Existing-project adoption keeps the host's approved capabilities

docs/ab-evaluation/case-existing-adoption.md

@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ No spec, no architecture invariants — just code on the existing tree.
 | Test files | 1 | 1 | +0 |
 | Test LoC | 14 | 14 | +0 |
 | Test cases | 1 | 1 | +0 |
-| Total chars (artifacts + code) | 11268 | 3864 | +7404 |
-| Estimated tokens | 2819 | 967 | +1852 |
+| Total chars (artifacts + code) | 11212 | 3864 | +7348 |
+| Estimated tokens | 2805 | 967 | +1838 |
 
 **Detector outcomes** (META_INTEGRITY + HARDCODED_SECRET excluded — toolchain-only checks):
 
@@ -90,8 +90,8 @@ B (Vanilla)  — errors: 1  warns: 3  infos: 28
 | Test files | 2 | 2 | +0 |
 | Test LoC | 27 | 27 | +0 |
 | Test cases | 3 | 3 | +0 |
-| Total chars (artifacts + code) | 12811 | 5115 | +7696 |
-| Estimated tokens | 3205 | 1280 | +1925 |
+| Total chars (artifacts + code) | 12732 | 5115 | +7617 |
+| Estimated tokens | 3185 | 1280 | +1905 |
 
 **Detector outcomes** (META_INTEGRITY + HARDCODED_SECRET excluded — toolchain-only checks):
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ B (Vanilla)  — errors: 1  warns: 3  infos: 28
 - **Spec ↔ code traceability**: cladding emits 1 feature(s), 2 AC(s), 1 scenario(s), 3 capability(s); vanilla has 0 of each.
 - **Architecture enforcement**: cladding declares 3 layer(s) with 0 forbidden-import rule(s); vanilla has 0.
 - **Detector behavior**: cladding-managed tree → 1 error(s) / 1 warn(s) / 11 info(s). Vanilla tree → 1 / 3 / 28. The detectors that gate against spec (REFERENCE_INTEGRITY, MISSING_IMPLEMENTATION, ARCHITECTURE_FROM_SPEC, CAPABILITIES_FEATURE_MAPPING) need cladding's artifacts to evaluate — without them they silently pass. The "0 errors on vanilla" therefore is **absence of signal**, not absence of drift.
-- **Token cost**: cladding's cumulative artifact + code consumes ~3205 tokens vs vanilla's ~1280 (heuristic chars/4) — Δ ≈ 1925 tokens, the price of structure.
+- **Token cost**: cladding's cumulative artifact + code consumes ~3185 tokens vs vanilla's ~1280 (heuristic chars/4) — Δ ≈ 1905 tokens, the price of structure.
 - **Code surface**: vanilla writes 9 source file(s) / 144 LoC + 2 test file(s) / 3 test case(s); cladding writes 9 / 128 + 2 / 3. (Vanilla front-loads code, cladding front-loads spec — both converge by M2.)
 
 ## Outcome Quality (F-ba2e05)

spec.yaml

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ project:
 
 # Auto-maintained by `clad sync` (F-5b9f9f). Do not edit by hand.
 inventory:
-  features: 255
+  features: 256
   scenarios: 2
   capabilities: 6
   test_files: 237

spec/attestation.yaml

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ attested_modules:
   docs/ab-evaluation/README.md: 2467808b9871dcf0
   docs/ab-evaluation/case-doverunner-scale.md: 2a435b6855823d41
   docs/ab-evaluation/case-efficiency-measurement.md: 348aca146a7b2faa
-  docs/ab-evaluation/case-existing-adoption.md: ec78b64f115d9c91
+  docs/ab-evaluation/case-existing-adoption.md: d9d0d649861024ce
   docs/ab-evaluation/case-graph-efficiency.md: 83d3956d14a1517d
   docs/ab-evaluation/case-iterative-vs-fixed-vapt.md: 1d242b8b6071f343
   docs/ab-evaluation/case-payment-saas.md: ca1a9a22b933c5cf
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ attested_modules:
   skills/serve/SKILL.md: f08bbdbbfeb05041
   skills/status/SKILL.md: 09faadc50b3449da
   skills/sync/SKILL.md: 775c0f990a52a3d9
-  spec.yaml: 59840b10bd055d32
+  spec.yaml: 82491ca5dc73636f
   spec/README.md: 7c257426396d435c
   spec/architecture.yaml: f0888480405a13a8
   spec/features/: a4d0f0eb87fed960
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ attested_modules:
   src/cli/graph.ts: bab410061b8c746a
   src/cli/hook.ts: 201f82f4c89e173f
   src/cli/host-onboarding.ts: b046571d4be7280c
-  src/cli/init.ts: ccd14da690621d88
+  src/cli/init.ts: 04135bc767e58e02
   src/cli/intent-from-path.ts: e69862821d979f22
   src/cli/measure.ts: 3a562f16589e26c2
   src/cli/report.ts: 911f859b2446834b
@@ -586,6 +586,7 @@ attested_features:
   F-6ed216f3: ok
   F-6f80e7: ok
   F-7076f7: ok
+  F-70ed1afd: ok
   F-723c81dd: ok
   F-7794a6bc: ok
   F-77a90ac6: ok

spec/features/adoption-honors-host-capabilities-70ed1afd.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+id: F-70ed1afd
+slug: adoption-honors-host-capabilities
+title: "Existing-project adoption honors the host draft's approved capabilities"
+status: done
+modules:
+  - src/cli/init.ts
+acceptance_criteria:
+  - id: AC-d20df076
+    ears: event
+    condition: "when an existing project is adopted through the onboarding flow and the host/LLM draft dispatch fires fully (onboarding source is 'llm')"
+    action: "select onboarding.capabilitiesYaml over interp.capabilitiesYaml in the scan branch"
+    response: "spec/capabilities.yaml carries the draft's id/title/summary/surface entries"
+    text: "The system shall write the draft's approved capabilities to spec/capabilities.yaml instead of the scanner's README-derived capabilities."
+    test_refs: ["tests/serve/init-tools.test.ts"]
+  - id: AC-039f62b6
+    ears: unwanted
+    condition: "if the adopted repository has no README ## headings"
+    response: "spec/capabilities.yaml is the draft's capabilities, never 'capabilities: []' when a fired draft provided them"
+    text: "The system shall not write an empty capabilities list when a fired draft supplied capabilities, and shall persist the draft's capabilities instead."
+    test_refs: ["tests/serve/init-tools.test.ts"]
+  - id: AC-6421da1f
+    ears: state
+    condition: "while the onboarding dispatch did not fire (source is 'deterministic') or no intent was provided so there is no onboarding pass"
+    text: "The system shall fall back to the scanner-derived capabilities, preserving prior behavior for --no-llm and no-intent scans."
+    test_refs: ["tests/cli/init.test.ts"]
+  - id: AC-aa2d0e2c
+    ears: ubiquitous
+    text: "The system shall keep docs/conventions.md and spec/architecture.yaml sourced from the scanner (code-grounded), unaffected by the capability-source preference."
+    test_refs: ["tests/scenarios/existing-adoption-lifecycle.test.ts"]
+design_impact:
+  classification: none
+  rationale: "Behavioral fix to how the init scan-branch sources spec/capabilities.yaml; it does not alter cladding's own capabilities, architecture, or project-context artifacts."
+  status: resolved
+  artifacts: []

spec/index.yaml

@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ features:
   F-6ed216f3: {slug: interactive-drift-profile, status: done, modules: 5}
   F-6f80e7: {slug: claude-code-dogfood, status: done, modules: 1}
   F-7076f7: {slug: smoke-probe-demand, status: done, modules: 3}
+  F-70ed1afd: {slug: adoption-honors-host-capabilities, status: done, modules: 1}
   F-723c81dd: {slug: agent-interpreter-rule, status: done, modules: 7}
   F-7794a6bc: {slug: impact-blast-radius, status: done, modules: 3}
   F-77a90ac6: {slug: scan-layer-glob-source-root, status: done, modules: 1}

src/cli/init.ts

@@ -511,7 +511,20 @@ export async function runInit(opts: InitOptions = {}): Promise<InitResult> {
     // directly instead of re-parsing docs/project-context.md. LLM
     // refinement (when a dispatcher is available) adds `summary` +
     // `surface` per entry; deterministic mode ships id + title only.
-    writeArtifact(cwd, 'spec/capabilities.yaml', interp.capabilitiesYaml, created, proposals);
+    //
+    // v0.9.1 — an existing-project adoption still carries the host/LLM's
+    // approved, domain-aware capabilities via the onboarding pass. The scan
+    // interpreter can't see them: its total-fallback fires on the absent
+    // CONVENTIONS_MD sentinel (a host draft never emits it) and re-derives
+    // capabilities from README headings — or `[]` when there are none —
+    // silently discarding the draft's schema-validated 3–8 entries. Prefer
+    // the onboarding capabilities when the dispatcher genuinely fired
+    // (`source === 'llm'`), mirroring the greenfield branch below; the
+    // scanner still owns conventions.md + architecture.yaml, which are
+    // code-grounded and correct for a real codebase.
+    const capabilitiesYaml =
+      onboarding?.source === 'llm' ? onboarding.capabilitiesYaml : interp.capabilitiesYaml;
+    writeArtifact(cwd, 'spec/capabilities.yaml', capabilitiesYaml, created, proposals);
 
     // v0.3.30 — scenarios are not auto-extracted from observed code.
     // A user journey is *intent*, not architecture, so cladding leaves

tests/serve/init-tools.test.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {dirname, join} from 'node:path';
 import {Client} from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js';
 import {InMemoryTransport} from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/inMemory.js';
 import {afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test} from 'vitest';
+import {parse as parseYaml} from 'yaml';
 import {refineOnboarding, resolveOnboardingReview} from '../../src/cli/clarify.js';
 import {prepareHostClarify, prepareHostInit, renderHostDraft} from '../../src/cli/host-onboarding.js';
 import {runInit} from '../../src/cli/init.js';
@@ -427,6 +428,16 @@ describe('serve/server — natural-language init tools', () => {
       const conventions = readFileSync(join(dir, 'docs', 'conventions.md'), 'utf8');
       expect(conventions).toContain('derived from observed code');
       expect(conventions).toContain('## Observed style');
+      // Regression: an existing-project adoption with no README `##` headings must still
+      // persist the host draft's approved capabilities — not land `capabilities: []`.
+      const capabilitiesBody = readFileSync(join(dir, 'spec', 'capabilities.yaml'), 'utf8');
+      expect(capabilitiesBody).not.toContain('capabilities: []');
+      const capabilities = (parseYaml(capabilitiesBody) as {capabilities?: Array<{id?: string}>}).capabilities ?? [];
+      expect(capabilities.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
+      const capabilityIds = capabilities.map((capability) => capability.id);
+      for (const id of ['payments', 'audit', 'webhooks']) {
+        expect(capabilityIds).toContain(id);
+      }
     } finally {
       await cleanup();
     }