Merge adapter lifecycle safeguards

docs/ADAPTER_AUTHORING_GUIDE.md

@@ -296,6 +296,34 @@ The incremental path is:
 Missing, incompatible, or corrupt cache data is a cache miss. It must never become a partial graph
 or replace the last valid index.
 
+### Declare the process-stable adapter implementation boundary
+
+An adapter object is loaded once when its project-bound process starts. Source synchronization can
+refresh the graph, but it cannot safely replace already imported adapter code in place.
+
+`AdapterProject` automatically fingerprints a project-local Python package containing the loader
+class and a declared descriptor file. Declare a broader or non-Python boundary explicitly when the
+adapter uses helpers, configuration, schemas, or templates outside that inferred package:
+
+```python
+settings = AdapterProjectSettings(
+    implementation=AdapterImplementation(
+        roots=(project_root / "docforge_adapter",),
+        files=(project_root / ".docforge" / "project.toml",),
+        suffixes=(".py", ".toml"),
+    ),
+)
+```
+
+The boundary is confined to the project root and limited to 4,096 files and 64,000,000 bytes.
+DocForge fingerprints relative paths and bytes. An added, changed, deleted, missing, or symlinked
+implementation file produces `adapter_restart_required` before another MCP operation. Restart the
+project-bound server; do not use Python module reloading to mutate a live adapter graph.
+
+The manifest remains a current source snapshot, not a Git-index snapshot. A Git-backed adapter must
+omit a deleted source whether its deletion is unstaged or staged. Staging is never a required
+DocForge synchronization step.
+
 ## Step 9: keep the complete path independent
 
 The full rebuild must not read the incremental extraction cache. Otherwise equivalence compares
@@ -344,7 +372,9 @@ An adapter is not complete until these cases pass:
 | Shared header/module change | Every reverse dependent reparses |
 | Added source | New contribution appears without stale duplicates |
 | Renamed source | Old contribution disappears and new identity follows policy |
-| Deleted source | Owned nodes, relationships, and Logic disappear |
+| Unstaged and staged deleted source | Owned nodes, relationships, and Logic disappear identically |
+| Adapter implementation edit/add/delete | `adapter_restart_required` before synchronization |
+| Adapter descriptor/configuration edit | `adapter_restart_required` before synchronization |
 | Build flags/features change | Affected units invalidate |
 | Extractor version change | Old contributions invalidate |
 | Corrupt cache | Clean recovery without partial publication |
@@ -445,4 +475,3 @@ For every such change:
 - [ ] Session composition and family isolation are proven.
 - [ ] Viewer, query, context, and Logic retrieval are proven.
 - [ ] Performance, graph shape, unsupported facts, and version rules are recorded.
-

docs/INCREMENTAL_INDEXING.md

@@ -96,10 +96,27 @@ DocForge invalidates a source when:
 Deleted sources are omitted from the candidate projection. Their cached dependency declarations
 remain available long enough to invalidate surviving dependents.
 
+The manifest describes the current supported filesystem snapshot. It must not retain a missing file
+only because Git still tracks it, and it must not require staging before a deletion disappears.
+Git-backed adapters must prove that staged and unstaged deletions produce the same current source
+set. DocForge then removes the omitted contribution and invalidates its surviving reverse
+dependents.
+
 If an adapter cannot precisely describe the affected sources, it should declare broader
 dependencies or change its adapter/extractor version. Incorrectly retaining a stale relationship
 is never an acceptable optimization.
 
+## Adapter implementation lifecycle
+
+Graph source changes are synchronizable. Changes to the code or configuration implementing the
+adapter are not.
+
+`AdapterProject` fingerprints the inferred or explicitly declared implementation boundary when the
+project process starts. Every MCP operation validates that boundary before work begins. Changes to
+implementation paths or bytes return `adapter_restart_required` with bounded added, changed, and
+deleted path evidence. The error is intentionally not auto-repaired through `docforge_sync`; a
+fresh process must import and validate the current adapter.
+
 ## Build reporting
 
 `build` and `reindex` include an extraction report:

docs/MCP_CONTRACT.md

@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ returns the complete fixed binding, active index path, proposal and application
 recommended workflow. `docforge_sync` exposes the same idempotent synchronization explicitly.
 Neither operation changes canonical sources.
 
+Adapter-backed servers also validate their process-start implementation fingerprint before every
+tool. `adapter_restart_required` is stale but not synchronizable. Its remediation is
+`restart_project_server`; the current process does not reload project code, update Git staging, or
+continue with a newly changed validator.
+
 The normal command binds the generic project loader. An explicit project integration may instead
 construct the same read-only surface from a validated `ProjectService` and project-owned context
 provider. This form cannot register proposal tools. Project discovery, session selection, family

docs/USER_MANUAL.md

@@ -677,6 +677,16 @@ without a source-analysis rewrite.
 
 ## Troubleshooting
 
+### `adapter_restart_required`
+
+The project-local adapter code, its declared descriptor, or another implementation file changed
+after the project-bound MCP process started. DocForge rejects every further operation before
+synchronization because the live Python objects still represent the prior implementation.
+
+Restart the MCP server or start a fresh client session. Do not stage files merely to change the
+adapter's source manifest, and do not attempt in-process module reloading. The error includes
+bounded added, changed, and deleted path evidence to identify the changed implementation boundary.
+
 ### `stale_index` or `visualization_stale`
 
 Normal MCP operations automatically repair a missing, stale, or invalid disposable index under a