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Generated-artifact discipline is easy to violate #1132

@ahouseholder

Description

@ahouseholder

Summary

Several important outputs — namespace_patterns.py, JSON schemas, and CSV files — are both generated from Python source and committed to the repository. Python source is authoritative, but downstream artifacts are also stored and consumed by docs and CI workflows, creating real drift risk.

Category

  • Top risk
  • Technical debt
  • Security
  • Performance / scaling
  • Fragile / high-churn area
  • Other

Severity

high

Evidence

  • src/ssvc/utils/namespace_patterns.py
  • data/json/
  • data/schema/
  • data/csv/
  • data/csvs/

Impact if Ignored

Docs, API, and downstream consumers may silently consume stale generated artifacts. Drift between source and committed outputs can go undetected until a runtime or documentation error surfaces.

Suggested Action

Add a CI step that regenerates artifacts and fails if the diff is non-empty (i.e., treat committed artifacts as a cache that must stay in sync). Document clearly which files are generated and should not be edited by hand.

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