Clarify import candidate identity, accounting, and inspection

docs/roadmap/imports.md

@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ interfaces, without adopting all their spellings, defaults, or matching modes.
 
 OD-1 (recursion default), OD-2 (matching and selector expressiveness), OD-3
 (directive validation), OD-4 (discovery boundaries and cycles), OD-5 (policy
-precedence), and OD-6 (absent-import evidence) are settled in the sections below.
+precedence), and OD-6 (no-selection evidence) are settled in the sections below.
 Supplying `depth` requires effective recursion to be enabled, including when
 enabled through an application default. This supersedes the earlier direction
 to accept but ignore depth when recursion is disabled.
@@ -263,6 +263,12 @@ preserve each resolver's domain-specific admissibility and combination rules.
 Recursion changes which directories are visited; it does not change what `*`
 means. A nonrecursive search considers only files directly inside `dir`.
 
+Filename filters use the candidate name supplied by the declaration or
+encountered during discovery, not the canonical symlink target's basename.
+For example, a symlink named `welcome.draft.yaml` matches
+`exclude: '*.draft.yaml'` even if its target is named `welcome.yaml`. This
+selection rule does not change canonical source identity or containment checks.
+
 **OD-2: settled.** Use the existing case-sensitive Go `path.Match` wildcard
 grammar for filename filters. When neither the declaration nor the application
 supplies `pattern`, select all filenames, with no implicit extension restriction.
@@ -305,6 +311,14 @@ existing repeated-source and alias checks still apply to distinct inclusion
 routes. In particular, it does not authorize silently merging separate alias
 paths to an imported source.
 
+For declaration-local deduplication, identify a candidate by its normalized path
+within its source namespace, before resolving symlinks. Compare paths relative
+to the same namespace rather than relative to each search root. Overlapping
+searches that encounter `prompts/welcome.yaml` therefore select it once, while
+distinct symlink paths remain distinct candidates subject to the existing
+canonical-source repeat checks. This candidate identity is separate from the
+canonical identity used when accepting sources.
+
 For `path`, `required: true` requires every listed file to be present. For `dir`,
 it requires at least one selected file across the complete union after
 exclusions; it does not require a match per directory, pattern, or pair. A
@@ -333,6 +347,29 @@ Excluding a candidate is not permission to suppress discovery, containment,
 or resource-limit errors. Exclusions are local to the declaration; they do not
 prohibit another declaration from explicitly selecting the same filename.
 
+### Resource Accounting
+
+Retain the existing resource limits, with an explicit adjustment to candidate
+accounting for the new selection operations:
+
+- Every examined directory entry consumes the discovery visit budget, including
+  nonmatches and excluded entries. A small selected set does not authorize an
+  unbounded scan.
+- Check distinct selected candidates against the remaining source allowance
+  after declaration-local deduplication and exclusions. Overlapping patterns
+  and search roots do not charge the same selected candidate more than once
+  within a declaration; excluded candidates do not consume source allowance.
+- Excluded files are not read for content and consume no content-reading
+  allowance. Existing byte limits continue to govern selected sources.
+
+The current glob implementation checks candidate counts against the remaining
+source allowance during expansion. Update that accounting to use the filtered,
+deduplicated selection; do not reject an otherwise valid search solely because
+its positive matches exceed that allowance before exclusions are applied.
+Discovery limits still apply throughout the search. This is not global source
+deduplication and does not suppress repeated-source errors across declarations
+or distinct aliases.
+
 ### Recursive Discovery And Depth Limits
 
 Enable recursion explicitly or through an application default for recursive
@@ -368,12 +405,10 @@ default enables recursion, but invalid with the library default. Explicit
 supplied depth invalid. Depth must also have the valid type and range defined
 under directive validation; enabling recursion does not excuse malformed depth.
 
-Recursive discovery must fit the existing filesystem containment,
+Recursive discovery must retain the existing filesystem containment and
-repeated-source, and load-budget
+repeated-source contracts and follow the resource accounting defined above.
-contracts rather than silently changing them. In particular, examined entries,
+The discovery visit budget remains separate from the caller-selected depth
-including nonmatches, still consume the visit budget; a small number of matches
+bound and still applies to unlimited-depth searches.
-does not authorize an unbounded filesystem scan. This is an existing ConfigKit
-constraint, not a new Ansible-derived decision.
 
 ### Symlinks And Hidden Entries
 
@@ -589,18 +624,29 @@ add options that override explicit declarations as part of this work without a
 separate concrete requirement and scope decision. The fields' applicability to
 each selector is defined under directive validation.
 
-## Evidence For Absent Optional Imports
+## Evidence For Optional Declarations With No Selection
 
 **OD-6: settled.** Record minimal structured inspection evidence when an
 optional declaration selects nothing: its declaring source/location, selector,
-and absent outcome. Emit no warning by default and do not fabricate a
+and no-selection outcome. Emit no warning by default and do not fabricate a
 loaded-source record. This keeps optional contributions quiet during ordinary
 use while allowing applications to explain omissions during troubleshooting.
 
+No selection does not necessarily mean a source was missing. It may result from
+missing sources or no positive matches, an explicit empty list, or exclusions
+removing every candidate. The inspection record must not describe deliberate
+exclusion or an empty list as missing files.
+
+This evidence is scoped to the whole declaration. An optional `path` list with
+one selected file and one missing file does not produce this no-selection
+record. Per-entry evidence for partial omissions is outside this feature's
+scope; no additional exclusion audit is required.
+
 Decide the exact inspection record shape during implementation planning,
 reusing existing structures where appropriate and retaining existing inspection
 contracts. Include ownership tests for the new evidence. This addition does
-not require applications to reconstruct absent-import provenance themselves.
+not require applications to reconstruct declaration-level no-selection evidence
+themselves.
 
 ## Release Boundary