diff --git a/.ciagent/CHECKPOINT.json b/.ciagent/CHECKPOINT.json
index 731954d..0f2913c 100644
--- a/.ciagent/CHECKPOINT.json
+++ b/.ciagent/CHECKPOINT.json
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
 {
-  "phase": 7,
-  "stage": "complete",
-  "milestone": "v1.17",
-  "phase_role": "final",
+  "phase": 0,
+  "stage": "specify",
+  "milestone": "v1.18",
+  "phase_role": "pre_execution",
   "attempts": 0,
-  "updated_at": "2026-08-04T22:30:00Z",
-  "milestone_complete": true,
-  "tag": "v1.16.7",
-  "release_id": null,
-  "requirements": ["REQ-185", "REQ-186", "REQ-187", "REQ-188", "REQ-189", "REQ-190", "REQ-191", "REQ-192", "REQ-193", "REQ-194", "REQ-195", "REQ-196", "REQ-197", "REQ-198", "REQ-199", "REQ-200", "REQ-201", "REQ-202", "REQ-203", "REQ-204", "REQ-205", "REQ-206", "REQ-207", "REQ-208", "REQ-209", "REQ-210", "REQ-211", "REQ-212", "REQ-213"],
-  "notes": "v1.17 milestone complete. 3 pillars: (A) NORTH_STAR.md authored + wired into CIAgent context-loading, (B) Leadership Metrics + PowerBI (CloudEvents envelope, SQLite cold store, Decision Ledger hash-chain, Infracost, 8 placeholder views, trust snapshot, metrics catalog), (C) Unified Narrative Deck (18 slides, x3 arc, per-slide benefits, old decks retired). 29 requirements satisfied. 94 tests pass. CAP-023 + CAP-024 Verified. Interactive GRILL: 12 binding decisions applied. 13 decisions locked (D-120..D-132). Hard constraint honored: DO NOT make anything up."
+  "updated_at": "2026-08-06T00:00:00Z",
+  "milestone_complete": false,
+  "notes": "v1.18 Citizen Developer & Production-Grade Guidance. 15 requirements (REQ-214..228). 8 phases (P0+6+1 final). Feature milestone; tags on v1.17.x line."
 }
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diff --git a/.ciagent/PROJECT.md b/.ciagent/PROJECT.md
index 015417d..07c5df4 100644
--- a/.ciagent/PROJECT.md
+++ b/.ciagent/PROJECT.md
@@ -1217,4 +1217,22 @@ P7 review+audit+ship). Tags on the v1.16.x line: `v1.16.0` (P0) →
 | D-129 | PowerBI delivery = CSV/JSON files, folder connector. | Nova is offline-first; no live connector to a running service. PowerBI ingests via the folder connector. | P3 emits CSV/JSON to metrics/powerbi/. |
 | D-130 | Deck arc = Problem → Vision → How → Proof → Roadmap. | The unified narrative deck's 5-act structure. x3 arc at deck + slide level. Per-slide benefit callouts. Fluid transitions. Both old decks retired. | P5 builds the unified deck; old decks deleted. |
 | D-131 | MTTR scope = platform-run MTTR. | The <60s MTTR target refers to platform-run failures (apply.failed → successful retry), not infra-incident MTTR (no incident detection system). Infra-incident MTTR deferred. | P4 grounds platform-run MTTR. |
-| D-132 | Attestation instrumentation = emit attestation.recorded events. | The attestation system (hitl_gates.py + attestation_matrix.py + separation_of_duties.py) already exists. Instrument it: emit attestation.recorded events into the Decision Ledger + PowerBI. Attestation Coverage = 100% target grounded from outbox approver_* attributes. | P1 emits attestation events; P4 grounds Attestation Coverage. |
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+| D-132 | Attestation instrumentation = emit attestation.recorded events. | The attestation system (hitl_gates.py + attestation_matrix.py + separation_of_duties.py) already exists. Instrument it: emit attestation.recorded events into the Decision Ledger + PowerBI. Attestation Coverage = 100% target grounded from outbox approver_* attributes. | P1 emits attestation events; P4 grounds Attestation Coverage. |
+
+## Key Decisions (v1.18)
+
+Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked
+constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.18 decisions:
+
+| ID | Decision | Rationale | Outcome |
+|----|----------|-----------|---------|
+| D-133 | Submission-readiness validator location = extend `contract_ingestor.py --check-readiness`. | Adding a new CLI binary is unnecessary; the ingestor is the existing entry point for contract submission. The validator is a subcommand that runs before ingestion proceeds. No new binary, no new entry point to maintain. | P3 implements the subcommand; no new CLI binary. |
+| D-134 | Deck slide budget = 18 → 21 slides (no act restructure). | The 3 new slides (scope/RACI/atelier) are leadership-relevant and append after the existing 18. The 5-act arc (D-130) is preserved; the new slides are append-only context, not a new act. | P6 appends 3 slides → 21 total. |
+| D-135 | Atelier MCP transport = stdio now; HTTP-ready (same server object). | stdio is the local-agent transport (the citizen developer's AI agent spawns the server as a subprocess). The MCP Python SDK v2 supports Streamable HTTP on the same `MCPServer` object, so adding HTTP later is a transport-only change in `server.py`, not a rewrite. | P5 ships stdio; HTTP deferred (documented in README). |
+| D-136 | Atelier source = vendor pinned tag under `mcp/atelier/vendor/`. | An agentic validation result is only reproducible if the principles that produced it are pinned. Live-fetch breaks replayability (Atelier `main` drifts). Vendoring matches the v1.16 P15 offline-first precedent and the Nova thesis (provable trust). `mcp/atelier/vendor/VERSION.md` records the pinned tag; `scripts/update_atelier_vendor.sh` is the intentional upgrade path. | P5 vendors Atelier; live-fetch not implemented. |
+| D-137 | MCP server language = Python (MCP Python SDK v2, `modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk`). | Nova's `core/` is Python. The MCP Python SDK v2 (23.9k stars, MIT, stable) matches the codebase; type hints become JSON Schema automatically (`@mcp.tool()` decorator). | P5 uses Python SDK v2. |
+| D-138 | Skill catalog format = markdown files under `skills/` keyed to Atelier domain paths. | Markdown is the established Nova docs format (Jekyll Pages, 4-step deck process). Each skill file names the Atelier source path, distills the first-principles, links to agent-checklist triggers, and maps to the BA.A catalog. | P4 authors 9 markdown skill files. |
+| D-139 | RACI role names = Citizen Developer / Platform / Release Management (co-owned). | User-specified. The 3 roles are the columns of the RACI table. Release Management is co-owned: QA + SRE attestations are required by the actual release (performed agentically, overseen & triggered by the Citizen Developer). | P2 authors the RACI with these 3 roles. |
+| D-140 | MCP server extensibility = plugin-registry (`plugins/<name>.py` implementing `register(mcp)`). | Future capabilities (new scanners, policy evaluators, cost tools) drop in as new plugin files — no `server.py` edits. `server.py` scans `plugins/` and calls `register` on each. This is the extensibility insurance: plugins are decoupled from the server entrypoint. | P5 implements the plugin-registry; initial plugins are `principles.py` + `validation.py`. |
+| D-141 | PPTX storage = commit binary directly to `docs/presentations/` (no LFS). | Decks are small (~1-5 MiB); git handles binary blobs. LFS requires server-side support (unverified for git.cloudinit.dev) + client config. Committing directly is simplest and works without any repo/server config. Binary diffs are not delta-friendly, but deck changes are infrequent. | P1/P2/P6 commit .pptx directly. |
+| D-142 | Deck render trigger = any phase modifying `docs/presentations/*-marp.md` or `docs/presentations/assets/` must re-render HTML + PPTX, commit PPTX, and attach to the Gitea release. | PPTX was previously manual + release-only (not committed). v1.18 makes it a first-class artifact: committed (history) + attached (download), both always, not optional. Automated via `scripts/render_deck.sh` + `scripts/attach_release_asset.py`. | P1/P2/P6 run the render+commit+attach pipeline. |
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