[Synaeve]

Refs #8506

Problem

When a seller does not advertise an optional tool, the runner skips that step as missing_tool and the step passes. If the skipped step is stateful and other stateful steps share its phase, the runner cascades prerequisite_failed onto them, as runner-output-contract.yaml > cascade_rules.default_cascade requires. Those steps then count as failures, so the storyboard fails for a tool the seller is allowed to omit.

In provenance_audit_observation, the two audit-observation reads after a skipped sync_creatives failed this way. That made Strict Spec Incomplete for sellers without a creative library.

What already landed, and what this PR adds

Piece	Status
Storyboard gated on creative.supports_provenance on main	Done by #8703
Same gate on 3.1.x	Done by #8721
Runner honors an explicit requires_tool before the cascade (single-agent runs)	Done by adcontextprotocol/adcp-client#3524, first shipped in @adcp/sdk 17.0.0-beta.22. adcp still pins beta.21.
Hosted grader treats a skipped step whose own requires_tool is unadvertised as not applicable	Already in classifyRunStep (#7454). It reaches the audit reads once they name sync_creatives, which takes effect when hosted grading uses a release built from this source (the next 3.3 cut or the 3.2.x backport). Hosted runs on 3.1.29 or 3.2.x bundles do not change before then.
Hosted controller-preflight gaps	#8598. Unrelated to this cascade. #8576 remains open.
Audit reads declare sync_creatives (the source half #3524 asks for)	This PR
Each audit read in its own phase, so the fix holds on the pinned beta.21 and on any contract-following runner	This PR
Same cascade in create_media_buy_async_lifecycle and governance_agent_binding_acceptance, which #3524 does not cover	This PR
3.2.x, the only release line where the reported failure remains	Follow-up backport; it closes #8506

Changes

provenance_audit_observation (1.1.0)

• query_directed_audit_observation and query_edited_audit_observation now declare requires_tool: sync_creatives, the tool whose state they read. The storyboard-level requires: [controller] still covers the controller.
• A controller step that names the tool owning its state already has a precedent: universal/deterministic-testing.yaml:1146 gates force_session_terminated (task: comply_test_controller) on requires_tool: si_initiate_session.
• Each read runs alone in its own phase, with depends_on: [accept_carveout_claim].
  • AAO Verified: per-major-version badges (3.0 verified stays valid when 3.1 ships) #3524 makes the declaration effective on beta.22.
  • On beta.21, a skipped sync would still cascade onto same-phase peers, and so would a skipped first read. Separate phases let the sole-stateful exemption apply, and then each read is skipped on its own requires_tool.
  • The contract's cascade_rules do not include AAO Verified: per-major-version badges (3.0 verified stays valid when 3.1 ships) #3524's precedence, so this form also holds on other runners.
• Results, identical on beta.21 and beta.22:
  • A seller without sync_creatives (with or without a creative-library declaration) skips the sync and both reads. Its verifier discovery is still graded.
  • A seller with sync_creatives runs the full audit.
  • A rejected sync still cascades prerequisite_failed onto both reads.

create_media_buy_async_lifecycle (1.1.0)

• get_task_status and list_tasks are optional in 3.x. Each read now runs in its own phase, with depends_on naming only the submit phase, or the submit and completion phases.
• The completed-task reads keep the force_task_completion gate.
• A seller without either read surface no longer fails the controller completion. A seller with only list_tasks is graded on it.
• Verified on beta.22: without this split, these sellers still fail, because the dependent steps do not consume the missing tool's state.

governance_agent_binding_acceptance (1.1.0)

• The optional comply_test_controller read and the recovery sync_governance each run in their own phase after account setup.
• A seller without the controller still has its recovery graded. When the controller is present, the read still runs before the resync.
• Verified on beta.22: without this split, the recovery still fails.

Tests

• tests/sdk-runner-capability-gates.test.cjs: three runner tests. Each loads its storyboard with the SDK parseStoryboard and runs it against stub sellers, asserting dispatch order and that no step is prerequisite_failed or failed.
  • Provenance: a seller without sync_creatives, one with sync_creatives but no library declaration (full audit), and one whose sync is rejected (both reads prerequisite_failed).
  • Async: sellers with no read, with list_tasks only, and with both reads; also both reads without force_task_completion.
  • Governance: sellers without and with the controller.
  • All three fail on the previous storyboards, with both SDK versions for provenance.
• tests/provenance-tool-gates.test.cjs: the audit reads must name sync_creatives, and must not share a phase with the sync they depend on.

Tests

• @adcp/sdk 17.0.0-beta.21 (pinned):
  • tests/sdk-runner-capability-gates.test.cjs 71/71.
  • test:governance-task-slices 55/55.
  • test:auction-only-compliance 182/182.
• @adcp/sdk 17.0.0-beta.22, loaded from the published tarball without changing the lockfile: tests/sdk-runner-capability-gates.test.cjs 71/71.
• All scripts/lint-storyboard-*.cjs lints over the source pass.
• Training agent (sales tenant, 3.3 candidate mode): the three storyboards run clean with full coverage (7, 10 and 5 steps passed).

Changeset

adcontextprotocol patch: compliance source change.

Out of scope / follow-ups

• 3.2.x backport of the provenance change. It uses no 3.3 field, and it closes provenance_audit_observation: controller steps after a missing_tool sync_creatives skip count as failures, making Strict Spec Incomplete for sellers without a creative library #8506.
• SDK bump to ≥ 17.0.0-beta.22. Useful, but not required by this PR. adcp pins beta.21, and beta.23 is already out.
• Runner output contract. Encode AAO Verified: per-major-version badges (3.0 verified stays valid when 3.1 ships) #3524's precedence (an explicit requires_tool is honored before the stateful cascade) in runner-output-contract.yaml > cascade_rules, so other runners, such as the Python SDK, behave the same way. Until then, keep one phase per audit read. After that change, the reads could fold back into the sync phase.
• Same structure, not fixed here:
  • protocols/media-buy/scenarios/get_products_async.yaml: list_products_task (list_tasks) is a stateful peer in submitted_discovery_response, and completed_discovery_result depends on that phase by default.
  • protocols/signals/scenarios/get_signals_async.yaml: list_signals_task has the same shape.
  • In both, a seller without list_tasks, which is optional in 3.x, would get prerequisite_failed on the completion. Neither was run.
• universal/deterministic-testing.yaml > deterministic_creative: same defect for creative agents without a library. Following AAO Verified: per-major-version badges (3.0 verified stays valid when 3.1 ships) #3524's pattern there would mean declaring sync_creatives on the controller steps that depend on the synced creative, and isolating them.
• vendor_metric_accountability: read_back_commitment_timestamps (requires_tool: get_media_buys) would cascade into the simulation phase. get_media_buys is required for media-buy sellers, so only a non-conformant seller is affected.
• Related open issues: Hosted compliance grader fails controller-seeded storyboards for sellers without comply_test_controller (regression since SDK 17) #8576 (hosted grading of controller-seeded storyboards without a controller) and Strict Spec grading unreachable for media-buy sellers: runner-skipped storyboards count as incomplete bundles #8534 (Strict Spec applicability).

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[aao-secretariat]

Ladon verdict: Approve

Approve

Compliance-grading fix: splits three storyboards so a skipped optional tool no longer cascades prerequisite_failed onto stateful dependents. Each optional read now sits alone in its own phase with explicit depends_on, and the provenance audit reads are re-gated requires_tool: sync_creatives, matching precedent at deterministic-testing.yaml:1148. Verified: no phase left empty by the splits, every depends_on target exists, declaration order preserved, and storyboard-level requires: [controller] still covers the controller.

Changeset is patch on adcontextprotocol for a static/compliance/source/** change — in-scope and non-breaking (loosens grading), consistent with prior compliance fixes (#8703, #8603). No schema/dist/3.1.x surface touched. New tests assert exact dispatch order, correct skip_reason values, and no prerequisite_failed cascade.

No Critical/High/Medium findings. No gated paths, no high-risk flag, no team gate. Falls through to row 9.