nx_catnlaw_gate.nx

nx_catnlaw_gate.nx -- HOW DOES EVERY NUMBER FORMATTER IN THE ESTATE RENDER A NEGATIVE? WHY. nx_tools_api.ta_catn had `while m > 0` with NO negative guard, so a negative value emitted ZERO CHARACTERS and produced malformed JSON -- literally `"exit_code":,"bytes":0`. A timed-out exec returns a negative rc, so the one value the formatter could not print was the one that appears only when something has gone wrong, and every caller had to GUESS whether its write had landed. Three behaviours exist in this estate and they are NOT equally bad: SIGNED `if m < 0 { d[o] = 45; m = 0 - m }` -- correct CLAMPED `if m < 0 { m = 0 }` -- prints 0 for -1. VALID output, WRONG number, and the direction is the dangerous one: a -1 meaning UNKNOWN/FAILED renders as 0, which reads as SUCCESS. SILENT no guard -- emits nothing; breaks the surrounding format. ★ A FORMATTER THAT CANNOT PRINT A SENTINEL TURNS AN ERROR PATH INTO EITHER A PROTOCOL VIOLATION OR A FALSE SUCCESS, AND BOTH ARE INVISIBLE UNTIL SOMETHING IS ALREADY WRONG. Census only -- names offenders, blocks nothing. Comments STRIPPED so it measures code, not prose. license_tier: ORIGINAL expect_exit: 0