Align hardware export with ingest contract

bible-local/architecture/system-overview.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 Hardware audit LiveCD. Boots on a server via BMC virtual media or USB.
 Collects hardware inventory at OS level (not through BMC/Redfish).
-Produces `HardwareIngestRequest` JSON compatible with core/reanimator.
+Produces `HardwareIngestRequest` JSON compatible with the contract in `bible-local/docs/hardware-ingest-contract.md`.
 
 ## Why it exists
 
@@ -46,6 +46,16 @@ Fills gaps where Redfish/logpile is blind:
 - Anything requiring persistent storage on the audited machine
 - Windows support
 - Any functionality requiring internet access at boot
+- Component lifecycle/history across multiple snapshots
+- Status transition history (`status_history`, `status_changed_at`) derived from previous exports
+- Replacement detection between two or more audit runs
+
+## Contract boundary
+
+- `bee` is responsible for the current hardware snapshot only.
+- `bee` should populate current component state, hardware inventory, telemetry, and `status_checked_at`.
+- Historical status transitions and component replacement logic belong to the centralized ingest/lifecycle system, not to `bee`.
+- Contract fields that have no honest local source on a generic Linux host may remain empty.
 
 ## Tech stack