dependency-check

name	dependency-check
description	Cross-chapter dependency analyzer — combines the callback graph, motif registry, and cognitive arc into a single DAG. Identifies forward dependencies (hard fail), lateral dependencies on revised chapters (soft fail with blast radius), and cut-chapter blast radius. Runs after every chapter rewrite to surface downstream consequences before they ship.
version	1.0.0

Dependency Check

Global Five Over-Rules

1. Evidence before elegance. Never improve the story by weakening the evidence.
2. Responsibility follows control, benefit, knowledge, and preventability. Do not stop at the most visible actor.
3. Keep the taxonomy intact. Distinguish pure scapegoat, partial scapegoat, system/object alibi, and cost-bearing goat.
4. Steelman before judgment. Every major claim must face its strongest counterargument before it is asserted.
5. Handoff cleanly. Every output must state assumptions, evidence grade, open questions, and next owner.

When to use

• After every chapter rewrite that produces an in-review status — before promotion to ready.
• Before authorizing a chapter cut (deletion or major scope reduction) — the cut blast-radius is the chapter's footprint on the rest of the book.
• At Stage 2 baseline run to identify pre-existing dependency violations not caused by any rewrite.
• Whenever any of the three book-level data files change: book/registries/callback-graph.yml, book/registries/motif-registry.yml, book/registries/cognitive-arc.yml.

The dependency DAG

The skill reads three data files and combines them into a single dependency graph. Each chapter is a node. Edges:

• Callback edges from book/registries/callback-graph.yml: planted-chapter → paid-off-chapter.
• Motif edges from book/registries/motif-registry.yml: each motif's appearance chain forms a sequence of edges.
• Cognitive edges from book/registries/cognitive-arc.yml: introduced-chapter → consolidated-chapter → each required-by chapter; concept-introduction-chapter → each chapter that references the concept.

The combined graph must be a DAG (directed acyclic graph). Cycles indicate forward dependencies; the audit's first job is to find them.

Decision rubric

Pass 1: forward dependency (hard fail)

Walk the graph. If any edge points from a chapter with higher number to a chapter with lower number AND the lower-numbered chapter requires content delivered by the higher-numbered chapter, the lower-numbered chapter depends on something not yet introduced. Hard fail.

Caveat: the project's authorized reading order is NOT strict chapter-number order (see book/STATUS.md for the DAG: forced 1→2→3, then 11→12→13; loose parallel in parts II/III). The audit uses the authorized reading-order DAG, not raw chapter numbers, to define "later." Forward dependency is relative to authorized reading order.

Pass 2: lateral dependency on revised chapter (soft fail)

When chapter K is rewritten and now under audit, identify every chapter L (regardless of K-vs-L order) that has an incoming edge from K. Each such L is potentially affected by the rewrite. The audit:

• For callback edges: verifies the L-chapter's payoff still works given K's new prose (delegates to /callback-audit).
• For motif edges: verifies the L-chapter's motif appearance still works in concert with K's appearance (delegates to /motif-audit).
• For cognitive edges: verifies the L-chapter can still apply discriminations / concepts K installed (delegates to /cognitive-arc-audit).

Lateral dependencies are reported but not auto-failed; they're routed to the responsible sub-audit which is the authority on whether the L-chapter actually broke.

Pass 3: cut-chapter blast radius

If chapter K is being cut (deleted, or scope-reduced beyond a threshold), the audit reports every edge with K as endpoint:

• Outgoing callback edges (K plants, downstream chapter pays off): each downstream payoff is at risk.
• Incoming callback edges (upstream chapter plants, K pays off): each upstream plant becomes orphaned.
• Motif appearances in K: each motif's frequency floor may drop below threshold.
• Cognitive arc roles K plays (introduced_in / consolidated_by / required_by): the arc structure breaks at K's removal.

The cut blast-radius is informational — the skill doesn't decide whether to cut; it tells the human what cutting K costs.

Conflict handling

1. Forward dependency exists in baseline (pre-rewrite). Pre-existing technical debt. Log as baseline issue; do not blame on any rewrite. Escalate to Bonnie for arc revision or chapter reordering, but the current rewrite cycle is not the trigger.

2. Rewrite of ch-K introduces a forward dependency from ch-L (where L < K in reading order). The rewrite added a reference to something not yet established. Wayne must remove the reference, OR Bonnie must reorder chapters, OR the dependency must be moved earlier in K's prose (often: the new chapter K now needs an in-chapter setup that the rewrite removed assuming downstream chapters had it).

3. Lateral dependency exists but downstream sub-audit (callback/motif/cognitive) reports the chapter still passes. No action required. The dependency is potential, not actual. Flag in the audit memo so future rewrites know to re-audit.

4. Cut-chapter blast radius is large but the chapter cut is intentional (e.g., chapter being replaced by a different chapter). The skill builds the blast-radius report; the human (xaiolai + Bonnie) decides whether the cut is worth the consequences. The replacement chapter must replant every edge from the cut chapter.

5. Dependency check finds an edge that no longer exists in any data file but is implied by the prose. Candidate-edge finding; route to Bonnie for registration. Edges that exist in prose but not in registries are silent debt — they will fail audits at unpredictable moments.

Escalation conditions

• Escalate to Bonnie for any forward dependency requiring arc or chapter-order revision.
• Escalate to Wayne for prose-level fixes to introduced dependencies.
• Escalate to xaiolai when the cut blast-radius report is presented for decision.
• Escalate to the responsible sub-audit (/callback-audit, /motif-audit, /cognitive-arc-audit) for the actual verification of whether lateral dependencies broke.
• Escalate to Stephen when a discovered prose-level edge has an evidence-grade dependency (the downstream chapter's claim depends on a source the upstream chapter cited).

Boundary-case recipes

1. Running dependency-check on a chapter not yet in book/registries/callback-graph.yml etc. The audit reports the chapter as "no declared dependencies"; this is either correct (chapter is genuinely independent) or a registration gap. Cross-verify by reading the chapter prose for callback / motif / concept references; flag candidates if found.

2. Running dependency-check after a registry edit but no chapter edit. Permitted; the registry edit may have built or broken edges. The audit catches new edges that no chapter prose supports (orphan edges added to data files).

3. Running dependency-check on the boundary chapters (ch-01 plants the most; ch-13 receives the most). Expect the largest lateral-dependency lists. The skill reports them all but most should clear via the sub-audits. The exception is ch-13: cuts or scope-reductions to ch-13 are essentially equivalent to cuts to the book's resonant return; treat as Gate B level decision.

4. Running dependency-check at Stage 2 baseline. Establishes the baseline DAG. Forward-dep findings here are pre-existing and should be triaged immediately — they are silent landmines for the rewrite cycle.

5. Dependency check on a chapter cut from book/toc.yml but still on disk. The cut is informational (the chapter is no longer in the canonical sequence). Run the cut-blast-radius report; the disk-file may stay as historical reference, but its edges must be removed from the data files.

Output format

Owner: dependency-check (skill run by <joe|bonnie>)
Task: Cross-chapter dependency analysis for <chapter rewrite | book baseline | proposed cut>
Inputs reviewed:
  - book/registries/callback-graph.yml
  - book/registries/motif-registry.yml
  - book/registries/cognitive-arc.yml
  - book/toc.yml (for authorized reading order)
  - book/chapters-v2/*.md (if candidate-edge discovery requested)
Output: dependency-check memo at process/audits/dependency-check-<chapter|baseline>-<ISO-date>.md
Evidence grade: N/A
Assumptions: <e.g., authorized reading order per book/toc.yml; lateral verification delegated to sub-audits>
Open questions: <candidate edges; sub-audit verdicts pending>
Risks: <highest-leverage edges that another rewrite would break>
Handoff: <bonnie for arc | wayne for prose | sub-audits for verification>

Forward-dependency findings:

From chapter	To chapter	Dependency type	Reading-order distance	Action

Lateral-dependency findings (rewrite mode only):

Rewritten chapter (K)	Downstream chapter (L)	Edge type	Sub-audit	Sub-audit verdict

Cut-blast-radius (cut mode only):

Edge type	Counterpart chapter	Edge id / motif id / concept id	Action if K is cut

Examples

Context: ch-04 rewrite complete; ch-04 in-review. Jerry runs `/dependency-check 04` before promoting.

A: "Dependency-check complete for ch-04. Forward-deps: none (clean). Lateral-deps: 7 edges from ch-04 reach downstream chapters. 1 callback to ch-09 (delegated to callback-audit: drifted-but-recoverable, see prior memo). 2 motif appearances downstream (delegated to motif-audit: 1 frequency-floor concern flagged). 3 cognitive-arc applications in ch-06, ch-07, ch-09 (delegated to cognitive-arc-audit: all pass). 1 candidate edge discovered in prose at ch-04 L412 referencing 'the disclosure rule from ch-02' — not in callback-graph; route to Bonnie for registration as rule_callback. Overall: ch-04 can promote to ready conditional on (a) Wayne's planned fix for the ch-09 callback drift, (b) Bonnie's registration of the L412 candidate edge. No forward-deps blocking. No cuts proposed; blast-radius report skipped." The skill aggregates the cross-chapter picture, delegates verification to the named sub-audits, and identifies one untracked dependency that the rewrite built. The chapter can promote conditional on two named fixes — a clean handoff.