# Phase 166.1: Contentful Source Registration Default - Discussion Log

> **Audit trail only.** Do not use as input to planning, research, or execution
> agents. Decisions are captured in `166.1-CONTEXT.md`.

**Date:** 2026-04-13
**Phase:** 166.1-contentful-source-registration-default
**Mode:** auto (`gsd-discuss-phase 166.1 --auto`)
**Areas discussed:** Default registration behavior, CLI compatibility and
forwarding, Docs and operator expectations, Verification boundary

---

## Default registration behavior

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Contentful-by-default | Direct arXiv registration attempts source download/extraction by default; lightweight registration becomes explicit opt-out. | ✓ |
| Keep metadata-only default | Preserve current default and rely on docs to teach `--download-source`. | |
| Split defaults by caller | Direct registration becomes contentful by default, but discovery bridge stays metadata-first. | |

**User's choice:** Auto-selected recommended default: contentful-by-default.
**Notes:** This is the actual goal of backlog `999.71`, and anything else would
leave the handoff path immediately dropping users into the old lightweight mode.

---

## CLI compatibility and forwarding

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Keep `--download-source`, add `--metadata-only`, update discovery bridge too | Preserve compatibility while moving both direct and discovery-driven registration to the same new default. | ✓ |
| Remove `--download-source` entirely | Clean CLI, but abrupt break for existing docs and callers. | |
| Change direct registration only | Leaves `discover_and_register.py` semantically behind the new Phase `166` handoff. | |

**User's choice:** Auto-selected recommended default: preserve compatibility and
update both direct registration and discovery forwarding.
**Notes:** The primary operator lane from Phase `166` is discovery-first, so the
bridge must inherit the same new default semantics.

---

## Docs and operator expectations

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Update docs to make contentful registration the normal path | Remove `--download-source` from standard examples and document `--metadata-only` as explicit opt-out. | ✓ |
| Keep old examples, mention new default in prose only | Lower edit cost but creates operator confusion. | |
| Delay doc changes until after proof lane | Risks docs drifting from shipped CLI semantics. | |

**User's choice:** Auto-selected recommended default: update docs immediately.
**Notes:** The operator should be able to follow the handoff and docs without
reconstructing hidden default behavior.

---

## Verification boundary

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Unit/CLI regression plus one fresh-topic proof lane | Cover default semantics mechanically and close `REQ-VERIFY-01` with one bounded real-repo proof of `bootstrap -> handoff -> registration`. | ✓ |
| Unit-only | Leaves the milestone verification requirement open. | |
| Proof-only | Too weak to protect the changed default and compatibility flags. | |

**User's choice:** Auto-selected recommended default: regression coverage plus
one fresh-topic proof lane.
**Notes:** This keeps the phase honest and closes the remaining milestone proof
requirement instead of only changing parser defaults.

---

## the agent's Discretion

- exact parser mechanics between `--download-source` and `--metadata-only`
- final compatibility wording in CLI help/docs
- exact proof artifact names and where the fresh-topic registration evidence is
  archived

## Deferred Ideas

- non-arXiv contentful provider defaults
- queue-level auto-registration
- deeper download/retry subsystem redesign
