devswha · devswha · Aug 2, 2026 · Jul 30, 2026 · Jul 30, 2026 · Jul 30, 2026
diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     {
       "name": "patina",
       "source": "./",
-      "version": "6.3.4",
+      "version": "7.0.0",
       "description": "Strip the AI packaging, keep the meaning. Detect and rewrite AI writing patterns across KO/EN/ZH/JA with MPS/fidelity checks. Runs the root SKILL.md as the /patina skill.",
       "homepage": "https://github.com/devswha/patina",
       "repository": "https://github.com/devswha/patina",

diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://www.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "patina",
-  "version": "6.3.4",
+  "version": "7.0.0",
   "description": "Detect and rewrite AI writing patterns in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese so text reads as if a human wrote it. Meaning-preservation (MPS) verified, audit-friendly. The root SKILL.md is loaded as the /patina skill.",
   "author": {
     "name": "devswha",

diff --git a/.cursor/rules/patina.md b/.cursor/rules/patina.md
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ The project uses a **plugin architecture**: patterns are plugins (`patterns/{lan
        en:
          8: amplify
      ```
-4. If the profile needs custom AI/fidelity balance, add to `.patina.default.yaml` under `ouroboros.combined-weights`
+4. If the profile needs custom AI/fidelity balance, add to `.patina.default.yaml` under `scoring.combined-weights`
 5. Update `README.md` profile table
 
 ## When Modifying SKILL.md
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ The skill supports these modes (defined in `.patina.default.yaml`):
 - `diff` — shows what changed and why
 - `audit` — detects patterns only
 - `score` — AI-likeness score 0-100
-- `ouroboros` — iterative self-improvement loop
+- `strict` — skill-only multi-pass verification flow (`/patina --strict`), not a runtime output mode
 
 ## Important Constraints
 

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
@@ -44,17 +44,20 @@
 # PATINA_FREE_MODEL=gemini-3.6-flash
 # PATINA_QUOTA_HMAC_SECRET=your-long-random-secret
 
-# --- Pro tier ($9.99/mo USD, Lemon Squeezy license-gated) -------------------
+# --- Pro tier ($9.99/mo USD, license-gated; production provider: Polar) -----
 # Caller sends `Authorization: Bearer <license_key>`; the server validates it
-# against Lemon Squeezy's validate-only endpoint (POST /v1/licenses/validate),
-# never stores the raw key, and meters per-license by an HMAC subject.
+# against the provider's validate-only endpoint (Polar customer-portal
+# license-keys/validate in production), never stores the raw key, and meters
+# per-license by an HMAC subject.
 
 # --- License provider ------------------------------------------------------
-# Which vendor gates the Pro tier. Defaults to lemonsqueezy so an existing
-# deployment cannot change gate behavior by upgrading. Both providers share the
-# same fail-closed security core; cache and lock keys are provider-namespaced,
-# so switching never serves a decision cached under the other vendor.
-# PATINA_LICENSE_PROVIDER=lemonsqueezy   # or: polar
+# Which vendor gates the Pro tier. The code default stays lemonsqueezy so an
+# existing deployment cannot change gate behavior by upgrading, but Lemon
+# Squeezy declined the account (docs/operations/payment-provider-reset-20260729.md)
+# — production runs polar. Both providers share the same fail-closed security
+# core; cache and lock keys are provider-namespaced, so switching never serves
+# a decision cached under the other vendor.
+# PATINA_LICENSE_PROVIDER=polar   # production value; code default: lemonsqueezy
 #
 # Polar identity (PATINA_LICENSE_PROVIDER=polar). Both are REQUIRED — a missing
 # value fails closed rather than skipping the corresponding check.
@@ -69,7 +72,8 @@
 #                                      # seat validates about once per cache TTL.
 # PATINA_POLAR_TIMEOUT_MS / _CACHE_TTL_MS / _NEGATIVE_CACHE_TTL_MS / _LOCK_WAIT_MS
 #                                      # same meaning as the PATINA_LS_* pair below
-# Lemon Squeezy identity — the validate response meta MUST match these.
+# Lemon Squeezy identity (retired provider, kept for the code path) — the
+# validate response meta MUST match these.
 # LS_STORE_ID=425473                 # required
 # LS_PRO_VARIANT_ID=1875389          # required (Pro subscription variant)
 # LS_PRO_PRODUCT_ID=1199625          # optional extra pin (meta.product_id)
@@ -163,9 +167,9 @@
 #
 # Enabled checkout additionally requires an exact source-controlled binding in
 # scripts/checkout-evidence-bindings.mjs. Environment values never authorize a
-# checkout URL. Adding a binding requires reviewed immutable PAY-STG/PAY-B
-# evidence and a human-supplied exact Lemon Squeezy URL; keep checkout disabled
-# until that review is complete.
+# checkout URL. Adding a binding requires reviewed immutable PAY-B evidence and
+# a human-supplied exact Polar checkout-link URL (https://buy.polar.sh/polar_cl_*);
+# keep checkout disabled until that review is complete.
 # PATINA_DEPLOYMENT_CHANNEL=staging
 # PATINA_PRO_CHECKOUT_URL=
 # PATINA_PRO_GATE_EVIDENCE_ID=

diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ body:
     id: mode
     attributes:
       label: Mode
-      options: [rewrite, audit, score, diff, ouroboros, max, install, other]
+      options: [rewrite, audit, score, diff, max, install, other]
     validations:
       required: true
   - type: textarea

diff --git a/.patina.default.yaml b/.patina.default.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version: "6.3.4"
+version: "7.0.0"
 language: ko              # Korean (default) -- auto-loads all ko-*.md patterns
                           # language: en      -- English -- auto-loads all en-*.md patterns
                           # language: zh      -- Chinese -- auto-loads all zh-*.md patterns
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@ language: ko              # Korean (default) -- auto-loads all ko-*.md patterns
 profile: default
 output: rewrite           # rewrite | diff | audit | score
 
-# Opt-in: request OpenAI-compatible structured output (response_format
-# json_object) for ouroboros LLM scoring. Default false; only the openai-http
-# backend forwards it (never sent to local CLI backends). Some OpenAI-compatible
-# endpoints reject response_format — leave false unless your endpoint supports it.
-structured-output: false
 
 # Tone categorization (v3.10): register axis (casual/professional) for ko/en.
 # Resolution: explicit --tone > config tone > config profile.
@@ -104,15 +99,6 @@ scoring:
     enabled: true
     divergence-threshold: 20  # warn and prefer the more pessimistic score above this delta
     combined-weight: 0        # default off for combinedScore; users may opt in (e.g. 0.2)
-
-# Ouroboros: iterative self-improvement loop
-# Runs the full humanization pipeline repeatedly until the AI score converges.
-# Enable via config or CLI flag: --ouroboros
-ouroboros:
-  enabled: false            # opt-in; --ouroboros CLI flag overrides to true
-  target-score: 30          # stop when overall score <= this value (0-100)
-  max-iterations: 3         # hard limit on loop iterations
-  plateau-threshold: 10     # stop if score improves by less than this between iterations
   category-weights:
     ko:
       content: 0.18
@@ -146,8 +132,6 @@ ouroboros:
       filler: 0.08
       structure: 0.15
       viral-hook: 0.10  # score-only pack (excluded from rewrite)
-  fidelity-floor: 70             # stop ouroboros if fidelity drops below this; also the --verify fidelity floor
-  mps-floor: 70                  # stop ouroboros if MPS (meaning preservation) drops below this; also the --verify MPS floor
   combined-weights:
     default:
       ai-likeness: 0.60
@@ -184,6 +168,10 @@ ouroboros:
     medium: 2
     low: 1
 
+verification:
+  mps-floor: 70
+  fidelity-floor: 70
+
 # Stylometry: deterministic statistical preprocessing (SKILL.md Step 4.6)
 # Calculates burstiness (sentence-length CV) and MATTR (lexical diversity) per
 # paragraph, marks suspect zones, and feeds them into 5a/5b as internal memory.

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,69 @@ All notable changes to patina. Dates are release dates (YYYY-MM-DD).
 Semver rationale: patch | minor | major — explain whether this changes patterns, schemas, CLI behavior, or docs only.
 ```
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Changed
+
+- The v6.4 preflight hold now certifies the Polar payment route instead of the
+  declined Lemon Squeezy account: the checkout evidence binding table carries
+  exactly the Polar production tuple (`PAY-B-20260729-POLAR-ea8385dc-4c9c3f17`,
+  `https://buy.polar.sh/polar_cl_…`), the hold validates the
+  `PAY-B-BINDING-POLAR-v1` and `PAY-LIVE-RUNTIME-POLAR-v1` artifacts,
+  `POLAR_APPROVAL` replaces `LS_APPROVAL`, and the secret-manager blocker names
+  `PATINA_LICENSE_PROVIDER`/`POLAR_ORGANIZATION_ID`/`POLAR_PRO_BENEFIT_ID`. The
+  retired staging chain is recorded as superseded by the production zero-amount
+  purchase evidence, not silently dropped; Lemon Squeezy records stay on disk,
+  hash-frozen, as history. Checkout remains disabled pending the owner's
+  env-side enable sequence.
+
+## 7.0.0 — 2026-07-30
+
+**Removes the retired iterative rewrite product contract, gives scoring and verification settings neutral ownership, and preserves the comparator only as unsupported research.**
+
+Semver rationale: major — removes public configuration keys and the obsolete agent-skill mode without compatibility aliases. Existing custom configurations must migrate the shared score and verification settings below.
+
+### Removed
+
+- The retired iterative mode is gone from the agent skill, CLI migration tombstone, default configuration, help/support surfaces, generated API, and current documentation. Node users keep `--verify`; agent-skill users keep the independent `/patina --strict` flow.
+- Loop-only `enabled`, `target-score`, `max-iterations`, and `plateau-threshold` settings are no longer product configuration.
+- The unused top-level `structured-output` setting is deleted. The scorer's explicit runtime `responseFormat` API remains available to supported callers.
+
+### Changed (breaking)
+
+- Move `category-weights`, `combined-weights`, and `severity-points` from the former top-level loop-settings block to `scoring`.
+- Move the shared `mps-floor` and `fidelity-floor` values to `verification`. Their defaults remain 70/70.
+- Keep `personas.thresholds.mps_floor` and `personas.thresholds.fidelity_floor` separate; persona gate overrides do not affect `--verify`, and verification overrides do not affect persona gates.
+- Rename the opt-in A/B arm to `iterative-baseline` and move its runner under `scripts/`. It remains packaged for `npm run quality:rewrite-ab`, but is unsupported research and is absent from CLI/help/config, hosted APIs, and generated public API docs.
+- Persona, profile, and tone behavior is unchanged. Persona remains the reusable voice axis, tone remains the KO/EN register override, and profile-policy consolidation remains follow-up work.
+
+### Added
+
+- `patina --score --offline` runs the deterministic scoring layer without resolving a backend or credential. It supports markdown/JSON output and `--exit-on`; LLM-judged categories are marked unavailable, and a missing numeric local score fails instead of silently passing.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Rewrite stdout now contains prose only. Plain, fenced, and blockquoted tone footers are stripped, while `--format json` retains structured tone metadata, including the model-resolved value from `--tone auto`.
+- The agent skill now uses the CLI's config precedence and canonical project filename: installed `.patina.default.yaml` → `~/.patina.yaml` → project `./.patina.yaml` → command arguments.
+
+### Migration
+
+```yaml
+scoring:
+  category-weights: { ... }
+  combined-weights: { ... }
+  severity-points:
+    high: 3
+    medium: 2
+    low: 1
+
+verification:
+  mps-floor: 70
+  fidelity-floor: 70
+```
+
+No legacy alias is read. Move custom values before upgrading.
+
 ## 6.3.4 — 2026-07-29
 
 **Corrects the Pro pricing card, which advertised a burst guard as an entitlement and contradicted the real monthly cap.**

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT"><img alt="License: MIT" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg"></a>
   <a href="#quick-start"><img alt="Skill: Claude Code | Codex | Cursor | OpenCode" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Skill-Claude%20Code%20%7C%20Codex%20%7C%20Cursor%20%7C%20OpenCode-blueviolet"></a>
   <a href="https://github.com/devswha/patina"><img alt="Languages: KO | EN | ZH | JA" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Languages-KO%20%7C%20EN%20%7C%20ZH%20%7C%20JA-green"></a>
-  <a href="CHANGELOG.md"><img alt="Version 6.3.4" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/version-6.3.4-blue"></a>
+  <a href="CHANGELOG.md"><img alt="Version 7.0.0" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/version-7.0.0-blue"></a>
 </p>
 
 <p align="center">
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ For large `--batch` runs, prefer an OpenAI-compatible HTTP backend; local CLI ba
 | **184 patterns** | 37 rewrite-capable + 9 score-only viral-hook per language (46 each across KO/EN/ZH/JA) — see the full 184-pattern catalog in [PATTERNS.md](docs/PATTERNS.md) |
 | **Modes** | rewrite · verify · audit · score · diff |
 | **Surfaces** | agent skill · Node CLI · in-place preview · browser playground (rewrite + score) |
-| **Voice** | `--persona` (built-in + your own, ko/en/zh/ja) is the sole voice axis · `--tone` register · `--profile` pattern policy — composable with a fixed precedence |
+| **Voice controls** | `--persona` is the reusable voice axis · `--tone` overrides register · `--profile` sets Node pattern policy; some skill/core paths still carry legacy profile voice guidance |
 | **Free usage** | logged-in `codex`, `claude`, or `gemini` CLI can run rewrites without `PATINA_API_KEY` |
 | **Calibration** | 67.3% editing-hotspot catch [63.5–71.0%] across GPT-5.5 / Claude Sonnet 4.6 / Gemini 2.5 Pro (n=600, KO+EN); 16.0% false positives [11.6–21.7%] on KO+EN human controls (n=200) |
 | **License** | MIT |
@@ -127,8 +127,9 @@ patina --lang <ko|en|zh|ja> [mode] [--profile <name>] input.txt
 |---|---|
 | `patina input.txt` | rewrite with defaults |
 | `patina --audit input.txt` | detect patterns only |
-| `patina --score input.txt` | output a 0-100 AI-likeness score |
-| `patina --score --exit-on 30 input.txt` | CI gate with exit code `3` when `overall > 30` |
+| `patina --score input.txt` | output a 0-100 score using the LLM judge plus deterministic signals |
+| `patina --score --offline input.txt` | score with deterministic signals only; no backend or API key |
+| `patina --score --offline --exit-on 30 input.txt` | offline CI gate with exit code `3` when `overall > 30` |
 | `patina --diff input.txt` | show pattern-by-pattern changes |
 | `patina --preview page.html` | render rewrites back onto a saved HTML page with toggles and inline diff |
 | `patina --verify input.txt` | rewrite, then check MPS/fidelity floors with one retry |
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ patina persona edit my-voice --name "Founder voice"         # copy-on-edit into
 patina persona rm my-voice                                  # remove a custom persona (--force to skip the confirm)
 ```
 
-Works on ko/en/zh/ja and composes with `--tone` (register) and `--profile` (pattern policy). The persona is the sole voice owner; register precedence is `--tone` > persona. A persona shapes voice but never lowers the meaning floors — authored personas are validated on save, and the safety gate still enforces MPS/fidelity + dropped-number checks.
+Works on ko/en/zh/ja and composes with `--tone` and `--profile`. In Node, persona owns reusable voice, register precedence is `--tone` > persona, and profile controls pattern policy. Some skill/core-prompt paths still contain legacy profile voice guidance, so that separation is not universal yet. None of these controls lowers the meaning floors: authored personas are validated on save, and rewrites still enforce MPS/fidelity and dropped-number checks.
 
 ## CI
 
@@ -204,11 +205,11 @@ If meaning drifts, the change is retried or rolled back. Deterministic analysis
 
 ```yaml
 # .patina.default.yaml
-version: "6.3.4"
+version: "7.0.0"
 language: ko              # ko | en | zh | ja
 profile: default
 output: rewrite           # rewrite | diff | audit | score
-tone:                     # casual | professional | auto  (register; genre = profile)
+tone:                     # casual | professional | auto  (register override; profile = pattern policy)
 ```
 
 Project `.patina.yaml` overrides defaults. Pattern packs are auto-discovered by language prefix. Additive list keys (`blocklist`, `allowlist`, `skip-patterns`) merge; other arrays replace.