Targeted evidence acquisition missions
These missions turn the evidence-intelligence ranking into bounded research. They prohibit spam, false attribution, repository manipulation, achievement farming, and automatic claim promotion.
Missions: 8
Claims targeted: 10
Contradictions targeted: 6
Active missions: 1
Blocked missions: 1
Scheduled checkpoints: 1
Mission rank remains evidence-pressure order; the active status identifies the current execution priority.
| Rank | Mission | Achievement | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSN-001 — Preserve real co-author attribution across remaining merge methods |
pair-extraordinaire | 49 | participant-needed |
| 2 | MSN-008 — Observe exact Pair Extraordinaire tier transitions |
pair-extraordinaire | 49 | blocked |
| 3 | MSN-004 — Find exact public observations around the Starstruck x4 boundary |
starstruck | 34 | complete |
| 4 | MSN-002 — Measure Pull Shark processing and attributed-count behaviour |
pull-shark | 27 | scheduled |
| 5 | MSN-006 — Run the active YOLO submitted-review-state matrix |
yolo | 24 | active |
| 6 | MSN-005 — Link accepted-answer counts to visible Galaxy Brain tiers |
galaxy-brain | 18 | complete |
| 7 | MSN-003 — Bracket the Quickdraw timing boundary |
quickdraw | 18 | complete |
| 8 | MSN-007 — Maintain a passive cross-achievement processing-delay ledger |
cross-achievement | 0 | passive-observation |
Operating rules
- Every underlying GitHub action must remain independently useful.
- Existing protections and maintainer decisions override mission completion.
- Negative, blocked, delayed, and inconclusive outcomes remain visible.
- Completion creates a reviewable evidence package, never an automatic promotion.
1. MSN-001 — Preserve real co-author attribution across remaining merge methods
Collect legitimate collaborative pull requests that show whether rebase, fast-forward, stripped-trailer, email-mismatch, and later rewrite states preserve qualifying final-history co-author attribution after squash preservation was observed.
Status: participant-needed
Claims: CLM-005
Contradictions: CTR-004
Controls
- Inspect the final merged commit rather than relying only on the pull-request interface.
- Record merge method, trailer preservation, account linkage, and visible achievement state.
- Retain naturally occurring failed attribution cases; do not manufacture false co-authorship as a negative control.
Required evidence
- public_pull_request_url
- final_commit_url
- merge_method
- trailer_preserved
- account_linkage_state
- achievement_state_before
- achievement_state_after
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
Stop conditions
- Stop if either contributor did not make a real contribution.
- Stop if attribution would expose a private email address without consent.
- Do not create additional pull requests solely to move a counter.
Ethics
- False Co-authored-by trailers are prohibited.
- Every repository change must remain independently useful and reviewable.
2. MSN-008 — Observe exact Pair Extraordinaire tier transitions
Preserve dated qualifying counts immediately below, at, and above the reported 1, 10, 24, and 48 boundaries without creating artificial pull requests or inferring counts from an x3 or x4 badge sighting.
Status: blocked
Claims: CLM-006
Contradictions: CTR-004
Controls
- Record exact below, at, and above counts rather than relying on a displayed multiplier alone.
- Inspect final default-branch history for retained account-linked Co-authored-by trailers.
- Measure first-visible tier time separately from merge time and retain negative or delayed results.
Required evidence
- public_pull_request_url
- final_commit_url
- qualifying_count_before
- qualifying_count_after
- displayed_tier_before
- displayed_tier_after
- merge_method
- account_linkage_state
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
Stop conditions
- Stop if the exact qualifying count cannot be reconstructed from public history.
- Do not create additional pull requests solely to approach or cross a boundary.
- Stop if attribution would be false, misleading, or expose a private email address.
Ethics
- Every co-author must have made a real contribution.
- A blocked boundary is preferable to manufactured activity or inferred evidence.
3. MSN-004 — Find exact public observations around the Starstruck x4 boundary
Locate public account-owned repositories immediately below and above the reported x4 boundary while preserving exact API star counts and ownership state.
Status: complete
Claims: CLM-009, CLM-010
Contradictions: CTR-006
Controls
- Record exact API counts and rendered profile text separately.
- Distinguish personal ownership from organization ownership and forks.
- Capture observation time because star counts can change.
Required evidence
- profile_achievement_url
- repository_url
- exact_stargazer_count
- rendered_star_count
- displayed_tier
- owner_type
- fork_status
- archive_status
- observed_time_utc
Stop conditions
- Do not solicit, purchase, exchange, or coordinate stars.
- Do not infer a boundary from rounded display text alone.
- Stop when two independent near-boundary observations exist on each relevant side or the candidate search is exhausted.
Ethics
- This mission is observation-only.
- Repository popularity must not be manipulated for research.
4. MSN-002 — Measure Pull Shark processing and attributed-count behaviour
Capture the public Pull Shark detail state after a bounded processing window and preserve a reproducible support package without generating additional badge-chasing activity.
Status: scheduled
Claims: CLM-001, CLM-002
Contradictions: CTR-003
Scheduled checkpoint: 2026-07-22T20:00:00+01:00
No action before: 2026-07-22T20:00:00+01:00
Checkpoint: https://github.com/Conroy1988?achievement=pull-shark&tab=achievements
Controls
- Create no additional pull requests solely for this mission before the checkpoint.
- Separate raw authored-and-merged pull-request counts from GitHub’s unknown qualifying count.
- Treat a missing badge as negative-inconclusive unless GitHub provides an explicit exclusion reason.
Required evidence
- achievement_detail_url
- observed_time_utc
- displayed_tier_or_absence
- contributing_event_links_if_exposed
- processing_interval
- support_escalation_package_if_absent
Stop conditions
- Do not create test or empty pull requests to provoke a recalculation.
- Do not interpret profile absence as proof that every existing merge is ineligible.
- Stop after the scheduled observation and bounded escalation package are complete.
Ethics
- Only existing substantive development activity is used.
- Negative and inconclusive results remain visible in the evidence record.
5. MSN-006 — Run the active YOLO submitted-review-state matrix
Observe submitted COMMENT, REQUEST_CHANGES, APPROVE, dismissed, automated-review, and differing-merger states across legitimate pull requests after the pending-review-request subcase was resolved.
Status: active
Claims: CLM-004
Contradictions: CTR-002
Controls
- Record exact formal review state rather than inferring from comments.
- Record author, merger, branch rules, and merge method.
- Use existing repository policy; do not disable required reviews or administrator safeguards.
Required evidence
- public_pull_request_url
- review_state
- review_object_urls
- branch_rules
- author_merger_relation
- merge_method
- achievement_state_before
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
- result
Stop conditions
- Do not bypass or weaken protected-branch safeguards.
- Do not create meaningless pull requests for matrix completion.
- Stop when the naturally available review-state cell is documented.
Ethics
- Normal review quality and repository safety take precedence over the mission.
- A missing matrix cell is preferable to manufactured activity.
6. MSN-005 — Link accepted-answer counts to visible Galaxy Brain tiers
Capture exact accepted-answer counts, moderation state, and profile-processing time around genuine Discussion answers and any observed tier transition.
Status: complete
Claims: CLM-007, CLM-008
Contradictions: CTR-005
Controls
- Separate accepted answers from labels, reactions, verified answers, and other moderation states.
- Record exact count before and after acceptance.
- Retain revocation or no-award results where they occur naturally.
Required evidence
- public_discussion_url
- moderation_state
- accepted_count_before
- accepted_count_after
- accepted_time_utc
- achievement_state_before
- achievement_state_after
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
Stop conditions
- Do not ask a maintainer to accept an incorrect or low-quality answer.
- Stop if participation is unwelcome or the Discussion is removed.
- Do not create artificial questions solely to generate accepted answers.
Ethics
- Questions and answers must be genuine and useful.
- Maintainer moderation remains independent.
7. MSN-003 — Bracket the Quickdraw timing boundary
Collect independent positive and negative controls around the reported five-minute boundary for both issues and pull requests under legitimate repository use.
Status: complete
Claims: CLM-003
Contradictions: CTR-001
Controls
- Separate issue and pull-request observations.
- Retain both positive and negative outcomes around the proposed boundary.
- Record creator, closer, visibility, and processing delay as potential confounders.
Required evidence
- public_object_url
- object_type
- creation_time_utc
- closure_time_utc
- elapsed_seconds
- creator_closer_relation
- achievement_state_before
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
- result
Stop conditions
- Stop after the pre-registered matrix cell is complete.
- Stop immediately if maintainers object.
- Do not flood a repository with repeated timing tests.
Ethics
- Every issue or pull request must have a legitimate repository purpose.
- Repeated artificial open-close activity is prohibited.
8. MSN-007 — Maintain a passive cross-achievement processing-delay ledger
Record qualifying-event and first-visible-award timestamps from normal activity so processing delay is measured rather than assumed.
Status: passive-observation
Claims: none
Contradictions: none
Controls
- Do not create an event solely to populate this ledger.
- Record first-visible time separately from first-check time.
- Do not generalise a maximum processing guarantee from a small sample.
Required evidence
- achievement_slug
- public_event_url
- event_time_utc
- first_check_time_utc
- first_visible_time_utc_or_cutoff
- repository_visibility
- result
Stop conditions
- Stop after the bounded observation window.
- Stop if the participant withdraws consent.
- Do not expose private repositories, messages, or authentication material.
Ethics
- The ledger is passive and must never drive artificial qualifying activity.
- Unsuccessful and long-delay observations are retained.
Machine-readable queue
The validated summaries are published at /api/acquisition-missions.json. The complete execution plans remain canonical in data/acquisition-missions.json.