Epic 6 - Comic Manifest #6

Objective

Build Comic Manifest v1: the versioned production specification and release-record boundary for one comic.

It declares what comic is being made, which approved immutable inputs it uses, what outputs are required, and what evidence supports review of a particular revision. It does not execute production or grant itself approval. Execution belongs to Epic #101, Build Orchestrator.

Released foundations

• Epic Epic 4 - Prompt SDK #4: Prompt SDK v1.0.0, including validation, rendering, execution, structured output and provenance.
• Epic Epic 5 - Context Builder #5: Context Builder v1.0.0 and its immutable Codex contract, including authorized preparation, deterministic selection/assembly, audit and SDK handoff.
• Released Context Package v1.0.0 remains unchanged. New contracts must not overwrite existing immutable artifacts.
• Constitution v1.0.0 at a9cc8a503aa30e17820edc62ac95f7cbe10e0564, comic naming policy, and release-provenance policy govern implementation and publication.

Record architecture

Define three linked records rather than one mutable document combining intent, execution progress and public release data:

A manifest declares inputs and output requirements, not arbitrary executable commands or embedded workflow code. Protected records must not be automatically published. Public records contain only explicitly approved safe fields and opaque private-context attestations, never private source identifiers, locations, hashes, approval identities or content-derived fingerprints.

Repository ownership

• studio: cross-repository architecture, governance, sequencing and epic closeout.
• codex: versioned normative contracts, semantics, schemas, compatibility rules and synthetic fixtures.
• platform: parsing, validation, reference verification, review tooling, CLI, safe projections and reference integration.
• universe: owner-approved public comic records and release manifests; Platform can propose but cannot declare canon.
• lore: approved private artifacts and restricted provenance behind explicit secure boundaries; no direct checkout or broad access.
• lab: optional public/synthetic experiments, not a runtime dependency.

Architecture decisions to formalize first

• Use a stable opaque production identity for drafts; assign permanent DS-NNNN publication identity separately. Published numbering reflects canonical publication order and is never reused. Corrections retain the episode identity and create new revisions.
• Model ordered panels and explicit content/layout requirements, not a full illustration, lettering or layout engine.
• Separate creative content from generation instructions. Prompt bindings reference reviewed prompt definitions; ordinary text is not executable instruction or authority.
• Bind approval to exact revisions and artifacts. Changes invalidate affected approval; a status string or matching hash is not proof of authorization.
• Use synthetic comics and approved fake-private exports for acceptance. Do not wait for or invent Universe Bible/Lore canon.
• Preserve separate preparation, current package-use, review, attestation and human publication/canon authority. Stored historical evidence does not renew an expired or revoked grant.

Planned work items

All 12 tracking issues below are native GitHub sub-issues of this epic.

• Define Comic Manifest architecture and boundaries #88 — Define Comic Manifest architecture and boundaries. Depends on: released Epic Epic 4 - Prompt SDK #4/Epic 5 - Context Builder #5 foundations.
• Define versioned Comic Manifest contracts and fixtures #89 — Define versioned Comic Manifest contracts and fixtures. Depends on: Define Comic Manifest architecture and boundaries #88.
• Implement strict Comic Manifest parsing and semantic validation #90 — Implement strict Comic Manifest parsing and semantic validation. Depends on: Define versioned Comic Manifest contracts and fixtures #89.
• Implement Comic Manifest episode and panel structure #91 — Implement Comic Manifest episode and panel structure. Depends on: Implement strict Comic Manifest parsing and semantic validation #90.
• Implement Comic Manifest immutable dependency and asset references #92 — Implement Comic Manifest immutable dependency and asset references. Depends on: Implement strict Comic Manifest parsing and semantic validation #90.
• Integrate Comic Manifest with Context Builder and Prompt SDK references #93 — Integrate Comic Manifest with Context Builder and Prompt SDK references. Depends on: Implement Comic Manifest episode and panel structure #91, Implement Comic Manifest immutable dependency and asset references #92.
• Define and validate Comic Manifest rendition and publication requirements #94 — Define and validate Comic Manifest rendition and publication requirements. Depends on: Implement Comic Manifest episode and panel structure #91, Implement Comic Manifest immutable dependency and asset references #92.
• Implement Comic Manifest revision and approval boundaries #95 — Implement Comic Manifest revision and approval boundaries. Depends on: Integrate Comic Manifest with Context Builder and Prompt SDK references #93, Define and validate Comic Manifest rendition and publication requirements #94.
• Implement Comic Manifest build-result verification and public projection #96 — Implement Comic Manifest build-result verification and public projection. Depends on: Implement Comic Manifest revision and approval boundaries #95.
• Create Comic Manifest authoring CLI and Epic 7 reference consumer #97 — Create Comic Manifest authoring CLI and Epic 7 reference consumer. Depends on: Implement Comic Manifest build-result verification and public projection #96.
• Create Comic Manifest conformance and security reference suite #98 — Create Comic Manifest conformance and security reference suite. Depends on: Create Comic Manifest authoring CLI and Epic 7 reference consumer #97.
• Publish Comic Manifest v1 contracts, implementation and documentation #99 — Publish Comic Manifest v1 contracts, implementation and documentation. Depends on: Create Comic Manifest conformance and security reference suite #98.

Sequencing and implementation guardrails

Architecture → contracts → parsing → episode/reference modeling → integration and output requirements → revision/approval → result verification and public projection → CLI/reference consumer → consolidated conformance → immutable release.

Every implementation task includes focused tests and documentation; consolidation does not postpone security testing. Normative gaps return to Codex for review rather than becoming local schema forks. Pin complete immutable artifact tuples, verify bytes, and keep historical contract releases intact. No implicit network retrieval, source refresh, permission fallback, silent declassification, self-approval or canon promotion.

Exact provenance identifies inputs and outputs; it does not promise bit-for-bit reproducibility of uncontrolled external generation. Deterministic manifest processing and reference tests must be reproducible. A release records its input canon snapshot C(n), never a later C(n+1) that includes the release itself.

Out of scope

Scheduling, retries, resumable jobs, provider routing, multi-step execution, image generation, rendering/lettering/layout engines and distribution/publishing automation belong to Epic #101 or later explicitly scoped production work. Universe Bible (#15), Lore (#16) and First Comic (#17) content creation are separate. No real private-source access, production trust/signing backend, npm publication or visibility change is inferred.

Completion criteria

• Approved architecture and versioned contracts distinguish production, build-result and public release records.
• Strict parsing and semantic validation reject malformed, oversized, inconsistent or unsupported inputs with safe diagnostics.
• Episode/panel identities, ordering, references, revisions and publication naming conform to Studio policy.
• Dependencies and assets use exact verified immutable identities without implicit retrieval or authority renewal.
• Context Builder/Prompt SDK integration validates exact relationships and preserves current authorization boundaries.
• Rendition, accessibility, credits and rights requirements are explicit and validated without implementing rendering.
• Approval binds exact content/artifacts; edits, expiry and revocation cannot silently preserve permission.
• Build results are checked against declared outputs and linked to the exact input manifest.
• Reader-safe public projections reject private identifiers, hashes, locations and content-derived evidence; private-context attestations require explicit approval.
• A synthetic reference passes validated production manifest → offline mock build result → verified artifacts → separately approved, reader-safe release manifest.
• CLI, reusable conformance, reviewed fixtures and offline CI are usable without paid providers or real private content.
• API, authoring/review workflow, limitations, compatibility/deprecation, constitutional assessment and Epic Epic 7 - Build Orchestrator #101 handoff are documented.
• Owner-reviewed immutable contract and implementation releases are published; exact tags and downloaded bytes are verified before epic closure.

This update approves the planning scope. It does not by itself authorize implementation, private-source onboarding, content approval or release publication.

Verified closeout — 2026-10-13

All 12 work items are closed, and all 13 literal completion criteria have been cross-referenced against exact source, tests, approvals and released artifacts. The checklist above records completion as of this date, not retroactive acceptance.

• Criterion-by-criterion evidence map, preserved as the reviewed historical proposal. Its inaccurate baseline declaration/severity/status claims are superseded by the dated correction below.
• Present-day owner acceptance: Andrew Peris confirmed the listed capacities and approved the exact package on 2026-10-13 at 11:47:50.998442 UTC. ADR 0018 is accepted effective that date, not retroactively. Integrated by PR #147, merge 7707273f1641bbd7c6243bcee47b5e74c2709938.
• Root declaration and dated finding ledger, integrated by PR #148, merge eeff10b98069cd30e7acbcfc79529c0ad55fb34d. Independent exact-head documentation review passed; automatic review completed with no findings. The assessed baseline's mandatory-record blockers are corrected by this merged and verified record. Criterion 12 is now complete within the declared scope; no identified current Epic 6 closeout blocker remains.
• Platform publication-status correction #46, merge 4779be4d64bcc68aab5785c12779427cc48336eb, and v1-only release-tooling instructions correction #47, merge bd864fa195ab323d987cc1e33f431a5d9ed10f3f. Final exact-head CI and independent/automatic reviews passed. The late review findings are fixed and resolved; future versions require separately reviewed tooling rather than reuse of the v1-only workflow.
• Codex historical instruction correction #17, merge 279d30319a0aff14366dc5846a18200bd1fd0ae9, preserves tagged source and released bytes. Exact-head CI and review passed.
• Immutable Codex contract v1.0.0, exact source 12e437e30328a3bb9cd2d15e6307a70b4b7e0e2a, with all three downloaded artifact tuples independently verified.
• Immutable Platform implementation v1.0.0, exact source f0672d90a47473da6a27614cad07abc175546d67; all eight public downloads independently verified.

Implementation validation includes the 701-test full Platform CI run, 326 Comic Manifest checks, 307 Context Builder checks, unchanged reviewed fixture bytes, and an independent 136-test focused rerun. Final Studio changes are documentation-only; Markdown targets, whitespace, unchanged proposal bytes and required declaration fields were independently checked. Studio has no CI workflow at these heads. Final review activity for Platform #45–#47, Studio #146–#148 and Codex #17 is complete with no unresolved review threads.

Completion is limited to the specified Comic Manifest v1 contract/library and synthetic acceptance goal. Real trust services, private-source access, rendering, orchestration, canon and comic publication remain out of scope. Structural projection checks do not replace qualified review of actual free text or public URLs. Historical review-process nonconformance remains recorded; broader unassessed subjects remain Not assessed. This closeout does not certify whole-history or whole-repository constitutional conformance or create a retroactive exception.

The owner explicitly authorized marking this checklist complete, appending the verified evidence summary and closing Epic #6 on 2026-10-13 at 12:23:13.895804 UTC, conditional on resolving the review findings. Those corrections and final verification are now complete.