FE-1318: Reconcile canonical documentation with current topology

[lunelson]

Why

Some of our internal design documentation had drifted out of sync with reality — still describing earlier proposals and superseded plans as if they were live guidance. That's a real risk: anyone (including an AI coding agent) reading those docs to understand current architecture could be misled into rebuilding something we already decided against, or missing where current guidance actually lives.

What

• Recorded one previously-floated proposal (replacing our planning process/tooling) as not adopted — our actual planning setup (Linear issues + Graphite branches + versioned docs) stays authoritative and isn't second-guessed by old notes.
• Thinned five sets of outdated design notes down to short historical context plus a pointer to where the current guidance actually lives, instead of leaving the outdated version as the loudest thing on the page.
• Cleaned up our product-comparison documentation so it clearly lists the ways we currently run comparisons today, without conflating a one-off historical test run with the ways we actively support.
• Pure documentation change — no product behavior is affected.

How to test

1. npm run check passes (includes a documentation link-validity check).

[lunelson]

Warning

This pull request is not mergeable via GitHub because a downstack PR is open. Once all requirements are satisfied, merge this PR as a stack on Graphite.
Learn more

• FE-1321: Converge TUI and web session runtime contracts #416
• FE-1320: Structural private-mission isolation for /compare-specs #415
• FE-1318: Reconcile canonical documentation with current topology #414 👈 (View in Graphite)
• FE-1317: Close host-landing oracle identity over PTY behavior #413
• FE-1316: Audit current system authority and drift #412
• FE-1311: Remove dead code and clarify repository contracts #402
• next

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[cursor]

PR Summary

Low Risk
Markdown and planning-index updates only; risk is doc drift or broken links, mitigated by link checks noted in the PR description.

Overview
Closes FE-1318 canonical-document reconciliation with no runtime or product behavior changes.

Authority and planning memory: The planning-substrate assessment now states its PLAN-replacement prescription was not adopted; memory/PLAN.md, memory/SPEC.md, Linear/Graphite, and src/**/TOPOLOGY.md remain the split of truth. docs/README.md reframes sections (architecture references, relative links to memory/ and AGENTS.md) and labels retired elicitation/planning notes as historical.

Superseded design notes: Large bodies in ELICITATION_LENSES, ELICITATION_QUESTIONS, STRUCTURED_EXCHANGE_COLLAPSE, session-host/daemon notes, and much of REVIEW_SETS are replaced with short historical note + current authority stubs pointing at SPEC, topology files, and live code paths. ONTOLOGY_REVIEW_PROTOCOL and STRUCTURED_EXCHANGE_ANSWERING_PATHS drop lens/heuristic authority where it was retired.

Comparison docs: comparison-guide and comparison-runs now distinguish four execution cases (including prospect-research-workspace as execution-only), three configured end-to-end study contracts vs one retained historical witness, and that end-to-end has no single operator command.

Plan bookkeeping: memory/PLAN.md and docs/archive/PLAN_HISTORY.md record the frontier complete and remove it from Next.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR reconciles Brunch’s canonical documentation with the current, shipped topology by demoting superseded proposals to clearly-labeled historical notes and re-pointing readers to the current sources of authority (SPEC/PLAN + co-located TOPOLOGY.md + comparison runbooks/contracts).

Changes:

• Marks the planning-substrate “replace PLAN” proposal as not adopted and documents the current authority split (SPEC/PLAN + Linear/Graphite + topology files).
• Converts multiple design notes (elicitation lenses/questions, structured-exchange collapse, session-host/daemon sketches, review sets) into historical notes with pointers to current code/topology owners.
• Clarifies comparison documentation: enumerates current execution cases, distinguishes configured E2E contracts vs retained witness evidence, and states there is no single end-to-end operator command.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 14 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
memory/PLAN.md	Records FE-1318 as completed and removes its now-closed frontier definition and “next” entry.
docs/README.md	Reframes the docs index around current authority (SPEC/PLAN + TOPOLOGY.md), fixes relative links, and labels historical planning notes.
docs/praxis/comparison-runs.md	Updates execution-case list (adds prospect-research-workspace) and tightens E2E contract vs witness language.
docs/praxis/comparison-guide.md	Aligns the public comparison guide with current execution cases and E2E study posture (no single operator command).
docs/planning/planning-record-substrate-assessment.md	Shrinks the note to durable takeaways + explicitly “not adopted” migration direction + re-entry rule.
docs/design/STRUCTURED_EXCHANGE_COLLAPSE.md	Rewrites as a historical note and points to current exchange topology/schemas and SPEC decision.
docs/design/STRUCTURED_EXCHANGE_ANSWERING_PATHS.md	Updates framing to treat the collapse doc as historical and topology as current authority.
docs/design/SESSION_HOST_DECISION_CANDIDATE.md	Thins to historical context and points to current app/session/rpc/web topology.
docs/design/REVIEW_SETS.md	Retains only the durable mechanism rationale and redirects payload/settlement authority to code + topology.
docs/design/ONTOLOGY_REVIEW_PROTOCOL.md	Updates language to mark retired defaulting proposals and re-points heuristics authority to current agent references.
docs/design/MULTI_SESSION_DAEMON_ARCHITECTURE.md	Converts to a historical note and points to current shared-host/web UI topology.
docs/design/ELICITATION_QUESTIONS.md	Converts the question catalogue into a historical note and points to current schema + skill references.
docs/design/ELICITATION_LENSES.md	Converts the lens-runtime proposal into a historical note and points to current runtime/skills/topology.
docs/archive/PLAN_HISTORY.md	Adds a FE-1318 closeout entry capturing what was reconciled and what remains authoritative.

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