Fix variant J README badges and preserve authored rows

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -25,6 +25,17 @@ All notable changes to `github-showcase-skill` are recorded here. Versions follo
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Variant J READMEs generate the GitHub-profile type badge from standard data and the known license in the brand palette. Digest-verified generated badge rows refresh with metadata and badge output mode changes; the previous generator's remote and local row formats migrate independently of current metadata. Edited and custom authored blocks remain protected by the shrink guard, including unmarked license claims when current license metadata is unavailable. The inherited template badge is replaced even after its body or marker changes, and R7 counts local, reference-style and nested-alt Markdown images plus HTML images with unquoted or case-insensitive attributes. Missing licenses remain explicit instead of being invented.
+- README image validation retains angle-delimited Markdown destinations and literal backticks in HTML attributes, while excluding Markdown code spans and fences; Markdown image alt text keeps literal backticks, and palette checks read `img.shields.io` badge URLs written as `![x](<...>)` without the closing angle bracket.
+- README lint admits a reference definition only with a balanced bare destination (unescaped parentheses must pair; escaped ones do not count) and treats live definitions as inert when scanning link openers, so a malformed definition or a backtick in a definition can no longer hide a rendered image or satisfy the R7 badge count.
+- README lint rejects an unescaped opening bracket in a reference-definition label (the line is then ordinary Markdown, so its image is checked; an escaped bracket stays an inert definition), recognises raw HTML indented into a list item after removing the item's content column (literal backticks cannot hide its image, and terminators are found after the indent), and keeps list items inside block quotes so a fence opened on a quoted item's continuation line ends where the line leaves the item. Regressions cover each failing case with its control.
+- Raw HTML blocks (CommonMark types 1-7, including inside quotes and list items) are literal for inline-code detection: a backtick inside one never opens a code span, so the block's real `<img>` stays visible to R7, while Markdown after the block's end condition still pairs backticks.
+- README lint treats the destination and title of a resolved inline link as literal text (an image-looking title is neither counted as a badge nor validated, while a linked image in the link text still is) and reads a comment opener inside a complete HTML tag as attribute text, so it can no longer blank a live reference definition. The generated-badge digest (`badge_sha`) preserves Markdown-significant leading and trailing spaces and normalizes only line endings and the marker's separator newlines, so an indented generated row becomes authored and survives header refresh and upgrade; CRLF-converted untouched blocks still count as generated. Template-body hashing is unchanged.
+- Variant J template recognition normalizes only line endings and separator newlines (it no longer strips spaces and tabs), so an indented, tab-prefixed or trailing-space copy of the inherited type row inside the badges markers stays authored and is preserved by header refresh and upgrade without a `replaces=` digest, while the exact, CRLF-terminated and newline-padded template (remote and local SVG) is still refreshed.
+- README lint reads a reference definition on a list-item continuation line (including nested items and quote containers) as a definition and still treats a four-space indented definition with no open item as code, so its missing image is reported; a comment opener inside a resolved inline link title or destination no longer blanks later definitions; and a reference image whose alt text or label crosses a paragraph boundary is no longer accepted or counted as a header badge.
+- A committed regression covers badge digest ownership for tab and 4-space indentation, untouched-row refresh and CRLF normalization.
+- The `replaces=` digest a Variant J migration records is the whitespace-preserving badge digest, matched the same way by the shrink guard, so an authored indented badge block (four leading spaces are an indented code block) is no longer exempted because its stripped text equals a migrated unindented row. `--write` keeps that block or refuses with `readme-shrink`; the template-body digest is unchanged (#7).
+- README lint ends an inline link destination or title at a paragraph boundary: a blank line before the destination, around the title or before `)` makes the link invalid, so `[Docs](https://example.test "unfinished` + blank line + `![Shot](...)` + blank line + `")` leaves Shot as a rendered image whose missing file and off-palette badge colour are still reported, while a title with a single newline stays a link title. The definition prepass keeps a stack of link openers and each `](` consumes one, so a completed link's opener cannot back an orphan destination. An inline HTML comment opened mid-line is a comment only if its `-->` closes in the same paragraph, so an orphan `](x "<!--")` followed by a blank line leaves a literal opener and no longer hides a later definition (both header badges still count) or a local image (its missing file is still reported), while a comment opening at the start of an HTML block may span blank lines. Link titles also end at block boundaries (a heading, list item or fence), so `[Docs](https://example.test "unfinished` + newline + `## Usage` + newline + `![Shot](docs/images/missing.png)` leaves Shot rendered and checked while soft line breaks stay inside the title; reference definition labels may span a soft line break (`[lic` + newline + `ense]: ...` resolves `![License][lic ense]`, a blank line does not); and a tab that crosses a list item's content column keeps its residual indentation, so a tab plus two spaces under `- ` is indented code and no longer a live definition (#7).
 - Custom transparent icon art (`--icon`, `showcase.yml` `icon`, `assets/icon.png`), including PNG mode P with transparency and RGBA, is fitted by its alpha bounds in the icon box in the `iconbox` compositor, so transparent margins no longer shrink it. The raw and normalized PNG are unchanged; anything under `assets/brand` is bundled artwork protected by its resolved path, not by the selection route, so `--icon` or `showcase.yml` `icon` pointing at `logo-dark.png` or `logo-dark-full.png` is no longer cropped (2400x1198 and 1200x599 keep their sizes); golden plate geometry, opaque or full-bleed icons, pixel-art sizing and fully blank transparency are unchanged. With `icon_pixel_art` set, alpha fit never applies, including an unrecognized native grid, which keeps the retained image size and placement (#130; reuses the #126 normalizer, no new normalizer).
 - `readme --bootstrap --write` no longer regenerates a marked footer that holds authored content. When the edited-template upgrade is refused by the never-drop-a-line check and the marked footer carries a partner or foreign image, the command now exits with a check failure (`readme-shrink`) and leaves `README.md` unchanged instead of falling back to a header refresh that rewrote the footer; a plain old footer copy still takes the fallback. The same refusal now applies in every bootstrap state (pristine and unmarked as well as edited), checked before any write, so a pristine or unmarked template can no longer silently replace a partner or foreign footer image.
 - Fork (G) and backup (H) READMEs migrate an unmarked trailing footer whose logo is a configured own-site historical source (`footer.legacy_logo_urls` or `docs/images/logo.svg`) to the single current footer; partner, foreign and look-alike images stay authored and are reported as no allowance.
@@ -49,6 +60,7 @@ All notable changes to `github-showcase-skill` are recorded here. Versions follo
 - `content social` renders the personal-profile capstone and backup repositories wherever R10 and the `adopt` upload job include them; it previously exempted them, so the planned upload had no image. Where R10 leaves them out (the archive org, an archived capture) they stay exempt.
 - Label job plans include a per-repository `labels:OWNER/REPO` group for writer reconciliation. Explicit orchestrator groups are preserved.
 - `adopt` withholds jobs and change records for an archived capture, with instructions to re-capture inside the approved unarchive/polish/re-archive cycle. Security jobs are emitted only for active eligible repositories.
+- README lint rejects an unescaped opening parenthesis inside a parenthesized link title (`[Docs](https://example.test (see ![Shot](docs/images/missing.png)))` is not a link, so Shot renders and its missing file is reported; backslash-escaped parentheses stay a valid title) and applies the paragraph-interruption rule to ordered-list markers in multiline image alt text and labels: only `1.` interrupts (a sibling item of an enclosing list still does), so a `2.` continuation line no longer drops a Variant J header badge. Regressions cover each case with its control (#7).
 
 ## 1.0.0 — 2026-10-26
 

SKILL.md

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Run every command **from inside the target repository's checkout**, with the ski
 | 3 | `topics`, `labels --plan` | Proposals only. Add `--records FILE` to emit change records, `--gh` to print the exact `gh` commands. |
 | 4 | Apply the approved description and topics on GitHub (the writer), or write them into `meta.json` | Before any art: the banner subtitle, the card and the README tagline come from the description, so rendering first breaks R2 (tagline equals description) the moment the writer applies the new one. |
 | 5 | `banner`, then `card` (and `content social`) | `art-fail` (exit 3) writes nothing. `needs-input` (exit 4) names the missing fact, including fewer than two fact chips (`needs-input:banner-chips`; add `chips:` to `.github/showcase.yml` or pass `--key-chip`/`--chip`). |
-| 6 | `readme`, then `readme --write` | Dry run prints a unified diff first. `readme-shrink` (exit 1) writes nothing. |
+| 6 | `readme`, then `readme --write` | Dry run prints a unified diff first. `readme-shrink` (exit 1) writes nothing. Variant J generates a GitHub-profile type badge and a license badge when the license is known; a whitespace-preserving content digest (also used for the migration `replaces=` identity) distinguishes generated rows that refresh from authored badge blocks that remain for linting. Template recognition normalizes only line endings and separator newlines, so an indented, tab-prefixed or trailing-space copy of the inherited type row is authored and is never replaced. README lint reads link titles to the end of their block (a heading, list item or fence ends one; a soft line break does not), accepts reference definition labels across a soft line break, and keeps the residual columns of a tab that crosses a list content column (four make code, not a definition). A parenthesized link title that holds an unescaped `(` is no title (the link is invalid, so an image inside it renders and is checked; escaped parentheses stay valid), and an ordered-list marker other than `1.` does not interrupt a multiline image alt or label outside a list (a sibling item of an enclosing list still does). |
 | 7 | `footer --check README.md`, `lint all` | Every applicable check passes; `incomplete` is allowed for logged `needs-input` omissions. |
 | 8 | `doctor --header` | One coverage row. `done` only when every applicable cell is `pass`, `warn`, `incomplete` or `n/a`, and the banner has two to four chips. |
 | 9 | `contact-sheet` | A human (or an independent verifier) views the set on both GitHub page colours before rollout. Pass PNGs: `card --png`, `org-tile --png` previews, or install the optional `resvg_py` (`requirements-preview.txt`) so SVG inputs (the intro's static frame) render too; otherwise an SVG input exits 2. |
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ content sidebar --facts FILE [--packages FILE]... [--current FILE] [--repo OWNER
 | `intro` | Renders the profile intro (animated only for the personal profile and T1 flagship orgs; `.still` reduced-motion frame). | `--out` |
 | `footer` | Prints the decision 18 footer using the published masters in this skill's `assets/brand/`, between `showcase:footer` markers, or checks that the README ends with it; `--check --online` also HEADs both raw logo URLs and fails (`fail:offline`) unless both return 200 (the Phase 4.0 hard gate). `--org OWNER` answers `exempt`, `exempt:footer` or `hold` for an org outside the footer's scope; for the watching org, `--check` still reads the README (its `.github` gets the footer, and `--org` cannot tell it from a fork). | stdout |
 | `readme` | Scaffolds, upgrades or refreshes the header marker blocks; never drops a line (multiset check). `--bootstrap` fills a template body only while its marker's sha256 still matches (a person's edit makes the block theirs). | `README.md` with `--write`; `CONTRIBUTING.md` with `--bootstrap` |
-| `lint` | SVG rules, README rules (R7 plus decisions 13 and 18) and banner PNG checks; `public-leak` checks any public file the run writes against the estate's private set (private slugs and names under every login of the owner, members-only pins, internal notes from the org rows, the registry's top-level notes and judge_changes and the profile's internal keys; OPS-03), reading the private registry and `--meta-dir` only; `prose` runs the CQ-17 checks on text the run writes (§1.2 brand strings, no emoji, no placeholders, the §4.1 formula for descriptions and taglines, typos when the optional `codespell` is installed; `--preserved` text only warns). | nothing |
+| `lint` | SVG rules, README rules (R7 plus decisions 13 and 18; the destination and title of an inline link are literal text, never an image, and a comment opener inside a complete HTML tag is text) and banner PNG checks; `public-leak` checks any public file the run writes against the estate's private set (private slugs and names under every login of the owner, members-only pins, internal notes from the org rows, the registry's top-level notes and judge_changes and the profile's internal keys; OPS-03), reading the private registry and `--meta-dir` only; `prose` runs the CQ-17 checks on text the run writes (§1.2 brand strings, no emoji, no placeholders, the §4.1 formula for descriptions and taglines, typos when the optional `codespell` is installed; `--preserved` text only warns). | nothing |
 | `contact-sheet` | Lays outputs out the way GitHub shows them, on `#0d1117` and `#ffffff` (proofing surfaces, not asset variants). `--org ORG --cross-surface` is the G4 gate: the org avatar at 32 px, a hero banner, a repo card, the social preview and the org banner on one labelled sheet; a missing surface is logged `needs-input:cross-surface:<surface>` (result `incomplete`). | `PATH.on-github-dark.png`, `PATH.on-github-light.png` |
 | `doctor` | Prints the definition-of-done row: `R1`–`R11`, `banner`, `icon`, `card`, `footer`, `done`. No network. `--estate` classifies every repository in `--meta-dir` that `registry/estate.yaml` does not list with `decisions/POLICY.md` (`keep`, `move`, `archive`, `delete`, `merge`, `rename`, `rename-default-branch`; never acted on) and diffs the template-managed files of template-born checkouts against the current template (bump PRs are proposals). | `--out` (merges its own entries into `NEW_PROPOSALS.yaml`; others stay) |
 | `new` | Plans a repository from the template: the `gh repo create OWNER/NAME --template CompleteTech-LLC/completetech-repo-template --private` writer job, then `adopt` on it (naming N1–N4 and the §5.4 type are checked first; the watching org, placeholder orgs and refused owners exit 2). | `--records`, `--jobs` |