Replace a specification, then acknowledge it

rescope replaces the description with one consolidated SPEC vN. It appends a timestamped comment containing the verbatim request, requester, acting principal, summary and declared session. Description, generation and comment land in one revision-checked transaction. Prior descriptions remain readable with sd show ID --at TX; sd history ID identifies those transactions.

sd rescope work-123 --spec-file new.md --quote "Please limit this to the retention audit." \
  --requester operator --summary "retention audit" --session session-123
sd spec-state work-123 --json
sd ack work-123 --version 1 --session session-123

The assignee acknowledges the exact generation it read. Another assignee, a stale generation or a conflicting receipt refuses. Repeating an existing ACK returns a null transaction. An ordinary description update cannot bypass rescope once a description has a governed generation.

The description is limited to 4,096 UTF-8 bytes, including its generated heading. Configure [specs] byte_cap to change this bound. Empty specifications, oversized input and layering markers (ADDITION, SCOPE EXPANSION, supersedes the above) refuse before writing. A replacement file may carry a version heading; the writer computes the authoritative generation. Another requester’s change requires a non-empty quote. --dry-run validates the same request and returns the planned generation without committing it. A declared session describes planned provenance in this mode; other read commands retain their attribution guard.

Notifications and awareness are separate

spec-events --json returns retained pending notification intents. Their stable identity is item plus spec generation; polling and ordinary edits cannot mint a new generation. spec-receipt ID VERSION --json reads a retained delivery receipt even after the intent stops being pending. The shared notifier confirms its verified inbox receipt with spec-receipt-ack ID VERSION --receipt RECEIPT. A response lost after this write is reconciled by exact receipt readback. A notification receipt does not acknowledge the specification.

spec-changes --json lists unacknowledged changes, including delivered pointers. These delivery reads are current-state operations and refuse --at. spec-state and show support historical pins.

An owner start/claim transition carrying a declared session records the spec generation at that transition. A lead changing somebody else’s status does not invent an owner start. seed_spec_awareness is the portable stored query in queries/spec-awareness.json; sd spec-query-definition emits its definition for Quipu’s validated registry. Load it through the reviewed registry or share projection, then call it with the exact graph and item IRIs. It returns the recorded start generation, current generation and explicit owner ACK. Missing start evidence is UNKNOWN. Its private-store control proves start v1, current v2 and ACK v2 independently. Query availability on a running server requires registry projection; source publication alone does not install it.

When using Shantytown, st work item rescope and st work item ack provide the same operations on the selected Seeds backend. The existing capped briefing shows unacknowledged generations and the administrator sees their age. The existing scheduled notifier owns pointer delivery. Default pointers wait for the recipient’s next Stop boundary; urgent P0 pointers use the normal live input lane. The recipient adapter reads bounded spec metadata and fences each generation before emitting, so an uncertain hook output cannot repeatedly wake an owner. UNKNOWN reads remain UNKNOWN, and the session ceiling outranks this notice. Enable the reviewed [overdue] spec_changes configuration only after the corresponding SDK and hook are installed; it defaults to false.

Pause governed spec edits during rollback, preserve items, history and receipts, and remove new configuration before downgrading a parser that does not know it. An older client does not enforce the new replacement protocol. Scheduled receipt, actual recipient arrival and installed identity are separate acceptance proofs.