# β close-out — cycle/393

**Issue:** cnos#393
**Mode:** design-and-build, γ+α+β-collapsed-on-δ
**Verdict:** APPROVED R1 unconditionally
**Merge:** post-close-out, separate commit on `main` per dispatch step 9

## Review summary

Single review pass. APPROVED unconditionally. All 7 ACs PASS mechanically; cross-skill mesh bidirectional (12 edges, 0 missing); empirical anchors (#389, #391) cited in all 4 patches; cnos#366 Phase 4 body update confirmed by post-update issue read.

The cycle is a textbook "meta-cycle that ships its own rule" — δ pinned the implementation contract in the dispatch (7 axes, all populated), the diff ships exactly the 4 rule-shaped patches that future cycles will follow, and β's Rule 7 (which this cycle adds) self-applies and confirms conformance.

## Implementation assessment

**Diff shape:** 4 SKILL.md additive patches + 4 cycle artifacts (gamma-scaffold, design-notes, self-coherence, beta-review) + 1 GitHub issue body edit (cnos#366) + close-outs.

**Backward compat:** Existing rule numbering preserved (α 3.1–3.5; β Rules 1–6; γ §2.5 Step 3b template existing rows; operator existing §3 and §4 sections). New content is strictly additive.

**Architecture quality:**

- Local self-justification + bibliographic cross-citation — clean separation between *why a rule makes sense* (local, via empirical anchors) and *how a future role finds the related rules* (mesh, via cross-citation). No circular logical dependency.
- Phase 4 forward-compat — Patch D is explicitly framed as a "design-prerequisite anchor" for Phase 4 of cnos#366; the relocation to `delta/SKILL.md` is the Phase 4 cycle's work, not this cycle's overreach.
- Empirical anchors well-grounded — #389 (Python-not-Go) and #391 (wrong package scoping + separate binary) are the canonical failure-mode evidence; cited in every patch.

## Technical review

No technical findings. No name-overpromise findings (Rule 6b). No code-vs-doc drift (Rule 6 — this cycle is doc-only, but the doc references are to other docs the cycle simultaneously writes; the references are stable).

The β-Rule-7-self-apply check is the most interesting technical observation: this cycle is a *self-witness*. It ships Rule 7 ("β verifies implementation-contract conformance before APPROVE") and then β applies Rule 7 to this cycle's own implementation contract; the 7 axes are pinned in the operator dispatch and the diff conforms to each. The rule-shipping-and-rule-witnessing happen in the same review pass.

## Process observations

- **γ-scaffold-first ordering worked cleanly** — `gamma-scaffold.md` was committed first (binding γ-side rule per `gamma/SKILL.md` §2.5 Step 3b), then design-notes, then patches, then self-coherence. The β-side rule 3.11b never fired because the scaffold was always present.
- **The collapsed-on-δ mode kept the cycle short** — γ + α + β identities each commit under their canonical email; the work is git-observable per-role; the mesh is built incrementally with each commit message naming its role.
- **AC oracles authored first, diff authored second** — the AC1–AC4 + AC7 oracles in `gamma-scaffold.md` are mechanically grep-able; the diff was authored to pass them. This is the right ordering for rule-shaped cycles.
- **mcp__github__issue_write reliable for body update** — cnos#366 body update went through cleanly on first attempt; the re-read confirmed the new content landed.

## Release / merge notes

In the collapsed-on-δ mode for this cycle, the actual merge to main happens in lifecycle step 9 (`git checkout main && git merge --no-ff cycle/393 ...`) after β APPROVES. The merge SHA will be recorded in the γ close-out and in `.cdd/iterations/INDEX.md`.

No tag required for this cycle (markdown-only protocol-skill patches; release versioning is δ's surface and is paced by the disconnect-release schedule, not per-cycle).

## Findings for γ PRA

- **F0 — Meta-finding: this cycle shipped F1–F4 from cnos#392's `cdd-iteration.md`.** Cycle #393 IS the patch implementing the four findings forecast by cycle #392. Drop class — the meta-finding is "this cycle closed the protocol gap that motivated #393."
- **F1 (cross-cycle pattern) — 4-surface mesh structure is reusable.** Future cross-role doctrine cycles (Phase 4 itself; Phase 5 γ shrink; Phase 6 ε relocation) will produce similar 4-or-3-surface meshes. The shape ("local justification + bibliographic cross-citation") is worth recording as a γ pattern.
- **F2 (forward-looking) — Phase 4 inherits a clean handoff.** Patch D is intentionally bounded as a design-prerequisite anchor; Phase 4 of cnos#366 inherits the doctrine pinned and the surface named. The Phase 4 cycle author's job is the relocation work + the harness substrate carving, not re-deriving the two-sided framing.

No protocol gaps surfaced during this cycle. No skill misses. No new findings of substance — cycle #393 IS the patch.
