docs: preserve Confidence Engine methodology continuity

docs/current-handoff.md

@@ -139,6 +139,36 @@ Recent work is preserved as valuable experimental learning. The graph/reconstruc
 
 The next phase starts from the workspace/methodology question, not from a preselected technical solution.
 
-See:
+### Required methodology-continuity context (read first)
+
+> **Before continuing any Confidence Engine reasoning development, load this document:**
+>
+> `docs/Confidence_Engine_Return_to_Origin_Methodology_Context_2026-08-18.md`
+
+This is the durable methodology anchor. It covers:
+- What Confidence Engine is (reasoning method, not software or LLM)
+- What it is not
+- The granular answer-fragment hypothesis (working — not architecture)
+- RTO.14–17 learning and why they did not define the next architecture
+- The memory/graph separation principle
+- Optional capability: "Help me answer" / "Answer for me"
+- Methodology test for future development
+
+**Do not begin reasoning development from the latest experiment apparatus.** Always load this methodology continuity context first. Without it, a new session will reconstruct the project from recent technical experiments and lose sight of the method the application is meant to embody.
+
+### Current Git checkpoint
+
+- **Branch:** `feature/decision-closure-ownership-v0.47`
+- **HEAD:** `e1b54e407389c7f1c25ba20645540d404b9e9df9`
+- **Latest commit:** `e1b54e4 test(experiment): checkpoint granular answer fragment apparatus`
+
+### Status of RTO.14–17
+
+RTO.14–17 experiments proved that an LLM can retain focused knowledge and carry coherent reasoning across turns inside a single investigation. This was valuable evidence.
+
+**However, they also revealed that the cumulative reconstruction pattern was reproduced at a lower scope.** Do not treat RTO.14–17 as the automatic architecture direction to continue. The next reasoning direction is the granular answer-fragment hypothesis: independent user-chosen question/answer deconstruction without accumulated focused state being passed between LLM calls.
+
+**Prohibition:** Do not automatically continue into cumulative-state compression or fourth-turn experiments without first revisiting the methodology continuity document above.
+
+See also:
 - `docs/methodology-checkpoint-return-to-origin.md` — repository-facing checkpoint summary
-- `docs/Confidence_Engine_Return_to_Origin_Methodology_Context_2026-08-18.md` — full methodology context (source)