Milestone 10: release readiness and repository assurance

.github/CODEOWNERS

@@ -1,3 +1,30 @@
+# Default ownership
+* @anthfuller
+
+# Canonical contracts, policy, workflow, and evidence
+/src/canonical/ @anthfuller
+/schemas/contracts/ @anthfuller
+/config/policies/ @anthfuller
+/examples/canonical-workflow/ @anthfuller
+/tests/test_canonical_workflow.py @anthfuller
+/tests/test_contracts.py @anthfuller
+/tests/test_evidence_replay.py @anthfuller
+/tests/test_behavioral_scenarios.py @anthfuller
+
+# Licensing, citation, diagrams, traceability, and release metadata
+/LICENSE* @anthfuller
+/CITATION.cff @anthfuller
+/schemas/cff/ @anthfuller
+/docs/images/ @anthfuller
+/docs/architecture-diagrams.md @anthfuller
+/config/control-traceability.json @anthfuller
+/scripts/validate-control-traceability.py @anthfuller
+/scripts/validate-citation.py @anthfuller
+/VERSION @anthfuller
+/RELEASE_NOTES.md @anthfuller
+/docs/release-process.md @anthfuller
+/ROADMAP.md @anthfuller
+
 # Golden dataset & CI guardrails
 /tests/golden_dataset/ @anthfuller
 /src/demo_runner/run_golden_dataset.py @anthfuller

.github/workflows/f7las-ci.yml

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ name: F7-LAS CI
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - main
@@ -38,6 +40,12 @@ jobs:
       - name: Validate documentation
         run: python scripts/validate-documentation.py
 
+      - name: Validate citation metadata against the official CFF schema
+        run: python scripts/validate-citation.py
+
+      - name: Validate control traceability
+        run: python scripts/validate-control-traceability.py
+
       - name: Audit dependencies and generate CycloneDX SBOM
         run: |
           mkdir -p "$RUNNER_TEMP/f7las-sbom"

README.md

@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 
 > **Current status:** Established reference model with a **prototype reference implementation**. The repository is not a production agent platform, control plane, SOC product, SIEM/SOAR replacement, or production-ready implementation.
 
+Repository version **4.0.0** is prepared as an unpublished release candidate.
+No tag, GitHub release, or Zenodo update is implied by the version file.
+
 F7-LAS™ is Anthony Fuller's vendor-neutral, protocol-agnostic security model for designing, reviewing, and governing agentic AI systems. It separates security responsibilities across seven layers so that generative output is not treated as authority to act.
 
 This is independent personal work. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of Microsoft or any other employer.
@@ -28,12 +31,14 @@ Software supply-chain security is a cross-cutting supplemental domain, **Layer S
 
 - The immutable [F7-LAS whitepaper v3.0](docs/F7-LAS-model-whitepaper_v3.0.pdf)
 - A draft [implementation guide](docs/f7-las-implementation-guide/README.md)
-- A draft [46-control catalog](docs/F7-LAS-Control-Catalog-v0.1.md)
+- A draft catalog of [46 core Layers 1–7 controls plus five supplemental Layer S controls](docs/F7-LAS-Control-Catalog-v0.1.md)
 - Current [architecture diagrams](docs/architecture-diagrams.md), with explicit implementation boundaries, and engineering review material
 - Canonical v1.0.0 data contracts and one synthetic, offline Python + OPA workflow
 - Illustrative prompts, additional policies, validators, and runtime stubs
 - Supply-chain CI, behavioral tests, evidence verification, deterministic replay,
   and a clean-user acceptance gate for the canonical path
+- Machine-readable [control-to-evidence traceability](config/control-traceability.json)
+  covering all 51 catalog controls
 
 The canonical workflow provides one deliberately constrained executable Layers 1–7 path. It does not make the other examples executable or production-ready. The behavioral scenario matrix exercises the canonical enforcement path; the separate golden-dataset runner validates scenario structure and does not prove the described allow/deny behavior. Non-canonical examples remain illustrative unless they are explicitly reclassified and tested.
 
@@ -63,6 +68,8 @@ source .venv/bin/activate
 python -m pip install --require-hashes -r requirements-ci.lock
 python scripts/validate-supply-chain.py
 python scripts/validate-documentation.py
+python scripts/validate-citation.py
+python scripts/validate-control-traceability.py
 python scripts/validate-prompts.py
 python scripts/validate-policies.py
 python scripts/allowlist-validator.py
@@ -87,6 +94,9 @@ These commands validate the **current prototype and repository structure**. They
 - [Supply-chain and CI controls](docs/supply-chain-and-ci.md)
 - [Clean-user acceptance](docs/clean-user-acceptance.md)
 - [Architecture diagrams](docs/architecture-diagrams.md)
+- [Control-to-evidence traceability](config/control-traceability.json)
+- [4.0.0 release-candidate notes](RELEASE_NOTES.md)
+- [Release and exact-tag SBOM procedure](docs/release-process.md)
 - [Roadmap](ROADMAP.md)
 - [Security policy](SECURITY.md)
 
@@ -98,10 +108,10 @@ Versions belong to individual artifacts:
 |---|---|
 | Seven-layer model | Established design baseline |
 | Whitepaper | v3.0, immutable historical artifact |
-| Implementation guide | Draft; version will be assigned at reviewed release |
+| Implementation guide | Draft; bundled with 4.0.0 but not independently versioned |
 | Control catalog | v0.1 draft |
-| Executable reference implementation | Prototype |
-| Repository overhaul target | 4.0.0 after all acceptance gates and approval |
+| Executable reference implementation | Prototype included in the 4.0.0 candidate |
+| Repository release candidate | 4.0.0; not tagged or published |
 
 Repository version numbers do not silently change the whitepaper, control catalog, or schema versions.
 

RELEASE_NOTES.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# F7-LAS 4.0.0 Release Candidate
+
+**Status:** Prepared but not tagged or published. This document does not
+authorize a GitHub release, Zenodo update, or change to the historical
+whitepaper.
+
+F7-LAS 4.0.0 is the intended repository release for the evidence-driven
+overhaul. It packages the established seven-layer reference model with one
+bounded, deterministic, synthetic Python + OPA reference workflow. It remains
+a prototype reference implementation, not a production agent platform.
+
+## Release contents
+
+- Canonical v1.0.0 contracts for request-through-audit records.
+- One offline, fail-closed Python + OPA Layers 1–7 path.
+- Approval binding to request, action, scope, authority, time window, and the
+  exact executable policy bundle.
+- Behavioral scenarios, evidence integrity verification, and deterministic
+  replay.
+- Hash-locked dependencies, immutable Action references, verified OPA and
+  Gitleaks downloads, vulnerability scanning, full-history secret scanning,
+  and a retained CycloneDX SBOM.
+- Clean-user acceptance using Python 3.12.14 and OPA 1.20.2.
+- Machine-readable traceability for all 46 core Layers 1–7 controls and five
+  supplemental Layer S controls.
+- Corrected executive and layer-specific control-loop diagrams.
+
+## Explicit limitations
+
+- The supported executor is synthetic and in-process. It is not an OS or
+  container sandbox and does not enforce network isolation.
+- No production identity, cloud, SIEM, SOAR, XDR, remediation, or human
+  approval integration is provided.
+- The golden-dataset runner validates scenario and rubric structure; the
+  behavioral matrix separately exercises canonical enforcement paths.
+- Evidence is digest-bound but not digitally signed, externally timestamped,
+  or backed by a provenance service.
+- The control catalog and implementation guide remain draft authored content;
+  repository version 4.0.0 does not silently revise their independent versions
+  or the immutable whitepaper v3.0.
+
+## Required publication gate
+
+Publication requires all of the following after the release-candidate branch
+is independently reviewed:
+
+1. merge the exact approved tree through a protected pull request;
+2. verify the push-triggered `main` workflow against the resulting merge SHA;
+3. create `v4.0.0` at that exact approved `main` SHA without additional files;
+4. verify the tag-triggered workflow and its complete validation job;
+5. download the CycloneDX artifact produced by that tag run, verify its run,
+   commit, name, and digest, and attach it unchanged to the GitHub release;
+6. publish these notes only after the release assets and target SHA are
+   independently verified.
+
+The detailed procedure is in
+[`docs/release-process.md`](docs/release-process.md).

ROADMAP.md

@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ The target is an **Executable Reference Implementation**: one offline, determini
 
 ## Release boundary
 
-The intended repository release after all acceptance gates is **4.0.0**. The whitepaper remains **v3.0** until it is separately reviewed and revised. No milestone authorizes a merge to `main`, a release, or a Zenodo update without explicit approval.
+Repository version **4.0.0** is prepared as an unpublished release candidate. The whitepaper remains **v3.0** until it is separately reviewed and revised. No milestone authorizes a merge to `main`, a tag, a release, or a Zenodo update without explicit approval. See [RELEASE_NOTES.md](RELEASE_NOTES.md) and the [release process](docs/release-process.md).
 
 ## Completion standard
 
-Completion requires a clean-user install and walkthrough, meaningful behavior tests, control-to-evidence traceability, accurate diagrams, consistent licensing/versioning, independent review, and explicit merge approval. Test counts alone are not a maturity measure.
+Completion requires a clean-user install and walkthrough, meaningful behavior tests, validated control-to-evidence traceability, accurate diagrams, consistent licensing/versioning, protected-branch enforcement, independent review, and explicit merge and release approval. Test counts alone are not a maturity measure.

VERSION

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+4.0.0