OCT Update Plan v5.3

Date: 2026-05-01
Owner: OCT program (Fabio Ghioni + collaborators)
Status: in progress (Phase 1-4 minimum package completed)

Objective

Upgrade OCT validation and editorial baseline from v5.2.0 to v5.3 with:

• explicit anti-pattern controls
• ex-ante proxy gate
• A01/D02/D03 validation hardening
• publication sync without overclaiming

Scope

In scope:

• OCT validation governance artifacts
• theorem decision rationale alignment
• Chapter 17 methodological alignment
• benchmark process and preregistration workflow

Out of scope:

• full theorem re-validation execution (implemented in later cycles)
• complete rewrite of foundational book chapters beyond targeted patches

Phase 1 - Editorial and methodological alignment

Target window: 2-3 days
Status: completed (2026-05-01)

Deliverables:

1. Import external review inputs into official validation corpus.
2. Replace generic revise motivation with technical rationale tied to Chapter 8 Definition 8.12.
3. Add explicit references to anti-pattern and A01 gate design documents in OCT validation navigation.
4. Log start of v5.3 in publication/validation trackers.

Completion criteria:

• external reviews available in repository
• decision matrix updated with technical revise rationale
• v5.3 plan file published and linked

Phase 2 - Ex-ante proxy gate

Target window: 2 days
Status: completed (2026-05-01)

Deliverables:

1. Proxy Pre-Validation Sheet template (mandatory before benchmark execution).
2. Role-separation rule: proxy designer != proxy auditor.
3. Falsifiability reachability check (must be demonstrable before run).
4. Claim-type to anti-pattern mapping checklist (existential/comparative/taxonomic/universal).

Completion criteria:

• template published
• policy statement published
• no new cycle can start without gate pass

Phase 3 - A01/D02/D03 validation refactor

Target window: 4-6 days
Status: specification completed (2026-05-01), execution pending

Deliverables:

1. A01: process-level metric pipeline (trajectory + gate decisions), replacing output-only proxy logic.
2. D03: strict no-post-hoc-rescue policy on same data under same preregistration.
3. D02: strict separation of evidence classes (formal pilot vs empirical benchmark).
4. Updated cycle specs with rejection conditions predeclared.

Completion criteria:

• revised cycle specs committed
• reject conditions and thresholds preregistered
• evidence classes marked in decision artifacts

Phase 4 - Minimum operational implementation

Target window: 5-7 days
Status: completed (minimum package, 2026-05-01)

Deliverables:

1. Append-only trajectory logging schema.
2. (O)/(P)/(C) label discipline on metrics.
3. Preregistration sealing (hash + timestamp).
4. Audit script for gate compliance checks.

Completion criteria:

• logging schema in repo
• prereg artifacts testable
• compliance audit runnable

Phase 5 - Freeze and publication sync

Target window: 2 days
Status: pending

Deliverables:

1. Freeze candidate v5.3 package.
2. Synced updates on GitHub + Zenodo + OSF + Hugging Face.
3. Release note with anti-pattern controls and validation-state transparency.

Completion criteria:

• DOI/version snapshots aligned
• public links and notes synchronized

Governance rules (non-negotiable)

1. No theorem promotion without ex-ante gate pass.
2. No threshold/criterion changes post-hoc on the same dataset.
3. No evidence accumulation across heterogeneous epistemic classes without explicit separation.
4. Every claim state change must reference code + proxy sheet + preregistration artifact.

Current progress log

• 2026-05-01: Plan file created (OCT_UPDATE_PLAN_v5_3.md).
• 2026-05-01: External review inputs imported.
• 2026-05-01: Decision matrix motivation updated to technical Def 8.12 rationale.
• 2026-05-01: Phase 2 delivered:
  • templates/OCT_PROXY_PREVALIDATION_SHEET_v0_1.md
  • OCT_EX_ANTE_PROXY_GATE_POLICY_v0_1.md
  • OCT_CLAIM_TYPE_ANTIPATTERN_CHECKLIST_v0_1.md
• 2026-05-01: Phase 3 specification package delivered:
  • CYCLE_5_2026-05-01/CYCLE_5_A01_PROCESS_LEVEL_SPEC_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_5_2026-05-01/CYCLE_5_D03_LOCKED_TAXONOMY_SPEC_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_5_2026-05-01/CYCLE_5_D02_EVIDENCE_CLASS_SPEC_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_5_2026-05-01/CYCLE_5_EXECUTION_AND_REJECT_RULES_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_5_2026-05-01/CYCLE_5_PREREG_SEAL_TEMPLATE_v0_1.md
• 2026-05-01: Phase 4 minimum runtime package delivered:
  • runtime/OCT_APPEND_ONLY_TRAJECTORY_SCHEMA_v0_1.json
  • runtime/OCT_PREREG_SEAL_SCHEMA_v0_1.json
  • runtime/check_gate_compliance.py
  • compliance report generated: runtime/compliance_report_v0_1.json
• 2026-05-05: Cycle 6 launch package published (A01 real-pipeline promotion path):
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_OVERVIEW_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_A01_REAL_PIPELINES_SPEC_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_EXECUTION_AND_REJECT_RULES_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_BENCHMARK_INDEPENDENCE_PROTOCOL_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_EXTERNAL_AUDIT_PLAN_v0_1.md
  • CYCLE_6_2026-05-05/CYCLE_6_PREREG_SEAL_TEMPLATE_v0_1.md
  • RUNBOOK_CYCLE6_EXECUTION_v0_1.md