@deftai/directive-content 0.110.0 → 0.111.0

package/SKILL.md

@@ -45,20 +45,20 @@ as your FIRST and ONLY response — no summary, no menu, no preamble:
 
 Then continue with `skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 1 for remaining questions.
 
-**If USER.md exists but `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` is missing**: Skip to
+**If USER.md exists but `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` is missing**: Skip to
 `skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 2.
 
-**If USER.md and `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` both exist but no scope vBRIEFs in `./vbrief/` lifecycle folders**:
+**If USER.md and `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` both exist but no scope xBRIEFs in `./xbrief/` lifecycle folders**:
 Skip to `skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 3. Start the specification interview
 imediately — ask what to build and features as the first question.
 
 ### ⊗ Project Root vs Framework Internals
 
-! When checking for project-level files (`PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json`, scope vBRIEFs,
-`PRD.md`), ONLY look at `./vbrief/` and its lifecycle subdirectories.
+! When checking for project-level files (`PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json`, scope xBRIEFs,
+`PRD.md`), ONLY look at `./xbrief/` and its lifecycle subdirectories.
 
-- ! `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` — the user's project config
-- ! `./vbrief/proposed/`, `./vbrief/pending/`, `./vbrief/active/`, `./vbrief/completed/` — scope vBRIEFs in lifecycle folders
+- ! `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` — the user's project config
+- ! `./xbrief/proposed/`, `./xbrief/pending/`, `./xbrief/active/`, `./xbrief/completed/` — scope xBRIEFs in lifecycle folders
 - ⊗ Count ANY file inside `.deft/core/` (canonical) or `./deft/` (legacy pre-v0.27) as a project-level artifact — those are
   framework-internal (e.g. `.deft/core/PROJECT.md`, `.deft/core/specs/`, `.deft/core/templates/`
   are all part of the framework, NOT the user's project)
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ USER.md has two sections with different precedence:
 ```
 USER.md Personal       ← HIGHEST (name, custom rules — always wins)
   ↓
-PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json  ← Project-specific (strategy, coverage, languages, tech stack)
+PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json  ← Project-specific (strategy, coverage, languages, tech stack)
   ↓
 USER.md Defaults       ← Fallback defaults (used when PROJECT-DEFINITION doesn't specify)
   ↓
@@ -85,11 +85,11 @@ USER.md Defaults       ← Fallback defaults (used when PROJECT-DEFINITION doesn
   ↓
 main.md                ← General AI behavior
   ↓
-scope vBRIEFs          ← LOWEST precedence (requirements in lifecycle folders)
+scope xBRIEFs          ← LOWEST precedence (requirements in lifecycle folders)
 ```
 
 **IMPORTANT**: USER.md `Personal` section always wins. For project-scoped settings
-(strategy, coverage, languages), `PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` overrides USER.md `Defaults`.
+(strategy, coverage, languages), `PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` overrides USER.md `Defaults`.
 
 ## File Reading Strategy (Lazy Loading)
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ scope vBRIEFs          ← LOWEST precedence (requirements in lifecycle folders)
 
 1. **Always start with**: `.deft/core/main.md` (general guidelines)
 2. **Check for**: `~/.config/deft/USER.md` (personal overrides - highest precedence)
-3. **Check for**: `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` (project-specific rules)
+3. **Check for**: `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` (project-specific rules)
 4. **Then read language-specific** only if working with that language:
    - `.deft/core/languages/python.md`
    - `.deft/core/languages/go.md`
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ See `.deft/core/tools/taskfile.md` for complete task standards and common comman
 
 **Spec-Driven Development (SDD)** for new features/projects:
 1. Run `skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 3 — sizing gate selects Light or Full path
-2. Light: Interview → scope vBRIEFs in `vbrief/proposed/` (embedded requirements) → Implement
-3. Full: Interview → rich narratives in `specification.vbrief.json` (approval gate) → scope vBRIEFs → Implement
+2. Light: Interview → scope xBRIEFs in `xbrief/proposed/` (embedded requirements) → Implement
+3. Full: Interview → rich narratives in `specification.xbrief.json` (approval gate) → scope xBRIEFs → Implement
 
 See `.deft/core/coding/testing.md` for complete testing standards.
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ task project:render       # Project config → xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.
 1. **First time?** If USER.md doesn't exist, run `skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md` Phase 1
 2. Read `.deft/core/main.md` (general guidelines)
 3. Read `~/.config/deft/USER.md` (personal preferences - highest precedence)
-4. Read `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` (project rules)
+4. Read `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` (project rules)
 5. Run `task --list` to see available tasks
 
 See `.deft/core/main.md` for complete workflow details.

package/Taskfile.yml

@@ -370,11 +370,11 @@ includes:
   packs:
     taskfile: ./tasks/packs.yml
     optional: true
-  # Maintainer-only Python self-test lanes (#1813 contributor path / #2022
+  # Maintainer-only packaging lane (#1813 contributor path / #2022
   # Phase 2). `internal: true` hides `core:*` / `ci:*` from `task -l` and
   # blocks direct CLI invocation on consumer installs; only
   # `check:framework-source` below wires them as deps. Consumer `task check`
-  # dispatches to `check:consumer` (TS / deft verbs — no uv/python).
+  # dispatches to `check:consumer` (TS / deft verbs).
   core:
     taskfile: ./tasks/core.yml
     optional: true
@@ -464,8 +464,11 @@ tasks:
       - verify-eval-health-relocation-framework-check
       - verify-eval-triggers-relocation-framework-check
       - vbrief:validate
-      - codebase:validate-structure
+      - task: codebase:validate-structure
+        vars:
+          CLI_ARGS: "--enforce"
       - verify:codebase-map-fresh
+      - verify:spec-prd-fresh
       - verify-strategy-output
       # #2980 residual: fail-closed product raw-write inventory (allowlist primitives + temporary residual).
       - verify-contained-writes-enforce
@@ -796,18 +799,16 @@ tasks:
   # `triage-bootstrap`) -- a single shared `triage:` include namespace
   # is not supported by go-task v3 (two includes cannot share a key).
   # The aliases below provide the documented `task triage:<verb>`
-  # user-facing surface that vBRIEFs / UPGRADING.md / scripts/triage_*.py
-  # describe. Each alias delegates to the underlying namespaced task
-  # and forwards `{{.CLI_ARGS}}` so flags (`--repo`, `--reason`, etc.)
-  # reach the script. The inner tasks in each fragment are
+  # user-facing surface that xBRIEFs / UPGRADING.md describe. Each alias
+  # delegates to the underlying namespaced task and forwards
+  # `{{.CLI_ARGS}}` so flags (`--repo`, `--reason`, etc.) reach
+  # engine:invoke / packages/cli/dist. The inner tasks in each fragment are
   # `internal: true` so the fragment-namespace forms
   # (`triage-cache:cache`, `triage-actions:accept`, `triage-bulk:bulk-defer`,
   # `triage-bootstrap:bootstrap`) drop out of `task -l`; only the
   # documented `triage:*` aliases below appear in the listing. The
-  # internal tasks remain CALLABLE for legacy invocations (e.g. recap
-  # text in `scripts/triage_bootstrap.py` still prints the namespaced
-  # forms, which continue to dispatch correctly via the fragment
-  # include).
+  # internal tasks remain CALLABLE for legacy invocations via the fragment
+  # include.
   #
   # Aliases are inline at the root Taskfile rather than in a separate
   # fragment because they cross include namespaces and must exist
@@ -826,10 +827,10 @@ tasks:
   # categorized verb list grouped by role (Session-start, State verbs,
   # Read verbs, Lifecycle, Subscription mutation, Archive-rotation /
   # Promote-demote, Activate-complete, Reversibility, Decomposition).
-  # The registry + renderer live in scripts/triage_help.py so every
-  # verb is documented in one place. Each existing `triage:X` /
-  # `scope:X` alias forwards `--help` to the same registry via the
-  # `intercept_help` shim called from each verb script's `main()`.
+  # The registry + renderer live in
+  # packages/core/src/triage/help/registry-data.ts (edit in place; no
+  # generator). Each existing `triage:X` / `scope:X` alias forwards
+  # `--help` to the same registry via interceptHelp (handler + dispatch).
   #
   # Defined at the root Taskfile (not in a fragment) because the bare
   # target shares the `triage:` / `scope:` prefix with the documented

package/commands.md

@@ -413,20 +413,22 @@ After CLI/deposit upgrade, disk can show the new generation while a long-lived s
 - ! Default interactive sessions to **read-only posture** until mutation or implementation intent (questions, research, Plan Mode, ticket-shaping). Load AGENTS.md / main.md / USER.md / PROJECT-DEFINITION; confirm alignment with addressing-name; ⊗ do not write `.deft/ritual-state.json`, run install/build side effects, or emit triage welcome, branch-policy, default-branch sync, sync-skill lifecycle checks, or eval/value readback writes unless the operator asks or the task is implementation-ready.
 - ! **USER.md path (#2544):** resolve via `deft session:start` output (`USER.md resolved …`); default platform paths: Windows `%APPDATA%\deft\USER.md`, Unix `~/.config/deft/USER.md`; override `$DEFT_USER_PATH`; workspace `<project>/.deft/USER.md`. ⊗ Invent or search `~/.config/deft` on Windows — AppData Roaming is canonical.
 - ! At mutation boundaries (code-writing, scope lifecycle moves, `start_agent`, commits, pushes, PR-from-local-changes, release work): run the mutable quick tier then gated verifier below before proceeding.
-- ? Explicit read-only alignment only: `deft session:start -- --read-only` (no ritual-state write).
+- ? Explicit read-only alignment only: `deft session:start --read-only` (no ritual-state write). Task: `task session:start -- --read-only`.
 - ! **Worktree occupancy contract (#3433 / #3604 / #3611 / #3926):** mutation `session:start` / `session:ready` claim a gitignored `.deft/occupancy.json` lease. Occupancy is cooperative host-session routing between processes that follow the protocol, not authentication against another same-user process: hook JSON and local owner IDs are forgeable. Name it for what it is (#3755): a **cooperative bearer-id boundary, not a lineage** — the lease admits whoever presents an id the record itself names, nothing observes parentage, and a dispatched child is admitted only because a grant records it. A live lease allows only a matching presented owner or member and a ritual state whose exact verified owner agrees; missing, conflicting, or mismatched identity fails closed. `--read-only` does not claim. A stored lease whose `worktree_path` is not this checkout is residue, not a holder: first mutation `session:start` claims over it. Same-tree two-session conflict still fails closed.
 - ! **Which tree the lease is read from — root admission (#3794 / #4013):** a gated write is judged against the Git working tree its **target** lands in, not always the tree the host payload names. A target in another worktree sharing `--git-common-dir` is admitted and carries occupancy, ritual and active scope with it; a proven different repository, an unreadable target identity, and a mutation spanning two worktrees are refused. A target with **no Git toplevel at all** (OS temp, a home file, anything outside every checkout) is gated against the payload root — deliberate since #3794, published with its reason and a gate-by-gate disposition in [docs/hook-root-admission.md](./docs/hook-root-admission.md), which also records the three-surface matrix (direct write consults admission; generic server-prefixed MCP and out-of-repo Shell writes do not) and the relative-target canonicalization limitation (#4023).
 - ! **Host owner namespaces (#3611):** canonical owners are `host:<provider>:v1:<base64url(raw-id)>`. Codex uses payload `session_id` for the parent and its subagents. Claude Code uses `session_id`; `agent_id` does not replace the session-family owner. Cursor uses `conversation_id` and requires a simultaneously supplied `session_id` to agree; no Cursor subagent-granularity claim is made until verified. Grok has no verified payload identity, so its owner is the hook process variable `GROK_SESSION_ID` the host publishes (#3873): the hook is a sibling the host spawns, so an agent shell export cannot reach it, and the payload `session_id` is never read. When that variable is absent the host keeps explicit `--session-id` / `DEFT_SESSION_ID` ownership; a malformed one fails closed, as does an ambient `DEFT_SESSION_ID` that contradicts a resolved host owner.
 - ! **Occupancy identity on a host with no session derivation (#3877):** the hook process environment (`GROK_SESSION_ID` on Grok, or `DEFT_SESSION_ID` inherited by the hook) or an explicit `--session-id`. ⊗ a worker-shell `export DEFT_SESSION_ID`. A shell export reaches vitest, CLI verbs, and `scope:complete`; it never reaches `deft-hook`, a sibling process. Nothing in `content/templates` or `content/skills` mentions the variable. Do not invent an envelope mandate.
-- ! **One actor-resolution chain, four terminals (#3954):** claim, release, heartbeat and grant/revoke resolve the acting session by the same lookup order — explicit `--session-id`, then `DEFT_SESSION_ID`, then the owner the running host published. Only the **terminal** differs, and deliberately: `session:start` / `session:ready` **mint**, because claiming establishes an identity where none exists; `occupancy:release`, `occupancy:heartbeat`, `occupancy:grant` and `--revoke` resolve to **empty** and keep the "this process presented no session identity" diagnosis, because they prove an identity rather than establish one. A shared mint would hand those surfaces a plausible id no later hook will present. The practical effect: on a host that publishes an owner, the printed recovery `occupancy:release` is a command the occupant can actually run, instead of one that resolved an empty caller and refused the owner its own lease. Disagreement is reported, not reordered: when `DEFT_SESSION_ID` and the host owner name different sessions the documented order still stands, and a refusal names both ids and the `--session-id` that would act as the host owner. Anonymous release of the occupant recorded in the lease file stays **refused** — possession of that path is not authority to delete a live lease.
+- ! **One actor-resolution chain, four terminals (#3954 / #4066):** claim, release, heartbeat and grant/revoke resolve the acting session by the same lookup order — explicit `--session-id`, then `DEFT_SESSION_ID`, then the owner the running host published. **Claim** is host-authoritative when those disagree: inherited `DEFT_SESSION_ID` must not beat the host-published owner (mirrors the write-gate env drop). Release, heartbeat and grant/revoke still report disagreement without reordering, and still refuse to mint. Anonymous release of the occupant recorded in the lease file stays **refused** — possession of that path is not authority to delete a live lease.
 - ! **Where the transport still does not reach (#3873 residue):** the CLI resolves the host owner; the write gate runs in the `deft-hook` sibling process, and on a deployment where the host does not publish `GROK_SESSION_ID` into that sibling the hook presents whatever `DEFT_SESSION_ID` it inherited — possibly another host's session. Nothing in this tree can set that process's environment, and the hook writes no env or payload log, so the condition is inferred from the deny text rather than observed. Recovery meanwhile is the ambient step above: the occupant releases its own lease from its own shell. Closing it needs either host cooperation (publish the variable to the hook sibling) or a hook-process capture facility, and both are separate work.
 - ! **Lifecycle identity transport (#3611):** for every host with a resolved owner, PreToolUse rewrites only exact, simple canonical `deft` / `directive` lifecycle commands and source-repo `task <verb> [-- ...]` forms to add the host's `--session-id`. Direct CLI spellings are `session:start`, `session:ready`, `session:end`, `occupancy:steal`, `occupancy:release`, `occupancy:heartbeat`, `occupancy:grant` (#3954, its `--revoke` arm included), and `swarm-launch`; the Task spelling for the last verb is `swarm:launch`. For owner-requiring lifecycle commands, the shell execution directory must be absent or realpath-align exactly with the hook project root. Path-bearing executables (`./deft`, `/path/deft`), path/destination flags (`--project-root`, `--paths`, path-valued `--stories`, `--output`, `--worktree-map`, `--gate-clearances`), `--no-audit`, consumer-repo Task indirection, Task aliases (`task deft:<verb>`), and compound, redirected, quoted, aliased, wrapped, or otherwise ambiguous forms are not auto-rewritten. A supported-host hook rejects a recognized lifecycle form outside the narrow rewrite surface until it carries the explicit matching `--session-id`; an execution-root mismatch on an owner-requiring command always denies. With a matching ID on other excluded forms, the original command remains under normal host permission handling. Manual/integrated-terminal callers must likewise pass one matching `--session-id` (or `DEFT_SESSION_ID`) through the complete lifecycle.
 - ! **Transition, steal, and release (#3611):** an existing live UUID lease cannot silently become a host-namespaced owner. Prefer one aligned transition: `session:start --steal --confirm --occupant <reported-session-id> --session-id=<your-session-id>` (an exact host-mediated command receives the final option automatically). Bare `occupancy:steal --confirm --occupant <reported-session-id> --session-id=<your-session-id>` changes only the lease; direct writes remain denied unless ritual state already names the new owner. If they differ, align the same writer ID with `session:start --rearm --session-id=<same-session-id>` when re-arm is eligible, or cold `session:start --session-id=<same-session-id>` otherwise. The occupant drops a live lease with `occupancy:release` or `session:end`; a non-owner cannot clear it. Confirmed steal remains required for a live occupant and prints existing `claimed_at` / `heartbeat_at` / `last_write_at` when available.
 - ! **Lease refresh (#3599):** a gated write by the owner re-stamps `heartbeat_at`, so a session that keeps working keeps its lease, up to the absolute age cap below. The re-stamp is floored at a quarter of the TTL to avoid rewriting the lease per event, and it records `last_write_at` separately — `heartbeat_at` moves on any lease touch, `last_write_at` only on a gated product write, which is what tells a would-be stealer that the occupant is mid-work. When the owner's own lease is inside the staleness window (three quarters of the TTL) and the automatic re-stamp could not run, the write gate says so instead of letting the lease lapse silently; a write that did re-stamp stays quiet, because the warning would name a state that write just cleared. A re-stamp blocked by the lock leaves the lease untouched and the gate re-decides against the file on disk: contention alone keeps the rightful owner writing, while a takeover that completed during the wait denies. Long quiet stretches produce no gated write to ride on, so the owner refreshes explicitly with `deft occupancy:heartbeat` (Task: `task occupancy:heartbeat`). Refresh extends a lease the caller already holds — it never claims a free worktree, never takes a foreign lease, and never mints an owner; an unheld lease exits non-zero. Under a supported host the exact command receives the matching `--session-id` automatically; manual and Grok callers pass `--session-id <id>` or `DEFT_SESSION_ID`.
 - ! **Absolute lease age cap (#3599):** a lease is also dead 12 hours after `claimed_at`, whatever its heartbeat says, and no refresh path may extend that — `claimed_at` survives every re-stamp. Occupancy admits whoever presents the occupant's session id, so refresh alone would let any process holding that string keep a worktree forever and disable the crash-recovery reclaim the TTL exists for. The two dead states call for different responses and read differently: a stale heartbeat means refresh sooner; past the cap the tree is no longer held, so the capped holder's own gated writes are **refused** until it re-claims with `session:start --session-id=<your-session-id>` — allowing them would let the very bearer the cap bounds keep mutating a worktree a peer may claim at any moment. A lease that is both stale and capped reads as capped, because refreshing cannot revive it and the stale wording would send the holder somewhere that does not help. A different session is unaffected: taking over an aged-out tree is the reclaim the cap exists to enable. Twelve hours is sized by the stalled owner, not the busy one: refresh keys on writes, so an agent that finishes overnight and waits for its operator stops refreshing while staying legitimate, and 12 hours spans a 23:00 dispatch to a 09:00 handoff while still bounding reclaim inside a day. Reaching the cap costs one re-claim, never the work. A time cap cannot tell a stalled-but-live owner from a dead one — the only liveness signal on this path is a write; if that bites, the answer is a write-free liveness signal (explicit parked state, or refresh on non-write activity), not a larger number.
 - ! **Lease membership (#3755):** the occupant admits a dispatched child with `deft occupancy:grant --session-id=<owner> --child-session-id=<child> --role <worker-role> [--ttl-minutes N] [--worktree <path>] [--host <id>] [--address <name>] [--join-protocol none|heartbeat-file|parent-message]` (Task: `task occupancy:grant`), and withdraws it with the same command plus `--revoke`. The grant records owner id, child id, worktree, role and expiry, so a write resolves to a session rather than to whoever held the string. Admission splits: **writes** are admitted for the owner **or** a valid unexpired member; **release, steal, heartbeat and cohort close-out stay owner-only**, so a grant never escalates into the lease itself. An expired grant is refused on read, expiry is clamped to the lease's own absolute age cap, a lease carries at most 32 live grants, and a steal or a fresh claim starts with none — grants belong to the lease that issued them. The child id is checked at grant time (#3954): a value under the reserved `host:` prefix must be a well-formed canonical owner, and one that re-prefixes the owner's own host payload under a second provider is refused as the self-grant it is. Both were granted before, and the write gate then admitted them as `member`, so the lease read as membership while admitting nobody. An id outside that prefix is still accepted, because a child on a host with no identity contract presents whatever `DEFT_SESSION_ID` holds. Withdrawal skips the check, so a malformed grant written earlier stays revocable. A member's write re-stamps `heartbeat_at` and `last_write_at` on the same quarter-TTL floor as the owner's: a tree a granted child is actively writing is in use, and letting it lapse would hand the worktree to a peer mid-edit. `claimed_at` is untouched, so the absolute age cap and the grant's own expiry still bound it. The verb is inside the rewrite surface since #3954, so a supported host adds the matching `--session-id`; a `--worktree` rebind stays outside it and must carry the owner explicitly. All of it is cooperative, like the rest of this lease: it names who may write, it does not authenticate them. Ritual state stays single-owner, so a member writes under the occupant's ceremony: the composite hook write gate measures the verified ritual owner against the occupant that issued the grant rather than against the writer, and a revoked or expired member is refused there as well.
-- ! **Parent and child, per identity-source kind (#3954 / #3999):** there is no single answer, so do not look for one. On a **`host-env`** host (Grok) the host publishes a different id into each agent session, so a parent and its dispatched children are **different actors**: each resolves its own owner through the chain above and claims its own worktree, which is where the dispatch envelope already puts it. Membership is **not** automatic there — 32 grants at a four-hour expiry against a twenty-minute lease means granting on every dispatch exhausts a busy parent's lease inside a day — and the revocation trigger stays the owner's own `--revoke` or the grant's expiry. A dispatched child's owner lease is released when orchestration observes `phase: terminal`, using the occupancy owner and exact worktree root the parent recorded at dispatch under `.deft/child-occupancy/` (lease-gated; not `.deft-scratch/**`). Release is compare-and-release under the occupancy lock: only if that recorded child still owns that recorded tree. A successor owner is left alone. On a **`payload`** host (Codex, Claude Code, Cursor) parent and subagents share one id, so there is no foreign child lease to admit and nothing to grant; the live consequence is the inverse one, that a parent's `occupancy:release` removes a working child's lease mid-flight with no denial, because both present the same string. The terminal transition is a no-op on that arm — auto-release would drop the parent's live lease. Swarm close-out still releases only the launcher's `occupancy_session_id`. No new reap verb.
-- ! **Lifetime and enforcement boundaries:** expired heartbeat (20 min) is free for claim-over-expired, and the release path may clear residue; no `reap` verb. No host-to-lease map or credential file is persisted; supported hooks re-derive their owner from each payload. Gated writes renew the heartbeat (#3599), so the 20-minute window runs from the owner's last write rather than from its claim, bounded by the absolute age cap above. Missing or drifted hooks remain #3742, and spawn tools remain outside occupancy enforcement. Join negotiation is owner-issued membership (`occupancy:grant`, #3755); the parked child-initiated `occupancy:request` queue stays unimplemented and is no longer named in remediation. `swarm:launch` carries the same explicit owner and persists `occupancy_session_id` in a cohort-keyed record; close-out uses that cohort entry as authority, requires any ambient owner to corroborate it, and never substitutes the current live lease owner. Swarm close-out stays `releaseSwarmOccupancy` on complete-cohort.
+- ! **Parent and child, per identity-source kind (#3954 / #3999 / #4066):** there is no single answer, so do not look for one. On a **`host-env`** host (Grok) the host publishes a different id into each agent session, so a parent and its dispatched children are **different actors**: each resolves its own owner through the chain above and claims **its own worktree**. Membership is **not** automatic there — 32 grants at a four-hour expiry against a twenty-minute lease means granting on every dispatch exhausts a busy parent's lease inside a day — and the revocation trigger stays the owner's own `--revoke` or the grant's expiry. Spawned mutating work takes a reserved linked worktree before occupancy claim; sharing the primary checkout with a live occupant is refuse, not grant-across-host. On a **`payload`** host (Codex, Claude Code, Cursor) parent and subagents share one id, so there is no foreign child lease to admit and nothing to grant on the same tree; own-tree children still record a dispatch lease. A parent's `occupancy:release` on the parent tree does not drop a child tree. No new reap verb.
+- ! **Spawn occupancy seam (#4066):** implement-class spawn (`Task`, `spawn_subagent`, `start_agent`, …) inspects `tool_input.isolation=worktree` / `worktree_path` / `cwd`. Absent field fails closed (do not inherit parent cwd). Unique dispatch reservation (incarnation) is persisted before launch. Occupancy consult is on the destination tree, not a write-gate flip with `actor=null`. Explore and ephemeral spawns stay exempt. Grok PreToolUse cannot rewrite spawn input; hosts that can (`claude`, `cursor`, `codex`) re-root cwd onto the reserved tree. Primary-checkout claim is the exception (`release-cut`, `policy-restore`, `operator-default-branch`) from a trusted producer; `--read-only` never claims.
+- ! **Dispatcher-owned terminal release (#4066 / #3999):** recorded-child close-out is dispatcher lifecycle on a dispatch-provenance `(owner, worktree, incarnation)` tuple. Release requires parent-id match, incarnation match, skip invalid heartbeats, and refuse a tree that is not the heartbeat tree or a dispatcher-allocated tree. Ordinary self-claim records are not close-out. Payload-kind skip remains for same-tree shared identity; a linked worktree distinct from the observer is released. Heartbeats should echo `incarnation` from the dispatch envelope.
+- ! **Lifetime and enforcement boundaries:** expired heartbeat (20 min) is free for claim-over-expired, and the release path may clear residue; no `reap` verb. No host-to-lease map or credential file is persisted; supported hooks re-derive their owner from each payload. Gated writes renew the heartbeat (#3599), so the 20-minute window runs from the owner's last write rather than from its claim, bounded by the absolute age cap above. Missing or drifted hooks remain #3742. Implement-class spawn is occupancy-consulted on the destination worktree (#4066); explore/ephemeral spawn stay outside that consult. Join negotiation is owner-issued membership (`occupancy:grant`, #3755); the parked child-initiated `occupancy:request` queue stays unimplemented and is no longer named in remediation. `swarm:launch` carries the same explicit owner and persists `occupancy_session_id` in a cohort-keyed record; close-out uses that cohort entry as authority, requires any ambient owner to corroborate it, and never substitutes the current live lease owner. Swarm close-out stays `releaseSwarmOccupancy` on complete-cohort.
 - ~ Operators MAY still explicitly request full `deft session:start`, `deft triage:welcome`, sync, or doctor in read-only sessions.
 
 ### Assist / research posture (#1802)
@@ -455,17 +457,17 @@ Cross-link: spawn three postures and deny recoveries live under § Agent-host di
 ### Mutable ritual (mutation posture)
 
 - ! On **mutation** session start, run `deft session:start` (or `task session:start` in framework source) after loading AGENTS.md. Records quick-tier ritual in `.deft/ritual-state.json`: alignment confirmation, branch-policy disclosure, `deft verify:tools` guidance, default-branch sync warnings, and `deft triage:welcome` one-liner. State is worktree- and HEAD-bound; stale after `plan.policy.sessionRitualStalenessHours` hours (default 4). Mutation start also claims the worktree occupancy lease (`.deft/occupancy.json`); see Session routing (#3433).
-- ! **Orientation compression Now (#3286):** mutation cold `session:start` composes `doctor` + #3282 toolchain preflight (and deposit-sha fast-paths for `agents:refresh` / `verify:cache-fresh`) as inline sections with per-section status lines — composition of existing steps, not a new monolith. When the deposit fingerprint (payload + templates + engine) is unchanged, refresh surfaces print one-line `unchanged - sha match` no-ops. Opt-in compact output: `deft session:start -- --compact` or `DEFT_SESSION_COMPACT=1` (verbose remains the default). #2176 read-only default is unchanged. Dual-path Later (`deft orient`) stays open until run-summary telemetry shows ritual+gate share ≥ 25% after Now ships (#2899).
+- ! **Orientation compression Now (#3286):** mutation cold `session:start` composes `doctor` + #3282 toolchain preflight (and deposit-sha fast-paths for `agents:refresh` / `verify:cache-fresh`) as inline sections with per-section status lines — composition of existing steps, not a new monolith. When the deposit fingerprint (payload + templates + engine) is unchanged, refresh surfaces print one-line `unchanged - sha match` no-ops. Opt-in compact output: `deft session:start --compact` or `DEFT_SESSION_COMPACT=1` (verbose remains the default). #2176 read-only default is unchanged. Dual-path Later (`deft orient`) stays open until run-summary telemetry shows ritual+gate share ≥ 25% after Now ships (#2899).
 - ! Cold `session:start` does **not** run the live agent-hook probe. Functional readiness belongs to the gated mutation path so cold ceremony retains the #2990/#2991 latency profile.
 - ! **Hot path latency (#2991):** by default, mutation `session:start` does **not** block ritual-state write on optional network. It skips the npm release-availability probe and triage cache empty-hydrate / self-heal (`ensureTriageCacheHydrated` / `maybeSelfHealCache`). Targets (operator-facing, not CI-hard): warm hot path typically under a few seconds once tools are on PATH; cold path dominated by local `verify:tools` and git, usually well under ~30s when optional network is off. Empty-cache GitHub fetch-all and npm `view` previously accounted for multi-minute hangs in the WWYSYDH pilot — those stay off the critical path unless opted in.
 - ! **Cold vs re-arm ceremony tiers (#2992):** default `session:start` is the **cold** (full) path. After age staleness or compact re-arm (#2113) on the **same worktree** with continuous HEAD and previously-passing quick steps, prefer `deft session:start --rearm` (alias `--tier=rearm`) to refresh the ritual clock + HEAD/worktree bind without `verify:tools`, triage welcome, release probe, or staleness tickler. Full cold remains required for missing/invalid state, worktree change, discontinuous HEAD, first install, or failed/missing quick steps. Compact marks `rearm_needed`; PreToolUse denial and inspect/verify messages prefer re-arm recovery when cold is unnecessary.
-- ? Opt into optional network: `deft session:start -- --with-network` or `DEFT_SESSION_START_NETWORK=1`. When enabled, the bounded release-availability probe runs against the public npm registry (skips framework source checkouts, non-release pins, and `DEFT_NO_NETWORK=1`; identical latest-version notices throttle for 24 hours in `xbrief/.triage-cache/release-availability-state.json`). Default-mode triage welcome then also hydrates/self-heals the triage cache. This is separate from `deft doctor`, whose bare and gated invocations remain offline by default (#2182). Refs #1692 / #2991. Re-arm never runs optional network.
+- ? Opt into optional network: `deft session:start --with-network` or `DEFT_SESSION_START_NETWORK=1`. When enabled, the bounded release-availability probe runs against the public npm registry (skips framework source checkouts, non-release pins, and `DEFT_NO_NETWORK=1`; identical latest-version notices throttle for 24 hours in `xbrief/.triage-cache/release-availability-state.json`). Default-mode triage welcome then also hydrates/self-heals the triage cache. This is separate from `deft doctor`, whose bare and gated invocations remain offline by default (#2182). Refs #1692 / #2991. Re-arm never runs optional network.
 - ~ `session:start --json` includes `steps[]` with `name` + `duration_ms` for major phases (`alignment`, `branch_policy`, `verify_tools`, `triage_welcome`, `release_probe`, `ritual_write`), plus total `duration_ms`, `optional_network`, and `ceremony_tier` (`cold` | `rearm`). Skipped optional steps report `skipped: true` and `duration_ms: 0`. Use this for attribution when investigating ceremony wall-clock.
 - ~ **Process-cost events (#2994 / #3508):** on mutation `session:start` completion (cold or re-arm), Directive appends a local `session:start` behavioral event to `.deft-cache/events.jsonl` with `ceremony_tier`, `duration_ms`, `exit_code`, and optional `steps[]` (same labels as `--json`). Mutation `session:start` also prints one operator-visible `ceremony <tier> <ms>` line (hidden under `--compact` / `DEFT_SESSION_COMPACT`). When PreToolUse denies for `ritual-not-ready`, a local `session:ritual-blocked` event records `tool_name`, `code`, and optional `recovery_tier` / `detail`. Always-on best-effort (never blocks ceremony or deny path); not gated on `valueFeedback`; **no remote upload** (Product Insights #2603 is a separate opt-in). Pull the rollup with `task value:show` (composed reader; CLI process time, not agent-turn wall clock). See § Process-cost events below. ⊗ Do not use the printed CLI duration as #3286 Later graduation input.
 - ~ At safe idle points (clean tree, no in-flight story), mutation session start and `deft scope:complete` may also run the staleness tickler: an interactive, consent-based offer to upgrade Directive (`npm i -g @deftai/directive@latest`) and/or migrate xBRIEF (`deft migrate:xbrief`). Escalation tiers, snooze windows, and opt-out live under `plan.policy.stalenessTickler` — inspect with `deft policy:show --field=stalenessTickler`. State persists in `xbrief/.triage-cache/staleness-tickler-state.json`. Skips framework source checkouts, dirty trees, CI/headless (`DEFT_SESSION_RITUAL_SKIP=1`), and typed opt-out. Refs #2488 / #2489.
 - ! Before any code-writing tool call or `start_agent` implementation dispatch, run `deft verify:session-ritual -- --tier=gated`. Gated tier fails closed unless quick-tier state is fresh; lazily records the non-deferrable `agent_hooks` readiness gate plus `deft doctor` and `deft verify:cache-fresh` entrypoints. Agent-hook correctness is independent of doctor warnings and throttling. Step 0 of the pre-`start_agent` gate stack.
 - ! **One-shot recovery (#2993 / #3100):** when PreToolUse denies writes for a stale/missing gated ritual, run `deft session:ready` (or `task session:ready`). It composes `session:start` (only when quick-tier is not green) + `verify:session-ritual -- --tier=gated` + `cache fetch-all --force` when `cache_fresh` is the remaining blocker, then re-verifies. Even when gated inspect is already fresh, the fast path forces one live `agent_hooks` check so later drift cannot hide behind cached ritual state; it still avoids unnecessary fetch-all. Flags: `--json`, `--repo OWNER/NAME`, `--with-network` (forwarded to session:start). Prefer this over juggling the multi-step recovery sequence under hook pressure.
-- ? Postpone with `deft session:start -- --defer step=reason` (`alignment`, `branch_policy`, `triage_welcome`, `doctor`, `cache_fresh`). `agent_hooks` is non-deferrable.
+- ? Postpone with `deft session:start --defer step=reason` (`alignment`, `branch_policy`, `triage_welcome`, `doctor`, `cache_fresh`). `agent_hooks` is non-deferrable.
 - Headless workers / CI MAY set `DEFT_SESSION_RITUAL_SKIP=1`; verifier exits 0 but warns when bypass hides failure.
 - ⊗ Self-report ritual complete without fresh `deft session:start` state; ⊗ bypass `deft verify:session-ritual` before implementation dispatch; ⊗ reorder/skip/merge ritual tiers without operator override.
 

package/contracts/design-critique.md

@@ -47,6 +47,23 @@ The Stop 1 write-back records `refutation-target:` naming the triage author's hi
 
 `verify:judgment-gates --enforce` stays opt-in unused in this rollout. Advisory observe first. No marker means the gate never fires. Voluntary critiques stay legal.
 
+### Run posture (#4072)
+
+The front door is a session-local run-posture field, not a second ingest switch and not a third occupancy concept. Occupancy mechanics stay on #4020. Cite that rule; do not clone it.
+
+Closed tokens on the operator utterance: `direct`, `forge-only`, `github-only`, `github only`, `no worktrees` for direct; `checkout` for the mutating checkout path. `parseOperatorRunPosture` (`packages/core/src/design-critique/run-posture.ts`) matches those tokens with word boundaries. Missing token, including `arc <N> yolo`, asks before Stop 1. Yolo does not pick a mode. `ingest` is not a front-door mode; that token asks. ⊗ Substring or NLP classification. ⊗ Front-door mode `ingest`. ⊗ A yolo default-direct.
+
+Record `arc-mode: direct` or `arc-mode: checkout` on the Stop 1 write-back. `evaluateDirectDispatch` is a fixture over parent-claimed actions, not a live occupancy observer.
+
+- ! Record `arc-mode:` on the Stop 1 write-back before any mutation-capable session start.
+- ! Direct means `session:start --read-only`, or an explicit occupancy release if a mutation lease is already held.
+- ! Recognition of `direct` happens before mutation initialization. Refuse direct when mutation `session:start` has already occurred, unless the lease is released first.
+- ! Direct posting path that survives a foreign lease: `gh issue comment --body-file -` (stdin). Least-authority envelope: bounded GitHub reads and one comment post.
+- ! Direct N>1 process-only critics are not swarm Phase 2 and not a #4066 mutating worker. Family CLIs still spawn. ⊗ `git worktree add`. Pin reads to `git show <dispatch-sha>:` against the recorded SHA. ⊗ A moving branch ref.
+- ! Direct EXIT names ingest as a later operator verb after the completed-arc record. ⊗ Auto-ingest.
+- ⊗ Treat `arc-mode:` as ingest clearance or as a permanent ingest denial.
+- ⊗ Record a front-door mode named `ingest`.
+
 ## Stop 2 — Variant selection
 
 Record one line per arc: the **charter** (`refutation` | `open critique`), the **spend** (`N=1`, or `N≥3` when the permission is used), and why.
@@ -172,7 +189,7 @@ seat: codex launcher: codex
 
 - ! For spend N≥3, the panel-deposit or a sibling-seat record names three claimed families before the first sibling spawn. Parent claims the family at dispatch. ⊗ Classify family from a model slug.
 - ! A same-family sibling set is not a panel. ⊗ Lean it. Printed recovery is re-seat (or halt), not wait for Stop 5.
-- ! Grok Build launcher tree: Grok seat via `spawn_subagent` (or `grok`); Claude seat via `claude` CLI; Codex seat via `codex exec`. Worktree isolation before each spawn. Probe `claude` / `codex` on PATH before offering paste-ready. Paste-ready is the fallback when a named family's CLI is absent. Close stdin on CLI spawns (Windows `cmd /c "… <nul"`; Unix `… </dev/null`). Pointer: [`docs/grok-build-subscription-setup.md`](../docs/grok-build-subscription-setup.md).
+- ! Grok Build launcher tree: Grok seat via `spawn_subagent` (or `grok`); Claude seat via `claude` CLI; Codex seat via `codex exec`. Worktree isolation before each spawn unless `arc-mode: direct`. Probe `claude` / `codex` on PATH before offering paste-ready. Paste-ready is the fallback when a named family's CLI is absent. Close stdin on CLI spawns (Windows `cmd /c "… <nul"`; Unix `… </dev/null`). Pointer: [`docs/grok-build-subscription-setup.md`](../docs/grok-build-subscription-setup.md).
 - ! `evaluatePanelSeatComposition` (`packages/core/src/design-critique/panel-seat-families.ts`) refuses a same-family N≥3 set and refuses paste-ready-first when `claude` / `codex` resolve. It takes claimed families and PATH probe results. It does not observe live comments and does not count siblings.
 - ! After a dispatch-composition miss, offer a prevention issue. On yolo, file it. ⊗ Only re-seat.
 
@@ -467,7 +484,7 @@ Closed catalog (last chip wins): `design-critique:mechanism-shaped` (in-flight,
 - ⊗ `gh api POST .../labels` or additive `scm:issue:edit --add-label` for this facet.
 - ⊗ Intercept mixed `scm issue edit` adds/removes for this facet.
 - ⊗ General-purpose labels CLI.
-- ! After the completed-arc record is present, `triage:accept` / `scope:promote` / `issue:ingest` / build may proceed unless `evaluateCompletedArcRecord` returns `cancelled` or `unrecut-body` (#4057). Any identity may run those verbs. Same-session parent continuation is not required. GitHub Triage on the implementer is not required. They read the accepted verified synthesis (latest successor lean plus the verified-claims table).
+- ! After the completed-arc record is present, `triage:accept` / `scope:promote` / `issue:ingest` / build may proceed unless `evaluateCompletedArcRecord` returns `cancelled` or `unrecut-body` (#4057). Any identity may run those verbs. Same-session parent continuation is not required. ⊗ Treat `arc-mode:` as ingest clearance or as a permanent ingest denial. Ingest stays `issue:ingest` after the completed-arc record. Direct EXIT names it as a later operator verb. GitHub Triage on the implementer is not required. They read the accepted verified synthesis (latest successor lean plus the verified-claims table).
 - ! Per-thread body ingest stays the mapper after a set-level bind. Stories the bind wants are recut bodies or newly filed issues. Derived AC stays on that body.
 - ! Un-recut portfolio members fail closed on `cancelled`. Parent posts `design-critique: cancelled, because ...` on that number. Parent `role: parent` dominate prose is not that record. Critic, quoted, or fenced cancel-shaped prose is not that record. Leftover `mechanism-shaped` without cancel stays `missing-record` and is not this control.
 - ! A later successor lean after cancel starts a recut arc. Completing a superseded thread without recut would mint the harvest.
@@ -576,4 +593,4 @@ This motion ingests untrusted issue threads by design.
 
 ## Test surface
 
-`packages/core/src/content-contracts/standards/design_critique_contract.test.ts` locks required pointer strings, the scaffolds framing, the comment-lead field as model then role from the closed set (not an issue label), the operator-gated loop (successor lean, operator verbs including walk / walk all, dual stop, halt line, exclusive remaining-set replace of the two catalog chips, #3640 auto-stamp on a non-empty all-accept map and no-stamp on stubs, first-lean recording obligation after this round's siblings are posted), the parent-side substantiation token and independence rules, the Stop 1 exclusion (pre-critic premises outside the trigger) and `refutation-target:` field tokens rather than full body sentences, the composed auto-bind conjunct (all-accept map AND zero unresolved audit markers) at Operator verbs and Bind path 1, the variant-table evaluation rule (charter selection and spend permission evaluated independently), the critic-method heading and distinctive obligation tokens (exact class tokens, citations-are-claims, existing mechanisms, injection / swarm trigger nouns, failed-reviewer phrase, finding anatomy) rather than full body sentences, the brief-template forbidden-inputs list, and the thin router skill (existence, line cap, pointer resolution, no-normative-content). `evaluateParentAudit` locks the omission failure modes. This suite locks the SoT MUST and the thin skill pointer for the first-lean recording obligation, including the auto-stamp operator-confirm conjunct and the no-bind-while-unposted-same-round-siblings rule. `evaluateCompletedArcRecord` locks ingest on the completed-arc record rather than a catalog chip. It does not fail-close live parent turns. `packages/core/src/design-critique/citation-grammar.test.ts` locks the `## Citation grammar` closed set, the refused positions, and the diagnostics surface; `packages/core/src/design-critique/completed-arc-record.test.ts` locks one parser for both questions, set membership against the latest lean, and the observation-echoing block details (#3831). Runtime parent-turn detection only if `evaluateParentAudit` is extended; that extension is not required to ship the recording obligation. Panel completeness is locked as contract text only. No predicate observes it on a live arc (#3850). `evaluatePanelSeatComposition` locks claimed-family composition and PATH paste-ready-first; it is a fixture over claimed families, not a live sibling-count gate. `### The arc` and its derived boundaries, the `### Target shape` axis with its twice-run caveat, and the two bind-path-2 non-empty refusals are locked as contract text (#3797). `## Plain-language summary` is locked the same way: the contract test pins the heading token, the MUST-not-SHOULD reasoning, the ADR-006 exemption and its limit, the non-normative marking, and the per-artifact reserved line-start matrix, and `packages/core/src/design-critique/reserved-line-starts.test.ts` exercises each of the three families on each artifact kind against the exported shape predicates and `evaluateCompletedArcRecord`. No predicate observes a summary on a live arc (#3929). `### Verified-claims table heading`, the closed reason vocabulary, and the re-measured line-start matrix are locked as contract text, and `completed-arc-record.test.ts` exercises the typed refusal partition: the two states, details that differ by more than the id, the untyped null table id, and the seven recorded live arc table ids (#3942).
+`packages/core/src/content-contracts/standards/design_critique_contract.test.ts` locks required pointer strings, the scaffolds framing, the comment-lead field as model then role from the closed set (not an issue label), the operator-gated loop (successor lean, operator verbs including walk / walk all, dual stop, halt line, exclusive remaining-set replace of the two catalog chips, #3640 auto-stamp on a non-empty all-accept map and no-stamp on stubs, first-lean recording obligation after this round's siblings are posted), the parent-side substantiation token and independence rules, the Stop 1 exclusion (pre-critic premises outside the trigger) and `refutation-target:` field tokens rather than full body sentences, the composed auto-bind conjunct (all-accept map AND zero unresolved audit markers) at Operator verbs and Bind path 1, the variant-table evaluation rule (charter selection and spend permission evaluated independently), the critic-method heading and distinctive obligation tokens (exact class tokens, citations-are-claims, existing mechanisms, injection / swarm trigger nouns, failed-reviewer phrase, finding anatomy) rather than full body sentences, the brief-template forbidden-inputs list, and the thin router skill (existence, line cap, pointer resolution, no-normative-content). `evaluateParentAudit` locks the omission failure modes. This suite locks the SoT MUST and the thin skill pointer for the first-lean recording obligation, including the auto-stamp operator-confirm conjunct and the no-bind-while-unposted-same-round-siblings rule. `evaluateCompletedArcRecord` locks ingest on the completed-arc record rather than a catalog chip. It does not fail-close live parent turns. `packages/core/src/design-critique/citation-grammar.test.ts` locks the `## Citation grammar` closed set, the refused positions, and the diagnostics surface; `packages/core/src/design-critique/completed-arc-record.test.ts` locks one parser for both questions, set membership against the latest lean, and the observation-echoing block details (#3831). Runtime parent-turn detection only if `evaluateParentAudit` is extended; that extension is not required to ship the recording obligation. Panel completeness is locked as contract text only. No predicate observes it on a live arc (#3850). `evaluatePanelSeatComposition` locks claimed-family composition and PATH paste-ready-first; it is a fixture over claimed families, not a live sibling-count gate. `### The arc` and its derived boundaries, the `### Target shape` axis with its twice-run caveat, and the two bind-path-2 non-empty refusals are locked as contract text (#3797). `## Plain-language summary` is locked the same way: the contract test pins the heading token, the MUST-not-SHOULD reasoning, the ADR-006 exemption and its limit, the non-normative marking, and the per-artifact reserved line-start matrix, and `packages/core/src/design-critique/reserved-line-starts.test.ts` exercises each of the three families on each artifact kind against the exported shape predicates and `evaluateCompletedArcRecord`. No predicate observes a summary on a live arc (#3929). `### Verified-claims table heading`, the closed reason vocabulary, and the re-measured line-start matrix are locked as contract text, and `completed-arc-record.test.ts` exercises the typed refusal partition: the two states, details that differ by more than the id, the untyped null table id, and the seven recorded live arc table ids (#3942). `### Run posture` and `parseOperatorRunPosture` / `evaluateDirectDispatch` lock the closed-token front door, the missing-token ask including yolo, the `session:start --read-only` start verb, stdin posting, SHA-pinned reads, and the no-worktree direct panel; `run-posture.test.ts` exercises those fixtures. `evaluateCompletedArcRecord` ignores `arc-mode:` (#4072).

package/conventions/machine-generated-banner.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Legend (from RFC2119): !=MUST, ~=SHOULD, ≉=SHOULD NOT, ⊗=MUST NOT, ?=MAY.
 ## Why
 
 Before this contract, deft had four machine-managed file writers
-(`task migrate:vbrief` deprecation redirects, `task spec:render`,
+(frozen `task migrate:vbrief` deprecation redirects (v0.59.0; historical), `task spec:render`,
 `task prd:render`, `task roadmap:render`) and each used a different
 (or no) banner convention. Downstream heuristics that distinguish
 "is this file user-customized" from "is this machine-managed" were
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ of the file:
 - `{purpose}` — one of the enumerated per-writer purposes below; fixed
   string values so downstream detectors can match on a stable token.
 - `{source}` — the source-of-truth path the writer consumed
-  (typically `vbrief/specification.vbrief.json`), or `n/a` when the
+  (typically `xbrief/specification.xbrief.json`), or `n/a` when the
   writer has no single source-of-truth file (e.g. the migrator
   deprecation redirect, which is driven by the migration flow).
 - `{command}` — the canonical `task *` invocation that regenerates
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ of the file:
 The `Purpose:` value is a small fixed enum so detectors can match on a
 stable token. Writers MUST use exactly one of these values:
 
-- `rendered specification` -- `scripts/spec_render.py` -> `SPECIFICATION.md`
-- `rendered PRD` -- `scripts/prd_render.py` -> `PRD.md`
-- `rendered roadmap` -- `scripts/roadmap_render.py` -> `ROADMAP.md`
-- `deprecation redirect` -- `scripts/migrate_vbrief.py::_deprecation_redirect()`
+- `rendered specification` -- `task spec:render` -> `SPECIFICATION.md`
+- `rendered PRD` -- `task prd:render` -> `PRD.md`
+- `rendered roadmap` -- `task roadmap:render` -> `ROADMAP.md`
+- `deprecation redirect` -- frozen `task migrate:vbrief` (v0.59.0; historical)
   -> replaced `SPECIFICATION.md` / `PROJECT.md`
 
 ? Future render tasks added under `tasks/` MUST extend this list before
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ contract violation.
 
 ## Detection heuristic (for user-customization guards)
 
-! `scripts/migrate_vbrief.py::_is_user_customized()` consults the
+! Frozen `task migrate:vbrief` (v0.59.0) `_is_user_customized()` consults the
 `_SPEC_AUTO_MARKERS` and `_PROJECT_AUTO_MARKERS` tuples. Both MUST
 include `"AUTO-GENERATED by"` and the FULL HTML-comment prefix
 `"<!-- Purpose:"` so any file carrying this banner is recognised as
@@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ incorrectly re-flagged as pre-cutover on rc.3.
 ```
 <!-- AUTO-GENERATED by task spec:render -- DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY -->
 <!-- Purpose: rendered specification -->
-<!-- Source of truth: vbrief/specification.vbrief.json -->
+<!-- Source of truth: xbrief/specification.xbrief.json -->
 <!-- Regenerate with: task spec:render -->
 # My Project
 ...
 ```
 
-## Example (migrator deprecation redirect)
+## Example (frozen migrator deprecation redirect, v0.59.0; historical)
 
 ```
 <!-- AUTO-GENERATED by task migrate:vbrief -- DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY -->

package/conventions/rule-ownership.json

@@ -252,11 +252,11 @@
     },
     {
       "id": "main-vbrief-persistence",
-      "text": "All vBRIEF files MUST be stored in `./vbrief/` or its lifecycle subfolders",
+      "text": "All xBRIEF files MUST be stored in `./xbrief/` or its lifecycle subfolders",
       "owner_file": "main.md",
-      "owner_section": "## vBRIEF Persistence",
+      "owner_section": "## xBRIEF Persistence",
       "authority": "MUST",
-      "last_verified": "2026-04-28"
+      "last_verified": "2026-09-02"
     },
     {
       "id": "agents-deft-alignment-confirmation",

package/docs/scope-provenance.md

@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ Flags:
 | `--xbrief-rel-path` | no | override path binding; default maps `pending/` → `active/` |
 | `--repo` | no | `owner/name` seed for preimage `approvedRepos` (same source as `issue:emit`) |
 
+Those two record kinds are **tracked provenance**, not local cache. Canonical `deft init` / `deft update` gitignore must not ignore the `.deft/approved-scope/` directory. Crash-journal, lock, and `.next` sidecars in that directory stay ignored. `git add` of the two record files must work without `-f`. Leftover directory ignore lines (both slash spellings) are healed off on update.
+
 Commit **both** `.deft/approved-scope/<plan-id>.json` and `<plan-id>.intent.json` on the **merge base** (or a prior PR) before the implementation PR activates or expands the scoped xBRIEF. Read the preimage before you commit — that file is the approved intent.
 
 ## Three layers (do not mix)

package/main.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Foundational guidelines for AI agent behavior in the Deft framework.
 
 Legend (from RFC2119): !=MUST, ~=SHOULD, ≉=SHOULD NOT, ⊗=MUST NOT, ?=MAY.
 
-**⚠️ Rule Precedence**: USER.md has two sections: `Personal` (always wins — name, custom rules) and `Defaults` (fallback — strategy, coverage, languages; PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json overrides these). (Override path via `DEFT_USER_PATH` env var; )
+**⚠️ Rule Precedence**: USER.md has two sections: `Personal` (always wins — name, custom rules) and `Defaults` (fallback — strategy, coverage, languages; PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json overrides these). (Override path via `DEFT_USER_PATH` env var; )
 
 **📋 Lazy Loading**: See `npx deft packs:slice skills list` (Skills Index; `REFERENCES.md` is maintainer-only and does not ship) for guidance on when to load which files.
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Legend (from RFC2119): !=MUST, ~=SHOULD, ≉=SHOULD NOT, ⊗=MUST NOT, ?=MAY.
 - `main.md` - General AI behavior (this document)
 - [coding/coding.md](./coding/coding.md) - Software development guidelines
 - `~/.config/deft/USER.md` - Personal preferences (highest precedence)
-- `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` - Project identity gestalt and scope registry
+- `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` - Project identity gestalt and scope registry
 
 **Coding-Specific:**
 - Languages: [languages/cpp.md](./languages/cpp.md), [languages/go.md](./languages/go.md), [languages/officejs.md](./languages/officejs.md), [languages/python.md](./languages/python.md), [languages/typescript.md](./languages/typescript.md), [languages/vba.md](./languages/vba.md)
@@ -191,21 +191,21 @@ Source material: AI Agent Traps paper (`docs/ssrn-6372438.pdf`, Franklin et al.,
 
 Propagation: the canonical orchestrator preamble at [templates/agent-prompt-preamble.md](./templates/agent-prompt-preamble.md) carries the same rule so dispatched workers inherit the behavior. This is the same class as the approval-fatigue defense above (`## Agent Trap Defenses`) applied to a different surface -- "you cancelled" is a buried mis-attribution that the rule corrects with the same fail-loud / surface-the-anomaly discipline.
 
-## vBRIEF Persistence
+## xBRIEF Persistence
 
-- ! All vBRIEF files MUST be stored in `./vbrief/` or its lifecycle subfolders — never in workspace root
-- ! Use `PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` (singular) as the project identity gestalt — narratives for identity, items as scope registry
-- ! Use `plan.vbrief.json` (singular) for session-level tactical plans and progress tracking
-- ! Use `continue.vbrief.json` (singular) for interruption recovery checkpoints
-- ! Specifications are written as `specification.vbrief.json`, then rendered to `.md`
-- ! Scope vBRIEFs live in lifecycle folders: `proposed/`, `pending/`, `active/`, `completed/`, `cancelled/`
-- ! Scope vBRIEF filenames MUST follow: `YYYY-MM-DD-descriptive-slug.vbrief.json` (slug rules: [`conventions/vbrief-filenames.md`](./conventions/vbrief-filenames.md))
-- ! Playbooks use `playbook-{name}.vbrief.json` (named, not ULID-suffixed)
+- ! All xBRIEF files MUST be stored in `./xbrief/` or its lifecycle subfolders — never in workspace root
+- ! Use `PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` (singular) as the project identity gestalt — narratives for identity, items as scope registry
+- ! Use `plan.xbrief.json` (singular) for session-level tactical plans and progress tracking
+- ! Use `continue.xbrief.json` (singular) for interruption recovery checkpoints
+- ! Specifications are written as `specification.xbrief.json`, then rendered to `.md`
+- ! Scope xBRIEFs live in lifecycle folders: `proposed/`, `pending/`, `active/`, `completed/`, `cancelled/`
+- ! Scope xBRIEF filenames MUST follow: `YYYY-MM-DD-descriptive-slug.xbrief.json` (slug rules: [`conventions/vbrief-filenames.md`](./conventions/vbrief-filenames.md))
+- ! Playbooks use `playbook-{name}.xbrief.json` (named, not ULID-suffixed)
 - ! Completed xBRIEFs are evidence of what was built — full standing as a record of *what is*, zero authority over *what to build next* (#3383). The current contract is the active xBRIEF plus the human operator's live instruction. Both halves are required.
 - ⊗ Use ULID-suffixed filenames for plan, todo, or continue files
-- ⊗ Place vBRIEF files at workspace root
-- ⊗ Write `SPECIFICATION.md` directly — it MUST be generated from `specification.vbrief.json`
-- ⊗ Move scope vBRIEFs between lifecycle folders without updating `plan.status`
+- ⊗ Place xBRIEF files at workspace root
+- ⊗ Write `SPECIFICATION.md` directly — it MUST be generated from `specification.xbrief.json`
+- ⊗ Move scope xBRIEFs between lifecycle folders without updating `plan.status`
 - ⊗ Treat a completed xBRIEF as the next-build contract, or let it override the active story or the live human instruction
 
 ### Schema version: v0.8 (canonical write)
@@ -230,10 +230,10 @@ Projects that pre-date v0.20 (pre-vBRIEF-centric model) must migrate on a **pinn
 
 A consumer project is **pre-cutover** if ANY of these hold:
 
-- `SPECIFICATION.md` exists at the project root and is neither a deprecation redirect nor a current generated spec export. A current generated spec export contains `<!-- Purpose: rendered specification -->` and `<!-- Source of truth: vbrief/specification.vbrief.json -->`, and `vbrief/specification.vbrief.json` plus all five lifecycle folders exist.
+- `SPECIFICATION.md` exists at the project root and is neither a deprecation redirect nor a current generated spec export. A current generated spec export contains `<!-- Purpose: rendered specification -->` and a layout-resolved `<!-- Source of truth: ... -->` line for the specification artifact (`xbrief/specification.xbrief.json` on a migrated tree), and that artifact plus all five lifecycle folders exist.
 - `PROJECT.md` exists at the project root and is not a deprecation redirect (`<!-- deft:deprecated-redirect -->` or `<!-- Purpose: deprecation redirect -->`)
-- `vbrief/` exists but one or more of the five lifecycle subfolders (`proposed/`, `pending/`, `active/`, `completed/`, `cancelled/`) is missing
-- `vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` is absent on a project that otherwise looks set up
+- `xbrief/` exists but one or more of the five lifecycle subfolders (`proposed/`, `pending/`, `active/`, `completed/`, `cancelled/`) is missing
+- `xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` is absent on a project that otherwise looks set up
 
 The executable detection helper is `task migrate:preflight`. The full agent-facing flow lives in [QUICK-START.md](./QUICK-START.md) Step 2 and in [skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md](./skills/deft-directive-setup/SKILL.md) (Pre-Cutover Detection Guard).
 
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ After migration completes, upgrade to current npm per [UPGRADING.md](./UPGRADING
 
 ### What migration produces
 
-The migrator replaces `SPECIFICATION.md` and `PROJECT.md` with deprecation-redirect stubs (both carry the `<!-- deft:deprecated-redirect -->` sentinel) and writes:
+**Legacy (frozen v0.59.0 `task migrate:vbrief` only — not a current write path; do not reverse #2907).** The migrator replaces `SPECIFICATION.md` and `PROJECT.md` with deprecation-redirect stubs (both carry the `<!-- deft:deprecated-redirect -->` sentinel) and writes:
 
 - `vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` — project identity gestalt (narratives + items registry)
 - `vbrief/specification.vbrief.json` — design narratives and requirements
@@ -366,18 +366,18 @@ See [commands.md](./commands.md) for full workflow details.
 ### Session
 
 - `/deft:continue` — Resume from continue checkpoint ([resilience/continue-here.md](./resilience/continue-here.md))
-- `/deft:checkpoint` — Save session state to `./vbrief/continue.vbrief.json`
+- `/deft:checkpoint` — Save session state to `./xbrief/continue.xbrief.json`
 
 ## Context Awareness
 
 **Project Context:**
-- ! Check `./vbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json` (in your consumer project) for project-specific rules and scope registry
+- ! Check `./xbrief/PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json` (in your consumer project) for project-specific rules and scope registry
 - ! Follow project-specific patterns and conventions
 - ~ Note which rules/patterns are being applied
 
 **User Context:**
 - ! Respect `~/.config/deft/USER.md` Personal section (highest precedence)
-- ! For project-scoped settings, PROJECT-DEFINITION.vbrief.json overrides USER.md Defaults
+- ! For project-scoped settings, PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json overrides USER.md Defaults
 - ! Remember user's maintained projects and their purposes
 - ~ Adapt communication style to user's expertise level
 
@@ -389,4 +389,4 @@ See [commands.md](./commands.md) for full workflow details.
 
 **Context Engineering:**
 - ~ See [context/context.md](./context/context.md) for strategies on managing context budget
-- ~ Use vBRIEF ([vbrief.org](https://vbrief.org)) for structured task plans, scratchpads, and checkpoints
+- ~ Use xBRIEF for structured task plans, scratchpads, and checkpoints

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@deftai/directive-content",
-  "version": "0.110.0",
+  "version": "0.111.0",
   "deftConsumerDeposit": true,
   "description": "Shippable Directive framework content in the consumer .deft/core/ layout (C1 flatten), plus the engine surfaces (.githooks/, Taskfile.yml, tasks/) the deposit wires. Python-free per #2022 Phase 3. Refs #11, #1669, #1967.",
   "license": "MIT",

package/packs/rules/rules-pack-0.1.json

@@ -3839,7 +3839,7 @@
       "id": "agents-029",
       "tier": "MUST",
       "domain": "agents",
-      "text": "**Worker-owns-lifecycle (Gap C):** When dispatching an implementation worker, the envelope MUST declare `stop-at: pr-open` OR `drive-to: merge-ready` (default for story work). Workers scoped `drive-to: merge-ready` own PR + review cycle + fix batches through merge-ready as ONE unit of work \u2014 they spawn their own review poller per review-cycle monitoring tiers; the orchestrator MUST NOT hand back at PR-open and re-dispatch separate leaf agents for review/fixes.",
+      "text": "**Worker-owns-lifecycle (Gap C):** When dispatching an implementation worker, the envelope MUST declare `stop-at: pr-open` OR `drive-to: merge-ready` (default for story work). Workers scoped `drive-to: merge-ready` own PR + review cycle + fix batches through merge-ready as ONE unit of work \u2014 following review-cycle monitoring tiers (Grok Build / Cursor / Claude Code leaves that cannot nest block on `pr:watch` in-process and MUST NOT spawn a child poller) (#4130); the orchestrator MUST NOT hand back at PR-open and re-dispatch separate leaf agents for review/fixes.",
       "path": "AGENTS.md",
       "body": null
     },