chore(runbooks): log merge-guard v4.4.51-batch post-install live-probe — 29/29 PASS on installed v4.4.52

[michael-wojcik]

Summary

Logs the post-install live-probe of the merge-guard against the installed v4.4.52 plugin — the final gate held open since PR #1085 (v4.4.51) merged. 29/29 PASS, zero installed-vs-source divergence, no HALT.

Runbook-log-only: +6 lines, append-only new section in pact-plugin/tests/runbooks/RUNBOOK_RUN_DATES.md. No code changes, no version bump (runbook-log precedent: the #1063/v4.4.50 log PR).

What the probe did

• Byte-identity gate first: full diff -r of the installed v4.4.52 hooks tree vs source at 60f14796 — byte-identical (excl. __pycache__), covering both hook mains + every shared/ module transitively.
• Verbatim corpus: both pre-merge harnesses recovered from disk (17-row batch set + 14-row fix-level set), deduplicated on the byte-identical N5/D1082-cured form → 29 distinct probes through the installed merge_guard_pre.py/merge_guard_post.py mains as real subprocesses (hooks.json python3 <hook>.py shape, macOS system python3 3.9.6), per-probe isolated CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR + HOME, zero ~/.claude contamination.
• Supersede reconciliation: expected verdicts = final shipped semantics; the batch row's historical N5 preserved-DENY probed as ALLOW per the D1082 cure.
• Harness-fidelity control: the P1a/P1b mint→authorize pair validated the envelope shape before any REFUSE was interpreted as divergence.
• Outcomes: 17/17 batch-derived · 2/2 fix-level read-floor non-overlap · 5/5 laundering channels REFUSE end-to-end (all four channels, both close-member shapes) · 5/5 faithful round-trips AUTHORIZE.
• Targeted merge-guard suite in the worktree: 1841 passed / 0 failed / 0 errors.

Issue closure

This row discharges the post-install gate for #1064, #1077, #1078, #1082, #1083 (gated-closure discipline from PR #1085). The five issues will be closed manually after this PR merges, citing the merged row. Not using auto-close keywords.

Not-certified perimeter (mirrored from the row, review M1): NOT probed — #1087 (multi-close ambiguity laundering, open, pre-existing, tracked); #1079 closed won't-fix 2026-07-01.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds an append-only runbook log entry documenting a post-install live-probe of the merge-guard batch fixes against the installed v4.4.52 plugin, discharging the gated-closure confirmation for the previously-merged v4.4.51 work.

Changes:

• Appends a new dated section to RUNBOOK_RUN_DATES.md recording a 29/29 PASS post-install probe.
• Documents byte-identity confirmation (installed hooks vs origin/main), corpus provenance, and outcome breakdown (ALLOW/DENY/REFUSE/AUTHORIZE expectations).

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