docs(ops): merge the import with gitsheets' sheet-aware merge

Replaces the plain git merge + bulk checkout --theirs with
`gitsheets merge --prefer theirs` (gitsheets#307): records merge as
records and are written canonically, it runs on the bare clone, and a
--dry-run previews the conflicts. Adds a contracts verify after it.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011Q2tgjZEUrtvVk6k8SpdXJ

Author: themightychris

docs/operations/cutover.md

@@ -174,26 +174,34 @@ those as the order-of-magnitude sanity check for your counts.
    not.
 4. Run the importer **without `--dry-run`**. This creates one snapshot
    commit on `legacy-import`. Push it.
-5. **Merge `legacy-import` into `published`.** This needs a working tree
-   (clone from your bare clone). Expect **thousands of conflicts** of the
-   form `deleted by us / modified by them`: every previously-pruned spam
-   person is absent on `published` and present (possibly modified) in the
-   fresh snapshot. Resolve them all by **taking the import's version** —
-   the prune step in the next step removes them again:
+5. **Merge `legacy-import` into `published`** with gitsheets' sheet-aware
+   merge (gitsheets ≥ 2.8). It merges *records*, not lines: a person
+   changed on both sides is field-merged and written canonically, so the
+   merged branch never mixes serializations. It runs directly against the
+   bare clone, so no working tree is needed. Expect **thousands of
+   delete/modify conflicts**: every previously-pruned spam person is absent
+   on `published` and present in the fresh snapshot. `--prefer theirs`
+   takes the import's version of each one, and the prune step next removes
+   them again. Run it from a codeforphilly-ng checkout (the CLI ships with
+   the `gitsheets` dependency):
 
    ```bash
-   git clone /scratch/codeforphilly-data.git /scratch/codeforphilly-data-wt
-   cd /scratch/codeforphilly-data-wt
-   git checkout published
-   git merge origin/legacy-import || true
-   git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U | xargs git checkout --theirs --
-   git add -A people/                       # the conflicts are person records
-   git commit --no-edit
-   git push origin published:published      # back to the bare clone only — don't push to GitHub yet
+   D=/scratch/codeforphilly-data.git
+   # Preview: lists every conflict by path and kind, writes nothing
+   npx gitsheets merge legacy-import --into published --dry-run --git-dir $D
+   # Merge, taking the import's side of every conflict
+   npx gitsheets merge legacy-import --into published --prefer theirs --git-dir $D \
+     --author-name "<you>" --author-email "<you>@users.noreply.codeforphilly.org"
+   # The merge doesn't validate contracts; check every record before going on
+   npx gitsheets contracts verify --git-dir $D --ref published
    ```
 
-   Review `git status` before the `git add`; if conflicts show up outside
-   `people/`, look at them individually rather than bulk-resolving.
+   Read the preview before merging. `--prefer` resolves record-field,
+   delete/modify and blob conflicts, but rename/directory conflicts are
+   always reported and stop the merge: look at those individually. If
+   conflicts show up outside `people/`, look at them individually rather
+   than relying on `--prefer`. The merge stays local to the bare clone
+   (don't push to GitHub yet).
 
 6. **Prune confident-spam** from `published` before it goes anywhere. The
    merge re-added the full raw import (spam included); the deployed pod

plans/import-merge-gitsheets.md

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+---
+status: done
+depends: [gitsheets-2.9]
+specs: []
+---
+
+# Plan: the import merge uses gitsheets' sheet-aware merge
+
+## Scope
+
+The cutover runbook merged `legacy-import` into `published` with a plain
+`git merge`, then bulk-resolved thousands of `deleted by us / modified by
+them` conflicts with `git checkout --theirs`. A line-wise merge of TOML
+records left records in a mix of serializations no gitsheets version
+writes. gitsheets 2.8 shipped a record-level merge (gitsheets#307). This
+switches the runbook step to `gitsheets merge --prefer theirs`, which runs
+on the bare clone, adds a `--dry-run` preview, and follows with a
+`contracts verify`. It's an operator-doc change only; no app code and no
+spec behavior changes.
+
+## Implements
+
+- `docs/operations/cutover.md` step 5 (operator runbook; not a spec).
+
+## Validation
+
+- [x] Dry-run merge of `legacy-import` into a copy of `published` runs on
+      real data (6s; 0 field merges, since 09-08's import is already merged)
+- [x] `contracts verify --ref <branch>` works as the runbook uses it
+- [x] `--prefer theirs` semantics match the old policy: a delete/modify
+      conflict takes the import's record (gitsheets specs/behaviors/merge.md)
+
+## Notes
+
+- The merge doesn't validate contracts, so the runbook verifies after it.
+  Rename/directory conflicts are always reported and stop the merge.
+- The first real exercise of `--prefer theirs` on conflicts comes with the
+  next fresh laddr import; this repo has no import scheduled.
+
+## Follow-ups
+
+None.