Add the fourth governing principle to the family of structural-
invariant ADRs (alongside ADR-0114a anti-overfitting, ADR-0165 regex
scope rule, CLAUDE.md versor invariant). The rule, stated negatively:
do not author eval lanes ahead of the operators those lanes test, and
do not expand the eval surface ahead of the capability that produces
signal on it.
Three-question test for new eval lanes:
1. Does the capability this lane probes exist on main today?
2. Has at least one case admitted end-to-end through that capability?
3. Will running this lane distinguish capability-presence from
capability-absence?
A "no" on any defers the lane until the capability lands. Tier 3 TBD
rows are data debt; running existing lanes to populate them is
permitted (snapshot of current capability) but is NOT a substitute for
capability work.
Why now: a strategic-analysis exchange this session proposed authoring
spatial_geometry_ood, historical_sequence_ood, and other new lanes
while GSM8K-math sits at 3/47/0 and the comprehension reader (ADR-0164)
is mid-build. The proposal's "most impactful next commit is to run all
Tier 3 lanes" framing would have generated noise (lanes refusing
uniformly because their underlying operators don't exist) rather than
the diagnostic signal that justifies prioritization. ADR-0166 mechanizes
the constraint that prevents that pattern.
Session log SESSION-2026-05-27-tier3-sequencing.md captures the
narrative: what the analysis got right (geometry-first as strategic
bet, sequencing instincts), what it missed (GSM8K-math treated as
solved; comprehension reader pivot not in context), and the honest
re-sequence (Brief 10 first; Tier 3 snapshot in parallel; cross-domain
transfer after verifying whether the reader IS the requested
structural-pattern recognizer under a different name).
The session also surfaced a mid-flight diagnostic from PR #332: the
actual GSM8K bottleneck is the ADR-0163 recognizer injector emitting
incomplete graphs, which the reader correctly refuses to admit
(wrong=0 by construction via the new guard). Brief 10 (Phase 2 reader)
dominates here because it replaces the inadequate injector surface
entirely.
No code changes. ADRs only.
Refs ADR-0114a, ADR-0165, CLAUDE.md §"Non-Negotiable Field Invariant".
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