adeelahmad · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026 · Oct 18, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ tag in lockstep. Tag releases as `vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`.
 - `budget hook pre` seeds the story's `output.md` with its `type: output` frontmatter before the
   worker's first tool call, so a bare `cat >>` of the report block no longer fails the comms gate
   (live run 18: 4 blocks). An existing `output.md` is never touched.
+- `budget hook`: a structural reviewer or final gate dispatched without a worktree gets the contract
+  copy in the main tree for its dispatch (removed when it stops), so its own `selfcheck` finds the
+  task (live run 19: "STORY_DIR unset").
+- `gate-scaffold-verify` reads `.aladdin/scaffold-symbols` lines written in the `### Scaffold` report
+  shape (`+ create fn crate::Foo @ src/lib.rs`): markers, verbs and keywords are skipped and a crate
+  path is reduced to its name (live runs 18–19: `create` was "defined 0 times", 4 blocks in run 19);
+  a zero-count block now names the file's expected shape.
+- `symbol_count` grep fallback (no `ctx-symbols`): a no-match grep under `pipefail` printed a second
+  `0`, so the scaffold gate's block text broke mid-sentence on CI-like hosts; it prints one number.
 
 ### Changed
 - SKILL.md: a RED mandate names `tests/common/mod.rs` as the shims' home, never a `src/` path

diff --git a/docs/OVERVIEW.md b/docs/OVERVIEW.md
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ The model can ignore a skill; it cannot ignore an exit code.
 - The north-star run, `make e2e-live YES=1 [INTENT=wordfreq]`: a one-line intent becomes
   planned, test-first, gate-verified, merged code in a real Claude Code session with the
   approval given up front. Two intents pass every check (semver parser: 11/11, ~$0.65–1.15,
-  11–19 min; word frequencies with two dependent stories: 13/13, $0.79–1.56, 13–45 min; the last two runs $0.95 and $1.03, 2–6 supervisor wakes, 0–2 plugin-source reads,
+  11–19 min; word frequencies with two dependent stories: 13/13, $0.79–1.56, 13–45 min; the last three runs $0.95–1.03, 1–6 supervisor wakes, 0–5 plugin-source reads,
   every merged commit traced to its task by `events trace`). Every run so far has found a gate false positive or a
   dead path that unit tests missed; ROADMAP M0.8 lists them.
 - One measured real run (*TheNoteBook*, a Go backend): ~17K LOC, 322 tests, 74 commits in 6

diff --git a/docs/ROADMAP.md b/docs/ROADMAP.md
diff --git a/plugin/bin/_gatelib.sh b/plugin/bin/_gatelib.sh
@@ -317,9 +317,11 @@ symbol_count() {
   if have_ctx_symbols; then
     ctx-symbols count "$sym" --tree "$root"
   else
-    # grep fallback (fragile: matches fn/struct/etc. definitions only, name-anchored)
+    # grep fallback (fragile: matches fn/struct/etc. definitions only, name-anchored). Under
+        # pipefail a no-match grep fails the pipeline, so `|| echo 0` printed a second line ("0\n0")
+    # and the block text broke mid-sentence; `|| true` keeps it one number.
     { grep -rohE "\\b(fn|struct|enum|trait|type|const|static|mod)\\s+$sym\\b" \
-        --include='*.rs' "$root" 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' '; } || echo 0
+        --include='*.rs' "$root" 2>/dev/null || true; } | wc -l | tr -d ' '
   fi
 }
 

diff --git a/plugin/bin/budget b/plugin/bin/budget
@@ -182,12 +182,15 @@ def contract(cwd, task_id):
     return read_kv(_paths.contract_path(cwd, task_id))
 
 
-def copy_contract(cwd, top, task_id):
+def copy_contract(cwd, top, task_id, main_tree=False):
     """Put a copy of the supervisor's contract in the worker's worktree (Claude Code makes the
     worktree at dispatch, so no one could write it before), so `selfcheck` there finds the
-    task. The gates compare the copy with the contract, so editing it gains nothing."""
+    task. The gates compare the copy with the contract, so editing it gains nothing.
+    main_tree=True allows the project root itself: an observed role (reviewer, final gate)
+    dispatched without a worktree runs there (live run 19), and its stop removes the copy."""
     src = _paths.contract_path(cwd, task_id)
-    if not os.path.isfile(os.path.join(top, ".git")) or not os.path.isfile(src):
+    git = os.path.join(top, ".git")
+    if not (os.path.isfile(git) or (main_tree and os.path.isdir(git))) or not os.path.isfile(src):
         return
     dst = _paths.marker(top, "task.env")
     if os.path.exists(dst) and os.path.getmtime(dst) >= os.path.getmtime(src):
@@ -524,9 +527,13 @@ def observe(mode, payload, agent_id, role):
     # A reviewer or final gate dispatched into a host worktree needs the contract copy as much
     # as a worker does: its own `selfcheck` finds the task only through it (live runs 15–17).
     wt, how = find_worktree(payload, cwd, agent_id, role)
+    project = _paths.project(cwd)
     host_tid = host_task_id(payload, agent_id) if mode != "stop" else ""
     if host_tid and wt:
         copy_contract(cwd, wt, host_tid)
+    elif host_tid:
+        copy_contract(cwd, project, host_tid, main_tree=True)   # no worktree: it runs in the main tree
+        how = how or "main tree"
     if host_tid and mode != "stop":
         seed_output(cwd, host_tid)
     if st is None:
@@ -541,6 +548,13 @@ def observe(mode, payload, agent_id, role):
     if mode == "stop":
         st["done"] = now
         save_state(spath, st)
+        if st.get("task") and not st.get("worktree"):
+            mc = _paths.marker(project, "task.env")      # the main-tree copy is this dispatch's only
+            if os.path.isfile(mc) and read_kv(mc).get("TASK_ID") == st["task"]:
+                try:
+                    os.remove(mc)
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
         return
     st["done"] = None
     b = st["budget"]

diff --git a/plugin/bin/gate-scaffold-verify b/plugin/bin/gate-scaffold-verify
@@ -29,21 +29,29 @@ symbols="${SCAFFOLD_SYMBOLS:-}"
 if [ -z "$symbols" ]; then
   sf="$(agentic_marker "$root" scaffold-symbols)" || true
   if [ -f "$sf" ]; then
-    # one symbol per line; anything after it on the line is a note ("Foo (enum) @ src/lib.rs")
+    # one symbol per line; anything after it on the line is a note ("Foo (enum) @ src/lib.rs").
+    # Workers also write the "### Scaffold" report shape ("+ create fn crate::Foo @ src/lib.rs",
+    # "- delete tests/common/mod.rs"): a leading marker, verb or keyword is skipped, the first
+    # identifier after them is the symbol (live runs 18–19: `create` was "defined 0 times").
     symbols="$(grep -vE '^[[:space:]]*(#|$)' "$sf" | awk '
-      $2 == "for" { next }                                    # "Display for Foo": a trait impl, not a new symbol
+      /(^|[[:space:]])for([[:space:]]|$)/ { next }            # "Display for Foo": a trait impl, not a new symbol
       NR == 1 && tolower($1) ~ /^(symbol|name)$/ && tolower($2) ~ /^(path|kind|file)$/ { next }  # table header
-      { print $1 }' | sort -u)"
+      { i = 1
+        while (i <= NF && ($i ~ /^[-+~*|]$/ || tolower($i) ~ /^(create|created|add|added|stub|stubbed|new|delete|deleted|remove|removed|update|updated|change|changed|pub|fn|struct|enum|trait|type|mod|const|static|impl|unsafe|async)$/)) i++
+        if (i <= NF) print $i }' | sort -u)"
   fi
 fi
-# keep only identifiers / paths (`Foo`, `crate::Foo`): punctuation is never a symbol
-symbols="$(printf '%s\n' $symbols | tr -d '`,' | grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*(::[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)*$' | sort -u)"
+# keep only identifiers / paths (`Foo`, `crate::Foo`): punctuation is never a symbol. A path is
+# reduced to its last segment: `ctx-symbols count` and the grep fallback count by name.
+symbols="$(printf '%s\n' $symbols | tr -d '`,' | grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*(::[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)*$' | sed 's/.*:://' | sort -u)"
 [ -z "$symbols" ] && warn "no scaffold symbols resolved (set SCAFFOLD_SYMBOLS or write .aladdin/scaffold-symbols in the worktree); uniqueness check skipped"
 
 # 2) Each symbol defined exactly once across the tree.
 for sym in $symbols; do
   n="$(symbol_count "$sym" "$root")"
-  [ "$n" = "1" ] || fail "symbol \`$sym\` defined $n times (must be exactly 1 — duplicate/parallel definition)"
+  hint=""
+  [ "${n:-0}" = "0" ] && hint=". .aladdin/scaffold-symbols is one production symbol per line (\`count_words @ src/lib.rs\`): no verbs, keywords or test paths"
+  [ "$n" = "1" ] || fail "symbol \`$sym\` defined ${n:-0} times (must be exactly 1 — duplicate/parallel definition)$hint"
 done
 
 # 3) No MARKED shim remains. RED shims carry `// agentic:shim`; a normal

diff --git a/scripts/conformance/claude-code.test.py b/scripts/conformance/claude-code.test.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def gate(name, cwd, extra=None, agent_type=None, transcript=None):
 def case(item, title, name, cwd, expect, must_say=None, extra=None, agent_type=None, transcript=None):
     rc, lines = gate(name, cwd, extra, agent_type, transcript)
     blocks = [l for l in lines if l.startswith("BLOCK[")]
-    good = rc == expect and (must_say is None or any(must_say in l for l in blocks))
+    good = rc == expect and (must_say is None or any(must_say in l for l in (blocks if expect else lines)))
     detail = blocks[0] if blocks else (lines[-1] if lines else "")
     results.append((item, title, good, "exit %d (want %d) %s" % (rc, expect, detail[:140])))
 
@@ -172,6 +172,15 @@ def red_ok():
 # and `Display` were each "defined 0 times").
 write(os.path.join(wt, ".aladdin", "scaffold-symbols"), "symbol\tpath\tkind\nsub\tsrc/lib.rs\tfn\nDisplay for Sub\tsrc/lib.rs\timpl\n")
 case(3, "SCAFFOLD with a header row and trait-impl lines in scaffold-symbols is accepted", "gate-scaffold-verify", wt, 0)
+# ...or the "### Scaffold" report shape with a title line, a verb, a keyword, a crate path and a
+# deletion line (live e2e runs 18–19: `create` was "defined 0 times", four blocks in run 19).
+write(os.path.join(wt, ".aladdin", "scaffold-symbols"),
+      "S1-01-T1 scaffold\n+ create fn mycrate::sub @ src/lib.rs\n- delete tests/common/mod.rs (redundant shim)\n")
+case(3, "SCAFFOLD whose scaffold-symbols carry verbs, keywords, crate paths and deletions is accepted", "gate-scaffold-verify", wt, 0, "1 symbol(s) unique")
+write(os.path.join(wt, ".aladdin", "scaffold-symbols"), "create fn mycrate::nosuch @ src/lib.rs\n")
+case(3, "SCAFFOLD naming an undefined symbol is still rejected, with the file's shape in the block",
+     "gate-scaffold-verify", wt, 2, "one production symbol per line")
+write(os.path.join(wt, ".aladdin", "scaffold-symbols"), "sub\n")
 
 # §6.4 RED cannot write production code
 wt = red_ok()

diff --git a/scripts/test/budget-roles.test.py b/scripts/test/budget-roles.test.py
@@ -133,4 +133,24 @@ def call(agent, role, tokens, mode="post"):
 assert open(out6).read().endswith("red-worker · now\n"), "an existing output.md is never rewritten"
 ok("TASK_ID is read past a session-context line; the story's output.md is seeded with its frontmatter once")
 
+# 7) a structural reviewer or final gate dispatched WITHOUT a worktree runs in the main tree, where
+# nothing ever copied the contract (live run 19: its self-check blocked "STORY_DIR unset"). The
+# copy goes to the main tree's marker dir for the dispatch and is removed when the agent stops.
+sprint = os.path.join(T, "docs", "agents", "sprint1")
+os.remove(copy := os.path.join(T, ".claude", "worktrees", "agent-r2", ".aladdin", "task.env"))   # case 5's reviewer is gone
+open(os.path.join(T, ".agentic", "state", "tasks", "S1-SR-W3.env"), "w").write(
+    "TASK_ID=S1-SR-W3\nATTEMPT=1\nAGENT_ROLE=structural-reviewer\nSTORY_DIR=%s\n" % sprint)
+sub = os.path.join(T, "cc", "sess", "subagents", "agent-r7.jsonl")
+open(sub, "w").write(json.dumps({"type": "user", "message": {"role": "user", "content": "TASK_ID: S1-SR-W3\nReview wave 2."}}) + "\n")
+payload.update(cwd=T, agent_id="r7", agent_type="agentic-agile:structural-reviewer")
+assert sh(os.path.join(BIN, "budget"), "hook", "pre", inp=json.dumps(payload)) == ""
+cands = [os.path.join(T, h, "task.env") for h in (".aladdin", ".agentic")]   # this project keeps .agentic/
+main_copy = next((c for c in cands if os.path.isfile(c)), cands[0])
+assert os.path.isfile(main_copy) and "TASK_ID=S1-SR-W3" in open(main_copy).read(), main_copy
+assert state("r7")["task"] == "S1-SR-W3" and state("r7")["story_dir"] == sprint
+payload["hook_event_name"] = "SubagentStop"
+sh(os.path.join(BIN, "budget"), "hook", "stop", inp=json.dumps(payload))
+assert not os.path.exists(main_copy), "the main-tree copy is removed when the observed agent stops"
+ok("an observed role in the main tree gets the contract copy for its dispatch; stop removes it")
+
 print("\n%d checks passed" % PASS[0])