# β close-out — cycle #398

**Author:** β (collapsed on δ)
**Final verdict:** R1 APPROVED at `b497a9db`.
**Merge:** integrated origin/main (Phase 4a / cycle/397) into cycle/398 at `897a4552` before final merge.
**Final cycle/398 HEAD:** `897a4552`.

## Review summary

Single-round review (R1 APPROVED). No fix-rounds needed. The cycle delivered exactly what cnos#398 named: a new `src/packages/cnos.cdd/skills/cdd/harness/SKILL.md` substrate skill, absorbing the doctrine pinned by cnos#371 #373 #384, with operator/SKILL.md mechanics extracted and cross-references updated in γ + β role skills.

## Implementation assessment

α produced a coherent and complete authoring pass:

- **Harness skill** (new, ~540 lines): named sections for each absorbed surface (§2 observability, §3 identity with §3.2 worktree-aware preventive rule, §4 parallel α worktree pre-creation), each with empirical anchor naming the falsification cycle (cycle #369/#370 for #371, cycle #301 O8 / #370 β R1 / #370 α F4 for #373, cph#27/#28 for #384). Kata section at §8 exercises the three core mechanics (observability gate, worktree identity write, parallel pre-creation).
- **Operator/SKILL.md extraction**: 158→~30 net line reduction across §Algorithm, §1 Route, §2.2, §5.1, §5.2.1, §7 lifecycle table, §8 Timeout recovery. The remaining surfaces (Core Principle, Gate via §3 / §3a, Override §4, Dispatch configurations §5 doctrine, §6 What δ does NOT do, §10 Wave Coordination) read as δ-doctrine (WHY) without HOW restatement.
- **Cross-references**: γ load-order + §2.5 + frontmatter `calls:` all point at harness. β Row 1 cross-refs harness §3.2 + §3.3 — bidirectional discoverability with α §2.6 row 14 (already present) and release §2.1 (referenced from harness §3.4).

## Technical review

Implementation-contract conformance (β Rule 7): all 7 axes conform per `self-coherence.md §Implementation contract conformance`. Diff is 100% Markdown; no Go file touched; no schema file touched; no release-effector file touched. Non-goals respected.

Code-first oracle anchoring (β Rule 6): n/a — this cycle is doctrine-shaping, not behavior-shaping. The mechanical AC oracles (`rg` patterns) are sufficient.

Stale-references (β Rule 3): one surfaced — `delta/SKILL.md` (Phase 4a artifact) contains lines that say "Phase 4b — harness substrate (pending)" and references "harness mechanics currently living in operator/SKILL.md". These references are now factually stale post-merge. Per cycle #398's scope ("Do NOT touch δ-role boundary content (Phase 4a — cycle/397)"), β does not patch these in this cycle; instead they go to `cdd-iteration.md` as a follow-on finding for the next cycle to sweep. Pre-existing CDR-side frontmatter findings (15 of 16 total) also predate this cycle and are out of scope.

## Process observations

- The §5.2 single-session δ=γ=α=β-collapsed-on-δ dispatch mode worked cleanly for this cycle's scope (≤7 ACs, doctrine-only diff, no cross-repo touches). No subagent dispatch needed.
- The Phase 4a/4b coordination at merge-time was straightforward: each cycle touches different sections (4a: §3 Gate / §3a / §4 Override boundary policy; 4b: §1 Route shells / §2.2 polling / §5.1 dispatch shells / §8 Timeout recovery mechanics). The git merge auto-resolved gamma/SKILL.md and beta/SKILL.md cleanly; only operator/SKILL.md §8 needed a one-block manual resolution (kept 4b's pointer to harness §6, preserving 4a's delta/SKILL.md §3 cross-reference for the override-declaration record).

## Release notes (for `RELEASE.md` if this cycle ships in a tagged release)

- New skill: `cdd/harness/SKILL.md` — substrate doctrine for dispatch mechanics, observability contract (`--output-format stream-json`), worktree-aware identity discipline (`extensions.worktreeConfig=true` → `--worktree`), parallel α worktree pre-creation, polling, timeout recovery, branch-retry chains.
- Absorbs: cnos#371 (observability), cnos#373 (worktree identity), cnos#384 (parallel α worktrees).
- Operator/SKILL.md is now WHY-only for the touched surfaces; HOW lives in harness/SKILL.md.
- Phase 4b of cnos#366. Phase 4a (delta/SKILL.md) shipped at cnos#397; Phase 4c (release-effector) remains.
