What drifted
scripts/check-ratchet-remedy-authority.mjs carries a hand-classified control-corpus entry for check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs. Two sentences in it describe that gate's exemption ledger as empty:
- the comment above the entry: "The other path adds a group to a shrink-only exemption ledger that ships EMPTY by triage ruling"
- the entry's own
why string: "Its exemption ledger ships empty and only shrinks; …"
Both were true when written. As of the maintainer ruling on #14653 (2026-09-04, comment 5535827386, option A) that ledger ships with three entries — messages, settingsCommon, settings — and LEDGER_CEILING is 3. The two sentences are now false about the tree they describe.
Why it is worth a card rather than a shrug
Nothing mechanical reads either sentence. The field the gate actually checks is expect: 'marked', which is unchanged and green — pnpm check:ratchet-remedy-authority passes on the branch that filled the ledger. That is precisely the shape this repo treats as a finding: a hand-written description of another gate's state, with no gate of its own, drifting silently under a green build. The next reader of that corpus entry is being told the ledger is empty at exactly the moment they might be deciding whether a fourth entry is unusual.
Note the classification itself does not change: marked is still the right reading (a legitimate exempting act exists, and what it needs is an owner), and the ⛔ MAINTAINER-ONLY marking in check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs is untouched. Only the two descriptive sentences are stale.
Where
scripts/check-ratchet-remedy-authority.mjs — the comment block and the 'check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs' entry in the hand-classified control corpus (search the file for check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs).- The ledger it describes:
KNOWN_NO_EXTRACTOR_FACE and LEDGER_CEILING in scripts/check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs.
Suggested shape
Rewrite both sentences to say what is now true — the ledger was filled to three by maintainer ruling and is shrink-only from three — rather than deleting the description. The reason the entry is marked rather than refused should survive the edit unchanged; it is the load-bearing half.
Worth considering while there: a description of another file's numeric state, hand-written and ungated, is the same class as the one #9915 recorded for check-engine-double-contract.mjs. If that recurs a third time, the cheap fix is to stop quoting the number at all rather than to re-sync it.
Provenance
Found while landing the ruling on #14653 (PR #14763). Not fixed there: that patch round's declared file surface was scripts/check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs plus merge-conflict resolution only, and this file is outside it. Recorded in that PR's body under "One file outside the declared surface" so a reviewer meets it in both places.
What drifted
scripts/check-ratchet-remedy-authority.mjscarries a hand-classified control-corpus entry forcheck-i18n-walk-parity.mjs. Two sentences in it describe that gate's exemption ledger as empty:whystring: "Its exemption ledger ships empty and only shrinks; …"Both were true when written. As of the maintainer ruling on #14653 (2026-09-04, comment 5535827386, option A) that ledger ships with three entries —
messages,settingsCommon,settings— andLEDGER_CEILINGis 3. The two sentences are now false about the tree they describe.Why it is worth a card rather than a shrug
Nothing mechanical reads either sentence. The field the gate actually checks is
expect: 'marked', which is unchanged and green —pnpm check:ratchet-remedy-authoritypasses on the branch that filled the ledger. That is precisely the shape this repo treats as a finding: a hand-written description of another gate's state, with no gate of its own, drifting silently under a green build. The next reader of that corpus entry is being told the ledger is empty at exactly the moment they might be deciding whether a fourth entry is unusual.Note the classification itself does not change:
markedis still the right reading (a legitimate exempting act exists, and what it needs is an owner), and the⛔ MAINTAINER-ONLYmarking incheck-i18n-walk-parity.mjsis untouched. Only the two descriptive sentences are stale.Where
scripts/check-ratchet-remedy-authority.mjs— the comment block and the'check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs'entry in the hand-classified control corpus (search the file forcheck-i18n-walk-parity.mjs).KNOWN_NO_EXTRACTOR_FACEandLEDGER_CEILINGinscripts/check-i18n-walk-parity.mjs.Suggested shape
Rewrite both sentences to say what is now true — the ledger was filled to three by maintainer ruling and is shrink-only from three — rather than deleting the description. The reason the entry is
markedrather thanrefusedshould survive the edit unchanged; it is the load-bearing half.Worth considering while there: a description of another file's numeric state, hand-written and ungated, is the same class as the one #9915 recorded for
check-engine-double-contract.mjs. If that recurs a third time, the cheap fix is to stop quoting the number at all rather than to re-sync it.Provenance
Found while landing the ruling on #14653 (PR #14763). Not fixed there: that patch round's declared file surface was
scripts/check-i18n-walk-parity.mjsplus merge-conflict resolution only, and this file is outside it. Recorded in that PR's body under "One file outside the declared surface" so a reviewer meets it in both places.