diff --git a/DECISIONS-LOG.md b/DECISIONS-LOG.md
index c70e513..4cb2ea9 100644
--- a/DECISIONS-LOG.md
+++ b/DECISIONS-LOG.md
@@ -1304,8 +1304,14 @@ starved etcd WAL fsync).
 2. **`clusters/prod` never sets `GATEWAY_VIP`** → it would inherit the base default `10.73.0.240`,
    an address on the **retired libvirt network**. `cluster-vars`' own comment flags this as owed
    "when hardware is built".
-3. **No NOPASSWD sudo for `k3s` on node 1** — `sudo -n` demands a password, so every Ansible
-   playbook fails at its first `become`. Dev nodes have it; prod must match. Operator action.
+3. **Sudo on node 1 requires a password** — every Ansible playbook fails at its first `become`.
+   **Operator ruling: prod does NOT get NOPASSWD sudo** (my initial recommendation to mirror dev was
+   rejected, correctly — dev's passwordless sudo is a convenience that should not propagate to
+   prod). Instead prod uses Ansible `become` with an **ansible-vault-encrypted**
+   `ansible_become_password` in `inventory/group_vars/k3s_prod/vault.yml`, mirroring the existing
+   `hypervisor` and `proxmox_hosts` groups; the decrypting passphrase stays outside the repo at
+   `~/.config/home-k3s/ansible-vault-pass`. Plays still run unattended, no plaintext secret in git,
+   and prod keeps a real sudo boundary.
 4. **`node_baseline` device defaults are virtio** (`/dev/vdb`, `/dev/vdc`) and do not exist on bare
    metal; the role makes a filesystem on a *block device*, so a single-disk node needs either a
    second drive, `/dev/sda5`, or a repartition. Prod `group_vars` must override.
@@ -1313,30 +1319,27 @@ starved etcd WAL fsync).
    containerd pulls and CoreDNS forwarding on dev. The fix is **stranded unmerged** on
    `fix/node-dns-resilient-upstream`.
 
-### ESCALATION — the task board is structurally unmaintainable
+### RESOLVED BY OPERATOR — status comes from the repository, not the task board
 
-`AGENTS.md` §11 and `coordination-protocol.md` §1 designate `agents/task-board.md` as *the one
-surface agents may edit* — claim items, update status, raise `OQ-*`. But `ci/spec-immutability.sh`
-fails the merge gate on **any** dirt in the spec repo, with **no path exception** for the board, and
-committing the board there moves spec `HEAD` off `ci/SPEC_PIN` — which also fails. So editing the
-board as instructed **blocks every merge**.
+I raised an escalation here: `AGENTS.md` §11 designates `agents/task-board.md` as the one surface
+agents may edit, yet `ci/spec-immutability.sh` fails the merge gate on **any** spec-repo dirt with no
+path exception, and committing the board there moves spec `HEAD` off `ci/SPEC_PIN` — which also
+fails. Editing the board as instructed blocks every merge. That is why the board still reads
+all-`todo` after six delivered phases.
 
-This fully explains why the board still reads all-`todo` after six delivered phases, and why
-`OQ-BKP` is still marked open although Velero + CNPG Barman → S3 landed on `main`. It is not
-neglect — the gate made the board unusable, and coordination state migrated here instead.
+**Operator ruling (2026-08-31): the task board is not the status surface. The repository is.**
+Status of each requirement/spec is to be *derived from the state of the repo* — what is authored,
+what is reconciled, what has a green requirement-tagged test — not from a hand-maintained board.
 
-I did **not** work around it: adding a path exception would weaken an R-TEST-06 gate, which the
-protocol forbids ("never weaken a test to get green"). Options for the operator/architect:
-
-- **(a) Preferred** — the human commits board updates in the spec repo, and the impl repo adopts each
-  via a reviewed `ci/SPEC_PIN` bump. That is exactly the flow `SPEC_PIN`'s own comment describes, and
-  it keeps both the board truthful and the gate honest. Cost: a pin bump per board update.
-- **(b)** Amend `spec-immutability.sh` to exempt `agents/task-board.md` only. Lower friction,
-  but it narrows an immutability gate — a **human** decision, not an agent's.
-- **(c)** Formally declare `DECISIONS-LOG.md` the board of record and retire the spec board. Matches
-  practice, but contradicts the spec as written, so it needs a spec amendment.
-
-Until this is resolved, Phase-7 coordination state lives in this log.
+Consequences, adopted:
+- The spec board is left alone. It is a historical seed, not a live surface. No agent edits it, and
+  no `SPEC_PIN` churn is spent keeping it current.
+- `ci/spec-immutability.sh` keeps its full strictness — **no path exception was added**. Weakening
+  an R-TEST-06 gate to make a bookkeeping file writable would have been a defect, not a fix.
+- The **repo-derived spec status report** becomes the artifact of record, alongside the existing
+  requirement-coverage report and this log. Coverage already answers "does a tagged test exist";
+  the status view must also answer "is this requirement actually *implemented and reconciled* in
+  the repo as it stands".
 
 ### Next steps
 
diff --git a/infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md b/infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md
index 342cb9a..bca74c7 100644
--- a/infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md
+++ b/infra/PROD-PROVISIONING.md
@@ -111,14 +111,24 @@ Consequences to settle before imaging nodes 2 and 3:
 ## 5. Access (per node) — **blocks all Ansible**
 
 - [ ] **`k3s` user with the `home_network` SSH key.** Working on node 1.
-- [ ] **NOPASSWD sudo.** *Not configured on node 1* — `sudo -n` demands a password, so every
-      playbook fails at its first `become` task. Dev nodes have this; prod must match:
-      ```bash
-      # on the node, as a user who can already sudo:
-      echo 'k3s ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL' | sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/90-k3s
-      sudo chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/90-k3s
-      sudo visudo -c
+- [ ] **Password-protected sudo, driven by Ansible `become` + a vaulted password.**
+      **Prod does NOT use NOPASSWD sudo** (operator decision, 2026-08-31). Dev nodes do; prod
+      deliberately keeps the sudo password in place and supplies it to Ansible as an
+      **ansible-vault-encrypted** var, exactly like the existing `hypervisor` and `proxmox_hosts`
+      groups:
       ```
+      inventory/group_vars/k3s_prod/
+        README.md     how to (re)create the vault — committed
+        vault.yml     ansible_become_password: "..."  — committed, ENCRYPTED
+      ```
+      The passphrase that decrypts it lives **outside the repo** at
+      `~/.config/home-k3s/ansible-vault-pass` (`ansible.cfg :: vault_password_file`), so plays still
+      run unattended without a plaintext secret ever touching git.
+      ```bash
+      ansible-vault create inventory/group_vars/k3s_prod/vault.yml   # ansible_become_password: ...
+      ```
+      Prod nodes must therefore set `ansible_become: true` in their group_vars and must **not**
+      inherit any passwordless-sudo assumption from `group_vars/all.yml`.
 - [ ] **Drive health baseline** (§2), needs root:
       ```bash
       sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y smartmontools