ci: block Vale tooling paths from main + mirror spec dev-only narrative (#69)

## Summary

Repositions the Vale prose-check stack (`styles/`, `.vale.ini`,
`scripts/prose-check.sh`) as dev-only contributor
tooling, mirroring `agentnative-spec` PR #45 (ed066b6). This is the
evergreen half: workflow guard, doc reference
updates, and dev-direct exception note. The actual file deletions on
`main` happen in a follow-up performed directly
on the `release/v0.5.0` branch so that one release cycle removes the
files from `main`; from then on the workflow
guard keeps them out.

Bundles two small release-doc polish items that surfaced during the same
review pass: a guarded-path leak-check entry
in `RELEASES-PREFLIGHT.md`, and a version-neutral rename of `CLAUDE.md`
§ "Scorecard v0.5 Fields" to § "Scorecard
JSON fields" so the heading stops aging out as schema versions move.

## Changelog

### Changed

- `.github/workflows/guard-main-docs.yml`: pass `extra_paths:
'styles/,.vale.ini,scripts/prose-check.sh'` to the
reusable guard workflow. Future PRs to `main` that add or modify those
paths fail the check. Mirrors the path values
  used by `agentnative-spec`.
- `BRAND.md`: refreshed verbatim from `agentnative-spec` to pick up the
"narrative is authoritative for both the why
and the what" reframing and the `(dev-only)` annotation on the
Vale-rule-pack column of the Channel-artifacts table.
  As a vendored mirror, BRAND.md should match the spec word for word.
- `PRODUCT.md`: Inheritance and Register sections retune to
"authoritative voice contract" framing; explicitly names
the rule pack as dev-only tooling that does not ship to `main`. Removes
the dead `styles/brand/README.md` /
  `styles/brand/*.yml` / `styles/config/vocabularies/cli/` links.
- `AGENTS.md`: rewrites the "Voice and prose rules" section to drop the
`scripts/prose-check.sh` invocation example
and the rule-pack vendoring prose; mirrors the spec's AGENTS.md
voice-contract paragraph.
- `scripts/SYNCS.md`: drops the `sync-prose-tooling.sh` row from the
upstream sync table, the matching mermaid arrow,
  and the Reference section entry.
- `RELEASES.md`: prose-scrubbing intro no longer promises a future
vendoring; explicitly names the spec checkout as
  the Vale config source.
- `CLAUDE.md`: § "Scorecard v0.5 Fields" renamed to § "Scorecard JSON
fields"; the cross-link in
  `RELEASES-PREFLIGHT.md` updates to match.

### Added

- `RELEASES.md` gains a `### Dev-direct exception` subsection under
Daily development, mirroring the spec's same
insertion point and content. Names the two path categories (engineering
docs and prose-check stack) that may be
  committed directly to `dev` without a feature branch.
- `RELEASES-PREFLIGHT.md` gains a "Release mechanics sanity" item that
runs the same guarded-path leak check
`RELEASES.md` step 4 runs, so operators catch leaks before the release
PR opens. Points at the new
`RELEASES.md` § Cherry-pick conflicts on guarded paths subsection for
resolution.

## Type of Change

- [x] `ci`: CI/CD configuration changes

## Related Issues/Stories

- Story: n/a
- Issue: n/a
- Architecture: Mirrors `agentnative-spec` PR #45 (ed066b6)
"feat(prose-check): move stack to dev-only". The spec's
follow-up release PR (#46, 20b9deb) performed the corresponding file
deletions on `main`; this repo's equivalent
  deletions happen on `release/v0.5.0` after this PR merges.
- Related PRs: agentnative-spec#45, agentnative-spec#46

## Testing

- [x] All tests passing

**Test Summary:**

- `cargo test`: 793 passed, 2 ignored.
- `cargo build`: clean.
- `bash scripts/prose-check.sh --vale-only` on dev: stack still present,
runs as expected.

## Files Modified

**Modified:**

- `.github/workflows/guard-main-docs.yml`
- `AGENTS.md`, `BRAND.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, `PRODUCT.md`, `RELEASES.md`,
`RELEASES-PREFLIGHT.md`, `scripts/SYNCS.md`

**Created:**

- None.

**Renamed:**

- None.

**Deleted:**

- None on this branch. The actual prose-check stack deletions
(`.vale.ini`, `styles/`, `scripts/prose-check.sh`, plus
the orphaned helpers `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh`,
`scripts/test-prose-check.mjs`,
  `scripts/generate-pack-readme.mjs`) ship on the release branch.

## Breaking Changes

- [x] No breaking changes

## Deployment Notes

- [x] No special deployment steps required

Author: brettdavies

.github/workflows/guard-main-docs.yml

@@ -15,3 +15,5 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   guard-docs:
     uses: brettdavies/.github/.github/workflows/guard-main-docs.yml@main
+    with:
+      extra_paths: 'styles/,.vale.ini,scripts/prose-check.sh'

AGENTS.md

@@ -173,10 +173,9 @@ behavior.
 
 User-facing prose follows the **linter channel** rules in [`PRODUCT.md`](PRODUCT.md). Short version: second-person
 imperative, no RFC 2119 keywords in error messages, no marketing voice, errors name "what failed / why / what to do."
-Run `bash scripts/prose-check.sh --vale-only` before changing markdown to surface findings; warnings are informational,
-blocking findings need a fix. The rule packs (`styles/brand/`) and the brand vocab (`styles/config/vocabularies/brand/`)
-are vendored from `agentnative-spec` via `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh`; CLI-specific terms live in
-`styles/config/vocabularies/cli/`.
+`BRAND.md` and `PRODUCT.md` are the authoritative voice contract. The Vale rule pack maintained in `agentnative-spec`
+(mirrored onto this repo's `dev` branch) encodes the literal phrases for enforcement on contributor PRs against `dev`;
+the pack and `scripts/prose-check.sh` are dev-only tooling and do not ship to `main`.
 
 ## Testing
 

BRAND.md

@@ -42,9 +42,8 @@ Two first-class consumers across all channels:
 
 ## Universal anti-patterns
 
-These bans apply across every channel. The narrative below explains *why* each category is banned; the executable
-contract for *what* is banned lives in [`styles/brand/README.md`](styles/brand/README.md), generated from the Vale rule
-pack at `styles/brand/*.yml`.
+These bans apply across every channel. The narrative below is authoritative for both the *why* and the *what*; a Vale
+rule pack on the `dev` branch encodes the literal phrases for enforcement on contributor PRs (dev-only tooling).
 
 - **No marketing register.** First-person belief and recommendation framings are out. The standard speaks in the third
   person about contracts, not in the first person about beliefs.
@@ -57,8 +56,7 @@ pack at `styles/brand/*.yml`.
 ## Voice anchors: concrete examples
 
 The ✓ column shows the contract voice. The ✗ column names the category of failure rather than reproducing literal banned
-phrases. Those live in [`styles/brand/README.md`](styles/brand/README.md). The category labels describe the shape of the
-failure each ✓ phrasing replaces.
+phrases. The category labels describe the shape of the failure each ✓ phrasing replaces.
 
 | ✓                                                                                                                         | ✗                                                                                      |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
@@ -82,16 +80,15 @@ The shared identity above applies to every channel. Each channel adds register a
 
 Each channel's repo carries its own narrow stack on top of this universal `BRAND.md`. The canonical layout:
 
-| Channel      | `PRODUCT.md` location                           | Deep tier-3                                            | Vale rule pack | How `BRAND.md` arrives          |
-| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------- | ------------------------------- |
-| Spec         | `agentnative-spec/PRODUCT.md`                   | `principles/`, `docs/architecture/`, `docs/decisions/` | `styles/spec/` | (origin: this repo)             |
-| Site         | `agentnative-site/PRODUCT.md`                   | `DESIGN.md` (root)                                     | (none yet)     | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
-| CLI (`anc`)  | `agentnative-cli/PRODUCT.md` (when warranted)   | `src/` (Rust source IS the artifact)                   | (planned)      | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
-| Skill bundle | `agentnative-skill/PRODUCT.md` (when warranted) | `bundle/`                                              | (planned)      | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
+| Channel      | `PRODUCT.md` location          | Deep tier-3                                            | Vale rule pack            | How `BRAND.md` arrives          |
+| ------------ | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
+| Spec         | `agentnative-spec/PRODUCT.md`  | `principles/`, `docs/architecture/`, `docs/decisions/` | `styles/spec/` (dev-only) | (origin — this repo)            |
+| Site         | `agentnative-site/PRODUCT.md`  | `DESIGN.md` (root)                                     | (none yet)                | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
+| CLI (`anc`)  | `agentnative-cli/PRODUCT.md`   | `src/` (Rust source IS the artifact)                   | (planned)                 | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
+| Skill bundle | `agentnative-skill/PRODUCT.md` | `bundle/`                                              | (planned)                 | `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh` |
 
-A channel earns its `PRODUCT.md` when channel-specific decisions (visual system, error rubric, instructional voice,
-etc.) accumulate enough that the universal `BRAND.md` cannot carry them. The spec and site channels have crossed that
-threshold today.
+Every channel has earned a `PRODUCT.md` today: each holds channel-specific decisions (visual system, error rubric,
+instructional voice, etc.) that the universal `BRAND.md` cannot carry.
 
 **Convention: deep tier-3 artifacts live at the repo root, not in `docs/`.** The site channel's `DESIGN.md` sits at
 `agentnative-site/DESIGN.md` (not `docs/DESIGN.md`) so the `/impeccable` skill loader and human readers find it without
@@ -100,6 +97,11 @@ artifacts and historical plans live under `docs/`.
 
 ## Sync
 
-This document is the source of truth. The site syncs it via `scripts/sync-spec.sh` alongside `principles/*.md`,
-`VERSION`, and `CHANGELOG.md`. The skill bundle and linter sync similarly when they grow brand-aware artifacts. A PR
-that changes `BRAND.md` flags whether channel sync is needed; channel repos pick up the change in a follow-on PR.
+This document is the source of truth. Each consumer channel (`agentnative-site`, `agentnative-cli`, `agentnative-skill`)
+vendors a copy via its own `scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh`, decoupled from `scripts/sync-spec.sh` (which vendors
+`principles/p*-*.md`, `VERSION`, and `CHANGELOG.md` into each consumer's `spec/`). The split exists because brand prose
+and the principle contract release on different cadences.
+
+`sync-prose-tooling.sh` tracks this repo's `main` HEAD, not tagged releases. Prose tooling is shared infrastructure
+across channels, not pinned per-version. Edits land here first; consumer repos pick up the change in a follow-on commit
+(batched into a release branch or maintenance PR).

CLAUDE.md

@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ either source.
 Regenerate whenever you add a requirement, change an audit's `covers()`, or rename an audit ID. The regeneration is a
 deliberate commit, not a build-time artifact; the matrix is citable from outside this repo.
 
-## Scorecard v0.5 Fields
+## Scorecard JSON fields
 
 `src/scorecard/mod.rs` emits `schema_version: "0.5"`. The schema evolves additively during the `0.x` pre-launch window;
 consumers feature-detect each addition rather than pinning exact shape. Cumulative history:

PRODUCT.md

@@ -8,12 +8,13 @@ Read that first.
 
 The linter channel sits in a three-tier waterfall. Each tier owns a different concern; nothing duplicates.
 
-1. **Universal, [`BRAND.md`](BRAND.md).** Shared identity, voice anchor, audiences, universal anti-patterns. Vendored
-   from `agentnative-spec` via [`scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh`](scripts/sync-prose-tooling.sh).
+1. **Universal, [`BRAND.md`](BRAND.md).** Shared identity, voice anchor, audiences, universal anti-patterns. The
+   authoritative copy lives in `agentnative-spec`; a vendored mirror sits on this repo's `dev` branch.
 2. **Channel delta, this file (`PRODUCT.md`).** Second-person imperative register, the three-part error shape (what
    failed, why, what to do next), 80-column help-text discipline, neutral diagnostics, stdout/stderr separation. The
-   narrative companion to the executable Vale rule pack at [`styles/brand/`](styles/brand/) plus the CLI-local
-   vocabulary at [`styles/config/vocabularies/cli/`](styles/config/vocabularies/cli/).
+   authoritative voice contract for the linter channel; the Vale rule pack maintained in `agentnative-spec` (mirrored to
+   `dev` here) enforces the literal phrases on contributor PRs against `dev`. The pack is dev-only tooling and does not
+   ship to `main`.
 3. **Implementation, `src/`.** The Rust source for `anc`. Behavioral audits executed against compiled binaries; the
    principle registry codegen'd from `src/principles/spec/` (vendored from `agentnative-spec` via
    [`scripts/sync-spec.sh`](scripts/sync-spec.sh)).
@@ -44,9 +45,9 @@ on without re-reading.
 
 ## Register
 
-The narrative below describes the linter channel's voice rules; the executable contract for the literal phrases lives in
-[`styles/brand/README.md`](styles/brand/README.md), generated from the Vale rule pack at `styles/brand/*.yml`, plus the
-CLI-local vocabulary at [`styles/config/vocabularies/cli/`](styles/config/vocabularies/cli/).
+The narrative below is the authoritative voice contract for the linter channel. The Vale rule pack maintained in
+`agentnative-spec` (mirrored to `dev` here) encodes the literal phrases for enforcement on contributor PRs; the pack is
+dev-only tooling and does not ship to `main`.
 
 - **Second-person imperative IS the register.** "Run `anc audit`", "Set `--audit-profile human-tui`", "Pipe the output
   to `jq`". This is the linter channel's defining departure from the spec channel: the spec describes contracts in
@@ -80,9 +81,9 @@ These extend the universal bans in [`BRAND.md`](BRAND.md):
 - **Mixing structured output and diagnostic prose on the same stream.** `anc audit --output json` writes JSON to stdout;
   diagnostics go to stderr. Mixing them strands consumers who pipe stdout into `jq` and get a parse error from a banner.
   The prose shape (verb + artifact) is the same on either stream; the stream choice is the load-bearing part.
-- **Color codes in the prose itself.** Vale and prose-check operate on content, not formatting. ANSI escapes belong in
-  the rendering layer, never in the source `&str` literal. The literal `"\x1b[31merror\x1b[0m"` is content rot; a
-  separate `colorize(level, "error")` is the right shape.
+- **Color codes in the prose itself.** Prose lives in source strings, not in formatting. ANSI escapes belong in the
+  rendering layer, never in the source `&str` literal. The literal `"\x1b[31merror\x1b[0m"` is content rot; a separate
+  `colorize(level, "error")` is the right shape.
 - **Marketing voice in CLI surface.** "blazing-fast", "elegant", "powerful", "delightful". All banned. Describe what
   `anc` does, never how it feels to use. The brand vocab's `MarketingRegister` pack fires on this set; the per-channel
   rule is that the entire CLI surface inherits it, not just the README.

RELEASES-PREFLIGHT.md

@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ These items duplicate steps in `RELEASES.md` deliberately: easy to skip, expensi
 - [ ] `rust-toolchain.toml` last bumped ≥7 days ago (supply-chain quarantine). If a bump landed inside the window, hold
   or revert it before tagging.
 - [ ] No unmerged dependency advisories from `cargo deny check advisories`.
+- [ ] Leak check: `git diff origin/main..HEAD --name-only | grep -E
+  '^(docs/plans|docs/brainstorms|docs/ideation|docs/reviews|docs/solutions|\.context)'` returns nothing. If cherry-picks
+  pulled in guarded paths via rename detection, resolve per `RELEASES.md` § Cherry-pick conflicts on guarded paths.
 
 ### Post-tag verification
 
@@ -104,4 +107,4 @@ Run immediately after the tag push triggers `release.yml`.
 
 - [`RELEASES.md`](./RELEASES.md): operational runbook this checklist gates.
 - [`RELEASES-RATIONALE.md`](./RELEASES-RATIONALE.md): release-flow rationale.
-- [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) § Scorecard v0.5 Fields: consumer-facing JSON contract reference.
+- [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) § Scorecard JSON fields: consumer-facing JSON contract reference.

RELEASES.md

@@ -37,6 +37,18 @@ gh pr create --base dev --title "feat(scope): what changed"
 - **PR body**: follow `.github/pull_request_template.md`. See [§ PR body](#pr-body).
 - **PR body prose scrub**: see [§ Prose scrubbing](#prose-scrubbing).
 
+### Dev-direct exception
+
+Paths that live only on `dev` and never ship to `main` can be committed directly to `dev` without a feature branch or
+PR. The `guard-main-docs` workflow blocks them from `main` PRs regardless. The exception applies to:
+
+- Engineering docs: `docs/brainstorms/`, `docs/ideation/`, `docs/plans/`, `docs/research/`, `docs/reviews/`,
+  `docs/solutions/`, and anything under `.context/`.
+- Prose-check stack: `styles/`, `.vale.ini`, `scripts/prose-check.sh`.
+
+The standard feature → PR → squash-merge flow remains required for everything else, including consumer-facing markdown
+(README, AGENTS, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, in-repo runbooks).
+
 ## PR body
 
 Every PR (feature, fix, docs, release) uses `.github/pull_request_template.md` verbatim. Six sections, no inventions:
@@ -221,8 +233,8 @@ Three release-flow artifacts live outside any automated prose check and need a m
 
 The canonical Vale + LanguageTool rule packs and orchestrator behavior live in the spec repo at
 [`~/dev/agentnative-spec/docs/architecture/voice-enforcement.md`](../agentnative-spec/docs/architecture/voice-enforcement.md).
-Until those packs are vendored into this repo (a deferred follow-up expected to extend `scripts/sync-spec.sh`), point
-Vale at the spec checkout via `--config`.
+This repo's `main` branch does not ship a local copy; point Vale at the spec checkout via `--config` (see the example
+below).
 
 ```bash
 # 1. Save the artifact to /tmp/.