diff --git a/docs/scratchpads/ri-050.md b/docs/scratchpads/ri-050.md
index 65196476..d4903026 100644
--- a/docs/scratchpads/ri-050.md
+++ b/docs/scratchpads/ri-050.md
@@ -240,3 +240,15 @@ and fargo. Protocol (both seats, every handoff):
   (comms/20260818T011932Z__from-jarvis__a9c02b.md). Not merging #1293/#1294 before my three
   clear fargo's review — order optimality beats speed; every pre-#1277 merge publishes ungated.
 - CI on the three rebased heads: pending at time of this entry.
+
+## topher session 2026-08-18 (overnight) — CI root-cause, merges, first gated publish
+
+- CI red root-caused (evidence in pipelines): 2470/2472 failed only on web SPA timeouts under CONCURRENT pipelines on our single CI agent (same tests 343-855ms serialized; web suite 156s concurrent vs 50s alone). Retried serialized: #1277 → 2476 GREEN, #1278 → 2477 GREEN. Earlier 2458/2459 red = transient 'pi in system path' wake-guard (gone by 2465). Woodpecker gotcha: step logs at v2-style /api/repos/47/logs/<pipeline>/<step-id> (base64 lines); v3 uuid route returns SPA HTML.
+- Wave 3 dispatched (serialized after zai 429s killed the parallel launch): RI-5-001 → PR #1300 (worker head a337d787; verified web 281/281, +82 failure-matrix tests; review 179 fred). RI-3-001 → PR #1302 (probe inventory; CI green).
+- MERGED (locked order): #1276 (review 176), #1277 (review 177). Both squash; pr-merge.sh cannot target next (main-only hardcode) — merged via Gitea API replicating wrapper semantics (head-pin + squash + keep branch), break-glass documented in each merge message. Wrapper gap to file upstream: integration-trunk-aware merge target.
+- FIRST GATED PUBLISH (pipeline 2486, push after #1277): verify ran, FAILED CLOSED on a real latent defect, and build/publish-npm/build-gateway were all SKIPPED — first push in repo history that did not publish ungated (prior ungated publishes: 2439, 2462, and Jason's #1298 merge 2482 at 03:23Z, minutes before the gate landed). Exhibit #1 for RI-V-001.
+- Gate-caught defect → PR #1304: gateway cross-user-isolation.test.ts afterAll ran cleanup on the no-DB skip path (createDb lazy → handle set, dbAvailable false → deletes threw ECONNREFUSED → file failed on verify's PGlite path). One-line fix (afterAll honors dbAvailable); verified dead-port (28 skipped, file passes) + live-5433 (28 passed). next is unpublishable until #1304 merges — reviews requested (fargo + fred, 04:13Z comms).
+- zane coordination: dir-structure CLI patch confirmed NOT RI-050 scope (zane's lane); his #1298 reviewed by me at both heads (reviews 175, 178; 1567/1568, traversal-guard + hermeticity verified); Jason merged it 03:23Z. His follow-up #1301 + Jason's #1302-area activity noted — his lane, untouched.
+- Open review queue: #1278 (4917df1f), #1299 (docs, merges after #1278), #1300, #1302, #1304 (urgent unblock).
+
+— topher (recorded under the jarvis principal pending identity provisioning), 2026-08-18