ruvnet-brain 4.3.25 → 4.3.26

package/README.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Created: 2026-06-29 22:36:38 EDT
 
 # 🧠 RuvNet Brain
 
-### 🧠 RuvNet Brain — [![RuvNet Brain version 4.3.25 — updated 2026-07-30 03:24 EDT](https://img.shields.io/badge/version_4.3.25-updated_2026--07--30_03:24_EDT-1E90FF?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=0757BA)](https://github.com/stuinfla/ruvnet-brain/blob/main/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json)
+### 🧠 RuvNet Brain — [![RuvNet Brain version 4.3.26 — updated 2026-07-30 03:24 EDT](https://img.shields.io/badge/version_4.3.26-updated_2026--07--30_03:24_EDT-1E90FF?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=0757BA)](https://github.com/stuinfla/ruvnet-brain/blob/main/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json)
 
 **A portable, source-grounded brain over Reuven Cohen's (rUv's) RuvNet stack — delivered as a Claude Code plugin that makes Claude _use_ the stack instead of fighting it.**
 

package/console/app.js

@@ -2973,6 +2973,53 @@ function bpField(bp) {
   return (bp && Array.isArray(bp.schema) && bp.schema[0]) || null;
 }
 
+/* ------------------------------------------------------------ inventory */
+
+// Renders /api/state's `inventory` section: the installed brain's stores BY NAME, joined with their
+// upstream repo and build commit. Ranked by recency (server-side) — never alphabetical. Read-only.
+function renderInventory(inv) {
+  const body = $('#body-inventory');
+  if (!body) return;
+  if (!inv || inv.available !== true) {
+    setChips('chips-inventory', [chip('can’t read the manifest', 'nt')]);
+    body.replaceChildren(el('p', { class: 'muted' },
+      inv && inv.reason ? inv.reason : 'The console could not read RVF-GENERATIONS.json from the installed brain, so it is not guessing a list.'));
+    return;
+  }
+  const chips = [chip(`${fmtInt(inv.count)} repositories`, 'green')];
+  if (inv.privateCount > 0) chips.push(chip(`${fmtInt(inv.privateCount)} private`, 'cyan', 'Fenced private stores — never leave this machine'));
+  if (inv.releaseTag) chips.push(chip(`generation ${inv.releaseTag}`, 'grey'));
+  setChips('chips-inventory', chips);
+
+  const mb = inv.totalBytes ? `${(inv.totalBytes / 1e6).toFixed(0)} MB on disk` : null;
+  const summary = el('p', { class: 'muted' },
+    `${fmtInt(inv.count)} searchable stores`,
+    inv.withProvenance != null ? `, ${fmtInt(inv.withProvenance)} with a recorded upstream commit` : '',
+    mb ? `, ${mb}.` : '.');
+
+  const rows = (inv.stores || []).map((s) => el('li', { class: 'inv-row', 'data-name': s.name.toLowerCase() },
+    el('span', { class: 'mono inv-name' }, s.name),
+    s.private ? chip('private', 'cyan') : null,
+    s.sourceRepo && /^https?:\/\//.test(s.sourceRepo)
+      ? el('a', { class: 'inv-src', href: s.sourceRepo, target: '_blank', rel: 'noopener noreferrer' }, s.sourceRepo.replace(/^https?:\/\/(www\.)?github\.com\//, ''))
+      : el('span', { class: 'muted inv-src' }, s.sourceRepo || '—'),
+    el('span', { class: 'mono muted inv-meta' },
+      s.sourceCommit ? `@${s.sourceCommit}` : '', s.builtUtc ? ` · built ${String(s.builtUtc).slice(0, 10)}` : ''),
+  ));
+  const list = el('ul', { class: 'inv-list', 'aria-label': 'Repositories in the brain' }, ...rows);
+  const filter = el('input', {
+    class: 'inv-filter', type: 'search', placeholder: 'Filter by name…', 'aria-label': 'Filter repositories by name',
+    oninput: (e) => {
+      const q = String(e.target.value || '').trim().toLowerCase();
+      let shown = 0;
+      for (const li of list.children) { const hit = !q || li.dataset.name.includes(q); li.hidden = !hit; if (hit) shown += 1; }
+      count.textContent = q ? `${fmtInt(shown)} of ${fmtInt(inv.count)} match` : '';
+    },
+  });
+  const count = el('span', { class: 'muted inv-count', 'aria-live': 'polite' });
+  body.replaceChildren(summary, el('div', { class: 'inv-tools' }, filter, count), list);
+}
+
 function renderBrainPower(bp) {
   const body = $('#body-brain');
   if (!body) return;
@@ -3663,6 +3710,7 @@ async function loadState({ landed = false } = {}) {
     renderHost(state.host, state.generatedAt);
     const s = state.sections || {};
     renderBrainPower(s.brainPower);
+    renderInventory(s.inventory);
     renderWiring(s.wiring);
     lastMemory = s.memory;
     renderMemory(s.memory);

package/console/index.html

@@ -108,6 +108,25 @@
     </div>
   </section>
 
+  <!-- The one thing this page never showed: WHICH repositories are in the brain, by name. It always
+       carried the count and never the list. Read-only mirror of the installed manifest. -->
+  <section class="card rail-mirror" id="card-inventory" aria-labelledby="card-inventory-h">
+    <div class="qgroup-head">
+      <span class="card-ic ic-mirror" aria-hidden="true">
+        <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M4 6h16"/><path d="M4 12h16"/><path d="M4 18h10"/></svg>
+      </span>
+      <span class="card-head">
+        <span class="stage st-mirror">Mirror</span>
+        <h2 id="card-inventory-h">What’s in your brain</h2>
+        <span class="q">Every repository the brain can search right now, by name — where it came from and when it was built.</span>
+      </span>
+      <span class="chips" id="chips-inventory"><span class="chip tone-wait">counting…</span></span>
+    </div>
+    <div class="body" id="body-inventory">
+      <div class="skeleton" aria-hidden="true"><div class="sk-bar w40"></div><div class="sk-bar w75"></div></div>
+    </div>
+  </section>
+
   <!-- ======================================================= HERO -->
   <section class="intro">
     <div class="intro-grid">

package/console/style.css

@@ -2147,3 +2147,29 @@ details.sub .sub-body > *:first-child { margin-top: 4px; }
 #body-brain .fn-path {
   font-family: var(--mono); font-size: 0.86em; color: var(--faint); overflow-wrap: anywhere;
 }
+
+/* ------------------------------------------------------------ inventory card
+   The repository list, by name. Same row language as .cap-row (hairline separators, quiet meta),
+   with a type-to-filter above it because 200+ names need a way in. Long upstream URLs wrap rather
+   than overflow the card. */
+.inv-tools { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 12px; margin: 10px 0 8px; flex-wrap: wrap; }
+.inv-filter {
+  flex: 1 1 220px; min-width: 0; padding: 7px 10px; font: inherit; font-size: 13.5px;
+  color: var(--ink); background: var(--panel-2, transparent);
+  border: 1px solid var(--hair-strong); border-radius: 8px;
+}
+.inv-filter:focus { outline: 2px solid var(--cyan); outline-offset: 1px; }
+.inv-count { font-size: 12.5px; }
+.inv-list { list-style: none; margin: 0; padding: 0; max-height: 28rem; overflow: auto; border-top: 1px solid var(--hair); }
+.inv-row {
+  display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(10ch, 16ch) auto 1fr auto; align-items: baseline; gap: 6px 12px;
+  padding: 7px 4px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--hair); font-size: 13.5px;
+}
+.inv-row[hidden] { display: none; }
+.inv-name { font-size: 13px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; }
+.inv-src { min-width: 0; overflow-wrap: anywhere; font-size: 12.5px; }
+.inv-meta { font-size: 12px; white-space: nowrap; }
+@media (max-width: 640px) {
+  .inv-row { grid-template-columns: 1fr auto; }
+  .inv-src, .inv-meta { grid-column: 1 / -1; white-space: normal; }
+}

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ruvnet-brain",
-  "version": "4.3.25",
+  "version": "4.3.26",
   "description": "One-command installer for RuvNet Brain — a portable, source-grounded brain over rUv's RuvNet building blocks, delivered as a Claude Code plugin so Claude uses the stack instead of fighting it.",
   "type": "module",
   "bin": {

package/plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "ruvnet-brain",
   "description": "RuvNet brain transplant for Claude Code — grounds every RuvNet decision in real source across 77 rUv repositories, prefers Ruflo / RuVector-RVF / AgentDB over training-prior defaults (pgvector, Pinecone, hand-rolled cosine), and can pull in any RuvNet repo on demand. Ships a UserPromptSubmit retrieve-and-inject grounding hook and a PreToolUse write gate that refuses ungrounded rUv-product code until search_ruvnet has been consulted (ADR-0012 / ADR-067).",
-  "version": "4.3.25",
+  "version": "4.3.26",
   "author": {
     "name": "Stuart Kerr"
   },

package/plugin/.codex-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ruvnet-brain",
-  "version": "4.3.25",
+  "version": "4.3.26",
   "description": "Source-grounded RuvNet knowledge, lifecycle enforcement, and learning for Codex.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Stuart Kerr"

package/scripts/onboarding-console.mjs

@@ -729,6 +729,50 @@ export function reconcileNightly({ choice, schedule }) {
   };
 }
 
+// The one thing the console never showed: WHICH repositories are in the brain, by name. It has
+// always carried the count (206) and never the inventory — the owner asked for this list more than
+// a dozen times. RVF-GENERATIONS.json is the manifest that matches disk exactly (verified 206 = 206);
+// SOURCE.json is the provenance subset (104) that carries the upstream URL. Join on store name,
+// never restate either. Ranked by build recency — never alphabetical (relevance-ordering rule).
+function gatherInventory() {
+  const generations = readJSON(path.join(INSTALLED_KB, 'RVF-GENERATIONS.json'));
+  const source = readJSON(path.join(INSTALLED_KB, 'SOURCE.json'));
+  const stores = generations?.stores && typeof generations.stores === 'object' ? generations.stores : null;
+  if (!stores) return { available: false, reason: 'RVF-GENERATIONS.json not readable in the installed brain', count: 0, stores: [] };
+  // SOURCE.json has carried `stores` as an array in some generations and a name-keyed object in
+  // others; accept both rather than silently joining nothing (measured 2026-09-16: object form,
+  // and the array-only read reported withProvenance=0 for a brain with 104 provenance rows).
+  const provenance = new Map();
+  const sourceRows = Array.isArray(source?.stores) ? source.stores
+    : source?.stores && typeof source.stores === 'object'
+      ? Object.entries(source.stores).map(([name, row]) => ({ name, ...row })) : [];
+  for (const row of sourceRows) {
+    if (row?.name) provenance.set(String(row.name).toLowerCase(), row);
+  }
+  const rows = Object.entries(stores).map(([name, gen]) => {
+    const prov = provenance.get(name.toLowerCase());
+    return {
+      name,
+      sourceRepo: prov?.sourceRepo || null,
+      sourceCommit: gen?.sourceCommit ? String(gen.sourceCommit).slice(0, 7) : null,
+      builtUtc: gen?.builtUtc || null,
+      bytes: Number(gen?.bytes) || 0,
+      model: gen?.model || null,
+      private: prov?.updateManaged === false,
+    };
+  }).sort((a, b) => String(b.builtUtc || '').localeCompare(String(a.builtUtc || '')) || a.name.localeCompare(b.name));
+  return {
+    available: true,
+    count: rows.length,
+    withProvenance: rows.filter((r) => r.sourceRepo).length,
+    privateCount: rows.filter((r) => r.private).length,
+    brainVersion: generations.brainVersion || null,
+    releaseTag: generations.releaseTag || null,
+    totalBytes: rows.reduce((sum, r) => sum + r.bytes, 0),
+    stores: rows,
+  };
+}
+
 function gatherConfig() {
   const cfg = readJSON(CONFIG_PATH) || {};
   const credential = openRouterCredentialStatus({ cwd: process.cwd() });
@@ -2268,7 +2312,7 @@ function gatherState(cwd, { fleet = true } = {}) {
     generatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
     preStateHash,
     host: { user: os.userInfo().username, platform: process.platform, node: process.version, npmPrefix: NPM_PREFIX.replace(SYSTEM_HOME, '~'), brainVersion: brainVersionOnDisk() },
-    sections: { wiring, memory, savings, config, userSettings, brainPower, gates, recommendations },
+    sections: { wiring, memory, savings, config, userSettings, brainPower, gates, recommendations, inventory: gatherInventory() },
   };
   // Cache the last good state so repeat page-loads paint instantly, same as the stack audit does.
   // TOKEN is per-server-run and must never touch disk — ?fast=1 splices the live one back in.

package/scripts/release-transaction-provider.mjs

@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ const json = (name, args, options) => JSON.parse(command(name, args, options));
 // night a corpus round shipped. Every question this provider asks is about the CODE generation, so
 // it must resolve the latest CODE release rather than read a pointer that now answers differently.
 const latestCodeTag = () => latestCodeReleaseTag(json('gh', ['api', `repos/${REPO}/releases?per_page=30`]));
+// Two DIFFERENT questions, deliberately: latestCodeTag() is "which CODE generation is newest" (a
+// corpus generation may hold the pointer — designed steady state); githubPointerTag() is "what does
+// GitHub's releases/latest actually point at right now". The publish-github-nonlatest gate needs the
+// second and was reading the first, which made it unsatisfiable for every freshly published release.
+const githubPointerTag = () => maybe(() => json('gh', ['api', `repos/${REPO}/releases/latest`]).tag_name, null);
 const maybe = (callback, fallback = null) => {
   try { return callback(); } catch { return fallback; }
 };
@@ -79,14 +84,26 @@ const sha256File = (file) => {
   return hash.digest('hex');
 };
 const assetDigest = (asset) => withTempAsset(asset, sha256File);
+// 4.3.25 run 35056636514: `npm publish` succeeded at ~04:47:31Z and the registry first showed the
+// version at 04:53:40Z (time.modified) — roughly six minutes. The poll gave up at 156s, the job
+// reported FAILURE, and an already-published release was left half-promoted with npm and GitHub
+// naming different generations (the exact #77 split). The action was never the problem; the
+// deadline was shorter than npm's propagation for this package. Ten minutes covers the observed
+// ~6 with margin; the env overrides remain for a runner that knows better.
 const OBSERVATION_POLICY = {
-  maxElapsedMs: Number(process.env.RUVNET_NPM_VISIBILITY_TIMEOUT_MS || 180_000),
-  maxAttempts: Number(process.env.RUVNET_NPM_VISIBILITY_ATTEMPTS || 14),
+  maxElapsedMs: Number(process.env.RUVNET_NPM_VISIBILITY_TIMEOUT_MS || 600_000),
+  maxAttempts: Number(process.env.RUVNET_NPM_VISIBILITY_ATTEMPTS || 40),
   initialDelayMs: 1_000,
   maxDelayMs: 15_000,
   multiplier: 1.8,
   jitter: (delay) => Math.floor(Math.random() * Math.min(1_000, delay * 0.2)),
 };
+// The one command in this file that mutates a public channel gets its stderr in the job log and a
+// timeout sized for a real registry upload. command()'s defaults — stderr piped and dropped, 30s —
+// meant 4.3.25's first run left NO diagnostic between "stage-npm" and the deadline error, and a slow
+// registry would have killed a legitimate publish mid-upload. Named, so the publish call stays one
+// pinnable line for tests/unit/release-lineage + publication-receipt-wiring (one publisher, one tag).
+const PUBLISH_COMMAND_OPTIONS = Object.freeze({ stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'inherit'], timeout: 600_000 });
 
 export function selectCurrentReleaseBytes({ remoteBytes, localBytes, generatedBytes, identity }) {
   const bytes = remoteBytes || localBytes || generatedBytes;
@@ -263,6 +280,7 @@ export function liveReleaseProvider({ root = process.cwd() } = {}) {
       try {
         const release = draft?.id ? hydratedRelease(releaseById(draft.id)) : null;
         const latestTag = latestCodeTag();
+        const pointerTag = githubPointerTag();
         const candidate = maybe(() => json('npm', ['view', `${PACKAGE}@candidate-v${identity.version}`, '--json']), null);
         const exactVersion = maybe(() => json('npm', ['view', `${PACKAGE}@${identity.version}`, '--json']), null);
         const latestVersion = command('npm', ['view', `${PACKAGE}@latest`, 'version']);
@@ -295,8 +313,10 @@ export function liveReleaseProvider({ root = process.cwd() } = {}) {
             published: release.draft === false,
             latest: latestTag === identity.tag,
             latestTag,
+            // What releases/latest actually points at — distinct from `latest` (code recency) above.
+            pointerTag,
             assetsExact: assetsExactFor(release, identity, forceAssets),
-          } : { tag: null, sha: null, draft: false, published: false, latest: false, assetsExact: false },
+          } : { tag: null, sha: null, draft: false, published: false, latest: false, pointerTag, assetsExact: false },
           publicReceiptExact,
           publicHostsExact,
         };
@@ -400,7 +420,7 @@ export function liveReleaseProvider({ root = process.cwd() } = {}) {
         command('npm', ['dist-tag', 'add', `${PACKAGE}@${identity.version}`, `candidate-v${identity.version}`]);
         return;
       }
-      command('npm', ['publish', packagePath, '--tag', `candidate-v${identity.version}`]);
+      command('npm', ['publish', packagePath, '--tag', `candidate-v${identity.version}`], PUBLISH_COMMAND_OPTIONS);
     },
 
     async observeNpmCandidate(identity) {
@@ -437,7 +457,7 @@ export function liveReleaseProvider({ root = process.cwd() } = {}) {
       // legitimately holding `releases/latest` is NOT that — it is the designed steady state between
       // code releases — so the comparison is made against the latest CODE release, and the pointer's
       // own kind is recorded rather than treated as a conflict.
-      const pointer = json('gh', ['api', `repos/${REPO}/releases/latest`]).tag_name;
+      const pointer = githubPointerTag();
       const current = latestCodeTag();
       if (current !== expectedPrior && current !== identity.tag) {
         throw new Error(`refusing GitHub promotion: latest code release is ${current}, expected ${expectedPrior}`);

package/scripts/release-transaction.mjs

@@ -194,6 +194,25 @@ const npmCandidateExact = (snapshot, identity) => snapshot?.npm?.candidateVersio
 const npmLatestIsB = (snapshot, identity) => snapshot?.npm?.latestVersion === identity.version;
 const githubIsB = (snapshot, identity) => snapshot?.github?.sha === identity.candidateSha
   && snapshot?.github?.tag === identity.tag;
+// TWO DIFFERENT QUESTIONS ABOUT "LATEST", ANSWERED BY TWO DIFFERENT FIELDS (4.3.25, 2026-09-16).
+//
+// `snapshot.github.latest` is "is this the newest CODE release" — observeGithub derives it from
+// latestCodeReleaseTag(), deliberately, because per ADR-086 S1 a corpus generation may legitimately
+// hold GitHub's releases/latest pointer and a code release must not observe itself as demoted.
+// `snapshot.github.pointerTag` is what releases/latest actually points at.
+//
+// Every promotion, recovery, verification and abort check in this file wants the SECOND question:
+// "has the pointer been moved to B yet". Ten sites read the first. A freshly published code release
+// is ALWAYS the newest code release, so `!latest` was unsatisfiable (publish gate, resume clause —
+// the transaction wedged at github-promote-intent), `latest` was trivially true (promotion looked
+// already done, the pointer never moved, converge and finalize passed with it unmoved), and abort
+// refused because "latest" had moved. Ask the pointer. Snapshots without one (recorded receipts,
+// older providers) fall back to code recency so history stays interpretable.
+const githubPointerIsB = (snapshot, identity) => (snapshot?.github?.pointerTag !== undefined
+  ? snapshot.github.pointerTag === identity.tag
+  : snapshot?.github?.latest === true);
+const githubPointerTag = (snapshot) => (snapshot?.github?.pointerTag !== undefined
+  ? snapshot.github.pointerTag : snapshot?.github?.latestTag);
 
 /**
  * Pure, total next-action selector. Receipt history is an audit chain, never permission to skip a
@@ -206,7 +225,7 @@ export function reduceReleaseState({ lastReceipt, snapshot, identity, prior }) {
   const npmB = npmLatestIsB(snapshot, identity);
   const githubB = githubIsB(snapshot, identity);
   const githubPublished = githubB && snapshot.github?.published === true;
-  const githubLatest = githubPublished && snapshot.github?.latest === true;
+  const githubLatest = githubPublished && githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity);
 
   if (snapshot.npm?.candidateVersion === identity.version && snapshot.npm?.candidateIntegrity
     && snapshot.npm.candidateIntegrity !== identity.packageIntegrity) {
@@ -338,8 +357,11 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       await transition('prepared', { recovered: true });
       continue;
     }
+    // 4.3.25 run 35109036116: run 2 died after writing github-promote-intent, run 3 found the draft
+    // published, the reducer asked for promote-npm — not a legal edge from here. This clause was the
+    // only legal exit and its `!latest` was unsatisfiable. Wedged.
     if (current.state === 'github-promote-intent' && githubIsB(snapshot, identity)
-      && snapshot.github?.published && !snapshot.github?.latest) {
+      && snapshot.github?.published && !githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)) {
       await transition('github-promoted-nonlatest', { github: snapshot.github, recovered: true });
       continue;
     }
@@ -348,7 +370,7 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       continue;
     }
     if (current.state === 'github-latest-intent' && npmLatestIsB(snapshot, identity)
-      && githubIsB(snapshot, identity) && snapshot.github?.latest) {
+      && githubIsB(snapshot, identity) && githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)) {
       await transition('defaults-promoted', { npm: snapshot.npm, github: snapshot.github, recovered: true });
       continue;
     }
@@ -357,7 +379,7 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       throw new Error('npm compensation recovered; resume the same transaction');
     }
     if (current.state === 'finalize-intent' && npmCandidateExact(snapshot, identity) && npmLatestIsB(snapshot, identity)
-      && githubIsB(snapshot, identity) && snapshot.github?.published && snapshot.github?.latest
+      && githubIsB(snapshot, identity) && snapshot.github?.published && githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)
       && snapshot.github?.assetsExact) {
       return append('channels-converged', { verdict: 'PUBLISHED_NOT_VERIFIED', recovered: true,
         npm: snapshot.npm, github: snapshot.github });
@@ -425,7 +447,10 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       await transition('github-promote-intent');
       await adapter.publishDraftNonLatest(draft, identity);
       const observed = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity, draft);
-      if (!(githubIsB(observed, identity) && observed.github.published && !observed.github.latest)) {
+      // Published as B, and the POINTER has not moved to B yet — it is promoted later, in
+      // make-github-latest. 4.3.25 run 35057738103 published this correctly and then threw here on
+      // `!latest`, which a just-published code release can never satisfy.
+      if (!(githubIsB(observed, identity) && observed.github.published && !githubPointerIsB(observed, identity))) {
         throw new Error('GitHub non-latest publication not observed');
       }
       await transition('github-promoted-nonlatest', { github: observed.github });
@@ -446,7 +471,7 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       await transition('github-latest-intent');
       await adapter.makeGithubLatest(draft, identity, prior.githubLatest);
       const observed = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity, draft);
-      if (!(npmLatestIsB(observed, identity) && observed.github?.latest && githubIsB(observed, identity))) {
+      if (!(npmLatestIsB(observed, identity) && githubPointerIsB(observed, identity) && githubIsB(observed, identity))) {
         throw new Error('provider defaults not jointly observed at candidate B');
       }
       await transition('defaults-promoted', { npm: observed.npm, github: observed.github });
@@ -469,7 +494,7 @@ export async function runReleaseTransaction({ identity, assets, adapter, private
       }
       await transition('finalize-intent');
       const reobserved = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity, draft, { forceAssets: true });
-      if (!(npmLatestIsB(reobserved, identity) && reobserved.github?.latest && githubIsB(reobserved, identity))) {
+      if (!(npmLatestIsB(reobserved, identity) && githubPointerIsB(reobserved, identity) && githubIsB(reobserved, identity))) {
         throw new Error('provider defaults drifted before channel convergence');
       }
       if (!reobserved.github?.assetsExact || !npmCandidateExact(reobserved, identity)) {
@@ -491,8 +516,12 @@ export async function abortReleaseTransaction({ identity, receipts, reason, auth
   }
   const snapshot = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity);
   const prior = chain[0]?.observation?.prior;
-  if (!prior || snapshot.npm?.latestVersion === identity.version || snapshot.github?.latest === true
-    || snapshot.npm?.latestVersion !== prior.npmLatest || snapshot.github?.latestTag !== prior.githubLatest) {
+  // "Both defaults still at the captured prior generation" is a question about the npm `latest`
+  // dist-tag and GitHub's releases/latest POINTER. A published-but-not-promoted candidate is the
+  // newest CODE release, so the old `latest === true` / `latestTag !== prior` reads refused to abort
+  // exactly the transaction that most needs aborting: one wedged after publish, before promotion.
+  if (!prior || snapshot.npm?.latestVersion === identity.version || githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)
+    || snapshot.npm?.latestVersion !== prior.npmLatest || githubPointerTag(snapshot) !== prior.githubLatest) {
     throw new Error('release abort cannot prove both defaults at captured prior generation');
   }
   const receipt = stateReceipt({
@@ -550,7 +579,7 @@ export async function finalizeReleaseTransaction({
   }
   const snapshot = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity, discovered.matchingDrafts?.[0], { forceAssets: true });
   if (snapshot.readError || !npmLatestIsB(snapshot, identity) || !npmCandidateExact(snapshot, identity)
-    || !githubIsB(snapshot, identity) || snapshot.github?.published !== true || snapshot.github?.latest !== true
+    || !githubIsB(snapshot, identity) || snapshot.github?.published !== true || !githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)
     || snapshot.github?.assetsExact !== true) throw new Error('public channels drifted before install verification');
   const materialized = await adapter.materializePublicVerificationAggregate({ identity, aggregate });
   const aggregateAssetSha256 = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(canonicalJson(aggregate)).digest('hex');
@@ -642,7 +671,7 @@ export async function abandonPublicVerificationTransaction({ identity, expected,
   }
   const snapshot = await adapter.observeSnapshot(identity, discovered.matchingDrafts?.[0], { forceAssets: true });
   if (snapshot.readError || !npmLatestIsB(snapshot, identity) || !npmCandidateExact(snapshot, identity)
-    || !githubIsB(snapshot, identity) || snapshot.github?.published !== true || snapshot.github?.latest !== true
+    || !githubIsB(snapshot, identity) || snapshot.github?.published !== true || !githubPointerIsB(snapshot, identity)
     || snapshot.github?.assetsExact !== true
     || canonicalJson(snapshot.npm) !== canonicalJson(current.observation.npm)
     || canonicalJson(snapshot.github) !== canonicalJson(current.observation.github)) {