---
id: conformance-hardening-v1
prd: null
title: Conformance hardening v1 — AST manifest parsing + dev-seed boot assertion
type: epic
status: done
features: [core-eslint, auth, blog, media, navigation, marketing-pages]
created: 2026-05-13
---

## Goal
Tighten two known fragilities in conformance-system-v1:
1. `_manifest-source.js` uses regex for `name` + `requiredCores` extraction —
   replace with AST parsing for correctness (comments, quote styles, edge cases)
2. Boot assertion only runs at the production binder's tail. Dev mode
   (`USE_DEV_SEED=true`) skips it. Extend to dev-seed paths.

## Why
- The regex false-match concern was flagged by the milestone iii.a final
  reviewer and held only by today's convention; a future manifest with
  a `// name: "x"` comment would break `required-cores-installed`.
- `pnpm dev` is the inner loop. Drift in dev-seed binders is currently
  invisible until production boot — too late.

## Stories
- [x] [01 — AST-based manifest source parser](01-ast-manifest-source/_story.md)
- [x] [02 — Dev-seed boot assertion across all 5 features](02-dev-seed-assertion/_story.md)