R76.S1 — Session seal contract

1. What the contract governs

This contract governs the behavioral shape of docs/session-seal-s8.md specifically, and by extension sets the template for docs/session-seal-s<N>.md where N ≥ 9. It is the fourth contract in the “document as artifact” family (alongside audit, contract, packet, verification) and is separate from the executor 5-step chain — a seal doc is itself the product of one such chain, not a tool of it.

2. Required frontmatter (gray-matter compatible) 

---
title: Session 8 seal — Phase 0 complete
description: Ceremonial close document for Session 8, covering R75 Phase 0 (execution + intelligence axis) from kickoff at R75 Wave A (2026-04-16) through seal at R75 Wave I (2026-04-18).
tags: [session, seal, phase-0, s8, r75, ceremony]
type: seal
round: R75
session: 8
sealed_at: 2026-04-18
merkle_root: TBD
parent: 5-time/roadmap.md
updated: 2026-04-19
---

Invariants:

  • type is exactly seal (lowercase).
  • round is the last round in the session (R75 for S8).
  • session is the integer index (8 for S8).
  • sealed_at is the human-readable Phase B date (not the post-merge SHA date).
  • merkle_root reads TBD in the executor PR; Sigma replaces it in Phase B.
  • description contains no unquoted colons that would confuse YAML (lesson from R73 hotfix — see df0282bd).

3. Required sections (8, numbered)

  1. What shipped — sub-task table + tool surface + concept maturity + test count + stack.
  2. The nine waves (A through I) — wave → commit → theme → PR map.
  3. Key decisions resolved during S8 — architectural calls (server_info, task_update merge, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, Wave I δ).
  4. Architectural deliverables — bullet list of shipped subsystems.
  5. Legacies carried into R76 — carry-over bugs and drift.
  6. R76 (Phase 0→1 bridge) — summary of the current round that will fill in the Merkle root.
  7. Phase B Merkle anchor — placeholder with TBD root and audit_verify_chain note.
  8. Next — R76 completion, R77+ hygiene tail, R81 κ kickoff, R91+ δ graduation.

Sections may reorder if the ceremonial flow demands; section count is fixed at 8.

4. Placeholder convention

Two fields hold TBD:

Field Filled by Filled when
merkle_root (frontmatter + §7 body) Sigma R76 Phase B, after merkle_finalize returns the root
“Seal commit on main” (body, §0 header) Sigma R76 Phase B, after this PR merges (captured from git log main -1)

All other TBD strings in the doc are contract violations. Verification checks grep count of TBD = exactly 2 (merkle_root in frontmatter + body, seal commit in body), plus optional third occurrence inside the §7 Phase B prose explaining the placeholder convention.

5. Number and name precision

Every number cited in the seal doc must be verifiable against one of:

  • git log --oneline on main at the date of writing (commit SHAs, PR numbers)
  • docs/guides/implementation/task-breakdown.md (sub-task counts)
  • CLAUDE.md §9.1 / §10 (shipped path table, tool count, concept maturity)
  • MEMORY.md index at C:/Users/Kamal/.claude/projects/E–AMS/memory/ (wave → PR map)
  • ADR-004 for the 14 tool count
  • ADR-005 for the δ stubs decision
  • ADR-006 for colibri_code: partial graduation rule

Numbers that differ from their source must cite the source with a footnote. No number in the seal may be invented.

6. Cross-reference invariants

The seal doc MUST link to:

  • docs/architecture/decisions/ADR-004-tool-surface.md (for the 14-tool contract)
  • docs/architecture/decisions/ADR-005-multi-model-defer.md (for Wave I δ interpretation)
  • docs/architecture/decisions/ADR-006-executable-meaning.md (for colibri_code: partial graduation)
  • docs/agents/sigma-orchestrator.md §4 Phase B (for the seal protocol)
  • CLAUDE.md §7 (for writeback ordering)

It SHOULD link to:

  • docs/guides/implementation/task-prompts/p1.1-kappa-rule-engine.md (R81 handoff)
  • docs/guides/implementation/task-prompts/p1.5-delta-router-graduation.md (R91+ handoff)

It MAY link to:

  • Individual wave memory notes (C:/Users/Kamal/.claude/projects/E--AMS/memory/project_r75_phase0_wave_*.md) — optional, memory path is user-local.
  • docs/3-world/social/llm.md (δ concept doc) — only if the seal references δ concretely.

7. Size budget

  • Target: 200-300 lines including frontmatter and closing attribution.
  • Hard floor: 150 lines (below that, the ceremonial weight is lost).
  • Hard ceiling: 400 lines (above that, the reader cannot absorb the close in one sitting).

8. Merge-time behavior

This PR lands on main WITHOUT the Merkle root. Sigma (R76 Phase B) opens a follow-up PR that:

  1. Runs audit_verify_chain across the R76 session
  2. Runs merkle_finalize to produce the root
  3. Edits the seal doc: merkle_root: <hash> in frontmatter + “Root hash: <hash>” in §7 body + “Seal commit on main: <sha>” in §0 header

The contract permits — and the prompt requires — that this R76.S1 PR leave those three substitutions unmade.

9. Versioning

If a seal doc is amended post-merge (e.g. correction, clarification):

  • Bump the updated: frontmatter field.
  • Preserve the original sealed_at.
  • Append a “Change log” section at the bottom.
  • Never rewrite the §0 header or §7 Merkle root once anchored.

10. Definition of done

  • docs/session-seal-s8.md exists with frontmatter per §2.
  • All 8 sections per §3 populated.
  • Two TBD placeholders per §4.
  • Numbers verified per §5.
  • Required cross-refs per §6 present.
  • Line count within §7 budget.
  • Verification doc produced at docs/verification/r76-s1-session-seal-verification.md.
  • npm run build && npm run lint && npm test green (docs-only, no-op).

Contract for R76.S1. Binds the executor (this PR) and Sigma (follow-up Merkle fill). Governed by CLAUDE.md §6 and docs/agents/sigma-orchestrator.md.

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