# Methodology

## Goal

Produce the strongest practical modernization proof possible without paid or licensed legacy runtime infrastructure.

## Method

1. Pin the upstream AWS CardDemo source repository and commit.
2. Hash the source files and generated modern files.
3. Extract capabilities from legacy source, copybooks, BMS maps, JCL, seed data, and static contracts.
4. Build a one-for-one capability ledger.
5. Implement the modern Python/SQLite target against those source-derived contracts.
6. Generate receipts, golden traces, edge cases, and parity reports.
7. Execute the modern service against static/source-oracle replay checks.
8. Run clean-copy reproduction and API smoke checks.
9. Run a strict A-grade gate that refuses promotion without live legacy runtime traces.
10. Publish the evidence with explicit boundaries.

## Current Proof State

- B-grade static/source-oracle capabilities: `50`
- F-grade gaps: `0`
- Gap count: `0`
- Static replay passed: `True`
- No-cost confidence posture: `strong_pre_runtime_confidence`
- A-grade promotable: `False`

## What Would Upgrade This To A

The A-grade gate requires accepted live legacy runtime trace records for every capability. Each record must bind a capability ID to the pinned source head, a live runtime trace kind, a raw legacy trace hash, a modern observation hash, a comparator version, and `matched=true`.

The current bundle has zero accepted live runtime matches because no paid/licensed legacy runtime was executed.