This is a pure engineering change with no content records, no citations (verification tooling found none), and no assessments touched. AGENTS.md is untouched; the only doc change is a new dated entry appended to the end of docs/DECISIONS.md, which is the file's stated append-only purpose. The new `src/domain/staticExport.ts` helper emits a single reserved `not-yet-published` param when a route has no records, and the corresponding pages call `notFound()` for it — no fabricated case, claim, or source is created to fill the route; the exported document is a 404, which is honest about a record that does not exist. Replacing `throw new Error(...)` with `notFound()` for unknown ids does not weaken any §3.15 check: schema/dangling-ID validation still lives in the loader and fails the build, and these throws only fired for route params that never correspond to a record. The added empty states on the homepage and case index explicitly say no cases are published yet and point at the method page, which improves rather than degrades honesty about the publication's state (§7). Nothing here alters provenance display, verification labels, ratification gating, or confidentiality handling.

The change adds zero-content bootstrap behavior and explicit empty states without touching any epistemic data, citations, or provenance. No content under `content/` is modified, and the new helper `paramsOrPlaceholder` plus `notFound()` handling only affect routing and static export mechanics, ensuring that nonexistent records correctly return 404s instead of errors. The homepage and cases index now show honest empty-state messaging about the absence of published cases, which is aligned with the project’s transparency goals and does not misrepresent any evidence or assessments. `docs/DECISIONS.md` is append-only and accurately documents the code change as a product/architecture decision, not a content judgment. There is no weakening of multi-model checks, no alteration of AI ratification logic, and no interaction with confidential material or AGENTS.md. As no citations are added and no provenance or assessments are silently altered, none of the non-negotiable epistemic rules are violated.

The change correctly addresses a framework limitation in Next.js static exports where empty dynamic routes cause build failures, adding a clean workaround that yields a 404 page for a placeholder parameter. It implements appropriate empty-state UI without touching any epistemic structures or fabricating data, adhering strictly to the phase-1 rules for a static export site. The code modifications are appropriately typed and correctly record the design decision in DECISIONS.md.

The diff is engine/UI bootstrap only: a pure domain helper so empty `generateStaticParams` still exports, six dynamic routes 404 unknown ids instead of throwing, and homepage/case-index empty states. AGENTS.md is untouched; no `content/` records, citations, locators, assessments, or verification labels are added or rewritten. The empty-state copy and the reserved `not-yet-published` param that renders `notFound()` do not fabricate sources or present unratified judgments as ratified. `docs/DECISIONS.md` is append-only with a dated architecture note, which matches §3.14 rather than weakening §3.15 checks. Ordinary incompleteness (e.g. `generateMetadata` on claims/sources not shown as updated) is not a constitutional break.

This is a pure engineering change: it makes the static export build when zero cases exist by emitting a reserved placeholder param (`not-yet-published`) that renders `notFound()`, so the exported document at that path is the 404 page — no record, citation, locator, or assessment is fabricated or presented as real. The new empty states on the homepage and case index are honest disclosures ('no cases published yet', pointing to the method page's provenance standards), which aligns with the constitution's transparency ethos rather than violating it. No content/ files are touched and the citation-verification packet is empty, consistent with the absence of added citations. AGENTS.md is not edited (§3.15's human-reserved power is respected), and the DECISIONS.md change is a single appended entry, honoring the file's append-only rule. No check is weakened: Zod build-time validation, provenance enforcement, and the ratification machinery are untouched; replacing thrown errors with 404s for unknown ids does not reclassify or dodge any gate. Ordinary infrastructure work of exactly the kind the panel should not park.