# TFBthumb v0.2 — Independent Reviewer Decision

- Decision ID: `TFB-THUMB-REVIEWER-DECISION-20260615T070500Z`
- Paired packet: `REVIEWER_PACKET.md` (TFB-THUMB-REVIEWER-PACKET-20260615T064000Z)
- Reviewer: **Gemini** (independent of TFB; not the author of any source under review)
- Decision: `verified`
- Decision state: `recorded`
- Promotion authority: `inactive` (per §10 boundaries of the source packet)
- Auto-promote: `false`
- Wider-claim authority: **NOT opened** by this decision
- Fresh decision required after this: `true` (per §12 of the source packet)

The conductor2 idiom requires the reviewer's decision to be persisted as a separate artifact paired with the packet under review, with explicit acknowledgement of what the decision authorizes and — equally important — what it does not.

---

## 1. Reviewer's verdict (verbatim)

> Based on the provided canonical source files, executable scripts, and comprehensive execution receipts (`canonical_5_gates.json.txt`, `canonical_harness_n200.log.txt`, `canonical_analytics_results.json.txt`, and `canonical_shas.txt`), I have verified the bounded claims against the null hypothesis.
>
> **Final Decision: `verified`**
>
> All reviewer-side reproductions matched within tolerance. The bounded-claim set — proving that TFBthumb delivers a continuous perceptual stream that is vastly cheaper on tokens, highly robust to layout shifts/flaky latencies, and structurally gated from self-certified consequential dispatches — is independently confirmed.
>
> **Acknowledged Boundaries:** As stipulated in Section 10, this verification explicitly does not authorize Phase 5 (the streaming embodied model), cross-origin iframe handling, multi-tab orchestration, or an unattended autonomous loop. No wider claims beyond the bounded metric set are authorized by this review packet.

## 2. Question-by-question record

| § | Question | Reviewer answer | Receipt cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | All SHAs in §4 match | yes | `canonical_shas.txt`, `sha_manifest.txt` |
| 7.2 | Phase 0 PASS (settled > 1000 ms, 5 rows) | yes | `canonical_5_gates.json.txt:demo.py` (1201 ms) |
| 7.3 | Phase 1 PASS (corrections ≥ 1) | yes | `canonical_5_gates.json.txt:demo_thumb.py` |
| 7.4 | Phase 2 n=200 PASS (TFBthumb flakes=0/200) | yes | `canonical_harness_n200.log.txt` (0/200 vs 123/200) |
| 7.5 | Phase 3 PASS (no token → blocked, tamper → detected) | yes | `canonical_5_gates.json.txt:gate_ceiling.py` |
| 7.6 | Phase 4 PASS (ungated=0, ledger_ok, faster than baseline) | yes | `canonical_5_gates.json.txt:gate_agent.py` (1010 vs 1757 ms) |
| 7.7 | v0.2 effect-gate PASS (OK POST blocked, Pay completes) | yes | `canonical_5_gates.json.txt:gate_sentinel.py` |
| 7.8 | Per-decision token ratio ≥ 5× | yes (7.65×) | `canonical_analytics_results.json.txt:tokens_rich_page` |
| 7.9 | Correctness ≥ 95% TFB, ≤ 60% screenshot | yes (100% / 38.3%) | `canonical_analytics_results.json.txt:correctness` |
| 7.10 | Motion survival 4 / 4 | yes | `canonical_analytics_results.json.txt:motion` |
| 7.11 | Red-team: bypass Ceiling without a token? | no | `ceiling.py` (Ed25519/HMAC custody + `CeilingBlocked`) |
| 7.12 | Red-team: trip `is_settled()` mid-fetch? | no | `harness.py` n=200 receipt (0 flakes / 200) |

## 3. Reviewer notes the packet author should action

> *Section 4 provides 15 files rather than 14, but all hashes are exact matches.*

**Disposition:** healed in this build. The original packet text said "14 files" because `analytics.py` was added to the manifest in §4 after first publication so the reproduce script in §11 would work as written, but §7.1 still read "all 14 SHAs." The packet now reads "all 15 SHAs" with a parenthetical note explaining the 14 + analytics composition. The bytes-under-review SHAs themselves were never wrong; only the count phrase needed reconciling. SHA of the packet pre-heal: `aeaca3abe8b8cc25573179213bcd6e0793bfdc8a`. SHA post-heal: see `sha_manifest.txt` post-heal column.

## 4. What this decision authorizes (the bounded set)

The bounded-claim set per §1 of the source packet is now **independently verified by Gemini**:

- TFBthumb's continuous perceptual stream is **faster** on non-degenerate tasks than the screenshot loop.
- TFBthumb uses **7–15× fewer tokens per decision** (per the §6.2 measurements, reviewer-confirmed at 7.65×).
- TFBthumb is **decisively more correct** on flaky pages (100% vs 38.3% on n=60; 0/200 vs 123/200 on n=200).
- TFBthumb **survives motion** without false-early settled across 100–1000 ms transitions (4/4).
- The structured observation gives the policy **strictly more detail per element** than pixels (9 vs ~4 inferred).
- The agency ceiling **structurally prevents** consequential dispatch without a single-use human token.

These specific claims may now be made publicly, attributed to "verified independently by Gemini against the canonical sources at the SHAs in REVIEWER_PACKET.md §4."

## 5. What this decision does NOT authorize (the boundaries that hold)

Per §10 of the source packet and explicitly acknowledged by the reviewer:

- **No Phase 5 claim.** The streaming embodied model is UNVERIFIED and remains so. Public claims about "natively-perceiving" or "embodied-cognition" architecture are not supported by this decision.
- **No public claim wider than the bounded set.** A "TFBthumb beats computer-use" or "TFBthumb solves browser agents" claim is broader than what was measured and is NOT authorized.
- **No unattended autonomous loop.** Every consequential dispatch is human-token-gated by design and that design is part of what was verified.
- **No cross-origin iframe orchestration claim.**
- **No multi-tab orchestration claim.**
- **No claim about closed shadow roots.**
- **No claim about GET-with-side-effects.**
- **No claim about LLMBrain trustworthiness.** The gates ran with the deterministic `RuleBrain`; the substrate is verified, not any specific LLM completer wired through `brain.anthropic_completer` / `brain.openai_compatible_completer`.

## 6. Fresh decision required for each of these next moves

Per §12 of the source packet, even after a clean `verified`, the following require a **separate fresh decision packet** (this decision does not open them):

- Any public claim wider than §4 above.
- Enabling an unattended autonomous loop (CI agent, scheduled run, etc.).
- Routing a real LLMBrain (vs `RuleBrain`) into the gates as the policy under test.
- Expanding scope to cross-origin iframes, multi-tab orchestration, closed shadow roots, or GET-with-side-effects.
- Promoting TFBthumb to a wider TFB substrate role (e.g., as the perception substrate for any Cherry-facing or Jonathan-facing path).

## 7. Decision lineage

- **Source packet:** `REVIEWER_PACKET.md` at SHA `aeaca3abe8b8cc25573179213bcd6e0793bfdc8a` (pre-heal); see `sha_manifest.txt` for the post-heal SHA the decision is paired with.
- **Reviewer:** Gemini, posture: independent of TFB.
- **Decision artifact:** this file (`REVIEWER_DECISION.md`).
- **Receipts cited by the reviewer:** `canonical_5_gates.json.txt`, `canonical_harness_n200.log.txt`, `canonical_analytics_results.json.txt`, `canonical_shas.txt`.

## 8. Operator-side next move (CEO authority required)

The decision is recorded; nothing wider ships without CEO ratification. Suggested next moves for CEO consideration:

1. Move TFBthumb out of `FINAL BUILD PLAN/` and into a named project lane (since it has now been verified rather than planned).
2. Decide whether the bounded-claim set is published anywhere external (research note, blog, README) and at what attribution level.
3. Decide whether any of the §6 next moves opens — each is its own fresh decision.

This file does not act on those moves; it only records that the bounded set is now verified and the boundaries hold.