verify the artifact, not the source

Verification kept producing a specific kind of wrong answer. The tree was correct, the local build was correct, the browser checks were green, and the thing users were actually loading was older than all of it. Two mechanisms were responsible, and neither was a mistake in any single commit.

The first was a deployment that had not happened. A fix was on the mainline and the served bundle predated it, so every behavioural check was reading the previous release. Two checks made that diagnosable instead of arguable: a build marker compiled into the output and read back from the served artefact, and a fingerprint of the served bundle compared against the one just built. When they differ, the verdict is recorded as pending, never as a pass. An earlier version of the same check matched a string that no longer existed once the marker moved, so the gate was updated to match what the build actually emits.

The second was a build tool that did not clear its previous output, so a stale module could occupy the same location as a fresh one and be served to a harness. The harness now confirms the loaded artefact contains the new wiring before any result is trusted.

Cost: reports that say "not yet" instead of green, and a queue that looks like bad news.

What it proves: the team verifies the object a user receives, and treats a green result against an unknown artefact as no result at all.