---
name: a-shared-tool-binary-can-flip-under-a-live-gate
description: "traceable-reqs.exe on the shared box went 0.2.0 -> 0.4.0 at 02:34Z mid-gate by an unannounced hand; same tree exit 0 -> exit 1 / 396 findings. The gate criterion is the CI PIN, not the PATH binary; read the leg's OUTPUT SHAPE and the exe mtime against the leg's clock before classifying."
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: feedback
  originSessionId: 647c7dc2-d1c2-49f5-9513-98ffb742a36a
  modified: 2026-09-07T02:57:29.056Z
---

2026-09-07 02:34:17Z, W1 (#249) gate: `C:\Users\decid\AppData\Local\Programs\traceable-reqs\traceable-reqs.exe`
was replaced 0.2.0 -> 0.4.0 (old exe left beside it as `traceable-reqs-0.2.0.exe.bak`, same mtime). Nobody
announced it; hertz found it 02:49Z when his green (02:23Z) turned red (02:36Z) on an unchanged tree, and
measured with the .bak as a control: same tree, same minute, 0.2.0 exit 0 / 0.4.0 exit 1 with 396 findings.
todlando then named the mechanism (0.4.0 reads NOTHING from a single-FILE `[scan]` root — CONTEXT.md's 148
evidence hits went to 0), and hertz closed it two-directionally (83/83 missing = tagged only in CONTEXT.md;
60/60 still credited = also tagged elsewhere). Two independent 0.4.0 defects against this repo: placement
judging (313) and the file-root drop (83); a `[placement]` line cannot touch the 83.

**Why:** a shared PATH binary is a gate INPUT that no lane controls and no diff shows. When it moves, every
lane on the box reds at once on every sha including main, and the red wears the shape of a code regression.
The `traceable-reqs` INSTALLER skill re-flips it whenever anyone runs it, so the flip recurs.

**How to apply:**
- The gate criterion is the version CI PINS (`WANT=0.2.0` at ci.yml:246 and golden.yml:1320 that day), never
  the box's PATH binary. A local flip is an infra red, not a criterion change; pin the box back and file
  adoption as its own lane (IR-37's consume lane `ci/traceable-reqs-v0.4`).
- A leg that ran in the window is classified by its OUTPUT SHAPE and CLOCK: `882 complete, 0 findings` is the
  0.2.0 shape; compare the leg's timestamps with the exe mtime (`ls -la --time-style=+%T`). My leg ran
  02:33:06-12Z, the exe flipped 02:34:17Z: the green stands on its own clock.
- Keep the displaced exe as a `.bak` beside the pin so the control measurement stays one command away, and
  ask the fleet who flipped it: an unannounced install is a process defect even when the version is right.
- Related: [[treqs-exit-2-is-an-unparseable-registry]] (a different way the same tool goes vacuous),
  [[a-pr-open-is-a-ci-battery-on-both-runner-boxes]] (another lane-external input that reds every lane).