compose-m4-verdict

name	compose-m4-verdict
description	Use at M4 VERIFY to compose evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json from measured floor exit codes, including an explicit failed_floors field. Use when writing the M4 verdict or creating the M4 card, even if the user does not name a schema. Do not record a failed floor as idle. Do not use only to lint an already-written verdict (check-release-readiness, check-domain-parity).
license	Apache-2.0
compatibility	Linux seat; Python 3.11+; Hermes Kanban
metadata	{"author":"rhoai3-harness-team","version":"1.1.0","hermes":{"tags":["gates","m4"],"category":"gates","kind":"guidance"}}

Compose the M4 verdict (M4 producer)

This skill owns evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json. It consumes evidence/receipts/gates/ (argv, rc, producer). It does not author those receipts. Pin it on the M4 card (--skill compose-m4-verdict). Checkers lint the verdict file; they do not author receipts. dest-8 invented a shape with no slot for a failed floor and called AR-2.8 "idle" (Operator 130951ZO / 143706ZO).

Schema: references/m4-verdict-schema.md. Keep it in sync with scripts/assert-m4-verdict-schema.py via scripts/assert-m4-verdict-schema-sync.py.

When to Use

• This card is M4 VERIFY.
• evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json does not exist yet, or floors were re-measured.
• Not routing/token lint alone (check-release-readiness).
• Not G-1..G-4 measurement (check-domain-parity).

Pin the M4 card

Create (or remint) M4 with this leaf first:

hermes kanban create "M4 VERIFY" \
  --assignee implementer \
  --parent "$STAMP_TASK_ID" \
  --skill compose-m4-verdict \
  --skill check-release-readiness \
  --skill check-domain-parity \
  --workspace dir:/projects/modernized \
  --max-retries 1 \
  --max-runtime 2h \
  --idempotency-key m4-verify

k4_mint.py --exec repeats --parent for every M3 story it just created (not only STAMP). Title is positional (hermes kanban create "M4 VERIFY"); --title is not a flag. Do not put a verdict token in the create body.

Do not pin only the two check-* leaves.

Procedure

Root is /projects/modernized. Record each floor's measured exit code. Do not re-run a floor to invent idle.

1. Pre-verdict (fail-closed; not idle). The runner runs the pinned feeding gates first (check-partition-coverage, check-product-tests, check-test-toolchain with --write-receipt into evidence/receipts/gates/) and only then assert-pinned-gates-ran. Do not invoke pre-verdict before those gates — dest-14 REFUSEd an empty receipts dir even after the floors had run later in the card.

bash .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/run-m4-pre-verdict.sh \
  /projects/modernized

2. Completion floors. Write down rc for each. idle: true is legal only when that floor's trigger artifact is absent and rc is 0. A non-zero rc is a failed floor, never idle.

python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/check-runnable-db-config.py \
  /projects/modernized
python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/check-empty-security.py \
  /projects/modernized
python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/check-test-toolchain.py \
  /projects/modernized
python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-domain-parity/scripts/check-product-tests.py \
  /projects/modernized

3. Author evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json from those rcs. Required field failed_floors: the list of floor names whose rc != 0 ([] if none). Do not omit it. Do not put a failed name in a reason string as "idle".

   If failed_floors is non-empty, verdict is REFUSE (not PROVISIONAL_ACCEPT). ship stays false. M4 never ships.

4. Lint (this skill does not replace these checkers):

python3 "${HERMES_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/assert-m4-verdict-schema.py" \
  /projects/modernized/evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json
python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/assert-m4-complete-around-red.py \
  --verdict /projects/modernized/evidence/verdicts/m4-verdict.json \
  --floor-rc "$PRODUCT_TESTS_RC"
python3 .hermes/skills/gates/check-release-readiness/scripts/check-verdict-routing.py \
  /projects/modernized

Pass --floor-rc as the measured AR-2.8 rc. Do not pass 0 because the reason said idle.

kanban_complete only after schema PASS. Non-empty failed_floors is kanban_block (or complete with verdict: REFUSE if the card's exit allows it) — never PROVISIONAL_ACCEPT. Do not kanban daemon --force. Do not dest-dispatch M5.

Pitfalls

• Pinning only check-release-readiness + check-domain-parity (dest-8 M4). Those skills consume a verdict; they do not own its fields.
• Calling a failed floor "idle" because no schema named failed_floors.
• Authoring evidence/receipts/gates/ from M4 write_file (fence REFUSE).
• Treating checker idle-exit-0 (artifact absent) as a pass for a floor that actually exited 1.