ADR 0080: the development cycle is checked, not trusted

The flow the process overview draws — idea/symptom -> decision -> to-be design -> code ->
as-is — was enforced by nothing. cycle.py now refuses a to-be design naming no decision, an
in-progress/implemented design naming no owning code, a located/fixed issue with no owner,
a fixed/resolved issue with no fix, and a graduated research overview that does not say what
it became. AGENTS.md carries the cycle and a where-to-look table so a fresh session (or a
cleared context) finds the chain in frontmatter instead of assuming it. Grounding the check
surfaced two real gaps, fixed here: the work-ahead design named no owning code, and research
003 listed one became target twice.

https://claude.ai/code/session_01D6qtiYU3P9jk3pnAXyAFyx

02-DECISIONS/0080-the-development-cycle-is-checked.md

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+---
+topic: how we work
+status: accepted
+date: 2026-09-17
+deciders: jochen
+reconstructed: false
+extends: 0019-how-this-repository-works.md
+---
+
+# 80. The development cycle is checked, not trusted
+
+## Context
+
+[ADR 0019](0019-how-this-repository-works.md) made this repository the source of truth, and the
+process overview drew the flow work must follow: an idea or a symptom, a decision, a to-be design,
+a build in a code repository, an as-is update on shipping. The playbooks describe every step, and
+frontmatter carries every status.
+
+But the flow itself was enforced by nothing. A design could appear citing no decision; a design
+could sit `in-progress` naming no code; an issue could be `fixed` by nobody knows what. Each is
+indistinguishable from correct work until somebody reads carefully — and the whole point of the
+playbooks is that nobody should have to hold this repository in their head. A session that starts
+cold (or an agent after a context clear) must be able to *find* the chain by following frontmatter
+pointers, which only works if the pointers are reliably there.
+
+## Decision
+
+The development cycle is enforced mechanically, to the extent frontmatter can carry it:
+
+- **No design without a decision** — every to-be design names at least one record in `decisions:`.
+- **No development without a design that says where** — an `in-progress` or `implemented` design
+  names its owning code in `code:`.
+- **No owner-less diagnosis, no fix-less fix** — an issue marked `located` or `fixed` names
+  `located-in:`; one marked `fixed` or `resolved` says `fixed-by:` (prose counts — "nothing, the
+  capability existed" is an answer).
+- **No silent graduation** — a `graduated` research overview says what it `became:`, and the
+  targets exist.
+
+[`00-META/checks/cycle.py`](../00-META/checks/cycle.py) refuses violations, beside `records.py`
+and `index.py`; all three run before any merge here. What frontmatter cannot see — that code work
+actually started from a handoff — remains held by playbooks 04 and 07: a feature branch exists
+because a design or an issue sent it, and a merge is a human checkpoint.
+
+## Consequences
+
+A `/clear` costs little: [`AGENTS.md`](../AGENTS.md) now carries the cycle and a where-to-look
+table, and the chain a fresh session needs is guaranteed present in frontmatter rather than
+reconstructed from memory. The checks are the floor, not the ceiling — they verify pointers exist,
+not that their content is true; reading remains the job.
+
+## References
+
+- [`00-META/process/00-overview.md`](../00-META/process/00-overview.md) — the flow, and its new
+  "The cycle is checked" section.
+- [ADR 0019](0019-how-this-repository-works.md) — the repository this disciplines.

02-DECISIONS/README.md

@@ -165,5 +165,6 @@ python3 00-META/checks/index.py            fail if stale
 - **0025** — [The design record is read where it is written, never copied to be found](0025-the-design-record-is-read-not-copied.md)
 - **0032** — [The local account owns the mesh; a surface delegates to a module](0032-the-local-account-owns-the-mesh.md)  *(superseded)*
 - **0034** — [The local account owns the mesh, and a web application's login is not that](0034-the-local-account-owns-the-mesh.md)
+- **0080** — [The development cycle is checked, not trusted](0080-the-development-cycle-is-checked.md)
 
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