# β review — cycle #400

**Reviewer:** β (collapsed on δ)
**Date:** 2026-05-21
**Issue:** cnos#400
**Branch:** `cycle/400`

## Round 1 — verdict

**APPROVED.** All 7 ACs PASS. The managerial-residue sweep is honest (≥1 DROP entry, β-rigor satisfied). F1/F2 absorption verified mechanically. No broken cross-references.

## AC verification

### AC1 — gamma/SKILL.md significantly shrunk

- Oracle: `wc -l src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/gamma/SKILL.md` ≤ 70% of pre-cycle line count (target: ≤523 lines from 748)
- Result: **499 lines** (pre: 748). Ratio: 66.7%. **PASS.**
- Reduction: 249 lines (33.3%).

### AC2 — γ-keep responsibilities present

- Oracle: `rg "issue quality|artifact coordination|closure|triage|repair.dispatch" gamma/SKILL.md` returns hits in normative sections
- Result: hits include §Core Principle, §2.4 issue-quality gate, §2.7 close-out triage, §2.10 closure gate. All normative position. **PASS.**
- Note: "repair.dispatch" itself does not appear (γ doctrine does not use that exact phrase post-shrink, but the underlying concept — γ requests α re-dispatch for fix-rounds — is in §2.7 row 2 "γ must explicitly request this re-dispatch" and Kata § 3-round autonomous cycle step 3). The five-of-five disjunction is satisfied by the four other hits.

### AC3 — γ-loses content extracted

- Oracle: `rg "polling loop|claude -p|cn dispatch.*invocation|CI polling|wake mechanics|branch preflight" gamma/SKILL.md` returns 0 hits in normative position
- Result:
  - "polling loop" / "wake mechanics" / "branch preflight" / "CI polling" / "claude -p" / "cn dispatch.*invocation" — 0 normative hits
  - Remaining literal-`cn dispatch` mention is in cross-reference position ("δ routes them via `cn dispatch` (the identity-rotation primitive)") — naming the primitive δ uses, not the invocation mechanics. Permitted per AC3.
  - Remaining literal-`claude -p` mention is in Spec-staleness propagation parenthetical ("(`cn dispatch` / `claude -p`)") — listing the identity-rotation modes; not invocation detail. Permitted.
- **PASS.**

### AC4 — Cross-references updated bidirectionally

- harness §2.5 ("Mirror in γ") → `gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 dispatch prompt format and the Identity-rotation primitive line`. Verified §2.5 header present; line 202 of new γ contains "identity-rotation primitive". ✓
- harness §5.4 (polling) → "γ owns the tight loop on a single named branch (per `gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 dispatch`)". §2.5 present. ✓
- delta §2 frontmatter → "γ-authored dispatch prompts containing the `## Implementation contract` section (gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 Step 3b)". §2.5 + the verbatim block at lines 211–224 present. ✓
- delta §2.1 mesh row → "γ template: [`gamma/SKILL.md`](../gamma/SKILL.md) §2.5 Step 3b — the 7-axis `## Implementation contract (required for α prompt)` block". The block heading "Implementation contract section (required for α prompt)" is at line 207 of new γ. ✓
- release-effector §Preconditions + §6.1 + §9 → `gamma/SKILL.md §2.10` (closure gate) and `§2 release-prep`. §2.10 = 14-row closure gate; §2.6 release-prep is within §2 umbrella. ✓
- operator §3.1 + §10.1 → `gamma/SKILL.md §2.10` and `§2.5`. Both anchors preserved. ✓
- **PASS.**

### AC5 — Managerial-residue sweep documented

- Oracle: `self-coherence.md §"Managerial-residue sweep"` lists every γ verb pre-shrink with KEEP/MOVE/DROP classification. ≥1 DROP entry required (β-rigor: if zero, β presumes the sweep was skipped).
- Result: 28 verbs classified. KEEP: 22. MOVE: 5. **DROP: 2** ("tracks", "orchestrates dispatch").
- β-rigor verification: the two DROP entries are honestly sweep-suspect verbs per `COHERENCE-CELL.md`. "tracks" is the textbook sweep target (sound legitimate; produces no artifact). "orchestrates dispatch" is the γ-vs-δ role-collapse failure mode the doctrine specifically flags. Both replaced in the new γ with explicit artifact-producing verbs (poll → match → decide; γ produces prompts, δ dispatches).
- The table includes every sweep-suspect verb (monitor/supervise/oversee/manage) and confirms they did not appear pre-shrink — the sweep is exhaustive, not selective.
- **PASS.**

### AC6 — F1/F2 absorption from cnos#398

- **F1:** Oracle: `rg "Phase 4b.*pending|harness mechanics.*operator" delta/SKILL.md` returns 0 hits. Verified post-edit. **PASS.**
- **F2:** Oracle: `bash tools/validate-skill-frontmatter.sh` reports 0 findings on `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/delta/SKILL.md`. Verified — only 15 pre-existing CDR-side findings remain, exactly matching cnos#398's "15 remaining are pre-existing CDR-side findings out of scope" note. **PASS.**
- F1 edit shape: 5 prose locations rewritten to past-tense referencing cnos#398 (Phase 4b) and cnos#399 (Phase 4c) explicitly. The relocation-of-content claim is empirically true: the harness mechanics live in `harness/SKILL.md`.
- F2 edit shape: line 30 changed from YAML mapping (`- or: "..."`) to flat string (`- "or: ..."`). Disjunctive-requirement semantics preserved in plain prose. The CUE schema (`requires?: [...string]`) is now satisfied without inventing a new disjunction surface.

### AC7 — No regression to dispatch workflow

Manual trace of a hypothetical γ session using post-shrink gamma/SKILL.md + Phase 4 substrate:
- Load Order: γ loads `CDD.md`, `gamma/SKILL.md`, `issue/SKILL.md`, `post-release/SKILL.md`, then `operator/SKILL.md` + `harness/SKILL.md` + `release-effector/SKILL.md`. ✓
- Selection: §2.1–§2.2 retain candidate table + CDD §3 rule order. ✓
- Issue pack: §2.3–§2.4 retain quality gate. ✓
- Branch creation: §2.5 retains γ-owned pre-flight invariant; bash mechanics deferred to `CDD.md §4.3` (still extant). ✓
- Scaffold gate: §2.5 binding rule + empirical anchor cnos#369 retained. ✓
- Dispatch prompts: kept verbatim (γ / α / β prompt blocks present at lines 192–222). ✓
- Implementation contract block: kept verbatim per cnos#393 non-goal (lines 211–224 + obligation/mesh narration). ✓
- Polling: γ defers to `harness/SKILL.md §5.4`; the invariant "polling requires a query, a wake-up mechanism, and a reachability probe" preserved as 1 line. ✓
- Unblock: §2.5 retains allowed/forbidden actions + issue-edit cache-bust. ✓
- Release prep: §2.6 retains RELEASE.md + cycle-dir move obligations; mechanics defer to `release-effector/SKILL.md`. ✓
- Close-out triage: §2.7 retains CAP disposition + post-merge CI verification. ✓
- Closure gate: §2.10 retains all 14 rows + gamma-closeout.md authoring. ✓
- Autonomous coordinator: §2.11 retains decision tree + decision-point matching + 3 report shapes (TLDR / decision-request / deferred-question batch). ✓
- **PASS.**

## Cross-references mesh check (β-rigor: "called by γ" sections in harness/delta/release-effector still accurate)

- harness/SKILL.md §38 "Policy lives in `operator/SKILL.md`, `gamma/SKILL.md`" — γ doctrine pointer correct post-shrink (γ still owns coordination doctrine).
- harness/SKILL.md §44–50 "Load Order: γ consults §Dispatch observability contract when authoring α/β prompts that name the observable-output flag" — γ's new §2.5 "Prompt rules" subsection states this explicitly: "Tooling and observability flags ... live in `harness/SKILL.md` §1–§2". Symmetric. ✓
- harness/SKILL.md §185 "γ's α/β dispatch ... carries the same MUST. ... see `gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 dispatch prompt format and the Identity-rotation primitive line`." — verified: new γ §2.5 retains the dispatch prompt format AND line 202 says "γ produces the prompts and δ routes them via `cn dispatch` (the identity-rotation primitive)". ✓
- harness/SKILL.md §403 "γ owns the tight loop on a single named branch (per `gamma/SKILL.md` §2.5 dispatch)" — verified §2.5 exists. ✓
- delta/SKILL.md §line 22 "γ-authored dispatch prompts containing the `## Implementation contract` section (gamma/SKILL.md §2.5 Step 3b)" — verified the block is in §2.5. ✓
- delta/SKILL.md §2.1 mesh ("γ template ... §2.5 Step 3b") — verified. ✓
- release-effector §Preconditions row "gamma-closeout.md exists on main per CDD.md §5.3b ownership matrix; gamma/SKILL.md §2.10 closure gate" — §2.10 14-row gate intact, including row 13 ("δ release-boundary preflight"). ✓
- release-effector §6 disconnect rules "Do not tag/release before gamma-closeout.md exists on main. (CDD.md §5.3b; gamma/SKILL.md §2.10. The doctrinal frame lives in operator/SKILL.md §3.4.)" — §2.10 intact. ✓
- operator/SKILL.md §3.1 row "Pre-merge gate validation ... See CDD.md §5.3b and gamma/SKILL.md §2.10" — §2.10 intact. ✓
- operator/SKILL.md §10.1 "wave dispatch prompt template ... Parallel to α/β templates in gamma/SKILL.md §2.5" — §2.5 intact. ✓

All cross-references resolve to existing anchors in post-shrink γ. **PASS.**

## Line-count audit

| Surface | Pre-cycle | Post-cycle | Δ | Δ% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `cdd/gamma/SKILL.md` | 748 | 499 | −249 | −33.3% |
| `cdd/delta/SKILL.md` | 341 | 342 | +1 | +0.3% (F1 net rewrite; F2 +0; some lines compressed, others expanded with Phase 4b/4c/5 past-tense narration) |
| `cdd/harness/SKILL.md` | 606 | 606 | 0 | 0% (no edit) |
| `cdd/release-effector/SKILL.md` | 324 | 324 | 0 | 0% (no edit) |
| `cdd/operator/SKILL.md` | 533 | 533 | 0 | 0% (no edit — γ cross-refs to operator anchors held without operator-side changes needed) |
| **CDD-skill total** | 2552 | 2304 | −248 | −9.7% |

The net package-level reduction is ~250 lines; γ-side is 249 lines of the cut. Doctrine that moved out of γ already lived in harness/release-effector — no net loss; only deduplication.

## Findings

None binding. The γ shrink is mechanically clean, the managerial-residue sweep is honest, F1/F2 are absorbed, and cross-references resolve.

## Verdict

**APPROVED.** Ready for merge to main.

## β-collapse note

β was collapsed onto δ per the breadth-2026-05-12 precedent. The independence-by-actor invariant is preserved by the **artifact-only review surface** — β's verdict in this file is mechanically traceable to the diff, the AC oracles in the issue body, and the four cross-skill mesh checks above. No hidden α reasoning was consulted in writing this review beyond the design-notes.md and self-coherence.md artifacts on the cycle branch.
