<!-- sections: [cycle-summary, findings, friction-log, observations, cycle-level-reading] -->
<!-- completed: [cycle-summary, findings, friction-log, observations, cycle-level-reading] -->

# α close-out — cycle/402

## Cycle summary

Phase 7 (terminal) of cnos#366 (executable-protocol roadmap). Rewrote `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/CDD.md` from 1344 lines to 159 lines (11.8% of pre-cycle), with the CCNF recursion equation from `COHERENCE-CELL-NORMAL-FORM.md` as the verbatim structural spine. Software-lifecycle realization content from pre-cycle §§3–10 quarantined into §"Software-specific realization — pending cds extraction" with tracker [cnos#403](https://github.com/usurobor/cnos/issues/403) filed for the cds bootstrap.

## Findings

**F1 — Anchor-granularity collapse for legacy cross-references (factual observation).**

Pre-cycle, citing skill files used very specific cross-reference anchors into CDD.md (e.g. `§1.4 γ algorithm Phase 1 step 3a`, `§1.6c(a)`, `§9.1 thresholds`). The new compact CDD.md collapses these to family-level pointers (Roles and dispatch / Coordination surfaces / Artifact contract / Assessment / etc.). A reader following the legacy anchor reaches the family that owns the cited content; the operational expansion lives in the named role / runtime-substrate SKILL.md file.

The pattern this matches: a doctrine document rewritten for substrate-independence cannot retain the substrate-specific anchor granularity of the pre-rewrite. The granularity loss is the cost of the compression; the durable fix is the cds extraction (#403), which re-points each anchor at the cds package directly.

**Affected surfaces:** every cdd/ skill file that cites `CDD.md §X` for software-lifecycle content (post-release/, release/, release-effector/, gamma/, alpha/, beta/, operator/, harness/, activation/, review/, plus 2 CI workflow templates).

**F2 — Tracker-issue-as-prerequisite pattern (factual observation).**

The Phase 7 contract required either moving §§3–10 content to cnos.cds or naming the content as "pending cds extraction (tracked at cnos#NN)". The cnos.cds package does not exist at cycle time; the conservative resolution is to file a tracker issue as part of this cycle and cite it inside the quarantine section. This is a recurring pattern when a compression cycle ships ahead of the corresponding extraction cycle.

The pattern this matches: forward-references to package bootstraps that lag the compression cycle. The shape resembles cycle dependencies where the *named* dependency is shippable (the compression) but the *implementing* dependency is not (the bootstrap). The tracker-issue-as-prerequisite pattern keeps the doc surface honest while letting the compression land.

**F3 — Hard-rule precondition verification at cycle intake (factual observation).**

The dispatch pinned particular rigor on AC7 (hard-rule preconditions explicit). At cycle intake α built the cn binary, ran `cn cdd verify --help`, confirmed `--receipt <path>` reaches the V dispatch, and `ls schemas/` confirmed cdd/cds/cdr directories. This intake-time verification took ~30s and surfaced no surprises. The pattern: when a cycle's downstream artifact (CDD.md doctrine) depends on upstream invariants (V works + domain evidence has homes), verifying the invariants synchronously at intake is cheaper than discovering a precondition gap mid-rewrite.

This is a positive pattern, not a finding — but worth naming because Phase 7 is the terminal phase of a roadmap that explicitly designed the precondition verification as the hard rule, and the rigor paid off.

## Friction log

None of note. The compression went cleanly:

- The CCNF source's recursion equation block transferred verbatim (diff returned empty).
- The AC3 oracle (CDS / CDR / c-d-X) initially under-counted on first draft (2 token-lines vs ≥3 required); resolved by tightening the §Domain packages prose to use the bare token CDS / CDR / c-d-X repeatedly (alongside the `cnos.cds` / `cnos.cdr` package names). This is a small narrative-vs-mechanical-oracle gap; the oracle counts tokens, the prose used package names. Easy fix.
- Line budget came in well under target (159 vs ≤ 300). No need to invoke the AC1 fallback strategies (tighten pointer section / compress kernel prose).
- No refusal conditions triggered.

## Observations and patterns

**Observation 1.** The CCNF kernel doctrine (`COHERENCE-CELL-NORMAL-FORM.md`) being landed first (Phase 1.5) was load-bearing for this rewrite. The kernel sections of the new CDD.md cite the canonical source rather than re-deriving it; the rewrite was a sympathetic expansion, not an act of derivation. This is exactly the failure mode the Phase 1.5 split was designed to prevent.

**Observation 2.** The "pointers section" idiom (five groups: Doctrine / Schemas / Roles / Runtime substrate / Realization peers) gives the new CDD.md a stable shape that future c-d-X protocol bindings can extend without restructuring the doctrine. The shape mirrors `COHERENCE-CELL-NORMAL-FORM.md §Two-Layer Separation`'s realization-peers table.

**Observation 3.** The role-collapse (γ+α+β-collapsed-on-δ) for a docs-only terminal-phase cycle works smoothly. The collapsed agent ran the lifecycle in a single session without losing the discrimination between γ scaffold / α design+build / β AC sweep / δ merge+close. The cycle-dir artifact convention (gamma-scaffold.md, design-notes.md, self-coherence.md, beta-review.md, *-closeout.md) carries the role separation forward as a documentary residue even when the underlying agent is one.

## Cycle-level reading

The cycle achieves L7 (system-shaping leverage): the CCNF-spine rewrite changes the system boundary such that future doctrine work on CDD.md no longer needs to disentangle generic kernel from software realization. The disentanglement is the system-shaping change. The friction class "doctrine hides substrate assumptions" gets harder to recur because the kernel doctrine is now substrate-independent by structure (the §"Software-specific realization" quarantine is named and tracked for extraction).

The terminal-phase reading: cnos#366 (the executable-protocol roadmap) closes with this cycle. All seven phases shipped:

| Phase | Issue | Merged at |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — COHERENCE-CELL.md doctrine | #364 | (prior) |
| 1 — RECEIPT-VALIDATION.md | #367 | (prior) |
| 1.5 — COHERENCE-CELL-NORMAL-FORM.md | #370 | (prior) |
| 2 — schemas/cdd/ | #369 | (prior) |
| 2.5 — generic/domain schema split (cdd/cds/cdr) | #388 | (prior) |
| 3 — V implementation in Go | #392 | (prior) |
| 4a — δ extraction | #397 | (prior) |
| 4b — harness substrate | #398 | (prior) |
| 4c — release-effector | #399 | (prior) |
| 5 — γ shrink | #400 | (prior) |
| 6 — ε upscope to ROLES.md §4b | #401 | (prior) |
| **7 — CDD.md compressed to CCNF spine** | **#402** | **this cycle (terminal)** |

The hard rule that gated this terminal phase (*"Do not finalize CDD.md until V works and domain evidence has somewhere else to live"*) is satisfied. The next direction is CCNF-X (formalize orchestration grammar) and/or cnos.cds bootstrap (#403) — both follow-ons, neither blocking.
