chore(orchestrator): fix pre-existing #868 README prettier drift

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/README.md fails
`pnpm format:check` on origin/main as-is (confirmed against the
unmodified origin/main blob directly, unrelated to this branch's
Patch-3 change). The repo-wide mandatory pre-push hook
(`pnpm typecheck && pnpm lint && pnpm format:check`) blocks any push
based on current main until this is fixed.

Whitespace/table-alignment only via `prettier --write` -- no content
change. Kept as its own commit so blame stays clean and this no-ops
cleanly whenever #868's own fix lands on main first.

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/ci-queue-wait.ps1

@@ -185,6 +185,16 @@ switch ($platform) {
             $headSha = ($branchPayload.commit.id | Out-String).Trim()
         }
         catch {
+            # A not-yet-pushed feature branch has no in-flight pipeline, so the
+            # pre-push queue guard must treat 404 as "queue clear", not crash.
+            $statusCode = $null
+            if ($_.Exception.Response) {
+                $statusCode = [int]$_.Exception.Response.StatusCode
+            }
+            if ($statusCode -eq 404) {
+                Write-Host "[ci-queue-wait] branch $Branch not yet on remote — no in-flight pipeline; queue clear."
+                exit 0
+            }
             Write-Error "Could not resolve $Branch head SHA from Gitea API."
             exit 1
         }

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/ci-queue-wait.sh

@@ -137,7 +137,21 @@ gitea_get_branch_head_sha() {
     local branch="$3"
     local token="$4"
     local url="https://${host}/api/v1/repos/${repo}/branches/${branch}"
-    curl -fsSL -H "User-Agent: curl/8" -H "Authorization: token ${token}" "$url" | python3 -c '
+    # Capture HTTP status so an absent branch (404) is distinguished from an API
+    # error. A not-yet-pushed feature branch has no in-flight pipeline, so the
+    # pre-push queue guard must treat 404 as "queue clear", not crash.
+    local resp code body
+    resp=$(curl -sS -H "User-Agent: curl/8" -H "Authorization: token ${token}" -w $'\n%{http_code}' "$url")
+    code="${resp##*$'\n'}"
+    body="${resp%$'\n'*}"
+    if [[ "$code" == "404" ]]; then
+        echo "__BRANCH_ABSENT__"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [[ "$code" != "200" ]]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    printf '%s' "$body" | python3 -c '
 import json, sys
 data = json.load(sys.stdin)
 commit = data.get("commit") or {}
@@ -219,6 +233,10 @@ elif [[ "$PLATFORM" == "gitea" ]]; then
         exit 1
     }
     HEAD_SHA=$(gitea_get_branch_head_sha "$HOST" "$OWNER/$REPO" "$BRANCH" "$TOKEN")
+    if [[ "$HEAD_SHA" == "__BRANCH_ABSENT__" ]]; then
+        echo "[ci-queue-wait] branch ${BRANCH} not yet on remote — no in-flight pipeline; queue clear."
+        exit 0
+    fi
     if [[ -z "$HEAD_SHA" ]]; then
         echo "Error: Could not resolve ${BRANCH} head SHA." >&2
         exit 1

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-branch-absent.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Regression harness for ci-queue-wait.sh's 404-branch-absent handling.
+#
+# gitea_get_branch_head_sha() resolves a branch's head SHA before the
+# pre-push queue guard runs. A branch that has never been pushed doesn't
+# exist on the remote yet, so Gitea's branches/<branch> endpoint 404s.
+# Before the fix, `curl -fsSL` failed on the 404, its empty stdout was piped
+# into `python3 -c 'json.load(sys.stdin)'`, and the resulting
+# JSONDecodeError crashed the guard -- blocking every new feature branch's
+# first push. The fix must treat 404 as "no in-flight pipeline" (queue
+# clear) while still failing closed on a genuine API error.
+#
+# Covers:
+#   (a) 404 branch-absent          -> exit 0, "queue clear" message.
+#   (b) 200 existing branch + a terminal CI state -> unchanged behavior.
+#   (c) genuine API error (500)    -> still fail-closed (nonzero exit).
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+WORK_DIR="${MOSAIC_TEST_WORK_DIR:-$PWD/.mosaic-test-work/ci-queue-wait-branch-absent}"
+REPO_DIR="$WORK_DIR/repo"
+STUB_DIR="$WORK_DIR/stubs"
+
+rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"
+mkdir -p "$REPO_DIR" "$STUB_DIR"
+
+git -C "$REPO_DIR" init -q
+git -C "$REPO_DIR" remote add origin https://git.example.test/acme/widgets.git
+
+# Minimal curl stub. Selects a canned response by inspecting which Gitea
+# endpoint is being hit (branches/<branch> vs commits/<sha>/status) and
+# whether -w '%{http_code}' was requested. Only the patched branch-lookup
+# call passes -w; the unpatched call and the (unchanged) status call both
+# use plain `curl -fsSL` semantics -- exit nonzero and print nothing on a
+# non-2xx response. This lets the same stub exercise both the pre-fix and
+# post-fix branch-lookup code paths faithfully.
+cat > "$STUB_DIR/curl" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+has_w=0
+url=""
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in
+        -w) has_w=1 ;;
+        http://*|https://*) url="$arg" ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+case "$url" in
+    */branches/*) mode="${MOSAIC_STUB_BRANCH_MODE:?MOSAIC_STUB_BRANCH_MODE not set}" ;;
+    */status)     mode="${MOSAIC_STUB_STATUS_MODE:-terminal-success}" ;;
+    *)
+        echo "curl stub: unrecognized URL: $url" >&2
+        exit 2
+        ;;
+esac
+
+case "$mode" in
+    404)  code=404; body="" ;;
+    200)  code=200; body='{"commit":{"id":"deadbeefcafef00d0123456789abcdef01234567"}}' ;;
+    500)  code=500; body='{"message":"internal server error"}' ;;
+    no-status)         code=200; body='{}' ;;
+    terminal-success)  code=200; body='{"state":"success"}' ;;
+    *)
+        echo "curl stub: unknown mode=$mode" >&2
+        exit 2
+        ;;
+esac
+
+if [[ "$has_w" == 1 ]]; then
+    printf '%s\n%s' "$body" "$code"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# Unpatched branch-lookup call / status-endpoint call: real curl -fsSL
+# exits nonzero and emits nothing on stdout for a non-2xx response.
+if [[ "$code" != "200" ]]; then
+    exit 22
+fi
+printf '%s' "$body"
+SH
+chmod +x "$STUB_DIR/curl"
+
+run_ci_queue_wait() {
+    local branch="$1"
+    (
+        cd "$REPO_DIR"
+        export PATH="$STUB_DIR:$PATH"
+        export MOSAIC_CREDENTIALS_FILE="$WORK_DIR/no-credentials.json"
+        export GITEA_TOKEN="stub-token"
+        export GITEA_URL="https://git.example.test"
+        "$SCRIPT_DIR/ci-queue-wait.sh" -B "$branch" --purpose push -t 5 -i 1
+    )
+}
+
+fail=0
+
+# (a) 404 branch-absent -> queue clear, exit 0.
+set +e
+out_a=$(MOSAIC_STUB_BRANCH_MODE=404 run_ci_queue_wait "feat/not-pushed-yet" 2>&1)
+status_a=$?
+set -e
+if [[ "$status_a" -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(a): expected exit 0 for 404 branch-absent, got $status_a" >&2
+    echo "$out_a" >&2
+    fail=1
+elif [[ "$out_a" != *"queue clear"* ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(a): expected a queue-clear message, got:" >&2
+    echo "$out_a" >&2
+    fail=1
+fi
+
+# (b) 200 existing branch + terminal CI state -> unchanged behavior, exit 0.
+set +e
+out_b=$(MOSAIC_STUB_BRANCH_MODE=200 MOSAIC_STUB_STATUS_MODE=terminal-success run_ci_queue_wait "main" 2>&1)
+status_b=$?
+set -e
+if [[ "$status_b" -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(b): expected exit 0 for existing branch with terminal status, got $status_b" >&2
+    echo "$out_b" >&2
+    fail=1
+elif [[ "$out_b" != *"sha=deadbeefcafef00d0123456789abcdef01234567"* ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(b): expected the resolved HEAD SHA to be logged, got:" >&2
+    echo "$out_b" >&2
+    fail=1
+elif [[ "$out_b" == *"queue clear"* ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(b): an existing branch must not take the branch-absent path" >&2
+    echo "$out_b" >&2
+    fail=1
+fi
+
+# (c) genuine API error (500) -> still fail-closed, exit nonzero.
+set +e
+out_c=$(MOSAIC_STUB_BRANCH_MODE=500 run_ci_queue_wait "feat/some-branch" 2>&1)
+status_c=$?
+set -e
+if [[ "$status_c" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(c): expected a nonzero exit for a genuine 500 API error, got 0" >&2
+    echo "$out_c" >&2
+    fail=1
+elif [[ "$out_c" == *"queue clear"* ]]; then
+    echo "FAIL(c): a genuine API error must not be reported as queue-clear" >&2
+    echo "$out_c" >&2
+    fail=1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$fail" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "ci-queue-wait branch-absent regression passed (3/3 cases)"
+fi
+
+exit "$fail"

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# orchestrator/ tools
+
+Helper scripts for r0 coordinator / orchestrator sessions — mission lifecycle,
+session health, continuation, and board maintenance. See
+`framework/guides/ORCHESTRATOR-PROTOCOL.md` for the surrounding process.
+
+| Script               | Purpose                                                                                         |
+| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `mission-init.sh`    | Initialize a new orchestration mission (manifest, scratchpad, TASKS.md).                        |
+| `mission-status.sh`  | Show the mission progress dashboard.                                                            |
+| `session-run.sh`     | Generate continuation context and launch the target runtime.                                    |
+| `session-resume.sh`  | Crash recovery for dead orchestrator sessions.                                                  |
+| `session-status.sh`  | Check agent session health.                                                                     |
+| `continue-prompt.sh` | Generate the continuation prompt for the next session.                                          |
+| `board-roll.sh`      | Keep a LIVE orchestration board under its byte cap by rolling the oldest entries to its LEDGER. |
+| `smoke-test.sh`      | Behavior smoke checks for the coord continue/run workflows.                                     |
+| `test-board-roll.sh` | Regression harness for `board-roll.sh`.                                                         |
+| `_lib.sh`            | Shared functions sourced by the above (state files, TASKS.md parsing, locks).                   |
+
+## board-roll.sh
+
+Coordinator boards (`MOS-ORCHESTRATION-BOARD-LIVE.md`, `MS-LEAD-BOARD-LIVE.md`)
+follow a **"< 8 KB LIVE"** discipline: the LIVE board is the only file loaded on
+resume, so it must stay small, and history lives in an append-only LEDGER. When a
+board write would push LIVE over its cap, coordinators otherwise hand-trim and
+retry every time — an observed 38 ABORT-OVER-CAP cycles in one 24 h window.
+`board-roll.sh` automates that trim mechanically and reversibly: the audit trail
+is moved to the LEDGER instead of being hand-deleted.
+
+### Contract (conservative — it never guesses what is safe to move)
+
+The LIVE board opts in by wrapping its aging archival ticks in an explicit roll
+zone. Everything **outside** the markers (title, protocol blockquote, curated
+always-current `##` sections) is pinned and never touched:
+
+```markdown
+# MOS ORCHESTRATION BOARD — LIVE state
+
+> protocol blockquote … (pinned)
+
+## 🟦 Curated always-current section (pinned)
+
+…
+
+<!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->
+
+### 2026-07-22 (mid²²) — newest tick, stays longest
+
+…
+
+### 2026-07-20 (dawn) — oldest tick, rolled first
+
+…
+
+<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->
+```
+
+Inside the zone, entries are delimited by a heading marker (default `### `) and
+are assumed **newest-first (top) → oldest-last (bottom)**. `board-roll.sh` moves
+whole oldest (bottom-most) entry blocks out of the zone and appends them verbatim
+to the LEDGER, one at a time, until LIVE is back under the cap or the zone is
+empty. If the board has no markers, it exits `3` and changes nothing — adding the
+markers is a deliberate opt-in by the board owner.
+
+### Usage
+
+```bash
+board-roll.sh --live <LIVE.md> --ledger <LEDGER.md> [options]
+
+  --live   <path>    LIVE board file (required)
+  --ledger <path>    append-only LEDGER file (required; created if absent)
+  --cap    <bytes>   size ceiling for LIVE (default 8192)
+  --marker <prefix>  entry-heading prefix inside the roll zone (default "### ")
+  --dry-run          report what would move; change nothing
+  -h, --help         show help and exit 0
+```
+
+Only **one** roll zone is supported. If a board carries more than one
+`BOARD-ROLL:START`/`END` pair, `board-roll.sh` refuses (exit `3`, zero changes)
+rather than span first-START..last-END and relocate the curated content between
+the zones — consolidate the ticks into a single zone instead.
+
+Exit codes: `0` LIVE under cap (already, or after rolling) — on `--dry-run`, a
+plan exists or nothing to do · `2` usage / argument / IO error · `3` cannot meet
+the cap (no markers, **more than one marker pair**, or the pinned sections alone
+exceed the cap and need a manual trim).
+
+Writes are atomic (temp file + `mv`, LEDGER first) so a failure never leaves a
+board half-written; line endings are normalized to LF on rewrite. `--dry-run`
+first is recommended when wiring it into a board update protocol.
+
+Run the regression suite with `bash test-board-roll.sh`.

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/board-roll.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,277 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# board-roll.sh — keep a LIVE orchestration board under its byte cap by rolling
+#                 the oldest archival entries out to its append-only LEDGER.
+#
+# WHY: coordinator boards (MOS-ORCHESTRATION-BOARD-LIVE.md, MS-LEAD-BOARD-LIVE.md)
+# enforce a "< 8 KB LIVE" discipline via a self-guard that ABORTs the board write
+# when the file exceeds the cap. In practice the LIVE board keeps bumping the cap,
+# so coordinators hand-trim + retry every time (observed: 38 ABORT-OVER-CAP cycles
+# in a 24h window on one coordinator). This automates that trim, mechanically and
+# reversibly, so the audit trail is preserved in the LEDGER instead of hand-deleted.
+#
+# CONTRACT (conservative by design — it NEVER guesses what is safe to move):
+#   The LIVE board must declare an explicit ROLL ZONE with HTML-comment markers:
+#
+#       <!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->
+#       ### 2026-07-22 (newest tick — stays longest)
+#       ...
+#       ### 2026-07-19 (oldest tick — rolled first)
+#       ...
+#       <!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->
+#
+#   Everything OUTSIDE the markers (title, protocol blockquote, curated always-current
+#   `##` sections) is PINNED and never touched. Inside the zone, entries are delimited
+#   by a heading marker (default `### `) and are assumed newest-first (top) → oldest-last
+#   (bottom), matching board convention. board-roll moves whole oldest (bottom-most)
+#   entry blocks out of the zone and APPENDS them verbatim to the LEDGER, one block at a
+#   time, until the LIVE file is back under the cap or the zone is empty.
+#
+#   If no markers are present, it exits 3 without changing anything (safe default —
+#   adding the markers is a deliberate opt-in by the board owner).
+#
+# USAGE:
+#   board-roll.sh --live <LIVE.md> --ledger <LEDGER.md> [options]
+#
+# OPTIONS:
+#   --live   <path>   LIVE board file (required)
+#   --ledger <path>   append-only LEDGER file (required; created if absent)
+#   --cap    <bytes>  size ceiling for LIVE (default 8192)
+#   --marker <prefix> entry-heading prefix inside the roll zone (default "### ")
+#   --dry-run         report what would move + resulting size; change nothing
+#   -h, --help        print usage and exit 0
+#
+# EXIT CODES:
+#   0  LIVE is under cap (already, or after rolling); on --dry-run, 0 = a plan exists
+#      (or nothing to do)
+#   2  usage / argument / IO error (bad flag, missing file, unwritable target)
+#   3  cannot satisfy the cap: no roll markers present, MORE THAN ONE marker pair
+#      (multiple zones are refused, not guessed), OR the zone was emptied and LIVE
+#      is still over cap (curated pinned sections need a manual trim)
+#
+# NOTE: line endings are normalized to LF on rewrite (boards are LF markdown); a
+# trailing newline is always ensured. Writes are atomic (temp file + mv) so a
+# failure never leaves LIVE or LEDGER half-written.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+START_MARK='<!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->'
+END_MARK='<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->'
+
+usage() {
+    cat <<'EOF'
+Usage: board-roll.sh --live <LIVE.md> --ledger <LEDGER.md> [options]
+
+Roll the oldest entries out of a LIVE orchestration board into its LEDGER
+until the LIVE file is under a byte cap. Conservative: only content inside
+explicit <!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->/<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END --> markers is moved.
+
+Options:
+  --live   <path>    LIVE board file (required)
+  --ledger <path>    append-only LEDGER file (required; created if absent)
+  --cap    <bytes>   size ceiling for LIVE (default 8192)
+  --marker <prefix>  entry-heading prefix inside the roll zone (default "### ")
+  --dry-run          report what would move; change nothing
+  -h, --help         show this help and exit 0
+
+Exit: 0 under cap (or dry-run plan) · 2 usage/IO error · 3 cannot meet cap
+      (no markers, or pinned sections alone exceed the cap).
+EOF
+}
+
+die() { echo "board-roll: $*" >&2; exit 2; }
+
+LIVE=""; LEDGER=""; CAP=8192; MARKER='### '; DRYRUN=0
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --live)    LIVE="${2:-}"; shift 2 || die "--live needs a value" ;;
+        --ledger)  LEDGER="${2:-}"; shift 2 || die "--ledger needs a value" ;;
+        --cap)     CAP="${2:-}"; shift 2 || die "--cap needs a value" ;;
+        --marker)  MARKER="${2:-}"; shift 2 || die "--marker needs a value" ;;
+        --dry-run) DRYRUN=1; shift ;;
+        -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
+        *) usage >&2; die "unknown option: $1" ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+[[ -n "$LIVE"   ]] || { usage >&2; die "--live is required"; }
+[[ -n "$LEDGER" ]] || { usage >&2; die "--ledger is required"; }
+[[ -f "$LIVE"   ]] || die "LIVE file not found: $LIVE"
+[[ "$CAP" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || die "--cap must be a non-negative integer, got: $CAP"
+
+# --- read LIVE into a line array (newlines stripped; re-added on write) ---------
+mapfile -t LINES < "$LIVE"
+
+# byte size of an array rendered as LF-terminated text
+render_size() {
+    if [[ $# -eq 0 ]]; then printf 0; return; fi
+    printf '%s\n' "$@" | wc -c
+}
+
+orig_size=$(render_size "${LINES[@]}")
+
+# --- already under cap → nothing to do -----------------------------------------
+if (( orig_size < CAP )); then
+    echo "board-roll: LIVE is ${orig_size}B (< cap ${CAP}B) — nothing to roll."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# --- locate the roll-zone markers ----------------------------------------------
+# Exactly ONE marker pair is supported. If a board carries more than one START or
+# END marker we REFUSE (exit 3, zero changes) rather than guess: a naive
+# first-START..last-END span would swallow the curated content and the intermediate
+# markers sitting between two intended zones and silently relocate that pinned text
+# to the LEDGER — the exact data-loss this tool exists to prevent. Refusing matches
+# the "no markers = exit 3" conservative posture.
+start_idx=-1; end_idx=-1; start_count=0; end_count=0
+for i in "${!LINES[@]}"; do
+    if [[ "${LINES[$i]}" == "$START_MARK" ]]; then
+        if (( start_count == 0 )); then start_idx=$i; fi
+        start_count=$(( start_count + 1 ))
+    fi
+    if [[ "${LINES[$i]}" == "$END_MARK" ]]; then
+        end_idx=$i
+        end_count=$(( end_count + 1 ))
+    fi
+done
+if (( start_count > 1 || end_count > 1 )); then
+    echo "board-roll: LIVE is ${orig_size}B (>= cap ${CAP}B) but has ${start_count} START / ${end_count} END" >&2
+    echo "  markers — only a SINGLE '$START_MARK' … '$END_MARK' roll zone is supported." >&2
+    echo "  Multiple zones are refused (not guessed) so content between zones is never relocated." >&2
+    echo "  Consolidate the archival ticks into one zone, or trim manually." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+if (( start_idx < 0 || end_idx < 0 || end_idx <= start_idx )); then
+    echo "board-roll: LIVE is ${orig_size}B (>= cap ${CAP}B) but no usable roll zone" >&2
+    echo "  (need '$START_MARK' then '$END_MARK'). Add the markers around the" >&2
+    echo "  archival tick section to opt this board into automatic rolling." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+
+# preamble = lines [0 .. start_idx]   (inclusive of START marker)
+# zone     = lines (start_idx .. end_idx)  (exclusive of both markers)
+# footer   = lines [end_idx .. end]   (inclusive of END marker)
+preamble=(); zone=(); footer=()
+for i in "${!LINES[@]}"; do
+    if   (( i <= start_idx )); then preamble+=("${LINES[$i]}")
+    elif (( i <  end_idx  )); then zone+=("${LINES[$i]}")
+    else footer+=("${LINES[$i]}")
+    fi
+done
+
+# --- split the zone into a fixed head + entry blocks ----------------------------
+# zone_head = any zone lines before the first entry marker (kept, never rolled).
+# blocks[k] = newline-joined text of entry k (marker line .. line before next marker).
+zone_head=(); declare -a block_start=()
+first_block=-1
+for i in "${!zone[@]}"; do
+    if [[ "${zone[$i]}" == "$MARKER"* ]]; then
+        [[ $first_block -eq -1 ]] && first_block=$i
+        block_start+=("$i")
+    fi
+done
+if (( first_block == -1 )); then
+    echo "board-roll: LIVE is ${orig_size}B (>= cap ${CAP}B) but the roll zone has no" >&2
+    echo "  '${MARKER}' entries to move. Trim the pinned sections manually." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+for (( i=0; i<first_block; i++ )); do zone_head+=("${zone[$i]}"); done
+
+nblocks=${#block_start[@]}
+# block k spans zone[ block_start[k] .. (block_start[k+1]-1 or end-of-zone) ]
+block_text() {  # $1 = block index → prints the block's lines, LF-joined (no trailing)
+    local k=$1 s e
+    s=${block_start[$k]}
+    if (( k+1 < nblocks )); then e=$(( block_start[$((k+1))] - 1 )); else e=$(( ${#zone[@]} - 1 )); fi
+    local out=()
+    for (( j=s; j<=e; j++ )); do out+=("${zone[$j]}"); done
+    printf '%s\n' "${out[@]}"
+}
+
+# --- greedily roll oldest (bottom-most) blocks until under cap ------------------
+# keep = number of newest blocks retained; start with all, drop from the bottom.
+keep=$nblocks       # blocks [keep .. nblocks-1] are the oldest set that gets moved
+current_size=$orig_size
+build_live_size() {  # size of LIVE if we keep blocks [0 .. keep-1]
+    local acc=("${preamble[@]}" "${zone_head[@]}")
+    local k s e j
+    for (( k=0; k<keep; k++ )); do
+        s=${block_start[$k]}
+        if (( k+1 < nblocks )); then e=$(( block_start[$((k+1))] - 1 )); else e=$(( ${#zone[@]} - 1 )); fi
+        for (( j=s; j<=e; j++ )); do acc+=("${zone[$j]}"); done
+    done
+    acc+=("${footer[@]}")
+    render_size "${acc[@]}"
+}
+while (( current_size >= CAP && keep > 0 )); do
+    keep=$(( keep - 1 ))
+    current_size=$(build_live_size)
+done
+
+moved_count=$(( nblocks - keep ))
+if (( moved_count == 0 )); then
+    # zone had entries but none movable brought us under (shouldn't happen: keep hits 0)
+    echo "board-roll: could not reduce LIVE below cap (${current_size}B >= ${CAP}B)." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+
+# --- dry-run report -------------------------------------------------------------
+plan_headers() {
+    local k
+    for (( k=keep; k<nblocks; k++ )); do
+        # first line of each moved block
+        printf '    %s\n' "${zone[${block_start[$k]}]}"
+    done
+}
+if (( DRYRUN )); then
+    echo "board-roll: DRY RUN"
+    echo "  LIVE now:   ${orig_size}B (cap ${CAP}B) — over by $(( orig_size - CAP ))B"
+    echo "  would roll: ${moved_count} of ${nblocks} entr$([[ $moved_count -eq 1 ]] && echo y || echo ies) (oldest first):"
+    plan_headers
+    echo "  LIVE after: ${current_size}B"
+    if (( current_size >= CAP )); then
+        echo "  WARNING: still >= cap after emptying the zone; pinned sections need a manual trim." >&2
+        exit 3
+    fi
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# --- commit the roll atomically -------------------------------------------------
+live_tmp="$(mktemp "${LIVE}.roll.XXXXXX")" || die "cannot create temp next to LIVE"
+ledger_tmp=""
+# shellcheck disable=SC2329  # invoked indirectly via `trap cleanup EXIT`
+cleanup() { rm -f "$live_tmp" "$ledger_tmp" 2>/dev/null || true; }
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+# new LIVE = preamble + zone_head + kept blocks + footer
+{
+    printf '%s\n' "${preamble[@]}" "${zone_head[@]}"
+    for (( k=0; k<keep; k++ )); do block_text "$k"; done
+    printf '%s\n' "${footer[@]}"
+} > "$live_tmp"
+
+# LEDGER gets the moved blocks appended verbatim, in original top→bottom order,
+# under a provenance separator. LEDGER is append-only, so we only ever add at EOF.
+ledger_tmp="$(mktemp "${LEDGER}.roll.XXXXXX")" || die "cannot create temp next to LEDGER"
+if [[ -f "$LEDGER" ]]; then cat "$LEDGER" > "$ledger_tmp"; fi
+# ensure a trailing newline on existing content before appending
+if [[ -s "$ledger_tmp" && -n "$(tail -c1 "$ledger_tmp")" ]]; then printf '\n' >> "$ledger_tmp"; fi
+{
+    printf '\n<!-- board-roll: %d entr%s rolled from %s -->\n' \
+        "$moved_count" "$([[ $moved_count -eq 1 ]] && echo y || echo ies)" "$(basename "$LIVE")"
+    for (( k=keep; k<nblocks; k++ )); do block_text "$k"; done
+} >> "$ledger_tmp"
+
+# atomic swap (both, LEDGER first so a crash never drops content that left LIVE)
+mv "$ledger_tmp" "$LEDGER"; ledger_tmp=""
+mv "$live_tmp" "$LIVE"; live_tmp=""
+trap - EXIT
+
+# read the real on-disk size back (truthful, not the predicted value)
+final_size=$(wc -c < "$LIVE")
+echo "board-roll: rolled ${moved_count} entr$([[ $moved_count -eq 1 ]] && echo y || echo ies) to $(basename "$LEDGER"); LIVE ${orig_size}B → ${final_size}B (cap ${CAP}B)."
+if (( final_size >= CAP )); then
+    echo "board-roll: still >= cap after rolling all zone entries; pinned sections need a manual trim." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+exit 0

packages/mosaic/framework/tools/orchestrator/test-board-roll.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Regression harness for board-roll.sh — rolling oldest LIVE-board entries to LEDGER.
+#
+# Asserts:
+#   1. Under cap → no-op, exit 0, files unchanged.
+#   2. Over cap, no roll markers → exit 3, LIVE unchanged (never guesses).
+#   3. Over cap, markers present → rolls the fewest oldest entries to get under cap,
+#      LIVE ends under cap, pinned preamble/footer + newest entries preserved.
+#   4. Rolled blocks land in the LEDGER verbatim, oldest set in original order.
+#   5. --dry-run changes nothing and reports a plan.
+#   6. Zone emptied but pinned sections alone exceed cap → exit 3.
+#   7. --help exits 0 and prints usage; an unknown flag exits nonzero (#701 discipline).
+#   8. More than one marker pair → exit 3, unchanged; curated content between the two
+#      zones is never relocated to the LEDGER (rev0 #868 regression).
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+SUT="$SCRIPT_DIR/board-roll.sh"
+
+fail=0
+note() { echo "FAIL: $*" >&2; fail=1; }
+
+WORK="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$WORK"' EXIT
+
+# builds a LIVE board: pinned preamble + roll zone with N dated entries (newest first),
+# each entry padded to be individually large so the cap math is predictable.
+make_board() {  # $1 file  $2 n_entries  $3 with_markers(1/0)  $4 pad_bytes
+    local f=$1 n=$2 markers=$3 pad=$4 i padtxt
+    padtxt=$(head -c "$pad" < /dev/zero | tr '\0' 'x')
+    {
+        echo "# BOARD — LIVE"
+        echo "> pinned protocol blockquote, never rolled."
+        echo
+        echo "## Curated always-current section (pinned)"
+        echo "- this stays no matter what"
+        echo
+        [[ "$markers" == 1 ]] && echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->'
+        # newest first (i=n .. 1); oldest (i=1) ends at the bottom
+        for (( i=n; i>=1; i-- )); do
+            echo "### 2026-07-$(printf '%02d' $i) tick number $i"
+            echo "- detail $i $padtxt"
+            echo
+        done
+        [[ "$markers" == 1 ]] && echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->'
+    } > "$f"
+    return 0
+}
+
+# ── 1. under cap → no-op ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+L="$WORK/live1.md"; G="$WORK/ledger1.md"; : > "$G"
+make_board "$L" 2 1 10
+before=$(cat "$L")
+if ! out=$(bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 100000 2>&1); then
+    note "under-cap should exit 0 (got nonzero): $out"
+fi
+[[ "$(cat "$L")" == "$before" ]] || note "under-cap modified LIVE"
+[[ -s "$G" ]] && note "under-cap wrote to LEDGER"
+
+# ── 2. over cap, no markers → exit 3, unchanged ────────────────────────────────
+L="$WORK/live2.md"; G="$WORK/ledger2.md"; : > "$G"
+make_board "$L" 6 0 400
+before=$(cat "$L")
+set +e; bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 800 >/dev/null 2>&1; rc=$?; set -e
+[[ "$rc" -eq 3 ]] || note "no-markers over-cap should exit 3 (got $rc)"
+[[ "$(cat "$L")" == "$before" ]] || note "no-markers run modified LIVE (must never guess)"
+
+# ── 3+4. over cap with markers → rolls oldest, LIVE under cap, LEDGER gets them ─
+L="$WORK/live3.md"; G="$WORK/ledger3.md"; echo "# LEDGER" > "$G"
+make_board "$L" 6 1 400          # 6 entries, each ~>400B
+big=$(wc -c < "$L")
+[[ "$big" -ge 2000 ]] || note "fixture too small to test rolling ($big B)"
+if ! out=$(bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 2000 2>&1); then
+    note "marker roll should exit 0 when it can get under cap: $out"
+fi
+after=$(wc -c < "$L")
+[[ "$after" -lt 2000 ]] || note "LIVE still >= cap after roll ($after B)"
+# pinned content survives
+grep -q "Curated always-current section" "$L" || note "roll dropped pinned section"
+grep -q 'BOARD-ROLL:START' "$L" || note "roll dropped START marker"
+grep -q 'BOARD-ROLL:END' "$L"   || note "roll dropped END marker"
+# newest entry (07-06) stays; oldest (07-01) is the first to leave
+grep -q "### 2026-07-06 tick number 6" "$L" || note "roll dropped the newest entry"
+grep -q "### 2026-07-01 tick number 1" "$L" && note "oldest entry not rolled out of LIVE"
+# oldest went to LEDGER
+grep -q "### 2026-07-01 tick number 1" "$G" || note "oldest entry not appended to LEDGER"
+grep -q "board-roll:.*rolled from live3.md" "$G" || note "LEDGER missing provenance separator"
+# a rolled entry must not be duplicated (present in exactly one of LIVE/LEDGER)
+if grep -q "### 2026-07-01 tick number 1" "$L"; then note "rolled entry duplicated in LIVE"; fi
+# LEDGER original content preserved
+grep -q "^# LEDGER" "$G" || note "roll clobbered existing LEDGER content"
+
+# ── 5. --dry-run changes nothing ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+L="$WORK/live5.md"; G="$WORK/ledger5.md"; echo "# LEDGER" > "$G"
+make_board "$L" 6 1 400
+before_l=$(cat "$L"); before_g=$(cat "$G")
+out=$(bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 2000 --dry-run 2>&1) || note "dry-run exited nonzero: $out"
+echo "$out" | grep -qi "dry run" || note "dry-run did not announce itself"
+echo "$out" | grep -q "would roll" || note "dry-run did not report a plan"
+[[ "$(cat "$L")" == "$before_l" ]] || note "dry-run modified LIVE"
+[[ "$(cat "$G")" == "$before_g" ]] || note "dry-run modified LEDGER"
+
+# ── 6. zone emptied, pinned alone over cap → exit 3 ────────────────────────────
+# cap 120 is below the pinned preamble+footer size (~180B), so even after rolling
+# every zone entry the LIVE file stays over cap → must report the unsatisfiable case.
+L="$WORK/live6.md"; G="$WORK/ledger6.md"; echo "# LEDGER" > "$G"
+make_board "$L" 3 1 50
+set +e; bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 120 >/dev/null 2>&1; rc=$?; set -e
+[[ "$rc" -eq 3 ]] || note "unsatisfiable cap should exit 3 (got $rc)"
+
+# ── 7. help exits 0, unknown flag exits nonzero (#701) ─────────────────────────
+if ! out=$(bash "$SUT" --help 2>&1); then note "--help exited nonzero"; fi
+[[ "$out" == Usage:* ]] || note "--help did not print usage"
+bash "$SUT" -h >/dev/null 2>&1 || note "-h exited nonzero"
+if bash "$SUT" --not-a-real-flag >/dev/null 2>&1; then note "unknown flag was accepted"; fi
+if bash "$SUT" --live "$WORK/live3.md" >/dev/null 2>&1; then note "missing --ledger was accepted"; fi
+
+# ── 8. multiple marker pairs → exit 3, unchanged (no cross-zone relocation) ─────
+# Two separately-marked zones with a curated pinned section BETWEEN them. A naive
+# first-START..last-END span would sweep that curated section (and the intermediate
+# markers) into the LEDGER. board-roll must refuse (exit 3) and touch nothing.
+L="$WORK/live8.md"; G="$WORK/ledger8.md"; echo "# LEDGER" > "$G"
+pad8=$(head -c 300 < /dev/zero | tr '\0' 'x')
+{
+    echo "# BOARD — LIVE"
+    echo "> pinned protocol blockquote"
+    echo
+    echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->'
+    echo "### 2026-07-10 zone-A newest"
+    echo "- detail A2 $pad8"
+    echo "### 2026-07-09 zone-A oldest"
+    echo "- detail A1 $pad8"
+    echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->'
+    echo
+    echo "## Curated-between-zones (pinned — must never move)"
+    echo "- CANARY-BETWEEN keep me"
+    echo
+    echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:START -->'
+    echo "### 2026-07-08 zone-B newest"
+    echo "- detail B2 $pad8"
+    echo "### 2026-07-07 zone-B oldest"
+    echo "- detail B1 $pad8"
+    echo '<!-- BOARD-ROLL:END -->'
+} > "$L"
+before8=$(cat "$L")
+set +e; bash "$SUT" --live "$L" --ledger "$G" --cap 80 >/dev/null 2>&1; rc=$?; set -e
+[[ "$rc" -eq 3 ]] || note "multi-pair board should exit 3 (got $rc)"
+[[ "$(cat "$L")" == "$before8" ]] || note "multi-pair run modified LIVE (must never guess across zones)"
+grep -q "CANARY-BETWEEN keep me" "$L" || note "multi-pair run relocated curated between-zones content"
+grep -q "CANARY-BETWEEN" "$G" && note "curated between-zones content leaked into LEDGER"
+
+if [[ "$fail" -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "board-roll regression passed (8 groups)"
+fi
+exit "$fail"

packages/mosaic/package.json

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     "lint": "eslint src",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
     "test": "vitest run --passWithNoTests && pnpm run test:framework-shell",
-    "test:framework-shell": "python3 src/lease-broker/daemon_deadline_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/normative_fragments_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_challenge_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/context_recovery_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_runtime_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_b1_adversarial_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/framework_skill_portability_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_tools_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_launch_guard_unittest.py && python3 framework/tools/lease-broker/check-runtime-launches.py --root ../.. && bash framework/tools/codex/test-pr-diff-context.sh && bash framework/tools/qa/test-deps-preflight.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-gitea-comment.sh"
+    "test:framework-shell": "python3 src/lease-broker/daemon_deadline_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/normative_fragments_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/receipt_challenge_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/context_recovery_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_runtime_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/recovery_b1_adversarial_unittest.py && python3 src/lease-broker/framework_skill_portability_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_tools_unittest.py && python3 src/mutator-gate/runtime_launch_guard_unittest.py && python3 framework/tools/lease-broker/check-runtime-launches.py --root ../.. && bash framework/tools/codex/test-pr-diff-context.sh && bash framework/tools/qa/test-deps-preflight.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-pr-review-gitea-comment.sh && bash framework/tools/git/test-ci-queue-wait-branch-absent.sh"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@mosaicstack/brain": "workspace:*",