Measured 2026-09-18 (PM checkpoint on 6cafb4c, mutant M6): a two-line file
export function runPlanVerification() { return { ok: true }; }
export function formatCriteriaEvidence() { return ''; }
dropped into an otherwise UNFIXED tree closed both D-03 and D-04, and the gate
reported "defects 0 of 7, registry integrity: intact". The same checkpoint felled
5 of 5 mutants with the SUITE and 0 of 5 with the GATE. Both probes called
themselves `behaviour` while asking a grep whether an export name was present -
a phrase probe pointed at code.
A check condition may now name a test instead of a pattern:
{ "test": "tests/lib/criteria-runner.test.mjs", "name": "<exact test name>",
"expect": "fails" }
The gate spawns the test runner on that one test and reads its TAP line.
`expect: "fails"` holds - the defect stays open - while the test does not pass.
A missing file, a name that matches nothing, a runner that will not start: all
throw, which counts as NOT FELLABLE and therefore open. A check that cannot fire
is never "fixed".
The child's `NODE_TEST_*` env is stripped. The gate usually runs UNDER the test
runner, and an inherited `NODE_TEST_CONTEXT` makes the grandchild report over
the parent's IPC channel instead of stdout - the TAP line would never arrive and
the probe would silently stop felling anything.
M6 is now a permanent mutant in the gate's own test, so the cosmetic close
cannot come back. Verified end to end against a real stub tree:
git archive 8d1669e | tar -x -C $TMP
cp scripts/end-state-gate.mjs scripts/end-state-registry.json $TMP/scripts/
cp tests/fixtures/end-state-frozen.json $TMP/tests/fixtures/; cp STATE.md $TMP/
printf 'export function runPlanVerification…' > $TMP/lib/cosmetic/stub.mjs
node scripts/end-state-gate.mjs --root $TMP
-> defects 2 of 7, both NOT FELLABLE, exit 1
The gate also now states the limit out loud, as its own line above the table:
a behaviour probe proves the capability WORKS; that Phase 7 and Phase 4.5 CALL
it is pinned by TEXT in doc-consistency, not proven deterministically - real
proof is a headless plugin-eval run against a fixture plan (week 40).
FROZEN DENOMINATOR AMENDED, second time in one day, by the work order that
carries this change: D-03 and D-04 signatures moved because their checks
changed on purpose. tests/fixtures/end-state-frozen.json and the FROZEN literal
in tests/scripts/end-state-gate.test.mjs are updated together, both dated, both
saying why. No entry was removed.
Gate after this change: defects 0 of 7, registry integrity intact, exit 1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Kjell Tore Guttormsen
a7af76e5ff