Prepare and execute the Cougr 1.0 stabilization gate

[salazarsebas]

Summary

Once the core phases are complete, Cougr needs a formal stabilization pass before moving beyond its current pre-1.0 state. This issue focuses on defining and executing the final release gate for a credible 1.0.0.

Problem

A 1.0 release should represent more than accumulated features. It should signal that the project has:

• a stable core contract
• explicit guarantees
• controlled public surface area
• mature enough subsystem boundaries
• professional release discipline

Without a formal gate, 1.0 risks becoming a marketing milestone rather than an engineering milestone.

Goals

• define what must be true before 1.0
• freeze the stable surface intentionally
• ensure stable guarantees are documented and test-backed
• make experimental exclusions explicit
• ship a version that materially exceeds 0.0.1 in clarity and trustworthiness

Proposed Scope

1. Stable surface freeze

Confirm which APIs and modules are included in the stable 1.0 promise and which remain outside it.

2. Release gate criteria

Establish and apply final checks around:

• auth correctness
• replay safety
• public API readiness
• privacy maturity boundaries
• standards-layer readiness
• compatibility expectations

3. Experimental exclusions

Ensure that unstable or exploratory surfaces are clearly excluded from the 1.0 compatibility promise.

4. Final quality review

Perform a final framework-level review of:

• guarantees
• docs
• tests
• release posture
• subsystem cohesion

5. Upgrade and migration readiness

Prepare the release to be consumed as a real versioned framework rather than an exploratory codebase.

Non-Goals

This issue does not include:

• major new feature development
• example-specific feature expansion
• broad exploratory redesign work
• adding experimental modules to reach release size

Acceptance Criteria

• the stable 1.0 surface is explicitly defined
• stable auth behavior is replay-safe and documented
• stable privacy claims are scoped appropriately
• reusable standards are present and validated where promised
• documentation and release posture support a credible 1.0.0

Validation

• full regression testing across stable surfaces
• review of guarantees against implementation reality
• final compatibility and maturity review
• release-readiness review from a framework consumer perspective

Notes

This issue should be treated as a release gate, not as a feature bucket. If a subsystem cannot yet meet the bar for stable inclusion, it should remain outside the 1.0 promise rather than weakening the release.