# Protected Content

Editorial work must preserve these exactly unless the source itself is being corrected with new evidence:

- numeric values and signs;
- dates and times;
- versions;
- units;
- commands and command arguments;
- code and configuration;
- file/module/class/method names when used as identifiers;
- URLs and paths;
- HTTP status/error codes;
- test names and assertions;
- observed terminal/browser output;
- direct quotations;
- decision/question status;
- distinctions between observed fact, inference, assumption, unknown, and recommendation.

## Meaning-preservation checks

After editing, compare original and revised record and ask:

1. Did any condition (`when`, `only if`, environment, topology, dataset) disappear?
2. Did `can/may` become `does/will`?
3. Did a local/test observation become a production/general claim?
4. Did an unresolved question sound answered?
5. Did a proposed decision sound adopted?
6. Did a measured value lose its measurement context?
7. Did a failure/limitation disappear because it made the paragraph less tidy?
8. Did the rewrite invent a motivation or personal history?

If yes, restore the lost distinction before further stylistic changes.