Greenhorn / behavior contrast
The smart path hides the missing instruction.
The same seeded README asks a newcomer to “install the dependencies” without naming a command. An unconstrained workflow fills that gap; Greenhorn makes it visible.
Deterministic seeded demonstration — this is a mechanism explanation, not a real-repository evaluation, prevalence claim, or isolation benchmark. The baseline deliberately uses convenient host developer tools; Greenhorn executes accepted commands in Docker. Open the captured unconstrained Codex command trace.
UNCONSTRAINED WORKFLOWFamiliar knowledge fills the gap
- Generic instruction“Install the dependencies and start the server.”
- Observed baseline
npm ci was executed by a separate unconstrained Codex session using ordinary Node conventions and the lockfile, even though the README never licenses a package-manager command. - ResultThe setup continues; the documentation gap disappears from the record.
SHELL RECEIVED: YES — see the linked Codex trace.
GREENHORN CONTRACTThe missing instruction becomes evidence
- Same instruction
No licensing sentence found in the README or its explicitly linked docs.
- RulingINFERENCE No licensed action remains. A newcomer cannot choose a package-manager command.
- ResultThe newcomer halts and anchors the fix to this exact transcript event.
SHELL RECEIVED: NO — blocked before execution.