Cycle Witness Command #62

Migrated from Method backlog

This issue was created from a legacy filesystem backlog card. GitHub Issues are now the live work tracker; repository docs remain Method evidence.

Source backlog: docs/method/backlog/cool-ideas/SYNTH_cycle-witness-command.md
Original lane: cool-ideas
Original legend: SYNTH

Original backlog card

Explore a method witness command that can package the rerunnable
proof for a cycle close: commands run, artifacts produced, playback
answers, and file references.

Session context:

• External repos using METHOD are starting to want a cleaner way to
  package what counted as the witness for a completed cycle.
• The need is broader than any one repo's local tooling. If METHOD
  thinks witness packaging is a real pattern, it belongs here instead
  of being rediscovered downstream.

What this surfaced:

• A witness command could reduce ad hoc closeout work while staying
  faithful to METHOD's requirement that done-claims be reproducible.
• The command should package evidence, not invent it. It would point to
  rerunnable proof rather than becoming a substitute for that proof.
• It may also need a refresh mode: when a branch-local follow-up change
  alters repo-visible truth after closeout, the witness packet can drift
  even if the core cycle work is still correct.
• A good witness tool should help regenerate or refresh branch-tip
  verification without pretending that later backlog captures or review
  follow-ups never happened.
• This still feels like a cool idea, not core doctrine, until METHOD
  has clearer boundaries around artifact history, closeout flow, and
  any future API surface.