# Recorded Vastkind allocation exercise

Executed on 6 September 2026 as a two-case AI-assisted task demonstration. This is not a model benchmark, repeated-trial evaluation or performance comparison. Parent verification is separate from these task outputs.

## Inputs and boundaries

Read `instructions.md`, `complete.json` and `insufficient.json` from the supplied exercise directory. Article data came only from those two JSON files. Each case was processed independently: no record from the complete case was used to fill the insufficient case. No network, Ghost access or repository mutation was used. All written files are in this `output` directory.

## Exact procedure executed

1. Parsed each input file with Python's standard-library `json` module.
2. Iterated through its `articles` array and indexed records by `key`. A repeated key was discarded only when its entire record was identical to the first record; a conflicting duplicate would have stopped execution with an error. No conflicts occurred.
3. Parsed `published_at` solely for comparison with `datetime.fromisoformat` and sorted the distinct records by that instant, newest first. The original timestamp strings and every source record field were retained unchanged in selected output records.
4. Took the first three records for which `home_pinned` was the boolean `true` as Essential Reads candidates.
5. Excluded those three keys from the distinct sorted records and counted the remaining Latest candidates.
6. If three Essential Reads and six distinct Latest records were available, emitted `status: ready`, with the selected source records in `essential_reads` and `latest`, each newest first.
7. If those requirements could not be met, emitted `status: blocked`, empty allocation arrays and a specific shortage reason. Empty arrays deliberately avoid presenting a partial homepage as a complete result. No missing article was supplied, inferred or invented.
8. Serialized the results with indentation to `result-complete.json` and `result-insufficient.json`. Reopened the output files for a final readback.

## Observed result

| Case | Input records | Distinct records | Identical duplicates removed | Pinned records | Eligible Latest records | Output status |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| complete | 10 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ready |
| insufficient | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | blocked |

The complete case's Essential order is `astra`, `semaglutide`, `lab-hardware`. Its Latest order is `compute`, `robotics`, `biotech`, `quantum`, `energy`, `grid`. The duplicate Astra input was removed by key after equality comparison.

The insufficient case has only five distinct Latest candidates after the three Essential records are reserved. It therefore cannot satisfy the six-item requirement. The result is blocked, with no allocation emitted.

## Interpretation limit

These outputs demonstrate completion and refusal under two supplied allocation cases using an AI-written deterministic transformation. They do not establish broad model reliability, identify comparative model performance or prove safety for autonomous production publishing. The exercise itself made no changes to the live website.