Build the gate, run it, and find we were proving things on the wrong stat

PREMISE CORRECTION FIRST. statModel.js and correlateValidator.js do not exist
in this repository. The validation spec's only prior form is
src/services/python/blueprints/unconventional.py -- a Flask blueprint in the
Python service that is offline in production, scoring NBA factors against a
warehouse that was never populated -- and tests/unit/supplementSystems.test.js
requires only fs and path while defining its own validateFactor inline at line
368. Those tests assert a re-implementation of the thresholds, not an
implementation, which is exactly why they passed for months while nothing was
connected. The diagnosis behind the order is right -- every challenger was
measured without a gate -- but the cause is that there was no gate on the Node
side to import. So it is built, to the exact spec.

correlateValidator: n>=500, |r|>=0.15, p<0.05, Bonferroni across the sweep.
The p-value is exact rather than approximated (t-transform through a
regularized incomplete beta) and is verified in the suite against known
values, because scipy is not available here. Pairs with an unknown side are
dropped, never zero-filled -- a zero-fill inside a correlation does not add
noise, it invents a point at the origin.

THE RUN, hits, n=570, Bonferroni-8: every skill feature fails, and not
narrowly. The strongest marginal correlation against the counter's residual is
0.062 against a 0.15 bar. That is an effect-size failure at a sample that
would have found a real effect comfortably -- a clean, well-powered negative.
The head-to-head agrees: value engine 0.0499 against the counter's 0.166,
delta -0.116 with CI [-0.189, -0.043]. Not promoted.

THE RUN, total bases, n=295: cannot be tested, and that is the finding.
hard_hit_pct shows a marginal r of 0.153 -- above the threshold -- and exit
velo 0.124, refused solely because n is 205 short of 500. It is the most
encouraging number this work has produced, and it is what the physics
predicts: contact quality governs extra bases, not whether a grounder finds a
hole. We have been testing skill inputs on the one stat where they should not
matter much.

Two things the run forced. Feature verdicts are now PER STAT, because marking
these DEAD sport-wide on hits evidence would have killed, for total bases, the
features that look most alive there -- per-sport doctrine one level deeper.
And the gate now reports r and p even when underpowered, because "not enough
data yet" and "nothing here" demand opposite decisions and a bare refusal was
hiding the best signal on the board.

Next: build the compound TB projection (skillProjection still refuses total
bases by design, since a deterministic bases-per-hit made P(TB>=2) identical
to P(hits>=1)), accrue to n>=500, re-run this gate. Leave hits alone.

4,200 tests green (334 suites); web build exit 0; counter byte-identical.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01W1sivYNqY2TS5ftykmHBU9

tests/unit/skillModel.test.js

@@ -78,6 +78,31 @@ describe('D3 — earn its place or it is out', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('D3 — verdicts are PER STAT, because the physics differ', () => {
+  it('a feature can be DEAD for one stat and still CANDIDATE for another', () => {
+    // The first real gate run: every skill feature failed for `hits` (n=570,
+    // max |r| 0.062) while hard-hit rate showed the strongest marginal
+    // correlation yet seen for `total_bases` (r=0.153). A sport-wide DEAD mark
+    // would have killed, on hits evidence, the features most alive on TB.
+    reg.recordStatVerdict('mlb', 'hits', 'batter_barrel_pct', reg.STATUS.DEAD,
+      { n: 570, r: -0.037, note: 'failed the gate for hits' });
+    expect(reg.statusForStat('mlb', 'hits', 'batter_barrel_pct')).toBe(reg.STATUS.DEAD);
+    expect(reg.statusForStat('mlb', 'total_bases', 'batter_barrel_pct')).toBe(reg.STATUS.CANDIDATE);
+    expect(reg.candidateFeaturesForStat('mlb', 'hits').has('batter_barrel_pct')).toBe(false);
+    expect(reg.candidateFeaturesForStat('mlb', 'total_bases').has('batter_barrel_pct')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('a stat with no verdict inherits the sport-level status', () => {
+    expect(reg.statusForStat('mlb', 'runs', 'batter_exit_velo')).toBe(reg.STATUS.CANDIDATE);
+    expect(reg.statusForStat('mlb', 'runs', 'champion_home_away_adj')).toBe(reg.STATUS.DEAD);
+  });
+
+  it('the live gate is per stat too, and still PROVEN-only', () => {
+    expect(reg.liveFeaturesForStat('mlb', 'hits').has('batter_barrel_pct')).toBe(false);
+    expect([...reg.liveFeaturesForStat('mlb', 'hits')]).toEqual(['recent_frequency_prior']);
+  });
+});
+
 // ── DISCIPLINE 1 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 describe('D1 — skill, not results: the pitcher actually moves the read', () => {
   const run = (pitcher) => sk.projectSkill({