Use this template in a pull request whenever the change touches a path listed in PROTECTED_PATHS.md. The goal is to make compatibility, rollout, and rollback intent explicit before merge.
## Upgrade Overview
### Protected Areas
- [ ] memory schema
- [ ] evidence pipeline
- [ ] trust rules
- [ ] promotion logic
- [ ] continuity APIs
### Compatibility Impact
State whether the change is additive-only, behavior-changing, or breaking.
Call out stored-data impact, contract impact, and any caller-visible changes.
### Migration / Rollout
Describe deploy order, migrations, backfills, feature flags, and any sequencing requirements.
### Operator Action
List required manual steps, or say explicitly that no manual action is required.
### Validation
List exact tests, smoke checks, fixtures, and manual verification performed.
### Rollback
Explain how the change is reverted, contained, or disabled safely if problems appear after deploy.- Check every protected area that the PR actually touches.
- Do not leave sections blank or as placeholders such as
TBD,N/A, ornone. - If the change is intentionally non-breaking, say why.
- If rollback is constrained by schema or data movement, say that directly.