Both enforcement points of the doc-fidelity gate (itd-60, ac-1 and ac-4) skip the whole gate when the population is empty: enforceDocFidelity returns nil on len(population)==0 (internal/surface/cli/docfidelity.go:55) and the release emit runs docfidelity.Gate only inside 'if len(shipped) > 0' (internal/core/release/emit.go:272). So a spec close that ships no intent and, more consequentially, a release cut carrying only issue resolutions (a patch release) run neither layer, layer 1 included: a sub-verb or agent added by an issue fix in such a cut meets no coverage floor at the cut, while the spec says the deterministic floor 'is cheap enough to run at every enforcement point and in CI'. The bare 'abcd docs fidelity' with no --intent does run layer 1, so only the enforcement points have the gap.

Both enforcement points of the doc-fidelity gate (itd-60, ac-1 and ac-4) skip the whole gate when the population is empty: enforceDocFidelity returns nil on len(population)==0 (internal/surface/cli/docfidelity.go:55) and the release emit runs docfidelity.Gate only inside 'if len(shipped) > 0' (internal/core/release/emit.go:272). So a spec close that ships no intent and, more consequentially, a release cut carrying only issue resolutions (a patch release) run neither layer, layer 1 included: a sub-verb or agent added by an issue fix in such a cut meets no coverage floor at the cut, while the spec says the deterministic floor 'is cheap enough to run at every enforcement point and in CI'. The bare 'abcd docs fidelity' with no --intent does run layer 1, so only the enforcement points have the gap.

Grounds

• pursued: a patch cut, or a spec close shipping no intent, with a surface no brief chapter names now refuses doc-fidelity without asking for a docs review (TestEmitWithNoIntentShippedStillRefusesAnUncoveredSurface, TestSpecCloseWithARemainderRefusesAnUndocumentedSurface); shown wrong if such a cut or close proceeds, or if a fully covered one with no intent shipped demands a docs review (TestEmitWithNoIntentShippedJudgesNoPopulation, TestSpecCloseWithARemainderNeedsNoDocsReview).