# HANDOFF -- Adversarial Pass Engine (S8)

**Phase:** 6 -- skill-creator-max
**Slug:** adversarial-pass-engine
**Component:** RAM S8
**Date:** 2026-04-20
**Status:** ASSEMBLED

---

## Directory layout

```
adversarial-pass-engine/
  SKILL.md
  HANDOFF.md
  references/
    AUTHENTIC_INVERSION_DOCTRINE.md
    INVERSION_CLASS_COVERAGE.md
    DEFENSIBILITY_FOUR_REQUIREMENTS.md
    AUTHENTIC_VS_TEMPLATE_EXAMPLES.md
    NEMETH_SCHULZ_HARDT_CANON.md
  templates/
    SKEPTIC_SCRATCH_ARTIFACT.md
    DEFENSIBLE_NOTHING_FOUND_RECORD.md
```

Matches Phase 5 LIBRARY_ARCHITECTURE section 3.6 placement exactly. All assets Private RAM.

---

## Authenticity-preservation confirmation

Phase 4 brief was explicit: NO pre-canned inversion templates. This assembly complies.

- `AUTHENTIC_INVERSION_DOCTRINE.md`: explicit closing note -- "supplies no inversion templates, no canned queries, no fill-in-the-blank skeptic prompts."
- `INVERSION_CLASS_COVERAGE.md`: specifies coverage surface and saturation shape; closing note -- "does not specify queries."
- `AUTHENTIC_VS_TEMPLATE_EXAMPLES.md`: diagnostic contrasts, marked with "critical warning" that reusing the queries verbatim defeats the authenticity constraint. Examples are illustrative of *shape of reasoning*, not generative.
- `SKEPTIC_SCRATCH_ARTIFACT.md`: template records *reasoning* (skeptic frame + per-query rationale). Explicitly "not a generative template." Discard conditions target boilerplate and cross-claim reuse.
- `DEFENSIBLE_NOTHING_FOUND_RECORD.md`: output-record template. Gates emission on the four-requirement checklist. Contains no generative content.

No file in this skill supplies a canned inversion query. Every query is reasoned per claim from the skeptic frame answers captured in the scratch artifact.

---

## Four-requirement defensible-nothing-found checklist

`references/DEFENSIBILITY_FOUR_REQUIREMENTS.md` is formatted as a literal checklist with four top-level requirement sections, each containing actionable `[ ]` boxes. The emission template (`DEFENSIBLE_NOTHING_FOUND_RECORD.md`) carries a Section 6 attestation that re-invokes the same four boxes. If any box is unchecked, emission is forbidden. Matches SKILL.md Section 4.5 one-to-one.

---

## Contradiction-handling posture

`NEMETH_SCHULZ_HARDT_CANON.md` encodes:

- Authenticity grounding (why ritualization empirically degrades adversarial value).
- Contradiction routing: sub-inquiries, NOT votes.
- Explicit statement: "the Contradiction Routing Schema has no `confidence` field. Adding one would reintroduce the Schwenk failure mode under a new name -- the absence of the field is a *structural* defense against vote-collapse."

SKILL.md Section 4.6 confirms: no `confidence` field in the schema.

Verified no `confidence` field in:
- SKILL.md Section 4.6 schema.
- SKEPTIC_SCRATCH_ARTIFACT.md.
- DEFENSIBLE_NOTHING_FOUND_RECORD.md.
- NEMETH_SCHULZ_HARDT_CANON.md (only references the *absence* of the field as structural defense).

---

## Zero-overlap posture

This skill's private references and templates do not duplicate content owned by other skills:

- Surprise Register write-token protocol: S5-owned (`ram/references/shared-ram/SURPRISE_REGISTER_OWNERSHIP_PROTOCOL.md`). This skill reads it; does not re-specify it.
- Search Ledger write contract: Public RAM (`ram/references/shared-ram/SEARCH_LEDGER_WRITE_CONTRACT.md`). This skill writes to it with `pass=adversarial`; does not re-specify the contract.
- Surprise Register entry template: Public RAM (`ram/templates/SURPRISE_REGISTER_ENTRY.md`). This skill fills adversarial fields within that template; does not duplicate the template.
- Discipline selection: Public RAM (`ram/references/orchestration/DISCIPLINE_SELECTION_MATRIX.md`). Consumed, not re-specified.
- Claim decomposition format: Public RAM (`ram/templates/CLAIM_DECOMPOSITION_ARTIFACT.md`). Consumed, not re-specified.

The content inside this skill's 5 references + 2 templates is S8-specific: authenticity doctrine, inversion-class taxonomy, defensibility checklist, example contrasts, Nemeth/Schwenk canon, skeptic scratch record, nothing-found output record.

---

## Smoke-test verdict

SKILL.md self-checks:

- [x] Frontmatter `name: adversarial-pass-engine` and description under 1024 chars.
- [x] Section 0 primacy block present; three load-bearing constraints named (authenticity / non-volume resourcing / contradictions-as-sub-inquiries).
- [x] Phases A-G present; Decision Points D1-D4 present; Error Classes present.
- [x] Anti-Deviation block with Anti-Examples A-E and NEVER rules present.
- [x] Reference Specifications 4.1-4.7 link out to the correct files.
- [x] File Registry in Section 8 enumerates all 7 private files with correct roles.
- [x] All referenced files exist on disk.
- [x] Double hyphens used throughout (no em-dashes).
- [x] References each 200-500 words (verified).
- [x] No `confidence` field in any schema / record / template.
- [x] Defensibility-four-requirements presented as checklist in its reference and attestation in the output template.
- [x] Authenticity constraint preserved -- no canned inversions supplied.

Smoke-test verdict: **PASS.**

---

## Flags

None.

- No asset outside Phase 5 placement.
- No canned inversion templates.
- No `confidence` field anywhere.
- No volume-based stopping language.
- No cross-silo references to evaluator/ paths.
- No duplicate content with other RAM skills' private libraries.

Ready for Phase 7 orchestration and Phase 8 packaging.
