# NetBox write-path findings -- OPEN residue gating the deferred apex write-back

**Status:** OPEN obligations, routed here 2026-07-23 from the session-ledger
retained block (which pointed only at the archived rotation). **Gates:** the
DEFERRED end-of-deployment write-back to the production apex
`netbox.baldurkeep.com` (DOCFIX-195: office1-netbox is the WORKING VR1 apex;
the production apex is READ-ONLY reference until then). These findings gate
THAT write campaign -- nothing current.

**History:** six write-path defects found 2026-07-14 by adversarial review.
Defects 1-3 and 6 were FIXED the same day
(`docs/archive/changelogs/changelog-20260714-netbox-write-path-hardening.md`:
roles-importer preflight covers ARIN + ULA; prefixes-importer preflights
every role; fidelity check both-bounds + delta-scope-aware; test fake raises
on multi-match like real pynetbox). Full original text:
`docs/archive/session-ledger-rotated-20260719.md` ("OPEN -- NetBox
WRITE-PATH BUGS" section).

## Open items (do ALL before the first production-apex write)

1. **Same-dumper blind spot (original #4) -- NOT fixed.**
   `sandbox-fidelity-check` compares two dumps produced by the SAME field
   list, so any field the dumper omits is invisible on both sides by
   construction (prefix `vrf`, `tenant`, `vlan`, `tags`, `custom_fields`;
   site `tenant`/`group`/`facility`). Same structural shape as the
   region-scope bug that once dropped 17 prefixes. Fix direction: widen the
   dump field list, or add an independent field-coverage assertion.
2. **Duplicate-CIDR collapse (original #5) -- NOT fixed, latent.**
   Prefix-keyed dicts in the seeder and fidelity check collapse duplicate
   prefixes (NetBox permits them; the importer's own docstring anticipates
   them vs `vr0-dc0`). A whole prefix object can vanish under a green check.
   Latent only because no duplicates exist upstream today. The hardened fake
   (#6 fix) makes this testable now.
3. **Re-run the fidelity check under the HARDENED version.** The sandbox's
   "proven faithful" verdict (2026-07-14) was produced by the PRE-hardening
   check that could false-green. Re-run `sandbox-fidelity-check.py` against
   `office1-netbox` before trusting that verdict -- this re-run IS C2
   sub-task (i) per DOCFIX-195.
4. **Re-verify the 1-3 fixes at campaign time.** The fixes are two-plus
   stages old; before the production write, re-run their harnesses and
   re-read the preflight paths against the THEN-current NetBox/pynetbox
   versions (hard rule: a fix verified in July is not evidence in a later
   campaign).

## Trigger

The next NetBox WRITE campaign of any kind -- above all the deferred
`netbox.baldurkeep.com` merge-back at end-of-deployment. No write campaign
starts while items 1-2 are unfixed or 3-4 unrun. (Read-only NetBox use is
ungated.)
