Proposal (rationale)

F-063, from the WI-090 canary: the CLI parses check [path] [tier], so node .ai/rungs.mjs check full through the pinned npm launcher looks for a repository at ./full and exits 1 with “no gates registered — is this a rungs repo?”. The ejected runner parses check [tier], so the same command after ejection runs the full tier. The ejected README documents check [tier], and a consumer who quotes it before ejecting gets a wrong answer that looks like a broken install.

Decision

accepted — 2026-09-06, at the user’s request to tackle F-059 to F-063. One grammar on both surfaces: check [path] [tier], where a lone positional that is not an existing directory and carries no path separator is the tier. Flags keep working.

Plan

Requirements

• CLI: check full from inside a repository runs the full tier; check <dir> full and --full are unchanged; check nonsense reports an unknown tier, never “no gates registered”.
• Ejected runner: check full, check . full and check <its own root> full all run the full tier; a path that is not the repository it lives in is refused with a message, exit 1.
• The ejected README and runner usage say check [path] [tier].

Impacts

• src/cli.ts (case 'check'), src/ejected-runner.ts, src/lifecycle.ts (ejected README), test/core.test.js, test/package.test.js (the ambiguous form joins the journey).

Approach

Shared rule: a first positional is a path if it names an existing directory or contains a path separator; otherwise it is the tier. Alternative — tier only by flag on both surfaces — rejected: it would break every consumer’s check full in CI workflows the ci module already emitted.

Acceptance criteria / tests

1. Core test: in a fresh tracked scaffold, check full exits 0 and prints the full tier; check nonsense exits 1 with unknown tier; after eject, node .ai/rungs.mjs check . full and check full both run the full tier and check <elsewhere> full is refused.
2. Packed journey: check full from the consumer directory through the installed candidate passes beside the existing check <dir> full.
3. Serial suite and rungs check pass.

Out of scope

• Any other CLI grammar; nothing else deferred.

Execution

Branch feature/WI-094-check-tier-positional from 497c079f, 2026-09-06. As planned, with one detail the plan left open: the ejected runner refuses a path that is not its own repository rather than re-rooting, since it has no other repository’s frozen tables to run. The packed journey’s new runs sit after its ledger arithmetic, because a successful check appends rows and the first placement broke the “both runs recorded” count — moved, not weakened.

Review

1. node --test --test-name-pattern '^check takes the same' test/core.test.js: 1/1 (2026-09-06) — CLI check <dir> full, check full, check . full run the full tier, check nonsense exits 1 with unknown tier "nonsense" and no “no gates registered”; after eject, the launcher runs the full tier for check full, check . full, check <root> full and --full, refuses another directory with exit 1, and reports an unknown tier.
2. Packed journey alone: 1/1 in 42 s with the lone-tier and unknown-tier forms through the installed candidate (2026-09-06).
3. Serial suite NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=2048 node --test --test-concurrency=1 test/*.test.js: 154 tests, 151 pass, 0 fail, 3 skipped, 166 s. node src/cli.ts check: 31 pass.