REA CI and tests audit

Establish which checks still catch real regressions and which costs can be removed without losing that protection. The outcome may be a verified fix, an evidence-backed recommendation, or an explicit decision to stop.

Follow the checkout's AGENTS.md, testing guide, and contribution rules. Use their current commands and pinned toolchain, rather than commands remembered from an earlier audit. Preserve the requested scope: investigation alone does not authorize edits; this skill does not grant permission to publish issues, push, or merge. Existing user authorization still applies. Keep audit notes and raw results outside the tracked tree, normally in a task-specific /tmp directory.

Establish the executed baseline