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recursive-mode enforces an audit loop on every major phase. A phase cannot lock — and the next phase cannot start — until the audit passes. This prevents vague “done” claims from advancing through the workflow.

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The audit lifecycle

Every audited phase follows this sequence:
The agent cannot set Coverage: PASS or Approval: PASS for an audited phase unless the artifact ends with Audit: PASS. The agent cannot lock the artifact unless both gates pass. There are no shortcuts.

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Which phases require auditing

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Coverage Gate and Approval Gate

Every audited phase ends with two mandatory gates: Coverage Gate — proves the artifact addresses everything relevant in its inputs, including any applicable addenda. The agent must demonstrate that nothing was silently skipped. Approval Gate — proves the artifact is actually ready to proceed to the next phase. For Phase 5 (manual QA), human or hybrid modes require explicit user sign-off before this gate can pass. Both gates must pass before the artifact can lock. A phase that locks without both gates is a workflow violation.

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Addenda

Locked artifacts must not be edited. If a later phase discovers a gap, an error, or missing information in an earlier locked phase, you use an addendum instead. Addenda live at:
An addendum is an authoritative effective input. The agent must:
  1. List relevant addenda under Inputs in the current phase artifact
  2. Re-read them as part of ## Effective Inputs Re-read
  3. Explicitly reconcile them in ## Earlier Phase Reconciliation
Addenda are automatically included when generating review bundles for delegated review. Do not omit them from any delegated context.

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Requirement Completion Status

Every audited phase must include a ## Requirement Completion Status section that accounts for every in-scope requirement (R#). Each requirement needs an explicit disposition: You cannot mark a requirement as implemented or verified without concrete Changed Files. You cannot mark verified without separate verification evidence — citing the same code that implements the requirement is not sufficient.

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Locking an artifact

After Audit: PASS, Coverage: PASS, and Approval: PASS, lock the artifact using the recursive-lock script:
The script writes Status: LOCKED, LockedAt, and LockHash to the artifact. Do not manually edit those fields — a manual edit will produce a LockHash mismatch that the verify script will catch. To verify all locks in a run: