# v1.3.1 candidate checkpoint

This record binds the untagged candidate to the exact fifteen-skill portfolio,
the English `BRIEF` writing contract and its fresh behavioral holdout. It is not
a publication record.

```text
VERSION: 1.3.1
STATUS: RELEASE_CANDIDATE
VERIFIED_DATE: 2026-09-02
SKILL_COUNT: 15
PORTFOLIO: EXACT_FIFTEEN_CANONICAL_NOBRAINER_SKILLS
WRITING_BRIEF_RESULT: PASS
WRITING_BRIEF_HOLDOUT: PASS 5/5
WRITING_BRIEF_EVALUATOR: INDEPENDENT
WRITING_BRIEF_EVALUATION: docs/evals/v1.3.1-writing-brief-2026-09-02.md
WRITING_BRIEF_SOURCE_BINDING: PASS
INDEPENDENT_RELEASE_REVIEW: CLEAN
INDEPENDENT_RELEASE_REVIEW_SESSION: 01a0616f-da41-7cf2-a81d-c8c5febb8403
DETERMINISTIC_TESTS_STATUS: PASS
DETERMINISTIC_TESTS_TOTAL: 105
SECRET_SCAN: PASS
PUBLIC_SYNC: FETCH_ONLY
AUTOMATED_PUBLIC_COMMIT_PUSH: BLOCKED
MERGE: NOT_PERFORMED
TAG: NOT_CREATED
DISTRIBUTION: NOT_PUBLISHED
ACCEPTANCE: PASS_LOCAL_PR_CANDIDATE
```

## What changed

- `nobrainer-writing` now has an English-first `BRIEF` mode with the `nb-brief`
  alias and focused Markdown-first templates for comments, bugs, issues, user
  stories and requests.
- Bug reports expose `Environment`, `URL`, `Steps to reproduce`, `Current
  behavior`, `Expected behavior` and `Evidence` separately.
- Evidence follows the affected surface: API request/response, database
  read-only query/result, or UI screenshot/MP4. Missing required proof returns
  `INPUT_REQUIRED`.
- The public GitHub bug template follows the same diagnostic fields. The
  canonical portfolio remains exactly fifteen skills.

## Behavioral evidence

The fresh holdout covers incomplete API evidence, a database failure with
query/result evidence, a UI failure with screenshot evidence and a complete API
request/response failure. The candidate must preserve supplied facts and
uncertainty, keep the required field order, and refuse to draft when a required
surface artifact is absent.
The frozen prompt, normalized output and independent judge are linked from
[`the evaluation record`](../evals/v1.3.1-writing-brief-2026-09-02.md).

## Runtime boundary

This candidate does not upgrade client-specific compatibility by inference.
Merge, tag and distribution require their own owner-gated readback after the
candidate review. `v1.3.0` remains the rollback source release until the new
release is independently published and verified.