decision-variancelisted

# decision-variance Reconcile the architectural artifacts against the scaffold; present variances; the user decides. This skill never arbitrates on its own — every recorded decision carries user attribution. The SMARTS lenses, cell rules, and strength labels are in [includes/smarts/core.md](../../includes/smarts/core.md) — read it before Phase 3. The append-only decision-log entry format is in [includes/smarts/decision-log-format.md](../../includes/smarts/decision-log-format.md) — read it before writing a log line. ## Pre-flight Read these, or STOP and surface the gap — never guess a path or a position: - `<project-root>/.codearbiter/CONTEXT.md` — project context and the `stage:` maturity value. - `<project-root>/.codearbiter/security-controls.md` — only when a variance touches a security boundary (auth, crypto, secrets). Feeds the Securable lens. Locate the three architectural artifacts by **exact** filename — `01-architecture-breakdown.md`, `02-phased-build-plan.md`, `03-task-backlog.md` — first under `<project-root>/.codearbiter/plans/`, then the project root, then `docs/`. MUST NOT pattern-match similar names (`architecture-draft.md`, `task-list.md`); loose matching arbitrates against the wrong document. If any of the three cannot be located, ask the user for the path. Do not infer. ## Phase 1 — Locate inputs and detect stale decisions · gate: STOP Index, in addition to the three artifacts: - **Existing ADRs** — `<project-root>/.codearbiter/decisions/`. Record ea