Model changes verify by driving the live service — boot ledger, per-request timings, one real request per harness role. No bench window is ever scheduled for a swap. The stop-and-mask policy stays for deliberate standalone bench windows (it is host protection, not a swap step). Codified in AGENTS.md (policy lead + summary row), Model Swap and Rollback (No bench step law, §8 close-out source, Related rescope).