Completed public release hardening pass

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout code
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        submodules: recursive
 
     - name: Set up Docker Buildx
       uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
@@ -133,8 +135,7 @@ jobs:
         path: |
           qemu_output.log
           build_warnings.log
-          tests/outputs/boot_test_output.txt
-          tests/outputs/integration_test_output.txt
+          tests/outputs/test_results.log
         retention-days: 7
 
     - name: Report success

.github/workflows/clang-tidy.yml

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+          submodules: recursive
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |

.gitignore

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 build/
+build-*/
 *.o
 *.elf
 *.bin
@@ -17,3 +18,4 @@ clang_tidy_analysis.txt
 compile_commands.json
 poweroff
 reboot
+CODEBASE_POLISHING_AUDIT.md

.gitmodules

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "external/userland"]
+	path = external/userland
+	url = https://github.com/byteshiftlabs/thunderos-userland.git

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ Thank you for your interest in contributing to ThunderOS! This guide will help y
    - [docs/](docs/) - Full technical documentation (build with `make html`)
 
 2. **Check current status**
-   - Look at the README banner for any active code freezes
-   - See [FREEZE.md](FREEZE.md) if a freeze is active
    - Review open issues and pull requests
 
 3. **Set up your environment**
@@ -70,10 +68,10 @@ Thank you for your interest in contributing to ThunderOS! This guide will help y
 
 ## AI Usage Policy
 
-ThunderOS uses AI assistance for development. See [AI_USAGE.md](AI_USAGE.md) for guidelines on:
-- What AI can/cannot be used for
-- How to attribute AI-generated code
-- Review requirements for AI contributions
+ThunderOS uses AI assistance for development. See the [ai-dev-prompts](https://github.com/byteshiftlabs/ai-dev-prompts) repository for guidelines on:
+- Workflow conventions and prompt guidelines
+- Code review and error handling standards
+- Model-specific adapter layers
 
 ## Code of Conduct