diff --git a/.changeset/curious-eagles-purr.md b/.changeset/curious-eagles-purr.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d0bb8852c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/curious-eagles-purr.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: Fixed
+pr: 1500
+---
+**`workflow.mvp_mode` now accepted by `config-set`; three undocumented workflow keys added to references** — `workflow.mvp_mode`, `workflow.code_review_command`, and `workflow.plan_chunked` were consumed by planning-pipeline code but could not be set via `config-set` (they were missing from `VALID_CONFIG_KEYS`) or discovered via reference docs. All three are now in the schema and documented in `references/planning-config.md`. (#1500)
diff --git a/.changeset/lively-orcas-roam.md b/.changeset/lively-orcas-roam.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0cd9159a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/lively-orcas-roam.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: Fixed
+pr: 1504
+---
+`verify codebase-drift` now reads `workflow.drift_action` and `workflow.drift_threshold` from the correct nested config shape — previously both keys silently no-oped because `loadConfig()` returns a flattened object and `config?.workflow` was always `undefined`.
diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 03b85863d..2ca16dae6 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "gsd-core",
   "displayName": "GSD Core",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "description": "GSD Core is a meta-prompting, context engineering, and spec-driven development system for AI coding agents.",
   "author": {
     "name": "open-gsd",
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index bf3af0b70..927ab0c58 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ jobs:
     needs: validate-version
     if: inputs.action == 'create'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 5
+    timeout-minutes: 10
     permissions:
       contents: write
     steps:
@@ -118,6 +118,10 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-node@53b83947a5a98c8d113130e565377fae1a50d02f  # v6.3.0
         with:
           node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
+          cache: 'npm'
+
+      - name: Install dependencies and build
+        run: npm ci --silent && npm run build:lib
 
       - name: Check branch doesn't already exist
         env:
@@ -358,6 +362,9 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
+      - name: Install dependencies and build
+        run: npm ci --silent && npm run build:lib
+
       - name: Bump to pre-release version
         env:
           PRE_VERSION: ${{ steps.prerelease.outputs.pre_version }}
@@ -523,6 +530,9 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
 
+      - name: Install dependencies and build
+        run: npm ci --silent && npm run build:lib
+
       - name: Set final version
         env:
           VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
diff --git a/capabilities/ai-integration/capability.json b/capabilities/ai-integration/capability.json
index d029fad81..7c56d4ede 100644
--- a/capabilities/ai-integration/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/ai-integration/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "ai-integration",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "AI design contract",
   "description": "AI-SPEC design contract workflow for phases that build AI systems; owns the AI integration command, agents, and workflow.ai_integration_phase activation key.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/antigravity/capability.json b/capabilities/antigravity/capability.json
index a6065c3b4..36586138b 100644
--- a/capabilities/antigravity/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/antigravity/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "antigravity",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Antigravity",
   "description": "Google Antigravity IDE — nested under ~/.gemini/antigravity; probed across 1.x and 2.x layouts; Gemini hook event dialect; nested skill layout; tier-1 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/audit/capability.json b/capabilities/audit/capability.json
index 7a19ee8cf..1e5c27d98 100644
--- a/capabilities/audit/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/audit/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "audit",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Audit",
   "description": "Open-artifact audit and UAT-gap audit for milestone close gates; exposes `gsd-tools audit-uat` (cross-phase UAT outstanding items) and `gsd-tools audit-open` (structured open-artifact scan across debug, tasks, threads, todos, seeds, UAT, verification, context-questions).",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/augment/capability.json b/capabilities/augment/capability.json
index 116f2f8c1..28f0095c3 100644
--- a/capabilities/augment/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/augment/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "augment",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Augment Code",
   "description": "Augment Code CLI — commands + nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/claude/capability.json b/capabilities/claude/capability.json
index 30f47f2c3..1416265f7 100644
--- a/capabilities/claude/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/claude/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "claude",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Claude Code",
   "description": "Anthropic Claude Code — primary development runtime; tier-1 support with full hook surface and skills-based global install.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/cline/capability.json b/capabilities/cline/capability.json
index 8116f7d59..1fe0247be 100644
--- a/capabilities/cline/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/cline/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "cline",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Cline",
   "description": "Cline (VS Code extension) — global-only nested-skill layout; cline-rules hook surface (.clinerules); no hook events emitted; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/code-review/capability.json b/capabilities/code-review/capability.json
index 5a558f01c..24109e6b8 100644
--- a/capabilities/code-review/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/code-review/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "code-review",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Code review",
   "description": "Source-file code review and review-fix workflow support for completed execution work.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/codebuddy/capability.json b/capabilities/codebuddy/capability.json
index 930786fe9..987f10305 100644
--- a/capabilities/codebuddy/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/codebuddy/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "codebuddy",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "CodeBuddy",
   "description": "CodeBuddy (Tencent) — converted commands + skills artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/codex/capability.json b/capabilities/codex/capability.json
index 46fe4ebbb..d8b092899 100644
--- a/capabilities/codex/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/codex/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "codex",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "OpenAI Codex CLI",
   "description": "OpenAI Codex CLI — shell-var command style; per-agent sandbox tiers; config.toml + hooks.json hook surface; tier-1 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/copilot/capability.json b/capabilities/copilot/capability.json
index 5b42a3464..b28307ac4 100644
--- a/capabilities/copilot/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/copilot/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "copilot",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "GitHub Copilot",
   "description": "GitHub Copilot (VS Code) — markdown config format; copilot-inline hook surface; no hook events emitted; flat skill nesting (unconfirmed recursive loader); tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/cursor/capability.json b/capabilities/cursor/capability.json
index b08d547df..044c46674 100644
--- a/capabilities/cursor/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/cursor/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "cursor",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Cursor",
   "description": "Cursor IDE — skills + converted commands artifact layout; hooks.json surface; Claude hook event dialect; recursive skill loader (flat nesting); tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/drift/capability.json b/capabilities/drift/capability.json
index 01b31bc88..23af8acc8 100644
--- a/capabilities/drift/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/drift/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "drift",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Drift detection gates",
   "description": "Post-execution drift detection gates that run after each wave completes. Provides two gates at execute:wave:post: a blocking schema drift gate (detects schema files changed without a database push) and a non-blocking codebase drift gate (detects structural additions not reflected in STRUCTURE.md).",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/gap-analysis/capability.json b/capabilities/gap-analysis/capability.json
index 6534113c8..63bbaf3f6 100644
--- a/capabilities/gap-analysis/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/gap-analysis/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "gap-analysis",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Post-planning gap analysis",
   "description": "Proactive, non-blocking post-planning coverage report. After all PLAN.md files are generated, cross-references every REQ-ID and D-ID from REQUIREMENTS.md and CONTEXT.md against plan bodies. Emits a Source | Item | Status table. Does not block phase advancement.",
   "tier": "standard",
diff --git a/capabilities/gemini/capability.json b/capabilities/gemini/capability.json
index 4aa3a9af6..699e23404 100644
--- a/capabilities/gemini/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/gemini/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "gemini",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Gemini CLI",
   "description": "Google Gemini CLI — commands-only artifact layout (TOML); Gemini hook event dialect; settings-json hook surface; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/graphify/capability.json b/capabilities/graphify/capability.json
index 1b3830c48..41a7c65d4 100644
--- a/capabilities/graphify/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/graphify/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "graphify",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Knowledge graph",
   "description": "Build, query, and inspect the project knowledge graph in `.planning/graphs/`; exposes graphify CLI subcommands (build, query, status, diff) and the /gsd-graphify skill.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/hermes/capability.json b/capabilities/hermes/capability.json
index cd195cdac..6e705fc5e 100644
--- a/capabilities/hermes/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/hermes/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "hermes",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Hermes Agent",
   "description": "Hermes Agent (NousResearch) — skills nest under skills/gsd/ category bucket; nested skill layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/intel/capability.json b/capabilities/intel/capability.json
index 0a5b9d3fc..cc7362dce 100644
--- a/capabilities/intel/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/intel/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "intel",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Codebase intelligence",
   "description": "Code-intelligence store for codebase querying, diff, snapshot, and API-surface extraction; exposes `gsd-tools intel` subcommands (query, status, update, diff, snapshot, patch-meta, validate, extract-exports, api-surface) and backs `/gsd-map-codebase` and `gsd-intel-updater`.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/kilo/capability.json b/capabilities/kilo/capability.json
index 3c3f0020a..9fa90243d 100644
--- a/capabilities/kilo/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/kilo/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "kilo",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Kilo Code",
   "description": "Kilo Code — XDG-based config dir; global skills at ~/.kilo/skills (separate from XDG config); flat command/ + skills artifact layout; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/kimi/capability.json b/capabilities/kimi/capability.json
index 705c6bc5a..84447404c 100644
--- a/capabilities/kimi/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/kimi/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "kimi",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Kimi CLI",
   "description": "Kimi CLI (Moonshot AI) — generic agents root at ~/.config/agents; skills + kimi-agents artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/mempalace/capability.json b/capabilities/mempalace/capability.json
index 8e434a5f7..7bbf50e79 100644
--- a/capabilities/mempalace/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/mempalace/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "mempalace",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "MemPalace memory",
   "description": "Cross-session, cross-project memory: deliberate recall before discuss/plan and verbatim capture + temporal-KG sync at phase boundaries, via the MemPalace MCP server and CLI.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/nyquist/capability.json b/capabilities/nyquist/capability.json
index f04f51176..0d1b9f609 100644
--- a/capabilities/nyquist/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/nyquist/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "nyquist",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Nyquist validation",
   "description": "Validation coverage audit that maps executed work back to tests and manual-only evidence.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/opencode/capability.json b/capabilities/opencode/capability.json
index 0ccfebaeb..12468558b 100644
--- a/capabilities/opencode/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/opencode/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "opencode",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "OpenCode",
   "description": "OpenCode — XDG-based config dir; flat command/ + skills artifact layout; settings-json config format; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/pattern-mapper/capability.json b/capabilities/pattern-mapper/capability.json
index ce3fda24e..4311f5c2a 100644
--- a/capabilities/pattern-mapper/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/pattern-mapper/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "pattern-mapper",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Pattern mapping",
   "description": "Optional codebase-pattern mapping before planning; owns the pattern mapper agent and workflow.pattern_mapper activation key.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/profile-pipeline/capability.json b/capabilities/profile-pipeline/capability.json
index 7861e6e4b..4bd45b0ca 100644
--- a/capabilities/profile-pipeline/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/profile-pipeline/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "profile-pipeline",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Developer profiling pipeline",
   "description": "Developer behavioral profiling from Claude Code session history; scans session JSONL files, extracts and samples user messages, and generates profile artifacts (USER-PROFILE.md, dev-preferences.md, CLAUDE.md sections). Exposes eight `gsd-tools` commands: scan-sessions, extract-messages, profile-sample (pipeline phase) and write-profile, profile-questionnaire, generate-dev-preferences, generate-claude-profile, generate-claude-md (output phase). Backs the /gsd-profile-user skill and gsd-user-profiler agent.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/qwen/capability.json b/capabilities/qwen/capability.json
index dd0fbaabb..9727ffb89 100644
--- a/capabilities/qwen/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/qwen/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "qwen",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Qwen Code",
   "description": "Qwen Code (Alibaba) — nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/research/capability.json b/capabilities/research/capability.json
index f1c3909da..17a168295 100644
--- a/capabilities/research/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/research/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "research",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Phase research",
   "description": "Optional phase research before planning; owns the phase researcher agent and workflow.research activation key.",
   "tier": "standard",
diff --git a/capabilities/schema-gate/capability.json b/capabilities/schema-gate/capability.json
index 0a3a638b8..650edc568 100644
--- a/capabilities/schema-gate/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/schema-gate/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "schema-gate",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Schema push detection gate",
   "description": "Detects ORM schema-relevant files in the phase scope during planning and injects a mandatory [BLOCKING] schema push task into the plan. Prevents false-positive verification where build/types pass because TypeScript types come from config, not the live database.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/security/capability.json b/capabilities/security/capability.json
index 2d17a5a06..7a100f506 100644
--- a/capabilities/security/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/security/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "security",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Security enforcement",
   "description": "Threat mitigation verification and ship-time security blocking for phases with security enforcement enabled.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/tdd/capability.json b/capabilities/tdd/capability.json
index 4e6c15b22..645f31300 100644
--- a/capabilities/tdd/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/tdd/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "tdd",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Test-driven development",
   "description": "Injects TDD heuristics into the planner and enforces RED/GREEN gate compliance on type:tdd plans after execution. Owns workflow.tdd_mode; the --tdd CLI flag is the ephemeral override.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/trae/capability.json b/capabilities/trae/capability.json
index 4015c7d5f..3cd9f043d 100644
--- a/capabilities/trae/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/trae/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "trae",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Trae IDE",
   "description": "Trae IDE — nested-skill artifact layout; no hook surface (profile-marker-only config); tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/capabilities/ui/capability.json b/capabilities/ui/capability.json
index 75dc81922..bf90dd8c3 100644
--- a/capabilities/ui/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/ui/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "ui",
   "role": "feature",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "UI design contracts",
   "description": "UI-SPEC design contract + retrospective UI audit for frontend phases.",
   "tier": "full",
diff --git a/capabilities/windsurf/capability.json b/capabilities/windsurf/capability.json
index 1c95f874c..3b8d0e86a 100644
--- a/capabilities/windsurf/capability.json
+++ b/capabilities/windsurf/capability.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "windsurf",
   "role": "runtime",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "title": "Windsurf",
   "description": "Windsurf (Codeium) — nested under ~/.codeium/windsurf; skills-only artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
   "tier": "core",
diff --git a/docs/CONFIGURATION.md b/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
index 550dceff3..a21244574 100644
--- a/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
+++ b/docs/CONFIGURATION.md
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ All workflow toggles follow the **absent = enabled** pattern. If a key is missin
 | `workflow.plan_chunked` | boolean | `false` | Enable chunked planning mode. When `true` (or when `--chunked` flag is passed to `/gsd-plan-phase`), the orchestrator splits the single long-lived planner Task into a short outline Task followed by N short per-plan Tasks (~3-5 min each). Each plan is committed individually for crash resilience. If a Task hangs and the terminal is force-killed, rerunning with `--chunked` resumes from the last completed plan. Particularly useful on Windows where long-lived Tasks may hang on stdio. Added in v1.38 |
 | `workflow.code_review_command` | string | (none) | Shell command for external code review integration in `/gsd-ship`. Receives changed file paths via stdin. Non-zero exit blocks the ship workflow. Added in v1.36 |
 | `workflow.tdd_mode` | boolean | `false` | Enable TDD pipeline as a first-class execution mode. When `true`, the planner aggressively applies `type: tdd` to eligible tasks (business logic, APIs, validations, algorithms) and the executor enforces RED/GREEN/REFACTOR gate sequence. An end-of-phase collaborative review checkpoint verifies gate compliance. Added in v1.36 |
+| `workflow.mvp_mode` | boolean | `false` | Persist the MVP-mode flag in config so every phase defaults to MVP framing without requiring `--mvp` on the CLI. Resolved via the precedence chain: `--mvp` CLI flag → ROADMAP.md `**Mode:** mvp` field → this config value → `false`. When `true`, the planner, executor, verifier, and discovery surfaces treat the phase as an MVP vertical slice (UI → API → DB) of one user-visible capability instead of a horizontal layer. |
 | `workflow.human_verify_mode` | string | `'end-of-phase'` | Controls human verification checkpoints. `'end-of-phase'` (default since #3309) suppresses `checkpoint:human-verify` tasks and embeds checks into `<verify><human-check>` blocks for end-of-phase review. `'mid-flight'` restores blocking checkpoint tasks. `checkpoint:decision` and `checkpoint:human-action` are unaffected. See [Checkpoints Reference](../gsd-core/references/checkpoints.md#checkpoint_types). |
 | `workflow.cross_ai_execution` | boolean | `false` | Delegate phase execution to an external AI CLI instead of spawning local executor agents. Useful for leveraging a different model's strengths for specific phases. Added in v1.36 |
 | `workflow.cross_ai_command` | string | (none) | Shell command template for cross-AI execution. Receives the phase prompt via stdin. Must produce SUMMARY.md-compatible output. Required when `cross_ai_execution` is `true`. Added in v1.36 |
diff --git a/gemini-extension.json b/gemini-extension.json
index e6fe4c760..fc904a07e 100644
--- a/gemini-extension.json
+++ b/gemini-extension.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "gsd-core",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "description": "GSD Core — a meta-prompting, context engineering, and spec-driven development system for AI coding agents. Loads gsd's operating context into every Gemini CLI session.",
   "contextFileName": "GEMINI.md"
 }
diff --git a/gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs b/gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs
index e17c237b0..249397540 100644
--- a/gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs
+++ b/gsd-core/bin/lib/capability-registry.cjs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "ai-integration": {
     "id": "ai-integration",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "AI design contract",
     "description": "AI-SPEC design contract workflow for phases that build AI systems; owns the AI integration command, agents, and workflow.ai_integration_phase activation key.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "antigravity": {
     "id": "antigravity",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Antigravity",
     "description": "Google Antigravity IDE — nested under ~/.gemini/antigravity; probed across 1.x and 2.x layouts; Gemini hook event dialect; nested skill layout; tier-1 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "audit": {
     "id": "audit",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Audit",
     "description": "Open-artifact audit and UAT-gap audit for milestone close gates; exposes `gsd-tools audit-uat` (cross-phase UAT outstanding items) and `gsd-tools audit-open` (structured open-artifact scan across debug, tasks, threads, todos, seeds, UAT, verification, context-questions).",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "augment": {
     "id": "augment",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Augment Code",
     "description": "Augment Code CLI — commands + nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "claude": {
     "id": "claude",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Claude Code",
     "description": "Anthropic Claude Code — primary development runtime; tier-1 support with full hook surface and skills-based global install.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "cline": {
     "id": "cline",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Cline",
     "description": "Cline (VS Code extension) — global-only nested-skill layout; cline-rules hook surface (.clinerules); no hook events emitted; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "code-review": {
     "id": "code-review",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Code review",
     "description": "Source-file code review and review-fix workflow support for completed execution work.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "codebuddy": {
     "id": "codebuddy",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "CodeBuddy",
     "description": "CodeBuddy (Tencent) — converted commands + skills artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "codex": {
     "id": "codex",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "OpenAI Codex CLI",
     "description": "OpenAI Codex CLI — shell-var command style; per-agent sandbox tiers; config.toml + hooks.json hook surface; tier-1 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "copilot": {
     "id": "copilot",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "GitHub Copilot",
     "description": "GitHub Copilot (VS Code) — markdown config format; copilot-inline hook surface; no hook events emitted; flat skill nesting (unconfirmed recursive loader); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "cursor": {
     "id": "cursor",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Cursor",
     "description": "Cursor IDE — skills + converted commands artifact layout; hooks.json surface; Claude hook event dialect; recursive skill loader (flat nesting); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "drift": {
     "id": "drift",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Drift detection gates",
     "description": "Post-execution drift detection gates that run after each wave completes. Provides two gates at execute:wave:post: a blocking schema drift gate (detects schema files changed without a database push) and a non-blocking codebase drift gate (detects structural additions not reflected in STRUCTURE.md).",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "gap-analysis": {
     "id": "gap-analysis",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Post-planning gap analysis",
     "description": "Proactive, non-blocking post-planning coverage report. After all PLAN.md files are generated, cross-references every REQ-ID and D-ID from REQUIREMENTS.md and CONTEXT.md against plan bodies. Emits a Source | Item | Status table. Does not block phase advancement.",
     "tier": "standard",
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "gemini": {
     "id": "gemini",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Gemini CLI",
     "description": "Google Gemini CLI — commands-only artifact layout (TOML); Gemini hook event dialect; settings-json hook surface; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -805,7 +805,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "graphify": {
     "id": "graphify",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Knowledge graph",
     "description": "Build, query, and inspect the project knowledge graph in `.planning/graphs/`; exposes graphify CLI subcommands (build, query, status, diff) and the /gsd-graphify skill.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -846,7 +846,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "hermes": {
     "id": "hermes",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Hermes Agent",
     "description": "Hermes Agent (NousResearch) — skills nest under skills/gsd/ category bucket; nested skill layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "intel": {
     "id": "intel",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Codebase intelligence",
     "description": "Code-intelligence store for codebase querying, diff, snapshot, and API-surface extraction; exposes `gsd-tools intel` subcommands (query, status, update, diff, snapshot, patch-meta, validate, extract-exports, api-surface) and backs `/gsd-map-codebase` and `gsd-intel-updater`.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "kilo": {
     "id": "kilo",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Kilo Code",
     "description": "Kilo Code — XDG-based config dir; global skills at ~/.kilo/skills (separate from XDG config); flat command/ + skills artifact layout; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -1026,7 +1026,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "kimi": {
     "id": "kimi",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Kimi CLI",
     "description": "Kimi CLI (Moonshot AI) — generic agents root at ~/.config/agents; skills + kimi-agents artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -1082,7 +1082,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "mempalace": {
     "id": "mempalace",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "MemPalace memory",
     "description": "Cross-session, cross-project memory: deliberate recall before discuss/plan and verbatim capture + temporal-KG sync at phase boundaries, via the MemPalace MCP server and CLI.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1256,7 +1256,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "nyquist": {
     "id": "nyquist",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Nyquist validation",
     "description": "Validation coverage audit that maps executed work back to tests and manual-only evidence.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1306,7 +1306,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "opencode": {
     "id": "opencode",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "OpenCode",
     "description": "OpenCode — XDG-based config dir; flat command/ + skills artifact layout; settings-json config format; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -1376,7 +1376,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "pattern-mapper": {
     "id": "pattern-mapper",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Pattern mapping",
     "description": "Optional codebase-pattern mapping before planning; owns the pattern mapper agent and workflow.pattern_mapper activation key.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1430,7 +1430,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "profile-pipeline": {
     "id": "profile-pipeline",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Developer profiling pipeline",
     "description": "Developer behavioral profiling from Claude Code session history; scans session JSONL files, extracts and samples user messages, and generates profile artifacts (USER-PROFILE.md, dev-preferences.md, CLAUDE.md sections). Exposes eight `gsd-tools` commands: scan-sessions, extract-messages, profile-sample (pipeline phase) and write-profile, profile-questionnaire, generate-dev-preferences, generate-claude-profile, generate-claude-md (output phase). Backs the /gsd-profile-user skill and gsd-user-profiler agent.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1507,7 +1507,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "qwen": {
     "id": "qwen",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Qwen Code",
     "description": "Qwen Code (Alibaba) — nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -1564,7 +1564,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "research": {
     "id": "research",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Phase research",
     "description": "Optional phase research before planning; owns the phase researcher agent and workflow.research activation key.",
     "tier": "standard",
@@ -1616,7 +1616,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "schema-gate": {
     "id": "schema-gate",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Schema push detection gate",
     "description": "Detects ORM schema-relevant files in the phase scope during planning and injects a mandatory [BLOCKING] schema push task into the plan. Prevents false-positive verification where build/types pass because TypeScript types come from config, not the live database.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1662,7 +1662,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "security": {
     "id": "security",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Security enforcement",
     "description": "Threat mitigation verification and ship-time security blocking for phases with security enforcement enabled.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1761,7 +1761,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "tdd": {
     "id": "tdd",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Test-driven development",
     "description": "Injects TDD heuristics into the planner and enforces RED/GREEN gate compliance on type:tdd plans after execution. Owns workflow.tdd_mode; the --tdd CLI flag is the ephemeral override.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1814,7 +1814,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "trae": {
     "id": "trae",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Trae IDE",
     "description": "Trae IDE — nested-skill artifact layout; no hook surface (profile-marker-only config); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -1866,7 +1866,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "ui": {
     "id": "ui",
     "role": "feature",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "UI design contracts",
     "description": "UI-SPEC design contract + retrospective UI audit for frontend phases.",
     "tier": "full",
@@ -1961,7 +1961,7 @@ const capabilities = {
   "windsurf": {
     "id": "windsurf",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Windsurf",
     "description": "Windsurf (Codeium) — nested under ~/.codeium/windsurf; skills-only artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -2721,7 +2721,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "antigravity": {
     "id": "antigravity",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Antigravity",
     "description": "Google Antigravity IDE — nested under ~/.gemini/antigravity; probed across 1.x and 2.x layouts; Gemini hook event dialect; nested skill layout; tier-1 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -2781,7 +2781,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "augment": {
     "id": "augment",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Augment Code",
     "description": "Augment Code CLI — commands + nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -2850,7 +2850,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "claude": {
     "id": "claude",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Claude Code",
     "description": "Anthropic Claude Code — primary development runtime; tier-1 support with full hook surface and skills-based global install.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -2916,7 +2916,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "cline": {
     "id": "cline",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Cline",
     "description": "Cline (VS Code extension) — global-only nested-skill layout; cline-rules hook surface (.clinerules); no hook events emitted; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -2959,7 +2959,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "codebuddy": {
     "id": "codebuddy",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "CodeBuddy",
     "description": "CodeBuddy (Tencent) — converted commands + skills artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3028,7 +3028,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "codex": {
     "id": "codex",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "OpenAI Codex CLI",
     "description": "OpenAI Codex CLI — shell-var command style; per-agent sandbox tiers; config.toml + hooks.json hook surface; tier-1 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3081,7 +3081,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "copilot": {
     "id": "copilot",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "GitHub Copilot",
     "description": "GitHub Copilot (VS Code) — markdown config format; copilot-inline hook surface; no hook events emitted; flat skill nesting (unconfirmed recursive loader); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3134,7 +3134,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "cursor": {
     "id": "cursor",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Cursor",
     "description": "Cursor IDE — skills + converted commands artifact layout; hooks.json surface; Claude hook event dialect; recursive skill loader (flat nesting); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3203,7 +3203,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "gemini": {
     "id": "gemini",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Gemini CLI",
     "description": "Google Gemini CLI — commands-only artifact layout (TOML); Gemini hook event dialect; settings-json hook surface; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3260,7 +3260,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "hermes": {
     "id": "hermes",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Hermes Agent",
     "description": "Hermes Agent (NousResearch) — skills nest under skills/gsd/ category bucket; nested skill layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3313,7 +3313,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "kilo": {
     "id": "kilo",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Kilo Code",
     "description": "Kilo Code — XDG-based config dir; global skills at ~/.kilo/skills (separate from XDG config); flat command/ + skills artifact layout; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3388,7 +3388,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "kimi": {
     "id": "kimi",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Kimi CLI",
     "description": "Kimi CLI (Moonshot AI) — generic agents root at ~/.config/agents; skills + kimi-agents artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3444,7 +3444,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "opencode": {
     "id": "opencode",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "OpenCode",
     "description": "OpenCode — XDG-based config dir; flat command/ + skills artifact layout; settings-json config format; no lifecycle hook registration; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3514,7 +3514,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "qwen": {
     "id": "qwen",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Qwen Code",
     "description": "Qwen Code (Alibaba) — nested-skill artifact layout; settings-json hook surface; Claude hook event dialect; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3571,7 +3571,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "trae": {
     "id": "trae",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Trae IDE",
     "description": "Trae IDE — nested-skill artifact layout; no hook surface (profile-marker-only config); tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
@@ -3623,7 +3623,7 @@ const runtimes = {
   "windsurf": {
     "id": "windsurf",
     "role": "runtime",
-    "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+    "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
     "title": "Windsurf",
     "description": "Windsurf (Codeium) — nested under ~/.codeium/windsurf; skills-only artifact layout; no hook surface; no hook events; tier-2 support.",
     "tier": "core",
diff --git a/gsd-core/bin/shared/config-schema.manifest.json b/gsd-core/bin/shared/config-schema.manifest.json
index a768fa069..fdd268892 100644
--- a/gsd-core/bin/shared/config-schema.manifest.json
+++ b/gsd-core/bin/shared/config-schema.manifest.json
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     "workflow.subagent_timeout",
     "workflow.test_command",
     "workflow.build_command",
+    "workflow.mvp_mode",
     "executor.stall_detect_interval_minutes",
     "executor.stall_threshold_minutes",
     "workflow.inline_plan_threshold",
diff --git a/gsd-core/references/planning-config.md b/gsd-core/references/planning-config.md
index 997855b3a..6b35fc763 100644
--- a/gsd-core/references/planning-config.md
+++ b/gsd-core/references/planning-config.md
@@ -266,6 +266,9 @@ Set via `workflow.*` namespace in config.json (e.g., `"workflow": { "research":
 | `workflow.subagent_timeout` | number | `300000` | Any positive integer (ms) | Timeout for parallel subagent tasks (default: 5 minutes) |
 | `workflow.test_command` | string\|null | `null` | Any shell command | Regression/test gate command run by verify-phase, execute-phase, audit-fix, and post-merge-gate. Unset → GSD auto-detects (Makefile / package.json / Cargo.toml / go.mod / pyproject.toml). |
 | `workflow.build_command` | string\|null | `null` | Any shell command | Build gate command run by the post-merge gate. Unset → build step auto-detected/skipped. |
+| `workflow.mvp_mode` | boolean | `false` | `true`, `false` | Persist the MVP-mode flag in config so every phase defaults to MVP framing without requiring `--mvp` on the CLI. Resolved via the chain: `--mvp` CLI flag → ROADMAP.md `**Mode:** mvp` field → this config value → `false`. When `true`, the planner, executor, verifier, and discovery surfaces (progress, stats, graphify) all treat the phase as an MVP vertical slice (UI → API → DB) of one user-visible capability. |
+| `workflow.plan_chunked` | boolean | `false` | `true`, `false` | Enable chunked planning mode. When `true`, the plan-phase orchestrator splits the single long-lived planner Task into a short outline Task followed by N short per-plan Tasks (~3–5 min each). Each plan is committed individually for crash resilience. Particularly useful on Windows where long-lived Tasks may hang on stdio. Also activated by the `--chunked` flag. |
+| `workflow.code_review_command` | string\|null | `null` | Any shell command | External code-review command integrated into `/gsd:ship`. The diff is piped to the command via stdin; the command must output JSON with a `verdict` field (`"APPROVED"` or `"REVISE"`). Non-zero exit or `"REVISE"` verdict blocks the ship workflow. When unset, the built-in review flow runs. Example: `my-review-tool --review`. |
 | `workflow.inline_plan_threshold` | number | `2` | `0`–`10` | Plans with ≤N tasks execute inline instead of spawning a subagent |
 | `workflow.code_review` | boolean | `true` | `true`, `false` | Enable built-in code review step in the ship workflow |
 | `workflow.code_review_depth` | string | `"standard"` | `"light"`, `"standard"`, `"deep"` | Depth level for code review analysis in the ship workflow |
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 368dc982e..5a88720d1 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@opengsd/gsd-core",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@opengsd/gsd-core",
-      "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+      "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk": "^0.2.84",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 59be7afb6..27614385a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@opengsd/gsd-core",
-  "version": "1.5.1-dev.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0-rc.1",
   "description": "GSD Core is a meta-prompting, context engineering, and spec-driven development system for AI coding agents.",
   "bin": {
     "gsd-core": "bin/install.js",
diff --git a/src/verify.cts b/src/verify.cts
index fa222088e..c5e2c4bb3 100644
--- a/src/verify.cts
+++ b/src/verify.cts
@@ -2210,8 +2210,18 @@ function cmdVerifyCodebaseDrift(cwd: string, raw: boolean): void {
       else if (status === 'D') deleted.push(file);
     }
 
-    const config = loadConfig(cwd);
-    const wf = config?.workflow as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+    // loadConfig() returns a flattened object — there is no nested `workflow`
+    // key. Read the raw config.json directly to access workflow-scoped keys,
+    // matching the pattern used in check-command-router.cts:readWorkflowConfig.
+    let wf: Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+    try {
+      const rawCfg = JSON.parse(
+        fs.readFileSync(path.join(planningDir(cwd), 'config.json'), 'utf-8'),
+      ) as Record<string, unknown>;
+      wf = rawCfg['workflow'] as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+    } catch {
+      wf = undefined;
+    }
     const threshold =
       Number.isInteger(wf?.drift_threshold) && (wf?.drift_threshold as number) >= 1
         ? (wf?.drift_threshold as number)
diff --git a/tests/drift-detection.test.cjs b/tests/drift-detection.test.cjs
index ebdfc52b4..ebb59615d 100644
--- a/tests/drift-detection.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/drift-detection.test.cjs
@@ -720,3 +720,77 @@ describe('verify codebase-drift CLI', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+// ─── Regression #1493 — workflow.drift_action / drift_threshold read from nested config shape ───
+//
+// loadConfig() returns a flattened object; config?.workflow was always undefined,
+// making drift_action permanently 'warn' and drift_threshold always 3 regardless
+// of .planning/config.json contents. Fix reads the raw nested JSON directly.
+
+describe('verify codebase-drift — workflow config read from nested shape (#1493)', () => {
+  let tmp;
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tmp = createTempGitProject('gsd-drift-1493-');
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(tmp, '.planning', 'codebase'), { recursive: true });
+  });
+  afterEach(() => cleanup(tmp));
+
+  test('workflow.drift_action=auto-remap in config.json is honored (not always warn) (#1493)', () => {
+    // Write config with nested workflow shape — the flat loadConfig() path would
+    // have silently dropped this, leaving action === 'warn'.
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(tmp, '.planning', 'config.json'),
+      JSON.stringify({ workflow: { drift_action: 'auto-remap', drift_threshold: 1 } }, null, 2),
+    );
+
+    // Map codebase to current HEAD so anything committed next is "new" drift.
+    const structure = path.join(tmp, '.planning', 'codebase', 'STRUCTURE.md');
+    fs.writeFileSync(structure, '# Codebase Structure\n\n- `src/`\n');
+    writeMappedCommit(structure, git(tmp, 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'), '2026-04-22');
+    git(tmp, 'add', '-A');
+    git(tmp, 'commit', '-m', 'map codebase');
+
+    // Add one structural barrel file — enough to exceed drift_threshold of 1.
+    const dir = path.join(tmp, 'packages', 'ui', 'src');
+    fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'index.ts'), 'export {};\n');
+    git(tmp, 'add', '-A');
+    git(tmp, 'commit', '-m', 'add package barrel');
+
+    const r = runGsdTools(['verify', 'codebase-drift'], tmp);
+    assert.strictEqual(r.success, true, r.error);
+    const data = JSON.parse(r.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(
+      data.action, 'auto-remap',
+      'workflow.drift_action=auto-remap must flow through from nested config; "warn" means the flat-shape bug is still active',
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow.drift_threshold in config.json gates triggering (#1493)', () => {
+    // Threshold of 100 — 1 structural file should not trigger action_required.
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(tmp, '.planning', 'config.json'),
+      JSON.stringify({ workflow: { drift_action: 'auto-remap', drift_threshold: 100 } }, null, 2),
+    );
+
+    const structure = path.join(tmp, '.planning', 'codebase', 'STRUCTURE.md');
+    fs.writeFileSync(structure, '# Codebase Structure\n\n- `src/`\n');
+    writeMappedCommit(structure, git(tmp, 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'), '2026-04-22');
+    git(tmp, 'add', '-A');
+    git(tmp, 'commit', '-m', 'map codebase');
+
+    const dir = path.join(tmp, 'packages', 'ui', 'src');
+    fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'index.ts'), 'export {};\n');
+    git(tmp, 'add', '-A');
+    git(tmp, 'commit', '-m', 'add one package barrel');
+
+    const r = runGsdTools(['verify', 'codebase-drift'], tmp);
+    assert.strictEqual(r.success, true, r.error);
+    const data = JSON.parse(r.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(data.threshold, 100,
+      'workflow.drift_threshold=100 must be read from nested config; 3 means the flat-shape bug is still active');
+    assert.strictEqual(data.action_required, false,
+      '1 structural file must not exceed threshold of 100');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/enh-1494-workflow-config-key-docs.test.cjs b/tests/enh-1494-workflow-config-key-docs.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd782533d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/enh-1494-workflow-config-key-docs.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+'use strict';
+
+/**
+ * Parity assertions for #1494: workflow config keys that are consumed by
+ * planning-pipeline code must be (a) accepted by VALID_CONFIG_KEYS and
+ * (b) documented in references/planning-config.md.
+ *
+ * Per DEFECT.GENERATIVE-FIX: a shared constant / key-list that spans two
+ * surfaces requires a parity assertion that fails when the surfaces diverge.
+ */
+
+const { describe, test, before, afterEach } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const { createTempProject, cleanup, runGsdTools } = require('./helpers.cjs');
+
+const CONFIG_SCHEMA_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'gsd-core', 'bin', 'lib', 'config-schema.cjs');
+const PLANNING_CONFIG_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'gsd-core', 'references', 'planning-config.md');
+
+describe('VALID_CONFIG_KEYS parity — #1494 orphan-undocumented keys', () => {
+  const { VALID_CONFIG_KEYS } = require(CONFIG_SCHEMA_PATH);
+
+  test('workflow.mvp_mode is in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      VALID_CONFIG_KEYS.has('workflow.mvp_mode'),
+      'workflow.mvp_mode is read by config-loader.cts and plan-phase.md but was missing from VALID_CONFIG_KEYS (#1494)'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow.code_review_command is in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      VALID_CONFIG_KEYS.has('workflow.code_review_command'),
+      'workflow.code_review_command must be in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow.plan_chunked is in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      VALID_CONFIG_KEYS.has('workflow.plan_chunked'),
+      'workflow.plan_chunked must be in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow.test_command is in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      VALID_CONFIG_KEYS.has('workflow.test_command'),
+      'workflow.test_command must be in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow.build_command is in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      VALID_CONFIG_KEYS.has('workflow.build_command'),
+      'workflow.build_command must be in VALID_CONFIG_KEYS'
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+describe('config-set accepts workflow.mvp_mode (#1494)', () => {
+  let tmpDir;
+  afterEach(() => { if (tmpDir) cleanup(tmpDir); });
+
+  test('config-set workflow.mvp_mode true succeeds and stores the value', () => {
+    tmpDir = createTempProject();
+    const result = runGsdTools(['config-set', 'workflow.mvp_mode', 'true'], tmpDir);
+    assert.ok(
+      result.success,
+      `config-set workflow.mvp_mode must succeed; got:\nstdout: ${result.output}\nstderr: ${result.error}`
+    );
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(result.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(parsed.updated, true, 'response must have updated:true');
+    assert.strictEqual(parsed.key, 'workflow.mvp_mode', 'response must echo the key');
+  });
+
+  test('config-set workflow.mvp_mode false succeeds', () => {
+    tmpDir = createTempProject();
+    const result = runGsdTools(['config-set', 'workflow.mvp_mode', 'false'], tmpDir);
+    assert.ok(
+      result.success,
+      `config-set workflow.mvp_mode false must succeed; got:\nstdout: ${result.output}\nstderr: ${result.error}`
+    );
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(result.output);
+    assert.strictEqual(parsed.updated, true);
+  });
+});
+
+// allow-test-rule: source-text-is-the-product — planning-config.md is the deployed reference contract (#1494)
+describe('planning-config.md documents #1494 keys', () => {
+  let content;
+  before(() => { content = fs.readFileSync(PLANNING_CONFIG_PATH, 'utf-8'); });
+
+  const KEYS = [
+    'workflow.mvp_mode',
+    'workflow.code_review_command',
+    'workflow.plan_chunked',
+    'workflow.test_command',
+    'workflow.build_command',
+  ];
+
+  for (const key of KEYS) {
+    test(`planning-config.md documents \`${key}\``, () => {
+      assert.ok(
+        content.includes(`\`${key}\``),
+        `planning-config.md must document \`${key}\` (#1494)`
+      );
+    });
+
+    test(`\`${key}\` appears in the Complete Field Reference section`, () => {
+      const refSection = content.slice(content.indexOf('## Complete Field Reference'));
+      assert.ok(
+        refSection.includes(`\`${key}\``),
+        `planning-config.md Complete Field Reference must include \`${key}\` (#1494)`
+      );
+    });
+  }
+});