# β review — Cycle 423

**Cycle:** [cnos#423](https://github.com/usurobor/cnos/issues/423) — Build-fix for cnos#416 cross-repo stub missing triggers
**Branch:** `cycle/423`
**Reviewer:** β (collapsed γ+α+β on δ)
**Verdict:** **APPROVE**
**Round:** 1
**Date:** 2026-05-23

## Summary

The α work satisfies all 7 ACs from [cnos#423](https://github.com/usurobor/cnos/issues/423) mechanically and substantively. The cycle is exactly what a P0 build-fix should be: one targeted three-line frontmatter addition to the offending file, no test modifications, no validator modifications, no scope-creep into other protocol surfaces. CI is now green; the v3.82.0 tag is unblocked.

## Mechanical AC verification

See [`self-coherence.md`](self-coherence.md) for the full 7-AC mechanical pass-set with concrete `go test` / grep / `git diff` outputs. β's verification of those checks is by re-execution at review time — re-running the same commands produces the same outputs (full suite green, single-path diff, +3/-0 hunk, no trigger collision, no `src/go/` diff, no other skill edits).

## Implementation-contract verification (Rule 7)

The cycle's implementation contract (from `gamma-scaffold.md`):

| Axis | Pinned value | Diff conforms? |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Markdown frontmatter (YAML) | ✓ Only YAML frontmatter lines added |
| CLI integration target | None | ✓ No CLI / `cmd/cn` changes |
| Package scoping | One file edit + cycle-close artifacts | ✓ Exactly one path under `src/packages/`; rest is `.cdd/unreleased/423/` + INDEX.md |
| Existing-binary disposition | N/A | ✓ |
| Runtime dependencies | None | ✓ |
| JSON/wire contract | YAML triggers list (length 2) | ✓ Two-element list at the canonical key |
| Backward compat | Stub remains a pointer; pointer fields preserved; body verbatim | ✓ All preserved |

**All 7 axes conform to the diff.** No severity-D `implementation-contract` findings.

## Substantive review

### The fix is minimal and correct

The activation validator at `src/go/internal/activation` emits `IssueEmptyTriggers` for any SKILL.md whose frontmatter has no `triggers:` or an empty `triggers:` list. The test `TestValidate_RealCorpus_NoEmptyTriggers` walks the live package corpus into a temp dir and asserts that no `IssueEmptyTriggers` issues surface. Pre-fix, the cnos#416 stub at `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/cross-repo/SKILL.md` triggered this assertion. Post-fix, it doesn't.

The fix changes the stub's frontmatter and only the stub's frontmatter. The pointer narrative in the body — explaining that cross-repo handoff doctrine has moved, listing what's in the canonical, naming the cnos#404 / cnos#416 extraction rationale — is byte-identical. The pointer's role as a backward-compatibility breadcrumb (per the body line "This pointer is preserved for backward compatibility with cross-references that have not yet been re-pointed") is unaffected. The new `triggers:` field is consistent with the stub's content: a loader keyword-searching for `cross-repo-moved` or `handoff-extracted` is plausibly looking for the deprecation notice.

### Trigger choice does not collide with the canonical

The dispatch brief enumerated the canonical's five triggers (`cross-repo`, `proposal intake`, `outbound iteration`, `bilateral iteration`, `feedback patch`) at `cnos.handoff/skills/handoff/cross-repo/SKILL.md` and explicitly forbade collision. The chosen pair (`cross-repo-moved`, `handoff-extracted`) is disjoint from that set. β re-ran the grep against the post-edit stub:

```
$ grep -E "^  - (cross-repo|proposal intake|outbound iteration|bilateral iteration|feedback patch)$" src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/cross-repo/SKILL.md
(no matches; exit 1)
```

The activation index's conflict detector will not produce duplicate-keyword warnings against the pointer.

### No test contract was changed

`src/go/internal/activation/index_test.go` is byte-identical to `origin/main` (`git diff origin/main..HEAD -- src/go/ | wc -l` → 0). The fix is at the data layer (the corpus the test runs over), not the contract layer. This is the correct shape for a P0 build-fix where the test is sound and the data is wrong.

### No scope-creep into broader corpus fixes

The corpus test reports 26 total issues post-fix (visible in the test output as `real-corpus validation: 85 skills copied, 26 issues surfaced`). None are `IssueEmptyTriggers` (the only kind this test treats as failure); the remainder are `IssueConflictingTriggers` / `IssueMissingFrontmatter` / similar that the test logs for visibility but does not assert against. The cycle's hard rule "no other skill edits" holds: those 26 are deferred to a follow-on cycle if any warrant patching, and `cdd-iteration.md` names the broader question (dispatch brief gap → next-MCA disposition) for the operator.

### The cdd-iteration finding is substantive and well-classified

The `cdd-iteration.md` records this as a binding `cdd-skill-gap` finding (loaded-skill miss) — cnos#416's dispatch brief did not load `internal/activation/Validate` requirements as a Tier 3 reference, so the stub-authoring step proceeded without the "every SKILL.md needs non-empty `triggers:`" rule in scope. The root cause is correctly named as dispatch-brief incomplete (not author error). The disposition is `next-MCA` with two coherent remediation paths (patch the dispatch template OR patch Validate to exempt `artifact_class: pointer` skills). The first-AC formulation for the eventual MCA is concrete and falsifiable. β endorses this classification.

## What β did NOT find

- No silent rule changes.
- No CCNF kernel edits.
- No test-contract modifications.
- No validator modifications.
- No other skill edits (corpus stays as-is beyond the one targeted fix).
- No scope-creep into #405 / Track A / Track B work.
- No new packages; no new schemas.
- No tag-push action (correctly left for operator post-merge).

## Verdict rationale

This is a textbook P0 build-fix: minimal blast radius, surgical edit at the right layer, no test-contract regression, no scope-creep, and a substantive iteration finding that names the upstream protocol gap so future stub-authoring dispatches won't repeat the miss. APPROVE Round 1.
