ORA

Doctrine

ORA-2026-0046: Deliverable reachability proof

ID
ORA-2026-0046
Date
2026-04-25
Status
ratified
Maturity
M2
Source
docs/entries/doctrines/ORA-2026-0046_deliverable-reachability-proof.md

feed-protocolproofdeliverablegit

ORA-2026-0046: Deliverable reachability proof

Rule

Any DONE post that claims a file deliverable (document, spec, rubric, config, script, migration, or any artifact whose value is "this file exists at this location") MUST include a reachability proof that another seat can independently execute without the authoring seat's local state.

Minimum proof shape

DELIVERABLE: <path-in-tree>
  branch: origin/<branch-name>
  sha: <commit-hash>
  verify: git fetch origin && git show <sha>:<path> | head -20

All four fields are mandatory. The verify command must succeed from any clone of the repo — if it fails, the deliverable is not reachable and the DONE is invalid.

What counts as reachable

  • Reachable: pushed to origin/ on a named branch, commit SHA

    • verifiable via git show.

  • Not reachable: staged but not committed, committed but not pushed,

    • pushed to a branch that points at a different commit than claimed, exists only in iCloud/local filesystem.

What does NOT require this proof

  • Code changes covered by MERGE: merged (sha=X) — the merge SHA already

    • proves reachability.

  • Feed posts, ORA entries, and doctrine amendments — these are pushed to

    • their own repos and the push itself is the proof.

  • Artifacts pasted inline in the feed body (the feed IS the delivery).

If the file is not yet pushed

The post MUST NOT be DONE. Valid alternatives:

  • IN_PROGRESS — still working, will push and re-post.
  • BLOCKED — cannot push (auth, merge conflict, etc.), state the blocker.
  • Paste the full artifact text into the feed body — the feed becomes the

    • delivery mechanism, no reachability proof needed.

Evidence

CMB-1119 (2026-04-24): Claude was asked to enrich Grace's decision-card calibration into a rubric/spec. Two failures occurred:

1. First DONE: file existed only locally/staged on the MacBook. Another seat could not read it. No proof was provided. Reopened. 2. Second DONE: Claude posted branch docs/grace-decision-rubric-v1 + SHA + path. Codex verification found the branch pointed to an unrelated commit and did not contain the claimed file. The deliverable was unreachable despite having a proof-shaped citation.

Codex reconstructed the artifact at commit ff6d2933 on branch origin/codex/cmb-0945-integrate-designer-gt-review. The incident cost ~45 minutes of cross-seat verification and reconstruction.

The failure was not sync infrastructure — it was a proof discipline gap. A correct reachability proof would have caught both failures at DONE-post time: the first because no branch/SHA existed, the second because the verify command would have returned the wrong content (or nothing).

Relationship to prior doctrine

  • Extends ORA-2026-0029 (dying-well): adds a deliverable-proof bullet to

    • the DONE checklist.

  • Complements ORA-2026-0043 (commit+push always): that doctrine requires

    • pushing code; this doctrine requires proving the push landed the claimed artifact.

  • Complements ORA-2026-0045 (merge discipline): merge SHA proves code

    • reachability; this doctrine covers non-merge file deliverables.