method-chain: plan — current status + future-consumer notes

Documents the extraction (Smalltalk + CLOS migrated, kit landed,
counts unchanged), lists plausible third consumers (JS proto chain,
Ruby ancestors, Python MRO), and notes which other patterns stayed
unextracted and why (method-cache invalidation, inline cache, and
the five reflective siblings all need consumers that don't exist
yet in the codebase).

Closes the session's extraction work at five branches: env (3
consumers), class-chain (2), test-runner (POC), plus the chain
of intermediate branches. The Scheme port is the next high-leverage
move; it would unlock four more reflective kits in one stroke.

plans/lib-guest-method-chain.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# lib/guest/reflective/class-chain.sx — extraction plan
+
+## Status
+
+- [x] **Kit landed** — `lib/guest/reflective/class-chain.sx` (7 forms, ~120 LoC).
+- [x] **First consumer migrated** — `lib/smalltalk/runtime.sx` `st-method-lookup-walk`. 20 lines → 9 lines. Smalltalk single-parent shape adapted via `:parents-of` returning a 1-element list.
+- [x] **Second consumer migrated** — `lib/common-lisp/clos.sx` `clos-specificity`. 28 lines → 4 lines. CLOS multi-parent shape adapted via `:parents-of` returning the full parents list.
+- [x] Both consumers' test counts unchanged. Smalltalk 847/847. CL 222/240 (18 pre-existing failures unrelated to CLOS dispatch).
+
+## API surface
+
+```lisp
+(refl-class-chain-find-with CFG CLASS-NAME PROBE)
+  ;; DFS through parent chain. Returns first non-nil probe result.
+  ;; Smalltalk method lookup uses this.
+
+(refl-class-chain-depth-with CFG CLASS-NAME ANCESTOR-NAME)
+  ;; Minimum hop count via any parent path. nil if unreachable.
+  ;; CLOS method specificity uses this.
+
+(refl-class-chain-ancestors-with CFG CLASS-NAME)
+  ;; Flat DFS-ordered list of all reachable ancestor names.
+```
+
+**Adapter cfg keys:**
+- `:parents-of` — fn (class-name) → list of parent class names. Empty list = root. Single-parent guests wrap into a 1-element list.
+- `:class?` — predicate; short-circuits walk on non-existent class names.
+
+## Why two consumers were enough
+
+Smalltalk and CLOS have *structurally different* class hierarchies — single inheritance with one `:superclass` field versus multiple inheritance with a `:parents` list. The kit handles both via the cfg normalising `:parents-of` to "list of parent names" (empty, singleton, or multi-element). This is the third demonstration of the adapter-cfg pattern from `lib/guest/match.sx` and `lib/guest/reflective/env.sx`.
+
+## Future consumers
+
+A third consumer would validate the kit further but isn't blocked by the two-consumer rule. Plausible candidates that already have class chains in the codebase or could acquire them:
+
+- **JavaScript prototype chains** — if `lib/js/` builds an evaluator that walks `__proto__`. `:parents-of` returns a 1-element list (the proto, if any). Probably the cleanest third consumer.
+- **Ruby's ancestor walk** (`Module#ancestors`) — multi-element list with strict ordering rules. Would stress whether `:parents-of` needs to return ordered lists (it already does).
+- **Python's MRO** (method resolution order via C3 linearisation) — could use `refl-class-chain-ancestors-with` as a starting point, with consumer-side linearisation on top.
+
+## Non-goals
+
+- **Method-cache invalidation protocol** — Smalltalk has `st-method-cache` with class-change invalidation; CLOS has per-generic method lists with `clos-defmethod` updates. Currently only one consumer per cache shape; defer.
+
+- **Inline call-site caches** — Smalltalk's per-call-site IC is a hot-path optimisation. No other current consumer; defer until at least a JS or Python guest with optimisable dispatch.
+
+- **`combiner.sx`, `evaluator.sx`, `hygiene.sx`, `quoting.sx`, `short-circuit.sx`** — these still wait for a Scheme/Maru port. CLOS doesn't have fexprs, so it can't be the second consumer for `combiner.sx`. CL's reader has backquote parsing but no runtime quasi-walker, so it's not a current second consumer for `quoting.sx` either. The Scheme port is the unlock.
+
+## Cumulative session output
+
+| Branch | Kit | Consumers |
+|---|---|---|
+| `loops/kernel` | (proposal docs) | 1 |
+| `lib/tcl/uplevel` | `reflective/env.sx` | 2 (Kernel, Tcl) |
+| `lib/smalltalk/refl-env` | `+ refl-env-find-frame-with` | 3 (+ Smalltalk) |
+| `lib/guest/test-runner` | `test-runner.sx` | 1 (Kernel POC) |
+| `lib/guest/method-chain` | `reflective/class-chain.sx` | 2 (Smalltalk, CLOS) |
+
+**Two complete reflective kits live with multiple consumers**; one infrastructure kit at proof-of-concept; one extraction (the Scheme port that would unlock four more reflective kits) is the next natural strategic move but is a substantial undertaking.