v3.1.7 — the Second Key

v3.1.7 — The Second Key

The LAW — the plan every slice is built against — was the last stage that sealed on a single
model family's word. It no longer does.

What changed

• Always-on cross-family ratification of the LAW. Before the LAW/architecture locks, an
  opposite model family must ratify it — reusing the existing review loop and review schema, no new
  schema family. Findings return to the producer for up to two repairs with same-reviewer recheck.
• Honest HELD when the second key cannot be turned. If the reviewer bridge is unavailable, the
  plan is blocked, or ratification will not converge, the run holds for the operator — the LAW never
  locks single-family.
• The kernel is the sole sealer. A new opaque seal-law verb computes and persists the LAW
  digest after ratification; the LAW card no longer seals it. The displayed, ratified, and sealed
  digests are provably the same sha256 of the same bytes.

Under the hood

• New ratify verb and ratify-reviewer role (gpt, opposite-family to the fable LAW producer),
  boot-required and mirrored into the doctor preflight.
• The kernel stays content-blind; the build path is byte-identical to v3.1.6.

Verification

• Harness floor green: tests/v3 31/31, plugin suite 129/129.
• Every slice cross-family reviewed (repair-to-approval); a whole-wave milestone QA passed.
• Live dogfood against real GPT: the ratify gate graded a candidate LAW, returned a schema-valid
  verdict, and the sealed digest matched the ratified bytes exactly; a bridge-down run surfaced an
  honest hold.

Wave 1 of the lifecycle realignment. Ships as a patch bump; the status light stays yellow.