release-owner-gate

Blog publication readiness verification is a deterministic preflight gate that scores drafts against a 100-point rubric, validates hero image artifacts, and checks citation grounding before a Release Owner signs off.

You validate citation grounding and hero image assets by loading reference files, verifying the hero image prompt artifact exists, and ensuring an OG hero PNG is present, prompting for manual generation if no image-generation MCP is available.

Nonce verification prevents spoofed reviewer output by rotating and echoing a nonce, ensuring the blocking reviewer's scorecard cannot be spoofed or mis-parsed during the structured artifact validation process.

Yes, staging drafts to the 04-diligence directory is required to execute the Phase 4 diligence gate, which enforces restricted reviewer tool access and an iteration-capped escalation path.

If your draft fails rubric scoring, the iteration-capped escalation path loops the reviewer, enforcing the strict output contract until the draft passes or hits the maximum iteration limit for manual sign-off review.