fix(author): unify the bootstrap and lock_issue issue-lock contract (Closes #953)

gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree wrote a lock no downstream author
operation accepts, then directed the author straight to implementation. Once
the branch carried commits, heartbeat, re-lock, exact-owner renewal, and the
#447 create-PR guard all refused simultaneously and no sanctioned recovery
path remained eligible.

Each of those gates is individually correct. The defect was that two writers
disagreed about what a lock is.

- Add author_lock_contract as the single canonical definition: claimant,
  work_lease, lock_provenance, generation, and an explicit expiration state.
  Both gitea_lock_issue and bootstrap now build through it.
- Promote issue_lock_store.lock_claimant to the one shared claimant reader and
  use it in the ownership check, so a claimant recorded at the lock top level
  is read rather than refused. The values are still compared against
  server-resolved identity and profile, so no legacy placement grants anything
  the canonical placement would not.
- Represent missing expiration explicitly. An absent expires_at previously read
  as "not yet expired", leaving a malformed lock permanently non-expiring and
  permanently ineligible for #760 renewal.
- Bootstrap reads its lock back and verifies it structurally before reporting
  success. A partial lock fails closed while the worktree is still
  base-equivalent, names the missing fields, and never reports
  implementation_allowed. Its exact_next_action now matches the state returned.
- Add gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock for locks already written by the
  old bootstrap, including those whose branches carry pushed commits. It never
  moves, resets, or rewinds a branch, never requires base-equivalence, never
  pushes or opens a PR, and touches only the target lock. It proves repository,
  issue, claimant username and profile, branch, worktree, registration, and
  head before writing, refuses healthy foreign-owned locks, and mints
  provenance and authorization server-side.
- Add gitea_inspect_issue_lock_contract, a strictly read-only surface.
- Document the required ordering and the recovery path.

The #447 provenance guard is unchanged and the sanctioned source set was not
widened: bootstrap now satisfies the guard rather than the guard being relaxed
to admit bootstrap.

Tests: 61 new cases covering the canonical schema, immediate heartbeat,
renewal before and after commits, the create_pr guard, executable next actions,
partial and malformed and missing-expiration and expired and same-owner and
foreign-owner and legacy locks, recovery isolation, read-only inspection, and
the full bootstrap-implement-commit-push-create_pr regression against isolated
fixtures.

Full suite at head: 28 failed, 5753 passed, 6 skipped, 1042 subtests.
Full suite at base 82d71b77: 28 failed, 5692 passed, 6 skipped, 1042 subtests.
Failing test-ID sets are identical, so there are zero regressions; the +61
passes are this issue's new suite.

Issue #949 was preserved and not recovered: its branch remains at
92615f474b and its worktree, lock, and PR state
were not touched. The #949-shaped regression uses isolated fixtures only.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>

author_issue_bootstrap.py

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import shutil
 import subprocess
 from typing import Any, Mapping
 
+import author_lock_contract
 import author_mutation_worktree
 import control_plane_db
 import issue_lock_store
@@ -1198,26 +1199,31 @@ def bootstrap_author_issue_worktree(
         save_phase_journal(journal, journal_dir=lock_dir)
 
         # Phase 6: STATE_ESTABLISHED — Issue Lock Acquisition
+        #
+        # #953: this used to hand-build a thinner record — claimant at the top
+        # level, no work_lease, no lock_provenance, no expiry — which every
+        # downstream reader then refused. It now builds through the one shared
+        # canonical contract, so the lock bootstrap writes is the same lock
+        # gitea_lock_issue writes.
         from datetime import datetime, timezone
         try:
-            lock_data = {
+            lock_data = author_lock_contract.build_canonical_issue_lock(
-                "remote": remote,
+                issue_number=issue_number,
-                "org": org or "Scaled-Tech-Consulting",
+                branch_name=target_branch,
-                "repo": repo or "Gitea-Tools",
+                worktree_path=target_worktree,
-                "issue_number": issue_number,
+                remote=remote,
-                "branch": target_branch,
+                org=org or "Scaled-Tech-Consulting",
-                "branch_name": target_branch,
+                repo=repo or "Gitea-Tools",
-                "worktree_path": target_worktree,
+                identity=identity,
-                "owner_session": session,
+                profile=profile,
-                "claimant": {
+                tool="gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree",
-                    "username": identity,
+                source=author_lock_contract.SOURCE_BOOTSTRAP,
-                    "profile": profile,
+                owner_session=session,
-                },
+                assignment_id=assignment_id,
-                "assignment_id": assignment_id,
+                lease_id=lease_id,
-                "lease_id": lease_id,
+                expected_base_sha=live_master_sha,
-                "expected_base_sha": live_master_sha,
+            )
-                "created_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
+            lock_data["created_at"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
-            }
             journal.setdefault("pending_creations", {})["lock"] = True
             journal["artifacts_created"]["lock_created"] = True
             save_phase_journal(journal, journal_dir=lock_dir)
@@ -1235,9 +1241,42 @@ def bootstrap_author_issue_worktree(
                 "exact_next_action": "Verify lease/assignment state and retry.",
             }
 
+        # ── #953 AC7: verify the lock that was actually written ──
+        # Reporting "lock_created: true" and then directing the author to
+        # implement is what produced the unrecoverable state: by the time any
+        # reader refused the lock, the branch already carried commits and every
+        # sanctioned recovery path had become ineligible. The lock is therefore
+        # read back from disk and structurally verified *before* this function
+        # can report success, and a partial lock fails closed here — while the
+        # branch is still base-equivalent and recovery is still cheap.
+        written_lock = issue_lock_store.read_lock_file(lock_res)
+        contract = author_lock_contract.assess_lock_contract(written_lock)
+        if not contract["canonical"]:
+            journal["failure_reason"] = author_lock_contract.format_contract_refusal(
+                contract
+            )
+            run_compensating_recovery(journal, root, journal_dir=lock_dir)
+            return {
+                "success": False,
+                "reason_code": "incomplete_issue_lock_contract",
+                "message": author_lock_contract.format_contract_refusal(contract),
+                "issue_number": issue_number,
+                "branch_name": target_branch,
+                "worktree_path": target_worktree,
+                "lock_state": lock_res,
+                "lock_contract": contract,
+                "missing_fields": contract["missing_fields"],
+                "implementation_allowed": False,
+                # AC15: never strand a branch or worktree without a structured
+                # recovery recommendation.
+                "exact_next_action": author_lock_contract.recommended_action(contract),
+                "phase_journal": journal,
+            }
+
         journal["phases"][PHASE_6_STATE_ESTABLISHED] = {
             "status": "completed",
             "lock": lock_res,
+            "lock_contract": contract["contract"],
         }
         journal["phases"][PHASE_7_TRANSITION_COMPLETED] = {
             "status": "completed",
@@ -1261,9 +1300,16 @@ def bootstrap_author_issue_worktree(
             "assignment_id": assignment_id,
             "idempotency_key": key,
             "lock_state": lock_res,
+            "lock_contract": contract,
+            # #953 AC6: the canonical ownership token for this claim. Never null
+            # on a successful bootstrap — it is the fencing token every
+            # subsequent heartbeat and renewal is checked against.
+            "task_session_id": contract["task_session_id"],
+            "implementation_allowed": True,
             "phase_journal": journal,
-            "exact_next_action": (
+            # #953 AC5: executable under the state actually returned. The lock
-                "Call gitea_whoami, then gitea_resolve_task_capability(task='work_issue') "
+            # has been read back and verified canonical, so proceeding to
-                "and proceed with author implementation in the bootstrapped worktree."
+            # implementation is genuinely the correct next step here — which is
-            ),
+            # exactly what the old unconditional wording could not promise.
+            "exact_next_action": author_lock_contract.recommended_action(contract),
         }

author_lock_contract.py

@@ -0,0 +1,442 @@
+"""One canonical author issue-lock contract shared by every writer (#953).
+
+Before this module, ``gitea_lock_issue`` and
+``gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree`` each wrote their own lock record.
+``gitea_lock_issue`` wrote the canonical shape — ``work_lease`` carrying the
+claimant plus a sanctioned ``lock_provenance`` — while bootstrap wrote a thinner
+record with the claimant at the lock top level, ``lease_id: null``, and no
+``work_lease``, ``lock_provenance``, or expiry at all.
+
+Every downstream reader was written against the canonical shape, so a lock that
+bootstrap reported as successfully created was simultaneously:
+
+* un-heartbeatable — the ownership check read the claimant only from
+  ``work_lease.claimant``;
+* un-renewable — expiry is read only from ``work_lease.expires_at``, so a
+  missing lease read as "never expires", and #760 exact-owner renewal only ever
+  assesses an *expired* lease;
+* un-re-lockable — the branch had by then advanced past its base;
+* and rejected by the #447 create-PR provenance guard.
+
+Each of those gates is individually correct. The defect was that two writers
+disagreed about what a lock *is*. This module is the single definition, and both
+writers now build through it.
+
+Nothing here weakens a guard. ``build_sanctioned_lock_provenance`` remains the
+only provenance source, provenance is never accepted from a caller, and the
+#447 guard is untouched — this module simply makes bootstrap satisfy it.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+from typing import Any, Mapping
+
+import issue_lock_provenance
+import issue_lock_store
+import lease_policy
+
+# Bootstrap writes through the same sanctioned source as gitea_lock_issue: the
+# lock it produces *is* a canonical lock, not a second dialect that readers must
+# learn. Adding a distinct source would have required widening
+# SANCTIONED_LOCK_SOURCES, which is exactly the #447 weakening this issue's
+# safety requirements forbid.
+SOURCE_BOOTSTRAP = issue_lock_provenance.SOURCE_LOCK_ISSUE
+
+#: Recovery of an incomplete bootstrap lock (#953 AC8-AC11).
+SOURCE_BOOTSTRAP_LOCK_RECOVERY = "gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock"
+
+#: Top-level keys every canonical author issue lock must carry.
+REQUIRED_LOCK_FIELDS: tuple[str, ...] = (
+    "remote",
+    "org",
+    "repo",
+    "issue_number",
+    "branch_name",
+    "worktree_path",
+    "work_lease",
+    "lock_provenance",
+)
+
+#: Keys every canonical ``work_lease`` must carry.
+REQUIRED_WORK_LEASE_FIELDS: tuple[str, ...] = (
+    "operation_type",
+    "issue_number",
+    "branch",
+    "worktree_path",
+    "claimant",
+    "created_at",
+    "expires_at",
+    "last_heartbeat_at",
+    "task_session_id",
+    "lifecycle_version",
+)
+
+# ── Explicit expiration states (AC12) ──
+# The bug this replaces: a lock with no recorded expiry produced
+# ``is_lease_expired() -> False``, which reads as "not yet expired" and made the
+# lock permanently non-expiring *and* permanently ineligible for the renewal
+# path, which only ever assesses an expired lease. "Absent" and "in the future"
+# are different facts and are now named differently.
+EXPIRATION_RECORDED = "recorded"
+EXPIRATION_MISSING = "missing"
+EXPIRATION_UNPARSEABLE = "unparseable"
+
+#: Structural verdicts returned by :func:`assess_lock_contract`.
+CONTRACT_CANONICAL = "canonical"
+CONTRACT_INCOMPLETE = "incomplete"
+CONTRACT_LEGACY = "legacy"
+CONTRACT_ABSENT = "absent"
+
+
+def _text(value: Any) -> str:
+    return str(value or "").strip()
+
+
+def now_utc() -> datetime:
+    return datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+
+
+def format_timestamp(value: datetime) -> str:
+    """Serialize in the durable ``...Z`` form already used on disk."""
+    return (
+        value.astimezone(timezone.utc)
+        .replace(microsecond=0)
+        .isoformat()
+        .replace("+00:00", "Z")
+    )
+
+
+def lock_claimant(lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Read the claimant from either canonical or legacy placement.
+
+    ``work_lease.claimant`` is canonical and is preferred. A top-level
+    ``claimant`` is the legacy/bootstrap placement and is accepted as a
+    fallback (AC14) — three separate readers already disagreed about this
+    (``issue_lock_store``, ``issue_lock_renewal``, ``issue_lock_recovery``),
+    which is why it now lives in one place.
+
+    Reading a legacy placement is *not* a widening: every caller still compares
+    the values it returns against server-resolved identity and profile. This
+    only decides where to look, never whether ownership is proven.
+
+    Delegates to ``issue_lock_store.lock_claimant`` rather than reimplementing
+    the rule. A second copy here would be a fourth reader that could drift from
+    the other three, which is the exact failure #953 exists to end. It lives in
+    the store because ``author_lock_contract`` imports the store, so defining it
+    here would make that import circular.
+    """
+    recorded = issue_lock_store.lock_claimant(dict(lock) if isinstance(lock, Mapping) else None)
+    return {
+        "username": _text(recorded.get("username")),
+        "profile": _text(recorded.get("profile")),
+    }
+
+
+def claimant_placement(lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None) -> str:
+    """Where the claimant was found: ``work_lease``, ``top_level``, or ``absent``."""
+    if not isinstance(lock, Mapping):
+        return "absent"
+    lease = lock.get("work_lease")
+    if isinstance(lease, Mapping) and isinstance(lease.get("claimant"), Mapping):
+        return "work_lease"
+    if isinstance(lock.get("claimant"), Mapping):
+        return "top_level"
+    return "absent"
+
+
+def build_claimant(*, username: str | None, profile: str | None) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Build the canonical claimant pair from server-resolved values."""
+    return {"username": _text(username), "profile": _text(profile)}
+
+
+def build_author_issue_work_lease(
+    *,
+    issue_number: int,
+    branch_name: str,
+    worktree_path: str,
+    claimant: Mapping[str, Any],
+    task_session_id: str | None = None,
+    created: datetime | None = None,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Build the canonical author ``work_lease``.
+
+    The single definition behind both writers. The TTL comes from the central
+    policy rather than a literal, and the window slides from the last valid
+    heartbeat (#790), so an abandoned task releases its claim within one TTL.
+    """
+    started = created or now_utc()
+    policy = lease_policy.policy_for(lease_policy.TASK_CLASS_AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK)
+    expires = started + timedelta(minutes=policy.initial_ttl_minutes)
+    session_id = _text(task_session_id) or issue_lock_store.mint_task_session_id(
+        issue_lock_store.AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK_LEASE
+    )
+    return {
+        "operation_type": issue_lock_store.AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK_LEASE,
+        "issue_number": int(issue_number),
+        "pr_number": None,
+        "branch": branch_name,
+        "worktree_path": worktree_path,
+        "claimant": dict(claimant),
+        "created_at": format_timestamp(started),
+        "expires_at": format_timestamp(expires),
+        "last_heartbeat_at": format_timestamp(started),
+        # #790 AC-N1: the ownership key for this task, distinct from the
+        # recorded PID, which is the shared daemon and identifies no task.
+        "task_session_id": session_id,
+        # #790 AC-N8: the explicit lifecycle marker. Its absence — never a
+        # timestamp comparison — is what makes a lock legacy.
+        "lifecycle_version": lease_policy.LIFECYCLE_HEARTBEAT_V1,
+        "heartbeat_count": 1,
+    }
+
+
+def build_canonical_issue_lock(
+    *,
+    issue_number: int,
+    branch_name: str,
+    worktree_path: str,
+    remote: str,
+    org: str,
+    repo: str,
+    identity: str | None,
+    profile: str | None,
+    tool: str,
+    source: str = issue_lock_provenance.SOURCE_LOCK_ISSUE,
+    owner_session: str | None = None,
+    assignment_id: str | None = None,
+    lease_id: str | None = None,
+    expected_base_sha: str | None = None,
+    task_session_id: str | None = None,
+    created: datetime | None = None,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Build a complete canonical lock record.
+
+    ``tool`` and ``source`` are server-supplied. There is deliberately no
+    parameter through which a caller could inject provenance: the #953 safety
+    requirements forbid caller-manufactured provenance, so provenance is always
+    minted here from ``build_sanctioned_lock_provenance``.
+    """
+    claimant = build_claimant(username=identity, profile=profile)
+    work_lease = build_author_issue_work_lease(
+        issue_number=issue_number,
+        branch_name=branch_name,
+        worktree_path=worktree_path,
+        claimant=claimant,
+        task_session_id=task_session_id,
+        created=created,
+    )
+    record: dict[str, Any] = {
+        "remote": remote,
+        "org": org,
+        "repo": repo,
+        "issue_number": int(issue_number),
+        "branch": branch_name,
+        "branch_name": branch_name,
+        "worktree_path": worktree_path,
+        "work_lease": work_lease,
+        "lock_provenance": issue_lock_provenance.build_sanctioned_lock_provenance(
+            tool=tool,
+            source=source,
+            claimant=claimant,
+        ),
+    }
+    if owner_session is not None:
+        record["owner_session"] = owner_session
+    if assignment_id is not None:
+        record["assignment_id"] = assignment_id
+    # #953 AC6: a null lease id is recorded only when no workflow lease was
+    # allocated for this bootstrap. The task-session identifier in the
+    # work_lease is what downstream ownership checks fence on, and it is never
+    # null on a canonical lock.
+    if lease_id is not None:
+        record["lease_id"] = lease_id
+    if expected_base_sha is not None:
+        record["expected_base_sha"] = expected_base_sha
+    return record
+
+
+def expiration_state(lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Classify a lock's recorded expiry explicitly (AC12).
+
+    Distinguishes "no expiry was ever recorded" from "an expiry was recorded
+    and is still in the future". Collapsing those two into a single ``False``
+    from ``is_lease_expired`` is what let a malformed lock be treated as
+    permanently live and simultaneously never renewable.
+    """
+    if not isinstance(lock, Mapping):
+        return {"state": EXPIRATION_MISSING, "expires_at": None, "expired": None}
+    lease = lock.get("work_lease")
+    raw = lease.get("expires_at") if isinstance(lease, Mapping) else None
+    text = _text(raw)
+    if not text:
+        return {"state": EXPIRATION_MISSING, "expires_at": None, "expired": None}
+    try:
+        parsed = datetime.fromisoformat(text.replace("Z", "+00:00")).astimezone(
+            timezone.utc
+        )
+    except ValueError:
+        return {"state": EXPIRATION_UNPARSEABLE, "expires_at": text, "expired": None}
+    return {
+        "state": EXPIRATION_RECORDED,
+        "expires_at": text,
+        "expired": parsed <= now_utc(),
+    }
+
+
+def missing_contract_fields(lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None) -> list[str]:
+    """Name every canonical field a lock does not carry (AC7)."""
+    if not isinstance(lock, Mapping):
+        return ["<no lock record>"]
+    missing: list[str] = []
+    for field in REQUIRED_LOCK_FIELDS:
+        value = lock.get(field)
+        if value is None or (isinstance(value, str) and not value.strip()):
+            missing.append(field)
+    lease = lock.get("work_lease")
+    if not isinstance(lease, Mapping):
+        if "work_lease" not in missing:
+            missing.append("work_lease")
+    else:
+        for field in REQUIRED_WORK_LEASE_FIELDS:
+            value = lease.get(field)
+            if value is None or (isinstance(value, str) and not value.strip()):
+                missing.append(f"work_lease.{field}")
+    provenance = lock.get("lock_provenance")
+    if isinstance(provenance, Mapping):
+        if (
+            _text(provenance.get("source"))
+            not in issue_lock_provenance.SANCTIONED_LOCK_SOURCES
+        ):
+            missing.append("lock_provenance.source (not sanctioned)")
+        if not _text(provenance.get("written_by_tool")):
+            missing.append("lock_provenance.written_by_tool")
+    claimant = lock_claimant(lock)
+    if not claimant["username"]:
+        missing.append("claimant.username")
+    if not claimant["profile"]:
+        missing.append("claimant.profile")
+    return missing
+
+
+def assess_lock_contract(lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Structural, read-only verdict on a durable lock record (AC7, AC16).
+
+    Pure inspection: it reads the record it is handed and mutates nothing —
+    no lock, lease, branch, worktree, issue, or PR. Callers use it both to
+    verify a lock they just wrote and to report on one they found.
+    """
+    if not isinstance(lock, Mapping) or not lock:
+        return {
+            "contract": CONTRACT_ABSENT,
+            "canonical": False,
+            "missing_fields": ["<no lock record>"],
+            "claimant": {"username": "", "profile": ""},
+            "claimant_placement": "absent",
+            "expiration": {
+                "state": EXPIRATION_MISSING,
+                "expires_at": None,
+                "expired": None,
+            },
+            "heartbeatable": False,
+            "create_pr_eligible": False,
+            "lock_generation": None,
+            "task_session_id": None,
+            "reasons": ["no durable lock record"],
+        }
+
+    missing = missing_contract_fields(lock)
+    claimant = lock_claimant(lock)
+    placement = claimant_placement(lock)
+    expiration = expiration_state(lock)
+    provenance_check = issue_lock_provenance.assess_lock_file_for_create_pr(dict(lock))
+
+    # Canonical means: every required field present, the claimant in the
+    # canonical placement, an expiry actually recorded, and the untouched #447
+    # guard satisfied.
+    canonical = (
+        not missing
+        and placement == "work_lease"
+        and expiration["state"] == EXPIRATION_RECORDED
+        and bool(provenance_check.get("proven"))
+    )
+    if canonical:
+        contract = CONTRACT_CANONICAL
+    elif placement == "top_level" and claimant["username"] and claimant["profile"]:
+        contract = CONTRACT_LEGACY
+    else:
+        contract = CONTRACT_INCOMPLETE
+
+    reasons: list[str] = []
+    if missing:
+        reasons.append("missing canonical fields: " + ", ".join(missing))
+    if placement == "top_level":
+        reasons.append(
+            "claimant recorded at the lock top level rather than in work_lease "
+            "(legacy/bootstrap placement)"
+        )
+    if expiration["state"] == EXPIRATION_MISSING:
+        reasons.append(
+            "no expiration recorded; the lock is neither expirable nor renewable "
+            "until it is upgraded"
+        )
+    elif expiration["state"] == EXPIRATION_UNPARSEABLE:
+        reasons.append(f"unparseable expires_at '{expiration['expires_at']}'")
+    if provenance_check.get("block"):
+        reasons.extend(provenance_check.get("reasons") or [])
+
+    # Heartbeat needs the claimant pair (from either placement, post-fix) plus a
+    # task-session identifier to fence on.
+    lease = lock.get("work_lease")
+    task_session_id = (
+        _text(lease.get("task_session_id")) if isinstance(lease, Mapping) else ""
+    )
+    heartbeatable = bool(
+        claimant["username"] and claimant["profile"] and task_session_id
+    )
+
+    return {
+        "contract": contract,
+        "canonical": canonical,
+        "missing_fields": missing,
+        "claimant": claimant,
+        "claimant_placement": placement,
+        "expiration": expiration,
+        "heartbeatable": heartbeatable,
+        "create_pr_eligible": bool(provenance_check.get("proven")),
+        "lock_generation": lock.get("lock_generation"),
+        "task_session_id": task_session_id or None,
+        "reasons": reasons,
+    }
+
+
+def format_contract_refusal(assessment: Mapping[str, Any]) -> str:
+    """Human-readable refusal naming exactly what the lock is missing."""
+    missing = ", ".join(assessment.get("missing_fields") or []) or "unknown fields"
+    return (
+        "Issue lock contract incomplete (#953): "
+        f"{missing}. The lock cannot be heartbeated, renewed, or accepted by "
+        "gitea_create_pr in this state (fail closed)"
+    )
+
+
+def recommended_action(assessment: Mapping[str, Any]) -> str:
+    """The one executable next step for a lock in this state (AC5, AC15)."""
+    contract = assessment.get("contract")
+    if contract == CONTRACT_CANONICAL:
+        return (
+            "Lock is canonical. Call gitea_whoami, then "
+            "gitea_resolve_task_capability(task='work_issue'), then proceed with "
+            "author implementation in the bootstrapped worktree."
+        )
+    if contract == CONTRACT_ABSENT:
+        return (
+            "No durable lock exists. Call gitea_lock_issue for this issue and "
+            "branch before writing any implementation bytes."
+        )
+    return (
+        "Do not begin implementation. Call "
+        "gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock for this exact issue, branch, "
+        "and worktree to upgrade the lock to the canonical contract, or "
+        "gitea_lock_issue while the worktree is still base-equivalent."
+    )

bootstrap_lock_recovery.py

@@ -0,0 +1,304 @@
+"""Target-specific recovery for incomplete bootstrap issue locks (#953).
+
+The situation this exists for: ``gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree``
+reported success, wrote an incomplete lock, and told the author to implement.
+The author did — legitimately, following the tool's own reported next action —
+and the branch now carries real committed and pushed work. At that point every
+pre-existing recovery path is simultaneously ineligible:
+
+* heartbeat refuses, because the claimant is not where it looks;
+* ``gitea_lock_issue`` refuses, because the branch is no longer base-equivalent;
+* #760 exact-owner renewal never engages, because a lock with no recorded
+  expiry is never *expired*;
+* the #447 create-PR guard refuses, because there is no provenance.
+
+Distinct from every neighbouring path: #753 ``issue_lock_recovery`` requires a
+dead owner PID, #760 ``issue_lock_renewal`` requires an *expired* lease, and
+#442 ``issue_lock_adoption`` decides branch adoption. None of them addresses a
+lock that is structurally incomplete and therefore never expires at all.
+
+**What this will not do.** It never moves, resets, or rewinds a branch, and
+never requires base-equivalence — the committed work is the thing being
+preserved. It never pushes and never opens a pull request. It touches only the
+one lock file named by (remote, org, repo, issue). It accepts no caller-supplied
+provenance and no caller-supplied authorization flag; both are minted
+server-side. It refuses a healthy foreign-owned lock outright, and a matching
+username alone is never accepted as proof of ownership — the profile must match
+too, and the lock's recorded binding must agree with the observed branch,
+worktree, and head.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+from typing import Any, Mapping
+
+import author_lock_contract
+import issue_lock_store
+
+#: Refusal codes, so callers can branch on cause rather than parse prose.
+REFUSAL_NO_LOCK = "no_durable_lock"
+REFUSAL_ALREADY_CANONICAL = "already_canonical"
+REFUSAL_FOREIGN_CLAIMANT = "foreign_claimant"
+REFUSAL_HEALTHY_FOREIGN = "healthy_foreign_lock"
+REFUSAL_IDENTITY_UNRESOLVED = "identity_unresolved"
+REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH = "binding_mismatch"
+REFUSAL_WORKTREE_INVALID = "worktree_invalid"
+REFUSAL_HEAD_MISMATCH = "head_mismatch"
+
+
+def _text(value: Any) -> str:
+    return str(value or "").strip()
+
+
+def _same_realpath(left: str | None, right: str | None) -> bool:
+    lhs, rhs = _text(left), _text(right)
+    if not lhs or not rhs:
+        return False
+    try:
+        return os.path.realpath(lhs) == os.path.realpath(rhs)
+    except OSError:
+        return lhs == rhs
+
+
+def assess_bootstrap_lock_recovery(
+    existing_lock: Mapping[str, Any] | None,
+    *,
+    issue_number: int,
+    branch_name: str,
+    worktree_path: str,
+    remote: str,
+    org: str,
+    repo: str,
+    identity: str | None,
+    profile: str | None,
+    observed_head: str | None,
+    declared_head: str | None,
+    worktree_exists: bool,
+    worktree_registered: bool,
+    current_branch: str | None,
+    now: Any = None,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Decide whether this exact lock may be upgraded by this exact caller.
+
+    Pure: every input is an observation the caller already made, and nothing
+    here reads or writes the filesystem, git, or Gitea. That is what makes the
+    same decision testable in isolation and reusable by the read-only
+    inspection surface, which must not mutate anything (AC16).
+
+    Returns a dict with ``recovery_sanctioned`` plus the full evidence set. A
+    refusal never raises — it reports, so the caller can surface exactly which
+    piece of evidence was missing.
+    """
+    reasons: list[str] = []
+    refusal_code: str | None = None
+
+    contract = author_lock_contract.assess_lock_contract(existing_lock)
+
+    if not existing_lock:
+        return {
+            "recovery_sanctioned": False,
+            "refusal_code": REFUSAL_NO_LOCK,
+            "reasons": [
+                f"no durable issue lock exists for issue #{issue_number}; there is "
+                "nothing to recover (fail closed)"
+            ],
+            "contract": contract,
+            "evidence": {},
+            "expected_generation": None,
+        }
+
+    active_identity = _text(identity)
+    active_profile = _text(profile)
+    recorded = author_lock_contract.lock_claimant(existing_lock)
+    freshness = issue_lock_store.assess_lock_freshness(dict(existing_lock), now=now)
+    generation = issue_lock_store.lock_generation(existing_lock)
+
+    evidence: dict[str, Any] = {
+        "recorded_claimant": recorded,
+        "active_identity": active_identity,
+        "active_profile": active_profile,
+        "recorded_branch": existing_lock.get("branch_name"),
+        "recorded_worktree": existing_lock.get("worktree_path"),
+        "recorded_owner_session": existing_lock.get("owner_session"),
+        "recorded_generation": generation,
+        "recorded_remote": existing_lock.get("remote"),
+        "recorded_org": existing_lock.get("org"),
+        "recorded_repo": existing_lock.get("repo"),
+        "observed_head": _text(observed_head),
+        "declared_head": _text(declared_head),
+        "current_branch": _text(current_branch),
+        "worktree_exists": bool(worktree_exists),
+        "worktree_registered": bool(worktree_registered),
+        "freshness": freshness,
+        "claimant_placement": contract.get("claimant_placement"),
+        "expiration_state": contract.get("expiration", {}).get("state"),
+    }
+
+    # ── Repository and issue identity (AC10) ──
+    if _text(existing_lock.get("remote")) != _text(remote):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"recorded remote '{existing_lock.get('remote')}' does not match '{remote}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+    if _text(existing_lock.get("org")) != _text(org):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"recorded org '{existing_lock.get('org')}' does not match '{org}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+    if _text(existing_lock.get("repo")) != _text(repo):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"recorded repo '{existing_lock.get('repo')}' does not match '{repo}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+    if existing_lock.get("issue_number") != issue_number:
+        reasons.append(
+            f"lock targets issue #{existing_lock.get('issue_number')}, not "
+            f"#{issue_number}"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+
+    # ── Branch and worktree binding (AC10) ──
+    if _text(existing_lock.get("branch_name")) != _text(branch_name):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"recorded branch '{existing_lock.get('branch_name')}' does not match "
+            f"'{branch_name}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+    if not _same_realpath(existing_lock.get("worktree_path"), worktree_path):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"recorded worktree '{existing_lock.get('worktree_path')}' does not "
+            f"match '{worktree_path}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_BINDING_MISMATCH
+
+    # ── The worktree is real, registered, and on the branch (AC10) ──
+    # Deliberately no base-equivalence requirement and no constraint on how far
+    # the branch has advanced: the whole point is that it already carries the
+    # author's legitimate commits (AC9).
+    if not worktree_exists:
+        reasons.append(f"declared worktree '{worktree_path}' does not exist")
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_WORKTREE_INVALID
+    if not worktree_registered:
+        reasons.append(f"worktree '{worktree_path}' is not a registered git worktree")
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_WORKTREE_INVALID
+    if _text(current_branch) != _text(branch_name):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"worktree is on branch '{_text(current_branch) or 'unknown'}', not "
+            f"'{branch_name}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_WORKTREE_INVALID
+
+    # ── Current head fencing (AC10) ──
+    # The caller names the commit it believes it is recovering. A mismatch means
+    # the worktree moved under the caller, so the decision is stale.
+    if not _text(observed_head):
+        reasons.append("could not observe the worktree head")
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_HEAD_MISMATCH
+    elif _text(declared_head) and _text(declared_head) != _text(observed_head):
+        reasons.append(
+            f"declared head '{_text(declared_head)}' does not match observed head "
+            f"'{_text(observed_head)}'"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_HEAD_MISMATCH
+
+    # ── Ownership (AC10, AC11) ──
+    # A matching username alone is never sufficient: the profile must match too,
+    # and both are compared against server-resolved values the caller cannot set.
+    if not active_identity or not active_profile:
+        reasons.append(
+            "active identity and profile could not both be resolved; ownership "
+            "cannot be proven"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_IDENTITY_UNRESOLVED
+    if not recorded["username"] or not recorded["profile"]:
+        reasons.append(
+            "durable lock does not record both a claimant username and profile"
+        )
+        refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_FOREIGN_CLAIMANT
+    elif (
+        recorded["username"] != active_identity
+        or recorded["profile"] != active_profile
+    ):
+        # AC11: a foreign-owned lock is never recoverable through this path,
+        # healthy or not. The healthy case is reported distinctly so the refusal
+        # is legible, but both refuse.
+        if freshness.get("live"):
+            reasons.append(
+                f"lock is owned by a healthy foreign claimant "
+                f"'{recorded['username']}/{recorded['profile']}'; takeover is not "
+                "a recovery path"
+            )
+            refusal_code = REFUSAL_HEALTHY_FOREIGN
+        else:
+            reasons.append(
+                f"lock claimant '{recorded['username']}/{recorded['profile']}' "
+                f"does not match active '{active_identity}/{active_profile}'"
+            )
+            refusal_code = refusal_code or REFUSAL_FOREIGN_CLAIMANT
+
+    # ── Nothing to recover ──
+    # A lock that is already canonical is left strictly alone. Rewriting it would
+    # mint a new task-session identifier and invalidate the heartbeat token the
+    # legitimate owner is already using.
+    if contract.get("canonical") and not reasons:
+        return {
+            "recovery_sanctioned": False,
+            "refusal_code": REFUSAL_ALREADY_CANONICAL,
+            "reasons": [
+                "lock already satisfies the canonical contract; no recovery is "
+                "required"
+            ],
+            "contract": contract,
+            "evidence": evidence,
+            "expected_generation": generation,
+        }
+
+    sanctioned = not reasons
+    return {
+        "recovery_sanctioned": sanctioned,
+        "refusal_code": None if sanctioned else refusal_code,
+        "reasons": reasons,
+        "contract": contract,
+        "evidence": evidence,
+        "expected_generation": generation,
+    }
+
+
+def build_recovery_record(
+    assessment: Mapping[str, Any],
+    *,
+    recovered_at: str,
+    new_task_session_id: str,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    """Auditable record of the ownership and generation transition (AC10).
+
+    A recovered lock must never read as an original claim, so both sides of the
+    transition are preserved: what the incomplete lock recorded, and what
+    replaced it.
+    """
+    evidence = dict(assessment.get("evidence") or {})
+    contract = dict(assessment.get("contract") or {})
+    return {
+        "recovery_kind": "incomplete_bootstrap_lock",
+        "recovered_at": recovered_at,
+        "prior_contract": contract.get("contract"),
+        "prior_missing_fields": list(contract.get("missing_fields") or []),
+        "prior_claimant_placement": evidence.get("claimant_placement"),
+        "prior_expiration_state": evidence.get("expiration_state"),
+        "prior_generation": evidence.get("recorded_generation"),
+        "prior_owner_session": evidence.get("recorded_owner_session"),
+        "prior_freshness": (evidence.get("freshness") or {}).get("status"),
+        "replacement_task_session_id": new_task_session_id,
+        "preserved_head": evidence.get("observed_head"),
+        "branch_reset": False,
+        "base_equivalence_required": False,
+    }
+
+
+def format_recovery_refusal(assessment: Mapping[str, Any]) -> str:
+    reasons = "; ".join(
+        assessment.get("reasons") or ["unknown bootstrap lock recovery refusal"]
+    )
+    code = assessment.get("refusal_code") or "refused"
+    return f"Bootstrap lock recovery refused ({code}): {reasons} (fail closed)"

docs/author-issue-lock-contract.md

@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+# The canonical author issue-lock contract (#953)
+
+Every author issue lock has exactly one shape. Both writers —
+`gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree` and `gitea_lock_issue` — build it
+through `author_lock_contract.build_canonical_issue_lock`, and every reader
+consumes that same shape.
+
+Before #953 the two writers disagreed. `gitea_lock_issue` wrote the canonical
+record; bootstrap wrote a thinner one with the claimant at the lock top level,
+`lease_id: null`, and no `work_lease`, `lock_provenance`, or expiry. Because
+every reader was written against the canonical shape, a lock that bootstrap
+reported as successfully created could not be heartbeated, renewed, re-locked,
+or accepted by `gitea_create_pr`. Each of those gates was individually correct;
+the defect was that two writers disagreed about what a lock *is*.
+
+## Required ordering
+
+**Finalize the lock before writing any implementation bytes.** This ordering is
+what keeps recovery cheap: while the worktree is still base-equivalent, a lock
+problem can be fixed by simply calling `gitea_lock_issue` again. Once the branch
+carries commits, base-equivalence is gone and the ordinary re-lock path is no
+longer available.
+
+1. `gitea_whoami` — resolve identity and profile.
+2. `gitea_resolve_task_capability(task='work_issue')`.
+3. `gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree` — creates the branch, the registered
+   worktree under `branches/`, and a **canonical** lock. It reads the lock back
+   and verifies it structurally before reporting success; a partial lock fails
+   closed here, with the missing fields named, and never reports
+   `implementation_allowed: true`.
+4. `gitea_heartbeat_issue_lock` — prove the lock is usable, using the
+   `task_session_id` bootstrap returned.
+5. Implement, commit, push.
+6. `gitea_create_pr`.
+
+If bootstrap returns `success: false` with
+`reason_code: incomplete_issue_lock_contract`, **do not implement**. Its
+`exact_next_action` names the executable recovery step. Bootstrap's reported
+next action always matches the state it actually returned.
+
+## The contract
+
+A canonical lock carries every field in
+`author_lock_contract.REQUIRED_LOCK_FIELDS`:
+
+| Field | Meaning |
+| --- | --- |
+| `remote`, `org`, `repo`, `issue_number` | repository and issue identity |
+| `branch_name`, `worktree_path` | the binding this claim owns |
+| `work_lease` | the canonical lease block, below |
+| `lock_provenance` | sanctioned source, minted server-side |
+| `lock_generation` | monotonic; every write advances it |
+
+`work_lease` carries every field in
+`author_lock_contract.REQUIRED_WORK_LEASE_FIELDS`, notably:
+
+| Field | Meaning |
+| --- | --- |
+| `claimant.{username,profile}` | **canonical** claimant placement |
+| `expires_at` | sliding TTL from `lease_policy` |
+| `last_heartbeat_at`, `heartbeat_count` | liveness evidence |
+| `task_session_id` | the ownership fencing token — never null |
+| `lifecycle_version` | `heartbeat-v1`; its absence is what makes a lock legacy |
+
+### Claimant placement and legacy compatibility
+
+`work_lease.claimant` is canonical. A top-level `claimant` is the legacy
+placement written by pre-#953 bootstrap and is still **read** — through the one
+shared reader, `issue_lock_store.lock_claimant` — so an existing lock is not
+refused for "not recording a claimant" when it plainly records one.
+
+Tolerating the placement is not a widening. Every caller still compares the
+values against server-resolved identity and profile, so a legacy placement
+grants nothing the canonical placement would not. When both are present, the
+`work_lease` copy wins: after an upgrade, a stale top-level copy must never
+decide ownership.
+
+### Expiration is explicit
+
+A lock with no recorded expiry is **not** "not yet expired". `is_lease_expired`
+returns `False` for it, which used to make such a lock permanently non-expiring
+*and* permanently ineligible for #760 exact-owner renewal, which only ever
+assesses an expired lease. `author_lock_contract.expiration_state` names the
+real fact: `recorded`, `missing`, or `unparseable`. A `missing` expiry makes the
+lock eligible for the recovery path below rather than stranding it.
+
+## Recovering an existing incomplete bootstrap lock
+
+For locks already written by the old bootstrap — including those whose branches
+already carry legitimate committed and pushed work — use:
+
+```text
+gitea_inspect_issue_lock_contract(issue_number, branch_name, worktree_path, remote=...)
+gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock(issue_number, branch_name, worktree_path, expected_head, remote=...)
+```
+
+`gitea_inspect_issue_lock_contract` is strictly read-only: it performs no lock,
+lease, branch, worktree, issue, or pull-request mutation. Use it first to see
+which fields are missing and what the recommended action is; pass `dry_run=True`
+to the recovery tool to preview the decision without writing.
+
+`gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock` upgrades that one lock to the
+canonical contract. Before writing anything it verifies:
+
+* repository (`remote`, `org`, `repo`) and issue number
+* claimant username **and** profile against the server-resolved values — a
+  matching username alone is never accepted
+* branch, worktree path, worktree existence, and worktree registration
+* the worktree is on the recorded branch
+* the observed head equals the caller's `expected_head`
+* the existing lock's generation and provenance state
+* the absence of healthy foreign ownership
+
+What it deliberately does **not** do:
+
+* it never moves, resets, or rewinds the branch, and never requires
+  base-equivalence — preserving the committed work is the entire point;
+* it never pushes and never creates a pull request;
+* it touches only the single lock file for that exact remote/org/repo/issue;
+* it accepts no caller-supplied provenance and no caller-supplied authorization
+  flag — both are minted server-side.
+
+A recovered lock records a `bootstrap_lock_recovery` block holding both sides of
+the transition — prior contract, prior missing fields, prior generation, prior
+owning session, the replacement `task_session_id`, and the preserved head — so a
+recovered claim never reads as an original one.
+
+### Refusals
+
+| `refusal_code` | Meaning |
+| --- | --- |
+| `no_durable_lock` | nothing to recover |
+| `already_canonical` | lock is fine; rewriting would invalidate a live heartbeat token |
+| `foreign_claimant` | recorded claimant is not the active identity/profile pair |
+| `healthy_foreign_lock` | a live foreign-owned lock; takeover is not a recovery path |
+| `identity_unresolved` | identity or profile could not be resolved |
+| `binding_mismatch` | repository, issue, branch, or worktree does not match |
+| `worktree_invalid` | worktree missing, unregistered, or on another branch |
+| `head_mismatch` | the worktree moved under the caller |
+
+## The #447 create-PR provenance guard is unchanged
+
+`issue_lock_provenance.assess_lock_file_for_create_pr` still requires both a
+sanctioned `lock_provenance` and a `work_lease`, and the sanctioned source set
+was **not** widened. Bootstrap writes through
+`issue_lock_provenance.SOURCE_LOCK_ISSUE` — the lock it produces *is* a
+canonical lock, not a second dialect with its own exemption. Bootstrap now
+satisfies the guard rather than the guard being relaxed to admit bootstrap.

gitea_mcp_server.py

@@ -2110,6 +2110,8 @@ import issue_lock_store  # noqa: E402
 import issue_lock_adoption  # noqa: E402
 import issue_lock_recovery  # noqa: E402
 import issue_lock_renewal  # noqa: E402
+import author_lock_contract  # noqa: E402
+import bootstrap_lock_recovery  # noqa: E402
 import dirty_orphan_worktree_recovery  # noqa: E402  # #860 dirty orphan recovery
 import dirty_same_claimant_session_rebind  # noqa: E402  # #864
 import stacked_pr_support  # noqa: E402
@@ -2658,33 +2660,17 @@ def _build_author_issue_work_lease(
     worktree_path: str,
     host: str | None,
 ) -> dict:
-    created = _work_lease_now()
+    # #953: the lease shape now lives in author_lock_contract so that bootstrap
-    # #790 Slice A: the window comes from the central policy, not a literal here.
+    # and gitea_lock_issue cannot drift apart again. The policy-derived sliding
-    # It is also now a *sliding* window — the lease lives ``initial_ttl_minutes``
+    # TTL (#790 Slice A) and the task-session ownership key (#790 AC-N1) are
-    # past its last valid heartbeat rather than a fixed four hours past its
+    # unchanged — they simply have one definition instead of two.
-    # creation, so an abandoned task stops holding the claim within one TTL.
+    return author_lock_contract.build_author_issue_work_lease(
-    policy = lease_policy.policy_for(lease_policy.TASK_CLASS_AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK)
+        issue_number=issue_number,
-    expires = created + timedelta(minutes=policy.initial_ttl_minutes)
+        branch_name=branch_name,
-    return {
+        worktree_path=worktree_path,
-        "operation_type": AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK_LEASE,
+        claimant=_work_lease_claimant(host),
-        "issue_number": issue_number,
+        created=_work_lease_now(),
-        "pr_number": None,
+    )
-        "branch": branch_name,
-        "worktree_path": worktree_path,
-        "claimant": _work_lease_claimant(host),
-        "created_at": _work_lease_timestamp(created),
-        "expires_at": _work_lease_timestamp(expires),
-        "last_heartbeat_at": _work_lease_timestamp(created),
-        # #790 AC-N1: the ownership key for this task. Distinct from the recorded
-        # PID, which is the shared daemon and identifies no individual task.
-        "task_session_id": issue_lock_store.mint_task_session_id(
-            AUTHOR_ISSUE_WORK_LEASE
-        ),
-        # #790 AC-N8: the explicit lifecycle marker. Its absence — never a
-        # timestamp comparison — is what makes a lock legacy.
-        "lifecycle_version": lease_policy.LIFECYCLE_HEARTBEAT_V1,
-        "heartbeat_count": 1,
-    }
 
 
 def _active_work_lease_block(
@@ -4954,6 +4940,355 @@ def gitea_heartbeat_issue_lock(
     return outcome
 
 
+def _observe_recovery_worktree(worktree_path: str) -> dict:
+    """Observe head, branch, existence, and registration for lock recovery.
+
+    Read-only: it runs ``git`` queries and touches nothing. Kept separate from
+    the decision so the decision stays a pure function of observations (#953).
+    """
+    observation = {
+        "worktree_exists": os.path.isdir(worktree_path),
+        "worktree_registered": False,
+        "current_branch": "",
+        "observed_head": "",
+    }
+    if not observation["worktree_exists"]:
+        return observation
+    try:
+        observation["current_branch"] = subprocess.run(
+            ["git", "-C", worktree_path, "rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "HEAD"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=False,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        observation["observed_head"] = subprocess.run(
+            ["git", "-C", worktree_path, "rev-parse", "HEAD"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=False,
+        ).stdout.strip()
+        listing = subprocess.run(
+            ["git", "-C", worktree_path, "worktree", "list", "--porcelain"],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            check=False,
+        ).stdout
+        real = os.path.realpath(worktree_path)
+        observation["worktree_registered"] = any(
+            os.path.realpath(line.split(" ", 1)[1].strip()) == real
+            for line in listing.splitlines()
+            if line.startswith("worktree ")
+        )
+    except Exception:  # fail closed: unobservable is not provable
+        return observation
+    return observation
+
+
+@mcp.tool()
+def gitea_inspect_issue_lock_contract(
+    issue_number: int,
+    branch_name: str | None = None,
+    worktree_path: str | None = None,
+    remote: str = "dadeschools",
+    host: str | None = None,
+    org: str | None = None,
+    repo: str | None = None,
+) -> dict:
+    """Inspect a durable author issue lock against the canonical contract (#953 AC8/AC16).
+
+    Strictly read-only. It performs no lock, lease, branch, worktree, issue, or
+    pull-request mutation of any kind — it reads the durable lock record and
+    reports. Use it to find out *why* a lock is being refused before choosing a
+    recovery path, and to confirm afterwards that recovery produced a canonical
+    lock.
+
+    Reports which canonical fields are missing, where the claimant is recorded
+    (``work_lease`` is canonical, top level is the legacy/bootstrap placement),
+    whether an expiration is actually recorded — as opposed to absent, which
+    used to masquerade as "not yet expired" — whether the lock can be
+    heartbeated, and whether it satisfies the untouched #447 create-PR
+    provenance guard.
+
+    Args:
+        issue_number: The issue whose lock to inspect.
+        branch_name: Optional; when given, the recovery eligibility preview is
+            evaluated against this branch.
+        worktree_path: Optional; when given, the recovery eligibility preview is
+            evaluated against this worktree.
+        remote: Known instance — 'dadeschools' or 'prgs'.
+        host: Override the Gitea host.
+        org: Override the owner/organization.
+        repo: Override the repository name.
+
+    Returns:
+        dict with 'success', 'lock_present', 'lock_contract' (the structural
+        verdict), 'recommended_action', and — when branch_name and
+        worktree_path are supplied — a non-mutating 'recovery_preview'.
+    """
+    blocked = _profile_permission_block(
+        "gitea.read",
+        issue_number=issue_number,
+        remote=remote,
+        host=host,
+        org=org,
+        repo=repo,
+        org_explicit=org is not None,
+        repo_explicit=repo is not None,
+    )
+    if blocked:
+        return blocked
+
+    h, o, r = _resolve(remote, host, org, repo)
+    existing = _load_existing_issue_lock(
+        remote=remote, org=o, repo=r, issue_number=issue_number
+    )
+    contract = author_lock_contract.assess_lock_contract(existing)
+    result = {
+        "success": True,
+        "performed": False,
+        "mutation_performed": False,
+        "read_only": True,
+        "issue_number": issue_number,
+        "lock_present": bool(existing),
+        "lock_contract": contract,
+        "lock_freshness": (
+            issue_lock_store.assess_lock_freshness(dict(existing))
+            if existing
+            else {"status": issue_lock_store.STATUS_ABSENT, "live": False}
+        ),
+        "recommended_action": author_lock_contract.recommended_action(contract),
+    }
+
+    if branch_name and worktree_path:
+        resolved = issue_lock_worktree.resolve_author_worktree_path(
+            worktree_path, _canonical_local_git_root()
+        )
+        observation = _observe_recovery_worktree(resolved)
+        claimant = _work_lease_claimant(h)
+        result["recovery_preview"] = bootstrap_lock_recovery.assess_bootstrap_lock_recovery(
+            existing,
+            issue_number=issue_number,
+            branch_name=branch_name,
+            worktree_path=resolved,
+            remote=remote,
+            org=o,
+            repo=r,
+            identity=claimant.get("username"),
+            profile=claimant.get("profile"),
+            observed_head=observation["observed_head"],
+            declared_head=None,
+            worktree_exists=observation["worktree_exists"],
+            worktree_registered=observation["worktree_registered"],
+            current_branch=observation["current_branch"],
+        )
+    return result
+
+
+@mcp.tool()
+def gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock(
+    issue_number: int,
+    branch_name: str,
+    worktree_path: str,
+    expected_head: str,
+    remote: str = "dadeschools",
+    host: str | None = None,
+    org: str | None = None,
+    repo: str | None = None,
+    dry_run: bool = False,
+) -> dict:
+    """Upgrade an incomplete bootstrap issue lock to the canonical contract (#953 AC8-AC11).
+
+    Explicit, target-specific recovery. It does **not** widen
+    ``gitea_lock_issue``, and it is not a takeover path.
+
+    The state it repairs: ``gitea_bootstrap_author_issue_worktree`` reported
+    success but wrote a lock with the claimant at the top level, no
+    ``work_lease``, no ``lock_provenance``, and no expiry. The author then
+    implemented, committed, and pushed — following bootstrap's own reported next
+    action — after which heartbeat, re-lock, exact-owner renewal, and the #447
+    create-PR guard all refuse simultaneously.
+
+    Deliberate non-behaviours: the branch is never moved, reset, or rewound, and
+    base-equivalence is never required — preserving the already-committed and
+    pushed work is the entire point. Nothing is pushed and no pull request is
+    created. Only the single lock file for this exact (remote, org, repo, issue)
+    is written.
+
+    Ownership is proven, never asserted. The claimant recorded on the durable
+    lock must match **both** the server-resolved identity and the active
+    profile; a matching username alone is refused. Repository, issue, branch,
+    worktree, registration, current branch, and head are all verified before any
+    write, and the declared ``expected_head`` must equal the observed head. A
+    healthy foreign-owned lock is refused outright. Provenance and authorization
+    are minted server-side — there is no parameter through which a caller can
+    supply either.
+
+    Args:
+        issue_number: The issue whose incomplete lock is being recovered.
+        branch_name: The branch recorded on the lock; must match.
+        worktree_path: The registered worktree recorded on the lock; must match.
+        expected_head: Full SHA the caller believes the worktree is at. A
+            mismatch fails closed, so a worktree that moved underneath the
+            caller cannot be recovered against stale evidence.
+        remote: Known instance — 'dadeschools' or 'prgs'.
+        host: Override the Gitea host.
+        org: Override the owner/organization.
+        repo: Override the repository name.
+        dry_run: Report the decision and evidence, mutate nothing.
+
+    Returns:
+        dict with 'success', 'performed', the resulting canonical
+        'lock_contract' and 'work_lease', the auditable
+        'bootstrap_lock_recovery' transition record, and 'exact_next_action'; on
+        refusal 'success'/'performed' False with 'refusal_code' and 'reasons'
+        naming exactly which evidence was missing, and no write performed.
+    """
+    task = "recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock"
+    ok, block_reasons = role_session_router.check_author_mutation_after_reviewer_stop(
+        task
+    )
+    if not ok:
+        return _author_mutation_block(block_reasons)
+
+    blocked = _profile_permission_block(
+        task_capability_map.required_permission(task),
+        issue_number=issue_number,
+        remote=remote,
+        host=host,
+        org=org,
+        repo=repo,
+        org_explicit=org is not None,
+        repo_explicit=repo is not None,
+    )
+    if blocked:
+        return blocked
+
+    h, o, r = _resolve(remote, host, org, repo)
+    resolved_worktree = issue_lock_worktree.resolve_author_worktree_path(
+        worktree_path, _canonical_local_git_root()
+    )
+    existing = _load_existing_issue_lock(
+        remote=remote, org=o, repo=r, issue_number=issue_number
+    )
+    observation = _observe_recovery_worktree(resolved_worktree)
+
+    # The claimant pair is resolved server-side from the live session; the
+    # caller cannot influence which identity or profile recovery compares
+    # against.
+    claimant = _work_lease_claimant(h)
+    assessment = bootstrap_lock_recovery.assess_bootstrap_lock_recovery(
+        existing,
+        issue_number=issue_number,
+        branch_name=branch_name,
+        worktree_path=resolved_worktree,
+        remote=remote,
+        org=o,
+        repo=r,
+        identity=claimant.get("username"),
+        profile=claimant.get("profile"),
+        observed_head=observation["observed_head"],
+        declared_head=expected_head,
+        worktree_exists=observation["worktree_exists"],
+        worktree_registered=observation["worktree_registered"],
+        current_branch=observation["current_branch"],
+    )
+
+    if not assessment["recovery_sanctioned"]:
+        return {
+            "success": False,
+            "performed": False,
+            "mutation_performed": False,
+            "issue_number": issue_number,
+            "refusal_code": assessment["refusal_code"],
+            "reasons": assessment["reasons"],
+            "message": bootstrap_lock_recovery.format_recovery_refusal(assessment),
+            "lock_contract": assessment["contract"],
+            "evidence": assessment["evidence"],
+        }
+
+    if dry_run:
+        return {
+            "success": True,
+            "performed": False,
+            "mutation_performed": False,
+            "dry_run": True,
+            "issue_number": issue_number,
+            "would_recover": True,
+            "lock_contract": assessment["contract"],
+            "evidence": assessment["evidence"],
+            "exact_next_action": (
+                "Re-run without dry_run=True to upgrade this lock to the "
+                "canonical contract."
+            ),
+        }
+
+    recovered = author_lock_contract.build_canonical_issue_lock(
+        issue_number=issue_number,
+        branch_name=branch_name,
+        worktree_path=resolved_worktree,
+        remote=remote,
+        org=o,
+        repo=r,
+        identity=claimant.get("username"),
+        profile=claimant.get("profile"),
+        tool="gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock",
+        source=issue_lock_provenance.SOURCE_LOCK_ISSUE,
+        owner_session=(existing or {}).get("owner_session"),
+        expected_base_sha=(existing or {}).get("expected_base_sha"),
+    )
+    # AC10: preserve both sides of the transition so a recovered lock never
+    # reads as an original claim.
+    recovered["bootstrap_lock_recovery"] = bootstrap_lock_recovery.build_recovery_record(
+        assessment,
+        recovered_at=_work_lease_timestamp(_work_lease_now()),
+        new_task_session_id=recovered["work_lease"]["task_session_id"],
+    )
+
+    try:
+        lock_path = issue_lock_store.bind_session_lock(
+            recovered,
+            expected_generation=assessment["expected_generation"],
+            recovery_sanctioned=True,
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:
+        return {
+            "success": False,
+            "performed": False,
+            "mutation_performed": False,
+            "issue_number": issue_number,
+            "refusal_code": "lock_write_failed",
+            "reasons": [str(exc)],
+            "message": f"Recovered lock could not be persisted: {exc} (fail closed)",
+        }
+
+    written = issue_lock_store.read_lock_file(lock_path)
+    contract = author_lock_contract.assess_lock_contract(written)
+    return {
+        "success": True,
+        "performed": True,
+        "mutation_performed": True,
+        "issue_number": issue_number,
+        "branch_name": branch_name,
+        "worktree_path": resolved_worktree,
+        "lock_file_path": lock_path,
+        "lock_contract": contract,
+        "work_lease": (written or {}).get("work_lease"),
+        "task_session_id": contract["task_session_id"],
+        "lock_generation": (written or {}).get("lock_generation"),
+        "prior_generation": assessment["expected_generation"],
+        "bootstrap_lock_recovery": (written or {}).get("bootstrap_lock_recovery"),
+        "preserved_head": observation["observed_head"],
+        "branch_reset": False,
+        "pushed": False,
+        "pr_created": False,
+        "exact_next_action": (
+            "Lock is canonical. Heartbeat it with the returned task_session_id, "
+            "then continue the author workflow; publish and create the pull "
+            "request through the normal sanctioned calls."
+        ),
+    }
+
+
 @mcp.tool()
 def gitea_recover_dirty_orphaned_issue_worktree(
     issue_number: int,

issue_lock_store.py

@@ -299,9 +299,13 @@ def _ownership_refusals(
             f"lock worktree '{lock.get('worktree_path')}' does not match "
             f"'{worktree_path}'"
         )
-    lease = lock.get("work_lease") if isinstance(lock, dict) else None
+    # #953 AC2/AC13/AC14: read through the shared claimant reader so a lock
-    claimant = lease.get("claimant") if isinstance(lease, dict) else None
+    # written by bootstrap — which records the claimant at the top level — is
-    claimant = claimant if isinstance(claimant, dict) else {}
+    # not refused for "not recording a claimant" when it plainly records one.
+    # This is not a widening: the values are still compared against the
+    # server-resolved identity and profile immediately below, so a legacy
+    # placement grants nothing that the canonical placement would not.
+    claimant = lock_claimant(lock) if isinstance(lock, dict) else {}
     recorded_identity = str(claimant.get("username") or "").strip()
     recorded_profile = str(claimant.get("profile") or "").strip()
     if not recorded_identity or not recorded_profile:
@@ -1112,21 +1116,43 @@ def assess_same_issue_lease_conflict(
     )
 
 
-def _lock_claimant(lock: dict[str, Any] | None) -> dict[str, str]:
+def lock_claimant(lock: dict[str, Any] | None) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Read the claimant from either canonical or legacy placement (#953 AC13/AC14).
+
+    ``work_lease.claimant`` is the canonical placement and is preferred; a
+    top-level ``claimant`` is the legacy/bootstrap placement and is accepted as
+    a fallback. This is the single definition. Before #953 the readers
+    disagreed: this module, ``issue_lock_renewal``, and ``issue_lock_recovery``
+    tolerated both placements, while ``_ownership_refusals`` looked only in
+    ``work_lease`` — which is what made a bootstrap-written lock
+    un-heartbeatable.
+
+    Preferring ``work_lease`` over the top level is deliberate: once a legacy
+    lock is upgraded, the canonical placement is authoritative and a stale
+    top-level copy must never win.
+
+    This decides *where to look*, never whether ownership is proven — every
+    caller still compares these values against server-resolved identity and
+    profile.
+    """
     if not isinstance(lock, dict):
         return {}
-    claimant = lock.get("claimant")
-    if not isinstance(claimant, dict):
     lease = lock.get("work_lease")
     claimant = lease.get("claimant") if isinstance(lease, dict) else None
+    if not isinstance(claimant, dict):
+        claimant = lock.get("claimant")
     if not isinstance(claimant, dict):
         return {}
     return {
-        "username": str(claimant.get("username") or ""),
+        "username": str(claimant.get("username") or "").strip(),
-        "profile": str(claimant.get("profile") or ""),
+        "profile": str(claimant.get("profile") or "").strip(),
     }
 
 
+#: Back-compatible alias for the pre-#953 private name.
+_lock_claimant = lock_claimant
+
+
 def assess_foreign_lock_overwrite(
     existing_lock: dict[str, Any] | None,
     incoming_lock: dict[str, Any],

task_capability_map.py

@@ -41,6 +41,27 @@ TASK_CAPABILITY_MAP: dict[str, dict[str, str]] = {
         "permission": "gitea.issue.comment",
         "role": "author",
     },
+    # #953: target-specific upgrade of an incomplete bootstrap lock (explicit
+    # operation, never a widening of lock_issue). Author-only, and the tool
+    # additionally proves exact-owner claimant match before writing.
+    "recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock": {
+        "permission": "gitea.issue.comment",
+        "role": "author",
+    },
+    "gitea_recover_incomplete_bootstrap_lock": {
+        "permission": "gitea.issue.comment",
+        "role": "author",
+    },
+    # #953: read-only lock contract inspection. Read permission only — it must
+    # never be able to mutate.
+    "inspect_issue_lock_contract": {
+        "permission": "gitea.read",
+        "role": "author",
+    },
+    "gitea_inspect_issue_lock_contract": {
+        "permission": "gitea.read",
+        "role": "author",
+    },
     # #860: dirty orphaned same-claimant worktree recovery (explicit operation).
     "recover_dirty_orphaned_issue_worktree": {
         "permission": "gitea.issue.comment",