Phase KH1 — Handover relay standard (Frozen Thinking Contract)

Status: Frozen — KH1-r2 → pass. Cleared for KH1 close-out and optional D4 Auto. No Auto build phase; D4 mechanical wiring ships as an additive patch to tools/governance_hygiene/ when prioritized.

phase: KH1
outputs:
- id: kh1-handover-relay-standard
  path: docs/PHASE-KH1-HANDOVER-RELAY-STANDARD.md
  frozen: true
frozen_inputs:
- id: kit-spec-freeze-policy
  path: docs/OVERSEER-KIT-SPEC.md#6
- id: handover-template
  path: templates/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md
- id: governance-hygiene-outline
  path: docs/PHASE-9A-5-GOVERNANCE-HYGIENE-AGENT-OUTLINE.md
- id: model-labels
  path: policy/model-labels.yaml
- id: k5-freeze-reviewer-contract
  path: docs/PHASE-K5-FREEZE-REVIEWER-CONTRACT.md
review_stamp:
  reviewed_at: '2026-07-12T15:16:43Z'
  verdict: pass
  reviewer_mode: agent
  reviewer_model: thinking-high
  reviewer_provider: local
  kit_version: 0.1.0
  artifact_digest: sha256:a861d192396c13e6cf9f3c7f13e8ea66957ff34fff1f77b96a15da80a02be97b

Downstream edge: Optional KH1-D4 Auto (governance-sync shape check) and KH1 close-out consume this contract as ground truth. Per §6, this is a mandatory reviewed freeze before those steps treat the handover shape as normative. KH1 has no {step}b Auto build.

Review record (§6.2):

Freeze-review findings ledger (KH1-r1)

Freeze status: reviewed → pass (round 2). Cleared for KH1 close-out (§KH1.6).

Citation discipline: every review finding in this artifact must include path:line citations so the operator can verify — never trust uncited review output (§6.2 / K5).

Simple summary

Every repo gets one handover shape: a living relay file with a NEXT SESSION block at the top, a paste-ready prompt fence, a verified snapshot, a VCS table, hard stops, and a change log. The kit already vendors that skeleton in templates/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md; KH1 freezes the required sections and headings so agents and governance-sync can detect when a handover drifts from the standard.

This repo dogfoods the template: docs/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.md is the reference instance. governance-sync keeps D1–D3 (VCS truth vs docs); KH1 adds D4 handover-shape — a fail-closed checklist that refuses to treat a malformed handover as aligned.

Technical summary

KH1 freezes the canonical NEXT SESSION projection rules (docs-first, SD-3 split, mandatory Model: labels per policy/model-labels.yaml) and maps them 1:1 to templates/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md. Consumer repos receive the template via overseer init; the kit's own handover is the dogfood ground truth.

D4 (new): parse the handover as a structural claim (like D1/D3 parse doc claims) and verify against the frozen H-checklist below. D4 does not infer VCS state; it only checks that the relay file matches the vendored shape. On D4 drifted, governance-sync reports shape violations and refuses fully_aligned even when D1–D3 are aligned (fail-closed on relay UX).

§KH1.0 — Scope

In scope (frozen):

• Canonical section order and required headings (§KH1.1).
• NEXT SESSION block fields and paste-ready prompt fence rules (§KH1.2).
• Anchor names for governance-sync section replacement (§KH1.3).
• D4 handover-shape checklist H1–H12 (§KH1.4).
• Dogfood rules for this repo (§KH1.5).
• KH1 close-out obligations (§KH1.6) — executed only when marking KH1 DONE.

Out of scope:

• Rewriting CROSS-REPO-COORDINATION.template.md snapshot prose (legacy shape stays as historical reference; living handover uses OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md).
• Track P product work (seeded only at KH1 close-out per ROADMAP).
• Auto-regeneration of NEXT SESSION body from roadmap (human/docs-first authorship unchanged).

§KH1.1 — Canonical document shape (frozen)

The living handover file must contain these sections in this order (content between sections may include --- horizontal rules and repo-specific tables):

Not a required top-level section: a separate ## Shared context block. Shared context belongs inside the paste-ready prompt fence (or is omitted when the fence is self-contained). Kit dogfood may retain a supplementary shared-context table below the NEXT SESSION --- divider for operator convenience; D4 does not require it.

Verified snapshot content is repo-specific (kit dogfood carries phase rows; consumers may be minimal). D4 requires the heading and a markdown table — not a fixed row list.

§KH1.2 — NEXT SESSION block (frozen)

Header lines (required immediately under ## NEXT SESSION)

**Date:** <YYYY-MM-DD>
**Current position:** <one-line status>
**Model:** <Thinking | Auto | Thinking → Auto | Operator + Auto>

Rules:

• **Model:** must use exactly one label from policy/model-labels.yaml display values.
• Current position names the last DONE slice and the next queue row when applicable.

THE ONE NEXT STEP table (required rows)

Legacy single-cell **Model** row without the ### THE ONE NEXT STEP — **Model: …** heading is shape drift (H6).

Paste-ready prompt fence (required)

• Heading: ### Paste-ready prompt — <phase-id> where <phase-id> matches THE ONE NEXT STEP ID.
• Fence: triple backticks; language tag optional (text or none).
• Fence body must include a Model: line (SD-3 / policy/model-labels.yaml rule).
• For Thinking → Auto queue rows with incomplete split: emit {step}a or {step}b only — never a combined prompt (SD-3).
• Auto steps ({step}b or Model: Auto) must include the build-verification reminder from the template when the phase adds code.

§KH1.3 — Governance-sync anchors (frozen)

These anchor names match tools/governance_hygiene/anchors.py HANDOVER_ANCHORS:

KH1 dogfood handover must include vcs-table and change-log anchors so D1 patching and sync append paths work. next-session and paste-ready-prompt anchors are recommended; D4 H12 checks for their presence in kit dogfood only.

Marker format (unchanged from 9A-5):

<!-- overseer:anchor:<name> -->
…body…
<!-- /overseer:anchor:<name> -->

§KH1.4 — D4 handover-shape checklist (frozen)

D4 compares the handover file against these rules. Each rule yields pass | fail; any fail → D4 state drifted. Parse errors → unreadable (fail-closed).

D4 integration (governance-sync)

CLI surface (additive, when implemented):

overseer governance-sync [--dry-run]   # reports D4 alongside D1–D3

Optional future flag --check-handover-shape (default on) may be added; default behavior is D4 always evaluated when handover file is readable.

Standalone validator (optional)

overseer handover-validate [--json]    # read-only H1–H12; exit 0 pass, 2 fail

Not required for KH1 DONE; spec-only is sufficient for the Thinking freeze.

§KH1.5 — Kit dogfood (this repo)

| Freeze review CLI | When .muse/HEAD is absent on the dev tree, overseer review --freeze under muse+git-mirror config fails closed (ReadError). Dogfood workaround until operator muse init: overseer --config tests/fixtures/config-git-only.yaml review --freeze <artifact> [--dry-run]. Semantic /freeze-review-loop remains authoritative when CLI is blocked. |

Dogfood handover after KH1 Thinking alignment must pass H1–H12.

§KH1.6 — KH1 close-out (execute only when marking DONE)

Do not execute until the operator marks KH1 DONE:

1. Branding lock — set public name 🆗 Overseer Kit in templates/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md and any template tokens that surface repo display name on landing/docs (repo.name token guidance in templates/README.md if needed).
2. Track P seed — add one-line Track P row to docs/ROADMAP.md (P0 = spec freeze only; no code). Do not add Track P before KH1 merges.
3. Flip NEXT SESSION — handover NEXT becomes Track P / P0 (freeze) with paste-ready prompt.
4. Governance sync — ROADMAP KH1 row → DONE; handover change log entry; both docs in same commit (SD-17).

§KH1.7 — Seven-tier test matrix (D4 implementation build)

Applies when an Auto build wires §KH1.4 D4 into tools/governance_hygiene/. The D4 spec in §KH1.4 is frozen in this Thinking contract; only the code + tests are deferred.

§KH1.9 — Governance gate reminders (frozen; implementation deferred)

Freeze review and build verification are mandatory but today opt-in to invoke (skills + discipline). KH1 freezes reminder surfaces so gates cannot silently fall through the cracks. Operators may acknowledge and ignore a reminder; the kit must never treat silence as pass.

Gates

Settings (.overseer/config.yaml — additive, KH1+)

governance_gates:
  remind: true                    # default true; false = suppress reminders (logged ignore)
  freeze_review:
    required_before_auto: true
  build_verification:
    required_before_done: true
  surfaces:
    - status                       # overseer status — pending gates section
    - governance-sync              # dry-run + write plan footer
    - handover-paste               # NEXT paste-ready prompt checklist

remind: false is Tier 2 (recommend-and-confirm once; record in Standing Decisions). It does not disable the gate — only the nudges.

Reminder surfaces (frozen)

| overseer status | Emit Pending governance gates when: (a) a frozen: true artifact in the active roadmap slice lacks reviewed → pass in its Review record; (b) a queue row is Auto / {step}b WIP or claiming DONE without a recorded build-verification pass. Exit 0 still; reminders are stderr/human section, not fail-closed exit (unless future --strict-gates). | | governance-sync --dry-run | Append gate reminders to the plan footer (alongside D1–D4). | | Handover paste prompt | Every Thinking-freeze and Auto-close paste block includes a Governance gates checklist (freeze review / build verification) with explicit invoke commands. | | ROADMAP Definition of Done | Already states both gates; reminders echo this. |

Better than full automation (operator recommendation)

Implementation ships as a small additive CLI extension (read-only gate scan); not required for KH1 Thinking DONE, but spec is frozen here for the next Auto slice.

§KH1.8 — Cross-references

• templates/OVERSEER-HANDOVER.template.md — vendored skeleton
• docs/PHASE-9A-5-GOVERNANCE-HYGIENE-AGENT-OUTLINE.md — D1–D3 (compose, do not fork)
• policy/model-labels.yaml — allowed Model: labels + SD-3 split rules
• tools/governance_hygiene/anchors.py — anchor names
• docs/ROADMAP.md — KH1 queue row + close-out Track P gate