VCO Release v3.1.1

• Date: 2026-05-06
• Commit(base): cdc5a71
• Previous public release: v3.1.0
• Previous public release commit: 67e709e

Highlights

• This patch release cuts from the latest main baseline after the post-v3.1.0 routing cleanup train, review follow-up fixes, and runtime-neutral verification stabilization work landed on GitHub.
• The current routing contract is tighter and easier to trust. Canonical-entry truth now stays aligned with the current skill-routing surface, older consultation/debt vocabulary is pruned more aggressively, and public outputs lean harder on the current contract instead of compatibility-era field names.
• Specialist execution closure is more explicit. The runtime now freezes and enforces specialist execution lock state across re-entry, reconciles routed skills with execution-time dispatch more carefully, and keeps current-session execution accounting clearer when handoff is pending versus actually resolved.
• Several routing packs were simplified or retired across the release line: zero-authority leftovers were cleaned further, domain-owner boundaries were hardened, and stale packs such as cold-platform / quantum / lab-automation legacy surfaces were reduced or removed instead of lingering as noisy router hits.
• The release surface is cleaner for operators. Source-neutral docs, practice demos, and homepage install-entry refreshes landed after v3.1.0, so the public repository now points users at a clearer install and evaluation path without changing the governed runtime authority model.
• Repository metadata is aligned again at 3.1.1, including Python package versions, release governance, changelog, release notes, and generated dist manifests.

What Changed Since v3.1.0

Current Routing Contract And Vocabulary

• Hardened canonical-entry truth so current routing outputs, specialist projections, and visible execution wording stay aligned instead of leaking retired consultation-era terminology.
• Simplified active routing fields, current policy helper names, and output vocabulary so current receipts speak in one contract dialect rather than mixing new and legacy routing labels.
• Compressed or retired older routing documentation where the current contract already supersedes it, reducing drift between docs, runtime outputs, and tests.

Specialist Execution Lock And Delivery Truth

• Added and then enforced specialist execution lock helpers so selected specialists remain frozen across re-entry and plan_execute.
• Reconciled routed skills with execution-time dispatch more carefully, which reduces confusion between "routed", "disclosed for execution", and "materially used".
• Tightened delivery-acceptance and runtime proof paths around current-session specialist execution state so pending handoff is reported honestly.

Routing Pack Cleanup And Boundary Hardening

• Continued multi-pack cleanup across zero-authority, bio-science, code-quality, finance, medical-imaging, longtail-science-ml, research-design, and related routing surfaces.
• Removed or shrank stale packs and stage-assistant surfaces that no longer deserved direct routing authority.
• Added targeted docs/tests around the cleanup so the repo documents which route owners remain active and why.

Verification And Review Follow-Through

• Stabilized the runtime-neutral verification baseline after the PR226 review cycle and the later combined PR228 follow-up merge.
• Added review-driven fixes for current routing helpers, direct-call validation, and specialist execution lock behavior.
• Kept the release line grounded in regression checks instead of shipping on docs-only metadata updates.

README And Install Surface Refresh

• Added practice demos that make the governed vibe workflow easier to evaluate from openable outputs instead of only abstract description.
• Made internal docs links source-neutral so the same docs survive GitHub, mirrors, local checkouts, and release archives.
• Iterated the homepage install CTA and install-entry presentation to make the public entry path more obvious.

Validation Notes

• python -m pytest tests/runtime_neutral/test_release_v3_1_1_surface.py -q -> failing-first evidence captured before the release metadata updates; expected failures showed the repo was still advertising 3.1.0.
• python scripts/build/sync_dist_release_manifests.py --repo-root . -> regenerated all release-facing dist manifests from config/version-governance.json.
• python -m pytest tests/runtime_neutral/test_release_v3_1_1_surface.py -q -> 2 passed.
• python -m pytest tests/unit/test_vgo_cli_upgrade_service.py -q -> 19 passed.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-version-consistency-gate.ps1 -> PASS, 10 assertions.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-release-notes-quality-gate.ps1 -> PASS.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-version-packaging-gate.ps1 -> PASS, 9 assertions.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-dist-manifest-gate.ps1 -> PASS.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-release-install-runtime-coherence-gate.ps1 -> PASS.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-config-parity-gate.ps1 -> PASS, 45 config pairs matched.
• powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify\vibe-bom-frontmatter-gate.ps1 -> PASS for canonical/governance surfaces, with bundled and installed targets skipped as not applicable in this release workspace.

Migration Notes

• Public Vibe entry skills remain vibe and vibe-upgrade; this patch release does not widen the public entry surface.
• Hosts and operators should keep treating routed skills, disclosed-for-execution skills, and materially used skills as separate truth layers.
• The install and evaluation path is easier to discover, but host-managed plugin, MCP, and credential surfaces remain outside repo ownership unless a host-specific proof lane says otherwise.