0.53.1 · core 2026-07-14

Test fixtures cleanup for v0.53.0 stelow.json-only world — Removed obsolete index.json writes from 5 test files. These tests were passing in v0.53.0 because they wrote index.json directly to the filesystem (no production code path involved), but they were testing removed functionality:
tests/integration/workflow-lifecycle.test.ts — Rewrote 14 tests to use stelow.json fixtures (not index.json). Tests now verify the canonical-source contract end-to-end.
tests/integration/skill-orchestration.test.ts — Removed index.json write in helper, updated Plannotator gate flow test to use stelow.json for approved status.
tests/integration/audit-trail.test.ts — Removed index.json write from setupWorkflowDir helper.
tests/unit/agnostic-tools.test.ts — Rewrote 10 tests to test the decision logic directly with workflow object input (no filesystem I/O).
tests/artifacts/artifact-schema.test.ts — Removed index.json schema describe block (no index.json to test).
tests/unit/spec-frontmatter-contract.test.ts — Updated comments to reflect v0.53.0 contract.
tests/skills/skill-implementation.test.ts — Updated test to check for stelow.json reference (canonical source) instead of index.json.

pulse-task.md aligned with v0.53.0 — Updated instruction to write to stelow.json#workflows[] directly. NO index.json write.