#302 instrumentation-only handoff: 86696e176c81d9e467fbf0b09cf00c258d5b2ff8 on diag/302-rc-hitch (same physical worktree .worktrees/300-input-acceptance).
Diff: .spt/preserved/302/302-instrumentation.diff
Five-line zero-build fleet recipe already sent: .spt/preserved/302/RUNBOOK-five-lines.txt
Instrumented-build one-line probe, from a second terminal during a freeze:
cmd /d /c "set SPT_RC_HITCH_DIAG=1&& spt node status --json"

Verified actual CLI smoke: healthy loopback-only net host canary age 18 ms / active dials 0; net-less broker reports null gauges; ordinary status with gate off retains its normal output; absent broker returns probe_error and exit 1. Existing local fleet broker independently returned unknown command kind in 2 ms, exit 1: the new verb is NOT available on that running image. No broker restart or fleet config edit executed.
Proof: .spt/preserved/302/smoke.json, existing-broker-capability.json, build-fixed.stderr. Trace: 904/904 complete, zero findings (.spt/preserved/302/trace.json). Smoke source archived outside product tree; pool claim released.

Config path verified read-only: C:\Users\decid\AppData\Local\spt-core\daemon.json. All three cadence keys are file-backed; node refresh reloads coordinator configuration while retaining broker/PTYS/runtime. Recipe sets each to 600000, ignores initial priming, measures ~2 minutes, restores original bytes and refreshes again. Persistent hitch after priming means not cadence-driven pump work; wake edges remain. Disappearance plus return on restore supports the pump-round class, not #1 versus #2.
Optional file-based PowerShell edit/revert smoke was blocked by the machine's signed-script policy; it did not execute and I did not override the policy. This does not affect the verified native CLI smoke or read-only path verification.

Awaiting the operator's field reading. No remedy proposed or built; no merge.