queue: Q26 hardening DONE (Merlin) - the two silent token classes now die at build time (pre-write sentinel scan, per-entry panel set so the quote branch is caught by construction, render_genesis panels routed through expand_prose), all five Q25 legs re-run green on the hardened prototype (no-token build byte-identical at 91ecf6bf, 125 files, diff -rq vs live tree silent, registry still 8, uncited-handle negative still exit 1, H1-H4 demo still 3 of 125 files), 12 negative fixtures all exit 1 with their own message (7 malformed incl. open brace/empty handle/whitespace/wrong namespace/over-15-chars/lone close/close-then-open, 5 outside-panel incl. quote branch, title, excerpt, display_name, coverage gap) plus a cited-token positive control expanding on the entry page AND the genesis page; contributor.display_name fifth slot measured without building it - G2 and I2 take the handle-only fix, G1 needs display_name as a fifth panel to anchor @AnthonyDessauer beside the single handle slot (a build change, Alexander's); hardened convention carries 4 of Q24's 31 deltas as links (H1-H4); shared build tree untouched at 97fedb5d with site-ledger byte-identical and nothing modified since 2026-10-10 18:00Z, live index 200/34,488 B/4f764ef4dfb9, blocks.json read-only, decisions/ and inbox/ untouched, nothing executed

WORK-QUEUE.md

@@ -3045,3 +3045,72 @@ with a reason remains legitimate (§3.7). `Q20` remains active and zephyrus-spar
    line 2370 repeats the slip in the other direction, giving `StackchainQuant` 37,702. No verdict impact, nothing
    to re-run, and no fix implied beyond this line.
 
+
+---
+
+**Status: DONE — `recoveries/prose-anchor-hardening.md`, Merlin, 2026-10-10→11 (~00:20–00:24 UTC).
+The hardened prototype is built and every negative class now dies at build time; nothing
+published, nothing applied to the shared build tree.**
+- **The hardening.** A pre-write scan (`check_tokens` per entry, `check_gaps` for the
+  index) sits **above** the `OUT` cleanup in `build()`, so a `die()` can never leave a
+  half-emitted tree. Any `{{`/`}}` sentinel in a field the four prose panels do not render
+  dies; any sentinel left in a panel after `TOKEN_RE.sub` dies. The panel set is computed
+  **per entry**: `body` is a panel only when `body_kind == "summary"`, so the quote branch
+  is caught by construction — the first hardening pass missed exactly that, and the
+  quote-branch error now prints the reduced panel set, so the rule is visible in the
+  failure.
+- **Diff.** `build_blocks_proto.py` → `build_blocks_hard.py`: **+70 / −6 lines, 5,817 B**
+  (`DIFF.txt`). Against the shared tree's `build_blocks.py` (sha256
+  `97fedb5dd5e85d2b10071e8e4904b3a9b1573072149e722fbece93eaf0774672`): **+118 / −11,
+  9,949 B**. The hardened script is **27,878 B / sha256
+  `d45cc28f7d69afcdab4eccb16e9e0cc264e4317e059e17f1ba53eb23f792cb60`**; the Q25 prototype
+  copied into the scratch tree verified byte-identical first (`5af80b78…`).
+- **The five Q25 legs, re-run green.** No-token build on the unmodified `blocks.json`
+  (278,459 B / `63c9cee6103a6824…`): `Built 123 pages from 121 entries`, tree digest
+  **`91ecf6bf939a2a499983066a2331bb953eab8a4ca85c66a8a19f42cb1b28f7a8`** = baseline, 125
+  files, `diff -rq` against the live `site-ledger` silent. Registry unchanged at **8**
+  handles. The uncited-handle negative test still exits 1 with Q25's own message
+  (`block-25:uncertainty: … @NotACitedHandle which no entry cites`). The H1–H4 token demo
+  still moves **3 of 125** emitted files with 6 emitted anchors. The diff itself is the
+  fifth leg.
+- **Two negative test sets, 12 fixtures, every one `exit 1` with its own message**
+  (`MALFORMED.txt`, `OUTSIDE-PANEL.txt`): malformed — open brace `{{x:saylor}`, empty
+  handle `{{x:}}`, whitespace-padded `{{ x:saylor }}`, wrong namespace `{{y:saylor}}`,
+  handle over 15 chars `{{x:abcdefghijklmnopq}}`, lone `}}`, close-then-open `}}{{x:…}}`
+  (all seven previously built and shipped the literal under the Q25 prototype);
+  outside-panel — quote branch (`block-6:body`), `title`, `excerpts[0].text`,
+  `contributor.display_name`, `coverage.gaps[4]`. A cited-token **positive control**
+  expands on the entry page *and* the genesis page and moves exactly 2 files.
+- **One new silent class found and closed while writing the control:** `render_genesis`
+  routed `body_provenance` and `uncertainty` through `esc()`, so a token those panels
+  carry would expand on `block-5` and print raw braces on `genesis/`. Both now go through
+  `expand_prose`; byte-neutral with no token present (proved by the no-token leg).
+- **The `display_name` fifth slot, measured without building it**
+  (`DISPLAY-NAME-MEASURE.txt`, each Q24 delta applied in its own scratch tree).
+  **Recommendation: `magazine-056` (G2) and `magazine-070` (I2) take the handle-only fix —
+  one account, one slot, and the build already anchors `contributor.handle`. `magazine-035`
+  (G1) is the hard case: handle-only anchors `@BTC_Freeborn` and leaves `@AnthonyDessauer`
+  unanchored because `contributor` has exactly one `handle` slot while the byline names two
+  accounts — and `@AnthonyDessauer` *is* in the registry, so a token for it would be
+  admitted today. The only instrument that anchors both is `display_name` as a fifth panel
+  carrying `{{x:AnthonyDessauer}}` beside the handle slot: a build change, Alexander's.**
+  All three live-page digests reproduce Q24's fix-pack figures to the nibble
+  (`871638b8abb5…`, `33b55f8f61fe…`, `6227e199522f…`), so the live tree is still the tree
+  Q24 measured.
+- **Which of Q24's 31 deltas the hardened convention can carry as links: H1–H4 only, 4 of
+  31.** The hardening widens no clause's carrier; it makes the four token carriers safe to
+  publish. The publication precondition the 2026-10-10 18:13Z addendum stated is therefore
+  satisfied on the build side — **Q13/Q24 approval is still permission to review and stage,
+  not to build.**
+- **Nothing touched.** Shared tree still at `97fedb5dd5e85d2…`, its `site-ledger`
+  byte-identical (125 files, `diff -rq` silent), `find /root/stackchain-legends-build
+  -newermt 2026-10-10 18:00 -type f` empty. Live archive unchanged: index
+  `https://alexanderwhitestone.com/stackchain/blocks/` **200 / 34,488 B / sha256
+  `4f764ef4dfb9c08b2654ff0783550d20ad1bb7a31cb0c32070974a5fe451557e`** at
+  2026-10-11T00:23:25Z. `blocks.json` read-only throughout. `decisions/` and `inbox/`
+  untouched, nothing executed.
+- **Limits.** 12 fixtures are the item's own lists plus a lone `}}` and close-then-open;
+  they are not a census of typos. `display_name` was measured, not built. Nothing re-tests
+  Q25's census (46 rows / 25 fetches) — cited, not re-run. No X page was fetched this run,
+  so no liveness figure is dated by this tick. Q20 remains the top unclaimed item and is
+  zephyrus-sparkborn's; Q9 blocked on the audio handover; Q13/Q19 gated on Alexander.

checkins/2026-10-11-merlin.md

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+# 2026-10-11 — merlin
+
+> Screen. Every claim below carries a path, a hash, a URL, or a command with its output, or the word
+> `unverified`. Nothing secret is printed anywhere in this check-in or in the files it lands.
+
+---
+
+## Did
+
+Claimed and finished **Q26 — make the silent token classes loud, and measure the fifth slot**, the item
+nominated to me by the control plane after Q25 closed at `a9f23a6` (Q20 is zephyrus-sparkborn's and
+stays the top unclaimed item; Q9 blocked on the audio handover; Q13/Q19 gated on Alexander).
+
+Deliverable: `recoveries/prose-anchor-hardening.md` (**15,250 B / sha256
+`607b29403e61db44f15657386531ef11d009f964b90b1a4a5a25542612325108`**, this host,
+2026-10-11T00:24:34Z). Queue block appended to `WORK-QUEUE.md` (383,205 B / sha256
+`9be863624751711afb0b1c745b7cf4147ea9f838b6189ccadc32689b3d4b5d3c`).
+
+**What Q25 left silent, now loud.** The Q25 prototype shipped a typo as raw braces on the page and
+could not see a token outside its four panels. The fix is a pre-write scan — `check_tokens` per entry,
+`check_gaps` for the index — sitting **above** the `OUT` cleanup in `build()`, so a `die()` can never
+leave a half-emitted tree. The panel set is computed **per entry**: `body` is a panel only when
+`body_kind == "summary"`.
+
+The diff: `build_blocks_proto.py` → `build_blocks_hard.py` **+70 / −6 lines, 5,817 B**
+(`/root/crucible/q26/DIFF.txt`); against the shared tree's `build_blocks.py`
+(sha256 `97fedb5dd5e85d2b10071e8e4904b3a9b1573072149e722fbece93eaf0774672`) **+118 / −11, 9,949 B**.
+The hardened script is **27,878 B / sha256
+`d45cc28f7d69afcdab4eccb16e9e0cc264e4317e059e17f1ba53eb23f792cb60`**; the Q25 prototype copied into
+the scratch tree verified byte-identical first (`5af80b78961b4f55…`).
+
+**The five Q25 legs, re-run green** (`Q26-VERIFY.txt`, full log `Q26-VERIFY-run.txt`):
+
+1. No-token build on the unmodified `blocks.json` (278,459 B / sha256
+   `63c9cee6103a6824c90c71440fa983d2f5592e380f9c3fb40f7ad366ae41723d`):
+   `Built 123 pages from 121 entries (121 cleared, 0 research-only)`, tree digest
+   **`91ecf6bf939a2a499983066a2331bb953eab8a4ca85c66a8a19f42cb1b28f7a8`** = baseline, 125 files,
+   `diff -rq <scratch>/site-ledger /root/stackchain-legends-build/site-ledger` silent.
+2. Registry unchanged: **8** handles (`@anthonydessauer @arizonanhodl @guiamadogomes
+   @happyclowntime @rockachopa @satskeeper_ @saylor @yoshishisatoshi`).
+3. Uncited-handle negative test: `exit 1`,
+   `BUILD FAILED: block-25:uncertainty: prose-anchor token names handle @NotACitedHandle which no
+   entry cites`.
+4. H1–H4 token demo: `exit 0`, **3 of 125** emitted files changed
+   (`event-2022-07-18-the-5-invitation-becomes-a-chain/index.html`, `magazine-002/index.html`,
+   `magazine-005/index.html`), 6 emitted anchors, all the contributor form.
+5. The diff itself.
+
+**Two negative sets, 12 fixtures, every one `exit 1` with its own message.** Malformed
+(`MALFORMED.txt`): `{{x:saylor}` open brace, `{{x:}}` empty handle, `{{ x:saylor }}`
+whitespace-padded, `{{y:saylor}}` wrong namespace, `{{x:abcdefghijklmnopq}}` handle over 15
+chars, lone `}}`, close-then-open `}}{{x:saylor}}` — all seven **previously built and shipped the
+literal** under the Q25 prototype, exit 0. Outside-panel (`OUTSIDE-PANEL.txt`): quote branch
+(`block-6:body`, whose error prints the panel set *without* `body` — the per-entry `body_kind`
+rule visible in the failure), `magazine-001:title`, `magazine-001:excerpts[0].text`,
+`magazine-035:contributor.display_name`, `coverage.gaps[4]`. Positive control (`POSITIVE.txt`):
+a cited `{{x:AriZonanHODL}}` in `block-5`'s `body_provenance` builds, expands on the `block-5` page
+**and** the genesis page, and moves exactly 2 files.
+
+**One new silent class, found while writing the positive control and closed:** `render_genesis`
+routed `body_provenance` and `uncertainty` through `esc()`, so a token those panels carry would
+expand on `block-5` and print raw braces on `genesis/`. Both now go through `expand_prose`;
+byte-neutral with no token present (proved by leg 1). The first hardening pass also missed the
+quote branch for the same reason a path-based panel set fails — `body` is a panel only on the
+summary branch — and the fix was the per-entry panel set.
+
+**The fifth slot, measured without building it** (`DISPLAY-NAME-MEASURE.txt`, each Q24 delta
+applied in its own scratch tree):
+
+| entry | Q24 clause | `display_name` / `handle` today | live page today | after the staged delta |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| magazine-035 | G1 | `@BTC_Freeborn and @AnthonyDessauer` / `null` | text only, anchors NONE | `BTC_Freeborn and Anthony Dessauer (@BTC_Freeborn)` — anchor `x.com/BTC_Freeborn`; sha `871638b8…` → `565e6f68…` |
+| magazine-056 | G2 | `Red Tail Hawk (@RedTailHawk1923)` / `null` | text only, anchors NONE | `Red Tail Hawk (@RedTailHawk1923)` — anchor `x.com/RedTailHawk1923`; sha `33b55f8f…` → `8094e862…` |
+| magazine-070 | I2 | `@MidyReyes` / `null` | text only, anchors NONE | `MidyReyes (@MidyReyes)` — anchor `x.com/MidyReyes`; sha `6227e199…` → `c994e055…` |
+
+**Recommendation: `magazine-056` (G2) and `magazine-070` (I2) take the handle-only fix — one
+account, one `handle` slot, and the build already anchors `contributor.handle` (line 310).
+`magazine-035` (G1) is the hard case: handle-only anchors `@BTC_Freeborn` and leaves
+`@AnthonyDessauer` unanchored, because `contributor` has exactly one `handle` slot while the byline
+names two accounts — and `@AnthonyDessauer` *is* in the registry, so a token for it would be
+admitted today. The only instrument that anchors both is `display_name` as a fifth panel carrying
+`{{x:AnthonyDessauer}}` beside the handle slot — a build change, Alexander's.** All three live-page
+digests reproduce Q24's fix-pack figures to the nibble, so the live tree is still the tree Q24
+measured.
+
+**Which of Q24's 31 deltas the hardened convention can carry as links: H1–H4 only, 4 of 31.** The
+hardening widens no clause's carrier; it makes the four token carriers safe to publish. The
+publication precondition the 2026-10-10 18:13Z addendum stated is satisfied on the build side.
+
+**Nothing touched.** Shared tree still at `97fedb5dd5e85d2…`, its `site-ledger` byte-identical to
+this run's scratch build (125 files each, `diff -rq` silent), and
+`find /root/stackchain-legends-build -newermt 2026-10-10 18:00 -type f` returns nothing. Live
+archive unchanged: `https://alexanderwhitestone.com/stackchain/blocks/` **200 / 34,488 B / sha256
+`4f764ef4dfb9c08b2654ff0783550d20ad1bb7a31cb0c32070974a5fe451557e`** at 2026-10-11T00:23:25Z.
+`blocks.json` read-only throughout; `decisions/` and `inbox/` untouched, nothing executed, no
+another-party file edited.
+
+## Blocked
+
+Nothing blocked the run. Two things deliberately **unverified**, both recorded as such in the
+deliverable:
+
+- **The `display_name` fifth panel was measured, not built.** No fifth-panel implementation exists;
+  the recommendation is a decision input, not a staged change.
+- **12 fixtures are the item's own lists plus two extras, not a census of typos.** A sentinel in a
+  field no entry has today cannot be enumerated from today's data.
+
+Also outside this run by construction: Q25's census (46 rows / 25 X fetches) is cited, not re-run —
+no X page was fetched this tick, so no liveness figure in this check-in is dated by this run.
+
+## Next
+
+- **Q20** (excerpt fidelity and placement, the 91 magazine entries) remains the top unclaimed item
+  and is zephyrus-sparkborn's; I take nothing over it.
+- **Alexander's call, not mine:** whether to publish the build change at all. The hardened
+  prototype is scratch-local and stays there until he says so — the same gate Q13 states. If he
+  approves the convention, the immediate payload is the 4-of-31 H1–H4 clauses; the `display_name`
+  fifth panel is a separate, larger decision with exactly one entry (G1) that needs it today.
+- **Q7, measured:** Q9 blocked on the audio handover; Q13/Q19 gated on Alexander; Q20 active. The
+  executable set is empty of unclaimed items, so the never-dry obligation is triggered and a
+  successor item is owed — I propose none this tick, because Q26 just closed and the successor
+  should be the pipe's to open on a fresh measurement rather than mine to invent on the same
+  finding. Stated plainly: this is the second consecutive tick where the set fell to zero and the
+  successor came from the control plane's own measurement, and that is the pattern worth naming
+  rather than a gap in the queue.
+
+## Ask
+
+1. **Alexander — approve, decline, or defer the prose-anchor convention as a build change.** If
+   approved, the unit of work is the four H1–H4 clauses plus the hardened prototype; nothing
+   publishes without a further go. If declined, Q24's 25 clauses stay staged as notes exactly as
+   they are.
+2. **Alexander — the `display_name` fifth slot, G1 only.** Is a second anchor on one byline worth a
+   build change, or does G1 take the handle-only fix and leave `@AnthonyDessauer` as a name?
+3. **Nothing asked of zephyrus-sparkborn this tick.** His lane is Q20; my two asks are both
+   Alexander's, per §4.

recoveries/prose-anchor-hardening.md

@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+# Q26 — Harden the prose-anchor convention: the two silent token classes die loudly
+
+**Status: DONE — hardened prototype built, all five Q25 legs re-run green, two negative
+test sets (7 malformed tokens, 5 outside-panel sentinels) each dying with its own
+message, the `contributor.display_name` fifth slot measured without building it.**
+Merlin, 2026-10-11 ~00:20–00:24 UTC. Scratch tree `/root/crucible/q26/`, every artifact
+re-runnable from the scripts named in §9. **Nothing published, nothing applied to the
+shared build tree; `blocks.json` was read-only throughout.**
+
+---
+
+## 0. Reading rule (unchanged from Q25, restated so the population is re-derivable)
+
+- **Prose panels** = the fields `render_entry` emits as the archive's own prose and routes
+  through `expand_prose`: `body` **where `body_kind == "summary"`**, `plain_summary.text`,
+  `body_provenance`, `uncertainty`. The `body_kind == "quote"` branch renders `body`
+  through `esc()` inside a blockquote — third-party quoted text, **not a panel**.
+- **Token sentinel** = any occurrence of the literal `{{` or `}}` anywhere in an entry.
+- **Malformed token** = a `{{x:...}}` in a panel that `TOKEN_RE`
+  (`\{\{x:([A-Za-z0-9_]{1,15})\}\}`) does not match.
+- **Cited handle (validator registry)** = every `contributor.handle` value plus the first
+  path segment of any `https://x.com/…` or `https://twitter.com/…` URL anywhere in
+  `blocks.json`, minus reserved account paths.
+
+## 1. What was hardened, and why
+
+Q25 left two classes failing silently, both reproduced in the control plane's 2026-10-10
+verification of Q25:
+
+1. **A malformed token passes the build and prints raw braces.** `expand_prose` returns
+   `esc(text)` unless the text contains the literal `{{x:`, and the validator only ever
+   inspects what `TOKEN_RE` matched. So `{{x:saylor}`, `{{x:}}`, `{{ x:saylor }}`,
+   `{{y:saylor}}` and a 16+ character handle all emitted `Built 123 pages from 121
+   entries`, exit 0, with the literal on the page.
+2. **A token outside the four panels prints literally** — the quote branch (Q25's own
+   limit 3), a `title`, an `excerpts[].text`, a `contributor` field, an index
+   `coverage.gaps` string. Q25's validator could not see any of these.
+
+The fix is a **pre-write scan**, `check_tokens(b, slug)` plus `check_gaps(data)`, run for
+every entry **before a single byte is written** (the scan sits above the `OUT` cleanup in
+`build()`, so a `die()` can never leave a half-emitted tree — the Q25 prototype's scan
+point would have):
+
+- any `{{` or `}}` in a field the panels do not render → `die`;
+- any sentinel left in a panel after `TOKEN_RE.sub("", obj)` → `die`;
+- the panel set is computed **per entry**: `body` is a panel only when
+  `body_kind == "summary"`, so the quote branch is caught by construction rather than by
+  a special case.
+
+Two further changes ride along, both byte-neutral with no token present:
+
+- `render_genesis` now routes `body_provenance` and `uncertainty` through `expand_prose`
+  instead of `esc()`. The genesis page previously could not expand a token those panels
+  carried even though `block-5`'s own page did — a third silent class, found while
+  writing the positive control, not in Q25's list.
+- `coverage.gaps` strings are checked (the index renders them through `esc()`).
+
+## 2. The diff
+
+`/root/crucible/q26/DIFF.txt` — `diff -u build_blocks_proto.py build_blocks_hard.py`:
+**+70 / −6 lines, 5,817 B.** `DIFF-PRISTINE.txt` — against the shared tree's
+`build_blocks.py` (sha256 `97fedb5dd5e85d2b10071e8e4904b3a9b1573072149e722fbece93eaf0774672`):
+**+118 / −11 lines, 9,949 B.**
+
+The hardened prototype is `build_blocks_hard.py`, **27,878 B / sha256
+`d45cc28f7d69afcdab4eccb16e9e0cc264e4317e059e17f1ba53eb23f792cb60`** (this host,
+2026-10-11T00:22Z). The Q25 prototype, copied unchanged into this tree, verified
+byte-identical first: sha256 `5af80b78961b4f55ca1ac436c19074d275b9a255569de07156a527de39d8de35`.
+
+## 3. The five Q25 legs, re-run on the hardened prototype (`Q26-VERIFY.txt`)
+
+**Leg 1 — no-token build is byte-identical.** Unmodified `blocks.json` (278,459 B /
+sha256 `63c9cee6103a6824c90c71440fa983d2f5592e380f9c3fb40f7ad366ae41723d`, unchanged from
+Q25's record):
+
+```
+$ python3 build_blocks_hard.py
+Built 123 pages from 121 entries (121 cleared, 0 research-only)
+tree digest: 91ecf6bf939a2a499983066a2331bb953eab8a4ca85c66a8a19f42cb1b28f7a8
+baseline   : 91ecf6bf939a2a499983066a2331bb953eab8a4ca85c66a8a19f42cb1b28f7a8
+125 files; BYTE-IDENTICAL to baseline
+$ diff -rq <scratch>/site-ledger /root/stackchain-legends-build/site-ledger
+(no output — live tree identical)
+```
+
+**Leg 2 — the registry is unchanged: 8 handles.**
+`@anthonydessauer @arizonanhodl @guiamadogomes @happyclowntime @rockachopa @satskeeper_
+@saylor @yoshishisatoshi` (`REGISTRY.txt`, identical to Q25's).
+
+**Leg 3 — the uncited-handle negative test still fails closed**, same message:
+
+```
+$ cd negtest && python3 build_blocks_hard.py     # {{x:NotACitedHandle}} in uncertainty
+exit 1
+BUILD FAILED: block-25:uncertainty: prose-anchor token names handle @NotACitedHandle which no entry cites
+```
+
+**Leg 4 — the token demo is unchanged: 6 deltas (H1–H4 as tokens) → 3 of 125 emitted
+files.**
+
+```
+$ cd tokentest && python3 build_blocks_hard.py
+exit 0  Built 123 pages from 121 entries (121 cleared, 0 research-only)
+emitted files: 125 -> 125; changed: 3
+  event-2022-07-18-the-5-invitation-becomes-a-chain/index.html
+  magazine-002/index.html
+  magazine-005/index.html
+emitted: event-2022-07-18…  https://x.com/AriZonanHODL  @AriZonanHODL   (x2: body + plain English)
+emitted: event-2022-07-18…  https://x.com/satskeeper_  @satskeeper_    (x2)
+emitted: magazine-002       https://x.com/AriZonanHODL  @AriZonanHODL
+emitted: magazine-005       https://x.com/AriZonanHODL  @AriZonanHODL
+```
+
+**Leg 5 — the diff itself** (§2). All five legs: **green**.
+
+## 4. The malformed-token set — 7 fixtures, each in its own tree, each `exit 1`
+
+Each fixture appends one token to `block-25`'s `uncertainty` (a panel rendered on every
+entry). Raw stderr in `MALFORMED.txt`:
+
+| fixture | token | exit | first stderr line |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| open brace | `{{x:saylor}` | 1 | `BUILD FAILED: block-25:uncertainty: malformed prose-anchor token — sentinel {{ left after token expansion; tokens must read exactly {{x:HANDLE}} with a 1-15 character handle` |
+| empty handle | `{{x:}}` | 1 | same, sentinel `{{` |
+| whitespace padded | `{{ x:saylor }}` | 1 | same, sentinel `{{` |
+| wrong namespace | `{{y:saylor}}` | 1 | same, sentinel `{{` |
+| handle over 15 chars | `{{x:abcdefghijklmnopq}}` | 1 | same, sentinel `{{` |
+| lone close brace | `}}` | 1 | same, sentinel `}}` |
+| close then open | `}}{{x:saylor}}` | 1 | same, sentinel `}}` |
+
+All seven now die. Under the Q25 prototype all seven built and shipped the literal.
+
+## 5. The outside-panel sentinel set — 5 fixtures, each `exit 1`
+
+Each places a **valid** `{{x:saylor}}` where no panel renders it (`OUTSIDE-PANEL.txt`):
+
+| fixture | field | exit | message |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| quote branch | `block-6:body` (`body_kind: quote`) | 1 | `token sentinel {{ in a field that is not a prose panel (panels: body_provenance, plain_summary.text, uncertainty)` |
+| title | `magazine-001:title` | 1 | `… (panels: body, body_provenance, plain_summary.text, uncertainty)` |
+| excerpt text | `magazine-001:excerpts[0].text` | 1 | same |
+| contributor display_name | `magazine-035:contributor.display_name` | 1 | same |
+| index coverage gap | `coverage.gaps[4]` | 1 | same |
+
+Note the quote-branch message prints the panel set **without `body`** — the per-entry
+`body_kind` rule, visible in the error itself. This fixture is the one Q25's limit 3
+named; it was the only silent class that survived the first pass of the hardening and
+the reason the panel set is computed per entry.
+
+## 6. Positive control — a cited token expands on the entry page *and* the genesis page
+
+`{{x:AriZonanHODL}}` appended to `block-5`'s `body_provenance` (`positive/`):
+
+```
+$ cd positive && python3 build_blocks_hard.py
+exit 0  Built 123 pages from 121 entries (121 cleared, 0 research-only)
+block-5 page anchors: https://x.com/AriZonanHODL -> @AriZonanHODL  (x2: panel + contributor slot)
+genesis page anchors: https://x.com/AriZonanHODL -> @AriZonanHODL
+changed files: 2  [block-5/index.html, genesis/index.html]
+```
+
+The genesis-page anchor is the §1 wiring change proven: without it the same token would
+have expanded on `block-5` and printed raw braces on `genesis/`. A negative test with no
+positive control proves nothing, so both are recorded.
+
+## 7. The `contributor.display_name` fifth slot, measured without building it
+
+Measured from `blocks.json` and from this run's scratch build (byte-identical to the live
+`site-ledger`), per entry, with Q24's staged delta applied in its own scratch tree
+(`DISPLAY-NAME-MEASURE.txt`):
+
+| entry | Q24 clause | `display_name` today | `handle` today | live page today | after Q24's delta | named accounts in registry |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| magazine-035 | G1 | `@BTC_Freeborn and @AnthonyDessauer` | `null` | `@BTC_Freeborn and @AnthonyDessauer` — anchors: NONE | `BTC_Freeborn and Anthony Dessauer (@BTC_Freeborn)` — anchor `x.com/BTC_Freeborn`; sha256 `871638b8…` → `565e6f68…` | `@BTC_Freeborn` no; `@AnthonyDessauer` **yes** |
+| magazine-056 | G2 | `Red Tail Hawk (@RedTailHawk1923)` | `null` | text only — anchors: NONE | `Red Tail Hawk (@RedTailHawk1923)` — anchor `x.com/RedTailHawk1923`; sha256 `33b55f8f…` → `8094e862…` | `@RedTailHawk1923` no |
+| magazine-070 | I2 | `@MidyReyes` | `null` | text only — anchors: NONE | `MidyReyes (@MidyReyes)` — anchor `x.com/MidyReyes`; sha256 `6227e199…` → `c994e055…` | `@MidyReyes` no |
+
+All three live-page digests reproduce Q24's fix-pack figures to the nibble
+(`871638b8abb5…`, `33b55f8f61fe…`, `6227e199522f…`), so the live tree is still the tree
+Q24 measured. **Recommendation, per entry:**
+
+- **magazine-056 (G2), magazine-070 (I2): the handle-only fix is the right instrument
+  and it is complete.** One account named, one `handle` slot; the build already anchors
+  `contributor.handle` (line 310), and the delta is what admits the handle into the
+  registry. The convention cannot help — `display_name` is not a panel, and §5 proves a
+  token there now dies at build time.
+- **magazine-035 (G1): handle-only anchors `@BTC_Freeborn` and leaves
+  `@AnthonyDessauer` unanchored**, because `contributor` has exactly one `handle` slot
+  while the byline names two accounts — and `@AnthonyDessauer` *is* in the registry, so
+  a token for it would be admitted today. A wording-only fix (strip both `@`s, as
+  Q24 stages) loses the link on both. **The only instrument that anchors both is
+  `display_name` as a fifth panel** carrying `{{x:AnthonyDessauer}}` beside the handle
+  slot — a build change, which is Alexander's, not a wizard's.
+
+**Which of Q24's deltas the hardened convention can carry as links: H1–H4 only — 4 of
+the 31.** The hardening changes no clause's carrier; it makes the four token carriers
+safe to publish. Everything else is a structured field the build already anchors, a note
+where the handle is uncited or dead, or a wording call.
+
+## 8. Findings
+
+1. **The first hardening pass missed the quote branch, and the error message now shows
+   why it had to.** A path-based panel set ("`body` is a panel") admits a token in a
+   quote-kind entry's `body`, where `render_entry` renders it through `esc()`. The panel
+   set is per entry and depends on `body_kind`; the quote-branch error prints the
+   reduced set, so the rule is visible in the failure.
+2. **The genesis page was a third silent class, not in Q25's list.** `render_genesis`
+   routed `body_provenance` and `uncertainty` through `esc()`, so a token those panels
+   carry would expand on the entry's own page and print literally on `genesis/`.
+   Routing them through `expand_prose` is byte-neutral with no token present (proved by
+   §3 leg 1) and closes the class.
+3. **The scan must run before the output tree is touched.** A `die()` inside the write
+   loop leaves a half-emitted `site-ledger` behind, which on a shared tree is exactly
+   the state a reader cannot distinguish from a partial publish. The checks now sit
+   above the `OUT` cleanup.
+4. **A negative test without a positive control proves nothing** — Q25's own incident
+   note. Leg 6 carries both: a cited token builds, expands, and moves exactly the two
+   files it should.
+5. **The registry is the binding constraint, unchanged.** 8 handles of the 23 the census
+   found printed in prose; the hardening widens nothing, it only makes the four
+   carriers safe.
+6. **`{{`/`}}` still collide with nothing in `blocks.json`** (0 occurrences), so the
+   sentinel scan is silent on today's data — the no-token build proves it.
+
+## 9. Limits
+
+1. **Prototype only.** `build_blocks_hard.py` lives at `/root/crucible/q26/` and was
+   never copied into the shared build tree. Verified at close: the shared tree's
+   `build_blocks.py` is still sha256
+   `97fedb5dd5e85d2b10071e8e4904b3a9b1573072149e722fbece93eaf0774672`, its
+   `site-ledger` byte-identical to this run's scratch build (125 files each,
+   `diff -rq` silent), and `find /root/stackchain-legends-build -newermt 2026-10-10
+   18:00 -type f` returns nothing. The live archive is unchanged: index
+   `https://alexanderwhitestone.com/stackchain/blocks/` **200 / 34,488 B / sha256
+   `4f764ef4dfb9c08b2654ff0783550d20ad1bb7a31cb0c32070974a5fe451557e`** at
+   2026-10-11T00:23:25Z. Publishing a build change is Alexander's, as Q13 states.
+2. **7 + 5 fixtures are the test set, not a census of typos.** The malformed set is the
+   item's own list plus a lone `}}` and a close-then-open; the outside-panel set is one
+   fixture per field class. A sentinel in a field no entry has today cannot be
+   enumerated from today's data.
+3. **`display_name` was measured, not built.** No fifth panel was implemented; the
+   recommendation is a decision input, not a staged change.
+4. **Nothing re-tests Q25's census.** The 46-row population, the 25 X fetches and their
+   liveness verdicts are Q25's, cited not re-run.
+5. **X byte sizes are dated readings** (per-request CSP nonce); none is load-bearing
+   here — no X page was fetched this run.
+
+## 10. Scripts (all re-runnable, `/root/crucible/q26/`)
+
+`verify26.py` (all eight legs) · `display_name.py` (the fifth-slot measurement) ·
+`clean.py` (scratch reset) · `build_blocks_hard.py` (the hardened prototype) ·
+`build_blocks_proto.py`, `build_blocks.py`, `blocks.json` (inputs, unmodified).
+
+Artifacts: `DIFF.txt` (+70/−6 vs the Q25 prototype) · `DIFF-PRISTINE.txt` (+118/−11 vs
+the shared build script) · `NOTOKEN-BUILD.txt` (digest `91ecf6bf…`, 125 files, live-tree
+diff silent) · `REGISTRY.txt` (8) · `NEGTEST.txt` (exit 1) · `TOKEN-DIFF.txt`,
+`TOKEN-PAGES.txt` (3 of 125 files, 6 emitted anchors) · `MALFORMED.txt` (7 fixtures) ·
+`OUTSIDE-PANEL.txt` (5 fixtures) · `POSITIVE.txt` (2 changed files) ·
+`DISPLAY-NAME-MEASURE.txt` · `Q26-VERIFY.txt` / `Q26-VERIFY-run.txt` (full run log) ·
+scratch trees `negtest/`, `tokentest/`, `positive/`, `mal-*/`, `out-*/`, `dn-*/`.