## Review context

**Issue:** #327 — bug(cdd): release gate must validate required cycle artifacts before tag
**Cycle branch:** cycle/327
**Review rounds:** 1 (approved first pass)
**β session:** round 1

## Merge evidence

**Merge commit:** `665556c9b354f41d59044a893be1c147d1b03bdf`
**Merge base (origin/main at merge):** `ce3158314f8f6af4fb99ce532df52bb63d338102`
**Cycle branch head at review:** `0029e3414063d5d6c6a0a9038c6c069482f89921`
**Merge type:** --no-ff, ort strategy, no conflicts
**Push:** origin/main advanced to `665556c9`
**Issue auto-close:** `Closes #327` in merge commit message

## Narrowing pattern

No narrowing was needed. Approved in round 1.

All three ACs were met by the initial implementation:
- AC1: substantial cycle validation blocking — gate exits 1 when any of the 5 required files are missing
- AC2: small-change path collapses correctly per CDD.md §1.2 — `beta-review.md` absence as classifier is the right boundary
- AC3: RELEASE.md check is the first gate condition, blocks before any artifact movement

## β-side findings

No findings. The implementation was coherent, well-tested, and matched the issue contract exactly.

Observations (factual, for γ's assessment):

1. The classifier heuristic (presence of `beta-review.md` determines triadic vs small-change) is derived from CDD.md §1.2, which says `beta-review.md` is "Not applicable" for small-change cycles. This works correctly for the current lifecycle. If the lifecycle ever adds a small-change path that includes `beta-review.md` (currently not defined), the classifier would misclassify — but that is a future-spec concern, not a gap in the current implementation.

2. The `REQUIRED_TRIADIC` array in `validate-release-gate.sh` and the canonical filename set in `CDD.md §5.3b §Tracking` must stay in sync. There is no automated cross-check between them — a spec update to required filenames would need a matching update to the script. This is minimal-friction debt: the script header references the spec section explicitly.

3. Test coverage is complete for the current contract surface: all 3 ACs have positive and negative cases, and the bonus case (no unreleased dir) is covered. The test is independently runnable and self-documenting.
