## Why this exists
The fleet instruction is *"claim the largest unclaimed census file
cluster (`node scripts/lifecycle-column-census.mjs`)"*. That command
cannot answer it. The availability verdict lived **only** behind
`--claims`, which shells to `gh`:
```
line 342: if (claims && !json) {
```
So a worker following the instruction literally sees per-file counts,
reads a nonzero backlog as a work queue, and picks a file whose guard is
already documented as deferred. Counts alone cannot separate *work left*
from *debt left*.
**Measured cost:** the queue reached **zero unexamined guards** while
dispatch continued. I re-audited the last three candidates —
`merge-queue-ops-2`, `lifecycle-ops`, `notification-service` — and all
three were already documented. Only one was reclassifiable, and by
**deletion** rather than conversion (#3205).
## What the bare command prints now
```
COLUMN guards (the backlog): 11
CONVERSION QUEUE EMPTY: all 11 remaining column guard(s) carry a documented deferral note.
There is no unexamined guard to claim. A nonzero backlog above is DEBT, not a work queue.
Re-read the note at a site before converting it; run --claims to also check open-PR ownership.
```
Or, when work does exist: `N unexamined guard(s) remain (no deferral
note) — run --triage to list them by file.`
**Local signals only**, so it is honest offline. It reports what it can
prove — no *unexamined* guard remains — and explicitly does **not**
claim the files are unclaimed, because only `--claims` sees open PRs. No
count, no exit code, `--strict`/`--json` untouched.
## Three commits, deliberately separated
1. **`refactor`** — move `FLAG_MARKERS` + the 40-line window into the
lib as `hasDeferralNote()`, verbatim. It was a private const plus an
inline `.slice()` in the CLI, so the rule deciding where the fleet is
sent had **no test in either direction**. Proven identical on the real
tree: `11 documented / 0 unexamined` before and after.
2. **`feat`** — the verdict + 6 tests.
3. **`fix`** — an unrelated pre-existing failure (below).
## The test fix — this one is turning main red
`attributes a remaining file to the open PR that touches it` asserted
over `out.slice(out.indexOf("UNCLAIMED:"))`, which runs to **end of
output** and so also covers the `SYNC-RESOLVED` section printed
afterward. That section legitimately lists `scheduler.ts`.
Latent until `topRemainingFile()` returned `scheduler.ts` — which
happened as the backlog shrank, **a state every conversion moves
toward**. Confirmed pre-existing: clean `origin/main` runs `42 passed /
1 failed` with the identical message.
## Evidence
| check | result |
|---|---|
| `hasDeferralNote` tests | both directions, boundary exact at 40 above
/ not below, 5 real phrasings |
| verdict control (by hand) | one tracked undocumented guard → **11 →
12**, verdict flips to `1 unexamined`; removed → restored |
| test-fix anti-vacuity | claim split broken → **FAILS**; restored →
passes |
| census file | **49 passed** (was 42 passed / 1 failed) |
| `census --strict` / `check:fnxc-future-dates` | exit 0 / exit 0 |
| `pnpm test:gate` | **exit 0** (732 tests) |
The verdict control was **invalid on the first attempt** — my probe file
was untracked and `git ls-files` never scanned it, so the verdict did
not flip and nothing was proven. Recording that because a control that
silently proves nothing is the exact failure this PR is about.
## Census before / after
No guard converted here; this is tooling. Backlog unchanged at 11, all
deferred.
215f09d88f