docs(release): the AEN gate cleared for a pre-release floor, not for stable (#802)

changelog.d/802.fixed.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+- **`docs/release-contract.md`'s AEN gate no longer tells a release engineer
+  not to cut, on evidence that stopped reproducing.** Its "Currently
+  outstanding" table said **NO** in the "In a tag?" column for `d639e777`
+  (alp-sdk#1289, the SE-owned ATOC reservation) and `7d58ef32` (alp-sdk#1352,
+  `zephyr_peripherals_dtsi` on the SoC JSON), citing `git tag --contains
+  d639e777` being empty. Both are contained in alp-sdk `v0.16.0-rc1`, so the
+  cell's own re-check command contradicted it. The section's instruction to
+  revisit the table "when that release exists" had fired and was never run.
+
+  Re-measured 2026-08-17 rather than taken from the issue: `git tag --contains
+  d639e777` and `git tag --contains 7d58ef32` both answer `v0.16.0-rc1`
+  (pre-release, published 2026-08-15T02:05:12Z), while `git merge-base
+  --is-ancestor <either> v0.15.0` still exits 1 — `v0.15.0` remains the
+  `Latest` stable (2026-08-07T13:36:18Z) and contains neither.
+
+  Both facts are now in the table, because only one of them is the whole
+  answer: the gate's stated condition ("contained in a published alp-sdk tag")
+  is met, but an AEN user on stable `v0.15.0` still cannot run `tan generate
+  --target zephyr-board`. The section names that as the release engineer's
+  call — cut on a pre-release floor, or wait for alp-sdk `v0.16.0` final — and
+  asks for the choice to be recorded in the release PR, rather than deciding
+  it here. It failed closed before (falsely blocking, never falsely
+  permitting), so nothing was ever mis-shipped on the strength of it.
+
+  The follow-up block below the table is now half-executed rather than
+  untouched, which the issue did not ask for and is the one place this goes
+  beyond it: that block said "**when that release exists**, two strings stop
+  being true and must be revisited in the same change" — the table's column,
+  and alp-sdk's ATOC refusal text. The release exists and the table is done,
+  so leaving the sentence verbatim would have left a reader unable to tell
+  which half remains. It now says so, and cites the surviving string's real
+  location, `scripts/gen_zephyr_board.py:687`. That string is upstream's to
+  fix and is still tracked as alp-sdk#1354 (open).

docs/release-contract.md

@@ -345,26 +345,37 @@ in a published alp-sdk **tag**:
 git -C <alp-sdk> tag --contains <commit>      # non-empty, or the tag is premature
 ```
 
-**Currently outstanding — do not cut a tan release carrying the AEN board emit
-until this clears:**
+**Cleared for a PRE-RELEASE floor, not for the current stable — read both rows
+before cutting a tan release carrying the AEN board emit:**
 
 | Requirement | alp-sdk commit | In a tag? |
 |---|---|---|
-| SE-owned ATOC reservation (`atoc` in `memory_map:`) — alp-sdk#1289 | `d639e777` | **NO** — `git tag --contains d639e777` is empty; `git merge-base --is-ancestor d639e777 v0.15.0` is false |
-| `zephyr_peripherals_dtsi` on the SoC JSON — alp-sdk#1352 | `7d58ef32` | **NO** — descendant of the above, same answer |
+| SE-owned ATOC reservation (`atoc` in `memory_map:`) — alp-sdk#1289 | `d639e777` | **YES, pre-release only** — `git tag --contains d639e777` → `v0.16.0-rc1`; `git merge-base --is-ancestor d639e777 v0.15.0` is still false |
+| `zephyr_peripherals_dtsi` on the SoC JSON — alp-sdk#1352 | `7d58ef32` | **YES, pre-release only** — descendant of the above, same answer |
 
 Both are reached by `tan generate --target zephyr-board` on any `E1M-AEN*`
-SKU, so today that command fails against **every** released alp-sdk. Until an
-alp-sdk release contains `7d58ef32`, a tan tag carrying this planner ships a
-subcommand that cannot succeed for AEN users on any SDK they can install.
-
-**When that release exists**, two strings stop being true and must be
-revisited in the same change: `zephyr_board.py`'s ATOC refusal says *"upgrade
-alp-sdk to a release that includes alp-sdk#1289"* (an issue number, not a
-version — replace it with the actual floor once one exists), and this table's
-"In a tag?" column. Both live upstream in alp-sdk
-`scripts/gen_zephyr_board.py`, so the string fix is an alp-sdk change
-re-synced in, never a patch to the mirror. Tracked as **alp-sdk#1354**, which
+SKU. Measured 2026-08-17 against alp-sdk's published releases: `v0.16.0-rc1`
+(pre-release, 2026-08-15T02:05:12Z) contains both commits, and `v0.15.0` —
+still the `Latest` stable, 2026-08-07T13:36:18Z — contains neither. So the
+command now succeeds from `v0.16.0-rc1` onward and still fails on the newest
+STABLE alp-sdk a user gets by default.
+
+**The call this leaves you.** The gate's stated condition — contained in a
+published alp-sdk tag — is met. Whether that is enough is a judgement the
+table cannot make: cutting now ships an AEN board emit whose floor is a
+pre-release, so an AEN user on stable `v0.15.0` still cannot run
+`tan generate --target zephyr-board`. Waiting for alp-sdk `v0.16.0` final
+removes the caveat outright. Record which one you chose in the release PR —
+this section exists because that reasoning kept being re-derived.
+
+**That release now exists** (`v0.16.0-rc1`), so this trigger has fired and is
+half executed. The table's "In a tag?" column above is updated. The other half
+is NOT done: `zephyr_board.py`'s ATOC refusal still says *"upgrade alp-sdk to
+a release that includes alp-sdk#1289"* (an issue number, not a version —
+replace it with the actual floor, which now exists). It lives upstream in
+alp-sdk `scripts/gen_zephyr_board.py:687`, so the string fix is an alp-sdk
+change re-synced in, never a patch to the mirror. Tracked as **alp-sdk#1354**
+(open), which
 also carries the reason the ATOC message is not the one a user actually sees
 today: `_aen_peripherals_dtsi()` runs first, and `d639e777` is an ancestor of
 `7d58ef32`, so every checkout with the field already has the region.