docs: setup-instance step 15 names --no-push for a local-only first publish; gates.md and a docstring follow #159

Files changed:
- CHANGES.md
- VERSION
- instructions/gates.md
- instructions/setup-instance.md
- tools/chemenu/commands/git_publish.py

CHANGES.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ concern - readable here, never shipped as something to parse.
 
 ---
 
-## 8.0.0-beta.10 - 2026-09-30 - publish: the gate lists the staged state; a missing or unreachable remote stops before the commit
+## 8.0.0-beta.11 - 2026-09-30 - setup-instance step 15 names --no-push for a local-only first publish; gates.md and a docstring follow #159
 
 **Author:** Torben Nehmer
 
@@ -117,8 +117,19 @@ concern - readable here, never shipped as something to parse.
 - bug-report instruction: offer WIKI_TRACE=1 for a reproduction
 - reports/CONTRACT.md: only the collector's two counting calls take the bugreport session id
 - bug-report instruction: step 1 no longer calls every bundle unpseudonymised
+- setup-instance step 15 names --no-push for a local-only first publish; gates.md and a docstring follow #159
 <!-- /wikitool:bumps -->
 
+### setup-instance step 15 names --no-push for a local-only first publish; gates.md and a docstring follow #159
+
+The close-out review of #159 found three places the change had not reached. `setup-instance.md`
+step 15 shows the first `publish` without `--no-push` and announces exit 42; a local-only instance
+now gets exit 1 there, before the gate, so the step says so and names the flag. `gates.md` said
+the Mass-Update Gate counts "working-tree changes before `publish` stages them", which no longer
+describes a gate that stages into a scratch index; it now says the uncommitted changes `publish` is
+about to stage. The `_reconcile_summary` docstring still named "no remote" as an outcome with no
+message.
+
 ### publish: the gate lists the staged state; a missing or unreachable remote stops before the commit (Gitea #159)
 
 **The Mass-Update Gate counted a path twice.** `collect_changes` read `git status --porcelain`, which

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-8.0.0-beta.10
+8.0.0-beta.11

instructions/gates.md

@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ deletes the material and keeps only the reason and a sha256 in `mcp-upload/ledge
 
 `upstream merge` (a private instance taking a stack update - see
 [private-instance.md](private-instance.md)) can update or delete dozens of stack-owned paths in
-one commit, and the Mass-Update Gate does not see any of it. The gate counts *working-tree*
-changes before `publish` stages them; by the time `upstream merge` commits, the change is
+one commit, and the Mass-Update Gate does not see any of it. The gate counts the *uncommitted*
+changes `publish` is about to stage; by the time `upstream merge` commits, the change is
 already history, and the commit it made is not what a later `publish` would be staging - that
 publish sees only whatever this session adds on top. A merge touching 200 files therefore goes
 out ungated the moment it is pushed.

instructions/setup-instance.md

@@ -302,6 +302,9 @@ and ready for its first ingest.
     `--confirm <token>` line that publishes once they approve. Details on the gate:
     [gates.md](gates.md).
 
+    A local-only instance (step 4) adds `--no-push` here too. Without it the call ends with exit
+    1 before the gate, because there is no remote to publish to, and commits nothing.
+
 16. **Restart the agent session.** Harnesses read the skill directories at startup; only
     afterwards are `wiki-ingest`, `wiki-query`, `wiki-manage`, `wiki-lint`, `wiki-status` and
     `gtd-weekly-review` available.

tools/chemenu/commands/git_publish.py

@@ -914,7 +914,7 @@ def rebase_review_message(outcome: ReconcileOutcome, remote: str, branch: str, c
 
 def _reconcile_summary(outcome: ReconcileOutcome, remote: str, branch: str) -> str:
     """One line for the outcomes that do not fail or gate - what to tell the caller, or "" for
-    the ones not worth narrating every time (`up-to-date`, no remote)."""
+    `conflict` and `needs-review`, which `apply_reconcile` raises on instead."""
     if outcome.status == "fast-forwarded":
         return f"Pulled {len(outcome.pulled_commits)} commit(s) from {remote}/{branch}."
     if outcome.status == "local-ahead":