The plan template (templates/plan-template.md:21) emits plan_version ONLY in
the prose blockquote metadata line:
> Generated by trekplan v{version} on {YYYY-MM-DD} — `plan_version: 1.7`
It carries no frontmatter plan_version (the frontmatter block is trekreview-only
and holds source_findings). But PLAN_VERSION_REGEX in lib/parsers/plan-schema.mjs
was `^`-anchored (/m), matching ONLY line-start (frontmatter). The backtick-
wrapped prose form never matched → extractPlanVersion returned null → every real
generated plan got a spurious PLAN_NO_VERSION warning from plan-validator.
Not caught earlier because no test ran the parser against the actual template;
the synthetic fixtures all carry frontmatter plan_version and parse fine.
Internal source contradiction surfaced: the parser comment documents intent
"frontmatter OR doc body", planning-orchestrator.md:228 + the template place it
in the prose line, while HANDOVER-CONTRACTS.md calls it a frontmatter field.
Operator-chosen fix (parser, not template): relax the regex to
`/(?:^|`)plan_version:.../m` so it matches line-start (frontmatter) OR the
backtick-prefixed prose form. Honors the parser's own documented contract,
fixes all existing + future plans, changes no plan output, touches one code
file — vs the template-fix which would alter every plan's shape, contradict
planning-orchestrator.md, and force a 3-file doc reconciliation (scope creep).
TDD (red first): added prose-form + canonical-template regression pins in
plan-schema.test.mjs and a no-PLAN_NO_VERSION pin in plan-validator.test.mjs;
all 3 red on the `^`-anchored regex, green after the relax. The template pin
ties the parser directly to the real generated artifact.
S22 defect closed in docs/S22-happy-path-dogfood.md (§Pipeline defects + log).
Tests: 728 (726 pass / 2 skip / 0 fail; live `node --test`, = 725 baseline +3).
plugin validate passes (1 accepted CLAUDE.md-at-root warning).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01LqBYc8Ltrk7LipyJmGxXiB
