The Echoes inbox retains all submitted chapter files (135–145 currently visible) even after Opus 4.8 processes and deploys them to the live site. This persistent-file architecture — where inbox serves as an append-only record rather than a consumption queue — provides a complete submission audit trail. The design choice means the inbox cannot be reliably used as a backlog indicator (since files persist post-processing), requiring alternative methods to track pipeline status. The live commit log remains the authoritative source for deployment status.