# Post-Release Assessment — Cycle #339

**Date:** 2026-05-10
**Cycle:** #339 (merge commit `544a0843`, docs-only §2.5b disconnect)
**Mode:** docs-only
**Assessed by:** γ

---

## §1. Coherence Measurement

- **Baseline:** #335 (docs) — α B+, β B+, γ B (agent timeout required operator override; 2 review rounds)
- **This cycle:** #339 (docs) — α A-, β A-, γ A-
- **Delta:** All three axes improved over the #335 baseline. No agent timeout, no operator override, no RC required. The recursive coherence check — gate introduced in this cycle passes against this cycle's own close-out triple — is the primary coherence delta.
- **Coherence contract closed?** Yes. Both `cdd-*-gap` findings from cycle #335 are closed with `patch-landed` dispositions. The closure gate now has mechanical enforcement (script + rubric override clause) for the first time.

---

## §2. Encoding Lag

| Issue | Title | Type | Design | Impl | Lag |
|-------|-------|------|--------|------|-----|
| — | `operator/SKILL.md §3.4` pre-merge gate row | process | converged (this cycle, explicit out-of-scope) | not started | low |
| — | CI workflow integration for pre-merge gate | process | converged (deferred per issue §Non-goals) | not started | growing |

**MCI/MCA balance:** Balanced. No design issues at growing or stale lag beyond the two items listed, both process-level. The operator/SKILL.md §3.4 update is immediately actionable as a small-change. CI workflow integration is a concrete but lower-priority follow-on.

**Rationale:** Docs-only cycle; no feature design debt accrued. No freeze required.

---

## §3. Process Learning

**What went wrong:** The issue declared `eng/writing/SKILL.md` as a Tier 3 skill at path `src/packages/cnos.eng/skills/eng/writing/SKILL.md`, which does not exist in the repo. α discovered this at dispatch time, disclosed it in the friction log, and authored the §3.8 prose against existing §3.8 style with no content constraint missed. The issue-quality gap (Tier 3 skill path validation at dispatch time) is noted.

**What went right:**
- The recursive coherence requirement was made explicit in the issue (AC4 oracle instruction, including the exact gate command to run), ensuring β documented the bootstrapping gap rather than treating it as a default pass.
- Both deliverables were complete and verifiable before β review — no ambiguity pushed onto β.
- The bootstrapping gap (O1) was anticipated in the issue design; β's precise documentation of it (exit output quoted, classification logic explained) is the correct response to a known structural boundary.
- R1 APPROVED with no RC — docs cycle hit the ≤1 round target exactly.

**Skill patches:** None needed this cycle. Both cycle-level patches (script + §3.8 amendment) were authored by α. No skill file gaps identified requiring immediate §13a action.

**Active skill re-evaluation:**
- O1 (bootstrapping gap, B-judgment): Not preventable by any loaded skill — inherent design constraint of the gate. No skill gap.
- O2 (operator/SKILL.md §3.4, B-judgment): The skill gap (no pre-merge gate row in the δ checklist) is real and captured as next-MCA. The issue explicitly deferred this. No patch needed now.
- O3 (eng/writing/SKILL.md not found, A-mechanical): This is an issue-quality gap: the issue declared a non-existent Tier 3 skill. `issue/SKILL.md` §2.4 could include a Tier 3 path-existence check, but this is a single occurrence and the miss had no content consequence. Not patching the issue skill now; the check is advisory. One occurrence does not meet the "recurring failure mode" threshold for a mandatory §13a patch.

**CDD improvement disposition:** No patch needed this cycle. O3's root cause (stale Tier 3 skill path) does not yet meet the recurring-failure threshold. O2 (operator/SKILL.md §3.4) is captured as next-MCA. Both are explicitly dispositioned; silence is not being used as a disposition.

---

## §4. Review Quality

**Cycles this release:** 1
**Avg review rounds:** 1.0 (target: ≤1 docs) ✅
**Superseded cycles:** 0

**Per-cycle round counts:**

| Cycle | Issue | Mode | Rounds | Binding findings (R1) | Notes |
|-------|-------|------|--------|----------------------|-------|
| #339 | Mechanical pre-merge closure-gate + §3.8 amendment | docs-only | 1 | 0 (all observations, no blockers) | R1 APPROVED; O1/O2 B-level, O3 A-level; no RC |

**Finding-class breakdown:**

| Class | Definition | Count |
|---|---|---|
| **mechanical** | Caught by grep/diff/script | 1 (O3: Tier 3 skill path not found in repo) |
| **wiring** | "X is wired into Y" but isn't | 0 |
| **honest-claim** | Doc claims something code/data doesn't back | 0 |
| **judgment** | Design/coherence assessment | 2 (O1: bootstrapping gap; O2: operator/SKILL.md §3.4 debt) |
| **contract** | Work contract incoherent | 0 |

**Mechanical ratio:** 1/3 = 33% (total findings = 3, below the ≥10 threshold → no process issue required; ratio noted)
**Honest-claim ratio:** 0%
**Action:** None. Total finding count below §9.1 threshold.

---

## §4a. CDD Self-Coherence

- **CDD α:** 4/4 — All required artifacts present (self-coherence.md, alpha-closeout.md, cdd-iteration.md). CDD Trace through step 7a. Both ACs verifiable before β review. Positive and negative fixtures documented. Debt disclosed explicitly in §Debt and friction log.
- **CDD β:** 4/4 — All review phase surfaces covered. Gate run in throwaway merge worktree (worktree built, gate invoked, output quoted, worktree removed). Bootstrapping gap surfaced and documented precisely. No false-positive findings. R1 APPROVED with clear per-AC evidence tables.
- **CDD γ:** 3/4 — Issue spec high-quality (AC4 oracle made recursive requirement explicit; 5 numbered ACs; active design constraints stated precisely; non-goals enumerated). One issue-quality gap: Tier 3 skill path declared that doesn't exist in repo.
- **Weakest axis:** γ (issue-quality: Tier 3 skill path declaration gap)
- **Action:** None. Single occurrence; no mandatory spec patch warranted.

---

## §4b. Cycle Iteration

**No §9.1 trigger fired.**

- Review rounds = 1 → no review-churn trigger (target ≤1 docs)
- Mechanical findings = 1 of 3 total, total < 10 → no mechanical-overload trigger
- No avoidable tooling/environmental failure blocked the cycle
- No loaded skill failed to prevent a finding (O3 is an issue-quality/environmental gap, not a loaded-skill-miss)

**Independent γ process-gap check:** The gate bootstrapping gap (O1) is the most structurally interesting observation from this cycle. It is not a §9.1 trigger but reveals a self-referential design constraint: the first-activation cycle cannot be classified as triadic by the gate it introduces, because the gate's own review artifact is written as part of the activation cycle. The current resolution (vacuous pass) is correct and is now documented. No process patch available or needed; the boundary condition is explicit.

---

## §5. Production Verification

**Scenario:** Verify that `scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` correctly blocks merge when `gamma-closeout.md` is absent, and passes when all three close-outs are present.

**Before this release:** No pre-merge closure gate existed. Any cycle branch could be merged without close-out artifacts.

**After this release:** `scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` blocks merge when any required close-out is absent; exit 1 with diagnostic naming cycle number and filename.

**How to verify:**
1. With all artifacts present in `.cdd/unreleased/339/` (after writing `gamma-closeout.md`): `bash scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` → expect exit 0, `✅ Pre-merge closure gate passed`.
2. Negative fixture: temporarily rename/remove `gamma-closeout.md` → expect exit 1, `❌ cycle 339: missing gamma-closeout.md — required before merge (CDD.md §5.3b, gamma/SKILL.md §2.10)`.

**Result:** PASS — γ verified gate passes after writing this file (exit 0, output recorded in task step 6). β also verified positive and negative fixtures before merge (beta-review.md §Recursive Gate, including quoted exit codes and output).

---

## §6. CDD Closeout

| Step | Artifact | Skills loaded | Decision |
|------|----------|--------------|----------|
| 11 Observe | `.cdd/unreleased/339/{self-coherence,alpha-closeout,beta-review,beta-closeout,cdd-iteration}.md` | post-release/SKILL.md, gamma/SKILL.md | Cycle shipped mechanical gate (AC1) + rubric amendment (AC2); 1 review round; bootstrapping gap documented; no agent timeout |
| 12 Assess | `docs/gamma/cdd/docs/2026-05-10/POST-RELEASE-ASSESSMENT.md` | post-release/SKILL.md | Assessment complete; α A-, β A-, γ A-; C_Σ A- |
| 13 Close | operator/SKILL.md §3.4 → next-MCA; `cycle/339` branch cleanup → operator | post-release/SKILL.md | Cycle closed; F2 + F7 patches landed by α; deferred outputs committed |

### §6a. Invariants Check

No architectural invariants document is touched by this cycle. The cycle is docs-only; the script extension and §3.8 amendment do not affect runtime behavior or package contracts.

---

## §7. Next Move

**Next MCA:** `operator/SKILL.md §3.4` integration — add a row specifying `scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` as a required δ step before authorizing merge. No issue filed yet; small-change candidate for the next CDD cycle.

**Owner:** γ / δ

**Branch:** pending (small-change path; may not require a full cycle branch)

**First AC:** `operator/SKILL.md §3.4` contains a row explicitly requiring `scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` as part of the δ pre-merge checklist, with citation to `CDD.md §5.3b` and `gamma/SKILL.md §2.10`.

**MCI frozen until shipped?** No — the gate is already callable and enforces the constraint; the operator/SKILL.md §3.4 update is documentation, not a blocking dependency on any other work.

**Rationale:** The pre-merge gate exists and is callable today. The operator/SKILL.md §3.4 update closes the text gap between the tool's existence and its role-mandated invocation. CI workflow integration (`.github/workflows/validate-pre-merge-closure.yml`) is a separate future cycle.

**Closure evidence (CDD §10):**
- Immediate outputs executed: yes
  - F2 patch: `scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge` — commit `ed982f6b`
  - F7 patch: `release/SKILL.md §3.8` amendment — commit `0b56ff86`
- Deferred outputs committed: yes
  - `operator/SKILL.md §3.4` update: next-MCA, γ/δ owner, first AC stated above; no MCI freeze
  - `cycle/339` branch cleanup: requires operator gate

**Immediate fixes executed in this session:**
- `.cdd/unreleased/339/gamma-closeout.md` written
- `docs/gamma/cdd/docs/2026-05-10/POST-RELEASE-ASSESSMENT.md` written (this file)
- `CHANGELOG.md` updated with #339 row
- `.cdd/unreleased/339/` moved to `.cdd/releases/docs/2026-05-10/339/`

---

## §8. Hub Memory

Hub memory is operator-owned. No hub repo is accessible in this γ session.

**Next-session checklist for hub memory:**
- **Daily reflection:** Cycle #339 closed (docs-only, A-/A-/A-). Mechanical pre-merge closure-gate now live (`scripts/validate-release-gate.sh --mode pre-merge`). §3.8 rubric amended with closure-gate-failure override and `<C`/`C−` normalization. Gate bootstrapping gap documented (inherent first-activation limitation). Next MCA: `operator/SKILL.md §3.4` integration (small-change).
- **Adhoc thread (CDD self-improvement arc):** F2 + F7 from cycle #335 closed with patch-landed dispositions in cycle #339. Gate bootstrapping gap named and dispositioned (no-patch, inherent). CI integration remains open (growing lag). The recursive coherence proof — gate passes against the cycle that introduced it — is the primary result.
