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+# Tick 2026-05-27T04:08:44Z — Otto-CLI autonomous-loop
+
+Cold-boot autonomous-loop tick. Catch-43 sentinel was empty (session-exit
+non-persistence per [`tick-must-never-stop.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/tick-must-never-stop.md));
+re-armed `88127e62` with `* * * * *` + `<<autonomous-loop>>` BEFORE any
+substantive work per `.claude/rules/tick-must-never-stop.md`.
+
+## Refresh observations
+
+- `git fetch origin main` clean; HEAD on operator's primary `main` advanced to `132eca9bd` (PR #5397 B-0850 Phase 3d Lior/Gemini systemd merged ~minutes prior to tick fire)
+- GraphQL tier: **Normal** (`{core: 4929, graphql: 4876}`); REST core 4929/5000 — no rate-limit constraint
+- Peer activity: **0** non-claude/gemini/kiro/alexa procs matching the canary regex (`gemini.*[Ll]ior|lior.*loop|claude.*Otto`)
+- Operator primary checkout on `main`; 20 untracked artifacts in `decompose-4847-*/` + `docs/pr-discussions/PR-52*.md` (peer-Lior preservation WIP; not mine to touch per cross-surface lane discipline)
+- 17 agent worktrees under `/private/tmp/zeta-*` from yesterday's B-0848/B-0849/B-0850 cluster work
+- Open PRs from authenticated git identity: 30+ — 1 active Otto-CLI (PR #5398 Phase 3c Vera/Codex, `updatedAt=2026-05-27T04:08:54Z` — peer Otto-CLI session shipping in parallel), rest are `lior/*` (peer-Lior lane)
+
+## Step 3 — bounded decomposition: worktree-hygiene cleanup
+
+Per [`agent-worktree-hygiene-never-hold-main-never-step-on-operator-cleanup-on-pr-merge.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/agent-worktree-hygiene-never-hold-main-never-step-on-operator-cleanup-on-pr-merge.md)
+Rule 3 (agents remove their own worktrees after PR merge) + the recurrence-anchor
+discipline in [`fighting-past-self-vs-peer-agent-distinguisher-fix-your-own-coordinate-on-peers-dont-punt-by-default.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/fighting-past-self-vs-peer-agent-distinguisher-fix-your-own-coordinate-on-peers-dont-punt-by-default.md)
+(2026-05-26 stale-PR-queue default-punt anchor): blanket "all peer territory; not
+touching" emission IS the failure mode this rule was designed to catch. Required
+discriminator pass per-worktree.
+
+Discriminator: `git ls-remote --heads origin <branch>` per worktree branch.
+
+| Bucket | Count | Action |
+|---|---|---|
+| **GONE_ON_ORIGIN** (branch deleted on origin → substrate landed on main) | 15 | Removed via `git worktree remove` (no `--force`) + `git branch -D <local-ref>` |
+| **EXISTS_ON_ORIGIN** (branch live on origin) | 2 | Preserved: PR #5398 active peer + iter-550 just-merged (auto-delete pending) |
+
+`git worktree remove` (no `--force`) refused 0 of 15 — all clean (substrate was
+already on main; no uncommitted state to preserve). Composes with
+[`honor-those-that-came-before.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/honor-those-that-came-before.md):
+substrate IS preserved (on main); the worktree-pointer cleanup honors the work
+that came before.
+
+### Worktrees removed (15)
+
+```
+feat-b0847-ai-own-github-identity-once-cluster-operational-2026-05-26-2206z
+feat-b0848-node-local-claude-agent-pr-steward-cluster-health-reporter-2026-05-26-2240z
+fix-iter551-alignment-bun-to-mise-canonical-install-sh-fixfwd-pr-5388-2026-05-26-2353z
+feat-b0849-1-docker-nixos-install-sh-test-harness-implementation-2026-05-27-0136z
+feat-b0849-2-docker-nixos-install-sh-test-github-actions-integration-2026-05-27-0440z
+feat-b0849-docker-nixos-install-sh-test-harness-fast-iteration-2026-05-26-2356z
+feat-b0850-3d-lior-gemini-cli-2nd-vendor-systemd-agent-2026-05-27-0454z
+feat-b0850-otto-as-systemd-service-outside-k8s-cluster-repair-from-outside-failure-domain-2026-05-27-0042z
+feat-b0850-1-zeta-otto-systemd-unit-nixos-module-autostart-on-reboot-2026-05-27-0050z
+feat-b0850-3-zeta-ai-agent-parameterized-module-refactor-multi-vendor-scaffold-2026-05-27-0149z
+otto-cli/mika-4-substrate-landings-2026-05-26
+fix-b0835-multi-protocol-name-resolution-netbios-avahi-hardening-2026-05-26-2305z
+fix-postmerge-5379-qemu-full-install-test-iter-51-marker-artifact-upload-trigger-path-early-exit-race-otto-cli-2026-05-26
+fix-b0835-storage-probe-filter-zero-size-block-devices-2026-05-26-2233z
+feat-wifi-fallback-zeta-install-2026-05-26-2150z
+```
+
+Each branch maps to a merged PR in the 2026-05-26/2026-05-27 cluster
+(B-0847..B-0850 + iter-5.5.0/5.5.1 + B-0835 hardening + wifi fallback).
+
+### Worktrees preserved (2)
+
+- `/private/tmp/zeta-b0850-3c-vera-codex-0512z` → PR #5398 OPEN, active peer Otto-CLI session shipping `updatedAt=04:08:54Z` (10 seconds before this tick fired)
+- `/private/tmp/zeta-iter55-claude-install-2325z` → branch live on origin despite PR #5388 merge (auto-delete pending; safer to leave for next tick to reclassify)
+
+## Verify-before-defer composition
+
+Worktree creation for THIS shard succeeded clean per the
+[`refresh-world-model-poll-pr-gate.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/refresh-world-model-poll-pr-gate.md)
+pure-git tick pattern + the
+[`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)
+post-creation guard: tree_size=61, status_lines=0, HEAD=132eca9bd. No corruption.
+
+## Disposition
+
+- **Substrate landed**: 15 stale worktrees removed + 15 stale local branch refs deleted (clean — zero refused)
+- **Substrate authored**: this tick shard
+- **Counter discipline**: counter reset via concrete-artifact decomposition (per [`holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md))
+- **Sentinel**: armed `88127e62` (visible via CronList) — catch-43 invariant restored
+- **Deferred**: nothing (no named-dep wait active)
+
+Composes with the rapid-substrate-closure 2026-05-20T14:08Z-14:33Z empirical
+anchor pattern in [`holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md`](../../../../../../.claude/rules/holding-without-named-dependency-is-standing-by-failure.md):
+clear engineering arc (15-worktree mass cleanup) → bounded concrete artifact →
+visibility signal → stop. No forced-#6 escalation needed; tick produces
+substantive work on cycle-1 substantive without entering brief-ack cycle.