---
status: draft
period: 2026-08-05
theme: buildchain-v4-core-mechanism-inventory
doc_type: analysis
source_level: local-files
confidence: high
sensitivity: internal
evidence_grade: A
review_state: unreviewed
last_reviewed: 2026-08-06
ai_provenance:
  model_family: GPT-5
  product: Codex
  generated_at: 2026-08-06
  boundary: Based only on visible repository sources, tests, generated registries, and exact-head Git metadata.
---

# v3 Core Mechanism Inventory

This is the human projection of
[`v3-core-mechanism-inventory.json`](v3-core-mechanism-inventory.json).
The JSON inventory is authoritative and validated by
`scripts/check-core-mechanism-inventory.mjs`.

The exact `dev/v3/v3.0` cut is commit
`e6d6ecd6204518298898962f01aba5d73ed70b60`, tree
`26c8476dcc63d1b8cf9b32fe12ffbf3ee52246cf`. It contains 275
hand-maintained source files, 104,953 source lines, 64 workflows, 225 internal
dependency edges, and zero dependency cycles. These numbers constrain migration
drift; they do not prove semantic correctness.

## Authority map

| Mechanism                   | Current authority and durable state                                        | v4 disposition                                       |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Dev Delivery Warrant        | Rooted queue on a selected Git ref; leased candidate admission             | Rust authority with compatibility projection         |
| Release Candidate Passport  | Immutable candidate workflow artifacts and Passport root                   | Preserve schema and byte semantics                   |
| Candidate Recovery          | Original artifacts plus immutable recovery receipt                         | Port verifier first; preserve no-rebuild invariant   |
| Stable Candidate Ledger     | Rooted ledger on `ledger-ref`                                              | Preserve contract; select store authority explicitly |
| Publish Transaction         | Version state Git ref, local state projection, sealed evidence             | Primary Rust transaction authority with v3 reader    |
| Release Activation          | Ordered six-phase transaction and receipt set                              | Port state machine and receipts together             |
| Publication Authority       | Authority registry, admission, gate, provenance and qualification receipts | Rust primary authority; preserve JSON contracts      |
| GitHub Governance           | Provider policy snapshot, CODEOWNERS, rulesets and receipt                 | Separate provider policy adapter                     |
| Passport and Artifact Proof | `buildchain.release.json`, evidence, locators and verification reports     | Preserve public schemas and verifier semantics       |
| Propagation Work Control    | Rooted Work, stage receipts, recovery cursor and family authority          | Reuse as v4 orchestration boundary                   |

## Boundary

This inventory does not choose the v4 store, provider adapter, bridge ABI, or
migration sequence. It records those as unresolved per mechanism. It also does
not change v3 behavior: the only executable addition validates the inventory
against current files and generated/package public-surface registries.

The reverse scan includes workflows, actions, the CLI command registry, package
and Node exports, tests, generated references, and Git-ref-backed stores. A
missing coordinate, absent public surface, empty evidence dimension, or
ambiguous source owner fails the check instead of becoming an implicit v4
assumption.

The executable scan walks 13 declared discovery rules against the repository,
not only against the paths already listed in the inventory. It currently owns
50 exact source coordinates, independently rediscovers 38 state-bearing
authority coordinates, validates 39 public surfaces across action, CLI, Node
export, and workflow registries, and checks three concrete Git-ref store
markers. A newly matching split state-machine or authority file therefore
fails as an orphan until the inventory gives it one mechanism owner.