hotato 1.17.0

[1.17.0] - 2026-07-28

Fixed

• pip install 'hotato[mcp]' works again. The MCP extra was pinned
  mcp>=1.2.0 with no ceiling, so a fresh install resolved mcp 2.0.0, which
  removed mcp.server.fastmcp -- hotato-mcp then exited reporting the SDK
  was not installed while it was. The extra now reads mcp>=1.2.0,<2, the
  range whose API the server consumes, in both [mcp] and [all]. The
  parity tests skip on mcp.server.fastmcp rather than on import mcp, so
  an SDK shape change reads as a skip with a reason instead of a SystemExit.
• hotato describe starts an agent where the docs start a human. Its
  core_loop rendered the five deep-toolkit commands, not the funnel the
  README, --help and llms.txt all document. core_loop is now the
  first-run funnel (autopsy -> scan -> <stack> health -> pin -> prove) and
  the longer first-touch-to-CI-gate path is published beside it as
  deep_loop, each under its own heading in the text render.
• A stalled ffmpeg can no longer hang an autopsy. Converting a
  non-WAV input now runs under a size-scaled ceiling (60s floor, 900s cap),
  and a timeout raises the same refusal an undecodable file does (exit 2)
  instead of blocking forever.
• Report byte-stability documented as it behaves. The autopsy page
  carries the source file's name, so the same recording under two names
  renders two pages at one content-addressed path; the docstring said the
  bytes were stable across runs without that qualification.

Added

• hotato lab -- the deep toolkit gets its own front door. The
  top-level --help now shows only the public surface (autopsy, scan,
  pin, prove, connect, the five <stack> health commands, start,
  demo, doctor, console, production, serve, contract,
  describe); every other command lives under hotato lab <cmd>, and
  hotato lab --help lists each one with its one-line description. One
  registration layer (_SurfaceRouter) decides visibility: a lab command
  registers exactly as before -- same name, same parser, same behavior --
  but without a parent help line, so every pre-1.17 top-level spelling
  keeps working unchanged as a compat alias, and the lab prefix is pure
  argv dispatch onto the same parser. The stability statement (public
  commands durable; lab evolves faster; old spellings keep working)
  renders in the --help epilog tail, hotato lab --help, README,
  CONTRIBUTING (with the monthly-stable release cadence), and the
  describe manifest.
• hotato describe records both spellings per command. Every
  top-level manifest entry now carries surface (public or lab), its
  canonical spelling, and compat_alias (the still-working pre-1.17
  top-level name; null for public commands), plus a top-level
  stability field. The text rendering shows lab commands under
  hotato lab ... with the alias beside them. Exit codes, args, and the
  command set itself are unchanged.
• docs/EVIDENCE-CONTRACT.md -- the four-tier evidence policy, stated
  once. Tier 1 dual-channel audio (deterministic, the only
  verdict-eligible tier), tier 2 mono plus provider metadata (attributable
  findings, each carrying its source's declared authority), tier 3 raw
  mixed mono (symptom detection with a measured confidence), tier 4
  insufficient evidence (refused, exit 2, with the remediation). README,
  AUTOPSY.md, the trust docs, and the docs index link to it instead of
  restating it; tests/test_evidence_contract.py holds the page and its
  referencing surfaces in lockstep.

Changed

• docs index restructured to the loop. docs/README.md now leads with
  the loop (autopsy -> scan -> pin -> prove -> <stack> health), then
  continuous use, then a Lab section grouping the moved commands' docs.
  Every doc stays listed.
• Superlative sweep. Unsupported superlatives replaced with measured
  framing: the README say-do bullet now reads "a bug that fires actions
  the caller canceled", and docs/STARTER.md opens with what the one
  command does.

Full entry: https://github.com/attenlabs/hotato/blob/v1.17.0/CHANGELOG.md