## β Close-out — Cycle #297

**Issue:** #297 — docs(ctb): make TSC formal grounding explicit for tri(), witnesses, and composition
**Merge commit:** 640984fe9126e085cde9d871ae09de4cfc91c264
**Branch:** cycle/297 (head at merge: 59fb3b36)
**origin/main at intake:** eb7617e7f02d79ea2208999451e2bc9525961e70
**origin/main after merge:** 640984fe9126e085cde9d871ae09de4cfc91c264

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## Review context

Single-round review (R1 → APPROVED). No RC issued. Diff: 3 files, 252 insertions, 2 deletions. Scope: docs-only, MCA, non-normative notes file expansion plus 2-line secondary cross-reference.

**What was reviewed:**
- `docs/alpha/ctb/SEMANTICS-NOTES.md` — §15.1 expanded from paraphrase to explicit TSC formal upstream statement; §15.3 gained "Composition bound and join semantics" subsection; §15.6 added (TSC-Oper witness model, CTB close-out mapping, ctb-check implications).
- `docs/alpha/ctb/LANGUAGE-SPEC-v0.2-draft.md` — 2-line cross-reference added to §15 witness theater block.
- `.cdd/unreleased/297/self-coherence.md` — CDD artifact; all 6 ACs with named diff evidence; pre-review gate complete; peer set enumerated.

**Review pass:** One pass, no findings. Contract integrity, issue contract, and diff/context checks all clean. Architecture check n/a (docs-only).

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## Narrowing pattern

No narrowing: R1 was immediately clean. α's self-coherence was complete and the diff was precise — each AC mapped to a specific section addition with exact section numbering. Section ordering was fixed within the cycle (commit `717cdba9`) before the review-readiness signal was set.

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## Merge evidence

- **Pre-merge gate row 1 (identity):** `beta@cdd.cnos` asserted and verified at intake and at merge time.
- **Pre-merge gate row 2 (canonical-skill freshness):** `origin/main` confirmed at `eb7617e7` at intake and at merge-time re-fetch (up to date; no mid-cycle changes to main).
- **Pre-merge gate row 3 (merge-test):** Collapsed per `beta/SKILL.md` §Pre-merge gate — diff is purely textual/docs, no new contract surface shipped.
- **Merge commit:** `640984fe` authored as `beta@cdd.cnos`, message `Closes #297: docs(ctb) — make TSC formal grounding explicit for tri(), witnesses, and composition`.
- **Issue auto-close:** `Closes #297` in merge commit message — should auto-close on push.

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## β-side observations

**AC/self-coherence match was exact.** All six ACs had evidence that matched the diff precisely — specific section numbers, exact text fragments, and table entries. This is the expected pattern for a targeted documentation MCA where the scope is narrow and well-defined.

**Section ordering fix was cycle-internal.** Commit `717cdba9` ("fix section ordering — §15.5 before §15.6") was made before review-readiness was signaled. The fix was visible in the commit log but not in the review as a finding because α caught and corrected it during self-coherence. This is the correct flow.

**CI state for this branch shape.** The CI workflow triggers on `push: main` and `pull_request: main` only. For docs-only cycles using the `cycle/{N}` branch model without a PR, no CI run is available before merge. The branch CI state in the review was correctly recorded as n/a rather than "green" — the distinction is observable (n/a means no run exists; green means a run passed).

**No debt, no deferred scope.** The cycle's debt section explicitly stated "None." All six ACs are fully addressed in the merge. No follow-up issues were required.
