RS5B-CLOSEOUT-PATCH1 05 — C7 Conditionality / approval_mode Resolution — 2026-06-21

Scope: close Codex HOLD §6 / §11.5 (residual R7). Resolve the contradiction where closeout file 06 §1 P2-C7 says C7 is required "only if approval is used" while closeout file 06 §4 says "all seven carriers … must exist and PASS before P3." Gate: REGISTRATION_HOLD · REGISTRATION_CAN_PROCEED = NO · 0 mutations.

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1. The conflict (reconstructed)

Codex §6: "Both cannot control simultaneously." Two governed sentences in the same closeout file contradict:

• Conditional (file 06 §1 P2-C7): "Pre/post-runtime: pre-runtime prerequisite if approval is used; optional otherwise."
• Unconditional (file 06 §4): "All seven carriers above are pre-runtime prerequisites for any real register_dot (they must exist and PASS before P3 …)."

A reader cannot deterministically decide whether a build that does not use approval must still produce a passing C7. PATCH1 replaces both with a single deterministic rule keyed on an explicit approval_mode.

2. The deterministic rule

approval_mode ∈ { APPROVAL_USED, APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY }

approval_mode is a required, explicit field of the act's governed authority policy (it is part of the authorization_binding_digest envelope as approval_mode, file 02 §5 of the closeout — already a digest input). It is never inferred from absence.

Rule A — approval_mode = APPROVAL_USED

• C7 is mandatory. The approval / quorum / principal-resolution carrier (C7) MUST exist and PASS before P3.
• The C7→C2 dependency edge (E6) is present; approval_evidence_ref / quorum_evidence_ref / canonical_principal_resolution_refs are required digest inputs.
• Missing C7 ⇒ C7_REQUIRED_WHEN_APPROVAL_USED (fail-closed; XBI-20).

Rule B — approval_mode = APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY

• C7 runtime carrier is not mandatory. The C7→C2 edge (E6) is absent by policy.
• But the authority policy MUST explicitly state that approval is not used for that act/scope. Absence of approval is admissible only when proven by policy, never by silent omission.
• Absence of that policy proof ⇒ APPROVAL_MODE_POLICY_UNPROVEN (fail-closed). "Approval was simply left out" is not APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY.
• C7 must not be demanded unconditionally. A gate that still requires a C7 runtime carrier against a proven APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY mode ⇒ C7_OPTIONALITY_CONFLICT (fail-closed; XBI-21).

Determinism property

For any act, exactly one of {Rule A, Rule B} applies, selected by the explicit approval_mode; and within each rule the outcome is single-valued. There is no input for which C7 is both required and not required. The §6 simultaneity is eliminated: approval_mode is the discriminator, analogous to discriminator P for the BI oracle in Job A.

3. Consistent application across the package

The same rule is applied everywhere C7 or "all seven carriers" appears, so no two sources disagree:

Surface	Old (conflicting) statement	PATCH1 controlling statement
C2 digest fields (closeout 02 §5)	approval refs listed "if approval is used"	Unchanged in intent, now keyed to approval_mode: approval refs are required digest inputs iff approval_mode = APPROVAL_USED; under APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY they are absent and the approval_mode field itself records the proven non-use.
P2 entry gate (closeout 05 — successor R-set)	R7-area implied seven mandatory carriers	The "carrier present + PASS" requirement is evaluated per approval_mode: C7 is in-scope-and-mandatory only under Rule A. (Gate A/Gate B, file 06.)
Carrier list (closeout 06 §1 P2-C7 + §4)	"if approval is used" vs "all seven … must exist and PASS before P3"	§4 is superseded (file 07 impact map): the universal "all seven" claim becomes "all applicable carriers per approval_mode; C7 applies only under APPROVAL_USED." Six carriers C1–C6 remain unconditional pre-runtime prerequisites; C7 is conditional.
XBI (closeout 07 + file 04)	no C7-conflict fixtures	XBI-20 (C7_REQUIRED_WHEN_APPROVAL_USED) and XBI-21 (C7_OPTIONALITY_CONFLICT) added; APPROVAL_MODE_POLICY_UNPROVEN for unproven non-use.
P3 prerequisites	"all seven before P3"	"C1–C6 before P3 unconditionally; C7 before P3 iff APPROVAL_USED."
Codex review packet (file 11)	—	states the approval_mode rule as a verification item.

4. Superseded wording (recorded; carried into file 07)

closeout file 06 §4: "All seven carriers above are pre-runtime prerequisites for any real register_dot (they must exist and PASS before P3 …)."

is superseded by: "All carriers applicable under the act's approval_mode are pre-runtime prerequisites for any real register_dot. C1–C6 are unconditional; C7 is a prerequisite iff approval_mode = APPROVAL_USED, and where approval_mode = APPROVAL_NOT_USED_BY_POLICY the policy must prove non-use (APPROVAL_MODE_POLICY_UNPROVEN otherwise)." Marker SUPERSEDED_BY_RS5B_CLOSEOUT_PATCH1. Any later sentence asserting "all seven carriers must exist and PASS before P3" without this conditionality is, by this file, superseded.

5. Non-overclaim

approval_mode selection does not authorize anything: it only determines whether C7 is in scope. Under either mode, REGISTRATION_HOLD holds, no carrier is built, and the must-not-inherit edge DOT_APPROVAL_QUORUM_AUTHORITY ↛ DOT_REGISTRATION_AUTHORITY (closeout R8) is unchanged — approval, when used, only checks; it never originates registration authority. C7 conditionality is deterministic; therefore this file does not stop at RS5B_CLOSEOUT_PATCH1_HOLD_C7_CONDITIONALITY_AMBIGUOUS.