v0.17.0 release readiness

[raiseCatError]

Release gates for v0.17.0: PR #313 merged with green CI, version 0.17.0, exact-commit verify:release and CI, annotated tag, GitHub release. Physical host and Linux/WSL validation is tracked separately in #310 and #311 and does not block.

[raiseCatError]

Closing as not planned. The v0.17 implementation landed on dev through #313 with green CI, but the formal 0.17.0 version bump/tag/GitHub release was intentionally skipped so development can continue from dev. Physical host and Linux/WSL validation remains tracked separately in #310 and #311.