Deferred Windows desktop GA: finish x64/ARM64 package, ordinary-user Connect, and PowerShell durability gates

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Status

Deferred from the initial macOS/Linux desktop release. This issue is the explicit Windows GA follow-up and must not block the four-target linux+darwin release profile.

Known current-head evidence to preserve

• PR [2050 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Stage packaged Windows ARM64 desktop artifacts for ordinary-user Connect smoke #2056 head af1ef83: production durability, packaged layout/parser, Linux/macOS packages, and four non-Windows Connect lanes pass. Native Windows x64 later hit an isolated PowerShell 5.1 child-process ETIMEDOUT; Windows package/ordinary-user matrix needs a clean rerun.
• PR [2053 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Make Windows cleanup-controller protocol complete and invocation-attributed #2057 head fd333cc: writable HKCU fixture helper is independently audited; Linux/macOS packages pass. Native Windows x64/ARM64 registry kind/digest/recovery acceptance remains the deciding evidence.
• PR [2064 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Publish packaged Windows Connect READY through a bounded inherited stdout contract #2069 head 77f6aae: async overflow lifecycle now terminates promptly and returns the exact bounded invalid-config schema. Windows ordinary-user acceptance still reports a strict stderr mismatch after native markers are removed; macOS/Linux Connect lanes pass.
• PR [2044 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Add packaged desktop visual and accessibility acceptance harness #2045 current-user/visual work must be rechecked on Windows after the shared renderer correction lands.

Required Windows GA completion

• Green native Windows durability on x64 and ARM64, including PowerShell 5.1 child-failure parsing without timing flakes.
• Green HKCU String/ExpandString/Binary/DWord/QWord/MultiString/REG_NONE, digest, cleanup, interruption, and recovery proof on x64 and ARM64.
• Exact ordinary-user Connect READY/invalid-config contracts on x64 and ARM64, including oversized stdout, one terminal event, no live handles, and exactly one sanitized stderr line without weakening the assertion.
• Build, install, launch, relaunch, uninstall, profile persistence, remote/manual/Connect flows, revocation/offline behavior, and clean shutdown for x64 and ARM64 installers.
• Windows artifacts must remain excluded from the macOS/Linux release profile and enter publication only through an explicit future Windows-inclusive profile with its own signing credentials and complete green matrix.
• Preserve canonical lockfile, fail-closed authority/parser/security behavior, and secret-free artifacts/logs.

Integration

Keep the existing PR stack #2056/#2057/#2069 available for continuation. Add AI only when Windows work is intentionally resumed; do not merge directly to main.

Part of #1950; deferred from the first macOS/Linux execution of #1962.

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Windows-only failures observed while advancing the macOS/Linux release are explicitly deferred here and must not block otherwise-green merges:

• Runtime lock leaf [2078 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Restore canonical qs and fast-uri runtime lock resolution for macOS/Linux packaging #2080: win32-x64/win32-arm64 unsigned validation only; macOS/Linux 4/4 green. Preserve its audited lock-only head and merge once the shared full suite is green.
• Release-profile PR [2073 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Add canonical macOS and Linux first-release profile while deferring Windows publication #2076: optional Windows validation may remain red; macOS/Linux 4/4 packages and the full suite are green. Windows artifacts/credentials must remain excluded from macos-linux-v1 production/finalization/publish.
• Visual PR [2044 by GPT-5.6 Sol] Add packaged desktop visual and accessibility acceptance harness #2045: ignore Windows lanes, but do not merge until its separate Linux x64 strict acceptance gate is green.

Implementation remains split across the targeted Windows x64/ARM64 corrective work in #2055, #2057, and #2069. Reconcile those branches under this tracker when Windows GA resumes; do not backport them into the first macOS/Linux release merely to clear optional checks.

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Windows work is now explicitly paused for the macOS/Linux delivery. Do not add AI, launch ProPR implementation, rerun Windows-only gates, or alter shared branches merely to clear Windows checks. Preserve #2055, #2057, and #2069 for later Windows GA. During the first release, Windows-only failures are informational and must not block an otherwise audited, green macOS/Linux merge.