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+# ELF Hardening Evaluation Decisions
+
+**Date:** 2026-06-08
+
+## Goal
+
+Record the system evaluation decisions that drove the June 2026 ELF reliability
+hardening work, so the rationale lives in the repository instead of only in chat
+or tracker history.
+
+## Context
+
+The evaluation found several gaps that made local operation and API contract
+review harder than necessary:
+
+- Required runtime gates and service-backed checks needed to be restored and
+  made easy to run.
+- The MCP default ingestion profile update path needed an explicit PUT-backed
+  contract.
+- New operators needed a concrete getting-started path with local service setup.
+- The HTTP API contract needed a generated, inspectable surface.
+- Configuration should reject missing required fields instead of silently
+  accepting ambiguous defaults.
+- Local development needed a Docker Compose stack for the service dependencies.
+
+## Selected Decisions
+
+### 1) Restore gates, MCP default-set PUT, and getting-started docs
+
+Decision: implement the gate restoration, MCP default-set PUT forwarding, and
+operator getting-started documentation as one bounded reliability lane.
+
+Tracking:
+
+- Linear: [XY-789](https://linear.app/hack-ink/issue/XY-789/elf-hardening-14-restore-gates-mcp-default-set-put-and-getting-started)
+- GitHub: [PR #109](https://github.com/hack-ink/ELF/pull/109)
+
+Verification expectation:
+
+- Service-backed integration coverage must be runnable through the repository
+  checks.
+- MCP default ingestion profile updates must use the API contract path rather
+  than a parallel local-only behavior.
+- Setup documentation must be enough for an operator to start the local system
+  without relying on chat context.
+
+### 2) Use utoipa and Scalar for the API contract surface
+
+Decision: use `utoipa` for OpenAPI generation and Scalar for the browsable API
+reference.
+
+Tracking:
+
+- Linear: [XY-790](https://linear.app/hack-ink/issue/XY-790/elf-hardening-24-add-utoipa-and-scalar-api-contract-surface)
+- GitHub: [PR #111](https://github.com/hack-ink/ELF/pull/111)
+
+Verification expectation:
+
+- The generated OpenAPI document must cover the v2 HTTP routes needed by
+  operators and tests.
+- The Scalar UI must be served by the API app without requiring a separate docs
+  process.
+- Contract tests should assert the key route and schema names so the docs
+  surface cannot drift silently.
+
+### 3) Enforce stricter configuration field presence
+
+Decision: make required configuration fields explicit and reject missing required
+fields instead of accepting implicit defaults for operator-critical behavior.
+
+Tracking:
+
+- Linear: [XY-791](https://linear.app/hack-ink/issue/XY-791/elf-hardening-34-enforce-strict-config-field-presence)
+- GitHub: [PR #110](https://github.com/hack-ink/ELF/pull/110)
+
+Verification expectation:
+
+- Config validation tests must cover required-field failures.
+- Existing valid fixtures must keep passing after the stricter read path.
+- Error messages should identify the missing field clearly enough for operator
+  remediation.
+
+### 4) Use Docker Compose for local service setup
+
+Decision: use Docker Compose as the repo-owned local development stack for
+Postgres, Qdrant, and the API/MCP-facing runtime dependencies.
+
+Tracking:
+
+- Linear: [XY-792](https://linear.app/hack-ink/issue/XY-792/elf-hardening-44-add-docker-compose-local-dev-stack)
+- GitHub: [PR #112](https://github.com/hack-ink/ELF/pull/112)
+
+Verification expectation:
+
+- The compose stack must avoid colliding with unrelated local services.
+- The documented environment should map directly to the repo-native checks and
+  getting-started flow.
+- Compose configuration should remain development-only and not introduce a new
+  production deployment contract.
+
+## Deferred / Non-goals
+
+- Item 7 from the evaluation was explicitly ignored for this hardening pass.
+- This plan does not introduce live provider calls, new hosted infrastructure,
+  or a replacement runtime architecture.
+- This plan does not make Docker Compose the production deployment surface.
+
+## Delivery Order
+
+The implementation order is:
+
+1. Restore gates, MCP default-set PUT, and getting-started docs.
+2. Add the utoipa + Scalar API contract surface.
+3. Enforce stricter configuration field presence.
+4. Add the Docker Compose local dev stack.
+5. Land this decision record so future maintenance can trace the work back to
+   the evaluated system gaps.
+
+Each implementation lane should land only after repo-native verification passes,
+with service-backed checks used where behavior depends on Postgres or Qdrant.