governance: enforce strict Questions→Proposal→Plan gates with explicit approval phrases; add branching proposal; mark plan pending; audit checks sequencing

collab/proposals/02-branching.md

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+# 02 — Branching/Release — Proposal
+
+Purpose: Keep `main` production-ready and clean; iterate on short-lived branches with CI protections.
+
+## Recommendation
+- Model: Trunk-based development
+  - `main` is always green and production-ready (zero technical debt).
+  - Use short-lived branches by type: `feat/*`, `fix/*`, `chore/*`, `docs/*`, `ci/*`, `refactor/*`.
+  - Optional `next` integration branch if batching risky work.
+- Repo content on `main`: full repo (code, prompts, templates, docs). Every merge passes audits and Docker-based CI.
+- Releases: tag `YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM` on `main` only.
+- Protections: required checks (audit + Docker tests), PRs required, Conventional Commits, linear/squash merges.
+
+## Migration (high level)
+- Tag current baseline on `main`.
+- Create `wip/phase1` from `main` and continue ongoing TDD work there.
+- Enable branch protections for `main` in Gitea (required checks + PRs).
+- Add `docs/branching.md` policy and link in README.
+
+## Decision
+Please reply “Approved for Plan” to proceed to the detailed branching plan.
+