feat: witness ID-property delete and USD evaluation_mode

[TMHSDigital]

Summary

Witness the custom ID-property delete contract (del, not property_unset) with IDs built through the data API, and wm.usd_export evaluation_mode RENDER vs VIEWPORT — which is silent unless export_subdivision='TESSELLATE'.

Type

• feat — new skill / rule / snippet / template / example (minor bump)
• fix — correction to existing content or a broken contract (patch bump)
• docs / chore / ci / refactor — no release; release.yml still runs and should exit without a tag

Squash-merge subject: feat: witness ID-property delete and USD evaluation_mode

Evidence

USD probe (before any example code) — live-run-proven

CI Linux portable tarballs extracted in WSL (NTFS cannot create Blender lib/ symlinks). Do not drop this example.

Binary	Version	Hash	poll()	evaluation_mode	Tiny export
~/blender-linux/blender-5.2.1-linux-x64/blender	Blender 5.2.1 LTS	9e2066aef7ef	True	RENDER, VIEWPORT	FINISHED
~/blender-linux/blender-4.5.13-linux-x64/blender	Blender 4.5.13 LTS	daeeeca98fb0	True	same	FINISHED

RNA trap (live-run-proven, all four binaries): default export_subdivision='BEST_MATCH' writes the 8-vert cage + subdivisionScheme = catmullClark. VIEWPORT and RENDER files are identical. TESSELLATE is load-bearing. Closed form: verts = 2 + 6 × 4^n (n=1 → 26, n=2 → 98).

Windows supporting probe (not the CI-leg gate): .scratch/blender-5.2.1-windows-x64/blender.exe 5.2.1 LTS 9e2066aef7ef; .scratch/blender-4.5.11-windows-x64/blender.exe 4.5.11 LTS 4db51e9d1e1e.

Check-only — live-run-proven

No skips. Catalog rows have no min_version.

Example	Binary	Exit	Marker
property-delete	Win 5.2.1 9e2066aef7ef, Win 4.5.11 4db51e9d1e1e, Linux 5.2.1 9e2066aef7ef, Linux 4.5.13 daeeeca98fb0	0	active_object=None keep_has=True clear_has=False
usd-export	same four	0	usda_vp=26/24 usda_rd=98/96 usda_cage=8

Falsify (break, red, restore) — live-run-proven

Flag	Binary	Exit	What it proves
--skip-delete	Win 5.2.1 + 4.5.11	7	an example that never deleted still fails
--unset-instead	Win 5.2.1	7	property_unset is not a delete
--evaluation-mode VIEWPORT	Win 5.2.1 + 4.5.11	4	RENDER TESSELLATE wrote 26/24, expected 98/96
--subdivision BEST_MATCH	Win 5.2.1	4	wrote 8/6 catmullClark, expected 98/96 none

Framing — live-run-proven (render path, Win 5.2.1)

• property-delete: fill y=0.700, margins bottom=0.022. Camera (3.55, -6.59, 3.30).
• usd-export: fill x=0.806, margins right=0.050. Camera (4.16, -5.85, 3.00).

Contact-sheet gate — live-run-proven luminance, inspection of composite

Pinned set: armature-bend / damped-track-aim / bmesh-gear. Not asset-sheet subjects.

Mean luma (Rec.709 / 255): armature-bend 0.2787, damped-track-aim 0.1722, bmesh-gear 0.3048, property-delete 0.1940, usd-export 0.1471.

• property-delete: cyan enamel vs empty pocket reads at thumbnail; dark studio; gold rim; same family as the pin set. Pass.
• usd-export: darker (empty floor, two steel spheres) but same studio as damped-track; faceted L1 vs smooth L2 is the thumbnail; wedge warmth on the back wall. Pass.

Composites: property-delete · usd-export

Generated HTML alts — inspection-only (read character-by-character after build_gallery.py)

docs/gallery/index.html:

• alt="cross-version-property-delete — Custom ID properties are removed with del, not property_unset."
• alt="usd-export-evaluation-mode — The USD exporter evaluation_mode chooses viewport versus render modifier quality."

Not truncated at a dotted API path. Detail witnesses callouts match gallery.json witnessesFix.

Gallery stills

The USD still depicts L1 vs L2 tessellation; the USDA point counts are the evidence. Inspection-only vs VISUAL-STYLE: Standard transform, no remaining clipped-white facet after roughness 0.58 / key 200.

Backlog (not this PR)

Inverted canaries currently assert wrapper exit 1. A canary that dies for the wrong reason still satisfies that. Tighten to also require the expected [FAIL] marker text. Logged in ROADMAP candidate pool.

Release-owned fields — do not hand-edit

Untouched: VERSION, CHANGELOG.md, CLAUDE.md **Version:**, ROADMAP.md **Current:**, plugin.json "version" (still 0.48.0). Counts 45 → 47.

Checklist

• Explicit paths only. CLAUDE.md hunks are the 45→47 count lines only.
• Counts match disk (47 examples).
• Manifest lists both new example dirs. "version" untouched.
• gallery.json, catalog.json (no skip / sidecar), README rows, hero/preview, build_gallery.py, framing + contact-sheet.
• Every new check falsified.
• DCO Signed-off-by:
• No credentials or local filesystem paths in shipped content.

Test plan

• Local check-only + falsify on Windows 5.2.1 and 4.5.11 as tabled above
• Linux portable probe + check-only on 5.2.1 and 4.5.13
• CI blender-smoke 5.2 LTS and 4.5 LTS catalog rows (no SKIP)
• CI inverted canaries still red (Phase 5; unchanged)
• Socket Security not pending/failing
• After squash-merge: quote release.yml decision line; expect RELEASE (bump=minor) → v0.49.0

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