Fix derived publish destinations with explicit requiredness

docs/roadmap/fix-publish-output-destination-resolution.md

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+# Bugfix Request: Preserve Publish Destination Derivation with Explicit Rules
+
+Status: Implemented; release target v2.1.1
+
+## Summary
+
+Narratio should successfully derive a publish destination when a valid
+`publish.outputs` rule omits `dest`, regardless of whether that rule explicitly
+sets `required`. Narratio v2.1.0 currently rejects this valid configuration in
+some cases with a ConfigKit `resolve.unrecorded_change` diagnostic.
+
+This is a configuration-resolution bookkeeping defect, not a YAML formatting
+restriction. The fix should preserve the existing public configuration
+contract: operators may omit a derivable destination and may independently set
+`required` to either `true` or `false`.
+
+## Observed Behavior
+
+A pipeline containing a rule equivalent to the following fails during native
+configuration loading:
+
+```yaml
+publish:
+  outputs: [{"source": "narratio.transcript.final", "required": true}]
+```
+
+Narratio reports:
+
+```text
+error [resolve.unrecorded_change] /publish/outputs: application resolution changed a value without a covering record
+```
+
+The same failure is possible with ordinary block-style YAML when `required` is
+explicit and `dest` is omitted. Flow-style YAML is valid input and is not the
+cause of the defect.
+
+The existing destination-derivation tests do not expose this case because
+their rules also omit `required`. Narratio then supplies the default value for
+`required` and records a change covering the complete `publish.outputs`
+sequence. That broader record happens to cover the destination mutation as
+well, masking the missing resolution record that occurs when `required` is
+already explicit.
+
+## Expected Contract
+
+The current configuration contract remains unchanged:
+
+- `publish.outputs[].source` is required;
+- `publish.outputs[].dest` may be omitted when Narratio can derive it from the
+  selected built-in or configured artifact source;
+- `publish.outputs[].required` defaults to `true`, but an operator may set it
+  explicitly to either `true` or `false`; and
+- equivalent valid YAML representations have equivalent configuration
+  semantics.
+
+For example, both rules below should load and validate, retain their explicit
+requiredness, and receive the canonical derived destination:
+
+```yaml
+publish:
+  outputs:
+    - source: narratio.transcript.final
+      required: true
+    - source: narratio.transcript.final_markdown
+      required: false
+```
+
+## Root Cause
+
+ConfigKit intentionally treats sequences as atomic when comparing values
+before and after application resolution. Changing a field within one
+`publish.outputs` entry is therefore observed as a change to the
+`/publish/outputs` sequence.
+
+Narratio currently derives each missing destination by recording a
+normalization at the individual `publish.outputs[index].dest` path. That child
+record does not cover the atomic parent-sequence change. A separate
+container-level record is currently created only when Narratio also defaults
+an omitted `required` value, so configurations with explicit `required` values
+lose that incidental coverage.
+
+## Recommended Fix
+
+Make Narratio's publish-output resolution bookkeeping conform to ConfigKit's
+atomic-sequence contract. Whenever resolution derives one or more destinations
+inside `publish.outputs`, the recorded resolution changes must cover the
+`/publish/outputs` container. Destination derivation must not depend on an
+unrelated `required` default being applied in the same list.
+
+The implementation may retain more specific provenance where useful, but it
+must provide valid container-level coverage for the sequence mutation. Do not
+change ConfigKit's sequence comparison semantics merely to accommodate this
+call site.
+
+## Scope
+
+- Correct destination derivation for publish rules that explicitly set
+  `required` and omit a derivable `dest`.
+- Preserve explicit `required: true` and `required: false` values.
+- Preserve canonical destination derivation for built-in transcript sources
+  and configured artifact sources.
+- Add focused regression coverage through Narratio's real configuration load
+  and validation boundary.
+- Prepare a backward-compatible patch release after the fix passes the normal
+  repository validation.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- Changing the `publish.outputs` schema, defaults, source vocabulary, or
+  destination derivation rules.
+- Requiring operators or configuration generators to supply `dest` when it is
+  derivable.
+- Requiring operators to omit explicit `required: true` values.
+- Treating flow-style YAML or JSON-compatible YAML values as unsupported.
+- Changing ConfigKit's documented atomic treatment of sequences.
+- Adding storage, publication, or network integration behavior.
+
+## Regression Coverage
+
+Add one focused package-level behavioral test that loads and validates a
+pipeline with omitted destinations and explicit requiredness. A representative
+list should include both `required: true` and `required: false`, then assert
+that:
+
+- loading and validation succeed;
+- each destination is derived from its source; and
+- each explicit `required` value is preserved.
+
+Using the compact flow-style representation that exposed the integration
+failure is reasonable, while the existing block-style cases continue to cover
+omitted `required`. The test should exercise the public configuration behavior,
+not ConfigKit call choreography or Narratio's private recording mechanism.
+
+No network service, object store, credential, or test double is required.
+
+## Target End State
+
+All valid publish rules with derivable sources behave consistently across
+these cases:
+
+| `dest` | `required` | Result |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| omitted | omitted | destination derived; required defaults to `true` |
+| omitted | `true` | destination derived; explicit `true` retained |
+| omitted | `false` | destination derived; explicit `false` retained |
+| explicit | either value | explicit destination and requiredness retained |
+
+`narratio config validate`, `narratio config show`, and ordinary pipeline
+loading accept the corrected cases without an unrecorded-change diagnostic.
+No operator configuration migration or workaround is required.
+
+## Release
+
+This is a backward-compatible correction to documented configuration behavior
+and should be released as Narratio `v2.1.1`. The release note should identify
+the corrected explicit-required/derived-destination interaction and state that
+no special upgrade action is required.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+- The focused regression test fails against v2.1.0 behavior and passes after
+  the fix.
+- Publish rules with explicit `required: true` or `required: false` and omitted
+  derivable destinations load and validate successfully.
+- Derived destinations and explicit requiredness appear correctly in the safe
+  effective configuration.
+- Existing destination derivation, publish validation, imports, profiles, and
+  configuration inspection tests remain green.
+- The complete repository validation and release-candidate checks pass.
+- The correction is published as the immutable `v2.1.1` tag with the required
+  release note.