Read the evidence

The review is an evidence ledger, not a claim that every write was intentional. Read it from the observation boundary inward: status, request group, option mutation, then individual field diff.

Start with observation status

Status	Meaning	Whole-change undo
Completed	Stop-time summaries were persisted and verified	Possible only when every decision mutation is fully restorable
Active	A named Change Session is still open	Unavailable
Stopping	Finalization is in progress or recovering	Unavailable
Interrupted / incomplete	The evidence boundary could not be proven complete	Unavailable

Read the request group

A request group shows the actor, HTTP method, path, WordPress admin screen when available, and source attribution. A plugin-owned mutation uses a readable form of the source slug and includes the version captured at save time when WordPress can resolve it; the raw slug and code path remain in Technical evidence. Changed through means the plugin or theme was present in the causal write stack. Setting registered by means the component registered that exact option through the WordPress Settings API and Core performed the final write; its file and line identify the registration call. These are provenance signals. They can reveal that a save also triggered another plugin, but they do not prove human intent by themselves.

Read the classification

Classification	What it says	Typical consequence
Setting	A tested adapter recognizes the option or field	Human label and adapter rules may permit bounded undo
Secret	The value or path was treated as sensitive	Plaintext is removed before persistence; secret change is not undoable
Derived / technical	Cache, lock, status, rewrite, cron, or migration-like state	Shown separately and excluded from the settings decision
Unknown	A persisted option change exists without an exact field contract	Evidence remains visible; undo is conservative

When the site-local generic array experiment is enabled, an eligible Unknown mutation is labeled Experimental and its action reads Undo verified keys. That label means the complete structural patch passed the snapshot policy; it does not mean ConfigOps understands the plugin or the consequences of its save.

Read the diff

ConfigOps stores typed nested differences, including meaningful changes in lists and associative values. JSON Pointer paths identify nested fields. Storage-only scalar churn can be normalized, while list order remains meaningful. Without an adapter, the review turns an exact leaf key such as /mail/retry into Retry and labels it as a plugin, must-use plugin, theme, or WordPress setting according to its captured source. That makes the evidence readable; it does not claim to know the field's behavior.

An adapter can add:

• a human label and settings group;
• an explanation of the field semantics;
• portability or local-reference rules;
• a tested plugin-version range;
• field-level undo when a hidden credential must remain untouched.

If an admin-field observation is matched, the review may show its field name, label, screen, and match reason. This is an explanatory clue only. The persisted mutation and adapter contract remain authoritative.

Read undo eligibility last

An Undo control means ConfigOps has enough evidence to attempt a conflict-checked compensation now. It does not mean the change is consequence-free. Before any write, ConfigOps rechecks the current option value, adapter schema, local references, lock state, and restore history.

No control is itself evidence. Common reasons include:

• a secret or oversized value was removed from restorable history;
• the adapter version is outside its tested range;
• only part of an unknown option can be explained;
• the generic array experiment is off, the option has an adapter owner, or its structure is ambiguous;
• the current value no longer matches the observed result;
• a referenced page, media item, or user is now missing;
• the observation is incomplete;
• the same target already has a relevant restore in progress or completed.

Next: Undo safely.