Record real backplane issue links and advance only the verified Pension-Data producer

[stranske]

Target: stranske/Workflows
Priority: P1
Depends on: Pension-Data #703 merged with a captured conformant reference run

Why

config/backplane_participants.json still contains a TBD parent issue and TBD participant issue links. Its lifecycle contract is planned -> emitting -> conformant, while docs/contracts/research-backplane-contract.md:95-109 requires central registry truth. Leaving placeholder links and declaring status from schema presence would repeat the built-but-not-flowing failure. Pension-Data should advance only after its participant-owned emitter has produced a real validated reference run.

Scope

Replace placeholder coordination links with real GitHub references, attach Pension-Data's reference-run evidence, and advance only Pension-Data through the central lifecycle. Keep all other producers honestly planned and LMS candidate/no-op.

Non-Goals

• Do not modify Pension-Data source in this Workflows issue.
• Do not advance any other participant or activate LMS.
• Do not infer conformant from a passing schema fixture without a real participant CI run.
• Scaffold-only completion does NOT count: replacing TBD strings without a real parent issue, participant issue, reference artifact, CI URL, and lifecycle evidence is incomplete.

Tasks

• Use this issue as the real Workflows parent coordination issue and update config/backplane_participants.json::parent_issue to this issue's URL.
• Replace each participant TBD issue with a real issue link or an explicit deferred/retired decision plus expiry; do not fabricate implementation status.
• Create scripts/validate_backplane_registry.py and tests/test_backplane_registry.py to validate real issue links/deferred expiries, evidence-backed transitions, and reference-run requirements offline.
• Attach Pension-Data's merged emitter PR, participant conformance run URL, artifact hash, and generated timestamp to the registry/report evidence.
• Advance Pension-Data planned -> emitting when the emitter exists, then emitting -> conformant only when the real reference run passes the reusable workflow; preserve transition timestamps/history.
• Update the backplane health/dashboard so stale/missing/invalid/valid reference state is distinct from participant lifecycle state.

Acceptance Criteria

• python scripts/validate_backplane_registry.py --strict reports zero TBD links and validates every real issue URL/deferred expiry.
• A registry-transition test rejects conformant when the participant CI URL or reference artifact hash is missing/invalid.
• Pension-Data alone becomes conformant with captured evidence; the other five producers remain planned/deferred and LMS remains candidate/no-op.
• Deliberate break: in tests/test_backplane_registry.py::pension_conformant_entry, delete only reference_run_sha256; run python -m pytest -q tests/test_backplane_registry.py::test_conformant_requires_reference_evidence; observe AssertionError: conformant participant lacks reference evidence; revert and show the exact test passes.

Implementation Notes

Workflows remains the contract owner, not a participant. This issue is the first machine-proven registry transition and should become the lifecycle template for later producers.

Cross-repo linkage

• Reference producer: Pension-Data #703

[stranske]

Reopening for closer sequencing: PR #2747 is merged and now needs durable verify:compare/provider disposition before this source issue is closed.

[stranske]

Merged-key verifier disposition from opener current-main audit after PR #2747 merged.

Evidence checked on origin/main merge dcefc3cca1f3cc75e0c2b1a1d1f0029b575c5ae6:

• python scripts/validate_backplane_registry.py --strict --json -> ok: true, finding_count: 0.
• Registry text contains TBD count 0 and parent_issue stranske/Workflows#2743.
• Strict validator reports Pension-Data as lifecycle_status: conformant, reference_state: valid, issue stranske/Pension-Data#703, conformance run https://github.com/stranske/Pension-Data/actions/runs/29080121547/job/86320867619.
• Other producers remain planned with reference_state: missing; learning-management-system remains candidate / not-applicable.
• python -m pytest -q tests/test_backplane_registry.py tests/contracts/test_validate_run_contract.py tests/scripts/test_validate_run_contract.py::test_fixture_valid_run_passes_with_matching_manifest tests/scripts/test_validate_workflow_yaml.py -> 45 passed.
• python -m pytest -q tests/test_backplane_registry.py::test_conformant_requires_reference_evidence -> 1 passed.
• Live PR checks for Issue #2743: Record backplane registry evidence #2747 are green, including Validate backplane contract integrity, Gate, Python CI, CodeRabbit, and post-merge verifier job.

The provider comparison comment's non-PASS concerns were audited against current main and reduce to stale/truncated-diff uncertainty rather than a remaining code gap. Closing #2743 as complete.