05 — Backlog Triage Ledger

Backlog is no longer a vague count. Every item maps to a stream, a recommended decision, a risk, and an owner-needed flag. The ledger is queryable live via the packaged (optional) view operator_bundle/v_birth_backlog_triage.sql; the live counts below come from the applied detectors.

Allowed decisions: BIRTH_APPROVED · EXEMPT · QUARANTINE · RETIRE · INVESTIGATE · SYNTHETIC_TEST_CONFIRMED.

Stream summary

Stream	Count	Recommended decision	Risk	Owner needed	Keeps RP blocked?
pivot_definitions unborn	27 (26 active)	BIRTH_APPROVED via lawful DOT (dot-pivot-declare/birth path; never manual)	high	yes	yes
dot_iu_command_catalog unborn	54 (all)	INVESTIGATE → register collection first (triple-absent) then birth	high	yes	yes
collections BIRTH_REQUIRED zero-birth	25	INVESTIGATE → birth or reclassify	medium	yes	partial
collections BIRTH_DEFERRED zero-birth	44	INVESTIGATE (review)	low/med	yes	no
collections EXEMPT zero-birth	20	EXEMPT (already classified)	none	no	no
dot_tools phantom (synthetic)	283	SYNTHETIC_TEST_CONFIRMED	low	no (accepted)	no
dot_tools phantom (real-missing)	6	INVESTIGATE → RETIRE stale birth or restore entity	medium	yes	yes
FS FILE_NO_REGISTRY	16	INVESTIGATE → register via lawful DOT (NOT dot-pivot-update)	high	yes	yes
FS REGISTRY_NO_FILE	41	INVESTIGATE	medium	yes	no
dot_tools duplicate names	45	INVESTIGATE → dedupe registry	medium	yes	no
governance owner_gap	210	(L2 gate — see doc 07)	medium	yes (L2/L4)	no (separate gate)

Decision counts

• SYNTHETIC_TEST_CONFIRMED: 283 (proof below)
• BIRTH_APPROVED (lawful DOT): 27 pivot rows
• INVESTIGATE / owner decision required: 54 iu_cmd + 25+44 collections + 6 real-missing + 16 fs + 41 fs + 45 dup ≈ 231 items
• EXEMPT (already): 20 collections
• Items that MUST keep RP blocked: the 4 guard BLOCK dimensions → 80 critical unborn, 6 real-missing phantom, 16 fs-no-registry, 1 dot-pivot-update.

Proof of SYNTHETIC_TEST (283)

The phantom births trace to test/chaos seeding, evidenced in entity_code/dot_origin/born_at:

• MANUAL-GEMINI|Gemini|2026-03-26 Gemini chaos batch (DOT-237, DOT-241..292, GEM-CHAOS-N1) — 54
• PG:trg_birth_dot_tools 2026-03-26 chaos (DOT-231..239, GEM-CHAOS-O2) — 8
• DIRECTUS|SYS|2026-03-26 system-test batch (DOT-298..304) — 6
• DOT-S169B-* test series, CHAOS-*, INVALID-FORMAT, DOT-TAC-*/DOT-IU-* suspect registrations — remainder All share the 2026-03-26 chaos-seeding day or explicit test markers. None correspond to a deleted production tool.

The 6 REAL_MISSING (genuine — human review)

collection	codes	born	meaning
collection_registry	COL-171, COL-172, COL-173	2026-04-19	collections registered+born then dropped; birth rows stranded
entity_species	SPE-NRC, SPE-NRM, SPE-NRR	2026-04-02	species born then removed; birth rows stranded

Recommended: RETIRE the stale birth rows (mark/retire), or restore the entities — owner decision. Not auto-actioned (forbidden to fabricate/hide).

Rules honored

No birth rows fabricated. No rows deleted/hidden to reduce counts. No EXEMPT without evidence. Uncertain → INVESTIGATE. SYNTHETIC_TEST only where proven.