diff --git a/plugins/ultraplan-local/docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md b/plugins/ultraplan-local/docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md
index b3654ad..7e8cae7 100644
--- a/plugins/ultraplan-local/docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md
+++ b/plugins/ultraplan-local/docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md
@@ -412,6 +412,30 @@ The validator (`lib/validators/session-state-validator.mjs`) exposes the standar
 - `SESSION_STATE_NOT_RESUMABLE` → warning; `/ultracontinue` exits cleanly with "no further sessions to resume; project complete"
 - Validator failures during writer Phase 8 emit a stderr warning but DO NOT block the session-end report. `progress.json` remains the authoritative record of what was attempted.
 
+### § Lifecycle
+
+The state file follows a producer/consumer separation that keeps responsibilities narrow and the contract observable.
+
+**Producer/consumer arbeidsdeling:**
+
+| Role | Owners | Phase / location |
+|---|---|---|
+| Producer (writes the state file) | `/ultraexecute-local` | Phase 8 (canonical), Phase 2.55 (dirty-tree pre-flight stop), Phase 4 (entry-condition stop) |
+| Producer (informal multi-session helper) | `/ultraplan-end-session-local` | Phase 3 — writes the same schema for ad-hoc handovers that don't run through executor |
+| Refresher (touch only) | `hooks/scripts/pre-compact-flush.mjs` | Updates `updated_at` only; never creates the file; never changes `status` or any owned field; only acts when `status` is `in_progress` or `partial` |
+| Consumer | `/ultracontinue-local` | Phase 2 — reads, validates, narrates a 3-line summary, then begins executing the next session |
+
+**Stale-file principle (SC-5):** When `status === 'completed'`, the state file and its sibling `NEXT-SESSION-PROMPT.local.md` represent finished work and SHOULD be removed. Removal is **operator-invoked** via `/ultracontinue-local --cleanup --confirm <project-dir>`; the plugin does NOT auto-cleanup. Stale state is actively harmful — it can mislead a fresh `/ultracontinue` into resuming a project that's already shipped. The `--cleanup` gate refuses to act unless `validateSessionState({...}).valid === true && parsed.status === 'completed'`. There is no force flag.
+
+**Frontmatter contract for `NEXT-SESSION-PROMPT.local.md`:** Producers MUST write a YAML frontmatter block on the prompt file with at minimum:
+
+- `produced_by:` — string identifying the producer (e.g. `ultraplan-local-A4-session`, `ultraexecute-local-phase-8`, `ultraplan-end-session-local`)
+- `produced_at:` — ISO-8601 timestamp of when the file was written
+
+The `next-session-prompt-validator` (`lib/validators/next-session-prompt-validator.mjs`) cross-checks `produced_at` against the sibling state file's `updated_at` and emits a `NEXT_SESSION_PROMPT_INCONSISTENT` error when the prompt is older than the state — that means the prompt has not been refreshed for the current session and is stale. Files **without** any frontmatter are tolerated (warning, not error) for backwards compatibility with v3.3.x and earlier hand-rolled prompt files; this is consistent with Handover 3's drift-WARN posture.
+
+**Idempotency:** `--cleanup --confirm` is safe to re-run. If only one of the two files (state file, prompt file) was previously deleted, the second run reports the partial state ("state file: not found, prompt file: removed") but does not auto-recover or re-create. There is no rollback. Operators choosing to re-create a project after `--cleanup` should re-run `/ultrabrief-local` from scratch.
+
 ---
 
 ## Stability summary
diff --git a/plugins/ultraplan-local/tests/lib/doc-consistency.test.mjs b/plugins/ultraplan-local/tests/lib/doc-consistency.test.mjs
index 9051543..c075b89 100644
--- a/plugins/ultraplan-local/tests/lib/doc-consistency.test.mjs
+++ b/plugins/ultraplan-local/tests/lib/doc-consistency.test.mjs
@@ -140,6 +140,43 @@ test('session-state-validator has CLI shim', () => {
   );
 });
 
+test('next-session-prompt-validator has CLI shim', () => {
+  const text = read('lib/validators/next-session-prompt-validator.mjs');
+  assert.ok(
+    text.includes('import.meta.url === '),
+    'lib/validators/next-session-prompt-validator.mjs should expose the standard CLI shim ' +
+    '(if (import.meta.url === `file://${process.argv[1]}`)) so /ultracontinue Phase 1.5 can call it from Bash',
+  );
+});
+
+test('HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md Handover 7 documents § Lifecycle subsection', () => {
+  const text = read('docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md');
+  const h7Start = text.indexOf('## Handover 7');
+  assert.ok(h7Start >= 0, 'Handover 7 heading missing');
+  const h7End = text.indexOf('## Stability summary', h7Start);
+  assert.ok(h7End > h7Start, 'Stability summary heading missing — could not bound Handover 7');
+  const h7 = text.slice(h7Start, h7End);
+  assert.ok(
+    h7.includes('Lifecycle'),
+    'Handover 7 section should include a § Lifecycle subsection (SC-5 stale-file principle)',
+  );
+});
+
+test('HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md Handover 7 § Lifecycle names --cleanup and produced_by contract', () => {
+  const text = read('docs/HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md');
+  const h7Start = text.indexOf('## Handover 7');
+  const h7End = text.indexOf('## Stability summary', h7Start);
+  const h7 = text.slice(h7Start, h7End);
+  assert.ok(
+    h7.includes('--cleanup'),
+    'Handover 7 § Lifecycle should mention --cleanup as the operator-invoked stale-file remover',
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    h7.includes('produced_by'),
+    'Handover 7 § Lifecycle should document the produced_by frontmatter contract for NEXT-SESSION-PROMPT.local.md',
+  );
+});
+
 test('CLAUDE.md mentions /ultracontinue-local command', () => {
   const md = read('CLAUDE.md');
   assert.ok(