@kungfu-tech/buildchain 2.12.9-alpha.0 → 2.12.9-alpha.1

package/dist/site/buildchain-contract.json

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "product": {
     "name": "Buildchain",
     "package": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
     "repository": "https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain"
   },
   "majorLine": "v2",
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@
         "manual entries carry source file digests so downstream sites and agents can detect stale hand-written documentation"
       ],
       "breakingDigest": "sha256:7d0d2819e3a3e72989d9c57b5efe9d0bc0a79bc0f2c82a0c7b9d6c5a211a91f2",
-      "auditDigest": "sha256:147a919feefa45c601f1e1fbf00a2d57bb0343294303adac2ea1f196a453ca4b"
+      "auditDigest": "sha256:2802068f68b5de5017053ba96d936c3c27d8931c4577828916b6337f790f7dc8"
     },
     {
       "contractVersion": 1,
@@ -2679,5 +2679,5 @@
     }
   ],
   "compatibilityDigest": "sha256:af162b86ab4506e9b5f1d3c59b41f3fd57fbad79ff4d749a7f12ff16460517f8",
-  "contractDigest": "sha256:f88aa4be723452b1ce9f064529a26898bbb6066454ef8aefc41fb6a7a17ce207"
+  "contractDigest": "sha256:9b3c0ab5cf0cd35c8117acd085389554be823e6ac49b076335f6c4581fee484d"
 }

package/dist/site/buildchain-site.json

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 {
   "schemaVersion": 1,
   "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-site-bundle",
-  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
-  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
+  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
+  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
   "reproducible": true,
   "timestampPolicy": "ci-injected",
   "deterministicInputs": [
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     "declared Buildchain surface manifest contract"
   ],
   "sourceDateEpoch": "0",
-  "sourceRevision": "6ad6f3a62b05b6713d1345285ee9442bf4faa894",
+  "sourceRevision": "7ab8004aa2c6f99118710b81525f86d38615035b",
   "timestampPolicyDetails": {
     "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-surface-timestamp-policy",
     "timestampFields": [
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
   },
   "package": {
     "name": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
     "versionSource": "package.json#version"
   },
   "source": {
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/install.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:2600738a92b5853bc26d4e01211f0c07b8b36a21d4d72ca809bc6032dff5dc5f",
+      "digest": "sha256:1879849c01f82b8820f2d9aeb09faed0931954cb7fe6939176a5eb69110cee59",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@
           "anchor": "verify-a-release-passport"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Install and Verify Buildchain\n\nBuildchain can be consumed as a standalone binary, an npm package, or a\nrepository workflow surface. In every case, verify the release record before\nadopting a new version.\n\n## Standalone Binary\n\nUse the archive that matches the platform:\n\n| Platform | Asset |\n| --- | --- |\n| Linux x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |\n| macOS arm64 | `buildchain-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |\n| Windows x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |\n\nLinux example:\n\n```bash\ntag=v2.2.1\nbase=\"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/${tag}\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain.release.json\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/artifact-evidence.json\"\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\ntar -xzf buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\n./buildchain version\n```\n\nWindows example:\n\n```powershell\n$tag = \"v2.2.1\"\n$base = \"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/$tag\"\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip\" -OutFile buildchain.zip\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain.release.json\" -OutFile buildchain.release.json\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/artifact-evidence.json\" -OutFile artifact-evidence.json\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nExpand-Archive buildchain.zip -DestinationPath .\n.\\buildchain.exe version\n```\n\nThe GitHub Release page does not publish loose top-level `buildchain` or\n`buildchain.exe` files. The executable is inside each platform archive.\n\n## npm Package\n\n```bash\nnpm install -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain\nnpx buildchain version\nnpx buildchain doctor --json\n```\n\nAlpha releases publish to the `alpha` npm dist-tag. Stable releases publish to\n`latest`. Both are created by the protected Buildchain promotion transaction.\n\nStable consumers should pin the exact Buildchain version they have validated,\nfor example:\n\n```bash\npnpm add -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\n```\n\nIf a repository dogfoods a just-published Buildchain version and pnpm's release\nage policy blocks the install, use a temporary package/version-specific\n`minimumReleaseAgeExclude` entry instead of weakening the registry policy for\nall packages:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"pnpm\": {\n    \"minimumReleaseAgeExclude\": [\n      \"@kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\"\n    ]\n  }\n}\n```\n\nRemove that entry after the package is old enough for the repository's normal\npolicy. Do not use a broad exclude such as `@kungfu-tech/*` for this case.\n\n## Repository Integration\n\n```bash\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain init --type package --package-manager pnpm\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain validate --require-version-state\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain release --dry-run --target-ref alpha/v2/v2.2\n```\n\nUse `.buildchain/buildchain.toml` to declare lifecycle commands. The commands may use Node\npackage managers or non-Node tools such as pip, Conan, CMake, Make, or project\nscripts.\n\n## Verify a Release Passport\n\n```bash\nbuildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nbuildchain explain release --passport buildchain.release.json --for agent --json\n```\n\nThe verifier fails closed when the passport or its sibling evidence files are\nmissing required fields or mismatching artifact digests."
+      "markdown": "# Install and Verify Buildchain\n\nBuildchain can be consumed as a standalone binary, an npm package, or a\nrepository workflow surface. In every case, verify the release record before\nadopting a new version.\n\n## Standalone Binary\n\nUse the archive that matches the platform:\n\n| Platform | Asset |\n| --- | --- |\n| Linux x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |\n| macOS arm64 | `buildchain-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |\n| Windows x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |\n\nLinux example:\n\n```bash\ntag=v2.2.1\nbase=\"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/${tag}\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain.release.json\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/artifact-evidence.json\"\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\ntar -xzf buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\n./buildchain version\n```\n\nWindows example:\n\n```powershell\n$tag = \"v2.2.1\"\n$base = \"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/$tag\"\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip\" -OutFile buildchain.zip\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain.release.json\" -OutFile buildchain.release.json\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/artifact-evidence.json\" -OutFile artifact-evidence.json\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nExpand-Archive buildchain.zip -DestinationPath .\n.\\buildchain.exe version\n```\n\nThe GitHub Release page does not publish loose top-level `buildchain` or\n`buildchain.exe` files. The executable is inside each platform archive.\n\n## npm Package\n\n```bash\nnpm install -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain\nnpx buildchain version\nnpx buildchain doctor --json\n```\n\nThe highest alpha minor publishes to the `alpha` npm dist-tag; older maintenance\nminor alphas use `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global alpha channel back.\nStable releases publish to\n`latest`. Both are created by the protected Buildchain promotion transaction.\n\nStable consumers should pin the exact Buildchain version they have validated,\nfor example:\n\n```bash\npnpm add -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\n```\n\nIf a repository dogfoods a just-published Buildchain version and pnpm's release\nage policy blocks the install, use a temporary package/version-specific\n`minimumReleaseAgeExclude` entry instead of weakening the registry policy for\nall packages:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"pnpm\": {\n    \"minimumReleaseAgeExclude\": [\n      \"@kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\"\n    ]\n  }\n}\n```\n\nRemove that entry after the package is old enough for the repository's normal\npolicy. Do not use a broad exclude such as `@kungfu-tech/*` for this case.\n\n## Repository Integration\n\n```bash\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain init --type package --package-manager pnpm\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain validate --require-version-state\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain release --dry-run --target-ref alpha/v2/v2.2\n```\n\nUse `.buildchain/buildchain.toml` to declare lifecycle commands. The commands may use Node\npackage managers or non-Node tools such as pip, Conan, CMake, Make, or project\nscripts.\n\n## Verify a Release Passport\n\n```bash\nbuildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nbuildchain explain release --passport buildchain.release.json --for agent --json\n```\n\nThe verifier fails closed when the passport or its sibling evidence files are\nmissing required fields or mismatching artifact digests."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:kfd-support",
@@ -1124,7 +1124,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/publish-transaction.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:8d5d7075cf8b4280a4c5097726f5c51ae40db83e2652eafefe4fa5e487794f57",
+      "digest": "sha256:9e77030dbd69e27c2402d855980f7560a465270cac1f3225c0470523ab4a8ddf",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@
           "anchor": "build-images-follow-up"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Publish Transaction\n\nBuildchain release promotion is not just tag movement. A release can also publish\nexternal artifacts: npm packages, Python wheels, OCI images, binary archives,\nmetadata manifests, or site deployment records. Those side effects are harder\nthan Git refs because most registries are append-only: a failed rerun must know\nwhich artifacts already exist, which are still missing, and whether any existing\nartifact conflicts with the release material.\n\nBuildchain v2 models that work as a release transaction.\n\n## Why This Exists\n\nThe old ABV workflow made Git refs the visible release authority. That was\nenough when \"release\" meant \"create a version commit, move tags, and let\ndownstream jobs react.\" It is not enough when a single publish run must also\nupload packages and images.\n\nThe failure mode to avoid is:\n\n1. publish an external artifact;\n2. fail before moving the exact release tag or floating channel refs;\n3. rerun from a new job id with no memory of the artifact;\n4. either republish something different or move refs without proving the\n   already-published artifact matches the release.\n\nThe transaction gives reruns a stable identity and a machine-readable state so\nBuildchain can resume safely. The identity is:\n\n```text\nrepository + version + source_sha + target_ref\n```\n\nIt is not the GitHub Actions run id.\n\n## Durable State\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` stores release transaction state in a\nmachine-managed Git branch:\n\n```text\nrefs/heads/buildchain/release-state/<version>\n```\n\nThe branch contains:\n\n```text\nstate.json\nevidence.json   # present after publish evidence exists\n```\n\nThe local `.buildchain/release-state/...` and\n`.buildchain/release-evidence/...` files are working copies. They are useful for\nlocal inspection and lifecycle commands, but they are not the durable truth for\nGitHub-hosted reruns. On action startup, Buildchain reads the durable state ref\nfirst, restores the local working copies, and only then decides whether to\npublish, repair, or finalize.\n\nEvery meaningful state transition is written to the durable ref before public\nrelease refs move. Release-state GitHub API reads and writes use retry/backoff\nfor transient service failures such as HTTP 5xx responses, connection resets,\ntimeouts, and \"other side closed\" socket failures. If the durable write still\ncannot be persisted after retries, the action fails closed.\n\nDurable release-state refs reserve their exact version even when the public exact\ntag was never created. If a later machine run sees a failed or repair-required\nstate for `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N` and cannot resume it with the same transaction\nidentity, alpha version selection must advance to the next prerelease instead\nof reusing or overwriting that failed transaction slot.\n\n## Lifecycle\n\nRepositories declare publish work in `.buildchain/buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[publish]\nmode = \"publish-final-version\"\nauth = \"trusted-publishing\"\ndist_tag = \"latest\"\npackage_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"\nmain_package = \"@kungfu-tech/libnode\"\n\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommands = [\n  \"python scripts/publish_wheels.py\",\n  \"node scripts/publish-images.mjs\",\n  \"node scripts/write-publish-evidence.mjs\",\n]\n```\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` runs `lifecycle.publish` only when\n`publish-transaction: \"true\"` is set or when a `publish-command` input is\nprovided. The action sets:\n\n```text\nBUILDCHAIN_VERSION\nBUILDCHAIN_CHANNEL\nBUILDCHAIN_SOURCE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_TARGET_REF\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_STATE\nBUILDCHAIN_EVIDENCE_DIR\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE\nBUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_MODE\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_AUTH\nBUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_ORDER\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_MAIN_PACKAGE\n```\n\nBuildchain itself uses this contract for npm publishing:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommand = \"node scripts/npm-publish-transaction.mjs\"\n```\n\nThat script validates that `package.json` matches `BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`, runs\n`npm publish --access public --tag <BUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG>` through npm Trusted\nPublishing, and writes npm artifact evidence before the promotion action moves\npublic refs.\n\n`BUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA` is the source material whose artifacts must\nmatch. `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA` identifies the publishing code. A repair\nrun may change tooling, but material drift fails closed.\n\n## Post-Publish Requirements And Artifact Provenance\n\n`publish-required-artifacts-json` is a pre-publish family declaration, not a\nrequest to guess registry digests. A descriptor must include `kind + name`; it\nmay omit `ref` and `digest`. The action resolves a missing `ref` to the exact\n`BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`. Registries whose exact refs add a stable prefix or suffix\nmay instead declare a `ref_template` containing exactly one `{version}`, such\nas `v{version}`. The template is expanded only after exact version selection,\nso a resumed alpha transaction receives the newly selected prerelease rather\nthan the checked-out version. Declaring both `ref` and `ref_template`, using\nanother placeholder, or leaving unmatched braces fails before\n`lifecycle.publish`. The action exports the normalized exact refs as\n`BUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS`, runs `lifecycle.publish`, and then requires the\nfinal evidence to contain every exact member with a non-empty digest. Existing\ncallers may continue supplying exact refs and digests.\n\nOCI publishers can opt into strict per-artifact provenance by adding\n`action: built` or `action: reused`. Those artifacts carry two separate\ncoordinates:\n\n- `content`: the version, ref, source SHA, and material SHA that produced the\n  immutable content;\n- `release`: the exact current version/ref, target ref, source SHA, and release\n  material SHA that bind that content into this release.\n\nThis distinction permits truthful cross-version reuse without claiming that an\nold OCI config was rebuilt from current material. For an OCI artifact with an\naction, final evidence also requires `platform`, positive `contract_major`, and\n`verification` containing a public manifest result, exact ref and digest,\nplatform, contract major, optional parent digest, evidence location, and a\npassed named smoke policy. Buildchain cross-checks those values against the\nartifact and current transaction. Missing family members and ref, digest,\ncontent, release, or verification conflicts enter `repair_required` before\npublic refs move.\n\nExample reused OCI evidence entry (the pre-publish requirement may omit\n`ref`, `digest`, `release`, and the observed verification values):\n\n```json\n{\n  \"group\": \"image\",\n  \"kind\": \"oci\",\n  \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/base-linux\",\n  \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n  \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n  \"action\": \"reused\",\n  \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n  \"contract_major\": 1,\n  \"content\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"release\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"target_ref\": \"alpha/v1/v1.2\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<current-source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<current-material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"verification\": {\n    \"public_manifest\": true,\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n    \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n    \"contract_major\": 1,\n    \"evidence\": \"registry-inspect.json\",\n    \"smoke\": {\n      \"policy\": \"manifest-contract\",\n      \"passed\": true,\n      \"evidence\": \"smoke.json\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\n## Release Modes And Auth\n\nBuildchain distinguishes two npm release modes:\n\n| Mode | Use | Auth | npm operation |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|latest>` |\n| `promote-existing-version` | same-version alpha-to-latest recovery | `npm-token` | `npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> latest` |\n\nThe normal libnode path is `publish-final-version`: publish an alpha package set\nsuch as `22.22.3-kf.3-alpha.0` with the `alpha` dist-tag, then publish a\ndistinct final package set such as `22.22.3-kf.3` with the `latest` dist-tag.\nGitHub-hosted npm Trusted Publishing can authorize those `npm publish` calls\nwhen the workflow grants `id-token: write`.\n\n`promote-existing-version` is deliberately separate. npm Trusted Publishing does\nnot authorize arbitrary registry-management operations such as `npm dist-tag\nadd`; it authorizes publish-time package provenance. Therefore same-version\npromotion must declare `auth = \"npm-token\"`. Buildchain runs an npm token\npreflight with `npm whoami` before it writes any release transaction state or\nmoves a dist-tag. Missing token auth fails early with a contract error instead\nof a late `E401` after publish evidence has started to move.\n\nFor package sets, `package_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"` makes the\nmain package the visibility gate. Platform package side effects are planned or\nretried first, and the main package or main dist-tag move happens last.\n\nWhen the transaction reaches `complete`, `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`\ngenerates `.buildchain/release-passport/buildchain.release.json` and persists\nthe `release-passport/*` files into the durable `buildchain/release-state/...`\nref. The passport is the stable release artifact for agents and people: it\nlinks the package set, npm publish evidence, dist-tag evidence, build summary,\nplatform artifact manifests, trusted publishing metadata, release-state ref,\ndurable release-state SHA, and transaction result in one schema. Consumer\nrepositories can set `release-passport-product-name` so the passport names their\nproduct instead of the Buildchain default.\n\n## Evidence\n\nThe publish lifecycle must write JSON evidence. Buildchain validates common\nfields and required artifact identities before final refs move.\n\n```json\n{\n  \"schema\": 1,\n  \"version\": \"2.0.11\",\n  \"channel\": \"release\",\n  \"source_sha\": \"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\",\n  \"release_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"target_ref\": \"release/v2/v2.0\",\n  \"release_material_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"publish_tooling_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"artifacts\": [\n    {\n      \"group\": \"node\",\n      \"kind\": \"npm\",\n      \"name\": \"@kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"group\": \"image\",\n      \"kind\": \"oci\",\n      \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n```\n\nThe generic contract is intentionally small:\n\n- `version`, `channel`, `source_sha`, `release_sha`, and `target_ref` must match\n  the promotion run;\n- dist-tag promotion evidence is written beside the publish evidence as\n  `dist-tag-evidence.json` and is referenced from the generated passport;\n- required artifacts must appear in evidence;\n- evidence used by a GitHub-hosted rerun must either be stored in the durable\n  state ref or be reconstructed by a machine-verifiable consumer command;\n- existing artifacts with the same identity and digest are accepted on rerun;\n- missing artifacts can be published by the next run;\n- an existing artifact with a different digest puts the transaction into\n  `repair_required`.\n\nArtifact identity is `group + kind + name + ref`. A required artifact that omits\n`group` matches any group with the same `kind + name + ref`.\n\n## Registry Truth Contract\n\nBuildchain owns transaction orchestration, finalization ordering, durable state,\nand generic evidence validation. It does not embed registry clients for npm,\nPyPI, GHCR/OCI, GitHub Releases, S3, Conan, CMake packaging, or project-specific\ndownload pages.\n\nConsumer `lifecycle.publish` commands own registry truth. A valid consumer stage\nmust be idempotent and machine-verifiable:\n\n- inspect the target registry before publishing;\n- accept an existing exact artifact only when version, identity, digest, and\n  release-source binding match;\n- publish missing required artifacts;\n- reject conflicting existing artifacts and write evidence that lets Buildchain\n  move the transaction to `repair_required`;\n- write `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE` after every successful inspect/publish\n  cycle;\n- leave floating aliases such as npm dist-tags, PyPI stable markers, OCI\n  floating tags, GitHub Release \"published\" status, or download-page stable\n  links to a finalization step after Buildchain evidence validation.\n\nThe first-class adapter surface is command-based. Projects may wrap npm, PyPI,\nGHCR/OCI, GitHub Release assets, archives, SBOMs, provenance, or checksums\nhowever they need, as long as they emit the common evidence contract.\n\n## States\n\nThe state machine is:\n\n```text\nprepared -> publishing -> published -> finalizing -> complete\n                    |            |            |\n                    v            v            v\n              publish_failed  repair_required failed_permanently\n                    |\n                    v\n                abandoned\n```\n\nSupported states:\n\n| State | Meaning |\n| --- | --- |\n| `prepared` | Transaction identity was created, but publish has not started. |\n| `publishing` | Publish lifecycle is running or may have been interrupted. |\n| `publish_failed` | Publish command failed before valid evidence was produced. |\n| `published` | Evidence is valid; refs have not necessarily finalized. |\n| `finalizing` | Buildchain is moving exact/floating refs or needs a later run to do it. |\n| `complete` | Required evidence is valid and refs have finalized. |\n| `repair_required` | Existing evidence or artifact state conflicts with expected release material. |\n| `abandoned` | A human or controlled process abandoned this transaction, usually because a newer version supersedes it. |\n| `failed_permanently` | Recovery should not continue without explicit override. |\n\n`repair_required`, `abandoned`, and `failed_permanently` fail closed unless the\noperator passes an explicit override. That override is for controlled repair\nruns, not normal retry behavior.\n\n## Ref Ordering\n\nWhen publish transactions are enabled, promotion order is:\n\n1. verify target source and governance;\n2. create or reuse the version-state release commit;\n3. acquire or resume the release transaction;\n4. run `lifecycle.publish` or accept already-valid evidence;\n5. validate evidence and required artifacts;\n6. move exact release/prerelease tag;\n7. move floating tags and channel refs;\n8. mark the transaction `complete`.\n\nIf protected branch finalization is interrupted after publish evidence is\nvalid, the transaction can stop in `finalizing` and output\n`finalization-needed=true`. A later run resumes from the same transaction state\nand completes ref movement without republishing matching artifacts. New\nBuildchain-managed promotions first try to finish generated version-state\nbookkeeping with the promotion token directly. Before patching a protected\ngenerated bookkeeping ref, Buildchain emits the configured required check on\nthe exact generated version-state commit so strict branch protection can\nvalidate the automation path without a second build, then uses the generated\nref update token for the protected ref PATCH. If release finalization\nbookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or reuses a same-repository\n`buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current target channel head and\nleaves the transaction resumable with `finalization-needed=true`. Strict alpha\nbookkeeping remains fail-fast. The reusable wrapper defaults that token to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag, a channel branch, or dev/alpha\nsync ref has already moved, the next run reads the durable `finalizing` state\nand continues from the recorded transaction. The current workflow SHA may be a\ngenerated version-state commit, or a historical version-state merge commit, that\ncontains or corresponds to the transaction's `release_material_sha`; it does not\nhave to equal the original `source_sha` or the transaction `release_sha`. Exact\ntags are accepted when they already point at the transaction release/material\nSHA or the finalized channel head. Floating\nchannel tags and dev/alpha refs are then retried idempotently, and the\ntransaction is marked `complete` only after those public refs are consistent.\nWriting `complete` clears any stale `failure` value from earlier attempts, so\nthe durable `state.json` represents the successful final state instead of the\nlast transient error seen before a rerun.\nAn exact tag at an unrelated SHA is still a material conflict and blocks\nrecovery.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag is created, the next run reads the\ndurable `finalizing` state, verifies the exact tag points at the recorded\nrelease SHA, and retries the remaining floating refs. An exact tag at a\ndifferent SHA is a material conflict and blocks recovery.\n\n## CLI Recovery\n\nLocal recovery commands operate on the same state/evidence files:\n\n```bash\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs inspect --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs recover --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs finalize --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs abort --version v2.0.11 --superseded-by v2.0.12\n```\n\nThe CLI is a diagnostic and local repair surface. It reports the durable\n`state_ref`, but remote durable-ref writes and public Git ref finalization are\nowned by `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`, because that action runs inside the\nsame governed GitHub permissions and branch-protection checks as release\npromotion. In other words, CLI `finalize` can mark the local transaction state\ncomplete after valid evidence; the machine-operated public finalization path is\nto rerun the promotion action.\n\nWhen no state file exists, creation commands also require:\n\n```bash\n--repository kungfu-systems/buildchain \\\n--source-sha <sha> \\\n--release-sha <sha> \\\n--target-ref release/v2/v2.0 \\\n--channel release\n```\n\n## Build-Images Follow-Up\n\n`build-images` should consume this contract rather than inventing a separate\nworkflow rule. The expected integration shape is:\n\n- image build writes OCI digests into publish evidence;\n- required image families are passed through `publish-required-artifacts-json`\n  before their final digests are known;\n- mixed built/reused evidence preserves content provenance separately from the\n  current release binding;\n- reruns check GHCR or the target registry and accept existing images only when\n  tag and digest match;\n- preview or alpha image tags remain non-stable until the transaction evidence\n  validates;\n- production image aliases move only after all required image artifacts are\n  present and the Buildchain exact release tag has finalized."
+      "markdown": "# Publish Transaction\n\nBuildchain release promotion is not just tag movement. A release can also publish\nexternal artifacts: npm packages, Python wheels, OCI images, binary archives,\nmetadata manifests, or site deployment records. Those side effects are harder\nthan Git refs because most registries are append-only: a failed rerun must know\nwhich artifacts already exist, which are still missing, and whether any existing\nartifact conflicts with the release material.\n\nBuildchain v2 models that work as a release transaction.\n\n## Why This Exists\n\nThe old ABV workflow made Git refs the visible release authority. That was\nenough when \"release\" meant \"create a version commit, move tags, and let\ndownstream jobs react.\" It is not enough when a single publish run must also\nupload packages and images.\n\nThe failure mode to avoid is:\n\n1. publish an external artifact;\n2. fail before moving the exact release tag or floating channel refs;\n3. rerun from a new job id with no memory of the artifact;\n4. either republish something different or move refs without proving the\n   already-published artifact matches the release.\n\nThe transaction gives reruns a stable identity and a machine-readable state so\nBuildchain can resume safely. The identity is:\n\n```text\nrepository + version + source_sha + target_ref\n```\n\nIt is not the GitHub Actions run id.\n\n## Durable State\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` stores release transaction state in a\nmachine-managed Git branch:\n\n```text\nrefs/heads/buildchain/release-state/<version>\n```\n\nThe branch contains:\n\n```text\nstate.json\nevidence.json   # present after publish evidence exists\n```\n\nThe local `.buildchain/release-state/...` and\n`.buildchain/release-evidence/...` files are working copies. They are useful for\nlocal inspection and lifecycle commands, but they are not the durable truth for\nGitHub-hosted reruns. On action startup, Buildchain reads the durable state ref\nfirst, restores the local working copies, and only then decides whether to\npublish, repair, or finalize.\n\nEvery meaningful state transition is written to the durable ref before public\nrelease refs move. Release-state GitHub API reads and writes use retry/backoff\nfor transient service failures such as HTTP 5xx responses, connection resets,\ntimeouts, and \"other side closed\" socket failures. If the durable write still\ncannot be persisted after retries, the action fails closed.\n\nDurable release-state refs reserve their exact version even when the public exact\ntag was never created. If a later machine run sees a failed or repair-required\nstate for `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N` and cannot resume it with the same transaction\nidentity, alpha version selection must advance to the next prerelease instead\nof reusing or overwriting that failed transaction slot.\n\n## Lifecycle\n\nRepositories declare publish work in `.buildchain/buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[publish]\nmode = \"publish-final-version\"\nauth = \"trusted-publishing\"\ndist_tag = \"latest\"\npackage_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"\nmain_package = \"@kungfu-tech/libnode\"\n\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommands = [\n  \"python scripts/publish_wheels.py\",\n  \"node scripts/publish-images.mjs\",\n  \"node scripts/write-publish-evidence.mjs\",\n]\n```\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` runs `lifecycle.publish` only when\n`publish-transaction: \"true\"` is set or when a `publish-command` input is\nprovided. The action sets:\n\n```text\nBUILDCHAIN_VERSION\nBUILDCHAIN_CHANNEL\nBUILDCHAIN_SOURCE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_TARGET_REF\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_STATE\nBUILDCHAIN_EVIDENCE_DIR\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE\nBUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_MODE\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_AUTH\nBUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_ORDER\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_MAIN_PACKAGE\n```\n\nBuildchain itself uses this contract for npm publishing:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommand = \"node scripts/npm-publish-transaction.mjs\"\n```\n\nThat script validates that `package.json` matches `BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`, runs\n`npm publish --access public --tag <BUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG>` through npm Trusted\nPublishing, and writes npm artifact evidence before the promotion action moves\npublic refs.\n\n`BUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA` is the source material whose artifacts must\nmatch. `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA` identifies the publishing code. A repair\nrun may change tooling, but material drift fails closed.\n\n## Post-Publish Requirements And Artifact Provenance\n\n`publish-required-artifacts-json` is a pre-publish family declaration, not a\nrequest to guess registry digests. A descriptor must include `kind + name`; it\nmay omit `ref` and `digest`. The action resolves a missing `ref` to the exact\n`BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`. Registries whose exact refs add a stable prefix or suffix\nmay instead declare a `ref_template` containing exactly one `{version}`, such\nas `v{version}`. The template is expanded only after exact version selection,\nso a resumed alpha transaction receives the newly selected prerelease rather\nthan the checked-out version. Declaring both `ref` and `ref_template`, using\nanother placeholder, or leaving unmatched braces fails before\n`lifecycle.publish`. The action exports the normalized exact refs as\n`BUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS`, runs `lifecycle.publish`, and then requires the\nfinal evidence to contain every exact member with a non-empty digest. Existing\ncallers may continue supplying exact refs and digests.\n\nOCI publishers can opt into strict per-artifact provenance by adding\n`action: built` or `action: reused`. Those artifacts carry two separate\ncoordinates:\n\n- `content`: the version, ref, source SHA, and material SHA that produced the\n  immutable content;\n- `release`: the exact current version/ref, target ref, source SHA, and release\n  material SHA that bind that content into this release.\n\nThis distinction permits truthful cross-version reuse without claiming that an\nold OCI config was rebuilt from current material. For an OCI artifact with an\naction, final evidence also requires `platform`, positive `contract_major`, and\n`verification` containing a public manifest result, exact ref and digest,\nplatform, contract major, optional parent digest, evidence location, and a\npassed named smoke policy. Buildchain cross-checks those values against the\nartifact and current transaction. Missing family members and ref, digest,\ncontent, release, or verification conflicts enter `repair_required` before\npublic refs move.\n\nExample reused OCI evidence entry (the pre-publish requirement may omit\n`ref`, `digest`, `release`, and the observed verification values):\n\n```json\n{\n  \"group\": \"image\",\n  \"kind\": \"oci\",\n  \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/base-linux\",\n  \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n  \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n  \"action\": \"reused\",\n  \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n  \"contract_major\": 1,\n  \"content\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"release\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"target_ref\": \"alpha/v1/v1.2\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<current-source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<current-material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"verification\": {\n    \"public_manifest\": true,\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n    \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n    \"contract_major\": 1,\n    \"evidence\": \"registry-inspect.json\",\n    \"smoke\": {\n      \"policy\": \"manifest-contract\",\n      \"passed\": true,\n      \"evidence\": \"smoke.json\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\n## Release Modes And Auth\n\nBuildchain distinguishes two npm release modes:\n\n| Mode | Use | Auth | npm operation |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|vX.Y-alpha|latest>` |\n| `promote-existing-version` | same-version alpha-to-latest recovery | `npm-token` | `npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> latest` |\n\nThe normal libnode path is `publish-final-version`: publish an alpha package set\nsuch as `22.22.3-kf.3-alpha.0` with the `alpha` dist-tag, then publish a\ndistinct final package set such as `22.22.3-kf.3` with the `latest` dist-tag.\nGitHub-hosted npm Trusted Publishing can authorize those `npm publish` calls\nwhen the workflow grants `id-token: write`.\n\n`promote-existing-version` is deliberately separate. npm Trusted Publishing does\nnot authorize arbitrary registry-management operations such as `npm dist-tag\nadd`; it authorizes publish-time package provenance. Therefore same-version\npromotion must declare `auth = \"npm-token\"`. Buildchain runs an npm token\npreflight with `npm whoami` before it writes any release transaction state or\nmoves a dist-tag. Missing token auth fails early with a contract error instead\nof a late `E401` after publish evidence has started to move.\n\nFor package sets, `package_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"` makes the\nmain package the visibility gate. Platform package side effects are planned or\nretried first, and the main package or main dist-tag move happens last.\n\nWhen the transaction reaches `complete`, `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`\ngenerates `.buildchain/release-passport/buildchain.release.json` and persists\nthe `release-passport/*` files into the durable `buildchain/release-state/...`\nref. The passport is the stable release artifact for agents and people: it\nlinks the package set, npm publish evidence, dist-tag evidence, build summary,\nplatform artifact manifests, trusted publishing metadata, release-state ref,\ndurable release-state SHA, and transaction result in one schema. Consumer\nrepositories can set `release-passport-product-name` so the passport names their\nproduct instead of the Buildchain default.\n\n## Evidence\n\nThe publish lifecycle must write JSON evidence. Buildchain validates common\nfields and required artifact identities before final refs move.\n\n```json\n{\n  \"schema\": 1,\n  \"version\": \"2.0.11\",\n  \"channel\": \"release\",\n  \"source_sha\": \"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\",\n  \"release_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"target_ref\": \"release/v2/v2.0\",\n  \"release_material_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"publish_tooling_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"artifacts\": [\n    {\n      \"group\": \"node\",\n      \"kind\": \"npm\",\n      \"name\": \"@kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"group\": \"image\",\n      \"kind\": \"oci\",\n      \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n```\n\nThe generic contract is intentionally small:\n\n- `version`, `channel`, `source_sha`, `release_sha`, and `target_ref` must match\n  the promotion run;\n- dist-tag promotion evidence is written beside the publish evidence as\n  `dist-tag-evidence.json` and is referenced from the generated passport;\n- required artifacts must appear in evidence;\n- evidence used by a GitHub-hosted rerun must either be stored in the durable\n  state ref or be reconstructed by a machine-verifiable consumer command;\n- existing artifacts with the same identity and digest are accepted on rerun;\n- missing artifacts can be published by the next run;\n- an existing artifact with a different digest puts the transaction into\n  `repair_required`.\n\nArtifact identity is `group + kind + name + ref`. A required artifact that omits\n`group` matches any group with the same `kind + name + ref`.\n\n## Registry Truth Contract\n\nBuildchain owns transaction orchestration, finalization ordering, durable state,\nand generic evidence validation. It does not embed registry clients for npm,\nPyPI, GHCR/OCI, GitHub Releases, S3, Conan, CMake packaging, or project-specific\ndownload pages.\n\nConsumer `lifecycle.publish` commands own registry truth. A valid consumer stage\nmust be idempotent and machine-verifiable:\n\n- inspect the target registry before publishing;\n- accept an existing exact artifact only when version, identity, digest, and\n  release-source binding match;\n- publish missing required artifacts;\n- reject conflicting existing artifacts and write evidence that lets Buildchain\n  move the transaction to `repair_required`;\n- write `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE` after every successful inspect/publish\n  cycle;\n- leave floating aliases such as npm dist-tags, PyPI stable markers, OCI\n  floating tags, GitHub Release \"published\" status, or download-page stable\n  links to a finalization step after Buildchain evidence validation.\n\nThe first-class adapter surface is command-based. Projects may wrap npm, PyPI,\nGHCR/OCI, GitHub Release assets, archives, SBOMs, provenance, or checksums\nhowever they need, as long as they emit the common evidence contract.\n\n## States\n\nThe state machine is:\n\n```text\nprepared -> publishing -> published -> finalizing -> complete\n                    |            |            |\n                    v            v            v\n              publish_failed  repair_required failed_permanently\n                    |\n                    v\n                abandoned\n```\n\nSupported states:\n\n| State | Meaning |\n| --- | --- |\n| `prepared` | Transaction identity was created, but publish has not started. |\n| `publishing` | Publish lifecycle is running or may have been interrupted. |\n| `publish_failed` | Publish command failed before valid evidence was produced. |\n| `published` | Evidence is valid; refs have not necessarily finalized. |\n| `finalizing` | Buildchain is moving exact/floating refs or needs a later run to do it. |\n| `complete` | Required evidence is valid and refs have finalized. |\n| `repair_required` | Existing evidence or artifact state conflicts with expected release material. |\n| `abandoned` | A human or controlled process abandoned this transaction, usually because a newer version supersedes it. |\n| `failed_permanently` | Recovery should not continue without explicit override. |\n\n`repair_required`, `abandoned`, and `failed_permanently` fail closed unless the\noperator passes an explicit override. That override is for controlled repair\nruns, not normal retry behavior.\n\n## Ref Ordering\n\nWhen publish transactions are enabled, promotion order is:\n\n1. verify target source and governance;\n2. create or reuse the version-state release commit;\n3. acquire or resume the release transaction;\n4. run `lifecycle.publish` or accept already-valid evidence;\n5. validate evidence and required artifacts;\n6. move exact release/prerelease tag;\n7. move floating tags and channel refs;\n8. mark the transaction `complete`.\n\nIf protected branch finalization is interrupted after publish evidence is\nvalid, the transaction can stop in `finalizing` and output\n`finalization-needed=true`. A later run resumes from the same transaction state\nand completes ref movement without republishing matching artifacts. New\nBuildchain-managed promotions first try to finish generated version-state\nbookkeeping with the promotion token directly. Before patching a protected\ngenerated bookkeeping ref, Buildchain emits the configured required check on\nthe exact generated version-state commit so strict branch protection can\nvalidate the automation path without a second build, then uses the generated\nref update token for the protected ref PATCH. If release finalization\nbookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or reuses a same-repository\n`buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current target channel head and\nleaves the transaction resumable with `finalization-needed=true`. Strict alpha\nbookkeeping remains fail-fast. The reusable wrapper defaults that token to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag, a channel branch, or dev/alpha\nsync ref has already moved, the next run reads the durable `finalizing` state\nand continues from the recorded transaction. The current workflow SHA may be a\ngenerated version-state commit, or a historical version-state merge commit, that\ncontains or corresponds to the transaction's `release_material_sha`; it does not\nhave to equal the original `source_sha` or the transaction `release_sha`. Exact\ntags are accepted when they already point at the transaction release/material\nSHA or the finalized channel head. Floating\nchannel tags and dev/alpha refs are then retried idempotently, and the\ntransaction is marked `complete` only after those public refs are consistent.\nWriting `complete` clears any stale `failure` value from earlier attempts, so\nthe durable `state.json` represents the successful final state instead of the\nlast transient error seen before a rerun.\nAn exact tag at an unrelated SHA is still a material conflict and blocks\nrecovery.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag is created, the next run reads the\ndurable `finalizing` state, verifies the exact tag points at the recorded\nrelease SHA, and retries the remaining floating refs. An exact tag at a\ndifferent SHA is a material conflict and blocks recovery.\n\n## CLI Recovery\n\nLocal recovery commands operate on the same state/evidence files:\n\n```bash\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs inspect --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs recover --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs finalize --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs abort --version v2.0.11 --superseded-by v2.0.12\n```\n\nThe CLI is a diagnostic and local repair surface. It reports the durable\n`state_ref`, but remote durable-ref writes and public Git ref finalization are\nowned by `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`, because that action runs inside the\nsame governed GitHub permissions and branch-protection checks as release\npromotion. In other words, CLI `finalize` can mark the local transaction state\ncomplete after valid evidence; the machine-operated public finalization path is\nto rerun the promotion action.\n\nWhen no state file exists, creation commands also require:\n\n```bash\n--repository kungfu-systems/buildchain \\\n--source-sha <sha> \\\n--release-sha <sha> \\\n--target-ref release/v2/v2.0 \\\n--channel release\n```\n\n## Build-Images Follow-Up\n\n`build-images` should consume this contract rather than inventing a separate\nworkflow rule. The expected integration shape is:\n\n- image build writes OCI digests into publish evidence;\n- required image families are passed through `publish-required-artifacts-json`\n  before their final digests are known;\n- mixed built/reused evidence preserves content provenance separately from the\n  current release binding;\n- reruns check GHCR or the target registry and accept existing images only when\n  tag and digest match;\n- preview or alpha image tags remain non-stable until the transaction evidence\n  validates;\n- production image aliases move only after all required image artifacts are\n  present and the Buildchain exact release tag has finalized."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:readme-badges",
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/release-governance.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:cce9f80add3c746fe28d8ebf5afb809348694741cb75d19154ed3057a9374c0d",
+      "digest": "sha256:d85ac78b7c73b85b0a59a4a39131230522ae65225fa1b52f9dfe6939f1bb839c",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -1430,7 +1430,7 @@
           "anchor": "operational-reading-order"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Release Governance\n\nBuildchain v2 preserves the release semantics of the older ABV workflow while\nmoving the implementation into one modern repository.\n\nThe central idea is simple: a reviewed merge into a release channel is the\nrelease intent. Automation must then create the version-state commit, exact tag,\nfloating tag, and next alpha state that make that intent true in Git.\n\n## Design Problem\n\nKungfu release automation has to keep four facts aligned:\n\n1. The source tree that was reviewed.\n2. The package version recorded in manifests such as `package.json` or\n   `lerna.json`.\n3. The exact immutable release or prerelease tag.\n4. The floating channel refs that consumers actually use.\n\nIf any one of these facts is updated by hand, the system can split:\n\n- a consumer can fetch `v2.0` and receive a tree whose package version still\n  says the previous release;\n- a maintainer can move `v2` without producing an exact `v2.0.N` audit tag;\n- an alpha can be promoted to production even though the release tree is not the\n  same tree that was tested;\n- a protected branch merge can succeed while the follow-up version commit is\n  missing, or a flow-internal generated `dev`/`alpha`/`release` ref update can\n  fail after publish because the automation identity was not declared in the\n  branch-protection review bypass allowance.\n\nThe older ABV workflow addressed this by letting GitHub PRs drive release\nstate. Buildchain keeps that choice because it makes release intent reviewable,\nobservable, and recoverable from Git history.\n\n## What ABV Contributed\n\nThe old ABV model was not just \"bump a version number.\" It encoded a governance\nloop:\n\n- release branches are named as channels: `dev`, `alpha`, `release`, and the\n  administrative `publish-gate/major`;\n- a PR from one channel to the next is the release request;\n- verify jobs check that the branch pair is valid before merge;\n- a maintainer review is required before the branch moves;\n- after merge, automation writes the version change and moves tags;\n- exact tags and floating refs are aligned with the resulting commit;\n- the next development channel is prepared automatically.\n\nABV also kept the version-state mutation in the repository. For JavaScript\nrepositories that usually meant changing `lerna.json` and/or `package.json`.\nThat commit is important because the tag alone is not enough evidence: the\nsource tree should also declare the version that the tag advertises.\n\nBuildchain v2 treats that as a hard semantic requirement for its own release\nline.\n\n## Buildchain Implementation\n\nBuildchain implements the same governance loop with:\n\n- `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml` for PR verification;\n- `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` for post-verify ref\n  promotion; this workflow dogfoods the declarative\n  `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper and does not hand-wire resolver,\n  artifact download, publish-gate, or promote action steps;\n- Buildchain self promotion enables `release-passport-buildchain-self-kfd`, so\n  the promote action generates KFD-1 witnesses, KFD-2 public claim JSON, and\n  KFD-3 collaboration-interface witnesses from the final version-state workspace\n  before release passport finalization. The witness hashes therefore bind to the\n  exact published package and site facts from\n  `packages/core/buildchain-kfd-claims.js` instead of relying on prose release\n  notes;\n- `actions/promote-buildchain-ref` for branch, tag, version-state, and\n  governance checks;\n- package-manager adapters that can update version state for pnpm, npm, and\n  yarn style repositories;\n- `buildchain.toml` lifecycle configuration for repositories whose version\n  state or verification commands are not Node package-manager defaults.\n\nThe implementation is intentionally stricter than a local release script:\n\n- manual workflow dispatch can only do dry-run promotion;\n- non-dry-run promotion must be driven by a completed `Verify` workflow;\n- target branch protection details must be readable, and branch protection must\n  apply to administrators as well as regular contributors;\n- alpha promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `dev/vX/vX.Y` to `alpha/vX/vX.Y`;\n- release promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to `release/vX/vX.Y`;\n- major promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `release/vX/vX.Y` to `publish-gate/major`;\n- release promotion requires an existing same-patch alpha tag and checks the\n  release source tree against that tested alpha tree;\n- generated version-state commits are verified before refs move.\n\nPromotion intents are serialized globally per caller repository with\n`cancel-in-progress: false`. A queued intent re-reads its protected target ref\nbefore checkout, dependency installation, release-candidate resolution, or any\npublish-gate/ref mutation. If the ref already points at a newer SHA, that older\nintent is no longer release authority: the workflow records the requested and\ncurrent SHAs, proves that the current target is ahead of the requested commit,\nand completes as a `target-ref-advanced` superseded no-op. Diverged or behind\ncomparisons are not superseded transactions and still fail closed.\nMissing refs, unreadable repository state, invalid channels, governance\nfailures, and artifact mismatches still fail closed. The promote action repeats\nthe target check at the mutation boundary, so a ref that advances after the\nworkflow preflight cannot receive a second set of publication side effects.\n\n## Version Lines\n\nKungfu uses Python-like version lines where a minor line can represent a\nlong-lived product train. A line such as `v2.0` can produce many production\npatch releases:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1\nv2.0.2\n...\nv2.0.1234\n```\n\nThis is why Buildchain maintains both exact and floating refs:\n\n- `v2.0.2` is immutable release evidence;\n- `v2.0` is the latest production release on the `2.0` line;\n- `v2` is the selected stable major-line entrypoint;\n- `v2.0.3-alpha.0` is immutable alpha evidence;\n- `v2.0-alpha` is the latest test channel for the `2.0` line.\n- `v2-alpha` is the latest test channel on the highest published alpha minor in major `2`.\n\nA release does not mean \"minor is complete.\" It means \"this patch on this minor\nline is now production.\"\n\nGitHub repository rules must preserve that distinction. Exact tags such as\n`v2.0.2` and `v2.0.3-alpha.0` should be immutable. Floating channel tags such as\n`v2`, `v2.0`, `v2.0-alpha`, and `v2-alpha` must remain movable by the Buildchain promotion\ntoken after governance checks and publish evidence pass. A tag ruleset that\nprotects every `refs/tags/v*` ref is too broad because it also locks the\nfloating channel tags that Buildchain is required to update. Prefer exact-tag\npatterns such as `refs/tags/v*.*.*` for immutable release evidence, while\nleaving floating channel tags under Buildchain automation control.\n\n## Alpha Semantics\n\nAn alpha merge is:\n\n```text\ndev/vX/vX.Y -> alpha/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Computes the next prerelease for the minor line.\n2. Writes version state such as `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N`.\n3. Verifies the generated version-state tree.\n4. Creates or reuses the exact alpha tag.\n5. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to the generated alpha commit.\n6. Moves `dev/vX/vX.Y` to the same generated alpha commit when this is a\n   fast-forward update.\n7. Moves `vX.Y-alpha` to the same generated alpha commit.\n8. Moves `vX-alpha` only when `X.Y` is the highest minor in major `X` with a published alpha; older minor alpha work records a skip and cannot move the major channel backwards.\n\nThis keeps the test channel self-describing. If a consumer checks out\n`v2.0-alpha` or `v2-alpha`, the manifests and exact alpha tag agree. The major\nalpha ref removes routine consumer edits when Buildchain opens a newer minor,\nwhile exact tags and SHAs remain the reproducible audit choice.\n\n### Buildchain Alpha Self-Dogfood\n\nBuildchain continuously consumes its own current major alpha through\n`.github/workflows/buildchain-alpha-self-dogfood.yml`. Both lanes call the\nreleased channel router at `build.yml@v2-alpha`. The auto lane must resolve\n`v2-alpha`; the explicit stable lane must resolve `v2`. Both execute the same\ndeclared install, build, and verify fixture, proving that a single consumer\nsurface routes to distinct released runtimes without duplicating lifecycle\nconfiguration in the consumer.\n\nThe reusable build trust gate reads `job.workflow_ref`, which identifies the\ncalled workflow and its selected ref. It does not infer the runtime from\n`github.workflow_ref`, because GitHub defines that context as the caller\nworkflow identity during a reusable call.\n\nThe router selects `.buildchain/alpha-contract-lock.json` for alpha and\n`.buildchain/contract-lock.json` for stable. The alpha lock records the exact\nreviewed alpha SHA and compatibility digest; it does not replace the stable\nconsumer lock. A later alpha with only compatible additive drift continues,\nwhile a changed breaking digest fails until the new alpha contract is reviewed.\n\nThe evidence job resolves `v2-alpha` and `v2` through the GitHub refs API,\ncompares those immutable SHAs with the reusable workflow outputs, verifies the\n`alpha` and `stable` classifications, and uploads a JSON evidence artifact.\nThe canary runs after successful Buildchain ref promotion, on a daily fallback\nschedule, and on manual dispatch. It shares the release-promotion concurrency\ngroup, so another promotion cannot move the floating refs between runtime\nresolution and evidence comparison.\n\nThis is a post-publication consumer canary, not a release bootstrap. Source\nverification still runs the current commit, and\n`buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` still passes the verified exact SHA into the\npromotion workflow. Patrol, dev-merge, repair, and promotion defaults remain on\nstable or exact refs so a broken alpha cannot prevent Buildchain from publishing\nits fix. When Buildchain opens a new major, inventory validation requires this\nworkflow's fixed GitHub `uses` refs to move from `vN`/`vN-alpha` to the new\nmajor; GitHub does not allow expressions in a reusable-workflow `uses` ref.\n\nIf `dev/vX/vX.Y` has already advanced before generated alpha version-state\nbookkeeping can sync back, Buildchain records `skipped-non-fast-forward` for the\ndev sync and still completes the exact and floating alpha tags for the reviewed\nalpha commit. Later dev changes must go through their own dev-to-alpha\npromotion instead of rewinding dev. The normal path is direct: after alpha\nmerges, Buildchain applies the generated version-state commit to alpha and then\nfast-forwards dev to the same commit without a human version-state PR.\n\nIf alpha finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain accepts the current alpha head as the generated\ncommit, or as a historical merge commit that contains the recorded release\nmaterial. An already-created exact alpha tag may point at the transaction\nrelease/material SHA or at the finalized alpha head; missing floating alpha\ntags are retried before the transaction becomes `complete`.\n\n## Release Semantics\n\nA release merge is:\n\n```text\nalpha/vX/vX.Y -> release/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Finds the same-patch alpha tag that was tested.\n2. Checks that the release source tree matches that alpha tag tree, excluding\n   only generated version-state differences.\n3. Writes final release version state such as `vX.Y.Z`.\n4. Verifies the generated release tree.\n5. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `vX.Y.Z`.\n6. Moves `release/vX/vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n7. Moves `vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n8. Moves `vX` when this minor line should be the stable major entrypoint.\n9. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `vX.Y.(Z+1)-alpha.0`.\n10. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y`, `dev/vX/vX.Y`, and `vX.Y-alpha` to that next alpha\n    commit.\n11. Moves `vX-alpha` to that next alpha only when this remains the highest published alpha minor.\n\nThe production channel and the test channel therefore intentionally diverge\nafter release: production stays on the release commit, while alpha/dev continue\nat the next prerelease commit.\n\n### Stable Release Throttle And Canary Gate\n\nBuildchain's own stable channel has an additional pre-publication gate. It is\nevaluated after the PR-stage release candidate has been resolved and before the\npublish-gate ref, package registry, exact stable tag, or floating stable refs\nare mutated. Train refs and alpha promotion do not execute this gate.\n\nAll alpha and release promotions first run a metadata-only release-candidate\npreflight after queued-intent revalidation. The preflight uses the same resolver\nand exact target SHA as the publication job, but does not download payloads or\ninstall the candidate repository dependencies. Missing channel PRs, stale\nworkflow runs, expired passport pairs, and insufficient payload artifact sets\ntherefore fail before the full promotion job starts. The publication job still\ndownloads and validates the exact evidence again at the trust boundary; the\npreflight moves failure earlier without weakening the final check.\n\nThe policy is versioned in `.buildchain/stable-release-policy.json`. A stable\ncandidate is allowed only when all of these facts are true:\n\n- the candidate resolves to an immutable exact alpha tag and its GitHub\n  prerelease timestamp;\n- at least 24 hours have passed since the preceding stable patch on the same\n  minor line;\n- the preceding stable-to-alpha comparison contains a product or public\n  contract path, not only version, test, evidence, or retrospective changes;\n- the version-bound impact record has a non-empty summary and at least one\n  surface impact;\n- the `Build Surface Fixture` release-candidate run succeeded;\n- `site-libkungfu-dev` completed its no-apply `Buildchain Stable Canary` and an allowed\n  maintainer attested that successful run on the exact alpha SHA through the\n  `buildchain-canary/site-libkungfu-dev` commit-status context;\n- the canary runtime input is exactly the candidate alpha tag or the 40-character\n  commit SHA resolved from that tag; a successful status pointing at another\n  workflow, repository, tag, floating ref, or SHA is rejected as mismatched;\n- at least one hour has elapsed after the last required canary completed.\n\nThe machine report is written to\n`.buildchain/release-passport/stable-release-gate.json`. A passing report is\nuploaded with the stable release passport. A blocked run writes the same report\nbefore failing, so the missing or stale condition is inspectable without\nopening a publication transaction.\n\nGitHub's Actions run REST object does not expose `workflow_dispatch` inputs.\nBuildchain therefore verifies the run's `workflow_id` against the authoritative\nworkflow metadata, then reads the exact runtime from the workflow-owned\n`<workflow name> / <runtime ref>` run-name when no input field is available.\nAn explicit API input, when present, remains authoritative and cannot be\noverridden by the display name.\n\nThe cooldown is a minimum interval, not an instruction to release every day.\nCompatible work should still be batched until a stable release has a concrete\nconsumer need. Changing the interval, canary set, attestors, product path\nboundary, or soak time is a reviewed policy change.\n\nRepositories that want a predictable scheduled stable window can use\n[`Stable Candidate Patrol`](stable-candidate-patrol.md). It persists each exact\nalpha independently, qualifies it after repository-declared checks and soak,\nand selects the newest qualified non-revoked candidate. A newer soaking alpha\ndoes not invalidate an older qualified candidate. The selected tree enters the\nexisting strict `publish-gate/release/<line>/<version> -> release/<line>` PR\npath, so scheduled selection changes release intent timing without weakening\nsource locks, review, verification, publish transactions, or passports.\n\nIf release finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain applies the same recovery rule: the current\nrelease head may be the generated commit, or a historical merge commit that\ncontains the recorded release material, existing exact tags and alpha/dev refs\nare accepted when they match the transaction, and missing floating `vX.Y` or\n`vX` tags are retried idempotently before completion.\n\nOnce the durable release transaction is `complete` and the exact/floating\nstable refs have moved, next-alpha preparation is post-release bookkeeping. A\nfailure there records `deferred-post-release-bookkeeping` and\n`next-anchor-required` instead of retroactively reporting the stable release as\nfailed. Generated next-alpha merges use the current dev tree as their base and\noverlay only declared version-state paths, preserving concurrent dev changes.\n\n## Major Gate Semantics\n\nA major gate merge is:\n\n```text\nrelease/vX/vX.Y -> publish-gate/major\n```\n\n`publish-gate/major` is the explicit replacement for the older ABV `main`\nchannel. The name is intentionally operational: it is a gate for a rare\nadministrator decision, not the active trunk. Keeping this decision in the same\nPR UI as alpha and release promotion keeps the human workflow simple while\navoiding the misleading meaning of `main`. The older `major-gate` branch name is\na compatibility alias only.\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Verifies the source is a merged same-repository PR from a protected release\n   line into `publish-gate/major`.\n2. Writes the next major production version state, such as `v(X+1).0.0`.\n3. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `v(X+1).0.0`.\n4. Moves `publish-gate/major` and `release/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0` to that release commit.\n5. Moves `v(X+1).0` and `v(X+1)` to that release commit.\n6. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `v(X+1).0.1-alpha.0`.\n7. Moves `alpha/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, `dev/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, and\n   `v(X+1).0-alpha` to that next alpha commit.\n\nChecking out `publish-gate/major` should therefore look like a frozen release\nstate, not like a branch where day-to-day source work continues. Day-to-day\nsource work continues on `dev/vX/vX.Y`.\n\n## Protected Dev Branches\n\n`dev/vX/vX.Y` is a protected development channel, not a scratch branch. Normal\nsource changes should be made on work branches such as `feature/*`, `fix/*`,\n`chore/*`, `docs/*`, `ci/*`, or `refactor/*`, then reviewed through a pull\nrequest into the target dev line.\n\nThis keeps the earliest development channel audit-friendly:\n\n- the version line being changed is visible in the PR base branch;\n- CI and required checks run before the channel moves;\n- branch protection can prevent direct pushes and stale merges;\n- later `dev -> alpha -> release` promotion inherits a reviewable source\n  lineage instead of trying to reconstruct how the dev branch changed.\n\nBuildchain provides the reusable\n`.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` workflow for repositories that want a\nscheduled or manual \"merge ready dev PRs\" pass. The consumer repository owns\nthe trigger schedule, but the merge decision is declared through workflow\ninputs: target dev branch, required status/check names, ready and block labels,\nallowed work-branch prefixes, review requirements, maximum merges per run,\nmerge method, and dry-run mode.\n\nThe workflow defaults are conservative. A PR is skipped unless it targets the\nconfigured dev line, is not a draft, has the ready label, has no block label,\ncomes from the same repository, uses an allowed work-branch prefix, has a\ncurrent approval, is mergeable, and has the configured required checks passing.\nAfter each merge, the next PR is re-evaluated before it can move the protected\ndev branch. This prevents one merge from silently making the next candidate\nstale or conflicting.\n\nThe canonical consumer required check context is `check / check`, matching the\nreusable workflow call plus its `check` job. Buildchain's own `Verify` workflow\nemits the repository-local context `check`, so Buildchain self-promotion,\nrelease-line bootstrap, and dogfood patrol wrappers pass `check` explicitly.\nRelease governance preserves the exact context emitted by the repository and\nrecords branch-protection policy before/after facts; it does not rewrite one\ncontext shape into the other. Consumer repositories can keep their context\nstable while changing the actual verification command declaratively in\n`buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.install]\ncommand = \"cargo fetch --locked\"\n\n[lifecycle.verify]\ncommand = \"cargo test --workspace --locked\"\n```\n\nConsumers that want Buildchain to own the check wrapper can call\n`.github/workflows/check.yml@v2`. The wrapper runs the declared\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.verify` stages and fails the `check` job when\neither declaration is missing or the command exits non-zero.\n\nDevelopment pull requests that need source acceptance without product build or\nartifact verification can opt into `mode: source`. That mode runs only\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.check` on GitHub-hosted `ubuntu-24.04` while\npreserving the stable `check / check` required-check context. Existing callers\nremain on `mode: verify` by default, and callers may set\n`upload-artifacts: false` without weakening the job conclusion.\n\nTypical consumer wrapper:\n\n```yaml\nname: Merge Ready Dev PRs\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 * * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n    inputs:\n      dry-run:\n        type: boolean\n        default: true\n\njobs:\n  merge-dev:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml@v2\n    permissions:\n      contents: write\n      pull-requests: write\n      checks: read\n      statuses: read\n    with:\n      target-branch: dev/v2/v2.6\n      required-status-checks: check / check\n      ready-label: ready\n      block-labels: blocked,do-not-merge\n      max-merges: 1\n      dry-run: ${{ inputs.dry-run || false }}\n```\n\n## Buildchain Patrol\n\n`dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` remains the focused merge primitive. For repositories\nthat want a stable day-to-day operations contract, Buildchain also exposes a\npatrol workflow family:\n\n| Workflow | Intended cadence | Default intent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml` | daily | lightweight inspection plus ready dev PR maintenance |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml` | weekly | release-state, passport, gate, and stale-state health checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-monthly.yml` | monthly | governance, permission, branch-protection, and workflow drift checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/stable-candidate-patrol.yml` | repository-selected release window | qualify immutable alpha candidates and open the exact source-lock stable PR |\n\nThe cadence names describe patrol intensity, not release cadence:\n\n- daily patrol can run every day without implying a daily release;\n- weekly patrol is for medium-cost maintenance and audit checks;\n- monthly patrol is for structural drift checks that should not block ordinary\n  development velocity.\n\nStable Candidate Patrol is separate from those maintenance cadences because its\ncaller-owned cron is a release-intent window. Its candidate ledger and selection\nremain generic; registry-specific side effects still run through the normal\nrepository `lifecycle.publish` transaction. See\n[`stable-candidate-patrol.md`](stable-candidate-patrol.md).\n\nConsumers should schedule thin callers and keep their YAML declarative. For\nexample:\n\n```yaml\nname: Buildchain Daily Patrol\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 2 * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: false\n      max-actions: 1\n```\n\nWeekly and monthly callers use the matching wrapper:\n\n```yaml\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: true\n```\n\nAll three wrappers default to the `v2` floating Buildchain runtime. When\n`target-branch` is omitted, the caller's current/default branch selects the\nactive semver dev line, so consumers do not pin patrol to a stale minor branch.\nThe separate workflow names keep consumer schedules readable and stable while\nBuildchain adds new checks behind the cadence wrappers.\n\n## Package-Manager Adapters\n\nOld ABV assumed JavaScript repositories with root version state and often\nLerna. Buildchain keeps the version-state contract but does not assume every\nrepository is yarn/Lerna.\n\nThe promotion action discovers and updates:\n\n- root `package.json`;\n- `lerna.json`;\n- package manifests from `package.json` workspaces;\n- package manifests from `lerna.json` packages;\n- package manifests from `pnpm-workspace.yaml`.\n\nIt then runs the repository's detected package manager semantics where needed:\n\n- pnpm repositories use pnpm-oriented workspace discovery;\n- npm repositories use npm/package-lock semantics where present;\n- yarn repositories use yarn-style metadata where present.\n\nFor Buildchain itself, version state is required. For a consumer repository that\nhas no package manifest, the same action can degrade to ref-only behavior only\nwhen that is explicitly allowed by the caller.\n\n## Lifecycle Configuration\n\n`buildchain.toml` is the v2 user configuration format. It lets a repository\ndeclare version-state files and lifecycle commands without pretending every\nproject is a Node workspace. Supported version files include JSON, TOML, and\nregex-based files such as `CMakeLists.txt` or `conanfile.py`.\n\nThe promotion action currently consumes `version.files` and `lifecycle.verify`.\nThe verify stage runs after generated version-state changes are applied locally\nand before any release refs move. If `verification-command` is passed directly\nto the action, that explicit command overrides `lifecycle.verify`.\n\nProtected release-line branches keep their normal human review gate. Managed\n`dev/vN/vN.M`, `alpha/vN/vN.M`, and `release/vN/vN.M` branches are configured\nwith one required approving review, strict GitHub Actions checks, administrator\nenforcement, conversation resolution, no force pushes, and no deletions. The\nreusable `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper defaults\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps` to `github-actions`, which lets the workflow's\nautomation identity apply generated version-state or post-publish channel\nbookkeeping after the reviewed channel PR has merged. Direct\n`promote-buildchain-ref` callers must opt into the same controlled bypass with\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps`, `branch-protection-bypass-users`, or\n`branch-protection-bypass-teams`; the action also adds the current promotion\ntoken's authenticated user or app to the managed bypass allowlist. Before\npatching a protected generated bookkeeping ref, the action creates the\nconfigured required check on the exact generated version-state commit, so strict\nstatus checks are satisfied by machine-verifiable Buildchain evidence rather\nthan a human PR. The protected ref PATCH itself uses the generated ref update\ntoken; the reusable wrapper defaults it to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`. If direct generated\nrelease finalization bookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or\nreuses a same-repository `buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current\ntarget channel head and records `finalization-needed=true` in the durable\ntransaction output. Strict alpha bookkeeping still fails with a\ntoken/protection diagnostic instead of creating a post-publish PR.\n\nFor a stable release, the wrapper also checks out the exact current development\nchannel into `.buildchain/reconciliation/dev`. When the prepared next-alpha\ncommit cannot fast-forward dev because reviewed work landed concurrently, the\npromotion action applies the next version to that checkout, regenerates every\ndeclared derived version-state file, reruns the verification lifecycle, and\nonly then creates the two-parent reconciliation commit. A checkout/current-ref\nSHA mismatch blocks reconciliation instead of committing stale projections.\nBuildchain's own promotion workflow reads `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_APPS`,\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_USERS`, and\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_TEAMS` repository variables so the declared bypass\nidentity can match the actual `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN` actor, but consumers\ndo not need to duplicate that actor manually when the token identity is\ndiscoverable.\n\n## What This Guarantees\n\nWhen the loop succeeds, maintainers and consumers can rely on these facts:\n\n- every production release has an exact tag such as `v2.0.2`;\n- every production minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0`;\n- every selected stable major has a floating tag such as `v2`;\n- every next-major release is driven by a reviewed `release -> publish-gate/major` PR,\n  not a hidden manual button;\n- every test channel has an exact alpha tag such as `v2.0.3-alpha.0`;\n- every alpha minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0-alpha`;\n- every major with a published alpha has a cross-minor floating tag such as `v2-alpha`, owned by its highest published alpha minor;\n- version manifests match the tag visible from the same commit;\n- production releases are derived from the alpha tree that was tested;\n- manual non-dry-run promotion cannot bypass PR review and verification;\n- flow-internal automation bypasses apply only to declared GitHub Apps, users,\n  or teams on Buildchain-managed channel branch protection, while one-review\n  protection remains enforced for humans;\n- admin users cannot make a channel promotion valid by temporarily bypassing\n  branch protection.\n\nThis is the practical meaning of \"governance closed loop\" in Buildchain: the\ndecision, code, version state, and Git refs close over the same evidence chain.\n\n## What This Does Not Do\n\nBuildchain release promotion does not embed registry clients or product-specific\npublish logic. When publish transactions are enabled, `promote-buildchain-ref`\ncan run the consumer's `lifecycle.publish` command and own the transaction,\nevidence validation, durable recovery state, and ref finalization order. The\nconsumer repository still owns registry truth: npm, PyPI, OCI, S3, Conan, CMake\npackaging, download pages, dist-tags, and similar side effects must be\nimplemented by project lifecycle commands that emit Buildchain publish evidence.\n\nEvery Buildchain publish model that can run registry side effects must bind the\npublish entrypoint to an immutable `publish-gate/*` source lock. The reusable\n`release-candidate-promote.yml@v2` wrapper creates or updates that gate ref and\npasses `require-publish-source-lock`, `publish-source-ref`,\n`publish-source-sha`, and `publish-source-locked` to\n`promote-buildchain-ref`. Direct action callers must pass the same four inputs\nfrom the reusable build outputs. Workflows that only collect passports or run\ndry-run package checks do not move publish refs and are not publish-gate\npublication models. A dry-run of `release-candidate-promote.yml` computes and\nreports the exact `publish-gate/*` source lock that a real promotion would use,\nbut does not read, create, or move that ref.\n\nSemver GitHub Release publication is owned by `promote-buildchain-ref`, not by\nconsumer shell glue. Consumers normally use the `release-candidate-promote.yml`\nwrapper, where GitHub Release publication is enabled by default and can be\ndisabled with `github-release: false`; the wrapper passes that declaration to\nthe action. After the publish transaction reaches `complete`, Buildchain creates\nor updates the public GitHub Release and uploads the generated\n`buildchain.release.json`, release-passport assets, and publish evidence. Semver\nprerelease tags are marked `prerelease=true` and `make_latest=false`; stable\nsemver tags are marked latest. For anchored/manual package releases, the public\nrelease tag defaults to `v<publishedVersion>` while the internal exact\ntransaction tag remains in the release passport and release-state ref. This is\nthe supported path for downstream\n`release.published` propagation across semver, major, and promote-only release\ncandidate publication models.\n\nBuildchain also does not maintain bare exact tags such as `1.0.0`. The supported\nexact release and alpha refs are v-prefixed:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1-alpha.0\n```\n\n## Operational Reading Order\n\nWhen debugging or extending release behavior, read in this order:\n\n1. `docs/release-flow.md`\n2. `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml`\n3. `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml`\n4. `.github/workflows/release-candidate-promote.yml`\n5. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/README.md`\n6. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/src/`\n7. `docs/migration-inventory.md`\n\nThat path gives the policy first, the workflow trigger second, and the action\nimplementation last."
+      "markdown": "# Release Governance\n\nBuildchain v2 preserves the release semantics of the older ABV workflow while\nmoving the implementation into one modern repository.\n\nThe central idea is simple: a reviewed merge into a release channel is the\nrelease intent. Automation must then create the version-state commit, exact tag,\nfloating tag, and next alpha state that make that intent true in Git.\n\n## Design Problem\n\nKungfu release automation has to keep four facts aligned:\n\n1. The source tree that was reviewed.\n2. The package version recorded in manifests such as `package.json` or\n   `lerna.json`.\n3. The exact immutable release or prerelease tag.\n4. The floating channel refs that consumers actually use.\n\nIf any one of these facts is updated by hand, the system can split:\n\n- a consumer can fetch `v2.0` and receive a tree whose package version still\n  says the previous release;\n- a maintainer can move `v2` without producing an exact `v2.0.N` audit tag;\n- an alpha can be promoted to production even though the release tree is not the\n  same tree that was tested;\n- a protected branch merge can succeed while the follow-up version commit is\n  missing, or a flow-internal generated `dev`/`alpha`/`release` ref update can\n  fail after publish because the automation identity was not declared in the\n  branch-protection review bypass allowance.\n\nThe older ABV workflow addressed this by letting GitHub PRs drive release\nstate. Buildchain keeps that choice because it makes release intent reviewable,\nobservable, and recoverable from Git history.\n\n## What ABV Contributed\n\nThe old ABV model was not just \"bump a version number.\" It encoded a governance\nloop:\n\n- release branches are named as channels: `dev`, `alpha`, `release`, and the\n  administrative `publish-gate/major`;\n- a PR from one channel to the next is the release request;\n- verify jobs check that the branch pair is valid before merge;\n- a maintainer review is required before the branch moves;\n- after merge, automation writes the version change and moves tags;\n- exact tags and floating refs are aligned with the resulting commit;\n- the next development channel is prepared automatically.\n\nABV also kept the version-state mutation in the repository. For JavaScript\nrepositories that usually meant changing `lerna.json` and/or `package.json`.\nThat commit is important because the tag alone is not enough evidence: the\nsource tree should also declare the version that the tag advertises.\n\nBuildchain v2 treats that as a hard semantic requirement for its own release\nline.\n\n## Buildchain Implementation\n\nBuildchain implements the same governance loop with:\n\n- `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml` for PR verification;\n- `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` for post-verify ref\n  promotion; this workflow dogfoods the declarative\n  `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper and does not hand-wire resolver,\n  artifact download, publish-gate, or promote action steps;\n- Buildchain self promotion enables `release-passport-buildchain-self-kfd`, so\n  the promote action generates KFD-1 witnesses, KFD-2 public claim JSON, and\n  KFD-3 collaboration-interface witnesses from the final version-state workspace\n  before release passport finalization. The witness hashes therefore bind to the\n  exact published package and site facts from\n  `packages/core/buildchain-kfd-claims.js` instead of relying on prose release\n  notes;\n- `actions/promote-buildchain-ref` for branch, tag, version-state, and\n  governance checks;\n- package-manager adapters that can update version state for pnpm, npm, and\n  yarn style repositories;\n- `buildchain.toml` lifecycle configuration for repositories whose version\n  state or verification commands are not Node package-manager defaults.\n\nThe implementation is intentionally stricter than a local release script:\n\n- manual workflow dispatch can only do dry-run promotion;\n- non-dry-run promotion must be driven by a completed `Verify` workflow;\n- target branch protection details must be readable, and branch protection must\n  apply to administrators as well as regular contributors;\n- alpha promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `dev/vX/vX.Y` to `alpha/vX/vX.Y`;\n- release promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to `release/vX/vX.Y`;\n- major promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `release/vX/vX.Y` to `publish-gate/major`;\n- release promotion requires an existing same-patch alpha tag and checks the\n  release source tree against that tested alpha tree;\n- generated version-state commits are verified before refs move.\n\nPromotion intents are serialized globally per caller repository with\n`cancel-in-progress: false`. A queued intent re-reads its protected target ref\nbefore checkout, dependency installation, release-candidate resolution, or any\npublish-gate/ref mutation. If the ref already points at a newer SHA, that older\nintent is no longer release authority: the workflow records the requested and\ncurrent SHAs, proves that the current target is ahead of the requested commit,\nand completes as a `target-ref-advanced` superseded no-op. Diverged or behind\ncomparisons are not superseded transactions and still fail closed.\nMissing refs, unreadable repository state, invalid channels, governance\nfailures, and artifact mismatches still fail closed. The promote action repeats\nthe target check at the mutation boundary, so a ref that advances after the\nworkflow preflight cannot receive a second set of publication side effects.\n\n## Version Lines\n\nKungfu uses Python-like version lines where a minor line can represent a\nlong-lived product train. A line such as `v2.0` can produce many production\npatch releases:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1\nv2.0.2\n...\nv2.0.1234\n```\n\nThis is why Buildchain maintains both exact and floating refs:\n\n- `v2.0.2` is immutable release evidence;\n- `v2.0` is the latest production release on the `2.0` line;\n- `v2` is the selected stable major-line entrypoint;\n- `v2.0.3-alpha.0` is immutable alpha evidence;\n- `v2.0-alpha` is the latest test channel for the `2.0` line.\n- `v2-alpha` is the latest test channel on the highest published alpha minor in major `2`.\n\nA release does not mean \"minor is complete.\" It means \"this patch on this minor\nline is now production.\"\n\nGitHub repository rules must preserve that distinction. Exact tags such as\n`v2.0.2` and `v2.0.3-alpha.0` should be immutable. Floating channel tags such as\n`v2`, `v2.0`, `v2.0-alpha`, and `v2-alpha` must remain movable by the Buildchain promotion\ntoken after governance checks and publish evidence pass. A tag ruleset that\nprotects every `refs/tags/v*` ref is too broad because it also locks the\nfloating channel tags that Buildchain is required to update. Prefer exact-tag\npatterns such as `refs/tags/v*.*.*` for immutable release evidence, while\nleaving floating channel tags under Buildchain automation control.\n\n## Alpha Semantics\n\nAn alpha merge is:\n\n```text\ndev/vX/vX.Y -> alpha/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Computes the next prerelease for the minor line.\n2. Writes version state such as `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N`.\n3. Verifies the generated version-state tree.\n4. Creates or reuses the exact alpha tag.\n5. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to the generated alpha commit.\n6. Moves `dev/vX/vX.Y` to the same generated alpha commit when this is a\n   fast-forward update.\n7. Moves `vX.Y-alpha` to the same generated alpha commit.\n8. Moves `vX-alpha` only when `X.Y` is the highest minor in major `X` with a published alpha; older minor alpha work records a skip and cannot move the major channel backwards.\n\nThe npm channel follows the same ownership rule. The highest alpha minor publishes\nwith dist-tag `alpha`; maintenance alphas on an older minor publish with the\nline-specific dist-tag `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global `alpha`\nchannel backward. Exact prerelease versions remain installable directly.\n\nThis keeps the test channel self-describing. If a consumer checks out\n`v2.0-alpha` or `v2-alpha`, the manifests and exact alpha tag agree. The major\nalpha ref removes routine consumer edits when Buildchain opens a newer minor,\nwhile exact tags and SHAs remain the reproducible audit choice.\n\n### Buildchain Alpha Self-Dogfood\n\nBuildchain continuously consumes its own current major alpha through\n`.github/workflows/buildchain-alpha-self-dogfood.yml`. Both lanes call the\nreleased channel router at `build.yml@v2-alpha`. The auto lane must resolve\n`v2-alpha`; the explicit stable lane must resolve `v2`. Both execute the same\ndeclared install, build, and verify fixture, proving that a single consumer\nsurface routes to distinct released runtimes without duplicating lifecycle\nconfiguration in the consumer.\n\nThe reusable build trust gate reads `job.workflow_ref`, which identifies the\ncalled workflow and its selected ref. It does not infer the runtime from\n`github.workflow_ref`, because GitHub defines that context as the caller\nworkflow identity during a reusable call.\n\nThe router selects `.buildchain/alpha-contract-lock.json` for alpha and\n`.buildchain/contract-lock.json` for stable. The alpha lock records the exact\nreviewed alpha SHA and compatibility digest; it does not replace the stable\nconsumer lock. A later alpha with only compatible additive drift continues,\nwhile a changed breaking digest fails until the new alpha contract is reviewed.\n\nThe evidence job resolves `v2-alpha` and `v2` through the GitHub refs API,\ncompares those immutable SHAs with the reusable workflow outputs, verifies the\n`alpha` and `stable` classifications, and uploads a JSON evidence artifact.\nThe canary runs after successful Buildchain ref promotion, on a daily fallback\nschedule, and on manual dispatch. It shares the release-promotion concurrency\ngroup, so another promotion cannot move the floating refs between runtime\nresolution and evidence comparison.\n\nThis is a post-publication consumer canary, not a release bootstrap. Source\nverification still runs the current commit, and\n`buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` still passes the verified exact SHA into the\npromotion workflow. Patrol, dev-merge, repair, and promotion defaults remain on\nstable or exact refs so a broken alpha cannot prevent Buildchain from publishing\nits fix. When Buildchain opens a new major, inventory validation requires this\nworkflow's fixed GitHub `uses` refs to move from `vN`/`vN-alpha` to the new\nmajor; GitHub does not allow expressions in a reusable-workflow `uses` ref.\n\nIf `dev/vX/vX.Y` has already advanced before generated alpha version-state\nbookkeeping can sync back, Buildchain records `skipped-non-fast-forward` for the\ndev sync and still completes the exact and floating alpha tags for the reviewed\nalpha commit. Later dev changes must go through their own dev-to-alpha\npromotion instead of rewinding dev. The normal path is direct: after alpha\nmerges, Buildchain applies the generated version-state commit to alpha and then\nfast-forwards dev to the same commit without a human version-state PR.\n\nIf alpha finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain accepts the current alpha head as the generated\ncommit, or as a historical merge commit that contains the recorded release\nmaterial. An already-created exact alpha tag may point at the transaction\nrelease/material SHA or at the finalized alpha head; missing floating alpha\ntags are retried before the transaction becomes `complete`.\n\n## Release Semantics\n\nA release merge is:\n\n```text\nalpha/vX/vX.Y -> release/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Finds the same-patch alpha tag that was tested.\n2. Checks that the release source tree matches that alpha tag tree, excluding\n   only generated version-state differences.\n3. Writes final release version state such as `vX.Y.Z`.\n4. Verifies the generated release tree.\n5. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `vX.Y.Z`.\n6. Moves `release/vX/vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n7. Moves `vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n8. Moves `vX` when this minor line should be the stable major entrypoint.\n9. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `vX.Y.(Z+1)-alpha.0`.\n10. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y`, `dev/vX/vX.Y`, and `vX.Y-alpha` to that next alpha\n    commit.\n11. Moves `vX-alpha` to that next alpha only when this remains the highest published alpha minor.\n\nThe production channel and the test channel therefore intentionally diverge\nafter release: production stays on the release commit, while alpha/dev continue\nat the next prerelease commit.\n\n### Stable Release Throttle And Canary Gate\n\nBuildchain's own stable channel has an additional pre-publication gate. It is\nevaluated after the PR-stage release candidate has been resolved and before the\npublish-gate ref, package registry, exact stable tag, or floating stable refs\nare mutated. Train refs and alpha promotion do not execute this gate.\n\nAll alpha and release promotions first run a metadata-only release-candidate\npreflight after queued-intent revalidation. The preflight uses the same resolver\nand exact target SHA as the publication job, but does not download payloads or\ninstall the candidate repository dependencies. Missing channel PRs, stale\nworkflow runs, expired passport pairs, and insufficient payload artifact sets\ntherefore fail before the full promotion job starts. The publication job still\ndownloads and validates the exact evidence again at the trust boundary; the\npreflight moves failure earlier without weakening the final check.\n\nThe policy is versioned in `.buildchain/stable-release-policy.json`. A stable\ncandidate is allowed only when all of these facts are true:\n\n- the candidate resolves to an immutable exact alpha tag and its GitHub\n  prerelease timestamp;\n- at least 24 hours have passed since the preceding stable patch on the same\n  minor line;\n- the preceding stable-to-alpha comparison contains a product or public\n  contract path, not only version, test, evidence, or retrospective changes;\n- the version-bound impact record has a non-empty summary and at least one\n  surface impact;\n- the `Build Surface Fixture` release-candidate run succeeded;\n- `site-libkungfu-dev` completed its no-apply `Buildchain Stable Canary` and an allowed\n  maintainer attested that successful run on the exact alpha SHA through the\n  `buildchain-canary/site-libkungfu-dev` commit-status context;\n- the canary runtime input is exactly the candidate alpha tag or the 40-character\n  commit SHA resolved from that tag; a successful status pointing at another\n  workflow, repository, tag, floating ref, or SHA is rejected as mismatched;\n- at least one hour has elapsed after the last required canary completed.\n\nThe machine report is written to\n`.buildchain/release-passport/stable-release-gate.json`. A passing report is\nuploaded with the stable release passport. A blocked run writes the same report\nbefore failing, so the missing or stale condition is inspectable without\nopening a publication transaction.\n\nGitHub's Actions run REST object does not expose `workflow_dispatch` inputs.\nBuildchain therefore verifies the run's `workflow_id` against the authoritative\nworkflow metadata, then reads the exact runtime from the workflow-owned\n`<workflow name> / <runtime ref>` run-name when no input field is available.\nAn explicit API input, when present, remains authoritative and cannot be\noverridden by the display name.\n\nThe cooldown is a minimum interval, not an instruction to release every day.\nCompatible work should still be batched until a stable release has a concrete\nconsumer need. Changing the interval, canary set, attestors, product path\nboundary, or soak time is a reviewed policy change.\n\nRepositories that want a predictable scheduled stable window can use\n[`Stable Candidate Patrol`](stable-candidate-patrol.md). It persists each exact\nalpha independently, qualifies it after repository-declared checks and soak,\nand selects the newest qualified non-revoked candidate. A newer soaking alpha\ndoes not invalidate an older qualified candidate. The selected tree enters the\nexisting strict `publish-gate/release/<line>/<version> -> release/<line>` PR\npath, so scheduled selection changes release intent timing without weakening\nsource locks, review, verification, publish transactions, or passports.\n\nIf release finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain applies the same recovery rule: the current\nrelease head may be the generated commit, or a historical merge commit that\ncontains the recorded release material, existing exact tags and alpha/dev refs\nare accepted when they match the transaction, and missing floating `vX.Y` or\n`vX` tags are retried idempotently before completion.\n\nOnce the durable release transaction is `complete` and the exact/floating\nstable refs have moved, next-alpha preparation is post-release bookkeeping. A\nfailure there records `deferred-post-release-bookkeeping` and\n`next-anchor-required` instead of retroactively reporting the stable release as\nfailed. Generated next-alpha merges use the current dev tree as their base and\noverlay only declared version-state paths, preserving concurrent dev changes.\n\n## Major Gate Semantics\n\nA major gate merge is:\n\n```text\nrelease/vX/vX.Y -> publish-gate/major\n```\n\n`publish-gate/major` is the explicit replacement for the older ABV `main`\nchannel. The name is intentionally operational: it is a gate for a rare\nadministrator decision, not the active trunk. Keeping this decision in the same\nPR UI as alpha and release promotion keeps the human workflow simple while\navoiding the misleading meaning of `main`. The older `major-gate` branch name is\na compatibility alias only.\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Verifies the source is a merged same-repository PR from a protected release\n   line into `publish-gate/major`.\n2. Writes the next major production version state, such as `v(X+1).0.0`.\n3. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `v(X+1).0.0`.\n4. Moves `publish-gate/major` and `release/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0` to that release commit.\n5. Moves `v(X+1).0` and `v(X+1)` to that release commit.\n6. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `v(X+1).0.1-alpha.0`.\n7. Moves `alpha/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, `dev/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, and\n   `v(X+1).0-alpha` to that next alpha commit.\n\nChecking out `publish-gate/major` should therefore look like a frozen release\nstate, not like a branch where day-to-day source work continues. Day-to-day\nsource work continues on `dev/vX/vX.Y`.\n\n## Protected Dev Branches\n\n`dev/vX/vX.Y` is a protected development channel, not a scratch branch. Normal\nsource changes should be made on work branches such as `feature/*`, `fix/*`,\n`chore/*`, `docs/*`, `ci/*`, or `refactor/*`, then reviewed through a pull\nrequest into the target dev line.\n\nThis keeps the earliest development channel audit-friendly:\n\n- the version line being changed is visible in the PR base branch;\n- CI and required checks run before the channel moves;\n- branch protection can prevent direct pushes and stale merges;\n- later `dev -> alpha -> release` promotion inherits a reviewable source\n  lineage instead of trying to reconstruct how the dev branch changed.\n\nBuildchain provides the reusable\n`.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` workflow for repositories that want a\nscheduled or manual \"merge ready dev PRs\" pass. The consumer repository owns\nthe trigger schedule, but the merge decision is declared through workflow\ninputs: target dev branch, required status/check names, ready and block labels,\nallowed work-branch prefixes, review requirements, maximum merges per run,\nmerge method, and dry-run mode.\n\nThe workflow defaults are conservative. A PR is skipped unless it targets the\nconfigured dev line, is not a draft, has the ready label, has no block label,\ncomes from the same repository, uses an allowed work-branch prefix, has a\ncurrent approval, is mergeable, and has the configured required checks passing.\nAfter each merge, the next PR is re-evaluated before it can move the protected\ndev branch. This prevents one merge from silently making the next candidate\nstale or conflicting.\n\nThe canonical consumer required check context is `check / check`, matching the\nreusable workflow call plus its `check` job. Buildchain's own `Verify` workflow\nemits the repository-local context `check`, so Buildchain self-promotion,\nrelease-line bootstrap, and dogfood patrol wrappers pass `check` explicitly.\nRelease governance preserves the exact context emitted by the repository and\nrecords branch-protection policy before/after facts; it does not rewrite one\ncontext shape into the other. Consumer repositories can keep their context\nstable while changing the actual verification command declaratively in\n`buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.install]\ncommand = \"cargo fetch --locked\"\n\n[lifecycle.verify]\ncommand = \"cargo test --workspace --locked\"\n```\n\nConsumers that want Buildchain to own the check wrapper can call\n`.github/workflows/check.yml@v2`. The wrapper runs the declared\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.verify` stages and fails the `check` job when\neither declaration is missing or the command exits non-zero.\n\nDevelopment pull requests that need source acceptance without product build or\nartifact verification can opt into `mode: source`. That mode runs only\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.check` on GitHub-hosted `ubuntu-24.04` while\npreserving the stable `check / check` required-check context. Existing callers\nremain on `mode: verify` by default, and callers may set\n`upload-artifacts: false` without weakening the job conclusion.\n\nTypical consumer wrapper:\n\n```yaml\nname: Merge Ready Dev PRs\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 * * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n    inputs:\n      dry-run:\n        type: boolean\n        default: true\n\njobs:\n  merge-dev:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml@v2\n    permissions:\n      contents: write\n      pull-requests: write\n      checks: read\n      statuses: read\n    with:\n      target-branch: dev/v2/v2.6\n      required-status-checks: check / check\n      ready-label: ready\n      block-labels: blocked,do-not-merge\n      max-merges: 1\n      dry-run: ${{ inputs.dry-run || false }}\n```\n\n## Buildchain Patrol\n\n`dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` remains the focused merge primitive. For repositories\nthat want a stable day-to-day operations contract, Buildchain also exposes a\npatrol workflow family:\n\n| Workflow | Intended cadence | Default intent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml` | daily | lightweight inspection plus ready dev PR maintenance |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml` | weekly | release-state, passport, gate, and stale-state health checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-monthly.yml` | monthly | governance, permission, branch-protection, and workflow drift checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/stable-candidate-patrol.yml` | repository-selected release window | qualify immutable alpha candidates and open the exact source-lock stable PR |\n\nThe cadence names describe patrol intensity, not release cadence:\n\n- daily patrol can run every day without implying a daily release;\n- weekly patrol is for medium-cost maintenance and audit checks;\n- monthly patrol is for structural drift checks that should not block ordinary\n  development velocity.\n\nStable Candidate Patrol is separate from those maintenance cadences because its\ncaller-owned cron is a release-intent window. Its candidate ledger and selection\nremain generic; registry-specific side effects still run through the normal\nrepository `lifecycle.publish` transaction. See\n[`stable-candidate-patrol.md`](stable-candidate-patrol.md).\n\nConsumers should schedule thin callers and keep their YAML declarative. For\nexample:\n\n```yaml\nname: Buildchain Daily Patrol\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 2 * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: false\n      max-actions: 1\n```\n\nWeekly and monthly callers use the matching wrapper:\n\n```yaml\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: true\n```\n\nAll three wrappers default to the `v2` floating Buildchain runtime. When\n`target-branch` is omitted, the caller's current/default branch selects the\nactive semver dev line, so consumers do not pin patrol to a stale minor branch.\nThe separate workflow names keep consumer schedules readable and stable while\nBuildchain adds new checks behind the cadence wrappers.\n\n## Package-Manager Adapters\n\nOld ABV assumed JavaScript repositories with root version state and often\nLerna. Buildchain keeps the version-state contract but does not assume every\nrepository is yarn/Lerna.\n\nThe promotion action discovers and updates:\n\n- root `package.json`;\n- `lerna.json`;\n- package manifests from `package.json` workspaces;\n- package manifests from `lerna.json` packages;\n- package manifests from `pnpm-workspace.yaml`.\n\nIt then runs the repository's detected package manager semantics where needed:\n\n- pnpm repositories use pnpm-oriented workspace discovery;\n- npm repositories use npm/package-lock semantics where present;\n- yarn repositories use yarn-style metadata where present.\n\nFor Buildchain itself, version state is required. For a consumer repository that\nhas no package manifest, the same action can degrade to ref-only behavior only\nwhen that is explicitly allowed by the caller.\n\n## Lifecycle Configuration\n\n`buildchain.toml` is the v2 user configuration format. It lets a repository\ndeclare version-state files and lifecycle commands without pretending every\nproject is a Node workspace. Supported version files include JSON, TOML, and\nregex-based files such as `CMakeLists.txt` or `conanfile.py`.\n\nThe promotion action currently consumes `version.files` and `lifecycle.verify`.\nThe verify stage runs after generated version-state changes are applied locally\nand before any release refs move. If `verification-command` is passed directly\nto the action, that explicit command overrides `lifecycle.verify`.\n\nProtected release-line branches keep their normal human review gate. Managed\n`dev/vN/vN.M`, `alpha/vN/vN.M`, and `release/vN/vN.M` branches are configured\nwith one required approving review, strict GitHub Actions checks, administrator\nenforcement, conversation resolution, no force pushes, and no deletions. The\nreusable `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper defaults\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps` to `github-actions`, which lets the workflow's\nautomation identity apply generated version-state or post-publish channel\nbookkeeping after the reviewed channel PR has merged. Direct\n`promote-buildchain-ref` callers must opt into the same controlled bypass with\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps`, `branch-protection-bypass-users`, or\n`branch-protection-bypass-teams`; the action also adds the current promotion\ntoken's authenticated user or app to the managed bypass allowlist. Before\npatching a protected generated bookkeeping ref, the action creates the\nconfigured required check on the exact generated version-state commit, so strict\nstatus checks are satisfied by machine-verifiable Buildchain evidence rather\nthan a human PR. The protected ref PATCH itself uses the generated ref update\ntoken; the reusable wrapper defaults it to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`. If direct generated\nrelease finalization bookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or\nreuses a same-repository `buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current\ntarget channel head and records `finalization-needed=true` in the durable\ntransaction output. Strict alpha bookkeeping still fails with a\ntoken/protection diagnostic instead of creating a post-publish PR.\n\nFor a stable release, the wrapper also checks out the exact current development\nchannel into `.buildchain/reconciliation/dev`. When the prepared next-alpha\ncommit cannot fast-forward dev because reviewed work landed concurrently, the\npromotion action applies the next version to that checkout, regenerates every\ndeclared derived version-state file, reruns the verification lifecycle, and\nonly then creates the two-parent reconciliation commit. A checkout/current-ref\nSHA mismatch blocks reconciliation instead of committing stale projections.\nBuildchain's own promotion workflow reads `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_APPS`,\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_USERS`, and\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_TEAMS` repository variables so the declared bypass\nidentity can match the actual `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN` actor, but consumers\ndo not need to duplicate that actor manually when the token identity is\ndiscoverable.\n\n## What This Guarantees\n\nWhen the loop succeeds, maintainers and consumers can rely on these facts:\n\n- every production release has an exact tag such as `v2.0.2`;\n- every production minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0`;\n- every selected stable major has a floating tag such as `v2`;\n- every next-major release is driven by a reviewed `release -> publish-gate/major` PR,\n  not a hidden manual button;\n- every test channel has an exact alpha tag such as `v2.0.3-alpha.0`;\n- every alpha minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0-alpha`;\n- every major with a published alpha has a cross-minor floating tag such as `v2-alpha`, owned by its highest published alpha minor;\n- version manifests match the tag visible from the same commit;\n- production releases are derived from the alpha tree that was tested;\n- manual non-dry-run promotion cannot bypass PR review and verification;\n- flow-internal automation bypasses apply only to declared GitHub Apps, users,\n  or teams on Buildchain-managed channel branch protection, while one-review\n  protection remains enforced for humans;\n- admin users cannot make a channel promotion valid by temporarily bypassing\n  branch protection.\n\nThis is the practical meaning of \"governance closed loop\" in Buildchain: the\ndecision, code, version state, and Git refs close over the same evidence chain.\n\n## What This Does Not Do\n\nBuildchain release promotion does not embed registry clients or product-specific\npublish logic. When publish transactions are enabled, `promote-buildchain-ref`\ncan run the consumer's `lifecycle.publish` command and own the transaction,\nevidence validation, durable recovery state, and ref finalization order. The\nconsumer repository still owns registry truth: npm, PyPI, OCI, S3, Conan, CMake\npackaging, download pages, dist-tags, and similar side effects must be\nimplemented by project lifecycle commands that emit Buildchain publish evidence.\n\nEvery Buildchain publish model that can run registry side effects must bind the\npublish entrypoint to an immutable `publish-gate/*` source lock. The reusable\n`release-candidate-promote.yml@v2` wrapper creates or updates that gate ref and\npasses `require-publish-source-lock`, `publish-source-ref`,\n`publish-source-sha`, and `publish-source-locked` to\n`promote-buildchain-ref`. Direct action callers must pass the same four inputs\nfrom the reusable build outputs. Workflows that only collect passports or run\ndry-run package checks do not move publish refs and are not publish-gate\npublication models. A dry-run of `release-candidate-promote.yml` computes and\nreports the exact `publish-gate/*` source lock that a real promotion would use,\nbut does not read, create, or move that ref.\n\nSemver GitHub Release publication is owned by `promote-buildchain-ref`, not by\nconsumer shell glue. Consumers normally use the `release-candidate-promote.yml`\nwrapper, where GitHub Release publication is enabled by default and can be\ndisabled with `github-release: false`; the wrapper passes that declaration to\nthe action. After the publish transaction reaches `complete`, Buildchain creates\nor updates the public GitHub Release and uploads the generated\n`buildchain.release.json`, release-passport assets, and publish evidence. Semver\nprerelease tags are marked `prerelease=true` and `make_latest=false`; stable\nsemver tags are marked latest. For anchored/manual package releases, the public\nrelease tag defaults to `v<publishedVersion>` while the internal exact\ntransaction tag remains in the release passport and release-state ref. This is\nthe supported path for downstream\n`release.published` propagation across semver, major, and promote-only release\ncandidate publication models.\n\nBuildchain also does not maintain bare exact tags such as `1.0.0`. The supported\nexact release and alpha refs are v-prefixed:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1-alpha.0\n```\n\n## Operational Reading Order\n\nWhen debugging or extending release behavior, read in this order:\n\n1. `docs/release-flow.md`\n2. `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml`\n3. `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml`\n4. `.github/workflows/release-candidate-promote.yml`\n5. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/README.md`\n6. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/src/`\n7. `docs/migration-inventory.md`\n\nThat path gives the policy first, the workflow trigger second, and the action\nimplementation last."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:release-passport",
@@ -2450,7 +2450,7 @@
       "path": "docs/install.md",
       "plane": "use",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:2600738a92b5853bc26d4e01211f0c07b8b36a21d4d72ca809bc6032dff5dc5f"
+      "digest": "sha256:1879849c01f82b8820f2d9aeb09faed0931954cb7fe6939176a5eb69110cee59"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-passport",
@@ -2618,7 +2618,7 @@
       "path": "docs/publish-transaction.md",
       "plane": "verify",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:8d5d7075cf8b4280a4c5097726f5c51ae40db83e2652eafefe4fa5e487794f57"
+      "digest": "sha256:9e77030dbd69e27c2402d855980f7560a465270cac1f3225c0470523ab4a8ddf"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-governance",
@@ -2626,7 +2626,7 @@
       "path": "docs/release-governance.md",
       "plane": "why",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:cce9f80add3c746fe28d8ebf5afb809348694741cb75d19154ed3057a9374c0d"
+      "digest": "sha256:d85ac78b7c73b85b0a59a4a39131230522ae65225fa1b52f9dfe6939f1bb839c"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-flow",

package/dist/site/kfd-claims.json

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-public-surface-reverse-audit",
     "path": "dist/site/public-surface-audit.json",
     "status": "passed",
-    "sha256": "8815fc5abfe516e247a7024a367be5e3144fbe49196b7ec251dba4598bfc59ea",
+    "sha256": "e40255bbd8afd23bf6c1e3fb4688db9871b3f4cacefbf6dee7dc9c9bb60dfbd9",
     "summary": {
       "cliCommandCount": 79,
       "workflowCount": 47,
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@
       "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-public-surface-reverse-audit",
       "path": "dist/site/public-surface-audit.json",
       "status": "passed",
-      "sha256": "8815fc5abfe516e247a7024a367be5e3144fbe49196b7ec251dba4598bfc59ea",
+      "sha256": "e40255bbd8afd23bf6c1e3fb4688db9871b3f4cacefbf6dee7dc9c9bb60dfbd9",
       "summary": {
         "cliCommandCount": 79,
         "workflowCount": 47,

package/dist/site/kfd-upstream-aggregate.json

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "product": {
     "id": "kungfu-tech-buildchain",
     "name": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
     "repository": "https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain"
   },
   "source": {

package/dist/site/manual-registry.json

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
       "title": "Install and verify Buildchain",
       "path": "docs/install.md",
       "plane": "use",
-      "digest": "sha256:2600738a92b5853bc26d4e01211f0c07b8b36a21d4d72ca809bc6032dff5dc5f",
+      "digest": "sha256:1879849c01f82b8820f2d9aeb09faed0931954cb7fe6939176a5eb69110cee59",
       "capabilityGroup": "getting-started",
       "audience": [
         "consumer"
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@
       "title": "Publish transaction",
       "path": "docs/publish-transaction.md",
       "plane": "verify",
-      "digest": "sha256:8d5d7075cf8b4280a4c5097726f5c51ae40db83e2652eafefe4fa5e487794f57",
+      "digest": "sha256:9e77030dbd69e27c2402d855980f7560a465270cac1f3225c0470523ab4a8ddf",
       "capabilityGroup": "release-passport-trust",
       "audience": [
         "release-operator"
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@
       "title": "Release governance",
       "path": "docs/release-governance.md",
       "plane": "why",
-      "digest": "sha256:cce9f80add3c746fe28d8ebf5afb809348694741cb75d19154ed3057a9374c0d",
+      "digest": "sha256:d85ac78b7c73b85b0a59a4a39131230522ae65225fa1b52f9dfe6939f1bb839c",
       "capabilityGroup": "governance-versioning",
       "audience": [
         "maintainer",

package/dist/site/page-registry.json

@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/install.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:2600738a92b5853bc26d4e01211f0c07b8b36a21d4d72ca809bc6032dff5dc5f",
+      "digest": "sha256:1879849c01f82b8820f2d9aeb09faed0931954cb7fe6939176a5eb69110cee59",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@
           "anchor": "verify-a-release-passport"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Install and Verify Buildchain\n\nBuildchain can be consumed as a standalone binary, an npm package, or a\nrepository workflow surface. In every case, verify the release record before\nadopting a new version.\n\n## Standalone Binary\n\nUse the archive that matches the platform:\n\n| Platform | Asset |\n| --- | --- |\n| Linux x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |\n| macOS arm64 | `buildchain-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |\n| Windows x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |\n\nLinux example:\n\n```bash\ntag=v2.2.1\nbase=\"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/${tag}\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain.release.json\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/artifact-evidence.json\"\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\ntar -xzf buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\n./buildchain version\n```\n\nWindows example:\n\n```powershell\n$tag = \"v2.2.1\"\n$base = \"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/$tag\"\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip\" -OutFile buildchain.zip\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain.release.json\" -OutFile buildchain.release.json\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/artifact-evidence.json\" -OutFile artifact-evidence.json\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nExpand-Archive buildchain.zip -DestinationPath .\n.\\buildchain.exe version\n```\n\nThe GitHub Release page does not publish loose top-level `buildchain` or\n`buildchain.exe` files. The executable is inside each platform archive.\n\n## npm Package\n\n```bash\nnpm install -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain\nnpx buildchain version\nnpx buildchain doctor --json\n```\n\nAlpha releases publish to the `alpha` npm dist-tag. Stable releases publish to\n`latest`. Both are created by the protected Buildchain promotion transaction.\n\nStable consumers should pin the exact Buildchain version they have validated,\nfor example:\n\n```bash\npnpm add -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\n```\n\nIf a repository dogfoods a just-published Buildchain version and pnpm's release\nage policy blocks the install, use a temporary package/version-specific\n`minimumReleaseAgeExclude` entry instead of weakening the registry policy for\nall packages:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"pnpm\": {\n    \"minimumReleaseAgeExclude\": [\n      \"@kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\"\n    ]\n  }\n}\n```\n\nRemove that entry after the package is old enough for the repository's normal\npolicy. Do not use a broad exclude such as `@kungfu-tech/*` for this case.\n\n## Repository Integration\n\n```bash\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain init --type package --package-manager pnpm\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain validate --require-version-state\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain release --dry-run --target-ref alpha/v2/v2.2\n```\n\nUse `.buildchain/buildchain.toml` to declare lifecycle commands. The commands may use Node\npackage managers or non-Node tools such as pip, Conan, CMake, Make, or project\nscripts.\n\n## Verify a Release Passport\n\n```bash\nbuildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nbuildchain explain release --passport buildchain.release.json --for agent --json\n```\n\nThe verifier fails closed when the passport or its sibling evidence files are\nmissing required fields or mismatching artifact digests."
+      "markdown": "# Install and Verify Buildchain\n\nBuildchain can be consumed as a standalone binary, an npm package, or a\nrepository workflow surface. In every case, verify the release record before\nadopting a new version.\n\n## Standalone Binary\n\nUse the archive that matches the platform:\n\n| Platform | Asset |\n| --- | --- |\n| Linux x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |\n| macOS arm64 | `buildchain-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |\n| Windows x64 | `buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |\n\nLinux example:\n\n```bash\ntag=v2.2.1\nbase=\"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/${tag}\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/buildchain.release.json\"\ncurl -LO \"${base}/artifact-evidence.json\"\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\ntar -xzf buildchain-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz\n./buildchain version\n```\n\nWindows example:\n\n```powershell\n$tag = \"v2.2.1\"\n$base = \"https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain/releases/download/$tag\"\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip\" -OutFile buildchain.zip\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/buildchain.release.json\" -OutFile buildchain.release.json\nInvoke-WebRequest \"$base/artifact-evidence.json\" -OutFile artifact-evidence.json\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nExpand-Archive buildchain.zip -DestinationPath .\n.\\buildchain.exe version\n```\n\nThe GitHub Release page does not publish loose top-level `buildchain` or\n`buildchain.exe` files. The executable is inside each platform archive.\n\n## npm Package\n\n```bash\nnpm install -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain\nnpx buildchain version\nnpx buildchain doctor --json\n```\n\nThe highest alpha minor publishes to the `alpha` npm dist-tag; older maintenance\nminor alphas use `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global alpha channel back.\nStable releases publish to\n`latest`. Both are created by the protected Buildchain promotion transaction.\n\nStable consumers should pin the exact Buildchain version they have validated,\nfor example:\n\n```bash\npnpm add -D @kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\n```\n\nIf a repository dogfoods a just-published Buildchain version and pnpm's release\nage policy blocks the install, use a temporary package/version-specific\n`minimumReleaseAgeExclude` entry instead of weakening the registry policy for\nall packages:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"pnpm\": {\n    \"minimumReleaseAgeExclude\": [\n      \"@kungfu-tech/buildchain@2.2.5\"\n    ]\n  }\n}\n```\n\nRemove that entry after the package is old enough for the repository's normal\npolicy. Do not use a broad exclude such as `@kungfu-tech/*` for this case.\n\n## Repository Integration\n\n```bash\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain init --type package --package-manager pnpm\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain validate --require-version-state\nnpx @kungfu-tech/buildchain release --dry-run --target-ref alpha/v2/v2.2\n```\n\nUse `.buildchain/buildchain.toml` to declare lifecycle commands. The commands may use Node\npackage managers or non-Node tools such as pip, Conan, CMake, Make, or project\nscripts.\n\n## Verify a Release Passport\n\n```bash\nbuildchain verify release-passport buildchain.release.json\nbuildchain explain release --passport buildchain.release.json --for agent --json\n```\n\nThe verifier fails closed when the passport or its sibling evidence files are\nmissing required fields or mismatching artifact digests."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:kfd-support",
@@ -1058,7 +1058,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/publish-transaction.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:8d5d7075cf8b4280a4c5097726f5c51ae40db83e2652eafefe4fa5e487794f57",
+      "digest": "sha256:9e77030dbd69e27c2402d855980f7560a465270cac1f3225c0470523ab4a8ddf",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -1121,7 +1121,7 @@
           "anchor": "build-images-follow-up"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Publish Transaction\n\nBuildchain release promotion is not just tag movement. A release can also publish\nexternal artifacts: npm packages, Python wheels, OCI images, binary archives,\nmetadata manifests, or site deployment records. Those side effects are harder\nthan Git refs because most registries are append-only: a failed rerun must know\nwhich artifacts already exist, which are still missing, and whether any existing\nartifact conflicts with the release material.\n\nBuildchain v2 models that work as a release transaction.\n\n## Why This Exists\n\nThe old ABV workflow made Git refs the visible release authority. That was\nenough when \"release\" meant \"create a version commit, move tags, and let\ndownstream jobs react.\" It is not enough when a single publish run must also\nupload packages and images.\n\nThe failure mode to avoid is:\n\n1. publish an external artifact;\n2. fail before moving the exact release tag or floating channel refs;\n3. rerun from a new job id with no memory of the artifact;\n4. either republish something different or move refs without proving the\n   already-published artifact matches the release.\n\nThe transaction gives reruns a stable identity and a machine-readable state so\nBuildchain can resume safely. The identity is:\n\n```text\nrepository + version + source_sha + target_ref\n```\n\nIt is not the GitHub Actions run id.\n\n## Durable State\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` stores release transaction state in a\nmachine-managed Git branch:\n\n```text\nrefs/heads/buildchain/release-state/<version>\n```\n\nThe branch contains:\n\n```text\nstate.json\nevidence.json   # present after publish evidence exists\n```\n\nThe local `.buildchain/release-state/...` and\n`.buildchain/release-evidence/...` files are working copies. They are useful for\nlocal inspection and lifecycle commands, but they are not the durable truth for\nGitHub-hosted reruns. On action startup, Buildchain reads the durable state ref\nfirst, restores the local working copies, and only then decides whether to\npublish, repair, or finalize.\n\nEvery meaningful state transition is written to the durable ref before public\nrelease refs move. Release-state GitHub API reads and writes use retry/backoff\nfor transient service failures such as HTTP 5xx responses, connection resets,\ntimeouts, and \"other side closed\" socket failures. If the durable write still\ncannot be persisted after retries, the action fails closed.\n\nDurable release-state refs reserve their exact version even when the public exact\ntag was never created. If a later machine run sees a failed or repair-required\nstate for `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N` and cannot resume it with the same transaction\nidentity, alpha version selection must advance to the next prerelease instead\nof reusing or overwriting that failed transaction slot.\n\n## Lifecycle\n\nRepositories declare publish work in `.buildchain/buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[publish]\nmode = \"publish-final-version\"\nauth = \"trusted-publishing\"\ndist_tag = \"latest\"\npackage_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"\nmain_package = \"@kungfu-tech/libnode\"\n\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommands = [\n  \"python scripts/publish_wheels.py\",\n  \"node scripts/publish-images.mjs\",\n  \"node scripts/write-publish-evidence.mjs\",\n]\n```\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` runs `lifecycle.publish` only when\n`publish-transaction: \"true\"` is set or when a `publish-command` input is\nprovided. The action sets:\n\n```text\nBUILDCHAIN_VERSION\nBUILDCHAIN_CHANNEL\nBUILDCHAIN_SOURCE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_TARGET_REF\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_STATE\nBUILDCHAIN_EVIDENCE_DIR\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE\nBUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_MODE\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_AUTH\nBUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_ORDER\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_MAIN_PACKAGE\n```\n\nBuildchain itself uses this contract for npm publishing:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommand = \"node scripts/npm-publish-transaction.mjs\"\n```\n\nThat script validates that `package.json` matches `BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`, runs\n`npm publish --access public --tag <BUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG>` through npm Trusted\nPublishing, and writes npm artifact evidence before the promotion action moves\npublic refs.\n\n`BUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA` is the source material whose artifacts must\nmatch. `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA` identifies the publishing code. A repair\nrun may change tooling, but material drift fails closed.\n\n## Post-Publish Requirements And Artifact Provenance\n\n`publish-required-artifacts-json` is a pre-publish family declaration, not a\nrequest to guess registry digests. A descriptor must include `kind + name`; it\nmay omit `ref` and `digest`. The action resolves a missing `ref` to the exact\n`BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`. Registries whose exact refs add a stable prefix or suffix\nmay instead declare a `ref_template` containing exactly one `{version}`, such\nas `v{version}`. The template is expanded only after exact version selection,\nso a resumed alpha transaction receives the newly selected prerelease rather\nthan the checked-out version. Declaring both `ref` and `ref_template`, using\nanother placeholder, or leaving unmatched braces fails before\n`lifecycle.publish`. The action exports the normalized exact refs as\n`BUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS`, runs `lifecycle.publish`, and then requires the\nfinal evidence to contain every exact member with a non-empty digest. Existing\ncallers may continue supplying exact refs and digests.\n\nOCI publishers can opt into strict per-artifact provenance by adding\n`action: built` or `action: reused`. Those artifacts carry two separate\ncoordinates:\n\n- `content`: the version, ref, source SHA, and material SHA that produced the\n  immutable content;\n- `release`: the exact current version/ref, target ref, source SHA, and release\n  material SHA that bind that content into this release.\n\nThis distinction permits truthful cross-version reuse without claiming that an\nold OCI config was rebuilt from current material. For an OCI artifact with an\naction, final evidence also requires `platform`, positive `contract_major`, and\n`verification` containing a public manifest result, exact ref and digest,\nplatform, contract major, optional parent digest, evidence location, and a\npassed named smoke policy. Buildchain cross-checks those values against the\nartifact and current transaction. Missing family members and ref, digest,\ncontent, release, or verification conflicts enter `repair_required` before\npublic refs move.\n\nExample reused OCI evidence entry (the pre-publish requirement may omit\n`ref`, `digest`, `release`, and the observed verification values):\n\n```json\n{\n  \"group\": \"image\",\n  \"kind\": \"oci\",\n  \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/base-linux\",\n  \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n  \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n  \"action\": \"reused\",\n  \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n  \"contract_major\": 1,\n  \"content\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"release\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"target_ref\": \"alpha/v1/v1.2\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<current-source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<current-material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"verification\": {\n    \"public_manifest\": true,\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n    \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n    \"contract_major\": 1,\n    \"evidence\": \"registry-inspect.json\",\n    \"smoke\": {\n      \"policy\": \"manifest-contract\",\n      \"passed\": true,\n      \"evidence\": \"smoke.json\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\n## Release Modes And Auth\n\nBuildchain distinguishes two npm release modes:\n\n| Mode | Use | Auth | npm operation |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|latest>` |\n| `promote-existing-version` | same-version alpha-to-latest recovery | `npm-token` | `npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> latest` |\n\nThe normal libnode path is `publish-final-version`: publish an alpha package set\nsuch as `22.22.3-kf.3-alpha.0` with the `alpha` dist-tag, then publish a\ndistinct final package set such as `22.22.3-kf.3` with the `latest` dist-tag.\nGitHub-hosted npm Trusted Publishing can authorize those `npm publish` calls\nwhen the workflow grants `id-token: write`.\n\n`promote-existing-version` is deliberately separate. npm Trusted Publishing does\nnot authorize arbitrary registry-management operations such as `npm dist-tag\nadd`; it authorizes publish-time package provenance. Therefore same-version\npromotion must declare `auth = \"npm-token\"`. Buildchain runs an npm token\npreflight with `npm whoami` before it writes any release transaction state or\nmoves a dist-tag. Missing token auth fails early with a contract error instead\nof a late `E401` after publish evidence has started to move.\n\nFor package sets, `package_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"` makes the\nmain package the visibility gate. Platform package side effects are planned or\nretried first, and the main package or main dist-tag move happens last.\n\nWhen the transaction reaches `complete`, `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`\ngenerates `.buildchain/release-passport/buildchain.release.json` and persists\nthe `release-passport/*` files into the durable `buildchain/release-state/...`\nref. The passport is the stable release artifact for agents and people: it\nlinks the package set, npm publish evidence, dist-tag evidence, build summary,\nplatform artifact manifests, trusted publishing metadata, release-state ref,\ndurable release-state SHA, and transaction result in one schema. Consumer\nrepositories can set `release-passport-product-name` so the passport names their\nproduct instead of the Buildchain default.\n\n## Evidence\n\nThe publish lifecycle must write JSON evidence. Buildchain validates common\nfields and required artifact identities before final refs move.\n\n```json\n{\n  \"schema\": 1,\n  \"version\": \"2.0.11\",\n  \"channel\": \"release\",\n  \"source_sha\": \"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\",\n  \"release_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"target_ref\": \"release/v2/v2.0\",\n  \"release_material_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"publish_tooling_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"artifacts\": [\n    {\n      \"group\": \"node\",\n      \"kind\": \"npm\",\n      \"name\": \"@kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"group\": \"image\",\n      \"kind\": \"oci\",\n      \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n```\n\nThe generic contract is intentionally small:\n\n- `version`, `channel`, `source_sha`, `release_sha`, and `target_ref` must match\n  the promotion run;\n- dist-tag promotion evidence is written beside the publish evidence as\n  `dist-tag-evidence.json` and is referenced from the generated passport;\n- required artifacts must appear in evidence;\n- evidence used by a GitHub-hosted rerun must either be stored in the durable\n  state ref or be reconstructed by a machine-verifiable consumer command;\n- existing artifacts with the same identity and digest are accepted on rerun;\n- missing artifacts can be published by the next run;\n- an existing artifact with a different digest puts the transaction into\n  `repair_required`.\n\nArtifact identity is `group + kind + name + ref`. A required artifact that omits\n`group` matches any group with the same `kind + name + ref`.\n\n## Registry Truth Contract\n\nBuildchain owns transaction orchestration, finalization ordering, durable state,\nand generic evidence validation. It does not embed registry clients for npm,\nPyPI, GHCR/OCI, GitHub Releases, S3, Conan, CMake packaging, or project-specific\ndownload pages.\n\nConsumer `lifecycle.publish` commands own registry truth. A valid consumer stage\nmust be idempotent and machine-verifiable:\n\n- inspect the target registry before publishing;\n- accept an existing exact artifact only when version, identity, digest, and\n  release-source binding match;\n- publish missing required artifacts;\n- reject conflicting existing artifacts and write evidence that lets Buildchain\n  move the transaction to `repair_required`;\n- write `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE` after every successful inspect/publish\n  cycle;\n- leave floating aliases such as npm dist-tags, PyPI stable markers, OCI\n  floating tags, GitHub Release \"published\" status, or download-page stable\n  links to a finalization step after Buildchain evidence validation.\n\nThe first-class adapter surface is command-based. Projects may wrap npm, PyPI,\nGHCR/OCI, GitHub Release assets, archives, SBOMs, provenance, or checksums\nhowever they need, as long as they emit the common evidence contract.\n\n## States\n\nThe state machine is:\n\n```text\nprepared -> publishing -> published -> finalizing -> complete\n                    |            |            |\n                    v            v            v\n              publish_failed  repair_required failed_permanently\n                    |\n                    v\n                abandoned\n```\n\nSupported states:\n\n| State | Meaning |\n| --- | --- |\n| `prepared` | Transaction identity was created, but publish has not started. |\n| `publishing` | Publish lifecycle is running or may have been interrupted. |\n| `publish_failed` | Publish command failed before valid evidence was produced. |\n| `published` | Evidence is valid; refs have not necessarily finalized. |\n| `finalizing` | Buildchain is moving exact/floating refs or needs a later run to do it. |\n| `complete` | Required evidence is valid and refs have finalized. |\n| `repair_required` | Existing evidence or artifact state conflicts with expected release material. |\n| `abandoned` | A human or controlled process abandoned this transaction, usually because a newer version supersedes it. |\n| `failed_permanently` | Recovery should not continue without explicit override. |\n\n`repair_required`, `abandoned`, and `failed_permanently` fail closed unless the\noperator passes an explicit override. That override is for controlled repair\nruns, not normal retry behavior.\n\n## Ref Ordering\n\nWhen publish transactions are enabled, promotion order is:\n\n1. verify target source and governance;\n2. create or reuse the version-state release commit;\n3. acquire or resume the release transaction;\n4. run `lifecycle.publish` or accept already-valid evidence;\n5. validate evidence and required artifacts;\n6. move exact release/prerelease tag;\n7. move floating tags and channel refs;\n8. mark the transaction `complete`.\n\nIf protected branch finalization is interrupted after publish evidence is\nvalid, the transaction can stop in `finalizing` and output\n`finalization-needed=true`. A later run resumes from the same transaction state\nand completes ref movement without republishing matching artifacts. New\nBuildchain-managed promotions first try to finish generated version-state\nbookkeeping with the promotion token directly. Before patching a protected\ngenerated bookkeeping ref, Buildchain emits the configured required check on\nthe exact generated version-state commit so strict branch protection can\nvalidate the automation path without a second build, then uses the generated\nref update token for the protected ref PATCH. If release finalization\nbookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or reuses a same-repository\n`buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current target channel head and\nleaves the transaction resumable with `finalization-needed=true`. Strict alpha\nbookkeeping remains fail-fast. The reusable wrapper defaults that token to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag, a channel branch, or dev/alpha\nsync ref has already moved, the next run reads the durable `finalizing` state\nand continues from the recorded transaction. The current workflow SHA may be a\ngenerated version-state commit, or a historical version-state merge commit, that\ncontains or corresponds to the transaction's `release_material_sha`; it does not\nhave to equal the original `source_sha` or the transaction `release_sha`. Exact\ntags are accepted when they already point at the transaction release/material\nSHA or the finalized channel head. Floating\nchannel tags and dev/alpha refs are then retried idempotently, and the\ntransaction is marked `complete` only after those public refs are consistent.\nWriting `complete` clears any stale `failure` value from earlier attempts, so\nthe durable `state.json` represents the successful final state instead of the\nlast transient error seen before a rerun.\nAn exact tag at an unrelated SHA is still a material conflict and blocks\nrecovery.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag is created, the next run reads the\ndurable `finalizing` state, verifies the exact tag points at the recorded\nrelease SHA, and retries the remaining floating refs. An exact tag at a\ndifferent SHA is a material conflict and blocks recovery.\n\n## CLI Recovery\n\nLocal recovery commands operate on the same state/evidence files:\n\n```bash\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs inspect --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs recover --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs finalize --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs abort --version v2.0.11 --superseded-by v2.0.12\n```\n\nThe CLI is a diagnostic and local repair surface. It reports the durable\n`state_ref`, but remote durable-ref writes and public Git ref finalization are\nowned by `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`, because that action runs inside the\nsame governed GitHub permissions and branch-protection checks as release\npromotion. In other words, CLI `finalize` can mark the local transaction state\ncomplete after valid evidence; the machine-operated public finalization path is\nto rerun the promotion action.\n\nWhen no state file exists, creation commands also require:\n\n```bash\n--repository kungfu-systems/buildchain \\\n--source-sha <sha> \\\n--release-sha <sha> \\\n--target-ref release/v2/v2.0 \\\n--channel release\n```\n\n## Build-Images Follow-Up\n\n`build-images` should consume this contract rather than inventing a separate\nworkflow rule. The expected integration shape is:\n\n- image build writes OCI digests into publish evidence;\n- required image families are passed through `publish-required-artifacts-json`\n  before their final digests are known;\n- mixed built/reused evidence preserves content provenance separately from the\n  current release binding;\n- reruns check GHCR or the target registry and accept existing images only when\n  tag and digest match;\n- preview or alpha image tags remain non-stable until the transaction evidence\n  validates;\n- production image aliases move only after all required image artifacts are\n  present and the Buildchain exact release tag has finalized."
+      "markdown": "# Publish Transaction\n\nBuildchain release promotion is not just tag movement. A release can also publish\nexternal artifacts: npm packages, Python wheels, OCI images, binary archives,\nmetadata manifests, or site deployment records. Those side effects are harder\nthan Git refs because most registries are append-only: a failed rerun must know\nwhich artifacts already exist, which are still missing, and whether any existing\nartifact conflicts with the release material.\n\nBuildchain v2 models that work as a release transaction.\n\n## Why This Exists\n\nThe old ABV workflow made Git refs the visible release authority. That was\nenough when \"release\" meant \"create a version commit, move tags, and let\ndownstream jobs react.\" It is not enough when a single publish run must also\nupload packages and images.\n\nThe failure mode to avoid is:\n\n1. publish an external artifact;\n2. fail before moving the exact release tag or floating channel refs;\n3. rerun from a new job id with no memory of the artifact;\n4. either republish something different or move refs without proving the\n   already-published artifact matches the release.\n\nThe transaction gives reruns a stable identity and a machine-readable state so\nBuildchain can resume safely. The identity is:\n\n```text\nrepository + version + source_sha + target_ref\n```\n\nIt is not the GitHub Actions run id.\n\n## Durable State\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` stores release transaction state in a\nmachine-managed Git branch:\n\n```text\nrefs/heads/buildchain/release-state/<version>\n```\n\nThe branch contains:\n\n```text\nstate.json\nevidence.json   # present after publish evidence exists\n```\n\nThe local `.buildchain/release-state/...` and\n`.buildchain/release-evidence/...` files are working copies. They are useful for\nlocal inspection and lifecycle commands, but they are not the durable truth for\nGitHub-hosted reruns. On action startup, Buildchain reads the durable state ref\nfirst, restores the local working copies, and only then decides whether to\npublish, repair, or finalize.\n\nEvery meaningful state transition is written to the durable ref before public\nrelease refs move. Release-state GitHub API reads and writes use retry/backoff\nfor transient service failures such as HTTP 5xx responses, connection resets,\ntimeouts, and \"other side closed\" socket failures. If the durable write still\ncannot be persisted after retries, the action fails closed.\n\nDurable release-state refs reserve their exact version even when the public exact\ntag was never created. If a later machine run sees a failed or repair-required\nstate for `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N` and cannot resume it with the same transaction\nidentity, alpha version selection must advance to the next prerelease instead\nof reusing or overwriting that failed transaction slot.\n\n## Lifecycle\n\nRepositories declare publish work in `.buildchain/buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[publish]\nmode = \"publish-final-version\"\nauth = \"trusted-publishing\"\ndist_tag = \"latest\"\npackage_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"\nmain_package = \"@kungfu-tech/libnode\"\n\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommands = [\n  \"python scripts/publish_wheels.py\",\n  \"node scripts/publish-images.mjs\",\n  \"node scripts/write-publish-evidence.mjs\",\n]\n```\n\n`actions/promote-buildchain-ref` runs `lifecycle.publish` only when\n`publish-transaction: \"true\"` is set or when a `publish-command` input is\nprovided. The action sets:\n\n```text\nBUILDCHAIN_VERSION\nBUILDCHAIN_CHANNEL\nBUILDCHAIN_SOURCE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_TARGET_REF\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_STATE\nBUILDCHAIN_EVIDENCE_DIR\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE\nBUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_MODE\nBUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_AUTH\nBUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_ORDER\nBUILDCHAIN_PACKAGE_SET_MAIN_PACKAGE\n```\n\nBuildchain itself uses this contract for npm publishing:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.publish]\ncommand = \"node scripts/npm-publish-transaction.mjs\"\n```\n\nThat script validates that `package.json` matches `BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`, runs\n`npm publish --access public --tag <BUILDCHAIN_NPM_DIST_TAG>` through npm Trusted\nPublishing, and writes npm artifact evidence before the promotion action moves\npublic refs.\n\n`BUILDCHAIN_RELEASE_MATERIAL_SHA` is the source material whose artifacts must\nmatch. `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_TOOLING_SHA` identifies the publishing code. A repair\nrun may change tooling, but material drift fails closed.\n\n## Post-Publish Requirements And Artifact Provenance\n\n`publish-required-artifacts-json` is a pre-publish family declaration, not a\nrequest to guess registry digests. A descriptor must include `kind + name`; it\nmay omit `ref` and `digest`. The action resolves a missing `ref` to the exact\n`BUILDCHAIN_VERSION`. Registries whose exact refs add a stable prefix or suffix\nmay instead declare a `ref_template` containing exactly one `{version}`, such\nas `v{version}`. The template is expanded only after exact version selection,\nso a resumed alpha transaction receives the newly selected prerelease rather\nthan the checked-out version. Declaring both `ref` and `ref_template`, using\nanother placeholder, or leaving unmatched braces fails before\n`lifecycle.publish`. The action exports the normalized exact refs as\n`BUILDCHAIN_REQUIRED_ARTIFACTS`, runs `lifecycle.publish`, and then requires the\nfinal evidence to contain every exact member with a non-empty digest. Existing\ncallers may continue supplying exact refs and digests.\n\nOCI publishers can opt into strict per-artifact provenance by adding\n`action: built` or `action: reused`. Those artifacts carry two separate\ncoordinates:\n\n- `content`: the version, ref, source SHA, and material SHA that produced the\n  immutable content;\n- `release`: the exact current version/ref, target ref, source SHA, and release\n  material SHA that bind that content into this release.\n\nThis distinction permits truthful cross-version reuse without claiming that an\nold OCI config was rebuilt from current material. For an OCI artifact with an\naction, final evidence also requires `platform`, positive `contract_major`, and\n`verification` containing a public manifest result, exact ref and digest,\nplatform, contract major, optional parent digest, evidence location, and a\npassed named smoke policy. Buildchain cross-checks those values against the\nartifact and current transaction. Missing family members and ref, digest,\ncontent, release, or verification conflicts enter `repair_required` before\npublic refs move.\n\nExample reused OCI evidence entry (the pre-publish requirement may omit\n`ref`, `digest`, `release`, and the observed verification values):\n\n```json\n{\n  \"group\": \"image\",\n  \"kind\": \"oci\",\n  \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/base-linux\",\n  \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n  \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n  \"action\": \"reused\",\n  \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n  \"contract_major\": 1,\n  \"content\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.1.9\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"release\": {\n    \"version\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"target_ref\": \"alpha/v1/v1.2\",\n    \"source_sha\": \"<current-source-sha>\",\n    \"material_sha\": \"<current-material-sha>\"\n  },\n  \"verification\": {\n    \"public_manifest\": true,\n    \"ref\": \"1.2.0-alpha.3\",\n    \"digest\": \"sha256:...\",\n    \"platform\": \"linux/amd64\",\n    \"contract_major\": 1,\n    \"evidence\": \"registry-inspect.json\",\n    \"smoke\": {\n      \"policy\": \"manifest-contract\",\n      \"passed\": true,\n      \"evidence\": \"smoke.json\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\n## Release Modes And Auth\n\nBuildchain distinguishes two npm release modes:\n\n| Mode | Use | Auth | npm operation |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|vX.Y-alpha|latest>` |\n| `promote-existing-version` | same-version alpha-to-latest recovery | `npm-token` | `npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> latest` |\n\nThe normal libnode path is `publish-final-version`: publish an alpha package set\nsuch as `22.22.3-kf.3-alpha.0` with the `alpha` dist-tag, then publish a\ndistinct final package set such as `22.22.3-kf.3` with the `latest` dist-tag.\nGitHub-hosted npm Trusted Publishing can authorize those `npm publish` calls\nwhen the workflow grants `id-token: write`.\n\n`promote-existing-version` is deliberately separate. npm Trusted Publishing does\nnot authorize arbitrary registry-management operations such as `npm dist-tag\nadd`; it authorizes publish-time package provenance. Therefore same-version\npromotion must declare `auth = \"npm-token\"`. Buildchain runs an npm token\npreflight with `npm whoami` before it writes any release transaction state or\nmoves a dist-tag. Missing token auth fails early with a contract error instead\nof a late `E401` after publish evidence has started to move.\n\nFor package sets, `package_set_order = \"platforms-first-main-last\"` makes the\nmain package the visibility gate. Platform package side effects are planned or\nretried first, and the main package or main dist-tag move happens last.\n\nWhen the transaction reaches `complete`, `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`\ngenerates `.buildchain/release-passport/buildchain.release.json` and persists\nthe `release-passport/*` files into the durable `buildchain/release-state/...`\nref. The passport is the stable release artifact for agents and people: it\nlinks the package set, npm publish evidence, dist-tag evidence, build summary,\nplatform artifact manifests, trusted publishing metadata, release-state ref,\ndurable release-state SHA, and transaction result in one schema. Consumer\nrepositories can set `release-passport-product-name` so the passport names their\nproduct instead of the Buildchain default.\n\n## Evidence\n\nThe publish lifecycle must write JSON evidence. Buildchain validates common\nfields and required artifact identities before final refs move.\n\n```json\n{\n  \"schema\": 1,\n  \"version\": \"2.0.11\",\n  \"channel\": \"release\",\n  \"source_sha\": \"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\",\n  \"release_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"target_ref\": \"release/v2/v2.0\",\n  \"release_material_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"publish_tooling_sha\": \"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\",\n  \"artifacts\": [\n    {\n      \"group\": \"node\",\n      \"kind\": \"npm\",\n      \"name\": \"@kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"group\": \"image\",\n      \"kind\": \"oci\",\n      \"name\": \"ghcr.io/kungfu-systems/example\",\n      \"ref\": \"2.0.11\",\n      \"digest\": \"sha256:...\"\n    }\n  ]\n}\n```\n\nThe generic contract is intentionally small:\n\n- `version`, `channel`, `source_sha`, `release_sha`, and `target_ref` must match\n  the promotion run;\n- dist-tag promotion evidence is written beside the publish evidence as\n  `dist-tag-evidence.json` and is referenced from the generated passport;\n- required artifacts must appear in evidence;\n- evidence used by a GitHub-hosted rerun must either be stored in the durable\n  state ref or be reconstructed by a machine-verifiable consumer command;\n- existing artifacts with the same identity and digest are accepted on rerun;\n- missing artifacts can be published by the next run;\n- an existing artifact with a different digest puts the transaction into\n  `repair_required`.\n\nArtifact identity is `group + kind + name + ref`. A required artifact that omits\n`group` matches any group with the same `kind + name + ref`.\n\n## Registry Truth Contract\n\nBuildchain owns transaction orchestration, finalization ordering, durable state,\nand generic evidence validation. It does not embed registry clients for npm,\nPyPI, GHCR/OCI, GitHub Releases, S3, Conan, CMake packaging, or project-specific\ndownload pages.\n\nConsumer `lifecycle.publish` commands own registry truth. A valid consumer stage\nmust be idempotent and machine-verifiable:\n\n- inspect the target registry before publishing;\n- accept an existing exact artifact only when version, identity, digest, and\n  release-source binding match;\n- publish missing required artifacts;\n- reject conflicting existing artifacts and write evidence that lets Buildchain\n  move the transaction to `repair_required`;\n- write `BUILDCHAIN_PUBLISH_EVIDENCE` after every successful inspect/publish\n  cycle;\n- leave floating aliases such as npm dist-tags, PyPI stable markers, OCI\n  floating tags, GitHub Release \"published\" status, or download-page stable\n  links to a finalization step after Buildchain evidence validation.\n\nThe first-class adapter surface is command-based. Projects may wrap npm, PyPI,\nGHCR/OCI, GitHub Release assets, archives, SBOMs, provenance, or checksums\nhowever they need, as long as they emit the common evidence contract.\n\n## States\n\nThe state machine is:\n\n```text\nprepared -> publishing -> published -> finalizing -> complete\n                    |            |            |\n                    v            v            v\n              publish_failed  repair_required failed_permanently\n                    |\n                    v\n                abandoned\n```\n\nSupported states:\n\n| State | Meaning |\n| --- | --- |\n| `prepared` | Transaction identity was created, but publish has not started. |\n| `publishing` | Publish lifecycle is running or may have been interrupted. |\n| `publish_failed` | Publish command failed before valid evidence was produced. |\n| `published` | Evidence is valid; refs have not necessarily finalized. |\n| `finalizing` | Buildchain is moving exact/floating refs or needs a later run to do it. |\n| `complete` | Required evidence is valid and refs have finalized. |\n| `repair_required` | Existing evidence or artifact state conflicts with expected release material. |\n| `abandoned` | A human or controlled process abandoned this transaction, usually because a newer version supersedes it. |\n| `failed_permanently` | Recovery should not continue without explicit override. |\n\n`repair_required`, `abandoned`, and `failed_permanently` fail closed unless the\noperator passes an explicit override. That override is for controlled repair\nruns, not normal retry behavior.\n\n## Ref Ordering\n\nWhen publish transactions are enabled, promotion order is:\n\n1. verify target source and governance;\n2. create or reuse the version-state release commit;\n3. acquire or resume the release transaction;\n4. run `lifecycle.publish` or accept already-valid evidence;\n5. validate evidence and required artifacts;\n6. move exact release/prerelease tag;\n7. move floating tags and channel refs;\n8. mark the transaction `complete`.\n\nIf protected branch finalization is interrupted after publish evidence is\nvalid, the transaction can stop in `finalizing` and output\n`finalization-needed=true`. A later run resumes from the same transaction state\nand completes ref movement without republishing matching artifacts. New\nBuildchain-managed promotions first try to finish generated version-state\nbookkeeping with the promotion token directly. Before patching a protected\ngenerated bookkeeping ref, Buildchain emits the configured required check on\nthe exact generated version-state commit so strict branch protection can\nvalidate the automation path without a second build, then uses the generated\nref update token for the protected ref PATCH. If release finalization\nbookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or reuses a same-repository\n`buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current target channel head and\nleaves the transaction resumable with `finalization-needed=true`. Strict alpha\nbookkeeping remains fail-fast. The reusable wrapper defaults that token to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag, a channel branch, or dev/alpha\nsync ref has already moved, the next run reads the durable `finalizing` state\nand continues from the recorded transaction. The current workflow SHA may be a\ngenerated version-state commit, or a historical version-state merge commit, that\ncontains or corresponds to the transaction's `release_material_sha`; it does not\nhave to equal the original `source_sha` or the transaction `release_sha`. Exact\ntags are accepted when they already point at the transaction release/material\nSHA or the finalized channel head. Floating\nchannel tags and dev/alpha refs are then retried idempotently, and the\ntransaction is marked `complete` only after those public refs are consistent.\nWriting `complete` clears any stale `failure` value from earlier attempts, so\nthe durable `state.json` represents the successful final state instead of the\nlast transient error seen before a rerun.\nAn exact tag at an unrelated SHA is still a material conflict and blocks\nrecovery.\n\nIf finalization fails after an exact Git tag is created, the next run reads the\ndurable `finalizing` state, verifies the exact tag points at the recorded\nrelease SHA, and retries the remaining floating refs. An exact tag at a\ndifferent SHA is a material conflict and blocks recovery.\n\n## CLI Recovery\n\nLocal recovery commands operate on the same state/evidence files:\n\n```bash\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs inspect --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs recover --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs finalize --version v2.0.11\nnode scripts/release-transaction.mjs abort --version v2.0.11 --superseded-by v2.0.12\n```\n\nThe CLI is a diagnostic and local repair surface. It reports the durable\n`state_ref`, but remote durable-ref writes and public Git ref finalization are\nowned by `actions/promote-buildchain-ref`, because that action runs inside the\nsame governed GitHub permissions and branch-protection checks as release\npromotion. In other words, CLI `finalize` can mark the local transaction state\ncomplete after valid evidence; the machine-operated public finalization path is\nto rerun the promotion action.\n\nWhen no state file exists, creation commands also require:\n\n```bash\n--repository kungfu-systems/buildchain \\\n--source-sha <sha> \\\n--release-sha <sha> \\\n--target-ref release/v2/v2.0 \\\n--channel release\n```\n\n## Build-Images Follow-Up\n\n`build-images` should consume this contract rather than inventing a separate\nworkflow rule. The expected integration shape is:\n\n- image build writes OCI digests into publish evidence;\n- required image families are passed through `publish-required-artifacts-json`\n  before their final digests are known;\n- mixed built/reused evidence preserves content provenance separately from the\n  current release binding;\n- reruns check GHCR or the target registry and accept existing images only when\n  tag and digest match;\n- preview or alpha image tags remain non-stable until the transaction evidence\n  validates;\n- production image aliases move only after all required image artifacts are\n  present and the Buildchain exact release tag has finalized."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:readme-badges",
@@ -1276,7 +1276,7 @@
       ],
       "maturity": "stable",
       "sourcePath": "docs/release-governance.md",
-      "digest": "sha256:cce9f80add3c746fe28d8ebf5afb809348694741cb75d19154ed3057a9374c0d",
+      "digest": "sha256:d85ac78b7c73b85b0a59a4a39131230522ae65225fa1b52f9dfe6939f1bb839c",
       "headings": [
         {
           "level": 1,
@@ -1364,7 +1364,7 @@
           "anchor": "operational-reading-order"
         }
       ],
-      "markdown": "# Release Governance\n\nBuildchain v2 preserves the release semantics of the older ABV workflow while\nmoving the implementation into one modern repository.\n\nThe central idea is simple: a reviewed merge into a release channel is the\nrelease intent. Automation must then create the version-state commit, exact tag,\nfloating tag, and next alpha state that make that intent true in Git.\n\n## Design Problem\n\nKungfu release automation has to keep four facts aligned:\n\n1. The source tree that was reviewed.\n2. The package version recorded in manifests such as `package.json` or\n   `lerna.json`.\n3. The exact immutable release or prerelease tag.\n4. The floating channel refs that consumers actually use.\n\nIf any one of these facts is updated by hand, the system can split:\n\n- a consumer can fetch `v2.0` and receive a tree whose package version still\n  says the previous release;\n- a maintainer can move `v2` without producing an exact `v2.0.N` audit tag;\n- an alpha can be promoted to production even though the release tree is not the\n  same tree that was tested;\n- a protected branch merge can succeed while the follow-up version commit is\n  missing, or a flow-internal generated `dev`/`alpha`/`release` ref update can\n  fail after publish because the automation identity was not declared in the\n  branch-protection review bypass allowance.\n\nThe older ABV workflow addressed this by letting GitHub PRs drive release\nstate. Buildchain keeps that choice because it makes release intent reviewable,\nobservable, and recoverable from Git history.\n\n## What ABV Contributed\n\nThe old ABV model was not just \"bump a version number.\" It encoded a governance\nloop:\n\n- release branches are named as channels: `dev`, `alpha`, `release`, and the\n  administrative `publish-gate/major`;\n- a PR from one channel to the next is the release request;\n- verify jobs check that the branch pair is valid before merge;\n- a maintainer review is required before the branch moves;\n- after merge, automation writes the version change and moves tags;\n- exact tags and floating refs are aligned with the resulting commit;\n- the next development channel is prepared automatically.\n\nABV also kept the version-state mutation in the repository. For JavaScript\nrepositories that usually meant changing `lerna.json` and/or `package.json`.\nThat commit is important because the tag alone is not enough evidence: the\nsource tree should also declare the version that the tag advertises.\n\nBuildchain v2 treats that as a hard semantic requirement for its own release\nline.\n\n## Buildchain Implementation\n\nBuildchain implements the same governance loop with:\n\n- `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml` for PR verification;\n- `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` for post-verify ref\n  promotion; this workflow dogfoods the declarative\n  `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper and does not hand-wire resolver,\n  artifact download, publish-gate, or promote action steps;\n- Buildchain self promotion enables `release-passport-buildchain-self-kfd`, so\n  the promote action generates KFD-1 witnesses, KFD-2 public claim JSON, and\n  KFD-3 collaboration-interface witnesses from the final version-state workspace\n  before release passport finalization. The witness hashes therefore bind to the\n  exact published package and site facts from\n  `packages/core/buildchain-kfd-claims.js` instead of relying on prose release\n  notes;\n- `actions/promote-buildchain-ref` for branch, tag, version-state, and\n  governance checks;\n- package-manager adapters that can update version state for pnpm, npm, and\n  yarn style repositories;\n- `buildchain.toml` lifecycle configuration for repositories whose version\n  state or verification commands are not Node package-manager defaults.\n\nThe implementation is intentionally stricter than a local release script:\n\n- manual workflow dispatch can only do dry-run promotion;\n- non-dry-run promotion must be driven by a completed `Verify` workflow;\n- target branch protection details must be readable, and branch protection must\n  apply to administrators as well as regular contributors;\n- alpha promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `dev/vX/vX.Y` to `alpha/vX/vX.Y`;\n- release promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to `release/vX/vX.Y`;\n- major promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `release/vX/vX.Y` to `publish-gate/major`;\n- release promotion requires an existing same-patch alpha tag and checks the\n  release source tree against that tested alpha tree;\n- generated version-state commits are verified before refs move.\n\nPromotion intents are serialized globally per caller repository with\n`cancel-in-progress: false`. A queued intent re-reads its protected target ref\nbefore checkout, dependency installation, release-candidate resolution, or any\npublish-gate/ref mutation. If the ref already points at a newer SHA, that older\nintent is no longer release authority: the workflow records the requested and\ncurrent SHAs, proves that the current target is ahead of the requested commit,\nand completes as a `target-ref-advanced` superseded no-op. Diverged or behind\ncomparisons are not superseded transactions and still fail closed.\nMissing refs, unreadable repository state, invalid channels, governance\nfailures, and artifact mismatches still fail closed. The promote action repeats\nthe target check at the mutation boundary, so a ref that advances after the\nworkflow preflight cannot receive a second set of publication side effects.\n\n## Version Lines\n\nKungfu uses Python-like version lines where a minor line can represent a\nlong-lived product train. A line such as `v2.0` can produce many production\npatch releases:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1\nv2.0.2\n...\nv2.0.1234\n```\n\nThis is why Buildchain maintains both exact and floating refs:\n\n- `v2.0.2` is immutable release evidence;\n- `v2.0` is the latest production release on the `2.0` line;\n- `v2` is the selected stable major-line entrypoint;\n- `v2.0.3-alpha.0` is immutable alpha evidence;\n- `v2.0-alpha` is the latest test channel for the `2.0` line.\n- `v2-alpha` is the latest test channel on the highest published alpha minor in major `2`.\n\nA release does not mean \"minor is complete.\" It means \"this patch on this minor\nline is now production.\"\n\nGitHub repository rules must preserve that distinction. Exact tags such as\n`v2.0.2` and `v2.0.3-alpha.0` should be immutable. Floating channel tags such as\n`v2`, `v2.0`, `v2.0-alpha`, and `v2-alpha` must remain movable by the Buildchain promotion\ntoken after governance checks and publish evidence pass. A tag ruleset that\nprotects every `refs/tags/v*` ref is too broad because it also locks the\nfloating channel tags that Buildchain is required to update. Prefer exact-tag\npatterns such as `refs/tags/v*.*.*` for immutable release evidence, while\nleaving floating channel tags under Buildchain automation control.\n\n## Alpha Semantics\n\nAn alpha merge is:\n\n```text\ndev/vX/vX.Y -> alpha/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Computes the next prerelease for the minor line.\n2. Writes version state such as `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N`.\n3. Verifies the generated version-state tree.\n4. Creates or reuses the exact alpha tag.\n5. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to the generated alpha commit.\n6. Moves `dev/vX/vX.Y` to the same generated alpha commit when this is a\n   fast-forward update.\n7. Moves `vX.Y-alpha` to the same generated alpha commit.\n8. Moves `vX-alpha` only when `X.Y` is the highest minor in major `X` with a published alpha; older minor alpha work records a skip and cannot move the major channel backwards.\n\nThis keeps the test channel self-describing. If a consumer checks out\n`v2.0-alpha` or `v2-alpha`, the manifests and exact alpha tag agree. The major\nalpha ref removes routine consumer edits when Buildchain opens a newer minor,\nwhile exact tags and SHAs remain the reproducible audit choice.\n\n### Buildchain Alpha Self-Dogfood\n\nBuildchain continuously consumes its own current major alpha through\n`.github/workflows/buildchain-alpha-self-dogfood.yml`. Both lanes call the\nreleased channel router at `build.yml@v2-alpha`. The auto lane must resolve\n`v2-alpha`; the explicit stable lane must resolve `v2`. Both execute the same\ndeclared install, build, and verify fixture, proving that a single consumer\nsurface routes to distinct released runtimes without duplicating lifecycle\nconfiguration in the consumer.\n\nThe reusable build trust gate reads `job.workflow_ref`, which identifies the\ncalled workflow and its selected ref. It does not infer the runtime from\n`github.workflow_ref`, because GitHub defines that context as the caller\nworkflow identity during a reusable call.\n\nThe router selects `.buildchain/alpha-contract-lock.json` for alpha and\n`.buildchain/contract-lock.json` for stable. The alpha lock records the exact\nreviewed alpha SHA and compatibility digest; it does not replace the stable\nconsumer lock. A later alpha with only compatible additive drift continues,\nwhile a changed breaking digest fails until the new alpha contract is reviewed.\n\nThe evidence job resolves `v2-alpha` and `v2` through the GitHub refs API,\ncompares those immutable SHAs with the reusable workflow outputs, verifies the\n`alpha` and `stable` classifications, and uploads a JSON evidence artifact.\nThe canary runs after successful Buildchain ref promotion, on a daily fallback\nschedule, and on manual dispatch. It shares the release-promotion concurrency\ngroup, so another promotion cannot move the floating refs between runtime\nresolution and evidence comparison.\n\nThis is a post-publication consumer canary, not a release bootstrap. Source\nverification still runs the current commit, and\n`buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` still passes the verified exact SHA into the\npromotion workflow. Patrol, dev-merge, repair, and promotion defaults remain on\nstable or exact refs so a broken alpha cannot prevent Buildchain from publishing\nits fix. When Buildchain opens a new major, inventory validation requires this\nworkflow's fixed GitHub `uses` refs to move from `vN`/`vN-alpha` to the new\nmajor; GitHub does not allow expressions in a reusable-workflow `uses` ref.\n\nIf `dev/vX/vX.Y` has already advanced before generated alpha version-state\nbookkeeping can sync back, Buildchain records `skipped-non-fast-forward` for the\ndev sync and still completes the exact and floating alpha tags for the reviewed\nalpha commit. Later dev changes must go through their own dev-to-alpha\npromotion instead of rewinding dev. The normal path is direct: after alpha\nmerges, Buildchain applies the generated version-state commit to alpha and then\nfast-forwards dev to the same commit without a human version-state PR.\n\nIf alpha finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain accepts the current alpha head as the generated\ncommit, or as a historical merge commit that contains the recorded release\nmaterial. An already-created exact alpha tag may point at the transaction\nrelease/material SHA or at the finalized alpha head; missing floating alpha\ntags are retried before the transaction becomes `complete`.\n\n## Release Semantics\n\nA release merge is:\n\n```text\nalpha/vX/vX.Y -> release/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Finds the same-patch alpha tag that was tested.\n2. Checks that the release source tree matches that alpha tag tree, excluding\n   only generated version-state differences.\n3. Writes final release version state such as `vX.Y.Z`.\n4. Verifies the generated release tree.\n5. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `vX.Y.Z`.\n6. Moves `release/vX/vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n7. Moves `vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n8. Moves `vX` when this minor line should be the stable major entrypoint.\n9. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `vX.Y.(Z+1)-alpha.0`.\n10. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y`, `dev/vX/vX.Y`, and `vX.Y-alpha` to that next alpha\n    commit.\n11. Moves `vX-alpha` to that next alpha only when this remains the highest published alpha minor.\n\nThe production channel and the test channel therefore intentionally diverge\nafter release: production stays on the release commit, while alpha/dev continue\nat the next prerelease commit.\n\n### Stable Release Throttle And Canary Gate\n\nBuildchain's own stable channel has an additional pre-publication gate. It is\nevaluated after the PR-stage release candidate has been resolved and before the\npublish-gate ref, package registry, exact stable tag, or floating stable refs\nare mutated. Train refs and alpha promotion do not execute this gate.\n\nAll alpha and release promotions first run a metadata-only release-candidate\npreflight after queued-intent revalidation. The preflight uses the same resolver\nand exact target SHA as the publication job, but does not download payloads or\ninstall the candidate repository dependencies. Missing channel PRs, stale\nworkflow runs, expired passport pairs, and insufficient payload artifact sets\ntherefore fail before the full promotion job starts. The publication job still\ndownloads and validates the exact evidence again at the trust boundary; the\npreflight moves failure earlier without weakening the final check.\n\nThe policy is versioned in `.buildchain/stable-release-policy.json`. A stable\ncandidate is allowed only when all of these facts are true:\n\n- the candidate resolves to an immutable exact alpha tag and its GitHub\n  prerelease timestamp;\n- at least 24 hours have passed since the preceding stable patch on the same\n  minor line;\n- the preceding stable-to-alpha comparison contains a product or public\n  contract path, not only version, test, evidence, or retrospective changes;\n- the version-bound impact record has a non-empty summary and at least one\n  surface impact;\n- the `Build Surface Fixture` release-candidate run succeeded;\n- `site-libkungfu-dev` completed its no-apply `Buildchain Stable Canary` and an allowed\n  maintainer attested that successful run on the exact alpha SHA through the\n  `buildchain-canary/site-libkungfu-dev` commit-status context;\n- the canary runtime input is exactly the candidate alpha tag or the 40-character\n  commit SHA resolved from that tag; a successful status pointing at another\n  workflow, repository, tag, floating ref, or SHA is rejected as mismatched;\n- at least one hour has elapsed after the last required canary completed.\n\nThe machine report is written to\n`.buildchain/release-passport/stable-release-gate.json`. A passing report is\nuploaded with the stable release passport. A blocked run writes the same report\nbefore failing, so the missing or stale condition is inspectable without\nopening a publication transaction.\n\nGitHub's Actions run REST object does not expose `workflow_dispatch` inputs.\nBuildchain therefore verifies the run's `workflow_id` against the authoritative\nworkflow metadata, then reads the exact runtime from the workflow-owned\n`<workflow name> / <runtime ref>` run-name when no input field is available.\nAn explicit API input, when present, remains authoritative and cannot be\noverridden by the display name.\n\nThe cooldown is a minimum interval, not an instruction to release every day.\nCompatible work should still be batched until a stable release has a concrete\nconsumer need. Changing the interval, canary set, attestors, product path\nboundary, or soak time is a reviewed policy change.\n\nRepositories that want a predictable scheduled stable window can use\n[`Stable Candidate Patrol`](stable-candidate-patrol.md). It persists each exact\nalpha independently, qualifies it after repository-declared checks and soak,\nand selects the newest qualified non-revoked candidate. A newer soaking alpha\ndoes not invalidate an older qualified candidate. The selected tree enters the\nexisting strict `publish-gate/release/<line>/<version> -> release/<line>` PR\npath, so scheduled selection changes release intent timing without weakening\nsource locks, review, verification, publish transactions, or passports.\n\nIf release finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain applies the same recovery rule: the current\nrelease head may be the generated commit, or a historical merge commit that\ncontains the recorded release material, existing exact tags and alpha/dev refs\nare accepted when they match the transaction, and missing floating `vX.Y` or\n`vX` tags are retried idempotently before completion.\n\nOnce the durable release transaction is `complete` and the exact/floating\nstable refs have moved, next-alpha preparation is post-release bookkeeping. A\nfailure there records `deferred-post-release-bookkeeping` and\n`next-anchor-required` instead of retroactively reporting the stable release as\nfailed. Generated next-alpha merges use the current dev tree as their base and\noverlay only declared version-state paths, preserving concurrent dev changes.\n\n## Major Gate Semantics\n\nA major gate merge is:\n\n```text\nrelease/vX/vX.Y -> publish-gate/major\n```\n\n`publish-gate/major` is the explicit replacement for the older ABV `main`\nchannel. The name is intentionally operational: it is a gate for a rare\nadministrator decision, not the active trunk. Keeping this decision in the same\nPR UI as alpha and release promotion keeps the human workflow simple while\navoiding the misleading meaning of `main`. The older `major-gate` branch name is\na compatibility alias only.\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Verifies the source is a merged same-repository PR from a protected release\n   line into `publish-gate/major`.\n2. Writes the next major production version state, such as `v(X+1).0.0`.\n3. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `v(X+1).0.0`.\n4. Moves `publish-gate/major` and `release/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0` to that release commit.\n5. Moves `v(X+1).0` and `v(X+1)` to that release commit.\n6. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `v(X+1).0.1-alpha.0`.\n7. Moves `alpha/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, `dev/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, and\n   `v(X+1).0-alpha` to that next alpha commit.\n\nChecking out `publish-gate/major` should therefore look like a frozen release\nstate, not like a branch where day-to-day source work continues. Day-to-day\nsource work continues on `dev/vX/vX.Y`.\n\n## Protected Dev Branches\n\n`dev/vX/vX.Y` is a protected development channel, not a scratch branch. Normal\nsource changes should be made on work branches such as `feature/*`, `fix/*`,\n`chore/*`, `docs/*`, `ci/*`, or `refactor/*`, then reviewed through a pull\nrequest into the target dev line.\n\nThis keeps the earliest development channel audit-friendly:\n\n- the version line being changed is visible in the PR base branch;\n- CI and required checks run before the channel moves;\n- branch protection can prevent direct pushes and stale merges;\n- later `dev -> alpha -> release` promotion inherits a reviewable source\n  lineage instead of trying to reconstruct how the dev branch changed.\n\nBuildchain provides the reusable\n`.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` workflow for repositories that want a\nscheduled or manual \"merge ready dev PRs\" pass. The consumer repository owns\nthe trigger schedule, but the merge decision is declared through workflow\ninputs: target dev branch, required status/check names, ready and block labels,\nallowed work-branch prefixes, review requirements, maximum merges per run,\nmerge method, and dry-run mode.\n\nThe workflow defaults are conservative. A PR is skipped unless it targets the\nconfigured dev line, is not a draft, has the ready label, has no block label,\ncomes from the same repository, uses an allowed work-branch prefix, has a\ncurrent approval, is mergeable, and has the configured required checks passing.\nAfter each merge, the next PR is re-evaluated before it can move the protected\ndev branch. This prevents one merge from silently making the next candidate\nstale or conflicting.\n\nThe canonical consumer required check context is `check / check`, matching the\nreusable workflow call plus its `check` job. Buildchain's own `Verify` workflow\nemits the repository-local context `check`, so Buildchain self-promotion,\nrelease-line bootstrap, and dogfood patrol wrappers pass `check` explicitly.\nRelease governance preserves the exact context emitted by the repository and\nrecords branch-protection policy before/after facts; it does not rewrite one\ncontext shape into the other. Consumer repositories can keep their context\nstable while changing the actual verification command declaratively in\n`buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.install]\ncommand = \"cargo fetch --locked\"\n\n[lifecycle.verify]\ncommand = \"cargo test --workspace --locked\"\n```\n\nConsumers that want Buildchain to own the check wrapper can call\n`.github/workflows/check.yml@v2`. The wrapper runs the declared\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.verify` stages and fails the `check` job when\neither declaration is missing or the command exits non-zero.\n\nDevelopment pull requests that need source acceptance without product build or\nartifact verification can opt into `mode: source`. That mode runs only\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.check` on GitHub-hosted `ubuntu-24.04` while\npreserving the stable `check / check` required-check context. Existing callers\nremain on `mode: verify` by default, and callers may set\n`upload-artifacts: false` without weakening the job conclusion.\n\nTypical consumer wrapper:\n\n```yaml\nname: Merge Ready Dev PRs\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 * * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n    inputs:\n      dry-run:\n        type: boolean\n        default: true\n\njobs:\n  merge-dev:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml@v2\n    permissions:\n      contents: write\n      pull-requests: write\n      checks: read\n      statuses: read\n    with:\n      target-branch: dev/v2/v2.6\n      required-status-checks: check / check\n      ready-label: ready\n      block-labels: blocked,do-not-merge\n      max-merges: 1\n      dry-run: ${{ inputs.dry-run || false }}\n```\n\n## Buildchain Patrol\n\n`dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` remains the focused merge primitive. For repositories\nthat want a stable day-to-day operations contract, Buildchain also exposes a\npatrol workflow family:\n\n| Workflow | Intended cadence | Default intent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml` | daily | lightweight inspection plus ready dev PR maintenance |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml` | weekly | release-state, passport, gate, and stale-state health checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-monthly.yml` | monthly | governance, permission, branch-protection, and workflow drift checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/stable-candidate-patrol.yml` | repository-selected release window | qualify immutable alpha candidates and open the exact source-lock stable PR |\n\nThe cadence names describe patrol intensity, not release cadence:\n\n- daily patrol can run every day without implying a daily release;\n- weekly patrol is for medium-cost maintenance and audit checks;\n- monthly patrol is for structural drift checks that should not block ordinary\n  development velocity.\n\nStable Candidate Patrol is separate from those maintenance cadences because its\ncaller-owned cron is a release-intent window. Its candidate ledger and selection\nremain generic; registry-specific side effects still run through the normal\nrepository `lifecycle.publish` transaction. See\n[`stable-candidate-patrol.md`](stable-candidate-patrol.md).\n\nConsumers should schedule thin callers and keep their YAML declarative. For\nexample:\n\n```yaml\nname: Buildchain Daily Patrol\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 2 * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: false\n      max-actions: 1\n```\n\nWeekly and monthly callers use the matching wrapper:\n\n```yaml\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: true\n```\n\nAll three wrappers default to the `v2` floating Buildchain runtime. When\n`target-branch` is omitted, the caller's current/default branch selects the\nactive semver dev line, so consumers do not pin patrol to a stale minor branch.\nThe separate workflow names keep consumer schedules readable and stable while\nBuildchain adds new checks behind the cadence wrappers.\n\n## Package-Manager Adapters\n\nOld ABV assumed JavaScript repositories with root version state and often\nLerna. Buildchain keeps the version-state contract but does not assume every\nrepository is yarn/Lerna.\n\nThe promotion action discovers and updates:\n\n- root `package.json`;\n- `lerna.json`;\n- package manifests from `package.json` workspaces;\n- package manifests from `lerna.json` packages;\n- package manifests from `pnpm-workspace.yaml`.\n\nIt then runs the repository's detected package manager semantics where needed:\n\n- pnpm repositories use pnpm-oriented workspace discovery;\n- npm repositories use npm/package-lock semantics where present;\n- yarn repositories use yarn-style metadata where present.\n\nFor Buildchain itself, version state is required. For a consumer repository that\nhas no package manifest, the same action can degrade to ref-only behavior only\nwhen that is explicitly allowed by the caller.\n\n## Lifecycle Configuration\n\n`buildchain.toml` is the v2 user configuration format. It lets a repository\ndeclare version-state files and lifecycle commands without pretending every\nproject is a Node workspace. Supported version files include JSON, TOML, and\nregex-based files such as `CMakeLists.txt` or `conanfile.py`.\n\nThe promotion action currently consumes `version.files` and `lifecycle.verify`.\nThe verify stage runs after generated version-state changes are applied locally\nand before any release refs move. If `verification-command` is passed directly\nto the action, that explicit command overrides `lifecycle.verify`.\n\nProtected release-line branches keep their normal human review gate. Managed\n`dev/vN/vN.M`, `alpha/vN/vN.M`, and `release/vN/vN.M` branches are configured\nwith one required approving review, strict GitHub Actions checks, administrator\nenforcement, conversation resolution, no force pushes, and no deletions. The\nreusable `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper defaults\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps` to `github-actions`, which lets the workflow's\nautomation identity apply generated version-state or post-publish channel\nbookkeeping after the reviewed channel PR has merged. Direct\n`promote-buildchain-ref` callers must opt into the same controlled bypass with\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps`, `branch-protection-bypass-users`, or\n`branch-protection-bypass-teams`; the action also adds the current promotion\ntoken's authenticated user or app to the managed bypass allowlist. Before\npatching a protected generated bookkeeping ref, the action creates the\nconfigured required check on the exact generated version-state commit, so strict\nstatus checks are satisfied by machine-verifiable Buildchain evidence rather\nthan a human PR. The protected ref PATCH itself uses the generated ref update\ntoken; the reusable wrapper defaults it to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`. If direct generated\nrelease finalization bookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or\nreuses a same-repository `buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current\ntarget channel head and records `finalization-needed=true` in the durable\ntransaction output. Strict alpha bookkeeping still fails with a\ntoken/protection diagnostic instead of creating a post-publish PR.\n\nFor a stable release, the wrapper also checks out the exact current development\nchannel into `.buildchain/reconciliation/dev`. When the prepared next-alpha\ncommit cannot fast-forward dev because reviewed work landed concurrently, the\npromotion action applies the next version to that checkout, regenerates every\ndeclared derived version-state file, reruns the verification lifecycle, and\nonly then creates the two-parent reconciliation commit. A checkout/current-ref\nSHA mismatch blocks reconciliation instead of committing stale projections.\nBuildchain's own promotion workflow reads `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_APPS`,\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_USERS`, and\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_TEAMS` repository variables so the declared bypass\nidentity can match the actual `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN` actor, but consumers\ndo not need to duplicate that actor manually when the token identity is\ndiscoverable.\n\n## What This Guarantees\n\nWhen the loop succeeds, maintainers and consumers can rely on these facts:\n\n- every production release has an exact tag such as `v2.0.2`;\n- every production minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0`;\n- every selected stable major has a floating tag such as `v2`;\n- every next-major release is driven by a reviewed `release -> publish-gate/major` PR,\n  not a hidden manual button;\n- every test channel has an exact alpha tag such as `v2.0.3-alpha.0`;\n- every alpha minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0-alpha`;\n- every major with a published alpha has a cross-minor floating tag such as `v2-alpha`, owned by its highest published alpha minor;\n- version manifests match the tag visible from the same commit;\n- production releases are derived from the alpha tree that was tested;\n- manual non-dry-run promotion cannot bypass PR review and verification;\n- flow-internal automation bypasses apply only to declared GitHub Apps, users,\n  or teams on Buildchain-managed channel branch protection, while one-review\n  protection remains enforced for humans;\n- admin users cannot make a channel promotion valid by temporarily bypassing\n  branch protection.\n\nThis is the practical meaning of \"governance closed loop\" in Buildchain: the\ndecision, code, version state, and Git refs close over the same evidence chain.\n\n## What This Does Not Do\n\nBuildchain release promotion does not embed registry clients or product-specific\npublish logic. When publish transactions are enabled, `promote-buildchain-ref`\ncan run the consumer's `lifecycle.publish` command and own the transaction,\nevidence validation, durable recovery state, and ref finalization order. The\nconsumer repository still owns registry truth: npm, PyPI, OCI, S3, Conan, CMake\npackaging, download pages, dist-tags, and similar side effects must be\nimplemented by project lifecycle commands that emit Buildchain publish evidence.\n\nEvery Buildchain publish model that can run registry side effects must bind the\npublish entrypoint to an immutable `publish-gate/*` source lock. The reusable\n`release-candidate-promote.yml@v2` wrapper creates or updates that gate ref and\npasses `require-publish-source-lock`, `publish-source-ref`,\n`publish-source-sha`, and `publish-source-locked` to\n`promote-buildchain-ref`. Direct action callers must pass the same four inputs\nfrom the reusable build outputs. Workflows that only collect passports or run\ndry-run package checks do not move publish refs and are not publish-gate\npublication models. A dry-run of `release-candidate-promote.yml` computes and\nreports the exact `publish-gate/*` source lock that a real promotion would use,\nbut does not read, create, or move that ref.\n\nSemver GitHub Release publication is owned by `promote-buildchain-ref`, not by\nconsumer shell glue. Consumers normally use the `release-candidate-promote.yml`\nwrapper, where GitHub Release publication is enabled by default and can be\ndisabled with `github-release: false`; the wrapper passes that declaration to\nthe action. After the publish transaction reaches `complete`, Buildchain creates\nor updates the public GitHub Release and uploads the generated\n`buildchain.release.json`, release-passport assets, and publish evidence. Semver\nprerelease tags are marked `prerelease=true` and `make_latest=false`; stable\nsemver tags are marked latest. For anchored/manual package releases, the public\nrelease tag defaults to `v<publishedVersion>` while the internal exact\ntransaction tag remains in the release passport and release-state ref. This is\nthe supported path for downstream\n`release.published` propagation across semver, major, and promote-only release\ncandidate publication models.\n\nBuildchain also does not maintain bare exact tags such as `1.0.0`. The supported\nexact release and alpha refs are v-prefixed:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1-alpha.0\n```\n\n## Operational Reading Order\n\nWhen debugging or extending release behavior, read in this order:\n\n1. `docs/release-flow.md`\n2. `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml`\n3. `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml`\n4. `.github/workflows/release-candidate-promote.yml`\n5. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/README.md`\n6. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/src/`\n7. `docs/migration-inventory.md`\n\nThat path gives the policy first, the workflow trigger second, and the action\nimplementation last."
+      "markdown": "# Release Governance\n\nBuildchain v2 preserves the release semantics of the older ABV workflow while\nmoving the implementation into one modern repository.\n\nThe central idea is simple: a reviewed merge into a release channel is the\nrelease intent. Automation must then create the version-state commit, exact tag,\nfloating tag, and next alpha state that make that intent true in Git.\n\n## Design Problem\n\nKungfu release automation has to keep four facts aligned:\n\n1. The source tree that was reviewed.\n2. The package version recorded in manifests such as `package.json` or\n   `lerna.json`.\n3. The exact immutable release or prerelease tag.\n4. The floating channel refs that consumers actually use.\n\nIf any one of these facts is updated by hand, the system can split:\n\n- a consumer can fetch `v2.0` and receive a tree whose package version still\n  says the previous release;\n- a maintainer can move `v2` without producing an exact `v2.0.N` audit tag;\n- an alpha can be promoted to production even though the release tree is not the\n  same tree that was tested;\n- a protected branch merge can succeed while the follow-up version commit is\n  missing, or a flow-internal generated `dev`/`alpha`/`release` ref update can\n  fail after publish because the automation identity was not declared in the\n  branch-protection review bypass allowance.\n\nThe older ABV workflow addressed this by letting GitHub PRs drive release\nstate. Buildchain keeps that choice because it makes release intent reviewable,\nobservable, and recoverable from Git history.\n\n## What ABV Contributed\n\nThe old ABV model was not just \"bump a version number.\" It encoded a governance\nloop:\n\n- release branches are named as channels: `dev`, `alpha`, `release`, and the\n  administrative `publish-gate/major`;\n- a PR from one channel to the next is the release request;\n- verify jobs check that the branch pair is valid before merge;\n- a maintainer review is required before the branch moves;\n- after merge, automation writes the version change and moves tags;\n- exact tags and floating refs are aligned with the resulting commit;\n- the next development channel is prepared automatically.\n\nABV also kept the version-state mutation in the repository. For JavaScript\nrepositories that usually meant changing `lerna.json` and/or `package.json`.\nThat commit is important because the tag alone is not enough evidence: the\nsource tree should also declare the version that the tag advertises.\n\nBuildchain v2 treats that as a hard semantic requirement for its own release\nline.\n\n## Buildchain Implementation\n\nBuildchain implements the same governance loop with:\n\n- `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml` for PR verification;\n- `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` for post-verify ref\n  promotion; this workflow dogfoods the declarative\n  `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper and does not hand-wire resolver,\n  artifact download, publish-gate, or promote action steps;\n- Buildchain self promotion enables `release-passport-buildchain-self-kfd`, so\n  the promote action generates KFD-1 witnesses, KFD-2 public claim JSON, and\n  KFD-3 collaboration-interface witnesses from the final version-state workspace\n  before release passport finalization. The witness hashes therefore bind to the\n  exact published package and site facts from\n  `packages/core/buildchain-kfd-claims.js` instead of relying on prose release\n  notes;\n- `actions/promote-buildchain-ref` for branch, tag, version-state, and\n  governance checks;\n- package-manager adapters that can update version state for pnpm, npm, and\n  yarn style repositories;\n- `buildchain.toml` lifecycle configuration for repositories whose version\n  state or verification commands are not Node package-manager defaults.\n\nThe implementation is intentionally stricter than a local release script:\n\n- manual workflow dispatch can only do dry-run promotion;\n- non-dry-run promotion must be driven by a completed `Verify` workflow;\n- target branch protection details must be readable, and branch protection must\n  apply to administrators as well as regular contributors;\n- alpha promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `dev/vX/vX.Y` to `alpha/vX/vX.Y`;\n- release promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to `release/vX/vX.Y`;\n- major promotion must come from a merged same-repository PR from\n  `release/vX/vX.Y` to `publish-gate/major`;\n- release promotion requires an existing same-patch alpha tag and checks the\n  release source tree against that tested alpha tree;\n- generated version-state commits are verified before refs move.\n\nPromotion intents are serialized globally per caller repository with\n`cancel-in-progress: false`. A queued intent re-reads its protected target ref\nbefore checkout, dependency installation, release-candidate resolution, or any\npublish-gate/ref mutation. If the ref already points at a newer SHA, that older\nintent is no longer release authority: the workflow records the requested and\ncurrent SHAs, proves that the current target is ahead of the requested commit,\nand completes as a `target-ref-advanced` superseded no-op. Diverged or behind\ncomparisons are not superseded transactions and still fail closed.\nMissing refs, unreadable repository state, invalid channels, governance\nfailures, and artifact mismatches still fail closed. The promote action repeats\nthe target check at the mutation boundary, so a ref that advances after the\nworkflow preflight cannot receive a second set of publication side effects.\n\n## Version Lines\n\nKungfu uses Python-like version lines where a minor line can represent a\nlong-lived product train. A line such as `v2.0` can produce many production\npatch releases:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1\nv2.0.2\n...\nv2.0.1234\n```\n\nThis is why Buildchain maintains both exact and floating refs:\n\n- `v2.0.2` is immutable release evidence;\n- `v2.0` is the latest production release on the `2.0` line;\n- `v2` is the selected stable major-line entrypoint;\n- `v2.0.3-alpha.0` is immutable alpha evidence;\n- `v2.0-alpha` is the latest test channel for the `2.0` line.\n- `v2-alpha` is the latest test channel on the highest published alpha minor in major `2`.\n\nA release does not mean \"minor is complete.\" It means \"this patch on this minor\nline is now production.\"\n\nGitHub repository rules must preserve that distinction. Exact tags such as\n`v2.0.2` and `v2.0.3-alpha.0` should be immutable. Floating channel tags such as\n`v2`, `v2.0`, `v2.0-alpha`, and `v2-alpha` must remain movable by the Buildchain promotion\ntoken after governance checks and publish evidence pass. A tag ruleset that\nprotects every `refs/tags/v*` ref is too broad because it also locks the\nfloating channel tags that Buildchain is required to update. Prefer exact-tag\npatterns such as `refs/tags/v*.*.*` for immutable release evidence, while\nleaving floating channel tags under Buildchain automation control.\n\n## Alpha Semantics\n\nAn alpha merge is:\n\n```text\ndev/vX/vX.Y -> alpha/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Computes the next prerelease for the minor line.\n2. Writes version state such as `vX.Y.Z-alpha.N`.\n3. Verifies the generated version-state tree.\n4. Creates or reuses the exact alpha tag.\n5. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y` to the generated alpha commit.\n6. Moves `dev/vX/vX.Y` to the same generated alpha commit when this is a\n   fast-forward update.\n7. Moves `vX.Y-alpha` to the same generated alpha commit.\n8. Moves `vX-alpha` only when `X.Y` is the highest minor in major `X` with a published alpha; older minor alpha work records a skip and cannot move the major channel backwards.\n\nThe npm channel follows the same ownership rule. The highest alpha minor publishes\nwith dist-tag `alpha`; maintenance alphas on an older minor publish with the\nline-specific dist-tag `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global `alpha`\nchannel backward. Exact prerelease versions remain installable directly.\n\nThis keeps the test channel self-describing. If a consumer checks out\n`v2.0-alpha` or `v2-alpha`, the manifests and exact alpha tag agree. The major\nalpha ref removes routine consumer edits when Buildchain opens a newer minor,\nwhile exact tags and SHAs remain the reproducible audit choice.\n\n### Buildchain Alpha Self-Dogfood\n\nBuildchain continuously consumes its own current major alpha through\n`.github/workflows/buildchain-alpha-self-dogfood.yml`. Both lanes call the\nreleased channel router at `build.yml@v2-alpha`. The auto lane must resolve\n`v2-alpha`; the explicit stable lane must resolve `v2`. Both execute the same\ndeclared install, build, and verify fixture, proving that a single consumer\nsurface routes to distinct released runtimes without duplicating lifecycle\nconfiguration in the consumer.\n\nThe reusable build trust gate reads `job.workflow_ref`, which identifies the\ncalled workflow and its selected ref. It does not infer the runtime from\n`github.workflow_ref`, because GitHub defines that context as the caller\nworkflow identity during a reusable call.\n\nThe router selects `.buildchain/alpha-contract-lock.json` for alpha and\n`.buildchain/contract-lock.json` for stable. The alpha lock records the exact\nreviewed alpha SHA and compatibility digest; it does not replace the stable\nconsumer lock. A later alpha with only compatible additive drift continues,\nwhile a changed breaking digest fails until the new alpha contract is reviewed.\n\nThe evidence job resolves `v2-alpha` and `v2` through the GitHub refs API,\ncompares those immutable SHAs with the reusable workflow outputs, verifies the\n`alpha` and `stable` classifications, and uploads a JSON evidence artifact.\nThe canary runs after successful Buildchain ref promotion, on a daily fallback\nschedule, and on manual dispatch. It shares the release-promotion concurrency\ngroup, so another promotion cannot move the floating refs between runtime\nresolution and evidence comparison.\n\nThis is a post-publication consumer canary, not a release bootstrap. Source\nverification still runs the current commit, and\n`buildchain-ref-promotion.yml` still passes the verified exact SHA into the\npromotion workflow. Patrol, dev-merge, repair, and promotion defaults remain on\nstable or exact refs so a broken alpha cannot prevent Buildchain from publishing\nits fix. When Buildchain opens a new major, inventory validation requires this\nworkflow's fixed GitHub `uses` refs to move from `vN`/`vN-alpha` to the new\nmajor; GitHub does not allow expressions in a reusable-workflow `uses` ref.\n\nIf `dev/vX/vX.Y` has already advanced before generated alpha version-state\nbookkeeping can sync back, Buildchain records `skipped-non-fast-forward` for the\ndev sync and still completes the exact and floating alpha tags for the reviewed\nalpha commit. Later dev changes must go through their own dev-to-alpha\npromotion instead of rewinding dev. The normal path is direct: after alpha\nmerges, Buildchain applies the generated version-state commit to alpha and then\nfast-forwards dev to the same commit without a human version-state PR.\n\nIf alpha finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain accepts the current alpha head as the generated\ncommit, or as a historical merge commit that contains the recorded release\nmaterial. An already-created exact alpha tag may point at the transaction\nrelease/material SHA or at the finalized alpha head; missing floating alpha\ntags are retried before the transaction becomes `complete`.\n\n## Release Semantics\n\nA release merge is:\n\n```text\nalpha/vX/vX.Y -> release/vX/vX.Y\n```\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Finds the same-patch alpha tag that was tested.\n2. Checks that the release source tree matches that alpha tag tree, excluding\n   only generated version-state differences.\n3. Writes final release version state such as `vX.Y.Z`.\n4. Verifies the generated release tree.\n5. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `vX.Y.Z`.\n6. Moves `release/vX/vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n7. Moves `vX.Y` to the exact release commit.\n8. Moves `vX` when this minor line should be the stable major entrypoint.\n9. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `vX.Y.(Z+1)-alpha.0`.\n10. Moves `alpha/vX/vX.Y`, `dev/vX/vX.Y`, and `vX.Y-alpha` to that next alpha\n    commit.\n11. Moves `vX-alpha` to that next alpha only when this remains the highest published alpha minor.\n\nThe production channel and the test channel therefore intentionally diverge\nafter release: production stays on the release commit, while alpha/dev continue\nat the next prerelease commit.\n\n### Stable Release Throttle And Canary Gate\n\nBuildchain's own stable channel has an additional pre-publication gate. It is\nevaluated after the PR-stage release candidate has been resolved and before the\npublish-gate ref, package registry, exact stable tag, or floating stable refs\nare mutated. Train refs and alpha promotion do not execute this gate.\n\nAll alpha and release promotions first run a metadata-only release-candidate\npreflight after queued-intent revalidation. The preflight uses the same resolver\nand exact target SHA as the publication job, but does not download payloads or\ninstall the candidate repository dependencies. Missing channel PRs, stale\nworkflow runs, expired passport pairs, and insufficient payload artifact sets\ntherefore fail before the full promotion job starts. The publication job still\ndownloads and validates the exact evidence again at the trust boundary; the\npreflight moves failure earlier without weakening the final check.\n\nThe policy is versioned in `.buildchain/stable-release-policy.json`. A stable\ncandidate is allowed only when all of these facts are true:\n\n- the candidate resolves to an immutable exact alpha tag and its GitHub\n  prerelease timestamp;\n- at least 24 hours have passed since the preceding stable patch on the same\n  minor line;\n- the preceding stable-to-alpha comparison contains a product or public\n  contract path, not only version, test, evidence, or retrospective changes;\n- the version-bound impact record has a non-empty summary and at least one\n  surface impact;\n- the `Build Surface Fixture` release-candidate run succeeded;\n- `site-libkungfu-dev` completed its no-apply `Buildchain Stable Canary` and an allowed\n  maintainer attested that successful run on the exact alpha SHA through the\n  `buildchain-canary/site-libkungfu-dev` commit-status context;\n- the canary runtime input is exactly the candidate alpha tag or the 40-character\n  commit SHA resolved from that tag; a successful status pointing at another\n  workflow, repository, tag, floating ref, or SHA is rejected as mismatched;\n- at least one hour has elapsed after the last required canary completed.\n\nThe machine report is written to\n`.buildchain/release-passport/stable-release-gate.json`. A passing report is\nuploaded with the stable release passport. A blocked run writes the same report\nbefore failing, so the missing or stale condition is inspectable without\nopening a publication transaction.\n\nGitHub's Actions run REST object does not expose `workflow_dispatch` inputs.\nBuildchain therefore verifies the run's `workflow_id` against the authoritative\nworkflow metadata, then reads the exact runtime from the workflow-owned\n`<workflow name> / <runtime ref>` run-name when no input field is available.\nAn explicit API input, when present, remains authoritative and cannot be\noverridden by the display name.\n\nThe cooldown is a minimum interval, not an instruction to release every day.\nCompatible work should still be batched until a stable release has a concrete\nconsumer need. Changing the interval, canary set, attestors, product path\nboundary, or soak time is a reviewed policy change.\n\nRepositories that want a predictable scheduled stable window can use\n[`Stable Candidate Patrol`](stable-candidate-patrol.md). It persists each exact\nalpha independently, qualifies it after repository-declared checks and soak,\nand selects the newest qualified non-revoked candidate. A newer soaking alpha\ndoes not invalidate an older qualified candidate. The selected tree enters the\nexisting strict `publish-gate/release/<line>/<version> -> release/<line>` PR\npath, so scheduled selection changes release intent timing without weakening\nsource locks, review, verification, publish transactions, or passports.\n\nIf release finalization is resumed after generated version-state bookkeeping was\npartially applied, Buildchain applies the same recovery rule: the current\nrelease head may be the generated commit, or a historical merge commit that\ncontains the recorded release material, existing exact tags and alpha/dev refs\nare accepted when they match the transaction, and missing floating `vX.Y` or\n`vX` tags are retried idempotently before completion.\n\nOnce the durable release transaction is `complete` and the exact/floating\nstable refs have moved, next-alpha preparation is post-release bookkeeping. A\nfailure there records `deferred-post-release-bookkeeping` and\n`next-anchor-required` instead of retroactively reporting the stable release as\nfailed. Generated next-alpha merges use the current dev tree as their base and\noverlay only declared version-state paths, preserving concurrent dev changes.\n\n## Major Gate Semantics\n\nA major gate merge is:\n\n```text\nrelease/vX/vX.Y -> publish-gate/major\n```\n\n`publish-gate/major` is the explicit replacement for the older ABV `main`\nchannel. The name is intentionally operational: it is a gate for a rare\nadministrator decision, not the active trunk. Keeping this decision in the same\nPR UI as alpha and release promotion keeps the human workflow simple while\navoiding the misleading meaning of `main`. The older `major-gate` branch name is\na compatibility alias only.\n\nBuildchain then:\n\n1. Verifies the source is a merged same-repository PR from a protected release\n   line into `publish-gate/major`.\n2. Writes the next major production version state, such as `v(X+1).0.0`.\n3. Creates or reuses the exact release tag `v(X+1).0.0`.\n4. Moves `publish-gate/major` and `release/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0` to that release commit.\n5. Moves `v(X+1).0` and `v(X+1)` to that release commit.\n6. Prepares the next alpha version-state commit, such as\n   `v(X+1).0.1-alpha.0`.\n7. Moves `alpha/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, `dev/v(X+1)/v(X+1).0`, and\n   `v(X+1).0-alpha` to that next alpha commit.\n\nChecking out `publish-gate/major` should therefore look like a frozen release\nstate, not like a branch where day-to-day source work continues. Day-to-day\nsource work continues on `dev/vX/vX.Y`.\n\n## Protected Dev Branches\n\n`dev/vX/vX.Y` is a protected development channel, not a scratch branch. Normal\nsource changes should be made on work branches such as `feature/*`, `fix/*`,\n`chore/*`, `docs/*`, `ci/*`, or `refactor/*`, then reviewed through a pull\nrequest into the target dev line.\n\nThis keeps the earliest development channel audit-friendly:\n\n- the version line being changed is visible in the PR base branch;\n- CI and required checks run before the channel moves;\n- branch protection can prevent direct pushes and stale merges;\n- later `dev -> alpha -> release` promotion inherits a reviewable source\n  lineage instead of trying to reconstruct how the dev branch changed.\n\nBuildchain provides the reusable\n`.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` workflow for repositories that want a\nscheduled or manual \"merge ready dev PRs\" pass. The consumer repository owns\nthe trigger schedule, but the merge decision is declared through workflow\ninputs: target dev branch, required status/check names, ready and block labels,\nallowed work-branch prefixes, review requirements, maximum merges per run,\nmerge method, and dry-run mode.\n\nThe workflow defaults are conservative. A PR is skipped unless it targets the\nconfigured dev line, is not a draft, has the ready label, has no block label,\ncomes from the same repository, uses an allowed work-branch prefix, has a\ncurrent approval, is mergeable, and has the configured required checks passing.\nAfter each merge, the next PR is re-evaluated before it can move the protected\ndev branch. This prevents one merge from silently making the next candidate\nstale or conflicting.\n\nThe canonical consumer required check context is `check / check`, matching the\nreusable workflow call plus its `check` job. Buildchain's own `Verify` workflow\nemits the repository-local context `check`, so Buildchain self-promotion,\nrelease-line bootstrap, and dogfood patrol wrappers pass `check` explicitly.\nRelease governance preserves the exact context emitted by the repository and\nrecords branch-protection policy before/after facts; it does not rewrite one\ncontext shape into the other. Consumer repositories can keep their context\nstable while changing the actual verification command declaratively in\n`buildchain.toml`:\n\n```toml\n[lifecycle.install]\ncommand = \"cargo fetch --locked\"\n\n[lifecycle.verify]\ncommand = \"cargo test --workspace --locked\"\n```\n\nConsumers that want Buildchain to own the check wrapper can call\n`.github/workflows/check.yml@v2`. The wrapper runs the declared\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.verify` stages and fails the `check` job when\neither declaration is missing or the command exits non-zero.\n\nDevelopment pull requests that need source acceptance without product build or\nartifact verification can opt into `mode: source`. That mode runs only\n`lifecycle.install` and `lifecycle.check` on GitHub-hosted `ubuntu-24.04` while\npreserving the stable `check / check` required-check context. Existing callers\nremain on `mode: verify` by default, and callers may set\n`upload-artifacts: false` without weakening the job conclusion.\n\nTypical consumer wrapper:\n\n```yaml\nname: Merge Ready Dev PRs\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 * * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n    inputs:\n      dry-run:\n        type: boolean\n        default: true\n\njobs:\n  merge-dev:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/dev-pr-auto-merge.yml@v2\n    permissions:\n      contents: write\n      pull-requests: write\n      checks: read\n      statuses: read\n    with:\n      target-branch: dev/v2/v2.6\n      required-status-checks: check / check\n      ready-label: ready\n      block-labels: blocked,do-not-merge\n      max-merges: 1\n      dry-run: ${{ inputs.dry-run || false }}\n```\n\n## Buildchain Patrol\n\n`dev-pr-auto-merge.yml` remains the focused merge primitive. For repositories\nthat want a stable day-to-day operations contract, Buildchain also exposes a\npatrol workflow family:\n\n| Workflow | Intended cadence | Default intent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml` | daily | lightweight inspection plus ready dev PR maintenance |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml` | weekly | release-state, passport, gate, and stale-state health checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/patrol-monthly.yml` | monthly | governance, permission, branch-protection, and workflow drift checks as they are added |\n| `.github/workflows/stable-candidate-patrol.yml` | repository-selected release window | qualify immutable alpha candidates and open the exact source-lock stable PR |\n\nThe cadence names describe patrol intensity, not release cadence:\n\n- daily patrol can run every day without implying a daily release;\n- weekly patrol is for medium-cost maintenance and audit checks;\n- monthly patrol is for structural drift checks that should not block ordinary\n  development velocity.\n\nStable Candidate Patrol is separate from those maintenance cadences because its\ncaller-owned cron is a release-intent window. Its candidate ledger and selection\nremain generic; registry-specific side effects still run through the normal\nrepository `lifecycle.publish` transaction. See\n[`stable-candidate-patrol.md`](stable-candidate-patrol.md).\n\nConsumers should schedule thin callers and keep their YAML declarative. For\nexample:\n\n```yaml\nname: Buildchain Daily Patrol\n\non:\n  schedule:\n    - cron: \"17 2 * * *\"\n  workflow_dispatch:\n\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-daily.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: false\n      max-actions: 1\n```\n\nWeekly and monthly callers use the matching wrapper:\n\n```yaml\njobs:\n  patrol:\n    uses: kungfu-systems/buildchain/.github/workflows/patrol-weekly.yml@v2\n    with:\n      dry-run: true\n```\n\nAll three wrappers default to the `v2` floating Buildchain runtime. When\n`target-branch` is omitted, the caller's current/default branch selects the\nactive semver dev line, so consumers do not pin patrol to a stale minor branch.\nThe separate workflow names keep consumer schedules readable and stable while\nBuildchain adds new checks behind the cadence wrappers.\n\n## Package-Manager Adapters\n\nOld ABV assumed JavaScript repositories with root version state and often\nLerna. Buildchain keeps the version-state contract but does not assume every\nrepository is yarn/Lerna.\n\nThe promotion action discovers and updates:\n\n- root `package.json`;\n- `lerna.json`;\n- package manifests from `package.json` workspaces;\n- package manifests from `lerna.json` packages;\n- package manifests from `pnpm-workspace.yaml`.\n\nIt then runs the repository's detected package manager semantics where needed:\n\n- pnpm repositories use pnpm-oriented workspace discovery;\n- npm repositories use npm/package-lock semantics where present;\n- yarn repositories use yarn-style metadata where present.\n\nFor Buildchain itself, version state is required. For a consumer repository that\nhas no package manifest, the same action can degrade to ref-only behavior only\nwhen that is explicitly allowed by the caller.\n\n## Lifecycle Configuration\n\n`buildchain.toml` is the v2 user configuration format. It lets a repository\ndeclare version-state files and lifecycle commands without pretending every\nproject is a Node workspace. Supported version files include JSON, TOML, and\nregex-based files such as `CMakeLists.txt` or `conanfile.py`.\n\nThe promotion action currently consumes `version.files` and `lifecycle.verify`.\nThe verify stage runs after generated version-state changes are applied locally\nand before any release refs move. If `verification-command` is passed directly\nto the action, that explicit command overrides `lifecycle.verify`.\n\nProtected release-line branches keep their normal human review gate. Managed\n`dev/vN/vN.M`, `alpha/vN/vN.M`, and `release/vN/vN.M` branches are configured\nwith one required approving review, strict GitHub Actions checks, administrator\nenforcement, conversation resolution, no force pushes, and no deletions. The\nreusable `release-candidate-promote.yml` wrapper defaults\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps` to `github-actions`, which lets the workflow's\nautomation identity apply generated version-state or post-publish channel\nbookkeeping after the reviewed channel PR has merged. Direct\n`promote-buildchain-ref` callers must opt into the same controlled bypass with\n`branch-protection-bypass-apps`, `branch-protection-bypass-users`, or\n`branch-protection-bypass-teams`; the action also adds the current promotion\ntoken's authenticated user or app to the managed bypass allowlist. Before\npatching a protected generated bookkeeping ref, the action creates the\nconfigured required check on the exact generated version-state commit, so strict\nstatus checks are satisfied by machine-verifiable Buildchain evidence rather\nthan a human PR. The protected ref PATCH itself uses the generated ref update\ntoken; the reusable wrapper defaults it to\n`secrets.BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN || github.token`. If direct generated\nrelease finalization bookkeeping is still rejected, Buildchain creates or\nreuses a same-repository `buildchain/version-state/*` PR based on the current\ntarget channel head and records `finalization-needed=true` in the durable\ntransaction output. Strict alpha bookkeeping still fails with a\ntoken/protection diagnostic instead of creating a post-publish PR.\n\nFor a stable release, the wrapper also checks out the exact current development\nchannel into `.buildchain/reconciliation/dev`. When the prepared next-alpha\ncommit cannot fast-forward dev because reviewed work landed concurrently, the\npromotion action applies the next version to that checkout, regenerates every\ndeclared derived version-state file, reruns the verification lifecycle, and\nonly then creates the two-parent reconciliation commit. A checkout/current-ref\nSHA mismatch blocks reconciliation instead of committing stale projections.\nBuildchain's own promotion workflow reads `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_APPS`,\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_USERS`, and\n`BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_BYPASS_TEAMS` repository variables so the declared bypass\nidentity can match the actual `BUILDCHAIN_PROMOTION_TOKEN` actor, but consumers\ndo not need to duplicate that actor manually when the token identity is\ndiscoverable.\n\n## What This Guarantees\n\nWhen the loop succeeds, maintainers and consumers can rely on these facts:\n\n- every production release has an exact tag such as `v2.0.2`;\n- every production minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0`;\n- every selected stable major has a floating tag such as `v2`;\n- every next-major release is driven by a reviewed `release -> publish-gate/major` PR,\n  not a hidden manual button;\n- every test channel has an exact alpha tag such as `v2.0.3-alpha.0`;\n- every alpha minor line has a floating tag such as `v2.0-alpha`;\n- every major with a published alpha has a cross-minor floating tag such as `v2-alpha`, owned by its highest published alpha minor;\n- version manifests match the tag visible from the same commit;\n- production releases are derived from the alpha tree that was tested;\n- manual non-dry-run promotion cannot bypass PR review and verification;\n- flow-internal automation bypasses apply only to declared GitHub Apps, users,\n  or teams on Buildchain-managed channel branch protection, while one-review\n  protection remains enforced for humans;\n- admin users cannot make a channel promotion valid by temporarily bypassing\n  branch protection.\n\nThis is the practical meaning of \"governance closed loop\" in Buildchain: the\ndecision, code, version state, and Git refs close over the same evidence chain.\n\n## What This Does Not Do\n\nBuildchain release promotion does not embed registry clients or product-specific\npublish logic. When publish transactions are enabled, `promote-buildchain-ref`\ncan run the consumer's `lifecycle.publish` command and own the transaction,\nevidence validation, durable recovery state, and ref finalization order. The\nconsumer repository still owns registry truth: npm, PyPI, OCI, S3, Conan, CMake\npackaging, download pages, dist-tags, and similar side effects must be\nimplemented by project lifecycle commands that emit Buildchain publish evidence.\n\nEvery Buildchain publish model that can run registry side effects must bind the\npublish entrypoint to an immutable `publish-gate/*` source lock. The reusable\n`release-candidate-promote.yml@v2` wrapper creates or updates that gate ref and\npasses `require-publish-source-lock`, `publish-source-ref`,\n`publish-source-sha`, and `publish-source-locked` to\n`promote-buildchain-ref`. Direct action callers must pass the same four inputs\nfrom the reusable build outputs. Workflows that only collect passports or run\ndry-run package checks do not move publish refs and are not publish-gate\npublication models. A dry-run of `release-candidate-promote.yml` computes and\nreports the exact `publish-gate/*` source lock that a real promotion would use,\nbut does not read, create, or move that ref.\n\nSemver GitHub Release publication is owned by `promote-buildchain-ref`, not by\nconsumer shell glue. Consumers normally use the `release-candidate-promote.yml`\nwrapper, where GitHub Release publication is enabled by default and can be\ndisabled with `github-release: false`; the wrapper passes that declaration to\nthe action. After the publish transaction reaches `complete`, Buildchain creates\nor updates the public GitHub Release and uploads the generated\n`buildchain.release.json`, release-passport assets, and publish evidence. Semver\nprerelease tags are marked `prerelease=true` and `make_latest=false`; stable\nsemver tags are marked latest. For anchored/manual package releases, the public\nrelease tag defaults to `v<publishedVersion>` while the internal exact\ntransaction tag remains in the release passport and release-state ref. This is\nthe supported path for downstream\n`release.published` propagation across semver, major, and promote-only release\ncandidate publication models.\n\nBuildchain also does not maintain bare exact tags such as `1.0.0`. The supported\nexact release and alpha refs are v-prefixed:\n\n```text\nv2.0.0\nv2.0.1-alpha.0\n```\n\n## Operational Reading Order\n\nWhen debugging or extending release behavior, read in this order:\n\n1. `docs/release-flow.md`\n2. `.github/workflows/release-verify.yml`\n3. `.github/workflows/buildchain-ref-promotion.yml`\n4. `.github/workflows/release-candidate-promote.yml`\n5. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/README.md`\n6. `actions/promote-buildchain-ref/src/`\n7. `docs/migration-inventory.md`\n\nThat path gives the policy first, the workflow trigger second, and the action\nimplementation last."
     },
     {
       "id": "manual:release-passport",

package/dist/site/public-surface-audit.json

@@ -3392,7 +3392,7 @@
     "pageRegistryPath": "dist/site/page-registry.json",
     "cliRegistryDigest": "a6daf4822365bf576425777230246046ebca67b3f8dcfea61fc7a61773776185",
     "workflowRegistryDigest": "f7906cff65097a4dc0a7e3eb8a13a52415fadae6b6d019646a52867d94903998",
-    "pageRegistryDigest": "18046faf40798c07c6056d61beae2c1eda19d51e1545aa245f3c18692d18b9a0"
+    "pageRegistryDigest": "9bc28515f1e756237c167e9343eed56f6c21823611bd91ebf411630ff4b7c9f3"
   },
   "comparison": {
     "missingCliRegistry": [],

package/dist/site/publication-registry.json

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 {
   "schemaVersion": 1,
   "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-publication-release-registry",
-  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
-  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
+  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
+  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
   "reproducible": true,
   "timestampPolicy": "ci-injected",
   "deterministicInputs": [
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     "declared Buildchain surface manifest contract"
   ],
   "sourceDateEpoch": "0",
-  "sourceRevision": "6ad6f3a62b05b6713d1345285ee9442bf4faa894",
+  "sourceRevision": "7ab8004aa2c6f99118710b81525f86d38615035b",
   "timestampPolicyDetails": {
     "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-surface-timestamp-policy",
     "timestampFields": [
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
   },
   "package": {
     "name": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
     "versionSource": "package.json#version"
   },
   "sourceKind": "package-site-bundle",

package/dist/site/site-manifest.json

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 {
   "schemaVersion": 1,
   "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-site-manifest",
-  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
-  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T01:31:41.801Z",
+  "generatedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
+  "publishedAt": "2026-07-16T02:23:01.656Z",
   "reproducible": true,
   "timestampPolicy": "ci-injected",
   "deterministicInputs": [
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     "declared Buildchain surface manifest contract"
   ],
   "sourceDateEpoch": "0",
-  "sourceRevision": "6ad6f3a62b05b6713d1345285ee9442bf4faa894",
+  "sourceRevision": "7ab8004aa2c6f99118710b81525f86d38615035b",
   "timestampPolicyDetails": {
     "contract": "kungfu-buildchain-surface-timestamp-policy",
     "timestampFields": [
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
   },
   "package": {
     "name": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+    "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
     "versionSource": "package.json#version"
   },
   "entrypoint": "buildchain-site.json",
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
       "path": "docs/install.md",
       "plane": "use",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:2600738a92b5853bc26d4e01211f0c07b8b36a21d4d72ca809bc6032dff5dc5f"
+      "digest": "sha256:1879849c01f82b8820f2d9aeb09faed0931954cb7fe6939176a5eb69110cee59"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-passport",
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
       "path": "docs/publish-transaction.md",
       "plane": "verify",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:8d5d7075cf8b4280a4c5097726f5c51ae40db83e2652eafefe4fa5e487794f57"
+      "digest": "sha256:9e77030dbd69e27c2402d855980f7560a465270cac1f3225c0470523ab4a8ddf"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-governance",
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@
       "path": "docs/release-governance.md",
       "plane": "why",
       "exists": true,
-      "digest": "sha256:cce9f80add3c746fe28d8ebf5afb809348694741cb75d19154ed3057a9374c0d"
+      "digest": "sha256:d85ac78b7c73b85b0a59a4a39131230522ae65225fa1b52f9dfe6939f1bb839c"
     },
     {
       "id": "release-flow",

package/docs/install.md

@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ npx buildchain version
 npx buildchain doctor --json
 ```
 
-Alpha releases publish to the `alpha` npm dist-tag. Stable releases publish to
+The highest alpha minor publishes to the `alpha` npm dist-tag; older maintenance
+minor alphas use `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global alpha channel back.
+Stable releases publish to
 `latest`. Both are created by the protected Buildchain promotion transaction.
 
 Stable consumers should pin the exact Buildchain version they have validated,

package/docs/publish-transaction.md

@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ Buildchain distinguishes two npm release modes:
 
 | Mode | Use | Auth | npm operation |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|latest>` |
+| `publish-final-version` | normal alpha or stable publication | `trusted-publishing` | `npm publish --tag <alpha|vX.Y-alpha|latest>` |
 | `promote-existing-version` | same-version alpha-to-latest recovery | `npm-token` | `npm dist-tag add <pkg>@<version> latest` |
 
 The normal libnode path is `publish-final-version`: publish an alpha package set

package/docs/release-governance.md

@@ -162,6 +162,11 @@ Buildchain then:
 7. Moves `vX.Y-alpha` to the same generated alpha commit.
 8. Moves `vX-alpha` only when `X.Y` is the highest minor in major `X` with a published alpha; older minor alpha work records a skip and cannot move the major channel backwards.
 
+The npm channel follows the same ownership rule. The highest alpha minor publishes
+with dist-tag `alpha`; maintenance alphas on an older minor publish with the
+line-specific dist-tag `vX.Y-alpha` so they cannot roll the global `alpha`
+channel backward. Exact prerelease versions remain installable directly.
+
 This keeps the test channel self-describing. If a consumer checks out
 `v2.0-alpha` or `v2-alpha`, the manifests and exact alpha tag agree. The major
 alpha ref removes routine consumer edits when Buildchain opens a newer minor,

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@kungfu-tech/buildchain",
-  "version": "2.12.9-alpha.0",
+  "version": "2.12.9-alpha.1",
   "private": false,
   "description": "Buildchain Release Passport, release governance, CLI toolkit, and site facts.",
   "repository": "https://github.com/kungfu-systems/buildchain",