diff --git a/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist-summary.md b/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist-summary.md
index 8fbc377e255..876247d59a2 100644
--- a/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist-summary.md
+++ b/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist-summary.md
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ complete a box.
## Active work
- [ ] **WP2 — Finish target-native artifact metadata and provenance.**
- - Four POSIX GitHub runner cells pass build, smoke, equality, and metadata upload.
- - Windows x64/arm64 currently fail closed while reading the linker PE file version in
- [run 29369925932](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29369925932).
- - Local commit `714308114` isolates the linker path through a child environment variable and is
- green across 20 test files / 98 tests plus typecheck, lint, formatting, and diff checks.
+ - Four POSIX GitHub runner cells pass build, smoke, equality, metadata upload, and direct payload
+ audit in [run 29370926985](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29370926985).
+ - Windows x64/arm64 fail closed because hosted `link.exe` returns an empty string-valued PE
+ `FileVersion`; neither cell downloads inputs or produces an artifact.
+ - Local commit `1b775e6af` formats the PE version from bounded numeric fields and rejects an absent
+ all-zero version. It is green across 20 test files / 99 tests plus static gates.
- Next gate: push that exact correction, rerun all six native jobs, then inspect every uploaded
artifact before completing the metadata/provenance box.
diff --git a/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist.md b/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist.md
index 49003dc7734..2c599d53538 100644
--- a/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist.md
+++ b/docs/reference/plans/2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-implementation-checklist.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ work; keep exact commands, runner identities, hashes, metrics, and residual gaps
Date created: 2026-07-14
Last updated: 2026-07-14
-Current phase: Milestone 3 / Work Package 2 SBOM/provenance closure — **In progress — 2026-07-14, Codex implementation owner**; exact-head run [29369925932](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29369925932) and direct payload audit keep Linux x64/arm64 and macOS x64/arm64 green but both Windows cells fail closed before build/upload while selecting the authenticated linker's PE file version (E-M3-METADATA-CI-RED-003); local commit `714308114` passes that linker path through a dedicated child environment variable, accepts only a bounded valid file-version form, preserves bounded failure diagnostics, and passes 20 files / 98 tests plus typecheck, full lint, formatting, max-lines, and diff gates (E-M3-WINDOWS-LINKER-ENV-LOCAL-001); the correction still requires an exact-head all-six native run and direct artifact inspection before any remaining SBOM/provenance/toolchain box is checked; oldest-baseline, native-trust, cross-family remote, and measured-baseline gates remain open; production/default behavior and every tuple state remain unchanged; no bundled-runtime path is enabled
+Current phase: Milestone 3 / Work Package 2 SBOM/provenance closure — **In progress — 2026-07-14, Codex implementation owner**; exact-head run [29370926985](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29370926985) and direct payload audit keep Linux x64/arm64 and macOS x64/arm64 green but both Windows cells fail closed before build/upload because the authenticated linker's string-valued PE `FileVersion` is empty on both hosted architectures (E-M3-METADATA-CI-RED-004); exact implementation commit `1b775e6af` formats the four numeric PE version fields, rejects the absent `0.0.0.0` form, preserves exact linker-byte hashing and environment-isolated path transport, and passes 20 files / 99 tests plus typecheck, full lint, formatting, max-lines, and diff gates (E-M3-WINDOWS-LINKER-NUMERIC-LOCAL-001); the correction still requires an exact-head all-six native run and direct artifact inspection before any remaining SBOM/provenance/toolchain box is checked; oldest-baseline, native-trust, cross-family remote, and measured-baseline gates remain open; production/default behavior and every tuple state remain unchanged; no bundled-runtime path is enabled
Primary design: [SSH relay GitHub Release plan](./2026-07-14-ssh-relay-github-release-plan.html)
Motivating issues: [#8450](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/issues/8450), [#1693](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/issues/1693)
@@ -175,12 +175,12 @@ same change as the work it records.
per-target opt-in selects bundled-preferred behavior, and implementing the setting does not
authorize default-on rollout or legacy removal (E-M1-ROLLOUT-DECISION-001).
- Legacy fallback removal: not authorized.
-- Next required action: finish the direct audit and ledger entry for run 29369925932, record local
- proof for commit `714308114`, then push that exact correction plus the ledger head and rerun all
- six target-native cells. Require exact SPDX ownership, archive-scoped document identity,
- commit-pinned builder identity, resolved runner identity, complete bounded tool records,
- regenerated Windows content identities, smoke, exact clean-build equality, and upload. Preserve
- the artifact-only boundary, legacy/default path, and every other release gate.
+- Next required action: push exact numeric PE-version correction commit `1b775e6af` plus its evidence
+ ledger head and rerun all six target-native cells. Require a nonzero four-component linker version,
+ exact SPDX ownership, archive-scoped document identity, commit-pinned builder identity, resolved
+ runner identity, complete bounded tool records, regenerated Windows content identities, smoke,
+ exact clean-build equality, and upload. Preserve the artifact-only boundary, legacy/default path,
+ and every other release gate.
## Non-Negotiable Invariants
@@ -6532,6 +6532,109 @@ tool did not report a bounded version line`; input download, build, smoke, compa
- Follow-up: push this exact implementation and ledger head, then require all six native jobs and
direct inspection of every uploaded artifact before closing any metadata/provenance claim.
+### E-M3-METADATA-CI-RED-004 — Native PE FileVersion strings are empty
+
+- Date: 2026-07-14
+- Commit SHA / PR: exact tested head `756165552d31ee962c99a3a454bce2bebb29092b`;
+ stacked draft PR [#8741](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/8741)
+- Runner: [GitHub Actions run 29370926985](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29370926985),
+ final conclusion `failure` after 7m09s. Native job IDs and wall durations: Linux x64
+ `87213791478` / 3m13s, Linux arm64 `87213791425` / 3m34s, macOS x64 `87213791432` /
+ 7m04s, macOS arm64 `87213791418` / 4m32s, Windows x64 `87213791403` / 2m28s, and
+ Windows arm64 `87213791472` / 3m52s.
+- Remote and transport: none; target-native artifact-only build workflow
+- Exact evidence commands:
+
+ ```sh
+ gh run view 29370926985 --repo stablyai/orca \
+ --json status,conclusion,headSha,createdAt,updatedAt,url,jobs
+ gh api repos/stablyai/orca/actions/runs/29370926985/artifacts
+ gh api repos/stablyai/orca/actions/jobs/87213791403/logs
+ gh api repos/stablyai/orca/actions/jobs/87213791472/logs
+ gh run download 29370926985 --repo stablyai/orca \
+ --dir /tmp/orca-8450-metadata-red-29370926985
+ # Repeat the exact fail-closed jq/shasum audit in E-M3-METADATA-CI-RED-003 with:
+ # evidence=/tmp/orca-8450-metadata-red-29370926985
+ # commit=756165552d31ee962c99a3a454bce2bebb29092b
+ # run_id=29370926985
+ ```
+
+- Result: EXPECTED RED. All four POSIX cells passed contracts, two clean native builds, archive/tree
+ inspection, bundled runtime smoke, byte-for-byte comparison, and upload. Both Windows cells passed
+ MSVC setup, runner-identity collection, dependency install, and 77 contract tests, then the live
+ toolchain contract failed with the now-bounded diagnostic `Runtime build tool did not report a
+bounded version line: `. The PE lookup returned successfully but the `FileVersion` string
+ emitted no stdout on either architecture. Input download, build, smoke, comparison, and upload
+ remained skipped; no Windows artifact exists.
+- Downloaded-artifact audit:
+
+ | Tuple | Artifact ID | Archive SHA-256 | Content ID prefix | Files |
+ | ----------------- | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- | ----- |
+ | linux-x64-glibc | `8326078824` | `3fbd5895c66a81cef6e97c0fcc1efd210377fee6fdbb5bc56548a36377d373e5` | `960546cd…` | 34 |
+ | linux-arm64-glibc | `8326088493` | `2f1ae08f794d9a8154b0e0714d394e8da447cff7958febc904d3f68cae493a68` | `aa3aa8ae…` | 34 |
+ | darwin-x64 | `8326164493` | `b84c3d8a7c8e0c195d82185d0476f77685d171dde13ea5b5652b1ce12917564a` | `585ea603…` | 35 |
+ | darwin-arm64 | `8326107962` | `d940054bb24d79fe31b5eaad6269fcc6bbaef6ca2c1e4703b398b631dbe85081` | `40ff5d20…` | 35 |
+
+ All archive/subject hashes, archive-scoped SPDX namespaces, one-owner-per-file counts, eight
+ dependency relationships, prohibited-content assertions, exact commit/run identities, runner
+ labels/images/architectures, and bounded tool version/hash records passed. Content IDs and native
+ tool versions remain identical to E-M3-METADATA-CI-RED-003; builder/source identities now pin
+ exact head `756165552` and invocation `29370926985`.
+
+- Oracle proved: environment-isolated path transport does not fix the semantic defect because the
+ string `FileVersion` property itself is empty on both native hosted Windows environments; the
+ bounded diagnostic distinguishes that from command failure or unexpected output; all four POSIX
+ controls remain complete and reproducible at the exact tested head.
+- Does not prove: that numeric PE version fields are populated, any Windows artifact or metadata,
+ regenerated Windows content IDs, oldest baselines, native trust/signing, SSH, publication, or an
+ enabled tuple.
+- Checklist items satisfied: no new completion box; the all-six SBOM/provenance/toolchain item
+ remains in progress.
+- Follow-up: format the four integer PE version fields, reject `0.0.0.0`, retain exact linker-byte
+ hashing and environment-isolated path transport, then rerun and directly audit all six cells.
+
+### E-M3-WINDOWS-LINKER-NUMERIC-LOCAL-001 — Bounded numeric PE file version
+
+- Date: 2026-07-14
+- Commit SHA / PR: exact implementation commit
+ `1b775e6afe730c237f49b2d203591e07db11bfd8`; stacked draft PR
+ [#8741](https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/8741)
+- Runner: local macOS 26.2 build 25C56, Darwin 25.2.0 arm64 on Apple Silicon; Node v26.0.0 and
+ pnpm 10.24.0 for pure invocation/metadata tests
+- Remote and transport: none; artifact-only local contracts
+- Exact evidence commands:
+
+ ```sh
+ pnpm exec vitest run --config config/vitest.config.ts \
+ config/scripts/ssh-relay-*.test.mjs \
+ src/main/ssh/ssh-relay-artifact-selector.test.ts
+ pnpm run typecheck
+ pnpm run lint
+ pnpm run check:max-lines-ratchet
+ pnpm exec oxfmt --check \
+ config/scripts/ssh-relay-runtime-toolchain.mjs \
+ config/scripts/ssh-relay-runtime-toolchain.test.mjs
+ git diff --check
+ ```
+
+- Result: PASS. Twenty focused test files passed 99 tests in 1.85s. Typecheck passed all three
+ TypeScript projects. Full lint passed oxlint, switch exhaustiveness, styled-scrollbar,
+ reliability-gate, max-lines, bundled-skill, localization-catalog, and localization-coverage gates;
+ its diagnostics remain pre-existing unrelated warnings. The independent max-lines ratchet,
+ focused formatting, and diff checks passed.
+- Oracle proved: the PowerShell expression formats `FileMajorPart`, `FileMinorPart`, `FileBuildPart`,
+ and `FilePrivatePart` as one exact four-component value; the selector rejects malformed versions,
+ suffixes, missing output, and the version-resource-absent `0.0.0.0` form; the resolved linker path
+ remains a child-only environment value and never enters executable script text; the exact resolved
+ `link.exe` bytes remain SHA-256 authenticated.
+- Does not prove: that either native Windows linker exposes nonzero numeric fields, the actual native
+ version, Windows build/smoke/equality/upload, regenerated Windows content IDs, oldest Windows
+ execution, native trust/signing, SSH, publication, or an enabled tuple.
+- Checklist items satisfied: local correction only; the all-six compiler/toolchain item remains
+ unchecked.
+- Follow-up: push this exact implementation and ledger head, then require all six native jobs and
+ direct inspection of every uploaded artifact before closing any metadata/provenance claim.
+
## Accepted Gaps
No product gap is accepted merely because it appears in this list. Each entry requires explicit
@@ -6589,13 +6692,12 @@ The project is not complete until every applicable item below is checked with ev
## Next Required Action
-Finish the direct artifact audit and evidence entry for exact-head run 29369925932, record local
-proof for correction commit `714308114`, then push that exact correction plus this ledger head and
-rerun all six target-native cells. Require exact SPDX ownership, archive-scoped document identity,
-commit-pinned builder identity, resolved runner identity, complete bounded tool records with
-SHA-256, clean-build metadata equality, smoke, upload, and regenerated Windows content identities
-before checking the remaining Milestone 3 metadata/toolchain claims. Then proceed to oldest-baseline
-and native-trust proof.
+Push exact numeric PE-version correction commit `1b775e6af` plus this evidence-ledger head and rerun
+all six target-native cells. Require a nonzero four-component linker version, exact SPDX ownership,
+archive-scoped document identity, commit-pinned builder identity, resolved runner identity, complete
+bounded tool records with SHA-256, clean-build metadata equality, smoke, upload, and regenerated
+Windows content identities before checking the remaining Milestone 3 metadata/toolchain claims.
+Then proceed to oldest-baseline and native-trust proof.
Cross-family Layer B targets, the protected manifest-signing environment, oldest-baseline/native-
trust cells, and the paired legacy performance baseline remain release/default-path blockers. No