Ca Override

$ca-override — logged bypass

The sanctioned escape hatch. Bypass is permitted only with an audit log entry. Overrides are always

logged, always visible, never silent. Single identity, single confirm.

Flow

• Validate $ARGUMENTS — the reason names the gate being bypassed and a justification. Reject a

vague reason ("just skip it") and ask for a specific one.

• Detect the operator identity from git config user.email only. If it is unset, ask the user once

to state their identity for the log. (No platform ladder, no second confirmation.)

• Append one line to <project-root>/.codearbiter/overrides.log:

   [ISO-8601 timestamp] | BY: <email> | GATE: <gate bypassed> | REASON: <reason>

The log is append-only — never edited or deleted, committed as a permanent audit artifact.

• Proceed with the overridden action. Note in the response that the override is logged.

Security ceiling — heavier path for security-critical stops

A routine gate (lint, a style rule, a non-security review finding) takes the single-confirm path above.

But a security-critical stop is NOT bypassable by a single confirm. The following require the

heavier path below, never the one-line flow:

• a security CRITICAL finding;
• the crypto/secret commit gate (hook H-09b / H-10b — staged crypto/TLS or secret without a gate pass);
• an irreversible operation (data loss, a destructive migration, anything unrollbackable).

Heavier path (all required, in order):

• Surface the specific finding verbatim — name the exact primitive/secret/operation and the

concrete risk. A generic "security override" is rejected.

• Explicit per-finding acknowledgement — the user must acknowledge *that specific finding* in

their own words (a bare "yes"/"go ahead"/"I trust you" is declined — this mirrors decision-variance).

Detect identity from git config user.email; if unset, ask once.

• Heavier log entry — append a line tagged SECURITY-OVERRIDE that records the specific finding,

not just the gate name:

   [ISO-8601] | BY: <email> | SECURITY-OVERRIDE | FINDING: <specific finding> | REASON: <reason>

• Only then record the bypass. For the crypto/secret commit gate, that means running

python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/security-pass.py" || python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/security-pass.py",

which writes <project-root>/.codearbiter/.markers/security-gate-passed bound to the

sensitive lines it approves, so hook H-09b/H-10b allows the commit — recorded only after

steps 1–3, never to skip the gate proper.

Under $ca-sprint, a security-critical override is a hard-gate STOP: it surfaces to the user and is

never auto-decided, even in autonomous mode (SPRINT.md hard gates).

Hard gate

MUST write the log line before proceeding — it is not optional. MUST capture an operator identity —

"codeArbiter" or "automated" are not valid. MUST include a justification. The override is scoped to

the immediate action only; it creates no standing exception. MUST NOT edit or delete an existing

overrides.log entry. MUST route a security-critical / crypto-secret / irreversible stop through the

Security ceiling path — never the single-confirm flow — and MUST NOT auto-decide such an override

under $ca-sprint.

When NOT to use

• Routine work that passes all gates — never needed.
• Reconciling two conflicting sources → $ca-conflict.