adeelahmad · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ tag in lockstep. Tag releases as `vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`.
 - The planner's stop gate (`gate-stage2-complete` on SubagentStop) now logs its verdicts to `gates.jsonl` and the event stream like every other gate, and the stuck release covers the planner: the same block three times in a row releases its stop unverified with a `state/stuck/plan-sprintN.<agent>` marker the supervisor acts on (a re-dispatch is a new agent id and starts over). A direct call (the supervisor's own check, `selfcheck`) is logged as a self-check and never releases. Reason: live e2e run 19's re-planning planner was blocked 9 times on one unchanged reason, none counted. Test: `scripts/test/planner-stuck.test.py`.
 
 ### Fixed
+- `gate-stage2-complete` and `gate-dispatch` refuse a sprint (or a `STORY_DIR`) inside the run-data dir (`.aladdin/`, `.agentic/`) and name `docs/agents/sprintN/`; with no argument the stage-2 gate looks in `docs/agents/` first. Reason: live run 24 (a haiku-supervisor experiment) planned and built the whole sprint under `.aladdin/sprint1/`, which is git-ignored and never committed, and every gate passed it. Tests: `scripts/test/planner-stuck.test.py`, `scripts/test/dispatch.test.py`.
 - Final-gate persona: the suppression check is the gate's (`#[ignore]`, `.skip(`, `xit(`,
   `#[cfg(not(test))]`, run by `selfcheck final-gate`), not an open-ended list; an `#[allow(dead_code)]`
   in `tests/common/` is not a suppression (live run 22: the persona failed the sprint on it and cost a

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ conformance: ## ROADMAP §6 conformance fixtures on today's gates (needs cargo;
 .PHONY: e2e-live
 e2e-live: ## Live end-to-end run: one-line intent -> planned, tested, merged code (YES=1; spends dollars)
 	@test -n "$(YES)" || { echo "spends tokens: make e2e-live YES=1"; exit 2; }
-	scripts/smoke/e2e-live.sh --yes $(if $(INTENT),--intent $(INTENT)) $(if $(HOST),--host $(HOST))
+	scripts/smoke/e2e-live.sh --yes $(if $(INTENT),--intent $(INTENT)) $(if $(HOST),--host $(HOST)) $(if $(MODEL),--model $(MODEL))
 
 .PHONY: smoke-live
 smoke-live: ## Live Claude Code session: hooks fire, supervisor write blocked, transcripts + ledger (YES=1; spends ~$0.005)

diff --git a/docs/ROADMAP.md b/docs/ROADMAP.md
diff --git a/docs/TRACKING.md b/docs/TRACKING.md
@@ -53,3 +53,4 @@ Status of every requirement in [ROADMAP.md](ROADMAP.md), in the four states §8
 | 4.11 | Evidence: every public claim links to a reproducible measured run (`docs/evidence/README.md`, `run-summary`) | IMPLEMENTED_TESTED | `scripts/test/evidence.test.py` |
 | 7 | The final-gate persona's suppression check is the gate's (`assert_no_suppression`), never its own list | IMPLEMENTED_TESTED | `scripts/test/suppression-contract.test.py` |
 | 4.11 | The north-star run reproducible on every host (`e2e-live.sh --host codex|opencode`: host install + headless CLI, same checks) | IMPLEMENTED_TESTED | `scripts/test/e2e-live-hosts.test.py` (measured Codex/OpenCode rows still pending: no CLIs here) |
+| 7 | The sprint and every STORY_DIR live in `docs/agents/sprintN/`, never in the git-ignored run-data dir (`gate-stage2-complete`, `gate-dispatch`) | IMPLEMENTED_TESTED | `scripts/test/planner-stuck.test.py`, `scripts/test/dispatch.test.py` |
diff --git a/docs/evidence/README.md b/docs/evidence/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ the cost cell reads — and the intent cell names the host. What each run found
 | run 21 | semver | v0.12.0 + #33 (1ad94e2) | 12/12 | 8m17s | $0.66 | 1 | 0 | 3 | `make e2e-live YES=1 INTENT=semver` |
 | run 22 | wordfreq | v0.12.0 + #37 (361f8d7) | 13/13 | 16m18s | $1.14 | 2 | 0 | 3 | `make e2e-live YES=1 INTENT=wordfreq` |
 | run 23 | wordfreq | v0.12.0 + #33 (7417bb9) | 13/13 | 10m58s | $0.76 | 4 | 1 | 0 | `make e2e-live YES=1 INTENT=wordfreq` |
+| run 24 | wordfreq, haiku supervisor | v0.12.0 + #39 (9826566) | 10/13 | 19m09s | $0.66 | 4 | 1 | 6 | `make e2e-live YES=1 INTENT=wordfreq MODEL=haiku` |
 
 Columns: *checks* are the e2e script's own assertions (12 for `semver`, 13 for `wordfreq` since
 the commit-trace check); *wakes* are supervisor turns that ended and resumed (each re-reads
@@ -38,5 +39,7 @@ source; *gate blocks* are `exit 2` verdicts in the run's `gates.jsonl` (host hoo
 self-checks). A dash means the run predates that counter.
 Run 20 cost $2.79 because the supervisor dispatched planners on opus and workers on sonnet against a
 project set to haiku; `gate-dispatch` now refuses that (#33), and run 21 is the same intent on haiku.
+Run 24 is an experiment, not a public number: a haiku supervisor cost the same as sonnet in twice
+the turns and planned the sprint in the run-data dir (now refused by the gates).
 Run 19's reads were first reported as 5: all five were the planner's `md-db describe --schema` on
 the plugin's schemas through a shell variable, which the counter now recognises as schema use.
diff --git a/plugin/bin/README.md b/plugin/bin/README.md
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ ctx-symbols) → WARN + grep fallback; never a silent pass.
 | gate-structural-integrity | SubagentStop · structural-reviewer | appended output.md block; orphan/parallel/duplicate via ctx-symbols | no/stale output.md block / foundation-poisoning finding |
 | gate-final                | SubagentStop · final-gate   | full matrix; zero suppressions; all plan-ready ticked | matrix red / suppression / unticked |
 | gate-standards-cited      | SubagentStop · standards    | standards.md citations resolve | dangling citation |
-| gate-stage2-complete      | supervisor self-check + SubagentStop · planner | every story Stage-2 valid; no TBW; sprint self-contained (no later-sprint story IDs, no work deferred to a later sprint); verdicts logged like every gate, and the stuck release covers the planner (3 identical blocks → stop released unverified, marker `state/stuck/plan-sprintN.<agent>`) | incomplete or spilling planning |
+| gate-stage2-complete      | supervisor self-check + SubagentStop · planner | the sprint is in `docs/agents/sprintN/`, never the run-data dir; every story Stage-2 valid; no TBW; sprint self-contained (no later-sprint story IDs, no work deferred to a later sprint); verdicts logged like every gate, and the stuck release covers the planner (3 identical blocks → stop released unverified, marker `state/stuck/plan-sprintN.<agent>`) | incomplete or spilling planning |
 | gate-plan-shape           | called by gates             | each plan checkbox carries `path::fn` | malformed plan |
 | gate-ledger-format        | called by gates             | execution.log line shape | malformed ledger |
 

diff --git a/plugin/bin/gate-dispatch b/plugin/bin/gate-dispatch
@@ -69,6 +69,15 @@ fi
 # reviewer's contract had none, since a per-wave review has no single story). A whole-wave review
 # uses the sprint dir, whose init.md/output.md carry its dispatch and report blocks.
 sd="$(sed -nE 's/^[[:space:]]*(export[[:space:]]+)?STORY_DIR=["'"'"']?([^"'"'"'#]*[^"'"'"'#[:space:]])["'"'"']?[[:space:]]*(#.*)?$/\2/p' "$contract" | tail -1)"
+case "/$sd/" in
+  */.aladdin/*|*/.agentic/*)
+    # The comms live with the plan in docs/agents/sprintN/ (live e2e run 24: a haiku supervisor
+    # put the whole sprint under .aladdin/sprint1/, git-ignored and never committed).
+    _home="$(printf '%s' "/$sd/" | grep -oE '/\.(aladdin|agentic)/' | head -1 | tr -d /)"
+    echo "BLOCK[$GATE_NAME]: STORY_DIR=$sd is in the run-data dir $_home/, which is git-ignored and never committed:" >&2
+    echo "  the sprint and its story dirs live in docs/agents/sprintN/ (\`aloop layout show\`); move the sprint there and point STORY_DIR at it." >&2
+    exit 2 ;;
+esac
 if [ -z "$sd" ] || [ ! -d "$sd" ]; then
   echo "BLOCK[$GATE_NAME]: the task contract $contract must set STORY_DIR to an existing dir${sd:+ (STORY_DIR=$sd does not exist)}:" >&2
   echo "  the ABSOLUTE path of the story's comms dir, docs/agents/sprintN/sN-NN-<slug>/ (holds init.md + output.md)." >&2

diff --git a/plugin/bin/gate-stage2-complete b/plugin/bin/gate-stage2-complete
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 
 sprint_dir="${1:-${SPRINT_DIR:-}}"
 if [ -z "$sprint_dir" ]; then
-  sprint_dir="$(find . -maxdepth 5 -type d -name 'sprint*' 2>/dev/null | sort | tail -1)"
+  # The layout's place first (docs/agents/sprintN/); anywhere else is found only to be refused below.
+  sprint_dir="$(find ./docs/agents -maxdepth 1 -type d -name 'sprint*' 2>/dev/null | sort -V | tail -1)"
+  [ -n "$sprint_dir" ] || sprint_dir="$(find . -maxdepth 5 -type d -name 'sprint*' 2>/dev/null | sort | tail -1)"
 fi
 if [ -z "$sprint_dir" ] || [ ! -d "$sprint_dir" ]; then
   echo "WARN[$GATE_NAME]: no sprint dir found; stage-2 check skipped (weaker)" >&2; exit 0
@@ -31,6 +33,15 @@ if [ -z "${TASK_ID:-}" ] && [ -n "$GATE_PAYLOAD" ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# 0) The sprint lives in docs/agents/sprintN/ (bin/_paths.sh), never in the run-data dir, which
+# is git-ignored and never committed (live e2e run 24: a haiku supervisor had the whole sprint
+# planned and built under .aladdin/sprint1/ and this gate passed it).
+case "/$(cd "$sprint_dir" && pwd -P)/" in
+  */.aladdin/*|*/.agentic/*)
+    _home="$(printf '%s' "/$(cd "$sprint_dir" && pwd -P)/" | grep -oE '/\.(aladdin|agentic)/' | head -1 | tr -d /)"
+    fail "the sprint is in the run-data dir $_home/ ($sprint_dir), which is git-ignored and never committed: plan it in docs/agents/$(basename "$sprint_dir")/ (\`aloop layout show\` prints the layout): mv '$sprint_dir' docs/agents/" ;;
+esac
+
 # 1) No TBW placeholders anywhere.
 if grep -rl 'TBW' "$sprint_dir" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   fail "TBW remains in $sprint_dir (partial Stage-2 forbidden)"

diff --git a/plugin/skills/aloop/SKILL.md b/plugin/skills/aloop/SKILL.md
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ project that still has `.agentic/` keeps using it until `aloop layout migrate` m
 | `docs/agents/NEXT.md` | orchestrator handoff, reloaded after `/clear` | ignored unless tracked |
 | `docs/agents/sprintN/` | sprint artifacts + `stats.md` | ignored unless tracked |
 
+The sprint is always `docs/agents/sprintN/`, never under `.aladdin/` (run data, never
+committed): `gate-stage2-complete` and `gate-dispatch` refuse a sprint or `STORY_DIR` there.
+
 Commits are authored by the configured human author only; `gate-commit-author` blocks a
 commit with another author or (unless allowed) a Claude co-author / attribution trailer.
 Build each task's commit message with `events commit-msg <task>` (task title, recorded

diff --git a/scripts/test/dispatch.test.py b/scripts/test/dispatch.test.py
@@ -110,6 +110,22 @@ def run(subagent_type, prompt, agent_type=None, model="haiku"):
 assert r.returncode == 2 and "sonnet" in r.stderr, r
 ok("the resolved model (pinned id or route, by family) is accepted; a cheaper-than-confirmed pick is denied too")
 
+# The sprint lives in docs/agents/sprintN/, never in the run-data dir (live e2e run 24: a haiku
+# supervisor planned and built the whole sprint under .aladdin/sprint1/, which is git-ignored and
+# never committed; no gate noticed, and the run's planning checks found no sprint at all).
+open(os.path.join(T, "docs", "agents", "defaults.md"), "w").write(
+    "---\ntype: agentic-defaults\n---\n```conf\nAGENTIC_MODEL_PLANNING=haiku\nAGENTIC_MODEL_WORKER=haiku\n```\n")
+for home in (".aladdin", ".agentic"):
+    hidden = os.path.join(T, home, "sprint1", "s1-01-x")
+    os.makedirs(hidden, exist_ok=True)
+    open(contract, "w").write("TASK_ID=S1-01-T1\nSTORY_DIR=%s\n" % hidden)
+    r = run("aloop:green-worker", "TASK_ID: S1-01-T1\nDo GREEN.")
+    assert r.returncode == 2 and "docs/agents/sprint" in r.stderr and home in r.stderr, (home, r)
+open(contract, "w").write("TASK_ID=S1-01-T1\nSTORY_DIR=%s\n" % story)
+r = run("aloop:green-worker", "TASK_ID: S1-01-T1\nDo GREEN.")
+assert r.returncode == 0, r
+ok("a STORY_DIR inside the run-data dir (.aladdin/, .agentic/) is denied with the docs/agents/sprintN/ path")
+
 r = run("aloop:green-worker", "TASK_ID: S1-09-T9\nDo GREEN.", agent_type="aloop:planner")
 assert r.returncode == 0, r
 ok("a sub-agent's own Agent calls are not this gate's business")

diff --git a/scripts/test/planner-stuck.test.py b/scripts/test/planner-stuck.test.py
@@ -92,4 +92,24 @@ def rows():
 assert rows()[-1]["exit"] == 0 and rows()[-1]["selfcheck"] is False
 ok("a complete plan passes and is logged as a pass")
 
+# The sprint lives in docs/agents/sprintN/, never in the run-data dir (live e2e run 24: a haiku
+# supervisor had the whole sprint planned under .aladdin/sprint1/, git-ignored and never
+# committed, and this gate passed it). A complete plan there is refused, named or discovered.
+H = os.path.join(T, "hidden")
+for home in (".aladdin", ".agentic"):
+    hp = os.path.join(H, home, "sprint1")
+    for rel, text in (("stories.md", "---\ntype: stories\nsprint: 1\n---\n- S1-01 export\n"),
+                      ("s1-01-export/tasks.md", "---\ntype: tasks\nstory: S1-01\n---\n## T1 — a\n"),
+                      ("s1-01-export/validate.md", "---\ntype: validate\nstory: S1-01\n---\n## T1\n"),
+                      ("s1-01-export/plan.md", "---\ntype: plan\nstory: S1-01\nscope: tests only\n---\n")):
+        write(os.path.join("hidden", home, "sprint1", rel), text)
+    if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(H, ".git")):
+        subprocess.run(["git", "init", "-q"], cwd=H, check=True)
+    r = subprocess.run([GATE, hp], cwd=H, env=dict(ENV, AGENTIC_SELFCHECK="1"), capture_output=True, text=True, stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL)
+    assert r.returncode == 2 and "docs/agents/sprint1" in r.stderr and home in r.stderr, (home, r)
+    r = subprocess.run([GATE], cwd=H, env=dict(ENV, AGENTIC_SELFCHECK="1"), capture_output=True, text=True, stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL)
+    assert r.returncode == 2 and "docs/agents/sprint1" in r.stderr, (home, "discovered", r)
+    subprocess.run(["rm", "-rf", os.path.join(H, home)], check=True)
+ok("a sprint planned in the run-data dir (.aladdin/, .agentic/) is refused with the docs/agents/sprintN/ path, named or discovered")
+
 print("\n%d checks passed" % n)