The diff touches only an appended DECISIONS.md entry, src/lib/arbiter-core.mjs and src/domain/arbiter.test.ts. AGENTS.md and content/ are untouched, and the verification tool found no added citations. The code change tightens editionReplyDifferences. A researchStatus entry is now a difference if it is not a mapping, carries any non-empty field besides id, status and note, or holds a non-string value in one of those. Such a reply can no longer be called carried and dropped from the reviewable diff, so the §3.15 checks are strengthened, not weakened. The isEmptyValue exemption covers only extra fields that were previously ignored entirely. The `continue` on non-mapping entries replaces a path that already produced a difference. No existing assertion is removed or loosened. The new test mutates every mapping, list and leaf of a carried reply and requires each mutation to be caught, and it checks that the walk reaches the deep paths, so it fails closed if a later change opens an unread corner. The decisions entry is dated today and answers lone-objection review note #444 on the record by a fix, as §3.15 prescribes. It also states its own limitation plainly ('What the test does not show'). Its 'Supervised-by: founder (direction in session, 2026-09-29)' stamp carries date and channel, matches the preceding entry's convention, and does not claim human authorship or approval of this change; I see no positive evidence of misattribution.

The change strengthens the ratification audit rather than weakening it: `editionReplyDifferences` now rejects non-mapping research entries, non-string fields, and additional nonempty fields that were not installed. The new traversal test mutates every mapping, list, and leaf in the valid `EditionReply` fixture and requires each mutation to prevent the reply from being called carried. The decision log records the defect, correction, test scope, limitation, review-note references, and founder supervision with date and channel, supporting inspectable provenance and version history. It neither edits AGENTS.md nor changes content, citations, assessments, or confidence material.

The PR addresses review note #444 by strengthening reply comparison in `src/lib/arbiter-core.mjs` so extra fields or malformed properties in `researchStatus` entries are properly flagged rather than silently ignored. A comprehensive mutation walk test is added in `src/domain/arbiter.test.ts` to ensure any text additions or changes throughout an edition reply prevent it from being incorrectly deemed carried. The change tightens operational verification (§3.15), does not modify `AGENTS.md`, and introduces no content or citation issues.

The diff tightens edition-reply comparison so a researchStatus entry is only id/status/note strings, flags extra keys and non-mappings, and adds a walk-the-whole-reply mutation test that any unread corner fails. That strengthens §3.15 carry-checks rather than weakening them. DECISIONS.md only records the adopted review note and founder supervision; AGENTS.md and content/ are untouched, and no citations or run records are introduced. Ordinary test and comparison code with honest provenance stamping.

This is a test-and-validation change that strengthens, not weakens, the gated comparison: review note #444 found a research-status entry field that the reply comparison ignored, and the diff closes that hole (extra fields, non-mapping entries, and non-string id/status/note are now differences) plus adds a general-form walk test that mutates every mapping, list, and leaf and requires each mutated reply to be found not carried — the opposite of check-weakening under §3.15. No AGENTS.md text is edited; the only documentation change is an append-only entry in docs/DECISIONS.md, which is the permitted operating record, and it stamps the founder supervision with date and channel (session, 2026-09-29) exactly as §3.15 requires. No content/ files change, no citations or provenance claims are introduced (the citation tool found none), and no run records are carried, so §§3.7–3.11 are not engaged. The residual `isEmptyValue` allowance in the field check is ordinary engineering discretion, not a loosened check; I would flag as a review note only that the founder-supervision attribution rests on the PR author's word, but the constitution's own amendment places such session directions in the decisions log and nothing in the material contradicts it.