Update path (7.1.1→7.28.3): 11 new hooks missing from hooks.json manifest, one unsubstituted placeholder, no tool for CLAUDE.md/system-prompt re-overlay

[waveman2020-sudo]

Summary

Upgrading an existing install from v7.1.1 → v7.28.3 via the documented Update path (bash install/install.sh then the LifeOS skill's Update workflow) surfaced two gaps: a hook-wiring manifest that's missing several new hooks entirely, and a documented "re-overlay system" step that has no automated tool behind it.

Environment

• ThinkPad (few months old), Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
• Claude Code, existing install predating the VERSION marker convention (was on v7.1.1)

1. New hooks shipped but absent from install/hooks/hooks.json

InstallHooks.ts --apply correctly detected 11 hook files present in the release payload's install/hooks/ directory that have no entry anywhere in install/hooks/hooks.json (checked via direct grep — zero occurrences), so it copied the files but could not wire them into settings.json:

• SystemChangeSurface.hook.ts (this one turned out to be fine — it's invoked by composition from inside PostToolObserver.hook.ts, not via a standalone manifest entry, so no fix needed here once PostToolObserver.hook.ts itself is updated)
• VersionDrift.hook.ts
• ISAGate.hook.ts
• ISACloseGate.hook.ts
• ISAFoldGate.hook.ts
• ISAStaleWriteGuard.hook.ts
• SpendAuditor.hook.ts
• KnowledgeWriteGuard.hook.ts
• ModelRungGuard.hook.ts
• AtlasEventCapture.hook.ts
• TimeContext.hook.ts

The remaining 10 (everything except SystemChangeSurface) have no hooks.json entry, so there's no manifest-sanctioned event/matcher to install them against. I chose not to hand-wire them on a live personal install by guessing trigger config from header comments — the risk of a wrong PreToolUse/Stop matcher misfiring on a daily-use system outweighs getting these features immediately. They currently sit on disk as inert, unwired code.

2. Unsubstituted {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} in a functional (non-comment) string

While reviewing the above hooks before considering wiring them, ModelRungGuard.hook.ts had {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} inside an actual emitted message string (not a comment):

`Do not ask which rung to use, and do not ask ` +
`{{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} to change /model.`,

If this hook ever fires unwired-then-later-wired without the onboarding substitution pass running, it would print the literal placeholder to the user. Several other hooks have {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} too, but those are all inside comments (harmless). Worth a payload-wide grep for {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} outside comments as a release gate.

3. Workflows/Update.md step 3 ("Re-overlay system") has no implementing tool

The Update workflow document says:

Re-overlay system — re-copy the system templates (CLAUDE, system prompt, settings.system.json minus hooks), and overwrite <configRoot>/LIFEOS/VERSION with the payload's version

But there's no script in Tools/ that does this — DeployCore.ts and DeployComponents.ts handle skills/runtime/dependencies, not CLAUDE.md or LIFEOS_SYSTEM_PROMPT.md. I ended up hand-diffing CLAUDE.template.md against the live CLAUDE.md (confirmed the only real difference was the routing-table content plus the identity-import comment state, which ActivateImports.ts --apply correctly restored after the file swap) and hand-copying LIFEOS_SYSTEM_PROMPT.md + the renamed RULES/VerificationExpanded.md → RULES/Verification.md (plus Philosophy.md, SelfHealing.md), with manual {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} substitution in the system prompt frontmatter. This worked, but it's real manual diligence a less careful update run could skip, silently leaving a stale system prompt/CLAUDE.md alongside a bumped VERSION marker.

Suggested fixes

1. Add the 11 hooks above to install/hooks/hooks.json with their documented triggers (each file's header comment already states the intended TRIGGER).
2. Add a release gate grepping for {{PRINCIPAL_NAME}} (and other {{...}} placeholders) outside comments across the payload.
3. Build the actual "re-overlay system" tool Workflows/Update.md step 3 describes, so CLAUDE.md/system-prompt/RULES updates aren't a manual diff-and-copy exercise.

[danielmiessler]

Good catch, @waveman2020-sudo — settings.system.json had drifted from settings.json, so those hooks shipped inert. Fixed in source: mirrored the 12 hooks and added a permanent IntegrityCheck parity gate so the two can't silently diverge again. Ships next release. Closing since the public repo is generated from that source.