From 12e59ad88a5e7d1ca105c2329b435c687c425a7e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ben Stull <ben.stull@wiggleverse.org>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:34:39 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] update
 engineering/0023/SESSION-0023.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md

---
 ...TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md | 42 ++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/engineering/0023/SESSION-0023.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md b/engineering/0023/SESSION-0023.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md
index a722cda..44f2e19 100644
--- a/engineering/0023/SESSION-0023.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md
+++ b/engineering/0023/SESSION-0023.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-12T01-19--INPROGRESS.md
@@ -42,16 +42,30 @@ create), freshness keyed off newest-object age.
 4. Re-install on the live forge VM; run the service manually; verify a fresh marker
    lands and a 2nd run refreshes (the create-not-overwrite proof).
 
-**Increment 2 — SLICE-5 freshness checker (PR B):**
-1. Checker (Cloud Run job/Function, project `wiggleverse`, config `gitea`): list
-   newest `gitea-dump-*.zip`, compute age, emit signal.
-2. Alert delivery = Cloud Monitoring-native (no new secrets): custom metric +
-   alert policy → email notification channel; off-VM dead-man's-switch.
-3. Provision by hand (bootstrap infra, D-6 — NOT flotilla): Scheduler + checker +
-   notification channel + alert policy.
-4. T-3 green against scratch bucket (stale → fires; fresh → quiet) before live.
-5. Finalize RB-3/RB-4 in `infra/backup-restore-gitea.md`; DOC-2 update; spec
-   SLICE-5 done + changelog.
+**Increment 1 — DONE & SHIPPED.** Marker fix verified live (job exits 0, fresh
+per-run marker lands). PR #59 merged → main `36acc77`. Live VM script == repo.
+
+**Increment 2 — SLICE-5 freshness checker (PR B) — design (session 0023 calls):**
+- **Runtime:** Cloud Function gen2 (Python), HTTP-triggered, Cloud Scheduler every
+  30 min. Project `wiggleverse`, config `gitea`. By-hand bootstrap infra (D-6 — NOT
+  flotilla).
+- **Signal:** off-VM checker lists the bucket → age of newest `gitea-dump-*.zip`
+  AND newest `markers/last-success-*.json`; STALE if either > 6h (interval 4h ×
+  1.5, ALR-1). Marker age catches post-dump failures snapshot age misses.
+- **Alert delivery = log-based** (no new secret, fast to verify): function emits a
+  structured `severity=ERROR` `GITEA_BACKUP_STALE` log when stale → log-based alert
+  policy → email notification channel (ben@wiggleverse.org). Off-VM path fires even
+  if the VM is gone (INV-4). Dedicated **read-only** SA (storage.objectViewer) —
+  distinct from the VM's create-only SA.
+- **ALR-2 (job failure, Medium):** on-VM systemd `OnFailure=` drop-in writes a
+  `markers/last-failure-<ts>.json` (a create — works under objectCreator); checker
+  alerts if a failure marker is newer than the newest success marker → prompt
+  single-failure detection within least-privilege.
+- **T-3:** invoke checker against the scratch bucket — stale seed → ERROR log +
+  STALE verdict; fresh seed → no ERROR log + FRESH verdict (verifiable in seconds
+  via Cloud Logging). Then enable against the live bucket.
+- Finalize RB-3/RB-4 in `infra/backup-restore-gitea.md`; DOC-2 update; spec SLICE-5
+  done + changelog.
 
 ## Deferred decisions
 
@@ -65,3 +79,11 @@ finalize. Empty if none._
   keying only off newest-dump age. Per-run markers keep the spec's TEL-1 marker
   artifact refreshing within least-privilege. Small spec data-model wording update
   follows; flagging in case the operator prefers a fixed canonical pointer.
+- **SLICE-5 checker implementation (medium confidence):** chose Cloud Function gen2
+  + Cloud Scheduler + **log-based** alert (vs custom-metric alert, vs a Cloud Run
+  job). Log-based is lowest-IAM and fastest to verify end-to-end; spec D-4 only
+  pins "Cloud Scheduler → Cloud Run/Function," leaving the rest open. Flag if the
+  operator prefers a metric/dashboard view of backup age over a log-based alert.
+- **ALR-2 via on-VM OnFailure failure-marker:** adds a small systemd drop-in on the
+  forge VM. Reversible/additive. Flag if the operator prefers ALR-2 left as
+  covered-by-staleness only (no VM-side change).