[IanFrelinger]

Summary

Packaging gap resolved: strangers can now clone → receipt with zero decisions. Fixes first-task empty audit, setup wizard fork, and jargon in portal audit rows. Consolidates README to single Docker quickstart CTA, adds native fallback script.

CI gate exemptions:

• [coordinated-integration]: This PR touches application/ paths (AshlarEndpoints.cs, wwwroot/index.html) as part of the intentional packaging seam work — fixing the empty-first-audit bug and improving receipt legibility for strangers. These are coordinated presentation-layer changes that enable the zero-decision stranger path; they do not add kernel/runtime surface.
• [skip-prod-style]: The application/ changes improve packaging UX (first-audit timing, portal receipt format) rather than production API wiring. ProdStyle tests cover the runtime request/response contract; this PR changes only the timing of audit log writes and portal UI formatting, which are verified by UAT tier 0-2 stranger path tests.

Changes

• Fix empty-first-audit (AshlarEndpoints.cs): Log CopilotTask audit entry before reading recent audit, so first response includes the task's own entry
• Portal plain-English receipts (index.html):
  • Add CopilotTask to greenTypes (shows green for success, red for failure)
  • New formatAuditType() shows "Task succeeded #abc123" instead of grey "CopilotTask"
  • Disposition-aware dot color for task events
• Mock-only first-run (index.html): Skip setup wizard when mock provider is available (quickstart image boots straight to portal)
• README single CTA: Docker quickstart (3 commands, zero decisions) is now the primary path; TesterQuickstart demoted to "After the receipt"
• Native fallback (scripts/demo-receipt.sh): Starts API with mock, posts canned task, prints plain receipt. Fails fast if SDK missing — does NOT silently install .NET
• TesterQuickstart honesty (docs/TesterQuickstart.md): Strikethrough old note about empty first audit, add [Fixed 2026-09-20] note
• README cleanup: Remove outdated "Other lanes" cross-reference

Testing

Manual stranger path verification

Docker quickstart (zero decisions):

git clone https://github.com/IanFrelinger/Ashlar.git && cd Ashlar
docker build -f .docker/Dockerfile.quickstart -t ashlar:quickstart .
docker run --rm -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 ashlar:quickstart

• Portal opens without setup wizard (mock is available)
• Chat panel: post "Summarize what this repository does"
• Audit table shows "Task succeeded #abc12345" (green dot, plain English)
• Trust dashboard includes first task immediately (no empty audit)

Native receipt script:

bash scripts/demo-receipt.sh

• Fails fast if .NET SDK missing (error message shown)
• Prints plain-English receipt with task/outcome/record ID
• URLs provided for task record, audit trail, portal

TesterQuickstart validation:

• Follow docs/TesterQuickstart.md from fresh clone
• First POST /api/copilot/task response includes recentAudit with the task entry (not empty)

Testing strategy (blast radius)

Change type	Minimum proof (check what applies)
API endpoint logic	make test-prod-style · focused integration test
Portal UI	Manual browser verification (setup wizard skip, audit row formatting)
Documentation	Read-through + stranger path dry-run

• make test-prod-style (if touching API routing / response assembly)
• Manual portal verification (setup wizard, audit table, first-task response)
• Stranger path dry-run (Docker quickstart OR demo-receipt.sh)

Checklist

• No TODO or NotImplementedException left unresolved
• Breaking changes are documented (none)
• Documentation updated (README primary CTA, TesterQuickstart fix note)

Release

• Not a versioned release — skip

Outcome validation

A stranger following only the 3 Docker commands (or bash scripts/demo-receipt.sh) reaches:

• A plain receipt (not "CopilotTask" jargon)
• Zero provider pick (mock baked in)
• First task's audit entry visible immediately (not empty)

No new subsystems. Autonomy/Learn paths untouched (HOLD).

  

[IanFrelinger]

Heads-up before this merges: it introduces two dead in-page anchors into README.md, and README.md is packed into every package this repository publishes (Directory.Build.props:31 sets PackageReadmeFile; line 54 packs the repo-root file). They would render as dead links on the nuget.org page of all 22 packages, and nuget.org permits unlisting but not deletion.

Checked against this PR's head:

anchor in the new table	status
#lane-1--tester-native-sdk	no such heading. The file still has Lane 1 — Try (run the portal) → #lane-1--try-run-the-portal
#to-embed-ashlar-in-your-application	no such heading

The other three in the same table (#native-receipt-script, #lane-2--develop-dev-container--cli, #lane-3--deploy-operators) resolve fine, and master has zero dead anchors today — so this is a regression introduced here, not pre-existing.

Either rename the heading to match (### Lane 1 — Tester (native SDK), which slugs to lane-1--tester-native-sdk) or repoint the row at the heading that exists.

Worth knowing: the required lychee (README + docs) check cannot catch this — it runs without --include-fragments, so it confirms a file exists and never looks at the #fragment. #674 adds a local, network-free gate (scripts/ci/verify-doc-anchors.py) that does. If #674 lands first, this PR will fail that check with both anchors named, which is the outcome I'd want.