# Post-Release Assessment — Cycle #344 Cycle A

**Date:** 2026-05-12
**Cycle:** #344 Cycle A (merge commit `73019108`, docs-only §2.5b disconnect)
**Mode:** docs-only
**Assessed by:** γ
**Dispatch configuration:** §5.2 — single-session δ-as-γ via Agent tool

---

## §1. Coherence Measurement

- **Baseline:** #345 (docs) — α A, β A, γ A
- **This cycle:** #344 Cycle A (docs) — α A-, β A, γ A-
- **Delta:** α and γ each drop one notch from A to A-. β holds at A. α regressed: 2 rounds and 3 review findings on a docs cycle (target ≤1 round, target ~0 findings). γ regressed: §5.2 dispatch imposes an A- ceiling and the 2-round outcome confirms the tick downward. β holds: zero false positives, all findings correctly classified and verified at R2.
- **Coherence contract closed?** Yes for Cycle A. The gap — cdd had no canonical "how to turn cdd on in a new repo" entry point — is resolved. `activation/SKILL.md §1–§24` (623 lines) is the single authoritative bootstrap sequence for new tenants. cnos self-activated: 7 marker files present, §24 verification 9/9 OK. Cycles B (reference notifier impl) and C (tsc adoption) are pending on issue #344; contract for Cycle A specifically is closed.

---

## §2. Encoding Lag

| Issue | Title | Type | Design | Impl | Lag |
|-------|-------|------|--------|------|-----|
| #344 Cycle B | Reference notifier implementation (Telegram adapter, GitHub Actions templates) | feature | converged in #344 issue body §Cycle B | not started | growing |
| #344 Cycle C | tsc adoption (run activation/SKILL.md against usurobor/tsc) | feature | converged in #344 issue body §Cycle C | not started | growing |
| — | epsilon/SKILL.md §1 harmonization (§Debt item 1) | process | converged (activation §22 authoritative, OQ #35) | not started | growing |
| — | operator/SKILL.md §3.4 pre-merge gate row | process | converged (#339/#343 carried) | not started | growing |

**MCI/MCA balance:** Balanced. Four open lag items: two are the next Cycle B/C cycles on the same meta-issue (#344); two are small process-level items carried from prior cycles. No design frenzy relative to implementation. No MCI freeze required — the lag items are concrete and sequenced.

**Rationale:** Cycle A of a 3-cycle meta-issue. Cycles B and C are next. The epsilon harmonization and operator §3.4 items are small-change targets that do not require MCI freeze.

---

## §3. Process Learning

**What went wrong:** Three findings in a docs cycle (target ≤1 round):

1. **F1 (D) — Insertion-site paragraph audit gap.** The pointer inserted into post-release/SKILL.md §5.6b was correct, but the paragraph it landed in was not re-read for internal consistency after insertion. "Empty cycles produce no file" remained in the same scope as the new pointer to activation §22 ("every cycle writes cdd-iteration.md"). α/SKILL.md §2.3 prescribes grep-every-occurrence discipline; applying it to the surrounding paragraph would have caught this.

2. **F2 (B) — Stale measurement in template text.** activation/SKILL.md §14 template quoted `wc -l activation/SKILL.md → 847` from an early draft. The actual file at review was 623 lines. Template text bearing live measurements is a peer of the measured artifact at pre-review time and must be refreshed. α/SKILL.md §2.3 covers intra-doc repetition drift; measurement-bearing template text is a specific application. Second occurrence of this class in cnos history (#266 was first).

3. **F3 (A) — Checklist step lacking governing section ref.** §23 step 18 ("Populate `.cdd/iterations/INDEX.md`") lacked a section anchor. α pre-declared this as §Debt item 3; β assessed it as a finding because §23's introduction establishes a uniform pattern that step 18 broke. Judgment boundary within normal review-loop variation.

**What went right:**

- 37 open questions all decided by α before β review, each with recorded rationale. This eliminated ambiguity-driven RC rounds.
- Fix round clean and fast: all 3 findings resolved in one commit batch (ca34cd1b, 54b1d3a2, plus ebd2e63f bonus fix).
- OQ #35 decision (every-cycle cdd-iteration.md) was well-reasoned with explicit deviation documentation. Post-release/SKILL.md §5.6b corrected in the same cycle that created the conflict.
- §24 verification (9/9 OK) ran against cnos self-activation in the same cycle that authored the verification prescription — docs-only self-activation worked without friction.

**Skill patches:** None this cycle. Both F1 and F2 are application gaps of existing α/SKILL.md §2.3 rules. The rules are adequate; α did not apply them to (a) the insertion-site paragraph post-insertion and (b) measurement-bearing template text at pre-review. F3 is within normal review-loop variation.

**Active skill re-evaluation:**

- F1 (insertion-site paragraph audit): α/SKILL.md §2.3 says "grep every occurrence." This covers the pattern when applied to the surrounding paragraph, not just the inserted text. Application gap — rule is adequate.
- F2 (stale measurement): α/SKILL.md §2.3 intra-doc repetition rule covers quoted measurements. Application gap — rule is adequate. Second occurrence; monitoring begins; mandatory clarification if a third occurrence surfaces in a distinct artifact surface.
- F3 (step-section reference): α/SKILL.md §2.3 covers "every claim backed by evidence." The §23 introduction creates an implicit peer claim for all steps. Application gap — α acknowledged it as debt; β correctly elevated it.

**CDD improvement disposition:** No patch needed this cycle. All three findings are application gaps with adequate existing spec. The epsilon/SKILL.md §1 conflict is the one genuine skill-gap finding (cdd-skill-gap) and is filed as MCI below.

---

## §4. Review Quality

**Cycles this release:** 1
**Avg review rounds:** 2.0 (target: ≤1 docs) — one round over target
**Superseded cycles:** 0

**Per-cycle round counts:**

| Cycle | Issue | Mode | Rounds | Binding findings (R1) | Notes |
|-------|-------|------|--------|----------------------|-------|
| #344 Cycle A | `cdd/activation/SKILL.md §1–§24` | docs-only | 2 | 3 (F1 D, F2 B, F3 A) | R2 APPROVED; all resolved; no new findings |

**Per-cycle dispatch telemetry:** Not recorded (§5.2 Agent-tool dispatch; wall-clock and commit-count not instrumented for this session type).

**Finding-class breakdown:**

| Class | Definition | Count |
|---|---|---|
| **mechanical** | Caught by grep/diff/script | 0 |
| **wiring** | "X is wired into Y" but isn't | 0 |
| **honest-claim** | Doc claims something code/data doesn't back | 2 (F1, F2) |
| **judgment** | Design/coherence assessment | 1 (F3) |
| **contract** | Work contract incoherent | 0 |

**Mechanical ratio:** 0% (0 mechanical of 3 total; threshold not applicable — below 10 findings)
**Honest-claim ratio:** 67% (2 of 3 findings; above 30% threshold — but total findings = 3, well below 10; ratio is noise at this count)
**Action:** None. Both honest-claim findings are application gaps of α/SKILL.md §2.3; ratio at 3 findings is not signal.

---

## §4a. CDD Self-Coherence

- **CDD α:** 3/4 — Required artifacts present (self-coherence.md, alpha-closeout.md). CDD Trace through step 7. 37 OQ decisions recorded. Pre-review gate 14 rows all checked. Peer enumeration complete. Deduction: 2 honest-claim findings in a docs cycle exceed the target; F3 was pre-declared as debt but correctly elevated by β. Strong self-awareness in friction log and close-out — the patterns were named and explained. Deducting 1 point for two-round docs-only execution.
- **CDD β:** 4/4 — Contract integrity table complete (10 rows). AC coverage comprehensive (6 ACs verified with oracle commands). All finding classifications correct (D/B/A severity). R2 narrowed to affected surfaces only. Pre-merge gate 3 rows explicit with SHAs. Zero false positives. Strong review quality.
- **CDD γ:** 3/4 — §5.2 dispatch imposes A- ceiling (γ/δ collapse). Issue pack was well-specified (37 OQ with recommendations, 6 ACs with oracles). Dispatch prompt complete. No mid-cycle unblocking needed. Close-out triage complete with explicit dispositions. Deduction for §5.2 γ/δ collapse and 2-round outcome on docs target.
- **Weakest axis:** α (tied with γ at 3/4; α slightly weaker because the finding patterns were preventable by existing skill application).
- **Action:** Monitor F2 class (stale measurement drift) — second occurrence in cnos history. Third occurrence triggers mandatory α/SKILL.md §2.3 clarification for measurement-bearing template text.

---

## §4b. Cycle Iteration

**No §9.1 trigger fired.**

- Review rounds = 2 → no review-churn trigger (trigger fires at > 2; 2 rounds is the code-cycle target, not the docs-cycle target of ≤1, but §9.1 threshold is > 2) ✅
- Mechanical findings = 0 of 3 total → no mechanical-overload trigger (below 10 findings threshold) ✅
- No avoidable tooling/environment failure blocked the cycle ✅
- No loaded skill missed: F1 and F2 are application gaps of existing α/SKILL.md §2.3; F3 is a judgment boundary call ✅

**Independent γ process-gap check:** The 2-round outcome on a docs-only cycle reveals that even a well-structured issue pack (37 OQ with recommendations, 6 ACs with oracles) does not fully prevent intra-doc drift if α's pre-review gate does not explicitly re-read insertion-site paragraphs and re-verify measurement-bearing template text. The rules exist in α/SKILL.md §2.3; the application discipline must be exercised at pre-review time. No gate needs patching — the existing pre-review gate row 7 (peer enumeration) covers this if applied consistently. The F2 stale-measurement class is now at 2 occurrences; monitoring flag set. No patch warranted from 2-cycle data.

---

## §5. Production Verification

**Scenario:** Verify that any repo can now follow `activation/SKILL.md §23` to bootstrap cdd, and that cnos itself passes its own §24 check.

**Before this release:** No canonical bootstrap sequence existed. Tenants improvised: re-derived the `.cdd/` scaffold, version pin, labels, identity, CI, notifications, and secrets prescription from memory or prior cycles.

**After this release:** `activation/SKILL.md §23` provides a 20-step numbered checklist (steps 1–20, each ≤2 sentences with a Verify: line, no forward dependencies). `activation/SKILL.md §24` provides a single canonical verification command confirming activation.

**How to verify (cnos self-activation):**
1. `ls .cdd/CDD-VERSION .cdd/DISPATCH .cdd/CADENCE .cdd/OPERATORS .cdd/MCAs/INDEX.md .cdd/skills/README.md .cdd/iterations/cross-repo/README.md` → all 7 files present ✅
2. `wc -l src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/activation/SKILL.md` → 623 (within 600–1100) ✅
3. `rg '^## §' src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/activation/SKILL.md | wc -l` → 24 ✅
4. `rg 'activation/SKILL.md' src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/ | grep -v 'activation/SKILL.md:' | wc -l` → ≥3 (CDD.md, operator/SKILL.md, post-release/SKILL.md) ✅
5. `grep 'activation/SKILL.md' src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/CDD.md` → hit ✅

**Result:** PASS — β verified 9/9 §24 checks at R2 review. All marker files present. All cross-references resolve. Line count and section count match.

---

## §6. CDD Closeout

| Step | Artifact | Skills loaded | Decision |
|------|----------|--------------|----------|
| 11 Observe | `.cdd/unreleased/344/{self-coherence,alpha-closeout,beta-review,beta-closeout}.md` | post-release/SKILL.md, gamma/SKILL.md | Cycle A shipped activation/SKILL.md §1–§24 (623L); cnos self-activated; 2 review rounds, 3 findings all resolved |
| 12 Assess | `docs/gamma/cdd/docs/2026-05-12/344/POST-RELEASE-ASSESSMENT.md` | post-release/SKILL.md | Assessment complete; α A-, β A, γ A-, C_Σ A- |
| 13 Close | epsilon/SKILL.md §1 harmonization → next-MCA; operator §3.4 row → carried; cycle/344 branch cleanup | post-release/SKILL.md | Cycle A closed; deferred outputs committed; no immediate fixes executed this session |

### §6a. Invariants Check

No architectural invariants document is touched by this cycle. Docs-only; no runtime behavior, package contracts, or engineering-level code surfaces affected.

---

## §7. Next Move

**Next MCA:** epsilon/SKILL.md §1 harmonization — patch epsilon/SKILL.md §1 to state "every cycle writes cdd-iteration.md; an empty findings list is itself signal," consistent with activation/SKILL.md §22 (established in this cycle as authoritative) and post-release/SKILL.md §5.6b (corrected in this cycle).

**Owner:** γ

**Branch:** pending (small-change path)

**First AC:** epsilon/SKILL.md §1 states "every cycle writes cdd-iteration.md; an empty findings list is itself signal" — matching activation §22 verbatim.

**MCI frozen until shipped?** No — other work can proceed. The epsilon harmonization is a single-sentence correction on a small-change path.

**Rationale:** The epsilon/SKILL.md §1 conflict is the highest-priority follow-on from this cycle. It is a declared §Debt item (self-coherence §Debt item 1), confirmed as cdd-skill-gap in cdd-iteration.md. Until patched, two active skill surfaces give contradictory cadence instructions.

**Closure evidence (CDD §10):**
- Immediate outputs executed: none warranted (no §9.1 triggers; no immediately-clear skill patches; application gaps noted, not skill gaps)
- Deferred outputs committed: epsilon/SKILL.md §1 harmonization → next-MCA, γ owner, first AC stated above; operator/SKILL.md §3.4 pre-merge gate row → small-change, γ/δ owner, carried from #339/#343; Cycles B and C → tracked on issue #344

**Immediate fixes executed in this session:**
- `.cdd/unreleased/344/gamma-closeout.md` written
- `.cdd/unreleased/344/cdd-iteration.md` written
- `docs/gamma/cdd/docs/2026-05-12/344/POST-RELEASE-ASSESSMENT.md` written (this file)
- `.cdd/unreleased/344/` moved to `.cdd/releases/docs/2026-05-12/344/`
- `CHANGELOG.md` updated with #344 Cycle A row
- `.cdd/iterations/INDEX.md` updated with #344 row

---

## §8. Hub Memory

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

**Next-session checklist for hub memory:**
- **Daily reflection:** Cycle #344 Cycle A closed (docs-only, A-/A/A-). `activation/SKILL.md §1–§24` (623L) is now the canonical bootstrap sequence for any repo adopting cdd. cnos self-activated: 7 marker files present, §24 9/9 OK. Issue #344 remains open — Cycles B and C pending. epsilon/SKILL.md §1 conflict filed as MCI (epsilon harmonization). operator/SKILL.md §3.4 pre-merge gate row still outstanding (3rd carry). Next: epsilon §1 patch (small-change, highest priority from this cycle).
- **Adhoc thread (CDD self-improvement arc):** activation/SKILL.md shipped. epsilon/SKILL.md §1 harmonization is next (cdd-skill-gap, cdd-iteration.md F1). operator/SKILL.md §3.4 pre-merge gate row is third carry — should be scheduled before the next substantial cycle. F2 stale-measurement class at 2 occurrences — monitoring flag active.
- **Adhoc thread (CDD activation arc):** Cycle A of the activation meta-issue (#344) is complete. Cycle B (reference notifier impl: Telegram adapter, GitHub Actions templates) and Cycle C (tsc adoption) are pending. Cycle B design is converged in issue #344 body. Cycle C depends on B.
