Rule 4 ("Self-contained") forbade dangling pointers by example only, so
a reference reachable only through the producing chat slipped past it --
e.g. a shipped comment "Approach B (the mechanism refinement decided +
logged above)", whose "logged above" names no resolvable entry and whose
"Approach B" indexes an A/B fork the entry never reproduces.
Reframe rule 4 around one test: a reference is valid iff a reader who
lands on the entry alone (e.g. via a direct comment-anchor link) can
follow it to its target. A survey of the live tracker (63 issues / 96
comments) found 56 violations in six classes, now each named as an
unreachable form: chat references, weak intra-thread pointers
("above" / "logged above"), artifacts named by role, out-of-repo paths,
bare un-glossed codes, and locator-shaped tokens that resolve to nothing.
Carve-outs keep inline quotations, #N / SHA / URL / repo-path locators,
glossed codes, and restated forks legitimate. The constructive escape
hatch (log a chat decision to the tracker first, then cite that comment)
cross-references boss "The reference issue".
Align the Common-mistakes table, the Red-flags STOP gate, and the boss
cross-reference. Prescribe a comment's full URL rather than a bare
#issuecomment-NNNN fragment, which is not auto-linked on Gitea and so
does not itself satisfy the test.
Existing tracker entries are left unedited; the rule governs future
writing only.
Brummel
19db0a933a