@bongos/core 1.19.852 → 1.19.854

package/.bongos-core.json

@@ -2,22 +2,22 @@
   "artifact": "bongos-core",
   "manifest_schema": 1,
   "generator": "scripts/gds/package-core.js",
-  "core_version": "1.19.852",
-  "core_contract": "1.19.852",
-  "source_commit": "bf625696dfb7d52ffce6a01a498a5f9bb7fdfa75",
+  "core_version": "1.19.854",
+  "core_contract": "1.19.854",
+  "source_commit": "9048e308289cb5583549d6c2baefdcf15f992409",
   "source_ref": "HEAD",
-  "built_at": "2026-09-17T21:07:34.757Z",
+  "built_at": "2026-09-17T21:24:11.133Z",
   "redaction": {
     "model": "docs-redacted+functional-verbatim",
     "docs_redacted": 497,
     "agent_docs_stubbed": 26,
-    "functional_verbatim": 2278,
+    "functional_verbatim": 2279,
     "rules": 3,
     "gate_literals": 3,
     "gate": "passed"
   },
-  "file_count": 2801,
-  "tree_sha256": "d02b8c530b080946a1eeca76fc4a81f1cee5c8d893f9f41639fb880495862380",
+  "file_count": 2802,
+  "tree_sha256": "131a9a8838d352e2a854548f61384dd844e5c2ad280f4af89a4d907462f90cec",
   "files": [
     {
       "path": ".claude/skills/ask-for-help/SKILL.md",
@@ -2587,7 +2587,7 @@
     {
       "path": "docs/module-api-changelog.md",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "75cf389b149eecb2feb08521e846ec486059c4b2b56f01ec3d6d46f62e89ecf9"
+      "sha256": "b8e548e543bbe1dc32e042a3b81735bf6681976a1c2dbd2aed964902766ec117"
     },
     {
       "path": "docs/modules-contract.md",
@@ -2697,7 +2697,7 @@
     {
       "path": "docs/recipes/builder-box-lifecycle.md",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "67d76943773d604d5534b2b8abb5b6aff1d64c7928e4d19a995d4cead2f406f6"
+      "sha256": "dfffcee084534239d8a748b7468409644d9375e952143b0bd09b9c2c7341e844"
     },
     {
       "path": "docs/recipes/claude-design-loop.md",
@@ -7912,12 +7912,12 @@
     {
       "path": "package-lock.json",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "197f6af6f83b766818989ee6f6fb71723dcf8420ddd190c18703e8c26b5aa889"
+      "sha256": "79f7b3c7784020460b50dfa7da87eb875e7b16fe577054c32c66c6aac23ba9b3"
     },
     {
       "path": "package.json",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "065f7ae763810587db17bc9522c11f8672ef9b9689a1cb8630debc9e12ae586e"
+      "sha256": "5822641b3fd9ddb6a4ce55e3843b31bc8cc6cef6a0c1eba7aadf87ad8073b87a"
     },
     {
       "path": "public-docs/index.html",
@@ -9857,7 +9857,7 @@
     {
       "path": "src/module-api.js",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "82b3a923d967a361a85d409528a785f2e70434289ee10cf25f3fd1e580eddacb"
+      "sha256": "9dbc00468675431bc3646ba3326916ac68b50d221922861c91425a8b96ff4cd8"
     },
     {
       "path": "src/module-loader/catalog.js",
@@ -10424,6 +10424,11 @@
       "mode": "0000644",
       "sha256": "063c94d759fa8a79b8c402145801ae2a4d9863bef591fb5adf57697e15effc39"
     },
+    {
+      "path": "tests/box_sweep_docs.mjs",
+      "mode": "0000644",
+      "sha256": "e56b09e961b0c68ee27a6e5049750cd2828e94d9870ddc7837bf9de44fcaa0b7"
+    },
     {
       "path": "tests/box_sync.mjs",
       "mode": "0000644",
@@ -12932,7 +12937,7 @@
     {
       "path": "tests/rank_gate.mjs",
       "mode": "0000644",
-      "sha256": "78626dc42e6d31685352e43e1e8e094a904f59d9d0562caf6b6e126934df973f"
+      "sha256": "05e193a23bb1218c1c96a4f4bbc734f2f09a6dd76434eb59750014277f0cef3b"
     },
     {
       "path": "tests/rank_roles_audit.mjs",

package/docs/module-api-changelog.md

@@ -2178,5 +2178,9 @@ is load-bearing: the script throws rather than guess if it is missing, and
         landed since 1.19.850 with no explicit bump. run 35274042996. (task 1002620)
   1.19.852 — CI auto-patch (publish-on-merge, ADR 0161): carrier for merges
         landed since 1.19.851 with no explicit bump. run 35274827497. (task 1002620)
+  1.19.853 — CI auto-patch (publish-on-merge, ADR 0161): carrier for merges
+        landed since 1.19.852 with no explicit bump. run 35275456041. (task 1002620)
+  1.19.854 — CI auto-patch (publish-on-merge, ADR 0161): carrier for merges
+        landed since 1.19.853 with no explicit bump. run 35276402271. (task 1002620)
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ```

package/docs/recipes/builder-box-lifecycle.md

@@ -7,26 +7,30 @@
 Each builder gets **one** box (ADR 0031 §2). Its lifecycle is a small state machine tracked in the `builder_boxes` table:
 
 ```
-                  idle > BOX_IDLE_MINUTES (auto, every 15m)      task 804:
-none ─provision─▶ active ──────────────────────────────▶ destroyed   destroys
-                   ▲  │                                    ▲          droplet
-        wake(manual) │  park(manual)                       │          + snapshot
-                   │  ▼                                    │
-                  parked ── parked > BOX_DORMANT_DAYS ──────┘
-                            (auto, daily)
+none --provision--> active
+                     ^  |
+   wake (manual, or  |  | idle > BOX_IDLE_MINUTES (auto, hourly)
+   on next connect)  |  | park (manual)
+                     |  v
+                    parked --- parked > BOX_DORMANT_DAYS ---> destroyed
+                               (auto, daily, WARNS FIRST)     snapshot deleted
+
+  park keeps the SNAPSHOT (only the droplet is destroyed, to stop billing),
+  so it is reversible with `wake`. Dormant reclaim is the ONLY automated
+  path that destroys a snapshot, and it warns the builder first.
 ```
 
 - **provision** — create + boot a droplet running the [#596](https://example.com/builders#/task/596) devcontainer. **Rank-gated.**
-- **idle deprovision** (auto, every 15 min) — when an `active` box is idle > `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES`, **destroy the droplet AND its snapshot** ([#804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804)). Compute billing stops; nothing is kept. **Not reversible** — the next connect re-provisions a fresh box, and any uncommitted work on the old box is lost (spike [#837](https://example.com/builders#/task/837)).
-- **park** (manual Archon CLI only) — snapshot the droplet then **destroy** it. A powered-off DO droplet still bills; only a destroyed one stops. The snapshot (~$0.30/mo) is the cheap residual you can `wake` from. **No longer automatic** — the idle sweep deprovisions instead of parking ([#804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804)).
+- **idle park** (auto, hourly) — when an `active` box is idle > `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES`, snapshot it and **destroy the droplet only**, keeping the snapshot ([task 1002726](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002726)). Compute billing stops; the box is **reversible** via `wake`. An earlier revision ([task 804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804)) destroyed the snapshot too; that was reverted because it took uncommitted work with it (spike [task 837](https://example.com/builders#/task/837)).
+- **park** (the idle sweep, or an Archon by hand) — snapshot the droplet then **destroy the droplet**. A powered-off DO droplet still bills; only a destroyed one stops. The snapshot (~$0.30/mo) is the cheap residual you can `wake` from.
 - **wake** (manual, on demand) — recreate the droplet from its snapshot. New IP; the `hostname` is repointed via `BOX_DNS_HOOK`.
-- **dormant reclaim** (auto, daily) — destroy the snapshot of a box `parked` > `BOX_DORMANT_DAYS`. Since idle no longer parks, this only catches boxes an Archon **manually** parked.
+- **dormant reclaim** (auto, daily) — destroy the snapshot of a box `parked` > `BOX_DORMANT_DAYS`. This is the **only automated path that destroys a snapshot**, so it **warns the builder first** and defers the reclaim if that warning was never delivered ([task 1002727](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002727)). Its input is whatever the idle sweep parked, plus any manual Archon park.
 
 ### How "idle" is detected
 
-The idle sweep **deprovisions** a box when its `last_activity_at` (else `active_since`) is older than `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` **and** `claude_active` is not true. Both signals are set by **`infra/box-heartbeat.sh`**, which runs **inside the box** every ~5 min and POSTs `/api/gds/box/heartbeat` *only while the box is in use* — an interactive login session, an established SSH connection, an **open browser terminal** (ttyd websocket, [#1161](https://example.com/builders#/task/1161)), or non-trivial CPU load. Silence = the sweep is free to destroy it.
+The idle sweep **parks** a box when its `last_activity_at` (else `active_since`) is older than `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` **and** `claude_active` is not true. Both signals are set by **`infra/box-heartbeat.sh`**, which runs **inside the box** every ~5 min and POSTs `/api/gds/box/heartbeat` *only while the box is in use* — an interactive login session, an established SSH connection, an **open browser terminal** (ttyd websocket, [#1161](https://example.com/builders#/task/1161)), or non-trivial CPU load. Silence = the sweep is free to park it.
 
-> ⚠️ **The idle sweep's correctness depends on the box-side heartbeat reaching the server.** If it isn't pinging — no Bongos token on the box yet, a pre-[#1161](https://example.com/builders#/task/1161) script that can't see a browser terminal, or the cron not installed — `last_activity_at` never advances and the sweep falls back to `active_since`, i.e. it measures **uptime**, not activity, and will **destroy** a box someone is actively using. Because the idle path is now a full deprovision (no park to wake from), that wrongly-reaped box also loses uncommitted work (spike [#837](https://example.com/builders#/task/837)).
+> ⚠️ **The idle sweep's correctness depends on the box-side heartbeat reaching the server.** If it isn't pinging — no Bongos token on the box yet, a pre-[#1161](https://example.com/builders#/task/1161) script that can't see a browser terminal, or the cron not installed — `last_activity_at` never advances and the sweep falls back to `active_since`, i.e. it measures **uptime**, not activity, and will **park** a box someone is actively using. Because the idle path keeps the snapshot ([task 1002726](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002726)), that box can be restored with `wake` and no work is lost — it is disruptive, not destructive. The destructive case is the dormant sweep, which warns first ([task 1002727](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002727)).
 >
 > **Live mitigation (2026-06-16):** `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` is raised to **120** in `/etc/example/box.env` as a soak margin until [#1161](https://example.com/builders#/task/1161)'s browser-terminal heartbeat is verified on a newcomer box; lower it back toward the 10-min default once that's proven.
 
@@ -34,12 +38,14 @@ Two sweeps automate the middle (both mirror `stale-claim-release` — dry-run fi
 
 | Sweep | Cadence | What it does | Threshold |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| `box-idle-suspend` | every 15 min | **deprovision** `active` boxes with no activity — destroy droplet **and** snapshot ([#804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804)); not a park | `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` (default 10; **currently 120 live**) |
-| `box-dormant-reclaim` | daily | destroy the snapshot of long-`parked` boxes (pings builder). Since idle no longer parks, only catches **manual** Archon parks | `BOX_DORMANT_DAYS` (14) |
+| `box-idle-suspend` | hourly | **park** `active` boxes with no activity — snapshot kept, droplet destroyed ([task 1002726](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002726)); reversible via `wake` | `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` (default 10; **currently 120 live**) |
+| `box-dormant-reclaim` | daily | destroy the snapshot of long-`parked` boxes — the only automated snapshot delete, and it warns first ([task 1002727](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002727)) | `BOX_DORMANT_DAYS` (14) |
+
+> ⚠️ **Both sweeps are currently `enabled: false`** in `config/scheduled-routines.json` — retired with the dev-box module (goal 1000091, [task 1003886](https://example.com/builders#/task/1003886)). Neither fires; the CLI below still works by hand.
 
 ## Why a self-built sweep (not Coder)
 
-ADR 0031 §9.3, resolved 2026-06-04: Coder needs an always-on control-plane droplet (~$12–24/mo fixed) + ops; a self-built sweep has ≈ $0 fixed cost and rides the existing sweep/timer pattern. See the ADR for the full rationale. (The original sweep snapshotted-and-parked idle boxes; [#804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804) simplified the idle path to a direct deprovision — the snapshot/wake machinery now serves only the manual `park`/`wake` commands.)
+ADR 0031 §9.3, resolved 2026-06-04: Coder needs an always-on control-plane droplet (~$12–24/mo fixed) + ops; a self-built sweep has ≈ $0 fixed cost and rides the existing sweep/timer pattern. See the ADR for the full rationale. (The original sweep snapshotted-and-parked idle boxes; [task 804](https://example.com/builders#/task/804) briefly simplified the idle path to a direct deprovision, and [task 1002726](https://example.com/builders#/task/1002726) reverted it — so the snapshot/wake machinery serves the automatic idle path again, as well as the manual `park`/`wake` commands.)
 
 ## The CLI — `node scripts/gds/box.js`
 
@@ -95,7 +101,7 @@ Put these in `/etc/example/box.env` (chmod 600 — **secrets never go in the rep
 | `BOX_REGION` | `nyc3` | droplet region |
 | `BOX_SIZE` | `s-2vcpu-4gb` | droplet size (4 GB floor — the devcontainer sets a 4 GB Node heap) |
 | `BOX_BASE_IMAGE` | `ubuntu-24-04-x64` | first-provision base image (cloud-init installs Docker + the devcontainer) |
-| `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` | `10` | idle-**deprovision** threshold (minutes). **Currently overridden to `120` live** as a soak margin — see "How idle is detected". |
+| `BOX_IDLE_MINUTES` | `10` | idle-**park** threshold (minutes). **Currently overridden to `120` live** as a soak margin — see "How idle is detected". |
 | `BOX_DORMANT_DAYS` | `14` | dormant-reclaim threshold |
 | `BOX_SSH_KEY_IDS` | — | comma-list of DO SSH key ids/fingerprints to inject (so you can SSH in) |
 | `BOX_REPO_URL` | — | git URL the cloud-init clones into `/workspace`. The scoped **credential** is [#600](https://example.com/builders#/task/600); no identity is hardcoded. |

package/package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@bongos/core",
-  "version": "1.19.852",
+  "version": "1.19.854",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@bongos/core",
-      "version": "1.19.852",
+      "version": "1.19.854",
       "license": "AGPL-3.0-or-later",
       "dependencies": {
         "express": "^4.21.2",

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@bongos/core",
-  "version": "1.19.852",
+  "version": "1.19.854",
   "description": "Cloud Bongos — the AI-first build platform core (GDS + platform surfaces + module system), installed as a versioned dependency (ADR 0108).",
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-or-later",
   "main": "src/platform-server.js",

package/src/module-api.js

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ const { responsibilityFor, ROLE_RESPONSIBILITIES } = require('./role-responsibil
 // there. scripts/gds/bump-version.js still rewrites the literal below; it appends
 // the entry to that file. Look for a version's history there, not here.
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-const CORE_VERSION = '1.19.852'; // CI auto-patch carrier (ADR 0161); changelog: docs/module-api-changelog.md
+const CORE_VERSION = '1.19.854'; // CI auto-patch carrier (ADR 0161); changelog: docs/module-api-changelog.md
 
 // A namespaced logger so a module's log lines are attributable + consistent.
 // Usage: const log = api.logger('dev-box'); log.info('mounted');

package/tests/box_sweep_docs.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+// tests/box_sweep_docs.mjs — the box sweep docs must not invert against box.js
+// a third time (task 1003823).
+//
+// HISTORY, because it is the whole reason this file exists. The idle sweep has
+// changed direction twice:
+//
+//   task 804     — sweep-idle went from park to a direct deprovision, and
+//                  task 1001135 dragged four doc surfaces along with it.
+//   task 1002726 — the CODE went BACK to park-and-keep-the-snapshot, because
+//                  annihilating an idle box took the builder's uncommitted work
+//                  with it. The four doc surfaces were NOT walked back.
+//
+// So for months the routine's own SKILL.md told an agent "your single job is to
+// DESTROY" while cmdSweepIdle called parkOne. The danger is specific and worth
+// naming: an agent that believes it is supposed to destroy, and finds the sweep
+// merely parking, is being invited to reach for `box.js deprovision` to finish a
+// job it was never given — which is the one path that can silently discard a
+// builder's work.
+//
+// This guard is therefore NOT a spell-check. It asserts the one relationship
+// that matters: WHILE cmdSweepIdle parks, the docs may not say it destroys.
+// If a future task legitimately moves the idle path back to a destroy, this test
+// goes green on its own as soon as the code changes — it is pinned to the code,
+// not to a preferred wording.
+
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const ROOT = path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..');
+const read = (p) => fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, p), 'utf8');
+
+const BOX_JS = 'scripts/gds/box.js';
+const IDLE_SKILL = '.claude/scheduled-tasks/box-idle-suspend/SKILL.md';
+const DORMANT_SKILL = '.claude/scheduled-tasks/box-dormant-reclaim/SKILL.md';
+const RECIPE = 'docs/recipes/builder-box-lifecycle.md';
+
+// Comments are stripped before scanning prose: each surface deliberately keeps a
+// sentence SAYING which model it used to describe, and a naive substring check
+// would read that history as the claim still being made.
+const stripHtmlComments = (md) => md.replace(/<!--[\s\S]*?-->/g, '');
+
+// The body of cmdSweepIdle, so "what the sweep does" is read from the function
+// itself rather than from a header comment that can rot the same way the docs did.
+function cmdSweepIdleBody() {
+  const src = read(BOX_JS);
+  const start = src.indexOf('async function cmdSweepIdle(');
+  assert.ok(start > 0, `cmdSweepIdle not found in ${BOX_JS} — this guard is reading the wrong file`);
+  const next = src.indexOf('\nasync function ', start + 1);
+  return src.slice(start, next > 0 ? next : src.length);
+}
+
+test('the idle sweep parks — that is the fact the docs are measured against', () => {
+  const body = cmdSweepIdleBody();
+  assert.match(body, /parkOne\(/, 'cmdSweepIdle no longer calls parkOne');
+  assert.doesNotMatch(body, /deprovisionOne\(/,
+    'cmdSweepIdle calls deprovisionOne — the idle path destroys again. That is allowed, '
+    + 'but the docs below must be rewritten to match BEFORE this guard is relaxed.');
+});
+
+test('no box-sweep doc claims the IDLE sweep destroys, while the code parks', () => {
+  // Sentences that assert a destroy as the idle sweep's OUTCOME. Each pattern is
+  // anchored on the idle path specifically, because "destroy the droplet" is a
+  // true statement about a park (the droplet does go; the snapshot stays) and
+  // "destroy the snapshot" is a true statement about sweep-dormant.
+  const lies = [
+    /idle[- ]deprovision/i,
+    /idle box is fully DESTROYED/i,
+    /destroy the droplet \*\*AND\*\* (?:its )?snapshot/i,
+    /droplet \+ snapshot destroyed/i,
+    /idle no longer feeds it/i,
+    /no longer parks/i,
+    /there is no snapshot to wake from/i,
+    /single job is to DESTROY/i,
+  ];
+
+  for (const file of [IDLE_SKILL, DORMANT_SKILL, RECIPE]) {
+    const prose = stripHtmlComments(read(file));
+    for (const lie of lies) {
+      assert.doesNotMatch(prose, lie,
+        `${file} still describes the pre-task-1002726 destroy model (${lie}). `
+        + 'cmdSweepIdle calls parkOne and keeps the snapshot — see task 1003823.');
+    }
+  }
+});
+
+test('the idle skill quotes the strings the worker actually prints', () => {
+  // Step 3 of the skill orders a VERBATIM relay, so a drifted string here makes
+  // the agent either fabricate a line or stall. These are the three the worker emits.
+  const skill = read(IDLE_SKILL);
+  const body = cmdSweepIdleBody();
+
+  for (const s of ['would park', 'snapshot kept, compute stopped', 'done — parked=']) {
+    assert.ok(body.includes(s), `cmdSweepIdle no longer prints ${JSON.stringify(s)}`);
+    assert.ok(skill.includes(s),
+      `${IDLE_SKILL} does not quote ${JSON.stringify(s)}, which the worker prints and `
+      + 'step 3 tells the agent to relay verbatim.');
+  }
+
+  assert.ok(!/done — deprovisioned=/.test(skill),
+    `${IDLE_SKILL} tells the agent to relay "done — deprovisioned=", a line the worker never emits.`);
+});
+
+test('every surface names sweep-dormant as the only automated snapshot delete', () => {
+  // The safety property box.js implements in prose: full reclaim warns first, so
+  // no automated path takes uncommitted work silently. A reader who misses this
+  // is the reader who reaches for deprovision.
+  for (const file of [IDLE_SKILL, DORMANT_SKILL, RECIPE]) {
+    assert.match(stripHtmlComments(read(file)), /only automated path that destroys a snapshot|only automated snapshot delete/i,
+      `${file} never tells the reader that sweep-dormant is the only automated path that `
+      + 'destroys a snapshot (and that it warns first) — the safety property this subsystem rests on.');
+  }
+});

package/tests/rank_gate.mjs

@@ -323,12 +323,41 @@ const __dir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 // task 1003204: the lifecycle data layer is db.js + db-*.js now — read the family.
 const dbSrc = lifecycleDbSource();
 
-t('every live rank appears in the claimable CASE at its REQUIRES_RANK_TIER value', () => {
-  // Isolate the listClaimableTasks function body so we don't match CASE
-  // expressions elsewhere in db.js.
+// Isolate the listClaimableTasks function body so we don't match CASE expressions
+// elsewhere in the lifecycle data layer.
+//
+// ANCHORED TO THE NEXT TOP-LEVEL FUNCTION, not to a byte count (task 1004015; the
+// same fix task 1004002 landed in tests/reward_gate.mjs). The window used to be
+// `start + 4000`, and listClaimableTasks measures 12019 chars — so the slice carried
+// a THIRD of the function it claims to scan.
+//
+// That is a false RED for the positive assertion below (the last WHEN clause it needs
+// sits at +3400, leaving 600 characters of margin before an unrelated feature pushes
+// it out of frame — reward_gate was widened four times for exactly that). It is a
+// false GREEN for the NEGATIVE assertions in the next test, which is the worse half:
+// a stale pre-thetes mapping living anywhere past +4000 — two thirds of the body —
+// passes a test whose entire purpose is to catch it.
+//
+// The boundary lookup is ASSERTED rather than defaulted: if listActiveClaims is ever
+// renamed or moved, this fails loudly and names the fix, instead of silently falling
+// back to a byte window and reinstating the bug.
+// LAZY, and called from inside each t() — deliberately not an IIFE evaluated at module
+// load. Every assertion in this file lives inside a t() closure so a failure is caught,
+// named and counted while the other ~30 tests below still run. An assert at top level
+// would throw at IMPORT time in exactly the case it guards (listActiveClaims renamed),
+// aborting the file before any downstream test registers — trading a false green for a
+// silent loss of the rest of the suite.
+const claimableBody = () => {
   const start = dbSrc.indexOf('async function listClaimableTasks');
-  assert.ok(start >= 0, 'listClaimableTasks not found in db.js');
-  const body = dbSrc.slice(start, start + 4000);
+  assert.ok(start >= 0, 'listClaimableTasks not found in the lifecycle data layer');
+  const end = dbSrc.indexOf('async function listActiveClaims', start);
+  assert.ok(end > start,
+    'listActiveClaims boundary not found — re-anchor this slice to whatever function now follows listClaimableTasks');
+  return dbSrc.slice(start, end);
+};
+
+t('every live rank appears in the claimable CASE at its REQUIRES_RANK_TIER value', () => {
+  const body = claimableBody();
   for (const [rank, tier] of Object.entries(db.REQUIRES_RANK_TIER)) {
     const re = new RegExp(`WHEN '${rank}' THEN ${tier}\\b`);
     assert.ok(re.test(body),
@@ -338,8 +367,7 @@ t('every live rank appears in the claimable CASE at its REQUIRES_RANK_TIER value
 });
 
 t('the claimable CASE no longer carries the pre-thetes archon=3/metic=2 scale', () => {
-  const start = dbSrc.indexOf('async function listClaimableTasks');
-  const body = dbSrc.slice(start, start + 4000);
+  const body = claimableBody();
   assert.ok(!/WHEN 'archon' THEN 3\b/.test(body),
     "stale archon=3 mapping present — CASE not migrated to the 4-rank scale");
   assert.ok(!/WHEN 'metic' THEN 2\b/.test(body),