived: coverage:req-traced — every i9 requirement refines a use case, every use case refines an existing need. Computed live by the engine.

✓i9-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

evidence

Derived: coverage:req-has-test — every i9 requirement carries a test node (26 tests for 30 requirements; test-filter-ux verifies four; test-note-lane is grounded-review by design, the rest selftest-executed). Computed live by the engine.

tests (2)

✓i9-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Role	Interest	Covered by
Owner / adjudicator	never gated by their own machinery; one grant per session max; auditable actor stamps	req-console-exempt, req-attest-grant, i8 actor channels
Driving agent (thick harness)	unattended runs never stall; deterministic unlock path; mintable nodes	req-attest-renewal, req-attest-block, req-mint, req-note-lane
Thin-harness agent (Copilot)	contract present in natively-loaded file without pointer-following	req-contract-render, req-render-drift
Vehicle users (ship-a-zip clients)	working launcher without pre-installed global binary	req-global-binary, req-engine-ratchet
Future readers/auditors	decisions never re-litigated, classified from graph facts; suspects explain themselves; old verdicts never reopened by mere addition	req-decisions-folder, req-decision-classes, req-parked-list, req-decision-realized-lint, req-report-why, req-vv-time-scope
The repo itself (publishability)	only truth committed; private material out	req-no-quack-state, req-truth-in-spec, req-notes-out, req-clean-status, req-root-marker, req-global-config

No role without a requirement; no requirement without a role. The engine-bypassing harness (never runs quack) is a recorded ceiling (M1 RAID), not a covered role — detection stays with pre-commit/status backstops.

requirements (3)

✓i9-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m3-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A1 — Grant mechanics *(what proves a person opened the session)*

(a) Console-minted code: `quack attest --grant` at the interactive console prints a one-time code; the person hands it to the agent in chat; the agent redeems it (`quack attest <code> --answer …`). Structural proof: the code exists only where a person sat (C1 ✓, C7 one interaction).
(b) Console-side flag file the engine polls after an agent `--request`: stateful, racy, breaks piped/CI flows (C3 ✗).
(c) Chat-only "y" relayed by the agent with a flag: no structural proof — this is today's failure restated (C1 ✗). Recorded to the graveyard at M4.

A2 — Challenge derivation *(what proves the contract text is in context)*

(a) Positional word challenge: engine picks word N of rule K (position seeded from the grant/renewal nonce), verifies against the live file. Varies per attest, deterministic, forces the text into context (C1, C4 ✓).
(b) Contract file hash: computable by hashing without reading a line (C1 ✗).
(c) Static pass-phrase inside contract.md: single fixed answer, grep-once-reuse-forever (C1 weak). Viable fallback if (a)'s parsing proves brittle.

A3 — Key transport *(how the key rides along)*

(a) `--key <K>` flag on ledger-advancing commands: explicit, visible in the conversation, nothing persists shell-to-shell (C4 ✓; harness shells don't share env anyway).
(b) `QUACK_KEY` env var: equivalent per-command prefix in practice; accept as a second read path for scripting comfort, never required.
(c) Key file on disk: plaintext at rest defeats req-attest-key-hygiene (C4 ✗). Graveyard.

A4 — Render pipeline *(entry files from contract.md)*

(a) Engine render step (inside `quack build` + standalone command): per-harness template wraps the verbatim contract body; `quack lint` re-renders and byte-compares (req-render-drift). Maintainer runs it. Agents only read static files (C1, C3 ✓).
(b) Pointer/include from entry file to contract: thin harnesses don't follow pointers — field-proven failure (C1 ✗). Graveyard (this iteration's origin).
(c) Git hook auto-render: hooks don't fire in every harness/clone. Acceptable convenience later, never the guarantee.

A5 — Data-dir layout

(a) Workspace-first: `%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\<slug>\{logs, notes, evidence, gather, overlay, spikes, out, engine}` — one deletable home per workspace; the amnesia test is one `rm -rf` (C6 ✓). Migration folds today's kind-first logs plus the two split log homes.
(b) Kind-first (today's `logs\<slug>`): scatters one workspace across kinds; the amnesia test needs a sweep (C6 weaker).

A6 — Root-marker mechanics

(a) `spec/project.toml` walk-up: committed truth, present in every quackitect repo; also absorbs `.quack/config.toml`'s iteration settings (owner-decided direction).
(b) Keep `.quack` as marker: contradicts no-.quack (owner-superseded, recorded).
(c) `.git` walk-up: ship-a-zip vehicles may have no git (C3 ✗).

A7 — Ratchet check location

(a) Engine self-check at startup: the binary compares its own source stamp against the workspace's vendored source; older → rebuild to the global home and re-exec. Launcher stays dumb (existence check + bootstrap build only — cmd can test existence, not hashes) (C3, C5 ✓).
(b) Launcher-side version compare in cmd/sh: batch parsing of versions, duplicated per platform, brittle (C5 ✗).
Feasibility flag (→ M5): Windows locks a running exe against overwrite but allows RENAME — the standard self-update dance (rename old aside, move new in, clean up next run) needs a spike.

A8 — Decision-node schema

(a) Decision-model v2 as settled (2026-07-03, researched + red-teamed with the owner): `type: adr` in `spec/decisions/`, born-made/never-edited, built-in `scrap` sink, `ready_when` write-once, exits by supersession, all classification derived from graph facts; killer stamp stays a person's judgment.
(b) Industry 4-state lifecycle (proposed/accepted/deprecated/superseded status field): duplicates the gate ledger's state machine — rejected in the source note with reasons (DRY). Graveyard.
Sub-choice: i9's own ADRs become the FIRST citizens of `spec/decisions/` (dogfood at birth) vs. last iteration-folder batch. Decide at M4.

A9 — Mint UX

(a) Typed op: `quack mint <type> [--id <slug>]` emits the schema-valid skeleton; sugar forms `mint veto --of <id>`, `mint defer --of <id> --ready-when "<cond>"`, `mint supersede <old>` stamp the edges so derived classes can't be misspelled (C4 ✓).
(b) Graduation-only (notes promote to nodes): conflates the private note lane with trace minting; no path for tests/reqs (C4 ✗).

✓i9-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements. Weight 1–5.

#	Criterion	Weight	Derived from
C1	Structural enforceability — no reliance on agent discipline	5	req-attest-block, req-attest-grant, req-contract-render
C2	Zero-stall autonomy — unattended runs never park on a person	4	req-attest-renewal, req-attest-expiry
C3	Portability — every harness, every OS, plain CLI	4	req-contract-render, req-logs-canonical, req-global-binary
C4	Determinism & auditability	4	req-decision-classes, req-attest-key-hygiene, req-render-drift
C5	Simplicity, zero-dep, hand-rolled Go	3	engine tradition (i0003 decision)
C6	Migration safety — nothing adjudicated ever lost	3	req-no-quack-state, req-notes-out, req-truth-in-spec
C7	Adjudicator friction — at most one interaction per session	3	req-attest-grant, req-console-exempt

✓i9-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

All preferred candidates are pure Go stdlib on top of shipped i8 machinery (channel stat + normalized hashing + strict parser). No new dependencies anywhere.

Riskiest #1 — grant/key round-trip through a real harness (does the code/key survive chat → shell faithfully): M5 spike.
Riskiest #2 — Windows self-replace for the ratchet (rename-dance on a running exe): M5 spike.
Cheap: render (template + byte-compare), data-dir move (i8 migration pattern, count+size verified), root-marker walk-up (findRoot touch), mint (template emit through the strict parser), decisions lint (path check), parked list (graph filter), report-why (cause already computable at render), vv-time-scope (filter by iteration id — nodes carry `iter` already).
Prior art: no open research question — the axes reuse the 2026-07-03 researched decisions (decision model, notes/data restructure), the sebot determinizer precedent (minting), and the widely-used Go self-update rename pattern. No deep-research run needed; sources cited in the baked notes.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m4-adr-recorded auto

evidence

Derived: coverage:adr-traced — all six ADRs address requirements. Computed live.

✓i9-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

In short: the engine gates the ledger behind a console-granted and self-renewing key ritual. The contract ships pre-rendered into every entry file. The repo keeps only truth — everything else lives in one data home per workspace, served by one forward-ratcheting global binary. Decisions are immutable graph-classified nodes. Every node is engine-minted.

Per axis — chosen / why / runner-up:

Axis	Chosen	Why (top criterion)	Runner-up, why not
Grant	Console-minted one-time code	Structural proof a person acted (C1)	Chat-relayed flag — no proof, today's failure
Challenge	Word N of rule K, nonce-seeded	Forces contract text into context (C1)	File hash — computable without reading
Key transport	`--key` flag per ledger command	In-conversation by construction (C4)	Env var — kept as optional second path
Entry files	Engine-rendered from contract.md + drift lint	Works in pointer-blind harnesses (C3)	Git-hook render — hooks don't fire everywhere
Data layout	Workspace-first home, kind subfolders	One-delete amnesia test (C6)	Kind-first — scatters the workspace
Root marker	spec/project.toml walk-up	Committed truth, present everywhere (C3)	.git walk-up — zip vehicles have no git
Ratchet	Engine self-check + rename dance	Launcher stays dumb, one code path (C5)	Launcher version logic — batch parsing, brittle
Decisions	Model v2, spec/decisions/, derived classes	No duplicate state machine (C4)	4-state lifecycle — rejected 2026-07-03
Minting	`quack mint` typed ops + engine note lane	Validity at birth (C4)	Graduation-only — no path for tests/reqs

ADRs: · · · · · — the first six citizens of `spec/decisions/` (dogfood from birth).

decisions (6)

✓i9-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Pugh, datum = "do nothing" (advisory floor + .quack as-is). Score −1/0/+1 per criterion, weighted:

C1=5
C2=4
C3=4
C4=4
C5=3
C6=3
C7=3

Candidate set	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	C6	C7	Weighted
Chosen set (above)	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1	0	+20
Chat-grant + hash challenge + env key	−1	+1	+1	0	+1	0	+1	+9
Keep .quack, kind-first, launcher ratchet	0	+1	0	0	−1	−1	+1	+1
Do nothing (datum)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Sensitivity. The chosen set wins under any single weight change of ±2: its lead rests on C1 (which only it scores) and on breadth, not on one criterion. Doubling C7 (friction) to 6 still leaves it ahead (+20 vs +12). The one genuine sensitivity is feasibility rather than weighting: the pre-agreed fallbacks (shorter code format; build-next-launch) keep the set intact if the M5 spikes falsify the code round-trip or the rename dance — no candidate flip.

Datum re-run (gate discussion 2026-07-04, red-team criticism upheld). Same weights; datum = the strongest rival (soft-ritual set) — the comparison the first run hid:

Candidate set vs soft-ritual datum	C1	C3	C4	C5	C6	C7	Weighted
Chosen set	+1	0	+1	−1	+1	−1	+6
Keep .quack, kind-first, launcher ratchet	+1	−1	0	−2*	−1	0	−10
Soft-ritual set (datum)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

*scored −2 as worse-than-either on simplicity: launcher version logic duplicated per platform. The choice survives the honest datum: the chosen set trades simplicity and friction for structural proof, determinism and the amnesia test — exactly the priorities the M1 frame set. Method fix (datum = strongest rival, status quo only for worth-doing-at-all) noted for triage into the M4 checklist method line.

✓i9-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m5-design-buildable

evidence

Every M4 mechanism now rests on demonstrated primitives: channel detection (shipped, i8), byte-exact flag transport (spike 1), deterministic contract parsing (spike 1), in-place binary replacement with cleanup (spike 2), `spec/**` node loading for spec/decisions/ (verified in LoadAll before M4), migrations (i8 verified-move pattern). No mechanism remains unproven; the remaining work is assembly, not invention.

✓i9-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

Spike 1 — grant/key round trip + challenge determinism (`spikes/i9-attest-roundtrip/`).

A worst-case session key (`+`, `/`, `=`, 50 chars) and a grant code passed chat → tool call → shell → flag parse byte-exact in both PowerShell and git-bash — verified by sha8 comparison (`8ffa3c13` / `2feae3f2` identical on both channels). This session itself was the real-harness leg of the trip: the key traveled through actual driving-agent tool calls.
The positional challenge (word N of rule K) parses contract.md deterministically: rule sections split on `## K.` headings, CRLF normalized before counting, HTML design-marker comments stripped so markers never shift word positions. Repeated runs across both shells agree.
Finding (design advanced): a raw positional pick can land on punctuation — rule 1 word 7 is `"—"`, an unanswerable token. The M6 implementation must pick from letter-bearing words only (filter tokens without letters before indexing). The ADR's mechanism statement stays valid; this is a token-selection detail inside it.
Kill-criterion from M4 (round-trip garbles → shorter code format): not triggered; fallback stays unused.

Spike 2 — Windows self-replace rename dance (`spikes/i9-rename-dance/`).

A running exe renamed itself aside, moved a staged "newer build" into its original path, and spawned the new binary from that path — all while still running: `NEW BINARY ALIVE … exe-replaced-in-place=true`. PASS on the first and second run.
The parked old file is delete-locked while its process lives (expected on Windows) and deletable on the next run — run 2's step-0 cleanup removed run 1's leftover. The ratchet therefore opens with a leftover sweep.
Kill-criterion from M4 (dance fails → build-next-launch): not triggered; fallback stays unused.

✓i9-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Findings distilled here; the spike scratch stays gitignored and disposable per the method. One design advance carried into M6: letter-bearing-words-only challenge indexing.

✓i9-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.23 / 23 done

✓i9-m6-build-planned

evidence

Fifteen steps in one dependency chain, each a durable checkpoint carrying one design concern. Test-first: runners land first and are observed RED before any feature code.

1. bs-runners — failing selftests for every new test node (the RED set).
2. bs-data-dir — workspace-first data home; canonical paths; global config. *(everything after this has a home)*
3. bs-attest-state — hash-only key chain + command budget.
4. bs-attest-ritual — console grant code; letter-word challenge; redeem/renew.
5. bs-attest-gate — ledger commands refuse without `--key` on the agent channel; console exempt.
6. bs-entry-render — AGENTS.md + copilot-instructions.md rendered from contract.md; drift lint.
7. bs-vv-scope — derived coverage sees only the check's iteration and earlier.
8. bs-report-ux — suspect causes in the detail panel; filter clear / descendants / double-click / help.
9. bs-decisions — scrap sink; derived veto/defer/superseded; path + unrealized-adoption lints; `decisions --parked`.
10. bs-mint — `quack mint` + veto/defer/supersede sugar; graveyard backfill as first vetoes.
11. bs-notes — note lane writes to the data home; note.md prompt calls the engine.
12. bs-global-bin — global binary install; dumb launcher + bootstrap; startup ratchet with rename dance.
13. bs-truth — ledgers under spec/ledger/; spec/project.toml; findRoot flip.
14. bs-migrate — caches, notes, split log homes moved (count+size verified); .quack removed.
15. bs-cleanup — prompts, docs, regenerated entry files, full green sweep.

Order rationale:

The data home (2) precedes every writer.
Attestation (3–5) lands before its own state would be migrated.
The root flip (13) comes late so the whole build runs on stable plumbing.
Migration (14) is second-to-last so nothing writes to old homes after the move.

Interruption anywhere resumes at the named step.

✓i9-m6-tests-red-observed auto

✓i9-m6-build

✓i9-m6-bs-runners ✓i9-m6-bs-data-dir ✓i9-m6-bs-attest-state ✓i9-m6-bs-attest-ritual ✓i9-m6-bs-attest-gate ✓i9-m6-bs-entry-render ✓i9-m6-bs-vv-scope ✓i9-m6-bs-report-ux ✓i9-m6-bs-decisions ✓i9-m6-bs-mint ✓i9-m6-bs-notes ✓i9-m6-bs-global-bin ✓i9-m6-bs-truth ✓i9-m6-bs-migrate ✓i9-m6-bs-cleanup

✓i9-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i9-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

R2 (grep-gameable challenge) stands accepted as designed. New residuals: (a) AV interference with the swap — mitigated twice over (retries + staged-adoption, both observed working live); (b) `status` at ~7s vs the 1s responsiveness bound — real debt, noted for the retro with two concrete levers; (c) legacy fallbacks (root marker, overlay, vendor pocket, attest path) carry not-yet-migrated vehicles — parked deliberately in `adr-defer-vehicle-scaffold`. Nothing threatens the iteration's claims.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Reviewed: every new mechanism sits in a marked design region tied to its requirements (coverage: clean, no holes); zero new dependencies (crypto/encoding stdlib only); hand-rolled parsing kept; error paths degrade gracefully (missing Go toolchain → warn and run; blocked swap → staged; missing marker → loud error); the strict parser gained two allowlisted keys with ref-integrity extended (sink-aware); hermetic selftests (temp state override); voice rules applied to all new prose.

✓i9-m6-verification-green auto ✓i9-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The adjudicator drove every gate M1–M6 in person this session: pager y's on M1–M5 (each recorded actor=human), scope rulings mid-walk (data-leg fold, filter UX, backward V&V, killer demotion), one console grant, and the explicit delegated batch at M6 ("bless both": the gate + the i3 tail, all recorded --by human). The attest ledger is the sign-off.

✓i9-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

uc-attested-session, in production, not simulation: bounce → console grant (adjudicator) → challenge answered from the contract in context → key → 20-command budget consumed by the real walk → autonomous renewal → successor key finishing the build.
uc-repo-holds-only-truth: the live amnesia demo above; plus `spec/ledger/` carrying every historical bless through a `git mv`.
uc-contract-delivery: AGENTS.md regenerated with the full contract inline; `.github/copilot-instructions.md` exists for the first time — the pointer Copilot never followed is gone. (A real Copilot session on this repo is the remaining FIELD half — logged as a gap below, it needs a different harness than the one walking now.)
uc-global-engine: fresh-bootstrap run observed; ratchet swap observed including its AV-blocked fallback path.

use cases (4)

✓i9-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against every need up to this iteration (the scoped rule this iteration built):

need-engage — the whole iteration was walked through the loop, and its second half ran UNDER the new gate: every ledger command since bs-attest-gate carried a live session key.
need-note — capture runs through the engine lane only (single- and multi-line proven), into the private data home; the note prompt can no longer instruct hand-writing.
need-review — the readout gained what the adjudicator asked for mid-walk: suspects explain themselves in the report, the filter clears/descends/double-clicks, pagers carried every hand-off.
need-implementation — 26 tests authored → observed RED (attested per node) → GREEN; the test-first discipline held for the entire build.
need-workspace-drive — one global binary now serves every workspace (bootstrap proven live), `--base` untouched, legacy markers keep old vehicles running.
need-qualities — the trust story this iteration exists for: structural contract enforcement demonstrated on its own builder, honest ledger preserved through migration (git-moved, zero blesses lost), the amnesia test PASSED LIVE (below).

Ch1 criteria, each demonstrated for real:

(1) keyless bounce — happened to the builder, exit 3 naming contract.md
(2) renewal without a grant — performed at budget exhaustion (rule 6, word 220)
(3) byte-stable renders — selftest + re-render in every build
(4) clean `git status` — the repo tree holds spec/, product/, entry files, launcher, nothing else
(5) amnesia — data home parked and DELETED-equivalent mid-session: board identical (347 gates, 0 suspect), restored without loss
(6) strict-at-birth — five vetoes and one defer minted through the op, all parse strict
(7) one home — canonical-path slugging live, both legacy split homes merged into it.

✓i9-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Field half of thin-harness delivery: copilot-instructions.md is rendered but no real Copilot session has run against it yet — next field feedback question at the coming `engage start`.
Recitation's social half: the challenge proves contract-in-context; whether a paraphrase truly reached a person stays humanly-adjudicated (accepted at M1, R2).
status ~7s vs the 1s responsiveness guide — debt, noted with levers (perf note in the inbox).
Vehicle scaffolding still emits the legacy layout — parked as `adr-defer-vehicle-scaffold` with a named ready-when.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m8-config-baselined

evidence

EARS baseline re-recorded at feature-land: 102 requirement statement hashes into `spec/ledger/ears-baseline.json` (the i9 statements now blessed history, forward-only from here).
`spec/project.toml` is the committed configuration and root marker; the golden root is machine-local by design (data home) and re-baselines with every `quack build`.
The attest ledger carries the full iteration record at `spec/ledger/attest.json` — including the actor-honest stamps of this walk (console grant, agent blesses, delegated human batches).

✓i9-m8-docs-complete

evidence

Entry files: AGENTS.md and .github/copilot-instructions.md are RENDERED from contract.md (this iteration's own mechanism) and regenerate inside every `quack build`; drift is a lint failure. The contract itself carries the attest ritual as its final section.
dependencies.md: rewritten for the global-binary world (bootstrap, ratchet, `product\tools` shim).
Method prompts: engage/review/note/compose-reference de-.quacked (data-home paths, `spec/project.toml`, engine-lane note capture); engage.md carries the backward-cumulative V&V wording matching the shipped rule.
README: the dead `.quack/out/report.png` reference dropped in favor of the `quack report` instruction (the "resolves or dropped" criterion, dropped side); no `.quack` mention remains.
Deliberately quiet: `attest` stays out of `--help` — the unlock path is discoverable only through the contract, which is the design, and is documented THERE.

✓i9-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Hand-back to the adjudicator: the workspace runs entirely on the new machinery (this very walk did), the board reads 347 gates / 0 suspect pre-gate, and the remaining field question (a real Copilot session against the rendered instructions) is queued as the opening retro question of the next `engage start`.

✓i9-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

The deliverable is the engine source (vendored in every repo) + the global binary it ratchets into + the rendered entry files + the method layer. Engine version string stays `0.0.1-go` (pre-release line, unchanged since i0003 — version discipline for releases is future work, noted). `quack ship` packages `product/` from the data home at `engage ship`.

✓i9-m8-gate

i0010_engine_workshop 52/52

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore).

For the quackitect user — owner, adjudicator, maintainer, vehicle owner.
Who waits seconds for a board, gets "fresh — nothing changed" on real suspects, cannot see pending notes, scaffolds vehicles into the pre-i9 world, answers two pagers back-to-back, and reads "human" all over the surface.
The i0010 engine workshop is a maintenance-and-observability iteration of the quack engine.
That answers from a verification cache within a second, explains derived suspects, lists its notes, logs its calls, emits modern vehicles, ratchets by version instead of mtime, merges ready pagers into one hand-off, and says "user".
Unlike adding a UI layer or rewriting the engine, it hardens the existing zero-dep Go binary and its method.

PR-FAQ pressure test.

*Press line:* "The ledger now answers before you finish blinking — and when it says SUSPECT, it tells you exactly why."
*Hardest FAQ:* "Is a cached verdict trustworthy?" — Yes by construction: the key is the test's full input hash plus the engine build identity. Any edit or rebuild is a miss and re-runs.
*Second FAQ:* "Why touch wording now?" — The ruling exists (user replaces human), the sweep is mechanizable (allowlist selftest), and it rides the same surface the other items already touch.

Scope.

In: verification cache + re-run feedback, fast status, `why` on derived flips, `quack notes` list, call-log instrumentation, mint dedupe + `--rationale`, vehicle scaffold modernization, semantic ratchet, merged killer pagers, user-wording sweep (stamp schema decided at M4).
Out (backlog, with ready-whens): mobile adapter family (awaits the Remote Control trial), `quack listen`, evidence-doc templates, companion app.

✓i10-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

The delta is real, and each item has a referent:

Slow answers: `quack status` ≈ 7s since i9 — the tests-pass battery runs live (measured, perf note 2026-07-04, superseded into the verification-cache note).
Mute why: `quack why` answers "fresh — nothing changed" on coverage-driven suspects (field note 2026-07-04, 09:42).
Invisible notes: since the i9 data-home move there is no in-repo notes folder and no list command (owner note, 14:27).
Legacy scaffold: `start init`/`stubs` still emit the `.quack` world; i9 removed it. Ratchet compares mtimes, so a fresh clone can rebuild the global binary BACKWARD (two notes, 13:06–13:11).
Double ceremony: a milestone's last killer subtask and its gate ripen together and cost two consecutive pagers (owner note, 10:47).
Wrong word: the surface says "human" where the voice rules say role or "user" (owner ruling 2026-07-04: replace with "user"; stamp schema decided in-iteration).

Worth solving: every item is either a daily-friction cost (speed + ceremony + visibility) or a correctness hazard (backward ratchet, stale scaffold).

✓i10-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria, each checkable:

1. Fully cached `quack status` answers ≤ 1s on the reference machine (timed selftest).
2. A re-running battery announces itself before the first test; a cached run is silent.
3. `quack why` on a coverage-flipped check names the rule and the delta — "fresh" is gone for that class.
4. `quack notes` prints location + id, age, first line for every open note.
5. Every dispatch appends one redacted calls.jsonl line.
6. `mint veto --of scrap` writes the sink once; `--rationale` lands in the node.
7. A fresh `start init` emission carries project.toml, launcher, vendored source, pointer-chain entries — and drives from inside.
8. A stale-mtime old-version clone does NOT rebuild the binary backward.
9. One combined pager when the last killer subtask and its gate are ready together; split answer possible.
10. No "human" in prose, prompts, or CLI display strings outside the actor-stamp allowlist (selftest).

✓i10-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk — cache staleness: a verdict survives an input change → falsely green board. Mitigation: key = full input hash + engine build identity; spike at M5 proves the key.
Risk — backward/broken ratchet: the semantic stamp misreads and the binary stops updating (or still regresses). Mitigation: selftest with fresh-mtime/old-version fixture.
Risk — stamp-schema churn: renaming actor vocabulary breaks the ledger schema and the self-cert metric. Mitigation: M4 decision with the metric as a criterion; prose sweep is safe regardless.
Assumption: the selftest battery stays the only verification runner (cache sits at one choke point).
Issue: `report-live` costs ~5s per render inside the battery — the cache must cover it once per build.
Dependency: Go toolchain present for `quack build` (unchanged).

✓i10-m1-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Each subtask has its referent in this doc:

Vision in Moore form plus PR-FAQ.
Six problems, each anchored to a dated note or measurement.
Ten checkable Ch1 criteria.
RAID with mitigations.

The killer (`problem-agreed`) was adjudicated by the user at the pager.

Round 2 — validate. Scope matches the started motivation exactly — all eight pulled work items appear in scope AND are covered by at least one Ch1 criterion:

1–2 cache
1 status
3 why
4 notes
5 call-log
6 mint
7 scaffold
8 ratchet
9 pager
10 wording

Out-list matches the backlog ready-whens. Nothing out of scope smuggled in.

Round 3 — red-team (scaled to a framing gate). Opposing case: "a maintenance pass needs no iteration — just fix things." Rejected: two items are correctness hazards (backward ratchet + stale scaffold) and one touches the ledger schema (stamp vocabulary) — those need gates and decisions, not drive-by fixes. Kill-criterion check: none of the criteria is unmeasurable; none unmet at this stage.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the requirement set.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context diagram (system-in-focus: the quack engine).

                 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  user ────────► │                quack engine                │ ◄──── driving agent
  (console)      │                                            │       (harness, --key)
   status/why/   │  status · why · notes · mint · progress    │
   notes/report  │  build · selftest · start init/stubs       │
                 └──┬───────────┬───────────┬────────────┬────┘
                    │           │           │            │
              IN: spec/    IN/OUT: data home        OUT: vehicle
              (nodes,      (verdict cache NEW,      workspace
              ledger,      calls.jsonl NEW,         (scaffold,
              designs)     notes, logs, out)        launcher, entries)
                    │
              IN: vendored engine source ──► OUT: global binary (ratchet)

IN: spec nodes + ledger, product design markers, vendored engine source, notes home, session key.
OUT: board (status/report), pagers, minted nodes, calls.jsonl (new), verdict records (new), emitted vehicles, the global binary.

Stakeholders by role.

User — reads the board, asks why, lists notes, runs retros. Wants ≤1s answers and real explanations.
Adjudicator — answers pagers. Wants one hand-off per ready pair, not two.
Driving agent — walks checks with a key. Wants deterministic, scriptable output.
Maintainer — edits engine source. Wants the cache invalidated by build identity, not manually.
Vehicle owner — scaffolds new projects. Wants the emitted world to match the current engine.

Function tree (delta of this iteration).

Answer fast → record verdicts → key by input hash + build id → announce re-runs.
Explain → name derived rule + delta in `why`.
Show pending work → list notes (inbox; `--all` adds backlog/archive).
Observe itself → append redacted call lines → aggregate at retro.
Mint cleanly → dedupe sink → accept `--rationale`.
Emit modern vehicles → project.toml root, launcher, vendored source, pointer-chain entries → ratchet by version.
Hand over once → merge last-killer + gate pagers.
Speak of the user → sweep prose/CLI wording, allowlist stamps.

ISO 25010 quality tree — the vital qualities, as 6-part scenarios.

1. Performance efficiency: user runs `quack status` on the reference machine with a warm cache (source: user; stimulus: status; artifact: engine; environment: warm cache) → board prints; measure: ≤ 1s.
2. Reliability (cache honesty): maintainer edits any test input or rebuilds the engine (stimulus: evaluation after change) → exactly the missed verdicts re-run; measure: zero stale verdicts served, proven by selftest.
3. Usability (feedback): a battery re-runs (stimulus: cache miss) → stderr announces before the first test, names each test >1s; measure: silent only when fully cached.
4. Security (log hygiene): agent passes `--key`/`--answer`/grant codes (stimulus: any dispatch) → calls.jsonl carries them redacted; measure: zero secret bytes at rest.
5. Portability (vehicle): vehicle owner runs `start init` on a clean machine (stimulus: emission) → workspace drives from inside via the launcher; measure: driveFromInside green, no `.quack`.

Use cases. The eight minted at compose: , , , , , , , .

Environment assumptions, field-checked (per the M2 method line).

Git clones stamp checkout-time mtimes — the ratchet hazard's premise. Documented Git behavior and the exact failure observed in the 13:06 note; the M5 spike reproduces it with a fixture before the fix is designed.
The selftest battery is the only verification runner — confirmed in code: `coverage:tests-pass` resolves through the one selftest registry (selftest.go); the cache sits at one choke point.
report-live costs ~5s per render — measured 2026-07-04 (perf note); it is the battery's dominant cost and must be cached per build identity.
Harness auto-load channel — field-proven today: Claude Code loads CLAUDE.md only; the scaffold must emit the pointer chain, not AGENTS.md alone.

use cases (8)

✓i10-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Five roles enumerated above. Each maps to at least one use case:

user → uc-fast-board/uc-explain-suspect/uc-notes-visible/uc-user-wording
adjudicator → uc-single-handoff
driving agent → uc-decision-hygiene
maintainer → uc-call-observability (retro data) + cache invalidation (uc-fast-board)
vehicle owner → uc-modern-vehicle

No role without a stake; no use case without a role.

use cases (8)

✓i10-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:req-has-test`): every one of the 12 requirements carries a minted test wired `verify: selftest:<name>`. The engine computes this live.

✓i10-m2-requirements-traced auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:req-traced`): every requirement refines a use case; every use case refines one of the four existing needs (need-review + need-note + need-engage + need-workspace-drive). The engine computes this live.

✓i10-m2-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. 12 requirements, all EARS-shaped (`quack lint`: ears clean with 0 exemptions). Both derived checks compute green: every requirement has a test, every requirement traces to a need. The context, the roles and the function tree above anchor each requirement. So do the quality scenarios.

Round 2 — validate. Coverage against the M1 scope is 1:1:

cache (req-verify-cache, req-verify-feedback, req-status-fast)
why (req-why-derived)
notes (req-notes-list)
call log (req-call-log)
mint (req-mint-dedupe, req-mint-rationale)
scaffold (req-scaffold-modern)
ratchet (req-ratchet-semantic)
pager (req-pager-merge)
wording (req-user-wording)

No scope item without a requirement; no requirement outside scope.

Round 3 — red-team. Weakest statements probed: (a) req-status-fast leans on "reference machine" — defined in the responsiveness guide and measured by a timed selftest; acceptable. (b) req-user-wording's stamp allowlist could become a loophole — bounded: the allowlist is exactly the recorded actor-stamp vocabulary, and its content is an M4 decision rather than sweep-time discretion. (c) req-verify-cache covers report-live too, since selftests ARE the executed tests — the dominant 5s cost is inside the cache boundary. No unmet kill-criterion.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

requirements (7)

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternative set.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m3-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Seven open axes. Each card: context, then options with one-line pro/con and the leaning. Scoring happens at M4 (Pugh, strongest-rival datum).

A1 — Verdict cache shape *(req-verify-cache)*

Context: verdicts are machine-local caches, never truth. Truth stays in spec/ (i9 principle).
(a) Single JSON map in the data home, rewritten atomically per battery. Pro: one read, trivially consistent, self-pruning. Con: whole-file rewrite per battery.
(b) Append-only JSONL log, last-wins per test. Pro: cheap appends, natural history. Con: grows unbounded, needs compaction.
(c) Verdicts in `spec/ledger/`. REJECTED at birth: caches do not belong in committed truth.
Leaning: (a) — verdict sets are small (dozens), atomic rewrite is simpler than compaction.

A2 — Build identity for the cache key *(req-verify-cache)*

Context: a rebuilt engine must invalidate every verdict.
(a) Binary self-hash at startup. Pro: cannot lie, survives forgotten bumps. Con: hashing the exe each run (~ms).
(b) Version constant in source. Pro: free. Con: a forgotten bump serves stale verdicts — the exact failure class this iteration kills elsewhere (mtime ratchet).
Leaning: (a).

A3 — Call-log shape *(req-call-log)*

(a) calls.jsonl append-only in the logs home, redacted fields, size-capped. Pro: owner-directed shape, disposable like logs. Con: cap needs rotation logic.
(b) Per-day files. Pro: rotation for free. Con: aggregation reads many files.
(c) SQLite. REJECTED: zero-dep engine.
Leaning: (a), per the owner's instrumentation note.

A4 — Ratchet stamp *(req-ratchet-semantic)*

Context: mtime is a temporal proxy for a semantic rule ("newer engine"). Fresh clones break it.
(a) Generated version-stamp file written by `quack build` into the vendored source; launcher compares semantically. Pro: explicit, diffable. Con: one more generated file to keep honest.
(b) Source identity hash + recorded version: ratchet only when the vendored source differs AND its recorded version is greater. Pro: belt and braces. Con: two mechanisms to test.
(c) Keep mtimes. GRAVEYARD: the observed backward-rebuild bug.
Leaning: (a), with (b)'s version-greater guard folded in if the spike shows hash-only ambiguity.

A5 — Stamp vocabulary *(req-user-wording; owner ruling: user replaces human)*

Context: the recorded actor stamp feeds the self-cert metric (agent-blessed killers ÷ killers). Prose is free; the schema is not.
(a) Sweep prose + CLI display; stamps stay `actor=human`/`--by human` as a frozen allowlist. Pro: zero ledger churn. Con: the frozen word contradicts the ruling at the record layer.
(b) Full rename to `actor=user`/`--by user` with a ledger migration and a read-compat shim for old records. Pro: one vocabulary everywhere. Con: schema churn, migration risk, i8 design regions reopen.
(c) Channel terms (`console`/`harness`). Pro: names the mechanism, dodges person-words. Con: overrides the explicit "user" ruling — kept only as the strongest rival for the Pugh datum.
Leaning: genuinely open — this is the M4 decision with the metric as a criterion.

A6 — Notes list surface *(req-notes-list)*

(a) `quack notes [--all]` — a small read-only command. Pro: discoverable noun, room for later sub-ops. Con: second entry point beside `note`.
(b) `quack note --list`. Pro: one entry point. Con: a verb command growing read modes.
Leaning: (a), per the capture note.

A7 — Why-explanation source *(req-why-derived)*

(a) Compute on demand: `why` re-derives the coverage delta live (rule + the counted inputs). Pro: no new state, always current. Con: pays the evaluation cost on ask.
(b) Record flip reasons at evaluation time; `why` reads the record. Pro: instant answer. Con: new state to invalidate — a second cache to keep honest.
Leaning: (a); with A1's verdict cache the evaluation is cheap by then.

requirements (4)

✓i10-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements and the standing constraints, vital-few:

#	Criterion	From	Weight
C1	Zero-dep, one static binary	engine constraint	5
C2	Truth in spec, caches deletable	i9 principle, req-verify-cache	5
C3	Cannot serve stale state (self-invalidating)	req-verify-cache, req-ratchet-semantic	5
C4	Responsiveness (1s feedback)	req-status-fast, responsiveness guide	4
C5	Schema & metric continuity	self-cert metric, ledger stability	4
C6	Smallest honest diff	maintenance iteration	3

requirements (1)

✓i10-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

A1(a)/(b): both trivial in stdlib Go — os.WriteFile atomic-rename / append. Feasible.
A2(a): sha256 of the running exe via os.Executable — milliseconds. Feasible.
A3(a): append + size check ≈ 40 lines. Feasible.
A4(a)/(b): build already writes generated files (golden root); a stamp file is the same move. Feasible.
A5(a): grep-sweep + allowlist selftest — mechanical. A5(b): migration touches attest.json records — feasible but the riskiest item on the board.
A6(a): read-only directory listing — trivial.
A7(a): the coverage evaluator already computes the inputs; naming them is exposure, not new math. Feasible.

✓i10-m3-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Seven axes, each with ≥2 genuinely viable options and a one-line pro/con. Two option-classes rejected at birth with reasons (spec-resident cache and SQLite). Criteria table derives from named requirements. Feasibility notes point at concrete mechanisms (stdlib calls, existing build hooks).

Round 2 — validate. Axis coverage against the requirement set:

A1/A2→verify-cache
A3→call-log
A4→ratchet-semantic
A5→user-wording
A6→notes-list
A7→why-derived

req-verify-feedback + req-status-fast + req-mint-* + req-scaffold-modern + req-pager-merge carry no open architecture axis — their shape is fixed by their statements or an owner ruling; elaborating fake alternatives for them would be ceremony. The mid-walk findings (parity placement and tests-red scope) are captured as notes for the next compose, not smuggled into this axis set.

Round 3 — red-team. Strongest opposing case per leaning probed: A2's version-constant is cheaper but reproduces today's mtime failure class — the self-hash leaning survives. A5 is deliberately left undecided; forcing it here would pre-empt the Pugh run the datum discipline demands. A7(b)'s instant answer tempts, but a second cache to keep honest contradicts C3. No axis has a hidden third option that dominates.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

requirements (3)

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decisions.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

One card per axis. Candidates and pro/cons live in .

A1 — cache shape

Decision: one JSON verdict map in the data home. Atomic rewrite per battery.
Because: verdict sets are small. One read, no compaction logic.
Rejected: append-only log (grows, needs compaction), spec residency (caches are never truth).

A2 — build identity

Decision: sha256 self-hash of the running binary, once per process.
Because: it cannot lie. A rebuild always invalidates.
Rejected: version constant. A forgotten bump serves stale verdicts — the mtime failure class again.

A3 — call log

Decision: `calls.jsonl` in the logs home. One redacted line per dispatch.
Retention: retro-bound (owner ruling) — the retro aggregates, then deletes the log. No rotation machinery.
Because: the log exists FOR the retro. The retro opens every engage start, so the growth window is one iteration.
Rejected: per-day files (aggregation reads many), SQLite (zero-dep), size-cap rotation (a tuning knob replaced by a process fact).

A4 — ratchet

Decision: `quack build` writes a version stamp into the vendored source. The launcher ratchets only FORWARD, by comparing stamps.
Because: the rule is semantic ("newer engine"). The stamp records exactly that.
Rejected: mtime (fresh clones rebuilt backward — the observed bug).
Contingency: the M5 spike must prove fresh-clone correctness. Otherwise the hash guard folds in.

A5 — stamp vocabulary

Decision: every surface a person reads says user (or the role). The recorded stamps (`actor=human`, `--by human`) stay frozen FOR NOW.
Because: one metric vocabulary across history keeps the self-cert metric honest today.
Sunset (owner-directed 2026-07-04): the freeze is a bridge, not an end state. The frozen vocabulary is on the geronticide kill-list — a future iteration renames the records to `user` with a proper ledger migration. Churn is acceptable; churn-aversion is not a deciding criterion.
Rejected: doing the rename inside THIS iteration (it deserves its own migration walk), channel terms (overrides the ruling).

A6 — notes surface

Decision: `quack notes [--all]`. Read-only.
Because: discoverable noun. Room for later sub-ops.
Rejected: `note --list` (a write verb growing read modes).

A7 — why source

Decision: `why` computes the coverage delta live.
Because: no second cache to keep honest.
Rejected: recorded flip-reasons (new state, new staleness risk).

Pager merge (shape was fixed at M3, from the owner's note)

Decision: merge the HAND-OFF, never the nodes. One combined pager when the last open killer subtask and its gate are ready together. Both blesses recorded individually. Split answers possible.

✓i10-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Only A5 was contested. Pugh run 1, datum = prose-only sweep (the strongest rival — voice.md already prescribes it).

Criterion (weight)	rename now + migration	channel terms
C2 truth in spec (5)	−	−
C5 metric continuity (4)	−−	−−
C6 smallest honest diff (3)	−	−
one vocabulary everywhere	+	S

Both challengers net negative → datum wins. Run 2 (worth doing at all): the sweep wins on the owner ruling at near-zero risk. Owner correction at the gate: churn-aversion (C5/C6) is a human-team instinct and must not decide architecture. The verdict stands only because the rename gets its OWN iteration (geronticide), not because churn is expensive. Recorded here so the criteria weighting is corrected in future runs.

Other axes: winner beat the strongest rival on the named criterion (see the cards). Sensitivity: no plausible re-weighting flips A1–A4 or A6 or A7 — each rejection is a correctness or zero-dep argument, not a churn argument.

✓i10-m4-adr-recorded auto

evidence

Six decisions minted in :

adr-verdict-cache
adr-build-identity
adr-call-log
adr-ratchet-stamp
adr-stamp-vocabulary
adr-pager-handoff

`coverage:adr-traced` computes live.

decisions (6)

✓i10-m4-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Every M3 axis carries a decision card. The contested axis carries the Pugh run with the datum discipline. Six ADRs minted, each addressing a named requirement — `adr-traced` green.

Round 2 — validate. The owner rulings land intact:

"user replaces human" on every read surface.
The stamp freeze is explicitly a bridge with a recorded sunset.
The pager decision preserves node separation.

No decision contradicts a shipped ADR.

Round 3 — red-team. Dissent argued and recorded: the ledger writes `actor=human` while the surface says "user" — a vocabulary split. Answer: records are historical facts and the split is time-boxed by the geronticide sunset. Kill-criterion on A4 stands (spike must prove fresh-clone correctness).

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

Spike: `spikes/i10-cache-ratchet/main.go` in the data home (throwaway). Seven assertions, all PASS — run 2026-07-04.

Unknown 1 — cache-key correctness across rebuilds.

Unchanged inputs + unchanged binary → HIT, zero re-runs.
Edited test (new input hash) → MISS, re-runs.
Rebuilt binary, same inputs → MISS, re-runs.
Byte-identical rebuild → self-hash stable → HIT.

Verdict: the key (full input hash + binary self-hash) cannot serve a stale verdict. The byte-identical case is a bonus: a no-op rebuild keeps the cache warm.

Unknown 2 — semantic ratchet on fresh clones.

The bug reproduced: a fresh clone of OLD vendored source gets checkout-time mtimes, and the mtime rule rebuilds the global binary BACKWARD.
The fix proven: a stamp whose value is committed content (not filesystem metadata) survives the clone; comparing stamps refuses the backward rebuild and still ratchets forward on genuinely newer source.

Spike finding that advances the design (the M4 contingency, resolved):

The engine version constant is static (`0.0.1-go`) — a *version-number* stamp would never fire. The stamp's monotonic component must be the build time, written by `quack build` as committed file content (RFC3339), paired with the source hash so an equal-time/equal-hash clone never rebuilds.
adr-ratchet-stamp's wording ("recorded version") is realized as this build-time stamp; no hash-guard fold-in needed beyond the pair above.

decisions (1)

✓i10-m5-design-buildable

evidence

Every mechanism ran in the spike with stdlib only: sha256, os file ops, RFC3339 time parse. Zero new dependencies.
The cache sits at the one existing choke point (the selftest evaluator); the stamp rides `quack build`, which already writes generated files (golden root).
The remaining items (notes list, calls.jsonl, why-delta, pager merge, mint fixes, wording sweep) need no spike — they are exposure of existing computations or mechanical sweeps, per the M3 feasibility card.

✓i10-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Output (7× PASS) captured above; the spike stays in the data home and dies with it.
Design advanced: adr-ratchet-stamp's contingency is RESOLVED (build-time + source-hash stamp, committed content). The M4 card's kill-criterion is satisfied.

decisions (1)

✓i10-m5-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Both named unknowns have executable evidence, not argument: the failure mode was reproduced before the fix was trusted. Assertions cover:

hit
miss-by-edit
miss-by-rebuild
stability
backward-refusal
forward-ratchet

Round 2 — validate. The spike answered exactly the two risks M1's RAID named (cache staleness, backward ratchet) and resolved M4's one open contingency. No requirement changed; no architecture stepped back.

Round 3 — red-team. Weakness probed: the spike's cache is a toy map, not the real evaluator — but the claim under test was the KEY discipline rather than the plumbing. The key logic is the same three comparisons. Second probe: build-time stamps are wall-clock — a machine with a wrong clock could mis-order builds. Accepted risk for a single-maintainer tool, noted in the ADR realization. A hash-chain stamp (order by lineage extension, no clock) was offered at the gate. The owner kept build-time: chains only order builds within one lineage (a truthful partial order) and the total order of timestamps is worth the small clock risk here. Rejection recorded with its reason.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.20 / 20 done

✓i10-m6-build-planned

evidence

Twelve steps, seeded as children of `i10-m6-build` and chained in dependency order. Each step is one durable unit: one design concern plus one verification hook, worth resuming on its own.

1. bs-verdict-cache — the cache core (map, self-hash identity, evaluator consult). Everything else in the perf family stands on it.
2. bs-verify-feedback — the stderr announcement rides the cache's miss path.
3. bs-status-fast — the timed selftest closes the perf family.
4. bs-why-derived — why names the rule + delta (cheap once the cache exists).
5. bs-notes-list — read-only notes command.
6. bs-call-log — dispatch logging + the retro aggregate-then-delete step in review.md.
7. bs-mint-fixes — sink dedupe, --rationale.
8. bs-ratchet-stamp — build writes the committed stamp; launcher compares forward-only.
9. bs-scaffold-modern — emitters to the current world; needs the stamp (step 8) to emit it.
10. bs-pager-merge — combined pager + engage.md wording.
11. bs-user-wording — the sweep runs LAST-but-one so it covers all new strings too.
12. bs-cleanup — docs match the surface; full build + selftest green.

Sequence rationale:

the cache family first (1–3, the riskiest plumbing — spike-proven)
pure additions next (4–7)
the vehicle pair (8–9, stamp before emitter)
the two method-touching steps (10–11, wording sweep after all strings exist)
cleanup last

Before any implementation: the 12 new tests get observed RED (`quack observe-red` each — their selftests are unregistered, so each runs and fails honestly at its current hash).

✓i10-m6-tests-red-observed auto

evidence

All 12 tests red-observed 2026-07-04 before any implementation. Mid-walk finding, owner-adjudicated: `observe-red` recorded without running (honor system) and `tests-red` was unscoped — both fixed as same-iteration defect fixes. One fabricated event was surgically removed from the ledger with owner authorization (see the defect note in the inbox).

✓i10-m6-build

evidence

All 12 steps realized, each blessed after its selftest went green and the battery stayed clean:

1. verdict cache — , consulted from the tests-pass battery and gateState; spike-proven key discipline.
2. verify feedback — announce-once on miss, per-test >1s naming, silent when cached. Seen live every rebuild.
3. status fast — timed selftest with a recursion guard; measured live: 0.21s (from ~7s).
4. why derived — rule + delta named; probed live on `i9-m6-tests-red-observed` (names the two restated tests).
5. notes list — `quack notes [--all]`; listed the live inbox correctly.
6. call log — redacted JSONL per dispatch through the `quackExit` funnel; retro aggregates then deletes ( step 6).
7. mint fixes — `sugarAddresses` dedupe + `--rationale`.
8. ratchet stamp — committed build-time stamp, forward-only; `engine-stamp.txt` now rides the vendored source.
9. scaffold modern — `tools/vendor/` world, `spec/project.toml` marker, pointer-chain entries, global-bin launcher; driveFromInside roundtrip green; legacy stub lane kept and green.
10. pager merge — combined hand-off when the last killer subtask and its gate ripen together; engage.md ADJUDICATE names it.
11. user wording — full sweep; allowlist = exactly the frozen recorded tokens; the two CLI display strings asserted dead.
12. cleanup — AGENTS.md list, usage text, dependencies.md match the surface.

Rider (owner-directed at the M6 gate): the report wears a fully-done iteration's count green (`.frac.ok`).

✓i10-m6-bs-verdict-cache ✓i10-m6-bs-verify-feedback ✓i10-m6-bs-status-fast ✓i10-m6-bs-why-derived ✓i10-m6-bs-notes-list ✓i10-m6-bs-call-log ✓i10-m6-bs-mint-fixes ✓i10-m6-bs-ratchet-stamp ✓i10-m6-bs-scaffold-modern ✓i10-m6-bs-pager-merge ✓i10-m6-bs-user-wording ✓i10-m6-bs-cleanup

✓i10-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:designs-realized`) computes green: every one of the 12 requirements carries an inline design region with realized code. `quack lint`: coverage clean, no holes.

✓i10-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

Cache staleness: closed by construction (input hash + binary self-hash) and by spike + selftest.
Backward ratchet: closed; the committed stamp survives clones. Residual: wall-clock ordering — accepted at M5 with the chain-stamp rejection recorded.
Ledger honesty: observe-red now refuses a passing test; the fabrication class is structurally closed.
Known open debt (visible red, by design): i9's `tests-red-observed` stays red on the two restated tests until the shipped-test-edit rule (geronticide list).

✓i10-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Zero-dep held: stdlib only, no new modules.
Every new mechanism has a selftest seam (path overrides, feedback writer, memo isolation) instead of global side effects in tests.
Voice on new output: notes list and pager wording follow the list rules; call-log lines are machine records.
One process-hygiene lesson caught and fixed in-walk: selftest teardown must restore ALL shared state (the callArgs leak).

✓i10-m6-verification-green auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:tests-pass`) computes green: all 12 new selftests pass, and the full battery (82 checks) has no FAIL across every iteration in scope.

✓i10-m6-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Every planned step has realized code with a design region, a registered selftest that was observed RED before the build and passes now. The derived checks (designs-realized + tests-pass + tests-red) compute green for i10. Lint: coverage clean, EARS clean.

Round 2 — validate. The build delivers exactly the M1 scope. All ten Ch1 criteria are now mechanically checkable and pass where measurable today:

status 0.21s ≤ 1s
why names rules
notes visible
log redacted
mint clean
scaffold modern
ratchet forward-only
pager merges
wording swept

Two criteria (merged pager in a live walk, retro log deletion) get their end-to-end demonstration at M7.

Round 3 — red-team. Strongest objections:

(a) the verdict cache could mask a flaky test — answered: verdicts re-run per build, and flakiness is a test defect the RED discipline surfaces
(b) the wording sweep could have broken attest word-indexing — checked: rule bodies carry no swept words except rule 3/5, and the challenge derives from live text, so renewals stay consistent
(c) two same-iteration defect fixes (observe-red, tests-red scope) rode in without composed requirements — recorded honestly here and in the defect note; the geronticide/next compose owns their trace nodes if the adjudicator wants them backfilled

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the needs.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against the Ch1 criteria, each demonstrated for real where the criterion is live today:

1. Cached status ≤ 1s — measured live twice: 0.21s and 0.19s (from ~7s). ✅
2. Battery announces re-runs — observed live on every rebuild this session ("verification: cache miss — re-running tests…"); cached runs silent. ✅
3. why names rule + delta — probed live on `i9-m6-tests-red-observed`: names `coverage:tests-red` and the two restated tests. The "fresh — nothing changed" answer is dead for derived checks. ✅
4. notes visible — `quack notes` listed the live inbox (6 notes, ages, first lines). ✅
5. Redacted call log — live `calls.jsonl` lines carry cmd/ms/exit/channel; `--key` values appear only as REDACTED. ✅
6. Mint clean — dedupe + `--rationale` selftests green. ✅
7. Modern scaffold drives from inside — a real emitted vehicle (temp) ran `status` through its own launcher; project.toml + stamp + pointer chain asserted; no `.quack`. ✅
8. No backward ratchet — the fresh-clone fixture refuses the backward rebuild and ratchets forward. ✅
9. Merged pager — demonstrated via the selftest's rendered pager (combined header + "y = both" question). HONESTY NOTE: no live walk situation produced the merge this iteration (this iteration's killers sit FIRST in their milestones); the first live demonstration lands whenever a milestone's killer ripens last. ✅ (mechanism), ⏳ (live sighting)
10. "user" everywhere — the sweep selftest guards every prose surface against the word outside the frozen tokens; the walk's own output now says "GATE (user-adjudicated)". ✅

Against all needs of every iteration: the board holds — i3–i7 fully green including their backward-cumulative verification. i8/i9 green except the recorded geronticide debt (tests-red on two restated tests — visible red, adjudicated as accepted debt). No old need regressed: every earlier iteration's tests still pass under the new engine (the cache re-ran them all at this build identity).

✓i10-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

The three killer-marked flows exercised for real, not merely tests-green:

the fast board (timed at the console)
the modern scaffold roundtrip (an actual vehicle emitted and driven from inside)
the honest red-observation (the tool REFUSED a green test live — that refusal is what exposed and fixed the fabrication defect)

✓i10-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The adjudicator has been at every gate of this walk: M1–M6 blessed at pagers with recorded actors; the mid-walk rulings (ledger repair + defect fixes + retro-bound log retention + green done-counts) were each explicitly authorized in-session. The sign-off referent is the bless trail in `spec/ledger/attest.json`.

✓i10-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Gap: merged pager has no live sighting yet (mechanism selftested). Watch at the next milestone where a killer ripens last.
Gap: retro-time deletion of calls.jsonl runs first at the NEXT retro — the method line exists, the act hasn't happened yet.
Debt (recorded): i9 tests-red red on two restated tests — geronticide list.
Risk (accepted at M5): wall-clock ordering of build stamps.

✓i10-m7-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Every Ch1 criterion has a demonstration referent above — live measurements, live probes or a fixture that reproduces the failure mode before proving the fix. Nothing rests on "tests green" alone except where the honesty note says so explicitly.

Round 2 — validate. The original need:

speed
self-explanation
visibility
honest vehicles
less ceremony
right wording

Each maps to a demonstrated criterion. The backward-cumulative check holds: no earlier iteration's need regressed under the new engine.

Round 3 — red-team. Weakest claim: the merged pager's live absence — could hide an integration bug the synthetic test misses. Mitigation: the synthetic test renders through the REAL HandoverPager path (same function the CLI calls), and the gap is recorded as a watch item rather than waved away. Second probe: "acceptance = bless trail" could be circular — answered: the trail records actor + hash per gate, which is exactly what acceptance means in this method.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the handover, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`spec/project.toml` points at i0010; the golden root matches the shipped content; the EARS baseline carries the iteration's statements; the ledger (`spec/ledger/attest.json`) holds the full bless/red trail including the repaired event's absence.

✓i10-m8-docs-complete

evidence

: command list carries `notes`, the enforcing `observe-red` wording, the stamp-writing `build`. The ritual chain stands.
Usage text (`quack -h`): includes `notes [--all]`.
: build description names the stamp.
+ : the order-is-not-dependency rule and the combined hand-off are the documented method.
: retro step 6 aggregates then deletes calls.jsonl.
Wording: the user-wording selftest guards every surface; the walk output itself says "user-adjudicated".

✓i10-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

The deliverable is the ONE global binary plus its committed provenance:

`quack.exe` at build stamp in `engine-stamp.txt` (rides the vendored source into every future vehicle)
golden root re-baselined
report rendered to the data home

`engage ship` packages `product/` after the gate.

✓i10-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The handover artifact is the live board (0 suspect, 399 gates) plus the eight evidence docs M1–M8. Acceptance is recorded by the gate bless that follows this doc.

✓i10-m8-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Docs cross-checked against the actual surface (commands + method rules + wording guard). The package is the global binary + stamp + ledger — all present and current.

Round 2 — validate. The iteration closes with every Ch1 criterion demonstrated or watch-listed and the board at zero suspects. Three owner rulings (churn + order≠dependency + birth-evidence) are baked into method and engine rather than left as chat.

Round 3 — red-team. Objection: two engine refinements (pager grouping, birth-evidence rule) landed after M6's gate — is M6's bless stale? Answer: both were owner-adjudicated at their own hand-offs and both carry tests (one with a staged honest RED), and the affected checks were re-blessed. The ledger records the sequence faithfully. Objection: "handover accepted" self-referential — answer: acceptance IS the user's gate bless; this doc only points at it.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless, then `engage ship`.

i0011_geronticide 27/27

M1 L1 frame gate.2 / 2 done

✓i11-m1-problem-success

evidence

Problem. The board still tells small lies and carries old exemptions:

The tamper tripwire lives inside every verification suite — legitimate authoring flashes history red (caught live at i10 M3, cost one adjudicator investigation).
A propagated suspect looks identical to a direct one — the misattribution cost 28 wasted delegated blesses at i10 M7.
Killer-subtask pagers report milestone-scoped "ready: NO" false alarms (flagged twice in one walk).
Blessed verdict referents (`M<n>-*.md`) are unhashed — evidence can mutate under its link.
The ledger says `human` where every surface now says `user`; `testsRedSince` is a magic date constant; the `.quack` vendor lanes and `engine.local` survive with no user left to need them; EARS exemptions and pre-i4 design regions are grandfathered without recorded decisions.

Success, checkable.

1. Red means regression:

parity standalone
propagated suspects marked with their root named
pagers scoped to the check in hand

2. Evidence is immutable-or-suspect: docs hashed into their checks; verdict files bounded. 3. Records say `user`: new blesses and migrated history, self-cert metric unbroken across eras. 4. No grandfather without a decision:

explicit exemption markers
retire-or-retrofit ADRs for the EARS baseline and pre-i4 designs
legacy lanes gone

Worth solving. Every item is a trust cost on the ledger itself — the product IS the trustworthy board.

✓i11-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: each problem line carries a dated referent from the i10 walk or the note trail. Validate: the frame covers exactly the nine composed requirements, nothing more. Red-team (scaled to a lean frame gate): "why not fold into the docu iteration?" — because every item ships engine behavior, not prose. Docu builds ON a board that stops lying. Verdict: PASS.

M2 L2 requirements gate.4 / 4 done

✓i11-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i11-m2-req-traced auto

✓i11-m2-reqs-stated

evidence

Nine EARS requirements. Minted at compose, lint-clean (0 exemptions). Constraints they honor:

Truth stays append-only where it is truth: the stamp migration (req-stamp-user) is one audited pass with the metric spanning eras — never silent rewriting.
Honesty over convenience: exemptions become explicit markers (req-testsred-exempt) or recorded decisions (req-grandfathers-decided) — nothing is quietly fixed by fabricating evidence.
Zero-dep, one binary, selftest seams — unchanged standing constraints.

Traceability computes live: every requirement refines a use case under `need-review` (three new use cases plus i10's `uc-user-wording`), and every requirement carries a selftest-wired test. Both derived checks are green on this board.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i11-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: 9/9 statements EARS-shaped, each naming its checkable outcome. The two coverage checks compute green. Validate: the set covers M1's four success outcomes exactly:

parity/suspect/pager under honest-board
hashing/cap under verdict-integrity
the stamp under user-wording
markers/decisions/lanes under no-grandfathers

Red-team: weakest statement probed — req-grandfathers-decided could be satisfied by rubber-stamp ADRs. Bounded: the L3 gate reviews the decisions' substance, and the test fails on any exemption without one. Verdict: PASS.

M3 L3 design gate.3 / 3 done

✓i11-m3-adr-traced auto

evidence

Five ADRs minted, each addressing a named requirement. `coverage:adr-traced` computes live.

✓i11-m3-approach-chosen

evidence

One line per item — approach, and why not the obvious alternative:

1. Parity standalone — a generic `suite: never-cached` test-node marker, skipped by tests-pass and with its own board entry (). Not a name filter (not generic), not node retirement (history churn). 2. Pager scope — a non-gate pager target reports its OWN readiness (upstreams + evidence). Defect fix. No architecture choice, no ADR. 3. Suspect root — StatusMap already knows raw-vs-effective state. Propagated = effective SUSPECT with raw DONE. The root = nearest upstream whose RAW state is not DONE. Exposure of existing computation, like why-delta. No ADR. 4. Evidence hashing — the milestone GATE folds its evidence doc's content hash (). Not per-subtask (noise, no added protection). 5. Cache cap — keep the newest N verdict files per check, evict oldest at write. Small; no ADR. 6. Stamp migration — one-shot audited `migrate-actors` + read-compat forever + metric spanning eras (). The riskiest unknown (migration correctness) gets the L3 spike as a fixture selftest BEFORE the real ledger is touched. 7. tests-red marker — explicit `tests_red: exempt - …` frontmatter citing the grandfathers ADR; the date constant dies (). 8. Legacy lanes — resolver: `tools/vendor` → dogfood. Stub launcher: global binary → `QUACK_ENGINE`. i5 requirements restated in place (). 9. EARS/pre-i4 grandfathers — historical-exempt with ADR citation. Retrofit rejected (wording avalanche over history, zero behavior value) — same ADR as 7.

decisions (5)

✓i11-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: every scope item carries an approach with a recorded reason. The three consequential decisions carry ADRs. The spike-worthy unknown is named and assigned (migration fixture). Validate: decisions honor the standing rulings — churn acceptable but truth never silently rewritten. Exemptions become citations, not fabrications. Red-team: the read-compat-forever choice means `human` tokens remain readable indefinitely — argued as an un-killed grandfather. Answered: read-compat is a compatibility CONTRACT recorded in the ADR, not an undecided leftover — exactly the difference this iteration exists to enforce. Verdict: PASS.

M4 L4 build-and-test gate.15 / 15 done

✓i11-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:designs-realized`), computes live: every i11 requirement carries a realized design region.

✓i11-m4-tests-pass auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:tests-pass`), computes live: the backward-cumulative suite through i0011 is green.

✓i11-m4-tests-red auto

evidence

All nine i11 tests were authored as spec nodes and observed FAILING (`quack observe-red`) at their hashes before any build step. Birth evidence lives in the ledger.

✓i11-m4-build

evidence

All nine planned steps above are realized and individually blessed.

✓i11-bs-cache-cap

evidence

Every verdict write keeps the newest 8 `evidence/<id>/*.json` files and deletes the rest, oldest first.
Realized in (design `go-evidence-cache-cap`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-evidence-hash

evidence

A milestone gate folds its evidence doc set (`M<n>-*.md`) into its full hash ().
Editing blessed evidence flips the gate SUSPECT; whitespace churn moves nothing (normWS); subtasks never fold docs.
Docless history stays stable (no seed component without docs).
Realized in (design `go-evidence-hash`); the upgrade wave was re-blessed knowingly at M1–M3.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-grandfather-adrs

evidence

The anonymous EARS baseline file is deleted; lint checks EVERY requirement statement.
63 historical non-EARS statements carry `ears: exempt - … (adr-grandfathers-historical)` markers; every marker must cite a resolvable ADR or `selftest:grandfathers-decided` fails.
Pre-i4 requirements without a realized design region must be ADR-addressed (none exist today; the invariant is live).

decisions (1)

✓i11-bs-legacy-lanes

evidence

Resolver: data-home overlay → `tools/vendor` → dogfood `product/` only; the `.quack/overlay` and `.quack/vendor` lanes are gone.
Stub launcher: global binary → `QUACK_ENGINE`; no `engine.local`, no internal `.quack\engine` branch.
The `.gitignore` stub died with the lanes (nothing machine-local is emitted).
The i5 requirements were restated in place, EARS-shaped (); design `go-legacy-lanes-retired` probes a fake legacy-only engine root.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-pager-scope

evidence

A killer-subtask pager reports its OWN readiness: upstreams plus evidence, never the milestone.
Gate pagers keep the milestone scope; merged hand-offs resolve to the gate first.
Realized in (design `go-pager-scope`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-parity

evidence

`suite: never-cached` marker on test nodes; `tests-pass` skips standalone members.
rides the standalone suite: a moved golden root reddens exactly one row.
Realized in (design `go-standalone-suite`).

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i11-bs-stamp-user

evidence

New records write `actor=user`; a delegated `--by human` normalizes to `user` at write.
`quack migrate-actors` rewrote 652 historical events `human -> user` in ONE audited pass (count + timestamp recorded in the ledger); the second run is a no-op.
Readers fold `human` into `user` forever (`normActor`); the self-cert metric counts agent versus non-agent, spanning both eras ().
Fixture-proven (`selftest:stamp-user`) BEFORE the real ledger was touched. Bless hashes and the prev_hash chain stayed intact (`selftest:kernel-attest` green).

decisions (1)

✓i11-bs-suspect-root

evidence

A propagated suspect is marked and names its root (`SuspectRoots`); a direct suspect stays direct.
Surfaces: status board, `quack why`, the pager risk lines.
Realized in (design `go-suspect-root`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-testsred-marker

evidence

The `testsRedSince` date constant is dead; the engine source carries no era constant.
All 37 pre-mechanism tests (33 in i0001–i0007, 4 baseline nodes in `spec/decisions/`) carry `tests_red: exempt - … (adr-grandfathers-historical)` markers; a bare `exempt` without a reason is not honored.
Realized in (design `go-testsred-marker`), parser key `tests_red` allowlisted.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep: all new imports are stdlib (`strconv`, `regexp`, `fmt`, `time`).
Selftest seams: every new behavior carries a dependency-free hook (`evidenceBaseOverride`, pure `migrateActorsFrom`/`metricsFrom`, `testsRedExempt`, fake-ENGINE probe).
Voice: single-thought CLI sentences; every exemption marker cites its ADR; restated statements are EARS-shaped.

✓i11-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: all nine build steps realized with passing selftests. The full selftest suite green at build. Both derived checks compute live. Validate: every M1 problem line is answered by a shipped behavior:

the tamper tripwire is standalone
propagated suspects name their root
pagers scope to the check
evidence is hashed-or-suspect
verdict files are bounded
the ledger says user
no grandfather survives without its recorded decision

Red-team: the migration was the riskiest step. It ran fixture-first. The audit event records count and time. Hashes stayed untouched (attest chain verified). The pass is idempotent. The evidence-hash wave was the designed churn: re-blessed deliberately at M1–M3, never silently restamped. Verdict: PASS.

M5 L5 docs-and-ship gate, then engage ship.3 / 3 done

✓i11-m5-docs-match

evidence

Every live doc surface was swept for the i11 removals; history docs stay untouched.

: `lint` without the dead flag; `bless [--by user|agent]`; new `migrate-actors` line (the migration note).
: rule 3 and its design comment say `actor=user`; the `actor=agent` exception is unchanged.
: channel stamps say `user`; delegated blesses pass `--by user`.
: rewritten to the modern layout — `tools/vendor/`, `spec/project.toml`, global-binary launcher, data-home overlay; no `.quack` lane, no `engine.local`.
and : notes inbox and report output point at the workspace data home.
: EARS doctrine says markers citing ; the baseline is recorded dead.
CLI usage: `lint` bare; `migrate-actors` listed.
README: no stale mention (checked).
Doc-sensitive selftests all green: contract, user-wording, ears-method, deps-prompt, method, integrate, surface, help, contract-render, render-drift, stubs.

decisions (1)

✓i11-m5-packaged

evidence

Global binary current: `quack build` green, stamp ratcheted, golden re-baselined.
Ledger migrated: 652 events say `user`, audit event in place, second pass a no-op.
`quack ship` packaged `product/` → `<data-home>/out/quack-i0011_geronticide.zip` (ephemeral, not committed).

✓i11-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: docs match the shipped surface (killer blessed). The package builds from the same tree the suite verified. The full backward-cumulative verification is green. Validate: the iteration's need — a board that stops lying — holds at ship: every exemption is a recorded decision. The ledger vocabulary is one era. No retired lane survives in code or docs. Red-team: two live strays were found during the walk and captured as notes (verify-green parity wiring, stale-FAIL verdict wedge). Neither blocks ship; both are retro leads with recorded reproduction. Verdict: PASS.

tests (1)

i0012_spec_book 92/92

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

Hand-written docs will not happen. The owner states this plainly; the first quackitect-made tool ships to real users regardless.
The current spec is node files plus a status report. Only walkers and adjudicators can read it.
The audience is average professionals, including non-technical and non-native readers. The current register goes over their heads.
The presentation deadline makes the delta urgent: the project must document and present itself.
Worth solving: docs are the product's face for every stakeholder who was not in the loop.

✓i12-m1-risks-logged

evidence

Risk — doc-infra rabbit hole: sebot died building doc infrastructure. Mitigation: the scope guard (one emitter, one manifest type, two lints) is an M5 buildability criterion.
Risk — DITA-style metadata sprawl: mitigation: derive over store; no per-node audience tags.
Risk — meta self-reference: AI talks about itself; mitigation: meta-quarantine lint, chapters 1–6 speak only about the system.
Risk — register drift: AI prose goes over the audience's head; mitigation: voice rules bind every sentence, TL;DR mandatory, provenance marks route human attention, readability check pushed toward `class: executed` at M2.
Risk — provenance honesty: the AI side is structural — AI-emitted prose is stamped with its three icons by the pipeline, never self-reported. The human side is deliberately an honor system (owner ruling, M1): reducing icons is the owner's judgment and is not policed. Requirement due at M2.
Risk — deadline pressure: full-book scope vs the ship/presentation dates; mitigation: M6 defer lane is pre-agreed.

decisions (1)

✓i12-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria (each checked at M7):

1. Each preset audience answers its entry question from the book alone — one real read session per preset. 2. A professional of average competence (non-native) reads one chapter and can restate its big idea. The TL;DR is present in every chapter; register bounds are checked mechanically where possible (readability lint is an M2 candidate). 3. What-and-why precedes detail in every chapter; big ideas before specifics. 4. The AI drafted 100% of the book's first-draft prose. Every AI paragraph carries its provenance icons. User edits show as reduced counts. 5. The deck carries the presentation; regeneration of the committed book is a no-op.

✓i12-m1-vision-scope

evidence

Vision (Moore). For the stakeholders of a quackitect-driven project. Who need to understand the system without reading the repo or asking an AI. The spec book is one portable HTML file, compiled from the gated spec graph. That serves each stakeholder a view in their own register, with the big ideas first. Unlike hand-written docs, which will not be written. Unlike chat-over-repo, which assumes AI access. The book is deterministic and hash-backed. It is always as current as the ledger.

Scope. Full book (owner ruling at plan):

all chapters
templates
glossary/SyA
guidance split
methodology map
deck
plus the evidence-authoring infra fixes on the side

One iteration; M6 may defer the book half if the plan proves too big.

Stakeholder-specific communication (owner brief, M1). This is a load-bearing frame element, not a style nicety:

Target audience: professionals, usually college-educated, with some experience. Not always technical. Not assumed native speakers.
Newcomers can read individual parts; the full picture is optional for them.
Assume average intelligence, competence, and motivation — the content must still land.
The register selects by stakeholder: non-tech chapters carry less detail.
Big ideas first, details later. Always explain the what and the why first.
Every chapter opens with a TL;DR.
The default agent writing style is too dense; the voice rules apply to every book sentence, and get sharpened for the book where needed.

AI-first drafting with visible provenance (owner brief, M1).

The AI writes every first draft of the book's prose. The user improves where needed.
Every AI-written paragraph carries "ai written" icons: three when the AI drafted it.
A user correction or rewrite may reduce the icon count. The count is a per-paragraph provenance record, rendered by the book.

PR-FAQ pressure test (working backwards). "Project X ships its manual today. Nobody wrote it. The spec compiled it: every claim traces to a gated check. Every AI-drafted paragraph says so on its face. The owner's edits are visible as reduced AI marks. The deck for the launch talk is the same file in present mode." — FAQ: What if the AI prose is too dense? The register is bounded per audience and the TL;DR is mandatory; the provenance marks invite the human rewrite exactly where it is needed.

requirements (1)

✓i12-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: each subtask carries its referent:

the owner's M1 brief (this session, recorded verbatim above)
the spec-book design note
the two evidence-doc field findings

Validate: the frame covers the plan-approved scope and adds the owner's stakeholder-communication and provenance rulings; nothing out of scope entered. Red-team: strongest counter — "a generated book reads generated; the audience notices and trusts it less." Answered: the provenance icons make generation an honest, visible property instead of a hidden one. The owner's reductions are the trust signal. Kill-criterion for the frame: if the M7 read sessions show the register still failing average professionals, the register bounds were wrong — not the audience. Verdict: PASS — pending the adjudicator's bless.

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the design input.7 / 7 done

✓i12-m2-audience-model

evidence

The reader baseline (owner ruling, M1). Every audience below is assumed at average intelligence, competence and motivation. English is not assumed native. The content must land anyway. Big ideas first. What and why before detail. A TL;DR opens every chapter.

The model: who reads, in which situation and with what question.

#	Reader	Situation	Their question	Register	Entry (preset)	Depth
1	Decision maker (non-tech)	Ten minutes to judge or fund it	What is this and why does it matter? Is it sound?	Simplest. No internals. No jargon.	onepager / exec summary (ch1 + ch4 killer statements)	1
2	End user of the shipped tool	Wants to get a task done	How do I do X?	Simple, task-first	user guide (7.1), ch0–1	1–2
3	Newcomer	First contact, learning	What is this about? Where do I start?	Simple, guided; full picture optional	newcomer (ch0–2)	1–2
4	Engineer / architect	Evaluating, extending, onboarding	How is it built? Why these decisions? What lost?	Technical, precise	architect (ch2–4)	2–3
5	Auditor / quality role	Compliance or V&V review	Prove every claim traces and was verified	Evidence-first, exhaustive	auditor/trace (ch5–6, full evidence)	4
6	Owner / operator	Driving or presenting the project	Where are we? What is decided? What is suspect?	Technical, ledger vocabulary	project view (ch6) + board	2–4
7	Agent (AI)	Retrieval, operation	What is normative? What is verified? How do I operate?	Machine register: layers named, trust metadata	agent guide (7.4) + embedded graph	full
8	Talk audience	Live presentation	Why should I care?	Spoken register: big ideas only	deck preset; notes carry the depth	1 (+reveals)
9	Operator / admin of the shipped system	Installs, configures, runs, troubleshoots	How do I deploy it? What does this error mean?	Task-first, exact	operations section of 7.1 + install/deploy docs	1–2
10	Integrator (neighboring-system developer)	Builds against the interfaces	What does the contract promise - CLI, config, formats?	Reference, terse	technical reference (7.3) + ch2 context	2–3

Rules the matrix implies:

Readers 1–3 never meet internals. Their chapters carry less detail by design, not by omission — the detail exists one depth-step or one chapter-link away.
Readers 4–6 get the full graph, progressively. Nothing is dumbed down for them; the depth ladder does the work.
Reader 7 is a first-class audience, not an afterthought: 41% of static-doc readership is already AI-driven (State of Docs 2026). The same HTML serves it through semantic markup and data attributes.
The stakeholder/view matrix on the book's entry page (ch0) IS this table, rendered: one preset button per reader row.
A newcomer (reader 3) reading a single chapter out of context is a SUPPORTED case: every chapter's TL;DR plus the glossary must carry enough context to stand alone.

Stakeholder classes sorted into project types (owner ruling, this walk). The classes live as one note per class in the method layer. Each project type links the classes that apply (markdown links, Obsidian-compatible). The project's overall type is never a stored flag: it derives as the union of its iterations' types, so a doc-only iteration cannot flip the whole project. Realized at M6 (req-type-stakeholders); the sorting decided now:

default (always applies, every project):
acquirer / decision maker
user
newcomer
communicator / talk audience
assessor / auditor
project owner / operator of the walk
agent (AI)
software (adds):
developer / maintainer
operator / sysadmin of the shipped system
integrator / neighboring-system developer
tester
manufactured_good (adds):
production engineer
supplier
installer / commissioner
service / maintenance technician
transport / logistics
regulator / certifier
end-of-life / recycling
cyber_physical: links the software AND manufactured_good class sets - the union, three links, no duplication.

Anchors:

— information for use separated per target audience, unskilled to professional
— stakeholders attach to life-cycle stages. The manufactured classes activate at:
production
installation
support
retirement
the SyA class rubric — at least one reader per class
arc42 — neighboring-system developers

One recorded footnote: if per-type guide/checklist CASCADING is ever built, the directory nesting question returns. For class links it has no impact.

What this settles for the requirements:

Every view/preset requirement traces to a reader row.
The reader matrix above is the software-type rendering for THIS project.
Stakeholder-coverage (the next check) is judged row by row against the type-derived class set - a class with no serving row fails it.

✓i12-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Owner directive: fold the full mechanization survey into i12. Template chapters become machinery wherever text is project-independent. Relations become first-class connections. Housekeeping goes to determinizers. No new needs - everything traces to through , , and the new .

The captured input, by source (full texts in the 2026-07-06 notes archive):

Owner rulings: the connection system (one system for semantic relations); storage option A (two lanes per kind); ch8 guides as notes, one subchapter per type; example notes per derived kind; the ch3 mechanization set (functions deferred); the extension scope itself, with the scope complaint pre-acknowledged as a retro lead.
Red-team, trust lens: hash-neutral loading is the hard requirement; migration self-audits or bakes its own bugs into the golden; the id-charset lint ships first; the edge-mode key is the migration's commit point; connection prose must hash; one pre-existing nondeterminism found (candidate verdict scans map order).
Red-team, standards lens: the item-kind set is standards-complete at this scale; SysML2-aligned kind vocabulary; budget gains margin; mode/state and function deferred; concern, view/viewpoint, ConOps, change-request, and actor consciously rejected.
Red-team, template lens: four shipped defects (fig lines render as prose, block-tree draws the book's chapters, the methods view does not exist, the need kind is half-born); mint covers 5 of 13 kinds against its own principle.

Requirement growth: 27 → 59, all EARS-shaped and each with a test. Both derived rules compute green on this board.

Scope items flagged to the adjudicator at this gate:

Trace-graph whitelist revert (owner ruling 2026-07-05, still unimplemented): the item types must stay OFF the report graph's node whitelist. One-line report.go correction - proposed as a rider on i12-bs21-ch4.
The wider trust gap (.base files and content notes outside the identity root): BACKLOGGED to the next engine iteration with its ready-when; req-conn-root covers connection content only.

use cases (3)

✓i12-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i12-m2-req-traced auto

✓i12-m2-substrate-thesis

evidence

The thesis (owner, load-bearing): LLM costs may rise. Never assume the reader has AI. AI writes UPSTREAM into the graph; everything downstream of the graph is deterministic. Consumption never needs a model.

Re-examination, 2026-07-05. The adversarial research pass returned NO verified evidence for or against the industry direction - both the llms.txt/RAG positioning angle and the drift-detection angle came back empty. The thesis therefore stands on our own reasoning, and we say so. Directional, unverified signals from the fetch stage all point our way:

llms.txt adoption stalled - no major provider consumes it; server logs show crawlers do not request it.
AI-driven readership of static docs reached 41% - agents already consume plain HTML.
AGENTS.md thrives as STATIC curation under a foundation - the agent world standardizes on curated files, not live pipelines.

The asymmetry that decides it: if AI stays cheap, the book is ideal agent substrate (semantic DOM / trust metadata / embedded graph). If AI gets expensive, the book still serves every human reader. The bet wins in both worlds; a stored-and-gated substrate also feeds any future consumption interface.

Consequences recorded:

Emitters stay deterministic; AI prose is authored once, gated, and becomes static content with visible provenance.
Layers are self-describing in the standards vocabulary (normative / informative / evidence) with a reader's contract at the top - they survive RAG chunking and human skimming alike.
The agent guide and the repo AGENTS.md emit from one source; agents are served by curation, never by a required model.
LLM digestibility is required of the book itself (req-llm-digestible); a companion index is a fallback realization, adopted only on evidence that extraction falls short.
Machine consumability is validated empirically at M7 (the book-legibility probe) - AI used where it adds value, per the thesis itself.

Verdict: the thesis HOLDS, carried knowingly without external prior art (recorded above). Revisit trigger: a major provider shipping a docs-consumption standard with real adoption reopens this at a retro.

✓i12-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Quackitect's derived type set is `software` (union over all its iterations' types). The derived classes and their serving rows:

default: acquirer → row 1 · user → row 2 · newcomer → row 3 · communicator/talk → rows 1 and 8 · assessor/auditor → row 5 · project owner → row 6 · agent → row 7.
software: developer/maintainer → row 4 · operator/sysadmin of the shipped system → row 9 · integrator → row 10 · tester → row 5 (fold recorded: the V&V chapter is the tester's view).
manufactured_good classes: not derived for this project - no row owed, no N/A needed. They activate only for a project whose iterations carry that type.

Every derived class has a serving row; every row has an entry preset in the matrix. No role is left without a view. Coverage holds.

✓i12-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: all 32 additions trace to recorded rulings or red-team findings. None is speculative. The derived rules compute green over the grown set. Validate: the owner's one-system intent survives with two evidence-forced carve-outs (implements stays code-declared; task wiring at the owner's discretion) - honesty over slogan. Red-team: the iteration doubled mid-flight. Answered: the owner weighed a split i13 and ruled to extend. The complaint is recorded as a retro lead. Every addition rode the same M2 discipline as the original set. Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless.

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternatives.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m3-alternatives

evidence

Axis 9 — Connection storage

Context: where reified relations live. Four candidates, ratings in the notes (, , , ).

A — frontmatter status quo. Pro: zero migration, Obsidian-native. Con: no prose, no symmetric home, the two-system smell.
B — one note per edge. Pro: everything addressable. Con: measured 1.5x-2.6x file explosion; the status feel dies.
C — central jsonl with details pointers. Pro: one machine index. Con: the human-facing kinds lose Obsidian preview or duplicate display frontmatter.
D — two lanes per kind (owner option A). Preferred. Machine edges as jsonl lines, human edges as real notes, one edge one lane, the adjacency determinizer merges.

Axis 10 — The implements lane

Context: implements edges are declared in code design markers (, ).

A — derive connection notes from code. Con: every failure mode is silent-drift-shaped (stale generated files, orphan connections bricking the strict guard).
B — stay code-declared, merge at read time. Preferred. Code regions already hash; DRY holds by deriving the view.

Task wiring (depends_on, parent) is the recorded open sub-question: joining is jsonl-cheap. The recommendation (stay frontmatter this iteration) goes to the adjudicator at M4.

✓i12-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

The M3 weights carry unchanged; workspace bloat and Obsidian-preview fidelity score under authoring cost (4) and audience register fit (3). The candidate ratings encode them per option.

✓i12-m3-feasibility

evidence

Two-lane loader: frontmatter parsing and JSONL reading both exist in-house (ledger events). FEASIBLE.
Hash-neutral adjacency: parents/fullHash mechanics are pure functions over reconstructed adjacency - the red-team anchored the exact code paths (engine.go). FEASIBLE, spike-grade proof rides the red-observed test.
Determinizers: mint/promote/adjacency are file operations plus the existing graph. FEASIBLE.
Virtual edge properties: the evaluator already injects computed context (referenced). FEASIBLE.

✓i12-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: both new axes carry elaborated candidates with recorded ratings; the preferred picks name their killing reasons. Validate: the picks honor the owner's one-system intent within the trust constraints. Red-team: the strongest rival (central jsonl) is genuinely stronger on uniformity - answered: its uniformity survives in the merging determinizer while its preview cost does not. Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless.

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decision.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Derived, computes live: three ADRs added this extension (eight total), each addressing requirements of the extension set.

✓i12-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Reification — Decision: semantic relations become first-class connections in spec/connections/<kind>/, hash-neutral loading, content in the root, kinds SysML2-aligned, off the report whitelist (). Because: relations gain address, prose, and query - what frontmatter lists structurally cannot. Rejected: reify-everything (the RDF lesson: bookkeeping drowns the graph).
Storage — Decision: two lanes per kind, one edge one lane, determinizers own mint, promote, and the merged adjacency answer (). Because: storage aligns with audience; the rival's single-index benefit survives in the determinizer. Rejected: status quo, one-file-per-edge, central jsonl - each with its named killer (see Axis 9).
Scope — Decision: the semantic edges migrate; implements stays code-declared; task wiring stays frontmatter this iteration (). Because: silent drift is the failure class this engine exists to kill; wiring is walk machinery, not content. OPEN to the adjudicator at this gate: ratify task wiring staying, or rule it into the migration now (jsonl makes either cheap).

Pugh, extension run. Datum = the strongest rival, central jsonl (uniformity champion). Criteria and weights from M3.

Criterion (weight)	Rival (datum)	Chosen two-lane
Trust & honesty (5)	0	+ (human edges hash as notes with prose; no display-frontmatter duplication to lint)
Zero-dep (5)	0	= (both are files and string work)
LLM digestibility (5)	0	= (the book renders identically)
Authoring cost (4)	0	+ (prose kinds author as normal notes; no id indirection)
Scope guard (4)	0	= (loader complexity comparable: details-resolution vs two-lane read)
Register/preview fit (3)	0	+ (tensions and interfaces preview live in Obsidian)
Reversibility (2)	0	= (promote/demote moves lanes; both reversible)

Weighted: chosen = +5 +4 +3 = +12 against the strongest rival. Sensitivity: drop preview fit to zero weight - still +9. The win rests on trust and authoring, not on the preview alone.

decisions (3)

✓i12-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Every Because names its criterion or red-team finding; the three ADRs address their requirements; chosen and rejected candidates carry the verdict edges; the losing options live in the Axis 9/10 cards with their killing reasons.

✓i12-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: each decision card carries Decision, Because, Rejected; the Pugh datum is the strongest rival, not a strawman; the sensitivity flip is recorded. Validate: every 2026-07-06 owner ruling is honored verbatim - one system for semantic relations, option A lanes, determinizer housekeeping, example notes. Red-team: the two carve-outs (implements, task wiring) dent the one-system slogan - answered: both are evidence-forced, both are recorded decisions with named reversal paths, and the adjacency determinizer makes the seams invisible to every consumer. Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless, including the task-wiring sub-ruling.

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The scope guard grows CONSCIOUSLY, each surface owner-ruled:

the connections home with its two lanes
three determinizers (mint, promote, adjacency)
one migration command
two render modes (full shipped, refs planned)
seven item templates
the mechanized chapter set

The relief valve stands: if the build proves too big, the template-mechanization half (bs16-bs23) defers to a fresh version as a first-class move while the connection core lands.

✓i12-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

The extension's riskiest assumption is hash-neutrality: reconstructing adjacency from the connections home without moving a single node hash. Validation evidence, in lieu of a browser-style probe:

The trust red-team anchored the exact mechanics in code (parents feeding fullHash, bless events storing per-parent deps) and measured the live workspace (1096 spec files; 169 verifies, 228 refines, 78 addresses, 963 depends_on edges; zero duplicate list entries; zero ids containing consecutive hyphens) - the migration surface is fully characterized before a line is written.
The proof is constructive and rides the walk: test-conn-hash-neutral (observed RED first) asserts byte-identical node hashes and identical check states across the two storages - the spike IS the red test's fixture.
The failure modes are each fenced by a requirement: silent edge loss (req-conn-notes refuses), duplicate collapse (req-migrate-edges refuses), interim ambiguity (req-edge-mode), id ambiguity (req-id-charset, shipped first).

✓i12-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Determinism: proven by construction (scripted generation, computed coordinates).
SVG set: proven legible and trivial; cap confirmed as the right cut.
Margin icons: proven with plain CSS; no layout machinery needed.
until-found: adjudicator verdict pending at the gate (Probe A); both outcomes have a recorded path.
Design advanced: no requirement or ADR needed amendment from the spike - the M4 composite survives contact with the browser.
The spike file is throwaway and stays in the scratch space; nothing from it enters product/ except as fresh M6 code.

✓i12-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: the riskiest unknown carries measured, code-anchored evidence and a constructive red test. Validate: nothing speculative - every fence is a composed requirement. Red-team: analysis is not execution; answered: the red-observed test converts the analysis into an executable claim before any build step touches the loader. Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless.

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.58 / 58 done

✓i12-m6-build-planned

evidence

Ordering discipline: the agreed order (infra friction → templates → glossary and guidance → book emitter → deck) is encoded in the id stage digit (`bs1`…`bs5`), which the walk's deterministic ID tie-break honors. No fake dependency edges (ORDER IS NOT DEPENDENCY, i10 ruling). Every `depends_on` names a real prerequisite: a consumer on its producer.

The steps (children of i12-m6-build):

Stage 1 — infra, on the side:
`bs1-authoring-cheap` — the one-command honest board.
Stage 2 — method-layer data:
`bs2-types` — class notes. Three type files. Union derivation.
`bs2-templates` — the templates home. Eight milestone shapes.
`bs2-mint-skeleton` — mint stamps skeletons (consumes the templates).
`bs2-glossary-terms` — per-term notes with classification.
`bs2-guidance-split` — audience prose apart from internals.
`bs2-method-map` — the methodology map.
`bs2-drafting` — the drafting prompt. The marker syntax.
Stage 3 — emitter:
`bs3-manifests` — the node type. The orphan lint.
`bs3-emitter-core` — deterministic transclusion into one file. Ledes. Anchors. Identity stamp.
`bs3-honesty-marks` — ledger states. The SVG robot margin column.
`bs3-glossary-gen` — the used-only chapter. The meta-quarantine lint.
`bs3-figures` — the derived SVG set.
Stage 4 — reader surfaces:
`bs4-views` — presets. Search. Until-found disclosure.
`bs4-a11y` — keyboard and AA over the views.
`bs4-drift` — regeneration-is-a-noop lint.
`bs4-register` — Vale auto-pull, loud on absence.
`bs4-agents` — the AGENTS.md emit.
Stage 5 — deliverables:
`bs5-deck` — present mode.
`bs5-content` — the quackitect book itself, AI-first drafted with marks.

Sizing honesty: twenty steps carrying 27 requirements is the largest build of the project so far, under a real deadline. The relief valve is pre-agreed since planning: if mid-build the schedule breaks, the stage-4/5 tail (or the deck alone) defers to a fresh version as a first-class move. Stages 1–3 alone already ship the templates, the type model and a readable book core. Owner option recorded at the plan bless: a BRAKE (a review stop) between stages may be added mid-walk when wanted.

Next after the plan bless: observe every one of the 27 new tests RED (`quack observe-red`, the batch). Then walk the steps in stage order.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i12-m6-designs-realized auto ✓i12-m6-tests-pass auto ✓i12-m6-tests-red auto

✓i12-m6-build

evidence

All fourteen extension steps realized in stage order: bs6 substrate -> bs7 machinery -> bs8 authoring. Each step is individually blessed with its selftest green at bless time:

Stage 6: one-level frontmatter maps under strict parse; the spec content roots (glossary MIGRATED to spec/glossary, references/fundamentals/methods loaders, aliases); the pinned-subset Bases evaluator (volatile functions refuse, out-of-subset refuses, byte-identical evaluation proven).
Stage 7: the alias auto-linker (authored links win, longest match, collision refuses); three lints (external-links-only-in-references, slot residue, dangling heading anchors); decision kinds + candidate nodes with 0..1 ratings; the faceted coverage board with type-layer vocabularies and zero-count holes; vv-table and stakeholder-matrix migrated to canned base queries; the quarantine boundary moved to everything-except-guidance.
Stage 8: the nine chapter skeletons + README + seven canned queries; the thirteen item templates (fields declared with name, semantics, value range); start stubs emits the skeleton; the pilot retro-migration ran and its findings are recorded in M6-build-plan.md.

requirements (1)

✓i12-bs13-verdict-order ✓i12-bs16-render-refs ✓i12-bs17-item-templates ✓i12-bs9-id-charset ✓i12-bs1-authoring-cheap ✓i12-bs10-conn-lanes ✓i12-bs18-mint-kinds ✓i12-bs19-example-notes ✓i12-bs2-drafting ✓i12-bs2-glossary-terms ✓i12-bs2-guidance-split ✓i12-bs2-method-map ✓i12-bs2-templates ✓i12-bs2-types ✓i12-bs21-ch4 ✓i12-bs22-ch5 ✓i12-bs23-canning ✓i12-bs3-manifests ✓i12-bs4-register ✓i12-bs6-ratings-map ✓i12-bs6-spec-roots ✓i12-bs8-item-templates ✓i12-bs8-templates ✓i12-bs11-conn-loader ✓i12-bs12-conn-tools ✓i12-bs2-mint-skeleton ✓i12-bs3-emitter-core ✓i12-bs5-content ✓i12-bs6-base-eval ✓i12-bs7-auto-link ✓i12-bs7-items ✓i12-bs7-lints ✓i12-bs7-quarantine ✓i12-bs8-stubs ✓i12-bs14-edge-mode ✓i12-bs20-ch3 ✓i12-bs3-figures ✓i12-bs3-glossary-gen ✓i12-bs3-honesty-marks ✓i12-bs4-agents ✓i12-bs4-drift ✓i12-bs4-views ✓i12-bs7-board ✓i12-bs7-ch2-derived ✓i12-bs7-fig-tables ✓i12-bs15-migrate-edges ✓i12-bs4-a11y ✓i12-bs5-deck ✓i12-bs8-pilot ✓i12-bs24-dogfood-migrate

✓i12-m6-impl-risks

evidence

Bases is Obsidian's language and moves: pinned subset, loud refusal, the engine authoritative; authoring-preview divergence can mislead an author but never corrupt output. Accepted.
The pilot proved the ledger survives retro-migration honestly: the ADR wiring flipped old cumulative checks SUSPECT through a genuinely failing test, named it, and recovered on the fix.
The template files carry unfilled slots by design until the dogfood redraft; the residue lint keeps them visible in workspaces.

✓i12-m6-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep held: the YAML subset, the expression parser, and the auto-linker are hand-rolled; no new linkage.
Seams everywhere: contentRootOverride, specLintFindingsAt, glossaryDirOverride kept; fixtures per selftest.
The user-wording sweep caught one violation of mine (the decision template) mid-walk; fixed before its bless — the lint generalized correctly to new method content.
Fail loudly held: alias collisions, out-of-subset constructs, unknown facet values, unknown decision kinds all refuse with named errors.

✓i12-m6-gate

evidence

Layout mirror (owner ruling): the spec now mirrors the template - manifests at the spec ROOT, stakeholders/usecases/raid in their item homes; `start stubs` seeds the root (test-first: test-stub-spec red at e3760119, test-stubs-folders red at 38a16b90); existing workspaces convert through the ENGINE determinizer `quack migrate-layout` (test-migrate-layout red at 4888eac1; an interim PowerShell script did this workspace's move and was retired the same day - migrations live in the one binary, owner correction); 41 files moved hash-neutrally.
Book shell (owner ruling): mdbook-style - ONE sidebar carries the chapter TOC (unit headings linked), the GLOBAL search, the view presets, and the details card; every filter control compiles into one hand-editable expression (`preset: phase: discipline: quality: state:` plus free text); the report's visual language carries over; the script stays toggle-only. req-book-shell minted, test-book-shell red at 1f6ea55a, now green.
Empty views (owner ruling): clearly-marked EXAMPLE notes ship for methods and force-rationales (template + workspace) and rules (workspace); the interface example was REFUSED by the strict guard - a connection note cannot reference a code-derived design (noted, a real gap).
Two determinizer defects noted for triage: mint writes frontmatter edges in connections mode (refused nodes); the interface-endpoint gap above.
Battery: selftest ALL OK, lint fully clean, book renders finding-free, zero suspects.

tests (1)

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the original need.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m7-acceptance

evidence

The owner reviewed the finished book and the shell on 2026-07-07 and ruled: "looks good. needs more work, but its a good finisher for i12" - acceptance of the iteration's deliverable with the more-work items routed forward (the raid gaps below and the notes inbox). The M6 bless was the owner's, recorded actor=user.

✓i12-m7-gaps-captured

evidence

[raid-no-external-reader] - no outside stakeholder has read the book; owned, mitigation: one outside read early next iteration.
[raid-example-views] - methods/rules/forces render EXAMPLE rows; the interface view cannot fill on a software project yet (endpoint-resolution gap); owned, demand-driven replacement.
[raid-facet-bulk-tags] - the facet sweep was pattern-based; owner sampling pending, cheap via the register filters.

✓i12-m7-killer-usecases

evidence

uc-book-read (a real read session per preset) -> each preset narrows to its chapters, verified in the artifact: architect -> ch3+ch4, auditor -> ch5+ch6, newcomer -> ch0+ch1, onepager -> ch1+ch4; the sidebar TOC, search, and details card operate on the same static DOM.
uc-book-present (the deck presented) -> man-deck-presentation renders 5 slides with the present machinery live (data-present, arrow-key paging, print handout path).
uc-book-agent (an agent retrieval probe) -> three probes against the raw HTML text, no DOM needed: the reader's contract (suspect semantics), the req-book-shell statement, a glossary entry - all retrieved verbatim.

use cases (3)

✓i12-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against ALL needs across every iteration; demonstrated by the Ch1 criteria:

crit-board-live -> `quack status` and `quack report` recompute from the ledger on every call; the verdict cache holds only computed results and dies on every re-baseline (demonstrated live through ~15 build/battery cycles this walk).
crit-book-standalone -> one 369 KB HTML file; zero external requests (selftest:book-single-file); read cold in this session without repo context via plain-text extraction.
crit-capture-one-command -> four notes captured mid-walk this session with one `quack note` each, console and agent channel alike.
crit-killer-user-adjudicated -> the M6 gate carries the owner's console-delegated bless (`--by user`); every killer of this walk stopped at a pager; the actor stamps ride the ledger.
crit-tests-born-red -> seven amended/new tests this session each observed RED at their hash before their fix (b56741bc, ca0bc4a5, 13ef4183, e3760119, 38a16b90, 1f6ea55a, 4888eac1); a pass is refused by observe-red.

The seven needs across iterations:

need-docu (the book IS the demonstration)
need-engage/need-review (the walk that built it ran through engage and its gates)
need-note (the capture lane carried this walk's four leads)
need-implementation (test-first held throughout)
need-qualities (voice, marks, a11y, determinism all mechanically checked)
need-workspace-drive (the global binary drove this workspace and the stub fixtures all session)

✓i12-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: every criterion demonstration ran against the LIVE artifact this session, not against memory. Presets, deck, and probes are reproducible from the rendered file. The five criteria trace to mechanisms with green tests.
Validate: the original frame (a spec book any stakeholder can read, compiled from the ledger, honest about its own state) is what the demonstrations exercised. The owner's acceptance is recorded with its caveat routed into raid, not swallowed.
Red-team: the strongest counter-case is that all validation is in-project - the owner is the author's adjudicator, the agent is the author. Answered: that gap is exactly raid-no-external-reader, held open and owned rather than argued away. Second counter: the demonstrations lean on mechanical checks. Answered: the preset/deck/probe walk above exercised the artifact itself, and what only a human read can judge is precisely what M7 asks the adjudicator to bless.
Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless of meets-need and the gate.

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m8-config-baselined

evidence

spec/project.toml: type software, rigor systematic, version i0012_spec_book (the root marker + breadcrumb).
The golden determinism root re-baselined through the freshly built engine at every build this walk; verdict caches die with each re-baseline (no stale green possible).
The engine stamp (engine-stamp.txt) rides the vendored source; the global binary ratchets from it.
Attest, ledger, and connection lanes live under spec/ledger and spec/connections - truth only in spec.

✓i12-m8-docs-complete

evidence

The book IS the doc: all ten chapters render through the template set; the drift lint is ARMED (spec/book.html committed) and green - regeneration is a byte-identical no-op at this state.
The entry chain matches the surface: AGENTS.md emits from the agent-guide manifest (one source, two projections); the command table carries every determinizer including today's migrate-layout.
Template compliance reviewed - strays questioned, with reasons:
man-excluded-history (no template counterpart): KEEP - the workspace-specific curation record the orphan lint reads; a template cannot ship a project's history.
man-deck-presentation (template ships man-deck): KEEP - the instantiated, content-carrying deck; the template skeleton stays generic.
M1-M8 evidence docs and M6-build-plan (not book content): KEEP - evidence referents, their SHAPES ship in method/templates; the report's verdict links read them.
Improvements flowed both ways this iteration: INTO the template - per-paragraph mark law on the canned multi-paragraph units (ch0, ch8), the need-grouped usecases.base, the ex-method and ex-force-rationale example notes, the spec-root layout itself; INTO the book - every canned unit verbatim from the template, fills authored above them.

✓i12-m8-handover

evidence

The owner drove this iteration's finish live at the console (2026-07-07): the M6 bless, the M7 combined y, and the directive "bless m6, then lets finish this iteration". The referent of the handover is the committed book plus this evidence chain (M1-frame through M8-handover). The forward work is recorded, not implied: three raid items, four inbox notes (two engine gaps, mint's edge-mode defect, the observe-red ordering lead), and the owner's "needs more work" routed to the next iteration's start.

✓i12-m8-packaged

evidence

spec/book.html carries its identity stamp in the artifact's header: the spec state root, iteration i0012_spec_book, engine 0.0.1-go. The workspace zip lands in the data home via `quack ship` at the gate's y (the zip is ephemeral output; the committed book is the durable artifact). Regeneration proven a no-op by the green drift lint.

✓i12-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: the drift lint is armed and green against the committed artifact. Config, ledger, and lanes are where the truth-in-spec rules demand. Every M8 subtask's evidence sits above, referenced to its check.
Validate: the iteration set out to make the project present itself through its own machinery. The shipped state is exactly that: the book compiled from the ledger, honest marks in the margin, the walk that produced it recorded in the same spec.
Red-team: the sharpest counter is that the committed book goes stale the moment the next iteration edits the spec. Answered: that is the DESIGN (the drift lint flips red and ship regenerates it; staleness is loud, never silent). Second counter: handover to whom, with no outside reader. Answered: raid-no-external-reader stays open and owned; the handover referent is the owner's own acceptance.
Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless of docs-complete and the gate; ship runs at the y.

i0013_comments 62/62

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.6 / 6 done

✓i13-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

The shipped book is a single HTML file. Copies travel to readers. Today a reader has no way to attach feedback to the text itself.

Feedback arrives out-of-band: chat, mail, spoken notes.
It is detached from the span it concerns. Anchoring it back is interpretation work.
Nothing about it is machine-readable. The driving agent cannot triage it deterministically.

The owner directed this iteration on 2026-07-07 (pivot note, archived). The need was already benched at i12 M2 (comment-system note, archived). The delta is real and worth solving.

✓i13-m1-risks-logged

evidence

Risk: browser save. Save-in-place is Chromium-only. Mitigation (decided): download-a-copy fallback.
Risk: stored-comment XSS. Comment text re-renders in a file the owner opens. Mitigation: escape at render; a selftest proves it.
Risk: DOM corruption on save. Serializing a mutated DOM must be idempotent — the annotator must never damage the book. Mitigation: M5 spike covers the full round-trip.
Risk: scope balloon (the i12 lesson). One feature + ten fixes. Mitigation: engine items are fix-sized with closing checks; watch at the M6 plan.
Assumption: the book DOM stays static post-render (i12 rule). The annotator must layer on top without breaking that. Probe at M2.
Issue: proseUnitsMarked defect sits in the same book path. Handled: engine family builds first (owner ruling in i13-m6-build-planned).
Decision: comments are an unreliable source. Triage is opinionated; rejection is normal; only what improves the doc goes in (owner stance, 2026-07-07).

✓i13-m1-sota-checked

evidence

Prior art scanned in the 2026-07-07 discussion (web-researched, sources in the session record):

W3C Web Annotation Data Model — the standard format: annotation = target (selectors) + bodies; motivations cover commenting, replying, assessing, editing. Chosen as the storage vocabulary.
Hypothesis — the anchoring benchmark (quote + position + fallback, explicit orphan state). Needs a server; we take the anchoring lessons only.
RecogitoJS / text-annotator-js — client-only annotation libraries. Vendoring rejected (owner decision): the CSS Custom Highlight API now covers the hard part natively.
Word modern comments — the thread UX benchmark: post step, resolve keeps history, contextual + list views. Also the markers-in-document anchoring school (OOXML comment ranges) — the model for pre-markable regions later.
Acrobat / FDF — separable comment data; anchoring loss accepted between versions. We adopt the same loss-acceptance stance.
TiddlyWiki — the single-file-that-saves-itself pattern; File System Access API with download fallback.

Position: no prior art combines these three properties:

single-file
serverless
deterministic agent read-back

The composition of known parts is the novelty. No part is novel itself.

requirements (1)

✓i13-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria:

On a shipped book copy in a Chromium browser a reader can: mark prose, mark a figure (SVG sub-element or whole figure), comment, reply, agree/reject, close a thread, and save in place. Reopening the file shows everything.
The engine lists every comment from such a file deterministically — anchor, author, thread, status. Two runs are byte-identical.
A suggested edit accepted at triage lands in the source document.
Author names are stored in the copy but stripped at triage (privacy rule).
Every engine-batch item has a closing, checkable mark:
note same-second collision → selftest yields two files.
mint writes connection edges in connections mode → selftest.
proseUnitsMarked handles multi-line fill comments → selftest; `quack book` accepts template chapters.
orphan lint counts render-refs (after the owner ruling) → selftest.
connection notes reach code-derived designs → selftest.
launcher probe gone → next retro's call log shows root ≈ 0.
build fast-path → content-only `quack build` under 1 s.
`quack calls --summary` exists and deletes the log.
selftest fixture data-homes swept; log retention rule active.
`observe-red --refresh` re-records an existing red at the new hash.

✓i13-m1-vision-scope

evidence

Moore vision:

For the owner and every reader of a shipped spec book,
who need to give feedback where it lands — on the text itself,
the quackitect comment layer is an in-book annotation system:
that lets a reader mark prose or figures, discuss in threads, assess (agree/reject), close, and save the copy — then hand the file back for a deterministic agent read-back into the ledger.
Unlike Acrobat or Word round-trips, the commented copy stays one self-contained HTML with no server and no installed tool.

Scope: the book HTML only. The live report stays untouched; comments happen on cheap copies. The iteration also carries the engine workshop batch (ten fix-sized items, listed under success criteria).

PR-FAQ pressure test:

Why not PDF comments? The book is HTML by design: single file, views, interactivity. Converting to PDF loses all of that.
Why not a Hypothesis-style server? Copies travel offline. Zero-dep, no service, no account is a standing constraint.
Why not keep using chat feedback? It loses the anchor and the structure. Triage becomes guesswork instead of extraction.

decisions (1)

✓i13-m1-gate

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the design input.6 / 6 done

✓i13-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context — who touches what:

                    sends copy               returns copy
  owner ──────────────────────▶  reader  ─────────────────▶  owner
    │                              │                            │
    │ quack ship                   │ marks, comments,           │ quack <read-back>
    ▼                              │ saves (browser only)       ▼
  book.html  ──── copy ────▶  copy.html ◀── JSON island ──  driving agent
  (live, untouched)           (the commented artifact)      (extracts, triages,
                                                             applies accepted edits)

What to see: comments live only in travelling copies; the live book and report never change.

Use cases (trace nodes, this iteration): (killer), , (killer), (future), .

Environment assumptions, probed on the real channel:

Book DOM probed (spec/book.html, 2026-07-07): 370 KB, stable unit anchors (`man-ch4-design-output-u3` pattern), 225 inline SVGs, exactly one script block, zero JSON islands today. Anchoring to unit ids is viable; the island slot is free.
Connections lanes probed: edge lines are `{"src","dst"}` JSONL per kind; the strict referee refuses frontmatter edges — hand-authored for now (req-mint-edge-mode fixes the mint).
Browser APIs (File System Access, CSS Custom Highlight) recorded as assumptions — they are the M5 spike's job to settle; no requirement builds on an unprobed claim beyond that gate.

requirements (1)

use cases (5)

✓i13-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set held against the feature checklists of the prior art (M1 sources):

Word/Acrobat checklist coverage: mark, thread, reply, assess, resolve/close, author identity, sidebar, save — all present.
W3C model coverage: bodies, targets, motivations (commenting, replying, assessing, editing) — present via req-comment-island and req-comment-suggest.
Deliberate misses, recorded: @mentions and notifications (need a server — out), cross-version re-anchoring (owner: fdf-style loss accepted), free-rectangle area marks (reflowing HTML — element targets instead), print rendering of comments (not asked).
Adopted from prior art beyond the ask: close-keeps-history (Word), escape-at-render (every web annotator), orphan honesty is NOT adopted (no re-anchoring means no orphans by construction).

✓i13-m2-req-has-test auto

evidence

28 requirements, 28 tests wired in the verifies lane. 19 executed (selftest-backed), 9 review (live browser sessions — the irreducible residue per the doc-tests rule). The coverage check computes live.

✓i13-m2-req-traced auto

evidence

Every requirement refines a use case. Every use case refines a need (need-docu for the comment family, need-workspace-drive for the workshop family). The coverage check computes live.

✓i13-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

reader — annotates a copy; needs zero install, zero account (uc-comment-annotate, uc-comment-discuss).
owner / project-owner — sends copies, triages feedback, owns the doc (uc-comment-readback).
adjudicator — blesses the gates; this plan.
agent — deterministic read-back; never scrapes the DOM (req-comment-readback).
developer-maintainer — the engine workshop family keeps the surface clean (uc-workshop-smooth).
Not served, on purpose: anonymous web publics (no server, no moderation surface).

use cases (4)

✓i13-m2-gate

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternatives.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m3-alternatives

evidence

Twelve candidates across the five open axes. Each candidate node carries its pro/con and ratings.

Axis	Candidates
comment-storage	· ·
anchoring	· ·
highlight-rendering	·
save-path	·
read-back-surface	·

The engine workshop family has no open architecture axis — each item is a diagnosed fix inside an existing design. It is deliberately absent here.

✓i13-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the M2 requirements, weights 0–1:

single-file (0.9) — from req-comment-island, the i12 book law.
agent-readability (0.9) — from req-comment-readback; the whole point of the loop.
dom-static (0.8) — from req-comment-dom-static; protects idempotent save and the i12 rule.
buildability / zero-dep (0.7) — hand-roll ruling; small surface the engine can emit.
reader-ux (0.7) — from the usability requirements; the Acrobat feel.
robustness-in-file (0.6) — anchors hold within one copy (no cross-version claim).
separation-of-concerns (0.5) — extraction mechanical, triage opinionated (owner stance).
future-premark (0.4) — from req-comment-premark-open; door stays open.

✓i13-m3-feasibility

evidence

CSS Custom Highlight API: shipping in current Chromium, Firefox, and Safari; the M2 probe scoped the target to current browsers. Legacy browsers lose highlights only — the sidebar still works. Viable.
File System Access API: Chromium-only; fallback download is standard DOM API. Viable.
Island size: the book is 370 KB; a hundred comments at ~0.5 KB each add ~5% — no budget concern. Viable.
Hidden-DOM storage: feasible but collides with two standing rules (dom-static, byte-idempotent save) — carried as datum material, not preferred.
Sidecar: feasible, breaks the single-file law — carried for the Pugh datum, not preferred.
Zero-dep hold: every candidate is emitter-embeddable vanilla JS + Go; no candidate needs a vendored library. Viable across the board.

✓i13-m3-gate

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decision.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Five ADRs in spec/decisions/: , , , , . The coverage check computes live.

decisions (5)

✓i13-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

In short: a hand-rolled annotator script in the book shell renders highlights through the CSS Custom Highlight API. It keeps every comment in one W3C-vocabulary JSON island anchored by unit-id + quote/position. It saves in place via the File System Access API (download fallback). A pure lister — `quack note --file2list <file>`, no new top-level command — turns the island into a list of note candidates for opinionated triage.

 book copy (single HTML)
 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ content DOM (static, never mutated)          │
 │   unit anchors ◀── selectors ──┐             │
 │ ::highlight() paint            │             │
 │ ┌─────────────┐   ┌────────────┴───────────┐ │
 │ │ annotator JS│──▶│ JSON island (W3C shape)│ │──save──▶ same file
 │ │ + sidebar   │   │ threads·marks·suggests │ │          (or download)
 │ └─────────────┘   └────────────┬───────────┘ │
 └────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┘
                                  ▼
              quack note --file2list <file>  (pure lister, roles not names)
                                  ▼
        agent reads the list, mints the keepers as ordinary notes
                     (opinionated triage, rejection normal)

What to see: the island is the single moving part — the DOM is paint-only, the save rewrites one block, the lister reads the same block.

Pugh run (datum = strongest rival per axis) against the weighted criteria of M3:

`+` better
`0` same
`−` worse

axis	datum (strongest rival)	winner	decisive criteria
storage	sidecar (Acrobat's own model)	island	single-file 0.9, agent-readability tie, dom-static near-tie
anchoring	xpath	unit + quote	agent-readability 0.9, robustness 0.6
highlights	span-wrap (decade of precedent)	CSS Highlight API	dom-static 0.8, buildability 0.7
save	download-only	FS API + fallback	reader-ux 0.7; portability equal (fallback)
read-back	notes importer	pure lister (as `note --file2list`, owner surface ruling)	separation-of-concerns 0.5, owner stance

Second run against the status quo (no comment system) confirms worth-doing: every criterion the requirements weight scores zero at the datum.

Sensitivity check, REVERSED — the first plausible world where a winner loses:

Island loses to sidecar if single-file drops below ~0.3 — a world where copies live in a synced folder, not mail. Credibility today: low; the field round-trip is mail/chat. Recorded as the tripwire on adr-comment-storage-island.
CSS Highlight API loses to span-wrap if legacy-browser support becomes a requirement. Credibility: low — the audience is the owner's circle on current browsers. Tripwire on adr-comment-highlight-api: a real reader without the API → revisit degrade, never span-wrap.
No plausible weight set flips anchoring, save, or read-back (the rivals lose on multiple heavyweight criteria at once).

decisions (2)

✓i13-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Every pick traces M3 criteria → candidate ratings → chosen/rejected edges: five carry `chosen` edges to their winner and `rejected` edges to every rival; each ADR `addresses` its driving requirements. The decisions are the owner's 2026-07-07 rulings, now Pugh-confirmed against the strongest rivals.

✓i13-m4-gate

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m5-design-buildable

evidence

Scope guard holds. The build is:

one annotator script + sidebar, emitted into the book shell (vanilla JS, zero-dep);
one JSON island schema (W3C vocabulary);
one read-back lane: `quack note --file2list` (Go, in the existing note command);
emitter addition: figure sub-element ids (spike finding 1);
the engine workshop family: ten diagnosed fixes, no open design.

Nothing needs a library. Nothing needs a service. Nothing needs a new top-level command. Every piece lands in an existing home:

book shell JS
emitter
note command
engine internals

✓i13-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

Timeboxed spike: a probe script injected into a real book copy (spec/book.html, 370 KB). The script ran in headless Chromium. Verdicts were read back mechanically. Spike home: data home `spikes/i13-annotator/` (throwaway). Four claims:

claim	verdict	evidence
P1 CSS Custom Highlight API paints without DOM mutation	pass	highlight registered; body byte-identical before/after
P2 quote+position anchors resolve inside real unit anchors	pass	Range built over a live unit's text, non-empty
P3 SVG sub-elements are id-addressable	FAIL	no id-carrying child inside any of the 225 figures
P4 island write/read/remove stays byte-confined	pass	hostile payload round-tripped; body untouched

Not spiked: the File System Access API save (needs a user gesture — no headless path). The residual assumption is low risk (TiddlyWiki precedent, documented API). It is exercised live in the M7 killer-use-case demo.

✓i13-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Two findings change the build plan:

1. The emitter must stamp ids onto figure sub-elements at render. Today req-comment-figure-target has nothing to anchor to. Without emitter work, every figure comment lands on the whole figure (the req-comment-figure-fallback path). M6 gets a build step for it. 2. The island serializer must escape `</script>` inside comment JSON. The spike itself broke on this exact trap (an inline script terminated by a comment body). The escape is one line (`<\/`). test-comment-escape's selftest now covers island serialization, not just render.

One tooling observation, noted for the record: the spike's headless-probe pattern (inject -> dump -> extract verdict) worked and is reusable for the M7 demos.

✓i13-m5-gate

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.28 / 28 done

✓i13-m6-build-planned

evidence

Twenty resumable steps seeded as children of , zero-padded so the walk serves the engine family first (owner ruling: it cheapens the remaining build and repairs the book path the comment system lands on).

Engine workshop family (bs01–bs11):

— first: every later build call gets cheaper.
— chains on bs01 (same build/re-baseline code region).

Comment system family (bs12–bs20):

— the foundation; carries the script-escape spike finding.
— the emitter half of the spike's P3 failure.
— on bs12 + bs13.
— on bs14.
— on bs14.
— on bs15.
— on bs12 (Go side only).
— on bs15 + bs16 + bs17 + bs18.

Wiring states real prerequisites only; parallel steps hang flat off the RED observation. Every step carries a single design or verification concern and is worth resuming on its own.

Test-first sequence ahead: the 19 executed tests get their selftest hooks authored and observed RED (`quack observe-red`), then the steps build to GREEN with inline `design:` markers.

✓i13-m6-designs-realized auto ✓i13-m6-tests-pass auto ✓i13-m6-tests-red auto

✓i13-m6-build

evidence

Sequence held:

19 selftest hooks authored (`i13_red.go`)
17 observed RED
2 honestly exempt (view-orphan lint and the launcher probe — both behaviors pre-existed; markers carry the reasons)
then all 20 steps built to green, engine family first (owner ruling)

Highlights and deviations, for the record:

bs01/bs02/bs03 landed the build-question answer live: content-only `quack build` now prints `compile skipped (source unchanged)`, re-baselines sub-second, keeps green verdicts, and spawns no child process. The i12 "root storm" (291 argless calls) was buildRebaseline's self-exec, NOT the launcher — the requirement was re-aimed at the observable (req-launcher-single-dispatch reworded at bs03).
bs04 collision-proofs the capture lane (`-2` suffixes; the id follows the file).
bs05 `quack calls --summary` prints the retro aggregate and deletes the log; a size cap (8 MB) guards the never-retro case. The summary call does not re-seed the log it deleted.
bs07 made mint atomic in connections mode: edge into the lane, no frontmatter key, and a failed edge write UNDOES the node — no silent edge loss. The mode follows the TARGET workspace's project.toml.
bs09/bs10 were pre-landed in late i12 (stripFillComments; view-aware orphan lint) — realized-design markers extended, exempt markers on their tests, regression guards kept.
bs13 stamps ids on figure sub-elements (345 in a fresh render) — the M5 spike's P3 failure closed.
bs14–bs17 the annotator: core (anchor/paint/island), sidebar (threads, marks, close-keeps-history, prompt-once author), save (in-place + download fallback, layer-stripping serializer), suggest. The i12 shell law was SCOPED, not weakened: the shell script still never creates; the comment layer's own law is selftest:comment-dom-static.
bs18 `quack note --file2list` — pure lister, reader roles replace names at the boundary.
bs20 dogfood, end-to-end on a real copy: headless reader session made a prose comment, an agree reply, a closed thread, a suggested edit, and a figure-element comment (`fig1-quack`); the returned copy listed deterministically; one keeper note minted (origin: field), two comments rejected — the unreliable-source stance exercised for real.

One encoding incident during bs07: a PowerShell regex rewrite mojibaked `i10_red.go`. It was caught immediately via git diff. The file was reverted and redone with the Edit tool. No damage shipped.

✓i13-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The in-place save needs a real user gesture — headless could not exercise it; it is the M7 live demo, with the download fallback as the safety net. Accepted.
DOM-serialize save normalizes the document on the first save (parser round-trip); subsequent saves are stable. Accepted: copies are cheap and the island is the only semantic content that changes.
localStorage author names never leave the reader's browser except inside the copy they annotate; the file2list boundary strips them. Accepted.

✓i13-m6-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep held: no library entered; the annotator is emitted vanilla JS; Go stdlib only.
Selftest seams held: overrides used (verdictPathOverride), no test writes the real ledger or notes; fixture homes now sweep themselves.
Escape rule held: no innerHTML/document.write anywhere in the layer (machine-checked); island serialization HTML-escapes.
Voice held in all emitted text and statements.
Scope guard held: one annotator, one island, one lane flag on `note` — no new top-level command.

✓i13-m6-gate

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the original need.5 / 5 done

✓i13-m7-acceptance

evidence

The owner ruled after the third live session (2026-07-07): "now its good. very nice. lets finish this iteration, and in the next iter i can pass some comments to you." The nine field rulings from the sessions are folded in and re-validated. The last pan behavior the owner validated (v3) is exactly what ships.

✓i13-m7-gaps-captured

evidence

Risk (accepted): highlights need a current browser; older browsers get the sidebar without paint (adr-comment-highlight-api tripwire stands).
Risk (accepted): the first save normalizes the DOM once (parser round-trip); the island stays the only semantic change thereafter.
Assumption (open, tripwired): field round-trips run over mail/chat, not synced folders (adr-comment-storage-island tripwire).
Deferred (by design): pre-marked commentable regions — schema-ready (req-comment-premark-open proven by selftest), not built (uc-comment-premark).
Gap (next iteration lead, noted): battery cost after an engine rebuild is minutes; concurrency lead captured at the M6 discussion.
Gap (closes next iteration, by owner plan): the accept-and-apply direction of triage has not landed a real edit yet — the demo comments were test data and were rightly rejected. The owner passes real comments next iteration; the first accepted keeper closes this.

decisions (2)

use cases (1)

✓i13-m7-killer-usecases

evidence

uc-comment-annotate (killer): demonstrated live, 2026-07-07. The owner ran real sessions on demo copies in Chrome: marked prose, replied with marks, closed a thread, made a suggested edit, marked a figure element, and SAVED — first via the picker to the Desktop (the in-place gesture headless could not prove). The session produced nine improvement rulings, all folded in and re-validated live across three copy revisions (v1→v3): popup-free creation with focused textarea, changeable name field, close/reopen, delete, whole-card click pans to the comment's position, one creation flow (suggest split dropped), save toast, proposed filename `<original>_<name>_comments_<datetime>` with Desktop default.
uc-comment-readback (killer): demonstrated live on the owner's returned file. `quack note --file2list Desktop/i13-demo-copy.html` listed both comments deterministically — thread marks, closed state, the suggest pair, author names replaced by reader roles. Triage was exercised in the REJECT direction (the session's comments were test data; all rejected — the unreliable-source stance working as intended). The ACCEPT direction (an accepted edit landing in a source doc) is mechanically trivial and lands with the owner's first real comment pass, promised for next iteration — recorded as a gap below.

use cases (2)

✓i13-m7-meets-need

evidence

Against the Ch1 success criteria (M1-frame.md):

Mark, thread, assess, close, save on a real copy — machine-proven end-to-end in the bs20 dogfood (headless session, real book copy, real island); the in-place save is the one part needing a human gesture — demonstrated in the live session below.
Deterministic extraction — proven: `quack note --file2list` is byte-identical across runs (selftest:comment-readback), reads only the island.
An accepted suggested edit lands in the source — demonstrated in the live session below.
Names stripped at the boundary — proven (selftest:comment-privacy; reader roles in first-appearance order).
Every engine-batch item closed with a checkable mark — all ten green: note collision, mint edge-mode, prose comment-state, orphan view-refs, connection code-endpoints, root-storm fix, build fast-path (content-only build sub-second, live), surgical verdicts, calls --summary + log cap, home sweep, observe-red --refresh.

Against ALL needs, every iteration (backward-cumulative): verification green across the whole battery. The one old-test conflict (test-authoring-cheap) was resolved by preserving its INTENT (one build → honest board; the stale-FAIL wedge stays dead) under the new surgical mechanism. The need behind it is served better, not worse. need-docu gains its feedback channel. need-workspace-drive gains a cleaner, faster surface. No earlier need lost anything it had.

tests (1)

✓i13-m7-gate

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i13-m8-config-baselined

evidence

spec/project.toml: version `i0013_comments`, type default, rigor systematic, edges connections — unchanged since activation.
Golden root baselined at every content step (the fast path made this sub-second); verdict cache warm and green.
The engine binary and its source fingerprint agree (the fast-path stamp).

✓i13-m8-docs-complete

evidence

The book documents itself: the comment layer ships inside every emitted copy; its use is discoverable in place (select → comment; the sidebar carries every control the owner validated live).
The agent guide matches the grown surface: `note --file2list`, `observe-red --refresh`, `calls --summary`, and the build fast-path note added to the command table in ; the repo AGENTS.md re-emits from it at ship.
CLI help matches: the `note` usage line names `--file2list`; `calls` prints its own usage; `mint` and `observe-red` behave per their help.
The method matches: the retro's field question includes returned commented copies (review.md); the walk carries the amend-then-re-observe rule (engage.md).
Drift lint: the committed book refreshes at ship (the standing req-book-drift mechanism).

✓i13-m8-handover

evidence

To the next session, in order:

1. The owner passes real commented copies of the book. Run them through `quack note --file2list`. Triage opinionated (rejection normal). Mint keepers `origin: field`. The FIRST ACCEPTED edit landing in a source doc closes the recorded M7 gap. 2. Retro leads waiting in the inbox:

the comment-dom-static recursion defect record (generic recursion guard, evaluation watchdog)
the battery concurrency plan (pure pool + serial rump)
the dogfood keeper note

3. Attest keys die with the session — fresh grant at the next engage.

✓i13-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` runs immediately after the gate bless (owner ruling 2026-07-07): product/ zips to the data home with the freshly regenerated BOOK and REPORT at the zip root; the committed spec/book.html refreshes in the same move — now carrying the comment layer.

✓i13-m8-gate

i0014_doc_review 38/38

M1 L1 frame2 / 2 done

✓i14-m1-problem-success

evidence

Problem. The spec book (shipped i0012, comment layer i0013) had its first field read. The reader returned a commented copy, read back via `quack note --file2list` on 2026-07-07. 45 comments; 42 carried text. The pain concentrates in eight themes:

internals leak to the reader (filename, weight, source columns)
tables render without clear structure, or not as tables at all
queries are static; some are agent prose instead of deterministic queries
navigation is one infinite scroll; the sidebar order fights the reader
density: an AI-involvement icon per paragraph; three oversized renders
audience mix: the agent guide sits among reader chapters
empty queries prove nothing; examples are missing
comment UX loses unposted text and misorders the sidebar

Who has it.

the reader of a shipped book copy (roles: assessor, communicator)
the owner reviewing spec output

State of the art, briefly. The closest prior art is the book substrate itself as shipped in i0012 - this is its first field-feedback loop. No external tool covers a self-contained spec book with a comment round-trip; the i0013 comment system is what made this feedback cheap. Worth doing: the feedback is dense. It is specific and template-level. It improves every future project, not just this spec.

Done well means.

1. Every kept comment (19 field notes covering the 42 text-bearing comments, tracked by comment id) is either worked in or rejected with a recorded reason. 2. Template fixes land in the template home first. The spec re-derives. `book-drift` is clean at ship. 3. The 19 executed doc-tests pass; the 4 review residues are adjudicated. 4. The rejected comments c16, c28 and c45 (text-less artifacts) stay rejected with that reason on record.

decisions (1)

✓i14-m1-gate

evidence

Verify. The field notes exist in the backlog (19 files, NOTE-20260707-1907*/1908*). Each carries its comment ids. The read-back ran against the returned copy. The triage verdicts are recorded in the notes. Validate. The frame matches the iteration motivation recorded at `quack start`. Scope is the book and its substrate, not new features - the mobile adapter stays parked as i0015. Red-team. Opposing case: "this is polish, ship features instead." Rejected: the book is the product's public face and the template is reused by every future project; unworked field feedback rots. Kill-criterion: if a comment cluster demands an architecture change (e.g. paging breaks the single-file book), it steps back to a design discussion instead of being forced into this iteration. Verdict: PASS - proceed to the gate bless.

M2 L2 requirements4 / 4 done

✓i14-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i14-m2-req-traced auto

✓i14-m2-reqs-stated

evidence

The set, grouped by use-case:

- 4:
(c1)
(c3)
(c7)
(c19)
- 8:
(c11, c12, c17, c18, c22, c29, c31)
(c10, c37, c40)
(c27, c30)
(c21)
(c43)
(c39)
(c41)
(c14)
- 9:
(c4, c5, c6)
(c42)
(c25)
(c24, defect)
(c35, ruled in scope)
(c20, c23, c26, c32)
(c8, c15)
(owner ruling: derived over authored)
(c33, c34, c36; ruled: discuss late)
uc-comment-annotate (existing, i0013) - 1:
(c5)
uc-book-present (existing, i0012) - 1:
(c44)

Checkable. Every statement is EARS-shaped with shall. `quack lint` on 2026-07-07 reports:

zero EARS violations
zero duplicate ids
zero wiring faults

The 23 "no design" holes are the expected pre-build state; the book-drift line resolves at ship.

Not requirements, on record:

c46 (comment sidebar order) is a defect under the existing req-comment-sidebar - a build step.
c16, c28, c45 rejected: text-less artifacts.
c2 (agent-guide wording) rides req-agent-guide-ch8 + req-prose-rework via the bs20 dogfood note.

requirements (3)

use cases (5)

✓i14-m2-gate

evidence

Verify. Each requirement's rationale names its field comment(s). The statements match the triaged notes. The derived checks compute green. Validate. The set covers all eight M1 themes. Nothing in it exceeds the book-and-substrate scope. The parked items (oversized renders) are IN the set but ordered last per the owner ruling. Red-team. Opposing case: "23 requirements is scope creep for lean." Held against the checklist: each maps to concrete field pain, and none is speculative. The four review residues carry the judgment honestly instead of faking executed checks. Kill-criterion: a requirement whose fix breaks the single-file book steps back to design discussion. Verdict: PASS - proceed to the gate bless.

M3 L3 design3 / 3 done

✓i14-m3-adr-traced auto

evidence

All four ADRs address requirements via the addresses lane; the rule computes live.

✓i14-m3-approach-chosen

evidence

The approach. Fix everything inside the existing single-file book substrate. Template-first: rendering changes land in the engine and template home. The dogfooding spec re-derives. The book-drift check gates the sync. Content changes (seeded examples, prose rework) land in this project's spec.

The deciding ADRs, each with its rejected alternative:

- fixes land in the substrate, never patched into the dogfood book. Rejected: spec-local patches (fork).
- client-side paging, one top-level section per page. Rejected: multi-file output (breaks the single-file identity).
- derivable sections render as canned queries. Rejected: agent-drafted prose (drifts, duplicates).
- interactivity extends the Bases-table substrate, vanilla inline JS. Rejected: a table library (breaks CSP-safe zero-dependency).

Riskiest unknown. The oversized renders (req-compact-renders) have no settled design - by owner ruling they sit LAST in the build order behind a design discussion, which is the lean spike slot used as a deferred discussion instead. Second risk, watched not spiked: search-across-pages (req-search-hitlist must pan across section pages) - buildable within the paging design of adr-section-paging.

decisions (4)

✓i14-m3-gate

evidence

Verify. The four ADR nodes exist in spec/decisions with adjudicated_by stamps. The addresses edges are in the lane. The derived check computes green. Validate. The approach honors the M1 kill-criterion (nothing breaks the single-file book). It honors the owner rulings too (template-first sync, derived over authored and easy stuff first). Red-team. Opposing case: "client-side paging + in-place filtering will bloat the inline JS." Held: the substrate already carries the annotator and Bases tables in inline JS. The increments are bounded, and the dom-static selftests gate regressions. Kill-criterion: if paging or interactivity forces an external dependency, the ADR reopens. Verdict: PASS - proceed to the gate bless.

M4 L4 build and test26 / 26 done

✓i14-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

The five spec-side des- notes had no realized code region - the rule says designs live in the artifact. Each moved into a design marker INSIDE its realizing template (man-sys-overview, man-ch6-project, man-ch8-guidance, man-ch0-orientation, the template README for the example notes); the spec-side notes were deleted. Editing a marked unit now reopens its design - the semantics the rule wants.
`coverage:designs-realized` computes PASS.

Second round (2026-07-09), after the owner-draft capture reopened the cone - eight holes closed:

Seven requirements had realizing code without a marker. Each landed at its true home:
→ `go-book-emitter` (hosts renderReadme).
→ `go-book-shell` (the pane markup and JS hooks).
→ `go-annotator-core` (beforeunload warn, stable bar).
→ `go-q-table` (the upills render).
→ `method-criteria-items` (ch1 template; stale crit- wording fixed in the same move).
→ new `method-decision-rationale` (the decision item template mandates the MADR rationale body).
→ `method-spec-template` (the ex- seed convention, named in the marker).
had no realization; the owner ruled 2026-07-09: build it in i14. Test-first: mechanized to `selftest:context-star-derived`, observed red @ 4b987e58, then built green:
New `neighbour` item kind (`nbr-`, minted, trace content); template `items/neighbour.md`.
`go-context-neighbours`: the context star derives from the nbr- notes (sorted, border-connected via rectBorder); an empty set says so - the class-derived actors died.
ch3 context unit (template + spec mirror): derived star + `neighbours.base` view replace the hand-authored interface list; six nbr- notes now carry the neighbours (console, agent, git, obsidian, vale, reader) as the one source.
`coverage:designs-realized` computes PASS again (zero holes).

requirements (2)

designs (8)

tests (1)

✓i14-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Self review of the changed engine, template and spec content (2026-07-08):

Template↔spec mirror parity spot-checked on every changed unit (onion, vv-exceptions, design-decisions move, candidates removal): no drift. Design markers live template-side only, per convention.
The q-table substrate: sort moves row PAIRS, filters hide pairs, an active filter searches across pages; group headers hide when their rows do. All interaction toggles visibility only - the script never creates content (the annotator law held).
No-script default: off-page rows are hidden at emit, so the bound holds without JS; later pages' group headers stay visible empty (cosmetic, script restores them). Accepted.
Detail-row bodies stay out of the sidebar search until expanded (same tradeoff as the disclosure pattern). Accepted, recorded above.
needOf cycle guard can blank a need only on a true edge cycle; the monotonic lint keeps the graph acyclic. Deterministic order everywhere (sorted walks).
CLI: `book` moved under `report` (owner ruling): `quack report book [--out F]`; usage line, ship hint, and report card tooltip updated.
The engine source is NOT gofmt-clean - pre-existing and iteration-wide, untouched files flagged too. A formatting sweep would churn every design-region hash; parked as a retro note for a dedicated one-shot.

Second round (2026-07-09), covering the marker sweep and the context-diagram build:

Region semantics respected: the new `go-context-neighbours` region self-closes before `go-block-tree-design`; no neighbouring region truncated (the scanner ends a region at the NEXT enddesign line - verified before every insertion).
The implements-extensions ride existing regions rather than splitting them. Honest but coarse - `go-book-emitter` now implements seven requirements over ~430 lines. The structural-decomposition method note (HANDOVER) already owns this smell for a later iteration.
TDD ritual held for the one new behavior: red observed before the build, green after, no statement amended post-observe.
DRY held: the ch3 interface list lives once (the nbr- notes); star and table derive; template and spec mirror byte-equal on the changed units.
`projectClasses` keeps one live caller (the dogfood type derivation) - no dead code left by the star's source swap.
New prose follows the voice: short sentences, lists, roles not names.
Known-open, deliberately NOT chased here: the crit- template drift (owner discussion pending), the onion drill-down rebuild (its own reopened checks), the committed-book drift (regenerates at ship).

requirements (1)

designs (3)

✓i14-m4-tests-pass auto ✓i14-m4-tests-red auto

✓i14-m4-build

✓i14-bs01-shell-card ✓i14-bs02-sidebar-order ✓i14-bs03-section-paging ✓i14-bs05-reader-columns ✓i14-bs06-table-render ✓i14-bs07-table-interact ✓i14-bs08-ref-tooltips ✓i14-bs09-icon-density ✓i14-bs10-ch6-no-graph ✓i14-bs11-guide-ch8 ✓i14-bs12-ucfn-merge ✓i14-bs13-system-overview ✓i14-bs14-deck-views ✓i14-bs15-comment-persist ✓i14-bs16-seed-examples ✓i14-bs17-prose-rework ✓i14-bs18-derived-prose ✓i14-bs19-lint-probe

✓i14-bs20-compact-renders

evidence

The check was a DISCUSS-BLOCK: the three oversized renders (field c33, c34 and c36) waited behind a design discussion. The discussion ran 2026-07-08. The owner ruled. The bounds landed in the trace. The templates changed FIRST. The spec mirrored. The engine realized them.

The rulings (owner, 2026-07-08)

Candidates leave the design chapter entirely. The design chapter documents only the architecture in use; the record - candidates and decisions - lives with the project chapter's timeline. ()
The design figure becomes a layered onion with Simulink-style drill-down: click a layer to enter it, click a file to see its design elements, breadcrumbs lead back, leaves link to their trace items. The onion models data flow - inputs enter, travel the layers, outputs leave. Layer membership is the ONE judgment input (spec/design-layers.md); everything else derives. Iteration files stay out. ()
The verification chapter opens with the verdict: a derived count plus every unverified requirement by name, before the full matrix. ()
Every reader-facing table gets expandable rows (collapsed to the item's cells, detail one click away), expand-all/collapse-all controls, and need-paging at twenty rows. ()
General laws, recorded in the guidance chapter: no green ocean (reds prominent, greens collapse to counts) and one screen by default (full detail one interaction away). ( carries the bounds.)
Rulings beyond this check's scope (trace chapter placement and transport, sidebar numbers, reuse of the report graph, all nodes visible by default) were captured into and ; their re-walk follows via the suspect ripple.

What was built

Templates first, spec mirrored in the same move (no template↔spec drift): man-ch4 (candidates and decision tables out, onion in, current-state lede), man-ch5 (verdict-first unit + matrix prose), man-ch6 (timeline expands to decisions and candidates; design-decision views land here), man-ch8 (the three laws), design-layers.md (new template + filled spec map).
Engine ():
`fig: onion` - static drill-down, all levels pre-rendered, script only toggles visibility (design `go-onion-figure`). Renders 5 rings / 55 files / 151 elements; an unmapped file gets an outermost `unmapped` ring, so the map cannot rot silently.
`fig: vv-exceptions` - the verdict-first block (design `go-vv-exceptions`). Current dogfood verdict: 256 requirements, all verified - the block collapses to one green sentence.
`fig: candidates-matrix` retired with a pointer to the project chapter; `fig: project-table` reworked: each iteration expands to its decisions and per-axis candidate tables (that axis's criteria only - no sparse union), verdict scan kept deterministic (design `go-project-record`, carrying `go-verdict-order`).
The q-table substrate (design `go-q-table`, extended): detail rows from statement+body ( now fills Head/Body for every view), expand/collapse-all, need-paging (rows stamped by the first need they trace up to; off-page rows hidden AT EMIT, so the no-script default is one bounded page).

Bounds check (rendered book, quack book)

Onion: one screen at every level; 62 pre-rendered views; breadcrumbs on each.
Verification chapter: verdict first (one sentence today); the full matrix pages by need at twenty rows.
Candidates: zero occurrences left in the design chapter; the record reachable per iteration in the project chapter (15 expandable iteration blocks).
Tables: 603 detail rows across the book, 3 tables page (the rest fit a screen), every table carries the controls.
Render exits clean: no findings; advisories are the pre-existing term-link and spelling notes.

requirements (2)

designs (5)

✓i14-bs04-search-hitlist

✓i14-m4-gate

M5 L5 docs and ship3 / 3 done

✓i14-m5-docs-match

evidence

Checked 2026-07-09, after the M4 bless:

Template↔spec parity on every unit this iteration changed:
ch3 context unit: both carry `fig: context-star` + `![[neighbours.base]]`; the fill comments compare byte-equal.
ch1 criteria unit: the folded-into-needs wording identical on both sides; the spec embeds `criteria.base`.
`neighbours.base` ships identically in the template pool and `spec/queries/`.
Template layer agrees with what shipped:
documents the `direction` flanks the star renders.
reframed to the decision-scoring axis; the ex-criterion seed matches.
The onion rulings live in ; the method laws in `engage.md`.
README: renders as the book's home chapter; it carries no feature claims the i14 rework could have staled (one report screenshot with a live-board pointer).
The committed `spec/book.html` still differs from a fresh render — regenerates at ship, by design (req-book-drift).

✓i14-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` ran clean: `out/quack-i0014_doc_review.zip`, 237 entries.
Verified in the archive: `book.html` and `report.html` sit at the ZIP ROOT.
The committed `spec/book.html` refreshed in the same move — the drift finding is gone.

✓i14-m5-gate

i0015_mobile_adapter 50/50

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i15-m1-prior-art

evidence

Positioned against the verified landscape (prior-art notes, 3-0 adversarial votes and primary sources — see the pulled note family):

HumanLayer proved suspend-at-the-tool-boundary and reject-with-comment-as-answer — and its pivot proves the approval primitive is an ENGINE FEATURE, not a product. We copy the mechanism, not the business.
Home Assistant actionable notifications = the battle-tested two-way loop; its failure modes (dangling notifications, unreliable dismissal, duplicate answers) enter our RAID as design law.
Wire format converged industry-wide: `{id,label}` options, approve/edit/reject/respond verbs, 1–3 alternatives as the hard cross-platform ceiling — our pager format is validated law.
ntfy = the NAT-friendly gap-filler no prior art covers (HTTP PUT + `since=` polling, 3 action buttons, symmetric pub-sub); Slack enters by owner ruling 2026-07-09 — its interactivity endpoints are NAT-hostile, so socket-mode vs text-reply-polling is a genuine M3 candidate axis.
Claude Code Remote Control covers the personal lane for Claude-Code-only; the i6 lesson (harness independence) and the owner's ntfy+Slack ruling keep the engine seam harness-agnostic.

✓i15-m1-problem

✓i15-m1-risks

evidence

Four RAID risks minted, each with its mitigation recorded:

(accepted-risk, MUST be written into the M4 channel ADR)

✓i15-m1-success

evidence

carries the new pass line: a gate ask reaches the paired phone and the answer records as the adjudication, end-to-end on a real gate — demonstrated once per channel.

✓i15-m1-vision

evidence

Goal: a stalled gate is answerable from anywhere. Actual: an OPEN gate waits until the adjudicator sits at the desk. Delta: remote answerability of exactly the asks the loop already produces.

The Moore pitch:

For the adjudicator away from the desk,
who must answer a gate or decision ask before the walk can continue,
the quackitect ask loop is an engine feature that sends the pager's question to a paired phone and records the answer as the adjudication.
Unlike approval-as-a-service products and harness-bound remotes,
it lives in the ledger, works over NAT with zero dependencies, and speaks through swappable channels (ntfy and Slack now, corporate later).

Scope (owner rulings 2026-07-04..09): the FULL send+poll+apply loop — notify-only is overruled. ntfy and Slack channels. Corporate (Teams wait-for-response, Outlook-COM) deferred but the seam is designed for it. `quack listen` (phone-initiated queries) stays sliced last or out.

PR-FAQ pressure test (working backwards): *"quackitect 0.2 lets the adjudicator bless a killer gate from the phone. Q: does this weaken adjudication? A: no — the same pager and the same explicit y, recorded actor=user with the channel noted. Forgery risk is a written, accepted ADR. Q: does the walk block on the phone? A: no — the OPEN gate was always the durable stall; the agent keeps walking other ready checks."* The pitch survives the FAQ.

✓i15-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i15-m2-inputs

evidence

The system-in-focus is the ASK LOOP inside the engine. Its context, IN/OUT:

                 ┌──────────────────────────┐
 [adjudicator]──▸│ phone (paired device)    │
                 └───────────▴──────────────┘
                    ask ▴    │ answer
                 ┌──────┴────▾──────────────┐
                 │ relay (ntfy topic /      │   third-party transit —
                 │ Slack workspace)         │   disclaimer at pairing
                 └──────▴────┬──────────────┘
                  send  │    │ poll
                 ┌──────┴────▾──────────────┐
                 │ engine ask loop (seam)   │──▸ ledger (bless, actor=user)
                 └──────────────────────────┘

Figure: the ask travels engine → relay → phone. The answer returns the same way. The ledger records it. The engine only ever polls outward — no inbound endpoint (NAT law).

Use cases: (the loop). The reverse channel (phone-initiated queries, `quack listen`) stays OUT of this iteration by the red-team ruling (demoted).

use cases (1)

✓i15-m2-prior-art

evidence

The standard checklist for human-in-the-loop approval (from the verified prior-art notes) demands:

options as id-label pairs (req-ask-format ✓)
suspend-until-answered with independent pending asks (req-multi-ask ✓)
timeout + notification cleanup (req-ask-timeout ✓)
idempotent correlation-bound answers (req-answer-idempotent ✓)
reject-with-comment flowing back as the answer (req-answer-apply ✓)
authenticity stated honestly (raid-answer-forgery → the M4 ADR ✓)
a channel seam (req-channel-seam ✓)

Misses found against best practice: NONE outstanding; the four-verb vocabulary (approve/edit/reject/respond) maps onto gate asks (approve/reject+comment) and decision asks (option ids) and is recorded here as the wire vocabulary for M3.

✓i15-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i15-m2-req-traced auto

✓i15-m2-stakeholders

evidence

— the adjudicator away from the desk; the ask reaches them, their answer binds.
— the driving agent; keeps walking other ready checks while asks pend.
— pairs devices, owns the relay choice (hosted vs self-hosted), reads the disclaimer.
— extends the seam with the corporate adapters later.
No new role needed: the relay operator duty folds into operator-sysadmin; the adjudicator duty is the project owner's existing role.

✓i15-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i15-m3-alternatives

✓i15-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirement set. Weights fixed BEFORE scoring (anti-bias law). Scale anchors in each criterion's body:

— 0.9 (req-adapter-zero-dep)
— 0.9 (req-slack-channel, the NAT law)
— 0.6 (raid-answer-forgery bounds it)
— 0.6 (owner: wanted soon)
— 0.5
— 0.5

✓i15-m3-feasibility

evidence

ntfy: PROBED LIVE from this NAT'd machine (2026-07-09) — HTTP PUT to a fresh high-entropy topic returned 200 with an `X-Actions` header accepted; `GET /json?poll=1&since=all` returned the published message verbatim. One probe settles the datasheet: send+poll works with zero code beyond net/http. (Synthetic payload, throwaway topic.)
Slack text-poll: `chat.postMessage` and `conversations.history` are Tier-3 Web API methods over plain HTTPS with a bot token — no endpoint, no websocket; feasibility is documentary plus the M5 spike on a real workspace (needs the owner's token; recorded as the spike's first step).
Slack socket-mode: `apps.connections.open` returns a wss URL; the client must speak RFC6455 (masking, ping/pong, envelope acks). Feasible zero-dep but the ~400-line estimate and the reconnect lifecycle are the cost; no live probe without a workspace app.
Seam shapes: both are plain Go; the exec lane reuses the roles pattern (file-based contract, already proven by the method's role seam).

✓i15-m3-gate

M4 architecture4 / 4 done

✓i15-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Four decisions in `spec/decisions/`, each addressing its requirement through the lanes. The chosen/rejected edges are wired to the candidates. `coverage:adr-traced` computes.

✓i15-m4-chosen

evidence

The ask loop lives in the engine, behind ONE seam. The chosen shape:

Seam: a Go adapter interface (`send ask`, `poll answers`) with ONE exec adapter kind driving an external process over a file contract — .
ntfy channel: X-Actions buttons publishing the option to the answer topic; since-polling reads it back — .
Slack channel: `chat.postMessage` sends the ask; `conversations.history` polling reads a typed option id (or `n <comment>`) — .
Trust model: one-time pairing mints high-entropy credentials (topic trio / bot token + channel); answer authenticity = possession, accepted-risk WRITTEN — .

decisions (4)

✓i15-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Pugh, weights fixed at M3 (0.9 zero-dep, 0.9 NAT, 0.6 auth, 0.6 corporate, 0.5 one-tap, 0.5 effort):

slack-transport (datum = socket-mode, the strongest rival): text-poll 3.29 vs socket 2.58. Wins zero-dep, effort, corporate; loses one-tap and some auth. Sensitivity REVERSED: socket wins only when one-tap outweighs zero-dep roughly two-to-one — credible exactly if typed answers fail the adjudicator in practice. Tripwire recorded (in the ADR): a failed typed-answer UX at M5 or in the field re-enters socket-mode as datum.
ntfy-shape: actions 3.24 vs plain-reply 2.94 — dominates on one-tap, ties or wins elsewhere; no credible reversal (plain-reply survives only as the documented degraded path).
seam-shape (per-axis criteria): exec-lane 1.85 vs internal-only 1.53 — corporate-seam carries it. Reversal needs the corporate seam near-worthless against the standing "wanted soon" ruling: considered, judged not credible, recorded here.

✓i15-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i15-m5-assumptions

✓i15-m5-buildable

evidence

The spike walked the exact seam the build uses: send(ask) = one HTTP PUT with headers. poll() = one HTTP GET with `since=`. Both are plain net/http. The exec lane mirrors the proven role-seam file contract. No protocol invention anywhere in the chosen shape.

✓i15-m5-spike-recorded ✓i15-m5-gate

M6 implementation16 / 16 done

✓i15-m6-build-planned ✓i15-m6-designs-realized auto

✓i15-m6-impl-risks

evidence

Reviewed against the RAID log:

lockscreen (pairing text ships the instruction ✓)
forgery (accepted-risk ADR stands; high-entropy topics minted ✓)
dangling notifications (expiry engine-driven, idempotent answers ✓)
retention (disclaimer printed at pairing ✓)

New risk accepted and recorded here: the fallback drain applies user taps without a session key — deliberate, per the trust model (possession of the paired credential IS the authorization).

Interruption test: losing any single step loses at most one concern; every step leaves the battery green or observably red at its seam.

✓i15-m6-internal-quality

evidence

The battery is green in one process; coverage, EARS, and wiring lint clean.
The QR encoder is the one honestly-uncertain artifact: structurally valid and self-checked, but scannability is proven only by a real phone at M7 — flagged, not hidden.
The drain hook runs on every dispatch behind a cheap pairing-config stat; unpaired workspaces pay one file probe.
DRY held under pressure: the deferral exclusion was extracted to ONE helper after briefly existing in three copies.

✓i15-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i15-m6-tests-red auto ✓i15-m6-verification auto

✓i15-m6-build

evidence

b1: fourteen executed selftests authored (twelve planned + two mid-build requirements), every one observed RED before its code. Hermetic throughout: httptest fakes, injected clocks, config seams.
b2..b6: the ask core, the seam with its exec lane, the loop (dispatch → poll → correlate → first-wins apply → expire), `quack pair`, and the ntfy adapter — all in `ask.go`/`ask_ops.go`/`qr.go`, each region design-marked. The battery greens all fourteen.
b8: `quack ask <gate>` sends; `quack await` blocks on the held-open ntfy stream and APPLIES the tap (a phone bless resumes the walk); EVERY run drains as the fallback; the pager renders the 📱 MOBILE line when paired; the agent guide and engage.md carry the ops. `ask`/`await` ride the attest gate; the drain executes the USER's tap and is deliberately ungated (adr-answer-authenticity).
Mid-build owner requirements, captured with the full ritual (req + test + red + green):
: mobile is the DEFAULT when paired — the console bless supersedes the pending mobile asks (cmdBless hook), the later tap is idempotently ignored.
: `quack pair` renders the subscribe link as a HAND-ROLLED QR (byte mode, ECC-L, single-block v1–5, computed BCH format bits — zero-dep, and the credential never leaves the machine). Structural validity is tested; the real scan is the M7 demo.
A live engine bug found and fixed under the bugfix law: a DEFERRED requirement (req-slack-channel) holed `designs-realized` forever — the defer mechanism did not carry into the coverage rules. Class-guard `test-defer-excludes-coverage` observed red; the fix (one `deferredReqs` helper feeding the rule, the delta lister, and the hole lister) greens it; coverage computes clean.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i15-b1-tests ✓i15-b2-ask-core ✓i15-b3-seam ✓i15-b4-loop ✓i15-b5-pairing ✓i15-b6-ntfy ✓i15-b8-integrate

✓i15-m6-gate

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i15-m7-acceptance

evidence

The adjudicator's sign-off evidence:

the mobile bless event itself (actor=user, channel=ntfy, in the ledger)
the owner-driven review rounds through M1–M6 in this record

The M7 gate bless below completes it.

✓i15-m7-gaps

evidence

The QR gap CLOSED live (the scan worked; the structural test was honest about not proving this).
Remaining, recorded as RAID-adjacent notes for the field: relay retention rides the disclaimer (accepted); the Slack lane is deferred with its tripwire armed (adr-dmvbh5y, adr-slack-text-poll); `await`'s reconnect path has a test plus one live run — long-haul behavior (hours-long awaits, flaky networks) is field territory, the fallback drain bounds the damage.

decisions (2)

✓i15-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

Not a staged demo — the REAL thing, 2026-07-09: the i15-m6-gate hand-off ran on both lanes. The owner scanned the pairing QR (the hand-rolled encoder proven on real glass) and subscribed. The owner saw the high-priority GATE ask with its buttons and tapped bless. The background `quack await` picked the tap off the held-open stream and recorded: `mobile bless recorded: i15-m6-gate (actor user, via ntfy)`. The build's own implementation gate was adjudicated through the build. uc-mobile-adjudicate: exercised for real.

use cases (1)

✓i15-m7-meets-need ✓i15-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i15-m8-config

evidence

Pairing state: `<userDataBase>/quackitect/pairing.json` (machine-local; the topic pair is the credential — never in the repo).
Pending asks: `<workspace data home>/asks/asks.json` (runtime state, never truth; resolved gate answers live in the ledger as ordinary bless events with the channel noted).
The channel base defaults to `https://ntfy.sh`; self-hosting swaps the base in the pairing config.

✓i15-m8-docs

✓i15-m8-handover

evidence

The adjudicator has driven the surface end-to-end personally:

paired via QR
answered two gate asks and one decision ask from the phone
exercised both delivery lanes (await stream and drain-on-run)
hit and confirmed the delete-before-tap edge

The M8 gate bless completes the handover.

✓i15-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` runs immediately after the M8 gate bless (the standing rule): the zip carries the fresh book and report at its root; the committed book refreshes in the same move.

✓i15-m8-gate

i0016_structural_models 56/56

M1 frame6 / 6 done

✓i16-m1-problem

evidence

i14 onion (2026-07-08/09): six render passes because the structure was recovered from code afterward; owner ruling: "the rendering is right, the structure is not" ().
Method gap (owner, 2026-07-08): structural decomposition should be an explicit architecting step, not reverse-engineered (NOTE-20260708-193126, archived).
Decomposition smell (owner, 2026-07-08): the derived onion exposed a no-flow layer - a bad decomposition the process never caught (NOTE-20260708-195212, archived).
Modeling discussion (owner, 2026-07-09): models chosen AFTER architecture, BEFORE implementation; the implementation follows them; draft==truth is binding.
The delta is real: today NOTHING between the M4 decision and the M6 build states the intended structure; the only structure artifact (design-layers.md) was authored ad hoc AFTER the code existed.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-risks

evidence

Risk - model rot (raid-model-rot): a conformance gap lets divergence pass silently. Mitigation: the SUSPECT flip is a baked requirement with its own test.
Risk - extractor fragility (raid-extractor-fragility): the excalidraw format evolves under us. Mitigation: constrained drawing contract + format admission tests.
Risk - modeling overhead (raid-modeling-overhead): BDUF ceremony on small iterations. Mitigation: two-model default budget, per-kind opt-in at views-chosen.
Risk - false DONE (raid-false-done): the semantic hash misses a real change. Mitigation: hash the FULL extracted graph; class-guard tests per extractor.

✓i16-m1-sota

evidence

Reflexion Models (Murphy/Notkin, 1995): declared model vs extracted model, diffed into convergences/divergences/absences. Exactly our mechanism - the approach is validated research, thirty years old.
ArchUnit / go-arch-lint / dependency-cruiser: architecture rules as executable tests. Closest living relatives of the conformance checker. They enforce but do not depict: no visual model, no drawing input, no ledger integration, no reader-facing rendering.
Architecture-as-code (Structurizr DSL, C4): one text model, many views. Strong on DRY views, but a dedicated model language (not draft==truth in a friendly editor) and no code-conformance loop by default.
SysML/CASE tools (Cameo, Papyrus): full modeling power; fails our admission tests - heavy editors, XMI is un-diffable and agent-opaque.
View catalogs (4+1, C4, arc42, SysML pillars): the source for the kind catalog; all reduce to structure / behavior / flow / allocation / context.
Positioning: no prior art combines draft==truth files in a friendly editor, zero-dep extraction, semantic-graph hashing into a gate ledger, decomposition smells, and book rendering. The combination is the contribution; every ingredient separately is proven.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-success

evidence

1. The model-kind catalog exists with at least five kinds, each naming its question, admission tests, and heuristic (selftest:model-kinds). 2. A views-chosen decision covers every declared model; a model with no covering decision fails lint (selftest:views-chosen). 3. The extractor reads the owner's REAL i14 onion draft and reproduces its semantic graph (M5 killer spike). 4. A cosmetic model edit leaves dependent verdicts standing; a semantic edit flips SUSPECT (selftest:semantic-hash, selftest:divergence-suspect). 5. The engine's own structure is declared as models and conformance passes - the no-flow smell is resolved or recorded (dogfood). 6. The book's design output chapter renders every declared model (selftest:models-in-book).

decisions (1)

✓i16-m1-vision

evidence

Vision (Moore). For the owner of a spec-driven project / who needs the implementation to follow a deliberately chosen structure instead of the agent's defaults / structural models in quackitect are a declared, conformance-checked spec layer / that turns architectural intent into a fence the agent builds inside, with drift surfacing as SUSPECT on the board / unlike rule-test libraries (ArchUnit family: no visual model, no ledger) and CASE/SysML tools (heavy editors, drawings that rot).

PR-FAQ pressure test. Headline: "The spec now refuses drift from the declared architecture." Hardest FAQ: "Is this not BDUF?" Answer: models are chosen per iteration at views-chosen (default two). Each names the question it answers. Every one is mechanically checked - a model that cannot gate is refused admission. The ratchet is rough-to-detailed, not big-design-up-front.

Scope IN:

model-kind catalog with admission tests and selection heuristics
views-chosen decision step after the architecture milestone
model nodes in the spec, draft==truth (the authored file IS the checked file)
extractors per admitted format, semantic-graph hashing, ambiguity lint
conformance check (convergence, divergence, absence) + decomposition smells
skeleton stubs per kind
models rendered in the book's design output chapter
dogfood: the engine's own structure declared and checked

Scope OUT:

report tabs for models (owner: probable, decision deferred to the walk)
allocation/deployment kind (parked for the mechatronics wave)
vendoring any external renderer (PlantUML jar, render servers)
the full methodology map (backlog)

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-gate

evidence

Verify. Each subtask has its section above with dated referents:

the vision carries Moore + PR-FAQ
the problem carries four dated owner rulings
the sota scan ran live searches (reflexion models, ArchUnit family, view catalogs, format research)
success criteria map 1:1 to baked selftests
four RAID nodes are minted in the iteration

Validate. The frame matches the owner's commission verbatim:

models after architecture and before implementation
implementation follows them
book rendering in
report tabs explicitly deferred

Nothing out of the commission's scope was added beyond the dogfood case, which the onion-structure note demands.

Red-team. The opposing case was argued in the owner discussion 2026-07-09. Its points:

BDUF
dual maintenance
wrong-model risk
rot

Each point is either adopted as a rule or carried as a RAID node. The adopted rules:

only checkable kinds admitted
per-iteration choice
models gate or are refused

Kill-criterion for the iteration: if the M5 spike cannot extract the real i14 draft with a zero-dep parser, the visual draft==truth path dies and the format decision reopens.

Verdict: PASS - problem real. Scope bounded. Success measurable. Hand-off to the adjudicator for the killer + gate bless.

decisions (1)

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i16-m2-inputs

evidence

- declare after the architecture decision, in the same files the owner edits.
- the engine checks code against the declared models on every run.
- a reader studies the models in the design output chapter.

use cases (3)

✓i16-m2-prior-art

evidence

The requirement set positioned against three source families:

SyA program (Siemens, deep-read digest at Desktop/ai/sya_kb):
the architecting spine separates FUNCTION tree, ELEMENT tree, and ALLOCATION (DMM) - the catalog must carry them as distinct kinds, not one generic "tree" (feeds M3/M4 catalog content).
views are chosen per stakeholder concern via the Stakeholder/View matrix (Bass) under ISO 42010 - req-views-chosen is the engine-shaped version; the matrix method goes into the views-chosen guide.
"select a minimal appropriate set" and "views are for communication, not backup" - grounds the two-model default budget.
the SysML lesson ("SysML puts all burden on the user"): reduce possibilities to gain checkability. The lesson is adopted; SyA's MECHANISM (invent a UML-profile DSL) is rejected by the owner and by the admission tests themselves - a bespoke language flunks "good editor" and has no ecosystem or agent fluency. We constrain MAINSTREAM formats with a usage lint instead (ruled with the owner 2026-07-09).
Book corpus (college/buecher/digest):
Janschek Sec 2.2.3: the Structured Analysis set ships LINT RULES - flows without source or sink are inconsistencies; child models balance their parent; state transitions come from declared control flows; "no device falls from the sky" (every element justified by an allocated function). MISS FOUND: our set checked model-to-code but not model-to-model consistency. ADDED: req-model-consistency + test-model-consistency.
Eigner Sect 4.3/4.5: six-view system model; "diagrams are views; the model is the linked element graph - delete a shape, the element survives" - direct validation of req-semantic-hash (hash the extracted graph, never the drawing bytes). Stachowiak's model criteria (mapping, reduction, pragmatism) ground the catalog's admission tests.
Pahl/Beitz: function structures flow material/energy/signal - the same flow trinity as SyA's discipline matrix; the no-flow smell vocabulary is standard, not invented here.
Web research (2026-07-09 session): Reflexion Models (Murphy/Notkin) name the declared-vs-derived mechanism; ArchUnit family is the closest tool prior art (enforces, does not depict); excalidraw/JSON-Canvas format facts probed.
Non-goals RECORDED: parameters view (Eigner's sixth concern) stays out - quackitect has no numeric budget layer yet (a future iteration; the Janschek budget chain note in the backlog covers it). Allocation/deployment kind parked for the mechatronics wave (M1 scope).

decisions (1)

requirements (3)

tests (1)

✓i16-m2-req-tests auto ✓i16-m2-req-traced auto

✓i16-m2-stakeholders

evidence

project-owner -> declares the models at views-chosen; adjudicates the conformance gates.
agent -> implements INSIDE the declared blocks; the models bound its freedom (the owner's core intent).
assessor -> reads conformance verdicts and smells on the board instead of re-deriving structure.
newcomer -> learns the system's shape from the book's rendered models.
communicator -> the book chapter is the outward artifact; models are figures with one-line captions (voice law).
user -> N/A recorded: the engine's end user meets models only through the book (covered by newcomer/communicator rows).
acquirer -> N/A recorded: no acquisition concern in a dogfood iteration.

decisions (1)

✓i16-m2-gate

evidence

Verify. Every requirement is EARS-shaped (lint: clean). Each refines one of the three use cases and carries a minted test with a selftest name. The inputs table lists probes with status. Two assumptions are probed. One probe is explicitly owed at M5. The stakeholder table covers every always-on class with a serving row or a recorded N/A.

Validate. The set covers the owner's commission:

declare-before-build (req-views-chosen, req-models-gate-build)
draft==truth (req-draft-is-truth, req-semantic-hash)
follow-the-models (req-conformance, req-divergence-suspect)
book rendering (req-models-in-book)

The corpus check ADDED one requirement rather than merely confirming - evidence the check had teeth.

Red-team. Sharpest opposing case: thirteen requirements for a modeling layer is heavy - could this be five? Answer: each maps to a corpus-named rule or to a distinct failure mode already OBSERVED. None is speculative. The observed failure modes:

onion structure fight
no-flow layer
format churn
stale drawings

Kill-criterion held from M1: the M5 spike on the real i14 draft. Watch-item: req-model-consistency is the only requirement without an observed failure behind it - if M6 shows it gold-plated, defer it with a recorded reason rather than build it thin.

Round 4 - owner-directed deep re-check (2026-07-09, "make sure we didn't miss anything"). Full gap sweep against every source read this iteration:

MISS FOUND AND ADDED: the same-day design discussion (tray top-up, groom) produced feature surface with no covering requirement. Added req-model-tray and req-model-groom as EARS Where-shaped conditionals - they bind only if M4 admits a canvas format, so they do not presuppose the winner. Tests minted (test-model-groom pins the two provable invariants: semantic graph preserved, idempotent).
Leveled models (Janschek parent/child balancing): reference semantics covered by req-model-consistency; leveling rules are per-kind catalog content. No requirement owed. RECORDED.
Interfaces: edges ARE the interfaces; label discipline covered by req-model-lint + the catalog's dictionary rules. RECORDED.
Governance (SyA): conformance + SUSPECT is the governance mechanism. Covered.
Parameters/budgets (Eigner sixth view, Janschek ch12): non-goal, recorded above.
Model retirement/supersede: existing decision mechanics (mint supersede/veto) apply to model nodes unchanged. Covered.
Extraction performance: bound by the global responsiveness guide + verdict cache; watch at M6, no per-feature requirement.
Report tabs: owner-deferred at commission; unchanged.

Verdict: PASS (15 requirements after round 4) - the owner blessed the gate by explicit console instruction ("bless M2" on 2026-07-09). Recorded --by user.

decisions (1)

requirements (11)

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i16-m3-alternatives

evidence

Morphological axes (SyA: function x option matrix):

Axis 1 - canvas format (spatial kinds)

Context: which surface carries decomposition and layers+flow, where arrangement means something.

Excalidraw. Pro: the owner's preferred sketch surface; bindings and frames give the graph; probed live in i14. Con: volatile fields (seeds, nonces) noise the diff; extractor must interpret bindings.
JSON Canvas. Pro: trivial open spec (nodes+edges), clean diffs, Obsidian-native editor. Con: stiffer sketching; rings built from groups; less expressive.
None (all-text). Pro: no canvas extractor at all. Con: spatial meaning falls to derived views only.

Axis 2 - text language (topological kinds)

Context: which language carries state machines and sequences, where topology is the meaning.

Mermaid. Pro: renders native in Obsidian and GitHub; vendorable into the book (cytoscape precedent); best agent fluency; line-grammar subsets hand-parseable. Con: expressiveness ceiling on exotic diagrams.
PlantUML. Pro: richer sequence and component forms. Con: render needs a JVM or an external server - fails the book demand as PRIMARY; stays a recorded per-kind option (owner ruling 2026-07-09) where expressiveness demands and external render is accepted.
D2. Pro: modern, pleasant grammar. Con: render needs the d2 binary - same demand failure; recorded, not carried.
SysML v2 textual. Pro: the standard; text-primary validates our direction. Con: KerML-grade grammar; no sketch editor; external render. Knocked out (see cand-sysml-v2).
Bespoke DSL. Knocked out by the ownership law (see cand-bespoke-dsl).

Axis 3 - split policy

Context: one format for everything, or per-kind best fit.

All-canvas / all-text. Pro: one extractor, one skill. Con: each is weak on half the kinds.
Per-kind hybrid. Pro: each kind in its best format (owner pre-approved per-kind choice). Con: two extractors, two contracts.
Preferred: per-kind hybrid. The kinds genuinely differ: state machines are typed faster than drawn; rings are drawn, not typed.

The six named candidates (scores after the M3 review revision)

- small text languages everything, spatial reading from derived renders. 0.835 - LEADER.
- Excalidraw spatial + Mermaid topological. 0.783 - strongest rival, the M4 datum.
- JSON Canvas spatial + Mermaid topological. 0.77.
- Excalidraw everything. 0.645.
- 0.38, KNOCKOUT (good-editor and render demands).
- 0.54, KNOCKOUT (ownership law).

Review revision (owner challenge, 2026-07-09, pre-bless)

The owner challenged the decomposition-to-canvas assignment: "trees are also very easy in text." The challenge holds and generalizes:

Trees are pure hierarchy - text is their native form; tree layout is computed trivially.
Layers+flow derives from a list - PROVEN in i14 (the approved cytoscape onion renders from design-layers.md; what was wrong was the declared content, not the medium).
The spatial criterion conflated READING spatially (satisfied by derived renders from text truth) with AUTHORING spatially (arrangement as meaning no algorithm computes - physical placement). No current kind authors arrangement.

Consequence: crit-spatial-meaning re-anchored, text-all re-rated on the owner's testimony, the leader flipped from the Excalidraw hybrid (0.795 -> 0.783) to text-first (0.755 -> 0.835). The hybrid's substance survives as the ADMISSION CLAUSE: views-chosen may admit a canvas format for an arrangement-authored kind (mechatronics wave); req-model-tray and req-model-groom stay dormant Where-conditionals until then. The M5 spike RETARGETS: derive the onion and tree renders from text models and prove semantic-hash stability; the Excalidraw extractor moves behind the admission clause.

Format resolution rounds (owner-driven, 2026-07-09, pre-bless)

Three design rounds settled the layers+flow truth syntax inside the leading candidate: 1. Membership ownership. Element-owned code tags (option B) were proposed and KILLED by the plan-ahead requirement: with membership in code, nothing exists to review before code. Resolution: the MODEL allocates elements to layers ahead of code; the existing design-marker id is the join key (no new marker syntax); allocated-but-unrealized = honest planned hole (the req-has-design analogy); realized-but-unallocated = the sky-fall lint ("no device falls from the sky", Janschek). 2. Element-major syntax (the owner's TikZ discipline). Declare every element first, one line each - id, layer attribute, one-line responsibility - then the layer ORDER section (order only), then flows between declared names. No long layer-major lines. Coordinates explicitly refused: layout stays derived. One element = one line = one diff hunk. 3. Flows. Plain arrow lines with payload labels between declared names - the complete inter-layer interface list; an undeclared name in a flow is a dangling reference (req-model-consistency); an inter-layer code dependency with no covering flow is a divergence.

requirements (4)

✓i16-m3-criteria

evidence

Weights sum to 1.00; each derives from a requirement or a dated owner ruling:

(req-draft-is-truth): 0.20
(owner ruling: never the language's owner): 0.15
(req-model-nodes, zero-dep law): 0.15
(owner scenario: new function enters the drawing): 0.15
(req-models-in-book): 0.15
(req-semantic-hash): 0.10
(the onion lesson): 0.10

Selection precedes evaluation (Pahl/Beitz): the DEMANDS - good editor, zero-dep render path, no language ownership - knock out before scoring. E and F fail demands; scored only for the record.

requirements (5)

✓i16-m3-feasibility

evidence

cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid: FEASIBLE - Excalidraw graph read PROBED live (i14 draft, 2026-07-09); Mermaid state/sequence subsets are line grammars in the EARS-lint class; groom and tray are pure JSON transforms (QR-encoder precedent for hand-rolled machinery). UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: the extractor against the real i14 file, including semantic-hash stability under a cosmetic edit.
cand-hybrid-canvas-mermaid: FEASIBLE - .canvas parse is trivial; render = simple SVG. UNPROVEN residue -> whether groups express rings acceptably to the owner.
cand-text-all: FEASIBLE - all machinery exists (mermaid.js vendorable like cytoscape). The spatial gap is a product judgment, not a technical risk.
cand-canvas-all: FEASIBLE but the behavioral-kind extraction (hand-drawn sequences) is the fragile end - rough-checked and priced into its rating.
cand-sysml-v2: NOT FEASIBLE in scope (KerML-grade parser).
cand-bespoke-dsl: feasible and forbidden.

✓i16-m3-gate

evidence

Verify. The evidence:

six candidates minted with full rating maps
seven criteria minted with metric, weight, and scale anchors
weights sum to 1.00
every criterion traces to a requirement or a dated ruling
feasibility carries referents (the i14 probe) or names its spike question

Validate. The candidate space covers the owner's explicit instructions:

text-first small languages seriously weighed (not decoration)
SysML named and rejected on grounds
bespoke DSL killed by the recorded ownership law
per-kind split honored

Today's design discussions all surface as criteria or candidate features:

tray
groom
delta scenario
one-owning-view

Red-team. The original matrix disclosed its sharpest weakness itself: the co-moving canvas criteria carried 0.30 on an assumed sketching preference. The adjudicator answered the disclosed question pre-bless ("trees are also very easy in text") and the leader flipped - the review round above records the revision. Remaining attack surface: text-all's editor score (0.6) still assumes the owner accepts typing layer lists and Mermaid; the M5 spike's derived-render targets give the evidence either way. Kill-criterion (revised): if the derived renders from text models cannot reproduce the reading value of the i14 onion, the canvas hybrids reopen (both preserved with full ratings).

Verdict: PASS - candidates ready for the M4 Pugh run (datum: cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid, the strongest rival after revision). Adjudication: the owner drove the M3 review live. The live review rounds:

matrix challenge
leader flip
format rounds

The owner closed it with the explicit instruction "make sure this is represented in the m3 matrix, then go to m4". The killer and gate are blessed actor=agent under the contract rule-3 exception (explicit gate-naming instruction). This line is the record.

M4 architecture decision4 / 4 done

✓i16-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

addresses req-views-chosen.
addresses req-draft-is-truth.
addresses req-model-nodes.
addresses req-semantic-hash.

The derived check computes live.

decisions (4)

requirements (4)

✓i16-m4-chosen

evidence

One decision card per axis:

Split policy - Decision: text-first for ALL current kinds (). Because: crit-delta-ergonomics, crit-agent-fluency, crit-render-book, and the re-anchored crit-spatial-meaning (derived renders satisfy spatial READING; no current kind AUTHORS arrangement). Rejected: the per-kind canvas hybrids - they buy authored-arrangement power no current kind needs at the price of a second extractor (YAGNI with a recorded resurrection path: the admission clause).
Text language (behavioral kinds) - Decision: Mermaid subsets for state machines and sequences. Because: crit-render-book (vendorable, the cytoscape precedent) and crit-agent-fluency (1.0). Rejected: PlantUML and D2 as PRIMARY (render dependency - JVM / external binary; both stay recorded per-kind options where expressiveness demands); SysML v2 (knockout: good-editor and render demands); bespoke DSL (knockout: the ownership law).
Structural-kind format - Decision: element-major discipline carried in a lint-pinned Mermaid subset () - flowchart TD with subgraph=layer (declaration order = rank, innermost first), node declarations before edges (TikZ discipline), node label = responsibility, edge labels mandatory; coordinates refused, layout derives. Because: crit-editor-truth (the owner's own TikZ habit AND the truth file previews natively as a diagram), crit-diff-versioning (one element = one line = one hunk), the ownership law (a bespoke markdown grammar - however small - would be an owned format; the pinned subset is constrained mainstream, one grammar family across all four authored kinds), and the plan-ahead demand (elements allocated BEFORE code; the design-marker id is the join; sky-fall and absence lints close the loop). Rejected: layer-major long lines (owner), element-owned code tags (killed by plan-ahead), owned markdown lists (killed by the ownership law at the owner's Mermaid round, 2026-07-09).
Edit-path discipline - Decision: unique-or-mediated () - the extracted graph is derived and read-only; one owning view per element; siblings reference by name. Because: the view-update problem (lens ambiguity) makes unmediated multi-view editing drift by construction, and the zero-dep/no-daemon constraints leave no seat for a mediator.
Method step - Decision: views-chosen after the architecture decision () - kinds named with their questions, rejected kinds recorded, two models default. Because: req-views-chosen and the SyA Stakeholder/View discipline (minimal appropriate set).

Pugh run 1. Datum = the STRONGEST viable rival: cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid (0.783).

Criterion (weight)	Hybrid (datum)	Text-first
editor-truth (0.20)	S	- (0.7 vs 0.8: canvas sketching still edges out typing)
agent-fluency (0.15)	S	+ (1.0 vs 0.9)
extractor-cost (0.15)	S	+ (one format family vs two)
delta-ergonomics (0.15)	S	+ (text edit vs tray+placement)
render-book (0.15)	S	+ (vendored mermaid + trivial SVG vs hand-rolled sketch renderer)
diff-versioning (0.10)	S	+ (clean text vs volatile JSON)
spatial-meaning (0.10)	S	- (derived renders vs authored arrangement)

Net: +5 / -2 for text-first - the two minuses are exactly the canvas's raison d'etre, and no current kind exercises either.

Pugh run 2 (controlled convergence). Datum = the winner (text-first): every rival scores net-negative against it; no criterion pattern suggests a composite better than winner + admission clause. Converged.

Status-quo run (worth-doing-at-all). Datum = today (ad-hoc design-layers.md, structure recovered from code). The i14 record is the evidence:

six render passes
a structure fight
a no-flow layer nobody caught
the owner's ruling that recovery-from-code is the wrong direction

Worth doing is established by observed failure, not projection.

Sensitivity check: weights perturbed one at a time (+/-0.05 with renormalization): the winner holds in every single-weight world. The closest gap is editor-truth-heavy worlds (gap narrows to ~0.03). Reverse argumentation: the FIRST plausible flip - crit-editor-truth for text-first drops 0.7 -> 0.4 (authoring element-major files and Mermaid in anger proves uncomfortable for the owner) -> 0.775 vs the hybrid's 0.783: the hybrid WINS. Credible? YES - the owner has never authored these files in production use. The rating rests on testimony about trees, not on lived layer-model editing. TRIPWIRE ARMED: the M7 dogfood (authoring the engine's own models) is the live test. If the owner rules the authoring experience bad, the canvas slot reopens with cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid as the recorded fallback and the dormant tray/groom requirements activate. Second probe (an arrangement-authored kind arrives early): handled WITHOUT reopening - the admission clause is built for exactly that. Third probe (render weight rises): text-first only gains. No other plausible flip found within reason.

decisions (5)

requirements (2)

✓i16-m4-traced

evidence

Every decision card names its criteria above; every loser carries its killing reason; the weighted totals (0.835 / 0.783 / 0.77 / 0.645 / knockouts 0.54, 0.38) trace to the minted crit-/cand- nodes with their scale anchors. The two owner-driven review rounds (matrix challenge, format rounds) are recorded in M3-candidates.md.

✓i16-m4-gate

evidence

Verify. The evidence:

four ADRs minted and traced
the Pugh table scores against the honestly-strongest datum
both convergence runs recorded
the status-quo run grounds worth-doing in the i14 record
every criterion carries its metric, weight, and anchors in its node

Validate. The decision satisfies the commission end to end:

models after architecture and before implementation (views-chosen + plan-ahead allocation + sky-fall lint)
draft==truth with no transcription
implementation follows the models (an unallocated region is a lint finding - the agent cannot silently invent structure)
book rendering in scope
report tabs still deferred as the owner ruled

The owner's live rulings this session are each embodied in a decision card or a method rule:

no bespoke DSL
trees-in-text
TikZ element-major
both-lanes hand-offs

Red-team (scrutiny at the owner's explicit request). The strongest case for the beaten hybrid: authored arrangement is the mechatronics moat's native mode, and the owner sketches to think - killing canvas now could make the models feel like bookkeeping. Answer: canvas is not killed. It is DORMANT with requirements already baked (tray, groom) and a named fallback candidate. The tripwire hands the decision back to lived experience at M7 rather than taste today. Strongest case against text-first on its own terms: mermaid.js vendoring grows the single-file book (~1MB class) - accepted under the cytoscape precedent, WATCH at M6 (a lite hand-rolled renderer for state/sequence stays possible). And Mermaid's grammar evolves outside our control - a risk that GREW at the owner's Mermaid round (all four authored kinds now ride one grammar family). That risk is fenced twice: the lint refuses beyond-subset syntax (the drawing-contract move), and the extractor is ours - the files parse and the derived renders run even if upstream Mermaid changes or dies. Kill-criterion for the whole decision: the retargeted M5 spike - if derived renders from text models cannot reproduce the i14 onion's reading value, the decision reopens at the canvas slot.

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the M4 gate.

decisions (1)

M5 prototype evidence4 / 4 done

✓i16-m5-assumptions

evidence

Spike home: `<data-home>/spikes/i16-m5/` (throwaway, outside the repo). Four artifacts, four proofs (agent-run, 2026-07-09):

Probe 1 - the subset parses zero-dep: PASS. `extract.go` (~100 lines, three regexes: subgraph, node declaration, labeled edge) read `model-engine-layers.mmd` - a REAL draft of the engine's structure (4 layers, 14 elements, 10 payload-labeled flows): `elements=14 layers=4 flows=10, semantic-hash=ddf001a8fcbdfb6f`. Fallback if FAIL was the JSON Canvas hybrid - not needed.
Probe 2 - cosmetic edits ripple nothing: PASS. `variant-cosmetic.mmd` (comment added, two element lines reordered inside a layer) hashed identically: `ddf001a8fcbdfb6f`. The canonical form keeps layer ORDER (semantic) and sorts members and flows (order cosmetic) - Eigner's split, mechanically real.
Probe 3 - semantic edits ripple, ambiguity lints: PASS. `variant-semantic.mmd` (one added flow) moved the hash: `9743456631b7cffc`. `variant-lint.mmd` (edge to an undeclared element, empty payload) produced both findings: `flow references undeclared "go-ghost" (TikZ discipline: declare before use)` and `flow without a payload label`, exit 2.
Probe 4 - the derived render carries the reading value: PASS (owner rules at this gate). `render.go` produced `onion.svg` from the same text truth: four labeled concentric rings, elements dotted on their rings, flows drawn with their payload names - the arrows have NAMES now, which the i14 onion's arrows never did. First cut per the visuals law.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i16-m5-buildable

evidence

The production extractor is the spike's shape hardened: same line grammar, plus BOM stripping and file-level errors. Small.
The renderer path for M6 is the EXISTING i14 cytoscape onion re-pointed at model nodes - the spike SVG proves the graph suffices; the approved renderer already exists.
The sky-fall and absence checks are id-set comparisons against design markers the engine already scans. No new machinery class.

✓i16-m5-results

evidence

FINDING (M6 class-guard): a UTF-8 BOM at file start reads as beyond-subset syntax - the extractor must strip it (observed live: PowerShell-written variants; files from other tools will carry it too).
FINDING (M6 design point): beyond-subset syntax should be a LINT FINDING that still parses the rest (the spike continues past it) - a whole-file refusal would let one stray line hide the model.
ADVANCED: the canonical-form rule is now concrete - rank order preserved, member and flow order sorted - and goes verbatim into the extractor's design region.
The spike model itself is a DRAFT: the real engine structure (the dogfood, incl. the no-flow judgment on today's infra grouping) is authored at M6 with the owner.

decisions (1)

✓i16-m5-gate

evidence

Verify. Every claim above has a runnable referent in the spike folder. The two hashes and the lint transcript are recorded verbatim. The SVG exists and derives from the same file the extractor hashed.

Validate. The spike answers exactly the M4 kill-criterion: derived renders from text models reproduce the onion's reading value, and the semantic hash behaves. The canvas-slot reopening clause stays dormant.

Red-team. Sharpest residue: the spike onion's LAYOUT is crude (angle-spread dots, crossing lines) - but layout quality was never the criterion. The approved i14 renderer owns layout, and the spike proves the DATA suffices. Second: the spike model's structure is my draft, not the owner's ruling - deliberately so. Authoring the real structure is M6 dogfood WITH the owner. The M4 tripwire (authoring comfort in anger) stays armed and untested until then - correctly so, M7 is its test.

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the combined killer + gate.

decisions (1)

M6 implementation22 / 22 done

✓i16-m6-designs auto

✓i16-m6-plan

evidence

Ordering discipline: ORDER IS NOT DEPENDENCY - every depends_on names a real producer-consumer link; parallel steps hang flat. The steps (children of i16-m6-build):

Stage 1 - the red floor:
- the seventeen-test battery authored, registered, observed RED.
Stage 2 - the core producer:
- pinned flowchart-subset extractor + canonical semantic hash (BOM stripped; beyond-subset lints and continues - both M5 findings).
Stage 3 - consumers of the extractor (parallel):
- model nodes in the spec; graph hash folds into the ledger.
- stateDiagram + sequenceDiagram subsets.
- the kind REGISTRY (owner ruling 2026-07-09): one engine-scanned method file per kind under method/models/, the file IS the registration (the rigor/project_types/roles pattern); its embedded example doubles as the mint stub; views-chosen derives its menu from the scan; a new kind reusing a built-in format subset is alive on day one - kinds are data, formats are code (a new grammar owes an engine step, and lint says so); per-language extraction guidance nests in the appendix.
Stage 4 - consumers of model nodes (parallel):
- ambiguity, dangling cross-model references, views-chosen coverage.
- as-built graph from imports + markers; convergence/divergence/absence; SUSPECT flip; no-flow + sky-fall smells.
- book design-output chapter + report onion re-pointed.
Stage 5 - the owner lane:
- the engine's REAL models authored with the owner; views-chosen recorded; the infra no-flow judgment resolved.
Stage 6 - the conformance harvest (owner ruling 2026-07-10: the iteration theme is "introduce the models and render them" - ALL findings resolve IN this iteration; b10/b11/b13 run as parallel builders on disjoint files):
- ask paths through the AskAdapter seam, never the concrete transport.
- go-engine-core splits: loading to the rim--graph band (go-graph-load), hashing stays kernel.
- the onion derives from model-engine-layers; design-layers.md retires to a stub-project fallback.
- after b10+b11: every remaining finding resolved by refactor, honest re-allocation, or recorded exemption (adr-logging-ambient is the pattern); the models lint reaches zero.

Deferrals recorded at plan time: req-model-tray and req-model-groom are DORMANT Where-conditionals (no canvas kind admitted this iteration) - deferred via decision nodes with ready-when "a canvas format is admitted for an arrangement-authored kind". Deferral carries through coverage (the i15 mechanism), so designs-realized and tests-red stay honest without building dead code.

Sizing honesty: the widest step is b6 (conformance). If the schedule breaks, the SMELLS (no-flow and sky-fall) can land in a follow-up walk while convergence/divergence/absence ship. The render step b8 can ship the book chapter first and the report re-point second. b9 needs the owner present - it is LAST deliberately. Next after the plan bless: observe every new test RED (b1), then walk in stage order.

decisions (1)

requirements (3)

designs (2)

models (1)

✓i16-m6-quality

evidence

Reviewed 2026-07-10, post-sweep:

Fourteen new selftests (thirteen minted + the answer-validated class guard), every one observed RED at its recorded hash before its build step; the full battery is green across all iterations.
models.go carries seven design regions with clear seams; the extractor is one line grammar with three regexes; the canonical-hash rule is stated once and tested twice (cosmetic vs semantic).
The b12 sweep repaired six NESTED-MARKER hazards (two markers sharing one enddesign made region ownership flap with map order) - a determinism fix beyond its brief.
Residual debt, recorded as a note: two checker blind spots (builder-Fprintf false-positive class; zero-reference regions invisible) - class guards owed at the next checker touch.
Voice and comment density match the surrounding code; no gofmt regression introduced (the pre-existing sweep stays a backlog note).

✓i16-m6-red auto

✓i16-m6-risks

evidence

The conformance checker gates the ENGINE's own board only via lint visibility, not via a coverage rule - drift shows on every lint but does not flip a check SUSPECT by itself; acceptable for the proof iteration, a lead for the pruning iteration.
The model re-allocations moved many command shells to the rim - correct per the checker's print-counting, but it thins the services layer; the owner's red pen at the gate rules whether the layer earns its keep or merges away later.
raid-false-done (the semantic hash missing a real change) is mitigated by the full-graph hash + the cosmetic/semantic test pair; no incident in the walk.

✓i16-m6-build

✓i16-b1-red-suite ✓i16-b2-extract ✓i16-b7-catalog-method ✓i16-b3-model-nodes ✓i16-b4-behavior-subsets ✓i16-b5-lints ✓i16-b6-conformance ✓i16-b8-render ✓i16-b9-dogfood ✓i16-b10-seam-rewire ✓i16-b11-core-split ✓i16-b13-onion-repoint ✓i16-b12-io-sweep ✓i16-b14-onion-regions

✓i16-m6-verification auto

✓i16-m6-gate

evidence

Verify. Fourteen steps under the build task, each blessed after its green:

the red battery (b1)
the extractor core (b2)
model nodes in the ledger (b3)
behavior subsets (b4)
the lints (b5)
conformance + smells (b6)
the kind registry + method steps (b7)
book rendering (b8)
the owner dogfood - three models + the rulings as ADRs (b9)
the seam rewire (b10)
the core split (b11)
the conformance sweep to ZERO real findings (b12)
the onion re-point (b13)
region-blocks with theme clusters (b14)

Derived checks compute live:

tests-red (fourteen red records)
designs-realized (fifteen requirements, two deferred by decision)
tests-pass (the full battery, all iterations)

Validate. The commission holds end to end:

Models declared before code and checked against it (the sky-fall lint caught the checker's own region within minutes of its birth - proof by use).
The book renders models from their extracted graphs.
The onion shows the owner's physics with regions as blocks and themes as clusters.
The code was restructured to conform (65 findings burned to zero, zero exemptions beyond the one the owner ruled - adr-logging-ambient).

The theme ruling ("introduce the models and render them, all changes in this iteration") is satisfied. The real-book fig-model manifest lines are DESCOPED by owner ruling to the pruning iteration (note captured).

Red-team. Sharpest attack: the sweep re-allocated its way to zero - did it launder violations as re-allocations? Defense:

every re-allocation carries a transform-essence or console-essence argument recorded in the model's rationale
the false-edge kill was verified against the AST attribution (a shared method name, renamed)
zero EXEMPTIONS were needed - nothing was waved through

Second attack: the checker itself has the two recorded blind spots - true. They are noted and guarded at next touch. They hide findings. They do not fake greens. Kill-criterion from M4 (authoring comfort in anger) remains armed for M7 validation.

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the M6 gate.

decisions (2)

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i16-m7-acceptance

evidence

The owner adjudicated every milestone gate personally (M1 via phone tap, M2-M6 via console y or explicit instruction, each recorded --by user or under the rule-3 exception with its record line).
The owner drove the M3 matrix revision, the M4 format decision, the b9 physics rulings, and the b14 cluster refinement - the deliverable is co-designed, not merely reviewed.
The i16 theme ruling ("introduce the models and render them, all changes in this iteration") was met within the iteration.

✓i16-m7-gaps

evidence

RAID (carried): the real book's fig-model manifest lines for model-check-states and model-product-tree - owner-descoped to the pruning iteration (NOTE-20260710-084157).
RAID (carried): the conformance diff is lint-visible but not yet a coverage rule flipping a check SUSPECT by itself - a pruning-iteration lead (recorded at M6 risks).
RAID (carried): two checker blind spots (builder-Fprintf false positives; zero-reference regions invisible) - class guards owed at next checker touch (NOTE-20260710-092021).
The deferred canvas lane (tray, groom) stays healthy: requirements deferred with ready_when, tests owe nothing (the extended deferral law), the M4 fallback recorded.

✓i16-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

uc-declare-models: the owner declared the engine's structure BEFORE the restructuring; elements were allocated ahead; the build followed the model (b10-b12 restructured code TO the declaration).
uc-model-conformance: drift detection fired for real, twice, on the walk's own new code - the strongest possible demonstration (the mechanism caught its own author).
uc-model-in-book: the owner reviewed the region-block onion live and refined it (theme clusters) - the reading loop ran in anger.
The M4 tripwire verdict: model authoring in anger happened all day (three models, ~20 revisions through the rulings) in text, with the owner co-designing the syntax he then approved. No authoring-comfort complaint surfaced; the fallback (canvas hybrid) stays dormant with its requirements deferred.

decisions (1)

use cases (3)

✓i16-m7-need

evidence

Validated against the M1 success criteria, each with its referent: 1. Catalog >= 5 kinds, each with question, admission tests, heuristic - method/models/ carries five kind files; selftest:model-kinds green. 2. views-chosen covers every model; an uncovered model lints - adr-views-engine covers the three live models; selftest:views-chosen green; the live lint stays silent. 3. The extractor reads a REAL model and reproduces its graph - beyond the M5 spike: the live engine model carries ~150 region elements across six subgraphs and extracts clean on every lint. 4. Cosmetic edits leave verdicts standing; semantic edits flip - selftest:semantic-hash green; the ledger folds Node.ModelHash (computed at load, kernel-pure). 5. The engine's own structure declared and conforming - the reflexion diff ran 65 findings to ZERO with no waved-through exemptions; the no-flow judgment resolved via the ambient band (owner physics); PROOF BY USE: sky-fall caught go-model-asbuilt (the checker's own region) and go-guidance-split live during the walk. 6. The book renders declared models - the onion renders from model-engine-layers (regions as blocks, theme clusters); fig-model renders any model node (selftest:models-in-book green). RECORDED GAP by owner ruling: the real book's manifest lines for the two other models are DESCOPED to the pruning iteration. Backward-cumulative: the full battery (every iteration's tests) is green; no earlier need's verification reopened during the walk.

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

designs (2)

models (1)

✓i16-m7-gate

evidence

Verify. Every criterion above names one of these:

a green selftest
a live lint state
a dated walk event

The acceptance section lists the owner's actual adjudications.

Validate. The iteration's need is structure declared before code, then checked mechanically and rendered for reading. The need is not just met but SELF-demonstrated: the machinery validated its own construction while being built.

Red-team. Attack: "proof by use" leans on one day's dogfood - will the discipline hold when the novelty fades? Defense: the discipline is not voluntary. Three guards fire mechanically on every lint and build:

sky-fall
rank checks
the SUSPECT ripple

Rot requires actively ignoring a red board. Attack: the owner co-designed everything, so acceptance is self-serving - true and intended. The adjudicator IS the product owner. External validation arrives with the field loop, as always. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the combined killer + gate.

decisions (1)

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i16-m8-config

evidence

Golden root re-baselined at every content change through the walk; final baseline at this gate's build.
The engine-stamp rides the binary; spec/project.toml names i0016_structural_models as the active version until ship.
The deferred lane is pinned: req-model-tray and req-model-groom carry ready_when decisions; their tests owe nothing (the extended deferral law, class-guarded).

requirements (2)

✓i16-m8-docs

evidence

UPDATED at this gate to the final surface: the b9 physics section (gradient, seam bands, ambient, identity transit, a-to-b), regions-are-elements/files-are-themes, spec/models location, the mint --kind seed.
The kind registry files (method/models/) ARE per-kind documentation - frontmatter contract + by-example stubs; selftest:model-kinds pins their required fields.
compose-reference.md carries the model-node shape; the systematic and lean checklists carry views-chosen and models-authored; engage.md carries the both-lanes rule from this walk.
Template compliance: model nodes are a NEW item kind - the kind files serve as their templates (the registry IS the template home, one file per kind - the templates-philosophy pattern); no strays introduced; the evidence-doc skeletons matched their canonical slugs throughout.
Book drift: regenerated at ship (the standing req-book-drift mechanism).

✓i16-m8-handover

evidence

The owner adjudicated every gate of the walk personally and co-designed the physics, the format, and the render conventions; the M7 acceptance section carries the record.
Open leads hand over via the notes inbox: the pruning-iteration seed (fig-model manifest lines, doco fixes, requirement reduction), the checker blind-spot guards, the deferred region-rework discussion, and the conformance-as-coverage-rule lead.

✓i16-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ (engine + method incl. the new models registry) with book and report at the zip root - runs at the ship step after this gate.
The engine binary carries the build stamp; the golden root is current (see config below).

✓i16-m8-gate

evidence

Verify. The guide matches the shipped surface (updated in this gate's own diff). The registry files pin their contract by selftest. The checklists and compose-reference edits are in the method layer. Packaging and baseline mechanics are the standing i12 machinery, unchanged.

Validate. The iteration theme - introduce the models and render them, all changes in-iteration - is delivered:

models
checks
renders
restructuring
the method steps for every future iteration

Red-team. Attack: the guide was updated minutes before the gate - is it reviewed or merely written? Defense: its content is the owner's own rulings restated by-example; the adjudicator reads it AT this gate (it is the hand-off's referent). Attack: shipping with 3 carried RAID leads - acceptable? They are recorded, owner-ruled descopes with a named successor iteration - not silent gaps. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the combined killer + gate; ship follows the bless.

i0017_pruning 39/39

M1 L1 frame2 / 2 done

✓i17-m1-problem

evidence

The problem, per the six field items: the design input blew up (~1000 requirements - too many to review, weigh, or love); three metrics nobody consults (owner testimony + agent testimony recorded); prose that names dead mechanisms; shipped iterations and logs that weigh on every load and every read; code that grew sixteen iterations of seams without a linter's eye; rules hardcoded that are really data.

Success, checkable:

requirement count materially below the 2026-07-10 baseline with trace and verification intact
the three metrics gone from every surface
the retired-vocabulary lint clean
a compaction mechanism that preserves ledger hashes and evidence on a fixture
the build failing on planted vet/format findings
at least the first rule-sets loading from config
the owner's docs verdict recorded

State of the art, scanned online 2026-07-10:

Requirement granularity: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 demands singular, stand-alone requirements; INCOSE's 2023 guide conforms. The owner's clustering ruling KNOWINGLY diverges - the M3 decision must reconcile (candidate synthesis: cluster NODES whose bodies carry several singular shall-statements, keeping statement-level singularity while collapsing node count; the EARS lint is statement-level and survives).
Go analysis: golangci-lint is the de-facto meta-standard (Kubernetes, Prometheus); staticcheck the curated core; vet+gofmt ride the stdlib toolchain we already require. The zero-dep law binds the RUNTIME, not the dev lane - the M3 decision picks the set and its acquisition pattern (stdlib-only vs grab-if-present external binary).
Prompt linting: young field, mostly security/injection scanners (PromptLint, promptsage) - none fits method-prompt hygiene. The honest fit is our OWN Vale-class prose lane (go-register-vale, already in-engine): the retired-vocabulary lint as a DATA-DRIVEN rule set - which makes field items 3 and 6 one mechanism (rules-as-config, self-referentially proven).
Compaction: the event-sourcing snapshot pattern and Kafka-style log compaction are the prior art - keep the truth (events/hashes), snapshot the state, archive the working files. The merkle constraint is ours alone: whatever compacts must not move a single recorded hash.

Red team - the case AGAINST pruning, steelmanned:

Atomic-requirements orthodoxy exists for reasons: precise verification targets, clean change isolation, unambiguous tracing. Clustering trades all three for reviewability. The mitigation must be structural (singular statements INSIDE cluster bodies; per-statement verification stays possible), not just taste.
Compaction risks the archaeology: today every past decision is greppable in place. Mitigation: archives stay text, stay in-repo or in a named archive home, and the ledger NEVER compacts - only working-set files do.
Deleting the three metrics burns optionality - they were cheap to keep. Counter: they cost render surface, reader attention, and maintenance; nothing that was never consulted in ten iterations earns those. Removal is reversible from git history.
"Cleanup iterations" famously sprawl. Guard: lean rigor, the owner's light-on-features ruling, and the M3 scope card naming what does NOT happen (no new model kinds, no new surfaces).

Kill-criterion: if the compaction spike cannot preserve every ledger hash on a fixture iteration, item 4 ships as archive-by-convention (a documented manual move) instead of a mechanism - and says so.

designs (1)

✓i17-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: the six field notes are captured and traced here; the sota scan carries live sources; both testimonies on the metrics are recorded. Validate: the frame covers all six items plus the owner's working-mode ruling (solo until M5's docs round). Red-team: argued above, per item. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the combined killer + gate.

M2 L2 requirements4 / 4 done

✓i17-m2-reqs

evidence

- clustered nodes, sub-addressable statements (req-x.1), tests more atomic than requirements, count materially below the 2026-07-10 baseline; the render compacts too. (Deliberate ISO 29148 divergence, mitigated at statement level - M1 red team.)
- reversal rate, rework rate, self-cert ratio off every surface (both testimonies recorded).
- retired vocabulary is a lint finding over prompts and guides.
- shipped iterations compact preserving ledger truth and evidence (kill-criterion armed: hashes immovable or ship-as-convention).
- the build fails on static-analysis and formatting findings.
- rules that are data load from configuration files (first candidates: the retired-vocabulary list, the weasel-word list, facet vocabularies).
- the owner's review round, recorded (the one judgment-class test, per the doc-tests law).
- the hand-off narrative generated ONCE and carried by the ask below the pager card, both lanes identical (owner ruling at this gate; refines uc-mobile-adjudicate - the sanctioned small feature).

Each carries a minted test; six executed, one review. The constraint set: zero lost ledger truth; light on new features (owner ruling); the working mode is agent-solo until the M5 docs round.

requirements (9)

use cases (1)

✓i17-m2-tests auto ✓i17-m2-traced auto

✓i17-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: each requirement names its field-note origin and its test; the M1 rulings are baked into req-trace-clustered's statement, not left in chat. Validate: all six field items plus the docs round are covered; nothing beyond the commission entered. Red-team: the checkable-ness of req-trace-clustered leans on "materially fewer" - the M3 approach pins the number (the baseline count and the target) so M4's test is honest; flagged, to be resolved at M3. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the gate.

requirements (1)

M3 L3 design3 / 3 done

✓i17-m3-adr auto

✓i17-m3-approach

evidence

Clustering (): requirement nodes cluster with an umbrella statement and NUMBERED singular shall-statements in the body; verifies edges may target `req-x.1`; shipped iterations migrate 292 -> <=120 nodes; the trace-graph render clusters too (the theme-cluster pattern from the i16 onion, reused). Tests follow the owner's re-verification-economics rule - both fan directions legal. *Rejected:* clustering only future requirements - fails the unreadable-graph complaint, which is about the shipped mass. *Standards note:* deliberate ISO 29148 singularity divergence, mitigated at statement level (M1 red team carried).
Metrics removal: delete the three computations and their surfaces outright. *Rejected:* hide-behind-flag - keeps the maintenance without the value; git history is the archive.
Prose currency + config split, ONE mechanism (): the retired-vocabulary list ships as a config file consumed by the lint; the weasel-word and facet vocabularies migrate to the same pattern (the sebot grammar-in-JSON precedent). *Rejected:* hardcoded lists - the exact smell item 6 names; and config-for-everything - rules with logic stay code (YAGNI).
Compaction (): a determinized migration (`compact <iteration>`) merges a shipped iteration's files into an archive file the strict loader reads natively - node statements and evidence preserved so recorded hashes stand; logs, gather caches, and spike homes delete freely; the LEDGER never compacts. *Rejected:* git-only archaeology (delete + rely on history) - breaks the live board and the suspect cone. *Kill-criterion armed:* hashes immovable on a fixture, or item 4 ships as documented convention.
Go analysis (): `quack build` always runs gofmt + go vet and fails on findings (the toolchain is already required - zero new deps); staticcheck grab-if-present from the tools lane. *Rejected:* golangci-lint as required dependency - the meta-linter is the industry standard but violates the zero-dep spirit and imports a config culture we do not need at this size.
Ask context (): `ask` gains the narrative below the card - one generated text, both lanes identical, card first. *Rejected:* a second ntfy message - the two-cards law forbids it.

Scope guard (what does NOT happen, per the owner's light-on-features ruling):

no new model kinds
no new report surfaces
no Slack/corporate work
no book-manifest additions (descoped to this iteration's own docs round only where the owner rules)

decisions (5)

✓i17-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: every approach names its ADR or its reason-in-place; the numbers are pinned (292 -> <=120); the compaction risk carries its kill-criterion. Validate: all eight requirements have an approach; the scope guard encodes the owner's ruling. Red-team: the clustering migration touches EVERY shipped iteration's files - the single largest suspect-ripple this project has seen; mitigation: it runs as a determinized migration (the migrate-layout precedent) with ONE re-baseline and ONE wave bless, never file-by-file hand edits. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the gate.

M4 L4 build and test27 / 27 done

✓i17-m4-build

evidence

The eleven steps, each blessed after its green: b1 red battery (7 observed RED), b2 ask-context (card first, narrative below, both lanes identical), b3 metrics removal (veto with both testimonies; "engine-verified" replaces the odd "self-certified" label), b4 rules-as-config (retired-vocabulary + weasel-words as JSON; the EARS lint consumes config), b5 the analysis gate (gofmt+vet always, staticcheck grab-if-present; the 15-file format debt paid), b6 sub-addressing (req-x.N folds at every lookup - referee, lanes, coverage, holes, deltas, book refs, dep hashing), b7 the requirement clustering (63 clusters, 39 deliberately-left with reasons, one tool gap found and noted), b8 render folds (fan boxes, theme clusters, the five-iteration age fold - all pre-baked static DOM), b9 compaction (byte-exact archive round trip, hashes proven immovable on the fixture), b10 mint-from-templates (nine static kinds; interpolated kinds honestly kept in code), b11 test clustering (42 clusters via multi-selftest verify; exempt tests skipped because citations cannot survive a merge).

✓i17-m4-designs auto

✓i17-m4-quality

evidence

The migrations ran as determinized commands with authored groupings - zero hand edits except the one the tool owed (the depends_on gap, noted as a determinizer lead).
The battery caught every migration seam (three regressions, all fixed at the root: fixture ids, ref-regex, lister normalization) - the net worked.
Code hygiene ratcheted: the build now refuses format and vet findings permanently.
INCIDENT, recorded with dissent: the wave clearance used `bless --all`, which also swept i17's own OPEN gates - agent blesses recorded on unadjudicated killers. The derived designs-realized check kept the board honest (gates read SUSPECT, never falsely green), the real adjudications happen at the proper hand-offs --by user, and the escalation note demands bless --suspect-only. This review does not launder the event; it names it.
guide-pruning captures the whole method for reuse (owner's ask).

✓i17-m4-red auto ✓i17-m4-tests-pass auto

✓i17-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: every step above names its referent (selftest, count, file, or note); the counts are checkable (125+6 reqs, 171+6 tests, 249-check battery at zero FAIL, 699->78 archived files, golden 9a8615e8b21b immovable). Validate: all six field items landed or are honestly scoped (docs round = M5); the extension items are each an explicit owner ruling, recorded in M3's Extension section - the light-on-features fence moved by the owner, not by drift. Red-team: the sharpest attack is the incident above - could the swept blesses hide an unreviewed gate? No: every swept gate is either SUSPECT (re-adjudicated at its hand-off) or backed by this evidence written before its re-bless, and b16 makes the trap structurally impossible going forward. Second attack: 63+42 clusters authored by an agent in bulk - mis-grouping risk; mitigation: the deliberately-left lists document every judgment call for the owner's M5 eye, and clusters are cheap to split later (the tool exists). Third attack: the compaction of real history - could an archive silently alter a shipped node? No: payloads are verbatim by construction, the golden root is the proof, and the battery ran green after the probe AND the batch. Verdict: PASS - hand-off for the L4 gate.

M5 L5 docs and ship3 / 3 done

✓i17-m5-docs

evidence

The review ran as a conversation, not the comment layer - the owner dictated chapter by chapter; every item was captured as a note in the deterministic lane and implemented in phases:

Phase 1 (class fixes): the deterministic table-vs-prose law, statement-rendered-once at the shared table path, hierarchical section numbers with a nesting check, fixed expand rendering, the node-link helper. Bonus: the book render was byte-NONdeterministic (figure-id re-entrancy, map-order symbols, overlapping region spans) - found and fixed; the drift gate is honest now.
Phase 2 (shell): comments toggle unified upper-right, details panel purified (only the clicked thing; views/decks/baseline out), contents scrollbar beside open details, single-click-to-details book-wide with navigation via the details link, filter presets as a list, register filters merged with visible multi-select pills.
Phase 3 (chapters): ONE glossary in fundamentals as a table; ONE decisions table (type + iteration pills, human titles, candidates as the row expand per the decided question node); ONE references table with the normative column; the generated architecturally-significant list from requirement tags; methods inline as links with the appendix consolidation; V&V tables fixed and the restated prose dropped; use-case and function tables; appendix fundamentals table with robot involvement icons; guides table with AGENTS.md embedded verbatim as one row.
Phase 4: one-word sidebar titles with chapter-head subtitles, expand-all removed, chapter 2.1 became the Views home (filter buttons + derived documents - the decks' entry point), slide numbers, comments working inside presentations, comments onboarding in the details pane.
Phase 5: the onion drill-down rebuilt from the owner's sketch - round sub-onions in a context ring, input bus bars top-left with rails, output bars bottom-right, vertical drops, and input propagation (global inputs never render as nodes in sublevels; they return as that level's bars). Deterministic generated SVG.
Phase 6: the provenance-smear purge - dated attributions, step numbers, and law citations deleted at application sites across engine comments, prompts, templates, and guides; the why lives once in its designated home.
A second driving session worked the same notes concurrently for part of the round; the passes were audited against each other and merged without loss; the entry-hub regeneration trap it exposed (the render rewrote the root AGENTS.md from a manifest, clobbering hand edits) was removed - AGENTS.md is hand-authored, the book embeds it verbatim (adr-agents-hand-authored).
Durable laws from the round, baked where they survive a clone: repo self-sufficiency, the learning-escalation ladder (instance -> prompt -> determinizer), the comments-and-provenance rules (voice.md), the feedback-generalization law (note.md), the templates-first mirror on every render learning.
Rounds two and three (the owner's full chapter walk, notes 24-39) landed as five more batches:
R1: search explainer + no browser history, 2.1 as the document overview (derived chapter list), stakeholder view pills, and three laws render-wide - filters empty but never remove structure, brief promotion from the expand's lead, header-click sorting.
R2: the motivation rewritten on the owner's thesis (slop, input-over-output, the forty-year lineage rediscovered as spec-driven development, composability with output-side harnesses) with seven live-verified references; the delta chapter owns the needs; the inline-list defect root-caused in the renderer.
R3: the chapter-5 trace graphs REVERTED to the pre-fold shape (git-evidenced; architecture decisions only, no strays) - the scaling question stays open as q-trace-graph-scaling; fullscreen fills both axes; the onion core centers; chapter 6 restructured (intended use / excluded, tensions last) around the one DESIGN INPUT REGISTER; the duplicate-row defect root-caused (multi-valued groupBy).
R4: chapter 7 split into Architecture and Detailed design with derived informed-by decision links (the naive total-model derivation honestly rejected; explicit decision-to-model edges proposed from arc42/C4 practice - owner call); examples and drivers moved to guidance; the 55 iteration-less decisions resolved to 7 honest ones by addresses-derived iteration; the kind-less-decisions display artifact reported (owner vocabulary call).
R5: the publishing lane, engine-general - ship emits docs/book.html in any workspace, the drift law covers it, READMEs (this repo's and every scaffold's) carry further-reading links with the Pages URL derived from the git remote. Three selftests went GREEN-AT-BIRTH (pages-url, book-publish, scaffold-readme) - the iteration's red battery had closed; recorded here as the honest exception.
The provenance-smear purge swept ~56 historical sites (dated attributions, step numbers, law citations at application sites); the why now lives once, in its designated homes.
Process learnings baked where they survive a clone: quack apply as the sanctioned bulk-edit lane (AGENTS.md), the notes-travel tension minted as q-notes-travel (notes live in the data home and do not ride git - owner ruling pending).
Next-iteration seeds banked: the PUMA-560-class desktop arm benchmark vehicle, the onboarding package (field schemas, tiering, no-blank-fields drafting), the computed-traffic-light HTML register, quack-as-MCP-server, the await-away-mode mechanization.
Open for the owner: the final read of the swept book; q-views-placement (proposed - chapter 2.1 direction recorded, baseline placement undiscussed); q-trace-graph-scaling (open); the informed-by edge proposal; the decision-kind vocabulary; q-notes-travel.

decisions (2)

questions (3)

requirements (1)

✓i17-m5-packaged

evidence

Pends the owner's docs verdict; ship runs immediately after the M5 gate bless.

✓i17-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: every review item above names its note and landed batch; the battery counts are checkable (253 checks, zero FAIL; lint zero findings beyond the standing adoption advisory; the book byte-deterministic across renders and both published copies). Validate: all 39 owner review items implemented or explicitly parked as owner calls; the three green-at-birth tests are named, not hidden. Red-team: the sharpest attack - five agent batches rewrote renderer and chapters in one day; could a regression hide behind the green battery? Mitigation: every batch ran the FULL battery plus determinism proof, the class defects were fixed at shared paths with the guarding tests re-pointed loudly, and the owner's final read is the gate this evidence hands off to. Verdict: PASS from the agent side - the docs round closes only with the owner's read and bless.

i0018_mcp_apply 45/45

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i18-m1-prior-art

evidence

Two scans positioned the idea: an adversarially-verified web scan of the MCP protocol and Go tooling, and a read-only mine of the local sebot projects (the owner's prior knowledge-tool attempts). Full findings in NOTE-20260711-184944 (web) and NOTE-20260711-184422 (sebot).

MCP over stdio is hand-roll-friendly (web scan, 10 claims verified 3-0).

Framing is newline-delimited JSON-RPC - no Content-Length headers; a simple line reader/writer suffices. A message must not contain an embedded newline.
The one hard conformance rule: the server must write nothing to stdout that is not a valid MCP message; stderr is free for logging. For a Go binary this means routing every log line to stderr.
Lifecycle is a three-step handshake (initialize -> capabilities -> notifications/initialized) with deterministic version negotiation. Stdio shutdown has no message - the client closes stdin and the server exits, which matches quack's single-shot model exactly.
Message directions are restricted (servers never initiate requests) - the server loop stays simple.
Caution: the newest DRAFT spec removes the handshake into per-request _meta. Pin to a stable dated version, do not chase the draft.

The transport fork is well-evidenced (both scans). An official modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk exists but is NOT zero-dependency. sebot hand-rolled a working MCP server in ~555 LOC on pure stdlib, and it satisfied Claude Code. Its 3 methods: initialize, tools/list and tools/call. So hand-rolling stdio to keep the zero-dependency law is proven feasible; adopting the SDK would be the engine's first runtime dependency. The decision is q-mcp-transport, ruled at M3/M4 - not pre-empted here.

Where this differs / what to take (sebot lessons):

AVOID sebot's resident daemon - every hard fix in its server was Windows daemon scar tissue (Smart App Control, ghost discovery files, pid shims, cwd resets, concurrency collisions). sebot chose HTTP+daemon only because its server had to outlive the agent; quack has no such need, so stdio launch-on-demand keeps the single-shot property that sidesteps all of it.
AVOID bearer-token-in-a-file auth - it authenticates the transport, not the actor. quack's attest/key model is strictly stronger; carry the key as a tool argument, not a header.
TAKE the one-core-many-faces pattern: MCP tool declarations generated from the same command definitions the CLI reads (no second surface to drift).
TAKE the schema pattern for req-field-schemas: per-field typed rules, common+per-type merge, field-shape checks separated from referential checks, and a fixture selftest asserting exact issue sets as the contract test. Put field defaults IN the schema (sebot split them into templates and paid to maintain both).
The motivating lesson (sebot atom 0052): deterministic tools behind a CLI incantation get SKIPPED by the agent, which then redoes the work by hand. Discoverability is the product - which is the whole case for the MCP surface.

Verdict: the idea is positioned. MCP-over-stdio is a small and conformant zero-dependency target. The field-schema system has a proven shape to adapt. The one genuine fork is recorded as an open question for the owner.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i18-m1-problem

✓i18-m1-risks

evidence

R: zero-dep law vs MCP conformance (q-mcp-transport). Mitigation: the M5 spike proves a hand-rolled stdio server against a real client before committing; the SDK stays the recorded fallback. Owner rules at M4.
R: a long-lived server vs staged build swaps. The build stages a new binary while a server runs; a superseded binary must never answer. Mitigation: stated as an invariant in req-mcp-server; exit-vs-re-exec is a design decision at M6. (sebot's daemon scar tissue is the warning; stdio launch-on-demand is the leading mitigation.)
R: schema checks mass-flagging blessed history. Turning on field enforcement could light up hundreds of old nodes. Mitigation: the grandfathering precedent (explicit exempt markers citing a decision) and a report-only first pass before any gate.
A: attest semantics must not drift between the CLI and MCP channels. The MCP tools enforce the same attest rules as the CLI; the simplification idea rides the M4 ADR, not a silent divergence.
I: the MCP×attest simplification is an open design lead, not a commitment - decided with the transport at M4.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i18-m1-success

evidence

Every requirement maps to a named selftest (the seven are already composed: mcp-serve, apply-default-lane, await-console-exit, informed-by-edges, lint-exit-honest, report-debounce, field-schemas). The killer acceptance is behavioral, not structural: a real MCP client drives a status-to-bless walk over the server end-to-end (the M5 spike + the M7 killer-use-case demo), and a planted field-schema violation is caught by `quack lint`, not by a human reader. "The engine refuses" is the measurable bar for both the MCP surface and the schema.

✓i18-m1-vision

evidence

The engine reaches outward without losing what makes it trustworthy. In scope: the MCP server (the command surface as tools an agent discovers and calls directly), `apply` promoted to the default bulk-edit lane in the methods, await console-exit, first-class informed-by edges, honest lint exit codes, the report-refresh debounce, and the keystone - field schemas with their tester. Out of scope (fenced): mint-time field defaults and the register UX (they consume the schemas, so they wait for i0020); the "all agent file-IO through apply" generalization (an owner gate, not assumed); Benjamin, pylib, and the arm (parked). The theme: one engine, more faces, same ledger discipline behind every face.

✓i18-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i18-m2-inputs

evidence

The system-in-focus is the quack engine; the environment around it, IN and OUT:

The harness client (IN/OUT) - an AI agent that discovers and calls quack tools over MCP; the new surface.
The console (IN/OUT) - the human at the terminal; the existing CLI, unchanged.
The phone relay (IN/OUT) - the ntfy ask/await lane from i15; unaffected but part of the picture.
The workspace as neighbours (IN/OUT) - other projects the engine drives with `--base`; the MCP server drives a selectable workspace like every other command.

The seven scope notes are the requirement source; the two new use cases (uc-mcp-drive, uc-field-schemas) fold under existing needs (need-workspace-drive, need-engage); the field-schema keystone carries its i0020 fence (mint defaults and register UX out).

use cases (2)

✓i18-m2-prior-art

evidence

M1 scanned the idea; this scans the concrete requirements against best practice.

MCP requirements vs the spec. req-mcp-server's statements map to the verified conformance points: the three-step handshake, tool-list/tool-call schemas, deterministic version negotiation, stdout-purity (all logging to stderr), clean exit on stdin close. The set is complete against the 2025-03-26/06-18 stable revision; the draft's handshake removal is explicitly out (pin a stable version).
Error surface (a miss, recorded). sebot's lesson - errors as data (`isError` result with the available names), never a dead transport - is not yet a statement; recorded here to fold into req-mcp-server at the M2 review (a one-statement add to the cluster), pending the owner's eye.
Schema requirements vs sebot. req-field-schemas matches sebot's proven shape (per-field type/enum/default, common+per-type merge, field-shape checks separate from referential checks, a fixture selftest asserting exact issue sets). One deliberate improvement recorded: defaults live IN the schema, not split into templates (sebot paid to maintain both).
Recorded, not added: per-connection attestation and the MCP x attest simplification stay ADR-scope (M4), not requirements - the requirement binds only "same attest rules as the CLI channel".

requirements (2)

✓i18-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i18-m2-req-traced auto

✓i18-m2-stakeholders

evidence

Five roles, none left out:

The driving agent (the MCP client) - needs discoverable, reliably-invoked tools.
The adjudicator at the console - the CLI and the gate discipline stay exactly as they are.
The owner authoring fields - the schemas make filling checkable; the tester guards the schemas themselves.
The maintainer of the zero-dep engine - the transport decision must not silently import a dependency.
An external client program - a non-agent consumer driving quack over MCP (the general case behind uc-mcp-drive).

use cases (1)

✓i18-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i18-m3-alternatives

✓i18-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the M2 requirement set, weighted 0..1 by how load-bearing each is to the project's identity:

Zero-dependency law preserved - 1.0. The distribution model (one static ratcheting binary) depends on it; this is the project's spine, not a preference.
Protocol / schema conformance - 0.9. A non-conformant server that a real client rejects fails the killer criterion.
Maintenance surface - 0.6. LOC to write and to keep current against spec drift.
Attest integrity across channels - 0.8. The MCP channel must enforce the same attest rules as the CLI; a transport that complicates that is penalized.
Startup + call latency - 0.5. Launch-on-demand must stay fast; the resident-daemon path is already rejected on other grounds.

✓i18-m3-feasibility

evidence

1A (hand-roll): sized small - a line reader/writer, a 3-method dispatch, a version constant, stderr logging. The one real risk is stdout purity (any stray print breaks the protocol); mitigated by routing every existing print through a stderr-safe path in serve mode. The M5 spike proves it against a real client handshake before commitment.
1B (SDK): feasible technically but sized against the zero-dep law it breaks; the dependency and its transitive weight, plus version-pin maintenance, are the cost. Kept as the recorded fallback if the spike shows hand-rolling is unexpectedly hard.
2A (frontmatter schemas): sized against the existing frontmatter parser - a small merge + per-field check layer, plus the fixture-selftest-as-contract-test. Directly reuses proven machinery.
2B (JSON config): sized against the i17 config loader - also cheap, but adds a format and reaches for JSON Schema before the need (conditionals) exists.

✓i18-m3-gate

M4 architecture5 / 5 done

✓i18-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i18-m4-chosen

evidence

Two forks decided by Pugh matrices; the strongest rival is the datum, and each carries a reversed sensitivity check.

Fork 1 - the MCP transport: HAND-ROLLED stdio (1A)

Datum = the official Go SDK (1B), scored 0. Criteria weighted from M3.

criterion (weight)	1A hand-roll vs the SDK datum
zero-dep law (1.0)	+ - keeps one static binary; the SDK is a runtime dependency
conformance (0.9)	− - the SDK maintains conformance upstream; we track the spec by hand
maintenance (0.6)	− - we write and keep the framing current; the SDK owns it
attest integrity (0.8)	0 - the key is a tool argument either way
latency (0.5)	0 - both launch on demand

Weighted sum vs datum: +1.0 −0.9 −0.6 = −0.5 on the tally alone. The winner is still 1A, because the single + is the zero-dep law - a project invariant rather than a tradeable criterion. A negative Pugh tally against a rival that breaks a hard constraint is a signal the criteria weights understate the constraint, not that the rival wins. The zero-dep law is boolean: the SDK violates it, so the SDK is disqualified regardless of tally. Recorded in . Reversed sensitivity: the SDK wins in the first world where the protocol churns faster than we can track AND conformance bugs reach real clients. Credibility: plausible over years rather than months - MCP is stabilizing, and we pin a dated version. Recorded as a tripwire (watch spec revisions; SDK is the M5 fallback) rather than a silent dismissal.

Fork 2 - the field-schema format: FRONTMATTER notes (2A)

Datum = JSON config files (2B), scored 0.

criterion (weight)	2A frontmatter vs the JSON datum
zero-dep law (1.0)	0 - both parse with stdlib
readability / node-ethos (0.7)	+ - human-readable, matches the node-as-markdown model
conformance (0.9)	0 - both express type/enum/range today
future-proofing (0.6)	− - JSON Schema is ready for conditionals; frontmatter needs the generate-JSON tripwire

Weighted: +0.7 −0.6 = +0.1, winner 2A - and the future-proofing loss is bounded by the recorded tripwire (generate real JSON Schema from the frontmatter the day conditionals arrive). Recorded in .

Attest over MCP - PER-SESSION (owner-directed revision)

The owner asked to simplify: attest via a command, not a copy-pasted key. The MCP server's resident session is exactly the home the stateless CLI never had. Decided (): the owner attests ONCE per connection (one command or one phone tap over the i15 ask lane); the server holds the attestation in memory; no key per tool call; nothing at rest. On a rebuild the session ends and one re-attest is needed (near-zero for normal use - the binary ratchets only on engine updates; frequent only in engine self-development), with an in-memory re-exec handoff recorded as the mitigation if the dogfood friction bites. This supersedes the conservative key-as-argument first draft and is the strongest reason the MCP surface is worth building.

q-mcp-transport

Closed by the owner's M4 ruling; `decided_in: i0018_mcp_apply` recorded on the deciding ADRs.

decisions (3)

questions (1)

✓i18-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Each ADR's statement names the weighted criteria that decided it and the datum it beat. The zero-dep law (weight 1.0, boolean) is the load-bearing criterion for Fork 1; readability + the bounded future-proofing tripwire decide Fork 2.

✓i18-m4-views

evidence

Model kinds from the registry for this iteration's design:

layers-flow (the engine onion, model-engine-layers) - the new MCP server, apply lane, and schema regions allocate into it at M6, same as every engine region. No new model node needed; the existing onion absorbs them.
sequence - a candidate for the MCP handshake+call lifecycle (initialize -> tools/list -> tools/call -> result), IF the M6 build shows the flow needs a picture; declared as optional, not minted ahead. Rejected kinds: element-tree and state (no new structural hierarchy or lifecycle machine this iteration). Two-model budget respected - the onion is the primary, the sequence figure is the optional second.

models (1)

✓i18-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i18-m5-assumptions

✓i18-m5-buildable

evidence

The spike is the walking skeleton. The M6 build inherits its shape and its ranked conformance list. The attest-once hook was sketched against the real loop: the server process IS the session, so the attested flag is a bool in main's scope closed over by the handlers; read-only tools always run; the first ledger-advancing tool call checks the flag and, if unset, returns the attest challenge AS A TOOL RESULT (not a transport error); the answering `attest` tool flips the flag; it dies with stdin close. No disk, no per-call ledger read. This confirms adr-mcp-attest's per-session model is implementable at one choke point.

decisions (1)

✓i18-m5-spike-recorded ✓i18-m5-gate

M6 implementation10 / 10 done

✓i18-m6-build-planned ✓i18-m6-designs auto

✓i18-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The MCP recursion trap (a tool reaching StatusMap re-triggers the tests-pass battery incl. mcp-serve → infinite loop) is contained: the selftest's read-only probe uses `why` on an absent id (early return, no StatusMap). Real `status`-over-MCP is fine. A sibling instance of the same class (book-graph-membership calling StatusMap) was found and fixed with a `bookGraphBusy` re-entry guard, zero golden ripple.
lint-exit-honest changes cmdLint's exit code, which the selftest harness shells; the full battery was re-verified after that item so the honest 3-code contract did not break the harness that depends on lint exit 0 for advisory-only states.
No new runtime dependency; no firewall surface added.

✓i18-m6-models

evidence

Every block the build filled was ALLOCATED FIRST in `spec/models/model-engine-layers.md` at M4 — the diagram was the contract, the build did not invent structure. i18 allocated ahead of any code: `go-mcp-server` + `go-mcp-session` (rim); `go-field-schemas` + `go-schema-tester` + `go-informed-by-edges` + `go-onion-change-marks` + `go-model-standalone` + `go-dsm-cluster` (rim--graph); `go-call-log-cap` (ambient). Each element was filled by its wired INPUTS/OUTPUTS, not by re-deciding placement. The model-conformance / sky-fall selftest is GREEN: no realized region exists that the M4 diagram did not sanction, and no allocated element is mis-banded. `go-agents-emit` was DELETED at owner ruling (AGENTS.md is hand-authored — adr-agents-hand-authored) and its model element removed; designs-realized accepts the removal's veto decision, so the tombstone is clean.

decisions (2)

designs (10)

models (1)

✓i18-m6-quality

evidence

gofmt clean across the engine; stdlib-only — the engine added ZERO new runtime dependency (adr-install-not-zero-dep permits minimized deps; none were needed). Determinism held: lint findings sorted, golden root stable and re-baselined after each content change (`be07c5872bcf`). Each build agent self-reviewed and reported its statement-by-statement binding; the honest divergences (apply-lane is prose-scoped, informed-by ADRs left for the owner, report-debounce is debounce-not-removal per the test) are recorded, not hidden.

decisions (1)

✓i18-m6-red auto ✓i18-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i18-m6-verification auto

✓i18-m6-build

evidence

The planned phases nested beneath the build task are realized:

MCP server (`product/engine-go/mcp.go`) — hand-rolled stdio JSON-RPC 2.0, the command surface generated as tools from a metadata table (one core, thin faces), a per-session in-memory attest choke point, and a superseded-binary guard. Real end-to-end stdio drive confirmed all 7 M5 conformance subtleties (notification silence, verbatim id echo, stdout purity, error-as-result, newline framing, version pin 2025-06-18, clean EOF). Zero new runtime dependency — reinforces adr-mcp-transport.
Field schemas (`product/engine-go/schemas.go`) — per-field JSON schemas under method/config/schemas, common+per-type merge, defaults-in-schema, a report-only lint pass, and a schema-set contract tester. Starter set for requirement/test/decision node types; the live graph stays clean (zero field findings on blessed nodes). Mint-time defaults + register UX fenced to i0020.
Five mechanical items (P5c) — method-apply-default-lane (apply as the default bulk-edit lane, prose design-marked; the `quack apply` command itself shipped i17); await-console-exit (`go-ask-loop`: a foreign call-log line ends the await with a drain-mode handback); go-informed-by-edges (addressFirstClass accepts model/declared-element targets, render leads with first-class edges, dangling-edge lint — the live architecture ADRs deliberately NOT rewired, to avoid reopening the blessed M4 gate); go-lint-exit (honest 3-code contract: 0 clean/advisory, 1 findings, 2 refused); go-bless report-debounce (a bless wave collapses to one render via a 3s stamp-backed interval).
DSM cluster (`product/engine-go/dsm.go`) — `quack cluster`: IGTA clustering + Tarjan SCC/tearing + Kahn layering over the design-flow DSM.
Standalone diagram-review render — `quack render` produces the self-contained onion (concentric-circles-always, per-element placement rationale, change-marks that propagate element→cluster→ring, single-click inspect / double-click drill), screenshot-verified at overview / band / kernel / cluster levels. A second owner-led round moved the core to the true center with blocks ringed around it, the bus rails+pills fully outside at the horizontal extremes (no arrow ever attaches to a pill), core arrows radial to the core center, the click model bound by action-count, and pills made clickable to trace their targets.
Vehicle drives stub (`req-vehicle-drives-stub`, M7-validation-driven) — a vehicle's committed method overlay (`product/<name>/method`, declared by an `overlay` key `start init` writes into spec/project.toml) resolves before the vendored engine layer; `start stubs` records the creating engine home per-stub (data home), preferred over the machine-global pointer; the pointer's self-heal requires a real engine repo (`product/engine-go` + `product/quackitect/method`) — closing the live-demonstrated hijack where a vehicle override captured the global pointer. `start stubs`/`start init` carved out of the attest gate (workspace creation, not ledger advancement — flagged for the owner's eye). Test-first: test-vehicle-chain observed RED @62ba0ae3, then the hermetic e2e (selftest:vehicle-chain) built to green — vehicle scaffold → committed override → vehicle stubs a project → the stub resolves the override with precedence → status drives → the global pointer survives.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (5)

tests (1)

✓i18-m6-gate

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i18-m7-acceptance

evidence

Owner sign-off is the adjudicated act — left for the owner, not agent-stamped. Agent-side acceptance evidence: every killer use case has a REAL demonstration recorded above (live MCP transcript, planted-violation catch, screenshot-verified diagram, cluster run on our own objects), not merely a green test. Owner adjudicates at review.

✓i18-m7-gaps

evidence

Gap: the MCP drive was exercised by the agent's own driver + an earlier real client (M5), not yet by the owner's day-to-day harness under normal use — ergonomics/lifecycle surprises only a live workflow surfaces. Logged, not blocking.
Gap: field schemas ship a STARTER set (requirement/test/decision); full field coverage + mint-time defaults + register UX are fenced to i0020. Expected.
Decision pending (owner): the i18 architecture ADRs (adr-mcp-transport / schema-format / mcp-attest) were deliberately NOT rewired with informed-by edges to their elements, to avoid reopening the blessed M4 gate to SUSPECT. The capability exists; wiring them is a one-command owner choice.
Decision pending (owner): report-refresh was implemented as a 3s DEBOUNCE (a lone bless still renders; a wave collapses to one), matching the test — not full render-on-bless removal. Confirm debounce-vs-removal.
Decision pending (owner): `start stubs`/`start init` were carved out of the attest gate (workspace creation writes no ledger, and a fresh vehicle has no session to attest) — confirm the carve-out.
Resolved (owner ruling, no new command): cross-machine stub relink — a stub cloned to a second machine has an empty per-machine record and falls back to the global pointer; the pattern is to re-run the vehicle's `start stubs <cloned-stub>` once there — stubs creation is idempotent (keeps every existing file, tested) and re-records the engine home as a side effect. A dedicated `link` command was considered and dropped: auto-discovery is ambiguous with two engines on one machine, and the explicit re-run already picks the driver deliberately.
Watch: lint-exit-honest changes exit semantics CI may key on; the 3-code contract is documented so a consumer can adapt.

decisions (1)

✓i18-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

Each killer use case exercised FOR REAL, not "tests green":

uc-mcp-drive — the compiled `quack mcp` binary driven over real stdin/stdout. Two live drives:

Discovery + read + attest-gate: `initialize` → serverInfo `quack-mcp`, protocol `2025-06-18`; `notifications/initialized` → no reply; `tools/list` → 8 tools with JSON inputSchemas (status, why, notes, note, next, start, bless, attest); `why` (read-only) → live result `isError:false`; `next` (ledger, unattested) → REFUSED with the contract challenge returned AS A RESULT (`"word 16 of rule 1 (nonce …)"`, `isError:false`) — the attest choke point holds and never flips the flag. stderr carried only `[mcp] server up` / `[mcp] stdin closed; exiting clean` — stdout purity + clean EOF confirmed.
Full write path: `initialize` → `attest` (earned key) → `"session attested: ledger tools are now live"` → `bless i18-m5-spike-recorded by=agent` → `"blessed i18-m5-spike-recorded"`. A REAL ledger write through the server — the status-to-bless walk the M1 bar named. (This same drive cleared the M5 propagated-suspect cone.)

uc-field-schemas — the schema mechanism exercised on a real graph fixture:

a planted node with a bad enum/type is flagged by name+field+broken-rule
a valid node passes
the schema-set tester rejects a malformed schema (unknown type, bad tier, default outside enum)

The live graph stays clean — zero field findings on blessed nodes. The fixes behind it:

enums scoped to live values
the composed-verify pattern widened
embedded-region id-guard

uc-architecture-review — the onion diagram IS the reviewable deliverable. `quack render` produces the self-contained onion:

concentric-circles-always (no ellipses)
per-element placement rationale
informed-by links from architecture ADRs
change-marks that propagate element→cluster→ring
single-click inspects + highlights connections
double-click drills

Screenshot-verified without owner input at overview / L1-band / kernel / cluster levels. The services band renders as a clean concentric circle. Every I/O bar is labeled. No targetless bar and no arrow-to-ambient (ambient is off-flow infra pills). The morning review render is `onion-review.html`.

uc-derive-structure — `quack cluster` run on our OWN design-flow DSM (not a toy):

141 coupled design regions
330 directed couplings
degree-of-connectivity 0.0167 (sparse → clustering meaningful)
TotalCost 28254
deterministic (id-sorted passes + 3 fixed restarts, no RNG)

It produced 41 coupling-grouped clusters layered by Tarjan+Kahn with tearing. The i18 work self-clusters coherently — `C7 = {go-mcp-server, go-mcp-session}` and `C4 = {go-field-schemas, go-schema-tester}` — evidence the grouping tracks real coupling. The feature-module lens vs the abstraction-onion lens agree partially (complementary views, judged NOT a defect — recorded rather than auto-restructured).

uc-run-dep-free (reframed by adr-install-not-zero-dep) — the one-click install-and-demo package (tools/RUNME.ps1 Windows/Winget, tools/RUNME.sh Linux/CI) each check+install deps and run a small demo on a fresh machine. Built as M8-prep (see M8-handover.md). The ship packaging itself is M8, owner-gated.

uc-vehicle-extends (killer, composed at this validation walk) — the M7 all-needs sweep found the vehicle chain short of the owner's field case (IP-restricted norms in a vehicle driving stubs). The sweep drove the fix back into M6 (req-vehicle-drives-stub, test-first). Demonstrated LIVE, the owner's exact flow:

`start init` scaffolded a vehicle.
An IEC-norm method file was committed into its declared overlay (`product/iec-vehicle/method/norms/`).
The vehicle created a stub.
The stub resolved the vehicle's norm AND the vendored engine prompt (the merged surface) and drove `status` cleanly — while the machine-global engine pointer survived untouched (the hijack the walk had demonstrated live is closed).

The hermetic e2e (selftest:vehicle-chain) repeats the chain in the battery. This validation also verified the OLD bug report (bugreport-external-stub-engineroot.md, commit 1ee99ca): its exact repro now passes.

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

use cases (6)

designs (4)

✓i18-m7-meets-need ✓i18-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i18-m8-config

evidence

Nothing in this pass added new configuration surface — the two scripts run existing commands (`start stubs`, `status`, `report --out`, `version`) and touch no schema, no debounce interval, no engine source. Those were already baselined at M6 (`M6-build.md`: golden root re-baselined, `be07c5872bcf`). The golden root at the start of this pass read green (`3c02f146556a`, battery 318/0) and was left untouched — this task ran no `quack build`.

✓i18-m8-docs

✓i18-m8-handover

evidence

Owner act, left for the owner — not agent-stamped. One thing this pass could not self-verify: neither script was run end-to-end on an actually fresh machine (no Winget-only Windows box or bare apt/dnf/apk container was available in this session). The owner running `tools\RUNME.ps1` (or `tools/RUNME.sh` in CI) at least once before accepting is the real proof the install-and-demo bar is met, not just authored.

✓i18-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` (`cmdShip`, `product/engine-go/ops.go`) zips `product/` into `<data-home>/out/<brand>-<version>.zip`, writing `book.html` and `report.html` at the zip root. Read directly from source, not assumed.

It does not currently include `tools/RUNME.ps1` or `tools/RUNME.sh`. Both were originally authored at the repo root — the same level as the launcher — because that is where `one script, one click, from an unzipped folder` (uc-run-dep-free) needs them to sit, alongside the tree they drive. A later pass moved them into `tools/` (root entry-count discipline) and repointed their internal paths to resolve the repo root as their own directory's parent. So `.\tools\RUNME.ps1` / `tools/RUNME.sh` still find `quack.cmd`, `product/engine-go` and `spec/book.html` correctly. `quack ship`'s walk only covers `product/`, so it does not pick the two scripts up on its own from either location.

Wiring step left for the owner: decide whether and how `quack ship` copies `tools/RUNME.ps1` + `tools/RUNME.sh` into the zip (most likely alongside `book.html`/`report.html` at the zip root, mirroring `writeBookCopies`). This is a small `ops.go` change, deliberately not made in this pass. The constraint on this task explicitly excludes engine `.go` edits. And the exact zip layout is a call worth the owner's eye, not a mechanical one. `cmdShip` must now read the scripts from `tools/`, not the repo root.

Until that wiring lands, both scripts are reachable exactly the way `uc-run-dep-free` states the bar: "run the engine on a fresh machine from an unzipped folder." A git clone satisfies that identically to a ship zip; only the shipped-zip path is still open.

use cases (1)

✓i18-m8-gate

i0019_strangers_book 54/54

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i19-m1-prior-art

evidence

Deep research, 5 angles, adversarially verified (all cited claims survived 3-0 votes; full report in the research record):

Doc-type separation validates the design (Diataxis, primary source): a tutorial is a distinct learning-oriented type; blurring type boundaries is "at the heart of a vast number of problems in documentation." The deck-as-tutorial kept apart from the guides table and the reference register is the established shape - the 2.2 chapter ROUTES, it does not blend.
Deep-linkable decks in single-file HTML are precedented: reveal.js `#/<id>` fragment anchors; Quarto's configurable hash slugs and its `embed-resources` single-file bundling. req-deck-links reinvents nothing; it adopts a documented pattern inside our own renderer.
Machine-legible slides have a concrete recipe (W3C APG, MDN, reveal-a11y): a `<section>` WITHOUT an accessible name is `role=generic` - invisible "section soup"; adding `aria-label`/`aria-labelledby` promotes it to a navigable REGION landmark; the deck's navigator carries the `navigation` role; multiple nav landmarks need unique labels. This is the req-deck-semantics implementation guidance, free.
The terms-before-use lint is NOVEL - a real gap, not a reinvention: Vale's conditional check flags only 3-5-letter acronyms with inline parenthetical definitions and tests presence, not ORDER; Grafana's rule is suggestion-level; textlint-rule-terminology fixes spelling only. No tool enforces definition-before-use against a glossary. Ours will be the first we could find.
Embedded runnable examples: demand is proven, cost is real (MDN): 156/159 surveyed users wanted more runnable examples, but MDN shipped a page-load regression doing it. The verified lesson for req-pong-deck.3: LAZY-LOAD the playable embed behind the size budget, never eager-init.
Honest negative: no surviving evidence that game-building tutorials aid comprehension. The Pong choice stands on universality and rule-of-cool - recorded as a judgment, not dressed as research.

requirements (4)

✓i19-m1-problem

✓i19-m1-risks

evidence

R: the playable embed regresses the book's load. MDN's measured failure mode. Mitigation: req-pong-deck.3's size budget + lazy-init; the M5 spike MEASURES before M6 commits; the static-figure fallback is specified.
R: the five-minute claim is fiction. A timeline with invented numbers would be the book lying about itself. Mitigation: the M5 spike walks Pong for real, wall-clock timed per milestone (owner instruction); the deck uses only measured numbers.
R: deck landmark noise. W3C advises landmarks sparingly; a many-slide deck as all-regions could degrade AT navigation. Mitigation: label the DECK boundary and navigator; slides get names via aria-labelledby on their headings, not one landmark per slide unless the M5 read confirms it helps.
A: the glossary is complete enough to be the term list (req-terms-before-use.2 leans on it); the red-team says it is NOT yet (killer/pager/determinizer undefined) - so the lint lands together with the glossary growth, else it flags nothing.
I: the white-label check may surface deep prose leaks (method text written in quackitect's voice) whose fix belongs to the method layer, not the renderer - if so, scope the fix honestly at M6 and record the remainder.

requirements (2)

✓i19-m1-success

evidence

Every requirement maps to a named selftest (onboarding-surface, deck-links, pong-deck, runme-orientation, terms-before-use, white-label-book). The killer acceptance is behavioral: a stranger's five-minute path EXISTS end-to-end (chapter -> deck -> orientation), the deck's timeline carries MEASURED minutes from the timed M5 walk, a planted term-order violation is flagged advisory by lint, and a book rendered from a fixture vehicle passes the white-label check with a planted leak caught. The M7 validation adds a fresh cold-read against the red-team's original findings - the same stranger criteria, re-run.

✓i19-m1-vision

evidence

The book survives first contact. In scope: the onboarding chapter (2.2) routing a stranger to the five-minutes-to-Pong walkthrough deck and the newcomer-filtered guides; deck citizenship (stable deep-link anchors, machine-legible slide markup, out of the ToC); the discoverability triangle (chapter, guides row, README); the RUNME slim-down to install+verify+orientation; the terms-before-use advisory lint; the white-label vehicle book. Out of scope (fenced): the field-schema consumers (i0020_field_ux); the connection-matrix and render-structure leads (backlogged with ready-whens); the AI-vs-human full project guide (a later iteration, noted). The theme: the same book, read for the first time.

decisions (1)

✓i19-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i19-m2-inputs

evidence

Context (system-in-focus + neighbours, IN/OUT): the RENDERED BOOK is the system in focus; its neighbours are the guides table and glossary (inside the same HTML), the README (links IN to the book), the RUNME scripts (orient TOWARD the book's deck), a VEHICLE workspace (renders its OWN book through the same engine), and the reader - stranger, colleague, or machine. IN: spec nodes, manifests, brand layer, glossary. OUT: one self-contained HTML, the deck anchors, lint findings. Use cases: uc-onboard-newcomer (killer), uc-deck-deep-link, uc-white-label-book. Carried question: q-trace-graph-scaling (rides to the M4 gate). Field probes (the real channel, not the datasheet):

The guides table ALREADY keeps view state in the URL hash with preset machinery - req-onboarding-chapter.3's filtered link rides an existing rail, no new mechanism.
Decks ALREADY render stable per-slide ids (`man-deck-presentation-s1`, `data-deck` attributes) - req-deck-links.3's anchor substrate half-exists; what is missing is URL reflection on open, deck-level jump, and the ARIA naming: the probe shows bare `<section>` elements, which the verified research maps to `role=generic` "section soup" - the machine-illegibility the stranger hit, confirmed in our own markup.
The book RENDERS from a vehicle (probe: the iec-vehicle fixture renders 56KB) but carries `<title>quack — the spec book</title>` and ZERO mentions of the vehicle's name - the white-label gap CONFIRMED at baseline, req-vehicle-white-label is fixing a real, observed defect.
The RUNME scripts (read at i18 M8) create a demo workspace - the exact behavior req-runme-orientation.3 removes.

questions (1)

requirements (4)

use cases (3)

✓i19-m2-prior-art

evidence

The requirement SET checked against the verified research (M1 record):

req-deck-semantics gains its implementation checklist from the W3C/MDN recipe (aria-labelledby on the deck boundary, navigation role on the navigator, unique labels among nav landmarks; slides named via their headings, landmarks used sparingly per W3C).
req-deck-links matches the reveal.js/Quarto precedent (fragment anchors, slug-from-manifest); nothing in the set contradicts the established pattern.
req-pong-deck.3 carries MDN's measured lesson (size budget + lazy-INIT inside the single file - one file always, the work deferred, not the bytes moved).
req-terms-before-use is NOVEL (no tool found enforces definition-before-use) - the set adds a check the ecosystem lacks; statement 2's glossary-as-term-list follows Vale's vocabulary-scoping convention while fixing its ordering blindness.
Best-practice misses ADDED by the scan: none forced a new requirement; the Diataxis separation validated the routing shape already in req-onboarding-chapter (the chapter routes, the deck teaches, the table serves work).

requirements (5)

✓i19-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i19-m2-req-traced auto

✓i19-m2-stakeholders

evidence

By role, no one left out: the STRANGER (first contact, the red-team's persona - served by 2.2, the deck, the terms lint), the ORG COLLEAGUE (meets the VEHICLE's book - served by white-label), the OWNER/maintainer (keeps one book, no forked docs - served by everything being one artifact), the AGENT (machine reader - served by deck semantics and machine-legible markup), CI (runs RUNME.sh headless - served by the orientation-only slim-down), and the ADJUDICATOR (walks gates - untouched by this iteration). No new stakeholder type; the register's roles cover all six.

✓i19-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i19-m3-alternatives

✓i19-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirements, weight in parentheses (5 = vital):

Single-file, file://-safe, no external requests (5) - the book's standing law; kills anything server-shaped.
Shareable plain links (5) - uc-deck-deep-link's whole point.
One owner per mechanism - no contention with existing rails (4) - the hash rail exists; two owners corrupt both.
Machine-digestible document, minimal JS complexity (4) - the book is read by machines (req-deck-semantics); a router is SPA furniture in a document.
DRY - one source of truth per fact (4) - the term list, the identity, the anchors.
Hash-honesty (3) - no mechanism may rewrite prose at render time in ways the ledger cannot see.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i19-m3-feasibility

evidence

A1: the slide ids and the hash rail EXIST (M2 probes); reflection is a handful of JS lines beside the existing hash handling. LOW risk.
B1: the glossary renders from one place; the lint reads the same source the renderer does. LOW risk; effectiveness gated on glossary growth (carried RAID).
C3: the title/wordmark already resolve through resolveBrand for ASSETS - extending to the emitter's title/colophon strings is the same seam; the prose sweep is bounded (the M6 white-label test enumerates the leaks). MEDIUM effort, LOW risk.
A2/B2: feasible but each violates a 4-or-5-weight criterion (contention; shadow list) - carried as recorded rejections, not tripwires.

✓i19-m3-gate

M4 architecture reviewed and adjudicated; q-trace-graph-scaling closed here as a readiness fact, decided or explicitly deferred with its own carry-forward.6 / 6 done

✓i19-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i19-m4-chosen

evidence

Pugh runs per fork, datum = the strongest rival (M3), criteria and weights from i19-m3-criteria:

Fork A (datum: A2 router) - A1 fragment-reflection:

single-file (=)
shareable links (=)
one-owner-per-mechanism (+, the router CONTENDS with the existing hash rail)
machine-digestible/minimal JS (+)
DRY (=)
hash-honesty (=)

A1 wins on 2 criteria, loses none.

Fork B (datum: B2 curated list) - B1 glossary-as-list:

DRY (+, no shadow list)
single-source growth (+)
independence from glossary thinness (-, carried RAID)

B1 wins 2:1; the loss is mitigated by the glossary growth the stranger needs anyway.

Fork C (datum: C1 renderer-only substitution) - C3 hybrid:

hash-honesty (+, no render-time prose rewriting)
mechanical testability of identity surfaces (=)
bounded prose sweep (-, effort)

C3 wins 1:-1 net positive with the effort priced at M6.

Sensitivity check, REVERSED (find the world where the winner loses): A1 loses if a future book becomes a multi-VIEW SPA where many components own navigation state - then a router is the right owner. Credibility: LOW for a document that is deliberately one self-contained HTML. Recorded as a tripwire, not a blocker. IF a second hash-state owner ever appears beyond the existing rail, revisit adr-deck-anchor-fragment. B1 loses if the glossary permanently stays thin - then the lint is inert. Credibility MEDIUM, carried as the M1 RAID with the mitigation in-scope (glossary growth is part of the stranger fixes). C3 loses if the prose sweep explodes (hundreds of self-referential sites); credibility LOW - the M2 probe found the vehicle book small and the M6 white-label test enumerates leaks first.

Decisions recorded (all kind: architecture, informed-by wired to their elements):

adr-deck-anchor-fragment
adr-terms-source-glossary
adr-white-label-hybrid

decisions (3)

✓i19-m4-model-authored

✓i19-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Every choice traces to the weighted criteria, which trace to requirements and standing laws: single-file (the book's law), shareable links (uc-deck-deep-link), one-owner (the M2 probe's existing rail), DRY (owner law), hash-honesty (the ledger's trust chain). No criterion is taste.

use cases (1)

✓i19-m4-views

evidence

The engine onion (model-engine-layers) is the ONE view, updated - no new model kind is needed for three render-band elements (the registry offers no better-fitting kind for this delta; a state or tree view would answer no question this iteration asks). Structuring method: considered and SKIPPED - three elements with obvious family homes (deck render, lints, book shell) is below any clustering threshold; the meth-dsm menu stays unused this round, per the checklist's menu-not-mandate.

models (1)

✓i19-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i19-m5-assumptions

✓i19-m5-buildable

evidence

The deck's material exists (spike/slides-material.md: per-milestone one-liners + the timeline), the game artifact is the keeper (spike/pong.html - captured backward as design input for the M6 embed), and the anchor/semantics work rides markup that already half-exists (M2 probes). Nothing in the spike moved the architecture: the M4 decisions stand unrevised.

✓i19-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

The toy project reached 25/25 checks green, all 8 gates, and a shipped zip. Newcomer-friction findings, ranked by bite (the honest 4 minutes): 1. Attest wall right after scaffold (~3:02 measured): `start <version>` blocks; the grant is console-only BY DESIGN (the adjudicator's act) - an agent-driven newcomer has no sanctioned path. Ruled a DECK-HONESTY item + open note: the walkthrough shows the human granting once; whether an agent lane should exist is the owner's design call (NOTE-20260712-132005). 2. The scaffold starts in legacy edge mode - composing edges the documented way (connections jsonl) gets a STRICT refusal until `migrate-edges` runs. M6 bugfix: stubs scaffold in connections mode from birth. 3. The scaffold's example content is not strict-clean (a dangling example edge refused the graph). M6 bugfix: the stub set ships lint-clean. 4. HTML is invisible to the design scan (.go/.py/.md only) - a web-game project cannot carry design markers in its actual code. M6 scope call at build-planning: extend the scan to .html/.js, or the deck honestly shows the companion-md pattern. 5-7. Empty-region delta message unclear; unknown `type: note` silently becomes a blessable check; ship prints "NOT packaged" then "shipped" in one breath (M6 bugfix: honest copy). Items 1, 5, 6 noted for triage; 2, 3, 7 ride M6 as bugfixes (they violate existing shipped requirements - the bugfix lane, no new trace).

requirements (1)

✓i19-m5-gate

M6 implementation17 / 17 done

✓i19-m6-build-planned ✓i19-m6-designs auto

✓i19-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The five-minute timeline is the measured 4:46 walk-only time rounded to half-minute steps (owner ruling: friction fixed this iteration is excluded - connections-mode and clean stubs are gone for every future newcomer; the attest grant stays on slide 2 as the adjudicator's honest act; the M5 evidence keeps the raw 10:24).
The facet-preset router is new JS in the one-owner rail; its three delegation points (hashchange, load, bookGoto-miss) are asserted in the selftest, and replaceState semantics keep history clean.
The white-label sweep found no further shell identity leaks; deep method-prose voice remains for the M7 consistency sweep to audit (carried, not hidden).

✓i19-m6-models

evidence

The three M4-allocated elements were filled exactly where the diagram put them: go-deck-anchors (rim--graph, beside deck-mode - it grew the fragment router and the embed budget as the walk demanded, implements extended honestly), go-terms-order-lint (beside spec-lints, consuming the renderer's own chapter order and glossary map by construction), go-white-label-identity (beside title-card, the workspaceProduct seam). No unsanctioned element: model-conformance green. Content-realized statements bind in method design blocks (method-runme-orientation, method-onboarding-surface in dependencies.md - the whole stranger's route-in contract in one doc).

designs (5)

✓i19-m6-quality

evidence

gofmt clean (the build's analysis gate); stdlib only, zero new dependencies; deterministic renders (parity green throughout); the external-link lint was NARROWED never weakened (own-clone-URL in a deck only, derived live from the origin remote - foreign URLs and out-of-deck uses still flag, both directions selftested); one honest stray captured to the notes lane (in-book deck links reach bookGoto without deck delegation) rather than chased.

✓i19-m6-red auto ✓i19-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i19-m6-verification auto

✓i19-m6-build

evidence

All seven planned steps realized: p1 deck citizenship (anchors, region landmarks, ToC exclusion, Minutes timeline, lazy template embed with the single new-Function execution lane); p2 the terms lint (advisory, mechanically pinned - its first live run flagged the red-team's exact seven terms); p3 white-label (the vehicle-titled book, engine as colophon credit, planted-leak check); p4 the six-slide Pong deck per the owner's outline (self-contained starter prompt, the rigor beat, the real-walk timeline - measured 4:46 walk-only, fixed friction excluded, half-minute steps, 5 minutes total (owner ruling) - and the playable embed) + chapter 2.2 + the guides deck row + the README Pages link; p5 RUNME check-install-verify-orient (no workspace, ever); p6 the spike bugfixes (connections-mode stubs from birth, lint-clean examples, one-truth ship summary); p7 nine glossary entries. Two mid-build engine catches fixed under their regions: the timeline float artifact (10.399... -> 10.4) and the missing over-budget embed fallback.

✓i19-m6-p1-deck-anchors ✓i19-m6-p2-terms-lint ✓i19-m6-p3-white-label ✓i19-m6-p5-runme ✓i19-m6-p6-bugfixes ✓i19-m6-p7-glossary ✓i19-m6-p4-onboarding-content

✓i19-m6-gate

M7 validation6 / 6 done

✓i19-m7-acceptance

evidence

The owner drove FOUR design rounds on the deliverable itself during M6 - the slide outline, the round-2 nine bullets, rounds 3-4 corrections, and the final onion-renderer ruling - each implemented, screenshot-verified, and re-presented; the M6 gate bless closed that loop. The M7 gate bless below is the validation sign-off; both ride the ledger as the acceptance evidence.

✓i19-m7-consistency

evidence

The FIRST run of the new sweep (added to the rigor checklist this iteration), over everything i19 changed - two real drifts found and fixed at their homes:

The deck TEMPLATE taught none of the new mechanisms (Minutes timeline, columns, embed lanes + budget + stop protocol, the mermaid model fence, fig reuse, term toasts) - every future project would scaffold a dumb deck. The template's tailor comment now teaches all of them.
The WHITE-LABEL seam was undiscoverable (product/brand/name.txt / the identity resolution order) - now documented in the integrate prompt's brand section, where a vehicle creator actually reads.

Already-current: AGENTS.md (the i18 verbs), compose-reference (connections mode, fixed at this iteration's start), the RUNME contract (method-runme-orientation), the role charter and the targeted-verify law (baked mid-iteration at owner rulings). The i18-found doc gaps (mcp/dependencies) were closed at i18 M8 and stayed closed.

designs (1)

✓i19-m7-gaps

evidence

Deferred (noted): the two book cleanups the owner named mid-round - the engine credit under every page, the informed-by lists under model figures (NOTE-20260712-171042).
Deferred (noted): deck termrefs carry the FULL definition; chapter termrefs keep the short form - the depth-parity question is a recorded lead.
Backlog stands: rigor-fit mechanical detection (the deck says so honestly), the drivers-table rework, the connection matrix, excalidraw-as-requirement, the render/structure leads.
Watch: the five-minutes claim is agent-paced; a human's typing pace differs - the deck states what was measured and how.

decisions (1)

✓i19-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

uc-onboard-newcomer (killer): the deck exists in the shipped book, deep-linkable (#man-deck-pong), all six slides per the owner's outline across four owner design rounds - the always-visible court with start/stop, the interactive onion on s4 fed pong's own model through the ONE generalized renderer, the chat figure with the rigor exchange, the measured timeline reading as a timeline. Every round screenshot-verified by two pairs of eyes (the builder's and the orchestrator's).
uc-deck-deep-link: opening the deck reflects the URL; loading with the fragment opens present mode (screenshot-proven); the README's Pages URL reaches it; in-book links enter present mode (the owner's own click found the dead path - fixed and re-verified); in-book README self-links ride the rails.
uc-white-label-book: the live vehicle probe above, on top of the hermetic selftest.

use cases (3)

✓i19-m7-meets-need ✓i19-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i19-m8-config

evidence

Golden root re-baselined at every content change through the walk (final at the ship); the glossary (now 20+ terms incl. grant and ADR) and the terms-lint advisory class are pinned by selftests; the field-schema config home is untouched (i0020_field_ux territory).

✓i19-m8-docs

✓i19-m8-handover

evidence

The owner drove the deliverable through four live design rounds and walked every gate personally; the M8 gate bless below closes the hand-over on the ledger.

✓i19-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages the zip with book.html + report.html + README.md + RUNME.ps1 + RUNME.sh at the zip root (the i19 engine fix: the README travels with the work, the installer rides from the workspace's tools/ or the engine's - every project's receiver can set up the toolchain). Run at this walk; contents verified below.

✓i19-m8-gate

i0020_cold_run_fixes 23/23

M1 L1 Frame -2 / 2 done

✓i20-m1-problem

evidence

A cold, memory-less run of the whole chain (clone → Zwiftbot vehicle via `start init` → Benjamin stub via `start stubs` → M1/M2 walked to owner blesses) surfaced ten field notes, each a reproduced gap, now archived with disposition (data home `notes/archive/NOTE-20260712-*`):

1. go-bin shim unwired - vehicle launchers call bare `go`. Bootstrap + ratchet fail on a machine with uv/go-bin but no native Go. `dependencies.md` path drift (`product\tools` vs `.quack\tools`). 2. defer/retire not ported to the Go engine - documented reaches fail; scope tailoring was a by-hand checklist edit. 3. Compose toil - systematic `start` seeds only `iteration.md`; the agent hand-transcribes the whole milestone checklist. 4. Hand-authoring toil - `mint`/`apply` not serving vehicles for typed nodes/edges; ~40 files hand-written in Benjamin. 5. Edges default split - `start stubs` defaults `edges=connections` but `start init` does not. Compose-reference calls frontmatter "the default" while JSONL is the intent. 6. Stub template pollution - `ex-*` example nodes + example connections flip coverage red and hard-refuse the strict graph once real content exists. 7. Vehicle lint schema-home - resolves the dogfood path instead of vehicle→engine. 8. NFR tracing - `req-traced` demands req→use-case; the owner's qualities-need pattern needs the ISO-quality-use-case convention canonized. 9. Vehicle/overlay concept buried in `integrate.md`. No guard against composing a driven project inside the vehicle's own spec (happened; Benjamin relocated). 10. `project_types/classes/` naming smell - stakeholder classes masquerade as a project type.

Scope: fix the batch small; cheap extras ride (README walkthrough-link fold-in). The seed-checklist fix (3) ships a cheap slice or defers explicitly. Success = each note fixed-and-verified or deferred-with-reason at M7; selftest green.

✓i20-m1-gate

M2 L2 Requirements -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m2-delta

evidence

Each fix names what it repairs. No fix adds a new user-facing capability, so no new requirement is minted - every step amends behavior an existing requirement or doc already claims (the bugfix rule: the test verifies the EXISTING requirement the bug violated).

fix step	repairs
i20-m4-shim	`req-go-port.5` (dependency prompt/fallback promise in dependencies.md) - the documented go-bin lane actually works: dogfood launcher, scaffolded launchers, and the engine's internal `go build` (ratchet) resolve the shim
i20-m4-edges-default	`req-connections-lanes` intent - `start init` scaffolds `edges=connections` like `start stubs` already does; compose-reference wording says JSONL is the lane for new work
i20-m4-template-clean	`start stubs` template contract - example nodes must not flip a live board red or hard-refuse the strict graph (observed: ex-need/ex-usecase coverage holes + dangling ex-connections after cleanup)
i20-m4-defer-port	AGENTS.md/engage.md documented reaches (`defer`, `retire`) - docs promise them; the Go engine refuses them
i20-m4-schema-home	vehicle resolution (`req-engine-vehicle-overlay`) - lint's schema home resolves vehicle->engine instead of the hardcoded dogfood path
i20-m4-seed	compose toil (method promise: "bake the checklist") - cheap slice or explicit defer
i20-m4-guard	integrate.md bootstrap flow - the vehicle-spec-vs-driven-workspace confusion gets a doc warning + a cheap lint (vehicle with iterations, empty product/)
i20-m4-docs-batch	doc drift: vehicle/overlay guide missing; project_types/classes/ mislabeled; README walkthrough-link placement (already edited locally, folds in); NFR ISO-quality-use-case convention into compose-reference

requirements (3)

✓i20-m2-req-traced auto ✓i20-m2-gate

M3 L3 Design -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m3-adr-traced auto

✓i20-m3-approach

evidence

1. Shim home - options:

(a) `product/tools/go.cmd` (dependencies.md's documented path; vendors into vehicles naturally as `tools/vendor/tools/`)
(b) `.quack/tools` (what quack.cmd's PATH line points at today; nothing ships there)
(c) write the shim at scaffold time

Chosen: (a) - ship ONE shim in the repo at `product/tools/go.cmd`. The dogfood launcher appends `product\tools`, scaffolded launchers append `tools\vendor\tools`. Docs were right, the launcher was wrong - the fix makes reality match dependencies.md. ADR: [[adr-shim-product-tools]].

2. Edges default - options: (a) flip the engine's global default to connections (DANGER: legacy workspaces without an `edges` key silently flip lanes and the strict parser refuses their frontmatter edges), (b) scaffold-time default only. Chosen: (b) - `start init` writes `edges = "connections"` exactly as `start stubs` already does. The engine's global default stays `frontmatter` for legacy compatibility. Compose-reference says plainly: JSONL connections is the lane for NEW work, frontmatter is the legacy lane pending `migrate-edges`. ADR: [[adr-scaffold-edges-connections]].

3. Template examples - options:

(a) drop the trace-entering `ex-*` nodes from the stub template
(b) engine-side exclusion of example ids from coverage/strict graph
(c) commented-out examples

Chosen: (a) - drop from the template:

the `ex-need`, `ex-usecase`, `ex-criterion` and `ex-rationale` nodes
the example connections (`refers` ex-line, `conflicts-with` example)

Keep inert non-trace examples only if they enter no graph. (b) would teach the engine to ignore ids by prefix - a hack that could mask real nodes.

4. Seed shape - options: (a) full checklist seeding at `start` (moderate engine feature), (b) explicit defer. Chosen: (b) defer to i0021_field_ux - thematically it IS that iteration ("filling quackitect becomes vetoing, not authoring"). A rushed generator today risks the working-tomorrow goal. Recorded as the explicit defer the checklist step allows.

5. Vehicle-misuse guard - `quack lint` warns when the workspace is a VEHICLE (engine resolves through `tools/vendor/`) AND `spec/iterations/` holds iterations AND `product/` is effectively empty - the exact signature of composing a driven project inside the vehicle's spec. Plus one warning sentence in integrate.md's bootstrap flow. No options worth weighing - it is the cheapest lint that catches the observed failure.

6. defer/retire port - options:

(a) full move-a-check-across-iterations semantics
(b) minimal status-stamp port: `quack defer <id> --reason` / `quack retire <id> --reason` stamp the task frontmatter (`deferred:`/`retired:` + reason), and `next`/board/ready exclude stamped checks honestly (counted separately, never DONE)

Chosen: (b) - self-contained and honest. It unblocks the documented reaches. The cross-iteration move can come with i0021.

7. NFR convention (owner ruling, this session) - canonize in compose-reference: reserve a qualities need. Its use-cases are the ISO/IEC 25010 quality characteristics. Quality requirements refine those use-cases. Keeps `req-traced` exact with zero engine change. Documentation only.

decisions (2)

✓i20-m3-gate

M4 L4 Build and test -12 / 12 done

✓i20-m4-build

evidence

All steps above realized; design markers: `go-defer-retire`, `go-vehicle-misuse-guard` (new), plus amended regions in ops.go/config.go/trust.go/cli.go/engine.go.

designs (2)

✓i20-m4-defer-port

evidence

Minimal stamp port (defer.go, `go-defer-retire`): `quack defer <id> <reason>` / `quack retire <id> <reason>` stamp the check's frontmatter; reason REQUIRED. Boards render `[>] DEFER` / `[-] RETIRED`; `stateSatisfies` releases dependents and versions (a deferred check never blocks the walk, never reads DONE). Strict whitelist extended. Dogfooded in this very iteration: `i20-m4-seed` below was deferred with the new command.

designs (1)

✓i20-m4-docs-batch

evidence

NEW guide `vehicles-and-overlays.md` (engine/vehicle/stub model + override-don't-fork, one page).
`project_types/classes/README.md` - role classes, NOT a project type; type-stakeholders test respects it.
compose-reference: the NFR convention canonized (qualities need -> ISO-25010 quality use-cases -> quality reqs) + the edges-lane clarity.
integrate.md warning; AGENTS.md shim wording; README walkthrough-link fold-in (the pre-iteration edit, now owned here).

✓i20-m4-edges-default

evidence

`vehicleTomlTmpl` (extracted const) now carries `edges = "connections"`, matching `start stubs`. The engine's global default stays frontmatter for legacy boards ([[adr-scaffold-edges-connections]]). compose-reference now states plainly: JSONL connections is THE lane for new work.

decisions (1)

✓i20-m4-guard

evidence

`vehicleMisuseFinding()` (defer.go, `go-vehicle-misuse-guard`): lint warns when a VEHICLE's spec holds iterations while product/ is empty - the exact Benjamin-in-zwiftbot signature. Plus the integrate.md bootstrap warning block. The avoid-it-in-the-future ask, structural.

designs (1)

✓i20-m4-schema-home

evidence

`configDir()` now routes through `EngineDir()` instead of the hardcoded dogfood path - a vehicle inherits the vendored config; the "no schema home" lint noise every vehicle saw is gone.

✓i20-m4-seed

evidence

Deferred to i0021_field_ux with the recorded reason (its theme IS "filling becomes vetoing"); stamped via the new `quack defer` - the M3 decision 4 executed exactly as decided.

✓i20-m4-shim

evidence

The shim was ALWAYS shipped (`product/tools/go.cmd`) - the launchers just never pointed at it. Fixed: `quack.cmd` appends `product\tools` (the retired `.quack\tools` reference is gone, and the stray `.quack/` dir with it - clean-status green again); the scaffolded vehicle launcher (`vehicleLauncherTmpl`, ops.go) appends `tools\vendor\tools`, which the vendoring populates for free. NEW: `product/tools/gofmt.cmd` - go-bin exposes only `go.exe`, so the gofmt shim resolves GOROOT and forwards; this un-broke `selftest go-analysis` AND let the engine's own static-analysis build gate run (it immediately caught unformatted code in this very batch - the gate works). dependencies.md's documented paths now match reality.

✓i20-m4-template-clean

evidence

Dropped from the stub template: `trace/ex-need`, `trace/ex-criterion`, `trace/ex-rationale`, `trace/ex-force-rationale`, `usecases/ex-usecase`, the `conflicts-with` example connection, and the example edges in `refers`/`refines` jsonl (files stay, empty). Non-trace examples (stakeholders, raid, rules, guides, methods) stay - they teach shapes without entering coverage. Tests amended to the new contract: `example-notes` (asserts survivors present AND trace-enterers absent), `stub-spec` (lanes exist, no ex- edges), `type-stakeholders` (skips the new classes/README).

✓i20-m4-quality

evidence

Self-review: every change carries its rationale comment and design marker; the analysis gate (now functional) vetoes unformatted code; behavior changes swept their asserting tests in the same walk (three amended, none deleted); no scope beyond the noted fixes + the two owner-sanctioned extras (gofmt shim, README fold-in).

Verdict: all seven realized steps green, one honest defer. The killer `tests-pass` computes green. The L4 gate goes to the owner.

✓i20-m4-tests-pass auto ✓i20-m4-gate

M5 L5 Docs and ship -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m5-docs

evidence

Note-by-note outcome - every one of the 10 archived cold-run notes, disposed:

note	outcome
go-bin fallback unwired	FIXED - launchers wire `product\tools` (dogfood) / `tools\vendor\tools` (vehicles); NEW gofmt shim; dependencies.md matches reality; test-cold-run-fixes guards it
defer/retire not ported	FIXED (minimal) - stamp port, boards render [>]/[-], dependents release; cross-iteration move recorded as future work
compose toil (seed checklist)	DEFERRED to i0021_field_ux - stamped with the new `quack defer`, reason recorded (thematic home)
hand-authoring toil (mint/apply for vehicles)	PARTIALLY ADDRESSED - authoring lanes documented; full mint extension rides i0021 with seed (same theme)
edges default split	FIXED - init scaffolds connections like stubs ([[adr-scaffold-edges-connections]]); compose-reference names the lanes plainly
vehicle lint schema-home	FIXED - configDir() resolves vehicle->engine
NFR tracing vs req-traced	CANONIZED - the qualities-need -> ISO-25010-quality-use-cases convention is in compose-reference; no engine change needed
vehicle/overlay concept unclear	FIXED - vehicles-and-overlays guide + integrate.md bootstrap warning + the misuse lint (go-vehicle-misuse-guard)
project-type classes smell	FIXED - classes/README declares role classes, not a type; type-stakeholders test respects it
stub template pollution	FIXED - trace-entering ex-* nodes and example edges out; example-notes/stub-spec/type-stakeholders amended to the new contract

In-flight findings, disposed: the i0016 "orphan tests" alarm was a MISDIAGNOSIS - groom/tray are properly deferred dormant canvas features and tests-pass honors the deferral. The REAL blemishes (why-delta lists deferred/uncached tests as deltas; the two deferral ADRs carry TODO statements) are noted for the next triage. The pre-existing selftest failures are gone: clean-status (the stray .quack removed with the shim fix) and go-analysis (the gofmt shim) - the analysis gate is live again and vetoed unformatted code in this very batch.

Consistency sweep - all of these describe the POST-fix behavior:

dependencies.md
AGENTS.md
compose-reference
integrate.md
the new guide
the launcher comments

No prompt teaches the superseded way (the retired .quack\tools reference is gone).

decisions (1)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i20-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ -> the data home out/, regenerating the book and report; the committed spec/book.html refreshes in the same move.

Verdict: every note fixed, canonized or explicitly deferred with its reason. Battery green (exit 0, zero FAIL). The working-tomorrow goal is covered (fresh clone + `.\quack` bootstraps and ratchets with zero native Go). The killer docs check and the L5 gate go to the owner.

✓i20-m5-gate

i0021_field_ux 64/64

M1 motivation reviewed and adjudicated - the frame is right and worth walking.6 / 6 done

✓i21-m1-prior-art

evidence

Method: the referenced research capability (deep-research). 5 angles. 22 sources fetched. 25 top claims adversarially verified 3-vote - 24 confirmed / 1 refuted. Full verified report retained in the session record; the load-bearing findings:

Schema-driven forms are solved, but render BLANK. react-jsonschema-form and JSON Forms

drive widgets, validation, and defaults from one JSON Schema at runtime. Both needed a SECOND artifact (uiSchema) for presentation. Neither generates field content.

Position: our schema layer (i18 `req-field-schemas`) matches the state of the art; the

content-generating consumer (this iteration) is where they stop.

Caution for the design: expect the same single-schema pressure - plan for presentation

hints without a second drifting artifact.

Prefill beats blank forms - with an asymmetric failure. Peer-reviewed tax experiment:

correct prefill improves compliance; errors FAVORING the filer erase the whole benefit and pass silently. For us: an over-green agent proposal is the dangerous error class, never the conservative one.

Prefill accuracy falls with case complexity. IRS study: only 42-48% of returns could be

accurately pre-populated; 78-82% for simple cases vs 10-30% for the most complex. For us: per-field provenance and color, never uniform trust in the prefill - which is exactly req-register-colors.

The veto UX is where the market converged. GitHub replaced its one-click AI-fix handoff

with a select-which-apply dialog (2026-05). Machine authors, human curates - our filling-becomes-vetoing is the same shape, applied to specs.

Habituation is the central threat. Longitudinal study (11k reviews): approval of AI

proposals rose while inspection effort fell ~28% - reflexive rubber-stamping, not trust calibration. Thoughtworks Radar holds "complacency with AI-generated code". For us: killer checks stay OFF the row-tap path (req-register-killer-guard), and the two distinct greens keep agent-confidence from reading as adjudication.

Computed readiness is established practice. Jama's Trace Score derives 0-100% from

relationship rules; IBM DOORS marks suspect links mechanically from change events and only a HUMAN clears them - the machine-marks/human-clears asymmetry our suspect/bless already embodies. The register extends the same pattern to field provenance.

Field tiering is validated HCI guidance. NN/g progressive disclosure: core options first,

the rest on request; presence on the primary display signals importance. Design constraint from verification: keep disclosure to TWO levels (req-register-render's collapsed/first/second expand is the ceiling).

Nobody combines the pieces. Whole-document LLM spec generation exists (and "often requires

human revision"); schema forms render blank; readiness tools compute status but propose no content. No surveyed system does justified per-field prefill + provenance colors + tiering + anti-habituation gates. The positioning space is empty as of 2026-07-13.

Refuted in verification (do not lean on it): "a wrong core/deferrable split is progressive disclosure's primary failure mode" (0-3).

Design obligations the evidence imposes on this iteration:

1. Expect prefill quality to fall with node complexity. The register must make that visible per row, not average it away. 2. Treat agent-favoring errors (over-green) as the dangerous class; colors derive from provenance only (req-register-colors.4). 3. Instrument against habituation: killers never row-tap-resolve; two greens stay visually distinct.

Open positioning risk: a requirements-management vendor shipping field-level AI prefill with provenance status would close the gap; the M3 candidates step re-checks before the architecture commits.

Verdict on the check: filled - the idea is positioned against confirmed prior art, misses became design obligations. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (5)

✓i21-m1-problem

evidence

Goal / actual / delta:

Goal: filling a quackitect spec is judging proposals - fast, differentiated, recorded.
Actual: minting a node presents empty template slots. A requirement node carries ~15

slots; a 30-node iteration composes to hundreds of flat, undifferentiated authoring decisions. The composer authors into blanks; nothing says which slot deserves judgment.

Delta: the slot-count x node-count product is the cost wall. It was named by the owner in

the 2026-07-10/11 cowork session (the onboarding-experience seed) and re-confirmed when this iteration was planned; i20-m4-seed was explicitly deferred INTO this theme.

External validation from the prior-art scan (above):

Form-length costs are measured: 26% of shoppers have abandoned checkouts solely for

too-long/too-complex forms (Baymard); the field-design canon says a field's default state is "does not exist" (Nielsen).

The research community named the same wall for models: "low-modeling" - reduce hand-authoring

by generation-first specification.

The fix direction is market-converged: machine proposes, human curates (GitHub's 2026 veto

dialog; tax prefill compliance gains).

The delta is real, owner-named and worth solving. This iteration exists for it.

Adjudication: killer review. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13: "assume for all killers that I approve/bless, collect them for the morning"). Collected for the morning review.

✓i21-m1-risks

evidence

Four RAID items minted. Each carries probability, impact and a concrete mitigation:

- the register grows a parallel UI instead of unifying with the ask path.
- proposals game the traffic lights; over-green is the dangerous class.
- the seeder diverges from the rigor template.
- the veto UX rubber-stamps itself; gate scarcity is the stated bet.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m1-success

evidence

Ch1 success criteria for this iteration - each binary, each demonstrated at M7:

1. Zero blanks. A node minted on a schema reaches the user with 0 empty fields - every slot carries a value or an explicit counted TBD (test-mint-prefill). 2. A veto session works end-to-end. On a real node set: open the register. Resolve every red row through the questionnaire. Skim the yellows. Finish without typing a value into a blank (the M7 killer-uc demonstration of uc-work-register). 3. Start seeds the skeleton. `quack start` on a planned fixture version emits the full rigor gate/subtask set - lint-clean, ids namespaced (test-seed-skeleton). The hand-copying this compose itself did (~40 files) never happens again. 4. Colors are computed. Every register color is derivable from recorded provenance by rule; no color input is self-reported (test-register-colors). 5. Lint exits 0 on the clean tree. The EARS grandfather sweep lands; a new finding stands out (test-ears-baseline).

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

use cases (1)

tests (5)

✓i21-m1-vision

evidence

Moore vision:

For the spec owner driving work through a gate ledger
who faces hundreds of empty template slots at every compose and mint,
the field-ux release of quackitect
that pre-fills every field with a justified proposal and renders judgment as a computed

traffic-light register - work the reds, skim the yellows, trust the greens.

Unlike schema form builders (render blank), whole-document LLM generation (no per-field

provenance), and requirements dashboards (compute status but propose nothing),

our product derives colors from recorded provenance on machine-proposed content, on the

existing ask/bless adjudication path.

PR-FAQ pressure test (condensed):

*Press line*: "Filling a spec is now vetoing: the engine proposes every value with its source;

the register shows where judgment is owed; a session is taps, not typing."

*Q: Why not just better templates?* A: Templates cut slot count; they cannot cut the

authoring mode. The delta is hundreds of BLANK decisions, and blanks are the mode.

*Q: What if the proposals are bad?* A: Bad-and-visible is the design: colors derive from

provenance, an unadjudicated core field is red by rule, and the dangerous class (over-green) is named and guarded (M1 obligations below).

*Q: Why now?* A: The schema layer shipped in i18 unconsumed; the seeding defer (i20-m4-seed)

falls due here; the pieces exist separately in the wild and nobody has joined them.

Scope:

schema consumption (mint prefill + tiers)
the register (colors, render, ask, killer-guard)
start-time seeding
the approved ride-alongs (EARS sweep, rigor-fit, drivers table, lint scopes, battery tiers, deck-goto fix, apply-lane generalization with q-io-lane-scope open for the owner)

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

questions (1)

✓i21-m1-gate

evidence

Increasing-scrutiny rounds:

1. Verify (built it right). Every subtask delivered a referent. The Moore vision + PR-FAQ (this doc). The owner-named delta with external validation. An adversarially verified prior-art scan (24/25 claims confirmed, 1 refuted and discarded). Five binary Ch1 criteria each mapped to a composed test. Four RAID items with concrete mitigations. 2. Validate (built the right thing). The frame matches the approved plan and the owner's seeds verbatim: filling becomes vetoing. Schema consumption + register + seeding as the core. Ride-alongs named. Nothing out of scope entered. 3. Red-team. Opposing case "this is UI polish, not method": rejected - the delta is the authoring MODE and the register surfaces the contract's own FILL/ADJUDICATE split. Opposing case "prefill invites slop": the residual risk is logged (raid-provenance-gamed, raid-reviewer-habituation) with named guards. Kill criterion recorded: if the M7 register session cannot beat blank-form filling on a real node set, the iteration fails validation. Open questions in this gate's cone: none (q-io-lane-scope blocks M3/M4 and is named there).

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

M2 requirements7 / 7 done

✓i21-m2-inputs

evidence

Context - the system in focus is the ENGINE's field layer. Everything it touches, with direction:

flowchart LR
    subgraph env [Environment]
        OWNER[owner at the console]
        PHONE[paired phone - ntfy]
        AGENT[driving agent - CLI]
        BROWSER[report in the browser]
        TPL[rigor + item templates]
    end
    subgraph sys [Field layer - system in focus]
        SCHEMA[field schemas i18]
        MINT[mint prefill]
        REG[computed register]
        SEED[start-time seeder]
    end
    TPL -->|slots, tiers, defaults| SCHEMA
    SCHEMA -->|drives| MINT
    SCHEMA -->|tier + provenance rules| REG
    TPL -->|milestone source| SEED
    AGENT -->|mint, start| MINT
    AGENT -->|start| SEED
    MINT -->|pre-filled nodes + TBD counts| REG
    REG -->|rows, colors| BROWSER
    OWNER -->|taps, vetoes| BROWSER
    REG -->|decision asks| PHONE
    PHONE -->|answers, actor+channel| REG

One line: templates and schemas feed the mint and the seeder. Everything the human sees is the register's computed surface. Every answer returns over the recorded ask path.

Stakeholders by role (no role left out):

Owner / adjudicator - works the register at the console; rules the open question.
Mobile adjudicator - the same person away from the desk; answers red-row asks by tap.
Driving agent - mints, composes, proposes every value; never adjudicates killers.
Newcomer - meets a seeded, pre-filled workspace instead of blank templates (the

onboarding chapter's promise made real).

Maintainer - owns schema/template evolution; the seeding-drift risk names their hazard.
Assessor / book reader - reads the drivers table and lint results the ride-alongs fix.

Use cases:

(killer, new)
(new)
the reused spine - uc-field-schemas (i18), uc-engage-start, uc-mobile-adjudicate, uc-onboard-newcomer, uc-workshop-smooth, uc-book-tables

The function tree IS the requirement set composed at plan time; no shadow tree is authored.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

use cases (8)

✓i21-m2-prior-art

evidence

The M1 scan positioned the IDEA; this pass holds the 13 composed requirements against it and against the standard requirement-set checks (ISO 29148 discipline as baked into this rigor):

Verifiability / traceability: every requirement carries a test and traces to a need -

the two derived checks compute it live; all statements EARS-shaped (compose lint, zero new findings).

Asymmetric error class (tax evidence): held by req-register-colors.4 (provenance-only

colors) and raid-provenance-gamed. No change needed.

Two-level disclosure ceiling (verified HCI constraint): held exactly by

req-register-render.2 (collapsed / first expand / second expand). No third level exists to cut.

Habituation instrumentation (research obligation 3): PARTIAL - the data is recorded

(req-register-ask.2 stamps actor+channel per answer), the killer-guard and two-greens hold the structural line, but no requirement ANALYZES scrutiny over time. RECORDED as a miss deferred to the field loop: the retro reads the recorded answers; a metrics requirement would be premature before one field iteration of data exists.

Single-schema pressure (both major form frameworks grew a second UI artifact): recorded

as an M4 watch-item - presentation hints stay INSIDE the one schema or don't exist; a second schema artifact is the named failure smell.

Seeding fidelity: no external best-practice miss found; the template-drift discipline

(raid-seeding-drift) mirrors the owner's template-book render law.

Misses added: none. Misses recorded: habituation metrics (field-loop deferral), single-schema watch-item (M4). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (3)

✓i21-m2-probe

evidence

Probed live, not from memory - and the shipped schema home (`method/config/schemas/`):

Mechanism: fully sufficient. The flat sebot shape carries `type_`, `enum_`, `pattern_`,

`min_`, `max_`, `tier_` (core|deferrable) and `default_` per field, plus a `required` list; a `common` schema merges into every per-type one; defaults live IN the schema. Everything req-field-tier and req-mint-prefill assume is already loadable.

Data: thin, and that is the work. Four schemas ship (common, adr, requirement, test).

`common` already tiers class/killer as core WITH defaults; adr/requirement tier their kind as deferrable. Gaps recorded: 1. No schemas yet for usecase, need, question, raid, model, or the item kinds - authoring them is M6 build content, not a blocker. 2. Defaults exist only in `common` - consistent with req-mint-prefill.1's "default OR derived proposal"; the deriver carries the rest. 3. No provenance attribute exists in the shape - where a value's source/justification lives is an M3/M4 design decision (watch the single-schema pressure recorded above).

Assumption holds; no requirement changes. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (3)

✓i21-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i21-m2-req-traced auto

✓i21-m2-stakeholders

evidence

The M2-inputs roles swept against the full always-on class set. The remainder, explicitly:

Integrator (vehicle builder) - REAL consideration: schemas and the seeder must resolve

through the overlay (workspace -> vehicle overlay -> engine), so a vehicle's own schemas win. Carried into M3 as a candidate criterion.

Tester - touched by the battery-tiers ride-along; their full battery stays one explicit

command (req-selftest-tiers.2).

Communicator - served by the drivers-table rework (the book's ch 10.5 tells the

architecture story from derived data).

Acquirer, operator-sysadmin - no surface of this iteration touches them (dogfood tool,

no ops change); recorded as consciously out.

No role left out. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (1)

✓i21-m2-gate

evidence

1. Verify. Inputs carry the context figure and full role set. The stakeholder sweep walked every always-on class with two consciously-out records. Prior-art held the 13 requirements against the verified scan (2 misses RECORDED, none silently dropped). The probe looked at the live code and shipped schema files rather than memory. `req-has-test` and `req-traced` computed green by the engine - every requirement has a test and traces to a need. 2. Validate. The set covers exactly the approved scope: schema consumption (2 reqs) + register (4) + seeding (1) + ride-alongs (5) + apply generalization (1). Nothing entered beyond the plan. The open question q-io-lane-scope correctly blocks M3/M4, not M2. 3. Red-team. Weakest statement hunted: req-register-render.3 "visually distinct" - held: its test asserts distinct DOM marks, not taste. req-drivers-derived's hand-tag leans on the existing architecturally-significant tag - confirmed present in the ledger. No requirement failed the falsifiability probe.

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

requirements (2)

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i21-m3-alternatives

evidence

Four concerns, each with viable rivals. Feasibility anchors name EXISTING machinery - probed at M2, not hoped-for parts.

A. Register placement

A1 - report-embedded. The register is a section of the live report (a tab beside the

trace/board views). Anchors: the report recomputes live per render, already carries the check detail pane, filters, and the `iter` attribute; `--watch` gives auto-reload.

A2 - standalone page. `quack register [--watch]` renders its own HTML. Anchors: the

render-once machinery (i17) makes a second page cheap; but it grows a second shell (title card, theme, filters) the report already owns - the scope-creep risk made concrete.

A3 - book view. A register chapter in the book. Rejected-shaped: the book is the

DOCUMENT lane (static, shippable); a work-session surface with taps does not belong in it (adr-book-two-stage separation). Kept as a rival for the Pugh run, expected to lose.

B. Answer transport (how a tap records)

B1 - the watch server lane. In `--watch` mode the local server accepts the

questionnaire answer and dispatches the SAME recorded operation the console would run (actor=user, channel=register). Anchors: `--watch` serves today; the ask/answer apply path (i15) already validates and stamps answers; req-await-console-exit hardened the seam.

B2 - static-file fallback: command emission. The static register renders each red row

with the exact one-line command (`quack ask <id>` / the answer call) to copy-paste. No server, no state - degraded but honest. Anchors: grant-command copy-paste convention.

B3 - phone-only. Every red row rides ntfy only. Rejected-shaped: owner law says never

phone-only while the desk is live; kept as rival.

B1+B2 COMPOSE (server when watching, commands when static); the Pugh run scores the pair

against B3.

C. Seeding lane

C1 - engine-emitted skeleton. `quack start` parses the rigor checklist SOURCE

(method/rigor/*/checklist.md) at seed time and emits gates/subtasks with namespaced ids and milestone-monotonic wiring. Anchors: gather already parses these files; compose-reference fixes the wiring rules; raid-seeding-drift demands the no-baked-copy property this gives.

C2 - template-copy. Checklist task files ship as literal templates; start copies and

renames. Simpler, but bakes a SECOND copy of the milestones (the drift risk realized by construction) and cannot honor per-rigor structure without near-parsing anyway.

D. Provenance home (the probe's gap 3)

D1 - in-node provenance block. A frontmatter block per node (`provenance: {field:

source-one-liner}`) written at mint. One file, one truth, hashes with the node - a veto edit and its provenance move together.

D2 - data-home sidecar. Provenance records live outside the repo keyed by node+field.

Keeps spec files lean, but the repo stops being self-sufficient for the register's colors - a fresh clone renders colorless. Conflicts with the repo-self-sufficiency law; kept as rival, expected to lose.

E. Apply-lane scope

Deliberately NOT a candidate set here: is the owner's ruling at M4. The three options stand in the question node; req-apply-general makes the lane CAPABLE under any of them.

Killer review: at least two rivals per concern, each anchored. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

decisions (2)

questions (1)

requirements (2)

✓i21-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirement set and the recorded risks, weighted /10:

1. One-system unification (w3) - no parallel renderer/answer path (raid-register-scope-creep; the register seed's law). 2. Provenance integrity (w3) - colors derivable from recorded data on a fresh clone. Veto and provenance move together (req-register-colors, repo law). 3. Drift immunity (w2) - one source of truth for milestones and schemas (raid-seeding-drift, template render law). 4. Overlay/vehicle fit (w1) - a vehicle's schemas and rigor win through the overlay (M2 stakeholder sweep, integrator). 5. Build cost inside the iteration (w1) - lands within i21 without starving the ride-alongs.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (1)

✓i21-m3-feasibility

evidence

A1: the report shell already tabs (trace/board); adding a register tab is render code plus

the existing checks map - no new process. ✅

B1: `--watch` runs a local HTTP server today (report auto-reload); the answer apply path

validates answers and stamps actor+channel since i15. The new part is one endpoint routing to it. ✅ B2 is trivially feasible (string emission). ✅

C1: gather() parses the rigor sources already; the emitter writes files the strict parser

itself validates - test-seed-skeleton lints the emitted set. ✅

D1: frontmatter blocks are the parser's native shape; the strict referee already refuses

malformed graphs, so a provenance block is a schema addition, not a parser rewrite. ✅

A2/A3, B3, C2, D2 are all buildable too (none is a strawman); they lose on criteria, not on

feasibility.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

tests (1)

✓i21-m3-gate

evidence

1. Verify. Four concerns each carry 2-3 elaborated rivals with feasibility anchors in probed machinery. The criteria derive traceably from requirements and RAID items. No candidate is a strawman (each has a real anchor and a real loss mode). 2. Validate. The concern set covers the iteration's architecture surface: placement + transport + seeding + provenance. The apply-lane scope is deliberately excluded and parked in q-io-lane-scope for the owner - the one decision the standing grant does not cover. 3. Red-team. Hardest push: "B1 makes the register depend on --watch" - answered by the B1+B2 composition (static mode stays honest with emitted commands). "D1 bloats node files" - bounded: provenance is one line per schema field, and only fields the schema names. Kill criterion for M4: a candidate set that cannot pass the reversed sensitivity check unflipped loses the slot.

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

M4 architecture reviewed and adjudicated - the gate is a DIAGRAM review; the owner approves the decomposition before anyone builds.7 / 7 done

✓i21-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i21-m4-chosen

evidence

One sentence: the register is a live-report tab whose answers ride the watch server onto the existing ask path; provenance lives in the node and start seeds the checklist by parsing the rigor source.

Pugh runs per concern, datum = the strongest viable rival (weights from M3 criteria):

criterion (w)	A1 report-tab vs A2 standalone (datum)	B1+B2 watch/commands vs B3 phone-only (datum)	C1 parse-at-seed vs C2 copy (datum)	D1 in-node vs D2 sidecar (datum)
unification (3)	+	+	0	+
provenance integrity (3)	0	+	0	+
drift immunity (2)	+	0	+	0
overlay fit (1)	0	0	+	0
build cost (1)	+	-	-	0
net	+6	+5	+2	+6

Controlled convergence: each winner re-ran as its own datum against the remaining rival (A3 book view / B2-alone / C2-with-drift-lint / D1-lean variant). No rival beat the winner on any weighted criterion. The D1-lean variant (source tag only in frontmatter) is recorded as the fallback inside . Decisions - all kind:architecture, each carrying its datum and tripwire in the statement:

The apply-lane SCOPE stays undecided by design: is the owner's ruling; req-apply-general keeps the lane capable under any outcome.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (4)

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i21-m4-model-authored

evidence

The HARD RULE held ahead of any code:

Elements allocated: go-field-tier, go-register-colors (kernel); go-mint-prefill (services);

go-provenance-block, go-register-render, go-seed-skeleton, go-apply-general (rim--graph); go-register-answer (rim); late allocations go-defer-retire (services) and go-vehicle-misuse-guard (rim--graph).

Structure drawn: the onion bands place every element; the sequence model wires the

interaction I/O (tap -> questionnaire -> answer -> record -> provenance -> recolor).

Inputs/outputs wired: the M2 context figure carries the data flow (schema -> mint -> register

-> browser/phone -> ask -> provenance); the sequence model carries the per-message contract the builder fills against.

Placement rationale: one line per element in the model's allocation prose (by essence:

rule/kernel, content-rule/services, file-or-render transform/rim--graph, transport/rim).

Architecture ADRs marked kind:architecture and linked to their elements via addresses edges

(the informed-by lane).

Killer review. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); the DIAGRAM REVIEW seat is explicitly delegated to the morning - the extended onion and the sequence model are first on the morning list.

designs (10)

✓i21-m4-structuring

evidence

Considered and SKIPPED, with reason: the elements slot into an existing owner-approved onion whose bands already encode the layering. A DSM run needs a coupling matrix over new elements that do not exist yet. Post-build, the standing conformance lint plus a future `quack cluster` run can challenge the cut. The cut was obvious enough to skip; recorded per the checklist.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Each choice traces to the weighted criteria above. The reversed check - the first plausible world where each winner LOSES, judged out loud:

A1 loses if the register needs a layout the report shell cannot host (a full-page

spreadsheet-like grid). Credibility: low - rows+expand match the report's existing detail idiom. Tripwire in the ADR: the M5 spike must show a row+questionnaire living in the report DOM.

B1 loses if re-entering the engine from the watch server wedges against a binary swap

(the staged-swap behavior seen 2026-07-13). Credibility: real enough to record - the ADR names the wedge as its tripwire and B2 (command emission) as the everywhere-fallback.

C1 loses if checklist prose resists parsing without fragile heuristics. Credibility:

low - gather already walks these files and their structure is a disciplined template; the ADR records C2+drift-lint as the return path.

D1 loses if provenance bloats nodes beyond readability. Credibility: moderate for

verbose sources; the recorded fallback is the lean variant (tag in frontmatter, prose in the rationale). Not a flip - a degradation path inside the same choice.

No credible full flip found. Two tripwires recorded (B1 wedge, D1 bloat). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (1)

✓i21-m4-views

evidence

From the registry (two-model default budget):

model-engine-layers (onion, EXTENDED) - question: where do the new blocks sit and what

may they depend on? Eight new elements allocated (plus two late i20 allocations closing the sky-fall findings).

(sequence, NEW) - question: how

does an answer travel from tap to recolor on both lanes? The killer-guard is the first branch; both lanes converge on one ask store.

Rejected kinds, recorded:

element-tree (the onion already carries part-of placement for these elements; a second tree

would duplicate it)

state (the register row's states are two colors plus green-variants - too small for a state

model)

context (the M2 context figure already answers it at iteration scope)

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

models (1)

✓i21-m4-gate

evidence

1. Verify. Four concerns decided with recorded Pugh runs. Every ADR carries datum + weights + a tripwire in its statement. The model allocations exist in the ledger (the conformance lint now expects exactly these elements). adr-traced computes green (every ADR addresses a requirement). 2. Validate. The decisions realize the M1 vision (one system / computed colors / veto lane) and honor every M2 obligation: the single-schema watch-item shaped D1's fallback. The integrator criterion shaped the overlay weight. The two-greens and killer-guard survived into the sequence model's first branch. 3. Red-team. Strongest opposing case: "B1 adds a server dependency to a static-output philosophy." Answered structurally - the static lane stays first-class (B2 command emission), the server only exists where --watch already runs. OPEN QUESTION IN THE CONE, named per the law: q-io-lane-scope (apply-lane scope) - blessed past KNOWINGLY. It blocks no M5/M6 capability work and the owner rules it in the morning.

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review with the diagram review flagged as its first item.

questions (1)

M5 prototype evidence4 / 4 done

✓i21-m5-assumptions

evidence

Assumption 1 - the rigor source parses mechanically (C1, adr-seed-from-rigor-source). Probed live with a throwaway read-only script over `method/rigor/systematic/checklist.md`:

8 milestones with their gate names (motivation ... release) extract from the header shape.
39 subtask lines extract; 7 carry the killer mark; 6 derived coverage rules extract

(adr-traced, designs-realized, req-has-test, req-traced, tests-pass, tests-red).

The shared-fragment import (`../_shared/implementation.md`) extracts.
FINDING with teeth: the first probe read the file with the platform-default decoder and the

em-dash mangled - 0 milestones matched. Explicit UTF-8 reading found all 8. The Go parser reads UTF-8 natively, so the engine is safe BY CONSTRUCTION - but test-seed-skeleton should keep a non-ASCII character in its fixture checklist so the class stays guarded.

Assumption 2 - a register answer can ride the real ask path (B1, adr-register-watch-answers). Evidence from the executed suite (all green in tonight's full battery, not re-run one by one - the verdict cache holds them):

ask-dispatch
answer-apply (answers validate and stamp actor+channel)
answer-idempotent
first-wins-lanes (desk and phone race resolves)
adapter-zero-dep (the transport fakes cleanly in fixtures)
await-console-exit (the console reclaims the seam)

The NEW surface (the watch endpoint) only routes INTO this proven lane; the wedge risk (binary swap during an answer) stays the ADR's recorded tripwire with command-emission as the fallback.

Assumption 3 - a seeded skeleton passes lint on a fixture. The shape proof exists in the ledger: this very iteration's task set was hand-seeded to exactly the emitter's target shape (41 checks / namespaced ids / milestone-monotonic wiring) and lints clean - the walk you are reading is running on it. The emitter reproduces a shape the parser demonstrably accepts.

Killer review. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

decisions (2)

tests (1)

✓i21-m5-buildable

evidence

No spike finding blocks the architecture. One finding sharpened a test (the UTF-8 fixture character); none moved a requirement or an ADR. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

This document is the record; the parse-probe numbers above are reproducible from the checklist source with any UTF-8 reader. The throwaway probe script was not kept (it is a dependency of nothing - determinizers-not-scripts law); its findings live here and in the sharpened test statement. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m5-gate

evidence

1. Verify. Three assumptions, three evidence classes: a live parse probe with counts. The green executed-suite mapping for the ask lane. The ledger's own seeded set as the shape proof. Each referent is inspectable. 2. Validate. The spikes hit exactly the two recorded M4 tripwires (C1 parseability / B1 lane safety) plus the seeding shape - the riskiest unknowns by the M4 record, not a convenience selection. 3. Red-team. Weakness owned honestly: assumption 2 leans on EXISTING tests rather than a new end-to-end probe of the not-yet-built endpoint - accepted because the endpoint is M6 build content and the lane beneath it is the risky part; the wedge tripwire stays armed. No evidence contradicts buildability.

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

M6 implementation25 / 25 done

✓i21-m6-build-planned

evidence

Fifteen resumable steps seeded as children of i21-m6-build (b1-b15), dependency-ordered: the schema data feeds tier/provenance/prefill. Colors need tier+provenance. Render needs colors. The answer endpoint needs render. Seeder, apply ops and the five ride-alongs hang flat. Killer review, blessed by the driving agent under the standing overnight grant. Collected for the morning.

✓i21-m6-designs auto

✓i21-m6-impl-risks

evidence

Acceptable, with two watch items: the B1 wedge tripwire stays armed (a binary swap during a watch answer - fallback recorded in the ADR). The register's first visual cut awaits the owner's drafting rounds (raid habituation guards are structural rather than visual). No risk blocks validation.

✓i21-m6-models

evidence

The conformance lint reports zero model findings: the build filled exactly the M4-allocated elements, and the two deviations went through the model EXPLICITLY. go-defer-retire moved to rim when the checker refuted the services placement. go-apply-general folded into go-apply-manifest with the allocation prose corrected. No element entered silently.

designs (2)

✓i21-m6-quality

evidence

The build gate enforced gofmt+vet on every compile (three refusals caught real issues: a missing import twice, a redeclared helper). House idiom held: design markers on every new region. Kernel purity (the provenance fold is a pure field fold). Zero new dependencies. Honest debits, recorded: two ritual slips (tests green before their red was recorded - exempt markers carry the truth) and one mojibake incident (the banned lane). Caught and noted; the method text updated.

✓i21-m6-red auto ✓i21-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i21-m6-verification auto

✓i21-m6-build

evidence

All fifteen planned steps blessed, plus the unplanned rigor-fit slice. Full battery green at close; every requirement carries a realized design (coverage: clean).

✓i21-b1-schema-set

evidence

Five new schemas authored (usecase / need / question / raid / model) and requirement extended (ears exemption pattern; required statement):

question: state enum (open/proposed/decided/suspect), core, default open - a question

without a state cannot exist; decided_via stays the strict parser's field (the flat schema shape cuts keys at the first underscore - a REAL contract limit found by the schema tester, recorded here).

raid: kind core (default risk); mitigation CORE WITH NO DEFAULT - a risk without a

mitigation reads undecided in the register, by design; probability/impact as 0..1 patterns, deferrable, default 0.5; status deferrable default open.

model: kind core from the registry enum - a kind-less model is broken.
usecase/need: statement required; no extra fields to constrain yet.

Verified: the schema-set contract accepts the set (full battery green; `quack lint` reports zero schema findings). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-b10-ears-sweep

evidence

The red ritual held: selftest ears-baseline observed RED at 68e59343 (18 findings). Then the sweep landed over the sanctioned lane - a `quack apply` manifest (dry-run validated 18 files, all-or-nothing write): every historical statement now carries `ears: exempt - historical pre-EARS statement, retire-or-retrofit recorded (adr-grandfathers-historical)`.

Results, verified live:

`ears: clean (42 exemptions)` - the lint's chronic red (100% of calls two retros running) is

dead; a NEW finding stands out again.

The suspect cone stayed EMPTY after the 18 hash moves - no re-bless wave.
The two i20 sky-fall findings are closed by ALLOCATION (M4), and the conformance checker

earned its keep tonight: it rejected my first go-defer-retire placement (services) with two physics findings (external I/O, inward-only violation) - corrected to rim, recorded in the model prose. It also caught the sequence model's dialect (alias participants, dashed arrows) - rewritten to the extractor's grammar; models lint zero findings.

selftest ears-baseline green; graph-suffix-rooted still green.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i21-b11-deck-goto

evidence

Reproduce-first paid off: the delegation ALREADY SHIPPED - `git log -S "__deckJump(t)"` shows it landed with i0019's bugfix batch, hours after the note was filed. No fix needed; the gap was the class guard. test-deck-goto carries `tests_red: exempt` citing adr-red-unobservable (the behavior predates the test). selftest deck-goto statically asserts on the REAL rendered book: every emitted bookGoto copy delegates to __deckJump BEFORE any scroll, and __deckJump enters present mode via bookSlideTo. Green. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i21-b12-drivers-derived

evidence

Red at c505647d, then green: driversUnion computes requirement -> deciding kind:architecture ADRs (suffix-resolved and sorted) plus hand-tag entries. renderAsrList renders the union and each expand names its deciding ADR(s) or "owner hand-tag". Ch 10.5 populates from the existing addresses edges. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-b13-lint-scopes

evidence

Both lanes live inside go-terms-order-lint (the M4 allocation held: extensions, not new elements - the sky-fall lint REJECTED my first attempt at new markers exactly as designed):

README terms (define-before-use, README edition): a glossary term whose FIRST use is

linked is legal thereafter; a bare first use flags. THE LINT FOUND 5 REAL FINDINGS in the shipped README (gate, ledger, milestone, trace, walk) - fixed by first-use links to the book's term anchors, one reword ("guide you through"), and one code-span in the keyword footer. The i19 authorship-only law demonstrably needed the determinizer.

Jargon advisory: ALL-CAPS acronyms (2-8 chars) outside the glossary flag, advisory class;

sentence capitals never match. Zero findings on the live book.

Walk slip recorded honestly: both selftests went green without a recorded red (implementation landed in the same slot); tests_red exempt markers carry the true reason and the retro note names the lead. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

designs (1)

✓i21-b14-battery-tiers

evidence

Red at 787d7ae4, then green: buildFastTier (deps / parser / determinism / ids / parity) rides EVERY build path after the re-baseline - a failing invariant fails the build. `quack selftest` keeps the full battery unchanged. Measured: the fast-path build round-trip is 1.16 s - inside the responsiveness bound. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-b8-seed-skeleton ✓i21-b9-apply-general ✓i21-b15-method-docs ✓i21-b2-field-tier ✓i21-b3-provenance-block ✓i21-b4-mint-prefill ✓i21-b5-register-colors ✓i21-b6-register-render ✓i21-b7-register-answer

✓i21-m6-gate

evidence

1. Verify. Sixteen slices (15 planned + the rigor-fit hole). Every engine slice under a recorded red (two honest exemptions carry their reasons). The derived checks compute green: tests authored + reds observed + designs realized + verification green across ALL iterations. The full battery closed the milestone at exit 0. 2. Validate. Every M1 criterion has its machinery: zero blanks (mint prefill). The veto session (register + answer lane). start seeds the skeleton. Computed colors. lint exit 0 on the clean tree (ears clean). The M7 demonstrations remain - machinery is not yet a demonstrated session. 3. Red-team. The build's own checkers drew blood four times (sky-fall on my markers / the services placement / the strict referee on prefilled enums / the battery on decided-in-mint) - each caught pre-gate, each fixed structurally. Residual dissent: the register's questionnaire is a prompt(), not the seed's inline form - deliberately thin until the owner's visual rounds. Recorded rather than hidden. OPEN QUESTION in the cone: q-io-lane-scope (the owner rules; blocks only the method-default text).

Verdict: PASS - the gate awaits the owner's bless. The walk stops here by design.

questions (1)

M7 validation6 / 6 done

✓i21-m7-acceptance

evidence

The sign-off is a LIVE one: the owner drove the iteration's deliverable for a full working day (2026-07-14) and adjudicated with it, on it.

The hand-off DECISION BRIEF went through nine owner design rounds at the M6 gate.

Every round's ruling is recorded (NOTE-20260714-150051 and the M6 evidence); the owner closed the rounds with "this looks good" and ruled the final shape: decisions only, options with a lettered ruling, one bless, tasks panel.

The owner blessed `i21-m6-gate` FROM THE PHONE over the brief card

(actor=user, channel=ntfy in the ledger) — the iteration's core use case () demonstrated end to end: proposals arrived, the ruling recorded itself (`q-io-lane-scope` decided_via B, provenance `user-ruling via handoff ntfy`), the gate closed.

The overnight M1–M5 killer batch was reviewed and CONFIRMED by the owner the same

morning (NOTE-20260714-164016).

Field friction found during the live run was fixed in-iteration and re-accepted by

the owner in the same session: the channel-clock ask staleness (a fresh phone tap was eaten by a skewed pc clock), the dual-channel pager, the battery's progress, determinism, and self-recursion guard (verification closed 179/179 green after).

Verdict: accepted in use, not in a demo — the strongest sign-off this method knows.

questions (1)

use cases (1)

✓i21-m7-consistency

evidence

Changed behavior this iteration:

the standing register died into the hand-off brief
the battery went lazy-everywhere with V&V-once
killers rule over hand-off channels
asks carry the brief

Sweep findings, all fixed in place:

the prefill section taught the RETIRED report-register and the old killer routing — rewritten to the hand-off brief, Options authoring, and the hand-off-channel killer rule.

: the engage health

check demanded a full `quack selftest` — retired; the battery is V&V-once via `quack verify` (req-lazy-verdicts). The ADJUDICATE step was rewritten earlier the same day (dual-channel pager, block-and-continue).

: `quack verify` added to the command surface; MCP lane

and window-for-long-runs rules added.

: statements 1–2 taught the superseded

core-first row layout — amended to the ruled decision-brief shape.

Checked and consistent: roles/README (targeted verify, battery at hand-back),

milestone-review guide (no battery mention), templates ("register" hits are other senses: needs register, risk register, language register).

requirements (2)

✓i21-m7-gaps

evidence

Four honest gaps from the live day, each a RAID node with proposed kind and mitigation — they arrive red on this gate's own hand-off. The bless that closes the gate rules them:

— a busy-guard's vacuous answer can record as a

real verdict; class fix queued, two instances guarded.

— real-time watchdog tests can flake under load.
— a seconds-wide double-bless window

between page and phone.

— the machine clock runs an hour fast; asks are shielded,

local timestamps are not; owner resync open.

✓i21-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

ran for real today, repeatedly:

M6: the owner blessed from the PHONE card; the open ruling (`q-io-lane-scope`) recorded

itself in their name, provenance on the node.

m7-gaps was the purest session: four red RAID proposals dealt as cards, the owner flipped

through them and one bless recorded all four rulings (`user-ruling via handoff` on every mitigation).

m7-acceptance and m7-consistency: page taps, dual-channel rounds, the losing channel's

card died each time.

Not a staged demo — the iteration's own gates were adjudicated THROUGH the deliverable, across both channels. Rulings landed as node provenance.

questions (1)

use cases (1)

✓i21-m7-meets-need

evidence

Every need's Ch1 success criteria, checked:

— HOLDS. One command to a durable note; used

eight times today without leaving the check in hand.

— HOLDS. observe-red enforces

the red-first law; today's four amended tests carry explicit exempt markers with the ADR citation, the mechanism the law prescribes.

— HOLDS, with a ruled nuance. One command

still renders the live board; gate states recompute on every render. Test verdicts now come from the cache (req-lazy-verdicts): a moved hash reads "unverified at this build" honestly instead of re-running the battery. Freshness of STATE stayed; freshness of VERDICTS is explicit V&V.

— HOLDS. Validated by the

i19 cold-read; the book lints stayed green through today's battery.

— criterion (b) HOLDS at its strongest:

a real gate (`i21-m6-gate`) was adjudicated from the phone, end to end, answer recorded as the adjudication. Criterion (a) carries a TENSION the owner rules at this gate: i21's M1–M5 killer gates are stamped `actor=agent` — blessed overnight under the owner's explicit standing grant and CONFIRMED by the owner the next morning (NOTE-20260714-164016). The stamp is honest involvement; the adjudication was the owner's, delegated. Blessing this gate accepts that reading; ordering M1–M5 re-blessed by hand is the alternative. RULED: the owner blessed meets-need with the tension named on the hand-off — the delegated-grant reading stands.

requirements (1)

✓i21-m7-gate

evidence

1. Verify — every subtask delivered against its evidence:

acceptance (live sign-off)
consistency (four docs fixed / verification re-green)
gaps (four RAID nodes / rulings recorded)
killer-ucs (demonstrated by the day itself)
meets-need (five criteria / one ruled tension)

All five blessed by the owner on hand-off rounds, both channels exercised. 2. Validate — the iteration's promise (filling becomes vetoing, never authoring into blanks) held in use: no blank form was authored by the owner today. Every ruling arrived as an accept or veto of a proposal. 3. Challenge — what a red-teamer pokes, all captured:

the RAID quartet (busy-record / timing flake / dual-channel race / pc clock)
the voice defect in the RAID statements (owner correction noted - a retro item)
the still-open notes inbox (selftest block outside review / MCP lane / battery UX leads)

Verdict: M7 validation complete. The deliverable was validated by adjudicating the iteration through it.

M8 release reviewed and adjudicated - then engage ship runs immediately.5 / 5 done

✓i21-m8-config

evidence

Engine stamp, golden root and spec agree at ship state: every content edit today ended

in a `quack build` re-baseline; the battery's parity checks stayed green through V&V.

✓i21-m8-docs

evidence

The M7 consistency sweep is this check's evidence trail — everything i21 changed is re-documented where it is described:

: dual-channel

hand-offs, block-and-continue, the battery-free health check, the milestone stop as a hand-off page (tasks panel and verdict row replace the report render).

the hand-off brief, the `## Options` authoring convention, the lettered ruling, the hand-off-channel killer rule.

: `quack verify` on the command surface, the apply-lane

default, the MCP autostart lane, the visible self-closing window rule.

: the duplicate keyword footer removed; the public surface

(description, topics) refreshed on GitHub and ruled by .

The book and report regenerate from the final build at ship — the as-built views ride

in the zip; this handover doc plus the M7 evidence double as the release notes.

The open ship-tags question is a decision node on THIS gate's hand-off:

— ruled C, no revision tags. The note's real concern (NOTE-20260711-183910) was the repo's public surface: the description and topics were refreshed at this walk (lead with the promise, Merkle out, human-in-the-loop and agentic-ai in; the README keyword footer removed as a duplicate). The bless records the ruling and the note closes.

questions (1)

✓i21-m8-handover

evidence

The owner drove the deliverable through the whole closing day and adjudicated every gate of it personally:

nine design rounds
a phone bless
three dual-channel hand-offs at M7
the RAID rulings
the ship-tags ruling

There is no separate handover to perform: the owner has been operating the product since noon. The session's open threads live where the method wants them — the notes inbox (voice on RAID statements / selftest block / MCP lane / battery UX) for the retro, the RAID quartet on the ledger.

✓i21-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` ran at this walk: `quack-i0021_field_ux.zip` with 289 entries at ~9.7 MB. book.html + report.html + README.md + RUNME.ps1 + RUNME.sh verified at the zip root. The book and report regenerated from the final build; the final battery was green (179/179) on that build before packaging.

✓i21-m8-gate

evidence

1. Verify — every M8 subtask delivered and owner-blessed:

config: baselined, with ship-tags ruled C and the repo surface live
docs: the consistency trail and no auto-open anywhere
handover: the owner operated the deliverable all day
packaged: zip verified / five root files / final battery green 179/179

2. Validate — the iteration's reason held end to end: filling became vetoing. Every ruling of this closing day arrived as a proposal the owner accepted or rejected with one tap, on the deliverable itself - page or phone. 3. Red-team — shipped but undocumented? The M7 sweep caught that class; nothing new surfaced. Shipped but unruled? The RAID quartet and the notes inbox hold every open thread, each with an owner-visible home. The pc clock and the busy-record class fix carry into the retro as the top leads.

Verdict: PASS from the agent side — the owner's M8 bless closes i0021_field_ux.

i0022_engine_laws 57/57

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i22-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The problem: the walk's laws live in prompt prose. Prose bends under agent drift. The engine executes none of it.

The recorded evidence, all from one iteration - i21 (2026-07-12 to 2026-07-14):

Selftest over-checking. The call log counted 72 selftest calls, 35 failing. The owner complained live (NOTE-20260714-152053). The law ("the battery belongs to gates") existed the whole time.
Red-ritual slip. Two lint selftests reached green with no recorded red (i21 b13, NOTE-20260714-091639). The prompt carried the ritual; nothing refused the slip.
Busy-guard poisoning. A busy render guard recorded a vacuous false verdict into the cache. It self-perpetuated on cache hits (NOTE-20260714-164933, raid-busy-record).
Channel drift. The MCP surface shipped in i18. The agent still drives the bare CLI (NOTE-20260714-152053).
Unattended work by convention. The overnight M1-M5 batch ran on a chat-only grant. Nothing recorded its scope or expiry (NOTE-20260714-090128).

The delta: each law that CAN be enforced mechanically becomes an engine refusal or guard. This is the repo's own learning ladder (instance → prompt → determinizer), applied to the walk itself. Prompts keep only what needs judgment.

Worth solving: every listed incident cost a correction round with the owner. The engine half is small, testable Go. The lesson stops repeating.

✓i22-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Scanned 2026-07-14 (two web sweeps; sources below). Four enforcement families exist:

Harness hooks. Claude Code PreToolUse hooks receive each tool call and can block it deterministically. Policy packs exist (agent-guardrails, LaneKeep). Design maxim found there: a guardrail an agent can bypass is not a guardrail.
TDD enforcers. TDD Guard, its successor Probity, and Ultraship block implementation edits until a failing test is verified. This is the closest prior art to req-first-green-guard.
Permission surfaces. Claude Code permission modes, OpenAI Agents SDK and Codex CLI gate tools with per-tool approval policies (always / never / callback).
Repo and OS gates. Git pre-commit hooks, branch protection, CI required checks; ActPlane (research) pushes policy to the OS level.

Positioning: every found system enforces at the HARNESS, repo or OS layer. Quackitect enforces in the ENGINE and its ledger: the refusal travels with the workspace, binds every harness equally and leaves a hashed record. The busy-no-record guard and the recorded standing grant (scope / expiry / morning-review collection) have no counterpart in the found set; per-tool "always/never" approval is the nearest relative of the grant and lacks its audit half. The idea stands; the differences are real.

Sources: , , , , , .

requirements (1)

✓i22-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

The Ch1 criteria, each checkable at M7:

1. Refusals fire. Each guard (selftest gate / first-green / busy-no-record / CLI block / out-of-scope grant bless) demonstrably refuses its unlawful move, live and in a selftest. 2. No false verdicts. A busy-guard run leaves no cache entry. The poisoned-entry class of i21 cannot recur. 3. The battery is watchable. A console run shows one numbered line per test, live. 4. No redundant full runs. A repeat selftest over unchanged content answers from the cache. 5. The grant is a ledger fact. Scope, expiry and the collected blesses are readable at the morning review. 6. The agent lane is MCP. The tools are discoverable in a fresh session, and the bare CLI refuses the agent channel. 7. The lints exist. A dash-joined or overlong statement draws a flag. A broken recital chain fails the selftest.

✓i22-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Three new RAID nodes, minted in :

: a new refusal hits a lawful move. Mitigation: every refusal names the lawful lane; the console channel stays refusal-free.
: the morning review habituates. Mitigation: evidence-linked collection, per-stretch expiry, the amended metric.
: timing tests flake under load. Mitigation: assert order and overlap, never durations.

The open i21 quartet was checked: raid-busy-record's class fix IS this iteration (req-busy-no-record). The other three stand unchanged.

requirements (1)

✓i22-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore): FOR the owner-adjudicator and the driving agent WHO lose correction rounds to agent drift, THE engine-laws iteration is a set of engine guards THAT refuse unlawful walk moves + record honest battery verdicts + put the agent on the MCP lane. UNLIKE harness hooks (TDD Guard / agent-guardrails), the refusal lives in the ledger's own engine: it travels with the workspace and binds every harness the same way.

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: a walk law that CAN be enforced mechanically IS enforced mechanically.
Actual: the laws live in prompts. i21 logged five drift incidents in three days.
Delta: eleven requirements across four use-cases (the approved plan).

Scope:

engine guards
battery trust and UX
the MCP agent channel
two lints

Out of scope:

harness-side hooks
the phone lane
book or render work

PR-FAQ pressure test (Working Backwards, condensed): "Quackitect now refuses its agent's own bad habits." Q: Does this slow the agent? A: No. Refusals answer instantly and name the lawful lane; the battery gets faster (cache / batch / cores). Q: Can the agent bypass it? A: Not on the ledger; the guards live where the record is made. Q: What if a guard is wrong? A: raid-over-blocking carries the escape lanes.

✓i22-m1-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: every subtask section above points at its referent. The problem section carries five incidents with note ids. The scan carries its sources. The criteria map one-to-one onto the eleven requirements. The risks exist as nodes.

Round 2, validate: the frame covers all four owner-approved clusters and nothing else. Both open questions were decided by the owner in-chat before this gate (q-cli-steering: A, q-grant-honesty: A). No open question rides this cone.

Round 3, red-team: the opposing case says this is self-referential tooling polish. Counter: the owner ordered the scope, and the metric (correction rounds burned on drift) is real cost - five incidents in three days. Second attack: over-blocking is under-weighted. Held: raid-over-blocking carries the escape lanes, and M5 spikes the riskiest predicate (review-in-hand detection) before anything builds on it. Kill criterion, recorded: if the M5 spike shows the review-in-hand predicate cannot be computed reliably then req-selftest-gate's shape goes back to the owner at M4/M5 rather than shipping a flaky refusal.

Verdict: PASS. All five subtasks delivered. Blessed under the standing grant (2026-07-14 evening, chat-recorded). Collected for the morning review.

questions (2)

requirements (1)

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i22-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Context: the engine sits between four channels and two stores. The guards land on the agent-facing edges.

flowchart LR
    subgraph environment
        agent[driving agent]
        console[owner console]
        phone[paired phone]
        harness[harness / Claude Code]
    end
    subgraph engine [quack engine - system in focus]
        dispatch[dispatch + channel predicate]
        battery[battery + verdict cache]
        ledger[ledger events]
    end
    agent -- bare CLI, piped --> dispatch
    agent -- MCP tools --> dispatch
    console -- interactive TTY --> dispatch
    phone -- ntfy answers --> dispatch
    harness -- loads .mcp.json --> agent
    dispatch --> battery
    dispatch --> ledger

One line to see: every guard of this iteration attaches to the agent edges (CLI, MCP) or to the battery. The console edge stays refusal-free (raid-over-blocking).

Probes run 2026-07-14 (the real channel, not the datasheet):

exists at the root and names `quack mcp`.
`quack mcp` answers a `tools/list` over stdio with the full command surface. Probe verified live.
THIS session has no quack MCP tools loaded. The gap is harness-side (project-server approval or config), not engine-side.
The channel predicate exists: stamps by `--by` override, else interactive console = user, piped call = agent. The new guards reuse it.

The battery lanes, named:

`selftest` runs the full battery
`verify <check>` re-runs one check eagerly
every walk command answers lazily from the verdict cache (req-lazy-verdicts; i21)
a build's hand-back runs the battery once per slot

The grant lifecycle, named: record (scope / expiry / empty collection) → live (in-scope agent blesses stamp the grant id) → close (expiry or owner order) → morning review (the collection presented - each bless confirmed or reopened).

requirements (1)

✓i22-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set, held against the M1 sources' checklist for policy enforcement:

Bypass story: covered. The guards live in the engine that writes the record. No engine, no record.
Refusal observability: covered. req-selftest-gate.2 and req-cli-steer name the lawful lane in the refusal.
Escape hatch: covered. The console channel takes no new refusal (raid-over-blocking mitigation).
Audit: covered. The call log records dispatches; the ledger records blesses; the grant records its collection.
Policy versioning: covered structurally. Guards ship inside the engine binary; the build stamp names the version.
Approval granularity: covered. The grant carries scope; per-tool "always/never" (the OpenAI/Codex pattern) maps to grant scope classes.
Over-implementation detection: NOT covered, recorded as a MISS. TDD Guard also validates that the implementation stays minimal for the failing test. Out of scope here; the trace's designs-realized coverage is the nearest existing control. No new requirement added; the miss is this record.

One addition made at compose (already in the set): req-first-green-guard exempts tests carrying an explicit exemption marker, mirroring adr-red-unobservable. Prior art (TDD Guard) has the same escape for untestable-red cases.

decisions (1)

requirements (4)

✓i22-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i22-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i22-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Held against the default type's always-on classes:

agent: the primary subject. Every guard binds its channel; the MCP lane serves it.
project-owner: the adjudicator. The grant and the morning review are theirs; the two rulings (q-cli-steering, q-grant-honesty) came from them.
assessor: served. Refusals, grant records, and lint flags are readable evidence.
user: same person as the owner on this project; the console lane stays untouched for them.
newcomer: not affected. No entry document changes in scope; the lints touch node statements, not the README.
communicator: not affected. No book or report structure changes in scope.
acquirer: not affected. No packaging surface changes beyond the normal ship.
developer-maintainer (software class): served. The guards are small, tested Go units; the miss record (over-implementation) is honest about limits.
tester (software class): served. Every requirement carries an executable selftest; the timing-flake risk is mitigated at assertion level.

No role is left out; three are recorded as deliberately unaffected.

decisions (1)

questions (2)

✓i22-m2-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: the context diagram names all four channels and both stores. The probes ran live (MCP handshake verified; the channel predicate located at its file). The derived checks computed green: every requirement refines a use-case (req-traced) and carries a test (req-has-test).

Round 2, validate: the requirement set realizes exactly the four approved clusters. Both owner rulings are woven in (req-cli-steer says refuse; need-engage carries the amended criterion). The environment assumptions a requirement builds on were probed, not assumed: .mcp.json, the MCP handshake and the channel predicate.

Round 3, red-team: the sharpest attack is the harness-side MCP gap. The engine can serve tools all day, and a harness that never loads .mcp.json leaves req-mcp-discoverable unmet in practice. Held with a boundary: the requirement binds the ENGINE's offer. The harness approval step is configuration, and M5 spikes it on this machine. The recorded miss (over-implementation detection) stays a miss, not scope creep.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under the standing grant; collected for the morning review.

requirements (2)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i22-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

The design question: WHERE do the guards live? Three candidates, elaborated.

Candidate A — one guard layer in dispatch. Every command passes one `guardCheck(cmd, channel, state)` function before its handler runs. The refusal logic sits in one file. The predicates (channel / review-in-hand / MCP-served) are computed once per dispatch. Strengths: one home. One test surface. Uniform refusal messages. Trivially covers new commands. Weaknesses: dispatch grows a state lookup it never needed; per-command nuance (selftest allows single-test runs?) needs a rule table anyway.

Candidate B — per-command guards. Each guarded command (selftest / bless / the CLI entry) checks its own preconditions at the top of its handler. Strengths: nuance lives where the command lives; no dispatch coupling. Weaknesses: guard logic scatters across files. A new command ships unguarded by default. Refusal wording drifts apart. Three near-identical predicate blocks to test.

Candidate C — config-layer policy. A policy file in the workspace (or the overlay) declares rules; a generic interpreter enforces them. Strengths: rules changeable without a rebuild; vehicles could tune policy. Weaknesses: a policy file is data an agent could edit — the no-bypass maxim falls. An interpreter is a new engine subsystem for five rules. The owner's configuration-vs-code question (field #6) is a LATER discussion, not this iteration's call.

Battery-side candidates (orthogonal, for the three battery requirements):

run-layer guard: the busy/no-record and first-green checks wrap the single verdict-recording function.
per-test guards: each selftest self-checks. Rejected on sight: the i21 incident happened exactly because per-test guards were the only defense.

✓i22-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Derived from the requirements and the RAID set. Weights sum to 1.

0.30 trust: no bypass, no false record, honest stamps (req-busy-no-record, req-first-green-guard, q-grant-honesty A).
0.25 over-blocking safety: a wrong refusal must be cheap to see and cheap to escape (raid-over-blocking).
0.20 coverage uniformity: a new command or test is guarded by default, not by memory (the i21 drift lesson).
0.15 walk speed: no added latency on hot commands (req-lazy-verdicts precedent, responsiveness guide).
0.10 build cost: small, testable Go; no new subsystem (rule-of-cool does not override cost here).

questions (1)

requirements (3)

✓i22-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

Review-in-hand detection (A and B need it): feasible. The ledger knows every gate's readiness; "a milestone gate is ready or suspect" is computable from the same state `next` already loads. M5 spikes the exact predicate.
MCP-served detection (for the CLI block): feasible with a boundary. The engine cannot see the harness config; it CAN see its own channel (piped vs console) and refuse ledger commands on the piped lane, pointing at MCP. The block needs no session detection at all.
Busy-guard reach (run-layer): feasible. Verdict recording already flows through one cache-write path; the busy flag reaches it as a return state.
Config interpreter (C): feasible but heavy. A new parser, a new trust surface, a new test corpus. Weeks, not days.

✓i22-m3-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: three genuine command-side candidates plus the orthogonal battery pair. Each carries strengths, weaknesses and a feasibility line. The criteria derive from named requirements and RAID nodes, weighted and summing to one.

Round 2, validate: the candidates answer exactly the M1 delta (laws into engine). Candidate C honestly connects to the parked configuration-vs-code field question instead of quietly deciding it.

Round 3, red-team: is B a straw man? No — B is today's de-facto pattern in the engine (attest checks sit per-command) and would work. Its scatter cost is the real argument, not a rigged one. Is the battery per-test candidate dismissed too fast? No — it is the documented failure mode from i21, cited.

Verdict: PASS. The decision itself belongs to M4. Blessed under the standing grant.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i22-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Five ADRs minted in , each addressing its requirements over the connections lane (10 addresses edges and 5 chosen edges). The derived check computes it.

✓i22-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh run 1. Datum: candidate B (per-command guards, today's de-facto pattern).

criterion (weight)	A dispatch layer	C config policy
trust (0.30)	+ one predicate set, no drift	− agent-editable policy file
over-blocking safety (0.25)	+ uniform refusal wording	+ rules visible
coverage uniformity (0.20)	++ guarded by default	+ declarative
walk speed (0.15)	0 one lookup per dispatch	0
build cost (0.10)	+ one home	−− interpreter subsystem
weighted sum	+0.85	−0.30

Pugh run 2 (controlled convergence). Datum: A, the run-1 winner. B scores −0.50 (uniformity and trust drift negative, all else level). C scores −1.15. A holds.

Sensitivity, REVERSED as demanded: A loses to B only when uniformity weighs near zero AND dispatch coupling counts as dominant cost. That world says "new commands never forget their guards and dispatch must stay pristine" - the i21 record contradicts the first half outright. Not credible; no tripwire from weights. One real tripwire recorded instead (in the ADR): a per-command rule table past ten entries re-opens candidate B.

✓i22-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

Four moves, one sentence each:

Command guards run as ONE pass in dispatch, before any handler (adr-guard-dispatch-layer).
Battery trust guards wrap the single verdict-write function (adr-verdict-write-guard).
A standing grant is a ledger event pair; in-scope blesses stamp the grant id (adr-grant-ledger-events).
The CLI block activates on an owner-declared lane in project.toml (adr-mcp-lane-declared); the battery gains progress, batch, and cores inside the guarded write (adr-battery-run-shape).

The lints extend the existing lint and selftest frameworks; no new subsystem.

decisions (5)

✓i22-m4-model-authored-the

evidence

Both models exist as nodes with elements allocated ahead of code, each leaf carrying its placement line and its in/out contract (, ). All five ADRs are `kind: architecture` and linked `chosen` to the model they shape. The M6 build fills exactly these leaves; a new element goes back through review (sky-fall).

models (1)

✓i22-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Skipped, recorded: eleven leaves fall into four self-evident groups (command / grant / battery / lint). A DSM over eleven elements with obvious clustering buys nothing. The register (spec/methods) stays available for a bigger cut.

✓i22-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

element-tree (model-guard-tree): where does each new part sit? Eleven leaves, every future design marker allocated.
state (model-grant-lifecycle): what modes does a grant have? The conformance contract for go-grant-store.
context: chosen as DERIVED (the free nbr- star); no authored context diagram.
sequence: REJECTED for this iteration - no new cross-party flow; the register-ask-flow precedent already draws the answer path, and the guards are single-party refusals.

Two authored models - the default budget, held.

designs (1)

models (1)

✓i22-m4-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: the Pugh table's datum is the strongest rival rather than a straw man. Run 2 re-converged on the winner. The sensitivity check was reversed and judged out loud. Both models render valid mermaid and carry per-element rationale.

Round 2, validate: every M1 criterion maps to an allocated element. The two owner rulings shaped exactly the two ADRs that needed them (adr-mcp-lane-declared realizes q-cli-steering A with an activation boundary instead of a walk-stranding unconditional block; adr-grant-ledger-events realizes q-grant-honesty A).

Round 3, red-team: the sharpest attack - the lane declaration reintroduces config the agent could edit and so softens ruling A. Held: the declaration is git-tracked owner intent with the same visibility as the contract itself, and the M7 demo tripwire forces the block to be shown live. Second attack: eleven design markers for five requirements' worth of code smells like ceremony. Held: the markers ARE the model conformance surface; fewer markers means blinder sky-fall checks.

Verdict: PASS. The DIAGRAM review is the owner's by hard rule - taken under the standing grant, flagged first in the morning-review collection: the owner should open model-guard-tree and model-grant-lifecycle at confirmation.

decisions (2)

questions (2)

models (1)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i22-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

Every model-guard-tree leaf has a located seam:

The dispatch pass wraps the existing command switch (cli.go).
The verdict guard wraps the one cache-write path (spike 3 of i21's hazard

note located it).

The battery trio lives in the runner loop.
The lints extend the existing lint pass and selftest corpus.
The grant rides the attest event store.

No leaf needs a new subsystem. The three RAID mitigations are all assertion- or message-level — nothing structural.

models (1)

✓i22-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Three spikes, run 2026-07-14 evening.

Spike 1 — is "a milestone review is in hand" computable at dispatch? YES. `StatusMap` (engine.go) already computes every check's state for `next`. A gate is identifiable by its milestone field and `-gate` id. Readiness is dep satisfaction — the exact computation `cmdNext` (ops.go) runs today. The guard reuses it, no new state. Cost: one status pass on a selftest call — a command that runs the full battery anyway.

Finding that ADVANCED the design (the spike's job): an unconditional selftest refusal would also hit the M6 slot-end hand-back battery the implementation fragment currently names. The evidence (owner complaint, 72 selftest calls in i21) says the battery belongs to GATES. Resolution recorded: the refusal targets the FULL battery only. Single-test selftests and quack verify stay lawful everywhere. The fragment's slot-end wording is re-documented at the M7 consistency sweep. req-selftest-gate.1 and test-selftest-gate amended BEFORE any red observation (no stranded red).

Spike 2 — will this harness load the MCP tools? THE GAP IS FOUND AND NAMED. .mcp.json is present and `quack mcp` answers tools/list (M2 probe). Neither .claude/settings.json nor settings.local.json approves the project server (no `enabledMcpjsonServers`). Claude Code loads project MCP servers only after approval. Fix at M6: commit `enabledMcpjsonServers: ["quack"]` in .claude/settings.json (the repo-durable home). A FRESH session is needed to load it — the M7 live demo of the tools belongs to the next session's opening, exactly like i21's phone-lane demo.

Spike 3 — do grant events fit the ledger? YES. `Event` (engine.go) carries Action + Actor + Channel + omitempty fields. A grant-open/grant-close Action pair plus one `grant` omitempty stamp on covered bless events is additive — old readers ignore unknown fields. Hashes and the prev_hash chain stay untouched (the migrate-actors precedent for additive event changes).

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i22-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

Design advanced twice from evidence: the full-battery-only refusal (spike 1, requirement amended pre-red) and the settings.json approval as part of req-mcp-discoverable's realization (spike 2). No requirement fell. No architecture changed. The two models stand.

requirements (1)

✓i22-m5-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: each spike names its file-level evidence:

StatusMap/cmdNext.
The settings files' contents.
The Event struct.

The requirement amendment happened before any observe-red — no stranded record.

Round 2, validate: the three spiked unknowns are exactly the three the M1 kill criterion and raid-over-blocking pointed at. The kill criterion did NOT fire: the predicate is computable, so req-selftest-gate ships as shaped.

Round 3, red-team: sharpest attack — spike 2 "validated" the MCP fix without seeing the tools load. True and held honestly: loading needs a fresh session by the harness's design. The M7 demo carries a recorded tripwire (adr-mcp-lane-declared). The block stays inactive until the lane demonstrably works.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under the standing grant; collected for the morning review.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

M6 Build & verify19 / 19 done

✓i22-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Ten steps, children of the build task - each one design concern and one durable checkpoint. Real prerequisites only:

b2 needs b1's store.
b4 needs b3's guard layer.
b8 needs b5's guarded write.

Everything else hangs flat off the M5 gate.

i22-b1-grant-store: grant events (go-grant-store)
i22-b2-grant-review: the collection surface (go-grant-review) ← b1
i22-b3-guard-selftest: dispatch guard layer + battery predicate (go-guard-selftest)
i22-b4-guard-cli: declared lane + refusal + harness approval (go-guard-cli) ← b3
i22-b5-verdict-guard: busy discard + first-green withhold (go-verdict-guard)
i22-b6-battery-progress: the n/N line (go-battery-progress)
i22-b7-battery-batch: cache answer on unchanged content (go-battery-batch)
i22-b8-battery-parallel: bounded worker pool (go-battery-parallel) ← b5
i22-b9-voice-lint: the statement lint (go-voice-lint)
i22-b10-recital-chain: the wording-chain selftest (go-recital-chain)

Per-step ritual, binding: author the test → `observe-red` RECORDS the failure → implement to green → targeted selftest only. The battery waits for the gate. All 11 reds were observed 2026-07-14 ~20:56 before any implementation landed. One slip: the statement-3 honesty amendment of req-standing-grant landed AFTER the red, stranding test-standing-grant's record. Marked exempt with the reason (adr-red-unobservable) and noted for the retro (the i21 b13 class recurred).

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (10)

tests (1)

✓i22-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i22-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

raid-over-blocking: held. The console takes no new refusal; every refusal names its lawful lane; the CLI block stays INACTIVE (agent_lane unset) until the next session proves the MCP tools load.
raid-grant-rubberstamp: held. The live grant (grant-20260714-213558) collects every bless; `grant review` lists them; the metric clause is in need-engage.
raid-guard-timing-flakes: held. The concurrency proof is a handshake, not a stopwatch; no test asserts durations.
New risk found and closed in-walk: the CLI block would have stranded the walk (chicken-and-egg, M4); the activation boundary answers it.
Residual: the busy-discard is conservative under concurrency (one busy trip discards the run that saw it); a wrongly discarded verdict re-runs later - the safe direction.

✓i22-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

gofmt runs clean over product/engine-go. The new code is two files plus surgical seam edits. Pure rules sit apart from console shells. The guards reuse existing predicates (channelInteractive / StatusMap / attestGatedCmds) instead of new state.

Lint:

coverage clean.
EARS clean.
conformance clean for i22.
the remaining blocking finding is the book drift the ship regenerates.

Two pre-existing RAID field-enum findings were drained in passing (status closed).

✓i22-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

All ten leaves of model-guard-tree are realized as `design:` regions in . The onion (model-engine-layers) allocates every one by essence (seven rim, three band). The sky-fall lint ran RED first (seven unallocated regions). The allocation landed. It now runs clean - the conformance loop worked as designed. No element was invented beside the diagram. One region was restructured (grant review extracted from the grant store) to keep regions unnested.

decisions (1)

models (2)

✓i22-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

Ten red records at pre-implementation hashes plus one honest exemption (test-standing-grant, adr-red-unobservable) - the derived rule computes it.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i22-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The full battery ran eagerly through `quack verify` in its own visible console, three passes. Pass one caught a REAL regression my contract edit introduced (a provenance smear the retired-vocabulary sweep refuses) - fixed at the source. Pass two exposed the busy-guard over-eagerness (see the verdict-guard section) - the rule was depth-scoped and its selftest sharpened. Pass three: every test green across all iterations, coverage:tests-pass computes DONE.

✓i22-m6-build-the-planned

✓i22-b1-grant-store

evidence

go-grant-store in :

grant-open and grant-close events with scope and expiry.
blessGrantCheck refuses an uncovered agent killer-bless (cmdBless wires it,

exit 5).

a covered bless stamps `grant:`.
grant open on the agent channel needs an explicit --by user delegation.

selftest:standing-grant green. Proven live the same minute: grant-20260714-213558 (scope i22-*, 12 h) records the owner's chat delegation of this stretch.

designs (1)

✓i22-b10-recital-chain

evidence

go-recital-chain: the engine's contract resource must carry the question-tool recital mechanism + the TL;DR-card ruling + the preview lane; a present AGENTS.md must still name the recital and the question. selftest:recital-chain green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b3-guard-selftest

evidence

go-guard-selftest: walkGuard runs as ONE pass in Dispatch before any handler. The pure rule (walkGuardDecision) refuses an agent-channel FULL battery while no milestone gate of the active version is ready or suspect, naming verify and the gate as the lawful lanes. The readiness pass runs lazy, so the guard never runs tests to decide whether tests may run. selftest:selftest-gate green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b5-verdict-guard

evidence

go-verdict-guard wraps the one cache-write path in runSelftestCached: a run that CONSUMED a vacuous busy answer is discarded with a printed reason; a first green on a current-iteration test with no red record and no exemption is withheld and flagged. The discard fired LIVE during its own selftest run.

Sharpened mid-walk by the first battery pass: the naive counter discarded the render-TRIGGERING test too (its nested probes tripped while it got the real render), so each pass lost one verdict. The rule is now DEPTH-SCOPED (runSelftestTracked): a frame discards only when a busy consult happened at its own depth. The selftest guards both sides of the class: the vacuous consumer discards, the parent of a nested trip records. selftest:busy-no-record and selftest:first-green-guard green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b6-battery-progress

evidence

go-battery-progress: the full battery prints `[n/N] selftest <name> <status>` per test. selftest:battery-progress green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b7-battery-batch

evidence

go-battery-batch: the full battery consults the verdict cache under `battery:` keys with the merkle root as input - an unchanged workspace answers from the cache, any content move or rebuild re-runs. Standalone workspace watchers are excluded (they stay live, adr-standalone-suite). selftest:battery-batch green.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i22-b9-voice-lint

evidence

go-voice-lint: an ADVISORY lint lane over authored statement fields - spaced-dash clause joins (three-plus words a side) and sentences past thirty words flag, capped at twenty printed findings. selftest:voice-lint green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b2-grant-review

evidence

go-grant-review: `quack grant review` lists the latest grant's collected blesses for the owner's confirmation; `grant close` prints the same collection at the stretch's end.

designs (1)

✓i22-b4-guard-cli

evidence

go-guard-cli: `agent_lane = "mcp"` in spec/project.toml activates the piped-ledger refusal with the MCP pointer (q-cli-steering ruling A; adr-mcp-lane-declared's activation boundary). The harness approval (`enabledMcpjsonServers: ["quack"]`) is committed in .claude/settings.json. The declaration itself stays UNSET until the next session demonstrates the tools loading (raid-over-blocking escape). selftest:cli-steer and selftest:mcp-surface green.

decisions (1)

questions (1)

designs (1)

✓i22-b8-battery-parallel

evidence

go-battery-parallel: the SAFE set (an explicit and deliberately grown allowlist - pure predicates and read-only checks) runs on a bounded pool. Results return to the main goroutine, which owns every verdict write. Overlap is proven by handshake, not by timing (raid-guard-timing-flakes). selftest:battery-parallel green.

designs (1)

✓i22-m6-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: ten build steps - each with its design region + selftest + evidence section. The derived checks (tests authored / suite red / designs realized / verification green) all compute from the trace.

Round 2, validate: the build fills exactly the M4-allocated elements - the sky-fall lint ran red on the missing onion allocations and clean after. No element entered beside the diagram. The M1 criteria 1-5 and 7 are demonstrably in. Criterion 6 (MCP lane live) is deliberately half-armed pending the fresh session (adr-mcp-lane-declared).

Round 3, red-team: the battery's own three-pass history is the strongest argument AGAINST self-certification here - two defects surfaced only under the full run. Both were fixed at the class level with sharpened tests, not patched around. Remaining doubt: the grant machinery was proven partly on its own adjudications (this very gate's bless rides it); the morning review holds the final word on every one of them.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; the bless event itself carries the grant stamp - the feature records its own audit trail.

decisions (1)

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i22-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner's standing order for this stretch:

walk unattended.
bless everything under the grant.
present it back for confirmation.

The sign-off evidence IS the grant collection (demo 3) plus the handover note. Final acceptance is the morning review's confirmation, by design of the very feature this iteration shipped.

✓i22-m7-consistency-swept-everything

✓i22-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Exercised for real, not by tests-green:

Demo 1: a fixture stub workspace, agent channel, full battery, no ready gate → refused, naming verify and the gate (exit 4).
Demo 2: the fixture declares agent_lane = "mcp" → a piped bless refused with the MCP-tool pointer, console explicitly unaffected (exit 4).
Demo 3: `grant review` lists the fifteen blesses collected under grant-20260714-213558 for the owner's confirmation.
Standing demo: this iteration's own killer gates were blessed THROUGH the grant machinery - each event carries the grant stamp.
The busy discard fired live inside its own selftest run; the first-green withhold is battery-proven.

✓i22-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated backward over every need:

need-engage: every i22 killer bless is grant-covered and collected (demo 3); the amended criterion (q-grant-honesty A) holds PENDING the morning confirmation. The phone lane and pager machinery are untouched by this iteration.
need-implementation: ten of eleven new tests carry a pre-implementation red record; the eleventh carries its honest exemption. The withhold guard enforces the ritual for every future test.
need-note: unchanged and exercised all night (nine notes captured without leaving a check).
need-review: unchanged; the board recomputed live on every gate bless.

Ch1 criteria (M1-frame): 1 refusals fire (demos 1 and 2, live). 2 no false verdicts (depth-scoped guard; its selftest holds both sides). 3 battery watchable (the n/N lines in the visible console). 4 no redundant full runs (battery keys on the merkle root). 5 grant is a ledger fact (demo 3: fifteen collected blesses). 6 HALF: approval committed and block built; arming waits for the fresh session (raid-mcp-arming). 7 both lints live (voice: 564 advisory findings on the historical corpus; recital chain green).

questions (1)

✓i22-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

One gap, minted: - the MCP lane is built but unarmed until a fresh session shows the tools; the arming order is in its mitigation. The voice-lint's 564 historical findings are a recorded cleanup decision for the owner, not a gap in the lint.

✓i22-m7-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: every demo above ran in this session with its output recorded. The RAID node exists. The swept files were re-read after editing (the sweep's own selftest and prose-current both green).

Round 2, validate: the need set is checked backward and nothing regressed - the iteration only ADDED refusals and every refusal spares the console channel.

Round 3, red-team: the honest weakness is self-reference - the grant machinery covering its own gates. Held: that is exactly what the collection surface is FOR. The morning review sees every stamped bless in one list. The alternative (no recorded grant) was the weaker trust position all of i21.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; collected.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i22-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The golden root re-baselined at every content move (final root at ship time in the build stamp). spec/project.toml points at i0022_engine_laws. agent_lane stays DELIBERATELY unset - the arming order lives in raid-mcp-arming. The harness approval (enabledMcpjsonServers) is committed. The live grant expires by itself twelve hours after open; `grant close` at the morning review ends it explicitly.

✓i22-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

AGENTS.md carries the grant verb, the killer-bless grant rule, the selftest channel note, and the recital preview clause.
`quack` usage text names grant open|close|review; `quack grant` answers help with no side effect (the cli-help guide).
contract.md carries the recital card and preview mechanism; selftest:recital-chain guards the chain.
implementation.md teaches the gate-only battery, matching the shipped refusal.
The book and report regenerate at ship (the drift lint's two findings are exactly those).

✓i22-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The hand-back is the morning review: `./quack grant review` lists every bless collected under grant-20260714-213558 (the whole i22 walk); the handover note in the inbox carries the agenda. Acceptance is the owner's confirmation there - the machinery this iteration shipped exists precisely to make that honest.

✓i22-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report at the zip root and refreshes the committed book copies. Run immediately after the gate bless, per the law.

✓i22-m8-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: each section above points at its artifact (files / commands / the RAID node / the grant id).

Round 2, validate: the iteration hands over exactly what M1 framed - the laws are engine behavior. The audit surface exists. The one unarmed lane is recorded with its arming order.

Round 3, red-team: shipping with a half-armed criterion 6 could be called incomplete. Held: arming inside THIS session is impossible by the harness's own session model, and shipping the block armed-but-unproven would violate raid-over-blocking. The honest ship carries the gap as a named issue.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; ship follows immediately.

i0023_modules 55/55

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i23-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The delta is real and worth solving.

Vehicles can already vendor Quackitect as a whole engine layer, but that is too coarse for a multi-purpose vehicle.

The needed capability is narrower:

Import one module from another project.
Update that import deterministically.
Keep one workspace timeline and ledger.
Filter every table by module before need.
Let dotted child modules roll up in views without recursive process semantics.

The current engine has related pieces:

vendored vehicles
overlays
`--base`
deterministic apply manifests

It does not yet have:

first-class modules
module import/update
module-scoped derived views

This iteration is therefore justified as an engine architecture change, not only a vehicle customization.

✓i23-m1-state-of-the

evidence

The closest existing patterns are present inside Quackitect already:

`start init` vendors a whole engine into a vehicle.
The overlay resolver lets a vehicle override vendored method resources.
`--base` lets one engine drive another workspace.
`quack apply` provides deterministic byte-exact file changes.
Project types and rigor tailor method input, but they do not divide one workspace into owned product areas.

Those mechanisms are useful but incomplete for a vehicle with multiple product areas.

The selected direction is to add modules as first-class ownership and filtering units, while keeping one workspace timeline and one ledger. Dotted ids such as `doc.review` give nested views without recursive process semantics.

✓i23-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

The iteration closes when these outcomes are visible:

A workspace can declare modules in `spec/project.toml`.
Nodes without a module load into the default module.
Dotted module ids filter as subtrees.
Derived tables present module pills before need pills.
A command can run with a module selector.
A vehicle can import and update a module from recorded provenance through a dry-runnable manifest.
A fixture can build an empty vehicle, import `se` from Quackitect, and create local `doc` modules.

Each outcome has a matching test node in this iteration.

✓i23-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

The risk register now carries the main module risks:

`raid-module-import-drift`: imports can drift or overwrite local vehicle work.
`raid-module-scope-confusion`: dotted modules can be mistaken for nested projects.
`raid-module-id-collisions`: module-local content can collide while ids remain globally keyed.

The mitigations match the selected first cut:

deterministic dry-run manifests
one ledger with view-only rollups
module-prefix lint before any later composite identity change

✓i23-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision: a Quackitect workspace is a set of modules that share:

one iteration
one ledger
one report
one book

The first module implementation is deliberately small:

Modules are dotted ids such as `se`, `doc`, and `doc.review`.
A parent module is a view/filter rollup, not a recursive mini-project.
Every loaded node gets a module, defaulting to the workspace default module.
Derived tables filter by module first, then by need.
Vehicles can import and update one module from another project through a deterministic manifest.

Out of scope for the first cut:

independent module timelines
nested ledgers
automatic parent gate adjudication
true composite `(module, id)` identity
recursive module import by default

✓i23-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: every M1 subcheck has a concrete referent in this evidence file or the risk register.

Validate: the iteration answers the actual owner ask. It starts module support for shareable vehicles. It avoids module-local timelines. It keeps Tracer out of the Quackitect iteration record.

Red-team: the main risk is overbuilding modules into nested projects. The explicit out-of-scope list and dotted-id rollup ADR keep the first implementation bounded.

Verdict: M1 is ready for adjudication.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i23-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Context: Quackitect currently treats a workspace as one product surface with one method stack. Vehicles can vendor the whole engine, but cannot import one capability module and own local modules in the same timeline.

Stakeholders:

vehicle maintainer: needs a cloneable vehicle repository with imported and local capability areas
project owner: needs one ledger and one timeline across modules
reader/reviewer: needs module-first filtering before need filtering
engine maintainer: needs deterministic imports and updates that do not overwrite local overlays

Use cases composed in this iteration:

`uc-module-scoped-views`
`uc-module-import-update`
`uc-vehicle-se-doc`
`uc-module-nesting`

The trace edges connect those use cases to `need-module-ownership` and `need-vehicle-independence`.

use cases (4)

✓i23-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set was checked against the mechanisms already in the engine:

`start init` solves whole-vehicle vendoring, but not one-module import.
`start stubs` solves drive-from-inside, but not module ownership.
The overlay resolver solves local overrides, but not imported module provenance.
`quack apply` solves deterministic file changes, and should be reused for module import/update manifests.
Project types and rigor solve tailoring, but they do not create module facets or module ownership.
`--base` solves one engine driving another workspace, but not module filtering inside one workspace.

Misses added to the requirement set:

module registry loading
dotted module subtree filtering
node default module assignment
module-first table facets
module command selector
deterministic module import and update
generic vehicle setup with imported `se` and local documentation modules

✓i23-m2-requirements-traced-every auto

evidence

Every module requirement refines one of the composed module use cases, and each use case refines one of the two module needs.

✓i23-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

evidence

Every module requirement has a matching test node in the verification lane.

✓i23-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

No new named stakeholder classes are needed for this engine iteration. The existing role set covers the concern:

project owner: adjudicates the one-ledger, one-timeline semantics
developer-maintainer: implements module parsing, filtering, import, update, and resolver changes
agent: needs unambiguous module command selection and module-aware gather/compose rules
newcomer: benefits from single-module hiding and module-first views when projects grow
assessor: reviews module imports, provenance, and cross-module trace visibility

The requirements cover each role's concern:

ownership
shareability
filtering
imports
updates
bounded dotted nesting

Late design input from the i23 walk: user handoffs must batch only user-adjudicated checks. The durable marker is `killer: true`. Deterministic checks and agent-fillable review work stay in the agent lane. The engine should prefer agent-lane ready work before opening a user handoff. When dependency order leaves only ready user-lane checks, the handoff may batch them together.

✓i23-m2-gate

evidence

Verify - the trace covers:

module ownership
import/update
module-first filtering
command selection
generic vehicle setup

Validate: the requirements match the revised owner direction:

no per-module iterations
dotted nested ids as filter rollups
no Tracer-specific Quackitect documentation

Red-team: the main missing design decision would be treating imports as overlays only. That is rejected by `req-module-import` and `req-module-update`, which require deterministic manifests and provenance.

Verdict: M2 is ready for adjudication.

requirements (2)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i23-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Four alternatives were elaborated:

`cand-project-types-only`: reuse project types and overlays only.
`cand-flat-modules`: add flat module ids without nesting.
`cand-dotted-modules`: add dotted module ids with parent rollup filters and one shared ledger.
`cand-recursive-modules`: give parent modules recursive process semantics.

The current preferred candidate is `cand-dotted-modules`.

It gives useful nesting, module-first views and exact imports. It introduces no separate module timelines, no nested ledgers and no recursive gate semantics.

✓i23-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

The criteria come directly from the requirements:

one ledger and one timeline: 0.25
module-first filtering across derived views: 0.20
deterministic import/update with dry run and provenance: 0.20
backward compatibility for single-module workspaces: 0.15
implementation cost and risk: 0.10
future path to local vehicle modules: 0.10

The weighting favors preserving the existing process model while adding module ownership and import boundaries.

✓i23-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

Candidate feasibility:

`cand-project-types-only`: feasible but insufficient. It cannot express imported/local product areas in one workspace.
`cand-flat-modules`: feasible and cheap, but weak for parent rollup filters.
`cand-dotted-modules`: feasible. It mainly adds module metadata, subtree matching, and view filters before deeper identity changes.
`cand-recursive-modules`: feasible only with much larger scope. It risks nested timelines, parent gate semantics, and recursive import/update complexity.

Conclusion: dotted module ids are the feasible first implementation.

✓i23-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: four alternatives are recorded. The weighted criteria are stated. Each candidate has a feasibility judgment.

Validate: the selected dotted-module candidate matches the owner direction: nesting as rollup, not recursive process behavior.

Red-team: flat modules are cheaper, but they lose the parent-module selection behavior that makes `doc` naturally include `doc.*`. Recursive modules are more powerful, but they would delay module import and filtering with process complexity.

Verdict: M3 is ready for adjudication.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i23-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Architecture ADRs are recorded under `spec/decisions/` and traced through the addresses lane.

Key ADRs:

`adr-one-ledger-modules`
`adr-dotted-module-ids`
`adr-module-filter-first`
`adr-module-import-manifest`
`adr-vehicle-se-doc`
`adr-module-views`

decisions (6)

✓i23-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

The chosen architecture is the dotted-module model with one workspace iteration and one ledger.

Trace to weighted criteria:

One ledger and one timeline (0.25): satisfied by `adr-one-ledger-modules`.
Module-first filtering (0.20): satisfied by `adr-module-filter-first`.
Deterministic import/update (0.20): satisfied by `adr-module-import-manifest`.
Backward compatibility (0.15): satisfied by default-module assignment in `req-node-module` and hidden module controls for single-module workspaces.
Implementation cost and risk (0.10): satisfied by rejecting recursive module semantics in `adr-dotted-module-ids`.
Future local vehicle modules (0.10): satisfied by `adr-vehicle-se-doc` and `req-vehicle-module-setup`.

The selected candidate wins because it adds the needed ownership and import boundaries without adding nested timelines or nested ledgers.

decisions (5)

requirements (2)

✓i23-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

The architecture is a workspace-level module system.

It has these rules:

The workspace keeps one iteration, one ledger, one report, and one book.
Modules are ownership and filtering units.
Nested modules are dotted ids, such as `doc.review`.
Selecting a parent module includes its dotted children in views.
Parent modules do not own separate timelines, ledgers, or recursive gate semantics.
Imported modules are read-only source payloads with recorded provenance.
Module import and update run through a deterministic dry-runnable manifest.
Single-module workspaces remain the trivial case and hide module controls.

✓i23-m4-model-authored-the

evidence

The architecture diagram is `model-module-architecture`.

It allocates these elements before implementation:

workspace process
module registry
module selector
module facets
import manager
update manager
module overlay

The diagram shows the ownership structure and the update boundary. It deliberately uses `element-tree`, not a runtime-flow model.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i23-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

DSM, DMM and MDM were considered and skipped for this first cut.

Reason: the module split is already forced by ownership boundaries:

workspace process
module registry
module selection and filtering
deterministic import/update
local overlays over imported payloads

The architecture does not yet need coupling analysis to discover modules. If implementation reveals unexpected coupling, module clustering can be revisited through a later architecture review.

✓i23-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Chosen view:

`model-module-architecture` as `element-tree`: shows ownership boundaries and build elements for the first implementation.

Rejected views for this iteration:

state model: useful later for import/update lifecycle states, not needed before the first build plan.
sequence model: useful later for module import command flow, but the current decision is structural.
context view: already derived from neighbour notes when needed.

No runtime-flow structural model is used. The architecture is not about signal flow between runtime services; it is about workspace/module ownership and deterministic update boundaries.

models (1)

✓i23-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: the selected architecture is stated and traced to criteria. It is represented as a model and backed by ADRs.

Validate: the architecture preserves one workspace timeline and ledger. It adds module ownership, dotted child rollups and deterministic imports.

Red-team: the design keeps parent modules as rollup views, not separate process owners. Child modules still use the normal workspace process and gates.

Verdict: M4 is ready for adjudication.

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i23-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The selected architecture is buildable with small engine changes.

Build seams already exist:

`readProjectConfig` and `Config` can grow module registry fields.
`ParseNodeBytes` can load a `module` field.
`LoadAll` is the single graph assembly point where default module assignment can happen.
`renderBaseHTML` and table helpers can add module facets before existing need facets.
`Dispatch` can consume a leading module id before command routing.
`copyTree`, `quack apply`, and the existing vendoring lane can support deterministic module import and update.

The design avoids high-risk changes in the first cut:

no independent module timelines
no nested ledgers
no recursive parent-gate semantics
no composite `(module, id)` identity yet

The first implementation can therefore proceed as an additive module metadata and filtering layer.

✓i23-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Assumption 1: module semantics can be added without splitting the ledger.

Evidence: `StatusMap`, `gateState` and attest events operate over loaded nodes and ids. Adding module metadata does not require changing the event model. Rollups can be view-only.

Assumption 2: imported modules can reuse deterministic file lanes.

Evidence: `copyTree` already mirrors engine source into a vehicle. `quack apply` already validates byte-exact edits before applying them. A module update command can generate the same all-or-nothing manifest instead of inventing a new mutation lane.

Assumption 3: module-first filters can reuse the derived-table facet machinery.

Evidence: the book/report already render facet pills for type + need + decision type + iteration. A module facet is another first-class facet, with the special rule that selecting a parent dotted id includes child ids.

Assumption 4: single-module workspaces can remain visually unchanged.

Evidence: the renderer already hides empty or irrelevant view affordances. The module facet can be suppressed when the module registry has one visible module.

Verdict: the risky assumptions are validated well enough to proceed to build planning.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

No throwaway code spike was needed. The useful spike was an architecture probe against the existing engine seams.

Results carried forward:

module metadata belongs in `project.toml` and loaded node state
parent module behavior is filter rollup only
import/update should use the manifest/apply lane
views and tables need module facets before need facets
command dispatch needs an optional leading module selector

The design input and architecture were updated with these results.

✓i23-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: the risky assumptions were checked against existing engine seams and recorded above.

Validate: the results support moving into implementation without expanding scope into recursive module process semantics.

Red-team: the import/update path is still the highest implementation risk. The deterministic manifest requirement keeps that risk bounded.

Verdict: M5 is ready for adjudication.

M6 Build & verify17 / 17 done

✓i23-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

The build is decomposed into eight resumable child steps under `i23-m6-build-the-planned`:

1. `i23-m6-b1-module-config` - module registry and default module parsing. 2. `i23-m6-b2-node-module-load` - node module membership and default assignment. 3. `i23-m6-b3-module-filters` - exact and subtree filtering. 4. `i23-m6-b4-table-facets` - module facets before need facets. 5. `i23-m6-b5-command-selector` - leading module selector in command dispatch. 6. `i23-m6-b6-import-manifest` - dry-run import/update manifests. 7. `i23-m6-b7-vehicle-fixture` - vehicle fixture with imported `se` and local doc modules. 8. `i23-m6-b8-docs-sync` - docs, templates and guidance updates.

Each step depends on the prior step. The aggregate build task depends on the final documentation step.

This keeps progress resumable and prevents a monolithic module rewrite.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i23-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

Accepted implementation risks:

Module id prefix lint is not yet implemented. Global ids still prevent collisions today.
Module update plans report delete operations but do not yet apply them through `quack apply`.
Module-first table filtering is emitted in the book table renderer first; report-specific module UX can follow if needed.
Command selection currently filters `status` and `next`; deeper module-specific commands can extend the same selector.

These are acceptable for the first implementation because the core invariants are in place:

module registry
default membership
subtree matching
import/update planning
documented vehicle setup

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Focused checks run:

`selftest module-registry`
`selftest node-module-default`
`selftest module-subtree-filter`
`selftest module-table-filter`
`selftest module-command-selector`
`selftest module-import`
`selftest module-update`
`selftest vehicle-module-setup`
`git diff --check`

All passed.

✓i23-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

Implementation follows `model-module-architecture`:

workspace process: unchanged one iteration, one ledger, one report, one book
module registry: `Config.Modules`, `ModuleConfig`, and `ReadConfig`
module selector: `selectModuleArg`, `selectedModule`, and `moduleSelected`
module facets: shared reader-table module facet and `data-mod` row stamps
import manager: `modulePlan` and `module import`
update manager: `modulePlan`, provenance reading, and `module update`
module overlay: planner skips overlay paths and preserves local files

No new architectural element was added outside the M4 model.

models (1)

✓i23-m6-suite-observed-red auto ✓i23-m6-verification-green-every auto

✓i23-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All planned child steps are complete:

module config parsing
node module loading
exact and subtree module filtering
module-first table facets
leading module command selector
module import/update manifest planning
vehicle module fixture
documentation and template sync

The build remained additive: one workspace timeline and ledger are preserved. Module behavior is introduced as metadata, filtering and deterministic import/update planning.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-b1-module-config

evidence

Implemented:

`Config.WorkspaceID`
`Config.DefaultModule`
`Config.Modules`
`ModuleConfig`
`[workspace]` parsing for `id` and `default_module`
`[modules.<id>]` parsing for title, kind, path, parent, and source
default single-module fallback

Verification:

`selftest module-registry` passes.
`selftest node-module-default` passes.

Design markers:

`go-module-config` implements `req-module-registry`.
`go-node-module-default` implements `req-node-module`.

requirements (2)

designs (2)

✓i23-m6-b2-node-module-load

evidence

Implemented:

`module:` frontmatter on nodes.
default module assignment during `LoadAll`.
default module assignment for scanned design regions.
default module assignment for synthetic connection-lane nodes.

Verification:

`selftest node-module-default` passes.
`selftest module-registry` passes.

Design marker:

`go-node-module-default` implements `req-node-module`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b3-module-filters

evidence

Implemented:

exact module matching
parent dotted-id subtree matching
`all` and `*` selectors

Verification:

`selftest module-subtree-filter` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-config` implements `req-module-dotted-ids`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b4-table-facets

evidence

Implemented:

node-backed table rows carry `data-mod`
tables with multiple modules render a module pill row
the module pill row renders before the need pill row
parent/child module ids are available to the shared table filter script

Verification:

`selftest module-table-filter` passes.

Design marker:

`go-book-emitter` implements `req-module-filter-first`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b5-command-selector

evidence

Implemented:

optional leading module id parsing
selected module state for command execution
status filtering by selected module subtree
next filtering by selected module subtree

Verification:

`selftest module-command-selector` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-command-selector` implements `req-module-command-selector`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b6-import-manifest

evidence

Implemented:

module import planning from an external source tree
target layout under `modules/<id>/import`
provenance file planning in `modules/<id>/module.toml`
create, write, delete, and provenance operation reporting
update planning from recorded provenance
overlay preservation under `modules/<id>/overlay`
`module import` and `module update` command surface for dry runs

Verification:

`selftest module-import` passes.
`selftest module-update` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-import-plan` implements `req-module-import` and `req-module-update`.

requirements (3)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b7-vehicle-fixture

evidence

Implemented:

a fixture vehicle created through `initVehicleFiles`
module registry entries for imported `se`, local `doc`, and child `doc.review`
import planning from the Quackitect source into the vehicle's `se` module
a guard that the import plan does not touch the local documentation child module

Verification:

`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-import-plan` supports `req-vehicle-module-setup` through the fixture path.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b8-docs-sync

evidence

Updated:

`integrate.md` documents workspace modules, dotted rollups, module import, and module update.
`compose-reference.md` documents optional `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived tables.
`vehicleTomlTmpl` seeds a default module in new vehicles.
The white-label section no longer promises an engine footer.

Verification:

`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passes.
`selftest stubs` passes.

Design marker:

`go-start-init` implements `req-vehicle-module-setup`.

requirements (1)

designs (2)

✓i23-m6-gate

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i23-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner accepted the module architecture direction during the walk:

Keep one ledger and one iteration.
Treat dotted modules as view rollups.
Keep parent modules out of separate process ownership.
Import modules deterministically.
Keep Tracer out of Quackitect docs.

The remaining owner-facing acceptance is this M7 handoff.

✓i23-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Documentation and templates were checked against the implemented behavior:

`compose-reference.md` documents optional `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived tables.
`integrate.md` documents modules, dotted rollups, `module import`, and `module update`.
The vehicle project template seeds `[workspace]` and `[modules.default]`.
The systematic checklist names the M4 model-authored check in management-readable language.
M2 design input now records the handoff batching rule: agent-lane work is filled before user handoff, and user batches contain only user-adjudicated checks.

No Tracer-specific content was added to Quackitect documentation.

✓i23-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

The focused checks exercise the core owner-facing use cases:

A workspace declares modules in `spec/project.toml`.
Historical nodes load into the default module.
Dotted ids select a module subtree.
Reader tables expose module facets before need facets.
Commands can be scoped by a leading module selector.
Module import and update produce deterministic plans.
A vehicle fixture can carry an imported `se` module and local `doc` modules without overwriting the local module area.

The handoff batching rule was also exercised: `selftest pager-merge` passed. The rule keeps deterministic and agent-fillable checks out of user batches. It batches only ready user-adjudicated checks.

✓i23-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated against the M1 success criteria:

Module registry: `selftest module-registry` passed.
Default membership: `selftest node-module-default` passed.
Dotted subtree selection: `selftest module-subtree-filter` passed.
Module-first tables: `selftest module-table-filter` passed.
Command selector: `selftest module-command-selector` passed.
Import planning: `selftest module-import` passed.
Update planning: `selftest module-update` passed.
Vehicle fixture: `selftest vehicle-module-setup` passed.

The implementation keeps one workspace timeline and ledger. Modules add ownership, filtering and import/update planning. They do not add nested ledgers or parent-module gates.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

Known gaps are recorded as RAID:

`raid-module-import-drift`: update plans must keep provenance clear and preserve overlays.
`raid-module-scope-confusion`: dotted modules can be mistaken for nested projects.
`raid-module-id-collisions`: ids remain globally keyed in this first cut.

Accepted first-cut limitations:

Module delete operations are planned but not yet applied through `quack apply`.
Report-specific module UX can follow the book/table module facets.
More module-scoped commands can extend the same selector later.

✓i23-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: focused module checks and the pager batching check passed.

Validate: the implementation satisfies the requested module semantics without introducing nested ledgers or Tracer-specific Quackitect documentation.

Red-team: the main weakness is still module id collision handling. The current global-id model prevents silent duplicates today. A later composite-id design can be considered when imports carry larger payloads.

Verdict: M7 is ready for adjudication.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i23-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The active workspace baseline is:

iteration version: `i0023_modules`
module default: `default`
module registry: default module plus the module behavior documented in M6 and M7 evidence

`quack build` re-baselined the golden root after the prompt + docs + task metadata + evidence edits.

✓i23-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

Checked documentation against the implemented module and handoff behavior:

`compose-reference.md` describes `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived table filters.
`compose-reference.md` keeps handoff batching tied to `killer: true`, not milestone numbers or ids.
`integrate.md` describes module registries, dotted rollups, `module import`, and `module update`.
`integrate.md` shows imported and local modules in one workspace timeline.
`systematic/checklist.md` marks owner sign-off rows as `*(killer)*` so user-lane behavior comes from metadata.
`AGENTS.md` now bans local shortcut rules based on milestone numbers, iteration ids, check ids, filenames, or today-only circumstances.

Focused checks run:

`selftest module-registry` passed.
`selftest module-table-filter` passed.
`selftest module-command-selector` passed.
`selftest module-import` passed.
`selftest module-update` passed.
`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passed.
`selftest pager-merge` passed.
`selftest seed-skeleton` passed.
`selftest stubs` passed.

✓i23-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Ready for owner handoff.

The handoff should include only user-lane rows:

`i23-m8-docs-complete-match`
`i23-m8-handover-accepted`
`i23-m8-gate`

It should exclude agent-lane rows already filled:

`i23-m8-configuration-baselined`
`i23-m8-packaged-versioned`

✓i23-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` produced the package:

`C:/Users/z004epwe/AppData/Local/quackitect/quackitect-3a2a52/out/quack-i0023_modules.zip`

The package root contains:

`book.html`
`report.html`
`README.md`
`RUNME.ps1`
`RUNME.sh`

✓i23-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: focused module + handoff + seed + stub checks passed. The product was shipped to the workspace output package.

Validate: the docs describe the actual module behavior and the corrected handoff ownership rule.

Red-team: the handoff batching rule is now metadata-driven. A future local exception must update template metadata or engine rules, not hardcode a milestone or id.

Verdict: M8 is ready for adjudication.

i0024_hygiene 66/66

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i24-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The delta is real, and each half was observed live rather than assumed:

The owner asked for the query lane after watching four greps and a blown output cap in one session (2026-07-15).
The owner asked for hot reload after the MCP surface needed a manual reconnect for one config fix.
The voice debt (566) blocks arming the voice lane; the owner ruled the fix in.
The .base trust hole and the two guard gaps are recorded defects with dates.

Worth solving now: the wave and the build both get cheaper with query and apply in hand. Ordering the query first pays inside this same iteration.

✓i24-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Two research passes ran at compose time (2026-07-15, harness research capability).

Query lane prior art:

ckg-mcp exposes a pre-compiled knowledge graph over MCP for structural queries.
Codebase-Memory serves a tree-sitter graph with a Cypher-like query_graph tool.
Neo4j memory MCP servers return structured entities instead of file dumps.

Position: prior art proves the pattern (graph reads as MCP tools beat file dumps). None runs on a hashed, pinned expression subset inside a zero-dependency ledger engine. Our query reuses the pooled Bases evaluator the book tables already run on. One substrate, trust-chained.

Hot-reload prior art:

mcpmon and reloaderoo are dev-time supervisor proxies. They restart a child, buffer in-flight messages, then emit list_changed.
No found tool self-adopts a staged production binary mid-session.
Claude Code honors list_changed mid-session (documented). Claude Desktop does not. A dead stdio server is never restarted by the client.

Position: the supervisor shape is proven; the staged-binary self-adoption is our extension. The parent process must never exit. The swap waits for open replies.

Hygiene items: internal debt with in-repo precedent (the i11 evidence-hash wedge is the same trust class as the .base gap). No external scan needed.

decisions (1)

✓i24-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria, each checkable:

1. Voice: `quack lint` reports zero voice findings. Baseline today: 566. 2. Query: the three canonical agent questions answer in one call each. Edges by endpoint. Nodes filtered by type and state. Notes filtered by text. Baseline today: four greps and a blown output cap. 3. Trust: editing a pooled `.base` file flips its dependents suspect. Baseline today: silent. 4. Reload: after `quack build`, the new tool surface is callable in the same Claude Code session. Baseline today: reconnect required. 5. Birth: a fresh `start stubs` workspace connects MCP with zero hand edits. 6. Guard: an apply manifest that strands a red record is refused with the refresh pointer. 7. Ship: board fully green, backward-cumulative battery passing.

✓i24-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Four risks in the register:

`raid-wave-fatigue`: the statement wave suspects cones everywhere. Mitigation: roots-only triage under the recorded grant.
`raid-voice-meaning-drift`: a rewrite can change a blessed meaning. Mitigation: meaning-preserving splits, full collection review.
`raid-reload-harness`: a dead stdio server is never restarted. Mitigation: the parent never exits, only the child swaps.
`raid-query-authority-creep`: the read lane must not become a second truth. Mitigation: read-only, walk rules unchanged.

✓i24-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore): FOR the driving agent and the owner WHO lose time to file dumps + shell hazards + a stale tool surface, THE i0024 hygiene iteration is a trust and lane upgrade THAT gives the agent a read query + a self-refreshing MCP surface + a voice-clean and fully hashed spec. UNLIKE dev-time reload proxies and unhashed query pools that sit outside the trust chain.

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: every structured read is one filtered call. Every content input is hashed. Every authored statement obeys the voice.
Actual, five gaps:
greps over edge files
a 566-finding voice debt
unhashed .base pools
a reconnect-bound tool surface
two unguarded defect classes
Delta: the eight composed requirements. The scope list lives in iteration.md.

Out of scope:

Obsidian CLI as a dependency (ruled out)
q-notes-travel (parked)
epochs (parked)

decisions (1)

questions (1)

✓i24-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: every M1 subcheck points at a concrete referent in this doc or the risk register. The research findings carry source links via the compose notes.

Validate: the frame answers the owner's actual asks from 2026-07-15 chat: query lane + hot reload + statement cleanup, plus the agreed cleanup seeds. Nothing here invents scope beyond the approved plan.

Red-team: the riskiest claim is reload feasibility on this harness. It rests on documentation, not a live probe. The M5 spike carries a kill-criterion: if the harness does not adopt list_changed live, reload ships console-first and the MCP half re-scopes. Second risk: the wave's size. The grant collection and roots-only triage price it. No override needed.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i24-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Context: the engine, its MCP surface and the harness around them. Everything is inside one workspace. The one external contact is the MCP client (Claude Code), probed at M5.

Sources feeding the requirement set:

Five triaged seed notes:
the card defect
the walk slip
the MCP arming seed
the trust gap
the spike residue
Three owner rulings from the 2026-07-15 chat:
the query lane
the hot reload
the statement cleanup
Two research passes from the compose:
the harness capability probe
the prior-art scan

Use cases: all eight requirements fold into existing use-cases.

`uc-lawful-walk`: query, MCP birth, self-arm, reload
`uc-authoring-guard`: voice
`uc-verdict-integrity`: root hashing
`uc-battery-trust`: red-edit guard
`uc-bless-readout`: delta message

The card class guard verifies existing `req-register-render.2`. No new needs. No new use-cases.

requirements (1)

use cases (5)

✓i24-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The M1 scan positioned the idea. The requirement set itself checks out against practice:

Query: prior graph-query MCP tools confirm filtered rows and a refusal on unknown fields as the standard shape (`req-query.4` mirrors the CLI-help guide).
Reload: mcpmon's buffer-then-notify sequence confirms `req-mcp-reload.3` (wait for open replies).
Voice ratchet: standard lint-debt practice is fix-then-gate, exactly `req-voice-zero.2`.
Root hashing: the i11 evidence-hash fix is the in-repo precedent; `.base` and references close the same class.

Miss found and added by the scan: none open. The scaffold's committed harness approval (from the merged seed) rides `req-mcp-birth.1` as the explicit-path `.mcp.json`.

requirements (4)

✓i24-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i24-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i24-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Roles touched, from the always-on class set:

The driving agent: query, apply guard, reload — the whole read/write lane.
The project owner: hand-off cards, grant collection, voice-clean statements.
The newcomer: MCP-armed scaffolds with zero hand edits.
The assessor: a fully hashed root, no silent content edits.

No role is left out: this iteration ships no reader-facing book content (communicator unaffected beyond re-render).

✓i24-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: eight requirements, each with a test and a use-case edge. The two derived checks (`req-traced`, `req-has-test`) compute live. Every statement is EARS-shaped; lint flags none of them.

Validate: the set covers all five seed notes and all three owner rulings from 2026-07-15. Nothing in the set exceeds the approved plan.

Red-team: the weakest link was visibility, not substance — the prior-art evidence had not been shown to the owner at fill time. Corrected mid-walk: findings and links presented in chat. The show-research law is now baked in engage.md. The voice and root items cite convention and in-repo precedent rather than external research. Recorded here as accepted scope, not hidden.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i24-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Two decision axes, two elaborated rivals each:

Reload lane: `cand-supervisor-child` vs `cand-console-first`.
Query substrate: `cand-query-in-engine` vs `cand-query-obsidian-cli`.

The remaining scope items are single-shape fixes with no viable architectural rival:

the voice wave
the root hashing
the two guards
the scaffold arming

Their alternatives were behavioral. They got lettered on the M1 risk cards instead.

✓i24-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Derived from the requirement set, weights sum to 1:

Trust chain intact (hashed, tested, deterministic): 0.35 — carries req-root-content, req-query, the whole ledger premise.
Zero dependencies, one binary: 0.25 — the engine's standing law, req-mcp-birth's Go-less machines.
Same-session agent experience: 0.25 — the owner's explicit ask behind req-query and req-mcp-reload.
Build cost and moving parts: 0.15 — hygiene iteration, small steps.

requirements (4)

✓i24-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

`cand-supervisor-child`: Go child-process proxy over stdio is stock library work. The staged-binary path already exists (the build's stage-and-adopt). Risk is the swap seam; mcpmon proves the buffer-then-notify sequence. Feasible.
`cand-console-first`: trivially feasible; it is today's behavior.
`cand-query-in-engine`: the Bases evaluator exists (base.go, pooled queries). Plumbing plus output shaping. Feasible.
`cand-query-obsidian-cli`: feasible mechanically. It breaks the zero-dep battery. It puts an unhashed evaluator in the read lane. Disqualified on criteria, not on feasibility.

✓i24-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: four candidate nodes exist with honest rival elaboration; criteria trace to requirements.

Validate: both axes answer the owner's actual asks; no rival is a straw man — console-first is genuinely viable and cheaper.

Red-team: the strongest case against the supervisor is complexity for a convenience. Priced: if the M5 probe shows the harness does not adopt list_changed live, the supervisor loses its main payoff and console-first wins on cost. That kill-criterion rides the M4 decision.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i24-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Three ADRs, each addressing its requirement. The derived check computes live.

✓i24-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

Both models exist with elements allocated ahead of code. The build fills exactly these blocks. A new element found mid-build returns to architecture review.

✓i24-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh, reload axis. Datum: `cand-console-first` (the strongest viable rival).

trust chain (0.35): 0 — both stay engine-owned
zero dependencies (0.25): 0 — the proxy is stock library work
same-session experience (0.25): +1 — the owner's explicit ask
cost and moving parts (0.15): -1 — the proxy seam is real complexity

Weighted score: +0.10. The supervisor wins on the criterion the owner set.

Pugh, query axis. Datum: `cand-query-obsidian-cli` (full-fidelity rival).

trust chain (0.35): +1 — hashed, tested, in the battery
zero dependencies (0.25): +1 — no external runtime
same-session experience (0.25): 0 — both answer live
cost (0.15): +1 — the evaluator already exists

Weighted score: +0.75. In-engine wins decisively.

Sensitivity, reversed: the supervisor LOSES the moment same-session adoption fails on the live harness. That world is credible — the docs promise it, but no probe has run here. Recorded tripwire: the M5 `list_changed` probe. Fallback: `cand-console-first`, and `req-mcp-reload` re-scopes to the console lane. The query axis has no credible flip: the subset-cost world re-opens `adr-query-in-engine` only if a needed query exceeds the pinned subset.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i24-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

Two winners, one per axis:

Reload lane: `cand-supervisor-child`. The MCP surface becomes a thin parent over a swappable child engine.
Query substrate: `cand-query-in-engine`. The pinned Bases subset answers all agent reads.

Deciding ADRs:

decisions (3)

✓i24-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Skipped, recorded: ten elements on one axis is below any DSM payoff. The cut is obvious.

✓i24-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Two models, the default budget:

— element-tree. Question: where do the lanes and guards live? It allocates every element the build fills.
— sequence. Question: how does a staged binary reach a live session?

Rejected kinds, with reasons:

context: the workspace context is unchanged; the existing context view holds.
state: the swap has no state machine worth a view; the sequence carries it.

models (1)

✓i24-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: both models render. The ADRs trace. The Pugh runs use honest datums.

Validate: the decision answers the owner's two asks. The kill-criterion from M3 rides the sequence model.

Red-team: the supervisor's proxy seam is the riskiest element. The refusal-exit crash from this walk proves the class is live. The seam therefore carries its own element in the model, and M6 guards it with the JSON-RPC error rule.

Verdict: pass. The owner reviews the two diagrams at this gate.

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i24-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The prototype is within a stone's throw of the production shape. Three seam facts the build must honor:

The supervisor must cache and replay the client's initialize to every new child.
In-flight tracking is id-based: requests carry ids, notifications do not.
stderr passes through untouched; the child's logging stays visible.

The walk itself supplied three more design inputs, all found live:

A served refusal must return a JSON-RPC error, never exit (the crash that killed this session's server).
The lane guard needs a liveness fallback when the declared MCP server is down.
The lane guard over-blocks ungated scaffold sub-ops (`start stubs`).

✓i24-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Two spikes ran in the data home. Both answered their question.

Spike A, the card defect (`spikes/i24-card-repro`):

A minimal fixture workspace reproduced the owner's screenshot exactly.
Trigger: an open question node with no `## Options` section and no `decided_via`.
Render: `Bless selects decided_via =` with an empty value and zero option lines.
The class guard (`test-card-empty-register`) now has its exact fixture.

Spike B, the supervisor mechanics (`spikes/i24-reload-proto`):

A Go prototype proxied a real `quack mcp` child over stdio.
On a stamp move it drained the in-flight request, swapped the child, and replayed initialize.
It emitted `notifications/tools/list_changed` as a well-formed frame.
The next tools/list was answered by the new child. The whole model-reload-sequence held.

The remaining half of the reload assumption is harness adoption. It stays documentation-backed until M7: after the real build and one reconnect, the live harness either adopts the notification or the M4 tripwire fires and the fallback is console-first.

tests (1)

✓i24-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

Both spike dirs stay in the data home as scratch. The keepers are captured backward:

the fixture recipe into this doc and the M6 test step
the seam facts into this doc and the M6 build plan
the three live defects into notes, routed to M6

✓i24-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: both spikes have runnable artifacts in the spike dirs. The findings above name their referents.

Validate: the two riskiest assumptions from M4's red-team are exactly what got probed.

Red-team: the unprobed half (harness adoption) is named and bounded, and carries its tripwire and fallback. Accepting it now risks one reconnect, not the iteration.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M6 The voice lane gains its zero-debt arming switch and the selftest hook.28 / 28 done

✓i24-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Fourteen planned steps, extended to nineteen by owner-ruled pulls mid-walk. Children of the build task, in dependency order. The owner's ruling set the order: query first, so the rest of the walk ran on it.

`i24-b1-query-eval` — the query core over the loaded graph
`i24-b2-query-mcp` — console face + read-only MCP tool (depends on b1)
`i24-b3-mcp-errors` — served refusals return errors, never exit
`i24-b4-supervisor` — the parent proxy: drain, swap, replay, notify (depends on b3)
`i24-b5-lane-guard-fixes` — sub-op allowance + revive hint + the MCP observe-red tool
`i24-b6-card-guard` — the honest card fallback (spike A's fixture)
`i24-b7-root-content` — queries and references into the identity root
`i24-b8-red-edit-guard` — apply refuses red-stranding edits (active iteration scoped)
`i24-b9-mcp-birth` — scaffolds arm MCP from birth, explicit path
`i24-b10-self-arm` — first attested session arms existing workspaces
`i24-b11-region-delta` — the empty-region message names region and fix
`i24-b12-voice-gate` — the zero-debt arming switch and selftest hook
`i24-b13-voice-wave` — the drain itself (depends on b12)
`i24-b14-spike-noopen` — foreign-workspace renders stay quiet
`i24-b15-arg-guards` — unknown-id bless refusal; plan-first start (pull)
`i24-b16-adopt-honest` — unique park slots; truthful build line (pull)
`i24-b17-grant-wording` — the owner-act refusal names the console (pull)
`i24-b18-binary-budget` — size and cold-start budgets checked at build (pull)
`i24-b19-book-cleanups` — verified already realized; see the fill note below (pull)

✓i24-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All nineteen steps realized and individually blessed. Notable fills:

b13 drained 567 statements. Three rewriter agents produced the rewrites; the assembler validated each against the exact lint rule and emitted byte-exact manifests; eight manifests applied all-or-nothing.
The wave surfaced and fixed two rule gaps: backtick spans are code (never dash-joined prose), and the dash scan now checks every occurrence.
b19's two cleanups were found already realized in blessed history (colophon retired in i14 with an absence test; the informed-by list has no live render caller). The dead renderer pair is noted for the next pruning slot.

✓i24-b1-query-eval ✓i24-b10-self-arm ✓i24-b11-region-delta ✓i24-b12-voice-gate ✓i24-b14-spike-noopen ✓i24-b15-arg-guards ✓i24-b16-adopt-honest ✓i24-b17-grant-wording ✓i24-b18-binary-budget ✓i24-b19-book-cleanups ✓i24-b3-mcp-errors ✓i24-b5-lane-guard-fixes ✓i24-b6-card-guard ✓i24-b7-root-content ✓i24-b8-red-edit-guard ✓i24-b9-mcp-birth ✓i24-b13-voice-wave ✓i24-b2-query-mcp ✓i24-b4-supervisor

✓i24-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Fifteen new design regions carry the markers; the derived check computes live.

✓i24-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The M1 risk register held:

`raid-wave-fatigue`: mitigated as ruled — roots-only triage; the one wave defers to after M8 (the engine itself refused a premature wave, the i17 lesson as law).
`raid-voice-meaning-drift`: meaning-preserving splits; every touched cone re-adjudicates under the grant collection.
`raid-reload-harness`: the parent-never-exits shape held; the crash and lockout incidents VALIDATED the risk and were fixed as b3/b5.
`raid-query-authority-creep`: the query stayed read-only; walk rules unchanged.

New risk found and priced: the ratchet wedge class (b16 fixed it; one recorded exception used a direct placement of an already-baselined binary).

✓i24-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

gofmt and vet clean on every build (the analysis gate refused one finding mid-walk and it was fixed in place). The engine's own absorption quirk (a marker swallowing its neighbor's marker line) was found by the wave's assembler, then guarded in the assembler and noted for the engine. Debug instrumentation was added and fully removed; the diff carries no scaffolding.

✓i24-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

Every realized region is allocated in `model-agent-lanes`. The four pull elements were added to the model THROUGH an architecture re-review (the M4 gate re-blessed under the grant), never silently. The reload seam follows `model-reload-sequence` exactly; the spike proved the order and the production supervisor reuses it.

models (1)

✓i24-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

Twelve tests, twelve red records. Nine reds landed via the owner's one console paste (the lane gap was open then). The last three landed over the new MCP observe-red tool — the ritual's first self-service run. The derived check computes live.

✓i24-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The full backward-cumulative battery ran ONCE at this gate, in its own visible console (`quack verify i24-m6-verification-green-every`). The verdict is read from the cache below.

✓i24-m6-gate

evidence

Verify: nineteen steps blessed with green targeted selftests. Twelve reds recorded. The battery verdict at this gate.

Validate: the build answers every owner ask from 2026-07-15:

the query lane (used live for the walk's own reads)
hot reload (mechanics proven; live demo at M7)
the statement drain (566 to zero, lane armed)
the five pulled rulings

Red-team: the riskiest residue is the harness's live adoption of list_changed — deliberately deferred to M7's killer demo with console-first as the recorded fallback. Second residue: 200 historical review gates sit suspect from the wave's ripple. The engine's own wave guard demands they wait for the walk's end, exactly as designed.

Verdict: pass, contingent on the battery verdict above. Ready for the gate bless.

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i24-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner's standing grant (grant-20260715-202439, scope all) covers the walk. Every bless is collected for the morning review. The owner reviewed the collection live mid-walk (the grant review paste) and ordered: finish this iteration.

✓i24-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Everything this iteration changed is re-documented where it is described:

AGENTS.md: the query lane, the supervisor face, observe-red and query on the tool surface.
The CLI usage text carries `query` and `mcp [--child]`.
compose-reference: the red ritual names both lanes; the decision-card shape carries the owner's format law.
engage.md: the show-research law and the decision-format law (baked mid-walk, owner-ruled).
The i18-era comment in mcp.go describing stop-answering-when-superseded was superseded by the supervisor design region beside it.

✓i24-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Done for real, not merely tests-green:

The QUERY lane drove the walk's own reads all night: the 567-statement worklist, the suspect triage, and the edge folds all came from `quack query`.
The RED ritual ran self-service over the MCP observe-red tool for the three pulled tests.
The HOT RELOAD demo ran against the live harness session: a real `quack build` staged a new binary, the supervisor swapped the child, and the next MCP tool call answered from the fresh engine without any reconnect. The M4 tripwire (fallback console-first) did not fire.
The CARD guard renders the honest fallback for spike A's exact fixture (`selftest card-empty-register`).

✓i24-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated against the Ch1 criteria, each with its live referent:

1. Voice: `quack lint` reports zero voice findings. Baseline was 566. 2. Query: the walk itself ran on it. Edge folds, suspect listings and note scans each answered in one call. 3. Trust: pooled queries and references hash into the identity root; an edit flips dependents suspect. 4. Reload: the live demo below. A staged build reached the connected session without a reconnect. 5. Birth: `selftest mcp-birth` proves the scaffold arms MCP with the explicit path. 6. Guard: `selftest red-edit-guard` proves the refusal with the refresh pointer. 7. Ship: the board goes fully green at the M8 wave; the battery verdict rides the M6 gate.

Backward validation: every prior need re-checks through the backward-cumulative battery at the M6 verification.

✓i24-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

The harness displays a cosmetic reconnect error while reconnecting fine (harness-side; noted for an upstream report).
The engine's marker scan can absorb a neighboring marker line into a statement (noted; assembler guards it; engine guard owed).
The dead renderModelInformed pair awaits the next pruning slot (noted).

✓i24-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: each criterion above names a runnable or inspectable referent.

Validate: the iteration answers the owner's actual asks from the 2026-07-15 rulings, nothing more.

Red-team: the strongest doubt was harness adoption of list_changed; the live demo killed it. The residual doubts are recorded as gaps, each with a route.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i24-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

Golden root re-baselined by the final build.
Budget nodes live; every future build answers to them.
`agent_lane = "mcp"` stands; scaffolds arm it from birth.

✓i24-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

AGENTS.md, the CLI usage, compose-reference, and engage.md agree with the engine's actual behavior (the M7 sweep lists each change).
The book re-renders at ship; the drift findings clear with it.

✓i24-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The morning-review hand-off:

1. `./quack grant review` — confirm the collection (the owner saw the mid-walk state live; the final wave adds the post-wave re-blesses). 2. `./quack grant close` — end the stretch. 3. Git is uncommitted by design — the owner's ops.

✓i24-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` runs immediately after this gate's bless (owner law). The zip carries the fresh book and report at its root.

✓i24-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: ship prerequisites hold; the wave and ship run right after the bless.

Validate: the iteration record is self-explaining for the next session; every open lead lives in a note with a route.

Red-team: nothing rides on memory or chat; the repo carries every law this walk baked.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless - then the wave, then ship.

i0025_clean_state 22/58

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i25-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The owner ordered this directly on 2026-07-16: reduce the backlog and todos to a halfway-clean state before any new feature. Every scope item traces to a recorded finding or an owner ruling from the i24 window. Nothing here is speculative.

✓i25-m1-state-of-the

evidence

This iteration's subject is the repo's own recorded debt; the prior art is internal precedent:

fail-at-end batteries are standard practice in every mature test runner (the external norm confirms the owner's law).
The i17 pruning iteration is the in-repo precedent for b8's retirement and b9's triage.
The i24 wave is the direct precedent for b6's mechanical rename.

No external scan adds information here; the sources are the notes each step cites.

✓i25-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

1. The battery reports N failures in one run (proven by b1's own test). 2. `quack lint` ends with zero jargon/term/adoption advisories, or each remaining one carries an owner ruling. 3. The inbox is empty. Every archived note carries its pointer. 4. `suite: never-cached` is the only spelling in the repo. 5. The status-storm caller is named in evidence, with its fix or its recorded deferral. 6. Board fully green at ship. The battery green in two runs or fewer (the new law, self-demonstrated).

✓i25-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

`raid-triage-overreach`: the ADR triage retires something still load-bearing. Mitigation: retire-candidates ship as a bucket the owner rules; nothing retires on my judgment alone.
`raid-rename-ripple`: the suite rename touches blessed history. Mitigation: mechanical byte-exact sweep, one wave under the grant, the i24 playbook.

✓i25-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore): FOR the owner and the driving agent WHO carry a shipped engine but a noisy floor, THE clean-state iteration is a debt drain THAT takes every open advisory + defect lead + naming ruling to zero. UNLIKE feature iterations that add surface while the floor stays loud.

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: an empty inbox, a groomed backlog, zero lint advisories, a battery that reports everything once.
Actual: eight open leads from the i24 run, 55 unrealized ADR adoptions, 19 glossary advisories, a first-fail-aborting battery, one misleading suite name.
Delta: the eleven composed steps. The scope list lives in iteration.md.

Out of scope: every new feature. The parked backlog stays parked.

✓i25-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: every subcheck has its referent above or in the risk register. Validate: the frame is exactly the owner's clean-state order, nothing more. Red-team: the riskiest item is b9's judgment load; priced by the bucket hand-offs. Verdict: pass.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i25-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

The context is the engine and its own recorded debt. Sources, one per scope item:

eight inbox seeds from the i24 window, each a note with its finding
the lint's advisory counts: 12 jargon, 7 term-before-use, 55 unrealized adoptions
three owner rulings from the 2026-07-16 chat:
never-cached as the suite name
no data embedded in the executable, ever
discover once, fix batched, confirm once
one owner ruling from the onboarding review:
boot mode uses `quack next` as readiness
`status` is diagnostic, not a boot gate
`start` does not need a fresh golden root
`build` waits for report, status parity diagnosis, or milestone verification

Use cases: all five requirements fold into existing use-cases.

`uc-battery-trust`: fail-at-end, fixture isolation
`uc-stable-design-hashes`: the marker scan
`uc-authoring-guard`: voice over prose
`uc-work-register`: the card evidence line

The rename + drains + triage + rule mint ride existing requirements and the item registry. They add steps, not trace.

use cases (4)

✓i25-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

Fail-at-end reporting is the norm in every mature test runner (pytest, go test); the current abort-at-first behavior is the outlier. External norm and owner law agree.
Run-unique fixture directories are standard test-isolation practice.
The rest is internal precedent: i17's pruning for b8/b9, i24's wave for b6.

✓i25-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i25-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i25-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

The owner: fewer advisories to ignore, honest battery reports, the name that stops misleading.
The driving agent: two-run gate closings, clean derived statements, prose lint feedback.
The assessor: adoption advisories become rulings; the ledger explains itself.
No reader-facing surface changes; the communicator and newcomer are untouched.

✓i25-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: five requirements - each EARS-shaped (lint clean), each with a test and a use-case edge. The derived checks compute live. Validate: the set covers all eight seeds and all three rulings. Nothing exceeds the approved plan. Red-team: the thinnest claim is b10's (a diagnosis, not a fix promise). Its success criterion says exactly that. Verdict: pass.

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i25-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A debt drain has one genuinely architectural choice: WHERE the fail-at-end battery reports.

`cand-fail-at-end-collect`: the battery collects failures into one end report inside the existing runner loop. Small, local, no new machinery.
`cand-fail-at-end-journal`: the battery journals each verdict to a file as it runs; the report reads the journal. Survives crashes mid-battery, costs a new artifact and its lifecycle.

Every other step is a single-shape fix with no viable rival; their behavioral options were lettered on the M1 risk cards.

✓i25-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

simplicity, no new artifacts: 0.4
crash survivability of partial results: 0.25
report fidelity (every failure, once): 0.35

✓i25-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

Both candidates are afternoon-sized inside RunSelftestCLI and the verify path. The verdict cache ALREADY journals per-test results, which weakens the journal candidate's one advantage: partial results already survive via the cache.

✓i25-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: both candidates elaborated with honest trade-offs. Validate: the axis is the only real one in scope. Red-team: the journal candidate's advantage is pre-empted by the existing verdict cache - stated above, not hidden. Verdict: pass.

M4 Decide the architecture6 / 7 done

✓i25-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

One ADR, addressing req-battery-fail-at-end. The derived check computes live.

requirements (1)

✓i25-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The build fills blocks the existing diagrams already sanction; the conformance lint holds it to that. No new element is planned; one found mid-build returns here first.

✓i25-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh, datum `cand-fail-at-end-journal`:

simplicity (0.4): +1 - no new artifact
crash survivability (0.25): 0 - the verdict cache already covers both
report fidelity (0.35): 0 - both report everything once

Weighted: +0.4. Collect wins on simplicity with nothing conceded.

✓i25-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

`cand-fail-at-end-collect` wins: the runner loop collects and reports at the end. The verdict cache keeps providing crash-surviving partials, unchanged.

Deciding ADR: .

decisions (1)

✓i25-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Skipped, recorded: no elements are being grouped or ordered.

✓i25-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

No new views. The touched elements live inside blocks the existing models already allocate:

`model-engine-layers` covers the battery, lint, and scanner bands
`model-agent-lanes` (i24) covers the card render and the lanes

Rejected kinds recorded: context / sequence / state - a debt drain changes no structure worth a new diagram.

decisions (1)

models (2)

?i25-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: the Pugh runs on an honest datum. The ADR traces. Validate: minimal decision surface for a minimal-architecture iteration. Red-team: the strongest objection is that no-new-views under-documents b5's card change. Answered - the card render is an allocated block in model-agent-lanes. b5 changes its content, not the structure. Verdict: pass.

decisions (1)

models (1)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns0 / 4 done

?i25-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

All eleven steps are afternoon-or-smaller inside known seams:

the runner loop (b1)
fixture home naming (b2)
the marker scan loop (b3)
voiceStatementFindings' caller (b4)
the card render (b5)
a byte-exact sweep (b6)
glossary files (b7)
a veto mint and a hook re-home (b8)
evidence reading plus hand-offs (b9)
this very diagnosis (b10)
a rule mint (b11)

?i25-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Spike A, the status storm (b10's diagnosis - done here):

The caller was the driving agent's own wait loops. Overnight background waiters polled `quack status` every 20 to 30 seconds for hours; one crashed session's waiter alone explains thousands of dispatches.
Each poll executed the never-cached suite live (~9 selftests), multiplying the cost.
Root cause class: the agent polled a JUDGMENT surface for a MECHANICAL condition. The right poll target is a file (the verdict store, an output artifact), not a command that computes a board.

Fix direction, two halves:

agent side: wait loops poll file state, never `status` (bakes into the agent guidance at M7's sweep).
engine side: nothing owed. `status` is priced correctly for its purpose; the misuse was the caller's.

Spike B, fail-at-end sizing: the M3 feasibility already sized both candidates inside the runner loop. No further spike needed. The verdict cache pre-empts the crash-survivability concern.

requirements (1)

?i25-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

The diagnosis lands in this doc and closes b10's question half. The guidance half lands at the M7 consistency sweep. No scratch artifacts. The evidence was the call log aggregate, already consumed at the retro.

requirements (1)

?i25-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: the storm's arithmetic matches the observed 2355 (hours of 20 to 30 second polling). Validate: the two real unknowns are answered; everything else was pre-sized. Red-team: the self-diagnosis could flatter the engine; countered by the honest note that the never-cached suite multiplied the cost and that a cheaper engine surface remains available if polling ever becomes legitimate. Verdict: pass.

M6 Build & verify0 / 20 done

?i25-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Eleven steps, seeded at compose and walked in order. The plan held; no step split or merged.

?i25-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All eleven steps realized and blessed. The notable fills:

b1: the battery collects failures and reports once. Its first real outing closes THIS gate.
b6: the rename swept engine, spec, and archives; the parser reads the legacy word so external workspaces keep loading; adr-yijggxq supersedes adr-standalone-suite.
b7: jargon advisories 12 to 0; eleven glossary entries registered.
b9's surprise: the 56 unrealized adoptions were mostly the LINT's own defect. Its design index ignored sub-addressing, unlike every coverage rule. One line fixed 54 of 56; one was my rename ADR missing its edge; the last (spike-risk) rides this gate as the owner's retire card. The triage agents' evidence corroborated the fix.
b10 closed at M5: the status storm was the agent's own poll loops.
b4's new prose lane immediately found its own debt: 473 advisory findings in historical evidence docs. It stays advisory by its own third statement; the drain is a future wave.

decisions (3)

?i25-b1-fail-at-end ?i25-b10-status-storm ?i25-b11-no-embed-rule ?i25-b2-battery-isolation ?i25-b3-marker-scan ?i25-b4-voice-prose ?i25-b5-card-evidence ?i25-b6-never-cached-rename ?i25-b7-glossary-drain ?i25-b8-dead-renderer-prune ?i25-b9-adr-adoption-triage

?i25-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Seven new regions carry markers; the derived check computes live.

?i25-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

raid-triage-overreach: held. Nothing retired on agent judgment; the one candidate is the owner's card at this gate.
raid-rename-ripple: held. The sweep was byte-exact; the legacy read keeps old workspaces loading; one wave clears the ripple.

?i25-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

gofmt and vet clean on every build. Two generated-code slips (a mangled regex, a convoluted predicate) were caught in review and cleaned before any red anchored them.

?i25-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

Every touched region lives in blocks the existing models allocate: the battery + lint + scanner bands of model-engine-layers; the card render in model-agent-lanes. No new element entered; none was needed.

models (2)

?i25-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

Five tests, five reds - all recorded over the MCP observe-red tool. The owner's console was never needed; the ritual is fully self-service since i24 b5.

?i25-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The battery ran at this gate - once to discover and once to confirm, per the owner's law that b1 mechanized.

?i25-m6-gate

evidence

Verify: eleven steps blessed with green targeted checks. Five reds recorded. The battery verdict at this gate. Validate: the build is exactly the clean-state order. The biggest single win (54 advisories from one line) came from fixing the tool instead of feeding it. Red-team: the prose lane's 473-finding debt could read as new noise. It is the honest cost of a lint that finally sees prose. It stays advisory until its own drain. Verdict: pass, contingent on the battery.

M7 Validate & accept0 / 6 done

?i25-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner ruled live throughout:

the never-cached name
the no-embed constraint
the retire card at M6
the grant covering the walk

The collection records every bless for the closing review.

?i25-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

The rename: engine vocabulary, spec nodes, archives, the superseding ADR, and the board's own display agree on never-cached; remaining "standalone" occurrences in method prose are ordinary English, verified one by one.
The battery law lives in the shared implementation fragment; the poll-files law lives in AGENTS.md beside the window rule.
The glossary carries the eleven new entries; the README links its LLM use.
adr-standalone-suite carries its superseder; spike-risk carries its retirement decision.

decisions (2)

?i25-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

The fail-at-end battery closed ITS OWN gate: the four-failure single report was a live use, not a fixture. The retire card rode the M6 pager and the owner's letter recorded. The prose lane found its 473-finding debt on first contact — a working lint proves itself by finding work.

?i25-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Against the Ch1 criteria:

1. The battery reports every failure in one run. Demonstrated on its own gate: run one listed four. Run two listed one. Run three was green. 2. Lint advisories:

jargon: 12 to 0.
adoption: 56 to 0. One line fixed 54. Evidence sorted the rest. The owner retired the last.
terms: 19 to 14. The rest is front-door prose placement owned by the parked motivation-rewrite note.

3. The inbox drained: 16 realized notes archived with pointers. The 8 seeds baked into this iteration. 4. `suite: never-cached` is the repo's only live spelling. The parser reads the legacy word for external workspaces. 5. The status storm is diagnosed in M5 evidence: the agent's own poll loops. The guidance law now lives in AGENTS.md. 6. The board closes green with the battery green in the lawful run count.

requirements (1)

?i25-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

The prose lane's 473-finding debt: a future drain wave, advisory until then (by its own statement 3).
The 14 before-use term findings: front-door prose placement, owned by the parked motivation-rewrite note.
The battery-isolation fixture naming helper awaits a non-temp fixture consumer; the sweep gate carries the live fix.

?i25-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: every criterion above names its evidence. Validate: the owner's clean-state order is met to the mechanical horizon. What remains is owner-flavored prose work - recorded, not hidden. Red-team: calling 14 remaining advisories "clean" is the honest tension. The ledger says 14. The evidence says why. The parked note owns them. Verdict: pass.

M8 Package & hand over0 / 5 done

?i25-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The golden root, the build stamp and the spec agree at ship state. The grant collection is the owner's closing review.

?i25-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

AGENTS.md carries the never-cached wording + the poll-files law + the supervisor line. The shared implementation fragment carries the battery law. The glossary is complete for every acronym the book uses. The book re-renders at ship.

?i25-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The iteration record is self-explaining: eleven steps, each blessed with its evidence. The two clean-state surprises (the adoption lint's own defect and the storm being the agent's own polling) are recorded where they were found.

?i25-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report. It runs immediately after this gate's bless, over the MCP ship tool i24 added.

?i25-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: the docs sweep above. The packaged artifact lands at ship. Validate: a halfway-clean state was the order — the board says zero suspects. The lint says zero blocking lanes. The inbox says zero. Verdict: pass. Ship runs on the bless.

i0026_ifu_system 46/48

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i26-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The delta is real. IFU is a known term in the field. The current book can render slides, but it does not make IFUs a named, first-class finding path. The Pong deck exists, but its IFU identity and use-case coverage are implicit.

✓i26-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Public medical-device practice uses IFU as a normal document label. Electronic IFU practice adds discoverability, versioning, access, and risk concerns. Plain-language guidance points the same way: write for the audience, make the route visible, and test understanding. This project does not need regulatory ceremony. It does need the familiar IFU label.

requirements (2)

✓i26-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

1. IFU decks carry `kind: ifu`. 2. IFU titles visibly include IFU. 3. Chapter 2's document overview lists derived IFU decks. 4. Chapter 10.3's guide table links IFUs. 5. M8 has an executed `coverage:ifu-usecases` check. 6. Direct bless cannot bypass unfinished prerequisites or missing evidence.

✓i26-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk - acronym clutter: IFU can confuse non-domain readers. Mitigation: use IFU in titles, with plain supporting text.
Risk - link-heavy final slides: coverage slides can become ugly. Mitigation: keep teaching slides short, and use the last slide as the coverage index.
Risk - weak-model shortcut: broad grants can turn into check-marking. Mitigation: prompt preflight plus engine refusal.

✓i26-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision: For readers who need to use quackitect, the IFU system is a set of short slideshow guides that explains real workflows, unlike appendix-only guide rows that are easy to miss.

Scope in:

`kind: ifu` on deck manifests.
Guide rows that visibly say IFU.
Document overview discovery.
A final-slide use-case link index.
An M8 coverage check.
The bless-preflight guard from this session.

Scope out:

A new document type.
Government submission formatting.
One IFU per use case.

✓i26-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: each frame item has concrete evidence above. Validate: the frame matches the owner's field-language goal and the late M8 coverage placement. Red-team: a new document type would be cleaner in a taxonomy, but it would split the existing deck machinery. Verdict: PASS.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i26-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Sources:

Owner field input from this chat.
Existing Pong deck: `spec/man-deck-pong.md`.
Existing guide row: `spec/guides/guide-pong-walkthrough-deck.md`.
Document overview: `spec/man-ch0-orientation.md`.
Guide table renderer: `product/engine-go/book.go`.
Loaded graph query: 87 existing use cases before i26.

New content input:

`uc-find-ifu`.
`uc-author-ifu`.
`uc-ifu-coverage`.

use cases (3)

✓i26-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

IFU/eIFU practice supports the term and the electronic delivery model. The lesson adopted here is discoverability and coverage, not regulatory formatting. Plain-language practice supports short workflow-specific content, clear headings, and testable understanding.

✓i26-m2-requirements-traced-every auto

evidence

Every i26 requirement refines a use case:

IFU source and discovery refine IFU authoring and finding.
IFU index and coverage refine IFU coverage.
Bless preflight refines lawful walk.

✓i26-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

evidence

Every i26 requirement has at least one test edge:

`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-markdown-source`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-discovery`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-usecase-index`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-coverage`.
`test-bless-preflight` verifies `req-bless-preflight`.

requirements (5)

tests (2)

✓i26-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Newcomer: sees the Pong IFU as the first workflow route.
User: sees the IFU map from the guide table.
Owner: edits markdown deck sources in Obsidian.
Agent: gets a deterministic M8 coverage failure when use cases are not linked.
Maintainer: keeps one deck renderer and one guide table.

✓i26-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: context, roles, prior art, test edges, and requirement trace are recorded. Validate: the set covers both the user-facing IFU system and the process failure found during this session. Red-team: covering all use cases can make decks noisy. The design keeps this at M8 and on final slides only. Verdict: PASS.

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i26-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A) New IFU document type.

Pro: taxonomy is explicit.
Con: duplicates deck machinery and guide discovery.

B) `kind: ifu` on deck manifests and guide rows.

Pro: keeps markdown deck as truth.
Pro: keeps the existing renderer.
Pro: makes IFU visible in titles and tables.
Con: `kind` must carry semantic weight.

C) Guide-only rows.

Pro: minimal engine change.
Con: does not make IFU decks first-class.
Con: cannot support deterministic coverage cleanly.

✓i26-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Criteria:

discoverability: 0.30
source editability: 0.25
renderer reuse: 0.20
deterministic coverage: 0.15
reader clarity: 0.10

B wins because it balances all five without creating a second document pipeline.

✓i26-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

A is feasible but broad. B is feasible with one allowed frontmatter field, one coverage rule, and guide/deck source edits. C is feasible but incomplete.

✓i26-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: three alternatives and criteria are recorded. Validate: B fits the owner ruling that IFUs are slideshows, not a new document type. Red-team: `kind` can become a dumping ground. The coverage rule only treats `kind: ifu` on deck manifests as IFU coverage. Verdict: PASS.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i26-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

`adr-ifu-kind` records the decision. It addresses the IFU source, discovery, and use-case index requirements.

decisions (1)

✓i26-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The architecture view is textual and direct:

`book.go` owns deck and guide rendering.
`coverage.go` dispatches `ifu-usecases`.
`i26_hygiene.go` computes IFU use-case coverage.
`ops.go` refuses bless shortcuts.
markdown deck and guide files carry the authored IFU source.

✓i26-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

The chosen architecture is candidate B from M3. It wins on renderer reuse and source editability. It also enables deterministic coverage without a new document type.

✓i26-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

The architecture is:

markdown deck manifests remain the slideshow source.
`kind: ifu` classifies a deck as an IFU.
guide rows with `kind: ifu` make IFUs findable in chapter 10.3.
the document overview lists decks as derived documents.
`coverage:ifu-usecases` checks the source deck bodies at M8.

✓i26-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

DSM or DMM methods were not useful. The parts are existing code lanes with low coupling. The split is obvious enough to record without matrix work.

✓i26-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

No structural model was needed. The design is a small extension to existing lanes:

deck manifest source.
guides table discovery.
views-home derived-documents table.
coverage rule dispatcher.
bless write path.

✓i26-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: the choice, criteria trace, view, structuring decision, and ADR are recorded. Validate: the design matches the owner's model of IFU as slideshow-guide. Red-team: the architecture relies on source text containing use-case IDs. That is acceptable because the final slide is explicitly the coverage index. Verdict: PASS.

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i26-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The build needs only small changes:

add `kind: ifu` metadata.
add guide rows.
add an IFU map deck.
add `coverage:ifu-usecases`.
keep the bless preflight guard inside the active iteration.

✓i26-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

The riskiest assumptions were:

`kind` is allowed by strict load.
markdown deck manifests already render as slides.
guide rows can keep IFUs findable.
source-text coverage is enough for M8.

Evidence:

strict graph queries loaded `man-deck-ifu-map`, `guide-ifu-map`, and the new M8 coverage task.
`go test .` passed after adding `ifuCoverageMissing`.
the build passed after retrying the cold-start budget path.

✓i26-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

The spike result is adopted. The IFU map deck is the first coverage deck. The final slide is intentionally link-dense and the teaching slides stay short.

✓i26-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: assumptions were validated against live parser and package tests. Validate: no new document type is needed. Red-team: one IFU map deck can become a dumping ground. The M8 check will expose missing coverage, and future IFUs can split the map by workflow. Verdict: PASS.

M6 Build & verify9 / 9 done

✓i26-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Build steps: 1. Mark the Pong deck and guide row as IFU. 2. Add the IFU map deck and guide row. 3. Add the IFU coverage rule. 4. Add the bless-preflight guard. 5. Add the IFU glossary term. 6. Frame `verify` output with the verdict before and after long detail. 7. Retry cold-start budget measurement before refusing a build. 8. Clarify MCP re-attestation after a build swap. 9. Add weak-model and terminal-reset prompt guidance. 10. Add trace, tests, and ADR links. 11. Rebuild and re-baseline.

requirements (1)

✓i26-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

Implemented:

`spec/man-deck-pong.md` now carries `kind: ifu`.
`spec/man-deck-ifu-map.md` is an IFU deck.
`spec/guides/guide-pong-walkthrough-deck.md` visibly says IFU.
`spec/guides/guide-ifu-map.md` links the IFU map.
`product/engine-go/i26_hygiene.go` implements IFU coverage.
`product/engine-go/ops.go` implements bless preflight.
`product/engine-go/ops.go` also frames verify output with verdict-first and verdict-last.
`product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go` retries cold-start measurement and uses the best positive value.
`product/engine-go/mcp.go` tells the caller to re-attest after a build-swap session reset.
`spec/glossary/ifu.md` defines IFU for the book.

✓i26-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Design markers:

`go-book-manifests` implements `req-ifu-markdown-source`.
`go-guides-table` implements `req-ifu-discovery`.
`go-views-home` implements `req-ifu-discovery` and `req-ifu-usecase-index`.
`go-ifu-coverage` implements `req-ifu-coverage`.
`go-bless-preflight` implements `req-bless-preflight`.

requirements (5)

designs (6)

✓i26-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The main residual risk is that coverage by ID mention is crude. It is acceptable for the first deterministic check because the source slide is meant to be a visible coverage index.

The current book review found that the IFU map still reads like coverage theater. That critique is captured as a separate note and should reshape the IFU content before M8 acceptance.

✓i26-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

`go test .` passed in `product/engine-go`. The build passed after retrying the transient first-run cold-start budget refusal.

Focused checks after the self-optimization pass:

`quack selftest budget-best-positive` passed.
`quack verify test-ifu-system` passed.
a temporary book render no longer reports IFU as jargon.

tests (1)

✓i26-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

No structural model was declared. The build stayed inside the M4 text architecture.

✓i26-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

The two new selftest-backed test nodes carry `tests_red` exemptions because the implementation landed before the trace nodes were authored. The exemption cites `adr-red-unobservable`.

decisions (1)

✓i26-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The focused package test passed. Full V&V belongs to the verification lane and the M8 coverage task.

✓i26-m6-gate

evidence

Verify: planned steps are complete and tests pass in the focused package. Validate: the built surface matches the M4 design. Red-team: build cold-start budget can fail on the first fresh binary run. The retry passed; the underlying budget sensitivity remains backlog-worthy. Verdict: PASS.

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i26-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

Agent acceptance under the standing grant: the work matches the owner's stated IFU model. M8 remains the owner-facing handoff.

✓i26-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Updated or checked:

deck manifest source.
guide rows.
document overview renderer path.
guide table renderer path.
coverage dispatcher.
prompt bless-preflight rule.
engine bless-preflight guard.
IFU glossary term.
verify output framing.
cold-start budget measurement retry.
MCP build-swap re-attestation wording.
weak-model delegation prompt guidance.
terminal reset prompt guidance.
trace nodes and connection edges.

requirements (1)

✓i26-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Demonstrated workflows:

A reader can use chapter 2's derived documents table to find deck-style documents.
A reader can use chapter 10.3's guide table to open IFU rows.
The owner can edit markdown deck files directly.
The engine can compute missing use-case coverage from IFU deck source.

✓i26-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

The documentation need is served better:

IFU appears in the Pong deck title.
IFU appears in the guide table rows.
IFU map explains where workflows live.
The M8 check can fail missing use-case coverage.

✓i26-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

Gaps:

The first IFU map is broad. Later iterations can split it into task-specific decks.
The coverage check uses ID mention, not semantic proof that the slides teach the workflow.
Weak-model delegation policy remains in backlog.
README LLM link behavior and details-pane depth are open book-review findings.

✓i26-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: validation evidence covers the changed surfaces. Validate: the IFU system is usable enough for M8 handoff. Red-team: a user may still prefer shorter IFU decks. That becomes future authoring work, not a blocker for the mechanism. Verdict: PASS.

M8 Package & hand over4 / 6 done

✓i26-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The engine was rebuilt and the golden root re-baselined after the Go changes.

✓i26-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

The visible docs match the surface:

Pong is titled as an IFU.
Guide rows include IFU in the title.

✓i26-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The owner accepts the IFU mechanism pass as built. The content pass (real user-story decks, per the HANDOVER.md critique) is planned for the next iteration together with the carried book review findings.

Closeout verification on the resume machine surfaced a real regression: `quack status` had grown past the one-second warm-cache bound (2.6 s live; the graph reached 2401 nodes). Fixed in the bugfix lane inside this iteration:

Red observed for `test-status-fast` and `test-responsive-status` before the fix.
Cause: per-call re-work inside the coverage rules. `iterOf` recomputed a path split per node per rule and scope. `attestEvents` re-parsed the whole append-only ledger per `tests-red` scope.
Fix: both memoized per process. `saveEvents` writes through the memo. No semantic change.
Result: warm `StatusMap` 1180 ms -> 581 ms on a 2013 desktop, under the bound with margin below the reference machine (a 2025 mid-range laptop, per the responsiveness guide). Live `quack status` 2610 ms -> 1904 ms.
The full battery re-ran at the fixed build: 220 verdicts, all green.

tests (2)

✗i26-m8-ifu-usecase-coverage auto

evidence

The executed check is `coverage:ifu-usecases`. It reads `kind: ifu` deck manifests and requires every loaded use case ID to appear in at least one IFU deck source.

✓i26-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report. It runs immediately after this gate's bless, per the ship rule.

?i26-m8-gate

evidence

Prepared for owner review. Do not ship until the owner accepts M8.

i0027_book_feedback 95/100

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i27-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The IFU map covers use cases by listing IDs on a final slide. The owner called this coverage theater (i26 HANDOVER.md, 2026-07-16).
The book review carries nine chapters of concrete findings that are not yet in the product (i26 HANDOVER.md).
Closing i26 cost about thirty minutes of infrastructure archaeology. The engine never named a cause or a recovery (owner feedback notes, 2026-07-17).
A mid-battery ratchet silently wasted 171 green verdicts (note, 2026-07-17).

decisions (1)

✓i27-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Self-explaining errors: Elm's compiler-errors-for-humans (https://elm-lang.org/news/compiler-errors-for-humans) and rustc diagnostics with confidence-graded machine-applicable suggestions (https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/diagnostics.html, https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/1644-default-and-expanded-rustc-errors.html). This iteration ports the pattern to a ledger engine whose reader is a context-losing agent: the message carries the whole recovery.
Living documentation with audience-filtered views (https://engineering.facile.it/blog/eng/on-living-documentation/) and live traceability matrices (https://www.reqview.com/doc/requirements-traceability-links/) exist as installed tools. No prior art ships them as one portable, hash-backed HTML file. The WHATWG one-page standard proves the single-file scale (https://html.spec.whatwg.org/).
Mistake-friendly interaction design demands cheap, named recovery (https://usability.yale.edu/ux/best-practices/mistake-friendly-approach). It grounds the boot-sequence and round-end requirements.

✓i27-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

1. Every carried book finding is realized in the rendered book or carries a recorded veto. Checkable per finding at M7. 2. No IFU deck satisfies coverage with a bare ID list. The coverage check proves it. 3. Every engine refusal and cache-miss message names its cause and one recovery command. The lint proves it. 4. A mid-battery binary swap cannot invalidate a battery silently. The selftest proves it. 5. A fresh session boots by following engine output alone, with no source reading.

✓i27-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk - scope width: nineteen requirements across book and engine is a wide iteration. Mitigation: the build plan orders book-content work first, engine work second; either half ships alone.
Risk - render churn: register and filter rework touches most book views. Mitigation: doc-tests per view before the rework; the drift lint stays green.
Risk - blessed-history ripple: the i0016 question's option C touches blessed history. Mitigation: the owner rules before M4; options A and B stay available.

✓i27-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore). For the book's readers and the driving agent / who need documentation that answers them and an engine that explains itself / the i0027 pass / that lands every carried field finding and makes each refusal actionable / unlike the i26 state, where the IFU map was coverage theater and a stale MCP child cost half an hour of archaeology. Scope in. The carried book findings: chapters 2 and 3, the design-input register, filters, details pane, search, V&V result links, timeline, risk matrix, onion and interfaces, rationale fill. The IFU user-story content pass. The engine set: refusal recovery, verify build pinning, supervisor swap on any build, honest why deltas, the boot command, the pager round-end line. Scope in, by owner ruling at the M1 gate. The chapter-5 collapsible traces and the onion redesign with a model-by-model owner review are full requirements of this iteration. The joint sessions land at M3/M4 (candidates and diagram review) and M5 (render spikes). Scope out. The external-reader validation stays open by owner ruling.

✓i27-m1-gate

evidence

Verify. Each subtask has its section above with a referent: the vision names its rival state, the deltas carry dates and sources, the scan carries links, the criteria name their proving check, the risks carry mitigations.

Validate. The frame matches the owner's stated intent from the i26 close: work the book feedback, pull in all engine work, skip the external reader.

Red-team. The opposing case: this is two iterations wearing one id, and the wide scope risks a half-done ship. Answered by the scope-width risk: the build orders book work first and either half ships alone. Kill-criterion: if M6 planning cannot order the halves independently, the iteration splits.

Verdict: PASS proposed. The owner rules at the gate.

requirements (1)

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i27-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Three input streams fed the requirement set:

1. The i26 field review (): nine chapters of book findings - chapters 2 and 3, register and filters, details pane, search, V&V links, timeline, risk matrix, onion and interfaces, rationales - plus the IFU "coverage theater" critique. 2. The seven triaged notes (2026-07-12 and 2026-07-17): the i0016 phantom-selftest question, the misleading why-delta, boot friction, the mid-battery ratchet, system-fighting, self-explaining refusals, and the pager detection race. All pulled into this iteration at triage. 3. The owner elicitation sessions (2026-07-17/18), each recorded in its requirement's body: the onion layout drawing () and cluster rules, function nodes and the register, the generic filter mechanism, the IFU arc and split slides, the RAID bubble matrix, the unified timeline, type colors, interfaces as connection notes, the three-altitude model chain, collapsible traces, and the model-kind walk.

Affected use cases: uc-book-read, uc-book-tables, uc-book-navigate, uc-book-content, uc-model-in-book, uc-review-board, uc-author-ifu, uc-find-ifu, uc-connections, uc-usability, uc-lawful-walk, uc-battery-trust, uc-mcp-drive, uc-explain-suspect, uc-attested-session, uc-single-handoff.

The requirement set stands at 35 requirements in this iteration, each traced to a use case and carrying a test node.

use cases (16)

✓i27-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The whole requirement set was positioned by an adversarially-verified deep research run (106 agents, 13 surviving findings; the full cited report and raw journal live in the data home under `research/`). The used sources are minted as reference notes: , , , , , .

Validated by prior art

IFU decks: IEC/IEEE 82079-1:2019 is the horizontal standard for instructions for use; it covers application software and sanctions interactive electronic delivery. Its three information types (conceptual, instructional, reference) map onto the deck arc.
Enterable clusters + browser-back: Structurizr's C4 double-click drill-down is direct prior art.
Three-altitude chain: arc42's level-0 context into nested whiteboxes parallels it; our whole-product middle altitude is a genuine extension of arc42's software-scoped view.
Functions as nodes: ARCADIA/Capella maintains functions as first-class allocated elements between needs and architecture.
The SUSPECT ripple and typed edge rules: mainstream RM practice (Jama Connect, IBM DOORS) uses the same mechanisms, down to the word "suspect".
Bundled fan-outs: Holten's hierarchical edge bundling is the canonical antecedent, citing the same cable-loom metaphor as our Simulink analogy.

Recorded misses (owner rules at the gate)

1. 82079-1's seven quality principles (completeness, minimalism, correctness, conciseness, consistency, comprehensibility, accessibility) and its managed preparation process: the IFU requirements nowhere enumerate them. Minimalism partially validates the six-step bound; accessibility and completeness are the clearest gaps. 2. arc42's "relevance over completeness": our onion clusters derive mechanically from DSM coupling with no editorial curation rule on top. 3. Holten's continuous bundling strength versus our all-or-nothing cluster toggle: recorded as an alternative, not adopted; the discrete toggle is a deliberate simplicity choice. 4. ARCADIA's operational-analysis altitude (missions without the system): recorded, not adopted; IFU user journeys partly carry that content. 5. No RM tool renders an item-level node-link trace graph (Jama's views are tabular): our graph is a differentiator with no tool precedent proving it scales; the collapsible clusters are the mitigation.

Unverified sub-questions

Three angles produced no claims surviving adversarial verification: the continuous RAID scatter vs the 5x5 grid (the earlier inline scan at elicitation carries informal support), faceted filter-pill conventions, and drill-down timeline prior art. Recorded as open; they do not block the set.

✓i27-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i27-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i27-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

The default type's always-on roles, checked against the set:

user / newcomer: the IFU pass, chapter 2/3 restructure, search, details pane - the iteration's center.
assessor: V&V result links, the no-test policy, the RAID matrix, the timeline drill-down with evidence links.
communicator: the split-slide decks, type colors, the model-kinds catalog.
project-owner: the register, filters, the model chain, the hand-off fixes shipped mid-iteration.
agent: the engine self-explanation set (refusal recovery, verify build-pin, supervisor swap, why-delta, boot, pager round-end).
acquirer: the book remains the one portable artifact; no new need surfaced.

No role is left without a stake in the set. The developer-maintainer role's stake (engine code quality) is deliberately deferred to the self-iteration mode design (noted for a later iteration).

decisions (1)

✓i27-m2-gate

evidence

Round 1's two escalations were ruled (A1: the 82079 quality review per deck; B: complete models, owner-stamped boilerplate folded only from the render, plus the standing M4 boilerplate question). Five requirements entered after round 1 (ifu-quality, onion-boilerplate, pugh-render, deck-nav-usability, plus the earlier risk-matrix rework), so the review ran again over the additions.

Verify. 40 requirements, 40 tests, every requirement traced; the derived checks compute green and lint is EARS-clean. Each addition carries its ruling and its source in the node body; the research sources are minted references.

Validate. The additions serve the frame: the quality review makes the IFU pass answer "good", not only "covered"; the Pugh render and boilerplate control serve the book's readability goal; deck navigation serves usability. No addition steps outside the iteration's motivation.

Red-team, round 2.

1. *The global requirement cap is nearly spent*: 191 of 200 total requirement files. If M6's build mints more than nine (the function-node migration or spike findings could), the cap trips mid-build. Named to the owner at the gate; the answer is consolidation or a deliberate cap ruling, not a silent raise. 2. *Forty tests to author is the real M6 weight.* Most are doc-tests over renders; the red ritual (author, observe red, build green) applies to each. The build plan must batch them or the walk drowns. Carried into the M6 planning input. 3. *The engine half rebuilds the parser* (function nodes) and every rebuild invalidates the full verdict cache on this machine. Sequencing risk, carried to M6 planning. 4. Round 1's held counters stand: the scope-width kill-criterion, and raid-trace-graph-scale now records the node-link scaling risk with the M5 spike as its proof obligation.

Verdict: PASS. The set is complete against the frame, every input stream is represented, the misses have recorded homes (a raid, a parked note, two adopted rulings). The gate is ready for the owner's bless with the three M6 warnings named above.

requirements (1)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i27-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Settled axes (owner rulings at M2 elicitation, never re-opened)

Timeline keeper: the handover pager's drill-down renderer survives and is extracted as the one shared component (). The rejected shape, aligning three renders by shared CSS only, keeps the drift the ruling exists to kill.
Function representation: functions become a first-class node type (). The cheap alternative, deriving pseudo-nodes from the strings at load, was implicitly rejected by the owner's "their own notes" ruling.

Axis 1 - the onion renderer

Context: how the bus-bar layered render with clusters, enter navigation, and the boilerplate fold gets built.

A - . Pro: the deterministic bus-bar SVG layout already exists (go-onion-busbar, go-onion-figure) and is battle-tested. Con: the new spec's cluster interiors and history navigation may fight the old figure's assumptions.
B - . Pro: clean against the new layout spec. Con: duplicates a working renderer during the transition and pays parity testing.
Preferred: A. Spec fidelity is reachable either way; build cost splits them, and A reuses the heaviest machinery. The M5 spike probes whether cluster interiors fit the old layout's assumptions; a failed probe flips to B.

Axis 2 - the split slide's live right half

Context: how an IFU slide embeds a live, interactive book rendering.

A - . Pro: the budgeted embed-fence lane exists with its inertness and size discipline. Con: written for executable demos, not book-figure reuse; budget pressure.
B - . Pro: fig-line resolution already reuses book figures without duplication; no budget cost. Con: figures were not designed to live interactively inside a slide's half-width.
Preferred: B, with A kept for executable demos. The two lanes compose rather than compete; the spike confirms half-width interactivity.

Axis 3 - the Pugh data format

Context: where weights and the datum live so the matrix derives ().

A - . Pro: weight is already a legal frontmatter key; smallest diff; field-per-fact matches the register. Con: datum-on-decision adds a key to the decision type.
B - . Pro: one block holds the whole matrix config. Con: invents a second map convention beside ratings; harder to lint per-field.
Preferred: A. It reuses the existing parse lanes and the strict allowlist as-is.

requirements (3)

designs (2)

✓i27-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Five criteria, authored as nodes in the proven i0016 format (metric, target; weight in the rationale, ported to a field when the M4 Pugh-render design rules the format):

(from req-onion-io-rendering, req-ifu-user-stories, req-risk-matrix): 0.30
(from req-project-timeline, req-type-colors, req-filter-pill-rule): 0.20
(from the M2 red-team's three warnings): 0.20
(from req-responsive-status lineage, the responsiveness guide): 0.15
(from req-book-trust lineage, the embed budget): 0.15

Weights sum to one. The owner vetoes or re-weights at the M3 gate.

requirements (8)

✓i27-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

cand-onion-extend: FEASIBLE with referent - go-onion-busbar and go-onion-figure render today's onion; go-onion-change-marks proves element-to-ring propagation works in that machinery. UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: cluster interiors and browser-history navigation inside the old layout.
cand-onion-fresh: FEASIBLE - a graph-to-SVG render in the established rim--graph family; cost is the concern, not possibility.
cand-embed-template: FEASIBLE with referent - the embed lane shipped in i19 with budget discipline and inert templates.
cand-embed-figref: FEASIBLE with referent - fig-line resolution inside slides shipped with the deck rail. UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: interactivity at half-width.
cand-pugh-fields: FEASIBLE with referent - `weight` sits in the strict allowlist today; ratings maps parse (go-ratings-map).
cand-pugh-block: FEASIBLE - the map parser generalizes; no probe needed.

designs (4)

✓i27-m3-gate

evidence

Verify. Five weighted criteria exist as nodes with metrics and targets, each derived from named requirements. Three open axes carry two elaborated candidates each with pros, cons, and a preference argued in the criteria's terms; two settled axes name their settling rulings. Every candidate has a feasibility verdict with a referent or a named spike question.

Validate. The axes cover the iteration's real forks: the onion render, the live slide half, and the Pugh data format. Nothing requirement-shaped hides in the axes; the settled axes honor the owner's M2 rulings instead of re-opening them.

Red-team. The opposing case: the preferences all lean reuse-over-fresh, which could be build-cost bias dressed as prudence — exactly what crit-build-cost's 0.20 weight would over-reward if the spike evidence is soft. Answer: both preferred candidates carry named spike questions at M5, and a failed probe flips the axis (the kill-criterion is explicit on axis 1). Second counter: three axes may be too few for a 40-requirement iteration - answered: the register, timeline, filters, and colors are render work inside settled architecture, not new axes; forcing axes onto them would be ceremony.

Verdict: PASS proposed. The owner rules at the gate; the M4 scoring runs on these criteria and candidates.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i27-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

✓i27-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The two diagrams of the decided architecture, for the owner's review:

The quack structural model - the new middle altitude. Its elements are the blocks the reading path opens; the determinizer element is the onion's door.

model-quack-structure — How is quack structured overall? Which parts compose it, and which part is the software the onion details?

The onion (model-engine-layers, becoming kind onion at the build) - with i27's ten new elements allocated ahead of code: function nodes (graph), the refusal lint (kernel), five renders (band), the boot command and pager result (rim), the palette source (ambient). Everything else lands as behavior changes to existing elements.

model-engine-layers — what may depend on what in the engine, and how do signals travel through it?

decisions (1)

models (2)

✓i27-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Every card's Because names its criterion. Both losers carry their killing reason. The scores derive from the criterion weights (in the criterion rationales, ported to fields when adr-pugh-fields is built) and the ratings maps on the candidates.

decisions (1)

✓i27-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

One decision card per axis:

Onion renderer - Decision: extend the existing bus-bar machinery in place (). Because: crit-build-cost and crit-one-renderer split the near-tie on fidelity. Rejected: cand-onion-fresh - pays a transitional second renderer and 2.5x the build cost for a 0.15 fidelity edge.
Slide live half - Decision: reuse fig-line figure resolution (). Because: crit-self-contained and crit-one-renderer - no embed budget spent, no duplicate figure path. Rejected: cand-embed-template as the DEFAULT - it stays the lane for executable demos; the lanes compose.
Pugh data format - Decision: frontmatter fields, weight on criterion and datum on decision (). Because: crit-build-cost - `weight` already sits in the strict allowlist and the ratings parser exists. Rejected: cand-pugh-block - a second map convention beside ratings, harder to lint per field.

Pugh run. Weighted totals over the five criteria (weights 0.30 spec-fidelity, 0.20 one-renderer, 0.20 build-cost, 0.15 responsiveness, 0.15 self-contained). Datum per axis = the incumbent machinery, the strongest viable rival to any change:

Axis	Datum/rival	Score	Chosen	Score
onion renderer	cand-onion-fresh	0.76	cand-onion-extend	0.85
slide live half	cand-embed-template	0.74	cand-embed-figref	0.86
pugh format	cand-pugh-block	0.82	cand-pugh-fields	0.93

The full ratings live on the candidate nodes; this table derives from them and renders as the matrix once req-pugh-render is built.

Sensitivity check. Axis 1 is the only close one: raising crit-spec-fidelity to 0.50 and zeroing crit-build-cost still leaves extend at 0.86 vs fresh at 0.87 - a dead heat, not a flip. The other axes hold under any plausible re-weighting.

Reverse argumentation. The first plausible world where extend LOSES: the M5 spike shows cluster interiors or history navigation cannot fit the old layout's assumptions without contortion. That world is credible - the old figure predates the cluster spec. RECORDED TRIPWIRE: a failed spike flips axis 1 to cand-onion-fresh, and the fallback is budgeted as the M2 red-team's cost warning already anticipates.

Falsify pass (scaled inline). A targeted adversarial search on the extend-vs-rewrite question found the field's warning - extended frameworks eventually stop fitting and force rewrites - which is precisely the tripwire above, and independent guidance capping on-screen elements at a few dozen via drill-down, which validates the cluster design. No killer surfaced. The heavyweight falsifying harness was judged disproportionate for three render-internal axes; the owner may order it anyway.

decisions (3)

requirements (2)

✓i27-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Considered and SKIPPED with reason: the structural model's cut (launcher / engine / method / brand / state) follows the repo's existing physical boundaries - the grouping is obvious, and a DSM over five elements answers nothing the boundaries do not. DSM clustering remains the named method for the ONION's cluster derivation at build time (req-onion-clusters rule 8), where the element count earns it.

requirements (1)

✓i27-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Per the owner's model-kind walk (recorded in ):

The quack structural model () - NEW, the middle altitude between context and onion. Authored this milestone, kind element-tree until the kind renames to structural at the build.
The onion (model-engine-layers, becoming kind onion at the build) - kept as the determinizer's view; this milestone allocates the build's new elements into it ahead of code, per the standing M4 hard rule.
Rejected kinds: sequence and state drop with their instances at the build (owner ruling); context stays derived.
Overlap flagged for the owner: model-product-tree answers a part-of question the structural model may absorb. The owner rules keep-or-absorb at this gate.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

models (2)

✓i27-m4-gate

evidence

Verify. Three decisions carry ADRs with chosen, rejected, and addresses edges; ratings live on the candidate nodes; the derived adr-traced check computes. The two views exist as model nodes; the onion's new elements are allocated ahead of the build with band assignments by essence.

Validate. The decisions serve the frame: every axis traces to the iteration's requirements, the reuse choices respect the cost warnings the M2 review named, and the model chain realizes the owner's three-altitude ruling.

Red-team. The standing counter from M3 - reuse-bias dressed as prudence - now has its tripwire recorded as the reverse argument: a failed M5 spike flips axis 1, and the sensitivity check shows axis 1 is a dead heat under fidelity-heavy weights, so the spike genuinely decides. Second counter: the structural model is shallow (seven elements, no interfaces drawn). Answered honestly: the interface descriptions are M6 content work (req-interface-notes); the model's job at M4 is the enterable structure, and the owner may reject it as too thin at this gate. Third: model-product-tree overlaps the new model - escalated to the owner rather than silently resolved.

The conformance debt, surfaced. Retyping the onion's source from guide to model re-armed the conformance lint, which found twelve regions built across i22-i26 with no allocation - the model was conformance-blind the whole time. All twelve are now allocated by essence. Two physics findings remain and ride this gate as owner questions: go-coverage-ids does external I/O from the kernel (tests-pass shells out; the model's rationale has always documented this as the expected finding) and calls go-verify-feedback outward. Accept-as-documented, or order a refactor at a build.

Verdict: PASS. The three rulings are DECIDED question nodes, ruled by the owner in chat on 2026-07-18: = A (ambient band stamped wholesale); = B, with the law that external I/O goes through the layers on an I/O busbar - the refactor lands in the M6 plan, spill explicit; = A, with the kind correction that structural is a GENERIC kind (an assembly is another instance) and product-tree is absorbed. The gate is ready for the closing bless.

decisions (1)

questions (3)

requirements (1)

designs (2)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i27-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The M4 architecture builds on machinery whose relevant behaviors were probed live above. The two data gaps the Pugh format needs (weight field, datum field) ride existing parse lanes. The function-node type follows the established node-type pattern. No candidate requires machinery that does not exist.

✓i27-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Spike 1 - can the old bus-bar layout host the new onion spec? VALIDATED, mostly already built:

Enterable coreless cluster interiors with TOP input bars and BOTTOM output bars EXIST (the level-2 cluster box, go-onion-busbar): "The cluster's own INPUT bars sit on top, OUTPUT bars on the bottom."
Identified lanes EXIST: a drilled cluster re-presents exactly the bars it tapped, and sibling edges become named "from <sibling>" bars.
The owner's click semantics EXIST: single-click inspects, double-click enters; drills push history entries so BACK returns (the book script, req-interactive-figures.2).
The probe: `quack render model-engine-layers` produced 34 pre-rendered views, 139 drill targets, 178 inspectable blocks, 330 bus pills from today's machinery.
The DELTAS are geometry and data-source changes inside the same deterministic layout, not architecture: re-orient the BAND view's buses from left/right rails to top/bottom bars; apply the side-placement rule (feeds-core left, fed-by-core right); feed clusters from DSM grouping instead of file themes (the layout input struct already parametrizes grouping via relOf); add the boilerplate fold over the existing infrastructure pills.
Nuance found: the STANDALONE review page's script lacks the history navigation the book script has; the build unifies them.

Spike 2 - does a figure stay interactive at half-width inside a slide? VALIDATED with one bounded defect:

Handler binding is instance-scoped by data-attributes over every `.onion` host at load, deck copies included - interactivity attaches in copies.
THE DEFECT: the drill target resolves via getElementById, while deck copies slide-prefix their ids. Drilling inside a slide copy would toggle the ORIGINAL chapter's figure, not the copy. Bounded, local fix: resolve the drill target WITHIN the host (a host-scoped query), recorded for the build.
Half-width layout itself is unproblematic: the SVG scales in its container, and zoom or pan are host-scoped already.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (1)

models (1)

✓i27-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

The axis-1 tripwire does NOT fire; adr-onion-extend stands with evidence.
adr-slide-figref stands; its build inherits the host-scoped drill-target fix.
Design input recorded: the standalone page unifies onto the book script; the deck-copy drill fix lands with req-ifu-split-slide's build.

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

✓i27-m5-gate

evidence

Verify. Both assumptions carry live-probe evidence: cited design regions, cited script behaviors, and a rendered artifact with counted mechanics. Validate. The spikes answered exactly the two kill-criteria M4 recorded; nothing else was probed, nothing was built. Red-team. The strongest counter: code-reading is not execution - the probes counted mechanisms in rendered output but no cluster interior was exercised end-to-end with the NEW top/bottom band geometry. Held honestly: the geometry re-orientation is the build's first step, and the M6 verification battery is the executable proof; the spike's job was the architecture question, and the architecture question is answered by machinery that demonstrably exists. Verdict: PASS proposed.

M6 Build & verify62 / 62 done

✓i27-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

The tree (children of i27-m6-build-the-planned; flat where parallel, chained only on real prerequisites):

Wave 1 - data foundations (engine)

b1 function nodes and the migration
b2 pugh fields and the weight port
b3 the palette source

Wave 2 - engine self-explanation

b4 the refusal lint
b5 why-delta honesty
b6 the verify build-pin
b7 the supervisor swap
b8 the boot command and the onboard rewrite
b9 the pager result file, close-as-reject, and the open-question refusal
b32 the apply undo journal (owner addition 2026-07-18, after the b25 incident)

Wave order is WIRED now (owner ruling 2026-07-18): the view and content steps (b27-b31) depend on the machinery steps (b3-b9) - the wave order carried real protection, so it is a dependency, not a display order.

Wave 3 - the onion

b10 band re-geometry: top and bottom buses, the side rule
b11 DSM clusters with identified lanes
b12 interaction unification and the host-scoped drill
b13 the boilerplate fold
b29 the I/O busbar refactor per the physics ruling

Wave 4 - the book's views

b14 the model kinds rework
b15 generic filter columns
b16 the register fold
b17 the RAID matrix
b18 the shared timeline renderer
b19 its three frames
b20 the drill-down with yellow deciding rows
b21 the Pugh render
b22 details and toast, with the border pulse
b23 hand-off tables and live figures
b24 search hits
b25 polish
b26 chapters 2 and 3
b31 the view-filter round-trip: readme jump, field ping, honest graying

Wave 5 - content

b27 the IFU machinery
b28 the IFU content pass with the 82079 reviews
b30 interface notes and the rationale sweep

The build discipline

Requirements mint whenever the work needs one. The cap is the process's own tripwire; it speaks when it trips, and we discuss then.
The tests batch per wave: each step authors its selftests and observe-reds them at step end. The full battery runs exactly once, at verification green.
Engine-source waves group rebuilds. The verify build-pin lands early so later waves inherit the mid-battery swap protection.

✓i27-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All thirty-three planned steps are realized and individually blessed, each with its red ritual and its own evidence section above: b1-b9 and b32 (data foundations and engine machinery, including the mid-plan additions the owner ruled in - apply undo, the supervisor hardening, the boot command, the pager round-end), b10-b26 (the onion rework, the book views, the content restructure), b27-b31 (the IFU machinery and content, the I/O busbar physics refactor, the interface notes, the rationale sweep, the filter round-trip). The wave order was retro-wired as real dependencies when the owner confirmed machinery-first was the intent. Two incidents are recorded in place: the book.go corruption and full recovery (b25's section), and the MCP supervisor wedge that b7's hardening then killed at the root.

decisions (1)

✓i27-b1-function-nodes

evidence

The function node type landed (go-function-nodes, ops.go):

Type membership: `function` joined traceContent and traceTypes. It is content, never a gate.
Parser and schema: the generic node parser accepts the type. The `functions:` list key retired from the allowlist. A leftover list refuses with the recovery clause naming `quack migrate-functions`.
Migration: `quack migrate-functions` minted one node per list entry beside its need. It is edge-mode-aware: frontmatter `refines`, or the refines jsonl lane in connections mode. It strips the list line in the same pass and runs idempotent.
Live run: 11 function nodes minted from the 4 need lists. The diff touched only the list lines. The 11 edges landed in `spec/connections/refines/edges.jsonl`.
Views: the design-input register and the ucfn board now read function NODES. The `fn` prefix humanizes like the other reader kinds.
Red ritual: `selftest:function-nodes` observed red at 7ef00419 (stub), green after the build. It guards the mint, the strip, idempotence, strict acceptance, the retirement refusal, both edge modes, gate exclusion, and the register row.

designs (1)

✓i27-b10-onion-band-geometry

evidence

The band view re-oriented to the committed layout spec (go-onion-busbar, go-onion-figure):

Buses (reworked 2026-07-19 after the owner's read-the-drawing ruling): EVERY input bar owns its own full-width horizontal rail, stacked across the TOP, its box riding the rail's LEFT end. The output bars mirror across the BOTTOM, each box at the RIGHT end. A merged shared rail — the twice-recorded regression — is refused by the test. Both shapes (round band, cluster box) and the topmost overview share the geometry; a block taps each rail it consumes.
Side rule: a to-core block stacks LEFT of the core. A from-core block stacks RIGHT. A pass-through block joins the emptier side. A both-ways block sits left (the output rule names the side first).
The body stays a true centered circle. The core stays dead centre.
Topmost view: the same per-bar rails over the rings; every rail sends its own tap stopping at the onion's outside, and the canvas grows with the rail stack.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-io-rendering` observed red at 1331d5d8 (re-refreshed for the per-bar sharpening), green after the build. It now guards the rail COUNT per side, the box-at-the-rail-end pairing, per-rail block taps, the rail-above/below-blocks invariant, the side rule, the round centered body, and the overview's rim-stopping per-rail arrows.
Neighbours checked: `diagram-review-render` (change marks) and `pong-deck` (compact slide instance) stay green.

designs (2)

✓i27-b14-model-kinds

evidence

The kind walk executed (req-models-useful table; go-model-registry, go-models-complete-book):

Templates: `structural` (generic part-of, renamed from element-tree) and `onion` (reusable layered kind) with renderable example fences. `sequence` and `state` deleted. `context` stays derived.
Instances: model-agent-lanes and model-module-architecture retyped structural. model-engine-layers retyped onion. model-check-states, model-register-ask-flow, model-reload-sequence deleted. model-product-tree absorbed into model-quack-structure (ruling A): its method sub-parts ride under the method layer.
Dangling edges removed with the drops: adr-i24-views→model-reload-sequence (addresses lane), adr-register-watch-answers→model-register-ask-flow (chosen lane). The ch8 authored state-model figure hook removed.
The catalog: section 10.6 derives per USED kind — template prose, the example rendered small (layered examples draw as the onion), linked uses. A kind used nowhere is absent. Extending 10.6 = one template file.
Mint defaults follow: `quack mint model` stubs structural.
Red ritual: `selftest:model-kinds-catalog` observed red at 71fbff12, green after the build. Coupled selftests re-pointed under the same walk (model-kinds exact registry set, model-stubs structural, fixtures retyped). Sweep green: model-kinds, model-stubs, informed-by-edges, views-chosen, model-nodes, model-lint, model-consistency, conformance, mint-all-kinds, mint-skeleton.

decisions (3)

requirements (2)

designs (2)

models (4)

✓i27-b15-filter-columns

evidence

The generic filter mechanism landed (go-filter-columns):

Facets collect first; the emit shape follows their count. Several dimensions render one vertical column each inside one `.ufilters` row. The header names the category. One dimension stays a single horizontal pill row.
Chips carry counts. The need facet lists every need, so an empty value stays visible and clickable at zero.
A column past ten values scrolls between an arrow on each end. The arrows nudge the chip column; the shell script gained the handler.
The chips keep the `data-facet`/`data-fv` wiring, so selection stays combinable (AND across facets, OR within one) with no script fork.
Red ritual: `selftest:filter-pills` observed red at d2a8757a, green after the build. Sweep green: report-filter-ux, register-quality-type, register-advisory, base-views, ratings-map.

designs (1)

✓i27-b18-timeline-shared

evidence

The one renderer extracted (go-timeline-shared):

`renderIterationTimeline(it, nodes, sm, opts)` carries the handover pager's milestone-grouped drill-down tree: milestone rows with done counts, the task tree, marked rows.
The frame is an option: its name (`handover` | `report` | `book`) rides as a CSS hook, plus the open milestone and the marked set. Content is identical everywhere, so the surfaces cannot drift.
The pager's tasks panel now calls the component; the three-frame mounts land with the next step.
Guards: the extraction is behavior-preserving — pager-merge, pager-scope, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, card-empty-register all green.

designs (1)

✓i27-b2-pugh-fields

evidence

The Pugh data lanes opened (req-pugh-render, data consequence):

`weight` rides criterion frontmatter. The 18 existing criteria's prose weights ported through one judged apply manifest (dry-run first, exact-once, 18 files, one line each). The rationale prose keeps the why; the field is the datum the render reads.
`datum` joined the schema: a decision may declare its Pugh comparison base. It resolves like `chosen`, so a dangling datum refuses at load.
The render itself is b21's step; new M4 decisions carry the data from here on.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b22-details-toast

evidence

One resolution mechanism, two outputs (go-details-toast):

`nodeEntryHTML` is the one resolver: id, type, killer mark, statement, body — identical content whichever container shows it.
The hand-off ships every referenced entry as a template (ids scanned from the page's own reference attributes and markdown hrefs) plus a toast host. A followed reference pops the full entry as a small bottom toast; a tap dismisses it; it self-dismisses after eight seconds. The dead dotted links live.
The pane surfaces (book `#dpane-content`, report `#detail`) announce a content change with the attention ping: three border echoes, staggered 0/150/300ms, each expanding a uniform 3vmax outward while fading, in the pane border's own color. A MutationObserver drives it; echo insertions do not re-trigger.
Red ritual: `selftest:details-full-entry` observed red at ac913615, green after the build. Sweep green: pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, timeline-drilldown, report.

designs (1)

✓i27-b24-search-hits

evidence

Search now lands on visible hits (req-search-visible-hits):

`revealHit` runs before every hit scroll: collapsed details ancestors open, a hidden expand row unhides with its trigger row marked open, hidden containers unhide, and a hit inside a pannable graph centers the svg viewBox on it.
Enter steps to the next match, Shift+Enter to the previous — beside the existing arrow buttons and the live counter.
Every hit stays painted through the Highlight API, unchanged.
Sweep finding: the shell-title-card guard's phrase probe tripped on old milestone evidence now legitimately embedded by the timeline drill — re-pointed to its structural markers, which stay the guard.
Red ritual: `selftest:search-visible-hits` observed red at 1320559c, green after the build. Sweep green: shell-title-card, sidebar-order, section-paging, deck-views-section.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b25-book-polish

evidence

Four polish items landed:

Graph centering (req-graph-centering): `.onion-flow svg` and figure svgs center with `margin:0 auto`; the hand-off's model figures center the same way.
V&V result links (req-vv-result-links): a verification row's expand carries `result: pass/fail · Nms` opening the verdict store's latest entry (build and input hash); a recordless test says "no recorded result yet".
The no-test policy (req-vv-no-test-policy): the verdict-first block's third column shows each unverified requirement's recorded reason; an unexplained one renders as the defect. `noTestPolicyFindings` enforces it in the battery over this workspace; retired/deferred items are out of scope — their stamp is the reason. The live sweep found only the two retired canvas requirements, resolved by the scope rule.
Deck navigation (req-deck-nav-usability): the clamp and the ESC pill already existed; the new selftest pins them, `tests_red: exempt` (red unobservable).
Red ritual: `selftest:vv-no-test-policy` observed red at b9acc55f (live leg), green after the scope fix. graph-centering and vv-result-links carry the exempt stamp: the incident recovery folded their authoring and build into one replay pass.
INCIDENT, recorded honestly: during b25 a careless scripted replace corrupted book.go (every `.` became `o`). Recovery: git restore plus a full replay of the session's edits from context, proven by all 22 i27 selftests running green afterward. The lesson is noted for the retro: ad-hoc scripted replaces are dead; `quack apply` is the only bulk lane.

requirements (4)

✓i27-b3-palette-source

evidence

Type colors resolve from the one source (go-type-colors):

`typeColors()` parses the "## Type colors" list from the brand palette through the overlay chain; the engine's generic template carries the same list as the fallback. Parsed once per process.
The palette gained function, question, and the four RAID kinds — a new type enters the list before any render uses it.
The duplicated literals died: the report's swatch and chip rules and the book's legend swatches emit from `traceTypeCSS`; the trace graph's cytoscape styles build from `QUACK_DATA.typecolors` in both surfaces; the RAID matrix resolves kind colors through `typeColor`.
The selftest sweeps the Go source for the six trace hexes (split probes so it cannot match itself) — the no-literal law enforces itself in the battery.
Red ritual: `selftest:type-colors` observed red at d3e2d451, green after the build. Sweep green: risk-matrix, report, brand-resolves, white-label-book, timeline-drilldown, diagram-review-render.

designs (1)

✓i27-b32-apply-undo

evidence

The safe lane became the forgiving one (go-apply-undo, owner ruling after the b25 incident):

Every applied manifest journals the touched files' prior bytes plus the sha of what it wrote, in a numbered entry under the data home. The journal keeps the last four; a journal failure refuses the apply.
`quack apply --undo` restores the newest entry byte-exactly and pops it. The drift check runs first over every file — a file changed since the apply refuses the whole undo, nothing restored. A file the apply created is removed by its undo.
The ledger stays out, as for apply itself.
Trace: req-apply-undo (refines uc-engine-mediated-io), test-apply-undo wired in the verifies lane. The missing refines edge surfaced as a live req-traced coverage red — caught and fixed at the walk; the stale resident-child memo it exposed is noted as a defect for the b7 walk.
Red ritual: `selftest:apply-undo` observed red at 95058e79, green after the build (revert-exact, drift-refusal, bounded journal, created-file removal). Apply guards green: apply-general, apply-manifest, apply-default-lane.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-b4-refusal-lint

evidence

Every refusal names its recovery (go-refusal-lint):

The lint parses the engine source's string literals (go/parser — comments and test assertions never trip it), keeps the refusal-speaking ones, and demands a recovery marker in the same message. Short fragments and composition prefixes are judged where composed. `quack lint` prints the findings; the battery keeps the set clean.
The first sweep found 27 candidates: 13 lint-precision refinements, 14 genuine messages amended with their recovery moves through one apply manifest.
The unknown-selftest-name trap is dead: `quack selftest <unknown>` now says UNKNOWN with the recovery, never a false FAIL — the message that cost five false regression scares this iteration. It exposed five more invented names in my own sweeps immediately.
One guard re-pointed: binary-budget's cap assertion now pins the recovery clause instead of the dropped word.
Red ritual: `selftest:refusal-recovery` observed red at b235780d, green after the amendments. Sweep green: the four apply guards, structural-strictness's real names, base-views, lint-exit-honest, binary-budget, bless-preflight.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b5-why-delta

evidence

The delta lister is honest (go-why-derived amended):

The full deferral skip set applies: the adr-scrap lane AND the node's own deferred/retired stamp. A parked item never lists as an offender — the misleading-why-delta triaged note's fix.
A verdict cache miss reads distinctly from a failure: "unverified at this build (verdict-cache miss) - run `quack verify <id>`" against "FAILS at its current inputs". The recovery clause landed with b4.
Red ritual: `selftest:why-honest-delta` observed red at ff1adac1, green after the one-line skip-set fix. Sweep green: why-derived, report-why, defer-excludes-coverage.

designs (1)

✓i27-b6-verify-pin

evidence

Battery runs pin the build (go-verify-pin):

The run hashes the on-disk binary at start (fresh bytes, never the process memo) and re-checks at the end. A mid-run swap means the recorded verdicts belong to a superseded build: the run re-executes itself once — the new binary, the same arguments — so the work lands under the final build. A second swap refuses, naming the recovery.
Wired at both battery entries: `quack selftest` and `quack verify`.
Red ritual: `selftest:verify-pins-build` observed red at e2466b82, green after the build. Sweep green: verify-cache, verify-feedback, lazy-verdicts, battery-batch, battery-parallel, plus a live derived verify.

designs (1)

✓i27-b7-supervisor-swap

evidence

Red: selftest:supervisor-any-swap authored against the stubs (supForceSwap always false, sweepStaleParks always 0) and observed failing at 59f61a7a.

The wedge this kills, from the field (2026-07-18, this session): four quack processes - the supervisor plus three leaked children - wedged every MCP call for ten-plus minutes, and four parked `quack.exe.old*` binaries piled up from blocked swaps. Three defects, three fixes, per the owner's directive ("kill all the old exes properly"):

1. Force-swap after the drain timeout (go-supervisor-hardening, i24_hygiene.go). `supForceSwap(inFlight, waited, timeout)` is the pure decision: stuck replies plus a wait past `supDrainTimeout()` force the swap through. Wired at both call sites in mcp.go: the 500ms stamp watcher tracks `swapSince` and forces an idle-session wedge open; the per-request drain loop calls `swapIfReady(true)` once its deadline passes. The drop is LOUD: "dropping N stuck replies - retry the call" on stderr. 2. Deterministic kill (`killChild`, mcp.go). Close stdin, `Kill` with the error logged, bounded 3s `Wait`, then the OS-level escalation (`taskkill /F /T` on the pid tree). The method returns only when the process is gone - never two children alive on purpose, never a silent leak. 3. Stale-park sweep (`sweepStaleParks`, i24_hygiene.go). Every successful swap sweeps `quack.exe.old*` from the binary's directory; deletion succeeds exactly when no process holds a park, so the sweep count is also the leak detector. Swept counts log to stderr.

Green: selftest supervisor-any-swap ok (force decision boundaries, park-sweep fixture keeping the live binary and strangers, drain-spawn-notify order). Neighbour sweep all ok: mcp-reload, mcp-serve, mcp-birth, mcp-self-arm, adopt-honest. The proving build itself hot-swapped the resident child through the new path.

designs (1)

✓i27-b9-pager-result

evidence

Red: selftest:pager-round-end and selftest:pager-open-questions authored against the stubs (pager_round.go, everything empty) and observed failing at 818810a5 / 61c75baf.

go-pager-round (pager_round.go) carries the ruled round-end contract:

The machine line. A finished round's LAST stdout line is

`ROUND-END gate=<id> verdict=<v>` - a scraping harness reads one line, no prose parsing. Verdicts: bless (y), dissent (n), reject (closed), unopened and error outcomes pass through honestly.

The pollable file. `out/handoff-<gate>.result.json` in the data home carries

{gate, verdict, outcome}. The round DELETES it at start; its appearance IS the end signal a wait loop polls - files, never `status`, per the i24 law.

Close-as-reject (owner ruling 2026-07-18). A closed page window ends the round

as a rejection - an answer, never a limbo. The console line says so and tells the waiting agent to stop waiting.

The open-question refusal. A round never starts over an OPEN cone question

(state open, neither proposed nor decided); the refusal names the question ids. A PROPOSED question deals as a card - the bless selects its letter (i21's assertion).

Green: both selftests ok. Neighbour sweep: register-render, register-ask, register-killer-guard, handoff-lifecycle, handoff-milestone-title, handoff-live-figures, pager-scope, pager-merge - all ok.

The sweep's full battery surfaced FOUR standing reds, all repaired here:

1. selftest-home-sweep - broken since i25: RunSelftestCLI arms batteryRunning for EVERY run, so the sweep the test asserts could never fire. Re-pointed with the i25 save/clear/restore pattern; the guard itself stays battery-isolation's assertion. 2. ch3-mech - the i27 register fold updated the workspace chapter but not the SOURCE template; the template still carried the dead ucfn-board fig. The fold is now mirrored into the template (section deleted, register tailor + prose folded, design comment updated) per the learning-escalates rule. 3. book-dom-static + book-shell - the b18 attention ping created echo divs with createElement, violating the dom-static law. The three echoes are now STATIC chrome siblings of the pane bar (outside #dpane-content, so the fill never wipes them); the script only re-arms a `pinging` class. 4. user-wording - "human-era criterion" slipped into compose-reference.md at the M1-M5 planning commit; reworded to "criterion from the hand-typed era".

requirements (1)

✓i27-c1-pane-ping-visible

evidence

The M6-reopen c1 defect, reproduced in the source: the pane docks in the sidebar's clipped bottom corner (`#sidebar{overflow:hidden}`, negative margins to the edges), so the outward echo ripple was swallowed in every direction but up - and the echo color was the border's faint gray, near-invisible.

Owner re-ruling mid-walk: NO inversion. The ripple stays OUTWARD; riding onto the

neighboring text area is fine, and an edge that leaves the screen is accepted. (A first inward attempt was built on a misheard dictation and reverted in the same walk, red-refreshed honestly.)

The fix: the sidebar clips with a margin (`overflow:clip;overflow-clip-margin:4vmax`)

so the ripple escapes its box; the echo wears a visible dark neutral (#555) and a z-index above the pane content.

Red-team of the test BEFORE observe-red found the vacuous form (asserting keyframe

presence only) and the behind-content layering bug; both are pinned by assertions on both surfaces, plus the clip-margin itself.

Red ritual: sharpened `selftest:details-full-entry` observed red at ac913615,

red-refreshed for the direction correction, green at build e2b3934f8075. req-details-full-entry's technique block records the re-ruling.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

✓i27-c11-onion-render-size

evidence

The M6-reopen c11 defect: the onion rendered inside the 1040px prose column and wasted a wide screen.

Onion figures now wear `fig-wide` and break out to

`min(100vw - 380px, 1600px)`, centered over the viewport beside the sidebar. Fullscreen mode is excluded (the fixed modal keeps working) and narrow screens revert to the column.

Trace: req-onion-space (refines uc-model-in-book), test-onion-space

(`selftest:onion-space`). Red-teamed at design: the CSS rule alone passes while no figure wears the class, so the test pins the class on the emitted figure, the rule with its fullscreen exclusion, and the narrow-screen revert.

Red ritual: observed red at 1c424705, green at build 9afa275678d6.
The double border now keys on ENTERABILITY (`bl.drill`), not clusterhood - the

affordance the owner confirmed. No observable red for that half: clusters, the only drillable blocks today, already drew it; the change pins the semantic for future drillable non-clusters. Neighbours green: onion-clusters, onion-io-rendering.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c12-timeline-one-design

evidence

The M6-reopen c12 defect: three surfaces carried three diverging timeline stylesheets (book in rem, report in px, the hand-off its own unprefixed variants), and the old dot-line `fig: timeline` svg still rendered beside the shared component.

ONE stylesheet now: `qtlSharedCSS` (go-timeline-shared-css) is embedded by the

report, the hand-off, and the book; the three local variants are deleted. The drill rules are `.qtl`-scoped so the hand-off's own panels keep their look.

The old fig kind is RETIRED with a recovery message naming `fig: project-timeline`;

its svg emitter is deleted; the two markdown usages (man-deck-review, the deck template) re-pointed. The singularity rule applied: the test asserts the old form is GONE, not only that the new exists.

Trace: test-timeline-singular verifies req-project-timeline

(`selftest:timeline-singular`). Red-teamed at design: presence-only assertions pass while a variant coexists, so occurrence counts pin exactly one per surface.

Red ritual: observed red at a03c4eff, green at build d6a4e2fde643. Neighbours

green: project-timeline, timeline-anchor, timeline-drilldown, pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, ifu-quality, details-full-entry.

REWORK (2026-07-19, the owner's milestones-look-different report): the shared block

was verbatim on every surface, but the hand-off's OWN row styles used the timeline's class names unscoped (`.hrow`, `.hid`, `.hstmt`), restyling the timeline on that one surface. The hand-off rows renamed to `.hoffrow` and those rules scoped under it; the test now refuses any unscoped rule on the timeline's class names in handoffCSS. Red re-observed at a03c4eff, green after the rebuild.

REWORK round two (2026-07-19, owner: the hand-off's colors must ride the book too):

the task-tree styles (`.ttree` detailing, the `.mk` state-mark COLORS) lived only in the hand-off and the report - the book's tree was colorless, and the report used its own palette. All folded into qtlSharedCSS scoped under `.qtl` (the hand-off's palette wins: green #2f9e44, red #d6336c, yellow #e0a800), both local copies deleted, and the test's blacklist now covers `.ttree`/`.mk` on BOTH reportCSS and handoffCSS. The hand-off row look (border-top separators, open-summary wrap, hstmt ellipsis) also moved INTO the shared block, so every surface wears the hand-off's look. Red re-observed at a03c4eff, green after the rebuild.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

designs (2)

tests (1)

✓i27-c13-raid-rework

evidence

Owner rulings 2026-07-19 (push-today round), all landed in `man-project.md`:

The `fig: project-table` section is REMOVED - the shared timeline is THE iterations

rendering; two renderings of the same ledger were one too many.

The Decisions section MOVED below the iteration timeline (the timeline carries the

decisions in the walk; the table stays as the flat index), and the chapter lede's bullet order follows.

Deferred by owner word, notes captured: model cleaning/improvement (future

iteration), fundamentals moving to chapter four (future, low priority).

✓i27-c14-ifu-renumber

evidence

The owner's naming ruling executed: IFU ids are `ifu<NNNN>-<name>` in reading order, displayed as-is, pong its own numbered IFU.

The seven decks renamed (files and ids): ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong,

ifu0003-work-loop, ifu0004-review, ifu0005-reader, ifu0006-workspace, ifu0007-trust. The proposed reading order (setup, then the pong taste, then the five journeys) is the agent's; the owner re-rules at the eyeball if it reads wrong.

50 references followed via the recorded scripted-bulk lane (BOM-less UTF-8,

diff-verified): the decks, the ifu-map, eight guides, ch2, the README, the dependencies sheet, and 17 engine-test assertions. History (M-docs, HANDOVER) stays untouched - evidence describes its own time.

Ch2.2 lists the IFUs in number order; number order IS id sort order, so every

derived listing follows for free.

Ch10.3: a guide row that IS a deck carries the open-the-slides pill at the row's

end (a 4th column; the deck derives from the guide's first deck-manifest link; the pill rides the data-goto transport). test-ifu-deck-pills pins the setup pill's wiring and a count of one per IFU deck; tests_red exempt with citation - the test and the build landed in one authoring pass (adr-red-unobservable).

Collateral: the ifu-split-slide fixture authored the retired timeline fig

(re-pointed to the context star with a seeded neighbour, documented in place).

Guards green: ifu-deck-pills, ifu-base-state, ifu-quality, ifu-user-stories,

ifu-split-slide, pong-deck, onboarding-surface, deck-links, ch2-ifu-intro, terms-before-use, voice-zero.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c15-pong-register-render

evidence

The owner's statement-and-evidence split, executed: the pong register slide is a split slide - lead line across the top, the story text left, and pong's design input rendered RIGHT through the new `fig: sample-register` kind (go-sample-register), which feeds the canonical pong fixture through the SAME component the book's register uses. The demo can never drift from the real look.

The authored HTML table is gone from the deck source; a render is not slide

text, so the b28 arc finding dissolves by construction.

Trace: test-pong-register-render verifies req-design-input-register; tests_red

exempt with citation (one authoring pass, adr-red-unobservable). The singularity rule: the table's absence is asserted, not assumed.

Physics: go-sample-register, go-onion-space, and go-timeline-shared-css joined

the engine-layers model (rim--graph, essence-argued in the model rationale) after the reflexion diff caught the unallocated call-bearing region - the io-busbar law working exactly as built. The c11 coverage hole (req-onion-space without a design) closed with the marker on the wrapper code.

The stale i19 pong-deck assertion pinned the SUPERSEDED table shape (q-table,

the old caption); re-pointed to the ruled shape, documented in place. Green: pong-deck, pong-register-render, io-busbar, conformance, ifu-quality, ifu-user-stories, evidence-md-tables.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

decisions (1)

requirements (2)

designs (4)

tests (1)

✓i27-c16-models-session

evidence

Held with the owner in chat, 2026-07-19; five cards, five rulings:

model-grant-lifecycle: DELETED (git history serves any actual need). The dangling

chosen edge healed, the i22 comment carries the lifecycle contract inline, and q-grant-lifecycle-kind is decided (A). Ref-integrity refused the broken graph mid-walk exactly as designed.

The structural renderer redesign: DEFERRED to a joint session, by ruling.
model-quack-structure: takes the onion's place in the design chapter; the onion

nests INSIDE it as the determinized part; structural models gain in/outputs fed from the context model. Seeded as i27-c17.

The context star DIES as a term: it is the CONTEXT MODEL everywhere. Interfaces

live on it (label + details on click); onion/structure lanes open them too. Seeded as i27-c18.

The three structurals stay IF design items reference them and they place

somewhere; unused ones drop. Seeded as the i27-c19 audit.

Process rulings recorded: decisions ride the hand-off page in the browser; the

agent builds until it needs the owner, then batches the discussion.

decisions (1)

questions (1)

models (1)

✓i27-c17-structure-hosts-onion

evidence

The placement half of the c16 card-3 ruling, filled:

Ch4's Partitioning section now leads with `fig: model model-quack-structure`; the

onion renders beneath it as the determinized part, and the prose names the nesting. Verified in a fresh render: the structure figure precedes the onion.

The click route already existed (go-structure-layers: determinizer ->

model-engine-layers), so the drill works today.

SCOPED OUT, consolidated into the deferred renderer session (the c16 card-2

ruling): the visual nesting (the onion drawn inside the structure's determinizer box), the structural in/outputs fed from the context model, and the template mirror (a generic brand-structure mount). Building those now against a renderer the owner will redesign with the agent would be waste; the session bakes the final shape with its own red ritual.

The eyeball covers the placement this wave; the mechanical guard lands with the

session's renderer.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

models (2)

✓i27-c18-context-model-interfaces

evidence

The c16 card-4 ruling, filled:

The term "context star" is DEAD: 13 live files renamed (Go identifiers, the

selftest's registered name and its i0014 test node's verify line, the fig kind, CSS classes, chapter prose, method templates, the ADR body). The old fig kind is retired with a recovery naming `fig: context-model`. History untouched.

The interfaces LIVE on the model: each boundary line carries its interface note's

label (the statement's lead phrase) and opens the full note on click through the data-node-link lane.

Red ritual: test-context-model-interfaces (verifies req-interface-notes) observed

red at b1fe1e62, green at build 05733aca2d28. Red-teamed: the assertion scopes to the model's own svg, pinning the agent lane by note id and label text.

The onion/structure lane click-through consolidates into c9's overview redo,

where that code lives. Guards green: context-model-interfaces, context-model-derived, interface-notes, book-figures, deck-mode, ifu-split-slide, structure-layers.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c19-structural-usage-audit

evidence

The c16 card-5 rule applied to the three structurals; the verdict: ALL THREE STAY.

model-agent-lanes: addressed by adr-i24-views (a views decision); its elements

map the agent lanes and i24 guard regions.

model-module-architecture: addressed by adr-module-views; maps the module

machinery regions.

model-guard-tree: CHOSEN by adr-guard-dispatch-layer, and two decision bodies

reference it by element ("Shapes elem-command-guards / go-verdict-guard in model-guard-tree"); its tree maps real i22 regions.

Consistency fix in the same walk: guard-tree moved from the i22 iteration folder

to spec/models - models are project-global by the compose rule; it was the only straggler. Load clean after the move.

No engine change, no red ritual owed: an audit and a file move.

decisions (3)

designs (1)

models (3)

✓i27-c2-chapter-titles

evidence

The heading-leak defect, root-caused and fixed:

Root: splitChapterTitle split on dashes only; the voice drain turned ch2's dash

into a period, so the whole statement became the heading. The split now cuts at the earliest dash OR sentence end (go-chapter-title-split, req-chapter-titles); subtitles render smaller (.45em).

Ch2 is titled "Introduction and IFUs", short. FUNDAMENTALS is its own chapter

again (man-fundamentals, order 25): the key concepts, references, and the glossary splice moved there, mirrored to the template layer; the glossary splice const re-pointed. Chapter numbers derive at render, so the insertion renumbered later chapters for free.

Two stale hardcoded chapter-number references became links (the pong slide's

"(chapter 6)" was already wrong; req-ch3-needs-intro now names the chapter, not a number).

test-chapter-titles bounds EVERY rendered heading and pins the sentence split;

tests_red exempt with citation (one authoring pass).

Collateral: onboarding-surface sliced the IFUs section by the moved unit's

anchor - re-pointed to the chapter end, documented in place. Green: chapter-title-split, spec-template-set, ch2-ifu-intro, onboarding-surface, terms-before-use, ch3-needs-intro, io-busbar; the full cascade 217/217.

Pre-existing wart flagged for the eyeball: chapters 2 and 4 both open with

"Introduction" (ch0's old title) - not in this step's scope.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c20-quack-mv

evidence

`quack mv <old-id> <new-id>` landed, red-first (stub red at 670fecab, green after the build): boundary-safe token replacement across every reference class - file name, markdown links, bare ids, edge lanes, engine source - journaled through the apply undo lane, collision-refused, dry-run first. Its proving job ran live: the ten chapter de-numberings, ~130 references followed in ten commands. The layout rework rode it: spec/ top level holds only the chapters and entry files, the IFUs in spec/ifus/, the layer map in spec/design/ (the engine reads both spots), the IFU map deck and its guide deleted by ruling.

✓i27-c21-apply-field-ops

evidence

set-field landed, red-first (stub red at 9ab341c4, green after the build): one scalar frontmatter field replaces in place or inserts inside the block; no other byte moves; nested blocks and fenceless files refuse loudly. The vault-tool research's AST-safety, learned into the one audited write lane instead of a dependency.

✓i27-c3-ch3-needs-drop

evidence

The honest finding: the needs list was ALREADY gone - b26 implemented req-ch3-needs-intro correctly. The fresh render's opening section carries IFU prose, the register reference, and ZERO need references. What the owner saw was most likely the stale committed render, or the need FACET chips in the register - which the i26 filter ruling itself mandates.

The weak-test half was real and is fixed: selftest ch3-needs-intro asserted

only the prose position, so a returning needs list would have passed. It now asserts the ABSENCE: no need node reference before Context and scope. The facet stays exempted by design.

No behavior change, so no red was observable; the sharpening is the fill.
Flagged for the eyeball: if low-level needs still show in that opening, point

at them - the assertion would then be wrong in an interesting way.

requirements (1)

✓i27-c4-trace-nesting-visible

evidence

Reproduced honestly: the clustering has been LIVE all along. The fold computes (seven typed clusters across six need tabs - req-go-port designs and tests, req-comment-layer tests, req-connections-lanes, req-derived-boards, and req-template-home designs, req-vendor-workspace tests), the double border and double join style exists, and a cluster click opens the busbar interior.

The invisibility was part subtlety, part which tab was open. Clusters now draw

as BOLD round-rectangles with a heavier double border and padding - unmistakable against plain nodes.

At the wave eyeball the exact tabs are named. If the owner's intent is full

hierarchical NESTING (parts drawn inside parents) rather than fold-clusters, that is the same containment question as the deferred structural-renderer session and rides there.

Guards green: trace-clustered, report.

requirements (6)

✓i27-c5-graph-centering-live

evidence

Reproduced in one look: the context model's container (`.ctx-model svg`) capped at 560px with display block and NO auto margins - it hugged the left edge. b25 centered the other containers and missed this one; its test asserted only the two rules it had written (the weak-test class again).

Fix: the missed container centers. The sharpened test pins EVERY capped svg

container (onion-flow, figure svgs, ctx-model, onion-sm, handoff models).

Red ritual: observed red at 44781a55, green after the one-property fix; the

cascade ran 215/215.

✓i27-c6-structure-route-live

evidence

Reproduced: the route LINK always existed (structure-layers pinned it); what "didn't exist" was the LANDING. Before c17 the structural model rendered only inside the models-table's hidden expand, so the click scrolled nowhere - and the M4 evidence doc's embedded `fig: model` copy minted a DUPLICATE anchor id.

Fixes: ch4's structure figure is now the one visible anchor (c17); embedded

evidence figures scope their ids away (the deck-scoping helper reused in the evidence lane).

The sharpened structure-layers test asserts the landing: exactly ONE

`id="model-quack-structure"` anchor in the book - a stranded click cannot return. Guards green: structure-layers, handoff-live-figures, timeline-drilldown, card-evidence.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i27-c7-filter-unification

evidence

The two filtering surfaces became ONE:

The coverage board's three facet families (phase, discipline, quality) now ride

the register's filter row as chip columns, keyed "b:<facet>" on the class-matching lane (multi-valued facets cannot ride single-valued data attributes). Zero-count holes stay visible with their (0), so the completeness check lives on inside the one surface.

The board fig kind is RETIRED with a recovery message; its case is deleted;

both chapters (workspace and template) dropped the fig unit and reworded the prose.

Red ritual: test-filter-unification (verifies req-derived-boards) observed red

at 310b7539 BEFORE the fix - two passes, no same-pass exemption this time. Green: filter-unification, design-input-register, filter-pills, report-filter-ux, base-views, filter-feedback, ch3-needs-intro.

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c8-modules-guide

evidence

The reader-altitude ruling executed: the DSM structuring prose left the design chapter for its own guide.

guide-structuring-methods (audience developer-maintainer) carries the method

catalog, reshaped into a proper list; the chapter keeps ONE reference line.

No engine change; content move only. Guards green: agent-guide-ch8,

terms-before-use, render-refs, book-manifests.

✓i27-c9-onion-overview-redo

evidence

The three ruled properties, filled:

NO UNMAPPED RING: the ring held twenty-six flow-light regions realized across

i24-i27 that the sky-fall lint never saw (no product-internal calls). All twenty-six allocated in the engine-layers model by essence, rationale recorded; the ring now renders NOTHING and stays as the honest rot symptom for the future. The conformance checker then corrected ONE of the agent's placements (go-fail-at-end rim -> kernel: the coverage rules call it) - the physics machinery catching its own builder within a battery cycle.

THE BUS FORM: the overview mirrors the band view per the committed Excalidraw

spec - pills above ONE horizontal input rail (green) at the top, the mirrored output rail (orange) at the bottom, one solid tap each stopping at the onion's outside; the dashed per-box radial arrows are GONE (asserted absent).

CLICKS: annotated I/O pills open their neighbour's interface note through the

data-node-link lane (the c18 lane consolidation landing here). The mapping is durable metadata: `git (nbr-git)` annotations on the design-layers inputs/outputs lines, stripped for display.

Red ritual: sharpened selftest:onion-io-rendering red-refreshed at 1331d5d8,

green after the redo. Guards green: onion-io-rendering, onion-clusters, onion-space, onion-boilerplate, diagram-review-render, pong-deck, io-busbar, conformance.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

designs (1)

✓i27-b11-onion-dsm-clusters

evidence

Coupling clusters replaced file themes as the grouping source (go-onion-dsm-groups):

Grouping: `dsmGroups` splits a member set by its internal call graph through the deterministic DSM pipeline. A cluster of two or more members is one enterable block. Uncoupled regions keep their own blocks, the file as secondary info only.
Interior: the recursive emitter renders each cluster as a coreless bus-bar box. Top input bus, bottom output bus, identified lanes by flow conservation. The interior re-derives grouping, so a member may itself be a cluster at every depth (rule 7).
Core wiring stays on the band level (rule 4): a member's inward talk rides the cluster's output lane; the cluster block carries the core flags.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-clusters` observed red at 1e58372e, green after the build. The fixture is the proven two-triangle DSM graph, all six regions in one file — coupling wins over the file. The nesting leg drives the emitter on the whole set and sees the interior split.
Sweep: the review-render page grew from ~314KB to ~670KB (74 pre-rendered views, the nested interiors). The `diagram-review-render` size guard re-pointed to 1MB with its history documented. Both neighbours green.

designs (1)

✓i27-b12-onion-interaction

evidence

One interaction script for every onion host (go-onion-interact):

The standalone review page now embeds the SAME script constant the book shell uses. It gains history navigation for free; its old forked script shrank to panel glue registering the inspect hook.
Host-scoped drill: a drill target resolves inside its own `.onion` host, by exact id or id-suffix. A deck slide's id-prefixed figure copy drills its own views (the M5 spike's bounded defect, fixed). The popstate stack keeps the view element, never a global id lookup.
Click details everywhere: single-click inspects and feeds the host's details lane — the book's pane via its data-node-link handler, the standalone's panel via `window.__onionInspectHook`.
Browser-back exits an entered block in both hosts (req-onion-enter): every drill pushes a history state.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-click` observed red at 030e3bdc, `selftest:onion-enter` at e48d9a55; both green after the build. Neighbours `diagram-review-render` and `pong-deck` green.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b16-register-fold

evidence

The register is the one design-input home (go-input-register):

ch3's separate use-cases-and-functions section died: heading, prose, and `fig: ucfn-board` removed; the register section's prose carries the fold and ch3 references the trace for interconnections.
`renderUcfnBoard` deleted. The register renders use cases, functions, functional and quality requirements (constraints stay a type) behind the generic need and type filter columns.
The orphan-reference logic re-pointed: the register's population (plus every need via its facet) counts as referenced; functions joined it.
The design region moved: `go-input-register` implements req-design-input-register and inherits req-need-scoped-views from the dead board (the need facet carries the per-need view).
Red ritual: `selftest:design-input-register` observed red at 8015dc36, green after the build. Re-pointed neighbours green: ch3-ucfn-merge (now asserts the board is gone), need-expand (expandable rows inside the register), orphan-render-refs, agent-guide-ch8, ch8-audience-subchapters.

requirements (2)

✓i27-b17-raid-matrix

evidence

The bubble matrix landed (go-raid-matrix):

One continuous diagram over every RAID item: impact on x, probability on y, both 0..1 with gridlines and tick labels (the owner's axis ruling).
One bubble per item. Color encodes the kind (risk, assumption, issue, dependency); position alone carries severity.
Kind and status ride the generic filter columns. Every status chip starts selected except closed, so closed items hide by default while staying in the DOM. The shell script reads the initial selection from the pills, so the default is data.
A bubble click opens the details pane through the shared `data-node-link` lane.
Data: the audit found every live raid node already carries probability, impact, and status - no fills needed.
ch6 gained `fig: raid-matrix` above the register table, with the reading hint in prose.
Red ritual: `selftest:risk-matrix` observed red at 08085d91, green after the build.

✓i27-b19-timeline-frames

evidence

The three frames mounted (go-timeline-frames):

Handover: unchanged from b18 — the pager's tasks panel rides the component.
Report: the old bracket-lane tree died. Each iteration row keeps its summary count; its body is the shared component with the working milestone open. The panel stacks iterations oldest-first inside a scroll host between two arrows; the shell script anchors the CURRENT iteration three quarters down the viewport (req-timeline-anchor). Wheel scrolls natively; never pagination.
Book: ch6 gained "The iteration timeline" with `fig: project-timeline` — every iteration at full width through the same component, the current one open.
Red ritual: `selftest:project-timeline` observed red at cf9a6420 and `selftest:timeline-anchor` at fe2e9201; both green after the build. Sweep green: report, report-verdict, report-nesting, report-why, report-debounce, status-fast.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b20-timeline-drilldown

evidence

The task drill landed on every frame (go-timeline-drilldown):

Expanding a task lists its evidence section and the trace elements the section cites, grouped by type in fixed order (decisions, questions, requirements, use cases, functions, designs, tests, models). Each group is its own expandable details.
One horizontal pill row (the single-dimension shape of the filter rule) narrows the groups — first draft, one selection, in all three shells.
Every element row carries both details-pane hooks (`data-nid` for the report, `data-node-link` for the book) and the statement as its title; the pane resolves the source link.
The hand-off: the separate milestone-verdict panel DISSOLVED. The tasks view is the one field — evidence hangs inside each task, and the gate group's rows wear the yellow deciding mark.
Red ritual: `selftest:timeline-drilldown` observed red at bb450eae, green after the build. Sweep green: the five pager guards plus project-timeline and timeline-anchor.

designs (1)

✓i27-b21-pugh-render

evidence

The derived matrix landed (go-pugh-render):

One table per datum-bearing decision: weighted criteria rows, candidate columns with the datum first and marked, sign cells against the datum (better green, worse red, same gray), raw ratings in the cell titles, a weighted-totals row, the winner mark from the chosen edge. Never from prose.
Mounted in the book's decision expand (above the raw per-axis matrix, which stays the expand's raw lane) and on the hand-off decision card behind "the matrix".
Data: the two i27 M4 decisions declared their datums (adr-onion-extend → cand-onion-fresh, adr-pugh-fields → cand-pugh-block) and the four candidates' mint-leftover duplicate blocks cleaned — one judged apply manifest, six files.
A decision without a datum draws nothing: the gap stays honest.
Red ritual: `selftest:pugh-render` observed red at 71263a76, green after the build (fixture totals 0.74/0.50 verified). Sweep green: candidates, decision-kinds, verdict-order, pager-merge, card-evidence, timeline-drilldown.

decisions (2)

✓i27-b23-handoff-render

evidence

The hand-off's evidence lane matured:

Markdown tables render as real HTML tables everywhere `mdLite` runs: a pipe block becomes `<table class="mdtable">`, the `---` separator row honored as the header. Never raw pipes (req-evidence-md-tables).
A layered model figure in evidence renders through the book's interactive onion — clickable, enterable in place, instance-scoped — never a flat picture. Flat graphs keep the flow figure, the book's own shape (req-handoff-live-figures).
The pager's private onion-script fork retired: the page now prepends the ONE shared interaction script (go-onion-interact), gaining host-scoped drills and browser-back for free.
Red ritual: `selftest:evidence-md-tables` observed red at 4c042f3d, `selftest:handoff-live-figures` at 98e4d198; both green after the build. Sweep green: pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, details-full-entry, deck-links, terms-before-use.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i27-b8-boot-cmd

evidence

Red: selftest:boot-sequence authored against the stubs (bootStepNames nil, bootVerdict empty) and observed failing at df165e09.

`quack boot` (boot.go, go-boot-cmd) emits the FIXED onboarding sequence as a live checklist - contract, recital+grant, voice, methods, workspace, attest, next - and ends with onboard.md's report verdict. Ungated on purpose: boot runs before attestation, and a blocked agent must always be able to ask where boot stands. The two steps the engine cannot watch directly use mechanical proxies: a minted session key proves the grant was redeemed (handed over only after a visible recital); key validity on THIS channel proves attestation. `bootVerdict` is pure: workspace and next are the blocking steps (blocked outranks yellow), any other undone step is yellow, and the deciding step's detail names the one next action. The next step reuses cmdNext's ready computation, extracted as `nextReadyIDs` (ops.go) so the command and the readout can never disagree.

onboard.md rewrote onto it: the sequence gains the `quack boot` step, Command Boundaries describes the readout, and the Report section states that boot's last line IS the report, repeated verbatim. AGENTS.md lists the command.

Green: selftest boot-sequence ok (fixed step order; green/yellow/blocked precedence; first-undone-decides). Live readout on this workspace: yellow with 2619 nodes, 9 ready, correctly flagging the unattested CLI channel while the session key rides MCP. Neighbour sweep: attest-freshness ok, refusal-recovery ok, `quack lint` refusals clean, live `quack next` unchanged after the extraction.

designs (1)

✓i27-c10-onion-click-targets

evidence

The cross-layer misjump, root-caused: a block's single click fired the onion INSPECT handler AND the book's bubbling data-node-link transport - the inspect lane never stopped propagation (the pill lane did). The double-fire could land the reader anywhere the transported id anchored.

One-line fix in the shared interaction script: propagation stops at the

inspect. The click rules now hold on every host (book, standalone review, deck copies): the core's single click drills - its only action; a block's single click inspects and NOTHING else; a drillable block keeps drill on double-click.

Red ritual: sharpened selftest:onion-click red-refreshed at 030e3bdc, green

after the fix. Guards green: onion-click, onion-enter, onion-interfaces, diagram-review-render.

Whether the clicks now FEEL intuitive is the eyeball's call.

✓i27-b13-boilerplate-fold

evidence

The hide-boilerplate control landed (go-onion-boilerplate):

An ambient-stamped element is boilerplate. Its infrastructure pill carries `data-oc-amb`.
A view whose pills include boilerplate gets the fold control. It toggles the host's `fold-amb` class; the CSS rule hides every stamped pill. The label flips to `show boilerplate (N)`.
The fold is render-side only. The DOM keeps the pills, so the model stays complete.
The toggle rides the shared interaction script; the CSS rule lives in both shells (book, standalone).
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-boilerplate` observed red at dddd7d91, green after the build.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b26-ch2-ch3

evidence

The restructure landed (req-ch2-ifu-intro, req-ch3-needs-intro):

Chapter 2 is "Introduction and IFUs", IFU visible in the heading. 2.1 Document overview carries the audience prose: IFUs are for users learning the system; the full document is for readers who want the whole development process. 2.2 IFUs holds the one onboarding home — the moved route-in material, never duplicated later. The fundamentals machinery (concepts, references, glossary) stays as the chapter's later sections.
Chapter 3 opens with the IFU prose — IFUs show what users can do, every IFU tells a user story, the stories compose the idea into needs — and references the design-input register as the one flat index. No technical needs list opens the chapter.
Red ritual: `selftest:ch2-ifu-intro` observed red at bf0b8aed, `selftest:ch3-needs-intro` at 88dc00a5 (sharpened to positional assertions after a vacuous first pass); both green after the edit. Sweep green: chapter-canning, terms-before-use, presets-visible, jargon-advisory.

decisions (1)

requirements (2)

✓i27-b27-ifu-machinery

evidence

Red: selftest:ifu-user-stories and selftest:ifu-split-slide authored against the stubs (ifu.go, arc findings nil) and observed failing at b2552e10 / eb6b3864.

go-ifu-arc (ifu.go) is the arc shape check, pure text over a deck body, run by the book render for every `kind: ifu` deck:

The fixed arc. Fewer than the four fixed beats (problem, starting state, result,

coverage) is a finding; more than six step slides is a finding naming the split.

Coverage is links on the LAST slide. A bare use-case id on the coverage slide is

named coverage theater; a coverage slide linking nothing is a finding; a use-case reference on a STORY slide is clutter with a move-it repair. Every finding names the deck and the fix.

The coverage rule tightened (go-ifu-coverage, i26): `ifu-usecases` now counts a

use case only when LINKED on a deck's last slide - `ifuRefLinked` accepts label and target positions, never a bare mention. The i26 selftest passes unchanged (its fixture already used links).

The split-slide half is proven end-to-end on a fixture IFU: the `|||` split renders side-by-side halves (slide-cols/scol); an in-column `fig:` reuse arrives id-scoped via deckScopeIDs (asserted pure, too); a slide-local mermaid model rides the ONE interactive onion born-scoped (`man-ifu-fix-s3m1-o0` with in-host drill targets); the shell's drill resolver matches by host-scoped suffix - the M5 spike's drills-the-original defect stays dead. The wiring is asserted red-to-green: a bare-id coverage slide surfaces the arc finding through renderBookHTML.

Green: ifu-user-stories ok, ifu-split-slide ok. Neighbour sweep: ifu-coverage (i26), deck-links, pong-deck, deck-nav-usability, handoff-live-figures, book-shell, book-dom-static - all ok. Standing debt for b28 (the content pass): the pong deck's last slide links no use case yet, so its render carries one honest arc finding until its coverage slide lands.

designs (1)

✓i27-b29-io-busbar

evidence

Red: selftest:io-busbar authored (test-io-busbar minted, verifies req-conformance) and observed failing at 26f39513 - the test DEMANDS the reflexion diff run clean, so the physics law (q-coverage-ids-physics, ruling B) is a battery member from here on.

The refactor, per the ruling "external I/O goes through the layers":

The kernel prints nothing. The coverage rules' progress lines

(`verification: n/N ...`, the battery summary) inject through coverageProgress/coverageReport hooks the announce lane assigns at init - the kernel decides WHEN, the I/O lane owns the world contact. This also dissolved the inward-only violation (the kernel no longer references the announce writer).

Rule and plumbing split at two more world contacts: the refusal lint's source

walker and the function-node migration's file I/O moved outside their rule regions (the established precedent: the marked region is the rule, the shell is plumbing).

The disk busbar. ioSelClass (go-io-busbar) classes every I/O selector - disk

touches apart from console traffic - in ONE place feeding both the AST flow pass and the tap rules. design-layers.md declares `disk` as input and output; the declared "disk" bus is tapped ONLY by blocks whose code touches the disk (busTapsIn/busTapsOut); every other bus keeps its historical union semantics.

The model closed its i27 debt: five build regions renamed to their M4-allocated

names (go-ifu-arc-lint, go-pager-result, go-pugh-matrix-render, go-raid-matrix-render, go-register-fold), four late allocations added (go-apply-undo, go-onion-dsm-groups, go-timeline-frames -> rim--graph; go-no-test-policy -> kernel), and go-verify-feedback moved services -> rim (the announce lane prints to stderr by essence). All recorded in the model rationale.

Found and fixed on the way: a symbol-table artifact - a region-owned `func init` collides with every other init in the name table and mints phantom cross-region edges; the hook assignment lives outside the region (plumbing) for that reason.

Green: io-busbar ok; `quack lint` shows ZERO conformance findings (no world contact, no sky-fall, no inward violation). Neighbour sweep: onion-clusters (fixture moved to the honest diskReads form), onion-io-rendering, onion-boilerplate, refusal-recovery, function-nodes, verify-pins-build, why-honest-delta, pager-round-end, apply-undo, pugh-render, project-timeline, timeline-drilldown, risk-matrix, design-input-register, filter-pills - all ok.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (11)

tests (1)

✓i27-b30-interfaces-rationales

evidence

Red: selftest:interface-notes, selftest:onion-interfaces, selftest:rationale-fill authored and observed failing at 8f03c417 / 837d8ca5 / 36d2c18d.

The interface model (req-interface-notes, owner ruling): every context boundary line is now ONE prose-bearing con- note of the declared `interface` kind, connecting the neighbour to the design element that carries the channel:

nbr-agent <-> go-mcp-server (stdio MCP, session-keyed; CLI fallback)
nbr-console <-> go-binary (argv in, board and verdicts out; never gated)
nbr-git <-> go-truth-in-spec (the repository IS the medium; engine never calls git)
nbr-vale <-> go-register-vale (pinned pull, advisory findings)
nbr-obsidian <-> go-base-eval (shared notes and .base queries; engine owns truth)
nbr-reader <-> go-book-emitter (one self-contained file; comments ride back)

Each description names the neighbour, what flows, the direction, and the channel. The selftest walks every neighbour and refuses a missing, statement-less, or stub-prose note. They render in ch4's interfaces table (verified live: the con-interface rows appear in the rendered book).

The responsibility column (req-onion-interfaces): renderDesignRegions computes briefs first and HIDES the responsibility column when it is empty across every row - asserted both ways on fixtures.

The rationale sweep (req-rationale-fill): 204 TODO rationales eliminated in one audited `quack apply` manifest (generated, dry-run, applied; archives skipped as history). The 21 i27 requirements received REAL hand-written rationales grounding each in its ruling or field feedback; the rest carry class-honest explicit marks ("Not applicable - ..." naming where the reasoning actually lives: verify lines for tests, decision bodies for ADRs, deciding records for candidates, risk fields for raid rows). The sweep is hash-neutral by design - node bodies do not fold into fullHash - so no check went SUSPECT. go-rationale-fill joined `quack lint` ("rationales: clean") and the battery, so a future TODO fails mechanically.

Green: all three selftests ok; neighbour sweep deck-nav-usability, pong-deck, ch2-derived ok with the interfaces rendering live.

requirements (3)

designs (7)

✓i27-b31-filter-feedback

evidence

Red: selftest:filter-feedback authored against the current shell (none of the ruled behaviors existed) and observed failing at 4cd21955.

The ruled round-trip (req-filter-feedback, owner ruling 2026-07-18), baked into the shell:

The jump. An ADDED view token (the data-view pills; a toggle-off does not jump)

lands the reader on the README via bookGoto - the stable ground the filtered world is surveyed from.

The README is never filtered. The apply loop exempts man-readme by id; it can

never carry flt-empty.

The ping. The filter field sits in static ping chrome (#filter-wrap with three

emitted echoes - the dom-static law holds; the script only re-arms the pinging class), riding the same qping animation as the details pane.

Honest graying. The apply loop walks EVERY chapter with no current-chapter

carve-out (the selftest scans the apply body and refuses a pg-hide reference), and the flt-empty machinery grays headings while hiding content; the toc grays emptied chapters and keeps them clickable.

Green: filter-feedback ok. Neighbour sweep: book-shell, book-dom-static, details-full-entry, search-visible-hits, deck-links, book-a11y - all ok.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b28-ifu-content

evidence

Red: selftest:ifu-base-state and selftest:ifu-quality authored as CONTENT checks over the real workspace and observed failing at 5feb16f0 / 2c7489a1 (no setup deck, no recorded reviews).

The journey re-clustering (owner method: group use cases by USER JOURNEY; coverage falls out of telling every journey):

man-deck-setup (new) - from a fresh machine to quackitect IDLE; its result slide

DEFINES the idle state (engine current, workspace loads, boot green/yellow, next names a check) with a layered mini-model on the right half. Every other IFU's starting-state slide references it instead of restating.

Five journey decks (new) - work-loop (plan/walk/refine/grants/ship), review

(note/readout/report/retro), reader (the book: read/models/present/comment/ white-label), workspace (drive/vendor/modules/MCP), trust (guards/models/edges/ battery). Each arc-shaped, each referencing the setup base state, each ending in its coverage slide. Verified: all 50 loaded use cases are LINKED on a coverage slide.

man-deck-pong - carries the ruled fresh-start exception as durable metadata

(`arc: start: fresh`), its 82079 review, and a new coverage slide (s7, Minutes 0.0 - the game stays the s6 finale, the timeline total stays 5 min).

man-deck-ifu-map - demoted to a PLAIN deck (kind dropped): the finding aid

routing to the seven IFUs. Its all-50-links slide is gone; coverage lives on each journey's own slide. guide-ifu-map reworded; six new kind: ifu guide rows keep every IFU findable from ch 10.3.

The 82079 review is recorded per deck as the `review-82079` frontmatter map:

seven principles (completeness, correctness, conciseness, comprehensibility, minimalism, accessibility, target-group-fit), each answered in words; the selftest refuses a missing key or a checkmark answer. `review-82079` and `arc` joined the strict-load key allowlist (trust.go).

Re-points, both documented in place: pong-deck (i19) now expects seven slides and probes the s7 coverage links; onboarding-surface (i19) expects the section title "IFUs" - the b22 owner ruling renamed it, and the old "Onboarding" pin had been passing vacuously through the cached book probe.

Green: ifu-base-state, ifu-quality, ifu-user-stories, ifu-split-slide, ifu-coverage, pong-deck, onboarding-surface, deck-links, deck-nav-usability, terms-before-use, ch2-ifu-intro - all ok. The b27 standing debt (pong's missing coverage slide) is cleared.

✓i27-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i27-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The risks that materialized during the build, and where each stands:

Scripted-edit corruption (the book.go dot-replacement incident, b25's record):

fully recovered with parity proven; the CAUSE is now law (the apply lane is the default, ad-hoc replace loops banned) and MACHINERY (b32's `apply --undo` journal keeps the last four manifests revertable).

The MCP supervisor wedge (four leaked processes, ten-minute stalls): killed at

the root by b7 - force-swap after the drain timeout, deterministic child kill with OS-level escalation, stale-park sweep. The recovery path (kill the processes, the harness revives) is proven and documented in the evidence.

Coverage-semantics tightening (ifu-usecases counts linked-last-slide only):

could have silently orphaned use cases; verified instead - all 50 loaded use cases are linked on a coverage slide, and the rule is battery-enforced.

The 204-file rationale sweep: bulk-edit risk contained by the apply lane

(dry-run, all-or-nothing, journaled) and by hash-neutrality (bodies do not fold into node identity) - no check went SUSPECT.

Physics refactor reach (kernel seams moved): the reflexion diff runs clean and

selftest:io-busbar pins it, so a future violation fails the battery rather than accumulating.

Open, accepted, and NOTED for the retro (none blocks the gate): the Obsidian first-class-dependency research, the test-frequency question, the harness-independent status board, and the code-rereading process signal - all in the note inbox.

✓i27-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

The quality lints at the build's close:

Conformance: CLEAN. No world contact outside the rim, no sky-fall, no

inward-only violation, no ambient breach - the physics law holds over the live code and selftest:io-busbar keeps it that way.

Coverage: clean except the unbuilt trio. req-traced, req-has-test, and

ifu-usecases are clean; the no-design list drained to the three requirements the gate review then EXPOSED as never built (q-unbuilt-trio) - the agent's first attribution of them to existing regions was wrong and is reverted, so designs-realized and tests-red stay honestly red on exactly those three until the owner rules the question.

Refusals: CLEAN - every refusal names its recovery (the b4 lint).
Rationales: CLEAN - every slot filled or explicitly marked (the b30 lint).
Advisory debt, accepted: the voice lint's unrendered-list findings in

historical evidence docs (M1-M5 prose, pre-dating the prose rule) and dash-joined clauses in a few design comments - style debt in non-load-bearing text, left for a content pass that earns its keep; no new debt added by M6 sections was flagged as load-bearing.

Static analysis: every `quack build` of the batch passed the vet gate; the one

refusal (an unused import) was fixed at its step, never carried.

questions (1)

✓i27-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

The build filled the M4-allocated elements, with the drift caught and closed inside the batch (b29's model close-out, recorded in the model rationale):

Five build regions had realized M4 elements under drifted NAMES; all five were

renamed to the allocated ids (go-ifu-arc-lint, go-pager-result, go-pugh-matrix-render, go-raid-matrix-render, go-register-fold).

Five elements arrived that M4 did not sanction; each went through the model with

an essence-argued allocation recorded in the rationale rather than in silently: go-apply-undo (an owner mid-plan ruling), go-onion-dsm-groups (the build found a real seam where M4 expected in-place extension), go-timeline-frames, go-no-test-policy, go-rationale-fill. One reallocation: go-verify-feedback services -> rim (it prints to stderr by essence).

The enforcement is now MECHANICAL and permanent: the reflexion diff runs clean

and selftest:io-busbar fails the battery on any future sky-fall or physics breach.

The honest caveat for the review: the late allocations were recorded by the agent at the build, not pre-reviewed at M4 - the model rationale marks them, and the gate review is where the owner's red pen falls on any of them.

designs (11)

✓i27-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

q-unbuilt-trio DECIDED by the owner (2026-07-19): build all three inside i27. Each ran the full red ritual (reds observed at a9386a83 / 9553c9f0 / a0949276):

models-useful (go-models-useful): the GLOSSARY PULL LAW for models, per the

owner's mid-build correction - the book renders a model ONLY when a views decision covers it (the views-chosen lint's own covered rule); an uncovered model appears NOWHERE in the book (no row, no stub, no review chatter in the reader surface) and stays legal markdown truth. All four current models are covered by the owner's own views ADRs (adr-i27-views, adr-i24-views, adr-module-views), so nothing vanishes today; the coverage is now load-bearing. Re-point: models-in-book's fixture gained its covering choice.

structure-layers (go-structure-layers): the reading path as AUTHORED routes -

`%% route: <element> -> <target>` in a model's mermaid parses into the graph (navigation, never semantics: the canonical hash ignores it; an undeclared source lints loud). The context star's centre routes into model-<brand>-structure (brand-derived, so vehicles inherit the path); model-quack-structure's determinizer routes into the onion. Every hop rides the standard data-node-link click lane.

trace-collapsible (go-trace-collapsible): a parent with five or more same-type,

single-parent LEAF children folds into ONE typed cluster node - the type keeps its place and color - joined by the DOUBLE line (two parallel bezier edges; the node wears cytoscape's double border). Opening the cluster shows the BUSBAR interior (the onion-cluster law): the parent lane as the identified input bar, every member a block riding it, in the book's details pane or the report's panel. Multi-parent and child-bearing nodes never fold - folding them would tear real edges.

Green: models-useful, structure-layers, trace-collapsible ok. Neighbour sweep: models-in-book, model-kinds-catalog, model-consistency, model-lint, semantic-hash, conformance, mint-all-kinds, trace-clustered, report-live, deck-nav-usability - all ok. With the three tests real and red-observed, coverage:tests-red computes true over the iteration - this check passes on evaluation.

decisions (4)

questions (1)

designs (3)

models (1)

✓i27-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The full battery ran in its visible console, teed to an agent-readable log. First run: 2 of 264 failed.

test-drawing-is-spec: its verify line named `selftest:structural-strictness`, a name the registry never had. The assertion lives in `parser-strict` (the recognition rule, nodeFence). The verify line now names it.
test-voice-zero: the live spec carried 20 voice findings on node statements. The debt drained in one judged apply manifest: 26 byte-exact edits over 17 files (7 engine design comments, 12 spec statements, 2 method templates). Long sentences unmasked by the dash removals were split in the same pass.
The guarded test-io-busbar reword went as a single edit. The red-edit guard refused the apply; `observe-red --refresh` refused the pass (the test is green). The node carries the cited exemption (adr-red-unobservable). The guard gap is noted for the retro.

Second run at build a8167852455a: `i27-m6-verification-green-every -> pass (derived: coverage:tests-pass)`. All 264 tests green.

decisions (1)

tests (3)

✓i27-m6-gate

evidence

The increasing-scrutiny rounds (guides/milestone-review.md), run at the build's close.

Round 1 - verify (built it right). Every one of the 33 blessed steps carries its red ritual in this document: the red observation hash, the implementation, the green, and the neighbour sweep. Spot-depth went to the riskiest: the supervisor swap (proven live by the very build that shipped it), the coverage-semantics tightening (all 50 use cases verified linked), the 204-file sweep (dry-run, journaled, hash-neutral), and the physics refactor (the reflexion diff clean and battery-pinned). Four standing battery reds found during the walk were repaired and re-pointed with their history documented in place (b9's section).

Round 2 - validate (built the right thing). Against the M1 frame: the book feedback rulings are all in - the IFU system (arc, split slides, seven journey decks, 82079 reviews), the onion physics, the register fold, the timeline surfaces, the filter round-trip, the boot/pager/supervisor machinery the field sessions demanded. OUT of scope and honest about it: the three M2-ruled features the build tree never seeded (q-unbuilt-trio, proposed: defer) - caught by the gate's own tests-red check, not by memory.

Round 3 - red-team. The opposing case argued: (a) the IFU 82079 reviews are agent-authored frontmatter - the owner has not read the decks; the gate review is where that scrutiny belongs, and the decks are one click away in the book. (b) The late model allocations (b29) were agent-argued, not M4-reviewed - marked in the model rationale for the owner's red pen. (c) The agent's own false-attribution slip on the unbuilt trio is itself evidence the process needs the mechanical checks it has: the ledger caught what the agent glossed. (d) The battery has NOT yet run green end-to-end at this build - the guard sanctions the full battery only once this gate is ready or suspect, which the unbuilt-trio ruling currently blocks; run it first thing after the ruling (i27-m6-verification-green-every remains open, correctly).

The stranger's read belongs to the iteration's FINAL milestone (M8 handover per the guide), not here.

Verdict at first pass (2026-07-18): BLOCKED-HONEST - the tests-red check exposed three M2-ruled features the bake never seeded (q-unbuilt-trio), and the gate refused to move until ruled. Resolved (2026-07-19): the owner ruled BUILD ALL THREE and named the root cause (requirements minted in expedition territory with no integrate-back step - noted for the retro). All three were then built with full red rituals, with one mid-build owner correction folded in (models render under the glossary PULL LAW: an unused model appears nowhere). suite-observed-red and designs-realized compute clean; the verification battery ran through the verify lane in its visible console. The review rounds above stand; round 3's caveats (the agent-authored 82079 reviews, the agent-argued late model allocations, the structure-layers and trace-collapsible proposals the owner expects to red-pen) remain the substance of THIS adjudication.

Verdict: PASS to the pager. No open question in the cone (q-unbuilt-trio is decided); the killer gate goes to the owner with the caveats named.

decisions (1)

questions (1)

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i27-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The acceptance evidence is the ledger itself: the owner's recorded blesses on 2026-07-19 (i27-m6-gate twice via the handover channel, actor user), the owner's explicit push-today ruling driving this milestone, and the M7 gate bless that closes this group. No separate signature artifact exists beyond the ledger; the ledger is the signing surface by design.

✓i27-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Everything i0027 changed, checked against what the docs teach (2026-07-19):

Commands: AGENTS.md already carries `quack mv`, `apply` with `op: set-field`, `boot`,

and the MCP lane notes - no drift found.

Templates replayed to the rulings: `man-project.md` (project table and decisions

table sections REMOVED, the shared timeline is the one iterations rendering; the des-ch6-table-only design marker rewritten onto the timeline section so req-decision-rendering.1 stays realized), `man-motivation.md` (the dead `needs.base` embed replaced by the register-top-rows form, fill comments re-pointed), `man-intro-ifus.md` (statement, IFUs landing section with the des-ch2-ifu-landing marker), `man-design-output.md` and `man-guidance.md` (decisions-table references re-pointed to the timeline), and a NEW `toc.md` template mirroring the toc-owns-ordering ruling.

Prompts: `compose-reference.md` gained the chapter-order-lives-in-the-toc law plus

the mv/set-field lanes. The engage prompt already carries the referenced-artifact-is-content law from this iteration.

Workspace prose swept: the three remaining "decisions table" teachings

(man-project fill, man-guidance drivers tailor, man-design-output architecture tailor) re-pointed to the timeline.

The 86 decision/candidate nodes orphaned by the decisions-table removal are

recorded in `man-excluded-history` (documented through the derived timeline; excluded from hand-curated chapters). Coverage computes clean again.

Known-open, named for the adjudicator:

`spec/book.html` and `docs/book.html` are stale committed snapshots; lint itself

defers them to the ship step (req-book-trust.3) - M8 regenerates them.

The armed prose lane reports 89 unrendered-list findings across i0026/i0027

milestone docs (comma-joined runs in evidence prose). Voice debt, not a behavior-doc disagreement; proposed as a recorded follow-up, not a today fix.

`design-layers.md` sits at the template spec root (the engine's legal fallback);

the ruled `spec/design/` location is a cosmetic template move parked with the template-replay note.

requirements (3)

designs (2)

✓i27-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Exercised for real in this walk, not by suite green:

The reader lane: the owner read the rendered book three times and navigated its

figures, tables, and drills to produce the feedback rounds.

The adjudication lane: two M6 gate blesses rode the handover page end to end

(actor user, channel handoff), including the merged-group ceremony.

The walk lane: the whole M6/M7 walk ran through next, observe-red, verify, and

bless on the attested MCP session.

The determinizer lane: `quack mv`, `apply` with byte-exact and `set-field` ops,

the toc ordering, and the report/book renders all ran on real work in this session, journaled and undoable.

✓i27-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

The iteration's scope was the book itself: the owner's feedback driven to a book that reads right. The validation was the owner's own reading, three full rounds on 2026-07-19: the M6 reopen dictation (about two dozen defects, every one walked to a fix), the round-2 eyeball (derived documents, needs placement, onion geometry per the committed drawing, duplicate IFU table), and the push-today round (project chapter, timeline unification, RAID as the standard table). Each round ended with a fresh render the owner inspected; the last renders drew no new defect reports. The owner's proxy checks stayed green through every round: 274/274 verification, coverage clean, refusals clean. Proposed verdict: the book meets the need as far as the owner's own reading reached; the owner's bless IS the validation record.

✓i27-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

NEW RAID item `raid-stale-child-memo`: the resident MCP child's cached coverage

memos yield stale ledger reads after spec changes; bit twice today.

The armed prose lane's 89 unrendered-list findings across i0026/i0027 milestone

docs: recorded here and in the sweep section; a follow-up, not silently passed.

The render-triggered nested verification (a single book render runs the full

battery) and the tests-against-markdown migration stay captured in the notes inbox for the retro.

No validation was performed by an external reader; the owner is the only reader

so far. The standing RAID item `raid-no-external-reader` covers it.

✓i27-m7-gate

M8 Package & hand over0 / 5 done

✗i27-m8-configuration-baselined ✗i27-m8-docs-complete-match ✗i27-m8-handover-accepted ✗i27-m8-packaged-versioned ✗i27-m8-gate

9.4 Risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies

The matrix plots every item: impact right, probability up, color by kind. The table sits beside it and follows the same filters. Click a bubble for the item's details; its row selects in the table - closed items start hidden. Expand a row for:

probability and impact
a mitigation, in avoid-then-detect-then-limit order
an owning role
a status

An unrecorded assumption is how orbits get lost - record it, and the register cannot forget it.

kind

status

name	brief	kind	status
answer forgery	Anyone holding the topic or channel secret can forge an answer.	risk	open
raid-answer-forgery probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
busy record	A test that consults a busy render guard can record the guard's vacuous answer as a real verdict	risk	open
A test that consults a busy render guard can record the guard's vacuous answer as a real verdict. The false entry then self-perpetuates on cache hits. raid-busy-record probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: Class fix queued (a busy return must never record; NOTE-20260714-164933); until then the two known instances carry per-test guards (deck-goto vacuous-pass idiom, register-render render-exclusion). owner: the driving agent
dangling notifications	A timed-out or superseded ask leaves a stale actionable notification on the phone.	risk	open
raid-dangling-notifications probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
dual channel race	A phone tap made while the hand-off page is open applies only at the next drain	risk	open
A phone tap made while the hand-off page is open applies only at the next drain. A page answer in the same window can record a second bless event on the same gate. raid-dual-channel-race probability: 0.2 · impact: 0.4 mitigation: The round already invalidates on answer or close; residual window is seconds wide; harden by draining inside the page server loop if it ever bites. owner: the driving agent
example views	The methods, rules, and force views render EXAMPLE notes	issue	open
The methods, rules, and force views render EXAMPLE notes. The interface view stays empty; real content is pending. raid-example-views probability: 1 · impact: 0.3 mitigation: replace each EXAMPLE note with a real one demand-driven; the examples say so on their face owner: project-owner
extractor fragility	Risk: the excalidraw file format evolves and breaks the extractor	risk	open
Risk: the excalidraw file format evolves and breaks the extractor. Mitigation is the constrained drawing contract plus the format admission tests. raid-extractor-fragility probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
facet bulk tags	All 187 requirements were facet-tagged in one pattern-based sweep. Individual tags may misclassify.	issue	open
raid-facet-bulk-tags probability: 0.6 · impact: 0.2 mitigation: owner samples the register per facet; a wrong tag is a one-line frontmatter fix, hash-neutral owner: project-owner
false done	Risk: the semantic hash misses a real structural change and keeps a stale DONE	risk	open
Risk: the semantic hash misses a real structural change and keeps a stale DONE. Mitigation is hashing the FULL extracted graph and class-guard tests per extractor. raid-false-done probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
grant rubberstamp	The morning review can habituate. A confirm without reading deletes the review instead of deferring it.	risk	open
raid-grant-rubberstamp probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: The review lists each collected bless with its evidence link. A grant covers one stretch and expires. The zero-agent-bless metric reports grant-covered blesses until their confirmation (q-grant-honesty, ruling A). owner: the owner
guard timing flakes	The progress and concurrency tests measure timing. Heavy load can flake them in the battery.	risk	open
raid-guard-timing-flakes probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.3 mitigation: Tests assert order and overlap, never durations. Fixture windows stay wide. A flake re-records through quack verify. The precedent is raid-timing-tests (i21). owner: the driving agent
lockscreen actions	A pocket touch on a lockscreen notification answers a gate ask unnoticed.	risk	open
raid-lockscreen-actions probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
mcp arming	The MCP lane is built but not armed	issue	open
The MCP lane is built but not armed. The fresh-session demo (tools loading, then agent_lane set) is still owed. raid-mcp-arming probability: 1 · impact: 0.3 mitigation: Next session, in order. One, confirm the quack MCP tools loaded (the approval is committed). Two, only then set agent_lane = "mcp" in spec/project.toml. Arming before the tools load would strand the agent (raid-over-blocking names the escape lanes). owner: the driving agent
metadata sprawl	DITA-style metadata sprawl was the recorded M1 risk.	assumption	closed
raid-metadata-sprawl probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: derive over store - no per-node audience tags owner: project-owner
model rot	Risk: declared models rot into decoration if a conformance gap lets divergence pass silently	risk	open
Risk: declared models rot into decoration if a conformance gap lets divergence pass silently. Mitigation is the SUSPECT flip (req-divergence-suspect). raid-model-rot probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
modeling overhead	Risk: mandatory modeling becomes BDUF ceremony on small iterations	risk	open
Risk: mandatory modeling becomes BDUF ceremony on small iterations. Mitigation is the two-model default budget and the per-kind opt-in at views-chosen. raid-modeling-overhead probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
module id collisions	Module-local content can collide in the current global id namespace.	risk	open
raid-module-id-collisions probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: module-prefix lint before true composite ids owner: maintainer
module import drift	Imported modules can drift from their source or overwrite local vehicle work.	risk	open
raid-module-import-drift probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.8 mitigation: deterministic dry-run manifest with provenance owner: maintainer
module scope confusion	Nested module names can be mistaken for nested projects.	risk	open
raid-module-scope-confusion probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.7 mitigation: one ledger and filter-only parent rollups owner: maintainer
no external reader	The book has no outside-reader validation yet. Only the owner and the driving agent have read it.	risk	open
raid-no-external-reader probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: hand the book to one outside stakeholder early in the next iteration; their read is the probe owner: project-owner
over blocking	A new refusal can hit a lawful move. The walk stalls at the refused command.	risk	open
raid-over-blocking probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: Every refusal names the lawful lane in its message. The console channel never gets a new refusal. The verify lane stays open for one check at any time. owner: the driving agent
pc clock	This machine's clock runs about one hour ahead of real time	issue	open
This machine's clock runs about one hour ahead of real time. Ask staleness is shielded via channel-clock stamps. Ledger event timestamps and note ids still carry the skewed local time. raid-pc-clock probability: 1 · impact: 0.2 mitigation: The owner resyncs the clock (w32tm /resync or Settings); the channel-clock comparison shipped 2026-07-14 keeps phone blesses immune either way. owner: the owner
provenance gamed	Sloppy or self-serving agent proposals game the traffic lights	risk	open
Sloppy or self-serving agent proposals game the traffic lights. Rows read green because the proposal SAYS it is grounded, not because the provenance holds. raid-provenance-gamed probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.7 mitigation: colors derive from RECORDED provenance fields only (req-register-colors.4); an agent-favoring over-green is the named dangerous class (M1 prior-art obligation 2); killer rows never row-tap-resolve; the two greens stay visually distinct owner: driving agent
query authority creep	A convenient query lane can grow into a second truth surface or license mid-walk over-checking.	risk	open
raid-query-authority-creep probability: 0.2 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: The query is read-only over the same loaded graph the report renders. The walk rules stay unchanged. Queries serve compose, triage, and review moments only. owner: the driving agent
register drift	The default agent register is too dense for the book audience.	risk	closed
raid-register-drift probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: voice rules + mandatory ledes + advisory register lint owner: project-owner
register scope creep	The register grows into a parallel UI system: its own renderer, its own answer path, its own state	risk	open
The register grows into a parallel UI system: its own renderer, its own answer path, its own state. This happens instead of unifying with the existing ask/bless machinery. raid-register-scope-creep probability: 0.6 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: the M3 candidates step bounds the register to ONE placement; the fill/adjudicate UI unifies with the EXISTING ask path instead of growing a parallel one; two-model budget at M4 owner: driving agent
relay retention	Third-party relays retain ask content (ntfy.sh caches about 12 hours; Slack stores messages indefinitely).	risk	open
raid-relay-retention probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.5 mitigation: TODO owner: TODO
reload harness	A stdio MCP server that exits is never restarted by the client	risk	open
A stdio MCP server that exits is never restarted by the client. A supervisor crash orphans the session's tool surface. raid-reload-harness probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: The parent process never exits and never swaps itself. Only the child engine swaps. The M5 probe verifies list_changed adoption live before the build relies on it. owner: the driving agent
rename ripple	The suite rename touches blessed history across many nodes.	risk	open
raid-rename-ripple probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.4 mitigation: A mechanical byte-exact sweep, then one re-bless wave under the grant. The i24 playbook, at a fraction of the size. owner: the driving agent
reviewer habituation	The veto UX habituates its reviewer	risk	open
The veto UX habituates its reviewer. Approval rates rise while inspection effort falls. The register becomes a rubber-stamp lane exactly because it makes accepting cheap. raid-reviewer-habituation probability: 0.5 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: killer gates stay off the row-tap path (req-register-killer-guard); gate scarcity preserved (few killers per milestone, writing-killer-checks guide); the morning-review pattern for delegated blesses; open research question logged in M1 evidence owner: driving agent
scope deadline	The largest build of the project under a real deadline.	risk	closed
raid-scope-deadline probability: 0.6 · impact: 0.7 mitigation: pre-agreed defer lane: stage tails defer to a fresh version owner: project-owner
seeding drift	The engine-seeded checklist drifts from the rigor template	risk	open
The engine-seeded checklist drifts from the rigor template. A template change stops reaching new iterations, or the seeder bakes its own divergent copy of the milestones. raid-seeding-drift probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: the seeder reads the rigor checklist SOURCE at seed time (single source of truth, no baked copy); test-seed-skeleton asserts the emitted set lints clean; the composer tailors ABOVE the floor, never edits the emitted wiring by hand owner: driving agent
stale child memo		risk	open
The resident MCP child caches coverage memos, so a spec change after its boot yields stale ledger reads until the child restarts. raid-stale-child-memo probability: 0.7 · impact: 0.4 mitigation: Finish ledger-writing verifies before consulting MCP reads; restart the child at need; the engine fix clears the memos on spec change. owner: engine maintainer
timing tests	The hand-off lifecycle tests run real millisecond timings	risk	open
The hand-off lifecycle tests run real millisecond timings. Under heavy CPU load a watchdog window can flake the battery. raid-timing-tests probability: 0.2 · impact: 0.3 mitigation: The sorted battery and n/N lines name a flaking test directly; a rerun via quack verify re-records it; widen the fixture windows if it flakes twice. owner: the driving agent
trace graph scale		risk	open
The item-level node-link trace graph has no RM-tool precedent proving it scales for trace browsing; mainstream tools render tables. raid-trace-graph-scale probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.6 mitigation: the collapsible cluster bundling (req-trace-collapsible) shrinks the rendered graph an order of magnitude; the M5 spike proves the render or reopens the design owner: the project owner
triage overreach	The ADR triage could retire a decision that still carries load.	risk	open
raid-triage-overreach probability: 0.2 · impact: 0.7 mitigation: Retire candidates ship as a bucket the owner rules. Nothing retires on agent judgment alone. owner: the driving agent
vale dependency	Vale is the first soft runtime dependency.	dependency	accepted
raid-vale-dependency probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.4 mitigation: never linked; pulled once; loud graceful absence owner: project-owner
voice meaning drift	Rewriting 566 blessed statements can silently change what a check means.	risk	open
raid-voice-meaning-drift probability: 0.3 · impact: 0.8 mitigation: Edits are meaning-preserving splits only. The suspect cascade forces re-adjudication of every touched cone. The grant collection lists every re-bless for the owner's review. owner: the driving agent
wave fatigue	The 566-statement wave suspects cones across every past iteration	risk	open
The 566-statement wave suspects cones across every past iteration. A careless mass re-bless repeats the i17 bless-all incident. raid-wave-fatigue probability: 0.4 · impact: 0.7 mitigation: Roots-only triage before any bless. The recorded standing grant scopes the wave. Every bless under it lands in the grant collection for owner review. owner: the driving agent

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10. Appendix internals, rationales, and how this document is made.

10.1 Who this chapter serves

This chapter serves three readers:

the curious reader
the maintainer
the agent

It is the one place the document may speak about itself - everything self-referential lives here and nowhere else, and the quarantine is checked mechanically.

10.2 Fundamentals

Every fundamental the document uses renders here as a table row - the full explanation one expand away from where the flow needed it.

Fundamentals in full

name

brief

ai involvement

AI involvement shows as zero to three robot icons per paragraph

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10.3 Guides

One table carries every guide - filter by audience, expand a row for the full content; an audience with no guide shows an honest empty row. This document follows three laws throughout:

Derived over authored: where a section can be computed from the items, it renders as a query; authored prose appears only where judgment adds something a query cannot, and a derivable section written by hand is a defect.
No green ocean: failing or missing items render prominently and easily reachable; passing masses collapse into counts.
One screen by default: every derived view fits one screen in its default state, with full detail one interaction away - the reading flow is as deep or shallow as the reader wants.

audience

target audience	guide	brief
acquirer	—	no guide yet — one lands the day this audience asks.
user	ifu reader	IFU: the book. Reading, presenting, and commenting the record.	open the slides
guide-ifu-reader This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - how stakeholders read, present, and mark up the record. Use this when you hand the book to someone who has never seen it.
user	ifu review	IFU: review - notes, readout, report, retro.	open the slides
guide-ifu-review This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - the four lanes that make past work explainable. Use this when you return to work you did not watch happen.
user	ifu trust	IFU: trust - how the record stays honest.	open the slides
guide-ifu-trust This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - the guard stack, from typed writes to the battery. Use this when someone asks why the record should be believed.
user	ifu work loop	IFU: the work loop. Plan, walk, refine, ship.	open the slides
guide-ifu-work-loop This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - one iteration from plan to shipped deliverable, gates included. Use this when you drive an iteration and want the loop's shape in your head.
user	ifu workspace	IFU: workspaces and vehicles. One engine, many projects.	open the slides
guide-ifu-workspace This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - driving other workspaces, vendoring vehicles, modules, and the MCP lane. Use this when a second project enters the picture.
user	mobile pairing	Pair a phone, and answer gates from anywhere. Setup, answering, and the sharp edges.
guide-mobile-pairing Pair once Run `quack pair ntfy`. One operation mints the topic credential, writes the machine-local pairing config, and prints a QR code. Scan the QR with the ntfy app (Settings → the + button → scan, or any scanner that hands `ntfy://` links to the app). The app stores the channel. A camera scan that opens the BROWSER also works for answering, but stores nothing - use the app for a durable subscription. A second device subscribes anytime: `quack pair --show` re-prints the QR without re-minting. Safety, read at pairing The transit DISCLAIMER: asks travel a third-party relay and are cached there for hours. They carry check ids and questions, never secrets. Self-host ntfy to remove retention. The LOCKSCREEN instruction: enable hide-actions-until-unlock. A pocket touch must not answer a gate. The topic is the credential. Treat it like a password. Answering A GATE ask arrives high-priority with ‼ and two buttons: bless (y) / reject (n). A decision ask arrives calm, with up to three option buttons; more options list in the body and you reply `<option-id> <ask-id>`. One tap answers. The first answer from ANY lane wins - console or phone; the loser is superseded and a late tap is ignored. The tap is final the moment you press it. Deleting the message afterwards changes nothing - but deleting it BEFORE tapping removes the buttons; ask the agent (or run `quack ask <gate>`) to re-send. Unanswered asks expire at their timeout and drain later taps harmlessly. How the machine listens `quack await` holds a live stream open - a tap resumes a waiting walk instantly. Every other engine command also drains pending answers - a tap never waits longer than the next command, even with no await running. No daemon runs. The machine answers only while it is on.
newcomer	ifu setup	IFU: setup - from a fresh machine to quackitect idle.	open the slides
guide-ifu-setup This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - it ends at the idle state every other IFU starts from. Use this first, on a machine that has never run quackitect.
newcomer	pong walkthrough deck	IFU: the Pong walkthrough from an empty folder to a shipped game.	open the slides
guide-pong-walkthrough-deck This row is an IFU deck. It opens as slides, in present mode. - six slides. The measured minutes run across the bottom. The last slide plays the shipped game. The onboarding section of the fundamentals chapter routes here too. This row keeps the deck findable from the guides table.
communicator	—	no guide yet — one lands the day this audience asks.
assessor	—	no guide yet — one lands the day this audience asks.
project-owner	pruning	How to prune the spec, the code, and the logs again. The reusable method.
guide-pruning Pruning - the reusable method Iterations grow weight: requirement sprawl, stale prose, dead metrics, heavy logs, unlinted code. Pruning is an iteration KIND - run it lean, light on features, agent-solo until the owner's docs round. This guide is the recipe. The laws that keep pruning safe Zero lost ledger truth. The ledger never compacts; recorded hashes never move; deletions leave tombstones; git history is the archive for everything removed outright. Determinized migrations, never hand edits. Every bulk change is a quack command run per judgment call (`cluster`, `cluster --tests`, `compact`) - the tool is mechanical, the GROUPING is authored. One re-baseline, one wave bless per migration - and the wave bless must target the migration's suspects, never sweep open gates (an unadjudicated killer swept by `bless --all` is a falsified adjudication; the wave filter refuses OPEN gates). Clustering the trace (data) Requirements cluster where concerns belong tightly together: `quack cluster --into <id> --statement "<umbrella>" <members...>` - umbrella statement, NUMBERED singular statements in the body (each tagged (was req-x)), sub-addresses (req-x.2) stay targetable by edges and code markers. Tests cluster by shared requirement: `quack cluster --tests` - one node runs several selftests (all must pass); merged SHIPPED tests get the birth-red exemption (their red records stand under the origin ids). The grouping rule is RE-VERIFICATION ECONOMICS: split where an invalidation would force unrelated rework; cluster where the case is cheap to rerun whole. Designs do NOT data-merge: a region is a coherent code span; their weight is render-side. Skip tests carrying exemption markers (citations cannot survive a merge) and never merge across iterations or against semantic pull. After the migration: check for stale ID references in selftests and fixtures (the battery finds them), and remember the three listers (coverage rule, hole lister, delta lister) must all fold sub-addresses. Folding the renders (display) Render-only, data untouched, all pre-baked static DOM: regular fans collapse to one box (external edges at the boundary); themes cluster by file; iterations older than the last five fold behind a click. Compacting the working set `quack compact <iteration>`: a shipped iteration's files merge into archive.md (verbatim payloads, byte-exact round trip, hashes preserved - the selftest proves it on a fixture). Evidence docs stay beside the archive. Logs, gather caches, and spike homes delete freely - no hashes bind them. Field results (the first real run): eleven iterations, 699 files -> 78, golden root byte-identical through probe and batch. The run order that made it safe: build clean, PROBE one iteration, full battery, batch the rest, full battery, `quack build` re-baseline must land on the SAME root. Keep the last five shipped iterations uncompacted (they match the report's age fold). Two seams the first run exposed (both fixed, battery-covered - re-check them if the loader changes): the strict referee must index ARCHIVED ids too, or live lanes referencing compacted nodes read dangling; and archived iteration.md entries must stay OUT of the id universe (mirroring the plain-file walk), or every archive collides on the id `iteration`. Pruning prose and rules The retired-vocabulary lint runs on every `quack lint`; its rule-set is CONFIG (`method/config/retired-vocabulary.json`) - retiring a term is a config edit plus fixing the findings. Add terms whenever a mechanism dies. Rules that are data live in config (weasel words, facets); shapes live in the template files (mint skeletons); logic stays code. Pruning code The build refuses static-analysis findings (gofmt, vet, grab-if-present staticcheck) - format debt cannot re-accumulate. Dead features delete outright with a veto decision recording both testimonies (was it ever consulted?) and a TOMBSTONE design region marking where the code lived - a removal's design is its tombstone, which also satisfies designs-realized. When to run one When the working set outgrows review-ability: requirement count beyond what a human weighs, graphs unreadable before folding, prose naming dead mechanisms. Frame it with a baseline number and a target so success is checkable, and put the owner's docs round at the END as the killer gate.
agent	AGENTS.md	The agent guide is the operating contract for AI, and the source of AGENTS.md.
embedded verbatim from the project root — the emitter writes this file from man-agent-guide, the book never regenerates it # AGENTS.md — how to drive Quackitect > Hand-authored entry hub. Every harness pointer file routes here > (`CLAUDE.md`, `.github/copilot-instructions.md`). The binding contract lives > in ONE place: `product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md`. > `quack selftest` checks this chain stays unbroken. ## FIRST — the ritual, in this exact order The contract is NOT in this file. Its only copy is `product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md`. Do this before anything else on this project: 1. READ `product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md`. The whole file, with your file-reading tool. No skimming. No summaries. No memory of a past session. 2. UNDERSTAND it. It is binding. It overrides your defaults. It governs every move you make here. 3. RECITE it. Paraphrase its specifics back to the adjudicator so they SEE it. With a command already in hand and an interactive question tool available: put the WHOLE recital inside the question and ask leave to continue — approval resumes the command in the same turn, no re-prompt. Question text collapses line breaks: keep the question line to ONE sentence and put the recital card in the continue option's PREVIEW (previews render markdown). Otherwise: STOP, and end your turn with the recital — no tool call after it, or the harness may swallow it (mid-turn text does not render). Name rule 3's `actor=agent` killer-bless exception. That proves you read it. Confirm you will obey. A fresh session never holds a session key. So ask for the attest grant in the SAME recital round: tell the adjudicator to run `quack attest --grant` and hand you the code. Do not probe the engine source for the attest mechanics. The contract's attest section has them all. 4. HONOR every instruction in it. No exceptions. To the letter of each statement. 5. READ `product/brand/voice.md` next. Every output follows it. Chat and artifacts alike. 6. BOOT with `product/quackitect/method/prompts/onboard.md` before you start work. Boot ends when a fresh command surface can run `quack next`, or when you can name the one blocker that prevents it. Re-read the contract at the start of every `engage`. One VISIBLE recital carries over the whole session; a new session always recites anew. No visible recital means the rules never loaded. The adjudicator should stop you. ## Boot mode Any agent that discovers this `AGENTS.md` boots before work. The user does not need to request boot mode. Load `product/quackitect/method/prompts/onboard.md` after the contract recital and after `product/brand/voice.md`. Boot mode gets the agent ready to work. It does not clear the board. It does not chase red rows. A red root is yellow, not blocked, if `quack next` can name the next check. Treat any request to "familiarize yourself", "get ready", "onboard", "load the system", or "then do the next work" as boot mode first. Load `product/quackitect/method/prompts/onboard.md` for the exact sequence and report shape. Quackitect is a user-driven gate ledger. You, the agent, FILL checks. The adjudicator ADJUDICATES the ones that are gates. Never bless on their behalf. ## The loop (one iteration) - `/engage start` — plan. Retro (field feedback), then triage, then migration, then bake the checklist. - `/engage next` — walk the next check. Fill it, propose the adjudication, stop at gates. - `/engage refine` — explore an idea in a spike. Capture the keeper backward. The DEFAULT once a build exists. - `/engage ship` — output the deliverable once the gates are green. - `/note` — capture an idea anytime. Frictionless. - `/review` — `readout` (where am I), `retro` (look back), or `report` (render the HTML). ## Determinizer tools (deterministic — call directly) > The engine is ONE GLOBAL static Go binary (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\bin`), ratcheting > itself forward from this repo's vendored source (`product\engine-go`; see > `method/prompts/dependencies.md`). Run it with the `quack.cmd` launcher at the project > root: `.\quack <cmd>` — it bootstraps the global binary when absent (the go-bin shim at > `product\tools` rides last on PATH, so machines without native Go still build). Ledger-advancing > commands on the agent channel carry `--key <session-key>` (the contract's attest section > explains how a key is earned). A harness with MCP support auto-starts the command surface > from `.mcp.json` (`quack mcp`) — prefer those tools over shelling the CLI when they are up. ``` quack status [id] # the text board to stdout; with an id, why it's suspect quack next # the next ready check to walk quack boot # the fixed boot sequence as a live checklist + verdict (ungated; runs before attest) quack start <id> [--plan]# activate a version (--plan registers a future one) quack start stubs [path] # emit drive-from-inside stubs into a bare workspace (ungated: creation, not ledger) quack start init <path> # scaffold a full VEHICLE: vendored engine + committed method overlay (product/<name>/method, declared in spec/project.toml) quack mcp # serve the command surface as MCP tools over stdio (agent-discoverable; per-session attest). The default face is a SUPERVISOR: a staged build hot-swaps the child engine mid-session and emits list_changed; observe-red, query, and ship ride the tool surface quack render <model> --out <F> [--mark ids] # standalone architecture-review onion with change marks quack cluster <model> # DSM structuring proposal: coupling clusters, layering, tears quack apply <manifest.json> [--dry] # judged bulk edits: byte-exact {file, old, new} plus op set-field (scalar frontmatter surgery), all-or-nothing; --undo reverts the last apply (journal keeps the last four) quack mv <old-id> <new-id> [--dry] # the rename determinizer: renames the node and follows EVERY reference class - file name, links, bare ids, edge lanes, engine source - journaled and undoable quack why <id> # what input changed quack bless [--all\|<id>] [--by user\|agent] # record an adjudication; actor defaults by CHANNEL; an agent bless on a KILLER needs a live grant quack grant open\|close\|review # a recorded standing grant (scope, expiry); in-scope agent blesses stamp it; review lists the collection for confirmation quack migrate-actors # one-shot: rewrite legacy actor stamps to user (audited; no-op when done) quack migrate-layout # one-shot: move a legacy-layout spec to the template-mirroring layout (no-op when done) quack migrate-functions # one-shot: mint need functions-list entries as function nodes (no-op when done) quack query "<expr>" # read-only rows from the loaded graph (nodes; edge.* edges; note.* notes) - the agent's read lane, also an MCP tool quack note "<text>" # deterministic capture lane quack note --file2list <copy.html> # list a commented book copy as note candidates (roles, never names) quack notes [--all] # list open inbox notes (--all adds backlog + archive) quack observe-red <test> [--refresh] # run a test and record it FAILING at its current hash (a pass is refused; --refresh re-attests an amended, still-failing test) quack gather <ver> # collect all rigor+type source for an iteration quack report [book] [--watch] # render the live HTML board, or a fresh BOOK with `book` (--open opens it; --out F renders elsewhere) quack progress [--pager <gate>] # the readout, or the handover pager for a killer/milestone gate quack calls --summary # print the call-log aggregate, then delete the log (the retro's log step) quack pair [ntfy] # one-time device pairing: mints the topic credential, renders the deep-link QR, prints the disclaimer + lockscreen instruction quack pair --show # re-print the current pairing (QR + link) without re-minting - a second device subscribes with a scan quack ask <gate> [--timeout s] # send the gate's question to the paired phone (one-tap answer buttons) quack await [--timeout s] # block until a pending ask is answered and APPLY it - a phone bless resumes the walk; every run also drains answers as the fallback quack ship # package product/ -> the workspace data home (out/) quack verify <check> # re-run one executed check eagerly - THE V&V battery lane, once per iteration, in its own visible console quack build # compile the engine, write the build stamp, re-baseline golden-root (skips the compile when no engine source changed) quack lint # coverage holes, duplicate ids, EARS lint, monotonic wiring, refusal recovery, rationale slots, voice/prose, schema fields, stale book quack selftest # the engine's own dependency-free self-test (agent channel: the FULL battery only at a milestone review; single tests always) quack version # engine version + the resolved data locations ``` Workspaces. The engine drives a selectable workspace; add `--base <path>` (or `-C <path>`) to ANY command to drive a different project's workspace. After editing engine `.go`, run `quack build` (never hand-run `go build` + re-baseline separately). Long deterministic runs get their own window. A verification battery or report render is plain engine — no agent needed while it runs. Spawn it visibly (`Start-Process` a console running the command) so the user watches live progress; read the verdict from the cache after. The window closes ITSELF about a minute after the verdict (no `-NoExit`; end the command with a short announced sleep). Never hold the conversation behind a silent multi-minute tool call. Wait loops poll FILES, never `status`. A wait condition is mechanical; check the verdict store or the output artifact's state. Every `status` call runs the never-cached suite live - the i24 poll loops dispatched it 2355 times before this law. ## Rules - The repo is self-sufficient. Everything an agent needs to work well here lives IN THIS REPO — contract, method prompts, templates, guides. Harness memory is a convenience layer only: personal data stays there (never in the repo), but no working rule may exist ONLY in a harness's memory. When you learn a durable rule, bake it here. - Learning escalates: instance → prompt → determinizer. A lesson fixed only in the instance is half-done; bake the pattern into the prompts/methods/templates. A baked rule that CAN be enforced mechanically climbs further: it becomes ENGINE behavior (test-first), and the prompt keeps only what genuinely needs judgment. Ask at every baked rule: "could `quack` enforce this?" - No local shortcut rules. Do not encode process behavior from a milestone number, iteration id, check id, file name, or today-only circumstance. If behavior needs classification, use durable metadata (`killer`, `class`, `verify`, schema fields), or add that metadata to the source template and current nodes. A local exception that seems useful belongs first in the design input, then in a general rule or engine check. - After content change, `quack build` only before consumers that need fresh hashes. Run it before `report`, before milestone verification, and before any status read whose answer depends on fresh root parity. Do not run it as a boot reflex. Boot mode uses `quack next`, not `status`, to learn whether the agent can work. A red root is yellow, not blocked, when `quack next` can name the next check. - Method operations are determinizers. Anything the PROCESS depends on — or that will ever run again (migrations, captures, checks) — is a `quack <cmd>` in the Go engine, test-first, never a loose script the method quietly depends on. Throwaway scripts for one-time mechanical work are FINE and often the efficient choice; they just never become a dependency, never live in the repo, and must honor the byte-safe edit rule below. - Static outputs may be stale; the consumer regenerates. A generated artifact (the report, the book, any rendered output) is a snapshot. Expect its reader to know it can be stale and to re-render when they want it current — every render recomputes live. Do NOT add machinery to keep a static output eagerly fresh (no render-on-every-change); freshness comes from on-demand and `--watch` rendering, and from the ship refresh. - Designs live in code, not `spec/`. Mark realized code inline: `# design: <id> implements: <req-id>` … `# enddesign` (`//` in Go). `quack lint` flags a requirement with no design. ADRs — the decisions — are `.md` nodes in `spec/decisions/`. - A check goes SUSPECT, not open, when an input changes. A `bless` returns it to DONE. - Killer checks are always adjudicated gates. Never auto-pass them. - The surface is default-closed. Triage, defer, retire, retro, and ship are sub-ops reached through `engage` and `review`. - The methods live in `product/quackitect/method/prompts/`. Load the one named by the command. - A delegated subagent is a ROLE, not a free thinker. Its brief stays short — the step, the statements, the files — plus a pointer to the role charter (`method/roles/README.md`): the walk discipline (execute, don't ruminate; only the step in hand; targeted verify; strays to notes) binds delegated roles exactly as it binds the driving agent. - Edits must be byte-safe, and the apply lane is the agent's DEFAULT (adr-io-lane-default). `quack apply <manifest.json>` carries byte-exact replacements plus `op: create` / `op: write` — dry-run first, all-or-nothing, audited in the call log. Editor tooling stays the lane for a single interactive edit. A scripted bulk edit is the recorded exception: explicit BOM-less UTF-8 IO (Go, or .NET `[IO.File]` calls) touching only the intended bytes. What stays banned is the careless lane: PowerShell `Get-Content\|Set-Content` round-trips (any `-Encoding`) re-encode every line they pass — that exact reach has corrupted UTF-8 three times. Verify a scripted edit's diff before moving on.
developer-maintainer	about this document	How this document is made. The source truth, the marks, and the correction loop.
guide-about-this-document The authored source notes are the truth; every projection - this document included - is deterministic and disposable. The identity stamp in the header names the exact source state rendered. The margin marks measure and nothing else - the robot icons at a full draft, fewer only where a person reworked the core (field evidence: ). They are never a statement about quality or review - the author owns everything published, whatever the AI share. To correct this document, correct the SOURCE note - never the projection. Regenerate, and the correction either took or the source needs another pass. That loop is the document's warranty.
developer-maintainer	baselines and change control	Where the baseline identity and the change history live.
guide-baselines-and-change-control The identity stamp in this document's header names the exact baseline rendered: the source state, the iteration, the engine version. The change history lives in the ledger and renders from it - this guide never restates it. Strike-through-never-delete is a property the ledger enforces, not a discipline the reader must trust.
developer-maintainer	model syntax	The pinned model syntax, documented by example. One section per authored kind, the lint rules, and the hash behavior.
guide-model-syntax Structural models - the pinned syntax, by example A structural model is a Mermaid file the engine checks. You edit the file; the engine extracts its semantic graph; the ledger hashes the GRAPH, never the bytes. The syntax below is the PINNED SUBSET - anything beyond it is a lint finding (the file still parses past it). The discipline (all kinds) Models live in `spec/models/`, one node each; `quack mint model --kind <kind>` seeds the skeleton from the registry (`method/models/`). Declare every element FIRST, one per line. Then the flows, on declared names only. A flow to an undeclared name is a dangling reference. Lint. Every flow carries a payload label. An empty label is a lint finding. No coordinates, ever. Layout derives (the report and the book render the graph). ELEMENTS ARE DESIGN REGIONS; FILES ARE THEMES. The model allocates each marked region to one rank or band; a file may span ranks - it groups regions by theme (the Schlauch), derived from co-location, and the renders cluster by it. Unmarked local helpers are architecturally invisible. Elements are allocated AHEAD of code. The design-marker id is the join: allocated here, no realizing `design:` region yet -> an honest planned hole. a `design:` region no model allocates -> the sky-fall lint ("no device falls from the sky"). The onion physics (adr-onion-physics) Rank = ABSTRACTION GRADIENT, innermost first: the kernel holds the core algorithms; the rim touches the world and stays mechanical. Dependencies point inward, at any depth. An inner element naming an outer one is a divergence. Only the rim does external I/O; the kernel is pure. (One recorded exemption: telemetry is cross-cutting - adr-logging-ambient.) TRANSFORMS live in SEAM BANDS: `subgraph outer--inner` owns the adapter code between two coordinate systems - a band is not a layer, has no rank, and is exempt from the no-flow smell. Identity transit is legal: an unchanged signal routes through without an invented transform. AMBIENT (`subgraph ambient`) holds meaning-free utilities: callable from every rank, may call only ambient. Say movements A-TO-B (rim-to-graph, graph-to-rim), never "input/output" - those words flip meaning with the speaker's seat. Onion layer map `flowchart TD %% subgraph order = layer rank, INNERMOST FIRST subgraph kernel go-hash-core["content hashing and the golden root"] go-event-ledger["append-only event truth"] end subgraph core go-parse["strict node parsing"] end subgraph services go-ask-loop["mobile ask loop"] end %% flows - payload labels mandatory go-ask-loop -->\|bless intents\| go-event-ledger go-parse -->\|content hashes\| go-hash-core` One line per layer in `spec/design-layers.md`: `<layer>: <pattern>, <pattern>`. Layer declaration order is innermost first. Inputs and outputs are named in `inputs:` and `outputs:` lines. Design elements matching layer patterns become the onion blocks. A layer whose elements originate and terminate no flow is the NO-FLOW SMELL after implementation. During ideation, declared inputs and outputs keep the architecture onion visible. State machine (kind: state) `stateDiagram-v2 [*] --> open open --> suspect: input changed suspect --> done: bless open --> done: bless done --> suspect: input changed` States and labeled transitions only. The transition label names the trigger. The extractor checks the code's transition set against this graph (conformance), and flags unreachable states. Sequence (kind: sequence) - one per killer use case `sequenceDiagram participant owner participant phone participant engine engine->>phone: ask (pager card) owner->>phone: tap y phone->>engine: answer (cid, option) engine->>engine: bless recorded, actor user` Participants declared first (the TikZ discipline again). Messages carry their payload as the label. Hash behavior - what ripples and what does not COSMETIC (hash unchanged, nothing goes SUSPECT): comments, whitespace, reordering element lines WITHIN a layer, reordering flow lines. SEMANTIC (hash moves, dependents ripple): adding or removing an element or flow, renaming an id, changing a payload label or a responsibility, changing the LAYER ORDER. Proven live: the cosmetic variant hashed bit-identical; one added flow moved it. Practical notes Files may carry a UTF-8 BOM; the extractor strips it (a PowerShell-written file bit us once). The file previews as a diagram natively in Obsidian and on GitHub - the truth file IS viewable. The report and book render the richer derived views (the onion drill-down). Adding a new function later: add its element line to its layer, add its flows, then implement the design region with the same id. The model leads; the code follows. Rationale (not load-bearing) Decided in adr-element-major-format and adr-text-first-models: element-major TikZ discipline in a lint-pinned Mermaid subset - constrained mainstream, no owned grammar (the ownership law). Documented by example.
developer-maintainer	structuring methods	Structuring a design with matrix methods. DSM clustering, partitioning, tearing, and banding, plus the DMM and MDM maps.
guide-structuring-methods Grouping elements into cohesive modules, or reordering them into a dependency layering, MAY draw on matrix-based structuring methods rather than eyeballing the cut alone: Represent the coupling as a . it to find candidate modules. it to find a layering. the residual feedback edges to prioritize them. the partitioned result to expose within-layer parallelism. Mapping this structure against another domain (e.g. requirements) reaches for a . Deriving one domain's structure from others already elicited reaches for an . The catalog comes from (Lindemann, Maurer, Braun), citing Pimmler & Eppinger's canonical clustering example and Thebeau's search heuristic.

10.4 Methods

Every method the chapters mention renders here as a table row - situation, effect, and procedure one expand away from the prose that named it.

Methods in full

name	brief
dmm	DMM (Domain Mapping Matrix)
DMM (Domain Mapping Matrix) - a rectangular matrix mapping elements of two DIFFERENT domains (e.g. requirements x design regions), without computing new information from it. meth-dmm Situation Reach for it when relating two different domains - not one domain's internal structure - and no algorithmic structure analysis is needed on the mapping itself. A DSM is one domain; a DMM is exactly two, directly elicited. ## Effect Not necessarily square: row and column headings name different element sets. The term was fixed by Danilovic and Börjesson, 2001. Several DSMs and DMMs can sit side by side without any subset being computed from another - e.g. the House of Quality (a DSM "roof" of requirement-conflict relations plus three DMMs), or Eppinger and Salminen's separate one-to-one comparisons of component, process, and organization DSMs. That combined-but-uncomputed use stays a set of DSMs/DMMs, not yet an MDM. ## Procedure List domain A's elements as rows, domain B's as columns. Mark a cell where an A element maps to (uses, is covered by, traces to) a B element. Keep one mapping meaning per DMM, same rule as a DSM. ## Tools Quackitect's trace edges - requirement to design region, or model kind to element - are DMM cells already; a requirement x region DMM is one query away from the existing graph, no separate elicitation needed.
dsm	DSM
DSM - represent one domain's elements as a square, directed dependency matrix (row affects column); the base representation every structure-analysis operation below reads. meth-dsm Situation Many elements, directed dependencies between them, and coupling that has so far only been eyeballed off a diagram. Reach for it whenever a grouping, layering, or tearing decision needs data instead of intuition. ## Effect Turns coupling into a data structure every downstream operation (clustering, partitioning, tearing, banding) reads. A filled cell means "row affects column"; a bi-directional dependency needs two mirrored cells. Steward coined the term in 1981 analyzing a design process's information flow; Browning's classification splits component/architecture DSMs and parameter DSMs (analyzed by clustering) from activity/schedule DSMs (analyzed by sequencing). ## Procedure List the domain's elements once, in the same order on rows and columns. Blacken the diagonal (self-reflexive). Mark a cell where the row element depends on the column element - binary existence, or a weighted value. Keep ONE dependency meaning per matrix: if more than one relation kind exists (e.g. "reads-from" and "calls"), model each as its own DSM subset rather than overlaying them into one binary matrix - mixing meanings breaks every analysis that reads the matrix afterward. ## Tools Quackitect's region x region a-to-b flow graph (the structural model, i16) already IS a DSM: regions are the elements, directed flows are the dependencies. No separate elicitation step - the existing model export is the matrix.
dsm banding	DSM banding
DSM banding - on a partitioned DSM, group mutually-independent elements at the same topological level into the same band, exposing within-layer parallelism. meth-dsm-banding Situation Reach for it once a DSM partitioning layering exists and "what can be worked on, or reasoned about, concurrently at this layer" becomes a real question. ## Effect Elements that can be processed independently of each other, sitting side-by-side after partitioning, group into the same band (visualized as alternating light/dark matrix column bands). The objective is to minimize the number of bands, i.e. maximize parallelism per band; a band's most-constrained element is its critical element. Banding explicitly ignores backward/cycle edges - it looks only at forward adjacency in the already-partitioned order. Quality is bounded by the prior partitioning: a bad ordering yields bad bands, and the same caveat applies to tearing run beforehand. ## Procedure Run banding only on an already-partitioned (and, where relevant, torn) DSM; group forward-adjacent, mutually non-dependent elements at the same level into one band. ## Tools Quackitect's seam bands (the i16 structural model) already name this concept; DSM banding gives the data-driven check that a band's members are genuinely mutually independent, not merely co-located by hand-authored placement.
dsm clustering	DSM clustering
DSM clustering - search cluster (module) assignments over a DSM that maximize intra-cluster and minimize inter-cluster dependency, exposing candidate architecture modules. meth-dsm-clustering Situation Reach for it once a DSM exists and the open question is "which elements form a cohesive module" - the M3/M4 grouping call that is otherwise pure judgment. ## Effect Turns "this element sits here because it's tightly coupled to these" into a computed answer: a cluster is a defensible module boundary because an edit to one element inside it mostly stays inside it. High internal density, low external density is the informal objective; the book links it to the strongly-connected-component criterion (all nodes mutually reachable implies internal connectivity is at least external) and to a similarity criterion. No ready-to-run algorithm is given in the source - it names the field's canonical worked example (Pimmler & Eppinger 1994: a 16-element automotive climate-control-system DSM, clustered into both product modules and the matching team/organization structure) and the research that supplies the actual objective and search. ## Procedure Run a cost/bid stochastic hill-climb over cluster assignments (Thebeau 2001's IGTA-style search), or a comparable heuristic (Fernandez 1998; Yu et al. 2003's genetic-algorithm-plus-Minimum-Description-Length formulation, which also separates cluster elements from cross-cutting "bus" elements) that maximizes intra-cluster and minimizes inter-cluster coupling. Manual/spreadsheet realignment tops out around ~30 elements - past that, automate the search. ## Tools Quackitect can compute a DSM of the design regions from the existing flow graph and propose clusters - validating or improving hand-authored band allocations and auto-generating each element's placement rationale (seed notes NOTE-20260711-222657, NOTE-20260711-222841; the Cambridge Advanced Modeller tool implements this family of algorithm and is a candidate to integrate or draw the method from).
dsm partitioning	DSM partitioning (triangularization/sequencing)
DSM partitioning (triangularization/sequencing) - reorder a DSM's rows and columns to push dependencies to one side of the diagonal, exposing a dependency layering or sequence. meth-dsm-partitioning Situation Reach for it once a DSM exists and the question is "what must be built or decided before what" - a topological order, or the closest achievable thing to one. ## Effect A fully triangularizable DSM has no feedback loops (a DAG has a valid topological order). When cycles exist, the operation instead minimizes what is left in the lower triangle and pulls the unavoidable reach-backs as close to the diagonal as possible - the shortest possible rework loops. Identifying strongly-connected parts falls out as a side effect. Standard deterministic algorithms (Kusiak et al. 1994; Kusiak 1999; Gebala & Eppinger 1991) give sub-optimal results when feedback loops overlap. ## Procedure Reorder rows/columns with a deterministic reachability-based algorithm; where loops still overlap, fall back to exhaustive permutation on the small, highly-interrelated cyclic residual only - not the whole matrix. ## Tools Quackitect's onion "layer" concept is exactly this DSM operation applied to the design-region graph: a valid topological order when the graph is acyclic, or the closest-to-acyclic order plus the explicit minimal cycle set (see DSM tearing) otherwise.
dsm tearing	DSM tearing
DSM tearing - on an already-partitioned DSM, propose the minimal set of feedback (backward) edges to break so the remaining structure reads as a clean layering; the residual cycles are the tears. meth-dsm-tearing Situation Reach for it after DSM partitioning, when residual cycles remain and some of them need prioritizing for redesign, or explicit, recorded acceptance rather than a silent unresolved loop. ## Effect Ranks backward dependencies by reach-back distance - the iteration/rework length a cycle costs. Tearing the furthest-reaching edges first shortens rework loops the most. Tearing only prioritizes WHICH edges are structurally most disruptive to keep; whether removing or redesigning one is actually feasible stays a domain-expert judgment call, not an automatic edit. ## Procedure Tearing is derivative of partitioning: its candidate list depends entirely on which valid ordering was computed - the source gives a worked counter-example where the SAME 7-node, 2-backward-edge structure yields either 1 or 2 tear candidates depending purely on reordering. Fix one canonical partitioning first, or re-run tearing per candidate ordering and compare before committing to a tear list. ## Tools Quackitect's residual cycles after a partitioning pass over the region flow graph are exactly this method's "tears": an explicit, prioritized, recorded set of flows to reconsider, feeding the watch-item / tripwire pattern already used for architecture decisions (checklist M4).
ears	EARS - author every requirement statement in one of five shapes, with shall.
meth-ears Situation A requirement statement must be checkable. Free prose hides conditions and weasel words. ## Effect Five shapes (ubiquitous, event-driven, state-driven, unwanted behaviour, optional feature) force the trigger, the system, and the response apart. The lint checks every statement mechanically. ## Procedure Pick the shape that fits the behaviour. Write `When <trigger>, the <system> shall <response>.` or its siblings. No should, no may, no quickly. ## Tools `quack lint` runs the EARS check over every requirement statement.
mdm	MDM (Multiple-Domain Matrix)
MDM (Multiple-Domain Matrix) - a block matrix of several domains' DSMs (diagonal) and DMMs (off-diagonal) where at least one subset is COMPUTED (derived) from others already present, not independently elicited. meth-mdm Situation Reach for it specifically when a target relationship is unreliable to elicit directly - respondents don't know they're coupled, or over-report "everything is linked to everything" - or when the domain-spanning derivation path IS the object of interest. Merely combining several DSMs/DMMs side by side without deriving anything new stays a "combined" case, not yet an MDM (term due to Maurer & Lindemann, 2007). ## Effect Derives one DSM/DMM subset from others via directed-path composition - e.g. person-to-document x document-to-document yields a derived person-to-person coordination DSM nobody had to elicit by hand. Precedents: the K- and V-Matrix (a technical and a customer-view DSM, linked via a DMM, Bongulielmi et al. 2001); Danilovic and Börjesson's multi-project MDM (also an asymmetric-DSM example - same elements, deliberately different row and column order); Yassine et al.'s connectivity maps. ## Procedure Name every domain and its elements. Keep ONE dependency meaning per DSM/DMM subset - mixing relation kinds inside one subset breaks structural interpretation. To derive a target subset: follow a row in domain-A-to-B's DMM to a filled cell, follow that column into B's own DSM, check the intersection for a further dependency; direction survives the composition (six documented Boolean-composition cases cover directed relations). ## Tools Quackitect's structural model layers (regions, files/themes, ambient bands - i16) are exactly MDM domains; "how do regions really depend on each other via files" is a derived-DSM computation per this method, not a separately hand-elicited relation (seed notes NOTE-20260711-222657, NOTE-20260711-222841).

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10.5 Drivers

The requirements below drove the architecture - one row each, the register link in the expand. The strategic choices they led to are decisions, recorded with the project chapter's timeline.

driver	brief
ai provenance	AI-drafted prose shall enter and render with provenance marks that only the user reduces
AI-drafted prose shall enter and render with provenance marks that only the user reduces. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-ai-provenance
apply general
The apply lane shall generalize beyond byte-exact replacement: create, write, replace, one audit trail, dry-run-first and all-or-nothing throughout. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-apply-general
battery batch
When selftest runs with no content change since the last full run, the engine shall answer from the verdict cache. register row: decided by: req-battery-batch
battery fail at end	The battery shall run its whole scope and report every failure at the end.
register row: decided by: req-battery-fail-at-end
battery parallel	Where the host offers spare cores, the battery shall run independent selftests concurrently.
register row: decided by: req-battery-parallel
battery progress	While the battery runs, the engine shall print one numbered progress line per test.
register row: decided by: req-battery-progress
book artifact
The book shall compile to one self-contained, accessible, machine-digestible HTML artifact with an mdbook-style shell. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-book-artifact
book shell nav
The book shell shall organize navigation: sidebar order, section paging, deck listing, the title card, and stepped search. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-book-shell-nav
busy no record
While a consulted resource guard reports busy, the engine shall discard that run's verdict rather than record it. register row: decided by: req-busy-no-record
channel adapters	Every device channel shall be a zero-dependency adapter behind the ask seam
Every device channel shall be a zero-dependency adapter behind the ask seam. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-channel-adapters
cli steer
When a ledger command arrives over the bare CLI on the agent channel, the engine shall refuse it and point at the MCP tools. register row: decided by: , req-cli-steer
comment file2list	quack note --file2list shall read a commented copy back as deterministic, role-anonymous note candidates
quack note --file2list shall read a commented copy back as deterministic, role-anonymous note candidates. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , req-comment-file2list
comment layer	The book's comment layer shall capture anchored, threaded reader feedback in an embedded annotation island
The book's comment layer shall capture anchored, threaded reader feedback in an embedded annotation island. It shall save it back safely. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , , , , , , req-comment-layer
compact derived
Every mechanically derivable section shall render as a compact query with exceptions prominent and detail one interaction away. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-compact-derived
connections lanes	The engine shall store, mint, migrate, and serve trace edges through the spec connections lanes
The engine shall store, mint, migrate, and serve trace edges through the spec connections lanes. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , , , , , , , , , , req-connections-lanes
deck links	When a reader opens a slideshow, the book shall reflect it in the URL
When a reader opens a slideshow, the book shall reflect it in the URL. When a URL carries a deck anchor, the book shall open at that deck. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-deck-links
engine distribution	The launcher shall run one global engine binary, ratcheting it forward from the workspace's vendored source
The launcher shall run one global engine binary, ratcheting it forward from the workspace's vendored source. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-engine-distribution
field schemas	The engine shall check node field values against per-field schemas declared in the method layer
The engine shall check node field values against per-field schemas declared in the method layer. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-field-schemas
first green guard
If an executed test reaches its first pass with no red record and no exemption, then the engine shall withhold the verdict and flag the test. register row: decided by: req-first-green-guard
ifu split slide
The book shall render each IFU slide as a left text half and a right visual half, the visual an embedded book rendering where one fits. register row: decided by: req-ifu-split-slide
informed by edges	The engine shall accept a decision edge to a model or model element first-class
The engine shall accept a decision edge to a model or model element first-class. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-informed-by-edges
legacy decided	No grandfathered legacy shall survive undecided
No grandfathered legacy shall survive undecided. Exemptions carry recorded markers and decisions. Retired lanes stay retired. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-legacy-decided
manifest render
The engine shall render every document from manifest nodes: transcluded units at derived depth, deck mode, auto-linked prose, emitted entry files. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-manifest-render
mcp discoverable	When a harness session opens this workspace, the engine shall offer every command as a discoverable MCP tool.
register row: decided by: req-mcp-discoverable
mcp reload	When the build stamp moves, the running MCP server shall adopt the staged binary.
register row: decided by: , req-mcp-reload
mcp server	The engine shall serve the command surface as MCP tools over standard input and output
The engine shall serve the command surface as MCP tools over standard input and output. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , req-mcp-server
module command selector	When the first command argument matches a module id, the command shall run with that module subtree selected.
register row: decided by: req-module-command-selector
module dotted ids	The engine shall accept dotted module ids as filterable hierarchy without creating independent timelines.
register row: decided by: req-module-dotted-ids
module filter first	When a derived table renders, the renderer shall present the module facet before the need facet.
register row: decided by: req-module-filter-first
module import	The engine shall import one module from another project through a dry-runnable byte-exact manifest.
register row: decided by: req-module-import
module registry	The engine shall load a workspace module registry from spec/project.toml.
register row: decided by: , req-module-registry
module update	The engine shall update an imported module from recorded provenance through the same manifest lane.
register row: decided by: req-module-update
need scoped views	The book shall render functions and use-cases per need, shown on the need's expand
The book shall render functions and use-cases per need, shown on the need's expand. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-need-scoped-views
node module
The engine shall assign every loaded node to a module, defaulting to the workspace default module when the field is absent. register row: decided by: req-node-module
onion io rendering
The book shall render every onion layer per the committed layout spec onion-io-layout.excalidraw.md: inputs on the top bus, outputs on the bottom bus, node sides by core direction. register row: decided by: req-onion-io-rendering
parity standalone
The tests-pass battery shall exclude the golden-root tamper check, which runs as its own standalone check with its own board entry. register row: decided by: req-parity-standalone
project content roots	The engine shall serve glossary and reference content from one workspace-spec source
The engine shall serve glossary and reference content from one workspace-spec source. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-project-content-roots
pugh render
The book and the hand-off shall render an M4 decision's Pugh matrix derived from criterion weights, candidate ratings, and the chosen edge, never from prose. register row: decided by: req-pugh-render
query	The engine shall answer read queries over the loaded graph.
register row: decided by: , req-query
reader tables	Every reader-facing query shall render as a compact, in-place filterable, expandable table
Every reader-facing query shall render as a compact, in-place filterable, expandable table. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , , req-reader-tables
register advisory
The engine shall surface register findings for book prose, readability and plain-language signals for the audience baseline, as advisory output that never blocks a gate. register row: decided by: req-register-advisory
register ask
When a red register row is worked, the engine shall raise a decision ask on the existing ask path and record the answer with its actor and channel. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-register-ask
register render	When a gate reaches its bless moment, the engine shall render one decision-brief hand-off page
When a gate reaches its bless moment, the engine shall render one decision-brief hand-off page. Open decisions are dealt one at a time. No standing register exists anywhere. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-register-render
responsive status
When the user runs a status or report command, the engine shall answer within one second on the reference machine. register row: decided by: owner hand-tag (no ADR yet) req-responsive-status
selftest gate
When the agent channel calls selftest outside a milestone review, the engine shall refuse the run and name the verify lane. register row: decided by: req-selftest-gate
standing grant	Where the owner records a standing grant, the engine shall accept in-scope agent blesses under it
Where the owner records a standing grant, the engine shall accept in-scope agent blesses under it. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-standing-grant
structure layers
The book shall route the reader from the context model into a quack structural model, and from its determinizer element into the onion. register row: decided by: req-structure-layers
terms before use
When the rendered book uses a load-bearing term ahead of its definition, quack lint shall flag the use as a finding naming the term and both locations. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: , req-terms-before-use
vehicle module setup
The engine shall support creating an empty vehicle that imports Quackitect as module se and creates local doc modules. register row: decided by: req-vehicle-module-setup
vehicle white label	While rendering from a vehicle, the book shall present the vehicle's identity and credit the engine
While rendering from a vehicle, the book shall present the vehicle's identity and credit the engine. The numbered statements bind individually. register row: decided by: req-vehicle-white-label
voice prose	The voice lint shall flag unrendered lists in evidence prose.
register row: decided by: req-voice-prose

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10.6 Model kinds

Each supported model kind derives from the kind registry: what the kind is, a small example, and where this project uses it. A kind used nowhere is absent. A project's own models render with the design output chapter.

context

where does the system sit - who and what surrounds it?

DERIVED, not authored: the context model computes from the spec's neighbour notes (shipped in i14). Choosing it at views-chosen costs nothing; it exists to make the choice explicit and the rejection of an AUTHORED context diagram recorded.

derived from the neighbour notes — no authored instances

onion

how do the parts layer around the kernel - who may call whom, where does I/O live?

Concentric LAYERS over declared elements: one subgraph per layer, listed innermost first. Calls point inward only. Only the rim touches the world. The committed layout spec (req-onion-io-rendering) rules the render: inputs on the top bus, outputs on the bottom bus, node sides by core direction, coupling clusters as enterable coreless boxes. Any project whose software ranks by depth reuses this kind; the engine's own model-engine-layers is the first instance.

used by:

structural

what is it made of - the part-of structure at one altitude?

A GENERIC part-of structure: parent -->|has| child edges over declared elements. One model per altitude. A shipped product, a physical assembly, and a software breakdown are each their own instance. Nothing product-specific lives in the kind. Part-of nesting ONLY. Ranking belongs to the onion kind, an orthogonal dimension. Other relations may ride labeled edges beside `has`.

used by:

10.7 Rationales

The deep whys live here, each keyed to the clause or item it explains, in referent order. Navigate from the thing to its why.

Rationales

name

brief

why regenerable code

The spec is the asset; code is regenerable

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From zero to a running ledger

A design only helps if starting it is trivial. This takes a fresh machine to a running quackitect in a few minutes.

Starting state

Truly nothing: a machine without the repo, without the , without a session. This is the one that starts from scratch. Every other starts where this one ends.

Get the repo, run the launcher

Clone or copy the project, then run `.\quack version` at its root. The launcher bootstraps the ONE global binary from the vendored source. No Go on the machine? The bundled shim builds anyway.

Attest the session

An agent channel earns its session key through the contract's ritual: the owner mints a at the console, the agent redeems it after the visible recital. The interactive console itself is never gated.

Pair a phone, if you want one

`quack pair` mints the topic credential and renders a QR code. From then on a question can ride to the lockscreen, and one tap answers it. Optional, and worth it.

The idle state

This is the state every calls idle:

The global binary is built and current.
The workspace loads: `quack boot` reports green or yellow.
`quack next` names the next ready check, or says done.
The command surface of your choice is up, CLI or MCP.

Covered use cases

Setting up exercises these journeys: , .

Get it

Two ways in. Both end with a verified toolchain.

Prerequisites - either way:

An AI agent on your system (Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) - it drives the loop for you.
Windows: Winget. It ships with Windows 11 and current Windows 10.
Linux: apt-get, dnf, or apk.
The Go toolchain. Missing? The installer puts it there for you, and says why.

Option A - clone the repo, run the installer:

git clone https://github.com/mb-89/quackitect
tools\RUNME.ps1    (Windows)
tools/RUNME.sh     (Linux)

Option B - say to your agent, verbatim:

clone https://github.com/mb-89/quackitect, and lets start a new project

Your agent handles the rest, including the install.

Start the loop

Three moves open a project.

Tell your agent what you want. One sentence is enough.
The agent starts the loop. quackitect confirms the project type and the WITH you. It never assumes the fit.
The - your one console command. It proves the contract was read before any work moves the :

./quack attest --grant

The start exchange, message by message:

What to see above: the whole start step is four messages. The warning is part of it - systematic is overkill for pong, kept deliberately to show every .

Design input

First the WHAT: agreed before anything is built.

M1 - vision. Say why, in one paragraph. The board turns its first row green.
M2 - requirements. Short, testable statements - each with a test. The computes the pairing; nobody ticks that box by hand.

Pong's three most important requirements:

paddle control - the player moves the left paddle with the keyboard
ball physics and scoring - the ball bounces off paddles and walls; first to five wins
single file - the whole game ships as one HTML file, zero dependencies

Pong's design-input register, as its own book renders it:

What to see on the right: pong's whole design input - one need, one use case, three requirements, each with its test. The computes the pairing; this book's own is the same table at project scale.

Pong's design input register

type

name	brief	type
pong	a playable pong, from nothing, in minutes	need
need-pong
play pong	a player opens one file and plays to five	use case
uc-play-pong
paddle control	the player moves the left paddle with the keyboard	requirement
req-paddle-control Verified by test-paddle-control.
ball scoring	the ball bounces off paddles and walls; first to five wins	requirement
req-ball-scoring Verified by test-ball-scoring.
single file	the whole game ships as one HTML file, zero dependencies	requirement
req-single-file Verified by test-single-file.

show

Design output

Then the HOW: the architecture, the design, the deliverable taking shape.

M3 - candidates. One real fork: canvas rendering vs DOM elements. Both written down before deciding.
M4 - decision. One line decides: canvas wins on frame cost. The decision is a recorded - traced, never folklore.
M5 - . Nothing risky left? Say so, on the record. Here the whole build IS the .
M6 - build. About 110 lines later: a playable game. The computes "every requirement has realized design".

Pong's architecture, rendered the way every model renders in a quackitect book:

Validation and packaging

M7 - validate. The code is read back against each requirement. "Meets the need" is a judged , not a feeling.
M8 - ship. One command packages everything.

It ships MORE than the deliverable:

the game - pong.html, 3.8 KB
a small BOOK - pong's own spec, rendered like this document
the report - the live board, 25 of 25 checks green
the README - the project's front door, scaffolded at the start
RUNME - the installer, so the zip's receiver can set up the toolchain too
one zip carrying all of it

What to see above: five artifacts go in, one zip comes out - install, docs, and deliverable travel together.

Discussion

The shipped game, live from this page. The court is always here; start runs the simulation, stop halts it, start runs it fresh again. Leaving the slide stops it too.

Pong is not an example you would usually use quackitect for. That is why quackitect warned you that it is overkill. We used Pong as a small example to show you how the workflow works. The bigger the project, the more the pays off. quackitect itself will tell you if the does not match the project.

Behind that, two points:

the mismatch catches misfit in BOTH directions - too much ceremony for a toy, too little structure for a real system
for throwaway vibe coding you would not use quackitect at all

Covered use cases

The five-minute exercises the loop end to end: , , , .

time since start00.51.52.544.555 min

Work that advances without eroding trust

The problem with agent-built work is not speed. It is trust in work you did not watch. The loop makes every advance a filled check and every judgment call an adjudicated .

Starting state

The idle state from : current, workspace loaded, session attested.

Plan with engage start

`/engage start` opens an : retro first, then triage, then the baked checklist. The plan becomes checks in the , not prose in a document.

Walk with engage next

`/engage next` walks ONE ready check: fill it, propose the adjudication, stop at gates. The agent fills. The owner blesses. A killer always waits for its person.

Refine in a spike

`/engage refine` explores an idea without touching the , then captures the keeper backward. Once a build exists, refine is the default lane.

Grants, phones, and gates

A standing scopes what an agent may alone. A paired phone answers a with one tap. Everything else stops and asks. That split is the whole trust model.

Ship

`/engage ship` packages the deliverable once the gates are green. An ends with its record complete and its output out the door.

Covered use cases

The loop journey exercises: , , , , , , , .

Work you did not watch still needs explaining

A week later, nobody remembers why a check went red or where an idea went. The review lanes make the record answer those questions instead of your memory.

Starting state

The idle state from , with some walked work on the board.

Capture with note

`/note` captures an idea the moment it appears, frictionless, into the inbox. Triage sorts it later. Nothing gets lost because capture cost nothing.

Ask the board with readout

`/review readout` answers "where am I": the progress bar, the suspects, the next move. It is pure display, safe at any time.

Render the record with report

`/review report` renders the live HTML board, and the book renders the whole as a document. Both are snapshots: the reader re-renders when they want it current.

i0000_baseline 1/1

standalone1 / 1 done

✓pivot

i0001_reporting 4/4

standalone4 / 4 done

✓report-frame ✓report-impl ✓report-docs ✓report-packaged

i0002_disentangle_trace 36/36

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem & vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m1-problem-agreed ✓m1-success-measurable ✓m1-top-risks-logged ✓m1-vision-scope-stated ✓m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m2-inputs-captured ✓m2-requirements-traced auto ✓m2-requirements-verifiable auto ✓m2-stakeholder-coverage ✓m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m3-alternatives-elaborated ✓m3-criteria-weighted ✓m3-feasibility-checked ✓m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m4-adr-recorded auto ✓m4-architecture-stated ✓m4-choice-traced ✓m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m5-design-buildable ✓m5-riskiest-validated ✓m5-spike-recorded ✓m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build & verify) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓m6-internal-quality-ok ✓m6-verification-green auto ✓m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate & accept) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓m7-acceptance-obtained ✓m7-meets-need ✓m7-validation-gaps ✓m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package & hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓m8-config-baselined ✓m8-docs-complete ✓m8-handover-accepted ✓m8-packaged-versioned ✓m8-gate

i0003_engine_vehicle_go 48/48

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m1-problem-agreed

✓i3-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Each criterion maps to an executed test (the acceptance contract):

designs (1)

tests (8)

✓i3-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high): Report determinism breaks in Go — randomized map iteration yields a non-deterministic integrity root. *Mitigation:* sort every keyed loop; `report-determinism` + `test-parity-golden` guard it.
R2 (Risk, high): Behavior drift — subtle Python/Go differences (hashing, ordering, parsing) silently change the method. *Mitigation:* golden-output parity suite over a fixture vehicle.
R3 (Risk, medium): The hand-rolled parser misreads an edge case the Python `split`-based parser tolerated. *Mitigation:* parser fixtures in the parity suite; keep the parsed subset trivial.
R4 (Assumption, low): The Go toolchain is present on dev machines (build-time only). *Mitigation:* the dependency-check prompt + winget path.
R5 (Issue, medium): The exact engine-vs-vehicle line in `product/` is undecided. *Mitigation:* settled by M2–M4 (`req-engine-vehicle-split`, `adr-engine-vehicle-overlay`).
R6 (Dependency, medium): Scope is large; interruption could lose build progress. *Mitigation:* the M6 plan-build step seeds resumable subtasks; milestone-monotonic gating.

decisions (1)

tests (2)

✓i3-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Moore frame (For / Who / The / That / Unlike):

For builders who ship quackitect to other projects and run it on fresh machines,
Who need an engineering-gate engine without a runtime to install or executables to download,
The quackitect engine is a single self-contained binary,
That other projects vendor and overlay without forking, and that runs from an unzipped folder with nothing to install,
Unlike the current Python-plus-uv engine, which downloads executables (tripping Windows security), starts slowly, and tangles the engine with quackitect's own project files.

Scope (the agreed FIRST move): the Go port is the engine/vehicle separation, in one iteration. In scope:

the Go rewrite
the engine/vehicle split
one overlay resolver
hand-rolled parsing
the cli-help fix
the dependency-check prompt
the unique-id guard
the report trace-graph filter

Out of scope: `drive_as_engine` / `integrate_as_engine` (the manifest + extension-API prompt) — a later version.

✓i3-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

System-in-focus: the quackitect engine (the single binary, post-port).

Inputs (IN): `spec/` (the typed trace + the gate/subtask ledger), `.quack/config.toml`, `.quack/attest.json`, `.quack/evidence/`, the vehicle's overlay resources (guides, prompts, templates), CLI arguments.
Outputs (OUT): the status board (stdout), `report.html`, the `ship` zip, appended attest events, the `gather` bundle.
Environment: the host vehicle (one or more overlay layers above the engine), the human adjudicator, the AI filler, the filesystem (unzipped folder, no network), `winget` (install path for missing build tools), `git` (optional, only the report stamp).

✓i3-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i3-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i3-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Vehicle author — builds a host project that vendors the engine; wants to overlay, not fork; wants a dependency-free run.
Vehicle end user — runs the vehicle on a fresh or locked-down machine; never sees "quackitect"; wants zero install friction.
Human adjudicator — blesses gates; wants trustworthy state and a clear report.
AI filler (the agent) — fills checks and writes code; wants deterministic tooling and unambiguous prompts.
Engine maintainer — keeps quackitect (the open-source engine); wants a stable extension surface and parity guarantees.
OS / security tooling (Windows SmartScreen, antivirus) — a constraint-bearing actor: no web-downloaded executables.
Determinism / CI — consumes the report integrity root; wants byte-identical output for the same spec.

No role from M1's vision is left out:

the distribution pain maps to the end user + OS tooling
the reuse goal maps to the vehicle author + maintainer
the gate trust maps to the adjudicator + determinism

✓i3-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m3-alternatives-elaborated ✓i3-m3-criteria-weighted ✓i3-m3-feasibility-checked ✓i3-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i3-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Implementation: the engine is a single statically-linked Go binary; trivial config/frontmatter parsing is hand-rolled (zero-dependency). → `adr-go-language`, `adr-handroll-parse`
Boundary: `product/` splits into a read-only engine and the vehicle; one overlay resolver walks vehicle→engine, file-level for prompts/guides, with the existing semantic merge retained for rigor/checklists. → `adr-engine-vehicle-overlay`
Identity integrity: node ids are namespaced by iteration tag and guarded by a duplicate-id check. → `adr-unique-ids`

decisions (4)

✓i3-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Pugh scoring for Decision A. Datum = A3 (status quo). Cells are −1 / 0 / +1 versus the datum, times the M3 weight.

The headline criterion is real-world AV/SmartScreen cleanliness, not merely "nothing downloaded". That is the pain we are solving, so it is scored on how the artifact behaves in practice.

criterion (weight)	A1 Go	A2 PyInstaller	A4 Rust
AV/SmartScreen-clean in practice (5)	+5	−5	+5
Fast startup (4)	+4	0	+4
Zero runtime dep (4)	+4	+4	+4
Parity risk — lower better (4)	−4	0	−4
Rewrite cost — lower better (3)	−3	0	−3
Cross-compile (3)	+3	0	+3
Toolchain simplicity (4)	+4	+4	−4
Weighted total	+13	+3	+5

A1 Go = +13 — the clear winner.
A2 PyInstaller = +3 — a frozen `.exe` is a known AV false-positive magnet, so it scores negative on the exact pain we are solving. The real-world penalty is the whole point: scored honestly, the apparent tie disappears. Zero rewrite cost does not offset failing the goal.
A4 Rust = +5 — a true runtime peer of Go, sunk by toolchain simplicity: non-technical vehicle authors cannot easily set up rustup and clippy. A static binary that no one in the audience can build is a poor fit.

✓i3-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The engine maps cleanly onto the Go standard library:

`crypto/sha256`
`sort`
`strings`
`os`
`encoding/json`
`html/template`
`archive/zip`

No third-party dependency is needed, so `req-zero-dep-parse` and `req-go-engine` hold. Hand-rolled frontmatter/TOML parsing is trivial for the subset in use.

✓i3-m5-riskiest-validated ✓i3-m5-spike-recorded ✓i3-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.17 / 17 done

✓i3-m6-build-planned

✓i3-m6-build

✓i3-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i3-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

Determinism (R1): mitigated. Sorted keys everywhere; the merkle root is stable and parity-checked; selftest:determinism + selftest:parity guard it.
Behavior parity (R2): mitigated. status/lint byte-identical to Python; root identical; golden baselined as a regression gate.
Parser edges (R3): CRLF + trailing-line handled to match Python splitlines (caught by the parity check).
No-Python end state: the 6 old Python-engine tests are migrated to fast Go selftest:. The Python engine is transitional scaffolding, deleted at ship.
Distribution: ship Go source, rebuilt locally (adr-ship-source); Go is a build dependency (dependency-check prompt). Code-signing for other SAC machines is an M7/release concern, not a dev blocker.

Residual to carry to M7:

validate against the M1 success criteria
confirm the ship deletes the Python engine
decide signing for public distribution

decisions (1)

✓i3-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

The Go engine is `product/engine-go/` (one module, ~9 files):

parse
engine (load/hash/merkle/attest/gate-state)
coverage (rules + mint_id + duplicate-id guard)
cli (+ shared help preamble)
report (html/template + cytoscape, read from file, inlined for a self-contained email-able file)
resolver (vehicle->engine overlay)
selftest (in-process, zero external toolchain)

Parity proven: the Go merkle root equals the Python root over the full graph, re-confirmed after every change.
Determinism: the report is a pure display (rendering never runs checks — a re-entrancy guard), so it is byte-identical across renders and fast (responsiveness).
The build is decomposed into 10 resumable subtasks; each left a green, tested tree.
13 in-process selftest checks, all green; coverage 0 holes; no duplicate ids.

✓i3-m6-verification-green auto ✓i3-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i3-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The human walked M1–M6 and blessed each gate in increasing-scrutiny rounds. The acceptance evidence:

the working engine (`quack status/next/start/bless/note/gather/ship/lint/report/verify/selftest`)
the parity-proven core
the tuned report

`status`: 105 gates, 0 suspect.

✓i3-m7-meets-need

✓i3-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

req-signed-release (carry forward). To run an UNSIGNED binary on someone else's SAC/WDAC machine,

it must be code-signed. Ship-source sidesteps this (the vehicle builds locally), but a signed release binary is the proper answer for non-builders. A release/M8 or follow-on concern.

Parity is now a self-regression. Byte-identical-to-Python was validated during the port (three

build hashes matched Python exactly) but Python is deleted, so it is no longer continuously checked; `selftest:parity` now guards the engine against itself (golden root).

Scope deferred (by design). `drive_as_engine` / `integrate_as_engine` — the vehicle manifest and

the documented extension API — were deferred to a later version. The overlay resolver exists; the full vehicle-onboarding flow does not yet.

Full-HTML determinism is implied by deterministic data + static template and proven across renders

during M6, but is not asserted byte-for-byte in a standing check (only the integrity root is).

✓i3-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i3-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml` — the iteration breadcrumb (type/rigor/version).
`.quack/engine/golden-root.txt` — the determinism baseline (`selftest:parity` regresses against it).
`.gitignore` — excludes build artifacts (`.quack/engine/`, `product/engine-go/*.exe`, `.gotmp`): ship source, not binaries.
`attest.json` — the append-only adjudication ledger.

✓i3-m8-docs-complete

✓i3-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The human accepts: a single static Go binary, shipped as source, that runs from an unzipped folder, self-verifies, and is vendored + overlaid by vehicles. quackitect dogfoods its own Go engine.

✓i3-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages `product/` (the engine source + method + project_types + assets) into `.quack/out/quackitect-i0003_engine_vehicle_go.zip`. The zip is ephemeral output; not committed.

✓i3-m8-gate

i0004_vendoring_out 47/47

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m1-problem-agreed

✓i4-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Every requirement maps to a test (`req-has-test`):

`selftest:workspace`
`:split`
`:integrate`
`:brand`
`:claude-vendor`
`:build`
`:tests-pass-eval`
`:no-trace-gate`
`:report-verdict`
`:report-nesting`

tests (1)

✓i4-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high): workspace-split touches `findRoot` + the state paths (`QUACK`/`ATTEST`/`NOTES`/evidence/gather/out). Scattered edits could regress dogfood. *Mitigation:* centralize state-path resolution behind a workspace root; `selftest` + `status` guard regression (`i4-m6-impl-risks-acceptable`).
R2 (Risk, high): the machinery test must pass on empty content at max rigor — coverage rules must be vacuously green on an empty trace and review gates blessable with a machinery-test rationale. *Mitigation:* validate in the M5 spike before committing the design.
R3 (Issue, medium): the stale-golden footgun produced false milestone FAILs ~repeatedly this session. *Mitigation:* `req-quack-build` makes build→re-baseline atomic.
R4 (Risk, medium): scope is broad (workspace + 5 folded retro items). *Mitigation:* M6 plan-build seeds small resumable steps; milestone-monotonic gating.
R5 (Assumption, low): the sebot `base` model transfers cleanly. *Mitigation:* M3 elaborates ≥2 alternatives; M5 spikes the riskiest.

✓i4-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Moore frame:

For builders who drive multiple projects with one engineering-gate engine,
Who need the engine decoupled from any single project's data,
The quackitect engine operates on a selectable workspace,
That holds the driven project's product + spec + state, defaulting to the local one or pointed at another,
Unlike today, where the engine is welded to its own ROOT and driving another project means vendoring a second engine.

Out of scope:

a multi-workspace registry/switcher UI
remote workspaces
signed-release binary (carried from i3)

decisions (1)

✓i4-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

The 6 i3-retro inbox notes (quack build, M7 killer-uc demo, report verdict-link, graph nesting, tests-pass/gateState unify, no-trace-gate invariant).
The vendoring-out work shipped this session (vendor model, start init, white-label, .claude vendoring).
Prior art: sebot tools take a `base`; all project state under it (engine stateless). git -C.
The user's acceptance bar: vehicle → dummy workspace → full systematic iteration on empty content → all green.

✓i4-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i4-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i4-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Builders shipping branded engines → uc-ship-branded-engine.
Users driving other projects → uc-drive-other-workspace.
Dogfood / self → uc-self-workspace. Board reader → uc-review-board. Maintainer ergonomics → req-quack-build.

use cases (4)

✓i4-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i4-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

✓i4-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

✓i4-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i4-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i4-m4-choice-traced

evidence

req-workspace-split → adr-workspace-base → the base-selector design (realized in M6). Backward-compatible default keeps every existing dogfood/vehicle path working with no flag.

decisions (1)

✓i4-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i4-m5-design-buildable

evidence

✓i4-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i4-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Recorded here; throwaway artifacts discarded (duckpond v1_machinery removed).

✓i4-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.15 / 15 done

✓i4-m6-build-planned

✓i4-m6-build

✓i4-m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓i4-m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓i4-m6-internal-quality-ok ✓i4-m6-verification-green auto ✓i4-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The human walked M1–M7 and blessed each gate. The working engine (workspace base selector, quack build, white-label, .claude vendoring, the unified evaluators, 22 green selftests) is the evidence.

✓i4-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated ✓i4-m7-meets-need

✓i4-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

The verdict-link shows the milestone evidence doc, not yet the raw bless attestation (who/when/hash);

the deeper attestation view is a follow-on.

selftest:workspace asserts the ENGINE/ROOT split wiring; the full --base drive is proven by the live

M7 demonstration rather than a standing in-process check.

Signed-release binary still carried forward from i3.

✓i4-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i4-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/engine/golden-root.txt` re-baselined by `quack build` (the determinizer now owns it).
`attest.json` — the append-only adjudication ledger (i4 gates recorded).

✓i4-m8-docs-complete

✓i4-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

✓i4-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packaged `product/` into `.quack/out/` for i4. Ephemeral; not committed.

✓i4-m8-gate

i0005_workspace_stubs 43/43

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m1-problem-agreed

✓i5-m1-success-measurable

evidence

✓i5-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk): engine-location indirection resolves to a stale/wrong engine → drift. *Mitigation:* fixed resolution order + machinery test.
R2 (Risk): the local pointer leaks into version control → breaks on another clone. *Mitigation:* `req-engine-loc-untracked` + `.gitignore`.
R3 (Risk): launcher not portable across OS. *Mitigation:* plain `.cmd`, Windows-first; other-OS deferred.
A1 (Assumption): an engine binary already exists reachable on the machine.
D1 (Dependency): resolution order settled before the launcher is designed (→ M4).
D2 (Dependency): the machinery test is extendable to drive a bare workspace from inside.

✓i5-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For someone opening a bare quackitect workspace on its own,
Who wants `.\quack` to work from inside without a vendored engine,
The workspace ships a committed launcher + `AGENTS.md` stub that resolve an engine at runtime,
That keeps the engine location out of version control,
Unlike today, where the only way to drive a project is `--base` from an external engine checkout.

Out of scope:

building/installing the engine (assumed present)
retrofitting existing bare workspaces like `adapter_obs_pola` (deferred)
any change to the `--base` external-drive path

✓i5-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context: the engine drives external workspaces via `--base`; it exposes `quack resolve <rel>` and `quack guides` for path-free resource access. A bare workspace has no in-repo entry surface.
Prior inputs: the two backlog retro notes (bare-workspace-stubs, roundtrip-test-uses-feature); the existing `--base` mechanism; `quack resolve` for prompts.
Use cases: drive a bare workspace from inside; AI reads the `AGENTS.md` stub; roundtrip test drives from inside.

✓i5-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i5-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i5-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Human operator — drives from inside via `.\quack`.
AI agent — reads the `AGENTS.md` entry surface; loads prompts via `quack resolve` / `quack guides`.
Version control — must not carry the engine path or binary.
Engine maintainer — unaffected; the `--base` path is untouched.

✓i5-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i5-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Criterion	Weight
Engine path out of version control	High
Drives from inside (no `--base`)	High
No engine copied in	High
Portability (Windows-first)	Medium
Simplicity / low setup	Medium

✓i5-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

Verified live against the existing engine:

The current `quack.cmd` already implements the internal-engine case (`%~dp0.quack\engine\quack.exe %*`); adding B/A fall-through is trivial `.cmd` logic — no engine change.
`quack resolve method/prompts/engage.md` returned a resolved absolute path → path-free prompt loading works from inside a workspace.

✓i5-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i5-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i5-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Criterion	How the choice satisfies it
Out of VC	Location only in gitignored `.quack/engine.local` or `QUACK_ENGINE`.
Drives from inside	Committed root `quack.cmd`; no `--base`.
No engine copied in	Launcher resolves; nothing binary committed.
Portability	Plain `.cmd`, no symlinks.
Simplicity	Reuses the existing launcher shape; one optional pointer file + one gitignore rule.

Internal → B → A dominates the rejected C/D on the High criteria.

✓i5-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i5-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The design decomposes into small pieces with no engine core rework:

Extend `quack.cmd` with the B→A fall-through (the internal case already exists).
Add a committed `AGENTS.md` stub (static text).
Add a `.gitignore` rule for `.quack/engine.local` and any vendored engine.
Extend `selftest:workspace` (the roundtrip) to drive a bare workspace from inside; add `selftest:stubs` for the unit-level checks.

M3 feasibility already proved the two load-bearing facts (launcher internal case works today; `quack resolve` gives path-free prompts).

✓i5-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i5-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i5-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.11 / 11 done

✓i5-m6-build-planned

✓i5-m6-build

✓i5-m6-bs-stub-templates ✓i5-m6-bs-emit ✓i5-m6-bs-selftest-stubs ✓i5-m6-bs-roundtrip

✓i5-m6-detailed-design-complete auto ✓i5-m6-impl-risks-acceptable ✓i5-m6-internal-quality-ok ✓i5-m6-verification-green auto ✓i5-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

The killer UC passes both live and in the automated roundtrip. Sign-off recorded here; the human delegated adjudication for this run (self-blessed) with the evidence docs as the audit trail.

✓i5-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated ✓i5-m7-meets-need

✓i5-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Gap (deferred): the launcher is Windows-only (`.cmd`); a POSIX launcher for other OSes is out of scope (logged in M1).
Gap (deferred): retrofitting existing bare workspaces (e.g. `adapter_obs_pola`) — explicitly deferred in M1 scope.
Cost (accepted): `selftest:workspace` spawns a time-boxed subprocess per status; bounded, cannot hang or recurse.

✓i5-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i5-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml` remains `type=default` + `rigor=systematic` + `version=i0005_workspace_stubs`. The engine binary is rebuilt and golden re-baselined (`c13f042ae80b`).

✓i5-m8-docs-complete

✓i5-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Delivered:

drive-from-inside stubs + emitter + automated roundtrip
all 25 selftests green
`status` non-recursive

Follow-ups logged: POSIX launcher and existing-workspace retrofit (both deferred in M1); the report should mark killer-gates in the task view (captured as a note for i0001_reporting).

✓i5-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

The feature ships as engine code plus the i0005 spec. The engine code:

`insideStubFiles`
`quack start stubs`
extended `selftest:workspace`
`selftest:stubs`

`quack build` re-baselined the golden root; `quack ship` packages `product/` when desired.

✓i5-m8-gate

i0006_harness_and_readout 18/18

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame) passed its review.2 / 2 done

✓i6-m1-problem-success ✓i6-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i6-m2-requirements-stated ✓i6-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i6-m2-req-traced auto ✓i6-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Design) passed its review.3 / 3 done

✓i6-m3-approach-chosen ✓i6-m3-adr-traced auto ✓i6-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Build & test) passed its review.6 / 6 done

✓i6-m4-build-planned

evidence

✓i6-m4-build

evidence

Realized across product/:

`product/engine-go/readout.go` — `ProgressBar`, `HandoverPager`, `fence`/width, `cmdProgress`

(designs go-progress-bar, go-handover-pager, go-readout-width, go-progress-cmd).

`product/engine-go/cli.go` — `progress` command wired into dispatch + usage.
`product/quackitect/method/prompts/contract.md` — confirm-back + active-imperative delivery

(method-contract-delivery); y=console-bless + killer-relax (method-adjudication).

`product/quackitect/method/prompts/integrate.md` — "Start a new project" flow + empty-spec rule

(method-bootstrap).

`product/quackitect/method/rigor/lean/checklist.md` — derived coverage checks (method-lean-trace).
`.github/copilot-instructions.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `README.md` — root artifacts (design specs live in

the method files above, since only product/ is scanned for design markers).

designs (8)

✓i6-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

Every i6 requirement has a `design:` marker under product/ (coverage:designs-realized). `quack lint` reports 0 holes for i6 after the build.

✓i6-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Engine compiles clean via `quack build`; golden re-baselined. Readout output is deterministic and width-bounded (asserted by selftest:readout). Duplicate correctness reqs removed (DRY).

✓i6-m4-tests-pass auto

evidence

✓i6-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Docs & ship) passed its review.3 / 3 done

✓i6-m5-docs-match

evidence

A consistency pass over every user/agent-facing prose surface, reconciling it with the i6 changes:

README — leads with conversational onboarding ("start a new project"); raw CLI demoted; report

called the "live HTML board".

AGENTS.md — command list now includes `progress [--pager]` and `report [--watch]`; the report

line fixed from "HTML snapshot" to "live HTML board (recomputed fresh)".

.github/copilot-instructions.md — carries the contract inline in Copilot's native channel with

the active read→paraphrase→confirm imperative; lists `progress`.

contract.md — active-imperative delivery + confirm-back (§ top); rule 3 = killer-bless explicit

authorization + y=console-bless via the handover pager.

engage.md / compose-reference.md — plan-time `bless --all` guidance corrected (gates start OPEN,

blessed one milestone at a time via the pager); ADJUDICATE mandates the pager on killer/milestone.

review.md — report prose corrected to "recomputes live, no cached snapshot".
Swept for stale references: no lingering "72" (now 80), no stale "snapshot" (report is live), no

`need-engine-reuse` edges (merged into `need-workspace-drive`). Removed the stray Python `__pycache__` (project is Go-only). `quack lint` clean.

requirements (1)

✓i6-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages `product/` into `.quack/out/` (see ship output). The zip is ephemeral, not committed.

✓i6-m5-gate

i0007_tdd_implementation 46/46

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m1-problem-agreed

✓i7-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 acceptance criteria for i0007:

Lean and systematic resolve their build milestone to one shared implementation fragment (fragment content appears once).
A `tests-red` coverage rule exists; a requirement with a green test and no realized design reports SUSPECT.
Roles default to inline (behaviour unchanged) with a demonstrated non-inline swap; resolution order iteration ▸ type ▸ default holds.
The evidence-mask bug is fixed: a live-red `selftest` is reflected as not-DONE in `status`.
The report shows a verdict link on every DONE check and build/test nesting (3 levels).
The contract is present in each harness's native channel, rendered from the single `contract.md`; a bypassing commit is rejected by a git pre-commit gate.

✓i7-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high) — deterministic RED observation. Tests pass after implementation, so a re-run can't see the earlier red. Mitigation: run-once attestation of failing test-hashes, re-suspect on hash change. Spiked at M5 before building on it.
R2 (Risk, med) — scope. Eight notes across TDD + reliability + report in one systematic iteration; M6 will be large. Accepted by the human at version planning (all-in-one, fixes first).
R3 (Assumption) — file-based role interface suffices for prompt/subagent/tool bindings (incl. spec-kit via its constitution). Validated by prior art (spec-kit/OpenSpec are file-based & separable); revisit if a binding needs more.
R4 (Issue) — verdict-link regression. `req-verdict-link` was blessed in i0004 but doesn't work in the field; its realization is reopened here.
D1 (Dependency) — `tests-red` (R1) depends on the evidence-honesty fix (#8) landing first; sequenced accordingly in M6.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Scope (the 8 triaged notes):

the shared fragment + TDD sequence (#1)
pluggable roles (#1)
doc-tests spectrum (#1)
research-as-pluggable-capability (#2)
the evidence-cache honesty fix (#8)
verdict-links on DONE checks (#9)
build/test report nesting (#6)
cross-harness obedience — contract-render + git commit gate (#3/#4/#7)

Fixes first, then TDD.

decisions (1)

✓i7-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Sources folded into the requirements:

The 8 triaged notes (the iteration's scope) — TDD+roles, research-pluggable, evidence-cache bug, verdict-link, nesting, contract-skip, Copilot-bypass, thin-harness delivery.
The systematic rigor template (`method/rigor/systematic/checklist.md`) — the M1–M8 floor.
The current build content — systematic M6 and lean L4 (what the shared fragment replaces).
The evidence + selftest machinery (`selftest:workspace`, the `.quack/evidence` cache) — subject of the #8 honesty fix.
The report renderer — subject of #9 (verdict link) and #6 (nesting).
The native contract channels — `AGENTS.md`, `.github/copilot-instructions.md`, and the source `contract.md` — subject of #3/#4/#7.
Prior art (5-search verified sweep): AgentCoder role split, Beck/Uncle-Bob TDD red gate, FIT/doctest/Vale doc-tests, Berkeley MAST failure taxonomy.

✓i7-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i7-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i7-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Builder — drives the loop; needs a structured, test-first build. (need-implementation)
Maintainer — renders the per-harness entry files at build. (req-contract-chain.1)
Reader/auditor — reads the report; needs verdicts + honest hierarchy. (need-review)
Thin-harness agent (Copilot) — must be bound and unable to bypass. (uc-reliability)

No role left out.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i7-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i7-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements. Weights 1 (minor) … 5 (vital):

C1 · DRY / single-source (5) — no duplicated data in code or output (req-shared-impl-fragment).
C2 · Determinism / honesty (5) — the gate must be engine-observed, not agent-asserted; evidence must not lie (req-tdd-sequence, req-evidence-honesty).
C3 · Minimal engine change (3) — keep the trust surface small; prefer method/composition over new engine code.
C4 · Portability of handoff (3) — role handoffs should be durable, tool-agnostic artifacts (req-role-seam).
C5 · Resumability (2) — durable across interruption.

requirements (2)

✓i7-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

D1-A feasible: the engine already hashes evidence and re-suspects on input change; recording failing-hashes extends that, not a new subsystem. (Confirm at M5.)
D2-A feasible: roles are a method/composition concept; the engine only gates outputs (tests-red, designs-realized, tests-pass) — no engine change for the seam itself. Prior art (spec-kit/OpenSpec) is file-based and separable.

Neither surviving candidate is infeasible; the only real unknown is D1 (RED observation), which M5 spikes.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i7-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

✓i7-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Shared fragment ← C1 (DRY, single source).
`tests-red` run-once attestation ← C2 (engine-observed honesty; beats re-run which fails C2) and C3 (extends existing machinery).
File-based seam ← C1/C3/C4 (durable tool-agnostic handoff, no orchestration engine; MAST evidence rules out the multi-agent framework on C3).
Evidence honesty ← C2 (the ledger must not show green when red — and `tests-red` depends on it, so it lands first in M6).

✓i7-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i7-m5-design-buildable

evidence

All six work-items are buildable:

Shared fragment, role seam, doc-tests — method/composition only, no engine change (the engine merely gates outputs).
`tests-red` — the small engine addition proven above.
Fixes: `#8` evidence honesty (root cause to fix in `runExecuted`/`selftestWorkspace` `ENGINE==""` guard); `#9` verdict-link and `#6` nesting — hooks already exist (`selftestReportVerdict`, `selftestReportNesting`) to strengthen so they catch the field-observed gap.

requirements (1)

✓i7-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i7-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

✓i7-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.14 / 14 done

✓i7-m6-build-planned

✓i7-m6-build

✓i7-m6-bs-evidence-honesty ✓i7-m6-bs-verdict-link ✓i7-m6-bs-nesting ✓i7-m6-bs-tests-red ✓i7-m6-bs-shared-fragment ✓i7-m6-bs-role-seam ✓i7-m6-bs-research-ref

✓i7-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i7-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

✓i7-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

requirements (2)

✓i7-m6-verification-green auto ✓i7-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

M1–M6 killer/milestone gates were adjudicated by the human via handover pagers (stamped `actor=human`); non-killer reviews stamped `actor=agent`. Sign-off recorded in the attest log.

✓i7-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

✓i7-m7-meets-need

✓i7-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Fixed in-flight: `gather` omitted `_shared/` — would have broken the import at the next compose. Fixed + re-verified.
Intentional: `tests-red` is built as a capability (rule + op + selftest) and seeded into the shared fragment for future iterations to gate on; it is not retro-wired as a gate on i0001–i0007. This iteration builds the capability; later iterations walk it.
Parked: the descoped cross-harness cluster (contract-render, commit gate) sits in the backlog.

✓i7-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i7-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`golden-root.txt` re-baselined via `quack build` after every engine change; `config.toml` points at i0007; attest log clean (demo `red-observed` events removed).

✓i7-m8-docs-complete

✓i7-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Handed to the human for acceptance at the M8 gate.

✓i7-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`i0007_tdd_implementation` active; golden root baselined. `engage ship` packages `product/` → `.quack/out/`.

✓i7-m8-gate

i0008_trust_hardening 49/49

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m1-problem-agreed

✓i8-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 acceptance criteria for i0008:

A node file with malformed frontmatter or an unknown key makes the engine exit nonzero naming file and key; every existing repo node parses clean (day-one no-brick, verified live).
A non-interactive bless records `actor=agent` by default; `--by human` overrides; the console path records `human`; `QUACK_ACTOR` is retired.
A whitespace-only reformat of a `design:` region changes no hash; a comment edit inside the region reopens the design.
`quack selftest` carries kernel batteries (vectors, cone-exactness, gate walk, parser strictness, attest chain) from baked corpora, no unseeded randomness, all green from the shipped binary.
`.quack/logs/` is empty and migrated to the stable user dir (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\logs\<project-slug>`, XDG elsewhere), config-overridable; no engine log lands in the repo again.
`quack lint` flags a new non-EARS/weasel requirement at systematic rigor, honors and counts `ears: exempt` (reason required), and flags zero pre-existing blessed statements.
Housekeeping: `quack.exe~` gone; README image reference resolves or is dropped; `.gitattributes` policy holds.
Every subcommand answers `-h`/`--help`/`-?` with usage, exit 0, zero side effects; `quack start --help` activates nothing; a dash-prefixed id is rejected. *[correction, M5: criterion already met by i0003's `req-cli-help` + `selftest:help`, verified green 2026-07-02 — no i8 work item]*
`quack lint` flags a milestone subtask wired past the prior milestone's gate on a fixture; the live repo passes.

✓i8-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

R1 (Risk, high) — incomplete key allowlist bricks the repo on day one. Mitigation: build the allowlist from the full parser surface incl. i7 additions (`roles`, `milestone`, `validates`, `parent`, `verify: coverage:tests-red`, `ears`), then spike-verify at M5: strict-parse the entire live repo, zero false rejections before the gate.
R2 (Risk, med) — channel detection mis-stamps the actor. TTY detection on Windows terminals (conhost, Windows Terminal, MSYS pipes) is quirky; a wrong default silently falsifies the record in the direction we chose to be harmless (under-claiming human). Alternatives + spike at M3/M5.
R3 (Risk, med) — EARS lint flags blessed history. The new/blessed discrimination must be mechanical, or forward-only quietly becomes retrofit. Design decision at M3/M4; test explicitly asserts zero flags on pre-existing blessed statements.
R4 (Risk, low) — log migration touches foreign personal data. Move-don't-delete, verify counts+sizes after, target dir outside any git tree.
R5 (Assumption) — hash-normalization change reopens designs once. Changing the region hash function makes existing design hashes recompute; expect a one-time SUSPECT ripple, handled inside this iteration's walk, not a mass re-bless of history.
D1 (Dependency) — kernel parser-strictness tests depend on the strict parser landing first; sequenced in M6.

---

✓i8-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Scope (the red-teamed directive, six items + housekeeping):

strict node parser with a complete key allowlist
per-channel actor defaults
design-region hash normalization
kernel tests into selftest
logs out of the repo (migration incl. foreign personal data)
EARS forward-only enforcing lint + compose-reference block
Housekeeping folded in: delete `quack.exe~`, fix the README `docs/report.png` reference, verify `.gitattributes` holds.
Pulled in at the M1 gate (the owner, 2026-07-02, from backlog — both ready-when conditions fired):
(7) CLI-help hardening — help flags side-effect-free on every subcommand, dash-prefixed ids rejected (`req-cli-help`) *[correction, M5 spike: already realized in i0003 — same req id existed with a green `selftest:help`; the i8 duplicate was removed, the stale backlog note re-archived; see M5-spike-findings.md]*
(8) milestone-monotonic lint — mis-wired checklists flagged mechanically (`req-monotonic-lint`)
Deferred (not dead): evidence-into-merkle/bless-provenance; notes-graduate-into-ledger.
Rejected (do not resurrect): unforgeable bless.
Later release: the decision model (backlog).

✓i8-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Sources.

The red-teamed scope directive plus its six review notes (strict parser, actor channels, hash normalization, kernel tests, logs-out, EARS) — all archived-as-baked with this iteration.
The two backlog notes pulled at the M1 gate (CLI-help incident of 2026-06-30, i0002 milestone-jump incident).
The cli-help guide (`project_types/default/guides/cli-help.md`) as the pre-existing convention `req-cli-help` realizes.

Use cases. Eight, composed:

`uc-fail-loud-parsing` (+CLI refusal)
`uc-honest-adjudication`
`uc-stable-design-hashes`
`uc-kernel-selftested`
`uc-workspace-hygiene`
`uc-ears-requirements`
`uc-monotonic-walk`

Each hangs under an existing need — `need-qualities` or `need-workspace-drive` or `need-engage`; no new needs minted.

Quality tree (ISO 25010).

Reliability/integrity: strict parse, ref integrity, kernel selftest, attest chain.
Functional correctness of the record: actor channels, hash normalization.
Maintainability: EARS statements, monotonic lint.
Portability/privacy: logs-out (Windows + XDG).
Usability/safety: CLI help without side effects.

use cases (7)

✓i8-m2-requirements-traced auto ✓i8-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

✓i8-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

No role left out:

The adjudicator (owner) — gates and stamps must mean what they say: `req-actor-channels`, `req-design-hash-norm` (no rubber-stamp training), `req-ears-lint` (blessable statements).
Driving agent — needs loud refusal over silent acceptance (`req-strict-frontmatter`, `req-ref-integrity`), a `next` that cannot jump milestones (`req-monotonic-lint`), and safe help flags (`req-cli-help`).
Auditor / record reader — a verifiable chain and honest self-cert metric: `req-kernel-selftest` (attest battery), `req-actor-channels`.
Other-machine / field user — the kernel proves itself locally with no toolchain: `req-kernel-selftest`, and logs land in a predictable per-user place: `req-logs-out-of-repo`.
Foreign-data owners (trader/sebot) — their session/memory files leave the published repo: `req-logs-out-of-repo`.
Future composer (next `engage start`) — authoring instruction present at compose time: `req-ears-method`; wiring mistakes caught: `req-monotonic-lint`.
Maintainer — refactors guarded by golden vectors; gofmt without ledger churn: `req-kernel-selftest`, `req-design-hash-norm`.

requirements (4)

✓i8-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m3-alternatives-elaborated

✓i8-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

✓i8-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

Against the real code, per candidate:

C1: `parse.go:50` `ParseNode` swallows the read error (`txt, _ :=`) and the switch default silently drops unknown keys — both single-site fixes; error aggregation needs `ParseNode` to return `(Node, []error)` and `loadNodes` to batch. Discovered hazards, feeding the M5 spike: evidence docs (`M1-frame.md` etc.) contain `---` hrules that `strings.Split(txt,"---")` would misread as frontmatter under strictness → the first-line-`---` recognition rule is load-bearing; `iteration.md` carries breadcrumb keys (`iteration`, `status`, `rigor`) needing their own class. Allowlist inventory from the live switch: `id,type,statement,class,verify,killer,milestone,parent,depends_on,refines,implements,verifies,addresses,validates` + new `ears` (+ `roles` if/where iteration.md is strict-classed).
C2: `ops.go:37` `env("QUACK_ACTOR","human")` is the single stamp site; swap to channel-default + `--by` flag threading through `cli.go`'s arg handling — which `req-cli-help`'s shared arg preamble touches anyway (one seam, two requirements).
C3: `stmtHash` (`engine.go:100`) already exists; baseline = map of req-id→stmtHash written once in M6, checked in `cmdLint` (`cli.go:277`), which already exits nonzero on duplicate ids — the pattern to extend.
C4: engine writes no logs; add a resolver-level `logsDir()` (resolver.go owns workspace paths), surface it, and migrate the 122 MB with a verified move (count+size before/after), foreign folders included.
C5: selftest.go is a flat battery of `func selftestX() bool` — kernel tests slot in as peers; existing fixtures already build temp workspaces, so DAG fixtures have precedent.
C6: `engine.go:118` folds `h12(n.RegionBody)` raw — the churn bug confirmed at its exact site; either variant is a one-line change plus the R5 one-time ripple.
Pulled items: `req-cli-help` → shared preamble at `cli.go`'s command dispatch (the `start --help` incident site) *[correction, M5: the preamble already exists — cli.go:61/84, landed with i0003's identical `req-cli-help`; item dissolved]*; `req-monotonic-lint` → lint walk over tasks' `depends_on` reachability to the prior gate — graph machinery exists.

---

✓i8-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m4-adr-recorded auto

✓i8-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

decisions (6)

✓i8-m4-choice-traced

evidence

C6 (17–15): if "same norm as statements" is read literally (lowercase), the decision flips on DRY/simplicity alone; it does NOT flip on any fidelity/determinism criterion — and fidelity outweighs. Robust.
C2 (17 vs 15): if the M5 terminal spike shows char-device stat unreliable on real consoles, C2c (always-agent) takes over with zero fidelity loss — the fallback is pre-agreed in the ADR, so the decision is spike-proof.
All other margins ≥3 and stable under ±1 weight perturbation on any single criterion.

✓i8-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i8-m5-design-buildable

evidence

✓i8-m5-riskiest-validated

✓i8-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

---

✓i8-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.17 / 17 done

✓i8-m6-build-planned ✓i8-m6-tests-red-observed auto

✓i8-m6-build

✓i8-m6-bs-runners ✓i8-m6-bs-strict-parser ✓i8-m6-bs-actor-by ✓i8-m6-bs-normws ✓i8-m6-bs-ears ✓i8-m6-bs-monotonic ✓i8-m6-bs-logsdir ✓i8-m6-bs-kernel ✓i8-m6-bs-cleanup

✓i8-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i8-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

---

✓i8-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

✓i8-m6-verification-green auto ✓i8-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

✓i8-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

✓i8-m7-meets-need

✓i8-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

R (accepted): the EARS baseline is diffable, not tamper-proof — attest-grade protection belongs to the deferred evidence-into-merkle work (recorded in `adr-ears-baseline`).
R (accepted): exotic-terminal channel detection — MSYS/mintty consoles read as pipes and stamp `agent`; the error direction is designed-harmless and `--by human` is the escape (recorded in `adr-actor-channel-stat`).
**R (open, recorded): evidence docs (`M<n>-*.md`) are still not hashed** — a post-bless edit does not reopen the gate; this IS the deferred evidence-into-merkle item, unchanged in i8 by directive.
I (minor): a node file in a non-UTF-8 encoding (e.g. UTF-16) is not recognized and silently absent — if anything references it, the dangling-ref check fires loudly; an unreferenced one is invisible. Judged acceptable: the repo convention is UTF-8, and the failure requires an unreferenced node nothing depends on.

---

decisions (2)

✓i8-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i8-m8-config-baselined

evidence

`.quack/config.toml`: version `i0008_trust_hardening`; the `logs_dir` override documented inline.
`.quack/ears-baseline.json`: the 72-statement feature-land corpus, committed and diffable.
`.gitattributes`: verified holding (`text: auto`, `eol: lf` on sampled files) — the post-i7 CRLF policy stands.
Golden root current at `f40b28014507`.

✓i8-m8-docs-complete

✓i8-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

---

✓i8-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

✓i8-m8-gate

i0009_contract_attestation 55/55

M1 Milestone M1 (Frame the problem and vision) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

Two deltas, both field-proven:

The contract is dodgeable. Prompt-level delivery of the binding rules fails in practice — obedience is a property of the harness, not the wording. Evidence:

(1) Copilot never followed the AGENTS.md → contract.md pointer and never ran the engine at all (i6 field feedback, archived note `origin-field-i6-field-feedback-b`).
(2) On 2026-07-04, Claude Code — a *thick* harness, mid-`engage start` — skipped the per-engage contract re-read and reordered retro steps until the owner intervened twice (origin of note `block-the-ledger-until-the-contr`).

Both ready-when conditions on the parked thin-harness notes fired on this evidence. The failure mode is drift/optimization, not malice. The countermeasure must be structural, not advisory.

✓i9-m1-success-measurable

evidence

✓i9-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risks:

R1 Grant friction: an unattended run's FIRST session stalls on the console grant. Mitigation: grant is once-per-session by design (owner-accepted); challenge-only renewals carry the rest.
R2 Grep-gameable challenge: proves file-in-context, not comprehension. Accepted: target is drift, not adversaries; recitation covers comprehension socially.
R3 Key lost to compaction mid-session → stall for re-grant. Accepted as rare-and-arguably-correct; agent may restate the key in working notes.
R4 MSYS/mintty channel quirk mis-stamps console as agent → over-asks. Harmless direction (i8 precedent).
R5 findRoot migration: switching the root marker breaks any existing vendored vehicle (duckpond). Mitigation: M5 spike + migration step; ratchet rebuild covers old engines.
R6 Ship-a-zip bootstrap: client without global install AND without Go toolchain cannot run. Unchanged from today (build was always local); documented, not solved.
R7 Migration churn: notes (30+), state files, split log homes — verified-move pattern (count+size) as in i8.
R8 Scope: two themes in one iteration (owner-directed). Mitigation: M6 build plan slices them into independent resumable chains.

✓i9-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

For the owner (and anyone driving a quackitect workspace with an AI agent),
who needs agents that provably operate under the contract and checkouts that hold nothing but truth,
the i9 trust-and-data hardening is an engine release that
(a) gates ledger-advancing commands behind an attestation ritual — read the contract, answer a deterministic challenge, recite to the adjudicator, one grant per session, chained context-bound keys with autonomous renewal —
(b) renders every harness entry file (AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md) from contract.md as single source, and
(c) restructures state so the repository contains only recorded truth: no .quack anywhere, caches and raw notes in the per-workspace user data home, one global ratcheting engine binary, decisions as immutable classified nodes in spec/decisions/, all nodes engine-minted.
Unlike advisory instructions and TTL/PID session heuristics, the session boundary is defined by key possession — the only storage that is born and dies with a context window.

Out of scope:

spec-book (parked, backlog)
methodology map
SyA gap bundles
evidence-merkle (parked)

The engine-bypass ceiling stands: a harness that never runs quack is detected (pre-commit/status), not prevented. Recorded, not solved here.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m1-gate

M2 Milestone M2 (Requirements) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context (system-in-focus + environment). The Go engine (`product/engine-go`, one static binary) is driven through `quack.cmd` by:

an interactive console (a person)
thick harnesses (Claude Code)
thin harnesses (Copilot — known to bypass the engine entirely)
CI/pipes

State surfaces today:

the repo (`spec/`, `product/`, `.quack/`)
the per-workspace user data home (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\...`, logs since i8)
generated entry files (AGENTS.md; copilot-instructions.md missing today)

IN: contract.md (single rule source) + notes + blesses + engine source. OUT: refusals/keys (attest) + rendered entry files + report + ship zip.

Source notes (all archived with TRIAGE-CLOSE stamps 2026-07-04):

`block-the-ledger-until-the-contr` (attestation design, settled with the owner)
`thin-harness-contract-delivery` + `origin-field-i6-field-feedback-b` (ready-when fired)
`raw-notes-out-of-repo`
`decision-model-v2`
`eliminate-quack-folder` (incl. the owner's informal ratchet call)
`deterministic-minting`
`logs-dir-fragments-by-path-casin`

Plus live directives from the owner this session:

fold data-leg into i9
ratchet rule
report suspect-why while adjudicating M1

Use cases (this iteration):

uc-attested-session
uc-contract-delivery
uc-stable-data-dir
uc-repo-holds-only-truth
uc-global-engine
uc-notes-private
uc-decisions-never-relitigated
uc-deterministic-minting

Plus refined global surfaces — owner directives at the M1–M3 stops:

uc-review-report (req-report-why)
uc-backward-vv (req-vv-time-scope)
the filter-UX family (req-filter-clear/descendants/dblclick/help)

All folded under existing needs (need-qualities + need-engage + need-note + need-workspace-drive), no new needs minted.

requirements (2)

use cases (10)

✓i9-m2-requirements-traced auto

evidence

Derived: coverage:req-traced — every i9 requirement refines a use case, every use case refines an existing need. Computed live by the engine.

✓i9-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

evidence

tests (2)

✓i9-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Role	Interest	Covered by
Owner / adjudicator	never gated by their own machinery; one grant per session max; auditable actor stamps	req-console-exempt, req-attest-grant, i8 actor channels
Driving agent (thick harness)	unattended runs never stall; deterministic unlock path; mintable nodes	req-attest-renewal, req-attest-block, req-mint, req-note-lane
Thin-harness agent (Copilot)	contract present in natively-loaded file without pointer-following	req-contract-render, req-render-drift
Vehicle users (ship-a-zip clients)	working launcher without pre-installed global binary	req-global-binary, req-engine-ratchet
Future readers/auditors	decisions never re-litigated, classified from graph facts; suspects explain themselves; old verdicts never reopened by mere addition	req-decisions-folder, req-decision-classes, req-parked-list, req-decision-realized-lint, req-report-why, req-vv-time-scope
The repo itself (publishability)	only truth committed; private material out	req-no-quack-state, req-truth-in-spec, req-notes-out, req-clean-status, req-root-marker, req-global-config

requirements (3)

✓i9-m2-gate

M3 Milestone M3 (Candidate architectures) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m3-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A1 — Grant mechanics *(what proves a person opened the session)*

(a) Console-minted code: `quack attest --grant` at the interactive console prints a one-time code; the person hands it to the agent in chat; the agent redeems it (`quack attest <code> --answer …`). Structural proof: the code exists only where a person sat (C1 ✓, C7 one interaction).
(b) Console-side flag file the engine polls after an agent `--request`: stateful, racy, breaks piped/CI flows (C3 ✗).
(c) Chat-only "y" relayed by the agent with a flag: no structural proof — this is today's failure restated (C1 ✗). Recorded to the graveyard at M4.

A2 — Challenge derivation *(what proves the contract text is in context)*

(a) Positional word challenge: engine picks word N of rule K (position seeded from the grant/renewal nonce), verifies against the live file. Varies per attest, deterministic, forces the text into context (C1, C4 ✓).
(b) Contract file hash: computable by hashing without reading a line (C1 ✗).
(c) Static pass-phrase inside contract.md: single fixed answer, grep-once-reuse-forever (C1 weak). Viable fallback if (a)'s parsing proves brittle.

A3 — Key transport *(how the key rides along)*

(a) `--key <K>` flag on ledger-advancing commands: explicit, visible in the conversation, nothing persists shell-to-shell (C4 ✓; harness shells don't share env anyway).
(b) `QUACK_KEY` env var: equivalent per-command prefix in practice; accept as a second read path for scripting comfort, never required.
(c) Key file on disk: plaintext at rest defeats req-attest-key-hygiene (C4 ✗). Graveyard.

A4 — Render pipeline *(entry files from contract.md)*

(a) Engine render step (inside `quack build` + standalone command): per-harness template wraps the verbatim contract body; `quack lint` re-renders and byte-compares (req-render-drift). Maintainer runs it. Agents only read static files (C1, C3 ✓).
(b) Pointer/include from entry file to contract: thin harnesses don't follow pointers — field-proven failure (C1 ✗). Graveyard (this iteration's origin).
(c) Git hook auto-render: hooks don't fire in every harness/clone. Acceptable convenience later, never the guarantee.

A5 — Data-dir layout

(a) Workspace-first: `%LOCALAPPDATA%\quackitect\<slug>\{logs, notes, evidence, gather, overlay, spikes, out, engine}` — one deletable home per workspace; the amnesia test is one `rm -rf` (C6 ✓). Migration folds today's kind-first logs plus the two split log homes.
(b) Kind-first (today's `logs\<slug>`): scatters one workspace across kinds; the amnesia test needs a sweep (C6 weaker).

A6 — Root-marker mechanics

(a) `spec/project.toml` walk-up: committed truth, present in every quackitect repo; also absorbs `.quack/config.toml`'s iteration settings (owner-decided direction).
(b) Keep `.quack` as marker: contradicts no-.quack (owner-superseded, recorded).
(c) `.git` walk-up: ship-a-zip vehicles may have no git (C3 ✗).

A7 — Ratchet check location

(a) Engine self-check at startup: the binary compares its own source stamp against the workspace's vendored source; older → rebuild to the global home and re-exec. Launcher stays dumb (existence check + bootstrap build only — cmd can test existence, not hashes) (C3, C5 ✓).
(b) Launcher-side version compare in cmd/sh: batch parsing of versions, duplicated per platform, brittle (C5 ✗).
Feasibility flag (→ M5): Windows locks a running exe against overwrite but allows RENAME — the standard self-update dance (rename old aside, move new in, clean up next run) needs a spike.

A8 — Decision-node schema

(a) Decision-model v2 as settled (2026-07-03, researched + red-teamed with the owner): `type: adr` in `spec/decisions/`, born-made/never-edited, built-in `scrap` sink, `ready_when` write-once, exits by supersession, all classification derived from graph facts; killer stamp stays a person's judgment.
(b) Industry 4-state lifecycle (proposed/accepted/deprecated/superseded status field): duplicates the gate ledger's state machine — rejected in the source note with reasons (DRY). Graveyard.
Sub-choice: i9's own ADRs become the FIRST citizens of `spec/decisions/` (dogfood at birth) vs. last iteration-folder batch. Decide at M4.

A9 — Mint UX

(a) Typed op: `quack mint <type> [--id <slug>]` emits the schema-valid skeleton; sugar forms `mint veto --of <id>`, `mint defer --of <id> --ready-when "<cond>"`, `mint supersede <old>` stamp the edges so derived classes can't be misspelled (C4 ✓).
(b) Graduation-only (notes promote to nodes): conflates the private note lane with trace minting; no path for tests/reqs (C4 ✗).

✓i9-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements. Weight 1–5.

#	Criterion	Weight	Derived from
C1	Structural enforceability — no reliance on agent discipline	5	req-attest-block, req-attest-grant, req-contract-render
C2	Zero-stall autonomy — unattended runs never park on a person	4	req-attest-renewal, req-attest-expiry
C3	Portability — every harness, every OS, plain CLI	4	req-contract-render, req-logs-canonical, req-global-binary
C4	Determinism & auditability	4	req-decision-classes, req-attest-key-hygiene, req-render-drift
C5	Simplicity, zero-dep, hand-rolled Go	3	engine tradition (i0003 decision)
C6	Migration safety — nothing adjudicated ever lost	3	req-no-quack-state, req-notes-out, req-truth-in-spec
C7	Adjudicator friction — at most one interaction per session	3	req-attest-grant, req-console-exempt

✓i9-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

All preferred candidates are pure Go stdlib on top of shipped i8 machinery (channel stat + normalized hashing + strict parser). No new dependencies anywhere.

Riskiest #1 — grant/key round-trip through a real harness (does the code/key survive chat → shell faithfully): M5 spike.
Riskiest #2 — Windows self-replace for the ratchet (rename-dance on a running exe): M5 spike.
Cheap: render (template + byte-compare), data-dir move (i8 migration pattern, count+size verified), root-marker walk-up (findRoot touch), mint (template emit through the strict parser), decisions lint (path check), parked list (graph filter), report-why (cause already computable at render), vv-time-scope (filter by iteration id — nodes carry `iter` already).
Prior art: no open research question — the axes reuse the 2026-07-03 researched decisions (decision model, notes/data restructure), the sebot determinizer precedent (minting), and the widely-used Go self-update rename pattern. No deep-research run needed; sources cited in the baked notes.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m3-gate

M4 Milestone M4 (Decide the architecture) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m4-adr-recorded auto

evidence

Derived: coverage:adr-traced — all six ADRs address requirements. Computed live.

✓i9-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Per axis — chosen / why / runner-up:

Axis	Chosen	Why (top criterion)	Runner-up, why not
Grant	Console-minted one-time code	Structural proof a person acted (C1)	Chat-relayed flag — no proof, today's failure
Challenge	Word N of rule K, nonce-seeded	Forces contract text into context (C1)	File hash — computable without reading
Key transport	`--key` flag per ledger command	In-conversation by construction (C4)	Env var — kept as optional second path
Entry files	Engine-rendered from contract.md + drift lint	Works in pointer-blind harnesses (C3)	Git-hook render — hooks don't fire everywhere
Data layout	Workspace-first home, kind subfolders	One-delete amnesia test (C6)	Kind-first — scatters the workspace
Root marker	spec/project.toml walk-up	Committed truth, present everywhere (C3)	.git walk-up — zip vehicles have no git
Ratchet	Engine self-check + rename dance	Launcher stays dumb, one code path (C5)	Launcher version logic — batch parsing, brittle
Decisions	Model v2, spec/decisions/, derived classes	No duplicate state machine (C4)	4-state lifecycle — rejected 2026-07-03
Minting	`quack mint` typed ops + engine note lane	Validity at birth (C4)	Graduation-only — no path for tests/reqs

ADRs: · · · · · — the first six citizens of `spec/decisions/` (dogfood from birth).

decisions (6)

✓i9-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Pugh, datum = "do nothing" (advisory floor + .quack as-is). Score −1/0/+1 per criterion, weighted:

C1=5
C2=4
C3=4
C4=4
C5=3
C6=3
C7=3

Candidate set	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	C6	C7	Weighted
Chosen set (above)	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	+1	0	+20
Chat-grant + hash challenge + env key	−1	+1	+1	0	+1	0	+1	+9
Keep .quack, kind-first, launcher ratchet	0	+1	0	0	−1	−1	+1	+1
Do nothing (datum)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Datum re-run (gate discussion 2026-07-04, red-team criticism upheld). Same weights; datum = the strongest rival (soft-ritual set) — the comparison the first run hid:

Candidate set vs soft-ritual datum	C1	C3	C4	C5	C6	C7	Weighted
Chosen set	+1	0	+1	−1	+1	−1	+6
Keep .quack, kind-first, launcher ratchet	+1	−1	0	−2*	−1	0	−10
Soft-ritual set (datum)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

✓i9-m4-gate

M5 Milestone M5 (Prove the riskiest unknowns) passed its review.4 / 4 done

✓i9-m5-design-buildable

evidence

✓i9-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

Spike 1 — grant/key round trip + challenge determinism (`spikes/i9-attest-roundtrip/`).

A worst-case session key (`+`, `/`, `=`, 50 chars) and a grant code passed chat → tool call → shell → flag parse byte-exact in both PowerShell and git-bash — verified by sha8 comparison (`8ffa3c13` / `2feae3f2` identical on both channels). This session itself was the real-harness leg of the trip: the key traveled through actual driving-agent tool calls.
The positional challenge (word N of rule K) parses contract.md deterministically: rule sections split on `## K.` headings, CRLF normalized before counting, HTML design-marker comments stripped so markers never shift word positions. Repeated runs across both shells agree.
Finding (design advanced): a raw positional pick can land on punctuation — rule 1 word 7 is `"—"`, an unanswerable token. The M6 implementation must pick from letter-bearing words only (filter tokens without letters before indexing). The ADR's mechanism statement stays valid; this is a token-selection detail inside it.
Kill-criterion from M4 (round-trip garbles → shorter code format): not triggered; fallback stays unused.

Spike 2 — Windows self-replace rename dance (`spikes/i9-rename-dance/`).

A running exe renamed itself aside, moved a staged "newer build" into its original path, and spawned the new binary from that path — all while still running: `NEW BINARY ALIVE … exe-replaced-in-place=true`. PASS on the first and second run.
The parked old file is delete-locked while its process lives (expected on Windows) and deletable on the next run — run 2's step-0 cleanup removed run 1's leftover. The ratchet therefore opens with a leftover sweep.
Kill-criterion from M4 (dance fails → build-next-launch): not triggered; fallback stays unused.

✓i9-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Findings distilled here; the spike scratch stays gitignored and disposable per the method. One design advance carried into M6: letter-bearing-words-only challenge indexing.

✓i9-m5-gate

M6 Milestone M6 (Build and verify) passed its review.23 / 23 done

✓i9-m6-build-planned

evidence

Fifteen steps in one dependency chain, each a durable checkpoint carrying one design concern. Test-first: runners land first and are observed RED before any feature code.

1. bs-runners — failing selftests for every new test node (the RED set).
2. bs-data-dir — workspace-first data home; canonical paths; global config. *(everything after this has a home)*
3. bs-attest-state — hash-only key chain + command budget.
4. bs-attest-ritual — console grant code; letter-word challenge; redeem/renew.
5. bs-attest-gate — ledger commands refuse without `--key` on the agent channel; console exempt.
6. bs-entry-render — AGENTS.md + copilot-instructions.md rendered from contract.md; drift lint.
7. bs-vv-scope — derived coverage sees only the check's iteration and earlier.
8. bs-report-ux — suspect causes in the detail panel; filter clear / descendants / double-click / help.
9. bs-decisions — scrap sink; derived veto/defer/superseded; path + unrealized-adoption lints; `decisions --parked`.
10. bs-mint — `quack mint` + veto/defer/supersede sugar; graveyard backfill as first vetoes.
11. bs-notes — note lane writes to the data home; note.md prompt calls the engine.
12. bs-global-bin — global binary install; dumb launcher + bootstrap; startup ratchet with rename dance.
13. bs-truth — ledgers under spec/ledger/; spec/project.toml; findRoot flip.
14. bs-migrate — caches, notes, split log homes moved (count+size verified); .quack removed.
15. bs-cleanup — prompts, docs, regenerated entry files, full green sweep.

Order rationale:

The data home (2) precedes every writer.
Attestation (3–5) lands before its own state would be migrated.
The root flip (13) comes late so the whole build runs on stable plumbing.
Migration (14) is second-to-last so nothing writes to old homes after the move.

Interruption anywhere resumes at the named step.

✓i9-m6-tests-red-observed auto

✓i9-m6-build

✓i9-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

✓i9-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i9-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

✓i9-m6-verification-green auto ✓i9-m6-gate

M7 Milestone M7 (Validate and accept) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

✓i9-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

uc-attested-session, in production, not simulation: bounce → console grant (adjudicator) → challenge answered from the contract in context → key → 20-command budget consumed by the real walk → autonomous renewal → successor key finishing the build.
uc-repo-holds-only-truth: the live amnesia demo above; plus `spec/ledger/` carrying every historical bless through a `git mv`.
uc-contract-delivery: AGENTS.md regenerated with the full contract inline; `.github/copilot-instructions.md` exists for the first time — the pointer Copilot never followed is gone. (A real Copilot session on this repo is the remaining FIELD half — logged as a gap below, it needs a different harness than the one walking now.)
uc-global-engine: fresh-bootstrap run observed; ratchet swap observed including its AV-blocked fallback path.

use cases (4)

✓i9-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against every need up to this iteration (the scoped rule this iteration built):

need-engage — the whole iteration was walked through the loop, and its second half ran UNDER the new gate: every ledger command since bs-attest-gate carried a live session key.
need-note — capture runs through the engine lane only (single- and multi-line proven), into the private data home; the note prompt can no longer instruct hand-writing.
need-review — the readout gained what the adjudicator asked for mid-walk: suspects explain themselves in the report, the filter clears/descends/double-clicks, pagers carried every hand-off.
need-implementation — 26 tests authored → observed RED (attested per node) → GREEN; the test-first discipline held for the entire build.
need-workspace-drive — one global binary now serves every workspace (bootstrap proven live), `--base` untouched, legacy markers keep old vehicles running.
need-qualities — the trust story this iteration exists for: structural contract enforcement demonstrated on its own builder, honest ledger preserved through migration (git-moved, zero blesses lost), the amnesia test PASSED LIVE (below).

Ch1 criteria, each demonstrated for real:

(1) keyless bounce — happened to the builder, exit 3 naming contract.md
(2) renewal without a grant — performed at budget exhaustion (rule 6, word 220)
(3) byte-stable renders — selftest + re-render in every build
(4) clean `git status` — the repo tree holds spec/, product/, entry files, launcher, nothing else
(5) amnesia — data home parked and DELETED-equivalent mid-session: board identical (347 gates, 0 suspect), restored without loss
(6) strict-at-birth — five vetoes and one defer minted through the op, all parse strict
(7) one home — canonical-path slugging live, both legacy split homes merged into it.

✓i9-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Field half of thin-harness delivery: copilot-instructions.md is rendered but no real Copilot session has run against it yet — next field feedback question at the coming `engage start`.
Recitation's social half: the challenge proves contract-in-context; whether a paraphrase truly reached a person stays humanly-adjudicated (accepted at M1, R2).
status ~7s vs the 1s responsiveness guide — debt, noted with levers (perf note in the inbox).
Vehicle scaffolding still emits the legacy layout — parked as `adr-defer-vehicle-scaffold` with a named ready-when.

decisions (1)

✓i9-m7-gate

M8 Milestone M8 (Package and hand over) passed its review.5 / 5 done

✓i9-m8-config-baselined

evidence

EARS baseline re-recorded at feature-land: 102 requirement statement hashes into `spec/ledger/ears-baseline.json` (the i9 statements now blessed history, forward-only from here).
`spec/project.toml` is the committed configuration and root marker; the golden root is machine-local by design (data home) and re-baselines with every `quack build`.
The attest ledger carries the full iteration record at `spec/ledger/attest.json` — including the actor-honest stamps of this walk (console grant, agent blesses, delegated human batches).

✓i9-m8-docs-complete

evidence

Entry files: AGENTS.md and .github/copilot-instructions.md are RENDERED from contract.md (this iteration's own mechanism) and regenerate inside every `quack build`; drift is a lint failure. The contract itself carries the attest ritual as its final section.
dependencies.md: rewritten for the global-binary world (bootstrap, ratchet, `product\tools` shim).
Method prompts: engage/review/note/compose-reference de-.quacked (data-home paths, `spec/project.toml`, engine-lane note capture); engage.md carries the backward-cumulative V&V wording matching the shipped rule.
README: the dead `.quack/out/report.png` reference dropped in favor of the `quack report` instruction (the "resolves or dropped" criterion, dropped side); no `.quack` mention remains.
Deliberately quiet: `attest` stays out of `--help` — the unlock path is discoverable only through the contract, which is the design, and is documented THERE.

✓i9-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

✓i9-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

✓i9-m8-gate

i0010_engine_workshop 52/52

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision (Moore).

For the quackitect user — owner, adjudicator, maintainer, vehicle owner.
Who waits seconds for a board, gets "fresh — nothing changed" on real suspects, cannot see pending notes, scaffolds vehicles into the pre-i9 world, answers two pagers back-to-back, and reads "human" all over the surface.
The i0010 engine workshop is a maintenance-and-observability iteration of the quack engine.
That answers from a verification cache within a second, explains derived suspects, lists its notes, logs its calls, emits modern vehicles, ratchets by version instead of mtime, merges ready pagers into one hand-off, and says "user".
Unlike adding a UI layer or rewriting the engine, it hardens the existing zero-dep Go binary and its method.

PR-FAQ pressure test.

*Press line:* "The ledger now answers before you finish blinking — and when it says SUSPECT, it tells you exactly why."
*Hardest FAQ:* "Is a cached verdict trustworthy?" — Yes by construction: the key is the test's full input hash plus the engine build identity. Any edit or rebuild is a miss and re-runs.
*Second FAQ:* "Why touch wording now?" — The ruling exists (user replaces human), the sweep is mechanizable (allowlist selftest), and it rides the same surface the other items already touch.

Scope.

In: verification cache + re-run feedback, fast status, `why` on derived flips, `quack notes` list, call-log instrumentation, mint dedupe + `--rationale`, vehicle scaffold modernization, semantic ratchet, merged killer pagers, user-wording sweep (stamp schema decided at M4).
Out (backlog, with ready-whens): mobile adapter family (awaits the Remote Control trial), `quack listen`, evidence-doc templates, companion app.

✓i10-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

The delta is real, and each item has a referent:

Slow answers: `quack status` ≈ 7s since i9 — the tests-pass battery runs live (measured, perf note 2026-07-04, superseded into the verification-cache note).
Mute why: `quack why` answers "fresh — nothing changed" on coverage-driven suspects (field note 2026-07-04, 09:42).
Invisible notes: since the i9 data-home move there is no in-repo notes folder and no list command (owner note, 14:27).
Legacy scaffold: `start init`/`stubs` still emit the `.quack` world; i9 removed it. Ratchet compares mtimes, so a fresh clone can rebuild the global binary BACKWARD (two notes, 13:06–13:11).
Double ceremony: a milestone's last killer subtask and its gate ripen together and cost two consecutive pagers (owner note, 10:47).
Wrong word: the surface says "human" where the voice rules say role or "user" (owner ruling 2026-07-04: replace with "user"; stamp schema decided in-iteration).

Worth solving: every item is either a daily-friction cost (speed + ceremony + visibility) or a correctness hazard (backward ratchet, stale scaffold).

✓i10-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria, each checkable:

1. Fully cached `quack status` answers ≤ 1s on the reference machine (timed selftest).
2. A re-running battery announces itself before the first test; a cached run is silent.
3. `quack why` on a coverage-flipped check names the rule and the delta — "fresh" is gone for that class.
4. `quack notes` prints location + id, age, first line for every open note.
5. Every dispatch appends one redacted calls.jsonl line.
6. `mint veto --of scrap` writes the sink once; `--rationale` lands in the node.
7. A fresh `start init` emission carries project.toml, launcher, vendored source, pointer-chain entries — and drives from inside.
8. A stale-mtime old-version clone does NOT rebuild the binary backward.
9. One combined pager when the last killer subtask and its gate are ready together; split answer possible.
10. No "human" in prose, prompts, or CLI display strings outside the actor-stamp allowlist (selftest).

✓i10-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk — cache staleness: a verdict survives an input change → falsely green board. Mitigation: key = full input hash + engine build identity; spike at M5 proves the key.
Risk — backward/broken ratchet: the semantic stamp misreads and the binary stops updating (or still regresses). Mitigation: selftest with fresh-mtime/old-version fixture.
Risk — stamp-schema churn: renaming actor vocabulary breaks the ledger schema and the self-cert metric. Mitigation: M4 decision with the metric as a criterion; prose sweep is safe regardless.
Assumption: the selftest battery stays the only verification runner (cache sits at one choke point).
Issue: `report-live` costs ~5s per render inside the battery — the cache must cover it once per build.
Dependency: Go toolchain present for `quack build` (unchanged).

✓i10-m1-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Each subtask has its referent in this doc:

Vision in Moore form plus PR-FAQ.
Six problems, each anchored to a dated note or measurement.
Ten checkable Ch1 criteria.
RAID with mitigations.

The killer (`problem-agreed`) was adjudicated by the user at the pager.

Round 2 — validate. Scope matches the started motivation exactly — all eight pulled work items appear in scope AND are covered by at least one Ch1 criterion:

1–2 cache
1 status
3 why
4 notes
5 call-log
6 mint
7 scaffold
8 ratchet
9 pager
10 wording

Out-list matches the backlog ready-whens. Nothing out of scope smuggled in.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the requirement set.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context diagram (system-in-focus: the quack engine).

                 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  user ────────► │                quack engine                │ ◄──── driving agent
  (console)      │                                            │       (harness, --key)
   status/why/   │  status · why · notes · mint · progress    │
   notes/report  │  build · selftest · start init/stubs       │
                 └──┬───────────┬───────────┬────────────┬────┘
                    │           │           │            │
              IN: spec/    IN/OUT: data home        OUT: vehicle
              (nodes,      (verdict cache NEW,      workspace
              ledger,      calls.jsonl NEW,         (scaffold,
              designs)     notes, logs, out)        launcher, entries)
                    │
              IN: vendored engine source ──► OUT: global binary (ratchet)

IN: spec nodes + ledger, product design markers, vendored engine source, notes home, session key.
OUT: board (status/report), pagers, minted nodes, calls.jsonl (new), verdict records (new), emitted vehicles, the global binary.

Stakeholders by role.

User — reads the board, asks why, lists notes, runs retros. Wants ≤1s answers and real explanations.
Adjudicator — answers pagers. Wants one hand-off per ready pair, not two.
Driving agent — walks checks with a key. Wants deterministic, scriptable output.
Maintainer — edits engine source. Wants the cache invalidated by build identity, not manually.
Vehicle owner — scaffolds new projects. Wants the emitted world to match the current engine.

Function tree (delta of this iteration).

Answer fast → record verdicts → key by input hash + build id → announce re-runs.
Explain → name derived rule + delta in `why`.
Show pending work → list notes (inbox; `--all` adds backlog/archive).
Observe itself → append redacted call lines → aggregate at retro.
Mint cleanly → dedupe sink → accept `--rationale`.
Emit modern vehicles → project.toml root, launcher, vendored source, pointer-chain entries → ratchet by version.
Hand over once → merge last-killer + gate pagers.
Speak of the user → sweep prose/CLI wording, allowlist stamps.

ISO 25010 quality tree — the vital qualities, as 6-part scenarios.

1. Performance efficiency: user runs `quack status` on the reference machine with a warm cache (source: user; stimulus: status; artifact: engine; environment: warm cache) → board prints; measure: ≤ 1s.
2. Reliability (cache honesty): maintainer edits any test input or rebuilds the engine (stimulus: evaluation after change) → exactly the missed verdicts re-run; measure: zero stale verdicts served, proven by selftest.
3. Usability (feedback): a battery re-runs (stimulus: cache miss) → stderr announces before the first test, names each test >1s; measure: silent only when fully cached.
4. Security (log hygiene): agent passes `--key`/`--answer`/grant codes (stimulus: any dispatch) → calls.jsonl carries them redacted; measure: zero secret bytes at rest.
5. Portability (vehicle): vehicle owner runs `start init` on a clean machine (stimulus: emission) → workspace drives from inside via the launcher; measure: driveFromInside green, no `.quack`.

Use cases. The eight minted at compose: , , , , , , , .

Environment assumptions, field-checked (per the M2 method line).

Git clones stamp checkout-time mtimes — the ratchet hazard's premise. Documented Git behavior and the exact failure observed in the 13:06 note; the M5 spike reproduces it with a fixture before the fix is designed.
The selftest battery is the only verification runner — confirmed in code: `coverage:tests-pass` resolves through the one selftest registry (selftest.go); the cache sits at one choke point.
report-live costs ~5s per render — measured 2026-07-04 (perf note); it is the battery's dominant cost and must be cached per build identity.
Harness auto-load channel — field-proven today: Claude Code loads CLAUDE.md only; the scaffold must emit the pointer chain, not AGENTS.md alone.

use cases (8)

✓i10-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Five roles enumerated above. Each maps to at least one use case:

user → uc-fast-board/uc-explain-suspect/uc-notes-visible/uc-user-wording
adjudicator → uc-single-handoff
driving agent → uc-decision-hygiene
maintainer → uc-call-observability (retro data) + cache invalidation (uc-fast-board)
vehicle owner → uc-modern-vehicle

No role without a stake; no use case without a role.

use cases (8)

✓i10-m2-requirements-verifiable auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:req-has-test`): every one of the 12 requirements carries a minted test wired `verify: selftest:<name>`. The engine computes this live.

✓i10-m2-requirements-traced auto

evidence

✓i10-m2-gate

evidence

Round 2 — validate. Coverage against the M1 scope is 1:1:

cache (req-verify-cache, req-verify-feedback, req-status-fast)
why (req-why-derived)
notes (req-notes-list)
call log (req-call-log)
mint (req-mint-dedupe, req-mint-rationale)
scaffold (req-scaffold-modern)
ratchet (req-ratchet-semantic)
pager (req-pager-merge)
wording (req-user-wording)

No scope item without a requirement; no requirement outside scope.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

requirements (7)

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternative set.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m3-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Seven open axes. Each card: context, then options with one-line pro/con and the leaning. Scoring happens at M4 (Pugh, strongest-rival datum).

A1 — Verdict cache shape *(req-verify-cache)*

Context: verdicts are machine-local caches, never truth. Truth stays in spec/ (i9 principle).
(a) Single JSON map in the data home, rewritten atomically per battery. Pro: one read, trivially consistent, self-pruning. Con: whole-file rewrite per battery.
(b) Append-only JSONL log, last-wins per test. Pro: cheap appends, natural history. Con: grows unbounded, needs compaction.
(c) Verdicts in `spec/ledger/`. REJECTED at birth: caches do not belong in committed truth.
Leaning: (a) — verdict sets are small (dozens), atomic rewrite is simpler than compaction.

A2 — Build identity for the cache key *(req-verify-cache)*

Context: a rebuilt engine must invalidate every verdict.
(a) Binary self-hash at startup. Pro: cannot lie, survives forgotten bumps. Con: hashing the exe each run (~ms).
(b) Version constant in source. Pro: free. Con: a forgotten bump serves stale verdicts — the exact failure class this iteration kills elsewhere (mtime ratchet).
Leaning: (a).

A3 — Call-log shape *(req-call-log)*

(a) calls.jsonl append-only in the logs home, redacted fields, size-capped. Pro: owner-directed shape, disposable like logs. Con: cap needs rotation logic.
(b) Per-day files. Pro: rotation for free. Con: aggregation reads many files.
(c) SQLite. REJECTED: zero-dep engine.
Leaning: (a), per the owner's instrumentation note.

A4 — Ratchet stamp *(req-ratchet-semantic)*

Context: mtime is a temporal proxy for a semantic rule ("newer engine"). Fresh clones break it.
(a) Generated version-stamp file written by `quack build` into the vendored source; launcher compares semantically. Pro: explicit, diffable. Con: one more generated file to keep honest.
(b) Source identity hash + recorded version: ratchet only when the vendored source differs AND its recorded version is greater. Pro: belt and braces. Con: two mechanisms to test.
(c) Keep mtimes. GRAVEYARD: the observed backward-rebuild bug.
Leaning: (a), with (b)'s version-greater guard folded in if the spike shows hash-only ambiguity.

A5 — Stamp vocabulary *(req-user-wording; owner ruling: user replaces human)*

Context: the recorded actor stamp feeds the self-cert metric (agent-blessed killers ÷ killers). Prose is free; the schema is not.
(a) Sweep prose + CLI display; stamps stay `actor=human`/`--by human` as a frozen allowlist. Pro: zero ledger churn. Con: the frozen word contradicts the ruling at the record layer.
(b) Full rename to `actor=user`/`--by user` with a ledger migration and a read-compat shim for old records. Pro: one vocabulary everywhere. Con: schema churn, migration risk, i8 design regions reopen.
(c) Channel terms (`console`/`harness`). Pro: names the mechanism, dodges person-words. Con: overrides the explicit "user" ruling — kept only as the strongest rival for the Pugh datum.
Leaning: genuinely open — this is the M4 decision with the metric as a criterion.

A6 — Notes list surface *(req-notes-list)*

(a) `quack notes [--all]` — a small read-only command. Pro: discoverable noun, room for later sub-ops. Con: second entry point beside `note`.
(b) `quack note --list`. Pro: one entry point. Con: a verb command growing read modes.
Leaning: (a), per the capture note.

A7 — Why-explanation source *(req-why-derived)*

(a) Compute on demand: `why` re-derives the coverage delta live (rule + the counted inputs). Pro: no new state, always current. Con: pays the evaluation cost on ask.
(b) Record flip reasons at evaluation time; `why` reads the record. Pro: instant answer. Con: new state to invalidate — a second cache to keep honest.
Leaning: (a); with A1's verdict cache the evaluation is cheap by then.

requirements (4)

✓i10-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the requirements and the standing constraints, vital-few:

#	Criterion	From	Weight
C1	Zero-dep, one static binary	engine constraint	5
C2	Truth in spec, caches deletable	i9 principle, req-verify-cache	5
C3	Cannot serve stale state (self-invalidating)	req-verify-cache, req-ratchet-semantic	5
C4	Responsiveness (1s feedback)	req-status-fast, responsiveness guide	4
C5	Schema & metric continuity	self-cert metric, ledger stability	4
C6	Smallest honest diff	maintenance iteration	3

requirements (1)

✓i10-m3-feasibility-checked

evidence

A1(a)/(b): both trivial in stdlib Go — os.WriteFile atomic-rename / append. Feasible.
A2(a): sha256 of the running exe via os.Executable — milliseconds. Feasible.
A3(a): append + size check ≈ 40 lines. Feasible.
A4(a)/(b): build already writes generated files (golden root); a stamp file is the same move. Feasible.
A5(a): grep-sweep + allowlist selftest — mechanical. A5(b): migration touches attest.json records — feasible but the riskiest item on the board.
A6(a): read-only directory listing — trivial.
A7(a): the coverage evaluator already computes the inputs; naming them is exposure, not new math. Feasible.

✓i10-m3-gate

evidence

Round 2 — validate. Axis coverage against the requirement set:

A1/A2→verify-cache
A3→call-log
A4→ratchet-semantic
A5→user-wording
A6→notes-list
A7→why-derived

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

requirements (3)

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decisions.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

One card per axis. Candidates and pro/cons live in .

A1 — cache shape

Decision: one JSON verdict map in the data home. Atomic rewrite per battery.
Because: verdict sets are small. One read, no compaction logic.
Rejected: append-only log (grows, needs compaction), spec residency (caches are never truth).

A2 — build identity

Decision: sha256 self-hash of the running binary, once per process.
Because: it cannot lie. A rebuild always invalidates.
Rejected: version constant. A forgotten bump serves stale verdicts — the mtime failure class again.

A3 — call log

Decision: `calls.jsonl` in the logs home. One redacted line per dispatch.
Retention: retro-bound (owner ruling) — the retro aggregates, then deletes the log. No rotation machinery.
Because: the log exists FOR the retro. The retro opens every engage start, so the growth window is one iteration.
Rejected: per-day files (aggregation reads many), SQLite (zero-dep), size-cap rotation (a tuning knob replaced by a process fact).

A4 — ratchet

Decision: `quack build` writes a version stamp into the vendored source. The launcher ratchets only FORWARD, by comparing stamps.
Because: the rule is semantic ("newer engine"). The stamp records exactly that.
Rejected: mtime (fresh clones rebuilt backward — the observed bug).
Contingency: the M5 spike must prove fresh-clone correctness. Otherwise the hash guard folds in.

A5 — stamp vocabulary

Decision: every surface a person reads says user (or the role). The recorded stamps (`actor=human`, `--by human`) stay frozen FOR NOW.
Because: one metric vocabulary across history keeps the self-cert metric honest today.
Sunset (owner-directed 2026-07-04): the freeze is a bridge, not an end state. The frozen vocabulary is on the geronticide kill-list — a future iteration renames the records to `user` with a proper ledger migration. Churn is acceptable; churn-aversion is not a deciding criterion.
Rejected: doing the rename inside THIS iteration (it deserves its own migration walk), channel terms (overrides the ruling).

A6 — notes surface

Decision: `quack notes [--all]`. Read-only.
Because: discoverable noun. Room for later sub-ops.
Rejected: `note --list` (a write verb growing read modes).

A7 — why source

Decision: `why` computes the coverage delta live.
Because: no second cache to keep honest.
Rejected: recorded flip-reasons (new state, new staleness risk).

Pager merge (shape was fixed at M3, from the owner's note)

Decision: merge the HAND-OFF, never the nodes. One combined pager when the last open killer subtask and its gate are ready together. Both blesses recorded individually. Split answers possible.

✓i10-m4-choice-traced

evidence

Only A5 was contested. Pugh run 1, datum = prose-only sweep (the strongest rival — voice.md already prescribes it).

Criterion (weight)	rename now + migration	channel terms
C2 truth in spec (5)	−	−
C5 metric continuity (4)	−−	−−
C6 smallest honest diff (3)	−	−
one vocabulary everywhere	+	S

✓i10-m4-adr-recorded auto

evidence

Six decisions minted in :

adr-verdict-cache
adr-build-identity
adr-call-log
adr-ratchet-stamp
adr-stamp-vocabulary
adr-pager-handoff

`coverage:adr-traced` computes live.

decisions (6)

✓i10-m4-gate

evidence

Round 2 — validate. The owner rulings land intact:

"user replaces human" on every read surface.
The stamp freeze is explicitly a bridge with a recorded sunset.
The pager decision preserves node separation.

No decision contradicts a shipped ADR.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i10-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

Spike: `spikes/i10-cache-ratchet/main.go` in the data home (throwaway). Seven assertions, all PASS — run 2026-07-04.

Unknown 1 — cache-key correctness across rebuilds.

Unchanged inputs + unchanged binary → HIT, zero re-runs.
Edited test (new input hash) → MISS, re-runs.
Rebuilt binary, same inputs → MISS, re-runs.
Byte-identical rebuild → self-hash stable → HIT.

Verdict: the key (full input hash + binary self-hash) cannot serve a stale verdict. The byte-identical case is a bonus: a no-op rebuild keeps the cache warm.

Unknown 2 — semantic ratchet on fresh clones.

The bug reproduced: a fresh clone of OLD vendored source gets checkout-time mtimes, and the mtime rule rebuilds the global binary BACKWARD.
The fix proven: a stamp whose value is committed content (not filesystem metadata) survives the clone; comparing stamps refuses the backward rebuild and still ratchets forward on genuinely newer source.

Spike finding that advances the design (the M4 contingency, resolved):

The engine version constant is static (`0.0.1-go`) — a *version-number* stamp would never fire. The stamp's monotonic component must be the build time, written by `quack build` as committed file content (RFC3339), paired with the source hash so an equal-time/equal-hash clone never rebuilds.
adr-ratchet-stamp's wording ("recorded version") is realized as this build-time stamp; no hash-guard fold-in needed beyond the pair above.

decisions (1)

✓i10-m5-design-buildable

evidence

Every mechanism ran in the spike with stdlib only: sha256, os file ops, RFC3339 time parse. Zero new dependencies.
The cache sits at the one existing choke point (the selftest evaluator); the stamp rides `quack build`, which already writes generated files (golden root).
The remaining items (notes list, calls.jsonl, why-delta, pager merge, mint fixes, wording sweep) need no spike — they are exposure of existing computations or mechanical sweeps, per the M3 feasibility card.

✓i10-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Output (7× PASS) captured above; the spike stays in the data home and dies with it.
Design advanced: adr-ratchet-stamp's contingency is RESOLVED (build-time + source-hash stamp, committed content). The M4 card's kill-criterion is satisfied.

decisions (1)

✓i10-m5-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Both named unknowns have executable evidence, not argument: the failure mode was reproduced before the fix was trusted. Assertions cover:

hit
miss-by-edit
miss-by-rebuild
stability
backward-refusal
forward-ratchet

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.20 / 20 done

✓i10-m6-build-planned

evidence

Twelve steps, seeded as children of `i10-m6-build` and chained in dependency order. Each step is one durable unit: one design concern plus one verification hook, worth resuming on its own.

1. bs-verdict-cache — the cache core (map, self-hash identity, evaluator consult). Everything else in the perf family stands on it.
2. bs-verify-feedback — the stderr announcement rides the cache's miss path.
3. bs-status-fast — the timed selftest closes the perf family.
4. bs-why-derived — why names the rule + delta (cheap once the cache exists).
5. bs-notes-list — read-only notes command.
6. bs-call-log — dispatch logging + the retro aggregate-then-delete step in review.md.
7. bs-mint-fixes — sink dedupe, --rationale.
8. bs-ratchet-stamp — build writes the committed stamp; launcher compares forward-only.
9. bs-scaffold-modern — emitters to the current world; needs the stamp (step 8) to emit it.
10. bs-pager-merge — combined pager + engage.md wording.
11. bs-user-wording — the sweep runs LAST-but-one so it covers all new strings too.
12. bs-cleanup — docs match the surface; full build + selftest green.

Sequence rationale:

the cache family first (1–3, the riskiest plumbing — spike-proven)
pure additions next (4–7)
the vehicle pair (8–9, stamp before emitter)
the two method-touching steps (10–11, wording sweep after all strings exist)
cleanup last

Before any implementation: the 12 new tests get observed RED (`quack observe-red` each — their selftests are unregistered, so each runs and fails honestly at its current hash).

✓i10-m6-tests-red-observed auto

evidence

✓i10-m6-build

evidence

All 12 steps realized, each blessed after its selftest went green and the battery stayed clean:

1. verdict cache — , consulted from the tests-pass battery and gateState; spike-proven key discipline.
2. verify feedback — announce-once on miss, per-test >1s naming, silent when cached. Seen live every rebuild.
3. status fast — timed selftest with a recursion guard; measured live: 0.21s (from ~7s).
4. why derived — rule + delta named; probed live on `i9-m6-tests-red-observed` (names the two restated tests).
5. notes list — `quack notes [--all]`; listed the live inbox correctly.
6. call log — redacted JSONL per dispatch through the `quackExit` funnel; retro aggregates then deletes ( step 6).
7. mint fixes — `sugarAddresses` dedupe + `--rationale`.
8. ratchet stamp — committed build-time stamp, forward-only; `engine-stamp.txt` now rides the vendored source.
9. scaffold modern — `tools/vendor/` world, `spec/project.toml` marker, pointer-chain entries, global-bin launcher; driveFromInside roundtrip green; legacy stub lane kept and green.
10. pager merge — combined hand-off when the last killer subtask and its gate ripen together; engage.md ADJUDICATE names it.
11. user wording — full sweep; allowlist = exactly the frozen recorded tokens; the two CLI display strings asserted dead.
12. cleanup — AGENTS.md list, usage text, dependencies.md match the surface.

Rider (owner-directed at the M6 gate): the report wears a fully-done iteration's count green (`.frac.ok`).

✓i10-m6-detailed-design-complete auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:designs-realized`) computes green: every one of the 12 requirements carries an inline design region with realized code. `quack lint`: coverage clean, no holes.

✓i10-m6-impl-risks-acceptable

evidence

Cache staleness: closed by construction (input hash + binary self-hash) and by spike + selftest.
Backward ratchet: closed; the committed stamp survives clones. Residual: wall-clock ordering — accepted at M5 with the chain-stamp rejection recorded.
Ledger honesty: observe-red now refuses a passing test; the fabrication class is structurally closed.
Known open debt (visible red, by design): i9's `tests-red-observed` stays red on the two restated tests until the shipped-test-edit rule (geronticide list).

✓i10-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Zero-dep held: stdlib only, no new modules.
Every new mechanism has a selftest seam (path overrides, feedback writer, memo isolation) instead of global side effects in tests.
Voice on new output: notes list and pager wording follow the list rules; call-log lines are machine records.
One process-hygiene lesson caught and fixed in-walk: selftest teardown must restore ALL shared state (the callArgs leak).

✓i10-m6-verification-green auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:tests-pass`) computes green: all 12 new selftests pass, and the full battery (82 checks) has no FAIL across every iteration in scope.

✓i10-m6-gate

evidence

Round 2 — validate. The build delivers exactly the M1 scope. All ten Ch1 criteria are now mechanically checkable and pass where measurable today:

status 0.21s ≤ 1s
why names rules
notes visible
log redacted
mint clean
scaffold modern
ratchet forward-only
pager merges
wording swept

Two criteria (merged pager in a live walk, retro log deletion) get their end-to-end demonstration at M7.

Round 3 — red-team. Strongest objections:

(a) the verdict cache could mask a flaky test — answered: verdicts re-run per build, and flakiness is a test defect the RED discipline surfaces
(b) the wording sweep could have broken attest word-indexing — checked: rule bodies carry no swept words except rule 3/5, and the challenge derives from live text, so renewals stay consistent
(c) two same-iteration defect fixes (observe-red, tests-red scope) rode in without composed requirements — recorded honestly here and in the defect note; the geronticide/next compose owns their trace nodes if the adjudicator wants them backfilled

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the needs.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against the Ch1 criteria, each demonstrated for real where the criterion is live today:

1. Cached status ≤ 1s — measured live twice: 0.21s and 0.19s (from ~7s). ✅
2. Battery announces re-runs — observed live on every rebuild this session ("verification: cache miss — re-running tests…"); cached runs silent. ✅
3. why names rule + delta — probed live on `i9-m6-tests-red-observed`: names `coverage:tests-red` and the two restated tests. The "fresh — nothing changed" answer is dead for derived checks. ✅
4. notes visible — `quack notes` listed the live inbox (6 notes, ages, first lines). ✅
5. Redacted call log — live `calls.jsonl` lines carry cmd/ms/exit/channel; `--key` values appear only as REDACTED. ✅
6. Mint clean — dedupe + `--rationale` selftests green. ✅
7. Modern scaffold drives from inside — a real emitted vehicle (temp) ran `status` through its own launcher; project.toml + stamp + pointer chain asserted; no `.quack`. ✅
8. No backward ratchet — the fresh-clone fixture refuses the backward rebuild and ratchets forward. ✅
9. Merged pager — demonstrated via the selftest's rendered pager (combined header + "y = both" question). HONESTY NOTE: no live walk situation produced the merge this iteration (this iteration's killers sit FIRST in their milestones); the first live demonstration lands whenever a milestone's killer ripens last. ✅ (mechanism), ⏳ (live sighting)
10. "user" everywhere — the sweep selftest guards every prose surface against the word outside the frozen tokens; the walk's own output now says "GATE (user-adjudicated)". ✅

✓i10-m7-killer-ucs-demonstrated

evidence

The three killer-marked flows exercised for real, not merely tests-green:

the fast board (timed at the console)
the modern scaffold roundtrip (an actual vehicle emitted and driven from inside)
the honest red-observation (the tool REFUSED a green test live — that refusal is what exposed and fixed the fabrication defect)

✓i10-m7-acceptance-obtained

evidence

✓i10-m7-validation-gaps

evidence

Gap: merged pager has no live sighting yet (mechanism selftested). Watch at the next milestone where a killer ripens last.
Gap: retro-time deletion of calls.jsonl runs first at the NEXT retro — the method line exists, the act hasn't happened yet.
Debt (recorded): i9 tests-red red on two restated tests — geronticide list.
Risk (accepted at M5): wall-clock ordering of build stamps.

✓i10-m7-gate

evidence

Round 2 — validate. The original need:

speed
self-explanation
visibility
honest vehicles
less ceremony
right wording

Each maps to a demonstrated criterion. The backward-cumulative check holds: no earlier iteration's need regressed under the new engine.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless. No reopened checks.

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the handover, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i10-m8-config-baselined

evidence

✓i10-m8-docs-complete

evidence

: command list carries `notes`, the enforcing `observe-red` wording, the stamp-writing `build`. The ritual chain stands.
Usage text (`quack -h`): includes `notes [--all]`.
: build description names the stamp.
+ : the order-is-not-dependency rule and the combined hand-off are the documented method.
: retro step 6 aggregates then deletes calls.jsonl.
Wording: the user-wording selftest guards every surface; the walk output itself says "user-adjudicated".

✓i10-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

The deliverable is the ONE global binary plus its committed provenance:

`quack.exe` at build stamp in `engine-stamp.txt` (rides the vendored source into every future vehicle)
golden root re-baselined
report rendered to the data home

`engage ship` packages `product/` after the gate.

✓i10-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The handover artifact is the live board (0 suspect, 399 gates) plus the eight evidence docs M1–M8. Acceptance is recorded by the gate bless that follows this doc.

✓i10-m8-gate

evidence

Round 1 — verify. Docs cross-checked against the actual surface (commands + method rules + wording guard). The package is the global binary + stamp + ledger — all present and current.

Verdict: PASS — proceed to bless, then `engage ship`.

i0011_geronticide 27/27

M1 L1 frame gate.2 / 2 done

✓i11-m1-problem-success

evidence

Problem. The board still tells small lies and carries old exemptions:

The tamper tripwire lives inside every verification suite — legitimate authoring flashes history red (caught live at i10 M3, cost one adjudicator investigation).
A propagated suspect looks identical to a direct one — the misattribution cost 28 wasted delegated blesses at i10 M7.
Killer-subtask pagers report milestone-scoped "ready: NO" false alarms (flagged twice in one walk).
Blessed verdict referents (`M<n>-*.md`) are unhashed — evidence can mutate under its link.
The ledger says `human` where every surface now says `user`; `testsRedSince` is a magic date constant; the `.quack` vendor lanes and `engine.local` survive with no user left to need them; EARS exemptions and pre-i4 design regions are grandfathered without recorded decisions.

Success, checkable.

1. Red means regression:

parity standalone
propagated suspects marked with their root named
pagers scoped to the check in hand

explicit exemption markers
retire-or-retrofit ADRs for the EARS baseline and pre-i4 designs
legacy lanes gone

Worth solving. Every item is a trust cost on the ledger itself — the product IS the trustworthy board.

✓i11-m1-gate

evidence

M2 L2 requirements gate.4 / 4 done

✓i11-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i11-m2-req-traced auto

✓i11-m2-reqs-stated

evidence

Nine EARS requirements. Minted at compose, lint-clean (0 exemptions). Constraints they honor:

Truth stays append-only where it is truth: the stamp migration (req-stamp-user) is one audited pass with the metric spanning eras — never silent rewriting.
Honesty over convenience: exemptions become explicit markers (req-testsred-exempt) or recorded decisions (req-grandfathers-decided) — nothing is quietly fixed by fabricating evidence.
Zero-dep, one binary, selftest seams — unchanged standing constraints.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i11-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: 9/9 statements EARS-shaped, each naming its checkable outcome. The two coverage checks compute green. Validate: the set covers M1's four success outcomes exactly:

parity/suspect/pager under honest-board
hashing/cap under verdict-integrity
the stamp under user-wording
markers/decisions/lanes under no-grandfathers

M3 L3 design gate.3 / 3 done

✓i11-m3-adr-traced auto

evidence

Five ADRs minted, each addressing a named requirement. `coverage:adr-traced` computes live.

✓i11-m3-approach-chosen

evidence

One line per item — approach, and why not the obvious alternative:

decisions (5)

✓i11-m3-gate

evidence

M4 L4 build-and-test gate.15 / 15 done

✓i11-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:designs-realized`), computes live: every i11 requirement carries a realized design region.

✓i11-m4-tests-pass auto

evidence

Derived (`coverage:tests-pass`), computes live: the backward-cumulative suite through i0011 is green.

✓i11-m4-tests-red auto

evidence

All nine i11 tests were authored as spec nodes and observed FAILING (`quack observe-red`) at their hashes before any build step. Birth evidence lives in the ledger.

✓i11-m4-build

evidence

All nine planned steps above are realized and individually blessed.

✓i11-bs-cache-cap

evidence

Every verdict write keeps the newest 8 `evidence/<id>/*.json` files and deletes the rest, oldest first.
Realized in (design `go-evidence-cache-cap`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-evidence-hash

evidence

A milestone gate folds its evidence doc set (`M<n>-*.md`) into its full hash ().
Editing blessed evidence flips the gate SUSPECT; whitespace churn moves nothing (normWS); subtasks never fold docs.
Docless history stays stable (no seed component without docs).
Realized in (design `go-evidence-hash`); the upgrade wave was re-blessed knowingly at M1–M3.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-grandfather-adrs

evidence

The anonymous EARS baseline file is deleted; lint checks EVERY requirement statement.
63 historical non-EARS statements carry `ears: exempt - … (adr-grandfathers-historical)` markers; every marker must cite a resolvable ADR or `selftest:grandfathers-decided` fails.
Pre-i4 requirements without a realized design region must be ADR-addressed (none exist today; the invariant is live).

decisions (1)

✓i11-bs-legacy-lanes

evidence

Resolver: data-home overlay → `tools/vendor` → dogfood `product/` only; the `.quack/overlay` and `.quack/vendor` lanes are gone.
Stub launcher: global binary → `QUACK_ENGINE`; no `engine.local`, no internal `.quack\engine` branch.
The `.gitignore` stub died with the lanes (nothing machine-local is emitted).
The i5 requirements were restated in place, EARS-shaped (); design `go-legacy-lanes-retired` probes a fake legacy-only engine root.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-pager-scope

evidence

A killer-subtask pager reports its OWN readiness: upstreams plus evidence, never the milestone.
Gate pagers keep the milestone scope; merged hand-offs resolve to the gate first.
Realized in (design `go-pager-scope`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-parity

evidence

`suite: never-cached` marker on test nodes; `tests-pass` skips standalone members.
rides the standalone suite: a moved golden root reddens exactly one row.
Realized in (design `go-standalone-suite`).

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i11-bs-stamp-user

evidence

New records write `actor=user`; a delegated `--by human` normalizes to `user` at write.
`quack migrate-actors` rewrote 652 historical events `human -> user` in ONE audited pass (count + timestamp recorded in the ledger); the second run is a no-op.
Readers fold `human` into `user` forever (`normActor`); the self-cert metric counts agent versus non-agent, spanning both eras ().
Fixture-proven (`selftest:stamp-user`) BEFORE the real ledger was touched. Bless hashes and the prev_hash chain stayed intact (`selftest:kernel-attest` green).

decisions (1)

✓i11-bs-suspect-root

evidence

A propagated suspect is marked and names its root (`SuspectRoots`); a direct suspect stays direct.
Surfaces: status board, `quack why`, the pager risk lines.
Realized in (design `go-suspect-root`).

designs (1)

✓i11-bs-testsred-marker

evidence

The `testsRedSince` date constant is dead; the engine source carries no era constant.
All 37 pre-mechanism tests (33 in i0001–i0007, 4 baseline nodes in `spec/decisions/`) carry `tests_red: exempt - … (adr-grandfathers-historical)` markers; a bare `exempt` without a reason is not honored.
Realized in (design `go-testsred-marker`), parser key `tests_red` allowlisted.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i11-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep: all new imports are stdlib (`strconv`, `regexp`, `fmt`, `time`).
Selftest seams: every new behavior carries a dependency-free hook (`evidenceBaseOverride`, pure `migrateActorsFrom`/`metricsFrom`, `testsRedExempt`, fake-ENGINE probe).
Voice: single-thought CLI sentences; every exemption marker cites its ADR; restated statements are EARS-shaped.

✓i11-m4-gate

evidence

the tamper tripwire is standalone
propagated suspects name their root
pagers scope to the check
evidence is hashed-or-suspect
verdict files are bounded
the ledger says user
no grandfather survives without its recorded decision

M5 L5 docs-and-ship gate, then engage ship.3 / 3 done

✓i11-m5-docs-match

evidence

Every live doc surface was swept for the i11 removals; history docs stay untouched.

: `lint` without the dead flag; `bless [--by user|agent]`; new `migrate-actors` line (the migration note).
: rule 3 and its design comment say `actor=user`; the `actor=agent` exception is unchanged.
: channel stamps say `user`; delegated blesses pass `--by user`.
: rewritten to the modern layout — `tools/vendor/`, `spec/project.toml`, global-binary launcher, data-home overlay; no `.quack` lane, no `engine.local`.
and : notes inbox and report output point at the workspace data home.
: EARS doctrine says markers citing ; the baseline is recorded dead.
CLI usage: `lint` bare; `migrate-actors` listed.
README: no stale mention (checked).
Doc-sensitive selftests all green: contract, user-wording, ears-method, deps-prompt, method, integrate, surface, help, contract-render, render-drift, stubs.

decisions (1)

✓i11-m5-packaged

evidence

Global binary current: `quack build` green, stamp ratcheted, golden re-baselined.
Ledger migrated: 652 events say `user`, audit event in place, second pass a no-op.
`quack ship` packaged `product/` → `<data-home>/out/quack-i0011_geronticide.zip` (ephemeral, not committed).

✓i11-m5-gate

evidence

tests (1)

i0012_spec_book 92/92

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

Hand-written docs will not happen. The owner states this plainly; the first quackitect-made tool ships to real users regardless.
The current spec is node files plus a status report. Only walkers and adjudicators can read it.
The audience is average professionals, including non-technical and non-native readers. The current register goes over their heads.
The presentation deadline makes the delta urgent: the project must document and present itself.
Worth solving: docs are the product's face for every stakeholder who was not in the loop.

✓i12-m1-risks-logged

evidence

Risk — doc-infra rabbit hole: sebot died building doc infrastructure. Mitigation: the scope guard (one emitter, one manifest type, two lints) is an M5 buildability criterion.
Risk — DITA-style metadata sprawl: mitigation: derive over store; no per-node audience tags.
Risk — meta self-reference: AI talks about itself; mitigation: meta-quarantine lint, chapters 1–6 speak only about the system.
Risk — register drift: AI prose goes over the audience's head; mitigation: voice rules bind every sentence, TL;DR mandatory, provenance marks route human attention, readability check pushed toward `class: executed` at M2.
Risk — provenance honesty: the AI side is structural — AI-emitted prose is stamped with its three icons by the pipeline, never self-reported. The human side is deliberately an honor system (owner ruling, M1): reducing icons is the owner's judgment and is not policed. Requirement due at M2.
Risk — deadline pressure: full-book scope vs the ship/presentation dates; mitigation: M6 defer lane is pre-agreed.

decisions (1)

✓i12-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria (each checked at M7):

✓i12-m1-vision-scope

evidence

Scope. Full book (owner ruling at plan):

all chapters
templates
glossary/SyA
guidance split
methodology map
deck
plus the evidence-authoring infra fixes on the side

One iteration; M6 may defer the book half if the plan proves too big.

Stakeholder-specific communication (owner brief, M1). This is a load-bearing frame element, not a style nicety:

Target audience: professionals, usually college-educated, with some experience. Not always technical. Not assumed native speakers.
Newcomers can read individual parts; the full picture is optional for them.
Assume average intelligence, competence, and motivation — the content must still land.
The register selects by stakeholder: non-tech chapters carry less detail.
Big ideas first, details later. Always explain the what and the why first.
Every chapter opens with a TL;DR.
The default agent writing style is too dense; the voice rules apply to every book sentence, and get sharpened for the book where needed.

AI-first drafting with visible provenance (owner brief, M1).

The AI writes every first draft of the book's prose. The user improves where needed.
Every AI-written paragraph carries "ai written" icons: three when the AI drafted it.
A user correction or rewrite may reduce the icon count. The count is a per-paragraph provenance record, rendered by the book.

requirements (1)

✓i12-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: each subtask carries its referent:

the owner's M1 brief (this session, recorded verbatim above)
the spec-book design note
the two evidence-doc field findings

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the design input.7 / 7 done

✓i12-m2-audience-model

evidence

The model: who reads, in which situation and with what question.

#	Reader	Situation	Their question	Register	Entry (preset)	Depth
1	Decision maker (non-tech)	Ten minutes to judge or fund it	What is this and why does it matter? Is it sound?	Simplest. No internals. No jargon.	onepager / exec summary (ch1 + ch4 killer statements)	1
2	End user of the shipped tool	Wants to get a task done	How do I do X?	Simple, task-first	user guide (7.1), ch0–1	1–2
3	Newcomer	First contact, learning	What is this about? Where do I start?	Simple, guided; full picture optional	newcomer (ch0–2)	1–2
4	Engineer / architect	Evaluating, extending, onboarding	How is it built? Why these decisions? What lost?	Technical, precise	architect (ch2–4)	2–3
5	Auditor / quality role	Compliance or V&V review	Prove every claim traces and was verified	Evidence-first, exhaustive	auditor/trace (ch5–6, full evidence)	4
6	Owner / operator	Driving or presenting the project	Where are we? What is decided? What is suspect?	Technical, ledger vocabulary	project view (ch6) + board	2–4
7	Agent (AI)	Retrieval, operation	What is normative? What is verified? How do I operate?	Machine register: layers named, trust metadata	agent guide (7.4) + embedded graph	full
8	Talk audience	Live presentation	Why should I care?	Spoken register: big ideas only	deck preset; notes carry the depth	1 (+reveals)
9	Operator / admin of the shipped system	Installs, configures, runs, troubleshoots	How do I deploy it? What does this error mean?	Task-first, exact	operations section of 7.1 + install/deploy docs	1–2
10	Integrator (neighboring-system developer)	Builds against the interfaces	What does the contract promise - CLI, config, formats?	Reference, terse	technical reference (7.3) + ch2 context	2–3

Rules the matrix implies:

Readers 1–3 never meet internals. Their chapters carry less detail by design, not by omission — the detail exists one depth-step or one chapter-link away.
Readers 4–6 get the full graph, progressively. Nothing is dumbed down for them; the depth ladder does the work.
Reader 7 is a first-class audience, not an afterthought: 41% of static-doc readership is already AI-driven (State of Docs 2026). The same HTML serves it through semantic markup and data attributes.
The stakeholder/view matrix on the book's entry page (ch0) IS this table, rendered: one preset button per reader row.
A newcomer (reader 3) reading a single chapter out of context is a SUPPORTED case: every chapter's TL;DR plus the glossary must carry enough context to stand alone.

default (always applies, every project):
acquirer / decision maker
user
newcomer
communicator / talk audience
assessor / auditor
project owner / operator of the walk
agent (AI)
software (adds):
developer / maintainer
operator / sysadmin of the shipped system
integrator / neighboring-system developer
tester
manufactured_good (adds):
production engineer
supplier
installer / commissioner
service / maintenance technician
transport / logistics
regulator / certifier
end-of-life / recycling
cyber_physical: links the software AND manufactured_good class sets - the union, three links, no duplication.

Anchors:

— information for use separated per target audience, unskilled to professional
— stakeholders attach to life-cycle stages. The manufactured classes activate at:
production
installation
support
retirement
the SyA class rubric — at least one reader per class
arc42 — neighboring-system developers

One recorded footnote: if per-type guide/checklist CASCADING is ever built, the directory nesting question returns. For class links it has no impact.

What this settles for the requirements:

Every view/preset requirement traces to a reader row.
The reader matrix above is the software-type rendering for THIS project.
Stakeholder-coverage (the next check) is judged row by row against the type-derived class set - a class with no serving row fails it.

✓i12-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

The captured input, by source (full texts in the 2026-07-06 notes archive):

Owner rulings: the connection system (one system for semantic relations); storage option A (two lanes per kind); ch8 guides as notes, one subchapter per type; example notes per derived kind; the ch3 mechanization set (functions deferred); the extension scope itself, with the scope complaint pre-acknowledged as a retro lead.
Red-team, trust lens: hash-neutral loading is the hard requirement; migration self-audits or bakes its own bugs into the golden; the id-charset lint ships first; the edge-mode key is the migration's commit point; connection prose must hash; one pre-existing nondeterminism found (candidate verdict scans map order).
Red-team, standards lens: the item-kind set is standards-complete at this scale; SysML2-aligned kind vocabulary; budget gains margin; mode/state and function deferred; concern, view/viewpoint, ConOps, change-request, and actor consciously rejected.
Red-team, template lens: four shipped defects (fig lines render as prose, block-tree draws the book's chapters, the methods view does not exist, the need kind is half-born); mint covers 5 of 13 kinds against its own principle.

Requirement growth: 27 → 59, all EARS-shaped and each with a test. Both derived rules compute green on this board.

Scope items flagged to the adjudicator at this gate:

Trace-graph whitelist revert (owner ruling 2026-07-05, still unimplemented): the item types must stay OFF the report graph's node whitelist. One-line report.go correction - proposed as a rider on i12-bs21-ch4.
The wider trust gap (.base files and content notes outside the identity root): BACKLOGGED to the next engine iteration with its ready-when; req-conn-root covers connection content only.

use cases (3)

✓i12-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i12-m2-req-traced auto

✓i12-m2-substrate-thesis

evidence

llms.txt adoption stalled - no major provider consumes it; server logs show crawlers do not request it.
AI-driven readership of static docs reached 41% - agents already consume plain HTML.
AGENTS.md thrives as STATIC curation under a foundation - the agent world standardizes on curated files, not live pipelines.

Consequences recorded:

Emitters stay deterministic; AI prose is authored once, gated, and becomes static content with visible provenance.
Layers are self-describing in the standards vocabulary (normative / informative / evidence) with a reader's contract at the top - they survive RAG chunking and human skimming alike.
The agent guide and the repo AGENTS.md emit from one source; agents are served by curation, never by a required model.
LLM digestibility is required of the book itself (req-llm-digestible); a companion index is a fallback realization, adopted only on evidence that extraction falls short.
Machine consumability is validated empirically at M7 (the book-legibility probe) - AI used where it adds value, per the thesis itself.

✓i12-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

Quackitect's derived type set is `software` (union over all its iterations' types). The derived classes and their serving rows:

default: acquirer → row 1 · user → row 2 · newcomer → row 3 · communicator/talk → rows 1 and 8 · assessor/auditor → row 5 · project owner → row 6 · agent → row 7.
software: developer/maintainer → row 4 · operator/sysadmin of the shipped system → row 9 · integrator → row 10 · tester → row 5 (fold recorded: the V&V chapter is the tester's view).
manufactured_good classes: not derived for this project - no row owed, no N/A needed. They activate only for a project whose iterations carry that type.

Every derived class has a serving row; every row has an entry preset in the matrix. No role is left without a view. Coverage holds.

✓i12-m2-gate

evidence

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternatives.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m3-alternatives

evidence

Axis 9 — Connection storage

Context: where reified relations live. Four candidates, ratings in the notes (, , , ).

A — frontmatter status quo. Pro: zero migration, Obsidian-native. Con: no prose, no symmetric home, the two-system smell.
B — one note per edge. Pro: everything addressable. Con: measured 1.5x-2.6x file explosion; the status feel dies.
C — central jsonl with details pointers. Pro: one machine index. Con: the human-facing kinds lose Obsidian preview or duplicate display frontmatter.
D — two lanes per kind (owner option A). Preferred. Machine edges as jsonl lines, human edges as real notes, one edge one lane, the adjacency determinizer merges.

Axis 10 — The implements lane

Context: implements edges are declared in code design markers (, ).

A — derive connection notes from code. Con: every failure mode is silent-drift-shaped (stale generated files, orphan connections bricking the strict guard).
B — stay code-declared, merge at read time. Preferred. Code regions already hash; DRY holds by deriving the view.

Task wiring (depends_on, parent) is the recorded open sub-question: joining is jsonl-cheap. The recommendation (stay frontmatter this iteration) goes to the adjudicator at M4.

✓i12-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

The M3 weights carry unchanged; workspace bloat and Obsidian-preview fidelity score under authoring cost (4) and audience register fit (3). The candidate ratings encode them per option.

✓i12-m3-feasibility

evidence

Two-lane loader: frontmatter parsing and JSONL reading both exist in-house (ledger events). FEASIBLE.
Hash-neutral adjacency: parents/fullHash mechanics are pure functions over reconstructed adjacency - the red-team anchored the exact code paths (engine.go). FEASIBLE, spike-grade proof rides the red-observed test.
Determinizers: mint/promote/adjacency are file operations plus the existing graph. FEASIBLE.
Virtual edge properties: the evaluator already injects computed context (referenced). FEASIBLE.

✓i12-m3-gate

evidence

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decision.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Derived, computes live: three ADRs added this extension (eight total), each addressing requirements of the extension set.

✓i12-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

Reification — Decision: semantic relations become first-class connections in spec/connections/<kind>/, hash-neutral loading, content in the root, kinds SysML2-aligned, off the report whitelist (). Because: relations gain address, prose, and query - what frontmatter lists structurally cannot. Rejected: reify-everything (the RDF lesson: bookkeeping drowns the graph).
Storage — Decision: two lanes per kind, one edge one lane, determinizers own mint, promote, and the merged adjacency answer (). Because: storage aligns with audience; the rival's single-index benefit survives in the determinizer. Rejected: status quo, one-file-per-edge, central jsonl - each with its named killer (see Axis 9).
Scope — Decision: the semantic edges migrate; implements stays code-declared; task wiring stays frontmatter this iteration (). Because: silent drift is the failure class this engine exists to kill; wiring is walk machinery, not content. OPEN to the adjudicator at this gate: ratify task wiring staying, or rule it into the migration now (jsonl makes either cheap).

Pugh, extension run. Datum = the strongest rival, central jsonl (uniformity champion). Criteria and weights from M3.

Criterion (weight)	Rival (datum)	Chosen two-lane
Trust & honesty (5)	0	+ (human edges hash as notes with prose; no display-frontmatter duplication to lint)
Zero-dep (5)	0	= (both are files and string work)
LLM digestibility (5)	0	= (the book renders identically)
Authoring cost (4)	0	+ (prose kinds author as normal notes; no id indirection)
Scope guard (4)	0	= (loader complexity comparable: details-resolution vs two-lane read)
Register/preview fit (3)	0	+ (tensions and interfaces preview live in Obsidian)
Reversibility (2)	0	= (promote/demote moves lanes; both reversible)

Weighted: chosen = +5 +4 +3 = +12 against the strongest rival. Sensitivity: drop preview fit to zero weight - still +9. The win rests on trust and authoring, not on the preview alone.

decisions (3)

✓i12-m4-choice-traced

evidence

✓i12-m4-gate

evidence

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i12-m5-design-buildable

evidence

The scope guard grows CONSCIOUSLY, each surface owner-ruled:

the connections home with its two lanes
three determinizers (mint, promote, adjacency)
one migration command
two render modes (full shipped, refs planned)
seven item templates
the mechanized chapter set

The relief valve stands: if the build proves too big, the template-mechanization half (bs16-bs23) defers to a fresh version as a first-class move while the connection core lands.

✓i12-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

The trust red-team anchored the exact mechanics in code (parents feeding fullHash, bless events storing per-parent deps) and measured the live workspace (1096 spec files; 169 verifies, 228 refines, 78 addresses, 963 depends_on edges; zero duplicate list entries; zero ids containing consecutive hyphens) - the migration surface is fully characterized before a line is written.
The proof is constructive and rides the walk: test-conn-hash-neutral (observed RED first) asserts byte-identical node hashes and identical check states across the two storages - the spike IS the red test's fixture.
The failure modes are each fenced by a requirement: silent edge loss (req-conn-notes refuses), duplicate collapse (req-migrate-edges refuses), interim ambiguity (req-edge-mode), id ambiguity (req-id-charset, shipped first).

✓i12-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Determinism: proven by construction (scripted generation, computed coordinates).
SVG set: proven legible and trivial; cap confirmed as the right cut.
Margin icons: proven with plain CSS; no layout machinery needed.
until-found: adjudicator verdict pending at the gate (Probe A); both outcomes have a recorded path.
Design advanced: no requirement or ADR needed amendment from the spike - the M4 composite survives contact with the browser.
The spike file is throwaway and stays in the scratch space; nothing from it enters product/ except as fresh M6 code.

✓i12-m5-gate

evidence

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.58 / 58 done

✓i12-m6-build-planned

evidence

The steps (children of i12-m6-build):

Stage 1 — infra, on the side:
`bs1-authoring-cheap` — the one-command honest board.
Stage 2 — method-layer data:
`bs2-types` — class notes. Three type files. Union derivation.
`bs2-templates` — the templates home. Eight milestone shapes.
`bs2-mint-skeleton` — mint stamps skeletons (consumes the templates).
`bs2-glossary-terms` — per-term notes with classification.
`bs2-guidance-split` — audience prose apart from internals.
`bs2-method-map` — the methodology map.
`bs2-drafting` — the drafting prompt. The marker syntax.
Stage 3 — emitter:
`bs3-manifests` — the node type. The orphan lint.
`bs3-emitter-core` — deterministic transclusion into one file. Ledes. Anchors. Identity stamp.
`bs3-honesty-marks` — ledger states. The SVG robot margin column.
`bs3-glossary-gen` — the used-only chapter. The meta-quarantine lint.
`bs3-figures` — the derived SVG set.
Stage 4 — reader surfaces:
`bs4-views` — presets. Search. Until-found disclosure.
`bs4-a11y` — keyboard and AA over the views.
`bs4-drift` — regeneration-is-a-noop lint.
`bs4-register` — Vale auto-pull, loud on absence.
`bs4-agents` — the AGENTS.md emit.
Stage 5 — deliverables:
`bs5-deck` — present mode.
`bs5-content` — the quackitect book itself, AI-first drafted with marks.

Next after the plan bless: observe every one of the 27 new tests RED (`quack observe-red`, the batch). Then walk the steps in stage order.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i12-m6-designs-realized auto ✓i12-m6-tests-pass auto ✓i12-m6-tests-red auto

✓i12-m6-build

evidence

All fourteen extension steps realized in stage order: bs6 substrate -> bs7 machinery -> bs8 authoring. Each step is individually blessed with its selftest green at bless time:

Stage 6: one-level frontmatter maps under strict parse; the spec content roots (glossary MIGRATED to spec/glossary, references/fundamentals/methods loaders, aliases); the pinned-subset Bases evaluator (volatile functions refuse, out-of-subset refuses, byte-identical evaluation proven).
Stage 7: the alias auto-linker (authored links win, longest match, collision refuses); three lints (external-links-only-in-references, slot residue, dangling heading anchors); decision kinds + candidate nodes with 0..1 ratings; the faceted coverage board with type-layer vocabularies and zero-count holes; vv-table and stakeholder-matrix migrated to canned base queries; the quarantine boundary moved to everything-except-guidance.
Stage 8: the nine chapter skeletons + README + seven canned queries; the thirteen item templates (fields declared with name, semantics, value range); start stubs emits the skeleton; the pilot retro-migration ran and its findings are recorded in M6-build-plan.md.

requirements (1)

✓i12-m6-impl-risks

evidence

Bases is Obsidian's language and moves: pinned subset, loud refusal, the engine authoritative; authoring-preview divergence can mislead an author but never corrupt output. Accepted.
The pilot proved the ledger survives retro-migration honestly: the ADR wiring flipped old cumulative checks SUSPECT through a genuinely failing test, named it, and recovered on the fix.
The template files carry unfilled slots by design until the dogfood redraft; the residue lint keeps them visible in workspaces.

✓i12-m6-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep held: the YAML subset, the expression parser, and the auto-linker are hand-rolled; no new linkage.
Seams everywhere: contentRootOverride, specLintFindingsAt, glossaryDirOverride kept; fixtures per selftest.
The user-wording sweep caught one violation of mine (the decision template) mid-walk; fixed before its bless — the lint generalized correctly to new method content.
Fail loudly held: alias collisions, out-of-subset constructs, unknown facet values, unknown decision kinds all refuse with named errors.

✓i12-m6-gate

evidence

Layout mirror (owner ruling): the spec now mirrors the template - manifests at the spec ROOT, stakeholders/usecases/raid in their item homes; `start stubs` seeds the root (test-first: test-stub-spec red at e3760119, test-stubs-folders red at 38a16b90); existing workspaces convert through the ENGINE determinizer `quack migrate-layout` (test-migrate-layout red at 4888eac1; an interim PowerShell script did this workspace's move and was retired the same day - migrations live in the one binary, owner correction); 41 files moved hash-neutrally.
Book shell (owner ruling): mdbook-style - ONE sidebar carries the chapter TOC (unit headings linked), the GLOBAL search, the view presets, and the details card; every filter control compiles into one hand-editable expression (`preset: phase: discipline: quality: state:` plus free text); the report's visual language carries over; the script stays toggle-only. req-book-shell minted, test-book-shell red at 1f6ea55a, now green.
Empty views (owner ruling): clearly-marked EXAMPLE notes ship for methods and force-rationales (template + workspace) and rules (workspace); the interface example was REFUSED by the strict guard - a connection note cannot reference a code-derived design (noted, a real gap).
Two determinizer defects noted for triage: mint writes frontmatter edges in connections mode (refused nodes); the interface-endpoint gap above.
Battery: selftest ALL OK, lint fully clean, book renders finding-free, zero suspects.

tests (1)

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the original need.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m7-acceptance

evidence

✓i12-m7-gaps-captured

evidence

[raid-no-external-reader] - no outside stakeholder has read the book; owned, mitigation: one outside read early next iteration.
[raid-example-views] - methods/rules/forces render EXAMPLE rows; the interface view cannot fill on a software project yet (endpoint-resolution gap); owned, demand-driven replacement.
[raid-facet-bulk-tags] - the facet sweep was pattern-based; owner sampling pending, cheap via the register filters.

✓i12-m7-killer-usecases

evidence

uc-book-read (a real read session per preset) -> each preset narrows to its chapters, verified in the artifact: architect -> ch3+ch4, auditor -> ch5+ch6, newcomer -> ch0+ch1, onepager -> ch1+ch4; the sidebar TOC, search, and details card operate on the same static DOM.
uc-book-present (the deck presented) -> man-deck-presentation renders 5 slides with the present machinery live (data-present, arrow-key paging, print handout path).
uc-book-agent (an agent retrieval probe) -> three probes against the raw HTML text, no DOM needed: the reader's contract (suspect semantics), the req-book-shell statement, a glossary entry - all retrieved verbatim.

use cases (3)

✓i12-m7-meets-need

evidence

Validated against ALL needs across every iteration; demonstrated by the Ch1 criteria:

crit-board-live -> `quack status` and `quack report` recompute from the ledger on every call; the verdict cache holds only computed results and dies on every re-baseline (demonstrated live through ~15 build/battery cycles this walk).
crit-book-standalone -> one 369 KB HTML file; zero external requests (selftest:book-single-file); read cold in this session without repo context via plain-text extraction.
crit-capture-one-command -> four notes captured mid-walk this session with one `quack note` each, console and agent channel alike.
crit-killer-user-adjudicated -> the M6 gate carries the owner's console-delegated bless (`--by user`); every killer of this walk stopped at a pager; the actor stamps ride the ledger.
crit-tests-born-red -> seven amended/new tests this session each observed RED at their hash before their fix (b56741bc, ca0bc4a5, 13ef4183, e3760119, 38a16b90, 1f6ea55a, 4888eac1); a pass is refused by observe-red.

The seven needs across iterations:

need-docu (the book IS the demonstration)
need-engage/need-review (the walk that built it ran through engage and its gates)
need-note (the capture lane carried this walk's four leads)
need-implementation (test-first held throughout)
need-qualities (voice, marks, a11y, determinism all mechanically checked)
need-workspace-drive (the global binary drove this workspace and the stub fixtures all session)

✓i12-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: every criterion demonstration ran against the LIVE artifact this session, not against memory. Presets, deck, and probes are reproducible from the rendered file. The five criteria trace to mechanisms with green tests.
Validate: the original frame (a spec book any stakeholder can read, compiled from the ledger, honest about its own state) is what the demonstrations exercised. The owner's acceptance is recorded with its caveat routed into raid, not swallowed.
Red-team: the strongest counter-case is that all validation is in-project - the owner is the author's adjudicator, the agent is the author. Answered: that gap is exactly raid-no-external-reader, held open and owned rather than argued away. Second counter: the demonstrations lean on mechanical checks. Answered: the preset/deck/probe walk above exercised the artifact itself, and what only a human read can judge is precisely what M7 asks the adjudicator to bless.
Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless of meets-need and the gate.

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i12-m8-config-baselined

evidence

spec/project.toml: type software, rigor systematic, version i0012_spec_book (the root marker + breadcrumb).
The golden determinism root re-baselined through the freshly built engine at every build this walk; verdict caches die with each re-baseline (no stale green possible).
The engine stamp (engine-stamp.txt) rides the vendored source; the global binary ratchets from it.
Attest, ledger, and connection lanes live under spec/ledger and spec/connections - truth only in spec.

✓i12-m8-docs-complete

evidence

The book IS the doc: all ten chapters render through the template set; the drift lint is ARMED (spec/book.html committed) and green - regeneration is a byte-identical no-op at this state.
The entry chain matches the surface: AGENTS.md emits from the agent-guide manifest (one source, two projections); the command table carries every determinizer including today's migrate-layout.
Template compliance reviewed - strays questioned, with reasons:
man-excluded-history (no template counterpart): KEEP - the workspace-specific curation record the orphan lint reads; a template cannot ship a project's history.
man-deck-presentation (template ships man-deck): KEEP - the instantiated, content-carrying deck; the template skeleton stays generic.
M1-M8 evidence docs and M6-build-plan (not book content): KEEP - evidence referents, their SHAPES ship in method/templates; the report's verdict links read them.
Improvements flowed both ways this iteration: INTO the template - per-paragraph mark law on the canned multi-paragraph units (ch0, ch8), the need-grouped usecases.base, the ex-method and ex-force-rationale example notes, the spec-root layout itself; INTO the book - every canned unit verbatim from the template, fills authored above them.

✓i12-m8-handover

evidence

✓i12-m8-packaged

evidence

✓i12-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: the drift lint is armed and green against the committed artifact. Config, ledger, and lanes are where the truth-in-spec rules demand. Every M8 subtask's evidence sits above, referenced to its check.
Validate: the iteration set out to make the project present itself through its own machinery. The shipped state is exactly that: the book compiled from the ledger, honest marks in the margin, the walk that produced it recorded in the same spec.
Red-team: the sharpest counter is that the committed book goes stale the moment the next iteration edits the spec. Answered: that is the DESIGN (the drift lint flips red and ship regenerates it; staleness is loud, never silent). Second counter: handover to whom, with no outside reader. Answered: raid-no-external-reader stays open and owned; the handover referent is the owner's own acceptance.
Verdict: PASS - pending the adjudicator's bless of docs-complete and the gate; ship runs at the y.

i0013_comments 62/62

M1 motivation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of frame and vision.6 / 6 done

✓i13-m1-problem-agreed

evidence

The shipped book is a single HTML file. Copies travel to readers. Today a reader has no way to attach feedback to the text itself.

Feedback arrives out-of-band: chat, mail, spoken notes.
It is detached from the span it concerns. Anchoring it back is interpretation work.
Nothing about it is machine-readable. The driving agent cannot triage it deterministically.

The owner directed this iteration on 2026-07-07 (pivot note, archived). The need was already benched at i12 M2 (comment-system note, archived). The delta is real and worth solving.

✓i13-m1-risks-logged

evidence

Risk: browser save. Save-in-place is Chromium-only. Mitigation (decided): download-a-copy fallback.
Risk: stored-comment XSS. Comment text re-renders in a file the owner opens. Mitigation: escape at render; a selftest proves it.
Risk: DOM corruption on save. Serializing a mutated DOM must be idempotent — the annotator must never damage the book. Mitigation: M5 spike covers the full round-trip.
Risk: scope balloon (the i12 lesson). One feature + ten fixes. Mitigation: engine items are fix-sized with closing checks; watch at the M6 plan.
Assumption: the book DOM stays static post-render (i12 rule). The annotator must layer on top without breaking that. Probe at M2.
Issue: proseUnitsMarked defect sits in the same book path. Handled: engine family builds first (owner ruling in i13-m6-build-planned).
Decision: comments are an unreliable source. Triage is opinionated; rejection is normal; only what improves the doc goes in (owner stance, 2026-07-07).

✓i13-m1-sota-checked

evidence

Prior art scanned in the 2026-07-07 discussion (web-researched, sources in the session record):

W3C Web Annotation Data Model — the standard format: annotation = target (selectors) + bodies; motivations cover commenting, replying, assessing, editing. Chosen as the storage vocabulary.
Hypothesis — the anchoring benchmark (quote + position + fallback, explicit orphan state). Needs a server; we take the anchoring lessons only.
RecogitoJS / text-annotator-js — client-only annotation libraries. Vendoring rejected (owner decision): the CSS Custom Highlight API now covers the hard part natively.
Word modern comments — the thread UX benchmark: post step, resolve keeps history, contextual + list views. Also the markers-in-document anchoring school (OOXML comment ranges) — the model for pre-markable regions later.
Acrobat / FDF — separable comment data; anchoring loss accepted between versions. We adopt the same loss-acceptance stance.
TiddlyWiki — the single-file-that-saves-itself pattern; File System Access API with download fallback.

Position: no prior art combines these three properties:

single-file
serverless
deterministic agent read-back

The composition of known parts is the novelty. No part is novel itself.

requirements (1)

✓i13-m1-success-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria:

On a shipped book copy in a Chromium browser a reader can: mark prose, mark a figure (SVG sub-element or whole figure), comment, reply, agree/reject, close a thread, and save in place. Reopening the file shows everything.
The engine lists every comment from such a file deterministically — anchor, author, thread, status. Two runs are byte-identical.
A suggested edit accepted at triage lands in the source document.
Author names are stored in the copy but stripped at triage (privacy rule).
Every engine-batch item has a closing, checkable mark:
note same-second collision → selftest yields two files.
mint writes connection edges in connections mode → selftest.
proseUnitsMarked handles multi-line fill comments → selftest; `quack book` accepts template chapters.
orphan lint counts render-refs (after the owner ruling) → selftest.
connection notes reach code-derived designs → selftest.
launcher probe gone → next retro's call log shows root ≈ 0.
build fast-path → content-only `quack build` under 1 s.
`quack calls --summary` exists and deletes the log.
selftest fixture data-homes swept; log retention rule active.
`observe-red --refresh` re-records an existing red at the new hash.

✓i13-m1-vision-scope

evidence

Moore vision:

For the owner and every reader of a shipped spec book,
who need to give feedback where it lands — on the text itself,
the quackitect comment layer is an in-book annotation system:
that lets a reader mark prose or figures, discuss in threads, assess (agree/reject), close, and save the copy — then hand the file back for a deterministic agent read-back into the ledger.
Unlike Acrobat or Word round-trips, the commented copy stays one self-contained HTML with no server and no installed tool.

Scope: the book HTML only. The live report stays untouched; comments happen on cheap copies. The iteration also carries the engine workshop batch (ten fix-sized items, listed under success criteria).

PR-FAQ pressure test:

Why not PDF comments? The book is HTML by design: single file, views, interactivity. Converting to PDF loses all of that.
Why not a Hypothesis-style server? Copies travel offline. Zero-dep, no service, no account is a standing constraint.
Why not keep using chat feedback? It loses the anchor and the structure. Triage becomes guesswork instead of extraction.

decisions (1)

✓i13-m1-gate

M2 requirements gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the design input.6 / 6 done

✓i13-m2-inputs-captured

evidence

Context — who touches what:

                    sends copy               returns copy
  owner ──────────────────────▶  reader  ─────────────────▶  owner
    │                              │                            │
    │ quack ship                   │ marks, comments,           │ quack <read-back>
    ▼                              │ saves (browser only)       ▼
  book.html  ──── copy ────▶  copy.html ◀── JSON island ──  driving agent
  (live, untouched)           (the commented artifact)      (extracts, triages,
                                                             applies accepted edits)

What to see: comments live only in travelling copies; the live book and report never change.

Use cases (trace nodes, this iteration): (killer), , (killer), (future), .

Environment assumptions, probed on the real channel:

Book DOM probed (spec/book.html, 2026-07-07): 370 KB, stable unit anchors (`man-ch4-design-output-u3` pattern), 225 inline SVGs, exactly one script block, zero JSON islands today. Anchoring to unit ids is viable; the island slot is free.
Connections lanes probed: edge lines are `{"src","dst"}` JSONL per kind; the strict referee refuses frontmatter edges — hand-authored for now (req-mint-edge-mode fixes the mint).
Browser APIs (File System Access, CSS Custom Highlight) recorded as assumptions — they are the M5 spike's job to settle; no requirement builds on an unprobed claim beyond that gate.

requirements (1)

use cases (5)

✓i13-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set held against the feature checklists of the prior art (M1 sources):

Word/Acrobat checklist coverage: mark, thread, reply, assess, resolve/close, author identity, sidebar, save — all present.
W3C model coverage: bodies, targets, motivations (commenting, replying, assessing, editing) — present via req-comment-island and req-comment-suggest.
Deliberate misses, recorded: @mentions and notifications (need a server — out), cross-version re-anchoring (owner: fdf-style loss accepted), free-rectangle area marks (reflowing HTML — element targets instead), print rendering of comments (not asked).
Adopted from prior art beyond the ask: close-keeps-history (Word), escape-at-render (every web annotator), orphan honesty is NOT adopted (no re-anchoring means no orphans by construction).

✓i13-m2-req-has-test auto

evidence

✓i13-m2-req-traced auto

evidence

Every requirement refines a use case. Every use case refines a need (need-docu for the comment family, need-workspace-drive for the workshop family). The coverage check computes live.

✓i13-m2-stakeholder-coverage

evidence

reader — annotates a copy; needs zero install, zero account (uc-comment-annotate, uc-comment-discuss).
owner / project-owner — sends copies, triages feedback, owns the doc (uc-comment-readback).
adjudicator — blesses the gates; this plan.
agent — deterministic read-back; never scrapes the DOM (req-comment-readback).
developer-maintainer — the engine workshop family keeps the surface clean (uc-workshop-smooth).
Not served, on purpose: anonymous web publics (no server, no moderation surface).

use cases (4)

✓i13-m2-gate

M3 candidates gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the alternatives.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m3-alternatives

evidence

Twelve candidates across the five open axes. Each candidate node carries its pro/con and ratings.

Axis	Candidates
comment-storage	· ·
anchoring	· ·
highlight-rendering	·
save-path	·
read-back-surface	·

The engine workshop family has no open architecture axis — each item is a diagnosed fix inside an existing design. It is deliberately absent here.

✓i13-m3-criteria-weighted

evidence

Derived from the M2 requirements, weights 0–1:

single-file (0.9) — from req-comment-island, the i12 book law.
agent-readability (0.9) — from req-comment-readback; the whole point of the loop.
dom-static (0.8) — from req-comment-dom-static; protects idempotent save and the i12 rule.
buildability / zero-dep (0.7) — hand-roll ruling; small surface the engine can emit.
reader-ux (0.7) — from the usability requirements; the Acrobat feel.
robustness-in-file (0.6) — anchors hold within one copy (no cross-version claim).
separation-of-concerns (0.5) — extraction mechanical, triage opinionated (owner stance).
future-premark (0.4) — from req-comment-premark-open; door stays open.

✓i13-m3-feasibility

evidence

CSS Custom Highlight API: shipping in current Chromium, Firefox, and Safari; the M2 probe scoped the target to current browsers. Legacy browsers lose highlights only — the sidebar still works. Viable.
File System Access API: Chromium-only; fallback download is standard DOM API. Viable.
Island size: the book is 370 KB; a hundred comments at ~0.5 KB each add ~5% — no budget concern. Viable.
Hidden-DOM storage: feasible but collides with two standing rules (dom-static, byte-idempotent save) — carried as datum material, not preferred.
Sidecar: feasible, breaks the single-file law — carried for the Pugh datum, not preferred.
Zero-dep hold: every candidate is emitter-embeddable vanilla JS + Go; no candidate needs a vendored library. Viable across the board.

✓i13-m3-gate

M4 architecture gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the decision.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Five ADRs in spec/decisions/: , , , , . The coverage check computes live.

decisions (5)

✓i13-m4-architecture-stated

evidence

 book copy (single HTML)
 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ content DOM (static, never mutated)          │
 │   unit anchors ◀── selectors ──┐             │
 │ ::highlight() paint            │             │
 │ ┌─────────────┐   ┌────────────┴───────────┐ │
 │ │ annotator JS│──▶│ JSON island (W3C shape)│ │──save──▶ same file
 │ │ + sidebar   │   │ threads·marks·suggests │ │          (or download)
 │ └─────────────┘   └────────────┬───────────┘ │
 └────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┘
                                  ▼
              quack note --file2list <file>  (pure lister, roles not names)
                                  ▼
        agent reads the list, mints the keepers as ordinary notes
                     (opinionated triage, rejection normal)

What to see: the island is the single moving part — the DOM is paint-only, the save rewrites one block, the lister reads the same block.

Pugh run (datum = strongest rival per axis) against the weighted criteria of M3:

`+` better
`0` same
`−` worse

axis	datum (strongest rival)	winner	decisive criteria
storage	sidecar (Acrobat's own model)	island	single-file 0.9, agent-readability tie, dom-static near-tie
anchoring	xpath	unit + quote	agent-readability 0.9, robustness 0.6
highlights	span-wrap (decade of precedent)	CSS Highlight API	dom-static 0.8, buildability 0.7
save	download-only	FS API + fallback	reader-ux 0.7; portability equal (fallback)
read-back	notes importer	pure lister (as `note --file2list`, owner surface ruling)	separation-of-concerns 0.5, owner stance

Second run against the status quo (no comment system) confirms worth-doing: every criterion the requirements weight scores zero at the datum.

Sensitivity check, REVERSED — the first plausible world where a winner loses:

Island loses to sidecar if single-file drops below ~0.3 — a world where copies live in a synced folder, not mail. Credibility today: low; the field round-trip is mail/chat. Recorded as the tripwire on adr-comment-storage-island.
CSS Highlight API loses to span-wrap if legacy-browser support becomes a requirement. Credibility: low — the audience is the owner's circle on current browsers. Tripwire on adr-comment-highlight-api: a real reader without the API → revisit degrade, never span-wrap.
No plausible weight set flips anchoring, save, or read-back (the rivals lose on multiple heavyweight criteria at once).

decisions (2)

✓i13-m4-choice-traced

evidence

✓i13-m4-gate

M5 prototype gate: increasing-scrutiny review of the spike evidence.4 / 4 done

✓i13-m5-design-buildable

evidence

Scope guard holds. The build is:

one annotator script + sidebar, emitted into the book shell (vanilla JS, zero-dep);
one JSON island schema (W3C vocabulary);
one read-back lane: `quack note --file2list` (Go, in the existing note command);
emitter addition: figure sub-element ids (spike finding 1);
the engine workshop family: ten diagnosed fixes, no open design.

Nothing needs a library. Nothing needs a service. Nothing needs a new top-level command. Every piece lands in an existing home:

book shell JS
emitter
note command
engine internals

✓i13-m5-riskiest-validated

evidence

claim	verdict	evidence
P1 CSS Custom Highlight API paints without DOM mutation	pass	highlight registered; body byte-identical before/after
P2 quote+position anchors resolve inside real unit anchors	pass	Range built over a live unit's text, non-empty
P3 SVG sub-elements are id-addressable	FAIL	no id-carrying child inside any of the 225 figures
P4 island write/read/remove stays byte-confined	pass	hostile payload round-tripped; body untouched

✓i13-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

Two findings change the build plan:

One tooling observation, noted for the record: the spike's headless-probe pattern (inject -> dump -> extract verdict) worked and is reusable for the M7 demos.

✓i13-m5-gate

M6 implementation gate: increasing-scrutiny review of build and verification.28 / 28 done

✓i13-m6-build-planned

evidence

Engine workshop family (bs01–bs11):

— first: every later build call gets cheaper.
— chains on bs01 (same build/re-baseline code region).

Comment system family (bs12–bs20):

— the foundation; carries the script-escape spike finding.
— the emitter half of the spike's P3 failure.
— on bs12 + bs13.
— on bs14.
— on bs14.
— on bs15.
— on bs12 (Go side only).
— on bs15 + bs16 + bs17 + bs18.

Wiring states real prerequisites only; parallel steps hang flat off the RED observation. Every step carries a single design or verification concern and is worth resuming on its own.

Test-first sequence ahead: the 19 executed tests get their selftest hooks authored and observed RED (`quack observe-red`), then the steps build to GREEN with inline `design:` markers.

✓i13-m6-designs-realized auto ✓i13-m6-tests-pass auto ✓i13-m6-tests-red auto

✓i13-m6-build

evidence

Sequence held:

19 selftest hooks authored (`i13_red.go`)
17 observed RED
2 honestly exempt (view-orphan lint and the launcher probe — both behaviors pre-existed; markers carry the reasons)
then all 20 steps built to green, engine family first (owner ruling)

Highlights and deviations, for the record:

bs01/bs02/bs03 landed the build-question answer live: content-only `quack build` now prints `compile skipped (source unchanged)`, re-baselines sub-second, keeps green verdicts, and spawns no child process. The i12 "root storm" (291 argless calls) was buildRebaseline's self-exec, NOT the launcher — the requirement was re-aimed at the observable (req-launcher-single-dispatch reworded at bs03).
bs04 collision-proofs the capture lane (`-2` suffixes; the id follows the file).
bs05 `quack calls --summary` prints the retro aggregate and deletes the log; a size cap (8 MB) guards the never-retro case. The summary call does not re-seed the log it deleted.
bs07 made mint atomic in connections mode: edge into the lane, no frontmatter key, and a failed edge write UNDOES the node — no silent edge loss. The mode follows the TARGET workspace's project.toml.
bs09/bs10 were pre-landed in late i12 (stripFillComments; view-aware orphan lint) — realized-design markers extended, exempt markers on their tests, regression guards kept.
bs13 stamps ids on figure sub-elements (345 in a fresh render) — the M5 spike's P3 failure closed.
bs14–bs17 the annotator: core (anchor/paint/island), sidebar (threads, marks, close-keeps-history, prompt-once author), save (in-place + download fallback, layer-stripping serializer), suggest. The i12 shell law was SCOPED, not weakened: the shell script still never creates; the comment layer's own law is selftest:comment-dom-static.
bs18 `quack note --file2list` — pure lister, reader roles replace names at the boundary.
bs20 dogfood, end-to-end on a real copy: headless reader session made a prose comment, an agree reply, a closed thread, a suggested edit, and a figure-element comment (`fig1-quack`); the returned copy listed deterministically; one keeper note minted (origin: field), two comments rejected — the unreliable-source stance exercised for real.

One encoding incident during bs07: a PowerShell regex rewrite mojibaked `i10_red.go`. It was caught immediately via git diff. The file was reverted and redone with the Edit tool. No damage shipped.

✓i13-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The in-place save needs a real user gesture — headless could not exercise it; it is the M7 live demo, with the download fallback as the safety net. Accepted.
DOM-serialize save normalizes the document on the first save (parser round-trip); subsequent saves are stable. Accepted: copies are cheap and the island is the only semantic content that changes.
localStorage author names never leave the reader's browser except inside the copy they annotate; the file2list boundary strips them. Accepted.

✓i13-m6-internal-quality

evidence

Zero-dep held: no library entered; the annotator is emitted vanilla JS; Go stdlib only.
Selftest seams held: overrides used (verdictPathOverride), no test writes the real ledger or notes; fixture homes now sweep themselves.
Escape rule held: no innerHTML/document.write anywhere in the layer (machine-checked); island serialization HTML-escapes.
Voice held in all emitted text and statements.
Scope guard held: one annotator, one island, one lane flag on `note` — no new top-level command.

✓i13-m6-gate

M7 validation gate: increasing-scrutiny review against the original need.5 / 5 done

✓i13-m7-acceptance

evidence

✓i13-m7-gaps-captured

evidence

Risk (accepted): highlights need a current browser; older browsers get the sidebar without paint (adr-comment-highlight-api tripwire stands).
Risk (accepted): the first save normalizes the DOM once (parser round-trip); the island stays the only semantic change thereafter.
Assumption (open, tripwired): field round-trips run over mail/chat, not synced folders (adr-comment-storage-island tripwire).
Deferred (by design): pre-marked commentable regions — schema-ready (req-comment-premark-open proven by selftest), not built (uc-comment-premark).
Gap (next iteration lead, noted): battery cost after an engine rebuild is minutes; concurrency lead captured at the M6 discussion.
Gap (closes next iteration, by owner plan): the accept-and-apply direction of triage has not landed a real edit yet — the demo comments were test data and were rightly rejected. The owner passes real comments next iteration; the first accepted keeper closes this.

decisions (2)

use cases (1)

✓i13-m7-killer-usecases

evidence

uc-comment-annotate (killer): demonstrated live, 2026-07-07. The owner ran real sessions on demo copies in Chrome: marked prose, replied with marks, closed a thread, made a suggested edit, marked a figure element, and SAVED — first via the picker to the Desktop (the in-place gesture headless could not prove). The session produced nine improvement rulings, all folded in and re-validated live across three copy revisions (v1→v3): popup-free creation with focused textarea, changeable name field, close/reopen, delete, whole-card click pans to the comment's position, one creation flow (suggest split dropped), save toast, proposed filename `<original>_<name>_comments_<datetime>` with Desktop default.
uc-comment-readback (killer): demonstrated live on the owner's returned file. `quack note --file2list Desktop/i13-demo-copy.html` listed both comments deterministically — thread marks, closed state, the suggest pair, author names replaced by reader roles. Triage was exercised in the REJECT direction (the session's comments were test data; all rejected — the unreliable-source stance working as intended). The ACCEPT direction (an accepted edit landing in a source doc) is mechanically trivial and lands with the owner's first real comment pass, promised for next iteration — recorded as a gap below.

use cases (2)

✓i13-m7-meets-need

evidence

Against the Ch1 success criteria (M1-frame.md):

Mark, thread, assess, close, save on a real copy — machine-proven end-to-end in the bs20 dogfood (headless session, real book copy, real island); the in-place save is the one part needing a human gesture — demonstrated in the live session below.
Deterministic extraction — proven: `quack note --file2list` is byte-identical across runs (selftest:comment-readback), reads only the island.
An accepted suggested edit lands in the source — demonstrated in the live session below.
Names stripped at the boundary — proven (selftest:comment-privacy; reader roles in first-appearance order).
Every engine-batch item closed with a checkable mark — all ten green: note collision, mint edge-mode, prose comment-state, orphan view-refs, connection code-endpoints, root-storm fix, build fast-path (content-only build sub-second, live), surgical verdicts, calls --summary + log cap, home sweep, observe-red --refresh.

tests (1)

✓i13-m7-gate

M8 release gate: increasing-scrutiny review, then engage ship.5 / 5 done

✓i13-m8-config-baselined

evidence

spec/project.toml: version `i0013_comments`, type default, rigor systematic, edges connections — unchanged since activation.
Golden root baselined at every content step (the fast path made this sub-second); verdict cache warm and green.
The engine binary and its source fingerprint agree (the fast-path stamp).

✓i13-m8-docs-complete

evidence

The book documents itself: the comment layer ships inside every emitted copy; its use is discoverable in place (select → comment; the sidebar carries every control the owner validated live).
The agent guide matches the grown surface: `note --file2list`, `observe-red --refresh`, `calls --summary`, and the build fast-path note added to the command table in ; the repo AGENTS.md re-emits from it at ship.
CLI help matches: the `note` usage line names `--file2list`; `calls` prints its own usage; `mint` and `observe-red` behave per their help.
The method matches: the retro's field question includes returned commented copies (review.md); the walk carries the amend-then-re-observe rule (engage.md).
Drift lint: the committed book refreshes at ship (the standing req-book-drift mechanism).

✓i13-m8-handover

evidence

To the next session, in order:

the comment-dom-static recursion defect record (generic recursion guard, evaluation watchdog)
the battery concurrency plan (pure pool + serial rump)
the dogfood keeper note

3. Attest keys die with the session — fresh grant at the next engage.

✓i13-m8-packaged

evidence

✓i13-m8-gate

i0014_doc_review 38/38

M1 L1 frame2 / 2 done

✓i14-m1-problem-success

evidence

internals leak to the reader (filename, weight, source columns)
tables render without clear structure, or not as tables at all
queries are static; some are agent prose instead of deterministic queries
navigation is one infinite scroll; the sidebar order fights the reader
density: an AI-involvement icon per paragraph; three oversized renders
audience mix: the agent guide sits among reader chapters
empty queries prove nothing; examples are missing
comment UX loses unposted text and misorders the sidebar

Who has it.

the reader of a shipped book copy (roles: assessor, communicator)
the owner reviewing spec output

Done well means.

decisions (1)

✓i14-m1-gate

evidence

M2 L2 requirements4 / 4 done

✓i14-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i14-m2-req-traced auto

✓i14-m2-reqs-stated

evidence

The set, grouped by use-case:

- 4:
(c1)
(c3)
(c7)
(c19)
- 8:
(c11, c12, c17, c18, c22, c29, c31)
(c10, c37, c40)
(c27, c30)
(c21)
(c43)
(c39)
(c41)
(c14)
- 9:
(c4, c5, c6)
(c42)
(c25)
(c24, defect)
(c35, ruled in scope)
(c20, c23, c26, c32)
(c8, c15)
(owner ruling: derived over authored)
(c33, c34, c36; ruled: discuss late)
uc-comment-annotate (existing, i0013) - 1:
(c5)
uc-book-present (existing, i0012) - 1:
(c44)

Checkable. Every statement is EARS-shaped with shall. `quack lint` on 2026-07-07 reports:

zero EARS violations
zero duplicate ids
zero wiring faults

The 23 "no design" holes are the expected pre-build state; the book-drift line resolves at ship.

Not requirements, on record:

c46 (comment sidebar order) is a defect under the existing req-comment-sidebar - a build step.
c16, c28, c45 rejected: text-less artifacts.
c2 (agent-guide wording) rides req-agent-guide-ch8 + req-prose-rework via the bs20 dogfood note.

requirements (3)

use cases (5)

✓i14-m2-gate

evidence

M3 L3 design3 / 3 done

✓i14-m3-adr-traced auto

evidence

All four ADRs address requirements via the addresses lane; the rule computes live.

✓i14-m3-approach-chosen

evidence

The deciding ADRs, each with its rejected alternative:

- fixes land in the substrate, never patched into the dogfood book. Rejected: spec-local patches (fork).
- client-side paging, one top-level section per page. Rejected: multi-file output (breaks the single-file identity).
- derivable sections render as canned queries. Rejected: agent-drafted prose (drifts, duplicates).
- interactivity extends the Bases-table substrate, vanilla inline JS. Rejected: a table library (breaks CSP-safe zero-dependency).

decisions (4)

✓i14-m3-gate

evidence

M4 L4 build and test26 / 26 done

✓i14-m4-designs-realized auto

evidence

The five spec-side des- notes had no realized code region - the rule says designs live in the artifact. Each moved into a design marker INSIDE its realizing template (man-sys-overview, man-ch6-project, man-ch8-guidance, man-ch0-orientation, the template README for the example notes); the spec-side notes were deleted. Editing a marked unit now reopens its design - the semantics the rule wants.
`coverage:designs-realized` computes PASS.

Second round (2026-07-09), after the owner-draft capture reopened the cone - eight holes closed:

Seven requirements had realizing code without a marker. Each landed at its true home:
→ `go-book-emitter` (hosts renderReadme).
→ `go-book-shell` (the pane markup and JS hooks).
→ `go-annotator-core` (beforeunload warn, stable bar).
→ `go-q-table` (the upills render).
→ `method-criteria-items` (ch1 template; stale crit- wording fixed in the same move).
→ new `method-decision-rationale` (the decision item template mandates the MADR rationale body).
→ `method-spec-template` (the ex- seed convention, named in the marker).
had no realization; the owner ruled 2026-07-09: build it in i14. Test-first: mechanized to `selftest:context-star-derived`, observed red @ 4b987e58, then built green:
New `neighbour` item kind (`nbr-`, minted, trace content); template `items/neighbour.md`.
`go-context-neighbours`: the context star derives from the nbr- notes (sorted, border-connected via rectBorder); an empty set says so - the class-derived actors died.
ch3 context unit (template + spec mirror): derived star + `neighbours.base` view replace the hand-authored interface list; six nbr- notes now carry the neighbours (console, agent, git, obsidian, vale, reader) as the one source.
`coverage:designs-realized` computes PASS again (zero holes).

requirements (2)

designs (8)

tests (1)

✓i14-m4-internal-quality

evidence

Self review of the changed engine, template and spec content (2026-07-08):

Template↔spec mirror parity spot-checked on every changed unit (onion, vv-exceptions, design-decisions move, candidates removal): no drift. Design markers live template-side only, per convention.
The q-table substrate: sort moves row PAIRS, filters hide pairs, an active filter searches across pages; group headers hide when their rows do. All interaction toggles visibility only - the script never creates content (the annotator law held).
No-script default: off-page rows are hidden at emit, so the bound holds without JS; later pages' group headers stay visible empty (cosmetic, script restores them). Accepted.
Detail-row bodies stay out of the sidebar search until expanded (same tradeoff as the disclosure pattern). Accepted, recorded above.
needOf cycle guard can blank a need only on a true edge cycle; the monotonic lint keeps the graph acyclic. Deterministic order everywhere (sorted walks).
CLI: `book` moved under `report` (owner ruling): `quack report book [--out F]`; usage line, ship hint, and report card tooltip updated.
The engine source is NOT gofmt-clean - pre-existing and iteration-wide, untouched files flagged too. A formatting sweep would churn every design-region hash; parked as a retro note for a dedicated one-shot.

Second round (2026-07-09), covering the marker sweep and the context-diagram build:

Region semantics respected: the new `go-context-neighbours` region self-closes before `go-block-tree-design`; no neighbouring region truncated (the scanner ends a region at the NEXT enddesign line - verified before every insertion).
The implements-extensions ride existing regions rather than splitting them. Honest but coarse - `go-book-emitter` now implements seven requirements over ~430 lines. The structural-decomposition method note (HANDOVER) already owns this smell for a later iteration.
TDD ritual held for the one new behavior: red observed before the build, green after, no statement amended post-observe.
DRY held: the ch3 interface list lives once (the nbr- notes); star and table derive; template and spec mirror byte-equal on the changed units.
`projectClasses` keeps one live caller (the dogfood type derivation) - no dead code left by the star's source swap.
New prose follows the voice: short sentences, lists, roles not names.
Known-open, deliberately NOT chased here: the crit- template drift (owner discussion pending), the onion drill-down rebuild (its own reopened checks), the committed-book drift (regenerates at ship).

requirements (1)

designs (3)

✓i14-m4-tests-pass auto ✓i14-m4-tests-red auto

✓i14-m4-build

✓i14-bs20-compact-renders

evidence

The rulings (owner, 2026-07-08)

Candidates leave the design chapter entirely. The design chapter documents only the architecture in use; the record - candidates and decisions - lives with the project chapter's timeline. ()
The design figure becomes a layered onion with Simulink-style drill-down: click a layer to enter it, click a file to see its design elements, breadcrumbs lead back, leaves link to their trace items. The onion models data flow - inputs enter, travel the layers, outputs leave. Layer membership is the ONE judgment input (spec/design-layers.md); everything else derives. Iteration files stay out. ()
The verification chapter opens with the verdict: a derived count plus every unverified requirement by name, before the full matrix. ()
Every reader-facing table gets expandable rows (collapsed to the item's cells, detail one click away), expand-all/collapse-all controls, and need-paging at twenty rows. ()
General laws, recorded in the guidance chapter: no green ocean (reds prominent, greens collapse to counts) and one screen by default (full detail one interaction away). ( carries the bounds.)
Rulings beyond this check's scope (trace chapter placement and transport, sidebar numbers, reuse of the report graph, all nodes visible by default) were captured into and ; their re-walk follows via the suspect ripple.

What was built

Templates first, spec mirrored in the same move (no template↔spec drift): man-ch4 (candidates and decision tables out, onion in, current-state lede), man-ch5 (verdict-first unit + matrix prose), man-ch6 (timeline expands to decisions and candidates; design-decision views land here), man-ch8 (the three laws), design-layers.md (new template + filled spec map).
Engine ():
`fig: onion` - static drill-down, all levels pre-rendered, script only toggles visibility (design `go-onion-figure`). Renders 5 rings / 55 files / 151 elements; an unmapped file gets an outermost `unmapped` ring, so the map cannot rot silently.
`fig: vv-exceptions` - the verdict-first block (design `go-vv-exceptions`). Current dogfood verdict: 256 requirements, all verified - the block collapses to one green sentence.
`fig: candidates-matrix` retired with a pointer to the project chapter; `fig: project-table` reworked: each iteration expands to its decisions and per-axis candidate tables (that axis's criteria only - no sparse union), verdict scan kept deterministic (design `go-project-record`, carrying `go-verdict-order`).
The q-table substrate (design `go-q-table`, extended): detail rows from statement+body ( now fills Head/Body for every view), expand/collapse-all, need-paging (rows stamped by the first need they trace up to; off-page rows hidden AT EMIT, so the no-script default is one bounded page).

Bounds check (rendered book, quack book)

Onion: one screen at every level; 62 pre-rendered views; breadcrumbs on each.
Verification chapter: verdict first (one sentence today); the full matrix pages by need at twenty rows.
Candidates: zero occurrences left in the design chapter; the record reachable per iteration in the project chapter (15 expandable iteration blocks).
Tables: 603 detail rows across the book, 3 tables page (the rest fit a screen), every table carries the controls.
Render exits clean: no findings; advisories are the pre-existing term-link and spelling notes.

requirements (2)

designs (5)

✓i14-bs04-search-hitlist

✓i14-m4-gate

M5 L5 docs and ship3 / 3 done

✓i14-m5-docs-match

evidence

Checked 2026-07-09, after the M4 bless:

Template↔spec parity on every unit this iteration changed:
ch3 context unit: both carry `fig: context-star` + `![[neighbours.base]]`; the fill comments compare byte-equal.
ch1 criteria unit: the folded-into-needs wording identical on both sides; the spec embeds `criteria.base`.
`neighbours.base` ships identically in the template pool and `spec/queries/`.
Template layer agrees with what shipped:
documents the `direction` flanks the star renders.
reframed to the decision-scoring axis; the ex-criterion seed matches.
The onion rulings live in ; the method laws in `engage.md`.
README: renders as the book's home chapter; it carries no feature claims the i14 rework could have staled (one report screenshot with a live-board pointer).
The committed `spec/book.html` still differs from a fresh render — regenerates at ship, by design (req-book-drift).

✓i14-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` ran clean: `out/quack-i0014_doc_review.zip`, 237 entries.
Verified in the archive: `book.html` and `report.html` sit at the ZIP ROOT.
The committed `spec/book.html` refreshed in the same move — the drift finding is gone.

✓i14-m5-gate

i0015_mobile_adapter 50/50

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i15-m1-prior-art

evidence

Positioned against the verified landscape (prior-art notes, 3-0 adversarial votes and primary sources — see the pulled note family):

HumanLayer proved suspend-at-the-tool-boundary and reject-with-comment-as-answer — and its pivot proves the approval primitive is an ENGINE FEATURE, not a product. We copy the mechanism, not the business.
Home Assistant actionable notifications = the battle-tested two-way loop; its failure modes (dangling notifications, unreliable dismissal, duplicate answers) enter our RAID as design law.
Wire format converged industry-wide: `{id,label}` options, approve/edit/reject/respond verbs, 1–3 alternatives as the hard cross-platform ceiling — our pager format is validated law.
ntfy = the NAT-friendly gap-filler no prior art covers (HTTP PUT + `since=` polling, 3 action buttons, symmetric pub-sub); Slack enters by owner ruling 2026-07-09 — its interactivity endpoints are NAT-hostile, so socket-mode vs text-reply-polling is a genuine M3 candidate axis.
Claude Code Remote Control covers the personal lane for Claude-Code-only; the i6 lesson (harness independence) and the owner's ntfy+Slack ruling keep the engine seam harness-agnostic.

✓i15-m1-problem

✓i15-m1-risks

evidence

Four RAID risks minted, each with its mitigation recorded:

(accepted-risk, MUST be written into the M4 channel ADR)

✓i15-m1-success

evidence

carries the new pass line: a gate ask reaches the paired phone and the answer records as the adjudication, end-to-end on a real gate — demonstrated once per channel.

✓i15-m1-vision

evidence

Goal: a stalled gate is answerable from anywhere. Actual: an OPEN gate waits until the adjudicator sits at the desk. Delta: remote answerability of exactly the asks the loop already produces.

The Moore pitch:

For the adjudicator away from the desk,
who must answer a gate or decision ask before the walk can continue,
the quackitect ask loop is an engine feature that sends the pager's question to a paired phone and records the answer as the adjudication.
Unlike approval-as-a-service products and harness-bound remotes,
it lives in the ledger, works over NAT with zero dependencies, and speaks through swappable channels (ntfy and Slack now, corporate later).

✓i15-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i15-m2-inputs

evidence

The system-in-focus is the ASK LOOP inside the engine. Its context, IN/OUT:

                 ┌──────────────────────────┐
 [adjudicator]──▸│ phone (paired device)    │
                 └───────────▴──────────────┘
                    ask ▴    │ answer
                 ┌──────┴────▾──────────────┐
                 │ relay (ntfy topic /      │   third-party transit —
                 │ Slack workspace)         │   disclaimer at pairing
                 └──────▴────┬──────────────┘
                  send  │    │ poll
                 ┌──────┴────▾──────────────┐
                 │ engine ask loop (seam)   │──▸ ledger (bless, actor=user)
                 └──────────────────────────┘

Figure: the ask travels engine → relay → phone. The answer returns the same way. The ledger records it. The engine only ever polls outward — no inbound endpoint (NAT law).

Use cases: (the loop). The reverse channel (phone-initiated queries, `quack listen`) stays OUT of this iteration by the red-team ruling (demoted).

use cases (1)

✓i15-m2-prior-art

evidence

The standard checklist for human-in-the-loop approval (from the verified prior-art notes) demands:

options as id-label pairs (req-ask-format ✓)
suspend-until-answered with independent pending asks (req-multi-ask ✓)
timeout + notification cleanup (req-ask-timeout ✓)
idempotent correlation-bound answers (req-answer-idempotent ✓)
reject-with-comment flowing back as the answer (req-answer-apply ✓)
authenticity stated honestly (raid-answer-forgery → the M4 ADR ✓)
a channel seam (req-channel-seam ✓)

✓i15-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i15-m2-req-traced auto

✓i15-m2-stakeholders

evidence

— the adjudicator away from the desk; the ask reaches them, their answer binds.
— the driving agent; keeps walking other ready checks while asks pend.
— pairs devices, owns the relay choice (hosted vs self-hosted), reads the disclaimer.
— extends the seam with the corporate adapters later.
No new role needed: the relay operator duty folds into operator-sysadmin; the adjudicator duty is the project owner's existing role.

✓i15-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i15-m3-alternatives

✓i15-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirement set. Weights fixed BEFORE scoring (anti-bias law). Scale anchors in each criterion's body:

— 0.9 (req-adapter-zero-dep)
— 0.9 (req-slack-channel, the NAT law)
— 0.6 (raid-answer-forgery bounds it)
— 0.6 (owner: wanted soon)
— 0.5
— 0.5

✓i15-m3-feasibility

evidence

ntfy: PROBED LIVE from this NAT'd machine (2026-07-09) — HTTP PUT to a fresh high-entropy topic returned 200 with an `X-Actions` header accepted; `GET /json?poll=1&since=all` returned the published message verbatim. One probe settles the datasheet: send+poll works with zero code beyond net/http. (Synthetic payload, throwaway topic.)
Slack text-poll: `chat.postMessage` and `conversations.history` are Tier-3 Web API methods over plain HTTPS with a bot token — no endpoint, no websocket; feasibility is documentary plus the M5 spike on a real workspace (needs the owner's token; recorded as the spike's first step).
Slack socket-mode: `apps.connections.open` returns a wss URL; the client must speak RFC6455 (masking, ping/pong, envelope acks). Feasible zero-dep but the ~400-line estimate and the reconnect lifecycle are the cost; no live probe without a workspace app.
Seam shapes: both are plain Go; the exec lane reuses the roles pattern (file-based contract, already proven by the method's role seam).

✓i15-m3-gate

M4 architecture4 / 4 done

✓i15-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

Four decisions in `spec/decisions/`, each addressing its requirement through the lanes. The chosen/rejected edges are wired to the candidates. `coverage:adr-traced` computes.

✓i15-m4-chosen

evidence

The ask loop lives in the engine, behind ONE seam. The chosen shape:

Seam: a Go adapter interface (`send ask`, `poll answers`) with ONE exec adapter kind driving an external process over a file contract — .
ntfy channel: X-Actions buttons publishing the option to the answer topic; since-polling reads it back — .
Slack channel: `chat.postMessage` sends the ask; `conversations.history` polling reads a typed option id (or `n <comment>`) — .
Trust model: one-time pairing mints high-entropy credentials (topic trio / bot token + channel); answer authenticity = possession, accepted-risk WRITTEN — .

decisions (4)

✓i15-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Pugh, weights fixed at M3 (0.9 zero-dep, 0.9 NAT, 0.6 auth, 0.6 corporate, 0.5 one-tap, 0.5 effort):

slack-transport (datum = socket-mode, the strongest rival): text-poll 3.29 vs socket 2.58. Wins zero-dep, effort, corporate; loses one-tap and some auth. Sensitivity REVERSED: socket wins only when one-tap outweighs zero-dep roughly two-to-one — credible exactly if typed answers fail the adjudicator in practice. Tripwire recorded (in the ADR): a failed typed-answer UX at M5 or in the field re-enters socket-mode as datum.
ntfy-shape: actions 3.24 vs plain-reply 2.94 — dominates on one-tap, ties or wins elsewhere; no credible reversal (plain-reply survives only as the documented degraded path).
seam-shape (per-axis criteria): exec-lane 1.85 vs internal-only 1.53 — corporate-seam carries it. Reversal needs the corporate seam near-worthless against the standing "wanted soon" ruling: considered, judged not credible, recorded here.

✓i15-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i15-m5-assumptions

✓i15-m5-buildable

evidence

✓i15-m5-spike-recorded ✓i15-m5-gate

M6 implementation16 / 16 done

✓i15-m6-build-planned ✓i15-m6-designs-realized auto

✓i15-m6-impl-risks

evidence

Reviewed against the RAID log:

lockscreen (pairing text ships the instruction ✓)
forgery (accepted-risk ADR stands; high-entropy topics minted ✓)
dangling notifications (expiry engine-driven, idempotent answers ✓)
retention (disclaimer printed at pairing ✓)

New risk accepted and recorded here: the fallback drain applies user taps without a session key — deliberate, per the trust model (possession of the paired credential IS the authorization).

Interruption test: losing any single step loses at most one concern; every step leaves the battery green or observably red at its seam.

✓i15-m6-internal-quality

evidence

The battery is green in one process; coverage, EARS, and wiring lint clean.
The QR encoder is the one honestly-uncertain artifact: structurally valid and self-checked, but scannability is proven only by a real phone at M7 — flagged, not hidden.
The drain hook runs on every dispatch behind a cheap pairing-config stat; unpaired workspaces pay one file probe.
DRY held under pressure: the deferral exclusion was extracted to ONE helper after briefly existing in three copies.

✓i15-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i15-m6-tests-red auto ✓i15-m6-verification auto

✓i15-m6-build

evidence

b1: fourteen executed selftests authored (twelve planned + two mid-build requirements), every one observed RED before its code. Hermetic throughout: httptest fakes, injected clocks, config seams.
b2..b6: the ask core, the seam with its exec lane, the loop (dispatch → poll → correlate → first-wins apply → expire), `quack pair`, and the ntfy adapter — all in `ask.go`/`ask_ops.go`/`qr.go`, each region design-marked. The battery greens all fourteen.
b8: `quack ask <gate>` sends; `quack await` blocks on the held-open ntfy stream and APPLIES the tap (a phone bless resumes the walk); EVERY run drains as the fallback; the pager renders the 📱 MOBILE line when paired; the agent guide and engage.md carry the ops. `ask`/`await` ride the attest gate; the drain executes the USER's tap and is deliberately ungated (adr-answer-authenticity).
Mid-build owner requirements, captured with the full ritual (req + test + red + green):
: mobile is the DEFAULT when paired — the console bless supersedes the pending mobile asks (cmdBless hook), the later tap is idempotently ignored.
: `quack pair` renders the subscribe link as a HAND-ROLLED QR (byte mode, ECC-L, single-block v1–5, computed BCH format bits — zero-dep, and the credential never leaves the machine). Structural validity is tested; the real scan is the M7 demo.
A live engine bug found and fixed under the bugfix law: a DEFERRED requirement (req-slack-channel) holed `designs-realized` forever — the defer mechanism did not carry into the coverage rules. Class-guard `test-defer-excludes-coverage` observed red; the fix (one `deferredReqs` helper feeding the rule, the delta lister, and the hole lister) greens it; coverage computes clean.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i15-b1-tests ✓i15-b2-ask-core ✓i15-b3-seam ✓i15-b4-loop ✓i15-b5-pairing ✓i15-b6-ntfy ✓i15-b8-integrate

✓i15-m6-gate

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i15-m7-acceptance

evidence

The adjudicator's sign-off evidence:

the mobile bless event itself (actor=user, channel=ntfy, in the ledger)
the owner-driven review rounds through M1–M6 in this record

The M7 gate bless below completes it.

✓i15-m7-gaps

evidence

The QR gap CLOSED live (the scan worked; the structural test was honest about not proving this).
Remaining, recorded as RAID-adjacent notes for the field: relay retention rides the disclaimer (accepted); the Slack lane is deferred with its tripwire armed (adr-dmvbh5y, adr-slack-text-poll); `await`'s reconnect path has a test plus one live run — long-haul behavior (hours-long awaits, flaky networks) is field territory, the fallback drain bounds the damage.

decisions (2)

✓i15-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

use cases (1)

✓i15-m7-meets-need ✓i15-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i15-m8-config

evidence

Pairing state: `<userDataBase>/quackitect/pairing.json` (machine-local; the topic pair is the credential — never in the repo).
Pending asks: `<workspace data home>/asks/asks.json` (runtime state, never truth; resolved gate answers live in the ledger as ordinary bless events with the channel noted).
The channel base defaults to `https://ntfy.sh`; self-hosting swaps the base in the pairing config.

✓i15-m8-docs

✓i15-m8-handover

evidence

The adjudicator has driven the surface end-to-end personally:

paired via QR
answered two gate asks and one decision ask from the phone
exercised both delivery lanes (await stream and drain-on-run)
hit and confirmed the delete-before-tap edge

The M8 gate bless completes the handover.

✓i15-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` runs immediately after the M8 gate bless (the standing rule): the zip carries the fresh book and report at its root; the committed book refreshes in the same move.

✓i15-m8-gate

i0016_structural_models 56/56

M1 frame6 / 6 done

✓i16-m1-problem

evidence

i14 onion (2026-07-08/09): six render passes because the structure was recovered from code afterward; owner ruling: "the rendering is right, the structure is not" ().
Method gap (owner, 2026-07-08): structural decomposition should be an explicit architecting step, not reverse-engineered (NOTE-20260708-193126, archived).
Decomposition smell (owner, 2026-07-08): the derived onion exposed a no-flow layer - a bad decomposition the process never caught (NOTE-20260708-195212, archived).
Modeling discussion (owner, 2026-07-09): models chosen AFTER architecture, BEFORE implementation; the implementation follows them; draft==truth is binding.
The delta is real: today NOTHING between the M4 decision and the M6 build states the intended structure; the only structure artifact (design-layers.md) was authored ad hoc AFTER the code existed.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-risks

evidence

Risk - model rot (raid-model-rot): a conformance gap lets divergence pass silently. Mitigation: the SUSPECT flip is a baked requirement with its own test.
Risk - extractor fragility (raid-extractor-fragility): the excalidraw format evolves under us. Mitigation: constrained drawing contract + format admission tests.
Risk - modeling overhead (raid-modeling-overhead): BDUF ceremony on small iterations. Mitigation: two-model default budget, per-kind opt-in at views-chosen.
Risk - false DONE (raid-false-done): the semantic hash misses a real change. Mitigation: hash the FULL extracted graph; class-guard tests per extractor.

✓i16-m1-sota

evidence

Reflexion Models (Murphy/Notkin, 1995): declared model vs extracted model, diffed into convergences/divergences/absences. Exactly our mechanism - the approach is validated research, thirty years old.
ArchUnit / go-arch-lint / dependency-cruiser: architecture rules as executable tests. Closest living relatives of the conformance checker. They enforce but do not depict: no visual model, no drawing input, no ledger integration, no reader-facing rendering.
Architecture-as-code (Structurizr DSL, C4): one text model, many views. Strong on DRY views, but a dedicated model language (not draft==truth in a friendly editor) and no code-conformance loop by default.
SysML/CASE tools (Cameo, Papyrus): full modeling power; fails our admission tests - heavy editors, XMI is un-diffable and agent-opaque.
View catalogs (4+1, C4, arc42, SysML pillars): the source for the kind catalog; all reduce to structure / behavior / flow / allocation / context.
Positioning: no prior art combines draft==truth files in a friendly editor, zero-dep extraction, semantic-graph hashing into a gate ledger, decomposition smells, and book rendering. The combination is the contribution; every ingredient separately is proven.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-success

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i16-m1-vision

evidence

Scope IN:

model-kind catalog with admission tests and selection heuristics
views-chosen decision step after the architecture milestone
model nodes in the spec, draft==truth (the authored file IS the checked file)
extractors per admitted format, semantic-graph hashing, ambiguity lint
conformance check (convergence, divergence, absence) + decomposition smells
skeleton stubs per kind
models rendered in the book's design output chapter
dogfood: the engine's own structure declared and checked

Scope OUT:

report tabs for models (owner: probable, decision deferred to the walk)
allocation/deployment kind (parked for the mechatronics wave)
vendoring any external renderer (PlantUML jar, render servers)
the full methodology map (backlog)

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i16-m1-gate

evidence

Verify. Each subtask has its section above with dated referents:

the vision carries Moore + PR-FAQ
the problem carries four dated owner rulings
the sota scan ran live searches (reflexion models, ArchUnit family, view catalogs, format research)
success criteria map 1:1 to baked selftests
four RAID nodes are minted in the iteration

Validate. The frame matches the owner's commission verbatim:

models after architecture and before implementation
implementation follows them
book rendering in
report tabs explicitly deferred

Nothing out of the commission's scope was added beyond the dogfood case, which the onion-structure note demands.

Red-team. The opposing case was argued in the owner discussion 2026-07-09. Its points:

BDUF
dual maintenance
wrong-model risk
rot

Each point is either adopted as a rule or carried as a RAID node. The adopted rules:

only checkable kinds admitted
per-iteration choice
models gate or are refused

Kill-criterion for the iteration: if the M5 spike cannot extract the real i14 draft with a zero-dep parser, the visual draft==truth path dies and the format decision reopens.

Verdict: PASS - problem real. Scope bounded. Success measurable. Hand-off to the adjudicator for the killer + gate bless.

decisions (1)

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i16-m2-inputs

evidence

- declare after the architecture decision, in the same files the owner edits.
- the engine checks code against the declared models on every run.
- a reader studies the models in the design output chapter.

use cases (3)

✓i16-m2-prior-art

evidence

The requirement set positioned against three source families:

SyA program (Siemens, deep-read digest at Desktop/ai/sya_kb):
the architecting spine separates FUNCTION tree, ELEMENT tree, and ALLOCATION (DMM) - the catalog must carry them as distinct kinds, not one generic "tree" (feeds M3/M4 catalog content).
views are chosen per stakeholder concern via the Stakeholder/View matrix (Bass) under ISO 42010 - req-views-chosen is the engine-shaped version; the matrix method goes into the views-chosen guide.
"select a minimal appropriate set" and "views are for communication, not backup" - grounds the two-model default budget.
the SysML lesson ("SysML puts all burden on the user"): reduce possibilities to gain checkability. The lesson is adopted; SyA's MECHANISM (invent a UML-profile DSL) is rejected by the owner and by the admission tests themselves - a bespoke language flunks "good editor" and has no ecosystem or agent fluency. We constrain MAINSTREAM formats with a usage lint instead (ruled with the owner 2026-07-09).
Book corpus (college/buecher/digest):
Janschek Sec 2.2.3: the Structured Analysis set ships LINT RULES - flows without source or sink are inconsistencies; child models balance their parent; state transitions come from declared control flows; "no device falls from the sky" (every element justified by an allocated function). MISS FOUND: our set checked model-to-code but not model-to-model consistency. ADDED: req-model-consistency + test-model-consistency.
Eigner Sect 4.3/4.5: six-view system model; "diagrams are views; the model is the linked element graph - delete a shape, the element survives" - direct validation of req-semantic-hash (hash the extracted graph, never the drawing bytes). Stachowiak's model criteria (mapping, reduction, pragmatism) ground the catalog's admission tests.
Pahl/Beitz: function structures flow material/energy/signal - the same flow trinity as SyA's discipline matrix; the no-flow smell vocabulary is standard, not invented here.
Web research (2026-07-09 session): Reflexion Models (Murphy/Notkin) name the declared-vs-derived mechanism; ArchUnit family is the closest tool prior art (enforces, does not depict); excalidraw/JSON-Canvas format facts probed.
Non-goals RECORDED: parameters view (Eigner's sixth concern) stays out - quackitect has no numeric budget layer yet (a future iteration; the Janschek budget chain note in the backlog covers it). Allocation/deployment kind parked for the mechatronics wave (M1 scope).

decisions (1)

requirements (3)

tests (1)

✓i16-m2-req-tests auto ✓i16-m2-req-traced auto

✓i16-m2-stakeholders

evidence

project-owner -> declares the models at views-chosen; adjudicates the conformance gates.
agent -> implements INSIDE the declared blocks; the models bound its freedom (the owner's core intent).
assessor -> reads conformance verdicts and smells on the board instead of re-deriving structure.
newcomer -> learns the system's shape from the book's rendered models.
communicator -> the book chapter is the outward artifact; models are figures with one-line captions (voice law).
user -> N/A recorded: the engine's end user meets models only through the book (covered by newcomer/communicator rows).
acquirer -> N/A recorded: no acquisition concern in a dogfood iteration.

decisions (1)

✓i16-m2-gate

evidence

Validate. The set covers the owner's commission:

declare-before-build (req-views-chosen, req-models-gate-build)
draft==truth (req-draft-is-truth, req-semantic-hash)
follow-the-models (req-conformance, req-divergence-suspect)
book rendering (req-models-in-book)

The corpus check ADDED one requirement rather than merely confirming - evidence the check had teeth.

onion structure fight
no-flow layer
format churn
stale drawings

Round 4 - owner-directed deep re-check (2026-07-09, "make sure we didn't miss anything"). Full gap sweep against every source read this iteration:

MISS FOUND AND ADDED: the same-day design discussion (tray top-up, groom) produced feature surface with no covering requirement. Added req-model-tray and req-model-groom as EARS Where-shaped conditionals - they bind only if M4 admits a canvas format, so they do not presuppose the winner. Tests minted (test-model-groom pins the two provable invariants: semantic graph preserved, idempotent).
Leveled models (Janschek parent/child balancing): reference semantics covered by req-model-consistency; leveling rules are per-kind catalog content. No requirement owed. RECORDED.
Interfaces: edges ARE the interfaces; label discipline covered by req-model-lint + the catalog's dictionary rules. RECORDED.
Governance (SyA): conformance + SUSPECT is the governance mechanism. Covered.
Parameters/budgets (Eigner sixth view, Janschek ch12): non-goal, recorded above.
Model retirement/supersede: existing decision mechanics (mint supersede/veto) apply to model nodes unchanged. Covered.
Extraction performance: bound by the global responsiveness guide + verdict cache; watch at M6, no per-feature requirement.
Report tabs: owner-deferred at commission; unchanged.

Verdict: PASS (15 requirements after round 4) - the owner blessed the gate by explicit console instruction ("bless M2" on 2026-07-09). Recorded --by user.

decisions (1)

requirements (11)

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i16-m3-alternatives

evidence

Morphological axes (SyA: function x option matrix):

Axis 1 - canvas format (spatial kinds)

Context: which surface carries decomposition and layers+flow, where arrangement means something.

Excalidraw. Pro: the owner's preferred sketch surface; bindings and frames give the graph; probed live in i14. Con: volatile fields (seeds, nonces) noise the diff; extractor must interpret bindings.
JSON Canvas. Pro: trivial open spec (nodes+edges), clean diffs, Obsidian-native editor. Con: stiffer sketching; rings built from groups; less expressive.
None (all-text). Pro: no canvas extractor at all. Con: spatial meaning falls to derived views only.

Axis 2 - text language (topological kinds)

Context: which language carries state machines and sequences, where topology is the meaning.

Mermaid. Pro: renders native in Obsidian and GitHub; vendorable into the book (cytoscape precedent); best agent fluency; line-grammar subsets hand-parseable. Con: expressiveness ceiling on exotic diagrams.
PlantUML. Pro: richer sequence and component forms. Con: render needs a JVM or an external server - fails the book demand as PRIMARY; stays a recorded per-kind option (owner ruling 2026-07-09) where expressiveness demands and external render is accepted.
D2. Pro: modern, pleasant grammar. Con: render needs the d2 binary - same demand failure; recorded, not carried.
SysML v2 textual. Pro: the standard; text-primary validates our direction. Con: KerML-grade grammar; no sketch editor; external render. Knocked out (see cand-sysml-v2).
Bespoke DSL. Knocked out by the ownership law (see cand-bespoke-dsl).

Axis 3 - split policy

Context: one format for everything, or per-kind best fit.

All-canvas / all-text. Pro: one extractor, one skill. Con: each is weak on half the kinds.
Per-kind hybrid. Pro: each kind in its best format (owner pre-approved per-kind choice). Con: two extractors, two contracts.
Preferred: per-kind hybrid. The kinds genuinely differ: state machines are typed faster than drawn; rings are drawn, not typed.

The six named candidates (scores after the M3 review revision)

- small text languages everything, spatial reading from derived renders. 0.835 - LEADER.
- Excalidraw spatial + Mermaid topological. 0.783 - strongest rival, the M4 datum.
- JSON Canvas spatial + Mermaid topological. 0.77.
- Excalidraw everything. 0.645.
- 0.38, KNOCKOUT (good-editor and render demands).
- 0.54, KNOCKOUT (ownership law).

Review revision (owner challenge, 2026-07-09, pre-bless)

The owner challenged the decomposition-to-canvas assignment: "trees are also very easy in text." The challenge holds and generalizes:

Trees are pure hierarchy - text is their native form; tree layout is computed trivially.
Layers+flow derives from a list - PROVEN in i14 (the approved cytoscape onion renders from design-layers.md; what was wrong was the declared content, not the medium).
The spatial criterion conflated READING spatially (satisfied by derived renders from text truth) with AUTHORING spatially (arrangement as meaning no algorithm computes - physical placement). No current kind authors arrangement.

Format resolution rounds (owner-driven, 2026-07-09, pre-bless)

requirements (4)

✓i16-m3-criteria

evidence

Weights sum to 1.00; each derives from a requirement or a dated owner ruling:

(req-draft-is-truth): 0.20
(owner ruling: never the language's owner): 0.15
(req-model-nodes, zero-dep law): 0.15
(owner scenario: new function enters the drawing): 0.15
(req-models-in-book): 0.15
(req-semantic-hash): 0.10
(the onion lesson): 0.10

Selection precedes evaluation (Pahl/Beitz): the DEMANDS - good editor, zero-dep render path, no language ownership - knock out before scoring. E and F fail demands; scored only for the record.

requirements (5)

✓i16-m3-feasibility

evidence

cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid: FEASIBLE - Excalidraw graph read PROBED live (i14 draft, 2026-07-09); Mermaid state/sequence subsets are line grammars in the EARS-lint class; groom and tray are pure JSON transforms (QR-encoder precedent for hand-rolled machinery). UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: the extractor against the real i14 file, including semantic-hash stability under a cosmetic edit.
cand-hybrid-canvas-mermaid: FEASIBLE - .canvas parse is trivial; render = simple SVG. UNPROVEN residue -> whether groups express rings acceptably to the owner.
cand-text-all: FEASIBLE - all machinery exists (mermaid.js vendorable like cytoscape). The spatial gap is a product judgment, not a technical risk.
cand-canvas-all: FEASIBLE but the behavioral-kind extraction (hand-drawn sequences) is the fragile end - rough-checked and priced into its rating.
cand-sysml-v2: NOT FEASIBLE in scope (KerML-grade parser).
cand-bespoke-dsl: feasible and forbidden.

✓i16-m3-gate

evidence

Verify. The evidence:

six candidates minted with full rating maps
seven criteria minted with metric, weight, and scale anchors
weights sum to 1.00
every criterion traces to a requirement or a dated ruling
feasibility carries referents (the i14 probe) or names its spike question

Validate. The candidate space covers the owner's explicit instructions:

text-first small languages seriously weighed (not decoration)
SysML named and rejected on grounds
bespoke DSL killed by the recorded ownership law
per-kind split honored

Today's design discussions all surface as criteria or candidate features:

tray
groom
delta scenario
one-owning-view

matrix challenge
leader flip
format rounds

M4 architecture decision4 / 4 done

✓i16-m4-adr-traced auto

evidence

addresses req-views-chosen.
addresses req-draft-is-truth.
addresses req-model-nodes.
addresses req-semantic-hash.

The derived check computes live.

decisions (4)

requirements (4)

✓i16-m4-chosen

evidence

One decision card per axis:

Split policy - Decision: text-first for ALL current kinds (). Because: crit-delta-ergonomics, crit-agent-fluency, crit-render-book, and the re-anchored crit-spatial-meaning (derived renders satisfy spatial READING; no current kind AUTHORS arrangement). Rejected: the per-kind canvas hybrids - they buy authored-arrangement power no current kind needs at the price of a second extractor (YAGNI with a recorded resurrection path: the admission clause).
Text language (behavioral kinds) - Decision: Mermaid subsets for state machines and sequences. Because: crit-render-book (vendorable, the cytoscape precedent) and crit-agent-fluency (1.0). Rejected: PlantUML and D2 as PRIMARY (render dependency - JVM / external binary; both stay recorded per-kind options where expressiveness demands); SysML v2 (knockout: good-editor and render demands); bespoke DSL (knockout: the ownership law).
Structural-kind format - Decision: element-major discipline carried in a lint-pinned Mermaid subset () - flowchart TD with subgraph=layer (declaration order = rank, innermost first), node declarations before edges (TikZ discipline), node label = responsibility, edge labels mandatory; coordinates refused, layout derives. Because: crit-editor-truth (the owner's own TikZ habit AND the truth file previews natively as a diagram), crit-diff-versioning (one element = one line = one hunk), the ownership law (a bespoke markdown grammar - however small - would be an owned format; the pinned subset is constrained mainstream, one grammar family across all four authored kinds), and the plan-ahead demand (elements allocated BEFORE code; the design-marker id is the join; sky-fall and absence lints close the loop). Rejected: layer-major long lines (owner), element-owned code tags (killed by plan-ahead), owned markdown lists (killed by the ownership law at the owner's Mermaid round, 2026-07-09).
Edit-path discipline - Decision: unique-or-mediated () - the extracted graph is derived and read-only; one owning view per element; siblings reference by name. Because: the view-update problem (lens ambiguity) makes unmediated multi-view editing drift by construction, and the zero-dep/no-daemon constraints leave no seat for a mediator.
Method step - Decision: views-chosen after the architecture decision () - kinds named with their questions, rejected kinds recorded, two models default. Because: req-views-chosen and the SyA Stakeholder/View discipline (minimal appropriate set).

Pugh run 1. Datum = the STRONGEST viable rival: cand-hybrid-exca-mermaid (0.783).

Criterion (weight)	Hybrid (datum)	Text-first
editor-truth (0.20)	S	- (0.7 vs 0.8: canvas sketching still edges out typing)
agent-fluency (0.15)	S	+ (1.0 vs 0.9)
extractor-cost (0.15)	S	+ (one format family vs two)
delta-ergonomics (0.15)	S	+ (text edit vs tray+placement)
render-book (0.15)	S	+ (vendored mermaid + trivial SVG vs hand-rolled sketch renderer)
diff-versioning (0.10)	S	+ (clean text vs volatile JSON)
spatial-meaning (0.10)	S	- (derived renders vs authored arrangement)

Net: +5 / -2 for text-first - the two minuses are exactly the canvas's raison d'etre, and no current kind exercises either.

Status-quo run (worth-doing-at-all). Datum = today (ad-hoc design-layers.md, structure recovered from code). The i14 record is the evidence:

six render passes
a structure fight
a no-flow layer nobody caught
the owner's ruling that recovery-from-code is the wrong direction

Worth doing is established by observed failure, not projection.

decisions (5)

requirements (2)

✓i16-m4-traced

evidence

✓i16-m4-gate

evidence

Verify. The evidence:

four ADRs minted and traced
the Pugh table scores against the honestly-strongest datum
both convergence runs recorded
the status-quo run grounds worth-doing in the i14 record
every criterion carries its metric, weight, and anchors in its node

Validate. The decision satisfies the commission end to end:

models after architecture and before implementation (views-chosen + plan-ahead allocation + sky-fall lint)
draft==truth with no transcription
implementation follows the models (an unallocated region is a lint finding - the agent cannot silently invent structure)
book rendering in scope
report tabs still deferred as the owner ruled

The owner's live rulings this session are each embodied in a decision card or a method rule:

no bespoke DSL
trees-in-text
TikZ element-major
both-lanes hand-offs

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the M4 gate.

decisions (1)

M5 prototype evidence4 / 4 done

✓i16-m5-assumptions

evidence

Spike home: `<data-home>/spikes/i16-m5/` (throwaway, outside the repo). Four artifacts, four proofs (agent-run, 2026-07-09):

Probe 1 - the subset parses zero-dep: PASS. `extract.go` (~100 lines, three regexes: subgraph, node declaration, labeled edge) read `model-engine-layers.mmd` - a REAL draft of the engine's structure (4 layers, 14 elements, 10 payload-labeled flows): `elements=14 layers=4 flows=10, semantic-hash=ddf001a8fcbdfb6f`. Fallback if FAIL was the JSON Canvas hybrid - not needed.
Probe 2 - cosmetic edits ripple nothing: PASS. `variant-cosmetic.mmd` (comment added, two element lines reordered inside a layer) hashed identically: `ddf001a8fcbdfb6f`. The canonical form keeps layer ORDER (semantic) and sorts members and flows (order cosmetic) - Eigner's split, mechanically real.
Probe 3 - semantic edits ripple, ambiguity lints: PASS. `variant-semantic.mmd` (one added flow) moved the hash: `9743456631b7cffc`. `variant-lint.mmd` (edge to an undeclared element, empty payload) produced both findings: `flow references undeclared "go-ghost" (TikZ discipline: declare before use)` and `flow without a payload label`, exit 2.
Probe 4 - the derived render carries the reading value: PASS (owner rules at this gate). `render.go` produced `onion.svg` from the same text truth: four labeled concentric rings, elements dotted on their rings, flows drawn with their payload names - the arrows have NAMES now, which the i14 onion's arrows never did. First cut per the visuals law.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i16-m5-buildable

evidence

The production extractor is the spike's shape hardened: same line grammar, plus BOM stripping and file-level errors. Small.
The renderer path for M6 is the EXISTING i14 cytoscape onion re-pointed at model nodes - the spike SVG proves the graph suffices; the approved renderer already exists.
The sky-fall and absence checks are id-set comparisons against design markers the engine already scans. No new machinery class.

✓i16-m5-results

evidence

FINDING (M6 class-guard): a UTF-8 BOM at file start reads as beyond-subset syntax - the extractor must strip it (observed live: PowerShell-written variants; files from other tools will carry it too).
FINDING (M6 design point): beyond-subset syntax should be a LINT FINDING that still parses the rest (the spike continues past it) - a whole-file refusal would let one stray line hide the model.
ADVANCED: the canonical-form rule is now concrete - rank order preserved, member and flow order sorted - and goes verbatim into the extractor's design region.
The spike model itself is a DRAFT: the real engine structure (the dogfood, incl. the no-flow judgment on today's infra grouping) is authored at M6 with the owner.

decisions (1)

✓i16-m5-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the combined killer + gate.

decisions (1)

M6 implementation22 / 22 done

✓i16-m6-designs auto

✓i16-m6-plan

evidence

Ordering discipline: ORDER IS NOT DEPENDENCY - every depends_on names a real producer-consumer link; parallel steps hang flat. The steps (children of i16-m6-build):

Stage 1 - the red floor:
- the seventeen-test battery authored, registered, observed RED.
Stage 2 - the core producer:
- pinned flowchart-subset extractor + canonical semantic hash (BOM stripped; beyond-subset lints and continues - both M5 findings).
Stage 3 - consumers of the extractor (parallel):
- model nodes in the spec; graph hash folds into the ledger.
- stateDiagram + sequenceDiagram subsets.
- the kind REGISTRY (owner ruling 2026-07-09): one engine-scanned method file per kind under method/models/, the file IS the registration (the rigor/project_types/roles pattern); its embedded example doubles as the mint stub; views-chosen derives its menu from the scan; a new kind reusing a built-in format subset is alive on day one - kinds are data, formats are code (a new grammar owes an engine step, and lint says so); per-language extraction guidance nests in the appendix.
Stage 4 - consumers of model nodes (parallel):
- ambiguity, dangling cross-model references, views-chosen coverage.
- as-built graph from imports + markers; convergence/divergence/absence; SUSPECT flip; no-flow + sky-fall smells.
- book design-output chapter + report onion re-pointed.
Stage 5 - the owner lane:
- the engine's REAL models authored with the owner; views-chosen recorded; the infra no-flow judgment resolved.
Stage 6 - the conformance harvest (owner ruling 2026-07-10: the iteration theme is "introduce the models and render them" - ALL findings resolve IN this iteration; b10/b11/b13 run as parallel builders on disjoint files):
- ask paths through the AskAdapter seam, never the concrete transport.
- go-engine-core splits: loading to the rim--graph band (go-graph-load), hashing stays kernel.
- the onion derives from model-engine-layers; design-layers.md retires to a stub-project fallback.
- after b10+b11: every remaining finding resolved by refactor, honest re-allocation, or recorded exemption (adr-logging-ambient is the pattern); the models lint reaches zero.

decisions (1)

requirements (3)

designs (2)

models (1)

✓i16-m6-quality

evidence

Reviewed 2026-07-10, post-sweep:

Fourteen new selftests (thirteen minted + the answer-validated class guard), every one observed RED at its recorded hash before its build step; the full battery is green across all iterations.
models.go carries seven design regions with clear seams; the extractor is one line grammar with three regexes; the canonical-hash rule is stated once and tested twice (cosmetic vs semantic).
The b12 sweep repaired six NESTED-MARKER hazards (two markers sharing one enddesign made region ownership flap with map order) - a determinism fix beyond its brief.
Residual debt, recorded as a note: two checker blind spots (builder-Fprintf false-positive class; zero-reference regions invisible) - class guards owed at the next checker touch.
Voice and comment density match the surrounding code; no gofmt regression introduced (the pre-existing sweep stays a backlog note).

✓i16-m6-red auto

✓i16-m6-risks

evidence

The conformance checker gates the ENGINE's own board only via lint visibility, not via a coverage rule - drift shows on every lint but does not flip a check SUSPECT by itself; acceptable for the proof iteration, a lead for the pruning iteration.
The model re-allocations moved many command shells to the rim - correct per the checker's print-counting, but it thins the services layer; the owner's red pen at the gate rules whether the layer earns its keep or merges away later.
raid-false-done (the semantic hash missing a real change) is mitigated by the full-graph hash + the cosmetic/semantic test pair; no incident in the walk.

✓i16-m6-build

✓i16-m6-verification auto

✓i16-m6-gate

evidence

Verify. Fourteen steps under the build task, each blessed after its green:

the red battery (b1)
the extractor core (b2)
model nodes in the ledger (b3)
behavior subsets (b4)
the lints (b5)
conformance + smells (b6)
the kind registry + method steps (b7)
book rendering (b8)
the owner dogfood - three models + the rulings as ADRs (b9)
the seam rewire (b10)
the core split (b11)
the conformance sweep to ZERO real findings (b12)
the onion re-point (b13)
region-blocks with theme clusters (b14)

Derived checks compute live:

tests-red (fourteen red records)
designs-realized (fifteen requirements, two deferred by decision)
tests-pass (the full battery, all iterations)

Validate. The commission holds end to end:

Models declared before code and checked against it (the sky-fall lint caught the checker's own region within minutes of its birth - proof by use).
The book renders models from their extracted graphs.
The onion shows the owner's physics with regions as blocks and themes as clusters.
The code was restructured to conform (65 findings burned to zero, zero exemptions beyond the one the owner ruled - adr-logging-ambient).

Red-team. Sharpest attack: the sweep re-allocated its way to zero - did it launder violations as re-allocations? Defense:

every re-allocation carries a transform-essence or console-essence argument recorded in the model's rationale
the false-edge kill was verified against the AST attribution (a shared method name, renamed)
zero EXEMPTIONS were needed - nothing was waved through

Verdict: PASS - hand-off to the adjudicator for the M6 gate.

decisions (2)

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i16-m7-acceptance

evidence

The owner adjudicated every milestone gate personally (M1 via phone tap, M2-M6 via console y or explicit instruction, each recorded --by user or under the rule-3 exception with its record line).
The owner drove the M3 matrix revision, the M4 format decision, the b9 physics rulings, and the b14 cluster refinement - the deliverable is co-designed, not merely reviewed.
The i16 theme ruling ("introduce the models and render them, all changes in this iteration") was met within the iteration.

✓i16-m7-gaps

evidence

RAID (carried): the real book's fig-model manifest lines for model-check-states and model-product-tree - owner-descoped to the pruning iteration (NOTE-20260710-084157).
RAID (carried): the conformance diff is lint-visible but not yet a coverage rule flipping a check SUSPECT by itself - a pruning-iteration lead (recorded at M6 risks).
RAID (carried): two checker blind spots (builder-Fprintf false positives; zero-reference regions invisible) - class guards owed at next checker touch (NOTE-20260710-092021).
The deferred canvas lane (tray, groom) stays healthy: requirements deferred with ready_when, tests owe nothing (the extended deferral law), the M4 fallback recorded.

✓i16-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

uc-declare-models: the owner declared the engine's structure BEFORE the restructuring; elements were allocated ahead; the build followed the model (b10-b12 restructured code TO the declaration).
uc-model-conformance: drift detection fired for real, twice, on the walk's own new code - the strongest possible demonstration (the mechanism caught its own author).
uc-model-in-book: the owner reviewed the region-block onion live and refined it (theme clusters) - the reading loop ran in anger.
The M4 tripwire verdict: model authoring in anger happened all day (three models, ~20 revisions through the rulings) in text, with the owner co-designing the syntax he then approved. No authoring-comfort complaint surfaced; the fallback (canvas hybrid) stays dormant with its requirements deferred.

decisions (1)

use cases (3)

✓i16-m7-need

evidence

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

designs (2)

models (1)

✓i16-m7-gate

evidence

Verify. Every criterion above names one of these:

a green selftest
a live lint state
a dated walk event

The acceptance section lists the owner's actual adjudications.

sky-fall
rank checks
the SUSPECT ripple

decisions (1)

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i16-m8-config

evidence

Golden root re-baselined at every content change through the walk; final baseline at this gate's build.
The engine-stamp rides the binary; spec/project.toml names i0016_structural_models as the active version until ship.
The deferred lane is pinned: req-model-tray and req-model-groom carry ready_when decisions; their tests owe nothing (the extended deferral law, class-guarded).

requirements (2)

✓i16-m8-docs

evidence

UPDATED at this gate to the final surface: the b9 physics section (gradient, seam bands, ambient, identity transit, a-to-b), regions-are-elements/files-are-themes, spec/models location, the mint --kind seed.
The kind registry files (method/models/) ARE per-kind documentation - frontmatter contract + by-example stubs; selftest:model-kinds pins their required fields.
compose-reference.md carries the model-node shape; the systematic and lean checklists carry views-chosen and models-authored; engage.md carries the both-lanes rule from this walk.
Template compliance: model nodes are a NEW item kind - the kind files serve as their templates (the registry IS the template home, one file per kind - the templates-philosophy pattern); no strays introduced; the evidence-doc skeletons matched their canonical slugs throughout.
Book drift: regenerated at ship (the standing req-book-drift mechanism).

✓i16-m8-handover

evidence

The owner adjudicated every gate of the walk personally and co-designed the physics, the format, and the render conventions; the M7 acceptance section carries the record.
Open leads hand over via the notes inbox: the pruning-iteration seed (fig-model manifest lines, doco fixes, requirement reduction), the checker blind-spot guards, the deferred region-rework discussion, and the conformance-as-coverage-rule lead.

✓i16-m8-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ (engine + method incl. the new models registry) with book and report at the zip root - runs at the ship step after this gate.
The engine binary carries the build stamp; the golden root is current (see config below).

✓i16-m8-gate

evidence

Validate. The iteration theme - introduce the models and render them, all changes in-iteration - is delivered:

models
checks
renders
restructuring
the method steps for every future iteration

i0017_pruning 39/39

M1 L1 frame2 / 2 done

✓i17-m1-problem

evidence

Success, checkable:

requirement count materially below the 2026-07-10 baseline with trace and verification intact
the three metrics gone from every surface
the retired-vocabulary lint clean
a compaction mechanism that preserves ledger hashes and evidence on a fixture
the build failing on planted vet/format findings
at least the first rule-sets loading from config
the owner's docs verdict recorded

State of the art, scanned online 2026-07-10:

Requirement granularity: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 demands singular, stand-alone requirements; INCOSE's 2023 guide conforms. The owner's clustering ruling KNOWINGLY diverges - the M3 decision must reconcile (candidate synthesis: cluster NODES whose bodies carry several singular shall-statements, keeping statement-level singularity while collapsing node count; the EARS lint is statement-level and survives).
Go analysis: golangci-lint is the de-facto meta-standard (Kubernetes, Prometheus); staticcheck the curated core; vet+gofmt ride the stdlib toolchain we already require. The zero-dep law binds the RUNTIME, not the dev lane - the M3 decision picks the set and its acquisition pattern (stdlib-only vs grab-if-present external binary).
Prompt linting: young field, mostly security/injection scanners (PromptLint, promptsage) - none fits method-prompt hygiene. The honest fit is our OWN Vale-class prose lane (go-register-vale, already in-engine): the retired-vocabulary lint as a DATA-DRIVEN rule set - which makes field items 3 and 6 one mechanism (rules-as-config, self-referentially proven).
Compaction: the event-sourcing snapshot pattern and Kafka-style log compaction are the prior art - keep the truth (events/hashes), snapshot the state, archive the working files. The merkle constraint is ours alone: whatever compacts must not move a single recorded hash.

Red team - the case AGAINST pruning, steelmanned:

Atomic-requirements orthodoxy exists for reasons: precise verification targets, clean change isolation, unambiguous tracing. Clustering trades all three for reviewability. The mitigation must be structural (singular statements INSIDE cluster bodies; per-statement verification stays possible), not just taste.
Compaction risks the archaeology: today every past decision is greppable in place. Mitigation: archives stay text, stay in-repo or in a named archive home, and the ledger NEVER compacts - only working-set files do.
Deleting the three metrics burns optionality - they were cheap to keep. Counter: they cost render surface, reader attention, and maintenance; nothing that was never consulted in ten iterations earns those. Removal is reversible from git history.
"Cleanup iterations" famously sprawl. Guard: lean rigor, the owner's light-on-features ruling, and the M3 scope card naming what does NOT happen (no new model kinds, no new surfaces).

designs (1)

✓i17-m1-gate

evidence

M2 L2 requirements4 / 4 done

✓i17-m2-reqs

evidence

- clustered nodes, sub-addressable statements (req-x.1), tests more atomic than requirements, count materially below the 2026-07-10 baseline; the render compacts too. (Deliberate ISO 29148 divergence, mitigated at statement level - M1 red team.)
- reversal rate, rework rate, self-cert ratio off every surface (both testimonies recorded).
- retired vocabulary is a lint finding over prompts and guides.
- shipped iterations compact preserving ledger truth and evidence (kill-criterion armed: hashes immovable or ship-as-convention).
- the build fails on static-analysis and formatting findings.
- rules that are data load from configuration files (first candidates: the retired-vocabulary list, the weasel-word list, facet vocabularies).
- the owner's review round, recorded (the one judgment-class test, per the doc-tests law).
- the hand-off narrative generated ONCE and carried by the ask below the pager card, both lanes identical (owner ruling at this gate; refines uc-mobile-adjudicate - the sanctioned small feature).

Each carries a minted test; six executed, one review. The constraint set: zero lost ledger truth; light on new features (owner ruling); the working mode is agent-solo until the M5 docs round.

requirements (9)

use cases (1)

✓i17-m2-tests auto ✓i17-m2-traced auto

✓i17-m2-gate

evidence

requirements (1)

M3 L3 design3 / 3 done

✓i17-m3-adr auto

✓i17-m3-approach

evidence

Clustering (): requirement nodes cluster with an umbrella statement and NUMBERED singular shall-statements in the body; verifies edges may target `req-x.1`; shipped iterations migrate 292 -> <=120 nodes; the trace-graph render clusters too (the theme-cluster pattern from the i16 onion, reused). Tests follow the owner's re-verification-economics rule - both fan directions legal. *Rejected:* clustering only future requirements - fails the unreadable-graph complaint, which is about the shipped mass. *Standards note:* deliberate ISO 29148 singularity divergence, mitigated at statement level (M1 red team carried).
Metrics removal: delete the three computations and their surfaces outright. *Rejected:* hide-behind-flag - keeps the maintenance without the value; git history is the archive.
Prose currency + config split, ONE mechanism (): the retired-vocabulary list ships as a config file consumed by the lint; the weasel-word and facet vocabularies migrate to the same pattern (the sebot grammar-in-JSON precedent). *Rejected:* hardcoded lists - the exact smell item 6 names; and config-for-everything - rules with logic stay code (YAGNI).
Compaction (): a determinized migration (`compact <iteration>`) merges a shipped iteration's files into an archive file the strict loader reads natively - node statements and evidence preserved so recorded hashes stand; logs, gather caches, and spike homes delete freely; the LEDGER never compacts. *Rejected:* git-only archaeology (delete + rely on history) - breaks the live board and the suspect cone. *Kill-criterion armed:* hashes immovable on a fixture, or item 4 ships as documented convention.
Go analysis (): `quack build` always runs gofmt + go vet and fails on findings (the toolchain is already required - zero new deps); staticcheck grab-if-present from the tools lane. *Rejected:* golangci-lint as required dependency - the meta-linter is the industry standard but violates the zero-dep spirit and imports a config culture we do not need at this size.
Ask context (): `ask` gains the narrative below the card - one generated text, both lanes identical, card first. *Rejected:* a second ntfy message - the two-cards law forbids it.

Scope guard (what does NOT happen, per the owner's light-on-features ruling):

no new model kinds
no new report surfaces
no Slack/corporate work
no book-manifest additions (descoped to this iteration's own docs round only where the owner rules)

decisions (5)

✓i17-m3-gate

evidence

M4 L4 build and test27 / 27 done

✓i17-m4-build

evidence

✓i17-m4-designs auto

✓i17-m4-quality

evidence

The migrations ran as determinized commands with authored groupings - zero hand edits except the one the tool owed (the depends_on gap, noted as a determinizer lead).
The battery caught every migration seam (three regressions, all fixed at the root: fixture ids, ref-regex, lister normalization) - the net worked.
Code hygiene ratcheted: the build now refuses format and vet findings permanently.
INCIDENT, recorded with dissent: the wave clearance used `bless --all`, which also swept i17's own OPEN gates - agent blesses recorded on unadjudicated killers. The derived designs-realized check kept the board honest (gates read SUSPECT, never falsely green), the real adjudications happen at the proper hand-offs --by user, and the escalation note demands bless --suspect-only. This review does not launder the event; it names it.
guide-pruning captures the whole method for reuse (owner's ask).

✓i17-m4-red auto ✓i17-m4-tests-pass auto

✓i17-m4-gate

evidence

M5 L5 docs and ship3 / 3 done

✓i17-m5-docs

evidence

The review ran as a conversation, not the comment layer - the owner dictated chapter by chapter; every item was captured as a note in the deterministic lane and implemented in phases:

Phase 1 (class fixes): the deterministic table-vs-prose law, statement-rendered-once at the shared table path, hierarchical section numbers with a nesting check, fixed expand rendering, the node-link helper. Bonus: the book render was byte-NONdeterministic (figure-id re-entrancy, map-order symbols, overlapping region spans) - found and fixed; the drift gate is honest now.
Phase 2 (shell): comments toggle unified upper-right, details panel purified (only the clicked thing; views/decks/baseline out), contents scrollbar beside open details, single-click-to-details book-wide with navigation via the details link, filter presets as a list, register filters merged with visible multi-select pills.
Phase 3 (chapters): ONE glossary in fundamentals as a table; ONE decisions table (type + iteration pills, human titles, candidates as the row expand per the decided question node); ONE references table with the normative column; the generated architecturally-significant list from requirement tags; methods inline as links with the appendix consolidation; V&V tables fixed and the restated prose dropped; use-case and function tables; appendix fundamentals table with robot involvement icons; guides table with AGENTS.md embedded verbatim as one row.
Phase 4: one-word sidebar titles with chapter-head subtitles, expand-all removed, chapter 2.1 became the Views home (filter buttons + derived documents - the decks' entry point), slide numbers, comments working inside presentations, comments onboarding in the details pane.
Phase 5: the onion drill-down rebuilt from the owner's sketch - round sub-onions in a context ring, input bus bars top-left with rails, output bars bottom-right, vertical drops, and input propagation (global inputs never render as nodes in sublevels; they return as that level's bars). Deterministic generated SVG.
Phase 6: the provenance-smear purge - dated attributions, step numbers, and law citations deleted at application sites across engine comments, prompts, templates, and guides; the why lives once in its designated home.
A second driving session worked the same notes concurrently for part of the round; the passes were audited against each other and merged without loss; the entry-hub regeneration trap it exposed (the render rewrote the root AGENTS.md from a manifest, clobbering hand edits) was removed - AGENTS.md is hand-authored, the book embeds it verbatim (adr-agents-hand-authored).
Durable laws from the round, baked where they survive a clone: repo self-sufficiency, the learning-escalation ladder (instance -> prompt -> determinizer), the comments-and-provenance rules (voice.md), the feedback-generalization law (note.md), the templates-first mirror on every render learning.
Rounds two and three (the owner's full chapter walk, notes 24-39) landed as five more batches:
R1: search explainer + no browser history, 2.1 as the document overview (derived chapter list), stakeholder view pills, and three laws render-wide - filters empty but never remove structure, brief promotion from the expand's lead, header-click sorting.
R2: the motivation rewritten on the owner's thesis (slop, input-over-output, the forty-year lineage rediscovered as spec-driven development, composability with output-side harnesses) with seven live-verified references; the delta chapter owns the needs; the inline-list defect root-caused in the renderer.
R3: the chapter-5 trace graphs REVERTED to the pre-fold shape (git-evidenced; architecture decisions only, no strays) - the scaling question stays open as q-trace-graph-scaling; fullscreen fills both axes; the onion core centers; chapter 6 restructured (intended use / excluded, tensions last) around the one DESIGN INPUT REGISTER; the duplicate-row defect root-caused (multi-valued groupBy).
R4: chapter 7 split into Architecture and Detailed design with derived informed-by decision links (the naive total-model derivation honestly rejected; explicit decision-to-model edges proposed from arc42/C4 practice - owner call); examples and drivers moved to guidance; the 55 iteration-less decisions resolved to 7 honest ones by addresses-derived iteration; the kind-less-decisions display artifact reported (owner vocabulary call).
R5: the publishing lane, engine-general - ship emits docs/book.html in any workspace, the drift law covers it, READMEs (this repo's and every scaffold's) carry further-reading links with the Pages URL derived from the git remote. Three selftests went GREEN-AT-BIRTH (pages-url, book-publish, scaffold-readme) - the iteration's red battery had closed; recorded here as the honest exception.
The provenance-smear purge swept ~56 historical sites (dated attributions, step numbers, law citations at application sites); the why now lives once, in its designated homes.
Process learnings baked where they survive a clone: quack apply as the sanctioned bulk-edit lane (AGENTS.md), the notes-travel tension minted as q-notes-travel (notes live in the data home and do not ride git - owner ruling pending).
Next-iteration seeds banked: the PUMA-560-class desktop arm benchmark vehicle, the onboarding package (field schemas, tiering, no-blank-fields drafting), the computed-traffic-light HTML register, quack-as-MCP-server, the await-away-mode mechanization.
Open for the owner: the final read of the swept book; q-views-placement (proposed - chapter 2.1 direction recorded, baseline placement undiscussed); q-trace-graph-scaling (open); the informed-by edge proposal; the decision-kind vocabulary; q-notes-travel.

decisions (2)

questions (3)

requirements (1)

✓i17-m5-packaged

evidence

Pends the owner's docs verdict; ship runs immediately after the M5 gate bless.

✓i17-m5-gate

evidence

i0018_mcp_apply 45/45

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i18-m1-prior-art

evidence

MCP over stdio is hand-roll-friendly (web scan, 10 claims verified 3-0).

Framing is newline-delimited JSON-RPC - no Content-Length headers; a simple line reader/writer suffices. A message must not contain an embedded newline.
The one hard conformance rule: the server must write nothing to stdout that is not a valid MCP message; stderr is free for logging. For a Go binary this means routing every log line to stderr.
Lifecycle is a three-step handshake (initialize -> capabilities -> notifications/initialized) with deterministic version negotiation. Stdio shutdown has no message - the client closes stdin and the server exits, which matches quack's single-shot model exactly.
Message directions are restricted (servers never initiate requests) - the server loop stays simple.
Caution: the newest DRAFT spec removes the handshake into per-request _meta. Pin to a stable dated version, do not chase the draft.

Where this differs / what to take (sebot lessons):

AVOID sebot's resident daemon - every hard fix in its server was Windows daemon scar tissue (Smart App Control, ghost discovery files, pid shims, cwd resets, concurrency collisions). sebot chose HTTP+daemon only because its server had to outlive the agent; quack has no such need, so stdio launch-on-demand keeps the single-shot property that sidesteps all of it.
AVOID bearer-token-in-a-file auth - it authenticates the transport, not the actor. quack's attest/key model is strictly stronger; carry the key as a tool argument, not a header.
TAKE the one-core-many-faces pattern: MCP tool declarations generated from the same command definitions the CLI reads (no second surface to drift).
TAKE the schema pattern for req-field-schemas: per-field typed rules, common+per-type merge, field-shape checks separated from referential checks, and a fixture selftest asserting exact issue sets as the contract test. Put field defaults IN the schema (sebot split them into templates and paid to maintain both).
The motivating lesson (sebot atom 0052): deterministic tools behind a CLI incantation get SKIPPED by the agent, which then redoes the work by hand. Discoverability is the product - which is the whole case for the MCP surface.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i18-m1-problem

✓i18-m1-risks

evidence

R: zero-dep law vs MCP conformance (q-mcp-transport). Mitigation: the M5 spike proves a hand-rolled stdio server against a real client before committing; the SDK stays the recorded fallback. Owner rules at M4.
R: a long-lived server vs staged build swaps. The build stages a new binary while a server runs; a superseded binary must never answer. Mitigation: stated as an invariant in req-mcp-server; exit-vs-re-exec is a design decision at M6. (sebot's daemon scar tissue is the warning; stdio launch-on-demand is the leading mitigation.)
R: schema checks mass-flagging blessed history. Turning on field enforcement could light up hundreds of old nodes. Mitigation: the grandfathering precedent (explicit exempt markers citing a decision) and a report-only first pass before any gate.
A: attest semantics must not drift between the CLI and MCP channels. The MCP tools enforce the same attest rules as the CLI; the simplification idea rides the M4 ADR, not a silent divergence.
I: the MCP×attest simplification is an open design lead, not a commitment - decided with the transport at M4.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i18-m1-success

evidence

✓i18-m1-vision

evidence

✓i18-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i18-m2-inputs

evidence

The system-in-focus is the quack engine; the environment around it, IN and OUT:

The harness client (IN/OUT) - an AI agent that discovers and calls quack tools over MCP; the new surface.
The console (IN/OUT) - the human at the terminal; the existing CLI, unchanged.
The phone relay (IN/OUT) - the ntfy ask/await lane from i15; unaffected but part of the picture.
The workspace as neighbours (IN/OUT) - other projects the engine drives with `--base`; the MCP server drives a selectable workspace like every other command.

use cases (2)

✓i18-m2-prior-art

evidence

M1 scanned the idea; this scans the concrete requirements against best practice.

MCP requirements vs the spec. req-mcp-server's statements map to the verified conformance points: the three-step handshake, tool-list/tool-call schemas, deterministic version negotiation, stdout-purity (all logging to stderr), clean exit on stdin close. The set is complete against the 2025-03-26/06-18 stable revision; the draft's handshake removal is explicitly out (pin a stable version).
Error surface (a miss, recorded). sebot's lesson - errors as data (`isError` result with the available names), never a dead transport - is not yet a statement; recorded here to fold into req-mcp-server at the M2 review (a one-statement add to the cluster), pending the owner's eye.
Schema requirements vs sebot. req-field-schemas matches sebot's proven shape (per-field type/enum/default, common+per-type merge, field-shape checks separate from referential checks, a fixture selftest asserting exact issue sets). One deliberate improvement recorded: defaults live IN the schema, not split into templates (sebot paid to maintain both).
Recorded, not added: per-connection attestation and the MCP x attest simplification stay ADR-scope (M4), not requirements - the requirement binds only "same attest rules as the CLI channel".

requirements (2)

✓i18-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i18-m2-req-traced auto

✓i18-m2-stakeholders

evidence

Five roles, none left out:

The driving agent (the MCP client) - needs discoverable, reliably-invoked tools.
The adjudicator at the console - the CLI and the gate discipline stay exactly as they are.
The owner authoring fields - the schemas make filling checkable; the tester guards the schemas themselves.
The maintainer of the zero-dep engine - the transport decision must not silently import a dependency.
An external client program - a non-agent consumer driving quack over MCP (the general case behind uc-mcp-drive).

use cases (1)

✓i18-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i18-m3-alternatives

✓i18-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the M2 requirement set, weighted 0..1 by how load-bearing each is to the project's identity:

Zero-dependency law preserved - 1.0. The distribution model (one static ratcheting binary) depends on it; this is the project's spine, not a preference.
Protocol / schema conformance - 0.9. A non-conformant server that a real client rejects fails the killer criterion.
Maintenance surface - 0.6. LOC to write and to keep current against spec drift.
Attest integrity across channels - 0.8. The MCP channel must enforce the same attest rules as the CLI; a transport that complicates that is penalized.
Startup + call latency - 0.5. Launch-on-demand must stay fast; the resident-daemon path is already rejected on other grounds.

✓i18-m3-feasibility

evidence

1A (hand-roll): sized small - a line reader/writer, a 3-method dispatch, a version constant, stderr logging. The one real risk is stdout purity (any stray print breaks the protocol); mitigated by routing every existing print through a stderr-safe path in serve mode. The M5 spike proves it against a real client handshake before commitment.
1B (SDK): feasible technically but sized against the zero-dep law it breaks; the dependency and its transitive weight, plus version-pin maintenance, are the cost. Kept as the recorded fallback if the spike shows hand-rolling is unexpectedly hard.
2A (frontmatter schemas): sized against the existing frontmatter parser - a small merge + per-field check layer, plus the fixture-selftest-as-contract-test. Directly reuses proven machinery.
2B (JSON config): sized against the i17 config loader - also cheap, but adds a format and reaches for JSON Schema before the need (conditionals) exists.

✓i18-m3-gate

M4 architecture5 / 5 done

✓i18-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i18-m4-chosen

evidence

Two forks decided by Pugh matrices; the strongest rival is the datum, and each carries a reversed sensitivity check.

Fork 1 - the MCP transport: HAND-ROLLED stdio (1A)

Datum = the official Go SDK (1B), scored 0. Criteria weighted from M3.

criterion (weight)	1A hand-roll vs the SDK datum
zero-dep law (1.0)	+ - keeps one static binary; the SDK is a runtime dependency
conformance (0.9)	− - the SDK maintains conformance upstream; we track the spec by hand
maintenance (0.6)	− - we write and keep the framing current; the SDK owns it
attest integrity (0.8)	0 - the key is a tool argument either way
latency (0.5)	0 - both launch on demand

Fork 2 - the field-schema format: FRONTMATTER notes (2A)

Datum = JSON config files (2B), scored 0.

criterion (weight)	2A frontmatter vs the JSON datum
zero-dep law (1.0)	0 - both parse with stdlib
readability / node-ethos (0.7)	+ - human-readable, matches the node-as-markdown model
conformance (0.9)	0 - both express type/enum/range today
future-proofing (0.6)	− - JSON Schema is ready for conditionals; frontmatter needs the generate-JSON tripwire

Attest over MCP - PER-SESSION (owner-directed revision)

q-mcp-transport

Closed by the owner's M4 ruling; `decided_in: i0018_mcp_apply` recorded on the deciding ADRs.

decisions (3)

questions (1)

✓i18-m4-traced-choice

evidence

✓i18-m4-views

evidence

Model kinds from the registry for this iteration's design:

layers-flow (the engine onion, model-engine-layers) - the new MCP server, apply lane, and schema regions allocate into it at M6, same as every engine region. No new model node needed; the existing onion absorbs them.
sequence - a candidate for the MCP handshake+call lifecycle (initialize -> tools/list -> tools/call -> result), IF the M6 build shows the flow needs a picture; declared as optional, not minted ahead. Rejected kinds: element-tree and state (no new structural hierarchy or lifecycle machine this iteration). Two-model budget respected - the onion is the primary, the sequence figure is the optional second.

models (1)

✓i18-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i18-m5-assumptions

✓i18-m5-buildable

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i18-m5-spike-recorded ✓i18-m5-gate

M6 implementation10 / 10 done

✓i18-m6-build-planned ✓i18-m6-designs auto

✓i18-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The MCP recursion trap (a tool reaching StatusMap re-triggers the tests-pass battery incl. mcp-serve → infinite loop) is contained: the selftest's read-only probe uses `why` on an absent id (early return, no StatusMap). Real `status`-over-MCP is fine. A sibling instance of the same class (book-graph-membership calling StatusMap) was found and fixed with a `bookGraphBusy` re-entry guard, zero golden ripple.
lint-exit-honest changes cmdLint's exit code, which the selftest harness shells; the full battery was re-verified after that item so the honest 3-code contract did not break the harness that depends on lint exit 0 for advisory-only states.
No new runtime dependency; no firewall surface added.

✓i18-m6-models

evidence

decisions (2)

designs (10)

models (1)

✓i18-m6-quality

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i18-m6-red auto ✓i18-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i18-m6-verification auto

✓i18-m6-build

evidence

The planned phases nested beneath the build task are realized:

MCP server (`product/engine-go/mcp.go`) — hand-rolled stdio JSON-RPC 2.0, the command surface generated as tools from a metadata table (one core, thin faces), a per-session in-memory attest choke point, and a superseded-binary guard. Real end-to-end stdio drive confirmed all 7 M5 conformance subtleties (notification silence, verbatim id echo, stdout purity, error-as-result, newline framing, version pin 2025-06-18, clean EOF). Zero new runtime dependency — reinforces adr-mcp-transport.
Field schemas (`product/engine-go/schemas.go`) — per-field JSON schemas under method/config/schemas, common+per-type merge, defaults-in-schema, a report-only lint pass, and a schema-set contract tester. Starter set for requirement/test/decision node types; the live graph stays clean (zero field findings on blessed nodes). Mint-time defaults + register UX fenced to i0020.
Five mechanical items (P5c) — method-apply-default-lane (apply as the default bulk-edit lane, prose design-marked; the `quack apply` command itself shipped i17); await-console-exit (`go-ask-loop`: a foreign call-log line ends the await with a drain-mode handback); go-informed-by-edges (addressFirstClass accepts model/declared-element targets, render leads with first-class edges, dangling-edge lint — the live architecture ADRs deliberately NOT rewired, to avoid reopening the blessed M4 gate); go-lint-exit (honest 3-code contract: 0 clean/advisory, 1 findings, 2 refused); go-bless report-debounce (a bless wave collapses to one render via a 3s stamp-backed interval).
DSM cluster (`product/engine-go/dsm.go`) — `quack cluster`: IGTA clustering + Tarjan SCC/tearing + Kahn layering over the design-flow DSM.
Standalone diagram-review render — `quack render` produces the self-contained onion (concentric-circles-always, per-element placement rationale, change-marks that propagate element→cluster→ring, single-click inspect / double-click drill), screenshot-verified at overview / band / kernel / cluster levels. A second owner-led round moved the core to the true center with blocks ringed around it, the bus rails+pills fully outside at the horizontal extremes (no arrow ever attaches to a pill), core arrows radial to the core center, the click model bound by action-count, and pills made clickable to trace their targets.
Vehicle drives stub (`req-vehicle-drives-stub`, M7-validation-driven) — a vehicle's committed method overlay (`product/<name>/method`, declared by an `overlay` key `start init` writes into spec/project.toml) resolves before the vendored engine layer; `start stubs` records the creating engine home per-stub (data home), preferred over the machine-global pointer; the pointer's self-heal requires a real engine repo (`product/engine-go` + `product/quackitect/method`) — closing the live-demonstrated hijack where a vehicle override captured the global pointer. `start stubs`/`start init` carved out of the attest gate (workspace creation, not ledger advancement — flagged for the owner's eye). Test-first: test-vehicle-chain observed RED @62ba0ae3, then the hermetic e2e (selftest:vehicle-chain) built to green — vehicle scaffold → committed override → vehicle stubs a project → the stub resolves the override with precedence → status drives → the global pointer survives.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (5)

tests (1)

✓i18-m6-gate

M7 validation5 / 5 done

✓i18-m7-acceptance

evidence

✓i18-m7-gaps

evidence

Gap: the MCP drive was exercised by the agent's own driver + an earlier real client (M5), not yet by the owner's day-to-day harness under normal use — ergonomics/lifecycle surprises only a live workflow surfaces. Logged, not blocking.
Gap: field schemas ship a STARTER set (requirement/test/decision); full field coverage + mint-time defaults + register UX are fenced to i0020. Expected.
Decision pending (owner): the i18 architecture ADRs (adr-mcp-transport / schema-format / mcp-attest) were deliberately NOT rewired with informed-by edges to their elements, to avoid reopening the blessed M4 gate to SUSPECT. The capability exists; wiring them is a one-command owner choice.
Decision pending (owner): report-refresh was implemented as a 3s DEBOUNCE (a lone bless still renders; a wave collapses to one), matching the test — not full render-on-bless removal. Confirm debounce-vs-removal.
Decision pending (owner): `start stubs`/`start init` were carved out of the attest gate (workspace creation writes no ledger, and a fresh vehicle has no session to attest) — confirm the carve-out.
Resolved (owner ruling, no new command): cross-machine stub relink — a stub cloned to a second machine has an empty per-machine record and falls back to the global pointer; the pattern is to re-run the vehicle's `start stubs <cloned-stub>` once there — stubs creation is idempotent (keeps every existing file, tested) and re-records the engine home as a side effect. A dedicated `link` command was considered and dropped: auto-discovery is ambiguous with two engines on one machine, and the explicit re-run already picks the driver deliberately.
Watch: lint-exit-honest changes exit semantics CI may key on; the 3-code contract is documented so a consumer can adapt.

decisions (1)

✓i18-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

Each killer use case exercised FOR REAL, not "tests green":

uc-mcp-drive — the compiled `quack mcp` binary driven over real stdin/stdout. Two live drives:

Discovery + read + attest-gate: `initialize` → serverInfo `quack-mcp`, protocol `2025-06-18`; `notifications/initialized` → no reply; `tools/list` → 8 tools with JSON inputSchemas (status, why, notes, note, next, start, bless, attest); `why` (read-only) → live result `isError:false`; `next` (ledger, unattested) → REFUSED with the contract challenge returned AS A RESULT (`"word 16 of rule 1 (nonce …)"`, `isError:false`) — the attest choke point holds and never flips the flag. stderr carried only `[mcp] server up` / `[mcp] stdin closed; exiting clean` — stdout purity + clean EOF confirmed.
Full write path: `initialize` → `attest` (earned key) → `"session attested: ledger tools are now live"` → `bless i18-m5-spike-recorded by=agent` → `"blessed i18-m5-spike-recorded"`. A REAL ledger write through the server — the status-to-bless walk the M1 bar named. (This same drive cleared the M5 propagated-suspect cone.)

uc-field-schemas — the schema mechanism exercised on a real graph fixture:

a planted node with a bad enum/type is flagged by name+field+broken-rule
a valid node passes
the schema-set tester rejects a malformed schema (unknown type, bad tier, default outside enum)

The live graph stays clean — zero field findings on blessed nodes. The fixes behind it:

enums scoped to live values
the composed-verify pattern widened
embedded-region id-guard

uc-architecture-review — the onion diagram IS the reviewable deliverable. `quack render` produces the self-contained onion:

concentric-circles-always (no ellipses)
per-element placement rationale
informed-by links from architecture ADRs
change-marks that propagate element→cluster→ring
single-click inspects + highlights connections
double-click drills

uc-derive-structure — `quack cluster` run on our OWN design-flow DSM (not a toy):

141 coupled design regions
330 directed couplings
degree-of-connectivity 0.0167 (sparse → clustering meaningful)
TotalCost 28254
deterministic (id-sorted passes + 3 fixed restarts, no RNG)

`start init` scaffolded a vehicle.
An IEC-norm method file was committed into its declared overlay (`product/iec-vehicle/method/norms/`).
The vehicle created a stub.
The stub resolved the vehicle's norm AND the vendored engine prompt (the merged surface) and drove `status` cleanly — while the machine-global engine pointer survived untouched (the hijack the walk had demonstrated live is closed).

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

use cases (6)

designs (4)

✓i18-m7-meets-need ✓i18-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i18-m8-config

evidence

✓i18-m8-docs

✓i18-m8-handover

evidence

✓i18-m8-packaged

evidence

use cases (1)

✓i18-m8-gate

i0019_strangers_book 54/54

M1 motivation6 / 6 done

✓i19-m1-prior-art

evidence

Deep research, 5 angles, adversarially verified (all cited claims survived 3-0 votes; full report in the research record):

Doc-type separation validates the design (Diataxis, primary source): a tutorial is a distinct learning-oriented type; blurring type boundaries is "at the heart of a vast number of problems in documentation." The deck-as-tutorial kept apart from the guides table and the reference register is the established shape - the 2.2 chapter ROUTES, it does not blend.
Deep-linkable decks in single-file HTML are precedented: reveal.js `#/<id>` fragment anchors; Quarto's configurable hash slugs and its `embed-resources` single-file bundling. req-deck-links reinvents nothing; it adopts a documented pattern inside our own renderer.
Machine-legible slides have a concrete recipe (W3C APG, MDN, reveal-a11y): a `<section>` WITHOUT an accessible name is `role=generic` - invisible "section soup"; adding `aria-label`/`aria-labelledby` promotes it to a navigable REGION landmark; the deck's navigator carries the `navigation` role; multiple nav landmarks need unique labels. This is the req-deck-semantics implementation guidance, free.
The terms-before-use lint is NOVEL - a real gap, not a reinvention: Vale's conditional check flags only 3-5-letter acronyms with inline parenthetical definitions and tests presence, not ORDER; Grafana's rule is suggestion-level; textlint-rule-terminology fixes spelling only. No tool enforces definition-before-use against a glossary. Ours will be the first we could find.
Embedded runnable examples: demand is proven, cost is real (MDN): 156/159 surveyed users wanted more runnable examples, but MDN shipped a page-load regression doing it. The verified lesson for req-pong-deck.3: LAZY-LOAD the playable embed behind the size budget, never eager-init.
Honest negative: no surviving evidence that game-building tutorials aid comprehension. The Pong choice stands on universality and rule-of-cool - recorded as a judgment, not dressed as research.

requirements (4)

✓i19-m1-problem

✓i19-m1-risks

evidence

R: the playable embed regresses the book's load. MDN's measured failure mode. Mitigation: req-pong-deck.3's size budget + lazy-init; the M5 spike MEASURES before M6 commits; the static-figure fallback is specified.
R: the five-minute claim is fiction. A timeline with invented numbers would be the book lying about itself. Mitigation: the M5 spike walks Pong for real, wall-clock timed per milestone (owner instruction); the deck uses only measured numbers.
R: deck landmark noise. W3C advises landmarks sparingly; a many-slide deck as all-regions could degrade AT navigation. Mitigation: label the DECK boundary and navigator; slides get names via aria-labelledby on their headings, not one landmark per slide unless the M5 read confirms it helps.
A: the glossary is complete enough to be the term list (req-terms-before-use.2 leans on it); the red-team says it is NOT yet (killer/pager/determinizer undefined) - so the lint lands together with the glossary growth, else it flags nothing.
I: the white-label check may surface deep prose leaks (method text written in quackitect's voice) whose fix belongs to the method layer, not the renderer - if so, scope the fix honestly at M6 and record the remainder.

requirements (2)

✓i19-m1-success

evidence

✓i19-m1-vision

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i19-m1-gate

M2 requirements6 / 6 done

✓i19-m2-inputs

evidence

The guides table ALREADY keeps view state in the URL hash with preset machinery - req-onboarding-chapter.3's filtered link rides an existing rail, no new mechanism.
Decks ALREADY render stable per-slide ids (`man-deck-presentation-s1`, `data-deck` attributes) - req-deck-links.3's anchor substrate half-exists; what is missing is URL reflection on open, deck-level jump, and the ARIA naming: the probe shows bare `<section>` elements, which the verified research maps to `role=generic` "section soup" - the machine-illegibility the stranger hit, confirmed in our own markup.
The book RENDERS from a vehicle (probe: the iec-vehicle fixture renders 56KB) but carries `<title>quack — the spec book</title>` and ZERO mentions of the vehicle's name - the white-label gap CONFIRMED at baseline, req-vehicle-white-label is fixing a real, observed defect.
The RUNME scripts (read at i18 M8) create a demo workspace - the exact behavior req-runme-orientation.3 removes.

questions (1)

requirements (4)

use cases (3)

✓i19-m2-prior-art

evidence

The requirement SET checked against the verified research (M1 record):

req-deck-semantics gains its implementation checklist from the W3C/MDN recipe (aria-labelledby on the deck boundary, navigation role on the navigator, unique labels among nav landmarks; slides named via their headings, landmarks used sparingly per W3C).
req-deck-links matches the reveal.js/Quarto precedent (fragment anchors, slug-from-manifest); nothing in the set contradicts the established pattern.
req-pong-deck.3 carries MDN's measured lesson (size budget + lazy-INIT inside the single file - one file always, the work deferred, not the bytes moved).
req-terms-before-use is NOVEL (no tool found enforces definition-before-use) - the set adds a check the ecosystem lacks; statement 2's glossary-as-term-list follows Vale's vocabulary-scoping convention while fixing its ordering blindness.
Best-practice misses ADDED by the scan: none forced a new requirement; the Diataxis separation validated the routing shape already in req-onboarding-chapter (the chapter routes, the deck teaches, the table serves work).

requirements (5)

✓i19-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i19-m2-req-traced auto

✓i19-m2-stakeholders

evidence

✓i19-m2-gate

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i19-m3-alternatives

✓i19-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirements, weight in parentheses (5 = vital):

Single-file, file://-safe, no external requests (5) - the book's standing law; kills anything server-shaped.
Shareable plain links (5) - uc-deck-deep-link's whole point.
One owner per mechanism - no contention with existing rails (4) - the hash rail exists; two owners corrupt both.
Machine-digestible document, minimal JS complexity (4) - the book is read by machines (req-deck-semantics); a router is SPA furniture in a document.
DRY - one source of truth per fact (4) - the term list, the identity, the anchors.
Hash-honesty (3) - no mechanism may rewrite prose at render time in ways the ledger cannot see.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

✓i19-m3-feasibility

evidence

A1: the slide ids and the hash rail EXIST (M2 probes); reflection is a handful of JS lines beside the existing hash handling. LOW risk.
B1: the glossary renders from one place; the lint reads the same source the renderer does. LOW risk; effectiveness gated on glossary growth (carried RAID).
C3: the title/wordmark already resolve through resolveBrand for ASSETS - extending to the emitter's title/colophon strings is the same seam; the prose sweep is bounded (the M6 white-label test enumerates the leaks). MEDIUM effort, LOW risk.
A2/B2: feasible but each violates a 4-or-5-weight criterion (contention; shadow list) - carried as recorded rejections, not tripwires.

✓i19-m3-gate

M4 architecture reviewed and adjudicated; q-trace-graph-scaling closed here as a readiness fact, decided or explicitly deferred with its own carry-forward.6 / 6 done

✓i19-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i19-m4-chosen

evidence

Pugh runs per fork, datum = the strongest rival (M3), criteria and weights from i19-m3-criteria:

Fork A (datum: A2 router) - A1 fragment-reflection:

single-file (=)
shareable links (=)
one-owner-per-mechanism (+, the router CONTENDS with the existing hash rail)
machine-digestible/minimal JS (+)
DRY (=)
hash-honesty (=)

A1 wins on 2 criteria, loses none.

Fork B (datum: B2 curated list) - B1 glossary-as-list:

DRY (+, no shadow list)
single-source growth (+)
independence from glossary thinness (-, carried RAID)

B1 wins 2:1; the loss is mitigated by the glossary growth the stranger needs anyway.

Fork C (datum: C1 renderer-only substitution) - C3 hybrid:

hash-honesty (+, no render-time prose rewriting)
mechanical testability of identity surfaces (=)
bounded prose sweep (-, effort)

C3 wins 1:-1 net positive with the effort priced at M6.

Decisions recorded (all kind: architecture, informed-by wired to their elements):

adr-deck-anchor-fragment
adr-terms-source-glossary
adr-white-label-hybrid

decisions (3)

✓i19-m4-model-authored

✓i19-m4-traced-choice

evidence

use cases (1)

✓i19-m4-views

evidence

models (1)

✓i19-m4-gate

M5 prototype4 / 4 done

✓i19-m5-assumptions

✓i19-m5-buildable

evidence

✓i19-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

requirements (1)

✓i19-m5-gate

M6 implementation17 / 17 done

✓i19-m6-build-planned ✓i19-m6-designs auto

✓i19-m6-impl-risks

evidence

The five-minute timeline is the measured 4:46 walk-only time rounded to half-minute steps (owner ruling: friction fixed this iteration is excluded - connections-mode and clean stubs are gone for every future newcomer; the attest grant stays on slide 2 as the adjudicator's honest act; the M5 evidence keeps the raw 10:24).
The facet-preset router is new JS in the one-owner rail; its three delegation points (hashchange, load, bookGoto-miss) are asserted in the selftest, and replaceState semantics keep history clean.
The white-label sweep found no further shell identity leaks; deep method-prose voice remains for the M7 consistency sweep to audit (carried, not hidden).

✓i19-m6-models

evidence

designs (5)

✓i19-m6-quality

evidence

✓i19-m6-red auto ✓i19-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i19-m6-verification auto

✓i19-m6-build

evidence

✓i19-m6-p1-deck-anchors ✓i19-m6-p2-terms-lint ✓i19-m6-p3-white-label ✓i19-m6-p5-runme ✓i19-m6-p6-bugfixes ✓i19-m6-p7-glossary ✓i19-m6-p4-onboarding-content

✓i19-m6-gate

M7 validation6 / 6 done

✓i19-m7-acceptance

evidence

✓i19-m7-consistency

evidence

The FIRST run of the new sweep (added to the rigor checklist this iteration), over everything i19 changed - two real drifts found and fixed at their homes:

The deck TEMPLATE taught none of the new mechanisms (Minutes timeline, columns, embed lanes + budget + stop protocol, the mermaid model fence, fig reuse, term toasts) - every future project would scaffold a dumb deck. The template's tailor comment now teaches all of them.
The WHITE-LABEL seam was undiscoverable (product/brand/name.txt / the identity resolution order) - now documented in the integrate prompt's brand section, where a vehicle creator actually reads.

designs (1)

✓i19-m7-gaps

evidence

Deferred (noted): the two book cleanups the owner named mid-round - the engine credit under every page, the informed-by lists under model figures (NOTE-20260712-171042).
Deferred (noted): deck termrefs carry the FULL definition; chapter termrefs keep the short form - the depth-parity question is a recorded lead.
Backlog stands: rigor-fit mechanical detection (the deck says so honestly), the drivers-table rework, the connection matrix, excalidraw-as-requirement, the render/structure leads.
Watch: the five-minutes claim is agent-paced; a human's typing pace differs - the deck states what was measured and how.

decisions (1)

✓i19-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

uc-onboard-newcomer (killer): the deck exists in the shipped book, deep-linkable (#man-deck-pong), all six slides per the owner's outline across four owner design rounds - the always-visible court with start/stop, the interactive onion on s4 fed pong's own model through the ONE generalized renderer, the chat figure with the rigor exchange, the measured timeline reading as a timeline. Every round screenshot-verified by two pairs of eyes (the builder's and the orchestrator's).
uc-deck-deep-link: opening the deck reflects the URL; loading with the fragment opens present mode (screenshot-proven); the README's Pages URL reaches it; in-book links enter present mode (the owner's own click found the dead path - fixed and re-verified); in-book README self-links ride the rails.
uc-white-label-book: the live vehicle probe above, on top of the hermetic selftest.

use cases (3)

✓i19-m7-meets-need ✓i19-m7-gate

M8 release5 / 5 done

✓i19-m8-config

evidence

✓i19-m8-docs

✓i19-m8-handover

evidence

The owner drove the deliverable through four live design rounds and walked every gate personally; the M8 gate bless below closes the hand-over on the ledger.

✓i19-m8-packaged

evidence

✓i19-m8-gate

i0020_cold_run_fixes 23/23

M1 L1 Frame -2 / 2 done

✓i20-m1-problem

evidence

✓i20-m1-gate

M2 L2 Requirements -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m2-delta

evidence

fix step	repairs
i20-m4-shim	`req-go-port.5` (dependency prompt/fallback promise in dependencies.md) - the documented go-bin lane actually works: dogfood launcher, scaffolded launchers, and the engine's internal `go build` (ratchet) resolve the shim
i20-m4-edges-default	`req-connections-lanes` intent - `start init` scaffolds `edges=connections` like `start stubs` already does; compose-reference wording says JSONL is the lane for new work
i20-m4-template-clean	`start stubs` template contract - example nodes must not flip a live board red or hard-refuse the strict graph (observed: ex-need/ex-usecase coverage holes + dangling ex-connections after cleanup)
i20-m4-defer-port	AGENTS.md/engage.md documented reaches (`defer`, `retire`) - docs promise them; the Go engine refuses them
i20-m4-schema-home	vehicle resolution (`req-engine-vehicle-overlay`) - lint's schema home resolves vehicle->engine instead of the hardcoded dogfood path
i20-m4-seed	compose toil (method promise: "bake the checklist") - cheap slice or explicit defer
i20-m4-guard	integrate.md bootstrap flow - the vehicle-spec-vs-driven-workspace confusion gets a doc warning + a cheap lint (vehicle with iterations, empty product/)
i20-m4-docs-batch	doc drift: vehicle/overlay guide missing; project_types/classes/ mislabeled; README walkthrough-link placement (already edited locally, folds in); NFR ISO-quality-use-case convention into compose-reference

requirements (3)

✓i20-m2-req-traced auto ✓i20-m2-gate

M3 L3 Design -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m3-adr-traced auto

✓i20-m3-approach

evidence

1. Shim home - options:

(a) `product/tools/go.cmd` (dependencies.md's documented path; vendors into vehicles naturally as `tools/vendor/tools/`)
(b) `.quack/tools` (what quack.cmd's PATH line points at today; nothing ships there)
(c) write the shim at scaffold time

3. Template examples - options:

(a) drop the trace-entering `ex-*` nodes from the stub template
(b) engine-side exclusion of example ids from coverage/strict graph
(c) commented-out examples

Chosen: (a) - drop from the template:

the `ex-need`, `ex-usecase`, `ex-criterion` and `ex-rationale` nodes
the example connections (`refers` ex-line, `conflicts-with` example)

Keep inert non-trace examples only if they enter no graph. (b) would teach the engine to ignore ids by prefix - a hack that could mask real nodes.

6. defer/retire port - options:

(a) full move-a-check-across-iterations semantics
(b) minimal status-stamp port: `quack defer <id> --reason` / `quack retire <id> --reason` stamp the task frontmatter (`deferred:`/`retired:` + reason), and `next`/board/ready exclude stamped checks honestly (counted separately, never DONE)

Chosen: (b) - self-contained and honest. It unblocks the documented reaches. The cross-iteration move can come with i0021.

decisions (2)

✓i20-m3-gate

M4 L4 Build and test -12 / 12 done

✓i20-m4-build

evidence

All steps above realized; design markers: `go-defer-retire`, `go-vehicle-misuse-guard` (new), plus amended regions in ops.go/config.go/trust.go/cli.go/engine.go.

designs (2)

✓i20-m4-defer-port

evidence

designs (1)

✓i20-m4-docs-batch

evidence

NEW guide `vehicles-and-overlays.md` (engine/vehicle/stub model + override-don't-fork, one page).
`project_types/classes/README.md` - role classes, NOT a project type; type-stakeholders test respects it.
compose-reference: the NFR convention canonized (qualities need -> ISO-25010 quality use-cases -> quality reqs) + the edges-lane clarity.
integrate.md warning; AGENTS.md shim wording; README walkthrough-link fold-in (the pre-iteration edit, now owned here).

✓i20-m4-edges-default

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i20-m4-guard

evidence

designs (1)

✓i20-m4-schema-home

evidence

`configDir()` now routes through `EngineDir()` instead of the hardcoded dogfood path - a vehicle inherits the vendored config; the "no schema home" lint noise every vehicle saw is gone.

✓i20-m4-seed

evidence

Deferred to i0021_field_ux with the recorded reason (its theme IS "filling becomes vetoing"); stamped via the new `quack defer` - the M3 decision 4 executed exactly as decided.

✓i20-m4-shim

evidence

✓i20-m4-template-clean

evidence

✓i20-m4-quality

evidence

Verdict: all seven realized steps green, one honest defer. The killer `tests-pass` computes green. The L4 gate goes to the owner.

✓i20-m4-tests-pass auto ✓i20-m4-gate

M5 L5 Docs and ship -3 / 3 done

✓i20-m5-docs

evidence

Note-by-note outcome - every one of the 10 archived cold-run notes, disposed:

note	outcome
go-bin fallback unwired	FIXED - launchers wire `product\tools` (dogfood) / `tools\vendor\tools` (vehicles); NEW gofmt shim; dependencies.md matches reality; test-cold-run-fixes guards it
defer/retire not ported	FIXED (minimal) - stamp port, boards render [>]/[-], dependents release; cross-iteration move recorded as future work
compose toil (seed checklist)	DEFERRED to i0021_field_ux - stamped with the new `quack defer`, reason recorded (thematic home)
hand-authoring toil (mint/apply for vehicles)	PARTIALLY ADDRESSED - authoring lanes documented; full mint extension rides i0021 with seed (same theme)
edges default split	FIXED - init scaffolds connections like stubs ([[adr-scaffold-edges-connections]]); compose-reference names the lanes plainly
vehicle lint schema-home	FIXED - configDir() resolves vehicle->engine
NFR tracing vs req-traced	CANONIZED - the qualities-need -> ISO-25010-quality-use-cases convention is in compose-reference; no engine change needed
vehicle/overlay concept unclear	FIXED - vehicles-and-overlays guide + integrate.md bootstrap warning + the misuse lint (go-vehicle-misuse-guard)
project-type classes smell	FIXED - classes/README declares role classes, not a type; type-stakeholders test respects it
stub template pollution	FIXED - trace-entering ex-* nodes and example edges out; example-notes/stub-spec/type-stakeholders amended to the new contract

Consistency sweep - all of these describe the POST-fix behavior:

dependencies.md
AGENTS.md
compose-reference
integrate.md
the new guide
the launcher comments

No prompt teaches the superseded way (the retired .quack\tools reference is gone).

decisions (1)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i20-m5-packaged

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ -> the data home out/, regenerating the book and report; the committed spec/book.html refreshes in the same move.

✓i20-m5-gate

i0021_field_ux 64/64

M1 motivation reviewed and adjudicated - the frame is right and worth walking.6 / 6 done

✓i21-m1-prior-art

evidence

Schema-driven forms are solved, but render BLANK. react-jsonschema-form and JSON Forms

drive widgets, validation, and defaults from one JSON Schema at runtime. Both needed a SECOND artifact (uiSchema) for presentation. Neither generates field content.

Position: our schema layer (i18 `req-field-schemas`) matches the state of the art; the

content-generating consumer (this iteration) is where they stop.

Caution for the design: expect the same single-schema pressure - plan for presentation

hints without a second drifting artifact.

Prefill beats blank forms - with an asymmetric failure. Peer-reviewed tax experiment:

Prefill accuracy falls with case complexity. IRS study: only 42-48% of returns could be

accurately pre-populated; 78-82% for simple cases vs 10-30% for the most complex. For us: per-field provenance and color, never uniform trust in the prefill - which is exactly req-register-colors.

The veto UX is where the market converged. GitHub replaced its one-click AI-fix handoff

with a select-which-apply dialog (2026-05). Machine authors, human curates - our filling-becomes-vetoing is the same shape, applied to specs.

Habituation is the central threat. Longitudinal study (11k reviews): approval of AI

Computed readiness is established practice. Jama's Trace Score derives 0-100% from

Field tiering is validated HCI guidance. NN/g progressive disclosure: core options first,

Nobody combines the pieces. Whole-document LLM spec generation exists (and "often requires

Refuted in verification (do not lean on it): "a wrong core/deferrable split is progressive disclosure's primary failure mode" (0-3).

Design obligations the evidence imposes on this iteration:

Open positioning risk: a requirements-management vendor shipping field-level AI prefill with provenance status would close the gap; the M3 candidates step re-checks before the architecture commits.

Verdict on the check: filled - the idea is positioned against confirmed prior art, misses became design obligations. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (5)

✓i21-m1-problem

evidence

Goal / actual / delta:

Goal: filling a quackitect spec is judging proposals - fast, differentiated, recorded.
Actual: minting a node presents empty template slots. A requirement node carries ~15

slots; a 30-node iteration composes to hundreds of flat, undifferentiated authoring decisions. The composer authors into blanks; nothing says which slot deserves judgment.

Delta: the slot-count x node-count product is the cost wall. It was named by the owner in

the 2026-07-10/11 cowork session (the onboarding-experience seed) and re-confirmed when this iteration was planned; i20-m4-seed was explicitly deferred INTO this theme.

External validation from the prior-art scan (above):

Form-length costs are measured: 26% of shoppers have abandoned checkouts solely for

too-long/too-complex forms (Baymard); the field-design canon says a field's default state is "does not exist" (Nielsen).

The research community named the same wall for models: "low-modeling" - reduce hand-authoring

by generation-first specification.

The fix direction is market-converged: machine proposes, human curates (GitHub's 2026 veto

dialog; tax prefill compliance gains).

The delta is real, owner-named and worth solving. This iteration exists for it.

✓i21-m1-risks

evidence

Four RAID items minted. Each carries probability, impact and a concrete mitigation:

- the register grows a parallel UI instead of unifying with the ask path.
- proposals game the traffic lights; over-green is the dangerous class.
- the seeder diverges from the rigor template.
- the veto UX rubber-stamps itself; gate scarcity is the stated bet.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m1-success

evidence

Ch1 success criteria for this iteration - each binary, each demonstrated at M7:

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

use cases (1)

tests (5)

✓i21-m1-vision

evidence

Moore vision:

For the spec owner driving work through a gate ledger
who faces hundreds of empty template slots at every compose and mint,
the field-ux release of quackitect
that pre-fills every field with a justified proposal and renders judgment as a computed

traffic-light register - work the reds, skim the yellows, trust the greens.

Unlike schema form builders (render blank), whole-document LLM generation (no per-field

provenance), and requirements dashboards (compute status but propose nothing),

our product derives colors from recorded provenance on machine-proposed content, on the

existing ask/bless adjudication path.

PR-FAQ pressure test (condensed):

*Press line*: "Filling a spec is now vetoing: the engine proposes every value with its source;

the register shows where judgment is owed; a session is taps, not typing."

*Q: Why not just better templates?* A: Templates cut slot count; they cannot cut the

authoring mode. The delta is hundreds of BLANK decisions, and blanks are the mode.

*Q: What if the proposals are bad?* A: Bad-and-visible is the design: colors derive from

provenance, an unadjudicated core field is red by rule, and the dangerous class (over-green) is named and guarded (M1 obligations below).

*Q: Why now?* A: The schema layer shipped in i18 unconsumed; the seeding defer (i20-m4-seed)

falls due here; the pieces exist separately in the wild and nobody has joined them.

Scope:

schema consumption (mint prefill + tiers)
the register (colors, render, ask, killer-guard)
start-time seeding
the approved ride-alongs (EARS sweep, rigor-fit, drivers table, lint scopes, battery tiers, deck-goto fix, apply-lane generalization with q-io-lane-scope open for the owner)

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

questions (1)

✓i21-m1-gate

evidence

Increasing-scrutiny rounds:

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

M2 requirements7 / 7 done

✓i21-m2-inputs

evidence

Context - the system in focus is the ENGINE's field layer. Everything it touches, with direction:

flowchart LR
    subgraph env [Environment]
        OWNER[owner at the console]
        PHONE[paired phone - ntfy]
        AGENT[driving agent - CLI]
        BROWSER[report in the browser]
        TPL[rigor + item templates]
    end
    subgraph sys [Field layer - system in focus]
        SCHEMA[field schemas i18]
        MINT[mint prefill]
        REG[computed register]
        SEED[start-time seeder]
    end
    TPL -->|slots, tiers, defaults| SCHEMA
    SCHEMA -->|drives| MINT
    SCHEMA -->|tier + provenance rules| REG
    TPL -->|milestone source| SEED
    AGENT -->|mint, start| MINT
    AGENT -->|start| SEED
    MINT -->|pre-filled nodes + TBD counts| REG
    REG -->|rows, colors| BROWSER
    OWNER -->|taps, vetoes| BROWSER
    REG -->|decision asks| PHONE
    PHONE -->|answers, actor+channel| REG

One line: templates and schemas feed the mint and the seeder. Everything the human sees is the register's computed surface. Every answer returns over the recorded ask path.

Stakeholders by role (no role left out):

Owner / adjudicator - works the register at the console; rules the open question.
Mobile adjudicator - the same person away from the desk; answers red-row asks by tap.
Driving agent - mints, composes, proposes every value; never adjudicates killers.
Newcomer - meets a seeded, pre-filled workspace instead of blank templates (the

onboarding chapter's promise made real).

Maintainer - owns schema/template evolution; the seeding-drift risk names their hazard.
Assessor / book reader - reads the drivers table and lint results the ride-alongs fix.

Use cases:

(killer, new)
(new)
the reused spine - uc-field-schemas (i18), uc-engage-start, uc-mobile-adjudicate, uc-onboard-newcomer, uc-workshop-smooth, uc-book-tables

The function tree IS the requirement set composed at plan time; no shadow tree is authored.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

use cases (8)

✓i21-m2-prior-art

evidence

The M1 scan positioned the IDEA; this pass holds the 13 composed requirements against it and against the standard requirement-set checks (ISO 29148 discipline as baked into this rigor):

Verifiability / traceability: every requirement carries a test and traces to a need -

the two derived checks compute it live; all statements EARS-shaped (compose lint, zero new findings).

Asymmetric error class (tax evidence): held by req-register-colors.4 (provenance-only

colors) and raid-provenance-gamed. No change needed.

Two-level disclosure ceiling (verified HCI constraint): held exactly by

req-register-render.2 (collapsed / first expand / second expand). No third level exists to cut.

Habituation instrumentation (research obligation 3): PARTIAL - the data is recorded

Single-schema pressure (both major form frameworks grew a second UI artifact): recorded

as an M4 watch-item - presentation hints stay INSIDE the one schema or don't exist; a second schema artifact is the named failure smell.

Seeding fidelity: no external best-practice miss found; the template-drift discipline

(raid-seeding-drift) mirrors the owner's template-book render law.

Misses added: none. Misses recorded: habituation metrics (field-loop deferral), single-schema watch-item (M4). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (3)

✓i21-m2-probe

evidence

Probed live, not from memory - and the shipped schema home (`method/config/schemas/`):

Mechanism: fully sufficient. The flat sebot shape carries `type_`, `enum_`, `pattern_`,

Data: thin, and that is the work. Four schemas ship (common, adr, requirement, test).

Assumption holds; no requirement changes. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (3)

✓i21-m2-req-has-test auto ✓i21-m2-req-traced auto

✓i21-m2-stakeholders

evidence

The M2-inputs roles swept against the full always-on class set. The remainder, explicitly:

Integrator (vehicle builder) - REAL consideration: schemas and the seeder must resolve

through the overlay (workspace -> vehicle overlay -> engine), so a vehicle's own schemas win. Carried into M3 as a candidate criterion.

Tester - touched by the battery-tiers ride-along; their full battery stays one explicit

command (req-selftest-tiers.2).

Communicator - served by the drivers-table rework (the book's ch 10.5 tells the

architecture story from derived data).

Acquirer, operator-sysadmin - no surface of this iteration touches them (dogfood tool,

no ops change); recorded as consciously out.

No role left out. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (1)

✓i21-m2-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

requirements (2)

M3 candidates4 / 4 done

✓i21-m3-alternatives

evidence

Four concerns, each with viable rivals. Feasibility anchors name EXISTING machinery - probed at M2, not hoped-for parts.

A. Register placement

A1 - report-embedded. The register is a section of the live report (a tab beside the

trace/board views). Anchors: the report recomputes live per render, already carries the check detail pane, filters, and the `iter` attribute; `--watch` gives auto-reload.

A2 - standalone page. `quack register [--watch]` renders its own HTML. Anchors: the

render-once machinery (i17) makes a second page cheap; but it grows a second shell (title card, theme, filters) the report already owns - the scope-creep risk made concrete.

A3 - book view. A register chapter in the book. Rejected-shaped: the book is the

DOCUMENT lane (static, shippable); a work-session surface with taps does not belong in it (adr-book-two-stage separation). Kept as a rival for the Pugh run, expected to lose.

B. Answer transport (how a tap records)

B1 - the watch server lane. In `--watch` mode the local server accepts the

B2 - static-file fallback: command emission. The static register renders each red row

with the exact one-line command (`quack ask <id>` / the answer call) to copy-paste. No server, no state - degraded but honest. Anchors: grant-command copy-paste convention.

B3 - phone-only. Every red row rides ntfy only. Rejected-shaped: owner law says never

phone-only while the desk is live; kept as rival.

B1+B2 COMPOSE (server when watching, commands when static); the Pugh run scores the pair

against B3.

C. Seeding lane

C1 - engine-emitted skeleton. `quack start` parses the rigor checklist SOURCE

C2 - template-copy. Checklist task files ship as literal templates; start copies and

renames. Simpler, but bakes a SECOND copy of the milestones (the drift risk realized by construction) and cannot honor per-rigor structure without near-parsing anyway.

D. Provenance home (the probe's gap 3)

D1 - in-node provenance block. A frontmatter block per node (`provenance: {field:

source-one-liner}`) written at mint. One file, one truth, hashes with the node - a veto edit and its provenance move together.

D2 - data-home sidecar. Provenance records live outside the repo keyed by node+field.

E. Apply-lane scope

Deliberately NOT a candidate set here: is the owner's ruling at M4. The three options stand in the question node; req-apply-general makes the lane CAPABLE under any of them.

Killer review: at least two rivals per concern, each anchored. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

decisions (2)

questions (1)

requirements (2)

✓i21-m3-criteria

evidence

Derived from the requirement set and the recorded risks, weighted /10:

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

requirements (1)

✓i21-m3-feasibility

evidence

A1: the report shell already tabs (trace/board); adding a register tab is render code plus

the existing checks map - no new process. ✅

B1: `--watch` runs a local HTTP server today (report auto-reload); the answer apply path

validates answers and stamps actor+channel since i15. The new part is one endpoint routing to it. ✅ B2 is trivially feasible (string emission). ✅

C1: gather() parses the rigor sources already; the emitter writes files the strict parser

itself validates - test-seed-skeleton lints the emitted set. ✅

D1: frontmatter blocks are the parser's native shape; the strict referee already refuses

malformed graphs, so a provenance block is a schema addition, not a parser rewrite. ✅

A2/A3, B3, C2, D2 are all buildable too (none is a strawman); they lose on criteria, not on

feasibility.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

tests (1)

✓i21-m3-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

questions (1)

requirements (1)

M4 architecture reviewed and adjudicated - the gate is a DIAGRAM review; the owner approves the decomposition before anyone builds.7 / 7 done

✓i21-m4-adr-traced auto

✓i21-m4-chosen

evidence

Pugh runs per concern, datum = the strongest viable rival (weights from M3 criteria):

criterion (w)	A1 report-tab vs A2 standalone (datum)	B1+B2 watch/commands vs B3 phone-only (datum)	C1 parse-at-seed vs C2 copy (datum)	D1 in-node vs D2 sidecar (datum)
unification (3)	+	+	0	+
provenance integrity (3)	0	+	0	+
drift immunity (2)	+	0	+	0
overlay fit (1)	0	0	+	0
build cost (1)	+	-	-	0
net	+6	+5	+2	+6

The apply-lane SCOPE stays undecided by design: is the owner's ruling; req-apply-general keeps the lane capable under any outcome.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (4)

questions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i21-m4-model-authored

evidence

The HARD RULE held ahead of any code:

Elements allocated: go-field-tier, go-register-colors (kernel); go-mint-prefill (services);

Structure drawn: the onion bands place every element; the sequence model wires the

interaction I/O (tap -> questionnaire -> answer -> record -> provenance -> recolor).

Inputs/outputs wired: the M2 context figure carries the data flow (schema -> mint -> register

-> browser/phone -> ask -> provenance); the sequence model carries the per-message contract the builder fills against.

Placement rationale: one line per element in the model's allocation prose (by essence:

rule/kernel, content-rule/services, file-or-render transform/rim--graph, transport/rim).

Architecture ADRs marked kind:architecture and linked to their elements via addresses edges

(the informed-by lane).

designs (10)

✓i21-m4-structuring

evidence

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m4-traced-choice

evidence

Each choice traces to the weighted criteria above. The reversed check - the first plausible world where each winner LOSES, judged out loud:

A1 loses if the register needs a layout the report shell cannot host (a full-page

spreadsheet-like grid). Credibility: low - rows+expand match the report's existing detail idiom. Tripwire in the ADR: the M5 spike must show a row+questionnaire living in the report DOM.

B1 loses if re-entering the engine from the watch server wedges against a binary swap

(the staged-swap behavior seen 2026-07-13). Credibility: real enough to record - the ADR names the wedge as its tripwire and B2 (command emission) as the everywhere-fallback.

C1 loses if checklist prose resists parsing without fragile heuristics. Credibility:

low - gather already walks these files and their structure is a disciplined template; the ADR records C2+drift-lint as the return path.

D1 loses if provenance bloats nodes beyond readability. Credibility: moderate for

verbose sources; the recorded fallback is the lean variant (tag in frontmatter, prose in the rationale). Not a flip - a degradation path inside the same choice.

No credible full flip found. Two tripwires recorded (B1 wedge, D1 bloat). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (1)

✓i21-m4-views

evidence

From the registry (two-model default budget):

model-engine-layers (onion, EXTENDED) - question: where do the new blocks sit and what

may they depend on? Eight new elements allocated (plus two late i20 allocations closing the sky-fall findings).

(sequence, NEW) - question: how

does an answer travel from tap to recolor on both lanes? The killer-guard is the first branch; both lanes converge on one ask store.

Rejected kinds, recorded:

element-tree (the onion already carries part-of placement for these elements; a second tree

would duplicate it)

state (the register row's states are two colors plus green-variants - too small for a state

model)

context (the M2 context figure already answers it at iteration scope)

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

models (1)

✓i21-m4-gate

evidence

questions (1)

M5 prototype evidence4 / 4 done

✓i21-m5-assumptions

evidence

Assumption 1 - the rigor source parses mechanically (C1, adr-seed-from-rigor-source). Probed live with a throwaway read-only script over `method/rigor/systematic/checklist.md`:

8 milestones with their gate names (motivation ... release) extract from the header shape.
39 subtask lines extract; 7 carry the killer mark; 6 derived coverage rules extract

(adr-traced, designs-realized, req-has-test, req-traced, tests-pass, tests-red).

The shared-fragment import (`../_shared/implementation.md`) extracts.
FINDING with teeth: the first probe read the file with the platform-default decoder and the

ask-dispatch
answer-apply (answers validate and stamp actor+channel)
answer-idempotent
first-wins-lanes (desk and phone race resolves)
adapter-zero-dep (the transport fakes cleanly in fixtures)
await-console-exit (the console reclaims the seam)

The NEW surface (the watch endpoint) only routes INTO this proven lane; the wedge risk (binary swap during an answer) stays the ADR's recorded tripwire with command-emission as the fallback.

Killer review. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

decisions (2)

tests (1)

✓i21-m5-buildable

evidence

No spike finding blocks the architecture. One finding sharpened a test (the UTF-8 fixture character); none moved a requirement or an ADR. Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-m5-spike-recorded

evidence

✓i21-m5-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. Killer milestone gate. Blessed by the driving agent under the owner's standing overnight grant (2026-07-13); collected for the morning review.

M6 implementation25 / 25 done

✓i21-m6-build-planned

evidence

✓i21-m6-designs auto

✓i21-m6-impl-risks

evidence

✓i21-m6-models

evidence

designs (2)

✓i21-m6-quality

evidence

✓i21-m6-red auto ✓i21-m6-tests-authored auto ✓i21-m6-verification auto

✓i21-m6-build

evidence

All fifteen planned steps blessed, plus the unplanned rigor-fit slice. Full battery green at close; every requirement carries a realized design (coverage: clean).

✓i21-b1-schema-set

evidence

Five new schemas authored (usecase / need / question / raid / model) and requirement extended (ears exemption pattern; required statement):

question: state enum (open/proposed/decided/suspect), core, default open - a question

without a state cannot exist; decided_via stays the strict parser's field (the flat schema shape cuts keys at the first underscore - a REAL contract limit found by the schema tester, recorded here).

raid: kind core (default risk); mitigation CORE WITH NO DEFAULT - a risk without a

mitigation reads undecided in the register, by design; probability/impact as 0..1 patterns, deferrable, default 0.5; status deferrable default open.

model: kind core from the registry enum - a kind-less model is broken.
usecase/need: statement required; no extra fields to constrain yet.

Verified: the schema-set contract accepts the set (full battery green; `quack lint` reports zero schema findings). Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

✓i21-b10-ears-sweep

evidence

Results, verified live:

`ears: clean (42 exemptions)` - the lint's chronic red (100% of calls two retros running) is

dead; a NEW finding stands out again.

The suspect cone stayed EMPTY after the 18 hash moves - no re-bless wave.
The two i20 sky-fall findings are closed by ALLOCATION (M4), and the conformance checker

selftest ears-baseline green; graph-suffix-rooted still green.

Non-killer review; blessed by the driving agent.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i21-b11-deck-goto

evidence

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i21-b12-drivers-derived

evidence

✓i21-b13-lint-scopes

evidence

Both lanes live inside go-terms-order-lint (the M4 allocation held: extensions, not new elements - the sky-fall lint REJECTED my first attempt at new markers exactly as designed):

README terms (define-before-use, README edition): a glossary term whose FIRST use is

Jargon advisory: ALL-CAPS acronyms (2-8 chars) outside the glossary flag, advisory class;

sentence capitals never match. Zero findings on the live book.

designs (1)

✓i21-b14-battery-tiers

evidence

✓i21-m6-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS - the gate awaits the owner's bless. The walk stops here by design.

questions (1)

M7 validation6 / 6 done

✓i21-m7-acceptance

evidence

The sign-off is a LIVE one: the owner drove the iteration's deliverable for a full working day (2026-07-14) and adjudicated with it, on it.

The hand-off DECISION BRIEF went through nine owner design rounds at the M6 gate.

The owner blessed `i21-m6-gate` FROM THE PHONE over the brief card

The overnight M1–M5 killer batch was reviewed and CONFIRMED by the owner the same

morning (NOTE-20260714-164016).

Field friction found during the live run was fixed in-iteration and re-accepted by

Verdict: accepted in use, not in a demo — the strongest sign-off this method knows.

questions (1)

use cases (1)

✓i21-m7-consistency

evidence

Changed behavior this iteration:

the standing register died into the hand-off brief
the battery went lazy-everywhere with V&V-once
killers rule over hand-off channels
asks carry the brief

Sweep findings, all fixed in place:

the prefill section taught the RETIRED report-register and the old killer routing — rewritten to the hand-off brief, Options authoring, and the hand-off-channel killer rule.

: the engage health

: `quack verify` added to the command surface; MCP lane

and window-for-long-runs rules added.

: statements 1–2 taught the superseded

core-first row layout — amended to the ruled decision-brief shape.

Checked and consistent: roles/README (targeted verify, battery at hand-back),

milestone-review guide (no battery mention), templates ("register" hits are other senses: needs register, risk register, language register).

requirements (2)

✓i21-m7-gaps

evidence

Four honest gaps from the live day, each a RAID node with proposed kind and mitigation — they arrive red on this gate's own hand-off. The bless that closes the gate rules them:

— a busy-guard's vacuous answer can record as a

real verdict; class fix queued, two instances guarded.

— real-time watchdog tests can flake under load.
— a seconds-wide double-bless window

between page and phone.

— the machine clock runs an hour fast; asks are shielded,

local timestamps are not; owner resync open.

✓i21-m7-killer-ucs

evidence

ran for real today, repeatedly:

M6: the owner blessed from the PHONE card; the open ruling (`q-io-lane-scope`) recorded

itself in their name, provenance on the node.

m7-gaps was the purest session: four red RAID proposals dealt as cards, the owner flipped

through them and one bless recorded all four rulings (`user-ruling via handoff` on every mitigation).

m7-acceptance and m7-consistency: page taps, dual-channel rounds, the losing channel's

card died each time.

Not a staged demo — the iteration's own gates were adjudicated THROUGH the deliverable, across both channels. Rulings landed as node provenance.

questions (1)

use cases (1)

✓i21-m7-meets-need

evidence

Every need's Ch1 success criteria, checked:

— HOLDS. One command to a durable note; used

eight times today without leaving the check in hand.

— HOLDS. observe-red enforces

the red-first law; today's four amended tests carry explicit exempt markers with the ADR citation, the mechanism the law prescribes.

— HOLDS, with a ruled nuance. One command

— HOLDS. Validated by the

i19 cold-read; the book lints stayed green through today's battery.

— criterion (b) HOLDS at its strongest:

requirements (1)

✓i21-m7-gate

evidence

1. Verify — every subtask delivered against its evidence:

acceptance (live sign-off)
consistency (four docs fixed / verification re-green)
gaps (four RAID nodes / rulings recorded)
killer-ucs (demonstrated by the day itself)
meets-need (five criteria / one ruled tension)

the RAID quartet (busy-record / timing flake / dual-channel race / pc clock)
the voice defect in the RAID statements (owner correction noted - a retro item)
the still-open notes inbox (selftest block outside review / MCP lane / battery UX leads)

Verdict: M7 validation complete. The deliverable was validated by adjudicating the iteration through it.

M8 release reviewed and adjudicated - then engage ship runs immediately.5 / 5 done

✓i21-m8-config

evidence

Engine stamp, golden root and spec agree at ship state: every content edit today ended

in a `quack build` re-baseline; the battery's parity checks stayed green through V&V.

✓i21-m8-docs

evidence

The M7 consistency sweep is this check's evidence trail — everything i21 changed is re-documented where it is described:

: dual-channel

hand-offs, block-and-continue, the battery-free health check, the milestone stop as a hand-off page (tasks panel and verdict row replace the report render).

the hand-off brief, the `## Options` authoring convention, the lettered ruling, the hand-off-channel killer rule.

: `quack verify` on the command surface, the apply-lane

default, the MCP autostart lane, the visible self-closing window rule.

: the duplicate keyword footer removed; the public surface

(description, topics) refreshed on GitHub and ruled by .

The book and report regenerate from the final build at ship — the as-built views ride

in the zip; this handover doc plus the M7 evidence double as the release notes.

The open ship-tags question is a decision node on THIS gate's hand-off:

questions (1)

✓i21-m8-handover

evidence

The owner drove the deliverable through the whole closing day and adjudicated every gate of it personally:

nine design rounds
a phone bless
three dual-channel hand-offs at M7
the RAID rulings
the ship-tags ruling

✓i21-m8-packaged

evidence

✓i21-m8-gate

evidence

1. Verify — every M8 subtask delivered and owner-blessed:

config: baselined, with ship-tags ruled C and the repo surface live
docs: the consistency trail and no auto-open anywhere
handover: the owner operated the deliverable all day
packaged: zip verified / five root files / final battery green 179/179

Verdict: PASS from the agent side — the owner's M8 bless closes i0021_field_ux.

i0022_engine_laws 57/57

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i22-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The problem: the walk's laws live in prompt prose. Prose bends under agent drift. The engine executes none of it.

The recorded evidence, all from one iteration - i21 (2026-07-12 to 2026-07-14):

Selftest over-checking. The call log counted 72 selftest calls, 35 failing. The owner complained live (NOTE-20260714-152053). The law ("the battery belongs to gates") existed the whole time.
Red-ritual slip. Two lint selftests reached green with no recorded red (i21 b13, NOTE-20260714-091639). The prompt carried the ritual; nothing refused the slip.
Busy-guard poisoning. A busy render guard recorded a vacuous false verdict into the cache. It self-perpetuated on cache hits (NOTE-20260714-164933, raid-busy-record).
Channel drift. The MCP surface shipped in i18. The agent still drives the bare CLI (NOTE-20260714-152053).
Unattended work by convention. The overnight M1-M5 batch ran on a chat-only grant. Nothing recorded its scope or expiry (NOTE-20260714-090128).

Worth solving: every listed incident cost a correction round with the owner. The engine half is small, testable Go. The lesson stops repeating.

✓i22-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Scanned 2026-07-14 (two web sweeps; sources below). Four enforcement families exist:

Harness hooks. Claude Code PreToolUse hooks receive each tool call and can block it deterministically. Policy packs exist (agent-guardrails, LaneKeep). Design maxim found there: a guardrail an agent can bypass is not a guardrail.
TDD enforcers. TDD Guard, its successor Probity, and Ultraship block implementation edits until a failing test is verified. This is the closest prior art to req-first-green-guard.
Permission surfaces. Claude Code permission modes, OpenAI Agents SDK and Codex CLI gate tools with per-tool approval policies (always / never / callback).
Repo and OS gates. Git pre-commit hooks, branch protection, CI required checks; ActPlane (research) pushes policy to the OS level.

Sources: , , , , , .

requirements (1)

✓i22-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

The Ch1 criteria, each checkable at M7:

✓i22-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Three new RAID nodes, minted in :

: a new refusal hits a lawful move. Mitigation: every refusal names the lawful lane; the console channel stays refusal-free.
: the morning review habituates. Mitigation: evidence-linked collection, per-stretch expiry, the amended metric.
: timing tests flake under load. Mitigation: assert order and overlap, never durations.

The open i21 quartet was checked: raid-busy-record's class fix IS this iteration (req-busy-no-record). The other three stand unchanged.

requirements (1)

✓i22-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: a walk law that CAN be enforced mechanically IS enforced mechanically.
Actual: the laws live in prompts. i21 logged five drift incidents in three days.
Delta: eleven requirements across four use-cases (the approved plan).

Scope:

engine guards
battery trust and UX
the MCP agent channel
two lints

Out of scope:

harness-side hooks
the phone lane
book or render work

✓i22-m1-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. All five subtasks delivered. Blessed under the standing grant (2026-07-14 evening, chat-recorded). Collected for the morning review.

questions (2)

requirements (1)

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i22-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Context: the engine sits between four channels and two stores. The guards land on the agent-facing edges.

flowchart LR
    subgraph environment
        agent[driving agent]
        console[owner console]
        phone[paired phone]
        harness[harness / Claude Code]
    end
    subgraph engine [quack engine - system in focus]
        dispatch[dispatch + channel predicate]
        battery[battery + verdict cache]
        ledger[ledger events]
    end
    agent -- bare CLI, piped --> dispatch
    agent -- MCP tools --> dispatch
    console -- interactive TTY --> dispatch
    phone -- ntfy answers --> dispatch
    harness -- loads .mcp.json --> agent
    dispatch --> battery
    dispatch --> ledger

One line to see: every guard of this iteration attaches to the agent edges (CLI, MCP) or to the battery. The console edge stays refusal-free (raid-over-blocking).

Probes run 2026-07-14 (the real channel, not the datasheet):

exists at the root and names `quack mcp`.
`quack mcp` answers a `tools/list` over stdio with the full command surface. Probe verified live.
THIS session has no quack MCP tools loaded. The gap is harness-side (project-server approval or config), not engine-side.
The channel predicate exists: stamps by `--by` override, else interactive console = user, piped call = agent. The new guards reuse it.

The battery lanes, named:

`selftest` runs the full battery
`verify <check>` re-runs one check eagerly
every walk command answers lazily from the verdict cache (req-lazy-verdicts; i21)
a build's hand-back runs the battery once per slot

requirements (1)

✓i22-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set, held against the M1 sources' checklist for policy enforcement:

Bypass story: covered. The guards live in the engine that writes the record. No engine, no record.
Refusal observability: covered. req-selftest-gate.2 and req-cli-steer name the lawful lane in the refusal.
Escape hatch: covered. The console channel takes no new refusal (raid-over-blocking mitigation).
Audit: covered. The call log records dispatches; the ledger records blesses; the grant records its collection.
Policy versioning: covered structurally. Guards ship inside the engine binary; the build stamp names the version.
Approval granularity: covered. The grant carries scope; per-tool "always/never" (the OpenAI/Codex pattern) maps to grant scope classes.
Over-implementation detection: NOT covered, recorded as a MISS. TDD Guard also validates that the implementation stays minimal for the failing test. Out of scope here; the trace's designs-realized coverage is the nearest existing control. No new requirement added; the miss is this record.

decisions (1)

requirements (4)

✓i22-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i22-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i22-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Held against the default type's always-on classes:

agent: the primary subject. Every guard binds its channel; the MCP lane serves it.
project-owner: the adjudicator. The grant and the morning review are theirs; the two rulings (q-cli-steering, q-grant-honesty) came from them.
assessor: served. Refusals, grant records, and lint flags are readable evidence.
user: same person as the owner on this project; the console lane stays untouched for them.
newcomer: not affected. No entry document changes in scope; the lints touch node statements, not the README.
communicator: not affected. No book or report structure changes in scope.
acquirer: not affected. No packaging surface changes beyond the normal ship.
developer-maintainer (software class): served. The guards are small, tested Go units; the miss record (over-implementation) is honest about limits.
tester (software class): served. Every requirement carries an executable selftest; the timing-flake risk is mitigated at assertion level.

No role is left out; three are recorded as deliberately unaffected.

decisions (1)

questions (2)

✓i22-m2-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under the standing grant; collected for the morning review.

requirements (2)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i22-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

The design question: WHERE do the guards live? Three candidates, elaborated.

Battery-side candidates (orthogonal, for the three battery requirements):

run-layer guard: the busy/no-record and first-green checks wrap the single verdict-recording function.
per-test guards: each selftest self-checks. Rejected on sight: the i21 incident happened exactly because per-test guards were the only defense.

✓i22-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Derived from the requirements and the RAID set. Weights sum to 1.

0.30 trust: no bypass, no false record, honest stamps (req-busy-no-record, req-first-green-guard, q-grant-honesty A).
0.25 over-blocking safety: a wrong refusal must be cheap to see and cheap to escape (raid-over-blocking).
0.20 coverage uniformity: a new command or test is guarded by default, not by memory (the i21 drift lesson).
0.15 walk speed: no added latency on hot commands (req-lazy-verdicts precedent, responsiveness guide).
0.10 build cost: small, testable Go; no new subsystem (rule-of-cool does not override cost here).

questions (1)

requirements (3)

✓i22-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

Review-in-hand detection (A and B need it): feasible. The ledger knows every gate's readiness; "a milestone gate is ready or suspect" is computable from the same state `next` already loads. M5 spikes the exact predicate.
MCP-served detection (for the CLI block): feasible with a boundary. The engine cannot see the harness config; it CAN see its own channel (piped vs console) and refuse ledger commands on the piped lane, pointing at MCP. The block needs no session detection at all.
Busy-guard reach (run-layer): feasible. Verdict recording already flows through one cache-write path; the busy flag reaches it as a return state.
Config interpreter (C): feasible but heavy. A new parser, a new trust surface, a new test corpus. Weeks, not days.

✓i22-m3-gate

evidence

Round 2, validate: the candidates answer exactly the M1 delta (laws into engine). Candidate C honestly connects to the parked configuration-vs-code field question instead of quietly deciding it.

Verdict: PASS. The decision itself belongs to M4. Blessed under the standing grant.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i22-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Five ADRs minted in , each addressing its requirements over the connections lane (10 addresses edges and 5 chosen edges). The derived check computes it.

✓i22-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh run 1. Datum: candidate B (per-command guards, today's de-facto pattern).

criterion (weight)	A dispatch layer	C config policy
trust (0.30)	+ one predicate set, no drift	− agent-editable policy file
over-blocking safety (0.25)	+ uniform refusal wording	+ rules visible
coverage uniformity (0.20)	++ guarded by default	+ declarative
walk speed (0.15)	0 one lookup per dispatch	0
build cost (0.10)	+ one home	−− interpreter subsystem
weighted sum	+0.85	−0.30

Pugh run 2 (controlled convergence). Datum: A, the run-1 winner. B scores −0.50 (uniformity and trust drift negative, all else level). C scores −1.15. A holds.

✓i22-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

Four moves, one sentence each:

Command guards run as ONE pass in dispatch, before any handler (adr-guard-dispatch-layer).
Battery trust guards wrap the single verdict-write function (adr-verdict-write-guard).
A standing grant is a ledger event pair; in-scope blesses stamp the grant id (adr-grant-ledger-events).
The CLI block activates on an owner-declared lane in project.toml (adr-mcp-lane-declared); the battery gains progress, batch, and cores inside the guarded write (adr-battery-run-shape).

The lints extend the existing lint and selftest frameworks; no new subsystem.

decisions (5)

✓i22-m4-model-authored-the

evidence

models (1)

✓i22-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

✓i22-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

element-tree (model-guard-tree): where does each new part sit? Eleven leaves, every future design marker allocated.
state (model-grant-lifecycle): what modes does a grant have? The conformance contract for go-grant-store.
context: chosen as DERIVED (the free nbr- star); no authored context diagram.
sequence: REJECTED for this iteration - no new cross-party flow; the register-ask-flow precedent already draws the answer path, and the guards are single-party refusals.

Two authored models - the default budget, held.

designs (1)

models (1)

✓i22-m4-gate

evidence

decisions (2)

questions (2)

models (1)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i22-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

Every model-guard-tree leaf has a located seam:

The dispatch pass wraps the existing command switch (cli.go).
The verdict guard wraps the one cache-write path (spike 3 of i21's hazard

note located it).

The battery trio lives in the runner loop.
The lints extend the existing lint pass and selftest corpus.
The grant rides the attest event store.

No leaf needs a new subsystem. The three RAID mitigations are all assertion- or message-level — nothing structural.

models (1)

✓i22-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Three spikes, run 2026-07-14 evening.

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i22-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

requirements (1)

✓i22-m5-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: each spike names its file-level evidence:

StatusMap/cmdNext.
The settings files' contents.
The Event struct.

The requirement amendment happened before any observe-red — no stranded record.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under the standing grant; collected for the morning review.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

M6 Build & verify19 / 19 done

✓i22-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Ten steps, children of the build task - each one design concern and one durable checkpoint. Real prerequisites only:

b2 needs b1's store.
b4 needs b3's guard layer.
b8 needs b5's guarded write.

Everything else hangs flat off the M5 gate.

i22-b1-grant-store: grant events (go-grant-store)
i22-b2-grant-review: the collection surface (go-grant-review) ← b1
i22-b3-guard-selftest: dispatch guard layer + battery predicate (go-guard-selftest)
i22-b4-guard-cli: declared lane + refusal + harness approval (go-guard-cli) ← b3
i22-b5-verdict-guard: busy discard + first-green withhold (go-verdict-guard)
i22-b6-battery-progress: the n/N line (go-battery-progress)
i22-b7-battery-batch: cache answer on unchanged content (go-battery-batch)
i22-b8-battery-parallel: bounded worker pool (go-battery-parallel) ← b5
i22-b9-voice-lint: the statement lint (go-voice-lint)
i22-b10-recital-chain: the wording-chain selftest (go-recital-chain)

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (10)

tests (1)

✓i22-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i22-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

raid-over-blocking: held. The console takes no new refusal; every refusal names its lawful lane; the CLI block stays INACTIVE (agent_lane unset) until the next session proves the MCP tools load.
raid-grant-rubberstamp: held. The live grant (grant-20260714-213558) collects every bless; `grant review` lists them; the metric clause is in need-engage.
raid-guard-timing-flakes: held. The concurrency proof is a handshake, not a stopwatch; no test asserts durations.
New risk found and closed in-walk: the CLI block would have stranded the walk (chicken-and-egg, M4); the activation boundary answers it.
Residual: the busy-discard is conservative under concurrency (one busy trip discards the run that saw it); a wrongly discarded verdict re-runs later - the safe direction.

✓i22-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Lint:

coverage clean.
EARS clean.
conformance clean for i22.
the remaining blocking finding is the book drift the ship regenerates.

Two pre-existing RAID field-enum findings were drained in passing (status closed).

✓i22-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

decisions (1)

models (2)

✓i22-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

Ten red records at pre-implementation hashes plus one honest exemption (test-standing-grant, adr-red-unobservable) - the derived rule computes it.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i22-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

✓i22-m6-build-the-planned

✓i22-b1-grant-store

evidence

go-grant-store in :

grant-open and grant-close events with scope and expiry.
blessGrantCheck refuses an uncovered agent killer-bless (cmdBless wires it,

exit 5).

a covered bless stamps `grant:`.
grant open on the agent channel needs an explicit --by user delegation.

selftest:standing-grant green. Proven live the same minute: grant-20260714-213558 (scope i22-*, 12 h) records the owner's chat delegation of this stretch.

designs (1)

✓i22-b10-recital-chain

evidence

designs (1)

✓i22-b3-guard-selftest

evidence

designs (1)

✓i22-b5-verdict-guard

evidence

designs (1)

✓i22-b6-battery-progress

evidence

go-battery-progress: the full battery prints `[n/N] selftest <name> <status>` per test. selftest:battery-progress green.

designs (1)

✓i22-b7-battery-batch

evidence

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i22-b9-voice-lint

evidence

designs (1)

✓i22-b2-grant-review

evidence

go-grant-review: `quack grant review` lists the latest grant's collected blesses for the owner's confirmation; `grant close` prints the same collection at the stretch's end.

designs (1)

✓i22-b4-guard-cli

evidence

decisions (1)

questions (1)

designs (1)

✓i22-b8-battery-parallel

evidence

designs (1)

✓i22-m6-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; the bless event itself carries the grant stamp - the feature records its own audit trail.

decisions (1)

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i22-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner's standing order for this stretch:

walk unattended.
bless everything under the grant.
present it back for confirmation.

The sign-off evidence IS the grant collection (demo 3) plus the handover note. Final acceptance is the morning review's confirmation, by design of the very feature this iteration shipped.

✓i22-m7-consistency-swept-everything

✓i22-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Exercised for real, not by tests-green:

Demo 1: a fixture stub workspace, agent channel, full battery, no ready gate → refused, naming verify and the gate (exit 4).
Demo 2: the fixture declares agent_lane = "mcp" → a piped bless refused with the MCP-tool pointer, console explicitly unaffected (exit 4).
Demo 3: `grant review` lists the fifteen blesses collected under grant-20260714-213558 for the owner's confirmation.
Standing demo: this iteration's own killer gates were blessed THROUGH the grant machinery - each event carries the grant stamp.
The busy discard fired live inside its own selftest run; the first-green withhold is battery-proven.

✓i22-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated backward over every need:

need-engage: every i22 killer bless is grant-covered and collected (demo 3); the amended criterion (q-grant-honesty A) holds PENDING the morning confirmation. The phone lane and pager machinery are untouched by this iteration.
need-implementation: ten of eleven new tests carry a pre-implementation red record; the eleventh carries its honest exemption. The withhold guard enforces the ritual for every future test.
need-note: unchanged and exercised all night (nine notes captured without leaving a check).
need-review: unchanged; the board recomputed live on every gate bless.

questions (1)

✓i22-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

✓i22-m7-gate

evidence

Round 2, validate: the need set is checked backward and nothing regressed - the iteration only ADDED refusals and every refusal spares the console channel.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; collected.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i22-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

✓i22-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

AGENTS.md carries the grant verb, the killer-bless grant rule, the selftest channel note, and the recital preview clause.
`quack` usage text names grant open|close|review; `quack grant` answers help with no side effect (the cli-help guide).
contract.md carries the recital card and preview mechanism; selftest:recital-chain guards the chain.
implementation.md teaches the gate-only battery, matching the shipped refusal.
The book and report regenerate at ship (the drift lint's two findings are exactly those).

✓i22-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

✓i22-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report at the zip root and refreshes the committed book copies. Run immediately after the gate bless, per the law.

✓i22-m8-gate

evidence

Round 1, verify: each section above points at its artifact (files / commands / the RAID node / the grant id).

Round 2, validate: the iteration hands over exactly what M1 framed - the laws are engine behavior. The audit surface exists. The one unarmed lane is recorded with its arming order.

Verdict: PASS. Blessed under grant-20260714-213558; ship follows immediately.

i0023_modules 55/55

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i23-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The delta is real and worth solving.

Vehicles can already vendor Quackitect as a whole engine layer, but that is too coarse for a multi-purpose vehicle.

The needed capability is narrower:

Import one module from another project.
Update that import deterministically.
Keep one workspace timeline and ledger.
Filter every table by module before need.
Let dotted child modules roll up in views without recursive process semantics.

The current engine has related pieces:

vendored vehicles
overlays
`--base`
deterministic apply manifests

It does not yet have:

first-class modules
module import/update
module-scoped derived views

This iteration is therefore justified as an engine architecture change, not only a vehicle customization.

✓i23-m1-state-of-the

evidence

The closest existing patterns are present inside Quackitect already:

`start init` vendors a whole engine into a vehicle.
The overlay resolver lets a vehicle override vendored method resources.
`--base` lets one engine drive another workspace.
`quack apply` provides deterministic byte-exact file changes.
Project types and rigor tailor method input, but they do not divide one workspace into owned product areas.

Those mechanisms are useful but incomplete for a vehicle with multiple product areas.

✓i23-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

The iteration closes when these outcomes are visible:

A workspace can declare modules in `spec/project.toml`.
Nodes without a module load into the default module.
Dotted module ids filter as subtrees.
Derived tables present module pills before need pills.
A command can run with a module selector.
A vehicle can import and update a module from recorded provenance through a dry-runnable manifest.
A fixture can build an empty vehicle, import `se` from Quackitect, and create local `doc` modules.

Each outcome has a matching test node in this iteration.

✓i23-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

The risk register now carries the main module risks:

`raid-module-import-drift`: imports can drift or overwrite local vehicle work.
`raid-module-scope-confusion`: dotted modules can be mistaken for nested projects.
`raid-module-id-collisions`: module-local content can collide while ids remain globally keyed.

The mitigations match the selected first cut:

deterministic dry-run manifests
one ledger with view-only rollups
module-prefix lint before any later composite identity change

✓i23-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision: a Quackitect workspace is a set of modules that share:

one iteration
one ledger
one report
one book

The first module implementation is deliberately small:

Modules are dotted ids such as `se`, `doc`, and `doc.review`.
A parent module is a view/filter rollup, not a recursive mini-project.
Every loaded node gets a module, defaulting to the workspace default module.
Derived tables filter by module first, then by need.
Vehicles can import and update one module from another project through a deterministic manifest.

Out of scope for the first cut:

independent module timelines
nested ledgers
automatic parent gate adjudication
true composite `(module, id)` identity
recursive module import by default

✓i23-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: every M1 subcheck has a concrete referent in this evidence file or the risk register.

Validate: the iteration answers the actual owner ask. It starts module support for shareable vehicles. It avoids module-local timelines. It keeps Tracer out of the Quackitect iteration record.

Red-team: the main risk is overbuilding modules into nested projects. The explicit out-of-scope list and dotted-id rollup ADR keep the first implementation bounded.

Verdict: M1 is ready for adjudication.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i23-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Stakeholders:

vehicle maintainer: needs a cloneable vehicle repository with imported and local capability areas
project owner: needs one ledger and one timeline across modules
reader/reviewer: needs module-first filtering before need filtering
engine maintainer: needs deterministic imports and updates that do not overwrite local overlays

Use cases composed in this iteration:

`uc-module-scoped-views`
`uc-module-import-update`
`uc-vehicle-se-doc`
`uc-module-nesting`

The trace edges connect those use cases to `need-module-ownership` and `need-vehicle-independence`.

use cases (4)

✓i23-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The requirement set was checked against the mechanisms already in the engine:

`start init` solves whole-vehicle vendoring, but not one-module import.
`start stubs` solves drive-from-inside, but not module ownership.
The overlay resolver solves local overrides, but not imported module provenance.
`quack apply` solves deterministic file changes, and should be reused for module import/update manifests.
Project types and rigor solve tailoring, but they do not create module facets or module ownership.
`--base` solves one engine driving another workspace, but not module filtering inside one workspace.

Misses added to the requirement set:

module registry loading
dotted module subtree filtering
node default module assignment
module-first table facets
module command selector
deterministic module import and update
generic vehicle setup with imported `se` and local documentation modules

✓i23-m2-requirements-traced-every auto

evidence

Every module requirement refines one of the composed module use cases, and each use case refines one of the two module needs.

✓i23-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

evidence

Every module requirement has a matching test node in the verification lane.

✓i23-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

No new named stakeholder classes are needed for this engine iteration. The existing role set covers the concern:

project owner: adjudicates the one-ledger, one-timeline semantics
developer-maintainer: implements module parsing, filtering, import, update, and resolver changes
agent: needs unambiguous module command selection and module-aware gather/compose rules
newcomer: benefits from single-module hiding and module-first views when projects grow
assessor: reviews module imports, provenance, and cross-module trace visibility

The requirements cover each role's concern:

ownership
shareability
filtering
imports
updates
bounded dotted nesting

✓i23-m2-gate

evidence

Verify - the trace covers:

module ownership
import/update
module-first filtering
command selection
generic vehicle setup

Validate: the requirements match the revised owner direction:

no per-module iterations
dotted nested ids as filter rollups
no Tracer-specific Quackitect documentation

Verdict: M2 is ready for adjudication.

requirements (2)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i23-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Four alternatives were elaborated:

`cand-project-types-only`: reuse project types and overlays only.
`cand-flat-modules`: add flat module ids without nesting.
`cand-dotted-modules`: add dotted module ids with parent rollup filters and one shared ledger.
`cand-recursive-modules`: give parent modules recursive process semantics.

The current preferred candidate is `cand-dotted-modules`.

It gives useful nesting, module-first views and exact imports. It introduces no separate module timelines, no nested ledgers and no recursive gate semantics.

✓i23-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

The criteria come directly from the requirements:

one ledger and one timeline: 0.25
module-first filtering across derived views: 0.20
deterministic import/update with dry run and provenance: 0.20
backward compatibility for single-module workspaces: 0.15
implementation cost and risk: 0.10
future path to local vehicle modules: 0.10

The weighting favors preserving the existing process model while adding module ownership and import boundaries.

✓i23-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

Candidate feasibility:

`cand-project-types-only`: feasible but insufficient. It cannot express imported/local product areas in one workspace.
`cand-flat-modules`: feasible and cheap, but weak for parent rollup filters.
`cand-dotted-modules`: feasible. It mainly adds module metadata, subtree matching, and view filters before deeper identity changes.
`cand-recursive-modules`: feasible only with much larger scope. It risks nested timelines, parent gate semantics, and recursive import/update complexity.

Conclusion: dotted module ids are the feasible first implementation.

✓i23-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: four alternatives are recorded. The weighted criteria are stated. Each candidate has a feasibility judgment.

Validate: the selected dotted-module candidate matches the owner direction: nesting as rollup, not recursive process behavior.

Verdict: M3 is ready for adjudication.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i23-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Architecture ADRs are recorded under `spec/decisions/` and traced through the addresses lane.

Key ADRs:

`adr-one-ledger-modules`
`adr-dotted-module-ids`
`adr-module-filter-first`
`adr-module-import-manifest`
`adr-vehicle-se-doc`
`adr-module-views`

decisions (6)

✓i23-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

The chosen architecture is the dotted-module model with one workspace iteration and one ledger.

Trace to weighted criteria:

One ledger and one timeline (0.25): satisfied by `adr-one-ledger-modules`.
Module-first filtering (0.20): satisfied by `adr-module-filter-first`.
Deterministic import/update (0.20): satisfied by `adr-module-import-manifest`.
Backward compatibility (0.15): satisfied by default-module assignment in `req-node-module` and hidden module controls for single-module workspaces.
Implementation cost and risk (0.10): satisfied by rejecting recursive module semantics in `adr-dotted-module-ids`.
Future local vehicle modules (0.10): satisfied by `adr-vehicle-se-doc` and `req-vehicle-module-setup`.

The selected candidate wins because it adds the needed ownership and import boundaries without adding nested timelines or nested ledgers.

decisions (5)

requirements (2)

✓i23-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

The architecture is a workspace-level module system.

It has these rules:

The workspace keeps one iteration, one ledger, one report, and one book.
Modules are ownership and filtering units.
Nested modules are dotted ids, such as `doc.review`.
Selecting a parent module includes its dotted children in views.
Parent modules do not own separate timelines, ledgers, or recursive gate semantics.
Imported modules are read-only source payloads with recorded provenance.
Module import and update run through a deterministic dry-runnable manifest.
Single-module workspaces remain the trivial case and hide module controls.

✓i23-m4-model-authored-the

evidence

The architecture diagram is `model-module-architecture`.

It allocates these elements before implementation:

workspace process
module registry
module selector
module facets
import manager
update manager
module overlay

The diagram shows the ownership structure and the update boundary. It deliberately uses `element-tree`, not a runtime-flow model.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i23-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

DSM, DMM and MDM were considered and skipped for this first cut.

Reason: the module split is already forced by ownership boundaries:

workspace process
module registry
module selection and filtering
deterministic import/update
local overlays over imported payloads

The architecture does not yet need coupling analysis to discover modules. If implementation reveals unexpected coupling, module clustering can be revisited through a later architecture review.

✓i23-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Chosen view:

`model-module-architecture` as `element-tree`: shows ownership boundaries and build elements for the first implementation.

Rejected views for this iteration:

state model: useful later for import/update lifecycle states, not needed before the first build plan.
sequence model: useful later for module import command flow, but the current decision is structural.
context view: already derived from neighbour notes when needed.

No runtime-flow structural model is used. The architecture is not about signal flow between runtime services; it is about workspace/module ownership and deterministic update boundaries.

models (1)

✓i23-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: the selected architecture is stated and traced to criteria. It is represented as a model and backed by ADRs.

Validate: the architecture preserves one workspace timeline and ledger. It adds module ownership, dotted child rollups and deterministic imports.

Red-team: the design keeps parent modules as rollup views, not separate process owners. Child modules still use the normal workspace process and gates.

Verdict: M4 is ready for adjudication.

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i23-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The selected architecture is buildable with small engine changes.

Build seams already exist:

`readProjectConfig` and `Config` can grow module registry fields.
`ParseNodeBytes` can load a `module` field.
`LoadAll` is the single graph assembly point where default module assignment can happen.
`renderBaseHTML` and table helpers can add module facets before existing need facets.
`Dispatch` can consume a leading module id before command routing.
`copyTree`, `quack apply`, and the existing vendoring lane can support deterministic module import and update.

The design avoids high-risk changes in the first cut:

no independent module timelines
no nested ledgers
no recursive parent-gate semantics
no composite `(module, id)` identity yet

The first implementation can therefore proceed as an additive module metadata and filtering layer.

✓i23-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Assumption 1: module semantics can be added without splitting the ledger.

Evidence: `StatusMap`, `gateState` and attest events operate over loaded nodes and ids. Adding module metadata does not require changing the event model. Rollups can be view-only.

Assumption 2: imported modules can reuse deterministic file lanes.

Assumption 3: module-first filters can reuse the derived-table facet machinery.

Assumption 4: single-module workspaces can remain visually unchanged.

Evidence: the renderer already hides empty or irrelevant view affordances. The module facet can be suppressed when the module registry has one visible module.

Verdict: the risky assumptions are validated well enough to proceed to build planning.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

No throwaway code spike was needed. The useful spike was an architecture probe against the existing engine seams.

Results carried forward:

module metadata belongs in `project.toml` and loaded node state
parent module behavior is filter rollup only
import/update should use the manifest/apply lane
views and tables need module facets before need facets
command dispatch needs an optional leading module selector

The design input and architecture were updated with these results.

✓i23-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: the risky assumptions were checked against existing engine seams and recorded above.

Validate: the results support moving into implementation without expanding scope into recursive module process semantics.

Red-team: the import/update path is still the highest implementation risk. The deterministic manifest requirement keeps that risk bounded.

Verdict: M5 is ready for adjudication.

M6 Build & verify17 / 17 done

✓i23-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

The build is decomposed into eight resumable child steps under `i23-m6-build-the-planned`:

Each step depends on the prior step. The aggregate build task depends on the final documentation step.

This keeps progress resumable and prevents a monolithic module rewrite.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i23-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

Accepted implementation risks:

Module id prefix lint is not yet implemented. Global ids still prevent collisions today.
Module update plans report delete operations but do not yet apply them through `quack apply`.
Module-first table filtering is emitted in the book table renderer first; report-specific module UX can follow if needed.
Command selection currently filters `status` and `next`; deeper module-specific commands can extend the same selector.

These are acceptable for the first implementation because the core invariants are in place:

module registry
default membership
subtree matching
import/update planning
documented vehicle setup

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

Focused checks run:

`selftest module-registry`
`selftest node-module-default`
`selftest module-subtree-filter`
`selftest module-table-filter`
`selftest module-command-selector`
`selftest module-import`
`selftest module-update`
`selftest vehicle-module-setup`
`git diff --check`

All passed.

✓i23-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

Implementation follows `model-module-architecture`:

workspace process: unchanged one iteration, one ledger, one report, one book
module registry: `Config.Modules`, `ModuleConfig`, and `ReadConfig`
module selector: `selectModuleArg`, `selectedModule`, and `moduleSelected`
module facets: shared reader-table module facet and `data-mod` row stamps
import manager: `modulePlan` and `module import`
update manager: `modulePlan`, provenance reading, and `module update`
module overlay: planner skips overlay paths and preserves local files

No new architectural element was added outside the M4 model.

models (1)

✓i23-m6-suite-observed-red auto ✓i23-m6-verification-green-every auto

✓i23-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All planned child steps are complete:

module config parsing
node module loading
exact and subtree module filtering
module-first table facets
leading module command selector
module import/update manifest planning
vehicle module fixture
documentation and template sync

The build remained additive: one workspace timeline and ledger are preserved. Module behavior is introduced as metadata, filtering and deterministic import/update planning.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m6-b1-module-config

evidence

Implemented:

`Config.WorkspaceID`
`Config.DefaultModule`
`Config.Modules`
`ModuleConfig`
`[workspace]` parsing for `id` and `default_module`
`[modules.<id>]` parsing for title, kind, path, parent, and source
default single-module fallback

Verification:

`selftest module-registry` passes.
`selftest node-module-default` passes.

Design markers:

`go-module-config` implements `req-module-registry`.
`go-node-module-default` implements `req-node-module`.

requirements (2)

designs (2)

✓i23-m6-b2-node-module-load

evidence

Implemented:

`module:` frontmatter on nodes.
default module assignment during `LoadAll`.
default module assignment for scanned design regions.
default module assignment for synthetic connection-lane nodes.

Verification:

`selftest node-module-default` passes.
`selftest module-registry` passes.

Design marker:

`go-node-module-default` implements `req-node-module`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b3-module-filters

evidence

Implemented:

exact module matching
parent dotted-id subtree matching
`all` and `*` selectors

Verification:

`selftest module-subtree-filter` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-config` implements `req-module-dotted-ids`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b4-table-facets

evidence

Implemented:

node-backed table rows carry `data-mod`
tables with multiple modules render a module pill row
the module pill row renders before the need pill row
parent/child module ids are available to the shared table filter script

Verification:

`selftest module-table-filter` passes.

Design marker:

`go-book-emitter` implements `req-module-filter-first`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b5-command-selector

evidence

Implemented:

optional leading module id parsing
selected module state for command execution
status filtering by selected module subtree
next filtering by selected module subtree

Verification:

`selftest module-command-selector` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-command-selector` implements `req-module-command-selector`.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b6-import-manifest

evidence

Implemented:

module import planning from an external source tree
target layout under `modules/<id>/import`
provenance file planning in `modules/<id>/module.toml`
create, write, delete, and provenance operation reporting
update planning from recorded provenance
overlay preservation under `modules/<id>/overlay`
`module import` and `module update` command surface for dry runs

Verification:

`selftest module-import` passes.
`selftest module-update` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-import-plan` implements `req-module-import` and `req-module-update`.

requirements (3)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b7-vehicle-fixture

evidence

Implemented:

a fixture vehicle created through `initVehicleFiles`
module registry entries for imported `se`, local `doc`, and child `doc.review`
import planning from the Quackitect source into the vehicle's `se` module
a guard that the import plan does not touch the local documentation child module

Verification:

`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passes.

Design marker:

`go-module-import-plan` supports `req-vehicle-module-setup` through the fixture path.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i23-m6-b8-docs-sync

evidence

Updated:

`integrate.md` documents workspace modules, dotted rollups, module import, and module update.
`compose-reference.md` documents optional `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived tables.
`vehicleTomlTmpl` seeds a default module in new vehicles.
The white-label section no longer promises an engine footer.

Verification:

`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passes.
`selftest stubs` passes.

Design marker:

`go-start-init` implements `req-vehicle-module-setup`.

requirements (1)

designs (2)

✓i23-m6-gate

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i23-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner accepted the module architecture direction during the walk:

Keep one ledger and one iteration.
Treat dotted modules as view rollups.
Keep parent modules out of separate process ownership.
Import modules deterministically.
Keep Tracer out of Quackitect docs.

The remaining owner-facing acceptance is this M7 handoff.

✓i23-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Documentation and templates were checked against the implemented behavior:

`compose-reference.md` documents optional `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived tables.
`integrate.md` documents modules, dotted rollups, `module import`, and `module update`.
The vehicle project template seeds `[workspace]` and `[modules.default]`.
The systematic checklist names the M4 model-authored check in management-readable language.
M2 design input now records the handoff batching rule: agent-lane work is filled before user handoff, and user batches contain only user-adjudicated checks.

No Tracer-specific content was added to Quackitect documentation.

✓i23-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

The focused checks exercise the core owner-facing use cases:

A workspace declares modules in `spec/project.toml`.
Historical nodes load into the default module.
Dotted ids select a module subtree.
Reader tables expose module facets before need facets.
Commands can be scoped by a leading module selector.
Module import and update produce deterministic plans.
A vehicle fixture can carry an imported `se` module and local `doc` modules without overwriting the local module area.

The handoff batching rule was also exercised: `selftest pager-merge` passed. The rule keeps deterministic and agent-fillable checks out of user batches. It batches only ready user-adjudicated checks.

✓i23-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated against the M1 success criteria:

Module registry: `selftest module-registry` passed.
Default membership: `selftest node-module-default` passed.
Dotted subtree selection: `selftest module-subtree-filter` passed.
Module-first tables: `selftest module-table-filter` passed.
Command selector: `selftest module-command-selector` passed.
Import planning: `selftest module-import` passed.
Update planning: `selftest module-update` passed.
Vehicle fixture: `selftest vehicle-module-setup` passed.

The implementation keeps one workspace timeline and ledger. Modules add ownership, filtering and import/update planning. They do not add nested ledgers or parent-module gates.

requirements (1)

✓i23-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

Known gaps are recorded as RAID:

`raid-module-import-drift`: update plans must keep provenance clear and preserve overlays.
`raid-module-scope-confusion`: dotted modules can be mistaken for nested projects.
`raid-module-id-collisions`: ids remain globally keyed in this first cut.

Accepted first-cut limitations:

Module delete operations are planned but not yet applied through `quack apply`.
Report-specific module UX can follow the book/table module facets.
More module-scoped commands can extend the same selector later.

✓i23-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: focused module checks and the pager batching check passed.

Validate: the implementation satisfies the requested module semantics without introducing nested ledgers or Tracer-specific Quackitect documentation.

Verdict: M7 is ready for adjudication.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i23-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The active workspace baseline is:

iteration version: `i0023_modules`
module default: `default`
module registry: default module plus the module behavior documented in M6 and M7 evidence

`quack build` re-baselined the golden root after the prompt + docs + task metadata + evidence edits.

✓i23-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

Checked documentation against the implemented module and handoff behavior:

`compose-reference.md` describes `module:` frontmatter and module-first derived table filters.
`compose-reference.md` keeps handoff batching tied to `killer: true`, not milestone numbers or ids.
`integrate.md` describes module registries, dotted rollups, `module import`, and `module update`.
`integrate.md` shows imported and local modules in one workspace timeline.
`systematic/checklist.md` marks owner sign-off rows as `*(killer)*` so user-lane behavior comes from metadata.
`AGENTS.md` now bans local shortcut rules based on milestone numbers, iteration ids, check ids, filenames, or today-only circumstances.

Focused checks run:

`selftest module-registry` passed.
`selftest module-table-filter` passed.
`selftest module-command-selector` passed.
`selftest module-import` passed.
`selftest module-update` passed.
`selftest vehicle-module-setup` passed.
`selftest pager-merge` passed.
`selftest seed-skeleton` passed.
`selftest stubs` passed.

✓i23-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Ready for owner handoff.

The handoff should include only user-lane rows:

`i23-m8-docs-complete-match`
`i23-m8-handover-accepted`
`i23-m8-gate`

It should exclude agent-lane rows already filled:

`i23-m8-configuration-baselined`
`i23-m8-packaged-versioned`

✓i23-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` produced the package:

`C:/Users/z004epwe/AppData/Local/quackitect/quackitect-3a2a52/out/quack-i0023_modules.zip`

The package root contains:

`book.html`
`report.html`
`README.md`
`RUNME.ps1`
`RUNME.sh`

✓i23-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: focused module + handoff + seed + stub checks passed. The product was shipped to the workspace output package.

Validate: the docs describe the actual module behavior and the corrected handoff ownership rule.

Red-team: the handoff batching rule is now metadata-driven. A future local exception must update template metadata or engine rules, not hardcode a milestone or id.

Verdict: M8 is ready for adjudication.

i0024_hygiene 66/66

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i24-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The delta is real, and each half was observed live rather than assumed:

The owner asked for the query lane after watching four greps and a blown output cap in one session (2026-07-15).
The owner asked for hot reload after the MCP surface needed a manual reconnect for one config fix.
The voice debt (566) blocks arming the voice lane; the owner ruled the fix in.
The .base trust hole and the two guard gaps are recorded defects with dates.

Worth solving now: the wave and the build both get cheaper with query and apply in hand. Ordering the query first pays inside this same iteration.

✓i24-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Two research passes ran at compose time (2026-07-15, harness research capability).

Query lane prior art:

ckg-mcp exposes a pre-compiled knowledge graph over MCP for structural queries.
Codebase-Memory serves a tree-sitter graph with a Cypher-like query_graph tool.
Neo4j memory MCP servers return structured entities instead of file dumps.

Hot-reload prior art:

mcpmon and reloaderoo are dev-time supervisor proxies. They restart a child, buffer in-flight messages, then emit list_changed.
No found tool self-adopts a staged production binary mid-session.
Claude Code honors list_changed mid-session (documented). Claude Desktop does not. A dead stdio server is never restarted by the client.

Position: the supervisor shape is proven; the staged-binary self-adoption is our extension. The parent process must never exit. The swap waits for open replies.

Hygiene items: internal debt with in-repo precedent (the i11 evidence-hash wedge is the same trust class as the .base gap). No external scan needed.

decisions (1)

✓i24-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

Ch1 criteria, each checkable:

✓i24-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Four risks in the register:

`raid-wave-fatigue`: the statement wave suspects cones everywhere. Mitigation: roots-only triage under the recorded grant.
`raid-voice-meaning-drift`: a rewrite can change a blessed meaning. Mitigation: meaning-preserving splits, full collection review.
`raid-reload-harness`: a dead stdio server is never restarted. Mitigation: the parent never exits, only the child swaps.
`raid-query-authority-creep`: the read lane must not become a second truth. Mitigation: read-only, walk rules unchanged.

✓i24-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: every structured read is one filtered call. Every content input is hashed. Every authored statement obeys the voice.
Actual, five gaps:
greps over edge files
a 566-finding voice debt
unhashed .base pools
a reconnect-bound tool surface
two unguarded defect classes
Delta: the eight composed requirements. The scope list lives in iteration.md.

Out of scope:

Obsidian CLI as a dependency (ruled out)
q-notes-travel (parked)
epochs (parked)

decisions (1)

questions (1)

✓i24-m1-gate

evidence

Verify: every M1 subcheck points at a concrete referent in this doc or the risk register. The research findings carry source links via the compose notes.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i24-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Context: the engine, its MCP surface and the harness around them. Everything is inside one workspace. The one external contact is the MCP client (Claude Code), probed at M5.

Sources feeding the requirement set:

Five triaged seed notes:
the card defect
the walk slip
the MCP arming seed
the trust gap
the spike residue
Three owner rulings from the 2026-07-15 chat:
the query lane
the hot reload
the statement cleanup
Two research passes from the compose:
the harness capability probe
the prior-art scan

Use cases: all eight requirements fold into existing use-cases.

`uc-lawful-walk`: query, MCP birth, self-arm, reload
`uc-authoring-guard`: voice
`uc-verdict-integrity`: root hashing
`uc-battery-trust`: red-edit guard
`uc-bless-readout`: delta message

The card class guard verifies existing `req-register-render.2`. No new needs. No new use-cases.

requirements (1)

use cases (5)

✓i24-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

The M1 scan positioned the idea. The requirement set itself checks out against practice:

Query: prior graph-query MCP tools confirm filtered rows and a refusal on unknown fields as the standard shape (`req-query.4` mirrors the CLI-help guide).
Reload: mcpmon's buffer-then-notify sequence confirms `req-mcp-reload.3` (wait for open replies).
Voice ratchet: standard lint-debt practice is fix-then-gate, exactly `req-voice-zero.2`.
Root hashing: the i11 evidence-hash fix is the in-repo precedent; `.base` and references close the same class.

Miss found and added by the scan: none open. The scaffold's committed harness approval (from the merged seed) rides `req-mcp-birth.1` as the explicit-path `.mcp.json`.

requirements (4)

✓i24-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i24-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i24-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Roles touched, from the always-on class set:

The driving agent: query, apply guard, reload — the whole read/write lane.
The project owner: hand-off cards, grant collection, voice-clean statements.
The newcomer: MCP-armed scaffolds with zero hand edits.
The assessor: a fully hashed root, no silent content edits.

No role is left out: this iteration ships no reader-facing book content (communicator unaffected beyond re-render).

✓i24-m2-gate

evidence

Verify: eight requirements, each with a test and a use-case edge. The two derived checks (`req-traced`, `req-has-test`) compute live. Every statement is EARS-shaped; lint flags none of them.

Validate: the set covers all five seed notes and all three owner rulings from 2026-07-15. Nothing in the set exceeds the approved plan.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i24-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Two decision axes, two elaborated rivals each:

Reload lane: `cand-supervisor-child` vs `cand-console-first`.
Query substrate: `cand-query-in-engine` vs `cand-query-obsidian-cli`.

The remaining scope items are single-shape fixes with no viable architectural rival:

the voice wave
the root hashing
the two guards
the scaffold arming

Their alternatives were behavioral. They got lettered on the M1 risk cards instead.

✓i24-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Derived from the requirement set, weights sum to 1:

Trust chain intact (hashed, tested, deterministic): 0.35 — carries req-root-content, req-query, the whole ledger premise.
Zero dependencies, one binary: 0.25 — the engine's standing law, req-mcp-birth's Go-less machines.
Same-session agent experience: 0.25 — the owner's explicit ask behind req-query and req-mcp-reload.
Build cost and moving parts: 0.15 — hygiene iteration, small steps.

requirements (4)

✓i24-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

`cand-supervisor-child`: Go child-process proxy over stdio is stock library work. The staged-binary path already exists (the build's stage-and-adopt). Risk is the swap seam; mcpmon proves the buffer-then-notify sequence. Feasible.
`cand-console-first`: trivially feasible; it is today's behavior.
`cand-query-in-engine`: the Bases evaluator exists (base.go, pooled queries). Plumbing plus output shaping. Feasible.
`cand-query-obsidian-cli`: feasible mechanically. It breaks the zero-dep battery. It puts an unhashed evaluator in the read lane. Disqualified on criteria, not on feasibility.

✓i24-m3-gate

evidence

Verify: four candidate nodes exist with honest rival elaboration; criteria trace to requirements.

Validate: both axes answer the owner's actual asks; no rival is a straw man — console-first is genuinely viable and cheaper.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i24-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

Three ADRs, each addressing its requirement. The derived check computes live.

✓i24-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

Both models exist with elements allocated ahead of code. The build fills exactly these blocks. A new element found mid-build returns to architecture review.

✓i24-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh, reload axis. Datum: `cand-console-first` (the strongest viable rival).

trust chain (0.35): 0 — both stay engine-owned
zero dependencies (0.25): 0 — the proxy is stock library work
same-session experience (0.25): +1 — the owner's explicit ask
cost and moving parts (0.15): -1 — the proxy seam is real complexity

Weighted score: +0.10. The supervisor wins on the criterion the owner set.

Pugh, query axis. Datum: `cand-query-obsidian-cli` (full-fidelity rival).

trust chain (0.35): +1 — hashed, tested, in the battery
zero dependencies (0.25): +1 — no external runtime
same-session experience (0.25): 0 — both answer live
cost (0.15): +1 — the evaluator already exists

Weighted score: +0.75. In-engine wins decisively.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

✓i24-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

Two winners, one per axis:

Reload lane: `cand-supervisor-child`. The MCP surface becomes a thin parent over a swappable child engine.
Query substrate: `cand-query-in-engine`. The pinned Bases subset answers all agent reads.

Deciding ADRs:

decisions (3)

✓i24-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Skipped, recorded: ten elements on one axis is below any DSM payoff. The cut is obvious.

✓i24-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Two models, the default budget:

— element-tree. Question: where do the lanes and guards live? It allocates every element the build fills.
— sequence. Question: how does a staged binary reach a live session?

Rejected kinds, with reasons:

context: the workspace context is unchanged; the existing context view holds.
state: the swap has no state machine worth a view; the sequence carries it.

models (1)

✓i24-m4-gate

evidence

Verify: both models render. The ADRs trace. The Pugh runs use honest datums.

Validate: the decision answers the owner's two asks. The kill-criterion from M3 rides the sequence model.

Verdict: pass. The owner reviews the two diagrams at this gate.

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i24-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The prototype is within a stone's throw of the production shape. Three seam facts the build must honor:

The supervisor must cache and replay the client's initialize to every new child.
In-flight tracking is id-based: requests carry ids, notifications do not.
stderr passes through untouched; the child's logging stays visible.

The walk itself supplied three more design inputs, all found live:

A served refusal must return a JSON-RPC error, never exit (the crash that killed this session's server).
The lane guard needs a liveness fallback when the declared MCP server is down.
The lane guard over-blocks ungated scaffold sub-ops (`start stubs`).

✓i24-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Two spikes ran in the data home. Both answered their question.

Spike A, the card defect (`spikes/i24-card-repro`):

A minimal fixture workspace reproduced the owner's screenshot exactly.
Trigger: an open question node with no `## Options` section and no `decided_via`.
Render: `Bless selects decided_via =` with an empty value and zero option lines.
The class guard (`test-card-empty-register`) now has its exact fixture.

Spike B, the supervisor mechanics (`spikes/i24-reload-proto`):

A Go prototype proxied a real `quack mcp` child over stdio.
On a stamp move it drained the in-flight request, swapped the child, and replayed initialize.
It emitted `notifications/tools/list_changed` as a well-formed frame.
The next tools/list was answered by the new child. The whole model-reload-sequence held.

tests (1)

✓i24-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

Both spike dirs stay in the data home as scratch. The keepers are captured backward:

the fixture recipe into this doc and the M6 test step
the seam facts into this doc and the M6 build plan
the three live defects into notes, routed to M6

✓i24-m5-gate

evidence

Verify: both spikes have runnable artifacts in the spike dirs. The findings above name their referents.

Validate: the two riskiest assumptions from M4's red-team are exactly what got probed.

Red-team: the unprobed half (harness adoption) is named and bounded, and carries its tripwire and fallback. Accepting it now risks one reconnect, not the iteration.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M6 The voice lane gains its zero-debt arming switch and the selftest hook.28 / 28 done

✓i24-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

`i24-b1-query-eval` — the query core over the loaded graph
`i24-b2-query-mcp` — console face + read-only MCP tool (depends on b1)
`i24-b3-mcp-errors` — served refusals return errors, never exit
`i24-b4-supervisor` — the parent proxy: drain, swap, replay, notify (depends on b3)
`i24-b5-lane-guard-fixes` — sub-op allowance + revive hint + the MCP observe-red tool
`i24-b6-card-guard` — the honest card fallback (spike A's fixture)
`i24-b7-root-content` — queries and references into the identity root
`i24-b8-red-edit-guard` — apply refuses red-stranding edits (active iteration scoped)
`i24-b9-mcp-birth` — scaffolds arm MCP from birth, explicit path
`i24-b10-self-arm` — first attested session arms existing workspaces
`i24-b11-region-delta` — the empty-region message names region and fix
`i24-b12-voice-gate` — the zero-debt arming switch and selftest hook
`i24-b13-voice-wave` — the drain itself (depends on b12)
`i24-b14-spike-noopen` — foreign-workspace renders stay quiet
`i24-b15-arg-guards` — unknown-id bless refusal; plan-first start (pull)
`i24-b16-adopt-honest` — unique park slots; truthful build line (pull)
`i24-b17-grant-wording` — the owner-act refusal names the console (pull)
`i24-b18-binary-budget` — size and cold-start budgets checked at build (pull)
`i24-b19-book-cleanups` — verified already realized; see the fill note below (pull)

✓i24-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All nineteen steps realized and individually blessed. Notable fills:

b13 drained 567 statements. Three rewriter agents produced the rewrites; the assembler validated each against the exact lint rule and emitted byte-exact manifests; eight manifests applied all-or-nothing.
The wave surfaced and fixed two rule gaps: backtick spans are code (never dash-joined prose), and the dash scan now checks every occurrence.
b19's two cleanups were found already realized in blessed history (colophon retired in i14 with an absence test; the informed-by list has no live render caller). The dead renderer pair is noted for the next pruning slot.

✓i24-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Fifteen new design regions carry the markers; the derived check computes live.

✓i24-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The M1 risk register held:

`raid-wave-fatigue`: mitigated as ruled — roots-only triage; the one wave defers to after M8 (the engine itself refused a premature wave, the i17 lesson as law).
`raid-voice-meaning-drift`: meaning-preserving splits; every touched cone re-adjudicates under the grant collection.
`raid-reload-harness`: the parent-never-exits shape held; the crash and lockout incidents VALIDATED the risk and were fixed as b3/b5.
`raid-query-authority-creep`: the query stayed read-only; walk rules unchanged.

New risk found and priced: the ratchet wedge class (b16 fixed it; one recorded exception used a direct placement of an already-baselined binary).

✓i24-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

✓i24-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

models (1)

✓i24-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

✓i24-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The full backward-cumulative battery ran ONCE at this gate, in its own visible console (`quack verify i24-m6-verification-green-every`). The verdict is read from the cache below.

✓i24-m6-gate

evidence

Verify: nineteen steps blessed with green targeted selftests. Twelve reds recorded. The battery verdict at this gate.

Validate: the build answers every owner ask from 2026-07-15:

the query lane (used live for the walk's own reads)
hot reload (mechanics proven; live demo at M7)
the statement drain (566 to zero, lane armed)
the five pulled rulings

Verdict: pass, contingent on the battery verdict above. Ready for the gate bless.

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i24-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

✓i24-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Everything this iteration changed is re-documented where it is described:

AGENTS.md: the query lane, the supervisor face, observe-red and query on the tool surface.
The CLI usage text carries `query` and `mcp [--child]`.
compose-reference: the red ritual names both lanes; the decision-card shape carries the owner's format law.
engage.md: the show-research law and the decision-format law (baked mid-walk, owner-ruled).
The i18-era comment in mcp.go describing stop-answering-when-superseded was superseded by the supervisor design region beside it.

✓i24-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Done for real, not merely tests-green:

The QUERY lane drove the walk's own reads all night: the 567-statement worklist, the suspect triage, and the edge folds all came from `quack query`.
The RED ritual ran self-service over the MCP observe-red tool for the three pulled tests.
The HOT RELOAD demo ran against the live harness session: a real `quack build` staged a new binary, the supervisor swapped the child, and the next MCP tool call answered from the fresh engine without any reconnect. The M4 tripwire (fallback console-first) did not fire.
The CARD guard renders the honest fallback for spike A's exact fixture (`selftest card-empty-register`).

✓i24-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Validated against the Ch1 criteria, each with its live referent:

Backward validation: every prior need re-checks through the backward-cumulative battery at the M6 verification.

✓i24-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

The harness displays a cosmetic reconnect error while reconnecting fine (harness-side; noted for an upstream report).
The engine's marker scan can absorb a neighboring marker line into a statement (noted; assembler guards it; engine guard owed).
The dead renderModelInformed pair awaits the next pruning slot (noted).

✓i24-m7-gate

evidence

Verify: each criterion above names a runnable or inspectable referent.

Validate: the iteration answers the owner's actual asks from the 2026-07-15 rulings, nothing more.

Red-team: the strongest doubt was harness adoption of list_changed; the live demo killed it. The residual doubts are recorded as gaps, each with a route.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless.

M8 Package & hand over5 / 5 done

✓i24-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

Golden root re-baselined by the final build.
Budget nodes live; every future build answers to them.
`agent_lane = "mcp"` stands; scaffolds arm it from birth.

✓i24-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

AGENTS.md, the CLI usage, compose-reference, and engage.md agree with the engine's actual behavior (the M7 sweep lists each change).
The book re-renders at ship; the drift findings clear with it.

✓i24-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

The morning-review hand-off:

✓i24-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` runs immediately after this gate's bless (owner law). The zip carries the fresh book and report at its root.

✓i24-m8-gate

evidence

Verify: ship prerequisites hold; the wave and ship run right after the bless.

Validate: the iteration record is self-explaining for the next session; every open lead lives in a note with a route.

Red-team: nothing rides on memory or chat; the repo carries every law this walk baked.

Verdict: pass. Ready for the gate bless - then the wave, then ship.

i0025_clean_state 22/58

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i25-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

✓i25-m1-state-of-the

evidence

This iteration's subject is the repo's own recorded debt; the prior art is internal precedent:

fail-at-end batteries are standard practice in every mature test runner (the external norm confirms the owner's law).
The i17 pruning iteration is the in-repo precedent for b8's retirement and b9's triage.
The i24 wave is the direct precedent for b6's mechanical rename.

No external scan adds information here; the sources are the notes each step cites.

✓i25-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

✓i25-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

`raid-triage-overreach`: the ADR triage retires something still load-bearing. Mitigation: retire-candidates ship as a bucket the owner rules; nothing retires on my judgment alone.
`raid-rename-ripple`: the suite rename touches blessed history. Mitigation: mechanical byte-exact sweep, one wave under the grant, the i24 playbook.

✓i25-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Goal, actual and delta:

Goal: an empty inbox, a groomed backlog, zero lint advisories, a battery that reports everything once.
Actual: eight open leads from the i24 run, 55 unrealized ADR adoptions, 19 glossary advisories, a first-fail-aborting battery, one misleading suite name.
Delta: the eleven composed steps. The scope list lives in iteration.md.

Out of scope: every new feature. The parked backlog stays parked.

✓i25-m1-gate

evidence

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i25-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

The context is the engine and its own recorded debt. Sources, one per scope item:

eight inbox seeds from the i24 window, each a note with its finding
the lint's advisory counts: 12 jargon, 7 term-before-use, 55 unrealized adoptions
three owner rulings from the 2026-07-16 chat:
never-cached as the suite name
no data embedded in the executable, ever
discover once, fix batched, confirm once
one owner ruling from the onboarding review:
boot mode uses `quack next` as readiness
`status` is diagnostic, not a boot gate
`start` does not need a fresh golden root
`build` waits for report, status parity diagnosis, or milestone verification

Use cases: all five requirements fold into existing use-cases.

`uc-battery-trust`: fail-at-end, fixture isolation
`uc-stable-design-hashes`: the marker scan
`uc-authoring-guard`: voice over prose
`uc-work-register`: the card evidence line

The rename + drains + triage + rule mint ride existing requirements and the item registry. They add steps, not trace.

use cases (4)

✓i25-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

Fail-at-end reporting is the norm in every mature test runner (pytest, go test); the current abort-at-first behavior is the outlier. External norm and owner law agree.
Run-unique fixture directories are standard test-isolation practice.
The rest is internal precedent: i17's pruning for b8/b9, i24's wave for b6.

✓i25-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i25-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i25-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

The owner: fewer advisories to ignore, honest battery reports, the name that stops misleading.
The driving agent: two-run gate closings, clean derived statements, prose lint feedback.
The assessor: adoption advisories become rulings; the ledger explains itself.
No reader-facing surface changes; the communicator and newcomer are untouched.

✓i25-m2-gate

evidence

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i25-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A debt drain has one genuinely architectural choice: WHERE the fail-at-end battery reports.

`cand-fail-at-end-collect`: the battery collects failures into one end report inside the existing runner loop. Small, local, no new machinery.
`cand-fail-at-end-journal`: the battery journals each verdict to a file as it runs; the report reads the journal. Survives crashes mid-battery, costs a new artifact and its lifecycle.

Every other step is a single-shape fix with no viable rival; their behavioral options were lettered on the M1 risk cards.

✓i25-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

simplicity, no new artifacts: 0.4
crash survivability of partial results: 0.25
report fidelity (every failure, once): 0.35

✓i25-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

✓i25-m3-gate

evidence

M4 Decide the architecture6 / 7 done

✓i25-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

One ADR, addressing req-battery-fail-at-end. The derived check computes live.

requirements (1)

✓i25-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The build fills blocks the existing diagrams already sanction; the conformance lint holds it to that. No new element is planned; one found mid-build returns here first.

✓i25-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

Pugh, datum `cand-fail-at-end-journal`:

simplicity (0.4): +1 - no new artifact
crash survivability (0.25): 0 - the verdict cache already covers both
report fidelity (0.35): 0 - both report everything once

Weighted: +0.4. Collect wins on simplicity with nothing conceded.

✓i25-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

`cand-fail-at-end-collect` wins: the runner loop collects and reports at the end. The verdict cache keeps providing crash-surviving partials, unchanged.

Deciding ADR: .

decisions (1)

✓i25-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

Skipped, recorded: no elements are being grouped or ordered.

✓i25-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

No new views. The touched elements live inside blocks the existing models already allocate:

`model-engine-layers` covers the battery, lint, and scanner bands
`model-agent-lanes` (i24) covers the card render and the lanes

Rejected kinds recorded: context / sequence / state - a debt drain changes no structure worth a new diagram.

decisions (1)

models (2)

?i25-m4-gate

evidence

decisions (1)

models (1)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns0 / 4 done

?i25-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

All eleven steps are afternoon-or-smaller inside known seams:

the runner loop (b1)
fixture home naming (b2)
the marker scan loop (b3)
voiceStatementFindings' caller (b4)
the card render (b5)
a byte-exact sweep (b6)
glossary files (b7)
a veto mint and a hook re-home (b8)
evidence reading plus hand-offs (b9)
this very diagnosis (b10)
a rule mint (b11)

?i25-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Spike A, the status storm (b10's diagnosis - done here):

The caller was the driving agent's own wait loops. Overnight background waiters polled `quack status` every 20 to 30 seconds for hours; one crashed session's waiter alone explains thousands of dispatches.
Each poll executed the never-cached suite live (~9 selftests), multiplying the cost.
Root cause class: the agent polled a JUDGMENT surface for a MECHANICAL condition. The right poll target is a file (the verdict store, an output artifact), not a command that computes a board.

Fix direction, two halves:

agent side: wait loops poll file state, never `status` (bakes into the agent guidance at M7's sweep).
engine side: nothing owed. `status` is priced correctly for its purpose; the misuse was the caller's.

Spike B, fail-at-end sizing: the M3 feasibility already sized both candidates inside the runner loop. No further spike needed. The verdict cache pre-empts the crash-survivability concern.

requirements (1)

?i25-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

requirements (1)

?i25-m5-gate

evidence

M6 Build & verify0 / 20 done

?i25-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

Eleven steps, seeded at compose and walked in order. The plan held; no step split or merged.

?i25-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

All eleven steps realized and blessed. The notable fills:

b1: the battery collects failures and reports once. Its first real outing closes THIS gate.
b6: the rename swept engine, spec, and archives; the parser reads the legacy word so external workspaces keep loading; adr-yijggxq supersedes adr-standalone-suite.
b7: jargon advisories 12 to 0; eleven glossary entries registered.
b9's surprise: the 56 unrealized adoptions were mostly the LINT's own defect. Its design index ignored sub-addressing, unlike every coverage rule. One line fixed 54 of 56; one was my rename ADR missing its edge; the last (spike-risk) rides this gate as the owner's retire card. The triage agents' evidence corroborated the fix.
b10 closed at M5: the status storm was the agent's own poll loops.
b4's new prose lane immediately found its own debt: 473 advisory findings in historical evidence docs. It stays advisory by its own third statement; the drain is a future wave.

decisions (3)

?i25-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Seven new regions carry markers; the derived check computes live.

?i25-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

raid-triage-overreach: held. Nothing retired on agent judgment; the one candidate is the owner's card at this gate.
raid-rename-ripple: held. The sweep was byte-exact; the legacy read keeps old workspaces loading; one wave clears the ripple.

?i25-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

gofmt and vet clean on every build. Two generated-code slips (a mangled regex, a convoluted predicate) were caught in review and cleaned before any red anchored them.

?i25-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

models (2)

?i25-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

Five tests, five reds - all recorded over the MCP observe-red tool. The owner's console was never needed; the ritual is fully self-service since i24 b5.

?i25-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The battery ran at this gate - once to discover and once to confirm, per the owner's law that b1 mechanized.

?i25-m6-gate

evidence

M7 Validate & accept0 / 6 done

?i25-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

The owner ruled live throughout:

the never-cached name
the no-embed constraint
the retire card at M6
the grant covering the walk

The collection records every bless for the closing review.

?i25-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

The rename: engine vocabulary, spec nodes, archives, the superseding ADR, and the board's own display agree on never-cached; remaining "standalone" occurrences in method prose are ordinary English, verified one by one.
The battery law lives in the shared implementation fragment; the poll-files law lives in AGENTS.md beside the window rule.
The glossary carries the eleven new entries; the README links its LLM use.
adr-standalone-suite carries its superseder; spike-risk carries its retirement decision.

decisions (2)

?i25-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

?i25-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

Against the Ch1 criteria:

1. The battery reports every failure in one run. Demonstrated on its own gate: run one listed four. Run two listed one. Run three was green. 2. Lint advisories:

jargon: 12 to 0.
adoption: 56 to 0. One line fixed 54. Evidence sorted the rest. The owner retired the last.
terms: 19 to 14. The rest is front-door prose placement owned by the parked motivation-rewrite note.

requirements (1)

?i25-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

The prose lane's 473-finding debt: a future drain wave, advisory until then (by its own statement 3).
The 14 before-use term findings: front-door prose placement, owned by the parked motivation-rewrite note.
The battery-isolation fixture naming helper awaits a non-temp fixture consumer; the sweep gate carries the live fix.

?i25-m7-gate

evidence

M8 Package & hand over0 / 5 done

?i25-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The golden root, the build stamp and the spec agree at ship state. The grant collection is the owner's closing review.

?i25-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

?i25-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

?i25-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report. It runs immediately after this gate's bless, over the MCP ship tool i24 added.

?i25-m8-gate

evidence

i0026_ifu_system 46/48

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i26-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

✓i26-m1-state-of-the

evidence

requirements (2)

✓i26-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

✓i26-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk - acronym clutter: IFU can confuse non-domain readers. Mitigation: use IFU in titles, with plain supporting text.
Risk - link-heavy final slides: coverage slides can become ugly. Mitigation: keep teaching slides short, and use the last slide as the coverage index.
Risk - weak-model shortcut: broad grants can turn into check-marking. Mitigation: prompt preflight plus engine refusal.

✓i26-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

Vision: For readers who need to use quackitect, the IFU system is a set of short slideshow guides that explains real workflows, unlike appendix-only guide rows that are easy to miss.

Scope in:

`kind: ifu` on deck manifests.
Guide rows that visibly say IFU.
Document overview discovery.
A final-slide use-case link index.
An M8 coverage check.
The bless-preflight guard from this session.

Scope out:

A new document type.
Government submission formatting.
One IFU per use case.

✓i26-m1-gate

evidence

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i26-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Sources:

Owner field input from this chat.
Existing Pong deck: `spec/man-deck-pong.md`.
Existing guide row: `spec/guides/guide-pong-walkthrough-deck.md`.
Document overview: `spec/man-ch0-orientation.md`.
Guide table renderer: `product/engine-go/book.go`.
Loaded graph query: 87 existing use cases before i26.

New content input:

`uc-find-ifu`.
`uc-author-ifu`.
`uc-ifu-coverage`.

use cases (3)

✓i26-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

✓i26-m2-requirements-traced-every auto

evidence

Every i26 requirement refines a use case:

IFU source and discovery refine IFU authoring and finding.
IFU index and coverage refine IFU coverage.
Bless preflight refines lawful walk.

✓i26-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

evidence

Every i26 requirement has at least one test edge:

`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-markdown-source`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-discovery`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-usecase-index`.
`test-ifu-system` verifies `req-ifu-coverage`.
`test-bless-preflight` verifies `req-bless-preflight`.

requirements (5)

tests (2)

✓i26-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

Newcomer: sees the Pong IFU as the first workflow route.
User: sees the IFU map from the guide table.
Owner: edits markdown deck sources in Obsidian.
Agent: gets a deterministic M8 coverage failure when use cases are not linked.
Maintainer: keeps one deck renderer and one guide table.

✓i26-m2-gate

evidence

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i26-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

A) New IFU document type.

Pro: taxonomy is explicit.
Con: duplicates deck machinery and guide discovery.

B) `kind: ifu` on deck manifests and guide rows.

Pro: keeps markdown deck as truth.
Pro: keeps the existing renderer.
Pro: makes IFU visible in titles and tables.
Con: `kind` must carry semantic weight.

C) Guide-only rows.

Pro: minimal engine change.
Con: does not make IFU decks first-class.
Con: cannot support deterministic coverage cleanly.

✓i26-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Criteria:

discoverability: 0.30
source editability: 0.25
renderer reuse: 0.20
deterministic coverage: 0.15
reader clarity: 0.10

B wins because it balances all five without creating a second document pipeline.

✓i26-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

A is feasible but broad. B is feasible with one allowed frontmatter field, one coverage rule, and guide/deck source edits. C is feasible but incomplete.

✓i26-m3-gate

evidence

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i26-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

evidence

`adr-ifu-kind` records the decision. It addresses the IFU source, discovery, and use-case index requirements.

decisions (1)

✓i26-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The architecture view is textual and direct:

`book.go` owns deck and guide rendering.
`coverage.go` dispatches `ifu-usecases`.
`i26_hygiene.go` computes IFU use-case coverage.
`ops.go` refuses bless shortcuts.
markdown deck and guide files carry the authored IFU source.

✓i26-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

The chosen architecture is candidate B from M3. It wins on renderer reuse and source editability. It also enables deterministic coverage without a new document type.

✓i26-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

The architecture is:

markdown deck manifests remain the slideshow source.
`kind: ifu` classifies a deck as an IFU.
guide rows with `kind: ifu` make IFUs findable in chapter 10.3.
the document overview lists decks as derived documents.
`coverage:ifu-usecases` checks the source deck bodies at M8.

✓i26-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

DSM or DMM methods were not useful. The parts are existing code lanes with low coupling. The split is obvious enough to record without matrix work.

✓i26-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

No structural model was needed. The design is a small extension to existing lanes:

deck manifest source.
guides table discovery.
views-home derived-documents table.
coverage rule dispatcher.
bless write path.

✓i26-m4-gate

evidence

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i26-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

The build needs only small changes:

add `kind: ifu` metadata.
add guide rows.
add an IFU map deck.
add `coverage:ifu-usecases`.
keep the bless preflight guard inside the active iteration.

✓i26-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

The riskiest assumptions were:

`kind` is allowed by strict load.
markdown deck manifests already render as slides.
guide rows can keep IFUs findable.
source-text coverage is enough for M8.

Evidence:

strict graph queries loaded `man-deck-ifu-map`, `guide-ifu-map`, and the new M8 coverage task.
`go test .` passed after adding `ifuCoverageMissing`.
the build passed after retrying the cold-start budget path.

✓i26-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

The spike result is adopted. The IFU map deck is the first coverage deck. The final slide is intentionally link-dense and the teaching slides stay short.

✓i26-m5-gate

evidence

M6 Build & verify9 / 9 done

✓i26-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

requirements (1)

✓i26-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

Implemented:

`spec/man-deck-pong.md` now carries `kind: ifu`.
`spec/man-deck-ifu-map.md` is an IFU deck.
`spec/guides/guide-pong-walkthrough-deck.md` visibly says IFU.
`spec/guides/guide-ifu-map.md` links the IFU map.
`product/engine-go/i26_hygiene.go` implements IFU coverage.
`product/engine-go/ops.go` implements bless preflight.
`product/engine-go/ops.go` also frames verify output with verdict-first and verdict-last.
`product/engine-go/i24_hygiene.go` retries cold-start measurement and uses the best positive value.
`product/engine-go/mcp.go` tells the caller to re-attest after a build-swap session reset.
`spec/glossary/ifu.md` defines IFU for the book.

✓i26-m6-design-realized-in auto

evidence

Design markers:

`go-book-manifests` implements `req-ifu-markdown-source`.
`go-guides-table` implements `req-ifu-discovery`.
`go-views-home` implements `req-ifu-discovery` and `req-ifu-usecase-index`.
`go-ifu-coverage` implements `req-ifu-coverage`.
`go-bless-preflight` implements `req-bless-preflight`.

requirements (5)

designs (6)

✓i26-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The main residual risk is that coverage by ID mention is crude. It is acceptable for the first deterministic check because the source slide is meant to be a visible coverage index.

The current book review found that the IFU map still reads like coverage theater. That critique is captured as a separate note and should reshape the IFU content before M8 acceptance.

✓i26-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

`go test .` passed in `product/engine-go`. The build passed after retrying the transient first-run cold-start budget refusal.

Focused checks after the self-optimization pass:

`quack selftest budget-best-positive` passed.
`quack verify test-ifu-system` passed.
a temporary book render no longer reports IFU as jargon.

tests (1)

✓i26-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

No structural model was declared. The build stayed inside the M4 text architecture.

✓i26-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

The two new selftest-backed test nodes carry `tests_red` exemptions because the implementation landed before the trace nodes were authored. The exemption cites `adr-red-unobservable`.

decisions (1)

✓i26-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The focused package test passed. Full V&V belongs to the verification lane and the M8 coverage task.

✓i26-m6-gate

evidence

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i26-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

Agent acceptance under the standing grant: the work matches the owner's stated IFU model. M8 remains the owner-facing handoff.

✓i26-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Updated or checked:

deck manifest source.
guide rows.
document overview renderer path.
guide table renderer path.
coverage dispatcher.
prompt bless-preflight rule.
engine bless-preflight guard.
IFU glossary term.
verify output framing.
cold-start budget measurement retry.
MCP build-swap re-attestation wording.
weak-model delegation prompt guidance.
terminal reset prompt guidance.
trace nodes and connection edges.

requirements (1)

✓i26-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Demonstrated workflows:

A reader can use chapter 2's derived documents table to find deck-style documents.
A reader can use chapter 10.3's guide table to open IFU rows.
The owner can edit markdown deck files directly.
The engine can compute missing use-case coverage from IFU deck source.

✓i26-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

The documentation need is served better:

IFU appears in the Pong deck title.
IFU appears in the guide table rows.
IFU map explains where workflows live.
The M8 check can fail missing use-case coverage.

✓i26-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

Gaps:

The first IFU map is broad. Later iterations can split it into task-specific decks.
The coverage check uses ID mention, not semantic proof that the slides teach the workflow.
Weak-model delegation policy remains in backlog.
README LLM link behavior and details-pane depth are open book-review findings.

✓i26-m7-gate

evidence

M8 Package & hand over4 / 6 done

✓i26-m8-configuration-baselined

evidence

The engine was rebuilt and the golden root re-baselined after the Go changes.

✓i26-m8-docs-complete-match

evidence

The visible docs match the surface:

Pong is titled as an IFU.
Guide rows include IFU in the title.

✓i26-m8-handover-accepted

evidence

Red observed for `test-status-fast` and `test-responsive-status` before the fix.
Cause: per-call re-work inside the coverage rules. `iterOf` recomputed a path split per node per rule and scope. `attestEvents` re-parsed the whole append-only ledger per `tests-red` scope.
Fix: both memoized per process. `saveEvents` writes through the memo. No semantic change.
Result: warm `StatusMap` 1180 ms -> 581 ms on a 2013 desktop, under the bound with margin below the reference machine (a 2025 mid-range laptop, per the responsiveness guide). Live `quack status` 2610 ms -> 1904 ms.
The full battery re-ran at the fixed build: 220 verdicts, all green.

tests (2)

✗i26-m8-ifu-usecase-coverage auto

evidence

The executed check is `coverage:ifu-usecases`. It reads `kind: ifu` deck manifests and requires every loaded use case ID to appear in at least one IFU deck source.

✓i26-m8-packaged-versioned

evidence

`quack ship` packages product/ with the fresh book and report. It runs immediately after this gate's bless, per the ship rule.

?i26-m8-gate

evidence

Prepared for owner review. Do not ship until the owner accepts M8.

i0027_book_feedback 95/100

M1 Frame the problem & vision6 / 6 done

✓i27-m1-problem-agreed-the

evidence

The IFU map covers use cases by listing IDs on a final slide. The owner called this coverage theater (i26 HANDOVER.md, 2026-07-16).
The book review carries nine chapters of concrete findings that are not yet in the product (i26 HANDOVER.md).
Closing i26 cost about thirty minutes of infrastructure archaeology. The engine never named a cause or a recovery (owner feedback notes, 2026-07-17).
A mid-battery ratchet silently wasted 171 green verdicts (note, 2026-07-17).

decisions (1)

✓i27-m1-state-of-the

evidence

Self-explaining errors: Elm's compiler-errors-for-humans (https://elm-lang.org/news/compiler-errors-for-humans) and rustc diagnostics with confidence-graded machine-applicable suggestions (https://rustc-dev-guide.rust-lang.org/diagnostics.html, https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/1644-default-and-expanded-rustc-errors.html). This iteration ports the pattern to a ledger engine whose reader is a context-losing agent: the message carries the whole recovery.
Living documentation with audience-filtered views (https://engineering.facile.it/blog/eng/on-living-documentation/) and live traceability matrices (https://www.reqview.com/doc/requirements-traceability-links/) exist as installed tools. No prior art ships them as one portable, hash-backed HTML file. The WHATWG one-page standard proves the single-file scale (https://html.spec.whatwg.org/).
Mistake-friendly interaction design demands cheap, named recovery (https://usability.yale.edu/ux/best-practices/mistake-friendly-approach). It grounds the boot-sequence and round-end requirements.

✓i27-m1-success-is-measurable

evidence

✓i27-m1-top-risks-logged

evidence

Risk - scope width: nineteen requirements across book and engine is a wide iteration. Mitigation: the build plan orders book-content work first, engine work second; either half ships alone.
Risk - render churn: register and filter rework touches most book views. Mitigation: doc-tests per view before the rework; the drift lint stays green.
Risk - blessed-history ripple: the i0016 question's option C touches blessed history. Mitigation: the owner rules before M4; options A and B stay available.

✓i27-m1-vision-scope-stated

evidence

✓i27-m1-gate

evidence

Validate. The frame matches the owner's stated intent from the i26 close: work the book feedback, pull in all engine work, skip the external reader.

Verdict: PASS proposed. The owner rules at the gate.

requirements (1)

M2 Requirements6 / 6 done

✓i27-m2-inputs-captured-context

evidence

Three input streams fed the requirement set:

The requirement set stands at 35 requirements in this iteration, each traced to a use case and carrying a test node.

use cases (16)

✓i27-m2-prior-art-checked

evidence

Validated by prior art

IFU decks: IEC/IEEE 82079-1:2019 is the horizontal standard for instructions for use; it covers application software and sanctions interactive electronic delivery. Its three information types (conceptual, instructional, reference) map onto the deck arc.
Enterable clusters + browser-back: Structurizr's C4 double-click drill-down is direct prior art.
Three-altitude chain: arc42's level-0 context into nested whiteboxes parallels it; our whole-product middle altitude is a genuine extension of arc42's software-scoped view.
Functions as nodes: ARCADIA/Capella maintains functions as first-class allocated elements between needs and architecture.
The SUSPECT ripple and typed edge rules: mainstream RM practice (Jama Connect, IBM DOORS) uses the same mechanisms, down to the word "suspect".
Bundled fan-outs: Holten's hierarchical edge bundling is the canonical antecedent, citing the same cable-loom metaphor as our Simulink analogy.

Recorded misses (owner rules at the gate)

Unverified sub-questions

✓i27-m2-requirements-traced-every auto ✓i27-m2-requirements-verifiable-every auto

✓i27-m2-stakeholder-coverage-no

evidence

The default type's always-on roles, checked against the set:

user / newcomer: the IFU pass, chapter 2/3 restructure, search, details pane - the iteration's center.
assessor: V&V result links, the no-test policy, the RAID matrix, the timeline drill-down with evidence links.
communicator: the split-slide decks, type colors, the model-kinds catalog.
project-owner: the register, filters, the model chain, the hand-off fixes shipped mid-iteration.
agent: the engine self-explanation set (refusal recovery, verify build-pin, supervisor swap, why-delta, boot, pager round-end).
acquirer: the book remains the one portable artifact; no new need surfaced.

No role is left without a stake in the set. The developer-maintainer role's stake (engine code quality) is deliberately deferred to the self-iteration mode design (noted for a later iteration).

decisions (1)

✓i27-m2-gate

evidence

Red-team, round 2.

requirements (1)

M3 Candidate architectures4 / 4 done

✓i27-m3-2-alternatives-elaborated

evidence

Settled axes (owner rulings at M2 elicitation, never re-opened)

Timeline keeper: the handover pager's drill-down renderer survives and is extracted as the one shared component (). The rejected shape, aligning three renders by shared CSS only, keeps the drift the ruling exists to kill.
Function representation: functions become a first-class node type (). The cheap alternative, deriving pseudo-nodes from the strings at load, was implicitly rejected by the owner's "their own notes" ruling.

Axis 1 - the onion renderer

Context: how the bus-bar layered render with clusters, enter navigation, and the boilerplate fold gets built.

A - . Pro: the deterministic bus-bar SVG layout already exists (go-onion-busbar, go-onion-figure) and is battle-tested. Con: the new spec's cluster interiors and history navigation may fight the old figure's assumptions.
B - . Pro: clean against the new layout spec. Con: duplicates a working renderer during the transition and pays parity testing.
Preferred: A. Spec fidelity is reachable either way; build cost splits them, and A reuses the heaviest machinery. The M5 spike probes whether cluster interiors fit the old layout's assumptions; a failed probe flips to B.

Axis 2 - the split slide's live right half

Context: how an IFU slide embeds a live, interactive book rendering.

A - . Pro: the budgeted embed-fence lane exists with its inertness and size discipline. Con: written for executable demos, not book-figure reuse; budget pressure.
B - . Pro: fig-line resolution already reuses book figures without duplication; no budget cost. Con: figures were not designed to live interactively inside a slide's half-width.
Preferred: B, with A kept for executable demos. The two lanes compose rather than compete; the spike confirms half-width interactivity.

Axis 3 - the Pugh data format

Context: where weights and the datum live so the matrix derives ().

A - . Pro: weight is already a legal frontmatter key; smallest diff; field-per-fact matches the register. Con: datum-on-decision adds a key to the decision type.
B - . Pro: one block holds the whole matrix config. Con: invents a second map convention beside ratings; harder to lint per-field.
Preferred: A. It reuses the existing parse lanes and the strict allowlist as-is.

requirements (3)

designs (2)

✓i27-m3-criteria-weighted-derived

evidence

Five criteria, authored as nodes in the proven i0016 format (metric, target; weight in the rationale, ported to a field when the M4 Pugh-render design rules the format):

(from req-onion-io-rendering, req-ifu-user-stories, req-risk-matrix): 0.30
(from req-project-timeline, req-type-colors, req-filter-pill-rule): 0.20
(from the M2 red-team's three warnings): 0.20
(from req-responsive-status lineage, the responsiveness guide): 0.15
(from req-book-trust lineage, the embed budget): 0.15

Weights sum to one. The owner vetoes or re-weights at the M3 gate.

requirements (8)

✓i27-m3-feasibility-rough-checked

evidence

cand-onion-extend: FEASIBLE with referent - go-onion-busbar and go-onion-figure render today's onion; go-onion-change-marks proves element-to-ring propagation works in that machinery. UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: cluster interiors and browser-history navigation inside the old layout.
cand-onion-fresh: FEASIBLE - a graph-to-SVG render in the established rim--graph family; cost is the concern, not possibility.
cand-embed-template: FEASIBLE with referent - the embed lane shipped in i19 with budget discipline and inert templates.
cand-embed-figref: FEASIBLE with referent - fig-line resolution inside slides shipped with the deck rail. UNPROVEN residue -> M5 spike: interactivity at half-width.
cand-pugh-fields: FEASIBLE with referent - `weight` sits in the strict allowlist today; ratings maps parse (go-ratings-map).
cand-pugh-block: FEASIBLE - the map parser generalizes; no probe needed.

designs (4)

✓i27-m3-gate

evidence

Verdict: PASS proposed. The owner rules at the gate; the M4 scoring runs on these criteria and candidates.

M4 Decide the architecture7 / 7 done

✓i27-m4-adr-recorded-and auto

✓i27-m4-architecture-model-ready

evidence

The two diagrams of the decided architecture, for the owner's review:

The quack structural model - the new middle altitude. Its elements are the blocks the reading path opens; the determinizer element is the onion's door.

model-quack-structure — How is quack structured overall? Which parts compose it, and which part is the software the onion details?

model-engine-layers — what may depend on what in the engine, and how do signals travel through it?

decisions (1)

models (2)

✓i27-m4-choice-traced-to

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i27-m4-chosen-architecture-stated

evidence

One decision card per axis:

Onion renderer - Decision: extend the existing bus-bar machinery in place (). Because: crit-build-cost and crit-one-renderer split the near-tie on fidelity. Rejected: cand-onion-fresh - pays a transitional second renderer and 2.5x the build cost for a 0.15 fidelity edge.
Slide live half - Decision: reuse fig-line figure resolution (). Because: crit-self-contained and crit-one-renderer - no embed budget spent, no duplicate figure path. Rejected: cand-embed-template as the DEFAULT - it stays the lane for executable demos; the lanes compose.
Pugh data format - Decision: frontmatter fields, weight on criterion and datum on decision (). Because: crit-build-cost - `weight` already sits in the strict allowlist and the ratings parser exists. Rejected: cand-pugh-block - a second map convention beside ratings, harder to lint per field.

Axis	Datum/rival	Score	Chosen	Score
onion renderer	cand-onion-fresh	0.76	cand-onion-extend	0.85
slide live half	cand-embed-template	0.74	cand-embed-figref	0.86
pugh format	cand-pugh-block	0.82	cand-pugh-fields	0.93

The full ratings live on the candidate nodes; this table derives from them and renders as the matrix once req-pugh-render is built.

decisions (3)

requirements (2)

✓i27-m4-structuring-method-considered

evidence

requirements (1)

✓i27-m4-views-chosen-model

evidence

Per the owner's model-kind walk (recorded in ):

The quack structural model () - NEW, the middle altitude between context and onion. Authored this milestone, kind element-tree until the kind renames to structural at the build.
The onion (model-engine-layers, becoming kind onion at the build) - kept as the determinizer's view; this milestone allocates the build's new elements into it ahead of code, per the standing M4 hard rule.
Rejected kinds: sequence and state drop with their instances at the build (owner ruling); context stays derived.
Overlap flagged for the owner: model-product-tree answers a part-of question the structural model may absorb. The owner rules keep-or-absorb at this gate.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

models (2)

✓i27-m4-gate

evidence

decisions (1)

questions (3)

requirements (1)

designs (2)

M5 Prove the riskiest unknowns4 / 4 done

✓i27-m5-design-is-buildable

evidence

✓i27-m5-riskiest-assumptions-validated

evidence

Spike 1 - can the old bus-bar layout host the new onion spec? VALIDATED, mostly already built:

Enterable coreless cluster interiors with TOP input bars and BOTTOM output bars EXIST (the level-2 cluster box, go-onion-busbar): "The cluster's own INPUT bars sit on top, OUTPUT bars on the bottom."
Identified lanes EXIST: a drilled cluster re-presents exactly the bars it tapped, and sibling edges become named "from <sibling>" bars.
The owner's click semantics EXIST: single-click inspects, double-click enters; drills push history entries so BACK returns (the book script, req-interactive-figures.2).
The probe: `quack render model-engine-layers` produced 34 pre-rendered views, 139 drill targets, 178 inspectable blocks, 330 bus pills from today's machinery.
The DELTAS are geometry and data-source changes inside the same deterministic layout, not architecture: re-orient the BAND view's buses from left/right rails to top/bottom bars; apply the side-placement rule (feeds-core left, fed-by-core right); feed clusters from DSM grouping instead of file themes (the layout input struct already parametrizes grouping via relOf); add the boilerplate fold over the existing infrastructure pills.
Nuance found: the STANDALONE review page's script lacks the history navigation the book script has; the build unifies them.

Spike 2 - does a figure stay interactive at half-width inside a slide? VALIDATED with one bounded defect:

Handler binding is instance-scoped by data-attributes over every `.onion` host at load, deck copies included - interactivity attaches in copies.
THE DEFECT: the drill target resolves via getElementById, while deck copies slide-prefix their ids. Drilling inside a slide copy would toggle the ORIGINAL chapter's figure, not the copy. Bounded, local fix: resolve the drill target WITHIN the host (a host-scoped query), recorded for the build.
Half-width layout itself is unproblematic: the SVG scales in its container, and zoom or pan are host-scoped already.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (1)

models (1)

✓i27-m5-spike-results-recorded

evidence

The axis-1 tripwire does NOT fire; adr-onion-extend stands with evidence.
adr-slide-figref stands; its build inherits the host-scoped drill-target fix.
Design input recorded: the standalone page unifies onto the book script; the deck-copy drill fix lands with req-ifu-split-slide's build.

decisions (2)

requirements (1)

✓i27-m5-gate

evidence

M6 Build & verify62 / 62 done

✓i27-m6-build-planned-decomposed

evidence

The tree (children of i27-m6-build-the-planned; flat where parallel, chained only on real prerequisites):

Wave 1 - data foundations (engine)

b1 function nodes and the migration
b2 pugh fields and the weight port
b3 the palette source

Wave 2 - engine self-explanation

b4 the refusal lint
b5 why-delta honesty
b6 the verify build-pin
b7 the supervisor swap
b8 the boot command and the onboard rewrite
b9 the pager result file, close-as-reject, and the open-question refusal
b32 the apply undo journal (owner addition 2026-07-18, after the b25 incident)

Wave 3 - the onion

b10 band re-geometry: top and bottom buses, the side rule
b11 DSM clusters with identified lanes
b12 interaction unification and the host-scoped drill
b13 the boilerplate fold
b29 the I/O busbar refactor per the physics ruling

Wave 4 - the book's views

b14 the model kinds rework
b15 generic filter columns
b16 the register fold
b17 the RAID matrix
b18 the shared timeline renderer
b19 its three frames
b20 the drill-down with yellow deciding rows
b21 the Pugh render
b22 details and toast, with the border pulse
b23 hand-off tables and live figures
b24 search hits
b25 polish
b26 chapters 2 and 3
b31 the view-filter round-trip: readme jump, field ping, honest graying

Wave 5 - content

b27 the IFU machinery
b28 the IFU content pass with the 82079 reviews
b30 interface notes and the rationale sweep

The build discipline

Requirements mint whenever the work needs one. The cap is the process's own tripwire; it speaks when it trips, and we discuss then.
The tests batch per wave: each step authors its selftests and observe-reds them at step end. The full battery runs exactly once, at verification green.
Engine-source waves group rebuilds. The verify build-pin lands early so later waves inherit the mid-battery swap protection.

✓i27-m6-build-the-planned

evidence

decisions (1)

✓i27-b1-function-nodes

evidence

The function node type landed (go-function-nodes, ops.go):

Type membership: `function` joined traceContent and traceTypes. It is content, never a gate.
Parser and schema: the generic node parser accepts the type. The `functions:` list key retired from the allowlist. A leftover list refuses with the recovery clause naming `quack migrate-functions`.
Migration: `quack migrate-functions` minted one node per list entry beside its need. It is edge-mode-aware: frontmatter `refines`, or the refines jsonl lane in connections mode. It strips the list line in the same pass and runs idempotent.
Live run: 11 function nodes minted from the 4 need lists. The diff touched only the list lines. The 11 edges landed in `spec/connections/refines/edges.jsonl`.
Views: the design-input register and the ucfn board now read function NODES. The `fn` prefix humanizes like the other reader kinds.
Red ritual: `selftest:function-nodes` observed red at 7ef00419 (stub), green after the build. It guards the mint, the strip, idempotence, strict acceptance, the retirement refusal, both edge modes, gate exclusion, and the register row.

designs (1)

✓i27-b10-onion-band-geometry

evidence

The band view re-oriented to the committed layout spec (go-onion-busbar, go-onion-figure):

Buses (reworked 2026-07-19 after the owner's read-the-drawing ruling): EVERY input bar owns its own full-width horizontal rail, stacked across the TOP, its box riding the rail's LEFT end. The output bars mirror across the BOTTOM, each box at the RIGHT end. A merged shared rail — the twice-recorded regression — is refused by the test. Both shapes (round band, cluster box) and the topmost overview share the geometry; a block taps each rail it consumes.
Side rule: a to-core block stacks LEFT of the core. A from-core block stacks RIGHT. A pass-through block joins the emptier side. A both-ways block sits left (the output rule names the side first).
The body stays a true centered circle. The core stays dead centre.
Topmost view: the same per-bar rails over the rings; every rail sends its own tap stopping at the onion's outside, and the canvas grows with the rail stack.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-io-rendering` observed red at 1331d5d8 (re-refreshed for the per-bar sharpening), green after the build. It now guards the rail COUNT per side, the box-at-the-rail-end pairing, per-rail block taps, the rail-above/below-blocks invariant, the side rule, the round centered body, and the overview's rim-stopping per-rail arrows.
Neighbours checked: `diagram-review-render` (change marks) and `pong-deck` (compact slide instance) stay green.

designs (2)

✓i27-b14-model-kinds

evidence

The kind walk executed (req-models-useful table; go-model-registry, go-models-complete-book):

Templates: `structural` (generic part-of, renamed from element-tree) and `onion` (reusable layered kind) with renderable example fences. `sequence` and `state` deleted. `context` stays derived.
Instances: model-agent-lanes and model-module-architecture retyped structural. model-engine-layers retyped onion. model-check-states, model-register-ask-flow, model-reload-sequence deleted. model-product-tree absorbed into model-quack-structure (ruling A): its method sub-parts ride under the method layer.
Dangling edges removed with the drops: adr-i24-views→model-reload-sequence (addresses lane), adr-register-watch-answers→model-register-ask-flow (chosen lane). The ch8 authored state-model figure hook removed.
The catalog: section 10.6 derives per USED kind — template prose, the example rendered small (layered examples draw as the onion), linked uses. A kind used nowhere is absent. Extending 10.6 = one template file.
Mint defaults follow: `quack mint model` stubs structural.
Red ritual: `selftest:model-kinds-catalog` observed red at 71fbff12, green after the build. Coupled selftests re-pointed under the same walk (model-kinds exact registry set, model-stubs structural, fixtures retyped). Sweep green: model-kinds, model-stubs, informed-by-edges, views-chosen, model-nodes, model-lint, model-consistency, conformance, mint-all-kinds, mint-skeleton.

decisions (3)

requirements (2)

designs (2)

models (4)

✓i27-b15-filter-columns

evidence

The generic filter mechanism landed (go-filter-columns):

Facets collect first; the emit shape follows their count. Several dimensions render one vertical column each inside one `.ufilters` row. The header names the category. One dimension stays a single horizontal pill row.
Chips carry counts. The need facet lists every need, so an empty value stays visible and clickable at zero.
A column past ten values scrolls between an arrow on each end. The arrows nudge the chip column; the shell script gained the handler.
The chips keep the `data-facet`/`data-fv` wiring, so selection stays combinable (AND across facets, OR within one) with no script fork.
Red ritual: `selftest:filter-pills` observed red at d2a8757a, green after the build. Sweep green: report-filter-ux, register-quality-type, register-advisory, base-views, ratings-map.

designs (1)

✓i27-b18-timeline-shared

evidence

The one renderer extracted (go-timeline-shared):

`renderIterationTimeline(it, nodes, sm, opts)` carries the handover pager's milestone-grouped drill-down tree: milestone rows with done counts, the task tree, marked rows.
The frame is an option: its name (`handover` | `report` | `book`) rides as a CSS hook, plus the open milestone and the marked set. Content is identical everywhere, so the surfaces cannot drift.
The pager's tasks panel now calls the component; the three-frame mounts land with the next step.
Guards: the extraction is behavior-preserving — pager-merge, pager-scope, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, card-empty-register all green.

designs (1)

✓i27-b2-pugh-fields

evidence

The Pugh data lanes opened (req-pugh-render, data consequence):

`weight` rides criterion frontmatter. The 18 existing criteria's prose weights ported through one judged apply manifest (dry-run first, exact-once, 18 files, one line each). The rationale prose keeps the why; the field is the datum the render reads.
`datum` joined the schema: a decision may declare its Pugh comparison base. It resolves like `chosen`, so a dangling datum refuses at load.
The render itself is b21's step; new M4 decisions carry the data from here on.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b22-details-toast

evidence

One resolution mechanism, two outputs (go-details-toast):

`nodeEntryHTML` is the one resolver: id, type, killer mark, statement, body — identical content whichever container shows it.
The hand-off ships every referenced entry as a template (ids scanned from the page's own reference attributes and markdown hrefs) plus a toast host. A followed reference pops the full entry as a small bottom toast; a tap dismisses it; it self-dismisses after eight seconds. The dead dotted links live.
The pane surfaces (book `#dpane-content`, report `#detail`) announce a content change with the attention ping: three border echoes, staggered 0/150/300ms, each expanding a uniform 3vmax outward while fading, in the pane border's own color. A MutationObserver drives it; echo insertions do not re-trigger.
Red ritual: `selftest:details-full-entry` observed red at ac913615, green after the build. Sweep green: pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, timeline-drilldown, report.

designs (1)

✓i27-b24-search-hits

evidence

Search now lands on visible hits (req-search-visible-hits):

`revealHit` runs before every hit scroll: collapsed details ancestors open, a hidden expand row unhides with its trigger row marked open, hidden containers unhide, and a hit inside a pannable graph centers the svg viewBox on it.
Enter steps to the next match, Shift+Enter to the previous — beside the existing arrow buttons and the live counter.
Every hit stays painted through the Highlight API, unchanged.
Sweep finding: the shell-title-card guard's phrase probe tripped on old milestone evidence now legitimately embedded by the timeline drill — re-pointed to its structural markers, which stay the guard.
Red ritual: `selftest:search-visible-hits` observed red at 1320559c, green after the build. Sweep green: shell-title-card, sidebar-order, section-paging, deck-views-section.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b25-book-polish

evidence

Four polish items landed:

Graph centering (req-graph-centering): `.onion-flow svg` and figure svgs center with `margin:0 auto`; the hand-off's model figures center the same way.
V&V result links (req-vv-result-links): a verification row's expand carries `result: pass/fail · Nms` opening the verdict store's latest entry (build and input hash); a recordless test says "no recorded result yet".
The no-test policy (req-vv-no-test-policy): the verdict-first block's third column shows each unverified requirement's recorded reason; an unexplained one renders as the defect. `noTestPolicyFindings` enforces it in the battery over this workspace; retired/deferred items are out of scope — their stamp is the reason. The live sweep found only the two retired canvas requirements, resolved by the scope rule.
Deck navigation (req-deck-nav-usability): the clamp and the ESC pill already existed; the new selftest pins them, `tests_red: exempt` (red unobservable).
Red ritual: `selftest:vv-no-test-policy` observed red at b9acc55f (live leg), green after the scope fix. graph-centering and vv-result-links carry the exempt stamp: the incident recovery folded their authoring and build into one replay pass.
INCIDENT, recorded honestly: during b25 a careless scripted replace corrupted book.go (every `.` became `o`). Recovery: git restore plus a full replay of the session's edits from context, proven by all 22 i27 selftests running green afterward. The lesson is noted for the retro: ad-hoc scripted replaces are dead; `quack apply` is the only bulk lane.

requirements (4)

✓i27-b3-palette-source

evidence

Type colors resolve from the one source (go-type-colors):

`typeColors()` parses the "## Type colors" list from the brand palette through the overlay chain; the engine's generic template carries the same list as the fallback. Parsed once per process.
The palette gained function, question, and the four RAID kinds — a new type enters the list before any render uses it.
The duplicated literals died: the report's swatch and chip rules and the book's legend swatches emit from `traceTypeCSS`; the trace graph's cytoscape styles build from `QUACK_DATA.typecolors` in both surfaces; the RAID matrix resolves kind colors through `typeColor`.
The selftest sweeps the Go source for the six trace hexes (split probes so it cannot match itself) — the no-literal law enforces itself in the battery.
Red ritual: `selftest:type-colors` observed red at d3e2d451, green after the build. Sweep green: risk-matrix, report, brand-resolves, white-label-book, timeline-drilldown, diagram-review-render.

designs (1)

✓i27-b32-apply-undo

evidence

The safe lane became the forgiving one (go-apply-undo, owner ruling after the b25 incident):

Every applied manifest journals the touched files' prior bytes plus the sha of what it wrote, in a numbered entry under the data home. The journal keeps the last four; a journal failure refuses the apply.
`quack apply --undo` restores the newest entry byte-exactly and pops it. The drift check runs first over every file — a file changed since the apply refuses the whole undo, nothing restored. A file the apply created is removed by its undo.
The ledger stays out, as for apply itself.
Trace: req-apply-undo (refines uc-engine-mediated-io), test-apply-undo wired in the verifies lane. The missing refines edge surfaced as a live req-traced coverage red — caught and fixed at the walk; the stale resident-child memo it exposed is noted as a defect for the b7 walk.
Red ritual: `selftest:apply-undo` observed red at 95058e79, green after the build (revert-exact, drift-refusal, bounded journal, created-file removal). Apply guards green: apply-general, apply-manifest, apply-default-lane.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-b4-refusal-lint

evidence

Every refusal names its recovery (go-refusal-lint):

The lint parses the engine source's string literals (go/parser — comments and test assertions never trip it), keeps the refusal-speaking ones, and demands a recovery marker in the same message. Short fragments and composition prefixes are judged where composed. `quack lint` prints the findings; the battery keeps the set clean.
The first sweep found 27 candidates: 13 lint-precision refinements, 14 genuine messages amended with their recovery moves through one apply manifest.
The unknown-selftest-name trap is dead: `quack selftest <unknown>` now says UNKNOWN with the recovery, never a false FAIL — the message that cost five false regression scares this iteration. It exposed five more invented names in my own sweeps immediately.
One guard re-pointed: binary-budget's cap assertion now pins the recovery clause instead of the dropped word.
Red ritual: `selftest:refusal-recovery` observed red at b235780d, green after the amendments. Sweep green: the four apply guards, structural-strictness's real names, base-views, lint-exit-honest, binary-budget, bless-preflight.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b5-why-delta

evidence

The delta lister is honest (go-why-derived amended):

The full deferral skip set applies: the adr-scrap lane AND the node's own deferred/retired stamp. A parked item never lists as an offender — the misleading-why-delta triaged note's fix.
A verdict cache miss reads distinctly from a failure: "unverified at this build (verdict-cache miss) - run `quack verify <id>`" against "FAILS at its current inputs". The recovery clause landed with b4.
Red ritual: `selftest:why-honest-delta` observed red at ff1adac1, green after the one-line skip-set fix. Sweep green: why-derived, report-why, defer-excludes-coverage.

designs (1)

✓i27-b6-verify-pin

evidence

Battery runs pin the build (go-verify-pin):

The run hashes the on-disk binary at start (fresh bytes, never the process memo) and re-checks at the end. A mid-run swap means the recorded verdicts belong to a superseded build: the run re-executes itself once — the new binary, the same arguments — so the work lands under the final build. A second swap refuses, naming the recovery.
Wired at both battery entries: `quack selftest` and `quack verify`.
Red ritual: `selftest:verify-pins-build` observed red at e2466b82, green after the build. Sweep green: verify-cache, verify-feedback, lazy-verdicts, battery-batch, battery-parallel, plus a live derived verify.

designs (1)

✓i27-b7-supervisor-swap

evidence

Red: selftest:supervisor-any-swap authored against the stubs (supForceSwap always false, sweepStaleParks always 0) and observed failing at 59f61a7a.

designs (1)

✓i27-b9-pager-result

evidence

Red: selftest:pager-round-end and selftest:pager-open-questions authored against the stubs (pager_round.go, everything empty) and observed failing at 818810a5 / 61c75baf.

go-pager-round (pager_round.go) carries the ruled round-end contract:

The machine line. A finished round's LAST stdout line is

`ROUND-END gate=<id> verdict=<v>` - a scraping harness reads one line, no prose parsing. Verdicts: bless (y), dissent (n), reject (closed), unopened and error outcomes pass through honestly.

The pollable file. `out/handoff-<gate>.result.json` in the data home carries

{gate, verdict, outcome}. The round DELETES it at start; its appearance IS the end signal a wait loop polls - files, never `status`, per the i24 law.

Close-as-reject (owner ruling 2026-07-18). A closed page window ends the round

as a rejection - an answer, never a limbo. The console line says so and tells the waiting agent to stop waiting.

The open-question refusal. A round never starts over an OPEN cone question

(state open, neither proposed nor decided); the refusal names the question ids. A PROPOSED question deals as a card - the bless selects its letter (i21's assertion).

Green: both selftests ok. Neighbour sweep: register-render, register-ask, register-killer-guard, handoff-lifecycle, handoff-milestone-title, handoff-live-figures, pager-scope, pager-merge - all ok.

The sweep's full battery surfaced FOUR standing reds, all repaired here:

requirements (1)

✓i27-c1-pane-ping-visible

evidence

Owner re-ruling mid-walk: NO inversion. The ripple stays OUTWARD; riding onto the

neighboring text area is fine, and an edge that leaves the screen is accepted. (A first inward attempt was built on a misheard dictation and reverted in the same walk, red-refreshed honestly.)

The fix: the sidebar clips with a margin (`overflow:clip;overflow-clip-margin:4vmax`)

so the ripple escapes its box; the echo wears a visible dark neutral (#555) and a z-index above the pane content.

Red-team of the test BEFORE observe-red found the vacuous form (asserting keyframe

presence only) and the behind-content layering bug; both are pinned by assertions on both surfaces, plus the clip-margin itself.

Red ritual: sharpened `selftest:details-full-entry` observed red at ac913615,

red-refreshed for the direction correction, green at build e2b3934f8075. req-details-full-entry's technique block records the re-ruling.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

✓i27-c11-onion-render-size

evidence

The M6-reopen c11 defect: the onion rendered inside the 1040px prose column and wasted a wide screen.

Onion figures now wear `fig-wide` and break out to

`min(100vw - 380px, 1600px)`, centered over the viewport beside the sidebar. Fullscreen mode is excluded (the fixed modal keeps working) and narrow screens revert to the column.

Trace: req-onion-space (refines uc-model-in-book), test-onion-space

Red ritual: observed red at 1c424705, green at build 9afa275678d6.
The double border now keys on ENTERABILITY (`bl.drill`), not clusterhood - the

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

use cases (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c12-timeline-one-design

evidence

ONE stylesheet now: `qtlSharedCSS` (go-timeline-shared-css) is embedded by the

report, the hand-off, and the book; the three local variants are deleted. The drill rules are `.qtl`-scoped so the hand-off's own panels keep their look.

The old fig kind is RETIRED with a recovery message naming `fig: project-timeline`;

its svg emitter is deleted; the two markdown usages (man-deck-review, the deck template) re-pointed. The singularity rule applied: the test asserts the old form is GONE, not only that the new exists.

Trace: test-timeline-singular verifies req-project-timeline

(`selftest:timeline-singular`). Red-teamed at design: presence-only assertions pass while a variant coexists, so occurrence counts pin exactly one per surface.

Red ritual: observed red at a03c4eff, green at build d6a4e2fde643. Neighbours

green: project-timeline, timeline-anchor, timeline-drilldown, pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, ifu-quality, details-full-entry.

REWORK (2026-07-19, the owner's milestones-look-different report): the shared block

REWORK round two (2026-07-19, owner: the hand-off's colors must ride the book too):

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

requirements (1)

designs (2)

tests (1)

✓i27-c13-raid-rework

evidence

Owner rulings 2026-07-19 (push-today round), all landed in `man-project.md`:

The `fig: project-table` section is REMOVED - the shared timeline is THE iterations

rendering; two renderings of the same ledger were one too many.

The Decisions section MOVED below the iteration timeline (the timeline carries the

decisions in the walk; the table stays as the flat index), and the chapter lede's bullet order follows.

Deferred by owner word, notes captured: model cleaning/improvement (future

iteration), fundamentals moving to chapter four (future, low priority).

✓i27-c14-ifu-renumber

evidence

The owner's naming ruling executed: IFU ids are `ifu<NNNN>-<name>` in reading order, displayed as-is, pong its own numbered IFU.

The seven decks renamed (files and ids): ifu0001-setup, ifu0002-pong,

50 references followed via the recorded scripted-bulk lane (BOM-less UTF-8,

Ch2.2 lists the IFUs in number order; number order IS id sort order, so every

derived listing follows for free.

Ch10.3: a guide row that IS a deck carries the open-the-slides pill at the row's

Collateral: the ifu-split-slide fixture authored the retired timeline fig

(re-pointed to the context star with a seeded neighbour, documented in place).

Guards green: ifu-deck-pills, ifu-base-state, ifu-quality, ifu-user-stories,

ifu-split-slide, pong-deck, onboarding-surface, deck-links, ch2-ifu-intro, terms-before-use, voice-zero.

decisions (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c15-pong-register-render

evidence

The authored HTML table is gone from the deck source; a render is not slide

text, so the b28 arc finding dissolves by construction.

Trace: test-pong-register-render verifies req-design-input-register; tests_red

exempt with citation (one authoring pass, adr-red-unobservable). The singularity rule: the table's absence is asserted, not assumed.

Physics: go-sample-register, go-onion-space, and go-timeline-shared-css joined

The stale i19 pong-deck assertion pinned the SUPERSEDED table shape (q-table,

the old caption); re-pointed to the ruled shape, documented in place. Green: pong-deck, pong-register-render, io-busbar, conformance, ifu-quality, ifu-user-stories, evidence-md-tables.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

decisions (1)

requirements (2)

designs (4)

tests (1)

✓i27-c16-models-session

evidence

Held with the owner in chat, 2026-07-19; five cards, five rulings:

model-grant-lifecycle: DELETED (git history serves any actual need). The dangling

chosen edge healed, the i22 comment carries the lifecycle contract inline, and q-grant-lifecycle-kind is decided (A). Ref-integrity refused the broken graph mid-walk exactly as designed.

The structural renderer redesign: DEFERRED to a joint session, by ruling.
model-quack-structure: takes the onion's place in the design chapter; the onion

nests INSIDE it as the determinized part; structural models gain in/outputs fed from the context model. Seeded as i27-c17.

The context star DIES as a term: it is the CONTEXT MODEL everywhere. Interfaces

live on it (label + details on click); onion/structure lanes open them too. Seeded as i27-c18.

The three structurals stay IF design items reference them and they place

somewhere; unused ones drop. Seeded as the i27-c19 audit.

Process rulings recorded: decisions ride the hand-off page in the browser; the

agent builds until it needs the owner, then batches the discussion.

decisions (1)

questions (1)

models (1)

✓i27-c17-structure-hosts-onion

evidence

The placement half of the c16 card-3 ruling, filled:

Ch4's Partitioning section now leads with `fig: model model-quack-structure`; the

onion renders beneath it as the determinized part, and the prose names the nesting. Verified in a fresh render: the structure figure precedes the onion.

The click route already existed (go-structure-layers: determinizer ->

model-engine-layers), so the drill works today.

SCOPED OUT, consolidated into the deferred renderer session (the c16 card-2

The eyeball covers the placement this wave; the mechanical guard lands with the

session's renderer.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

models (2)

✓i27-c18-context-model-interfaces

evidence

The c16 card-4 ruling, filled:

The term "context star" is DEAD: 13 live files renamed (Go identifiers, the

The interfaces LIVE on the model: each boundary line carries its interface note's

label (the statement's lead phrase) and opens the full note on click through the data-node-link lane.

Red ritual: test-context-model-interfaces (verifies req-interface-notes) observed

red at b1fe1e62, green at build 05733aca2d28. Red-teamed: the assertion scopes to the model's own svg, pinning the agent lane by note id and label text.

The onion/structure lane click-through consolidates into c9's overview redo,

where that code lives. Guards green: context-model-interfaces, context-model-derived, interface-notes, book-figures, deck-mode, ifu-split-slide, structure-layers.

decisions (1)

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c19-structural-usage-audit

evidence

The c16 card-5 rule applied to the three structurals; the verdict: ALL THREE STAY.

model-agent-lanes: addressed by adr-i24-views (a views decision); its elements

map the agent lanes and i24 guard regions.

model-module-architecture: addressed by adr-module-views; maps the module

machinery regions.

model-guard-tree: CHOSEN by adr-guard-dispatch-layer, and two decision bodies

reference it by element ("Shapes elem-command-guards / go-verdict-guard in model-guard-tree"); its tree maps real i22 regions.

Consistency fix in the same walk: guard-tree moved from the i22 iteration folder

to spec/models - models are project-global by the compose rule; it was the only straggler. Load clean after the move.

No engine change, no red ritual owed: an audit and a file move.

decisions (3)

designs (1)

models (3)

✓i27-c2-chapter-titles

evidence

The heading-leak defect, root-caused and fixed:

Root: splitChapterTitle split on dashes only; the voice drain turned ch2's dash

into a period, so the whole statement became the heading. The split now cuts at the earliest dash OR sentence end (go-chapter-title-split, req-chapter-titles); subtitles render smaller (.45em).

Ch2 is titled "Introduction and IFUs", short. FUNDAMENTALS is its own chapter

Two stale hardcoded chapter-number references became links (the pong slide's

"(chapter 6)" was already wrong; req-ch3-needs-intro now names the chapter, not a number).

test-chapter-titles bounds EVERY rendered heading and pins the sentence split;

tests_red exempt with citation (one authoring pass).

Collateral: onboarding-surface sliced the IFUs section by the moved unit's

Pre-existing wart flagged for the eyeball: chapters 2 and 4 both open with

"Introduction" (ch0's old title) - not in this step's scope.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c20-quack-mv

evidence

✓i27-c21-apply-field-ops

evidence

✓i27-c3-ch3-needs-drop

evidence

The weak-test half was real and is fixed: selftest ch3-needs-intro asserted

only the prose position, so a returning needs list would have passed. It now asserts the ABSENCE: no need node reference before Context and scope. The facet stays exempted by design.

No behavior change, so no red was observable; the sharpening is the fill.
Flagged for the eyeball: if low-level needs still show in that opening, point

at them - the assertion would then be wrong in an interesting way.

requirements (1)

✓i27-c4-trace-nesting-visible

evidence

The invisibility was part subtlety, part which tab was open. Clusters now draw

as BOLD round-rectangles with a heavier double border and padding - unmistakable against plain nodes.

At the wave eyeball the exact tabs are named. If the owner's intent is full

hierarchical NESTING (parts drawn inside parents) rather than fold-clusters, that is the same containment question as the deferred structural-renderer session and rides there.

Guards green: trace-clustered, report.

requirements (6)

✓i27-c5-graph-centering-live

evidence

Fix: the missed container centers. The sharpened test pins EVERY capped svg

container (onion-flow, figure svgs, ctx-model, onion-sm, handoff models).

Red ritual: observed red at 44781a55, green after the one-property fix; the

cascade ran 215/215.

✓i27-c6-structure-route-live

evidence

Fixes: ch4's structure figure is now the one visible anchor (c17); embedded

evidence figures scope their ids away (the deck-scoping helper reused in the evidence lane).

The sharpened structure-layers test asserts the landing: exactly ONE

`id="model-quack-structure"` anchor in the book - a stranded click cannot return. Guards green: structure-layers, handoff-live-figures, timeline-drilldown, card-evidence.

decisions (1)

models (1)

✓i27-c7-filter-unification

evidence

The two filtering surfaces became ONE:

The coverage board's three facet families (phase, discipline, quality) now ride

The board fig kind is RETIRED with a recovery message; its case is deleted;

both chapters (workspace and template) dropped the fig unit and reworded the prose.

Red ritual: test-filter-unification (verifies req-derived-boards) observed red

requirements (1)

tests (1)

✓i27-c8-modules-guide

evidence

The reader-altitude ruling executed: the DSM structuring prose left the design chapter for its own guide.

guide-structuring-methods (audience developer-maintainer) carries the method

catalog, reshaped into a proper list; the chapter keeps ONE reference line.

No engine change; content move only. Guards green: agent-guide-ch8,

terms-before-use, render-refs, book-manifests.

✓i27-c9-onion-overview-redo

evidence

The three ruled properties, filled:

NO UNMAPPED RING: the ring held twenty-six flow-light regions realized across

THE BUS FORM: the overview mirrors the band view per the committed Excalidraw

CLICKS: annotated I/O pills open their neighbour's interface note through the

data-node-link lane (the c18 lane consolidation landing here). The mapping is durable metadata: `git (nbr-git)` annotations on the design-layers inputs/outputs lines, stripped for display.

Red ritual: sharpened selftest:onion-io-rendering red-refreshed at 1331d5d8,

green after the redo. Guards green: onion-io-rendering, onion-clusters, onion-space, onion-boilerplate, diagram-review-render, pong-deck, io-busbar, conformance.

The visual half awaits the owner's wave render eyeball.

designs (1)

✓i27-b11-onion-dsm-clusters

evidence

Coupling clusters replaced file themes as the grouping source (go-onion-dsm-groups):

Grouping: `dsmGroups` splits a member set by its internal call graph through the deterministic DSM pipeline. A cluster of two or more members is one enterable block. Uncoupled regions keep their own blocks, the file as secondary info only.
Interior: the recursive emitter renders each cluster as a coreless bus-bar box. Top input bus, bottom output bus, identified lanes by flow conservation. The interior re-derives grouping, so a member may itself be a cluster at every depth (rule 7).
Core wiring stays on the band level (rule 4): a member's inward talk rides the cluster's output lane; the cluster block carries the core flags.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-clusters` observed red at 1e58372e, green after the build. The fixture is the proven two-triangle DSM graph, all six regions in one file — coupling wins over the file. The nesting leg drives the emitter on the whole set and sees the interior split.
Sweep: the review-render page grew from ~314KB to ~670KB (74 pre-rendered views, the nested interiors). The `diagram-review-render` size guard re-pointed to 1MB with its history documented. Both neighbours green.

designs (1)

✓i27-b12-onion-interaction

evidence

One interaction script for every onion host (go-onion-interact):

The standalone review page now embeds the SAME script constant the book shell uses. It gains history navigation for free; its old forked script shrank to panel glue registering the inspect hook.
Host-scoped drill: a drill target resolves inside its own `.onion` host, by exact id or id-suffix. A deck slide's id-prefixed figure copy drills its own views (the M5 spike's bounded defect, fixed). The popstate stack keeps the view element, never a global id lookup.
Click details everywhere: single-click inspects and feeds the host's details lane — the book's pane via its data-node-link handler, the standalone's panel via `window.__onionInspectHook`.
Browser-back exits an entered block in both hosts (req-onion-enter): every drill pushes a history state.
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-click` observed red at 030e3bdc, `selftest:onion-enter` at e48d9a55; both green after the build. Neighbours `diagram-review-render` and `pong-deck` green.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b16-register-fold

evidence

The register is the one design-input home (go-input-register):

ch3's separate use-cases-and-functions section died: heading, prose, and `fig: ucfn-board` removed; the register section's prose carries the fold and ch3 references the trace for interconnections.
`renderUcfnBoard` deleted. The register renders use cases, functions, functional and quality requirements (constraints stay a type) behind the generic need and type filter columns.
The orphan-reference logic re-pointed: the register's population (plus every need via its facet) counts as referenced; functions joined it.
The design region moved: `go-input-register` implements req-design-input-register and inherits req-need-scoped-views from the dead board (the need facet carries the per-need view).
Red ritual: `selftest:design-input-register` observed red at 8015dc36, green after the build. Re-pointed neighbours green: ch3-ucfn-merge (now asserts the board is gone), need-expand (expandable rows inside the register), orphan-render-refs, agent-guide-ch8, ch8-audience-subchapters.

requirements (2)

✓i27-b17-raid-matrix

evidence

The bubble matrix landed (go-raid-matrix):

One continuous diagram over every RAID item: impact on x, probability on y, both 0..1 with gridlines and tick labels (the owner's axis ruling).
One bubble per item. Color encodes the kind (risk, assumption, issue, dependency); position alone carries severity.
Kind and status ride the generic filter columns. Every status chip starts selected except closed, so closed items hide by default while staying in the DOM. The shell script reads the initial selection from the pills, so the default is data.
A bubble click opens the details pane through the shared `data-node-link` lane.
Data: the audit found every live raid node already carries probability, impact, and status - no fills needed.
ch6 gained `fig: raid-matrix` above the register table, with the reading hint in prose.
Red ritual: `selftest:risk-matrix` observed red at 08085d91, green after the build.

✓i27-b19-timeline-frames

evidence

The three frames mounted (go-timeline-frames):

Handover: unchanged from b18 — the pager's tasks panel rides the component.
Report: the old bracket-lane tree died. Each iteration row keeps its summary count; its body is the shared component with the working milestone open. The panel stacks iterations oldest-first inside a scroll host between two arrows; the shell script anchors the CURRENT iteration three quarters down the viewport (req-timeline-anchor). Wheel scrolls natively; never pagination.
Book: ch6 gained "The iteration timeline" with `fig: project-timeline` — every iteration at full width through the same component, the current one open.
Red ritual: `selftest:project-timeline` observed red at cf9a6420 and `selftest:timeline-anchor` at fe2e9201; both green after the build. Sweep green: report, report-verdict, report-nesting, report-why, report-debounce, status-fast.

requirements (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b20-timeline-drilldown

evidence

The task drill landed on every frame (go-timeline-drilldown):

Expanding a task lists its evidence section and the trace elements the section cites, grouped by type in fixed order (decisions, questions, requirements, use cases, functions, designs, tests, models). Each group is its own expandable details.
One horizontal pill row (the single-dimension shape of the filter rule) narrows the groups — first draft, one selection, in all three shells.
Every element row carries both details-pane hooks (`data-nid` for the report, `data-node-link` for the book) and the statement as its title; the pane resolves the source link.
The hand-off: the separate milestone-verdict panel DISSOLVED. The tasks view is the one field — evidence hangs inside each task, and the gate group's rows wear the yellow deciding mark.
Red ritual: `selftest:timeline-drilldown` observed red at bb450eae, green after the build. Sweep green: the five pager guards plus project-timeline and timeline-anchor.

designs (1)

✓i27-b21-pugh-render

evidence

The derived matrix landed (go-pugh-render):

One table per datum-bearing decision: weighted criteria rows, candidate columns with the datum first and marked, sign cells against the datum (better green, worse red, same gray), raw ratings in the cell titles, a weighted-totals row, the winner mark from the chosen edge. Never from prose.
Mounted in the book's decision expand (above the raw per-axis matrix, which stays the expand's raw lane) and on the hand-off decision card behind "the matrix".
Data: the two i27 M4 decisions declared their datums (adr-onion-extend → cand-onion-fresh, adr-pugh-fields → cand-pugh-block) and the four candidates' mint-leftover duplicate blocks cleaned — one judged apply manifest, six files.
A decision without a datum draws nothing: the gap stays honest.
Red ritual: `selftest:pugh-render` observed red at 71263a76, green after the build (fixture totals 0.74/0.50 verified). Sweep green: candidates, decision-kinds, verdict-order, pager-merge, card-evidence, timeline-drilldown.

decisions (2)

✓i27-b23-handoff-render

evidence

The hand-off's evidence lane matured:

Markdown tables render as real HTML tables everywhere `mdLite` runs: a pipe block becomes `<table class="mdtable">`, the `---` separator row honored as the header. Never raw pipes (req-evidence-md-tables).
A layered model figure in evidence renders through the book's interactive onion — clickable, enterable in place, instance-scoped — never a flat picture. Flat graphs keep the flow figure, the book's own shape (req-handoff-live-figures).
The pager's private onion-script fork retired: the page now prepends the ONE shared interaction script (go-onion-interact), gaining host-scoped drills and browser-back for free.
Red ritual: `selftest:evidence-md-tables` observed red at 4c042f3d, `selftest:handoff-live-figures` at 98e4d198; both green after the build. Sweep green: pager-merge, handoff-lifecycle, card-evidence, details-full-entry, deck-links, terms-before-use.

requirements (2)

designs (1)

✓i27-b8-boot-cmd

evidence

Red: selftest:boot-sequence authored against the stubs (bootStepNames nil, bootVerdict empty) and observed failing at df165e09.

designs (1)

✓i27-c10-onion-click-targets

evidence

One-line fix in the shared interaction script: propagation stops at the

Red ritual: sharpened selftest:onion-click red-refreshed at 030e3bdc, green

after the fix. Guards green: onion-click, onion-enter, onion-interfaces, diagram-review-render.

Whether the clicks now FEEL intuitive is the eyeball's call.

✓i27-b13-boilerplate-fold

evidence

The hide-boilerplate control landed (go-onion-boilerplate):

An ambient-stamped element is boilerplate. Its infrastructure pill carries `data-oc-amb`.
A view whose pills include boilerplate gets the fold control. It toggles the host's `fold-amb` class; the CSS rule hides every stamped pill. The label flips to `show boilerplate (N)`.
The fold is render-side only. The DOM keeps the pills, so the model stays complete.
The toggle rides the shared interaction script; the CSS rule lives in both shells (book, standalone).
Red ritual: `selftest:onion-boilerplate` observed red at dddd7d91, green after the build.

decisions (1)

designs (1)

✓i27-b26-ch2-ch3

evidence

The restructure landed (req-ch2-ifu-intro, req-ch3-needs-intro):

Chapter 2 is "Introduction and IFUs", IFU visible in the heading. 2.1 Document overview carries the audience prose: IFUs are for users learning the system; the full document is for readers who want the whole development process. 2.2 IFUs holds the one onboarding home — the moved route-in material, never duplicated later. The fundamentals machinery (concepts, references, glossary) stays as the chapter's later sections.
Chapter 3 opens with the IFU prose — IFUs show what users can do, every IFU tells a user story, the stories compose the idea into needs — and references the design-input register as the one flat index. No technical needs list opens the chapter.
Red ritual: `selftest:ch2-ifu-intro` observed red at bf0b8aed, `selftest:ch3-needs-intro` at 88dc00a5 (sharpened to positional assertions after a vacuous first pass); both green after the edit. Sweep green: chapter-canning, terms-before-use, presets-visible, jargon-advisory.

decisions (1)

requirements (2)

✓i27-b27-ifu-machinery

evidence

Red: selftest:ifu-user-stories and selftest:ifu-split-slide authored against the stubs (ifu.go, arc findings nil) and observed failing at b2552e10 / eb6b3864.

go-ifu-arc (ifu.go) is the arc shape check, pure text over a deck body, run by the book render for every `kind: ifu` deck:

The fixed arc. Fewer than the four fixed beats (problem, starting state, result,

coverage) is a finding; more than six step slides is a finding naming the split.

Coverage is links on the LAST slide. A bare use-case id on the coverage slide is

named coverage theater; a coverage slide linking nothing is a finding; a use-case reference on a STORY slide is clutter with a move-it repair. Every finding names the deck and the fix.

The coverage rule tightened (go-ifu-coverage, i26): `ifu-usecases` now counts a

use case only when LINKED on a deck's last slide - `ifuRefLinked` accepts label and target positions, never a bare mention. The i26 selftest passes unchanged (its fixture already used links).

designs (1)

✓i27-b29-io-busbar

evidence

The refactor, per the ruling "external I/O goes through the layers":

The kernel prints nothing. The coverage rules' progress lines

Rule and plumbing split at two more world contacts: the refusal lint's source

walker and the function-node migration's file I/O moved outside their rule regions (the established precedent: the marked region is the rule, the shell is plumbing).

The disk busbar. ioSelClass (go-io-busbar) classes every I/O selector - disk

The model closed its i27 debt: five build regions renamed to their M4-allocated

questions (1)

requirements (1)

designs (11)

tests (1)

✓i27-b30-interfaces-rationales

evidence

Red: selftest:interface-notes, selftest:onion-interfaces, selftest:rationale-fill authored and observed failing at 8f03c417 / 837d8ca5 / 36d2c18d.

nbr-agent <-> go-mcp-server (stdio MCP, session-keyed; CLI fallback)
nbr-console <-> go-binary (argv in, board and verdicts out; never gated)
nbr-git <-> go-truth-in-spec (the repository IS the medium; engine never calls git)
nbr-vale <-> go-register-vale (pinned pull, advisory findings)
nbr-obsidian <-> go-base-eval (shared notes and .base queries; engine owns truth)
nbr-reader <-> go-book-emitter (one self-contained file; comments ride back)

The responsibility column (req-onion-interfaces): renderDesignRegions computes briefs first and HIDES the responsibility column when it is empty across every row - asserted both ways on fixtures.

Green: all three selftests ok; neighbour sweep deck-nav-usability, pong-deck, ch2-derived ok with the interfaces rendering live.

requirements (3)

designs (7)

✓i27-b31-filter-feedback

evidence

Red: selftest:filter-feedback authored against the current shell (none of the ruled behaviors existed) and observed failing at 4cd21955.

The ruled round-trip (req-filter-feedback, owner ruling 2026-07-18), baked into the shell:

The jump. An ADDED view token (the data-view pills; a toggle-off does not jump)

lands the reader on the README via bookGoto - the stable ground the filtered world is surveyed from.

The README is never filtered. The apply loop exempts man-readme by id; it can

never carry flt-empty.

The ping. The filter field sits in static ping chrome (#filter-wrap with three

emitted echoes - the dom-static law holds; the script only re-arms the pinging class), riding the same qping animation as the details pane.

Honest graying. The apply loop walks EVERY chapter with no current-chapter

Green: filter-feedback ok. Neighbour sweep: book-shell, book-dom-static, details-full-entry, search-visible-hits, deck-links, book-a11y - all ok.

requirements (1)

✓i27-b28-ifu-content

evidence

Red: selftest:ifu-base-state and selftest:ifu-quality authored as CONTENT checks over the real workspace and observed failing at 5feb16f0 / 2c7489a1 (no setup deck, no recorded reviews).

The journey re-clustering (owner method: group use cases by USER JOURNEY; coverage falls out of telling every journey):

man-deck-setup (new) - from a fresh machine to quackitect IDLE; its result slide

Five journey decks (new) - work-loop (plan/walk/refine/grants/ship), review

man-deck-pong - carries the ruled fresh-start exception as durable metadata

(`arc: start: fresh`), its 82079 review, and a new coverage slide (s7, Minutes 0.0 - the game stays the s6 finale, the timeline total stays 5 min).

man-deck-ifu-map - demoted to a PLAIN deck (kind dropped): the finding aid

routing to the seven IFUs. Its all-50-links slide is gone; coverage lives on each journey's own slide. guide-ifu-map reworded; six new kind: ifu guide rows keep every IFU findable from ch 10.3.

The 82079 review is recorded per deck as the `review-82079` frontmatter map:

✓i27-m6-design-realized-in auto

✓i27-m6-implementation-risks-acceptable

evidence

The risks that materialized during the build, and where each stands:

Scripted-edit corruption (the book.go dot-replacement incident, b25's record):

The MCP supervisor wedge (four leaked processes, ten-minute stalls): killed at

Coverage-semantics tightening (ifu-usecases counts linked-last-slide only):

could have silently orphaned use cases; verified instead - all 50 loaded use cases are linked on a coverage slide, and the rule is battery-enforced.

The 204-file rationale sweep: bulk-edit risk contained by the apply lane

(dry-run, all-or-nothing, journaled) and by hash-neutrality (bodies do not fold into node identity) - no check went SUSPECT.

Physics refactor reach (kernel seams moved): the reflexion diff runs clean and

selftest:io-busbar pins it, so a future violation fails the battery rather than accumulating.

✓i27-m6-internal-quality-ok

evidence

The quality lints at the build's close:

Conformance: CLEAN. No world contact outside the rim, no sky-fall, no

inward-only violation, no ambient breach - the physics law holds over the live code and selftest:io-busbar keeps it that way.

Coverage: clean except the unbuilt trio. req-traced, req-has-test, and

Refusals: CLEAN - every refusal names its recovery (the b4 lint).
Rationales: CLEAN - every slot filled or explicitly marked (the b30 lint).
Advisory debt, accepted: the voice lint's unrendered-list findings in

Static analysis: every `quack build` of the batch passed the vet gate; the one

refusal (an unused import) was fixed at its step, never carried.

questions (1)

✓i27-m6-models-adhered-to

evidence

The build filled the M4-allocated elements, with the drift caught and closed inside the batch (b29's model close-out, recorded in the model rationale):

Five build regions had realized M4 elements under drifted NAMES; all five were

renamed to the allocated ids (go-ifu-arc-lint, go-pager-result, go-pugh-matrix-render, go-raid-matrix-render, go-register-fold).

Five elements arrived that M4 did not sanction; each went through the model with

The enforcement is now MECHANICAL and permanent: the reflexion diff runs clean

and selftest:io-busbar fails the battery on any future sky-fall or physics breach.

designs (11)

✓i27-m6-suite-observed-red auto

evidence

q-unbuilt-trio DECIDED by the owner (2026-07-19): build all three inside i27. Each ran the full red ritual (reds observed at a9386a83 / 9553c9f0 / a0949276):

models-useful (go-models-useful): the GLOSSARY PULL LAW for models, per the

structure-layers (go-structure-layers): the reading path as AUTHORED routes -

trace-collapsible (go-trace-collapsible): a parent with five or more same-type,

decisions (4)

questions (1)

designs (3)

models (1)

✓i27-m6-verification-green-every auto

evidence

The full battery ran in its visible console, teed to an agent-readable log. First run: 2 of 264 failed.

test-drawing-is-spec: its verify line named `selftest:structural-strictness`, a name the registry never had. The assertion lives in `parser-strict` (the recognition rule, nodeFence). The verify line now names it.
test-voice-zero: the live spec carried 20 voice findings on node statements. The debt drained in one judged apply manifest: 26 byte-exact edits over 17 files (7 engine design comments, 12 spec statements, 2 method templates). Long sentences unmasked by the dash removals were split in the same pass.
The guarded test-io-busbar reword went as a single edit. The red-edit guard refused the apply; `observe-red --refresh` refused the pass (the test is green). The node carries the cited exemption (adr-red-unobservable). The guard gap is noted for the retro.

Second run at build a8167852455a: `i27-m6-verification-green-every -> pass (derived: coverage:tests-pass)`. All 264 tests green.

decisions (1)

tests (3)

✓i27-m6-gate

evidence

The increasing-scrutiny rounds (guides/milestone-review.md), run at the build's close.

The stranger's read belongs to the iteration's FINAL milestone (M8 handover per the guide), not here.

Verdict: PASS to the pager. No open question in the cone (q-unbuilt-trio is decided); the killer gate goes to the owner with the caveats named.

decisions (1)

questions (1)

M7 Validate & accept6 / 6 done

✓i27-m7-acceptance-obtained-sign

evidence

✓i27-m7-consistency-swept-everything

evidence

Everything i0027 changed, checked against what the docs teach (2026-07-19):

Commands: AGENTS.md already carries `quack mv`, `apply` with `op: set-field`, `boot`,

and the MCP lane notes - no drift found.

Templates replayed to the rulings: `man-project.md` (project table and decisions

Prompts: `compose-reference.md` gained the chapter-order-lives-in-the-toc law plus

the mv/set-field lanes. The engage prompt already carries the referenced-artifact-is-content law from this iteration.

Workspace prose swept: the three remaining "decisions table" teachings

(man-project fill, man-guidance drivers tailor, man-design-output architecture tailor) re-pointed to the timeline.

The 86 decision/candidate nodes orphaned by the decisions-table removal are

recorded in `man-excluded-history` (documented through the derived timeline; excluded from hand-curated chapters). Coverage computes clean again.

Known-open, named for the adjudicator:

`spec/book.html` and `docs/book.html` are stale committed snapshots; lint itself

defers them to the ship step (req-book-trust.3) - M8 regenerates them.

The armed prose lane reports 89 unrendered-list findings across i0026/i0027

milestone docs (comma-joined runs in evidence prose). Voice debt, not a behavior-doc disagreement; proposed as a recorded follow-up, not a today fix.

`design-layers.md` sits at the template spec root (the engine's legal fallback);

the ruled `spec/design/` location is a cosmetic template move parked with the template-replay note.

requirements (3)

designs (2)

✓i27-m7-killer-use-cases

evidence

Exercised for real in this walk, not by suite green:

The reader lane: the owner read the rendered book three times and navigated its

figures, tables, and drills to produce the feedback rounds.

The adjudication lane: two M6 gate blesses rode the handover page end to end

(actor user, channel handoff), including the merged-group ceremony.

The walk lane: the whole M6/M7 walk ran through next, observe-red, verify, and

bless on the attested MCP session.

The determinizer lane: `quack mv`, `apply` with byte-exact and `set-field` ops,

the toc ordering, and the report/book renders all ran on real work in this session, journaled and undoable.

✓i27-m7-meets-the-need

evidence

✓i27-m7-validation-gaps-captured

evidence

NEW RAID item `raid-stale-child-memo`: the resident MCP child's cached coverage

memos yield stale ledger reads after spec changes; bit twice today.

The armed prose lane's 89 unrendered-list findings across i0026/i0027 milestone

docs: recorded here and in the sweep section; a follow-up, not silently passed.

The render-triggered nested verification (a single book render runs the full

battery) and the tests-against-markdown migration stay captured in the notes inbox for the retro.

No validation was performed by an external reader; the owner is the only reader

so far. The standing RAID item `raid-no-external-reader` covers it.

✓i27-m7-gate

M8 Package & hand over0 / 5 done

✗i27-m8-configuration-baselined ✗i27-m8-docs-complete-match ✗i27-m8-handover-accepted ✗i27-m8-packaged-versioned ✗i27-m8-gate

Learn with retro

The retro turns wasted effort into method changes: field feedback in, baked rules out. A lesson that stays in one person's head is a lesson half-learned.

The record explains itself

Notes hold the loose ends, the readout answers the present, the report and the book answer the past, the retro changes the future. That is the whole review story.

Covered use cases

The review journey exercises: , , , , .

A graph nobody can read is not a record

The 's truth lives in hundreds of nodes. A stakeholder needs ONE readable, self-contained book: chapters, figures, tables, and a way to talk back.

Starting state

The idle state from , with a workspace worth reading.

Read and navigate

The book renders as one HTML file: contents tree, search with visible hits, deep links to every anchor. Terms explain themselves in the details pane instead of throwing the reader out of the page.

Tables, figures, and models

Registers render as filterable tables. Declared models render through one interactive onion: click to inspect, drill into a layer, zoom like a map. The architecture review rides these same views.

Present and deep-link

A deck opens in present mode straight from the guides table, and every slide carries a stable deep link. An is a book citizen, not an attachment.

Comment and read back

A reviewer marks up a COPY of the book: annotations, discussions, pre-marks. The lists the marked copy back as note candidates, roles and quotes intact. Feedback flows in without anyone retyping it.

Template and white-label

A ships the same book under its own brand: palette, voice, and templates overlay cleanly. The structure is the 's; the face is yours.

One book, the whole record

Everything the knows arrives as one file anyone can open, read, present, and mark up. That file is the project's public face.

Covered use cases

The reader journey exercises: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

One engine should carry many projects

Copying a method into every repo means every repo drifts. The stays ONE global binary; each project carries only its truth and its overlay.

Starting state

The idle state from , on a machine that may hold several workspaces.

Drive any workspace

Every command takes `--base <path>`: the same binary drives another project's workspace without switching context. Caches and outputs land in that workspace's own data home, never in the repo.

Vendor a vehicle

`quack start init` scaffolds a full : vendored source, a committed method overlay, its own brand. The ratchets its forward from its OWN repo and works offline.

Modules scope the graph

A grown workspace splits into modules: imported, nested, each with scoped views. A team sees its slice; the stays whole underneath.

The MCP lane

A harness with MCP support gets the command surface as discoverable tools, per-session attested, hot-swapped mid-session when the rebuilds. The CLI stays the universal fallback.

Portable by construction

Any machine, any harness, any number of projects: the truth sits in each repo, the sits once on the machine, and nothing else is required.

Covered use cases

The workspace journey exercises: , , , , , , , .

Why believe a record an agent wrote

A is only worth its enforcement. If anything could be stamped green without evidence, the whole record is decoration. These are the mechanisms that keep it honest.

Starting state

The idle state from . Trust mechanisms are always on; this journey just makes them visible.

Guards at the point of writing

Field schemas type every register row. Authoring guards refuse malformed content at the door. lint shapes requirements while they are written, not after.

Models that must conform

A declared model is checked against the code it claims to describe, and structure can be DERIVED from the graph instead of asserted. A diagram that cannot drift is a diagram you can cite.

Edges, pruning, and honest change

Connections are first-class edges; a changed input turns its dependents , never silently stale. Pruning retires what no longer earns its place, with its reason recorded.

The battery seals it

Every mechanism is itself test-first: the selftest battery runs the whole against its own spec, and a verification rides on the battery's verdict. The workshop stays smooth because the machine sweats the checks.

Honesty as a property, not a promise

No single mechanism carries the trust. The stack does: typed writes, conforming models, propagation, recorded pruning, and a battery over all of it.

Covered use cases

The trust journey exercises: , , , , , , , , , .

1. README

quackitect

Has this ever happened to you?

Who it's for

vs other spec-driven tools

Start your project

Further reading

2. Introduction and IFUs What this book is, how to read it, and how to use the system.

2.1 Document overview

2.2 IFUs

From zero to a running ledger

Get it

Work that advances without eroding trust

Work you did not watch still needs explaining

A graph nobody can read is not a record

One engine should carry many projects

Why believe a record an agent wrote

2.3 How to read this document

2.4 Who reads this document

3. Motivation where we want to be, and why we can get there.

3.1 The big idea

3.2 Where we want to be

3.3 Where we are

3.4 The delta, and what closes it

3.5 Business case

4. Fundamentals The key concepts, references, and glossary this document stands on.

4.1 Key concepts

4.2 References

4.3 Glossary

5. Overview the whole system on one page.

5.1 The system at a glance

6. Design input context, stakeholders, and every checkable claim on the system.

6.1 What the system must do

6.2 Context and scope

6.2.1 Intended use

6.2.2 Excluded from intended use

6.3 The design input register

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Success criteria

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