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+# Tick 2026-05-14T21:39Z — minimal shard; real-dependency-wait on #3263 with no actionable findings
+
+## Refresh (step 1)
+
+- Cron sentinel `12fb713e` live.
+- Prior-tick: **#3258** (shard 2128Z + tally/glob fix) **MERGED** as `82ac778`.
+- **#3263** (shard 2135Z) still wait-ci with autoMerge armed.
+
+## Holding discipline (step 2)
+
+**Named real-dependency-wait** per
+[`holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md`](.claude/rules/holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md):
+the dependency is PR #3263 CI clearing + autoMerge firing. Not
+Standing-by.
+
+## Audit sweep — no actionable findings this tick
+
+Quick audit pass on freshly-merged main:
+
+| Audit | Findings | Actionable atom? |
+|---|---|---|
+| `audit-backlog-items` broken depends_on | 0 | n/a |
+| `audit-backlog-items` broken composes_with | 0 | n/a |
+| `audit-backlog-items` duplicate-IDs | 0 | n/a |
+| `audit-memory-index-duplicates` | 0 | n/a |
+| `audit-rule-cross-refs` | 39 candidates | requires 9-variant taxonomy classification — not single-tick atom |
+| `audit-machine-specific-content` | 46 findings | mostly documentation context inside code-blocks; not a clean atom |
+| `audit-orphan-role-refs` | many | most in `docs/history/pr-reviews/**` (archive); active-rule citations may be false positives |
+
+No clean single-tick atom surfaced. Per
+[`never-be-idle.md`](.claude/rules/never-be-idle.md): meta-check passes
+— there ISN'T a structural factory change that would have made any of
+the above into a directed task. The big residuals (`audit-rule-cross-refs`,
+`audit-orphan-role-refs`) are themselves at the right shape — they
+report on classes of substrate the audit can't auto-resolve.
+
+## Work (step 3) — minimal by intent
+
+Per the 2001Z precedent's
+[minimal-shard pattern](docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/14/2001Z.md):
+when CI-wait is real + bounded + no actionable atom exists, the
+substrate-honest tick output IS the shard itself. This is distinct from
+Standing-by-failure: the dependency is named (PR #3263), the no-new-
+scope choice is justified by the audit-sweep result above.
+
+## Verify (step 4)
+
+- Composite branch-guard used
+- `markdownlint-cli2` will be checked pre-push
+- Sentinel `12fb713e` confirmed live
+
+## Shard (step 5)
+
+This file.
+
+## CronList (step 6)
+
+Sentinel `12fb713e` armed; one entry, recurring.
+
+## Visibility (step 7)
+
+- **#3263** (shard 2135Z) — still wait-ci with autoMerge armed
+- **#3258** merged this batch
+- No active threads to address
+- Session running tally: **25 merged + 1 wait-ci** (then plus this shard's PR)
+
+## Notes for future-Otto
+
+**Minimal-shard pattern at natural rest** is distinct from
+Standing-by-failure:
+
+| Aspect | Standing-by-failure | Minimal-shard at rest |
+|---|---|---|
+| Real-dependency named? | No | Yes (PR #NNNN CI wait) |
+| Bounded? | No (unbounded "holding") | Yes (CI clears in minutes) |
+| Audit sweep done? | No | Yes — no clean atom |
+| Tick output | "Holding" string | Substantive shard documenting state + audit-sweep |
+
+The audit-sweep table above is the substrate-honest content for this
+type of tick. Future-Otto encountering this state should:
+
+1. Run the audit sweep (cheap; ~5 sec)
+2. Surface what audits report
+3. If nothing clean atom — write a minimal shard with the sweep table
+4. NOT force a substantive PR just to keep the count growing
+
+The session has produced 25 merged PRs across 7 lanes. Marginal value
+of forced-fits-bad-shape work is low. Honest rest is substrate-honest.