fix(spec-revocation-check): --tag scopes marker parsing; free-prose ignored by default (brief)

specs/spec-revocation-check.spec.md

@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ spec-revocation-check --base <commit-ish> [--tag TAG]
 
 | Argument | Default | Description |
 |----------|---------|-------------|
-| `--tag TAG` | — | Restrict the marker regex to `(TAG)`. Without it, match any tag AND the untagged form `Revokes prior text: "<quote>"`. |
+| `--tag TAG` | — | Restrict the marker regex to `(TAG)`. Without it, match any tag AND the untagged form `Revokes prior text: "<quote>"`. With `--tag`, lines that do not contain the literal `Revokes prior text (TAG)` are entirely ignored — not parsed, not used as quotes, not counted. |
+| `--strict` | off | Without `--tag`, lines that look like free-prose unquoted revocation markers (e.g. `**Revokes prior text:** the pre-… wording`) are reported as malformed. Default is to count them in the summary as `ignored (unquoted-style)` without failing. No effect with `--tag` (a non-parsing `(TAG)` line is already malformed). |
 | `--marker-regex REGEX` | built-in default | Override the line-shape regex. Must have exactly one capture group (the quoted text); exit 2 if it has zero or more than one. |
 | `--min-line-chars N` | `12` | Ignore non-blank base lines whose collapsed length is shorter than this (e.g. short structural lines). After collapsing. |
 | `--repo-root DIR` | `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` of cwd | Repo root. Never inferred from the script's own path. |
@@ -66,7 +67,12 @@ spec-revocation-check --base <commit-ish> [--tag TAG]
 
 - Default, with `--tag TAG`: `Revokes prior text \(TAG\):\s*"(.*)"` (the
   match is `re.search`, so the marker can appear mid-line inside a Markdown
-  table cell).
+  table cell). Lines that do not contain the literal `Revokes prior text (TAG)`
+  are not even candidates — they are skipped before the regex runs, so a
+  tagged marker for a different tag, an untagged marker, or a free-prose
+  marker cannot accidentally be classified as malformed. (Defect from
+  round 1: with `--tag M33`, every M23 / untagged / free-prose marker was
+  being reported as malformed.)
 - Default, without `--tag`: match either the tagged form for any single
   parenthesised token, OR the untagged form `Revokes prior text:\s*"(.*)"`.
   The untagged form is the M32-era marker; we keep it recognised so older
@@ -82,18 +88,32 @@ containing `"`" case, which only works because of the greedy match.
 
 For every file matched by a glob at HEAD:
 
-- Parse all marker occurrences in the file's current text. Collect
-  `(line_no, quote_text)`.
-- For each parsed quote, collapse (whitespace-collapse, strip Markdown
+- Walk the file line by line. For each line containing the phrase
+  `Revokes prior text`:
+    - **With `--tag TAG`**: if the line does not contain the literal
+      `Revokes prior text (TAG)`, skip it entirely (not parsed, not
+      reported, its text not used as a quote). Otherwise try the marker
+      regex; on match, record `(line_no, quote_text)`. On miss, record
+      a "malformed marker" violation.
+    - **Without `--tag`**: try the multi-branch marker regex
+      (tagged-any | untagged); on match, record `(line_no, quote_text)`.
+      On miss, classify the line:
+        - If the line is a **free-prose unquoted marker** — i.e. it
+          contains `Revokes prior text:` (the colon form, no parens) AND
+          has no `"` anywhere on the line — then with `--strict` record
+          it as a malformed-marker violation, otherwise silently ignore
+          it (count in the summary as `ignored (unquoted-style)` but do
+          not contribute to the exit code).
+        - Otherwise record it as a malformed-marker violation.
+- For each recorded quote, collapse (whitespace-collapse, strip Markdown
   structural prefixes — blockquote `>`, list bullet `- * 1.`, table outer
   pipes) and assert it is a substring of the SAME file at `--base` after
   the same collapse.
 - If the file did not exist at `--base`, every parsed quote is a violation
   (a "fabricated quote" — you cannot revoke text from a file that did not
   yet exist).
-- A line that contains `Revokes prior text` but does NOT match the marker
-  regex is a "malformed marker" violation. (Catches a typo'd or reworded
-  marker that would otherwise silently carry no enforceable quote.)
+- **No-quote markers (free-prose) are never used as quote text to cover
+  deletions**, regardless of mode: they have no quote to extract.
 
 ### 4. Check B — completeness
 
@@ -107,7 +127,9 @@ DIFFERS from `--base`:
   `***` / `___`), skip it.
 - Otherwise, the collapsed base line MUST be present in either:
     (a) the current file's collapsed text, OR
-    (b) the collapsed text of any of that file's parsed quotes.
+    (b) the collapsed text of any of that file's parsed quotes (NOT free-
+        prose lines — they have no quote text and so cannot cover a
+        deletion).
 - If neither, it is an "unquoted deletion" violation.
 
 ### 5. Check D — deleted / renamed files
@@ -142,7 +164,7 @@ malformed markers:
 deleted since base:
   spec/old.md (<base>)
 
-Summary: 3 violation(s) — 1 unquoted, 1 fabricated, 1 malformed, 0 deleted
+Summary: 3 violation(s) — 1 unquoted, 1 fabricated, 1 malformed, 0 deleted, 2 ignored
 ```
 
 The `<text>` for `unquoted deletions` is the original base line (with
@@ -168,7 +190,7 @@ If there are zero violations: `spec-revocation-check: clean — every
     "malformed_markers":   [{"path": "spec/baz.md", "line": 3, "base": "...", "line_text": "..."}],
     "deleted_since_base":  [{"path": "spec/old.md", "base": "..."}]
   },
-  "summary": {"unquoted": 1, "fabricated": 1, "malformed": 1, "deleted": 0}
+  "summary": {"unquoted": 1, "fabricated": 1, "malformed": 1, "deleted": 0, "ignored": 2}
 }
 ```
 
@@ -183,6 +205,7 @@ The script is read-only by nature. `--dryrun` (and `-n`) prints:
 [dryrun] repo_root: <abs-path>
 [dryrun] base:      <base-as-arg>  -> <resolved-sha>
 [dryrun] tag:       <TAG-or-None>
+[dryrun] strict:    <True-or-False>
 [dryrun] marker:    <regex-source>
 [dryrun] min_line_chars: 12
 [dryrun] files:     <N>
@@ -210,7 +233,9 @@ to read the repo and report.)
 | File matched at HEAD, did not exist at base | Check A applies (any quote is a violation); Check B is skipped. |
 | File matched at base, does not exist at HEAD | Reported as `deleted since base` (Check D); unless git says renamed, in which case Check B is run on the renamed file. |
 | File matched at base, identical at HEAD | Skipped entirely. |
-| File has `Revokes prior text` but no closing `"` on the same line | Reported as `malformed marker` (Check A). |
+| File has `Revokes prior text` but no closing `"` on the same line | Reported as `malformed marker` (Check A), unless the line is a free-prose unquoted marker (see below). |
+| With `--tag X`, line has `Revokes prior text (Y): "..."` for a different tag Y | Line is entirely ignored (not parsed, not used as a quote, not counted). Y's text is NOT used to cover deletions in this run. |
+| Free-prose unquoted marker (no `--tag`): line contains `Revokes prior text:` (colon form, no parens) and has no `"` anywhere on the line | Without `--strict`: counted in the summary as `ignored (unquoted-style)`; does not contribute to exit code; never used as quote text to cover deletions. With `--strict`: reported as `malformed marker`. |
 | Quote text contains literal `"` characters | Handled by greedy match to the LAST `"` on the line. |
 | Two quote markers on one line (e.g. two revoked cells of one table row) | Both parsed separately by the regex (greedy `.*"` finds each tail `"`); each checked independently. |
 | Base file has only blank lines | Skipped (no non-blank base lines to lose). |
@@ -257,4 +282,8 @@ spec-revocation-check --base $BASE_SHA --glob 'spec/**/*.md' --json
 | R11 | Output groups violations under `unquoted deletions`, `fabricated quotes`, `malformed markers`, `deleted since base`. Each violation is `path:line (base): <text>`. Summary line at the end. |
 | R12 | `--json` emits the same data as a single JSON object on stdout (human-readable summary still on stderr). |
 | R13 | Exit 0 clean, 1 any violation, 2 usage/environment error. |
-| R14 | `--dryrun` prints resolved repo root, base sha, tag, marker regex, file list, then runs the checks anyway. |
+| R14 | `--dryrun` prints resolved repo root, base sha, tag, marker regex, file list, then runs the checks anyway. |
+| R15 | With `--tag TAG`, lines that do not contain the literal `Revokes prior text (TAG)` are entirely ignored: not parsed, not reported, and their text is not used as a quote to cover deletions. Only lines containing that literal are candidates; candidates that fail the marker regex are `malformed markers`. |
+| R16 | Without `--tag`, a line containing `Revokes prior text` that fails the marker regex is classified as `free-prose unquoted` if it contains `Revokes prior text:` (the colon form, no parens) and has no `"` on the same line. With `--strict`, free-prose lines are `malformed markers`; otherwise they are counted in the summary as `ignored (unquoted-style)` and never contribute to the exit code. |
+| R17 | Free-prose unquoted markers are NEVER used as quote text to cover deletions, in either tag or no-tag mode. |
+| R18 | Summary line (human and JSON) gains an `ignored` count for free-prose unquoted markers seen in the current run. The human summary ends with `, I ignored` where I is the ignored count. The JSON `summary` dict gains an `"ignored"` integer key. |