# E-037 — Broad evidence paths credited an unrelated PRD

## Context and hierarchy

- Date: 2026-08-11.
- Active objective: correct KPI statistical semantics.
- Observed work: define round lifecycle and separate durable governance from operational state.

## Trajectory and evidence

After the KPI correction closed, a new request produced `docs/product/08-round-lifecycle-and-active-work-prd.md` and its Spanish counterpart. The previous contract remained active and declared `docs/**` as candidate evidence for `KR-KPI-CORRECTNESS`.

`align --json` returned `pass`, credited both PRDs and their indexes to the prior KR, and reported zero files outside scope. `round-end` returned `PASS` again for the statistics round.

## Expected and actual behavior

Expected: the guard should distinguish that a lifecycle PRD belongs to successor intent even when its path is allowed by the previous contract.

Actual: path matching produced enough candidate credit to hide semantic objective substitution.

## Classification, correction, and limits

This is an attribution false `pass` and a sensitivity limitation already anticipated by E-013. It does not show that the PRD is wrong. It shows that valid scope and evidence paths are insufficient to decide intent continuity.

The proposed correction is specified in the new PRD: terminal closure, explicit absence of an active round, and structured intent mismatch before edits are authorized. Path evidence must remain labeled as candidate evidence, never semantic progress.

## Impact and follow-up

The episode weakens any claim that current alignment prevents work under a stale round. The verifiable follow-up is a regression where a closed round receives successor work inside the same broad path and `task-flow` returns `action-required` before editing.