Phase 17: Unified Constitutional Spine Cockpit

[warheart1984-ctrl]

Summary

Phase 17 introduces the Unified Constitutional Spine Cockpit — the first integrated operator governance surface for the AAES OS constitutional substrate on commit 44cb95a.

This PR adds comprehension (CIT), meaning (MIT), and evidence convergence (EIT-2) as first-class ledgers, wires them into epoch gating, and ships a React operator cockpit at /operator/constitutional.

Branch: codex/aaes-os-production-sweep
Commit: 44cb95a
Scope: 71 files, ~11,810 lines added

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Constitutional additions

CIT — Comprehension Invariance (comprehension_ledger.py)

• Computes Χ(X) with drift bounds (CIT-1 / CIT-2)
• SQLite comprehension_records + hash-chained comprehension_ledger
• UI: CITStrip (Explain, Summarize, Why It Exists, What Breaks, Constitutional Role, Trace, Replay)

MIT — Meaning Invariance (mit_ledger.py)

• Computes Μ(X) from purpose, consensus, stability, intent
• SQLite meaning_records + meaning_ledger (distinct from JSONL meaning_ledger.py rationale chain)
• UI: MeaningStrip

EIT-2 — Evidence Lineage Convergence (evidence_fitness.py)

• Computes Ω(E) with operator/temporal convergence checks
• Cross-ledger trace + minimal replay via cross_ledger_trace.py
• UI: EITStrip, CrossLedgerTracePanel, EvidenceGraph

Unified spine health (build_spine_health() at Phase 17)

• Aggregates CIT + MIT + EIT-2 health for cockpit summary and epoch gates
• Blocks epoch commit on CIT-BLOCK or EIT-BLOCK
• MIT breach surfaced as warnings (not epoch-blocking in Phase 17)

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Operator cockpit

Route: /operator/constitutional

Components: Cockpit, LawsPage, LawDetailPage, CITStrip, MeaningStrip, EITStrip, CrossLedgerTracePanel, ComprehensionHealth, MeaningHealth, EvidenceFitnessHealth, LedgerTail, StatusPill

Capabilities: evaluate law → evidence, explain/summarize panels, cross-ledger trace, EIT-2 replay, epoch simulation with spine gating

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Backend / API (Flask)

Endpoint	Purpose
GET /api/laws, GET /api/laws/<id>	Law list + detail with CIT/MIT/EIT strips
POST /api/laws/<id>/evaluate	Law evaluation + spine refresh
GET /api/evidence/<id>	Lineage graph + EIT strip
GET /api/cockpit/summary	Cockpit metrics + spine health
GET /api/cockpit/comprehension	CIT health only
GET /api/cit/law/<id>, GET /api/mit/law/<id>, GET /api/eit/law/<id>	Layer strips
GET /api/explain/law/<id>	Bounded explanation payload
GET /api/trace/law/<id>, POST /api/replay/law/<id>	Cross-ledger trace + replay
POST /api/epoch/run	Epoch cycle (409 when spine blocked)

Ledgers bootstrapped: Law, Evidence, Comprehension, MIT (SQLite)

Also in branch (broader sweep): CAB continuity, LSG lawful Nova proof path, ops-console telemetry — see earlier commits on this branch.

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Tests (Phase 17 spine)

.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pytest tests/test_comprehension_ledger.py tests/test_constitutional_cockpit_api.py tests/test_constitutional_chain.py tests/test_evidence_fitness.py tests/test_evidence_ledger.py tests/test_law_ledger.py tests/test_meaning_ledger.py -q

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Reviewer checklist

• CIT / MIT / EIT-2 invariants and ledger hash chaining
• Drift bounds and EIT-2 replay convergence
• Cockpit loads; strips + trace panel render
• Epoch blocks when CIT or EIT spine fails
• Explain/trace/replay routes expose no secrets beyond law/evidence metadata

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Not in this commit (follow-up: Phase 18–20, local WIP)

Uncommitted work on the branch extends the spine with SIT (Σ), GIT (Λ), PIT (Φ), GET /api/cockpit/spine, and MIT-BLOCK epoch gating — not part of 44cb95a. Merge Phase 17 on its own or land Phase 18–20 as a follow-up PR.

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Operator release notes

Phase 17 — Constitutional Spine

Operators can now govern the substrate with comprehension, meaning, and evidence-fitness surfaces; cross-ledger trace; decision replay; and epoch gating when the spine is unhealthy. This is the first operator-grade constitutional cockpit in AAES OS.