# HANDOFF -- Epistemic Output Layer (S4)

**Phase:** 6 -- skill-creator-max
**Skill:** `epistemic-output-layer`
**Slug:** `epistemic-output-layer`
**Date:** 2026-04-20
**Status:** ASSEMBLED

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## 1. What was built

Full skill directory under `phase-6-skills/ram/epistemic-output-layer/`:
- `SKILL.md` -- scope, procedure (Phases A -> E), anti-deviation, failure audit, interfaces, ownership of RAM Search Ledger render authority.
- `references/THREE_AXIS_COMPUTATION_SPEC.md` -- evidence / transportability / decision axis computation contracts.
- `references/FEATURE_SLOT_SUBSTITUTION.md` -- per-claim-type transportability slot table with PIET-T and CERQual bindings; Drisko / Lincoln-Guba contradiction anchored for interpretive.
- `references/NON_COLLAPSE_DOCTRINE.md` -- load-bearing non-collapse rule; 9 anti-examples; Phase-E self-check.
- `references/DISCIPLINE_SKELETON_OVERLAY.md` -- overlay protocol for the 11 inherited Librarian discipline output skeletons.
- `references/RAM_SEARCH_LEDGER_RENDER_SPEC.md` -- S4 render authority schema; four record kinds (every-query / every-accepted / every-rejected / every-skipped).
- `templates/EVALUATOR_READY_ARTIFACT.md` -- final artifact skeleton with Phase-E validation checklist.

Public-RAM contributions (owned authorship by S4 at Phase 6, shared to _public/discipline-skeletons/): 11 brief (200-300 word) discipline output skeleton scaffolds, one per inherited Librarian discipline.

## 2. Library placement (per LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.md Section 3.8)

All six primary assets are **Private RAM (S4)** per architecture decision (render authority concentrated in S4; schema additions require S4 sign-off).

The 11 discipline-skeleton scaffolds are **Public RAM** under `ram/_public/discipline-skeletons/` -- consumed by S4 only at Phase 6, but positioned as public because future disciplines added by the Librarian will read and extend them.

## 3. Load-bearing discipline satisfied

- **Non-collapse rule:** stated in SKILL.md Section 3.1, re-stated in `NON_COLLAPSE_DOCTRINE.md`, enforced at validation in `EVALUATOR_READY_ARTIFACT.md`.
- **Three axes separately reasoned AND separately displayed:** three independent computation blocks in `THREE_AXIS_COMPUTATION_SPEC.md`; three independent render blocks in `EVALUATOR_READY_ARTIFACT.md`; no `overall` / `composite` field anywhere.
- **Feature-slot substitution (not reweighting):** `FEATURE_SLOT_SUBSTITUTION.md` Section 2 explicitly differentiates substitution from reweighting; E6 catches reweighting masquerade.
- **Per-claim-type transportability:** descriptive = sampling-rep (PIET-T Population); causal = CMO + Pearl + PIET-T full 44; predictive = Pearl + covariate-shift + mechanism-stability; normative = value-commensurability + mandatory `value-commensurability-required` caveat; interpretive = reader-relevance-proxy (CERQual) + mandatory `reader-judgment-required` caveat.
- **Search Ledger render authority:** `RAM_SEARCH_LEDGER_RENDER_SPEC.md` specifies S4 owns render + schema sign-off; every-query / every-accepted / every-rejected / every-skipped all rendered; no summarization.
- **Surprise Register render:** top-level section, never footnote, per SKILL.md Phase C.3.1 and NON_COLLAPSE_DOCTRINE anti-example 3.6.

## 4. Contradiction surfaced

Drisko 2025 / Lincoln & Guba 1985 contradiction (interpretive claims NOT researcher-computable for transportability) is anchored:
- Named in SKILL.md Section 1.3.
- Operationalized as the `reader-judgment-required` mandatory caveat in `FEATURE_SLOT_SUBSTITUTION.md`.
- Justified as the reason for substitution vs reweighting in `FEATURE_SLOT_SUBSTITUTION.md` Section 2.

## 5. Smoke-test verdict

**PASS.** Confirmed:
- All 6 primary files authored with 200-500 word references, double-hyphens used, zero cross-silo paths.
- Three-axis render is three independent blocks in every output; no collapse path exists.
- Feature-slot substitution table complete for all 5 claim types.
- Ledger render spec defines four record kinds and forbids summarization.
- Ownership of Search Ledger schema and render is asserted in SKILL.md Section 5.3 and RAM_SEARCH_LEDGER_RENDER_SPEC.md Section 6.
- 11 discipline-skeleton scaffolds authored at 200-300 words each in _public/.

## 6. Flags / open items

- **Layered disclosure rendering pattern** (Phase 2 Section 4 S4 candidate): acknowledged in NON_COLLAPSE_DOCTRINE.md Section 4 as allowed; actual rendering library that implements layered disclosure is a Phase 6/9 concern outside this skill's scope.
- **Public-RAM discipline skeletons** were authored as BRIEF scaffolds (200-300 words). If a discipline's native output is substantially more structured, Phase 9 calibration may extend individual skeletons.
- **Cross-silo invariant:** no file in this skill references `evaluator/`. Confirmed.

## 7. Consumers for downstream phases

- **Evaluator Phase 6 (`audit-method-engine` E2):** reads the emitted artifact from `bridge/ram-to-evaluator-handoff/`.
- **Evaluator `reopen-authority-enforcer` E7:** reads reopen-ready metadata block.
- **Orchestration Phase 7:** sequences S4 after S6 Warrant Governor, triggered by Orchestrator packet completion.
