Purpose: records the mechanical merge-gate outcome. Schema: schemas/contracts/merge-decision.schema.json. Required: schema_version, package_id, decision, evidence; reviewer and rationale are optional. Valid/invalid examples: examples.json#/merge-decision.
Only approved packages with evidence may integrate. Integration produces the decision/evidence; Hermes and dashboards consume it. Versioning/migration: provisional and backwards-compatible additions only. Maturity: provisional.