v13.3.0 release notes, iteration 1: the staging note behind its banner

Context

#19712 is the epic for Engine 13.3.0's release notes. Its workflow (release-notes §1) merges iteration 1 early, behind a banner, and refines it in mining-driven leaves. Two days after the epic was filed, it has no leaf, and .github/RELEASE_NOTES/v13.3.0.md is missing on dev (checked at d2014f4433). So publish.mjs prepare for the cut record #19652 cannot start.

The stewards have deposited the mining on the epic:

• content-sized rows, cornerstone 1 (deposit);
• grid header menus, cornerstone 2 (deposit);
• a cut the maintainers can run, cornerstone 3 (deposit), whose proof is the 13.3.0 cut itself;
• the Brain-gated e2e tier on every Engine PR (deposit).

The Problem

The deposits give the stories, but no document carries them. Live GitHub at 2026-10-15T09:00Z counts 48 merged PRs and 50 closed issues in neomjs/neo since 13.2.0 was published (2026-10-11T22:37:33Z). The corpus run (analyzeClosedSinceRelease.mjs --corpus-root) counts 46 PRs and 24 issues: 25 issues are still OPEN in the corpus's 07:25Z publication, frozen before their close (defect-note sent). Until that is repaired, the note's numbers come from live GitHub, at a stated time.

The Architectural Reality

• publish.mjs requires .github/RELEASE_NOTES/v{version}.md (buildScripts/release/releaseState.mjs) and keeps the file as the archive (release-notes §6).
• test/playwright/unit/buildScripts/docs/seo/Generate.spec.mjs refuses blob/main and tag-ref Neo source links in every .github/RELEASE_NOTES/*.md. dev and commit refs pass.
• Precedent shape: .github/RELEASE_NOTES/v13.2.0.md and its iteration history: pending designation lines, the banner, TL;DR, in 2 Minutes, chapters, upgrade path, Full Changelog.
• Both cornerstones are opt-in on Neo.grid.Container: contentSizedRows_: false and columnMenu_: false (src/grid/Container.mjs), with a per-column columnMenu override (src/grid/column/Base.mjs).

The Fix

Author .github/RELEASE_NOTES/v13.3.0.md:

• the header block, with Release Type and Stability pending the operator (§4), and the iteration banner;
• TL;DR and 13.3 in 2 Minutes: the ROADMAP's theme ("The Grid Fits Its Content"), the scale, the short route through examples/grid/contentSizedRows and a columnMenu grid, and the limit;
• a chapter per cornerstone and one for the e2e tier, from the deposits, plus a War Story picked from their candidates;
• Also in 13.3: the window's other Engine changes, from the scope run;
• Upgrading from 13.2: what is opt-in and what changes behaviour, each verified against its PR;
• a Full Changelog tail from the live list, marked as regenerated at the cut.

Every number is checked against its primary when written (§4).

Acceptance Criteria

• AC-1: .github/RELEASE_NOTES/v13.3.0.md exists on dev with the iteration-1 banner, and Release Type / Stability read as pending the operator.
• AC-2: The TL;DR, 13.3 in 2 Minutes, the three cornerstone chapters and the e2e-tier chapter are drawn from #19712's deposits, and each number links its primary. The cut chapter does not claim the first PR-gated cut before #19652 has verified it.
• AC-3: The scale line names its source and time (live GitHub search), not the corpus count.
• AC-4: An honest-bounds passage separates e2e-proven behaviour from bounded witnesses: 10k rows rather than 100k, the 100k menu timings, the retry bridge until 2026-10-25.
• AC-5: Neo source links use dev or commit refs, and Generate.spec.mjs passes.
• AC-6: A GPT-family review approves before merge (release-notes §5).

Out of Scope

• Screenshots of the 10k grid and the header menu with counts. They come in the next iteration, with the images in neomjs/pages.
• The final iteration's work: the cut's own receipt from #19652, removing the banner, regenerating the numbers at the cut head, the §7 checklist.
• Repairing the corpus's stale issue states.

Avoided Traps

• Counting from the corpus. Today it undercounts closed issues by half.
• A changelog dump. The deposits carry the stories; the grouped list only closes the note.
• Downplaying a short window. 13.3's two cornerstones and the tier each went from a Discussion to merged work in one to two days. The note says that plainly.

Related

Parent: #19712 · cut record: #19652 · ROADMAP 13.3: #19642 · cornerstone epics: #19658, #19643, #19637 · e2e tier: #19655, #19657

Sweeps at 2026-10-15T09:00Z: the latest 20 open issues hold no iteration leaf; #19712 is the parent. My open assignments hold only #19712 on this surface. A2A since 08:00Z: Grace's cornerstone-3 deposit and no competing claim. Memory Core: no earlier decision on a 13.3 iteration 1.

Retrieval Hint: "v13.3.0 release notes iteration 1 staging note", "content-sized rows", "header menus", "Brain-gated e2e tier"