diff --git a/Sources/SpecGraph/Documentation.docc/TraceabilityEvidenceProviders.md b/Sources/SpecGraph/Documentation.docc/TraceabilityEvidenceProviders.md
index 2f385f9e..5ab8d89d 100644
--- a/Sources/SpecGraph/Documentation.docc/TraceabilityEvidenceProviders.md
+++ b/Sources/SpecGraph/Documentation.docc/TraceabilityEvidenceProviders.md
@@ -81,3 +81,27 @@ JSON fixtures plus isolated-import, immutable-input, trace and composition tests
 characterize compatibility. TP-08 now has executable characterization.
 Retained execution-provider cases are implemented in C2a; atom-level SVC remains planned. C1 characterizes
 declaration-provider scope, completeness, ordering and conflict preservation.
+
+## Recovered semantic candidate
+
+The 27 October review of SG-SPEC-0021 is `review_only`, with
+`canonical_mutations_allowed: false`. The original candidate and archived raw
+salvage remain historical sources; the v2 patch contains only proposed semantic
+edits. Its preparation neither resolves an active gate nor adopts the proposal.
+
+Specification Verifiability currently permits canonical evidence records and
+trace links. Such records may cite derived observations without making those
+observations canonical or admitting a new metric input class. Direct derived
+execution inputs still require a reviewed input-boundary decision.
+
+The revised notes distinguish unknown required inputs from conclusive negative
+findings, preserve optional execution absence, and allow known zero results only
+where the selected metric profile defines them. C1/C2a already separate
+resolution, execution results and completeness. Their execution provenance is
+`provider_reported_not_attested`; revision/run binding alone does not prove
+wall-clock freshness, authenticity or semantic acceptance.
+
+See `docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_recovery_review.md` and
+`docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch`. The next step is a
+semantic adoption decision for SG-SPEC-0021. RFC 0226 C2b qualification and any
+derived-input admission remain separate from this review.
diff --git a/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch b/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..14ae65f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+--- a/specs/nodes/SG-SPEC-0021.yaml
++++ b/specs/nodes/SG-SPEC-0021.yaml
+@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@
+     and allowed family use, and specification.relationship_policy requires each family to declare explicit
+     subject binding and one semantic family_role before derived computation. Those rules separate canonical
+     graph state, SG-SPEC-0017 runtime observability entities, and SG-SPEC-0003 graph-health diagnostics
+-    as admissible inputs without collapsing them into one layer.
++    as admissible inputs without collapsing them into one layer. Specification Verifiability boundary_notes
++    distinguish authored links and cited resolution, execution, and result facts without admitting
++    additional input classes. They preserve explicit subject, revision, provenance, and completeness
++    limits, optional execution absence, conclusive negative findings, and historical review scope.
+
+     '
+ - criterion: Defines the canonical versus derived boundary for metric family definitions, computed values,
+@@ -278,6 +281,24 @@
+       acceptance judgment.
+     - Missing evidence may influence a derived score, but that derived result does not itself reject a
+       node without existing governance policy.
++    - Within acceptance_criteria_and_evidence and trace_dependency_links, declared verification links
++      and cited resolution, execution observation, and result facts have distinct meanings. Canonical
++      evidence records may cite derived observations without making those observations canonical or
++      admitting an additional metric_input_class.
++    - Interpret cited facts within their explicit subject, source revision, provenance, and completeness
++      scope under the selected evidence profile. Absent or unknown bindings remain limitations; resolving
++      a source link alone does not establish execution, authenticity, semantic sufficiency, or acceptance.
++    - A claim that execution occurred requires an attributable run and recorded result under the selected
++      profile. Passed, failed, skipped, and unavailable outcomes remain distinct. A bound completed failure
++      may contribute evidence of verifiability within its recorded scope without establishing successful
++      fulfillment; optional execution absence does not invalidate conclusive declaration resolution.
++    - Missing, stale, unknown, or incomplete required inputs remain explicit limitations; they must not
++      become observed failures or a complete zero. Conclusive negative findings from complete required
++      inputs remain valid, including zero where the selected metric profile defines it.
++    - Historical review and acceptance records establish only their recorded subject revision and scope.
++      Reusing their links for another revision requires resolution at that revision under the selected
++      profile; link reuse alone establishes neither fresh execution nor acceptance. Revision/run binding
++      does not by itself establish wall-clock freshness or independent source authenticity.
+   - family: Process Observability
+     family_role: process_visibility
+     role: Family for assessing how visible and attributable the refinement, execution, or proposal process
diff --git a/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_recovery_review.md b/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_recovery_review.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb5bda1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_recovery_review.md
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# RFC 0226: recovered SG-SPEC-0021 candidate review
+
+Prepared on 27 October 2026 against SpecGraph
+`8e1a261b021ecc6c50b9d352f11a1543340f8988`. This review closes the analysis
+return point WTR-0021 from the worktree recovery. It recommends a revised
+semantic candidate; it does not adopt that candidate or activate atom SVC.
+
+```yaml
+status: review_only
+canonical_mutations_allowed: false
+runtime_profile_activation_allowed: false
+evidence_admission_allowed: false
+```
+
+## Source and disposition
+
+The original [proposal 0226 source](../archive/proposal_sources/0226_traceability_evidence_providers_and_svc.md)
+records the operator's request for replaceable evidence sources and a bounded
+self-improvement cycle. Its completed Supervisor run was
+`20261021T193422Z-SG-SPEC-0021-6ca26a10`; the separate earlier protocol failures
+are retained in [the cycle record](0226_supervisor_cycle.json).
+
+The [original curated candidate](0226_metric_verifiability_candidate.patch)
+remains unchanged, with SHA-256
+`f99cb0d9fdac91b17d4d73af3444f0d9338ab5216cc7e8aab89eb90313aa80db`.
+Recovery additionally retained the raw local salvage patch under run ID
+`worktree-recovery-20261026t2150z-sg-spec-0021`, SHA-256
+`5402411db9e681bae025a5e85f50a6ebbabbd381e772d8457db4eab6b035e599`.
+The latter contains historical escalation/protocol metadata as well as the
+semantic edits. Its archived worktree path is no longer a live execution target.
+
+Do not replay that raw file or clear a historical gate. At the inspected
+revision, [canonical SG-SPEC-0021](../../specs/nodes/SG-SPEC-0021.yaml) has
+`gate_state: none`. The [revised review-only patch](0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch)
+is an author-curated successor, not a new Supervisor verdict or human approval.
+
+## What to retain and tighten
+
+| Original clarification | Source-grounded disposition |
+| --- | --- |
+| Declared link, resolved declaration, execution observation and result are distinct facts within existing input classes | Retain the distinctions; restrict the wording to authored evidence records and the derived facts they cite. Both permitted classes for Specification Verifiability are canonical. Merely naming a runtime observation cannot admit a new derived input class. |
+| A claim of execution needs a run and a result; failure differs from absence | Retain, with the selected profile and recorded scope explicit. Optional missing execution does not invalidate a declaration-only assessment. A completed failure may support inspectability while still reporting failed fulfillment. |
+| Missing, stale, unknown or incomplete inputs must not yield a complete zero | Retain the unknown/negative distinction, but preserve legitimate negative results from complete required inputs. A future profile may define a known zero; this family boundary does not define its formula. |
+| Historical reviews do not establish current execution or later acceptance | Retain. Reusing a link requires resolution at the selected revision. Revision/run binding alone proves neither wall-clock freshness nor independent authenticity. |
+
+SG-SPEC-0021's `metric_input_class_ontology` permits
+`acceptance_criteria_and_evidence` and `trace_dependency_links` for this family.
+It reserves `runtime_observability_entities` and `run_artifacts` for Process
+Observability. Its `relationship_policy` requires explicitly declared input
+classes. The revised wording therefore distinguishes a canonical record citing
+an observation from admitting that observation as a new computational input.
+Direct use of derived execution reports in a future Specification Verifiability
+profile still needs an explicit reviewed input-boundary decision.
+
+## What the implementation already covers
+
+The [EvidenceProvider contract](../evidence_provider.md) describes implemented
+C1 and C2a boundaries; [proposal 0226](../proposals/0226_traceability_evidence_providers_and_svc.md)
+separately retains the future SVC qualification proposal.
+
+| Boundary | Existing implementation and regression evidence |
+| --- | --- |
+| Resolution is not execution | C1 returns `execution: not_collected`. `test_single_collection_serves_legacy_facade_and_provider` and `test_independent_snapshot_cli` in `tests/test_evidence_provider.py` characterize the declaration snapshot. |
+| Completeness is not success | `RESOLUTION_COMPLETENESS_SPEC` accepts conclusive negative resolution. `test_resolution_completeness_is_not_resolution_success`, `test_required_source_failure_remains_incomplete` and `test_missing_target_keeps_complete_atom_inventory` keep absence and independent completeness visible. |
+| Retained outcomes require matching bindings | C2a keeps `producer_result` separate from `evaluated_result`. `test_wrong_source_is_retained_but_not_bound`, `test_wrong_report_run_is_not_bound` and `test_existing_suite_policy_preserves_failures_and_missing` in `tests/test_publication_execution_provider.py` cover the distinction. |
+| Execution must not inflate inventory | `test_composition_preserves_declarations_and_uses_separate_profile` preserves C1 inventory while adding C2a reports; execution-only providers contribute no atom inventory. |
+| Provenance binding is narrower than trust | Execution reports explicitly retain `provider_reported_not_attested` and `selected_revision_and_run_only`. C2a does not authenticate the producer, prove recency or reread original JUnit/HTTP bytes. |
+| Historical review reuse | The proposal preserves base/head scope and requires resolution for another snapshot. C1/C2a do not implement a historical PR-review provider; that remains a future integration concern. |
+
+These implementations provide relevant evidence for the proposed distinctions.
+They do not make the proposed family semantics canonical, implement atom-level
+SVC, or demonstrate that a resolved test sufficiently verifies an obligation.
+The separate [claim-admission contract](../evidence_claim_admission.md) still
+leaves `tests_verified` as `unknown / evidence_evaluator_unavailable`.
+
+## Revised candidate and bounded next step
+
+The v2 patch changes only Specification Verifiability boundary notes and the
+existing acceptance-evidence explanation of that boundary. It preserves all
+acceptance criteria, family names/roles, subjects, admissible input lists,
+ontology entries, invariant IDs, lifecycle fields and runtime behavior.
+It grants no canonical publication authority and selects no SVC formula.
+
+The next semantic decision is whether to adopt those clarified meanings in
+SG-SPEC-0021. If approved, apply only the v2 semantic delta in a focused
+canonical-spec PR against its then-current base; perform the existing spec,
+intent-decision and documentation checks. Do not invoke gate resolution for
+the archived run. If the base changes, regenerate and review the delta rather
+than treating a formerly applicable patch as current authority.
+
+## Verification of this review slice
+
+The v2 patch SHA-256 is
+`df8f1bc4037a698ddf4fb57630b5b2ee6bbf4409a768577ba1797fde34c37728`.
+It passed `git apply --check --whitespace=error`, application to a temporary
+copy of the pinned canonical file, YAML parsing and a parsed-field comparison.
+The only changed paths were `acceptance_evidence[2].evidence` and
+`specification.metric_family_catalog[2].boundary_notes`. The actual canonical
+file and original curated patch retained their hashes.
+
+The existing `tests/test_evidence_provider.py` and
+`tests/test_publication_execution_provider.py` suites passed all 82 cases.
+`make docc-sync proposal-tracking-gate` also passed. These checks characterize
+the existing provider boundaries and the candidate's shape; they do not enact
+the proposed semantics or test an atom-SVC implementation.
+
+## Following realization
+
+After that decision, RFC 0226 C2b can separately propose the atom-to-check
+qualification profile and any required derived-input admission. Existing
+providers can be reused; another provider framework is not needed for this
+candidate. SVC activation, `tests_verified` evaluation and signed admission
+remain separate work with separate evidence requirements.
diff --git a/tools/docc_sync_contract.json b/tools/docc_sync_contract.json
index 2d537305..7b53633d 100644
--- a/tools/docc_sync_contract.json
+++ b/tools/docc_sync_contract.json
@@ -1060,6 +1060,23 @@
         "evidence_admission_allowed: false"
       ]
     },
+    {
+      "id": "recovered-metric-verifiability-candidate",
+      "description": "The recovered semantic candidate remains review-only with explicit input and trust boundaries.",
+      "docs": [
+        "docs/reviews/0226_metric_verifiability_recovery_review.md"
+      ],
+      "docc": [
+        "Sources/SpecGraph/Documentation.docc/TraceabilityEvidenceProviders.md"
+      ],
+      "required_terms": [
+        "SG-SPEC-0021",
+        "review_only",
+        "canonical_mutations_allowed: false",
+        "provider_reported_not_attested",
+        "0226_metric_verifiability_candidate_v2.patch"
+      ]
+    },
     {
       "id": "supervisor-sol61-execution-profile",
       "description": "The requested shared child model and reasoning stay aligned in operator documentation and DocC.",