What the platform refuses, and why

Why: The rigor label is computed from what ran; it can never be authored higher than the code path that executed.

Instead: The attorney verifies statutory references against official sources and finalizes.

Enforced by src/lib/labels.ts (draftRigorLabel); proved by src/lib/labels.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: No engagement, no advice: the engagement sequence is the attorney desk's front door and the software never resolves a flagged conflict.

Instead: Complete the attestation and the conflict screen; a flagged conflict is resolved by the attorney, not the software.

Enforced by src/lib/attorney/engagement-gate.ts (validateEngagementSequence); proved by src/lib/attorney/engagement-gate.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review, draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Access is metered by the trial gate and the per-matter entitlement; a locked preview is honest, a silent run is not.

Instead: Sign in, use the trial allotment, or purchase the matter.

Enforced by src/lib/trial-gate.ts (resolveTrialAccess); proved by src/lib/tiers/grounded-routes.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review, draft, redline, cite-check, oc-pass, counsel; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A paralegal prepares, an attorney signs off; there is no bulk approval and no unverified finalizer.

Instead: Adjudicate every finding; an attorney records the finalization.

Enforced by src/lib/attorney/roles.ts (canFinalize); proved by src/lib/attorney/roles.test.ts; surfaces: review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: Existence and treatment labels are reachable only through a real citator answer; the format layer is the honest floor.

Instead: Configure the citator; until then the label reads format-checked only.

Enforced by src/lib/labels.ts (citeCheckRigorLabel); proved by src/lib/labels.test.ts; surfaces: cite-check; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Execution formalities are state law; the appendix travels with every covered export.

Instead: Name the governing state; the appendix is generated from the cited rule.

Enforced by src/lib/execution-rules.ts (hasExecutionRule); proved by src/lib/docx-builder.test.ts; surfaces: exports, draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Contradictory facts are flagged before they reach an instrument.

Instead: Correct the roles; the gate compares case- and space-insensitively.

Enforced by src/lib/gates.ts (checkConflicts); proved by src/lib/gates.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Official forms are transcribed onto the court's own published PDF, hash-pinned to the court's copy; nothing is redrawn.

Instead: Use the fill lane for a fillable form or download the court's blank; unencodable characters are named in the report.

Enforced by src/lib/official-forms/fill.ts (fillOfficialForm); proved by src/lib/official-forms/provenance.test.ts; surfaces: official-forms; owner: the owner; counsel for the Rule 10-2.2(c) question; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: L5 is never performed by the platform, on either brand, for any role.

Instead: A licensed attorney represents; the platform prepares.

Enforced by src/lib/upl/capability.ts (capability); proved by src/lib/upl/capability.test.ts; surfaces: platform; owner: the owner, with counsel, for the terms, privacy, and disclaimers; platform engineering for status, changelog, accessibility, and the scorecard; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Exemplars ground the work; they are never copied into it.

Instead: The run is refused and reported; the engine drafts afresh on the same pinned exemplars.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/guards.ts (similarityVerdict); proved by src/lib/foundations/guards.test.ts; surfaces: draft, redline, review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: The parties of a public filing are not the matter's parties; leaking them is an integrity failure, not a typo.

Instead: The run is refused and reported; the attorney never sees a foreign party in the draft.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/guards.ts (foundationPiiVerdict); proved by src/lib/foundations/guards.test.ts; surfaces: draft, redline, review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Where the engines diverge on substance, the attorney decides; a consensus that hides the divergence, counts one disclosure for two conflicts, or decides the conflict itself is refused.

Instead: The divergence is carried as a decision card bound to its issue id; the attorney adjudicates it.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/reconcile.ts (silentSynthesisVerdict); proved by src/lib/foundations/dual-run.test.ts; surfaces: draft, review, redline; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M06 2026-09-24.

Why: Preparation, not prediction: outcome-prediction language is detected and surfaced, never delivered as analysis.

Instead: The passage is flagged for the attorney; the War Room prepares questions, it never forecasts.

Enforced by src/lib/candor.ts (buildCandorReport); proved by src/lib/candor.test.ts; surfaces: war-room, assistant, draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: The export gate serves only the exact approved version, re-checked inside the receipt transaction; client text is never exported.

Instead: Approve the governed version, then export or share it.

Enforced by src/lib/artifacts.ts (exportGateVerdict); proved by src/lib/phase3-artifact-security.test.ts; surfaces: exports; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: The locality ladder ranks by the candidate's own state; a Florida county row never takes the county rung for a same-named county elsewhere.

Instead: The matter's own county tops the ladder; the run searches when the lane is thin.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/score.ts (localityTier); proved by src/lib/foundations/ix1-county-state.test.ts; surfaces: discovery, draft, review, redline; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Every discovered URL passes publisher policy, then robots, then the same gates as a curated source.

Instead: Denied and review-pending publishers are counted, never read; the owner records a terms review to allow one.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/harvest/openweb-policy.ts (publisherFor); proved by src/lib/foundations/harvest/openweb.test.ts; surfaces: discovery; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A pro se or in re filing on an unknown site is not a specimen of practice; counsel of record is the marker the lane requires.

Instead: The filing is rejected at discovery; a counsel-signed filing is accepted with its parties and its specimen label.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/harvest/verify.ts (extractCounsel); proved by src/lib/foundations/discovery-filings.test.ts; surfaces: discovery; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A foreign resource is indistinguishable from a missing one; no denial reveals protected data or identifying metadata.

Instead: Work inside an active membership of the matter's tenant.

Enforced by src/lib/authorization.ts (authorize); proved by src/lib/authorization-matrix.test.ts; surfaces: platform; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: An ethical wall has deny precedence; a failed wall lookup denies; a walled matter reads as not found.

Instead: The firm lifts the wall in the record; authorized colleagues keep their work.

Enforced by src/lib/policy.ts (wallLayer); proved by src/lib/authorization-matrix.test.ts; surfaces: platform, workspace; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: Professional authority is distinct from administration; the firm attests the licence and DraftCounsel records the attestation.

Instead: The firm records the attorney's licence; preparation by staff continues unaffected.

Enforced by src/lib/policy.ts (licenceLayer); proved by src/lib/authorization-matrix.test.ts; surfaces: review, workspace; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: The permitted-vendor list is a reviewed constant an environment variable can only narrow; a refused vendor receives zero bytes and nothing routes elsewhere.

Instead: The owner reviews the constant; the surface reports the refusal instead of substituting a vendor.

Enforced by src/lib/egress/vendors.ts (assertPermittedEgress); proved by src/lib/egress/vendors.test.ts; surfaces: platform; owner: the owner, with counsel, for the terms, privacy, and disclaimers; platform engineering for status, changelog, accessibility, and the scorecard; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: Replayed, stale, altered-argument and revoked confirmations fail atomically; two concurrent approvals resolve to one winner.

Instead: Mint a confirmation for exactly this act and spend it once.

Enforced by src/lib/confirmation-token.ts (spendConfirmation); proved by src/lib/confirmation-token.test.ts; surfaces: review, exports; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: Every attachment is accounted for by name; a silent cut would misstate what the run considered.

Instead: Accept the partial scope explicitly, or reduce the attachments.

Enforced by src/lib/workspace/attachment-scope.ts (accountAttachments); proved by src/lib/workspace/attachment-scope.test.ts; surfaces: workspace; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M01 2026-09-24.

Why: The policy blocks refuted work, not un-run layers; it is off by default and label-only until the firm opts in.

Instead: Resolve each blocking citation; with the policy off the citation is labelled, never blocked.

Enforced by src/lib/cite-check/hard-stop.ts (computeBlocking); proved by src/lib/cite-check/hard-stop.test.ts; surfaces: cite-check, exports; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A wrong-matter or namesake source would seed another project's facts into the matter; no identity is ever merged automatically.

Instead: Decide each flagged source by name (belongs to this matter, or exclude it from the run) and send the run again.

Enforced by src/lib/ingestion/run-intake.ts (gateSources); proved by src/lib/ingestion/run-intake.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review, redline; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M04 2026-09-24.

Why: A resume drafts only pending sections under the accepted language; with nothing pending there is nothing to draft, and a rerun would risk rewriting accepted sections.

Instead: Edit the document directly, or run a new draft; the completeness state on the record says what is pending.

Enforced by src/lib/drafting/resume.ts (resumeRefusal); proved by src/lib/drafting/long-document.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M07 2026-09-24.

Why: Attestations are generated only from actual events (attorney review, checks run, filing recorded); the certificate prints a refusal rather than certifying what the record does not hold.

Instead: Record the event the attestation needs (the attorney review, the check, the filing) and render the certificate again.

Enforced by src/lib/attorney/ai-use-certificate.ts (buildAiUseCertificate); proved by src/lib/attorney/ai-use-certificate.test.ts; surfaces: review, exports; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M07 2026-09-24.

Why: An allegation is never auto-promoted; the attorney's posture is the only decided posture, and every change rides the proposition's history with who decided it.

Instead: A licensed attorney records the decision with its rationale; the proposition keeps its kind until then.

Enforced by src/lib/evidence/propositions.ts (decideProposition); proved by src/lib/evidence/propositions.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M08 2026-09-24.

Why: A drift-flagged authority is re-verified by a person before anything relying on it leaves the platform.

Instead: Wait for the authority review, or remove the citation.

Enforced by src/lib/authority/currentness.ts (pendingAuthoritiesIn); proved by src/lib/artifacts.test.ts; surfaces: exports; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Every draft, review, redline and opposing-counsel pass is produced from real exemplars of the same kind; when no lane is live for the document the run stops and names the owner item instead of drafting from imagination.

Instead: Choose a document type with a lane, or wait on the named owner item (a keyed connector or a reviewed pack).

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/lanes.ts (laneRefusalMessage); proved by src/lib/foundations/lanes.test.ts; surfaces: draft, review, redline, oc-pass; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A dual run is two independent passes on the same pinned exemplars; one failing engine fails the run, typed and named.

Instead: Retry, or run the standard lane knowingly.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/dual-run.ts (runDualOperation); proved by src/lib/foundations/dual-run.test.ts; surfaces: draft, review, redline; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: The OCR engine and its model ride the OCR function only when FLAG_OCR_LANE=1; until then the extractor keeps its honest unreadable answer.

Instead: Owner item: set FLAG_OCR_LANE=1; meanwhile photograph the pages or paste the text.

Enforced by src/lib/ocr/engine.ts (ocrLaneOn); proved by src/lib/ocr/ocr.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M04 2026-09-24.

Why: The durable image path lands only with parity proven (the one envelope and tier rule, the held bytes, the purge); until the flag is on the lane refuses honestly and the matrix says so before setup.

Instead: Owner item: set FLAG_DURABLE_IMAGES=1 after applying migration 20260924160000; meanwhile attach extracted text for a durable run.

Enforced by src/lib/runs/images.ts (durableImagesOn); proved by src/lib/runs/images.test.ts; surfaces: workspace; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M04 2026-09-24.

Why: The second engine is not live for this run (its key is absent, it refused, or it timed out): a dual result means two independent passes on the same pinned inputs, one pass cannot be labelled dual, and the mode never switches silently to a single engine.

Instead: The typed failure carries the partial stage receipt (which branch ran, which did not, why); the fee was charged once at most; the attorney may separately elect a single-engine tier.

Enforced by src/lib/foundations/dual-run.ts (runDualOperation); proved by src/lib/foundations/dual-hardening.test.ts; surfaces: draft, review, redline; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M06 2026-09-24.

Why: A failed or not-configured lane is named with its gap on every partial result; the usable lanes stay usable and the authorization scope never widens; a silent empty lane fails the call.

Instead: The gap names the lane and the cause; the usable lanes' results stand; the owner keys or repairs the lane.

Enforced by src/lib/evidence/retrieval-spaces.ts (laneResult); proved by src/lib/evidence/retrieval-spaces.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, discovery; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M08 2026-09-24.

Why: Every instrument is state-specific; an execution rule, a clause pack and an exemplar lane all resolve by state.

Instead: Choose the governing state before drafting.

Enforced by src/lib/execution-rules.ts (executionRuleFor); proved by src/lib/execution-rules.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: Only library-assembled operative text is deterministic; anything else is a grounded model draft and is labelled as one.

Instead: The draft proceeds on the grounded lane with the honest label.

Enforced by src/lib/clauses/registry-ids.ts (hasClauseTemplateId); proved by src/lib/labels.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A missing required fact yields a defective instrument; the gate names each missing key.

Instead: Supply every required fact named in the report.

Enforced by src/lib/gates.ts (checkRequiredFacts); proved by src/lib/gates.test.ts; surfaces: draft; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M03 2026-09-24.

Why: A hostile file must not exhaust a worker or become a trusted source; the check runs before any parser.

Instead: The receipt names the failed check; attach a genuine PDF, Word file or plain text.

Enforced by src/lib/upload-guard.ts (checkUpload); proved by src/lib/upload-guard.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review, redline, cite-check; owner: the owner, with counsel, for the terms, privacy, and disclaimers; platform engineering for status, changelog, accessibility, and the scorecard; evidence M02 2026-09-24.

Why: The proxy answers 404 with the base security headers before routing and without a redirect.

Instead: Request the route as published.

Enforced by src/lib/http-security.ts (malformedPathReason); proved by src/lib/malformed-path.test.ts; surfaces: platform; owner: the owner, with counsel, for the terms, privacy, and disclaimers; platform engineering for status, changelog, accessibility, and the scorecard; evidence M01 2026-09-24.

Why: A guessed page would put invented words into the record; the page is stated as unreadable instead.

Instead: Rescan or photograph the page, or paste its text; the readable pages keep their text and their page anchors.

Enforced by src/lib/ocr/layout.ts (analyzePage); proved by src/lib/ocr/ocr.test.ts; surfaces: workspace, review; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M04 2026-09-24.

Why: The Source Lens resolves quotes to bytes inside one immutable source version; a format without a text locator is named in the coverage registry and never resolved by guess.

Instead: Name the sheet and the cell, or the time code, by hand; the registry on /coverage lists every format and its locator.

Enforced by src/lib/evidence/source-lens.ts (resolveLens); proved by src/lib/evidence/source-lens.test.ts; surfaces: review, workspace; owner: the attorney using the desk, under their own supervision; platform engineering for the gates; evidence M08 2026-09-24.