# REPORT — step definitions for the ladder, two bench fixes (2026-09-24, `5ed599c`)

Full record: `felhom.eu/documentation/audits/ladder-2026-09-24/README.md`.

- Baseline `585a7cba22cf` → **`5ed599c`**. No `image:` line moved.
- `ladder.step_key` / `step_file`; `check-test-record.py` rule 4 (+ 4 decoy cases: no file, right name wrong image,
  wrong name, genuine); `upgrade-test.py --write-ladder` keeps the superseded step's compose; `steps_backfill.py`
  wrote 8 step files (emby, ghost, immich, n8n, navidrome, nextcloud, romm ×2 — romm's first from `f4eb94f`).
- R-653 `load_verdict`, R-656 `clear_scratch_folders` + `test_upgrade_bench.py` (5 tests).
- R-663: `test_gate_decoys.py` and `test_ladder_writer.py` were red at the start (last night's pin moves under
  literals); they now read the live pins.
- Red-proofs: rule 4 removed → 3 decoys pass wrongly; writer's STEP block off → "has no definition"; bench mutations →
  3 failures. Green: `catalog_gates.py` OK, decoys 84 OK, writer 6 OK, bench 5 OK.
- Live: the box (controller v0.268.0) climbed romm's two steps from these files on 9202. **Not run:** a bench edge
  with the R-653/R-656 changes (no bench this session).