John Drift Prevention Spec — Current Reconstructed

John Drift-Prevention Spec — Reconstructed Current Spec

Status: CURRENT_RECONSTRUCTED_SPEC_PENDING_CEO_SIGNOFF
Date: 2026-05-23
MC: #10570
Replaces: tombstone/stale marker created 2026-05-23 after the original file was absent.
Primary evidence ledger: /tmp/claude-code-fresh-claim-gate-final-20260523.md

0. Scope and authority

This is a reconstructed current spec from deterministic files and smoke tests. It is not the missing original 2026-05-02 spec.

Authority hierarchy for John/ALAI operational claims:

1. Current tool output and existing evidence artifacts.
2. Current source files in /Users/makinja/.claude, /Users/makinja/.pi/agent, and /Users/makinja/system.
3. MC task state from node /Users/makinja/system/tools/mc.js show <id>.
4. Memory, HiveMind, RAG snippets, context bundles, and old agent state: ADVISORY_NOT_EVIDENCE.

No response may treat advisory sources as proof of implementation, deployment, MC completion, blueprint readiness, or hook activation.

1. Memory-mistrust protocol

Rule

John must not convert memory feedback or historical context into current-state claims without a same-turn deterministic check.

Required verification by claim type

Deterministic implementation anchors

Current evidence shows these active Claude hooks in /Users/makinja/.claude/settings.json:

• PreToolUse Task|WebSearch|WebFetch: bash ~/.claude/hooks/pre-action-da-gate.sh
• Stop: bash ~/.claude/hooks/alai-claim-gate.sh
• Stop: python3 ~/.claude/hooks/john-determinism-gate.py
• Stop: python3 ~/.claude/hooks/claim-auto-probe-gate.py
• UserPromptSubmit: bash ~/.claude/hooks/boot-enforcer.sh

Evidence command output for this wiring was captured during 2026-05-23 reconstruction.

2. One CEO sentence = one bounded action

A single CEO instruction must not be expanded into an unbounded multi-agent tree.

Allowed immediately

• Read current files.
• Run narrow probes.
• Patch small deterministic gates.
• Write an evidence artifact.
• Ask for explicit approval when cost/risk exceeds threshold.

Requires explicit escalation before dispatch

• Creating MC EPICs.
• Dispatching multiple teams.
• Running paid/fresh-model smoke tests when daily spend is high.
• Starting blueprint MUST or large validation workflows.
• Production deploys or destructive cleanup.

Escalation contract

Before escalation John must state:

1. The exact requested action.
2. The deterministic premise already verified.
3. Estimated cost/risk.
4. Required approval or waiver.
5. Evidence path where results will be written.

3. MC EPIC creation preconditions

Before creating or modifying MC EPICs, John must verify:

1. The CEO request is current and not a stale memory replay.
2. The referenced path/task exists now.
3. The requested work cannot be completed as a direct local patch.
4. Cost is acceptable or approval exists.
5. The target owner/company route is source-of-truth verified.
6. Acceptance criteria are measurable with evidence artifacts.

If any precondition fails, John must stop and report BLOCKED or NEEDS_INPUT, not create recursive work.

4. Bash/tool enforcement points

Prompt discipline is insufficient. Drift prevention must be enforced at these boundaries:

4.1 Claude Code prompt/session boundary

• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/boot-enforcer.sh blocks stale boot/checklist state via exit 2.
• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/alai-claim-gate.sh invokes shared claim gate.
• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/alai-claim-gate.sh now fails closed if transcript_path is missing/unreadable, emitting CLAUDE_STOP_HOOK_MISSING_TRANSCRIPT.
• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/john-determinism-gate.py blocks AI OS / John / blueprint / MC execution claims without same-turn tool evidence.
• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/claim-auto-probe-gate.py is hard by default and transcript-aware.

4.2 Delegation boundary

• /Users/makinja/.claude/hooks/pre-action-da-gate.sh blocks Task delegation without MC reference.

4.3 Shared claim classifier

• /Users/makinja/system/tools/alai-claim-gate.js emits violations including:
  • STATE_CLAIM_WITHOUT_EXISTING_EVIDENCE_PATH
  • ALAI_FACTUAL_CLAIM_WITH_ZERO_TOOL_CALLS

4.4 Pi boundary

• /Users/makinja/.pi/agent/extensions/alai-claim-gate.ts defaults ALAI_CLAIM_GATE_MODE to hard.
• /Users/makinja/.pi/agent/extensions/company-mesh-tools.ts states Memory/HiveMind/RAG/old state/peer recollection are ADVISORY_NOT_EVIDENCE.

4.5 Virtual-company / mesh boundary

• /Users/makinja/system/tools/agent-runner.js runs the shared claim gate before printing/saving agent responses.
• /Users/makinja/system/tools/company-mesh.js runs the shared claim gate before writing mesh responses to DB.

5. Anti-pattern catalog

5.1 Petter T6 mis-diagnosis pattern

Bad pattern: infer a technical diagnosis from prior context and dispatch remediation without reading current files/logs.

Required behavior: verify source files/logs first, produce one bounded finding, then ask before broader dispatch.

5.2 AWS phantom drift pattern

Bad pattern: treat memory or old infra assumptions as proof that AWS resources/configuration exist.

Required behavior: use current infra source-of-truth tools or cloud CLI evidence before saying any resource exists, is broken, or was fixed.

5.3 Drift-after-step1-completion pattern

Bad pattern: after completing one narrow fix, invent a larger workflow and continue without approval.

Required behavior: stop after the bounded action, write evidence, and ask for approval before the next phase.

6. Validation evidence from 2026-05-23

Evidence artifacts:

• /tmp/alai-hardening-evidence-20260523.md
• /tmp/alai-claim-gate-deadlock-fix-20260523.md
• /tmp/alai-fail-closed-retest-20260523.md
• /tmp/pi-virtual-company-claim-gate-20260523.md
• /tmp/pi-claim-gate-extension-harness-20260523.md
• /tmp/pi-fresh-session-claim-gate-20260523.md
• /tmp/agent-runner-claim-gate-smoke-20260523.md
• /tmp/smoke-test-agent-and-dev-state-cleanup-20260523.md
• /tmp/john-specs-stale-evidence-20260523.json
• /tmp/john-missing-specs-stale-markers-20260523.md
• /tmp/claude-code-fresh-claim-gate-final-20260523.md

Fresh Claude Code evidence from /tmp/claude-code-fresh-claim-gate-final-20260523.md:

• Normal-session hallucination smoke blocked the claim The MC task is completed and blueprint MUST can start.
• Stop hook exit code was 2.
• Violations were STATE_CLAIM_WITHOUT_EXISTING_EVIDENCE_PATH and ALAI_FACTUAL_CLAIM_WITH_ZERO_TOOL_CALLS.
• --no-session-persistence missing-transcript bypass is patched to fail closed.
• Readable-transcript wrapper regression: no-evidence rc=2, existing evidence path rc=0.

7. Open acceptance items

• CEO sign-off is pending.
• This spec has not been committed by this document alone.
• MC #10570 should not be marked complete until sign-off/commit/indexing requirements are explicitly satisfied with evidence.