databases/Frontier.root is stale (pre-#621, doubled-brace corruption); source of #866 false diagnosis #877

Rationale

databases/Frontier.root is STALE and ships pre-#621 doubled-brace script corruption. Untouched since PR #594, its system.startup.startupScript does NOT compile as-shipped (carries pre-#621 damage signature: comment nodes with 0 proper 0xC7 markers, 74 literal "//", 61 ";;"). Virgin.root's copy is clean. The stale Frontier.root is almost certainly the source of the misleading "opcode-0" report in #866's original text (the false root-cause about codegen defects). ~13 test/tool scripts reference it (run_headless_tests.sh checks its v7 magic; bisect and CLI tests use it).

Current State

Stale copy identified (2026-08-10):

• databases/Frontier.root: last touched PR repl: collapse hybrid dispatch — set accepts_args=true on List/Jump menubar leaves #594 (pre-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621)
• system.startup.startupScript does NOT compile in place
• Pre-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 corruption signature: 0 proper 0xC7 markers, 74 literal "//", 61 ";;"
• Virgin.root's copy is clean (post-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621, compiles fine)

References to stale copy:

• run_headless_tests.sh checks v7 magic number on Frontier.root
• bisect tests use it
• CLI tests reference it
• ~13 test/tool scripts depend on it

Impact:

• Stale scripts shipped
• Tests may be validating against corrupted state
• langscan comment-strip scanner ignored single-quoted char constants: 0xC7 inside 'x' literals corrupts scripts cumulatively on install (was misattributed to newScriptObject size/reinstall) #866's original false root-cause ("codegen destroys large scripts") was likely triggered by this stale copy's pre-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 corruption
• Misleading diagnosis delayed root-cause isolation

Desired Outcome

Refresh databases/Frontier.root to current state:

1. Rebuild from Virgin.root (make dist does this for dist/ — apply same to checked-in copy)
2. OR re-evaluate whether checked-in copy should exist (CLAUDE.md says edits are local-only anyway)
3. Verify: all scripts in Frontier.root compile and match Virgin.root post-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 state

Recommendation

Option A (recommended):

• Run: make clean && make dist (rebuilds dist/Frontier.root)
• Copy to databases/Frontier.root: cp dist/Frontier.root databases/Frontier.root
• Commit the refreshed copy
• Verify: run_headless_tests.sh passes with new copy

Option B (structural):

• Remove checked-in databases/Frontier.root from repo
• Rebuild from Virgin.root at test time (make dist step)
• Update tests to use dist/Frontier.root or rebuild on the fly
• Rationale: CLAUDE.md says local edits only; checked-in copy is not the source of truth

Exit Criteria

• databases/Frontier.root is post-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 (no doubled-brace corruption)
• system.startup.startupScript compiles in place
• All 13 test/tool scripts pass with refreshed Frontier.root
• run_headless_tests.sh validates magic number correctly
• Commit message notes refresh from Virgin.root (post-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 baseline)

Related Context

• Found by: langscan comment-strip scanner ignored single-quoted char constants: 0xC7 inside 'x' literals corrupts scripts cumulatively on install (was misattributed to newScriptObject size/reinstall) #866 investigation, 2026-08-10
• Related issues: langscan comment-strip scanner ignored single-quoted char constants: 0xC7 inside 'x' literals corrupts scripts cumulatively on install (was misattributed to newScriptObject size/reinstall) #866 (false root-cause from stale corruption), db.compactDatabase() SIGABRTs headless and corrupts source database in place on failure #854 (byte-level remanence), langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 (doubled-brace fix)
• Code: databases/Frontier.root, PR repl: collapse hybrid dispatch — set accepts_args=true on List/Jump menubar leaves #594 (last touch), PR langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 (fix)
• Damage signature: 0xC7 markers missing, 74 literal "//", 61 ";;"
• Impact on langscan comment-strip scanner ignored single-quoted char constants: 0xC7 inside 'x' literals corrupts scripts cumulatively on install (was misattributed to newScriptObject size/reinstall) #866: The stale copy's pre-langstripstructuremarkers + oplangtextvisit round-trip drops a closing brace on multi-level outlines #621 corruption likely triggered the false "newScriptObject destroys scripts" diagnosis
• Tests: run_headless_tests.sh, bisect, CLI tests, ~13 tool scripts depend on this file