I read this as an independent, read-only release-provenance audit of the exact candidate - I’ll inspect the evidence contract and artifacts, recompute every binding from primary files, run only non-mutating verification, and return a cryptographically grounded verdict.


I’ve established the candidate’s declared model: 239 hash-indexed payload files plus four self/seal/post-seal exclusions, 7-clause source and installed chains, two wheels, and ledger line 157. I’m now recomputing these independently rather than trusting the bundled PASS summaries.


The cryptographic envelope itself recomputes cleanly, but a release-blocking verifier defect has surfaced: after the bundle was frozen to mode 0500, the bundled “independent” verifier rejects both golden bundles because it only accepts mode 0700 at their roots. I’m completing the remaining byte-parity and invalidation checks to determine whether the final verdict is FAIL versus INCONCLUSIVE.


I read this as a final read-only release-provenance verdict - I independently recomputed the candidate bindings and treated non-reproducible verification as release-blocking.

# Verdict: FAIL

Candidate `09a669ddc42875998d34a7d7cb07ae575af06037fcb1438512bbc3930cc990d9` has a cryptographically intact evidence envelope, but it is not independently re-verifiable in its final frozen state.

## Release blockers

1. **Bundled independent verifier fails on the sealed bundle**
   ```bash
   PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
     python tools/independent_verify_candidate.py
   ```
   Result:
   ```text
   fresh verifier failed: {"reason":"artifact permissions are invalid: .../installed-golden-bundle","status":"SOURCE_GOLDEN_PATH_FAIL"}
   EXIT=1
   ```
   All files are mode `0400` and directories `0500`, but `verify_source_golden_path.py:939` calls:
   ```python
   private(root, directory=True)
   ```
   which accepts only mode `0700`. It should accept frozen mode `0500`. The same defect prevents current adversarial-fixture verification.

2. **Exact installed-runtime recomputation is impossible after cleanup**
   The declared runtime is absent:
   ```text
   /home/cube/.cache/task26-native-seven-clause-runtime-st_01a01574-v3
   ```
   Therefore the installed filesystem, installed `RECORD`, interpreter invocation, and import origins cannot be freshly observed. The sealed receipts are internally consistent and wheel-backed, but not runtime-reproducible.

3. **`task26_evidence_contract.py` lacks source-wheel-installed parity**
   Source/evidence copies are byte-identical:
   ```text
   1ecb5d824507f9ea57e4646bb418ebd5750e79244748d298598890a456e8d9c3
   ```
   However neither wheel contains this file. It is sealed as an external evidence tool, not proven through source -> wheel -> installed parity.

4. **Old-candidate invalidation is successor-declared only**
   The new candidate and ledger invalidate:
   - `2efe939a...`
   - `cbbfc12d...`

   But both predecessor manifests still independently state `INSTALLED_GOLDEN_PATH_PASS`; there is no predecessor-local tombstone. This leaves ambiguous authority for consumers that do not consult candidate 09 or ledger line 157.

## Cryptographic checks that passed

- Candidate digest recomputed exactly:
  ```text
  09a669ddc42875998d34a7d7cb07ae575af06037fcb1438512bbc3930cc990d9
  ```
- Product digest over parity products:
  ```text
  7e34e3e6ff80445a3a90fecb74bf04ae44d22b255adb3c599b6ce9c44d6199da
  ```
- Installed golden-bundle digest over 87 files:
  ```text
  7be095e941c03f3a8f87c659ce9571df7c417fe6f1529564b88d244b585b590e
  ```
- Bundle seal over exactly 242 files:
  ```text
  324664b7ac3fe1737b2c6c6efe45aca2a2b2fa7f6b9cce32bccbdc08b836afb1
  ```
- Inventory structure:
  - 243 total files
  - 239 candidate-indexed files
  - 242 seal-covered files, excluding only `seal.sha256`
  - exact path/hash/size parity
  - 243 files mode `0400`; 83 directories mode `0500`
  - no symlinks, ownership/link-count issues, or writable paths

### Wheels and recorded installation

- Hermes wheel:
  ```text
  SHA-256 1f334e9f0ba33dda814ef4477630e2fb5c0f2980654574d170a071c0c9d01f66
  987 members; RECORD valid; zero member mismatches
  ```
- Profile wheel:
  ```text
  SHA-256 62c508d3548ed5f5fe28c1a137bbc1b6af286d48419dc9e66fa4c7c8422b4121
  58 members; RECORD valid; zero member mismatches
  ```
- Every wheel member matches the sealed installed-inventory hash/size mapping.
- All 90 loaded-module receipts match wheel bytes.
- All five import-origin paths match loaded-module provenance; recorded `PYTHONPATH` is null.
- Installed binding digest recomputed:
  ```text
  7dd4ebf652040cf5cb681b2e1c7bc64559b08bfc1b39ce9e890bfb19dbc71325
  ```

### Source preservation and product parity

- Exact current source -> wheel product parity:
  - profile: 54/54 files
  - Hermes: 963/963 files
- Profile source seal: 89 rows, zero mismatches.
- Hermes source seal: 28,351 rows, zero mismatches.
- Hermes pre/final/current git-status bytes are identical:
  ```text
  21519f96962ea83502becb05443386761224bff879ada4f13a86b7ab7b865199
  ```
- Source provenance: 137/137 Python files, exact tree digest:
  ```text
  b34b2a12fd0ad3d4c95a58c847a2411e81272a646f5a4f5ec568d0d3640a3747
  ```

### Seven-clause chains

Both chains independently passed sequence, clause order, same-invocation binding, candidate binding, artifact hashes, previous links, and receipt hashes:

- Source:
  ```text
  invocation df1372078b1ea996dc08e445ddb38987
  head       1e1f756546ca1866f3b79639ab032609de7067b0cd6bdf55a887fe17d6e0b4b5
  ```
- Installed:
  ```text
  invocation 295433ecea9ca319e95ca8ef50134833
  head       69abdc8c831adb6c81c0ac5706aff29c8a7f135f50aafc2e8d98bf9b039ea905
  ```

### Sealed test receipts

Hashes and expected success markers match:

- Contract: 51 source + 51 installed
- Focused: 106 source + 106 installed
- Related installed: 76
- Profile: 749
- Gateway: 8,288 passed, 59 skipped, 0 failed across 374 files
- Ruff, Ty, profile Ruff, compileall, CLI help, and pip check: PASS

The two stored installed-verifier outputs are byte-identical and the stored independent-verification result is internally consistent, but neither can now be freshly reproduced through the supplied verifier.

### Cleanup and ledger

- Runtime absent; no matching runtime directory remains.
- Terminal inventory records zero active, pending, unknown, or orphan entries.
- Ledger line 157 matches all 13 checked bindings: candidate, installed candidate, product, runtime, seal, candidate-file hash, seal-file hash, independent verifier, installed verifier, native receipts, contract summary, gateway log, and cleanup artifact.

## Residual risk

The bundle uses unkeyed SHA-256 and a mutable, non-signed ledger rather than an external signature or transparency anchor. Even without the verifier defect, it proves internal consistency and current source parity, not independent creation-time authenticity.

No files were modified.