the size rule: a small finding is fixed in the session, not filed; reports state four register numbers (burn-down Part D)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0159rPz1ZhFKsS53msqPYxtS

documentation/backlog/OPEN-ITEMS.md

@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ a non-overwritten `REPORT-<topic>.md` sibling instead (`CLAUDE.md:82-87`), of wh
 belongs inside backticks), whose **Category** is not one of the eleven below, or whose **Sev** is not
 `P1`–`P4`. **A new row goes into its category's section**, in severity order.
 
+**Fix small, do not file (the size rule — operator brief 2026-10-05, the burn-down).** The register grew because every
+session closed a few rows and filed a few small new ones. So: **a finding that is cosmetic or small — fixable in the
+session in about 30 minutes, in a repo the session may change — is FIXED in that session, with a test where it changes
+behaviour, and NOT filed.** It is recorded in that repo's `CHANGELOG.md` and in the session report under „fixed without
+a row". **Only a finding that needs a decision, a design, a larger build, or a change the session may not make** (a
+protected machine, a repo out of scope, a release budget already spent) **becomes a row.** This narrows — it does not
+repeal — „an enumerated gap becomes a row": a small gap leaves the session fixed, which is a record too.
+
+**Every session report states four numbers:** rows before, rows after, rows opened, rows closed — counted the way
+`register_shape_gate.py` counts (`| **R-n** |` lines in this file).
+
 **Sev — one scale for this file and `ROADMAP.md`:**
 - **P1 — now.** A household can lose or leak data, a box can stop or be taken over, or a promise we make is
   false — today. A P1 row says in one sentence what the harm is.