sungjunlee · Sep 20, 2026 · Sep 20, 2026 · Sep 20, 2026 · Sep 20, 2026 · Sep 20, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,14 +6,20 @@ Each entry links the GitHub issue (the canonical spec) and the merge PR (the shi
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.16.0] — 2026-09-20
+
+Headline: **the deprecation release.** No epic — seven PRs (#481–#487) that subtract: six reviewed to LGTM before merge (#481, #483–#487), and #482 (the docs prune) merged without an independent review, covered instead by the cumulative release review of the v0.16.0 PR. dev-backlog names no delegate: the `[run:id]` Plan pointer and the `sprint-state` JSON `run_id` field are deleted (a legacy trailing `[run:…]` is stripped and ignored, the PR pointer and title survive; an in-flight `[~]` is moored by `→ PR #N (state)` or `[branch:name]`), the JSON is documented as the fresh-session recovery rail rather than a dev-relay contract, the deprecated relay skills leave `related-skills`, and every "Relay optional" sentence is gone from SKILL.md, references, README, and `spec/*`. Its docs and dogfood state describe only the current lightweight direction: `docs/` keeps the current conformance run alone (the fail-loud rules moved into `references/authority-contract.md`), and `.dev-backlog/` sheds the old triage reports and cache, an unread `config.yml`, and a redundant `.tracker=github`, with `_context.md` at 52 → 31 lines since v0.15.0 (55 → 31 within #487). And the spec says what the scripts do: the sprint-close Expected Behavior now matches the warn-only `sprint-close.sh`, with the SKILL.md Complete rail stating the same close condition. Measured: +452 / −3,498 lines over 71 files since v0.15.0 (measured on the release branch; the one-line commit that writes this number is excluded); SKILL.md 165 → 164 lines; `sprint-state.js` 697 → 694; shipped scripts 2,301 → 2,298 lines (11 files both); smoke test 170 → 167 assertions (three `run_id` probes deleted); no new reference file, no new script. Conformance is `docs/conformance/2026-09-20-v0160.md`: a before/after pair because #486 changed the Complete rail — the rail change shows only in scenario 9 ("the sprint stays open" → "strike or carry, then close") on Claude Fable 5.1 and GPT-6 Astra, no FAIL and no unexpected mutation in any run, and every after-run PARTIAL (scenarios 1 and 8 on both models, 7 on Fable) is also PARTIAL in the same model's before-run under this run's stricter grading — repeated PARTIALs that are an open follow-up, not a regression (Astra's 7 goes PARTIAL → PASS). BREAKING: the `sprint-state` JSON `run_id` field is deleted and the `[run:id]` Plan grammar is dropped; a legacy trailing `[run:…]` is now stripped and ignored rather than parsed, so a Plan item moored only by a run pointer reads as unmoored. No external reader of `run_id` is known. Rollback point: tag `v0.15.0`.
+
 ### Changed
 
-- `.dev-backlog/sprints/_context.md` compacted to the current state (55 → 31 lines by `wc -l`): the stale GitHub-only / "`.tracker` is ignored", charter rev-19 tracker-Non-Goal, relay-consumer, deleted-conformance-report, and script line-count inventory lines are dropped, and the duplicated lessons (keep test, cross-family review, measurement hygiene) are merged into one line each. Completed sprint files are untouched.
-- `spec/capabilities.md` and the SKILL.md Complete rail: the sprint-close Expected Behavior now matches `sprint-close.sh` (warn on remaining items, never refuse), and the session's close condition is stated the same way — every Plan item `[x]`, or the rest struck or carried with a Progress entry; decision row 2026-09-20; no script change.
 - **Relay deprecated.** dev-backlog names no delegate: the `[run:id]` Plan pointer and the `sprint-state` JSON `run_id` field are deleted (an in-flight `[~]` is moored by `→ PR #N (state)` or `[branch:name]`), the JSON is documented as the fresh-session recovery rail rather than a dev-relay contract, and every "Relay optional" sentence in SKILL.md, references, README, and `spec/*` is gone (charter/capabilities decision rows 2026-09-19). BREAKING for any external reader of `run_id` (none known).
 - `related-skills` frontmatter drops the deprecated relay skills (dev-backlog: `backlog-triage, spec-charter, spec-grill`; backlog-triage: `dev-backlog, spec-charter`); SKILL.md names "a delegate" instead of dev-relay for in-flight/done markers and delegation.
+- `spec/capabilities.md` and the SKILL.md Complete rail: the sprint-close Expected Behavior now matches `sprint-close.sh` (warn on remaining items, never refuse), and the session's close condition is stated the same way — every Plan item `[x]`, or the rest struck or carried with a Progress entry; decision row 2026-09-20; no script change.
 - `docs/` keeps only the current conformance run: seven earlier conformance reports, the #433 fixture A/B raw directory, `github-resilience.md` (its fail-loud rules moved into `references/authority-contract.md`), and the Removed-docs index are deleted; git history is the record. `tests/evals/README.md` drops its revision log.
+- `.dev-backlog/` sheds its leftovers — the old triage reports and `.cache/`, the unread `config.yml`, and the redundant `.tracker=github` (absent already means `github`); `sprints/` and `triage-config.yml` are kept.
+- `.dev-backlog/sprints/_context.md` compacted to the current state (55 → 31 lines by `wc -l`): the stale GitHub-only / "`.tracker` is ignored", charter rev-19 tracker-Non-Goal, relay-consumer, deleted-conformance-report, and script line-count inventory lines are dropped, and the duplicated lessons (keep test, cross-family review, measurement hygiene) are merged into one line each. Completed sprint files are untouched.
 - Docs sync after v0.15.0: system-map, charter Non-Goal heading, capabilities (doctor/next-batch decision row for v0.13.0–v0.14.0, authority-neutral wording), file-format task-spec section, resilience doc, and the `backlog-triage` GitHub-only note; no behaviour change.
+- Conformance report `docs/conformance/2026-09-20-v0160.md` replaces the wave-5 record per the retention rule in `docs/conformance/README.md`; raw prompt and model outputs live in `docs/conformance/2026-09-20-v0160/`.
 
 ## [0.15.0] — 2026-09-18
 

diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -42,8 +42,10 @@ not ship those skills. `spec-charter` owns the charter and the system map.
 - **Fail-closed authority read** — a failed CLI read stops execution; it never
   falls back to sprint text or a local copy.
 - **Prompt-judged actions ride deterministic rails** — model judgment enters
-  through validated wire contracts (anchor comments);
-  scripts own everything checkable
+  through validated wire contracts (anchor comments); scripts own the four kept
+  surfaces (sprint-file contract, fail-loud shared-state guards, the
+  `sprint-state` JSON recovery rail, the `triage-apply` human gate) — anything
+  else is deleted, not rewritten
 
 ## Architecture
 

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ Users can log in and access protected API endpoints.
 
 ## Plan
 - [x] #38 DB schema setup
-- [~] #42 OAuth2 flow -> PR #87
+- [~] #42 OAuth2 flow → PR #87 (reviewing)
 - [ ] #43 Rate limiting
 
 ## Running Context

diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.15.0
+0.16.0
diff --git a/docs/conformance/2026-09-18-w5/astra-w5after.md b/docs/conformance/2026-09-18-w5/astra-w5after.md
diff --git a/docs/conformance/2026-09-18-w5/astra-w5before.md b/docs/conformance/2026-09-18-w5/astra-w5before.md