diff --git a/.github/quality/DECISIONS.md b/.github/quality/DECISIONS.md
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+# Quality decisions
+
+Proposals that were considered and declined, so the review job does not raise them again. Re-raise one only with new evidence, and say what changed.
+
+Issues closed as *not planned* count as declined too; the review job checks them directly. Add an entry here when the reasoning is worth keeping longer than the issue.
+
+## Declined during the baseline audit (2026-10-10)
+
+The audit's verifier rejected these findings on their merits. Findings it merged into a filed issue are not listed.
+
+| Proposal | Why it was declined |
+|---|---|
+| Stop recording release-qualification evidence in `specs/` | A deliberate maintainer release process. Not a code-quality concern. |
+| Remove the "Agent Orchestration" section from `AGENTS.md` and delete `.agents/skills` | Deliberate maintainer choices (model routing, Codex use). Only stale or generated parts should go (#192). |
+| Merge `IDrainHandler` into `IShellTerminator` | Different timing: drain handlers run while the generation is Draining and scopes may still be active. Terminators run just before disposal. |
+| Drop the unused `IHostEnvironment?` parameter from web feature callbacks | Breaks every `IWebShellFeature` and `IMiddlewareShellFeature` implementer for little gain. |
+| Move `ShellConfiguration` / `GetConfigurationRoot` out of `CShells.Abstractions` | A documented feature-author helper; it belongs in the abstractions. |
+| Reorganize tests from `Unit/`/`Integration/` into feature-area folders | Churn with little payoff; the targeted consolidations (#205, #206, #207) fix most misfiling. |
+| Let a database-backed provider return `ShellSettings` directly instead of implementing the blueprint contracts | Large redesign of the central provider contract for modest ergonomic gain. |
+| Replace the string-keyed resolution context with a typed, protocol-agnostic record | Superseded by passing `HttpContext` directly (#172). HTTP is the only consumer. |
diff --git a/.github/quality/GLOSSARY.md b/.github/quality/GLOSSARY.md
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+# Glossary
+
+The ubiquitous language of CShells: one word per concept, one concept per word.
+
+This is the **target** vocabulary. The Status column says where each term stands:
+
+- **keep**: the canonical term. Use it in code, docs, logs and commit titles.
+- **rename** / **merge** / **retire**: the term is on its way out. The open `audit:*` issues listed in #209 track the work. Don't introduce it in new code; when you touch code that uses it, prefer the replacement in Notes.
+
+A PR that adds public vocabulary adds it here and retires any synonym in the same PR.
+
+| Term | Definition | Status | Notes |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Shell | A named, isolated set of enabled features with its own DI container, typically one per tenant. | keep | "Tenant" is a use-case word for docs only; never in type names. |
+| Shell name | The case-insensitive string that identifies a shell across blueprints, registry, routing and logs. | keep | The canonical identity. The log field is `{ShellName}`. |
+| ShellId | A struct wrapper around the shell name. | retire | Replace with `string` plus a shared `OrdinalIgnoreCase` comparer. |
+| Shell generation (IShell) | One immutable build of a shell (service provider plus state), numbered 1, 2, 3… per shell name. | keep | "Generation" is reserved for this sense only and is typed `int` everywhere. |
+| Shell descriptor | The identity of a generation: name, generation number, creation time, metadata; formatted `name#gen`. | keep | The log field is `{Shell}`. |
+| Blueprint | A re-invocable recipe that composes a shell's settings each time the shell is activated or reloaded. | keep | |
+| Compose | Asking a blueprint to produce fresh shell settings. | keep | |
+| Blueprint provider | The single host-registered source that looks up and lists blueprints by shell name. | keep | Replaces "shell settings provider" and "configuration provider" (`WithConfigurationProvider` becomes `WithConfigurationBlueprints`). |
+| Blueprint manager | An optional writer that persists create, update and delete for a mutable blueprint source. | keep | A blueprint is mutable if and only if it has a manager. |
+| Shell settings | The composed definition of a shell: name, enabled/disabled features, shell configuration. | keep | `ShellConfig` remains only as the JSON binding shape. |
+| Shell configuration | The per-shell key/value tree surfaced as `IConfiguration` inside the shell. | keep | |
+| Feature configuration | The subtree of shell configuration owned by one feature and bound into its options. | keep | Preferred over "feature settings". Rename the public members only when they are touched for other reasons. |
+| Feature options (TOptions) | The typed object an `IConfigurableFeature<TOptions>` receives. | keep | The single feature-configuration model. Use "options" only for this type parameter. |
+| Shell defaults (ConfigureAllShells) | Configuration applied to every shell before its own blueprint values. | rename | Rename the internal `ConfiguredShellBlueprintProvider` to `ShellDefaultsBlueprintProvider`. |
+| Settings preparer | A host hook that patches shell configuration after dependency expansion, before features bind. | retire | Delete unless a downstream consumer is confirmed; if kept, rename it `IShellConfigurationPatcher`. |
+| Feature | A class implementing `IShellFeature` that registers services (and optionally endpoints or middleware) into a shell. | keep | |
+| Feature name | The unique key of a feature: `[ShellFeature("Name")]`, or the class name with any `ShellFeature`/`Feature` suffix removed. | keep | Merge "feature id" into this: drop `Id`, the `Name => Id` alias and the `{FeatureId}` log field. |
+| Feature type | The CLR type implementing a feature. | rename | Replaces "startup type". |
+| Feature catalog | The host-wide, refreshable set of features discovered from feature assemblies. | rename | Drop the "Runtime" prefix: `IFeatureCatalog`. |
+| Catalog snapshot | An immutable view of the feature catalog at one refresh, identified by `Version`. | merge | Merge `RuntimeFeatureCatalogSnapshot` and `IRuntimeFeatureCatalogSnapshot`. Its `Generation` property becomes `Version`. |
+| Catalog refresh | Recomputing and publishing a new catalog snapshot. | rename | Replaces "catalog commit" (event `Refreshed`). |
+| Feature descriptor | Metadata about one discovered feature: name, display name, description, dependencies, metadata, type. | merge | Merge `ShellFeatureDescriptor` and `RuntimeFeatureDescriptor`. |
+| Feature assembly provider | A source of assemblies scanned for features. | keep | |
+| Host assemblies | The default set of feature assemblies discovered from the host's dependency context. | keep | Always included unless the host calls `ClearAssemblies()`. |
+| Shared assemblies | A filter over host-assembly discovery. | retire | Has opposite meanings depending on mode. Delete, or rename to `FeatureAssemblyFilter` with a single meaning. |
+| Shared singletons | Root singletons deliberately shared between the host and all shells (`ShareSingletonWithShells`). | keep | |
+| Root services / service exclusion | Host DI registrations copied into each shell, minus the CShells infrastructure that must stay in the root. | keep | |
+| Shell registry | The in-memory index of live generations; it activates, reloads, drains and unregisters them. | keep | |
+| Activation | Building and initializing a new generation and making it the active one for its shell name. | keep | The only public word for this moment. |
+| Active | The single committed, routable generation for a shell name. | keep | Redefined so it implies committed; the uncommitted window is `Initializing`. |
+| Settled | An active generation whose activation has committed. | retire | Merge into Active; delete `ISettledShellRegistry`. |
+| Commit / committed | The internal point at which an activating generation becomes authoritative. | retire | Internal only. |
+| Publish / publication / promote | Making a generation or its endpoints visible. | retire | Use "activate"/"active". Internal endpoint code may keep "publish". |
+| Candidate / provisional | A generation being activated but not yet active. | retire | Internal only. |
+| Verified / returned generation | The generation reported by an activation-runner attempt. | retire | Disappears with the runner; if the runner is kept elsewhere, use a single `Generation` (int). |
+| Activation runner | An opt-in service that activates a list of shells with retries. | retire | Moves out of core (into the consumer, or an opt-in package). |
+| Activation participant | A two-phase-commit hook (Prepare/Commit/Complete/Rollback) around activation. | retire | Replaced by a single slot-swap commit. |
+| Build participant / build lease | A hook holding a resource for the lifetime of one generation. | retire | Its only implementation is a no-op; replace with a catalog "mark stale" call. |
+| Reload | Activating a new generation from a freshly composed blueprint and draining the previous one. | keep | Rename the management route `reload-all` to `reload-active`. |
+| Unregister | Deleting a blueprint through its manager, then draining and disposing its generations. | keep | |
+| Drain | Retiring a generation: wait for scopes, run teardown hooks, dispose, all within a policy-bounded deadline. | keep | |
+| Drain policy / grace period | The rules for drain deadlines and the extra time allowed after a deadline or a force. | keep | Defaults are defined once (`FixedTimeoutDrainPolicy.Default`, `DrainGracePeriod.Default`). |
+| Drain handler | A parallel teardown hook that runs while a generation is Draining (scopes may still be active). | keep | Distinct timing from terminators; do not merge. |
+| Shell terminator | An ordered teardown hook that runs before a generation's provider is disposed. | keep | |
+| Shell initializer | An ordered startup hook that runs inside a new generation before it becomes active. | keep | |
+| Lifecycle phase / order | The coarse phase (Prepare/Default/Start) and numeric order that sort initializers and, mirrored, terminators. | keep | One shared `LifecycleRegistration` and one shared `LifecycleOrderException`. |
+| Lifecycle subscriber | An observer, registered through DI, notified of every generation state transition. | keep | The only subscription mechanism (registry `Subscribe` is removed). |
+| Post-configure shell services | A feature hook that runs after all features register services, before the provider is built. | keep | |
+| Scope (IShellScope) | A tracked DI scope inside a generation; it delays drain until disposed. | keep | |
+| Shell resolver | One ordered step that maps an incoming HTTP request to a shell name. | merge | Merge `IShellResolver` and `IShellResolverStrategy` into one interface; the composite becomes the internal `ShellResolverPipeline`. |
+| Resolver pipeline | The ordered list of shell resolvers; list order is execution order. | keep | Replaces `ResolverOrderAttribute`, `SetOrder` and the `order:` arguments. |
+| Fallback shell resolver | The last-resort resolver that picks the `Default` shell, else the first active shell. | rename | Replaces `DefaultShellResolverStrategy`, because "Default" is ambiguous. |
+| Web routing | Host-wide shell resolution by path segment, host, header or claim. | keep | Configured only on `CShellsBuilder`. `WebRoutingShellResolverOptions` becomes `WebRoutingOptions`. |
+| Shell address | The path, host, header value or claim value that selects one shell. | rename | Replaces per-shell `WebRoutingShellOptions` and `ShellBuilder.WithWebRouting`. "Route index" means the shell address index. |
+| Shell resolution context | A string-keyed property bag passed to resolvers. | retire | Resolvers receive `HttpContext` directly. |
+| Notification | The removed in-process pub/sub mechanism. | retire | Delete `CShells.Notifications`; use "lifecycle subscriber". |
+| Shell property | The removed shell property bag and its serializer. | retire | Delete `IShellPropertySerializer` and `ShellConfigurationKeys`. |
+| Shell initialization waiter | A never-signaled "all shells initialized" gate in `CShells.AspNetCore.Testing`. | retire | Delete the package. "Initialization" means `IShellInitializer` only. |
+| Applied / desired / deferred shell; shell settings provider; shell manager; shell host | Vocabulary of removed architectures. | retire | Purge from docs and agent files. |
+| Qualification | The spec-process record that a preview build was validated. | retire | Do not use it in code, test names or user-facing commit titles. |
+| Handler | Overloaded: drain hooks, endpoint subscriber, notification handlers, Management API endpoints. | retire | Use "handler" only for Management API endpoint handlers and the `IDrainHandler` contract. |
+| Provider | Blueprint source, assembly source, `IServiceProvider`, auth scheme source. | keep | Always qualified (blueprint provider, assembly provider, service provider). |
diff --git a/.github/quality/PRINCIPLES.md b/.github/quality/PRINCIPLES.md
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+# Quality principles
+
+The standard the weekly review job audits CShells against. Each principle came out of a finding in the baseline audit of 2026-10-10 (see #209). Change this file by PR; the review job reads the version on `main`.
+
+Principles marked *Proposed* are not enforced yet. The review job may cite them but must not file new issues based on them alone.
+
+1. **Defaults never disappear silently.** Customizing one aspect (a lambda, an assembly, a routing option) must add to the zero-config behavior, not replace it; any replacement must be an explicitly named opt-out such as `ClearAssemblies()`. *Rationale:* `AddShells(configure)` and `WithWebRouting` both drop defaults today, which is the most likely "nothing works" moment for a new user.
+2. **Every public knob has an observable effect and a test that proves it.** A parameter, return type or option that can be set but is ignored is a bug. *Rationale:* resolver `order:` arguments, `MapShells()` conventions and the FluentValidation validator all compile and do nothing.
+3. **One mechanism per concern.** There is one way to order resolvers, one way to configure a feature, one entry point per host shape and one teardown-ordering model; a second mechanism needs a written reason. *Rationale:* three ordering mechanisms and four feature-configuration paths conflicted with each other.
+4. **Single-consumer capabilities live with their consumer.** *(Proposed; pending the maintainer decision in #178.)* A seam whose only implementation serves one downstream host belongs in that host's repo, or in an opt-in package, until a second consumer appears. *Rationale:* build leases, the activation runner, the activation 2PC and the Nuplane adapter grew core by 17% for Foundation.Host.
+5. **The Abstractions packages hold feature-author contracts only.** Host orchestration, routing internals and plumbing go in implementation packages, internal by default. *Rationale:* `CShells.Abstractions` ships about 30 host-only types to every feature library.
+6. **Internal by default.** A type becomes public only when a documented user scenario needs it; tests use `InternalsVisibleTo`, not public test hooks. *Rationale:* about 30 plumbing types and several test-only methods (e.g. `DynamicShellEndpointDataSource.Clear`) are frozen into the API.
+7. **One word per concept, one concept per word.** New public vocabulary has to be added to [GLOSSARY.md](GLOSSARY.md), and any synonym it replaces is retired in the same PR. *Rationale:* active/settled/committed/published/verified/returned all mean one thing, and "generation" means three.
+8. **The public state model is honest.** If an API says `Active`, the generation is committed and routable; there are no invisible sub-states that need a second interface to observe. *Rationale:* `ISettledShellRegistry` exists only because `GetActive` can return an uncommitted generation.
+9. **Unknown or mismatched configuration fails loudly.** Configuration whose effect is silently nil (a mismatched routing path, header names that disagree, an unknown feature name, an array/map shape mix) throws or logs at Error with a fix hint. *Rationale:* several routing and naming mistakes today only log a warning and produce 404s.
+10. **Every code snippet in docs compiles against the current API.** Each feature has exactly one documentation home (the wiki), and a rename PR must grep the docs and XML comments. *Rationale:* about 21 references to renamed or removed APIs survive across four doc sets.
+11. **No release can ship an unrestorable package.** Packable projects may depend only on packages available from nuget.org, and NU5104 is treated as an error. *Rationale:* `CShells.Nuplane` pins a feedz-only prerelease and is in the publish list.
+12. **Tests assert caller-observable behavior through shared helpers.** No reflection "shape" tests, auto-property tests or internal-counter assertions; use one shared `TestShellHost`, logger and registry stub; synchronize with gates, not sleeps. *Rationale:* there are five copies of TestHost, seven capturing loggers, sleep-based drain tests and about 30 filler tests.
+13. **Each behavior is specified in one test location.** Table-driven Theories go at the lowest level that can observe the behavior, and integration tests cover only what the unit level cannot. *Rationale:* feature-entry parsing, the lifecycle planner, the dependency resolver and drain are each asserted in 3–6 places.
+14. **Code and tests never cite spec IDs.** Names and comments state the behavior or link an ADR; FR-/SC-/US- numbers and review-bot tags are banned. *Rationale:* FR numbers restart in each of 25 specs, so they are ambiguous.
+15. **Design history is short ADRs, not live specs.** *(Proposed; pending the maintainer decision in #191.)* A spec folder exists only while its PR is open; durable decisions become 30–50 line ADRs. *Rationale:* 23.4k lines of mostly "Draft" specs describe removed types and mislead agents.
diff --git a/.github/quality/README.md b/.github/quality/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fd850e
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+++ b/.github/quality/README.md
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+# Quality loop
+
+Two scheduled agent jobs keep CShells simple and consistent. The roadmap and run log live in #209.
+
+| File | Purpose |
+|---|---|
+| [PRINCIPLES.md](PRINCIPLES.md) | The standard the review job audits against. |
+| [GLOSSARY.md](GLOSSARY.md) | The canonical domain vocabulary. |
+| [DECISIONS.md](DECISIONS.md) | Declined proposals, so they are not raised again. |
+| [metrics.sh](metrics.sh) | Size metrics posted with every review run. |
+
+## Labels
+
+| Label | Meaning |
+|---|---|
+| `audit:proposed` | Filed by an audit. Waiting for maintainer triage. |
+| `audit:approved` | Approved. The fixer job may deliver it, including merging the PR once review and CI pass. |
+| `audit:tracking` | The roadmap and run-log issue. |
+| `area:*`, `priority:P1`–`P3`, `breaking-change` | Classification, set when the issue is filed. |
+
+To decline a proposal, close it as *not planned*. Add a line to DECISIONS.md if the reasoning should outlive the issue.
+
+## Jobs
+
+**Weekly review.** Rotates through one focus area per week: public API, domain language, simplification, architecture, tests, docs, product. Each run:
+- checks recent changes and the focus area against the principles and glossary;
+- de-duplicates against open and closed issues and DECISIONS.md;
+- files at most 5 new `audit:proposed` issues, and none while 10 or more are waiting for triage;
+- posts a run summary with `metrics.sh` output on #209.
+
+Every issue must say what it removes or merges. Additive proposals need a stated reason why removal is not the better answer.
+
+**Fixer.** Each run delivers one `audit:approved` issue end to end: branch, implement, two-axis review, PR, CI and squash-merge. It picks the earliest approved issue in the order in #209 whose prerequisites are closed.
diff --git a/.github/quality/metrics.sh b/.github/quality/metrics.sh
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+++ b/.github/quality/metrics.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Prints the quality-loop size metrics as a Markdown table. Run from the repo root.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cs_loc() { find "$@" -name '*.cs' -not -path '*/obj/*' -not -path '*/bin/*' -print0 | xargs -0 cat | wc -l | tr -d ' '; }
+public_types() { grep -rhE '^\s*public (sealed |static |abstract |partial |readonly |record |ref )*(class|interface|record|struct|enum|delegate) ' "$@" --include='*.cs' | wc -l | tr -d ' '; }
+test_count() { grep -rhoE '\[(Fact|Theory)' "$@" --include='*.cs' | wc -l | tr -d ' '; }
+md_lines() { find "$@" -name '*.md' -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -print0 2>/dev/null | xargs -0 cat 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' '; }
+
+echo "| Metric | Value |"
+echo "|---|---|"
+echo "| Commit | \`$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)\` |"
+echo "| src LOC | $(cs_loc src) |"
+echo "| Public types | $(public_types src) |"
+for p in src/*/; do echo "| &nbsp;&nbsp;$(basename "$p") | $(public_types "$p") types, $(cs_loc "$p") LOC |"; done
+echo "| Packable projects | $(grep -L '<IsPackable>false' src/*/*.csproj | wc -l | tr -d ' ') |"
+echo "| tests LOC | $(cs_loc tests) |"
+echo "| Test methods ([Fact]/[Theory]) | $(test_count tests) |"
+echo "| specs/ lines | $(md_lines specs) |"
+echo "| Markdown lines (excl. specs) | $(( $(md_lines .) - $(md_lines specs) )) |"
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 325fb67..e105b5e 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -140,6 +140,11 @@ When asked to review or address PR review comments, think critically about each
 - Collection expressions (`[..list]`) over `new List<T>` wherever possible
 - `[ResolverOrder(N)]` attribute controls strategy ordering — lower wins
 
+## Quality Standard
+
+- `.github/quality/GLOSSARY.md` is the canonical domain vocabulary. Use its **keep** terms; don't introduce terms it marks rename/merge/retire. New public vocabulary is added there in the same PR.
+- `.github/quality/PRINCIPLES.md` is the bar for public API, simplicity, docs and tests. `.github/quality/README.md` explains the audit/fix loop and its labels.
+
 ## Key Reference Files
 
 | Purpose | Path |