Lightcone v0.8 evidence navigation proof

Status: frozen proof artifact.

Lightcone v0.8 proves that the visualization is not decorative: every visible decision object in the demo loop resolves to deterministic simulated data, receipt-backed explanation, or replayable audit context.

What was proven

• The 10-step demo path completes end to end: load synthetic sequence, run guide discovery, select guide, generate modeled outcome family, open Lightcone, focus dominant branch, inspect story nodes, open Builder from branch window, export audit pack, and verify receipt linkage.
• The selected branch resolves to selection_dump.json with a stable selection id, dominant outcome, linked outcomes, mechanism tags, and deterministic context.
• The story nodes resolve to receipt-backed data: locus/reference context, mechanism tags, allele-state hashes, dominant outcome, and outcome linkage.
• The horizon zones resolve to simulated outcomes in the modeled outcome family.
• The audit pack exports and verifies using the repository verifier.
• The viewport replay context is present through fixture snapshot, render settings receipt, geometry receipt, and deterministic Lightcone geometry.

What was not proven

• This is not a clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, or wet-lab validation.
• This does not prove biological ground truth; it proves deterministic in silico traceability for the demo loop.
• This does not prove every future Lightcone visual state; it proves the frozen v0.8 demo contract.
• This does not prove GPU performance or parity; those remain covered by the Lightcone runbook gates.

Artifacts

• Proof receipt: artifacts/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8/receipt.json
• Audit pack: artifacts/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8_audit_pack.zip
• Proof harness: tools/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8.py
• Test: tests/test_lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8.py
• Visual contract: docs/contracts/lightcone_visual_contract_v0_8.md

Verification commands

QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen bash tools/test.sh tests/test_lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8.py -q
python tools/lint_colors.py
python -m py_compile src/helix/studio/lightcone_panel.py tests/test_lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8.py
python tools/lightcone_verify_audit_pack.py artifacts/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8/lightcone_demo_proof_v0_8_audit_pack.zip

The expected receipt summary is:

{
  "visual_contract": "lightcone_visual_contract_v0_8",
  "demo_path_completed": true,
  "steps_completed": 10,
  "selected_branch_resolves_to_receipt": true,
  "story_nodes_resolve_to_receipts": true,
  "horizon_zones_resolve_to_simulated_outcomes": true,
  "audit_pack_exported": true,
  "audit_pack_verifies": true,
  "viewport_replay_supported": true
}

Why this matters

The Lightcone is now an evidence navigation surface. A reviewer can move from a visible branch, node, or horizon zone to deterministic simulated data, receipt-backed explanation, and replayable audit context without trusting the screen as a standalone picture.

That is the product claim for v0.8: not just outcome visualization, but navigable evidence for modeled genome-editing decisions under explicit in silico assumptions.

Next milestone: docs/lightcone_v0_9_milestone.md keeps the work focused on evidence operations: branch replay bookmarks, reviewer annotations, side-by-side branch comparison, deterministic session restore, and exportable reviewer snapshots.