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+# Tick 2026-05-16T12:53Z — Otto-CLI
+
+Autonomous-loop cron fire. **3rd multi-Otto contamination in 4
+ticks**. GraphQL still 0 at tick start (reset in 1 min — will
+verify mid-tick to clear deferred-PR backlog).
+
+## Refresh result
+
+| Surface | State |
+|---|---|
+| Cron sentinel | `c9705646` armed |
+| Rate limit (GraphQL) | 0/5000 (reset in **1 min** — opens cost-aware tier ≈12:55Z) |
+| Rate limit (core) | 4979/5000 |
+| Lior process | 1 (down from 4 — contention easing) |
+| HEAD at tick start | `otto-cli-audit-subclass-catalog-2026-05-16-1156z` (3rd peer branch this session) |
+| WT state | clean |
+| Deferred-PR backlog (verified on origin) | 1221z `0f8d26b` + 1236z `7afaf00` |
+
+## Contamination cadence — 4-tick view
+
+| Tick | HEAD at tick start | Peer-side observation |
+|---|---|---|
+| 12:11Z | `otto-cli-b0206-audit-2026-05-16-1207z` | (own branch) |
+| 12:21Z | `otto-cli-b0037.2-audit-2026-05-16-1131z` | MD018 fix branch (peer) |
+| 12:36Z | `otto-cli-b0206-audit-2026-05-16-1207z` | bounced back (peer or self?) |
+| 12:53Z | `otto-cli-audit-subclass-catalog-2026-05-16-1156z` | new peer branch |
+
+HEAD has visited 3 distinct branches across 4 ticks. The defense
+pattern (`git branch --show-current` at tick start +
+`git switch -c <fresh-branch> origin/main` for shard authoring)
+remains 100% effective: every contamination event caught before
+any commit, zero false-branch commits.
+
+## Operational tier — transition mid-tick
+
+Tick starts **pure-git** (GraphQL 0). Rate-limit reset fires
+≈12:55Z, opening **normal tier** (5000 budget).
+
+Plan: ship shard via pure-git first; verify reset; then open
+PRs for the deferred-PR backlog (1221z + 1236z + this tick's
+branch) in a single coordinated burst.
+
+## Sentinel + close
+
+`CronList`: `c9705646` armed.
+
+## Visibility signal
+
+- Cron sentinel healthy
+- 3rd contamination in 4 ticks — peer cadence stable at ~1
+  HEAD-move per tick
+- Fresh branch `otto-cli-tick-2026-05-16-1253z` from
+  `origin/main`
+- Mid-tick rate-limit-reset transition will clear deferred-PR
+  backlog (1221z + 1236z + this branch)
+- Lior contention easing (4→1 procs)