> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.opengsd.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Shipping and integration

> Review final evidence and complete shipment through direct integration or a user-merged pull request.

Shipping proves that the milestone meets its approved criteria, preserves its
evidence, and integrates the result with `main`. A passing build alone is not
a completed shipment.

## Before shipping

Every task and wave review must pass. Ship runs the project Verify through its
owned runtime and checks the final gap verdicts. Any `not-met`, `unverifiable`,
or blocked result prevents shipment.

If final review finds a contract gap, it returns the finding through patch
planning and build. Reviewers report findings; they do not edit product code.

## Choose an integration mode

The project has an integration default, and a milestone can override it before
build. Use the pipeline to make this choice; do not hand-edit state.

| Mode         | Integration behavior                                                   | Your action                                   |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Direct       | Path creates and pushes the canonical non-fast-forward merge to `main` | Approve shipment after reviewing the evidence |
| Pull request | Path creates or reuses its GitHub PR                                   | Merge the approved PR with a merge commit     |

<Warning>
  Pull-request mode requires a merge commit. Squash and rebase merges do not
  satisfy Path's two-parent integration proof. Path does not auto-merge the PR.
</Warning>

## Archive and prove integration

Ship creates one `.project/`-only commit on the bound milestone branch. It
moves milestone artifacts to `.project/archive/` with a manifest. The
integration validator checks the merge, the milestone tag, and ancestry on
`origin/main` before the router reports the milestone as shipped.

If a PR is still awaiting merge, the router returns to ship. It does not start
the next milestone. Archives become read-only when committed, including while
PR integration is pending. See the
[archive contract](https://github.com/open-gsd/gsd-path/blob/main/WORKFLOW.md)
for transaction and retry rules.

## Let the pipeline own publication

All milestone work uses the branch recorded in state, such as `gsd-path/M001`.
The ship transaction owns publication from that branch. Do not use a separate
push, PR, or general-purpose release workflow to bypass it.

If shipment stops during an archive or integration transaction, preserve the
files and follow [the recovery flow](/path/recovery).