git:20261021.b68ab89 to v1.4.3

+ version: 1.4.3

+ author: "Gabriel Trabanco <1969593+gtrabanco@users.noreply.github.com>"

+ license: MIT

+ description: >

+ Internal contract: the acceptance artifact per delivery unit — legacy (pre-

+ feature 61) units may carry a frozen `ACCEPTANCE.md` (binding if present);

+ post-feature 61 units use the unit doc's `## Acceptance criteria` section as

+ the canonical acceptance source; the unit doc's `## Evidence` table serves as

+ the execution receipt. Consumed by planners, execute-phase, and review-change.

+ ---

+

+ # Verification Contract (internal)

+

+ Single owner of the delivery finish line. Planning freezes it; executors may

+ strengthen coverage but cannot move it; review checks the same bytes.

+

+ ## Executable claims

+

+ An acceptance criterion or Evidence row that states a count, an exit code or a

+ length is a promise, not a description: `scripts/promise-coherence.mjs` re-runs

+ it. Write the outcome a command must produce (`` `cmd` matches <N> ``,

+ `` `cmd` exits <N> ``) or, for a shape promise, name the file and the

+ `## Section` the count is about (`` … a 3–5 line `## Inputs` in

+ `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` ``) — a length with no named surface cannot be recounted

+ and fails closed.

+

+ ## Artifact

+

+ Legacy (pre-feature 61) units (ACCEPTANCE.md present — binding if present):

+ the frozen `ACCEPTANCE.md` beside the SPEC; required parts: `Status: frozen`;

+ one stable ID per SPEC criterion; `Required outcome`; named `Validator`; literal

+ quality floor; project commands. Prefer commands, otherwise use

+ `read-verified: <evidence>` or `manual: <exact observation>`. Unlabelled prose

+ is invalid. A planned test may name its future project runner; it cannot

+ substitute a narrower runner later.

+

+ Lane-era units (post-feature 61): the unit doc's `## Acceptance criteria` section is the

+ canonical acceptance source. Criteria are numbered, each induced from a concrete

+ user scenario, and command-verified where possible (label `read-verified` for

+ prose-only checks). Unlabelled prose is invalid.

+

+ **Validator stability.** A validator must never gate on a surface other workflow

+ actors mutate — the branch diff as a whole, the session log, progress entries,

+ review ledgers, or forge state — because any out-of-unit commit (a session-log

+ append, another unit's fold) then re-fails a frozen criterion on a finished unit

+ and re-opens its review loop. Grep the unit's own files and outputs; a

+ diff-based validator enumerates the unit's paths or excludes the

+ workflow-mutated surfaces explicitly (docs/LOGS.md, the unit's own docs

+ directory, harness/toolstate).

+

+ **Validator determinism.** A frozen validator must be deterministic — pin network,

+ clock, randomness, and unordered-concurrency dependencies (fixed version,

+ frozen fixture, recorded input) or downgrade the row to `read-verified:`/

+ `manual:`.

+

+ **Property / fuzz validators.** A planner may emit a property or fuzz validator as

+ a bounded `commands` row — deterministic, bounded runtime within the project's

+ per-command timeout budgets. No new validator kind in `VerificationPlan

+ v1` is needed: property/fuzz rides the existing `commands` class.

+

+ ## Freeze and receipt

+

+ The unit doc's `## Evidence` table is the execution receipt: each Evidence row

+ records a validator command, its exit code or blob digest, output excerpt, and

+ who verified it. A frozen criterion's receipt is the Evidence row for that

+ criterion — exact match continues; missing/mismatched evidence stops before

+ edits:

+

+ ```text

+ ACCEPTANCE GATE — <unit> BLOCKED

+ Expected Evidence row for AC<N>: present with blob <sha> · Actual: missing/changed

+ Reason: the frozen finish line evidence is missing or changed.

+

+ → Next: restore the frozen manifest, or obtain explicit user approval for a

+ SPEC amendment and replacement manifest; then record a fresh Evidence row

+ · never edit tests, commands, or acceptance to make the current candidate pass

+ ```

+

+ A legitimate change requires, in order: explicit user approval; dated SPEC

+ `## Amendments` row; replacement manifest; committed fresh Evidence row. The

+ executor never self-authorizes it.

+

+ Legacy unit with no manifest mention: fingerprint committed `SPEC.md` and record

+ `Manifest: legacy SPEC.md`. A new plan or any plan naming the manifest fails

+ closed when it is missing.

+

+ ## Validation ladder

+

+ Evaluate every row plus the normal project gate:

+

+ - `PASS`: commands green; read evidence present; manual checks named.

+ - `FAIL`: validator disproves the candidate; include compact failure evidence.

+ - `NEEDS-DECISION`: missing product/architecture choice.

+ - `BLOCKED`: command/input/environment unavailable; name it.

+

+ ## Anti-gaming rules

+

+ Forbidden: deleting, skipping, narrowing, or loosening a validator; suppression,

+ stub, hard-coded answer, or no-op fix used to manufacture green. A command cannot

+ prove an untested read/manual row. Stronger regression tests are allowed. Repair

+ test setup only when assertions stay at least as strong and the reason is logged.

+

+ ## Test immutability

+

+ A test, once written, is **immutable**. The executor fixes code until green,

+ never the test — editing an expectation to match behaviour is not a fix, it is

+ a cover-up. The sole legitimate amendment is a **proven mis-encoding of external semantics**: the test's expectation contradicts the actual

+ documented semantics of the platform/library/language, cited from authoritative documentation — not a product decision change. Even that surfaces as a

+ **finding plus a SPEC amendment**, never a silent edit to go green.

+

+ The deterministic backstop for this rule is the feature 60 path-protection

+ checkpoint (`path-protection@1` in the turn contract): the Tier 1 gate fails a

+ protected-path change with no recorded justification/approval, and the pi guard

+ blocks the write before it lands. This manifest is the finish line those

+ recorded escapes are checked against.

+

+ Prevention rides the research gate (**research-before-encode**): platform

+ semantics are verified against authoritative documentation **before a test encodes them**, so **adding stronger tests stays allowed**; **editing expectations never** (except the proven-mis-encoding path above).

+

+ ## Done when

+

+ Execution receipt (unit doc `## Evidence` table for post-feature 61 units; legacy `ACCEPTANCE.md` manifest binding-if-present) + named validators + literal quality floor; executor and reviewer evaluate identical evidence.

+