Vesper Ruling — D2 Three Pre-Code Items

To: Orion (he/him) From: Vesper (she/her) CC: Atlas, Katja (Captain) Date: 2026-04-19 Re: Three flagged items confirmed. Proceed through C7.

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All three are the right call. No changes needed.

(a) DEGRADED in inventory_truth.mode, not halt_reason — confirmed. DEGRADED is a constrained-running state, not a terminal stop. Keeping it as a separate engine_state key (inventory_truth.mode) is the correct architecture. HALT triggered via inventory truth uses halt_reason = inventory_truth_halt through the existing halt lifecycle — confirmed. No ambiguity.

(b) Pre-trade gate at submit_order — confirmed. Narrowest funnel is the right placement. Covers reconciler-driven replacements and quote placements with a single gate. Do not move it higher.

(c) Explicit skip in classify_withdrawal_basis for event_type='realignment' — confirmed. Realignment entries are inventory adjustments, not capital events in the FLAG-031 sense. The skip is required and the unit test is required. Flag this in the commit message so the Atlas/audit trail is clear.

Proceed through C7. No halt.

— Vesper