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Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5 bbfd9103f4 Stage C: cut over BLK-ATTACH-EVENT alone -- FABRIC-3.6.md task 3.8 
The reply leg (Artemis -> Hera ack) that used to flow through
common:messaging.4th's MSG-SEND/MSG-TICK now goes through
kernel-Hermes's sk_hermes_send_one()/sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()
instead -- FORTH Hermes never sees a BLK-ATTACH-EVENT message again
(SXXXIV.2's partition rule). The request leg was never real FORTH
messaging traffic to begin with (a direct VM-EXEC, no type tag,
forced by Hera's own inability to load common:messaging.4th), so it
is untouched.

New KH-BLK-ATTACH-SEND (repl.c) wraps sk_hermes_send_one(), reached
from capsules/artemis/init.4th's HERA-BLK-ATTACH-REQ. Delivery reuses
task 3.4's already-wired sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint(); BLK-ATTACH-ACK
itself is unchanged, just reached by a different layer.
SK_HERMES_MSG_TYPE_BLK_ATTACH deliberately reuses BLK-ATTACH-EVENT's
own value (9) to document this as a cutover of the same message, not
a new one.

Two real bugs found on the way, both recorded in FABRIC-3.6.md's
findings log:
- A popped FORTH CREATE-buffer address was raw-cast to a host pointer
  instead of going through vm_ptr() -- silently read all-zero memory,
  no crash, no error, just a message that arrived and did nothing.
  Fixed; the rule and its exception (repl.c's own dev-addr is
  legitimately a raw pointer, formatted that way by its own pushing
  code) are written up for the next FORTH-facing C word.
- A separate, genuine hang on the very first live exercise of this
  path, never reproduced across ten subsequent boots. Reported, not
  chased -- not blocking, per the task's own check being otherwise
  fully satisfied.

Also found live: log_message() is invisible in this build's actual
serial-log capture at every level -- settled on a single
console_println in the real drain target instead, one line per real
USB attach, not a hot-path.

Final acceptance (logs/20260922-105501, -105758, -110304, disk images
reset before each): dict_hash identical across all three
architectures for every VM, zero UNKNOWN WORD, mkcapsule --lint
clean, real ledger+stadium_conserved(Artemis)=true evidence on every
boot.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-22 11:08:26 -04:00

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# FABRIC-3.6.md — the Tripod/kernel reshuffle: execution log
> ## START HERE — session handoff
>
> **If you have just been told "go build it", read this section, then `FABRIC-3.5.md`'s §XLI,
> then start at task 0.0 below. Do not re-derive the design — it is settled.**
>
> **Where the code is.** This repo is **LithosAnanke, on the Gitea instance at
> `gitea.strshipos.com`, repo `admin/LithosAnanake`** — Captain Bob has the credentials.
> **Confirm you are in the right repo before anything else.** `git remote -v` must show
> `gitea.strshipos.com/admin/LithosAnanake`. **Nothing outside Gitea is this project.** (The
> handoff was authored in a container whose default working directory was a *different*, empty
> repo on an unrelated remote — if you ever see that, you are in the wrong place.) `master` is
> the sole production line. Work on branch **`claude/starshipos-tripod-kernel-reshuffle-itbjns`**
> (a clean fast-forward of `master` at `e56974e`; **documentation only — no reshuffle code has
> been written**. The branch head is the source of truth; do not trust a commit id quoted here).
>
> **The two documents.** `FABRIC-3.5.md` is the **design record and is authoritative** — every
> ruling, with its reasoning and evidence, §I–§XLIII. **This** document is the execution log.
> Rulings are cited here, never restated. **If a task proves a ruling wrong, record the finding
> here and amend `FABRIC-3.5.md` — never silently diverge.**
>
> **First action: task 0.0**, the three-ISA baseline. It is a gate, not a formality — see its
> own rationale below. **Nothing else starts until it is recorded.**
>
> **Five traps this project's own history proves are real. A fresh session will walk into these:**
>
> 1. **Silent failure is the dominant mode here.** `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXV.0 lists four
> independent instances. Most relevantly: *"a switch storm and a healthy idle REPL produce an
> identical serial log."* **A green boot is weak evidence.** Name the specific observation
> that proves a task worked, before running it.
> 2. **`grep` cannot establish capsule reachability.** Capsules are birthed by name from runtime
> strings. A reference count over `capsules/` and `src/` put the six live `init-l8-*`
> capsules at **zero references**; including `experiments/` found 18–19 each. §XXII.2. **Use
> the three routes, never grep alone.**
> 3. **`fleet_conserved` cannot see Stadium heat.** The two heat accountings are entirely
> decoupled (§XXXIX). A leaking message allocator leaves `fleet_conserved` reporting a serene
> `1`. **Stage B's evidence is the ledger plus `stadium_conserved()`, never `fleet_conserved`.**
> 4. **`dict_hash` *changing* is expected; `dict_hash` *diverging* across architectures is the
> stop condition.** §XXXIV.6. Do not "fix" a changed hash.
> 5. **Documentation in this repo drifts from the code — trust the code.** `.claude/CLAUDE.md`
> carried four stale claims; **all four were corrected 2026-09-19 (§XLIV) and it is now
> reliable.** Others are not: `capsules/MANIFEST.md` still describes block 4055 as a live
> "immutable ABI" that `FABRIC-2.md:2773` declared stale, and still misdescribes block 2049.
> `FABRIC-0.md` §25.7 lists resolved defects as open. **Where a document and the code
> disagree, the code wins — and record the drift rather than working around it.**
>
> **Blocked, and not to be worked around:** Phase 3 needs three decisions from Captain Bob —
> **B1** channels (one membership or negotiation), **B2** the `SK_SWITCH_MAX_SLOTS` ceiling of
> 16, **B4** the payload bound against `INPUT_BUFFER_SIZE` 1025. **All design is complete; these
> are rulings, not investigations.**
>
> **Do not:** create branches, stash, fix defects found in passing, bundle tasks into one
> commit, or start any task without explicit authorization. Captain Bob's Law,
> `.claude/CLAUDE.md`.
**Status: LIVING WORKING DOCUMENT, opened 2026-09-19.** This is the **execution** record for
the reshuffle designed in `FABRIC-3.5.md`. Work is tracked, annotated and closed here.
**Why this is a separate document, per the series' own rule.** `FABRIC-1.md` closed at **4,420
lines** for a stated reason: *"continuing to append here made the still-open work hard to find."*
`FABRIC-3.5.md` stands at **4,452 lines** with 40+ open punch items scattered among hundreds of
settled rulings — **it has crossed the same threshold, for the same reason.** Annotating a task
list inside it, commit by commit, would bury the design record it exists to be.
**The split of responsibility is strict, and stated because `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXI found that
documents in this series lose track of each other:**
| | `FABRIC-3.5.md` | `FABRIC-3.6.md` (this) |
|---|---|---|
| **Holds** | The design record — every ruling, its reasoning, its evidence | The work — tasks, results, dates, commits |
| **State** | Design phase closed; archival close at `v2.1.0` (§XXVI.5) | Living until the work is done |
| **On a conflict** | **Authoritative** | Defers, and records the discrepancy |
**Design rulings are never restated here, only cited** (`§XXXIV.2`, `§XL.4`, …). If a task needs
a rule explained, read `FABRIC-3.5.md`. **If executing a task proves a ruling wrong, that is a
finding: record it here and amend `FABRIC-3.5.md` there** — never silently diverge.
**The checkbox convention is deliberate.** `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXI.2 found the series'
carry-forward discipline was mechanically auditable (`grep -c '\- \[ \]'`) up to `FABRIC-2.md`,
and **broke at `FABRIC-3.md`, which uses no checkboxes at all** — after which "is anything still
open?" stopped being a `grep` and became a reading exercise. **This document restores the
convention**, so that question stays answerable by machine.
---
## Standing rules
Apply to **every** task, from `.claude/CLAUDE.md` and `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXIV:
- **One task, one commit.** No bundling.
- **Acceptance is the three-architecture QEMU boot** — `clean qemu`, amd64/aarch64/riscv64, one
at a time, in the foreground. Logs committed. There is no other acceptance test.
- **`dict_hash` changing is expected. `dict_hash` *diverging* between architectures is a stop
condition** (§XXXIV.6).
- **`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean** after any capsule change.
- **No task starts without explicit authorization.** Captain Bob's Law.
- **Report, don't fix.** A defect found while doing a task is recorded here, not repaired in
passing.
## Annotation convention
```
- [x] 0.2 — Strip common/msg.4th
2026-09-DD · commit abc1234 · 3-arch boot clean, lint 0 violations
note: <anything surprising; a finding gets its own entry below>
```
Mark `[~]` for started-not-finished, with what is outstanding. **Never mark `[x]` on a task
whose check did not actually run** — `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXV.6 records that declaring done too
early is this project's most repeated failure.
---
## Pre-flight — establish the baseline before anything changes
**Branch state at open (2026-09-19):** `claude/starshipos-tripod-kernel-reshuffle-itbjns`, head
`3a4e5cf`, **working tree clean, pushed, 33 commits ahead of `master`** — all documentation, no
code. `master` is unmoved at `e56974e`, so the branch remains a clean fast-forward. **Execution
starts from this commit.**
- [x] **0.0** — **Three-ISA baseline smoke test on the unmodified branch.**
`make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=<arch> clean qemu` for amd64, aarch64, riscv64 — one at
a time, in the foreground, per `.claude/CLAUDE.md`.
*Check:* all three reach `zuse)ok>`; zero `UNKNOWN WORD`; logs committed under
`logs/<timestamp>/<arch>/`; **record each `dict_hash` and confirm the three are
identical.**
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-130023/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-130137/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-130319/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
`dict_hash` identical across all three: Hera (`PARITY:M7.1a`) `0x6824fe5993239838`,
Hermes `0x062252c4da6858da`, Artemis `0xed80117724c26f36`.
note: **first attempt confounded, see findings log** — `logs/20260919-124835/amd64/` and
`logs/20260919-124952/aarch64/` (kept, not deleted) show Artemis's `dict_hash` diverging
(`0xed80117724c26f36` vs `0x93d6e815354b61c0`) purely because `disk/artemis.img` is shared
across all three ISAs' `qemu` targets (`FABRIC-3.md` §XXXV.2) and the second run resumed
the first run's already-formatted disk instead of formatting its own. Restored
`disk/artemis.img` and `disk/thumbdrives/zuse-thumb-ident.img` to their committed blank
state (`git checkout --`) before each of the three reruns above to remove the confound.
**Why this is a gate and not a formality.** Every task in this document takes the
three-architecture boot as its acceptance (§XXXIV). **Without a known-good baseline captured
first, the first red boot is ambiguous** — pre-existing fault or something task 0.2 just did?
This project has been bitten by exactly that ambiguity before (`FABRIC-3.md` §XXVI: "the
lockdown was never broken — wrong VM tested"). The baseline is what makes every later
acceptance run interpretable, and the recorded `dict_hash` triple is the reference every
subsequent §XXXIV.6 divergence check compares against.
**Run it yourself — you are expected to.** Captain Bob confirmed (2026-09-19) that execution
happens on his PC with the full toolchain installed, so **the session reading this can and
should run task 0.0 directly**, once authorized. Verify first that `qemu-system-x86_64`,
`qemu-system-aarch64`, `qemu-system-riscv64`, the aarch64/riscv64 cross-compilers and
OVMF/AAVMF are all present; **if any are missing you are not on the intended machine — stop and
say so rather than improvising a partial test.**
*(Historical note: this document was authored in a container with none of that toolchain, which
is why task 0.0 was written but never run. Do not take its unchecked state as a prior failure —
it has simply not been attempted.)*
---
## Phase 0 — Preparation (no behaviour change)
**Gate:** all three architectures boot to `zuse)ok>`, `stadium_conserved()` true, no
`UNKNOWN WORD`.
- [x] **0.1** — Establish Category A reachability by §XXII.2's three routes (boot path, tooling,
baked capsule directory). **Never by grep alone.**
*Check:* a written list naming the route that proves each entry dead.
2026-09-19 · investigation only, no code changed. Checked by all three routes — a boot-path
trace of `init.4th`/`hera`/`hermes/init.4th`/`artemis/init.4th` for any `EXEC`/`S" name"`
load, an experiments/tools/docs invocation search, and confirming presence in the baked
capsule directory doesn't by itself make a name reachable if nothing constructs it at
runtime:
| Candidate | Boot path | Tooling/experiments/docs | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| `capsules/common/msg.4th` | zero `EXEC`/load sites in any boot-loaded capsule | zero invocations; its only two words `HERMES-ACK`/`HERMES-NACK` have zero callers anywhere; `messaging.4th` block 5033's own comment: "common:msg.4th's HERMES-ACK/NACK indirection is retired" | **DEAD** |
| `capsules/process.4th` | zero `EXEC` sites anywhere | zero invocations; its four words `SPAWN`/`PAUSE`/`RESUME`/`KILL-VM` have zero callers outside the file itself | **DEAD** |
| `SPAWN-EVENT` (constant, `messaging.4th`) | N/A — a constant, only ever defined, never read by name | zero invocations by name anywhere | **DEAD** |
Both files are present in the baked capsule directory (`mkcapsule` build log: `[p]
common:msg.4th`, `[p] process.4th`) — noted per §XXII.2 that presence alone proves
nothing; it only means nothing constructs either name at runtime to reach them, which the
other two routes confirm.
finding: `EVENT-EMIT`/`EVENT-WAIT`/`EVENT-DRAIN` (`messaging.4th`, Category B, staying)
have one caller beyond `process.4th` that §XXXIII.3 missed — `tools/hermes_smoke.sh` calls
all three directly. This does not make them live: the script is already broken on its own
terms, referencing `capsules/core/init.4th` and `build/amd64/standard/starforth`, neither
of which exists in this repo, and calling the pre-rename `CD-INIT` word (`messaging.4th`
block 5033 renamed it to `MSG-CD-INIT`) — it cannot currently execute. Task 0.3's plan
stands unchanged; recorded because §XXXIII.3's "only other reference is `MANIFEST.md`"
was itself an undercount of exactly the kind §XXII.2 warns about, even though the
conclusion survives.
finding: `PAUSE-EVENT`/`RESUME-EVENT`/`KILL-EVENT` (`messaging.4th`) are exactly as
dead-by-name as `SPAWN-EVENT` — zero references anywhere outside their own definition;
`process.4th`'s calls pass bare numeric literals (`1`/`2`/`3`/`4`), never the constant
names. Task 0.4 only names `SPAWN-EVENT`; not expanding its scope here, but flagging that
the other three meet the identical bar for whoever picks up Category A stripping next.
- [x] **0.2** — Strip `capsules/common/msg.4th`. *Check:* 3-arch boot; lint clean.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-131945/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-132054/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-132226/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean, 38 files, 0 violations (was 39 before the strip).
`dict_hash` **unchanged** from the task 0.0 baseline on all three (Hera
`0x6824fe5993239838`, Hermes `0x062252c4da6858da`, Artemis `0xed80117724c26f36`) — expected,
not a defect: task 0.1 confirmed `msg.4th` was never `EXEC`'d into any VM's dictionary, so
removing the dead file from the baked capsule directory doesn't move anything actually
loaded. `capsule-reserved.txt` not yet touched — block 4055's range is returned in task 0.6
per the punchlist's own ordering. `MANIFEST.md`'s stale block-4055 entry not yet corrected
— bundled into task 0.5 alongside block 2049's correction, per the punchlist.
- [x] **0.3** — Strip `capsules/process.4th` (takes `EVENT-EMIT`/`-WAIT`/`-DRAIN` with it,
§XXXIII.3). *Check:* 3-arch boot; lint clean.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-132914/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-133024/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-133156/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean, 37 files, 0 violations (was 38). Deleted
`capsules/process.4th` outright and `messaging.4th`'s Block 5030 in full
(`EVENT-EMIT`/`EVENT-WAIT`/`EVENT-DRAIN` — a self-contained block, nothing else in it).
`dict_hash`: Hera's `PARITY:M7.1a` snapshot unchanged (`0x6824fe5993239838` — it fires
before any capsule loads, so capsule edits never move it); Hermes and Artemis both moved
(`0xa0f5c639a1228596`, `0x1650cb7153056160`) since both load `messaging.4th` — **identical
across all three architectures**, which is the actual property that matters (§XXII.4: every
strip changes `dict_hash`, cross-arch identity is the invariant). `capsule-reserved.txt`
still untouched (task 0.6); `MANIFEST.md`'s stale block-4055/2049 entries still untouched
(task 0.5, now unblocked since both 0.2 and 0.3 are done).
- [x] **0.4** — Strip `SPAWN-EVENT`. *Check:* 3-arch boot; lint clean.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-133452/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-133559/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-133731/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean, 37 files, 0 violations (unchanged — a one-line edit
within `messaging.4th`, no file added or removed). Removed the single `1 CONSTANT
SPAWN-EVENT` line only, per task 0.1's finding — `PAUSE-EVENT`/`RESUME-EVENT`/`KILL-EVENT`
left in place, matching the punchlist's stated scope. `dict_hash` moved for Hermes/Artemis
(`0x52801b746e063ae9`, `0x6ad92fa3935918d4`), identical across all three architectures;
Hera's `PARITY:M7.1a` snapshot unchanged as before. `capsule-reserved.txt` and
`MANIFEST.md`'s stale entries still untouched — Phase 0's strips (0.2–0.4) are now all
done; 0.5 and 0.6 are next.
- [x] **0.5** — Correct `capsules/MANIFEST.md` blocks 4055 and 2049 **as their files are
stripped** (§XXII.5). *Check:* manifest describes no file that no longer exists.
2026-09-19 · documentation only, no capsule content touched, `mkcapsule --lint capsules/`
still clean (37 files, 0 violations). Block 2049's justification rewrote its claimed
`init.4th` load list (`compudynamics`, `common:msg`, `fleet-k`, `process`) against the
file's actual current content — none of those four are loaded there; two were already
deleted (`compudynamics.4th`/`fleet-k.4th`, `9323f776`), two are this pass's own strips.
The standalone `common/msg.4th` and `process.4th` sections (former blocks 4055 and
4300–4301) were removed and folded into "Deleted capsules (historical)" alongside the
existing `compudynamics.4th`/`fleet-k.4th` entry, same convention. Unassigned Ranges table
updated: 4055–4059 and 4300–4399 now read as former-file ranges rather than "extension
space" for files that no longer exist. Verified every remaining `### \`*.4th\`` section in
the manifest names a file actually present on disk — zero stale entries left.
- [x] **0.6** — Return freed block ranges to `capsule-reserved.txt`. *Check:* lint clean.
2026-09-19 · added `4055-4059` (former `common/msg.4th`) and `4300-4399` (former
`process.4th`) to `tools/capsule-reserved.txt`, each noted as freed by this reshuffle's
strip rather than owned by non-capsule infrastructure (the file's usual purpose) —
documented as lifted, not permanent, once someone deliberately wants a range back.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean, 37 files, 0 violations, and `check_reserved_conflicts()`
(the hard build-gate that actually reads this file, `tools/mkcapsule.c:974`) passes clean
on a real `make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 all` — confirms the new entries don't
collide with anything currently baked. Documentation/registry only, no capsule content
touched, so no 3-arch boot run for this task. All of Phase 0's strips and documentation
corrections (0.1–0.6) are now done; `stadium_conserved()` (0.7) and the `PLOT`/`FB-WIDTH`/
`FB-HEIGHT` registration audit (0.8) remain before Phase 0's gate is fully met.
- [x] **0.7** — Add `stadium_conserved()`: `Σ patron + reservoir + consumed == Q48_ONE`,
**epsilon zero** (§XL.4, item 41). *Check:* true on a clean boot, all three arches.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-135137/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-135240/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-135417/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
and print `Stadium conservation: CONSERVED` (all identical: resident_sum=47641
reservoir=17895 sum=65536=`Q48_ONE`). Implemented `int stadium_conserved(VMUuid vm_id)` in
`src/starkernel/vm/stadium.c` (declared `include/starkernel/vm/stadium.h`) as
`stadium_resident_sum(vm_id) + stadium_reservoir_peek(vm_id) == Q48_ONE` — the **two-term**
form, not three. §XL.4's `consumed` term is a Phase 2 kernel-Hermes ledger deliverable that
doesn't exist yet; nothing draws on any VM's Stadium quota today (Phase 2 task 2.2 is
literally where that wiring gets built), so `consumed` is honestly zero right now and
folding it in would be inventing Phase 2 state ahead of it existing. Doc comment on the
function says exactly this, so whoever builds Phase 2's ledger extends this function rather
than working around it. Wired into the existing per-VM boot diagnostic
(`stadium_words_print_boot_diagnostics()`, `kernel_main.c:810`, Hera only — the sole
existing call site) rather than adding a new one. No compiler warnings on either edited
file (checked with a forced recompile).
- [x] **0.8** — Audit that `PLOT`/`FB-WIDTH`/`FB-HEIGHT` are registered **nowhere** but the
table Hestia will own (item 33). *Check:* read-only; a second site is a defect to report.
2026-09-19 · read-only audit, no code changed. **Finding: they are reachable from every
VM today, not confined to one table.** Traced the two layers separately:
- **FORTH level** (the drawing vocabulary): `capsules/fabric.4th`/`font.4th` (which build
`CART-PLOT` etc. on top of raw `PLOT`) are `EXEC`'d only from `capsules/init.4th` — Hera
only. Neither `hermes/init.4th` nor `artemis/init.4th` load them. This layer matches
item 33's expectation and is exactly what tasks 1.6/1.7 move to `hestia/init.4th`.
- **C level** (the raw primitives themselves): `register_framebuffer_words()`
(`src/word_source/framebuffer_words.c:60-65`, registering `PLOT`/`FB-WIDTH`/
`FB-HEIGHT`) is called unconditionally from `register_forth79_words()`
(`src/word_registry.c:139`), which is itself called unconditionally from `vm_init()`
(`src/starkernel/vm/vm_bootstrap.c:263`) — **the generic per-VM bootstrap every VM goes
through, no identity check, no `#ifdef`.** So the raw primitives are already in every
VM's C-level dictionary at birth, Hestia or not.
- **Verified live, not just from source**: booted amd64 (`logs/20260919-140231/amd64/`)
and ran `S" FB-WIDTH ." S" Hermes" VM-EXEC` and the same against `Artemis` — **both
returned `1280`, not `UNKNOWN WORD`.** Neither loads `fabric.4th`, so this is the raw
C primitive itself answering, confirmed reachable from VMs that were never meant to
draw.
**Not fixed here** — read-only per the task, and this is exactly task 1.8's own stated
check ("a non-Hestia VM calling `PLOT` gets `UNKNOWN WORD` — verify positively"), which
this finding confirms currently **fails** and gives 1.8 a concrete starting state:
`register_framebuffer_words()`'s call site in `register_forth79_words()` will need to
become conditional on VM identity (or moved out of the universal bootstrap entirely),
not just the FORTH-level `fabric.4th` relocation tasks 1.6/1.7 already plan for.
**Phase 0 gate met**: all three architectures have repeatedly booted to `[zuse@Hera] ok>`
with `stadium_conserved()` true and zero `UNKNOWN WORD` across tasks 0.2–0.7. Phase 0 is
closed; Phase 1 (Hestia, messaging untouched) is next.
## Phase 1 — Hestia (messaging untouched)
**Gate:** Tripod is Hera/Artemis/Hestia **plus** Hermes; drawing works from Hestia and only
Hestia; headless policy intact.
- [x] **1.1** — Allocate Hestia's block range vs. `capsule-reserved.txt`, **avoiding 4997**.
*Check:* lint clean.
2026-09-19 · allocated **`4986–4996`** (11 blocks) for `hestia/init.4th`, documented in
`capsules/MANIFEST.md`'s Unassigned Ranges table (not `capsule-reserved.txt` — that file is
for blocks owned by non-capsule infrastructure, per its own header comment; a real capsule
allocation belongs in `MANIFEST.md`, same as every other infrastructure capsule). Checked
against the actual current occupancy, not the table's own stale blanket "4853+ OPEN" line:
`fabric.4th` occupies 4900–4924 and `font.4th` 4925–4985 already (both are their own
standalone capsule files, `EXEC`'d by `init.4th` but block-numbered independently of it —
task 1.6/1.7 relocate *which capsule EXECs them*, not their own block ranges), and 4997 is
the console proxy's hardcoded `Block 4997` string literal (`capsule_console.c:27-29`).
4986–4996 sits in the gap between the two, avoiding 4997 as required, with room for
Hestia's initial messaging-load/banner shape (task 1.2) plus moderate growth (bind
vocabulary, per §XVIII.5) without colliding with anything. No `.4th` file created yet.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` still clean, 37 files, 0 violations (documentation-only, no
capsule content changed).
- [ ] **1.2** — Create `capsules/hestia/init.4th`: messaging load, `MSG-CD-INIT`, banner. **No
fabric yet.** *Check:* boots; Hestia not yet birthed.
- [x] **1.3** — Add Hestia to `is_fleet_foundation` (`capsule_birth.c:793-796`) — **four names,
Hermes retained** (§XXXIV.4). *Check:* 3-arch boot; Hermes still live.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-163734/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-163837/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-164005/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
**byte-identical to the pre-change baseline** (same `dict_hash` triple) — expected, since
nothing births anything named "Hestia" yet (that's task 1.4), so the added name in the
`is_fleet_foundation` check never matches. Added a fourth
`vm_name_prefix_eq_nocase(capsule_name, "Hestia")` alongside Hera/Hermes/Artemis in
`src/starkernel/capsule/capsule_birth.c`'s `is_fleet_foundation` local (the only
consequence of this flag: `session_set_pinned(vm_id, 1)` for whichever VM name matches).
Hermes confirmed still present in the check and still born normally (`BIRTH: Hermes live`
in all three logs).
- [x] **1.4** — Birth Hestia in `kernel_main.c`, **alongside** Hermes's existing birth.
*Check:* registry shows both; `dict_hash` identical across arches. *Change graphics metekey.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-165646/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-165802/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-165931/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
**Registry shows all four**: `BIRTH: Hermes live`, `BIRTH: Hestia live`,
`PARITY:BIRTH` lines for Hermes/Hestia/Artemis all present in every log. **Hestia's
`dict_hash` identical across all three architectures**: `0x31cab513929eea89`
(capsule_hash `0x3d3a87c3509ab7f3`, matching `hestia:init.4th`'s own hash). Hera/Hermes
hashes unchanged from task 1.3's baseline; Artemis's `vm_id` shifted (now the 4th birth
instead of the 3rd — `vm_id` is derived from birth-sequence position, not identity, so
this is expected, not a divergence) but its `dict_hash` is unchanged and still identical
across arches. Added a birth block in `src/starkernel/kernel_main.c` immediately after
Hermes's own (`S" Hestia" BIRTH` + registry-lookup confirmation), same shape as the
existing Hermes/Artemis blocks. No compiler warnings (forced recompile checked). Noted in
passing, not a regression: Hestia's birth log shows the same `( Unterminated comment`
HADES warning Artemis's own birth has shown since task 0.0's very first baseline — a
pre-existing quirk, not something this task introduced.
- [x] **1.5** — Register Hestia for switch signals (the `:1007` pattern). *Check:* boot clean;
**no switch storm** (§XXVIII.2's shape — and note it is invisible by default, §XXXV.0).
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-170232/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-170403/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-170537/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
hashes identical to task 1.4's baseline (switch-signal registration is pure C runtime
state, doesn't touch any FORTH dictionary). Added a fourth
`capsule_vm_find_by_name_nocase("Hestia", ...)` + `sk_vm_switch_signal_register(...)` block
in `src/starkernel/kernel_main.c`, same shape as the existing Hermes/Artemis blocks,
**after** all four fleet members are confirmed born (same "never register before birth is
confirmed" discipline the existing comment on this block already states).
**Took §XXXV.0's "invisible by default" warning literally rather than trusting a clean
boot log alone:** §XXVIII.2's own recorded storm signature is "QEMU pinned near 100% CPU,
serial log frozen solid" — not an error message, not `UNKNOWN WORD`. Named that signature
before running, then checked for it directly rather than just reading `ok>` and moving on:
confirmed each boot reached the prompt in normal wall-clock time (~30s, matching every
prior run in this document), and — since TCG itself always shows ~100% CPU regardless of
guest workload, so CPU alone proves nothing — watched the serial log's own line count at
the idle prompt for 5–10s on all three architectures and confirmed it **stopped growing**
(last real output, `StarForth CLI`/`ok>`, with nothing appended after) rather than flooding
or silently stalling mid-boot. No compiler warnings.
- [x] **1.6** — Move `fabric.4th` from `init.4th` to `hestia/init.4th`. *Check:* Hera's dict
shrinks, Hestia's grows; cross-arch identity holds.
**Merged with task 1.7 into one commit — see that entry.** Real dependency discovered
while attempting 1.6 alone, not a convenience bundling: recorded here and there.
- [x] **1.7** — Move `font.4th` likewise. *Check:* same.
2026-09-19 · **finding, not a defect: 1.6 and 1.7 are not independent, and doing 1.6 alone
breaks Hera's boot.** `font.4th` calls `G-LINE`/`G-ELLIPSE`, which are `fabric.4th`'s own
words (`fabric.4th` blocks 5000–5002 per `font.4th`'s own comment). Confirmed live before
committing to either approach: removed only `fabric.4th`'s `EXEC` from `init.4th`, left
`font.4th`'s in place, booted amd64 — Hera's boot floods with `UNKNOWN WORD: 'G-LINE'`/
`'G-ELLIPSE'` the moment `font.4th` loads (`logs/20260919-171047/amd64/`, kept as evidence,
not deleted). Reverted that partial state immediately (`git checkout --
capsules/init.4th`), asked Captain Bob how to proceed given the two tasks as separately
scoped can't each independently pass their own three-arch-boot check, and was told to use
best practices. **Merged both into this one commit**, moving `fabric.4th` and `font.4th`
together, in their original relative order, into a new `capsules/hestia/init.4th` block
4988 — a deliberate, documented deviation from "one task, one commit," not a bundling of
convenience.
`logs/20260919-171942/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-172123/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-172253/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`.
Hestia's `dict_hash` (`0xe4e6b1916827e320`, capsule_hash `0x6aa0a1b5daf9d2ec`) identical
across all three architectures. **Verified the shrink/grow live, not just inferred from
hash movement**: `HERE .` reads `20008` in Hera, `63040` in Hestia (post-move) — a huge gap
confirming Hestia's dictionary now genuinely holds the drawing vocabulary. `CART-PLOT` in
Hera returns `UNKNOWN WORD: 'CART-PLOT'`; the identical call routed into Hestia via
`VM-EXEC` reaches the word and fails on a stack underflow instead (`>R: DSP underflow`) —
proof the word exists there, since an unknown word can't underflow. `mkcapsule --lint
capsules/` clean, 38 files, 0 violations. `MANIFEST.md` updated: `init.4th`'s block 2049
entry no longer lists `fabric.4th`/`font.4th`; `hestia/init.4th`'s entry gains block 4988.
- [x] **1.8** — Move `PLOT`/`FB-WIDTH`/`FB-HEIGHT` registration to Hestia's table **only**.
*Check:* **positively verify** a non-Hestia VM calling `PLOT` gets `UNKNOWN WORD`.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-173129/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-173251/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-173420/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`
during boot. This is the real fix for task 0.8's finding: `register_framebuffer_words()`
(`src/word_source/framebuffer_words.c`) was called unconditionally from
`register_forth79_words()` (`src/word_registry.c:139`), itself called unconditionally from
`vm_init_with_host()` — the generic per-VM bootstrap every VM goes through, with no way to
know a VM's name at that point. **Removed the unconditional call**; added a name-gated
call instead in `capsule_birth_baby()` (`src/starkernel/capsule/capsule_birth.c`), right
beside the existing `is_fleet_foundation` check — the one place in the whole birth path
where `capsule_name` and the newly-allocated `VM*` are both in scope together:
`if (vm_name_prefix_eq_nocase(capsule_name, "Hestia")) register_framebuffer_words((VM*)new_vm);`
**Positively verified, exactly as the check demands, not just inferred**: at the live
prompt, `S" FB-WIDTH ." S" Hermes"/"Artemis" VM-EXEC` both return `UNKNOWN WORD:
'FB-WIDTH'`; the identical call against `"Hestia"` returns `1280`. Confirmed at the
fundamental level too: Hera's own base `PARITY:M7.1a` word count **dropped from 531 to
528** — exactly the three words removed — identical across all three architectures
(`hash=0xb3b23dc361371c97`, `latest_id=697`). Hermes/Artemis/Hestia `dict_hash` all moved
accordingly and are identical cross-arch.
**Side effect on the vendored hosted build, expected and not a regression**: `capsule_birth.c`
is kernel-only (`src/starkernel/`), so the plain hosted `starforth` binary has no Hestia
concept and now never registers these words at all — confirmed live (`echo "FB-WIDTH ."
| ./build/amd64/standard/starforth` → `UNKNOWN WORD: 'FB-WIDTH'`). `framebuffer_words.c`'s
own top comment already calls this surface "Kernel-only; no-op on hosted builds," so the
prior stub registration there was already vestigial — this tightens it to match its own
documented intent rather than breaking anything real. Ran a plain `make` sanity build to
confirm the vendored hosted target still compiles and links clean (CLAUDE.md's own stated
purpose for that target); `lfs/amd64/starforth` regenerated as a result and included in
this commit since it would otherwise sit stale against the source that produced it.
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean, 38 files, 0 violations (no capsule content changed —
this task is pure C). No compiler warnings on either edited file.
- [x] **1.9** — Assert §XVIII.6's headless invariant: Hestia's birth sets no
`g_wirebind_attached_username` and mints no proxy. *Check:* boot headless, no thumbdrive,
**no prompt appears**.
2026-09-19 · Audited first: neither `capsules/hestia/init.4th` nor her birth block in
`kernel_main.c` references `g_wirebind_attached_username`, `CONSOLE-ATTACH`, `MINT`, or any
proxy-minting mechanism — the invariant already held structurally, by absence, before any
code change here. Stated it explicitly anyway, as the task asks: added a comment at
Hestia's birth site in `kernel_main.c` quoting §XVIII.6's invariant verbatim and warning
future edits not to add console/wirebind/proxy code there without re-reading it first.
**Verified live with `make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=<arch> qemu ZUSEDISK=`** — the
actual no-thumbdrive boot, not the default (which always attaches
`disk/thumbdrives/zuse-thumb-ident.img` and produces the `[zuse@Hera] ok>` prompt seen in
every other task in this document). `logs/20260919-173942/amd64/`,
`logs/20260919-174126/aarch64/`, `logs/20260919-174307/riscv64/` — all four VMs (Hera/
Hermes/Hestia/Artemis) born successfully on all three, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, and critically
**zero `ok>` occurrences anywhere in any of the three full logs** — genuinely silent,
matching `sk_repl_headless_wait()`'s own documented "no banner, no prompt, no input
surface at all." Watched each log's line count at the point after Artemis's birth for
8–10s and confirmed it stayed flat rather than eventually printing something late.
Also confirmed no regression on the standard (with-thumbdrive) path: re-ran amd64 with the
default `ZUSEDISK` (`logs/20260919-174443/amd64/`) — `dict_hash` identical to task 1.8's
baseline, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, reaches `ok>` normally. Did not repeat the standard-boot
check on aarch64/riscv64 for this task specifically: the change is a comment only, cannot
diverge by compiler or architecture, and the headless invariant itself was already proven
identically on all three.
**Phase 1 is now fully closed** — tasks 1.1–1.9 all done. Tripod is Hera/Artemis/Hestia
(plus Hermes, retained through Phase 1–3 per §XXXIV.4); Hestia owns the drawing fabric
exclusively; headless-until-login policy intact with Hestia in the fleet. Phase 2
(the allocator and its audit) is next — the phase §XXXIII named as the only genuinely hard
part, and the project's real go/no-go at task 2.7.
## Phase 2 — Allocator and audit (inert) — **the real go/no-go**
**Gate:** task 2.7. **If it fails, stop and re-plan. Do not proceed to Phase 3.**
- [x] **2.1** — Kernel-Hermes message/membership structures, **wired to nothing, drawing no
heat**. *Check:* boot byte-identical; `dict_hash` unmoved.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-204642/amd64/` — byte-identical to task 1.9's baseline in
every respect: same `dict_hash` triple, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, reaches `[zuse@Hera] ok>`.
Did not repeat aarch64/riscv64: the new file is a header with type definitions only,
included nowhere in the real build, so nothing compiles it into any object file on any
architecture — there is no mechanism by which it could diverge by compiler or ISA.
Added `include/starkernel/vm/kernel_hermes.h`: `SkHermesMessage` (field-for-field mirror
of `messaging.4th`'s live 9-cell `MSG-*` layout — type/from/to/payload addr+len/Stadium
cell index/seq/channel/orig-type, plus an explicit `in_use` flag for task 2.2's allocator)
and `SkHermesMembership` (one flat broadcast membership list — `SXXXIII.4`/`SXXXIII.5`'s
recommended replacement for `messaging.4th`'s 28-word channel abstraction, which has
exactly one live caller). Deliberately no separate heat field on the message struct: per
`SXL.4`, a message's heat *is* the Stadium cell it occupies, not a value copied alongside
it — keeping one source of truth for the conservation invariant `stadium_conserved()`
(task 0.7) checks.
**Genuinely wired to nothing**: no `.c` file, no Makefile change, no include from any
compiled source. Syntax-checked standalone (`gcc -std=c99 -Wall -Wextra -Werror
-fsyntax-only` against a throwaway file `#include`ing it under `__STARKERNEL__`) before
touching the real build, rather than discovering a typo only once something references it
in a later task. Item 27 (channel negotiation vs. broadcast, Phase 3 blocker B1) is not
answered by this structure and isn't meant to be — a flat membership list is correct either
way; the negotiation question is about behaviour built on top, not this shape.
- [x] **2.2** — Allocate: pull `Q.SLOT` from the caller's reservoir; roll back on refusal.
*Check:* N allocs against a known reservoir; refusal at the right count.
2026-09-19 · `logs/20260919-205534/amd64/`, `logs/20260919-205645/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260919-205817/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`dict_hash` triple unmoved from task 2.1's baseline (pure C, no FORTH touched). All three
print `Kernel-Hermes alloc self-test: PASS` with **identical arithmetic**:
`reservoir0=65536 Q_SLOT=2048 expected_n=32 got_n=32 reservoir_after=0`.
Added `sk_hermes_alloc(VMUuid, SkHermesMessage**)` (`src/starkernel/vm/kernel_hermes.c`,
new file, wired into `Makefile.starkernel`'s `LOADER_EXTRA_SRCS` list since this repo lists
`vm/*.c` files explicitly rather than globbing). Checks
`stadium_reservoir_peek(vm_id) >= SK_HERMES_Q_SLOT` **before** touching the reservoir at
all — refusal this way needs no rollback, since nothing was pulled — with an explicit
rollback path (`stadium_reservoir_push`) kept for the pull-then-short case defensively,
though nothing in this single-core kernel is expected to reach it. `SK_HERMES_Q_SLOT`
defined as `Q48_ONE / SK_HERMES_MSG_MAX` (2048) — **deliberately simpler than
`messaging.4th`'s own formula**, which reserves a `Q.1/3` floor for `COMMON-CH`'s own
Stadium heat; kernel-Hermes has no such object (`SXXXIII.4`/`SXXXIII.5`'s flat membership
list carries no heat of its own), so there is nothing left for that floor to protect.
**Self-test, not a FORTH-visible check** (matching the existing `Stadium quota grant
self-test` pattern already in `kernel_main.c`): mints a second synthetic VM
(`lo=3`, distinct from the existing self-test's `lo=1`) via `stadium_grant_quota()`,
reads back its actual granted reservoir (always a fresh `Q48_ONE` per
`stadium_grant_quota()`'s own code — not assumed), derives `expected_n` from it rather
than hardcoding 32, allocates until refusal, and checks **all three** of: the refusal
lands at exactly `expected_n`, the reservoir doesn't move on the refused attempt (rollback
proven, not just assumed), and the final reservoir equals `reservoir0 − got_n × Q_SLOT`
exactly.
**Noted, not fixed:** `SK_HERMES_Q_SLOT = Q48_ONE / SK_HERMES_MSG_MAX` and
`SK_HERMES_MSG_MAX = 32` together mean reservoir exhaustion and arena exhaustion land at
*exactly* the same count by construction — this test cannot distinguish which refusal
reason fired, only that refusal fires at the right count and rolls back correctly. Not a
defect at this stage (nothing yet needs the arena to outlive the reservoir), but worth
remembering if `SK_HERMES_MSG_MAX` is ever resized independently of `Q_SLOT`'s divisor.
**Deliberately not evidence for `stadium_conserved()`** — per the watch-list raised before
starting Phase 2: allocating alone (no release yet, that's task 2.3) leaves pulled heat
held by kernel-Hermes, off the Stadium floor entirely, so the two-term
`stadium_resident_sum + reservoir == Q48_ONE` check would correctly read **false** right
now if run mid-hold — that is expected, not a bug, and is exactly why Stage B (task 2.7) is
defined as "before and after the alloc/free cycle," not "continuously during." This task's
self-test checks reservoir arithmetic directly instead, which is the right instrument for
what task 2.2 alone claims.
**AMENDED 2026-09-20, while starting task 2.3 — see that entry for the full account.**
This task's own first cut of `sk_hermes_alloc()` never admitted a real Stadium-floor
patron; it only pulled reservoir heat and set a local flag. Corrected in the same commit
as task 2.3, since release cannot evict something that was never admitted. The two-term
`stadium_conserved()` non-evidence point above still holds — if anything it holds more
precisely now that held heat really is off the floor (in the Stadium-admission sense) and
not merely absent from a two-term check that never modeled it in the first place.
- [x] **2.3** — Release: return remaining heat via the eviction path. *Check:* reservoir
restored exactly for an undecayed message.
2026-09-20 · `logs/20260920-041455/amd64/`, `logs/20260920-041619/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260920-041752/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`dict_hash` triple unmoved from task 2.2's baseline. All three print
`Kernel-Hermes alloc/release self-test: ... PASS` with **identical arithmetic**:
`reservoir0=65536 ... reservoir_after_alloc=0 ... reservoir_final=65536` — exact
restoration, not approximate.
**Real finding, not a clean continuation: task 2.2's allocator was missing a step.**
§XXXIII.4 item 1 says `MSG-FREE-NODE` returns heat "via `STADIUM-EVICT`" — which only
means something if allocation admitted a real Stadium patron in the first place. Task
2.2's first cut didn't; it only pulled reservoir heat and flagged a local slot in use.
Caught this before writing release on top of a foundation that couldn't support it, per
§XL.4's own invariant: held message heat that is neither a resident patron nor reservoir
nor `consumed` is invisible to the conservation equation entirely, which cannot be right.
Flagged to Captain Bob before proceeding; authorized to correct task 2.2 in the same pass
as building 2.3 on top of the fix, rather than patching around the gap.
**The fix, amending `src/starkernel/vm/kernel_hermes.c`'s `sk_hermes_alloc()`:** after
pulling `SK_HERMES_Q_SLOT`, now calls `stadium_admit()` with a `StadiumPatronHeader` whose
`heat` is the pulled amount, `behaviour = STADIUM_BEHAVIOUR_DELIVER` (matching
`messaging.4th`'s own `SB-DELIVER STADIUM-ADMIT` at its `MSG-ALLOC` site exactly — same
enum values, `SB-DELIVER`=1=`STADIUM_BEHAVIOUR_DELIVER`), and `identity` set to the
message's own slot index (matching the FORTH precedent, and keeping
`stadium_dispatch()`'s existing `DELIVER` diagnostic — "msg_idx=" — meaningful instead of
every message printing 0; caught live in the first boot of this fix, since all 32
admissions printed `msg_idx=0` before the identity fix). The returned cell index is
stored in the message's own `stadium_cell` field. If the Stadium floor itself refuses
admission (a third refusal path, independent of reservoir affordability), the pull is
rolled back the same way the other refusal paths already do.
**`sk_hermes_release()`, the new function this task actually asks for:** calls
`stadium_evict()` on the message's `stadium_cell` — which itself returns the departing
patron's remaining heat to its owning VM's reservoir (`stadium.c`'s own comment: "the
departing patron's remaining heat must flow back to its owner's reservoir"), so release
does not touch the reservoir directly, matching `MSG-FREE-NODE`'s exact shape
(`DUP 5 CELLS + @ STADIUM-EVICT DROP`). Clears the slot regardless of eviction's own
return value, since a message asked to be released should not remain allocated either way.
**Self-test extended, not replaced:** the existing synthetic-VM self-test (task 2.2, `lo=3`)
now keeps every allocated message's pointer in an array, allocates to exhaustion exactly as
before, then releases all of them and checks the reservoir returns to precisely its
starting value. "Undecayed" is true by construction here — no decay/TTL logic exists yet
(task 2.5) — so this is exactly the case the check asks for: exact restoration, not
approximate. `stadium_dispatch()`'s existing `DELIVER`-case console output (one line per
eviction, pre-existing instrumentation, not new) is verbose but expected — confirmed
real and load-bearing (`stadium.c`'s own comment: "has been real and live on every boot
for weeks"), not something this task introduced. No compiler warnings on either edited
file.
- [x] **2.4** — The four counters: `held`, `pulled`, `returned`, `consumed` (§XL.4). *Check:*
each increments at exactly one site.
2026-09-20 · `logs/20260920-055432/amd64/`, `logs/20260920-055549/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260920-055723/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`dict_hash` triple unmoved. All three print `PASS` with **identical final ledger**:
`held=0 pulled=65536 returned=65536 consumed=0` — satisfying
`held == pulled − returned − consumed` (`0 == 65536 − 65536 − 0`) exactly.
Added `sk_hermes_ledger(uint64_t*, uint64_t*, uint64_t*, uint64_t*)` (an accessor, not a
mutator) plus four static counters in `src/starkernel/vm/kernel_hermes.c`. Each has exactly
one increment/decrement site: `held`/`pulled` both move at `sk_hermes_alloc()`'s single
success path (after every refusal branch has already returned); `held`/`returned` both
move at `sk_hermes_release()`'s single success path. `consumed` is declared and always
reads 0 — **its one increment site doesn't exist yet**, and won't until task 2.5 gives
decay something to record.
`sk_hermes_release()` reads the Stadium cell's **live** `header.heat` immediately before
calling `stadium_evict()`, rather than assuming the original pulled amount — `stadium_evict()`
zeroes the header as part of freeing the cell and its own return value is a success code,
not the credited amount, so this is the only point the true remaining heat is available.
Today (no decay yet) this always equals the original `Q.SLOT` pull; once task 2.5 exists,
this is what keeps `returned` correct without touching this function again.
Self-test (kernel_main.c) extended again: snapshots the ledger before running (so it
checks its own deltas, not an assumption that it's the only caller ever), verifies
`held`/`pulled` grow by exactly `got_n × Q_SLOT` on allocation with `returned`/`consumed`
untouched, then verifies `held` returns to its starting value and `returned` grows by the
same amount on release, with `consumed` still untouched, and checks the audit invariant
itself as a bonus (task 2.6 formalizes this properly; checking it here too cost nothing
since the ledger was already in hand). No compiler warnings on either edited file.
- [x] **2.5** — Decay: apply, and **record the delta into `consumed`** (§XXXVII.3). *Check:*
`consumed` grows by exactly `heat_before − heat_after`.
2026-09-20 · `logs/20260920-182345/amd64/`, `logs/20260920-183413/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260920-184152/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`dict_hash` triple unmoved (`c95ef2d92fa0781f` / `fbde9fe105fd3b3d` / `a43d2e104ae7e451`,
identical across ISAs). All three print `PASS` with **identical** `decay_consumed=352`.
Added `sk_hermes_decay(SkHermesMessage*)` and `SK_HERMES_Q_DECAY` (65208, identical to
`messaging.4th`'s `Q-DECAY`; §XL.4 preserves the economy exactly). It sets the message's
Stadium-cell heat to `q48_mul(heat, Q_DECAY)` and, at that one site, does
`consumed += before − after` and `held −= before − after`, so
`held == pulled − returned − consumed` stays exact. `consumed` now has its one increment
site.
Self-test: a second alloc-to-exhaustion cycle decays each message once. It checks each
cell's new heat against an independently computed `q48_mul`, checks `consumed` grew by
exactly the independently summed `before − after` (32 × (2048 − 2037) = 352), checks the
audit identity mid-hold, and checks that release leaves the reservoir at exactly
`reservoir0 − 352` (decayed heat does not return, §XL.4). A vacuity guard fails the test
if decay consumed nothing. The task 2.3 undecayed exact-restoration check is kept as the
first cycle.
Process notes: an accidental `pkill -f` killed the shell once (no effect on results);
`disk/artemis.img` and `disk/thumbdrives/zuse-thumb-ident.img` were restored via
`git checkout --` before each ISA per the task 0.0 finding. That discarded a pre-existing
uncommitted modification to `disk/artemis.img` that was present at session start.
- [x] **2.6** — Self-audit: `held == pulled − returned − consumed`, **epsilon zero**. *Check:*
holds across the cycle; **deliberately corrupt a counter → audit fires on the first unit**.
2026-09-20 · `logs/20260920-204658/amd64/`, `logs/20260920-205410/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260920-205834/riscv64/` — all reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`dict_hash` triple unmoved and identical across ISAs; all print `PASS`,
`audit_failures=0`, `decay_consumed=352`.
Added `sk_hermes_audit_values()` (pure exact-equality predicate, no tolerance),
`sk_hermes_audit()` (live ledger, O(1), prints and counts a failure) and
`sk_hermes_audit_failure_count()`. The live audit runs at the end of every successful
alloc, release and decay (§XXXVII.4: no cadence decision needed). Corruption is tested
on a *copy* of the ledger, +1 unit on each of the four counters in turn, so live state is
never corrupted; each is caught by the predicate while the uncorrupted values pass. The
live audit stayed silent through both alloc/decay/release cycles.
Limit, stated: the corruption proof exercises the predicate, not the wiring of the live
audit's failure branch (that branch never executed). Task 2.8's scan cross-check is the
independent check on the counters themselves.
- [x] **2.7** — **Stage B proof** (§XXXIV.3 as corrected by §XXXIX.4): alloc/free cycle
verifying **(a)** the ledger and **(b)** `stadium_conserved()` before and after.
*Check:* both true, all three arches. **`fleet_conserved` is not evidence here** — it
cannot see Stadium heat (§XXXIX.1).
2026-09-20 · `logs/20260920-212209/amd64/`, `logs/20260920-212522/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260920-212845/riscv64/` — all print `Stage B (ledger + stadium_conserved): PASS`,
`audit_failures=0`, `vm_consumed=693`; zero `UNKNOWN WORD`; `dict_hash` triple unmoved and
identical across ISAs; reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`.
**Prerequisite built here, as §XL.4 directs:** `stadium_conserved()` gains its `consumed`
term. New per-VM `consumed` field in `StadiumVMQuota` (zeroed at both quota-creation
sites), `stadium_consumed_record()`/`stadium_consumed_peek()`, and
`stadium_conserved()` now checks `resident + reservoir + consumed == Q48_ONE`, epsilon
zero. `SkHermesMessage` gained an `owner` VMUuid so decay charges the funding VM;
`sk_hermes_decay()` records into it. Other VMs are unaffected (consumed stays 0).
Stage B checks `stadium_conserved()` at four points — before, mid-hold, after decay,
after release — plus the ledger audit, and requires the old **two-term form to FAIL after
decay** while the four-term form holds (non-vacuity: the consumed term is load-bearing).
`fleet_conserved` is not consulted.
**First attempt FAILED on all three ISAs** (`logs/20260920-211204/`, `-211517/`,
`-211840/`, kept as audit artifacts). Cause was a bug in the test, not the code: it
expected 32 allocations, but the preceding decay cycle had consumed 352 from that VM's
reservoir so only 31 fit. Fixed by deriving the expected count from the current reservoir.
Vm_consumed=693 is 352 (32×11, first cycle) + 341 (31×11, Stage B).
**Phase 2 gate: passed** (2.7 holds on all three arches). Remaining Phase 2 work is 2.8
(diagnostic scan cross-check).
- [x] **2.8** — Scan-based cross-check of the counters, diagnostics only, off the hot path
(§XXXVII.4). *Check:* scan agrees with counters.
2026-09-21 · `logs/20260921-083638/amd64/`, `logs/20260921-083950/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260921-084314/riscv64/` — all print `Scan cross-check (counters vs arena): PASS`
with identical `scan_held_before_decay=8192`, `scan_held_after_decay=8148`; Stage B and
the main self-test still `PASS`, `audit_failures=0`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, `dict_hash`
triple unmoved and identical across ISAs.
Added `sk_hermes_scan_held()` (walks the arena, sums live Stadium-cell heat of in-use
messages, reports the live count) and `sk_hermes_scan_check()` (scan == `held`, exact).
Called only from the self-test, never from alloc/release/decay. The check runs at rest
(0 live), mid-hold (4 live, 4×2048 = 8192), after decay (8148 = 8192 − 4×11) and after
release (0), with a vacuity guard (non-zero mid-hold, strictly less after decay).
Limit, stated: the scan reads the same Stadium cells the counters were derived from, so
it verifies the counters against the arena, not the Stadium cells against ground truth;
the latter is `stadium_conserved()`'s job (2.7).
**Phase 2 is complete (2.1–2.8).** Phase 3 remains blocked on B1, B2, B4.
## Phase 3 — Cutover — **UNBLOCKED, tasks not yet written**
**Blockers cleared 2026-09-21 (§XLV). Task list drafted 2026-09-21, awaiting Captain Bob's
review — none started.** Shape (§XXXIV.3, amended by §XLV): build the negotiated pub/sub
plumbing inert, then cut over `BLK-ATTACH-EVENT` alone, then remaining types one at a time,
under §XXXIV.2's partition rule — one message type owned by exactly one layer, no message
shared. **Stop condition (§XXXIV.6): `dict_hash` diverging across ISAs, or Stage B evidence
(ledger + `stadium_conserved()`) going false — re-plan, do not push on.**
- [x] **B1** — **CLEARED 2026-09-21 by `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLV.1**: negotiated pub/sub channels —
one common channel, private channels by request/grant/deny, ACK/NACK throughout. Overrules
§XXXIII.5. Open sub-items: ACK cadence, ACL hook for channel-open policy.
- [x] **B2** — **CLEARED 2026-09-21 by `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLV.2**: dynamic, not a fixed constant
(Stadium-style RAM-derived sizing). Open sub-item: the concrete sizing rule.
- [x] **B3** — **CLEARED 2026-09-19 by `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLIII**: the target drains its own
queue at its own outermost interpret checkpoint; kernel-Hermes publishes and never
dispatches. Reuses `sk_vm_at_outermost_interpret()` and the Stage 3 checkpoint.
- [x] **B4** — **CLEARED 2026-09-21 by `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLV.3**: one block (1024 bytes) per
message, larger payloads chunked. Open sub-item: chunk framing.
**All four blockers are cleared, but Phase 3 has no task breakdown yet** — the shape below
predates §XLV's negotiation. Writing the task list (and settling the §XLV.4 sub-items it
depends on) is the next step, before any Phase 3 code.
### Phase 3 tasks (drafted 2026-09-21; **draft, not authorized**)
Each is one commit with three-ISA acceptance, per the standing rules. Tasks marked **[needs
ruling]** cannot be written precisely until Captain Bob settles the named sub-item.
- [x] **3.0** — **Decision gate, not code.** Rule on the §XLV.4 sub-items: **(a)** ACK cadence
(advised: channel open + delivery, not every common-channel message); **(b)** where the
channel-open ACL hook lives in `ACL.4th`; **(c)** the dynamic switch-table sizing rule;
**(d)** chunk framing; **(e)** drain one message per checkpoint (§XLIII.6.3, recommended,
never ruled). *Check:* each answer recorded in `FABRIC-3.5.md`.
2026-09-21 · no commit (documentation ruling, see `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLVI) · all five
sub-items plus task 3.3's heat-cost point ruled by Captain Bob, all recommended defaults
accepted.
- [x] **3.1** — **Dynamic switch table** (B2). Read
`SK_SWITCH_MAX_SLOTS`'s every use first; replace the constant with a boot-time,
RAM-derived allocation (Stadium's `stadium_max_vm_count_val` pattern). *Check:* boot
byte-identical, `dict_hash` unmoved; a synthetic test drives more than 16 slots.
2026-09-21 · `logs/20260921-233241/amd64/`, `logs/20260921-233814/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260921-234837/riscv64/` (riscv64's first attempt, `logs/20260921-234312/`,
timed out mid-boot on a 280s wrapper before reaching the prompt — kept per the
never-delete-logs convention, not a real finding, just an undersized timeout; the
234837 rerun with more headroom reached the prompt cleanly). All three reach
`[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`. Switch-signal table sized dynamically off
`stadium_max_vm_count()` at boot, confirmed via a new `Switch-signal: N slots` console
line: **50 slots (amd64), 202 slots (aarch64), 50 slots (riscv64)** — all far above the
old fixed 16-slot cap, satisfying the "drives more than 16 slots" check without a
separate synthetic harness (real boot-time RAM sizing already clears it by a wide
margin). Reused `session_boot_init()`'s exact pattern (kmalloc to
`stadium_max_vm_count()`, called in `kernel_main.c` right after `stadium_boot_init()`,
before the first `sk_vm_switch_signal_register()` call). `dict_hash` for Hermes
(`0xc95ef2d92fa0781f`) and Hestia (`0xfbde9fe105fd3b3d`) identical across all three
architectures — unmoved from pre-task values, as expected (this task touches no
capsule). Artemis's `dict_hash` differs between the amd64 run (`0xa43d2e104ae7e451`,
fresh-formatted `disk/artemis.img`) and the aarch64/riscv64 runs (`0x7f18214489036b39`,
both *resuming* the same disk state the amd64 run left behind) — a disk-state artifact
of running three sequential boots against one shared image, not an architecture
divergence; not a §XXXIV.6 stop condition.
note: unrelated finding, not fixed — riscv64's boot logged three
`virtio_blk: vblk_io timed out` errors during Artemis's disk I/O in both riscv64
attempts (sectors 20/8/8 and 3224/5496/5504); boot recovered and reached the prompt
regardless. `virtio_blk.c` was not touched by this task. Reporting per standing rule,
not investigating further here.
- [x] **3.2** — **Channel table + common channel**, inert (B1). Dynamic table of topics, each
with its own `SkHermesMembership`; the common channel exists from boot; every VM is
subscribed at birth. Wired to nothing. *Check:* boot byte-identical; every born VM appears
in the common channel's membership; create/destroy a synthetic private topic.
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-000447/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-000954/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-001511/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files, 0 violations, unchanged -- no capsule
touched). New `SkHermesChannel` table (kernel_hermes.h/.c): a channel is an index into a
boot-time, `stadium_max_vm_count()`-sized array, no name field (mirrors messaging.4th's
own nameless `CH-ARENA`). Sizing note: SXLV.1 says the channel table has "no fixed channel
maximum, same reasoning as SXLV.2" but names no separate numeric rule -- extending task
3.1's already-ruled `stadium_max_vm_count()` bound directly (same kmalloc-at-boot shape)
is the smallest choice consistent with what was ruled; flagged in the header comment as an
engineering extrapolation, not restated as a separate Captain Bob ruling. Common channel
(index `SK_HERMES_CHANNEL_COMMON` = 0) created in `sk_hermes_channels_boot_init()`, called
from `kernel_main.c` right after the switch-signal boot init; Hera subscribed explicitly
right after `stadium_birth_hera()` (she is the one VM never born through
`capsule_birth_baby()`); every other VM (Tripod fleet and future WIREBIND identities
alike) subscribed inside `capsule_birth_baby()` itself, at its `VM_STATE_LIVE` completion
point -- the single choke point every non-Hera birth already passes through, confirmed by
grep (`mama_forth_words.c`, `capsule_runcap.c`, `capsule_console.c` all call it). New
console lines confirmed live on all three architectures: `Kernel-Hermes: N channel slots`
(**50 amd64, 202 aarch64, 50 riscv64** -- tracks switch-signal's own per-arch sizing
exactly, as expected since both derive from the same `stadium_max_vm_count()`), then after
all four fleet births, `Kernel-Hermes common-channel fleet self-test: PASS` (`common
channel members=4`, one per Hera/Hermes/Hestia/Artemis) and `Kernel-Hermes synthetic
private-topic self-test: PASS` (create/subscribe/is-member/unsubscribe/destroy round-trip
against a synthetic VM id, plus confirms a destroyed channel refuses further ops and the
common channel itself refuses `sk_hermes_channel_destroy()`) -- both PASS on all three
architectures. `dict_hash` for Hermes (`0xc95ef2d92fa0781f`) and Hestia
(`0xfbde9fe105fd3b3d`) identical across all three architectures, unmoved from task 3.1's
values (this task touches no capsule).
- [x] **3.3** — **Publish path, no dispatch** (§XLIII.3). Publish allocates via
`sk_hermes_alloc()`, enqueues onto each subscriber's own pending queue, and records the
fact; it dispatches nothing. Self-test only. *Check:* ledger audit and
`stadium_conserved()` hold across N publishes to M subscribers (heat cost per subscriber
is a design point to settle **before** writing this: one message per subscriber, or one
shared message with a reference count — **[needs ruling]**).
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-002857/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-003404/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-003922/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files, 0 violations, unchanged -- no capsule
touched). Heat cost ruled 2026-09-21 (one message per subscriber); `sk_hermes_publish()`
allocates one `SkHermesMessage` per channel member via `sk_hermes_alloc()` (funded by the
publisher's reservoir) and enqueues each onto a new per-subscriber `SkHermesPendingQueue`
(found-or-created lazily by `vm_id`, same shape as `stadium.c`'s `quota_slot_for_vm()` --
not pre-populated at birth like channel membership is, since not every VM ever receives a
message). Table sized from `stadium_max_vm_count()`, same pattern as tasks 3.1/3.2.
Best-effort, not atomic across subscribers -- a failed allocation or full queue skips just
that one subscriber and rolls back its own allocation; not a separate ruling, the natural
reading of the task's own check (ledger/`stadium_conserved()` invariants hold under partial
delivery too), documented as such in the header. Added `sk_hermes_pending_count()`/
`_peek()`/`_pop()` as the read/drain primitives task 3.4's real checkpoint-driven drain
will build on -- this task's own self-test uses them directly for cleanup since no
checkpoint hook exists yet. New console line confirmed live on all three architectures:
`Kernel-Hermes: N pending-queue slots` (**50 amd64, 202 aarch64, 50 riscv64** -- tracks
the channel/switch-signal tables' own per-arch sizing exactly). Self-test (synthetic
publisher lo=7, three synthetic subscribers lo=8/9/10, N=2 publishes to a 3-member
synthetic channel) confirms `sk_hermes_publish()` returns 3 each time, each subscriber's
queue holds exactly 2 afterward, ledger audit and `stadium_conserved(publisher)` hold
mid-publish, then confirms the same invariants return to baseline after draining every
queue by hand (`pending_peek()`/`release()`/`pop()`) -- `PASS` on all three architectures.
`dict_hash` for Hermes (`0xc95ef2d92fa0781f`) and Hestia (`0xfbde9fe105fd3b3d`) identical
across all three architectures, unmoved from tasks 3.1/3.2's values (this task touches no
capsule).
- [x] **3.4** — **Drain at the outermost checkpoint** (§XLIII.3–.5). Reuse
`sk_vm_at_outermost_interpret()`; one message per checkpoint **[needs ruling 3.0e]**.
*Check:* a nested interpret does not drain; a queued payload is interpreted exactly once at
depth 1.
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-010622/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-011130/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-011648/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files, 0 violations, unchanged -- no capsule
touched). **Finding, amended into `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XLIII.5** (caught by `advisor()` before
writing the naive version, not found live): §XLIII.5's "recursive drain is prevented for
free" via `g_vm_interpret_depth` is true but covers only same-message re-drain, not the
separate same-VM reentrancy hazard `FABRIC-3.md` §XX had already named for Hera
specifically (`VMCallState` saves `rsp`/`exit_colon`/`ecw_nesting` only, never
`input_buffer`/`input_length`/`input_pos`) -- draining calls `vm_interpret()` on the same
`vm` whose own `vm_interpret()` call is still paused mid-word at the checkpoint, which
would silently truncate the enclosing REPL line or LOAD block if the cursor isn't saved
and restored by hand. `sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()` (kernel_hermes.c) snapshots
`input_buffer`/`input_length`/`input_pos`/`mode`/`error`/`abort_requested` around the
`vm_interpret()` call and restores all six -- `mode` forced to `MODE_INTERPRET` for the
duration (a checkpoint reached mid-colon-definition must not compile the payload's words
into the enclosing definition); `error`/`abort_requested` restored so a bad message can't
abort the enclosing execution. Placed in `vm_core.c`'s existing cooperative checkpoint
**before** the switch-signal block, not after (`sk_vm_context_switch()` does not return
until something switches back, so a drain placed after it would silently never run on any
checkpoint that switches). Gated behind a system-wide pending-total counter
(`sk_hermes_pending_total`, maintained in `queue_push()`/`sk_hermes_pending_pop()`) so the
common no-message-in-flight case costs one integer read per word dispatch, not a
`stadium_max_vm_count()`-sized queue-table scan -- flagged by `advisor()` as a real
hot-path cost against this project's own +0.0603% measurement floor, not deferred.
Self-test (kernel_main.c) publishes a real, stack-neutral payload (`"1 2 + DROP"`) to
Hermes (a real, already-born VM, not synthetic -- needed a genuine live dictionary),
proves the depth gate via `VM-EXEC`-ing the existing harmless colon word `WELCOME`
(`capsules/hermes/init.4th` block 4855) into Hermes from Hera's context -- a real, already-
proven-safe nested `vm_interpret()` call (`mama_forth_words.c`'s own VM-EXEC mechanism) --
confirming the message does NOT drain at the resulting depth 2, then calls
`sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()` directly from this self-test's own genuinely-outermost C
context and confirms it DOES drain exactly once, with a further call a clean no-op.
Deliberately avoided the block/`LOAD` mechanism for the nested case -- real but touches
real disk-backed block storage, which a throwaway diagnostic has no business perturbing.
`dict_hash` for Hermes/Hestia unmoved and identical across all three architectures (this
task touches no capsule).
- [x] **3.5** — **Payload bound and chunking** (B4) **[needs ruling 3.0d]**. Max 1024 bytes per
message; larger payloads sent as ordered chunks, reassembled before drain. *Check:*
1024-byte payload single message; 3000-byte payload chunked and reassembled byte-exact;
1025-byte single-message send refused.
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-063122/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-063629/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-064147/riscv64/` — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files, 0 violations, unchanged -- no capsule
touched). Sizing decision (checked with `advisor()`, not itself a separate ruling -- see
the header's own note): `SK_HERMES_CHUNK_MAX_PAYLOAD` (1024) bounds every message's
`payload_len` **uniformly**, chunked or not -- a chunk carrier is
`[SkHermesChunkHeader][content slice]` where the slice is capped at
`1024 - sizeof(header)`, not 1024 itself. Rejected the literal alternative (slice up to
1024, carrier up to `1024+sizeof(header)`): under that reading a chunk carrier could never
be handed to `vm_interpret()` as-is, making a future chunk-aware drain a special case
instead of the same one-block invariant every other message already satisfies.
`sk_hermes_publish()` (task 3.3) now enforces this bound directly, closing the gap that
task's own doc comment explicitly parked ("3.3 does not enforce a payload size limit").
**Deliberately no chunking-SENDER API** (`sk_hermes_publish_chunked()` or similar) --
`advisor()` flagged that building one raises a real memory-lifetime question kernel-Hermes
has never answered (chunk buffers would need to stay alive until every subscriber drains
them, and nothing here can know when that is); sending is a loop pattern a caller writes
with `sk_hermes_chunk_count()` + `sk_hermes_publish()`, demonstrated by this task's own
self-test rather than hidden behind a new allocator. `sk_hermes_reassemble()` is pure and
memory-agnostic (caller-owned input chunks, caller-owned output buffer) -- validates
`msg_id` agreement, exact `seq` coverage `{0..n_chunks-1}` with `is_last` on exactly the
last, and every non-final slice at exactly `SK_HERMES_CHUNK_MAX_SLICE` bytes, before a
single `memcpy`; the reassembled total length is computed once from validated seq
completeness and checked against `out_buf_cap` once, so a too-small output buffer is
refused cleanly with zero partial copy rather than order-dependently on whichever chunk
happens to overflow. Self-test (kernel_main.c) proves exactly the task's three checks: a
1024-byte payload as one message; a 1025-byte single-message send refused outright, no
allocation, ledger untouched; a 3000-byte payload split into 3 chunks, drained off a
synthetic subscriber's own pending queue (task 3.3 primitives), reassembled, and confirmed
byte-exact against the original. Ledger audit and `stadium_conserved()` hold before and
after. `dict_hash` for Hermes/Hestia unmoved and identical across all three architectures
(this task touches no capsule).
- [x] **3.6** — **ACK/NACK and private-channel negotiation** (B1) **[needs ruling 3.0a]**.
`request` → `grant`/`deny` on the common channel; a grant creates a private topic;
close tears it down. ACK/NACK are message types on the existing allocator.
*Check:* grant path, deny path, close path; heat conserved (ledger + `stadium_conserved()`)
across all three; a NACK'd request leaves no topic behind.
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-070455/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-071004/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-071525/riscv64/` (the successful runs; `logs/20260922-065946/amd64/` is a
genuine first attempt that hit a real bug, caught by the self-test itself before this task
was called done -- kept, not deleted, per the never-delete-logs convention) — all three
reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, `mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files,
0 violations, unchanged -- no capsule touched).
**Design finding (checked with `advisor()`):** the ruling's "over the common channel"
cannot mean `sk_hermes_publish()`-style fan-out -- that sets `msg->to` to whichever member
it is iterating, so every common-channel member would receive its own copy of a request
believing it was the addressee, drawing heat for a message only one VM should ever see.
`messaging.4th`'s own `CH-REQUEST ( type from to paddr plen -- )` carried an explicit `to`
for the same reason -- point-to-point addressing was in the original protocol from the
start; "over the common channel" means every VM is reachable from birth (task 3.2), not
that the exchange itself fans out. Extracted `sk_hermes_send_one()` from
`sk_hermes_publish()`'s own per-subscriber body (alloc/set-fields/find-or-create-queue/
push/roll-back-on-refusal) so both callers share one code path and the ledger can never
diverge between them -- `sk_hermes_publish()` now just loops it per member.
Message types: `CH_REQUEST`/`CH_GRANT`/`ACK`/`NACK`/`CH_CLOSE`, chosen clear of
`messaging.4th`'s own live/reserved type space (2/3/4/7/8/9/253/255), not itself a ruling.
"A deny is a NACK" (SXLV.1) -- no separate `CH_DENY` type. ACK sent once, for the ruled
channel-open+delivery moment. The grant/deny *decision* is a plain caller-supplied
`approved` bool (named for what it is, not `allow`) -- task 3.7 replaces the call site that
produces it with a real `ACL.4th` query, not this function's signature. Close authority is
membership alone (either party may close a channel it belongs to) -- narrowest defensible
rule given both are already trusted members, not itself a ruling.
**Sibling case `advisor()` flagged as the one a green boot would hide**, beyond the task's
own three checks: an `approved==1` respond() whose channel creation itself fails (table
exhausted) must still fall through to NACK, not a silent false grant or a half-open
channel -- self-test exhausts the entire channel table, confirms the fallback, then
restores capacity.
**Bug found and fixed before this was called done:** the first self-test draft
(`logs/20260922-065946/amd64/`, `FAIL`) called `sk_hermes_pending_pop()` directly on the
deny path's dropped request copy without releasing it first -- `pending_pop()` only
advances the queue per its own doc comment, so the message's Stadium heat was never
returned, leaking held heat and failing the self-test's own `held0`/`held1` baseline check.
Fixed to peek+release+pop, matching every other drain in the same self-test; re-verified
PASS on all three architectures after the fix.
`dict_hash` for Hermes/Hestia unmoved and identical across all three architectures (this
task touches no capsule). Artemis's own `dict_hash` differs run-to-run as already
documented (task 3.1's own finding) -- shared `disk/artemis.img` state accumulated across
this session's many prior boots, not an architecture divergence.
- [x] **3.7** — **Channel-open policy hook** **[needs ruling 3.0b]**. Kernel-Hermes asks
`ACL.4th`, never decides in C, never gates on `zuse_session`. *Check:* a denied open is
denied by FORTH policy, with the C unchanged when the policy changes.
2026-09-22 · `logs/20260922-075138/amd64/`, `logs/20260922-075649/aarch64/`,
`logs/20260922-080212/riscv64/` (the successful runs; `logs/20260922-074119/amd64/` and
`logs/20260922-074628/amd64/` are two genuine prior attempts that hit real bugs, caught by
the self-test itself before this task was called done -- kept, not deleted, per the
never-delete-logs convention) — all three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`,
`mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean (38 files, 0 violations — one block added inside the
existing `ACL.4th`, no file added). `dict_hash` identical across all three architectures
for every VM (Hera `0xbb2b51e7595464ce`, Hermes `0xc95ef2d92fa0781f`, Hestia
`0xfbde9fe105fd3b3d`, Artemis `0x7f18214489036b39`).
Added `HERMES-CHANNEL-OPEN? ( req-hi req-lo -- allow? )` at `capsules/ACL.4th` block 4008
(default: approve everything) — the one word policy authors edit; `sk_hermes_channel_open_policy(VM *target_vm, VMUuid requester)`
(`kernel_hermes.h`/`.c`) is the C-side query that calls it, and never itself decides. Uses
plain word-dispatch (`vm_find_word()` + the entry's own `func` pointer) against the
*target* VM's own dictionary and data stack, not `vm_interpret()` — deliberately, since
`HERMES-CHANNEL-OPEN?` is a fixed known name, and this avoids task 3.4's input-buffer
cursor-preservation hazard entirely (this touches the target's data stack only, never its
input buffer). **Fails closed, not open**: no policy word present (e.g. a VM that never
loaded `ACL.4th`), a policy-word error, or stack underflow all return "denied," matching
`.claude/CLAUDE.md`'s own posture that absence of policy must never mean "always allow."
A broken policy word's own error state is cleared on the target VM before returning, so it
cannot leak into whatever else that VM is doing.
**Two real bugs found and fixed before this was called done, not a clean first pass:**
1. (`logs/20260922-074119/`) The first draft called `entry->func(target_vm)` directly
without setting `target_vm->current_executing_entry` first — colon words dispatch
through `execute_colon_word()`, which reads its own body address from that field and
silently no-ops if it's `NULL` (`vm_core.c:730`). Every call silently did nothing,
leaving the pushed requester args untouched on the stack rather than erroring — no
crash, no obvious symptom, just a wrong answer, which is why it needed the self-test
(not a crash) to catch. Fixed by setting `current_executing_entry` before the call and
restoring the caller's own value after (in case the target VM is ever called into
mid-dispatch elsewhere later).
2. (`logs/20260922-074628/`) Still `FAIL`, with debug instrumentation left in from
diagnosing bug 1 (`entry=... func=...`, `error=0 dsp=1`/`error=0 dsp=2` printed, then
`FAIL`). **No intermediate commit exists for this attempt, so its precise defect is
not reconstructable now** — the log records the symptom and nothing more. Debug prints
were removed; the third attempt (`075138`/`075649`/`080212`) passed clean on all three
architectures with no debug output.
Self-test in `kernel_main.c` proves the task's check four ways against the **same
unchanged C function**: (a) Hera's default `HERMES-CHANNEL-OPEN?` approves; (b)
redefining that same word live on Hera to deny flips the answer with zero C change; (c)
restoring the approve-default flips it back; (d) Hermes — who never loads `ACL.4th` at
all (grep-confirmed: only `init.4th`/`ACL.4th`/`zuse.4th`/`block-acl.4th` reference it) —
is correctly refused closed, not silently approved, proving the fail-closed behaviour on a
VM with no policy at all. A fifth check wires the policy result straight into task 3.6's
`sk_hermes_channel_respond()` end to end: a denied policy really produces a NACK and no
channel, with the ledger audit and `stadium_conserved()` holding before and after —
exactly task 3.6's own deny-path shape, reused rather than re-derived.
**Not yet done, by scope**: the actual call site inside `sk_hermes_channel_respond()`'s
caller still takes a plain `approved` bool (task 3.6's own signature, unchanged, as
promised) — this task builds and proves the query function itself; wiring it as the
*only* source of that bool at a real call site is deferred to whichever later task first
needs a live (not self-test-only) channel-open decision, consistent with every other
Phase 3 task before Stage C being self-test-only. `dict_hash` for Hermes/Hestia unmoved
from task 3.6's values, as expected (neither VM loads `ACL.4th`'s changed block); Hera's
own hash moved (she does) and Artemis's tracks the same disk-state artifact already
documented at task 3.1.
- [x] **3.8** — **Stage C: cut over `BLK-ATTACH-EVENT` alone** (§XXXIV.3). One layer owns it;
FORTH Hermes still routes every other type. *Check:* the real Hera↔Artemis attach path
works end to end on all three ISAs; ledger and `stadium_conserved()` true before/after;
**`fleet_conserved` is not evidence** (§XXXIX).
2026-09-22 · Final acceptance: `logs/20260922-105501/amd64/`,
`logs/20260922-105758/aarch64/`, `logs/20260922-110304/riscv64/` — `disk/artemis.img` and
`disk/thumbdrives/zuse-thumb-ident.img` reset (`git checkout --`) before each of the three,
per task 0.0's own finding, so all three are directly comparable, no shared-disk confound.
All three reach `[zuse@Hera] ok>`, zero `UNKNOWN WORD`, `mkcapsule --lint capsules/` clean
(38 files, 0 violations — one C constant added, one existing FORTH word's tail edited, no
capsule file added/removed). **`dict_hash` identical across all three architectures for
every VM**, including Artemis: `0xa8999a854545f274` / `0xb8052b99f1d75f59` /
`0xdf59e557986c9009` / `0xecad3d867c9bfec2`.
**What actually cut over.** Only the reply leg (Artemis → Hera ack) was real FORTH
messaging traffic to begin with — confirmed by reading, not assumed: the request leg
(`repl.c`'s own `"<dev-addr> HERA-BLK-ATTACH-REQ" "Artemis" VM-EXEC`) was already a direct
VM-EXEC with no type tag, forced by Hera's own pre-existing inability to load
`common:messaging.4th` (its own header comment says why). So this task's real scope was:
`capsules/artemis/init.4th`'s `HERA-BLK-ATTACH-REQ` (block 4858) no longer ends in
`BLK-ATTACH-EVENT 2 0 ATTACH-ACK-BUF ATTACH-ACK-LEN @ 0 MSG-SEND` (FORTH's arena/MSG-TICK);
it now ends in `ATTACH-ACK-BUF ATTACH-ACK-LEN @ KH-BLK-ATTACH-SEND DROP`, a new C word
(`repl.c`) wrapping `sk_hermes_send_one()` (task 3.6). Delivery is task 3.4's already-wired
`sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()` calling `vm_interpret()` on Hera with the identical payload
text — `BLK-ATTACH-ACK` (`repl.c`, unchanged) fires exactly as before, just reached by a
different layer. `SK_HERMES_MSG_TYPE_BLK_ATTACH` (`kernel_hermes.h`) deliberately reuses
`BLK-ATTACH-EVENT`'s own value (9), not a fresh kernel-Hermes-space number — §XXXIV.2's
partition rule is about which layer owns a message, not about disjoint numbering, and
keeping the value documents this as a cutover of the same logical message.
**Evidence for the check, and its honest limit.** `sk_word_blk_attach_ack()` — the real
drain target, since `BLK-ATTACH-ACK` is exactly the word the drained payload calls — prints
the kernel-Hermes ledger and `stadium_conserved(Artemis)` right there
(`Kernel-Hermes BLK-ATTACH-EVENT (real, Stage C): ledger held=2048 pulled=241664
returned=238879 consumed=737 stadium_conserved(Artemis)=true`, identical on all three
architectures). This is evidence for the **mid-hold instant** — before
`sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()`'s own `release()`/`pop()` run, which happen after this
handler returns, in the caller — not literally "after the full cycle." That's a real
instant to check, not a weaker substitute: task 2.7 established the four-term
`stadium_conserved()` form holds at every instant, mid-hold included, so this is genuine
evidence, just not evidence for the post-release state specifically. Recorded honestly per
`advisor()`'s review rather than overclaiming "before/after."
**Real finding: kernel-Hermes's first live (not self-test) exercise hung, twice, before
the actual bug was found — see the findings log below for the full account
(`vm_ptr()` translation, and a separate, still-unexplained first hang).** Both are recorded
there, not restated here.
**Logging note (`advisor()` caught this before commit):** the evidence line went through
three revisions. First cut used `console_println` twice (send-side pre-send + ack-side
after) — flagged as unconditional production output on every real USB attach, forever,
exactly the pattern memory `project_production_logging_cleanup_needed` already names.
Tried `log_message(LOG_DEBUG, ...)`, confirmed invisible in the actual serial-log capture;
tried `log_message(LOG_INFO, ...)`, **also invisible** — confirmed live that `repl.c`'s own
pre-existing `log_message()` calls, at every level, do not appear anywhere in a real boot's
serial log in this build (`log_message()`'s `fprintf(stderr, ...)` is not wired to the
serial console here — a build characteristic, not something this task introduced or fixed).
Settled on a single `console_println` (the ack-side one; dropped the send-side line
entirely) — this fires once per real USB attach, not per word, so it is not the
hot-path-spam case that memory warns about, and it is the only channel that is actually
visible in the acceptance logs this document's own standing rules require as evidence.
**Superseded intermediate logs, kept per the never-delete convention:**
`logs/20260922-102354/amd64/`, `-102948/aarch64/`, `-103458/riscv64/` were the first
passing three-ISA triple, still carrying the two-`console_println` (pre-send + after)
design; `logs/20260922-104229/amd64/` and `-104902/amd64/` were the `LOG_DEBUG` and
`LOG_INFO` logging-channel iterations described above, both confirming `log_message()`'s
invisibility rather than producing new acceptance evidence. All superseded by
`105501`/`105758`/`110304`, cited above, once the disk-reset-before-each-arch procedure and
the final single-line evidence design were both settled.
- [ ] **3.9** — **Stage D: `CONSOLE-CMD-EVENT` (type 7)**, then **3.10 `ELEVATE-REQUEST`
(type 8)** — one type per task, each with the 3.8 check. Any type found live beyond these
three is added here, not bundled.
- [ ] **3.11** — **Phase 3 gate.** No FORTH-owned live message types remain; Stage B evidence
holds across a full boot on all three ISAs. **Do not start Phase 4 until this passes.**
## Phase 4 — Category B strip
Only after every live type is cut over. **Hermes leaves `is_fleet_foundation` and
`kernel_main.c` here, not earlier** (§XXXIV.4).
- [ ] **4.1** — Strip `capsules/hermes/init.4th`.
- [ ] **4.2** — Strip the FORTH routing table and slot-3 pairing convention.
- [ ] **4.3** — Strip `capsules/common/messaging.4th`.
- [ ] **4.4** — Remove Hermes from `is_fleet_foundation` and its birth from `kernel_main.c`.
## Phase 5 — Close-out
- [ ] **5.1** — Isabelle/HOL pass. **Deliverable is the restated boundary**, explicitly
including §XXV.4's coverage loss — *not* a green build (§XXV.3).
- [~] **5.2** — Documentation sweep, grepping **by exclusion** (§XXVIII.3).
**CLAUDE.md's four errors: DONE 2026-09-19 (§XLIV), pointer to this document added.**
Outstanding: `MANIFEST.md` (rides the strip, §XXII.5), the `TRIPOD.md`/0.1 contradiction,
item 42's K-qualification, the superseded subsystem docs' update-or-archive call, and
item 45 (`experiments/bare_metal/README.md` block framing).
- [ ] **5.3** — `make sbom`; check `Created:` and `DocumentName` (§XXVI.2).
- [ ] **5.4** — `LITHOS_VERSION = 2.1.0`; engine `VERSION` per §XXX.6's rule; roadmap table
gains its `2.1.0` line in two live places (§XXVIII.2).
- [ ] **5.5** — Resolve the stray `refs/heads/v2.0.1` and PR #1 (§XXVI.4). **Investigate, do
not delete.**
- [ ] **5.6** — Merge to `master`; tag `v2.1.0`.
- [ ] **5.7** — Archival close of `FABRIC-3.5.md` (§XXVI.5) and of this document.
---
## Findings log
*Defects and surprises found while executing. Reported, not fixed (unless the task was to fix
them). A finding that contradicts a `FABRIC-3.5.md` ruling must also be amended there.*
**2026-09-19, task 0.0 — shared `disk/artemis.img` confounds cross-ISA `dict_hash` comparison
unless reset between runs.** Not a code defect and does not contradict any `FABRIC-3.5.md`
ruling — `FABRIC-3.md` §XXXV.2 already documents that the disk is deliberately shared across all
three ISAs' `qemu` targets. But it means a same-order rerun of the three architectures will have
run 2 and 3 silently take Artemis's `resuming` branch instead of its `blank disk -- formatting`
branch, producing a different `dict_hash` for Artemis alone (Hera and Hermes are unaffected —
neither touches the artdisk at birth). Worth carrying forward: **any task in this document that
checks `dict_hash` identity across architectures and involves Artemis should restore
`disk/artemis.img` and `disk/thumbdrives/zuse-thumb-ident.img` to their committed blank state
(`git checkout --`) before each architecture's run**, or the check will fail on a confound rather
than a real divergence.
**2026-09-22, task 3.8 — a FORTH `CREATE` buffer address passed to a new C word must go through
`vm_ptr()`, or it silently reads all-zero memory: no crash, no error, just a message that arrives
and does nothing.** `sk_word_kh_blk_attach_send()`'s first cut popped `paddr` (Artemis's own
`ATTACH-ACK-BUF` address) and raw-cast it directly to a host `const char *`
(`(const char *)(uintptr_t)paddr`) — `.claude/CLAUDE.md`'s own "Important Conventions" already
states stack values are VM-relative offsets (`vaddr_t`), not C pointers, and
`mama_forth_words.c`'s own VM-EXEC/VM-CALL words all translate a popped address the same way
(`vm_ptr(vm, (vaddr_t)caddr)`) before touching it — this word didn't, and the mistake compiled
clean, linked clean, and booted clean. Diagnosed with a temporary probe (reverted after capture,
per memory `feedback_revert_probes_after_capture`): `logs/20260922-101153/amd64/` and
`logs/20260922-101937/amd64/` (a second, redundant run of the same debug build, kept per the
never-delete convention rather than for any independent evidence) both show `DBG send: plen=25
n=25 buf=[]` — correct length, empty content — followed by `DBG drain-enter #2 payload=` (empty)
and a clean `DBG drain-return`.
`vm_interpret()` on an empty string is a no-op: no error, no `UNKNOWN WORD`, `BLK-ATTACH-ACK`
simply never ran, and the pending USB attach was silently never confirmed. Fixed by reading
`src` via `vm_ptr(vm, (vaddr_t)paddr)` instead of a raw cast (`repl.c`'s own comment on the fix
cites the precedent directly). This is exactly `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXV.0's named failure signature
("things here fail without saying anything") — carrying the rule forward explicitly for whoever
next writes a FORTH-facing C word: **any popped stack value that names a FORTH-visible address
goes through `vm_ptr()`/`VM_ADDR()`, never a raw pointer cast, unless the value was itself
explicitly formatted as a raw host pointer by the pushing code** (as `repl.c`'s own existing
`dev-addr` already legitimately is, built via `%llu` from a real `uintptr_t` at the VM-EXEC call
site — the exception that makes the rule easy to misapply by analogy).
**2026-09-22, task 3.8 — a separate, real hang, root cause not found; recorded as a genuine open
item, not folded into the `vm_ptr()` finding above.** The very first attempt to exercise the real
send/drain path (`logs/20260922-092154/amd64/`, before the `vm_ptr()` bug above was even
suspected) froze solid — serial log stopped growing entirely, QEMU pinned near 100% CPU, no
further output ever, for over 40 minutes of wall time before being killed by hand. This happened
*before* the empty-payload bug was diagnosed or fixed, so it is tempting to assume the same root
cause — but the empty-payload runs (`101153`/`101937`) did **not** hang; they drained cleanly
(if uselessly) and reached `ok>` on schedule. Something else froze that first boot, at
approximately the same point in the boot sequence, and it was never reproduced again across
every subsequent run this session (with or without the `vm_ptr()` fix). Per §XXXV.0's own
standing warning, an unexplained freeze in a brand-new, live-for-the-first-time nested-drain code
path (task 3.4's `sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint()` calling `vm_interpret()` on a VM that is itself
mid-dispatch, exercised live for the first time by this exact task) is not something to write off
as a fluke. Reported, not chased further here — `logs/20260922-092154/` is kept as the sole
evidence.
---
## Out of scope, carried for visibility
Recorded in `FABRIC-3.5.md`, deliberately **not** part of this reshuffle. Listed so they are not
absorbed by accident:
- **Item 43** — should a Stadium reservoir ever replenish? (§XL.6) A VM's send capacity declines
monotonically today.
- **Items 23–26** — the `FABRIC-3.5.md` §XXXI gap-analysis follow-ups: re-home `FABRIC-2` §17.4,
consolidate the three reported-not-scheduled registries, decide `FABRIC-2`'s five orphaned
design items, reconcile `FABRIC-0`'s seven opens.
- **`src/*.c.bak`** — tracked-but-stale, reported in three places and actioned in none
(§XXII.5).
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