# HANDOFF -- Audit Charter Lock (Evaluator E6)

**Phase:** 6 -- skill-creator-max
**Date:** 2026-04-20
**Status:** ASSEMBLED
**Slug:** `audit-charter-lock`

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## 1. What this skill is

Scope-enforcement gate for the Evaluator. Locks the audit charter at kickoff using the seven VICTORE complexity dimensions (Pawson 2013); runs continuous 5-signal scope-creep monitoring during the audit; classifies violations as warning / halt / escalate-to-operator; manages charter amendments via a re-baseline ceremony. Architecturally distinct from RAM's Charter Lock -- two independent charters, zero content overlap enforced by the Isolation Verifier.

**Single responsibility:** enforce audit-vs-re-research demarcation and detect scope creep.

**Binding constraint:** Signals 3 (stakeholders added mid-audit) and 4 (evidence-class shift) are non-overridable at all layers. The only resolution paths for a Signal-3 or Signal-4 firing are (a) formal amendment with full re-baseline, or (b) refusal. No operator override path exists for these two signals. Signals 1, 2, 5 are operator-overridable with recorded rationale.

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## 2. Files authored

All assets are Private Evaluator (per LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.md Section 4.8). **No Public Evaluator assets authored by this skill.**

### Skill root
- `SKILL.md` -- full operating logic (Phases A-F, decision authority, output contract, File Registry).

### `references/` (private)
- `victore-intake-template.md` -- 7-dimension intake schema with prompt + declaration schema + missing-dimension-halt behavior per dimension.
- `five-signal-inventory.md` -- detection / classification / response per signal; Signals 3 + 4 non-overridability; concurrency rule; repeat rule; non-collapse rule.
- `amendment-ceremony.md` -- re-baseline requirement, version-bump conventions, audit trail, amendment-frequency diagnostic.
- `ram-content-leak-hard-error.md` -- detection logic, Isolation Verifier integration, remediation ceremony, why it reopens Phase 5 review.

### `templates/` (private)
- `charter-envelope-schema.json` -- canonical JSON Schema for a locked charter (input / declarations / active period / amendment history). `envelope_kind: "evaluator-audit-charter"` discriminator ensures zero overlap with RAM artifacts.
- `charter-template.md` -- human-authoring scaffold for operators drafting a proposed charter; embeds the operator attestation that the document is independent of RAM's charter.

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## 3. VICTORE + Signals 3/4 non-overridability confirmation

**VICTORE intake is mandatory at lock.** All seven dimensions (volitions, implementation, contexts, time, outcomes, rivalry, emergence) must be declared with substantive, non-placeholder values. Missing or placeholder entries produce `victore-dimension-missing` and block lock. This is enforced in SKILL.md Phase A step 4, `references/victore-intake-template.md`, and the JSON Schema's `victore` property (all seven required).

**Signals 3 and 4 are non-overridable.** Documented in four places for redundancy:
1. SKILL.md Section 2 (Procedural): "any signal touching evidence-class shift OR stakeholder addition -> escalate-to-operator regardless of count."
2. SKILL.md Section 3 (Ambiguity Register): explicit rows for both signals stating NEVER overridable.
3. SKILL.md Phase E (Decision-Point Authority): override of escalate "Permitted only for signals {1, 2}; never for {3, 4}."
4. `references/five-signal-inventory.md` -- each signal's entry labels it `[NON-OVERRIDABLE]` with explicit invariant at the end of the file.

The only permitted resolution paths for Signal 3 or Signal 4 are formal amendment with re-baseline ceremony (via `references/amendment-ceremony.md`) OR refusal of the change. The `amendment_history` array in the charter envelope schema enumerates `signal-3-resolution` and `signal-4-resolution` as valid `triggering_signal` values -- every such resolution must be recorded as an amendment.

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## 4. RAM-content-leak as hard error

`ram-charter-content-leaked-into-audit-charter` is specified in `references/ram-content-leak-hard-error.md`:
- Detected by the Isolation Verifier (E1) via content-overlap fingerprints; the Audit Charter Lock never reads RAM's Charter Lock directly.
- On alarm: audit quarantined, HARD ERROR Ledger entry written, operator escalation, Self-Audit Resistance Monitor notified, Phase 5 isolation review reopened, charter must be redrafted from the intake template (not edit-in-place).
- Not overridable by operator. Unique among hard errors in triggering Phase 5 review.

The JSON Schema's `envelope_kind: "evaluator-audit-charter"` discriminator and the operator attestation in `charter-template.md` provide two additional structural defenses against drafting-time leakage.

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## 5. Flags and open items

- **Placement flag (resolved):** the task instructions conditionally directed VICTORE operator prompts to `/build/phase-6-skills/evaluator/_public/victore-prompts.md` "if Phase 5 placement designates Public-Evaluator." Per LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE.md Section 4.8, VICTORE_PROMPTS.md is designated **Private Evaluator (E6)**, not Public. Therefore NO file was written to `_public/`. VICTORE prompts live in `references/victore-intake-template.md` inside this skill's private tree. If Phase 5 placement is revised to Public-Evaluator, migrate by moving the content of `references/victore-intake-template.md` to `_public/victore-prompts.md` and updating the SKILL.md file registry.
- **Phase 9 calibration dependency:** signal-fire rates need to be seeded with scope-creep test cases to ensure detection rate does not silently trend to zero in long-running audits (see SKILL.md Section 6, first row of failure-audit table). This is a post-Phase-6 dependency; no action required here.
- **Isolation Verifier contract:** this skill assumes the Isolation Verifier exposes a `ram-audit-charter-overlap` alarm channel and accepts content-hash / structural-fingerprint emissions. Coordinated with E1's HANDOFF; no new interfaces required.
- **Amendment ceiling default:** set to 1 per audit cycle in the JSON Schema. Phase 9 calibration may tune this; the non-collapse, non-aggregation, and non-overridability rules are invariant regardless of the ceiling value.

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## 6. Downstream consumers

- **All other Evaluator skills** consult this skill before any operation that could cross the audit boundary. Specifically: Frame Host, Frame Divergence Gate, Audit Method Engine, Blind-Spot Mapper, Independent Scoring Layer, Self-Audit Resistance Monitor, Reopen Authority Enforcer.
- **Independent Scoring Layer** receives `charter-locked`, `charter-amended`, `scope-creep-*` entries into the Evaluator Search Ledger (it owns the Ledger; this skill writes via the standard append protocol).
- **Self-Audit Resistance Monitor** receives amendment-event notifications and uses amendment frequency as a signal in its honesty diagnostics.
- **Isolation Verifier** receives content-hash / structural-fingerprint emissions at every lock and amendment; this skill receives its overlap-alarm signal in return.
- **Operator** receives `scope-creep-escalation` envelopes for Signal 3, Signal 4, and any escalated halt; owns amendment grant authority; cannot override Signal 3 or Signal 4 escalations.

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**End of HANDOFF.md -- Audit Charter Lock (Evaluator E6).**
