KB-6CC5

TKT Base Semantic Deferred-Boundary Report

3 min read Revision 1

TKT Base — Semantic Text-as-Code Deferred-Boundary Report

Macro: TKT_BASE_STRUCTURAL_EVIDENCE_GOVERNANCE_PACKAGING_MACRO_2026_06_11 Authority: NON_AUTHORITY / NOT_PROMOTED. Date: 2026-06-11 · Lane: T2

The normative copies live in the pack under limitations/. This report states the boundary for the record and confirms the overclaim guard is enforced, not merely declared.

1. The boundary

TKT Base proves structure and governance (L0–L3). It treats content as opaque bytes — it can prove the bytes are exactly the committed bytes, but cannot judge whether they mean the right thing. The semantic levels are deferred:

L4 IU TRACEABILITY PASS — out of scope for this macro.
L5 SEMANTIC TEXT-AS-CODE PASS — out of scope; this macro must NOT claim it.
L6 RELEASE/BUNDLE PASS — out of scope.

This is by design: the macro explicitly says "Do not claim semantic Text-as-Code PASS" and "Do not wait for IU metadata/relation/semantic-lint completion."

2. Why deferral is the honest choice

The IU metadata / relation / semantic-lint inputs do not yet exist in a checker-consumable form (per the governed IU gap references). The IU foundation proves only the document→units→document round-trip; the smarter layers (metadata intelligence, cross-unit relations, KG/vector, Text-as-Code semantics) are still open. Building a semantic PASS on absent inputs would be exactly the fail-open the base layer exists to prevent.

3. Required IU inputs for the future extension (summary)

Future level	Required IU input
L4	IU ids + relation objects + metadata binding (Metadata Governance) + traversal checker
L5	Text-as-Code grammar/schema + controlled vocabulary + semantic linter + committed semantic oracle
L6	passing L0–L5 + release policy + bundle manifest + owner/Codex authority

Full detail: pack limitations/IU_INPUT_REQUIREMENTS_FOR_LEVEL_4_5_6.md.

4. The guard is enforced (not just declared)

The overclaim guard is an executable fail-closed condition, not a promise:

harness/tkt_base_harness.py probe P10: asserting SEMANTIC_TEXT_AS_CODE_PASS with no IU inputs → exit 3, no PASS token → FAIL_CLOSED.
Pack gate G3_overclaim_guard: TKT_OUTPUT_LEVEL_POLICY.md and limitations/TEXT_AS_CODE_SEMANTIC_DEFERRED.md must both name all three forbidden tokens; missing any → gate FAIL.

5. Contract for the future TKT Semantic Extension

L4–L6 will be added on top of a passing L0–L3 base, inheriting every fail-closed and authority-firewall rule. The base is never replaced. Until the IU inputs exist and a checker consumes them, the honest ceiling is L3, and any L4/L5/L6 token from a base run is a forbidden overclaim.

6. Verdict

Semantic Text-as-Code is explicitly and enforceably deferred. The base layer ships the real floor (L0–L3) and names the ceiling that needs future IU inputs.