D709 - Operator-provided retail titles work on hardware

Status: decided Date: 2026-09-21

Every retail title the operator provides is taken as working on the hardware, and every wall in one is orbistoun's with no attestation needed. Before instrumenting a fault, check the upstream fact it rests on: whether the file exists in the data directory the run reads from.

Why: the operator does not hand over broken titles, so "a broken dump or a dev build" never applies to them. "Debug build", "devkit path", "faithful failure" and "the title's own assertion" restate a symptom and never close a wall. A fatal trap chased with heavy machinery followed from a file the run sought in a mount it did not serve, while the file sat in the title's own root.

Rejected:

• Requiring hardware proof first, as for titles of unknown provenance (D708): leaves open the door that ends the work.
• Diagnosing the downstream fault before the file route: expensive and misdirected.