/close - Close Lane

Close the active entity: capture leftovers, verify acceptance, checkpoint, learn, recommend, and hand off.

Entity Reconciliation

After authorized material progress, reconcile touched and causally affected artifacts before routing, handoff, or final response. Track entity ref, island/provider locator (a path for file storage), basis/evidence, and the reason/action due. Update through the verified owning CLI/adapter; use a write-authorized skill fallback only when that operation is unavailable. Record updated, no_change(reason), or blocked(reason), preserving unresolved refs. Reading or mentioning a path alone creates no update obligation. Read-only work reports pending changes only. Reminders grant no write authority; task status stays with the bound tracker. Update only artifacts whose content or evidence changed; do not rewrite every referenced document.

Work Link

Lifecycle lane: Close Entity movement: verified -> closed | monitoring | follow_up | blocked Workstream: update active workstream before reporting done Upstream: /exec Downstream: /work; continuity runs in this protocol's handoff step; /ws owns workstream state Router: /work HUD: end with 🧬 {ws} ⚡{exec_count} 📥{capture_count} ⏸️{paused_count} ✅{done_count} | 🚦{gate}={score} | ⏭️ {next} | 🔁{loop_state}

Apply acceptance against the active domain's plan or execution contract; task DNA and software-specific proof gates apply to the SDLC overlay. Mark genuinely inapplicable software gates N/A for non-coding work. Checkpoint Git only when the deliverable is Git-backed and commit/push are within the authorized scope.

Next Routes

Use the result to select the next owner. Show applicable alternatives in a numbered skill://<name> table only when a decision remains; suggestions never grant new execution, publishing, or checkpoint authority.

Result	Next owner
Uncaptured intent or leftovers	skill://capture
Acceptance failed within the existing authorized contract	skill://exec using the same domain method
Coding contract must change	skill://propose; skill://lev-plan if the broader plan changes
Non-coding scope or plan must change	skill://lev-plan or skill://interview; proposal optional
Accepted or paused, context needs preservation	Protocol step handoff (work template); skill://ws for workstream state
Several completed efforts warrant synthesis	skill://lev-learn
Another effort or uncertain next owner	skill://lev

Protocol

steps:
  - id: capture_gate
    action: Run capture in gate mode before closing.
    validation: "in_memory_count == 0."
    on_failure: "Route to /capture and stop close."

  - id: qa_acceptance
    action: Check output against the active domain plan or execution contract, acceptance criteria, declared verifier evidence, and applicable proof-gate verdicts.
    validation: "Every acceptance item and applicable proof gate is pass, fail, blocked, or explicitly not-tested with residual risk."
    on_failure: "Route failed criteria back to /exec."

  - id: standards_review
    action: Check the change against the coding standards and boundary rules from the Standards and boundaries section of [Project Context](../lev/references/project-context.md).
    validation: "Each applicable rule is pass or fail with path:line, or the review says none applies."
    on_failure: "Route the broken rule back to /exec."

  - id: proof_gate_verdict
    action: Seal the proof gates required by the active domain contract before acceptance.
    validation: "Applicable SDLC Pentagon, UltraQA, cleanup, and ai-slop-cleaner results or domain-specific equivalents are recorded; inapplicable gates have an N/A rationale, and residual risks are explicit."
    on_failure: "Do not accept; route to /exec or /propose depending on whether runtime evidence or proof contract is missing."

  - id: accept
    action: Decide whether the work is accepted.
    validation: "Confidence >= 0.85 for auto-accept, otherwise human approval is recorded."
    on_failure: "Do not commit or handoff as closed."

  - id: checkpoint
    action: For authorized Git-backed checkpoints, stage, commit, pull without rebase, and push when sealing verified work; otherwise record not_applicable or the authority boundary.
    validation: "Authorized checkpoint succeeds, is not_applicable, or its blocker/authority boundary is recorded."
    on_failure: "Keep entity blocked and do not claim closed."

  - id: learn
    action: Extract typed learnings with claim, evidence, applies_to, and propagates.
    validation: "At least one learning or explicit 'no new learning' is recorded."
    on_failure: "Add the learning block before handoff."

  - id: recommend
    action: Recommend keep, monitor, execute, or reject for related entities.
    validation: "Next lifecycle verb is clear."
    on_failure: "Route to /work for next-verb selection."

  - id: handoff
    action: Write the session handoff directly from the existing work template (`../work/templates/handoff.md`) at `.lev/pm/handoffs/{YYYYMMDD}-{workstream}-{component}-{slug}-session-{N}.md`, patching the current session file when it exists and carrying exact IDs, paths, failed checks, source revisions, and unresolved needs verbatim. Update the active workstream YAML (`.lev/pm/workstreams/<ws-id>/state/workstream.yaml`, owned by `skill://ws`) through its verified owning CLI or adapter, or by a layout-preserving file edit when none is verified. A `/handoff` route may run these steps only where it resolves on this host.
    validation: "Workstream YAML reflects close result, the handoff exists at its canonical path, and a cold-start recall check passed: recall, artifact, continuation, and decision questions answered from the handoff alone match the original sources and current artifact state."
    on_failure: "Do not end without durable state. Patch each missing or mismatched fact into the handoff and rerun the recall check."

Trigger Record

When the workstream has a trigger stream, write:

schema: lifecycle_trigger.v1
verb: close
entity_ref: lev://entity/work/workstream/<ws-id> | lev://entity/work/task/<task-id>
outputs:
  items: []
  learnings: []
  gates: []
  proof_gates:
    pentagon: pass | fail | blocked | not_applicable
    ultraqa: pass | fail | blocked | not_applicable
    ai_slop_cleaner: pass | fail | blocked | not_applicable
  artifacts: []
metrics:
  drift: <number>
  in_memory_count: 0
cursor:
  last_verb: close
  next_verb: null
recommend: []

KPI Gate

KPI	Move on
drift_score	< 0.3
hygiene_pass_rate	>= 0.95
learning_extracted	>= 1 or explicit none
proof_gate_verdicts	all applicable gates pass or have explicit blocked/follow-up routing

Max rework: 2. Three consecutive gate failures becomes blocked.

Red Flags

• "Ready to push when you are."
• "Close can skip capture because the task is done."
• "A passing command means acceptance."
• "Repo-wide audit passed, so feature-local Pentagon proof is done."
• "Temporary QA harness cleanup can be handled later."
• "I'll write handoff later."
• "The handoff reads complete, so a cold start will work."
• "Pull with rebase."

Related

• /exec provides verified work.
• /capture clears in-memory leftovers.
• The handoff step writes continuity from the work template; /ws owns workstream state; a /handoff alias applies only where the host resolves it.
• /work routes the next entity.