---
name: a-source-read-cannot-witness-an-integration-cell
description: Marking an integration-test checklist row PASS from reading its source is blind by construction to the defect class integration cells exist for; a row needs an EXECUTED witness (raw path + Summary line).
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: feedback
  originSessionId: 647d4f03-29ab-46a0-9169-2127c05a8d66
  modified: 2026-09-07T10:52:28.533Z
---

Reading an integration cell's source and marking its checklist row PASS is not weak evidence — it is
**blind by construction**. An INT cell exists because a contract has TWO sides; its own source is
one side. A defect on the other side leaves the cell's source looking perfectly correct.

Measured 2026-09-07 (W2 WEBSERVE #272, F17): the `webserve_attachment_e2e` helper cell had **never
executed green**. Its requester source was correct; the owner's dispatcher
(`crates/spt-daemon/src/dispatch.rs:287-288`) classified the opening line's `kind: "serve_for"` as
`Unknown` and dropped the stream. doyle's own 10:55Z and 12:25Z "F1 PASS" checklist rows were source
reads; the cell was red the whole time under them. Nothing about reading the cell could have shown
this, because the failing code is in another crate the cell never names.

**Why:** a source read establishes what a cell ASSERTS. Only an execution establishes what the
system DOES. Those two differ exactly where integration coverage earns its cost, so the source-read
method's blind spot is precisely the population it is being used to certify. This is a method
defect, not carelessness — "be more careful" cannot fix it.

**How to apply:** every INT row on a gate checklist carries `witness: <raw path>#<Summary line>`.
No witness field ⇒ the row reads **UNWITNESSED**, never PASS. Scope the rule to INT deliberately;
UNIT rows can keep lighter treatment. When you inherit a checklist with PASS rows and no witness
paths, treat those rows as unproven and say so before building on them.

Related: [[a-witness-that-samples-a-level-cannot-prove-an-outcome]],
[[an-exemption-must-be-witnessed-subtracting]], [[a-guard-bijected-to-the-wrong-enum-is-silent-by-design]].