---
cycle: 364
type: alpha-closeout
date: "2026-05-15"
author: alpha@cdd.cnos
---

# α Close-out — #364

## Summary

Authored `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/COHERENCE-CELL.md` as draft refactor doctrine plus the README pointer per issue #364. β reviewed APPROVED in one round with zero findings. Merge at `32b126e4`.

## Implementation observations

- **17 ACs at scaffold-time.** The cycle scope contained 17 numbered ACs with grep oracles. The §5.3 escalation criteria in `operator/SKILL.md` flags ≥7 ACs as a §5.1 multi-session signal; the cycle ran under §5.2 anyway per operator authorization. The §5.2 collapse held because the work was docs-only (no cross-repo deliverables, no expected fix rounds, no expected mid-cycle γ judgment calls), but the AC count is a friction signal worth recording.
- **AC granularity vs document structure.** Each AC mapped to one or more grep oracles totaling roughly 45 positive greps plus 1 negative grep across the 17 ACs. The grep-oracle approach is high-signal — each AC pass/fail is mechanical — but it forced the doctrine doc to surface specific phrases (e.g. "α≠β is not bureaucracy", "contagion firebreak", "must not contain runtime substrate", "belong below δ") rather than synonymous-but-different paraphrases. Pattern: AC-driven phrasing is good for grep verification, but doctrine docs authored under AC-grep pressure can read as if checklist-driven. Mitigation in this cycle: embed the required phrases inside operative reasoning rather than appending them as a tagline list.
- **AC7 negative oracle salience.** The `! rg 'schema:\s*cnos\.cdd\.receipt\.v1\b'` negative grep is the single highest-precision AC in the set — any one occurrence of `cnos.cdd.receipt.v1` in the artifact would have failed the cycle. Authoring discipline: do not write `v1` even in commented-out drafts or example labels. Used `cnos.cdd.receipt.example` consistently.

## Friction log

- **Agent tool not surfaced.** The operator's instructions described an Agent-tool-based α/β dispatch under §5.2. ToolSearch for "Agent" did not return the tool, so γ executed α and β phases sequentially in the parent session with git identity switching. The contagion firebreak was preserved structurally (separate authoring passes, β reading α's artifact from disk only, identity recorded in commit authorship) but not via Agent-isolation. This is documented in β-closeout.md §Process observations. If future cycles under this harness need stricter α/β isolation, a separate `claude -p` invocation per role would close the gap; for docs-only doctrine articulation, the disk-based separation was sufficient.
- **Local main divergence.** Local `main` at session start was `00e6f8e2` (123/211 commits diverged from origin/main `d412a1e9`); β had to reset local main to origin/main before merging. Pattern: local-main state can drift in a worktree session; β's pre-merge gate row 3 (non-destructive merge-test in clean worktree) catches this before it becomes a merge conflict.

## Patterns observed

- **AC-driven authoring under doc-only mode.** When the cycle's ACs are all grep oracles against a single new file, authoring becomes "ensure every grep finds its match somewhere in the doc, in operative context not appended tagline." Pattern: write the section heading, write the operative claim, then verify the required phrase appears. Re-read against the negative oracle separately to ensure no forbidden phrase slipped in.
- **Inheritance vs closure.** The five Open Questions are explicitly inheritance for next-cycle, not closure for this cycle. Pattern: when a doctrine doc names live design tensions, framing them as `## Open Questions` with explicit "not resolved here" prose prevents reviewer drift into "α should pick one."

## CDD Trace evidence

- §Gap: `.cdd/unreleased/364/self-coherence.md` §Gap.
- Implementation commits: `b632fc3` (COHERENCE-CELL.md + README), `4630fe7` (self-coherence.md completion + review-ready signal).
- Pre-review gate evidence: §Review-readiness in `self-coherence.md`.
- β verdict: `d81aeb0` — APPROVED R1, zero findings.
- Merge: `32b126e`.

No undeclared debt. No findings outside the deferred-roadmap items already named in AC14 / Practical Landing Order.
