{
  "registry_version": "2026.08.2",
  "data": {
    "title": "Stronger Competing Candidate in Final Cohort",
    "status": "active",
    "evidence_ids": [
      "EVD-001",
      "EVD-006"
    ],
    "content": "# Stronger Competing Candidate in Final Cohort\n\nCandidate cleared all passing bars, but another applicant in the same pipeline demonstrated superior domain overlap or lower onboarding overhead.\n\n### Structural Context\n- **Actor:** `candidate`\n- **Nature:** `rule`\n- **Removability:** `none`\n\n### Causal Relations\n- Masks `M-001` — Genuine Technical Skill Shortfall\n\n### Non-Inferences\n- Does not mean candidate had negative feedback; relative cohort ranking is outside candidate control.",
    "id": "M-002",
    "type": "mechanism",
    "summary": "Candidate cleared all passing bars, but another applicant in the same pipeline demonstrated superior domain overlap or lower onboarding overhead.",
    "operates_at": [
      "B-007",
      "B-008",
      "B-010"
    ],
    "emissions": [
      {
        "artifact": "A-002",
        "fidelity": "euphemism",
        "likelihood": "high",
        "evidence": [
          "EVD-001"
        ]
      },
      {
        "artifact": "A-003",
        "fidelity": "distortion",
        "likelihood": "low",
        "evidence": [
          "EVD-004"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "facets": {
      "actor": "candidate",
      "nature": "rule",
      "visibility": "opaque",
      "removability": "none"
    },
    "amplifies": [],
    "masks": [
      "M-001"
    ],
    "evidence_level": "established",
    "honest_baseline": true,
    "specimens": [
      {
        "kind": "email",
        "label": "Rejection naming the comparison",
        "lines": [
          {
            "text": "This was a genuinely difficult decision — you cleared every bar we set.",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "text": "We went with another finalist who has shipped the same payment rails we are migrating to, which shortens the ramp by a quarter or so.",
            "tell": true
          },
          {
            "text": "If anything opens at this level again I would like to come back to you directly.",
            "tell": false
          }
        ],
        "reading": "Nothing here says the candidate fell short. A comparison decided it, and comparisons are not properties of either person."
      }
    ],
    "non_inferences": [
      "Does not mean candidate had negative feedback; relative cohort ranking is outside candidate control."
    ]
  }
}