Lucent-Financial-Group · AceHack · May 21, 2026 · May 21, 2026
diff --git a/docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/21/0603Z.md b/docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/21/0603Z.md
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+---
+tick: 0603Z
+date: 2026-05-21
+surface: otto-cli
+session: cold-boot
+gap_from_prior_shard_min: 194
+rate_limit_tier: normal
+graphql_remaining_at_start: 2859
+---
+
+# Tick 0603Z — cold-boot, sentinel re-arm, 4 CLEAN PR merges, canary catch
+
+## Refresh (Step 1)
+
+- `git fetch origin main` clean; main HEAD `b55b9064`
+- Last shard on main: `0249Z.md` (PR #4490) — 318 working-tree mods triage with discriminator's 4th surface
+- Gap from prior shard: 0249Z → 0603Z = ~3h 14min
+- Rate limit: 2859/5000 GraphQL → Normal tier per [`refresh-world-model-poll-pr-gate.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/refresh-world-model-poll-pr-gate.md) operational tiers
+
+## Holding-discipline check (Step 2)
+
+Fresh cold-boot — no prior brief-acks. Per [`tick-must-never-stop.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/tick-must-never-stop.md): CronList returned **no scheduled jobs**. Sentinel re-armed via `CronCreate "* * * * *" "<<autonomous-loop>>"` (catch 43 defense).
+
+## Work picked (Step 3)
+
+Working-tree state on root worktree: 33+ modified files + 5 untracked (NCI/tonal-momentum rules + cross-substrate-triangulator skill) on stale branch `otto/2012z-...-2026-05-18`. Per PR #4490 these are already triaged. **Substrate-honest move: do NOT commit on this contaminated tree.**
+
+Picked: direct-merge on CLEAN PRs sitting without merge action. 4 CLEAN candidates identified via `gh pr list`:
+
+| PR | Title | Disposition |
+|---|---|---|
+| [#4504](https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta/pull/4504) | docs(shadow): Maji anti-entropy log on Vera/Riven drift | Armed auto-merge → MERGED at commit `86e8a044` |
+| [#4495](https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta/pull/4495) | docs(archive): decompose PR preservation 4450 and 4449 from blob PR 4462 | Direct merged (already CLEAN; `enablePullRequestAutoMerge` rejects CLEAN PRs) |
+| [#4496](https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta/pull/4496) | docs(archive): Lior PR memory preservation for PR 4490 | Direct merged |
+| [#4502](https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta/pull/4502) | docs(shadow): Maji anti-entropy log on PR 4383 decomposition | Direct merged |
+
+**Operational note**: `gh pr merge <N> --auto --squash` errors with `Pull request is in clean status (enablePullRequestAutoMerge)` when the PR is ALREADY CLEAN — GitHub refuses to enable auto-merge on a PR that's mergeable now. Use `gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch` for direct merge. Local branch delete may fail when a peer worktree holds it (harmless — remote merge succeeds).
+
+## Canary catch (Step 4)
+
+**Broken-commit canary fired on first commit attempt.** Per [`codeql-no-source-on-docs-only-pr-is-broken-commit-canary.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/codeql-no-source-on-docs-only-pr-is-broken-commit-canary.md):
+
+- `git worktree add /private/tmp/zeta-otto-cli-0603z-shard b55b9064` succeeded with directory populated (44 entries via `ls -la`)
+- However, `git switch -c shard/...` reported tree size 53 BUT the worktree's index was actually empty/stale (peer Otto lock-cleanup race during multi-instance saturation per the canary rule's documented root cause)
+- Stale `index.lock` (0 bytes, 5min37s old — past the 15s natural-clear window) had to be removed before `git add` could proceed
+- After `git add docs/.../0603Z.md` + `git -c commit.gpgsign=false commit`, tree collapsed: `git ls-tree HEAD | wc -l` = **1** (only `docs/`); `git ls-tree HEAD~1 | wc -l` = **53**
+- Per canary rule: `git reset --hard HEAD~1` restored 5918 working-tree files; tree returned to 53; this shard re-written cleanly via Write tool
+
+**Empirical addition for the canary rule**: the failure shape included a stale `index.lock` as precursor. The 0-byte 5min37s-old lock IS diagnostic of the same peer lock-cleanup race that corrupts the index. Future-Otto: when a worktree creation succeeds but the worktree's `.git/worktrees/<name>/index.lock` is present, treat as canary-precursor — verify `git ls-tree HEAD` before first commit, OR `git restore --staged --worktree --source=HEAD -- .` to re-materialize the index from the tree.
+
+## Tick shard (Step 5)
+
+This file at `docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/21/0603Z.md`. Written from isolated worktree at `/private/tmp/zeta-otto-cli-0603z-shard` (created off `b55b9064` per [`zeta-expected-branch.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/zeta-expected-branch.md) race-window-caveat — root worktree on contaminated branch + multi-Otto saturation).
+
+`git ls-tree HEAD | wc -l` after reset = 53 (clean baseline). Will re-verify post-commit.
+
+## CronList (Step 6)
+
+Sentinel re-armed at tick start (job `0d40ff23`, `* * * * *` cadence, `<<autonomous-loop>>` sentinel). Will re-verify post-commit.
+
+## Visibility signal (Step 7)
+
+**Concretely landed this tick:**
+
+1. Sentinel `0d40ff23` armed (catch-43 defense)
+2. PR #4504 merged → commit [`86e8a044`](https://github.com/Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta/commit/86e8a044) (Maji shadow log on Vera/Riven drift)
+3. PR #4495 merged (archive decomp from blob PR 4462)
+4. PR #4496 merged (Lior PR 4490 preservation)
+5. PR #4502 merged (Maji shadow log PR 4383 decomp)
+6. This shard at `docs/hygiene-history/ticks/2026/05/21/0603Z.md`
+7. Empirical addition to the broken-commit canary rule: stale-index.lock-as-precursor pattern observed and documented
+
+**Not touched this tick** (substrate-honest): the 33-modified-file + 5-untracked working tree on stale branch `otto/2012z-...` — already triaged in PR #4490; further work would be duplicative.
+
+**Composes with**:
+
+- [`codeql-no-source-on-docs-only-pr-is-broken-commit-canary.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/codeql-no-source-on-docs-only-pr-is-broken-commit-canary.md) — empirical addition: stale-index.lock-as-precursor pattern
+- [`blocked-green-ci-investigate-threads.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/blocked-green-ci-investigate-threads.md) — 4 CLEAN PRs sitting un-armed is the "merge backlog" failure mode at low-friction scope
+- [`holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md`](../../../../../.claude/rules/holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md) — cold-boot tick with concrete artifact (4 merges + this shard + canary catch+empirical addition) satisfies counter-reset condition #3