session-history/ecomm/0007/SESSION-0007.0-TRANSCRIPT-2026-06-01.md

# SESSION-0007.0 — Money-rails / Load & Reward spec → BDDs (new credits/ domain)

**Date:** 2026-06-01
**Driver:** Ben Stull + Claude (Opus 4.8)
**Repos touched:** wiggleverse-ecomm-meta (spec + corpus + release plan + session record)

> **Honesty note on this artifact.** This is a *session record* authored by
> the assistant from the conversation — faithful as to decisions, sequence,
> and wrong turns, but **not** the raw byte-for-byte transcript.

---

## Purpose

Bring the **Load & Reward Policy** (ecosystem-credits / money-rails spec) into
the BDD corpus, keep the canonical spec doc in sync, and re-cluster the release
plan to match. Two iterations of the source doc arrived mid-session (v8 then v9),
so the work happened in passes. Standing rule honored throughout: **"update the
release clusters any time we add a new BDD."**

## What happened, in order

1. **Oriented in the corpus + tooling.** Re-read the memory, the corpus layout,
   the id machinery (`assign_ids.py`, `gherkin_corpus.py` — four scenario shapes),
   the `pre-commit` id-gate, and `release_plan.py` (the RELEASE-PLAN parser
   contract). Baseline: 1162 scenarios, 14 domains, parse clean.

2. **Decided placement (via AskUserQuestion + Ben's correction).** Asked where
   the money-rails scenarios should live. Ben's call: **direct order payment goes
   into the existing payments feature** (`settings/payments.md`, `13.10`); **the
   credit/stored-value spec gets its own new `credits` domain.** That split tracks
   the spec's own §3 "two separate paths" framing exactly.

3. **First spec version in play was the stale `specs/Payment Strategy.md`.** Ben
   then supplied `load-rail-policy_8.md` (newer — it has the §3a ACH-only-credit
   vs. §3b vendor-handled-direct-payment split). Built the BDDs from v8.

4. **Wrote the `credits` domain** (4 feature files, shape B / raw-Gherkin like
   `flows/`): `credit-instruments.md` (§1–2 tiers + closed-vs-open-loop on common
   ownership), `funding-and-loads.md` (§3a/4/5 ACH-only minting, $50 floor,
   discount-at-spend), `settlement-and-clearing.md` (§6/7 pending-vs-available
   hold, KYC/velocity/risk, virtual value release), `credit-tax.md` (§8).
   Every file carries a **GATED — do-not-build** banner in its prose.

5. **Added direct order payment to `settings/payments.md`** (shape C, matching
   the file): vendor card / Venmo business / manual order-ID lane + the §7
   "shown ≠ received ≠ settled" receipt-verification rule.

6. **Assigned ids.** `--dry-run` then real run. New `credits` domain = **15**
   (append-only `max+1`); features alphabetical (`credit-instruments`=01,
   `credit-tax`=02, `funding-and-loads`=03, `settlement-and-clearing`=04). Froze
   53 credit scenarios + 11 payment scenarios (`13.10.0010-0020`). Corpus 1162 →
   1226.

7. **Updated RELEASE-PLAN (pass 1).** Direct payment → **R14** (9 → 20). Credits
   domain → the existing **GATED bucket** by feature-count (no ids enumerated, per
   the parser contract). Footer recount 369/1226. Verified: zero `15.*` leaked
   into any buildable release.

8. **Spec rename.** On Ben's instruction, replaced `specs/Payment Strategy.md`
   content with v8 and renamed it `specs/PaymentStrategy.md` (no space). Rewrote
   every in-repo reference; left the historical SESSION-0001 transcript untouched.
   **Caught a gotcha:** one reference in `settlement-and-clearing.md` was wrapped
   across a line break (`specs/Payment` / `Strategy.md`), so the `sed` missed it —
   fixed by hand.

9. **v9 arrived.** Ben supplied `load-rail-policy_9.md`. Diffed v9 vs v8 and added
   only the genuinely new behavior:
   - **`settings/payments.md`** `13.10.0021-0026`: PayPal goods&services (API +
     protection but priciest), PayPal sweep/freeze risk, Zelle (free/final/no-API),
     Zelle-is-strongest-in-person, Cash/Other off-platform, Cash/Other-still-taxable.
   - **`credits/funding-and-loads.md`** `15.03.0016-0020`: PayPal/Zelle/cash each
     can't mint credit, "ACH is the only rail with both low cost + a confirmation
     API," and the §5 "when the avoided alternative is free, the discount leans on
     float/breakage/lock-in."
   - **`credits/settlement-and-clearing.md`** `15.04.0014`: the hold exists only
     because ACH is reversible; final rails like Zelle wouldn't need one but don't
     fund credit.
   Replaced `PaymentStrategy.md` with full v9. Corpus 1226 → **1238**.

10. **Updated RELEASE-PLAN (pass 2).** R14 20 → **26**; GATED bucket counts bumped
    (`15.03` 15→20, `15.04` 13→14; credits domain now **59**); footer **375/1238**.
    Re-verified zero gated leakage, R14 parses to 26 members, 0 scenarios without ids.

11. **Committed + pushed.** One commit `2952261` (12 files, +1756/−58; the rename
    detected at 56% similarity), pushed `949c92f..2952261` to `origin/main` over
    SSH. Pre-commit id-gate passed. Push fires the gitea webhook → VM re-ingest.

## Decisions citable later

- **`credits/` is corpus domain 15** — the full ecosystem-credit / Load & Reward
  spec as BDDs. 59 scenarios across 4 features. **GATED in perpetuity** until a
  payments attorney confirms the licensing path AND the OHM concept→operational
  RFCs exist. Do NOT pull any `15.*` into a build session.
- **The §3 two-path split is the organizing principle.** Funding *credit* = ACH
  only (the regulated, money-transmission tier → `credits` domain, gated).
  *Direct order payment* = vendor-handled, non-custodial, never mints credit
  (→ `settings/payments.md` `13.10`, buildable in R14). "Software, not facilitator."
- **Direct order payment is buildable; it's the safe side of the line.** R14 holds
  it (now 26 scenarios) precisely because the platform records the order but the
  vendor collects/confirms out-of-band — no custody, no money transmission.
- **Rails, ranked (v9):** ACH = only credit funder (cheap+flat AND confirmable).
  PayPal = has API+protection but priciest → direct-only, disqualified on cost.
  Zelle = free+final but no merchant API → direct-only, disqualified on
  confirmability; **strongest in-person rail**. Venmo business = ~1.9%+$0.10 to
  shopper. Cash/Other = off-platform catch-all, still a taxable sale.
- **Spec file is `specs/PaymentStrategy.md`** (renamed from `Payment Strategy.md`,
  no space), tracking **load-rail-policy v9**. The BDDs cite it by that path.

## Open / carried forward

- **Money-rails stays GATED.** Nothing in `credits/` ships ahead of its RFCs +
  counsel. R14's direct-payment block is the only buildable money-in path for now.
- **Placeholder numbers** in the spec (card ~2.9%+$0.30, ACH ~$0.30, discount
  2.5–3%, $50 floor) — swap for real processor rates before any build.
- **Zelle revisit hook** — if a bank/processor ever exposes a Zelle confirmation
  API, reconsider it as a credit funder (its finality would beat ACH); spec §3b
  notes this explicitly.
- **OHM RFCs for the credit mechanic** — still the gating prerequisite (Agency /
  Consent / Epistemic Authority / Dignity). Out of scope this session.

*Session 7 closed here.*