---
cycle: 342
role: alpha
---

# Alpha Close-out — Cycle #342

## Cycle summary

**Issue:** cdd/operator: Add §5 — Dispatch configurations (single-session δ-as-γ via Agent tool, Claude Code activation)
**Mode:** design-and-build (docs-only)
**Version:** CDD 3.15.0
**β verdict:** APPROVED R1 — zero findings
**Rounds:** 1

**AC disposition:**

| AC | Status |
|----|--------|
| AC1 — `operator/SKILL.md` §5 heading + 3 sub-sections | met pre-merge |
| AC2 — §5.2 names three structural consequences explicitly | met pre-merge |
| AC3 — `release/SKILL.md` §3.8 amended with A− floor clause | met pre-merge |
| AC4 — §5.3 ≥4 concrete escalation bullets | met pre-merge |
| AC5 — empirical anchors cited | met pre-merge |
| AC6 — γ close-out declares dispatch configuration | γ's post-merge obligation |

## Friction log

**Tier 3 path mismatch:** The issue body listed `cnos.eng/skills/eng/writing` as a Tier 3 skill. That path does not exist in the repo. γ identified and corrected this in `alpha-prompt.md` before dispatch: the correct path is `cnos.core/skills/write/SKILL.md`. No α work was blocked; the correction was available at intake.

No other friction. The implementation order (operator §5 first, release §3.8 second, self-coherence last) was unambiguous from issue scope.

## Observations

**Ungoverned-configuration pattern.** The single-session δ-as-γ configuration had been in active use for multiple cycles with no canonical text naming its structural properties or grading implications. The gap was surfaced only when an explicit cycle was filed for it. Configuration patterns that diverge from the canonical model tend to accumulate without governance text until observed friction (branch sprawl, grading confusion) prompts documentation.

**Recursive coherence as a structural test.** AC6 — requiring this cycle's own `gamma-closeout.md` to declare its dispatch configuration and apply the §3.8 floor — is the correct closure check for a configuration-class addition. The test cannot be satisfied by α pre-merge; it fires at the first cycle run under the new rule. This pattern (a rule addition that is immediately self-applicable) generalizes to any lifecycle constraint added mid-series.

**β N1: character inconsistency in §3.8.** Existing §3.8 examples use `A-` (ASCII hyphen U+002D); the new clause and new examples use `A−` (appears to be a distinct Unicode code point — likely U+2212 MINUS SIGN or U+2013 EN DASH). Both render identically in markdown and carry the same grade meaning. A literal grep for `A-` would miss the new occurrences. The inconsistency was introduced in this cycle's §3.8 amendment commit (`663ed0c0`).

**Self-coherence incremental discipline held.** All seven self-coherence sections were committed and pushed separately per α/SKILL.md §2.5. No section was lost to stream timeout; resume path was not needed.
