chore(release): cut v1.8.26

.agentcortex/bin/deploy.sh

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ TARGET="${TARGET:-.}"
 TARGET="${TARGET%/}"
 
 MANIFEST_FILE="$TARGET/.agentcortex-manifest"
-ACX_VERSION="1.8.25"
+ACX_VERSION="1.8.26"
 
 # --- Self-deploy guard ---
 TARGET_ABS="$(cd "$TARGET" 2>/dev/null && pwd || echo "$TARGET")"

.agentcortex/context/.guard_receipt.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "expected_sha": "dd77b4f39777466835988468b07814ca8bd22ef580b2673d37b21f96cfa27db6",
+  "expected_sha": "d2831acb1a5c1fa22528706524e6ed50479741d425b5bc81749efc7da8606484",
   "mode": "replace",
-  "new_sha": "d2831acb1a5c1fa22528706524e6ed50479741d425b5bc81749efc7da8606484",
+  "new_sha": "d2622d215737951bb4edcca09cefc27d3391dce281f7b344ae5012b315c63d61",
   "target": ".agentcortex/context/current_state.md",
-  "timestamp": 1788609072
+  "timestamp": 1788616412
 }

.agentcortex/context/archive/INDEX.jsonl

@@ -170,3 +170,4 @@
 {"branch": "feat/skill-trigger-accuracy-eval-398", "classification": "feature", "decisions": ["D-5 supersedes D-4: runner is source-only", "AC-7 partially met, not rewritten", "premise refuted: intent_patterns has no runtime consumer"], "log": "feat-skill-trigger-accuracy-eval-398-20260901.md", "modules": [".agentcortex/eval/skills.yaml", ".agentcortex/tools/run_skill_eval.py", ".agentcortex/tests/test_skill_trigger_eval.py"], "patterns": ["eval-suite", "premise-refutation", "no-runtime-consumer", "roundtable-rejected-demolition"], "prev_sha": "7239221b", "shipped": "2026-09-01", "specs": ["docs/specs/skill-trigger-accuracy-eval.md"]}
 {"branch": "docs/downstream-stability-audit-findings", "classification": "quick-win", "decisions": ["File only primary-agent-reproduced findings; carry unreproduced subagent reports as leads in #194", "Expose exactly one finding (#191) as public issue #430 per the issue-exposure policy", "Put the audit continuation in a committed backlog row, not a gitignored Work Log or a session-local resume handle"], "log": "docs-downstream-stability-audit-findings-20260905.md", "modules": ["docs/specs/_product-backlog.md"], "patterns": ["downstream-simulation", "evidence-before-adding", "ai-discoverable-handoff"], "prev_sha": "0b7a27be", "shipped": "2026-09-05", "specs": ["backlog #188-#194"]}
 {"branch": "fix/precommit-credential-failopen", "classification": "hotfix", "decisions": ["Reject floor-first-always; keep probe + fallthrough", "The probe is justified on parity, not on security", "Classification stays hotfix above the rule minimum", "Fix the false positive at its source, not by re-scoping the floor"], "log": "fix-precommit-credential-failopen-20260905.md", "modules": [".githooks/pre-commit.guard-ssot.sample", ".agentcortex/tools/credential_floor.sh", ".agentcortex/tools/credential_floor.ps1", ".agentcortex/tools/scan_credentials.py"], "patterns": ["fail-open", "interpreter-startability", "advertised-but-unenforced", "paired-check-parity"], "prev_sha": "dc48eafa", "shipped": "2026-09-05", "specs": ["docs/specs/dev-flow-hardening.md#AC-8", "docs/specs/downstream-adaptability-optimization.md#AC-S4"]}
+{"branch": "chore/release-v1.8.26", "classification": "quick-win", "decisions": [], "log": "chore-release-v1.8.26-20260905.md", "modules": [".agentcortex/bin/deploy.sh", "CITATION.cff", "CHANGELOG.md", "docs/AGENT_MODEL_GUIDE.md", ".agentcortex/docs/TESTING_PROTOCOL.md"], "patterns": ["release-cut", "adopter-delta-measured", "honest-subset-claim"], "prev_sha": "3a792eb8", "shipped": "2026-09-05", "specs": []}

.agentcortex/context/archive/chore-release-v1.8.26-20260905.md

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+# Work Log: chore/release-v1.8.26
+
+## Header
+
+- Branch: `chore/release-v1.8.26`
+- Classification: `quick-win`
+- Classified by: `claude-opus-5`
+- Frozen: `2026-09-05`
+- Created Date: `2026-09-05`
+- Owner: `KbWen`
+- Guardrails Mode: `Quick`
+- Current Phase: `ship`
+- Diff Base SHA: `0b08cb5`
+- Checkpoint SHA: `none`
+- Recommended Skills: `verification-before-completion, karpathy-principles`
+- Primary Domain Snapshot: `release metadata`
+- SSoT Sequence: `168`
+
+---
+
+## Session Info
+
+- Agent: `claude-opus-5`
+- Session: `2026-09-05 14:30 UTC`
+- Platform: `claude-code`
+- Files Read: `6`
+
+---
+
+## Task Description
+
+Cut release v1.8.26. Bump the seven canonical version surfaces plus `CITATION.cff` `date-released`, and write the CHANGELOG entry for the three units merged since v1.8.25 (#183, #398, #433). No engine, gate, or configuration change.
+
+---
+
+## Phase Sequence
+
+| Phase | Status | Entered | Notes |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| bootstrap | done | 2026-09-05 | quick-win, matching `chore/release-v1.8.23` precedent |
+| plan | done | 2026-09-05 | 8 surfaces + CHANGELOG; downstream delta measured first |
+| implement | done | 2026-09-05 | version bump + CHANGELOG entry |
+| review | n/a | — | quick-win: optional, evidence inline |
+| test | n/a | — | quick-win: optional, evidence inline |
+| handoff | n/a | — | quick-win exempt |
+| ship | pending | — | — |
+
+---
+
+## Phase Summary
+
+**bootstrap/plan** — Classified `quick-win` on the `chore/release-v1.8.23` precedent (same shape, same archive header). The plan step that mattered was measuring the adopter delta **before** writing the notes rather than describing the release from its commit list: `git diff --name-only v1.8.25..HEAD` intersected with the deploy manifest golden gives **6 of 26** changed files actually reaching an adopter. That number, not the 14-commit log, is what the Downstream delta paragraph states.
+
+**implement** — Seven version surfaces plus `CITATION.cff date-released` bumped 1.8.25 → 1.8.26 / 2026-08-27 → 2026-09-05, each by an asserted single-occurrence replace. CHANGELOG entry written in house format. The release notes lead with the one instruction an adopter must act on: **re-run the INSTALL copy**, because `.githooks/pre-commit` is a user-made copy `deploy.sh` never rewrites — without that line the release would claim a fix most existing adopters do not have, which is the same over-promise class this release fixes.
+
+⚡ ACX
+
+---
+
+## Gate Evidence
+
+- Gate: bootstrap | Verdict: PASS | Classification: quick-win | Timestamp: 2026-09-05T14:30:00Z
+- Gate: plan | Verdict: PASS | Classification: quick-win | Timestamp: 2026-09-05T14:35:00Z
+- Gate: implement | Verdict: PASS | Classification: quick-win | Timestamp: 2026-09-05T14:45:00Z
+
+---
+
+## External References
+
+| Type | Path / URL | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| PR | https://github.com/KbWen/agentic-os/pull/433 | the security fix this release carries |
+| Backlog | `#195` / `#196` / `#197` / `#194(b)-(h)` | named in the release notes as NOT done |
+| Guard | `tests/ci/test_release_version_consistency.py` | pins all 8 surfaces to `deploy.sh` |
+
+---
+
+## Known Risk
+
+- The hook fix does not reach an already-installed `.githooks/pre-commit`. Mitigated only by the release notes; the mechanical fix is filed as **#197**, not attempted here.
+- Rollback: revert the version bump commit; no state migration. The tag/Release are the only non-git artifacts and are created after merge.
+
+---
+
+## Decisions
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Conflict Resolution
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Skill Notes
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Drift Log
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Review Feedback
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Red Team Findings
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Design Reference
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Observability
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Resume
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Test Gate Results
+
+none
+
+---
+
+## Evidence
+
+- **Adopter delta measured, not assumed**: `git diff --name-only v1.8.25..HEAD` = 26 files; intersected with `deploy_manifest_golden.txt` = **6** — `.githooks/pre-commit.guard-ssot.sample`, `credential_floor.sh`, `credential_floor.ps1`, `scan_credentials.py`, `repo-gotchas.md`, `current_state.md` (scaffold, adopter copy preserved). `run_skill_eval.py` and `eval/skills.yaml` are **not** in the deploy set (grep count 0), so #398's suite is upstream-only.
+- Release guard `tests/ci/test_release_version_consistency.py`: **2 passed** after the bump.
+- Version-sensitive subset run locally: `test_release_version_consistency.py` + `test_deploy_tiering.py` + `test_pre_commit_hook.py` -> **47 passed, 1 skipped** (9:41). This is a **subset, not CI-equivalent** - the full 947-test suite runs on CI's three Windows shards, which is the real environment for it; no local full-suite claim is made for this cut.
+- Stale-version sweep after the bump: the only surviving `1.8.25` outside `CHANGELOG.md`/archive is inside the v1.8.25 Ship History entry, which `ship.md` forbids editing. Correct to leave.

.agentcortex/context/archive/ship-history-2026.md

@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 
 Archived from `current_state.md ## Ship History` to stay within the 10-entry cap. Entries are rotated out verbatim (per ship.md §205 — never edited), newest-archived first.
 
+### Ship-fix-agents-md-backlog-write-scope-178-2026-08-23
+- Feature shipped: **backlog #178 — a precedence contradiction that fired on every non-`tiny-fix` bootstrap is gone.** `AGENTS.md` §Write Isolation scoped `_product-backlog.md` writes to spec-intake/ship, while `bootstrap.md §1` step 5 **mandates** a `Pending → In Progress` advance at bootstrap and calls it the only valid such transition. Under the documented precedence (AGENTS.md > workflows) the governance surface forbade the step the workflow required. **Reproduced live** during this session's #175 bootstrap before being fixed here. Resolved by **widening the enumeration, not by moving the advance**: the bootstrap step is the behaviour the repo wants, so the surface that failed to name it is the one that was wrong — moving it would have traded a text defect for a behaviour change, and later phases are not guaranteed to run for every classification, so a row could sit `Pending` while work proceeded.
+- **The §13 trim is real, not a formality.** Deletion-First requires a change to an always-loaded surface to cite a deletion in the same change. That `AGENTS.md` line carried **two duplicate no-Python fallback clauses** — one parenthetical, one trailing sentence, both left by the 2026-05-26 compression pass `f3b3b81` — which are merged into one here. Net **0 lines**, **+56 characters**, recorded honestly in the Work Log rather than claimed as a wash. The directive-count ratchet held at **37/37**, and the green was mutation-verified before being trusted: appending one `MUST` to the file yields `count 38 exceeds baseline 37 (growth)`.
+- **Sub-item reconciled, and its knock-on stated at true size.** `docs/specs/downstream-adaptability-optimization.md` frontmatter read `status: frozen` while the SSoT Spec Index had recorded `[Shipped 2026-06-14, PR #238]` since June; it is now `shipped`. The index entry was confirmed present **first**, because under ADR-010 the Spec-Index-completeness check *skips* `frozen` but *requires* `shipped` specs to be indexed — flipping an unindexed spec would have turned a skip into a FAIL. One stale word in `tests/ci/test_validator_absent_tool_signal.py:43` ("frozen" → "shipped") was corrected in the same change. **Backlog #177's premise was rewritten rather than left to rot**: its frozen-gate half is now gone, but **AC-S5's wording still blocks** collapsing the two `deploy.sh` sites — that needs a spec-freshness update, not an unfreeze.
+- **The gate caught two of my own errors mid-implement, both from running it rather than reading it.** (1) Editing `AGENTS.md` stales `trigger-compact-index.json`; the first `validate.ps1` run came back `fail=2` (`metadata deep validation` + `compact index freshness`) until `generate_compact_index.py` was re-run in the same change. (2) A new backlog row was filed with `Labels: dx` — but `dx` is a **Kind** value, not an existing label, which violates `bootstrap.md §5`'s label-reuse rule and tripped `backlog label vocabulary: 16 distinct labels (>15)`. Corrected to the existing `tooling`; the vocabulary is back to 15.
+- **Test-cost measured, and it is worse than the backlog says.** Real job times from the #417 CI run: `Pytest (Windows) (1)` **21m57s** against shards 2 and 3 at **3m19s** and **4m14s**, while Linux runs the *entire* 897-test suite in **3m29s**. The cost is Windows process-spawn tax, not test count, and the shards are badly unbalanced because `--splits 3 --group N` runs with **no committed `.test_durations`**, so pytest-split falls back to an even *count* split and clusters every subprocess-shelling deploy test onto one shard. Backlog **#88** already tracks this but records `7:14` — stale by ~3×. Balanced, the same ~29.5 minutes of work is ~10 min/shard: a >2× CI wall-clock cut from one committed file. Two paths are already closed and should not be re-proposed: `pytest-xdist` was **measured slower** here, and deselecting `slow` in CI is explicitly rejected in `pytest.ini` (subprocess fidelity is the point). New row **#181** files the macOS-coverage gap this measurement surfaced — filed on a *verified absence* (15 ubuntu + 2 windows + **0 macos**) rather than a suspected break, since a BSD-vs-GNU scan of both shipped shell scripts came back clean and `sha256sum` already carries a deliberate `shasum`/`openssl` fallback.
+- Tests: `validate.ps1` **exit 0 · pass=118 warn=3 fail=0 skip=2** and `validate.sh` **exit 0 · pass=118 warn=4 fail=0 skip=2**, both printing an **unqualified** `Agentic OS integrity check passed`. The one-WARN delta is again this session's own `stale advisory work log locks` — the 60-minute `stale_timeout_minutes` elapsed during a 90-minute suite, i.e. the documented phase-granular limitation in `config.yaml §worklog_lock`, not twin divergence. Full CI-equivalent suite with **no `-m` filter**: **896 passed, 1 skipped, exit 0** in 1:30:03. Targeted first: `test_directive_count_ratchet.py` + `test_validator_absent_tool_signal.py` → 14 passed.
+
 ### Ship-fix-validator-twin-parity-176-175-2026-08-23
 - Feature shipped: **backlog #175 — `validate.ps1` no longer mojibakes its own output on a non-UTF-8 Windows console.** The file's `§` and `—` were rendered through the console's code page; on a cp950/Big5 box they came out as `0xA1B1` / `0xA158`. `[Console]::OutputEncoding` is **process-global** and the validator runs in the caller's live session, so a set-and-leave would have mutated console state after exit: the fix saves it, sets UTF-8 (`New-Object System.Text.UTF8Encoding $false`), and restores it in a matching `finally` that wraps the whole script. **+15 lines, 0 deletions, no re-indentation of the 2840-line body** — a PowerShell `try` block creates no scope (measured: locals, `$script:` vars and functions all survive it), and `finally` runs on the script's `exit 1` while preserving the code (measured: `exitcode=1`).
 - **The backlog row was wrong and measurement corrected it.** Row #175 recorded that the bug "does not reproduce on `pwsh` 7 (the invocation `README.md:38` documents)", which would have made this a 5.1-only curiosity. Measured on the redirected byte stream — the path CI and any log capture see — `powershell` 5.1 and `pwsh` 7 emit **identical** big5 bytes; after the fix both emit correct UTF-8 (`0xC2A7` / `0xE28094`) and `restored=big5` confirms the caller's console is handed back. The row is corrected in place rather than silently shipped around.