docs: acknowledgements, AI-attribution policy, badge fix (#3)

Establish how abcd credits contributions and present the repo honestly while
private.

- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md (new): three sections — development (AI assistance now;
  human contributors + integrated tools as they land), inspirations (ideas that
  shaped the design), references (books/articles/papers). Entries are added in the
  change that lands them, so the file never goes stale.
- AI-attribution policy (AGENTS.md, CONTRIBUTING.md): AI-assisted commits carry a
  kernel-style `Assisted-by:` trailer — disclosure, not authorship; never
  `Co-Authored-By:` for AI. Human is author of record; DCO deferred to the public
  flip. Naming a tool is confined to attribution/acknowledgement; user-facing prose
  stays host-agnostic.
- README badges: drop the dynamic github/* badges that cannot read a private repo
  (release, last-commit), keep a static set (license, status, Go), add a
  Built-with-Claude-Code badge behind the docs-lint allow escape. Dynamic badges
  return at the public flip.
- docs-lint: allow ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS at the repo root.
- .mailmap: consolidate author identities for display (folds a stray unset-identity
  commit and a second display name into one), without rewriting history.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8

Author: REPPL

.abcd/docs-lint.json

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
   "rules": {
     "links_resolve": {"enabled": true, "severity": "blocker"},
     "stray_root_docs": {"enabled": true, "severity": "blocker",
-      "allowlist": ["README","AGENTS","CHANGELOG","CONTRIBUTING","SECURITY","LICENSE"]}
+      "allowlist": ["README","AGENTS","CHANGELOG","CONTRIBUTING","SECURITY","LICENSE","ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS"]}
   },
   "exempt_paths": [],
   "exempt_if_status": []

.mailmap

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Consolidate author identities for display in `git shortlog`, `git log`, and the
+# GitHub contributor graph. This is display-only — it does not rewrite history.
+#
+#   Canonical <canonical-email>  <commit-email>              — fold by email
+#   Canonical <canonical-email>  Commit Name <commit-email>  — fold a specific author
+Alex Reppel <77722411+REPPL@users.noreply.github.com> <77722411+REPPL@users.noreply.github.com>
+Alex Reppel <77722411+REPPL@users.noreply.github.com> t <t@t>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Acknowledgements
+
+abcd stands on ideas, tools, and writing from many sources. This file records them
+in three parts: the **development** that built abcd, the **inspirations** that
+shaped its design, and the **references** it draws on. Each entry is added in the
+same change that lands what it records — the pull request that adopts a pattern,
+cites a source in an ADR, or integrates a tool — so the list grows with the work
+rather than being reconstructed later. Runtime dependencies are not listed here;
+they live in `go.mod` and the licence notices they carry.
+
+## Development
+
+Development of abcd has been assisted by Claude Code (Anthropic). Per-commit
+disclosure uses an `Assisted-by:` trailer; the human contributor is the author of
+record and is responsible for all AI-assisted output — its correctness, licensing,
+and fit for the project. See [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+## Inspirations
+
+Ideas and methodologies that shaped the design — not code abcd depends on.
+
+- **Amazon "Working Backwards"** — the press-release format of abcd's intents.
+- **Architecture Decision Records (MADR)** — the shape of the decision record.
+- **Diátaxis** — the four-type model behind the user documentation.
+- **Domain-Driven Design (bounded contexts)** — the surface boundaries.
+- **The Linux kernel's coding-assistants policy** — the `Assisted-by:` attribution
+  model abcd adopts for AI-assisted commits.
+
+## References & sources
+
+Books, articles, and papers cited in the design record.
+
+- Eric Evans, *Domain-Driven Design* (Addison-Wesley, 2003).
+- A. Mavin, P. Wilkinson, A. Harwood, M. Novak, "Easy Approach to Requirements
+  Syntax (EARS)" (RE, 2009).
+- U.S. Copyright Office, *Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2:
+  Copyrightability* (2025).

AGENTS.md

@@ -59,3 +59,21 @@ Development material lives under `.abcd/`; `docs/` is user-facing only.
   `go test ./...`, and `go test -race ./internal/...`).
 - Every new behaviour has a test watched fail before the change and pass after.
 - A CHANGELOG entry accompanies any user-facing change.
+
+## Attribution and acknowledgements
+
+- **AI-assisted commits carry an `Assisted-by:` trailer**, kernel format
+  (`Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-4-8`) — disclosure, not authorship. Never
+  `Co-Authored-By:` for AI (it asserts an authorship the tool does not hold and
+  inflates the contributor graph). A human-only `Signed-off-by:` (DCO) is deferred
+  to the public flip or the first outside contribution. The human is the author of
+  record, responsible for all AI-assisted output. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
+- **Naming a tool is confined to credit.** User-facing prose (`README.md`,
+  `docs/`) stays host-agnostic — the `harness/*` docs-lint rules enforce it. The
+  one sanctioned place to name a tool is attribution: the README badge and
+  `ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md`, using the `<!-- docs-lint: allow -->` escape where a lint
+  root is involved. Private, unpublished tool names never appear in any committed
+  file.
+- **`ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md`** credits ideas, tools, and writing in three parts —
+  development, inspirations, references. Add an entry in the same change that lands
+  it (adopts a pattern, cites a source in an ADR, integrates a tool), never later.

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -12,3 +12,27 @@ abcd is a private incubation repo for now; it flips public at maturity. See
 - A **CHANGELOG** entry accompanies any user-facing change.
 - **Docs** are Diátaxis (one type per page, present tense); the design record lives
   under `.abcd/`, never in `docs/`.
+
+## AI assistance and authorship
+
+Development of abcd is assisted by an AI coding assistant. Two rules keep that
+honest:
+
+- **Human author of record.** The human contributor is the author of every change
+  they submit and is responsible for all AI-assisted output — its correctness, its
+  licensing, and its fit for the project. AI assistance never transfers that
+  responsibility.
+- **Disclosure by trailer, not co-authorship.** AI-assisted commits carry an
+  `Assisted-by: Claude:<model-version>` trailer (the Linux kernel format) —
+  disclosure only. abcd never uses `Co-Authored-By:` for AI: it asserts an
+  authorship the tool does not hold and inflates the contributor graph. A
+  human-only `Signed-off-by:` (DCO) is deferred until the repo is public or takes
+  its first outside contribution.
+
+## Acknowledgements
+
+[`ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md`](ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md) credits the ideas, tools, and writing
+behind abcd in three parts — development, inspirations, and references. Add an entry
+**in the same change that lands it**: the PR that adopts an external pattern, cites
+a source in an ADR, or integrates a tool. Adding it at the moment it lands is what
+keeps the file from going stale — it is never reconstructed after the fact.

README.md

@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@
 
   <p>An opinionated, intent-driven development framework for <a href="https://x.com/signulll/status/2030404483897815089">product thinkers</a>.</p>
 
-  <a href="https://github.com/REPPL/abcd-cli/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/REPPL/abcd-cli?cacheSeconds=300" alt="Release"></a>
-  <a href="https://github.com/REPPL/abcd-cli/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/REPPL/abcd-cli?cacheSeconds=300" alt="License"></a>
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/REPPL/abcd-cli?cacheSeconds=300" alt="Last commit">
+  <!-- Static badges only: shields.io cannot read a private repo's API, so dynamic
+       github/* badges (release, last-commit) render as errors while private. Re-add
+       them at the public flip, when the API is readable. -->
+  <a href="https://github.com/REPPL/abcd-cli/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-green" alt="License: MIT"></a>
+  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/status-experimental-orange" alt="Status: experimental">
+  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Go-1.25-00ADD8?logo=go&logoColor=white" alt="Go 1.25">
+  <a href="https://claude.ai/claude-code"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Built_with-Claude_Code-3B5CE7?logo=anthropic&logoColor=white" alt="Built with Claude Code"></a> <!-- docs-lint: allow — attribution names the tool by design (see ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.md) -->
   <br />
   <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/macOS-000000?logo=apple&logoColor=white" alt="macOS">
   <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Linux-core%20CI--tested-FCC624?logo=linux&logoColor=black" alt="Linux: core CI-tested">
-  <br />
-  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/status-experimental-orange" alt="Status: experimental">
 
 </div>