/ca-override

name: ca-override
description: Sanctioned, logged bypass of a gate or hard rule — one audit line, then proceed.
argument-hint: "<reason>"

$ca-override — logged bypass

The sanctioned escape hatch. Bypass is permitted only with an audit log entry. Overrides are always logged, always visible, never silent. Single identity, single confirm.

Flow

1. Validate `$ARGUMENTS` — the reason names the gate being bypassed and a justification. Reject a vague reason ("just skip it") and ask for a specific one. 2. Detect the operator identity from `git config user.email` only. If it is unset, ask the user once to state their identity for the log. (No platform ladder, no second confirmation.) 3. For an ordinary override, use the private locked audit helper from the repository root:

   python3 "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/append-override.py" --gate "<gate bypassed>" --reason "<specific reason>"

It appends one line to `<project-root>/.codearbiter/overrides.log`:

   [ISO-8601 timestamp] | BY: <email> | GATE: <gate bypassed> | REASON: <reason>

The log is append-only — never edited or deleted, committed as a permanent audit artifact. The helper fails closed if another official writer or conflict resolver owns the audit-path lock; the overridden action must not proceed unless the row lands. A guard-permitted raw append remains a cooperative operator escape hatch, but it must not run concurrently with conflict resolution. 4. A genuine three-stage Git conflict on an H-05 append-only path uses the dedicated helper instead of the ordinary step 3 append. Run it once from the conflicted repository, with the specific repo-relative path and the same reason:

   python3 "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/resolve-append-only-conflict.py" ".codearbiter/overrides.log" --reason "<specific reason>"

The helper derives the same `git config user.email` identity, validates the merge-base and both append suffixes, writes the attributed H-05 record, and explicitly stages only the validated deterministic union. It refuses a missing or malformed three-stage conflict, any edit to prior bytes, unsupported paths, invalid encoding, dirty audit sink, or replay after resolution. This is scoped to the immediate action only; it creates no marker, standing exception, or general H-05 bypass. It takes canonical per-audit-path locks and supports only `overrides.log` and the repository-owned `gate-events.log` sink; official writers share those locks. Conflict resolution is an exclusive cooperative operation: do not start a raw append before or during it. Never hand-resolve the protected log with Write, patch, checkout, or restore. 5. Proceed with the overridden action. Note in the response that the override is logged.

Security ceiling — heavier path for security-critical stops

A routine gate (lint, a style rule, a non-security review finding) takes the single-confirm path above. But a **security-critical stop is NOT bypassable by a single confirm.** The following require the heavier path below, never the one-line flow:

• a security **CRITICAL** finding;
• the crypto/secret commit gate (hook **H-09b / H-10b** — staged crypto/TLS or secret without a gate pass);
• an **irreversible** operation (data loss, a destructive migration, anything unrollbackable).

Heavier path (all required, in order): 1. **Surface the specific finding verbatim** — name the exact primitive/secret/operation and the concrete risk. A generic "security override" is rejected. 2. **Explicit per-finding acknowledgement** — the user must acknowledge *that specific finding* in their own words (a bare "yes"/"go ahead"/"I trust you" is declined — this mirrors `decision-variance`). Detect identity from `git config user.email`; if unset, ask once. 3. **Heavier log entry** — use the same locked helper so the mandatory row cannot race conflict resolution:

   python3 "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/append-override.py" --security-finding "<specific finding>" --reason "<reason>"

It appends a line tagged `SECURITY-OVERRIDE` that records the specific finding, not just the gate name:

   [ISO-8601] | BY: <email> | SECURITY-OVERRIDE | FINDING: <specific finding> | REASON: <reason>

4. **Only then** record the bypass. For the crypto/secret commit gate, that means resolving the interpreter once by presence — `PY=python3; { command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 && python3 --version >/dev/null 2>&1; } || PY=python` — never `python3 X || python X`, which reruns X on any nonzero exit (#577), and running `"$PY" "${PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/security-pass.py"`, which writes `<project-root>/.codearbiter/.markers/security-gate-passed` bound to the sensitive lines it approves, so hook H-09b/H-10b allows the commit — recorded **only** after steps 1–3, never to skip the gate proper.

Under `$ca-sprint`, a security-critical override is a hard-gate STOP: it surfaces to the user and is **never** auto-decided, even in autonomous mode (`SPRINT.md` hard gates).

Hard gate

MUST write the log line before proceeding — it is not optional. MUST capture an operator identity — "codeArbiter" or "automated" are not valid. MUST include a justification. The override is scoped to the immediate action only; it creates no standing exception. MUST NOT edit or delete an existing `overrides.log` entry. For an H-05 three-stage conflict, the dedicated helper's validated union and audit write are the single immediate action; do not pre-edit the conflicted file. MUST route a security-critical / crypto-secret / irreversible stop through the **Security ceiling** path — never the single-confirm flow — and MUST NOT auto-decide such an override under `$ca-sprint`.

When NOT to use

• Routine work that passes all gates — never needed.
• Reconciling two conflicting sources → `$ca-conflict`.