Resolve lookup identity and selected/default origin together in the plist
source owner. Physical-file and conversion failures consume that fact
rather than reconstructing intent from omission of the path argument.
Selected plist artifacts resolve independently of readiness; unresolved
scope admission does not acquire an invented file-selection context.
Remove the superseded resolver and path/requested representation.
Cover direct-target CLI/MCP refusals, physical file conditions, permission
denial, default controls, unresolved scope context and cleanup retry for
both explicit path and selected-target workflows.
Fixes#4923. Related: #4849.
Validation: public CLI/MCP baseline3 failed8 controls passed; final55
passed across7files, check:fast, docs5, discovery1566 and source review.
Actual macOS26.3 plutil CLI/MCP; no Linux/Windows native qualification.
Use shared owned file operations for plist admission and source probes. Join admitted work during close, retain exact descriptor leases through retries, and preserve physical failures, cancellation reasons and completed converter output.
Validate with controlled cleanup faults and native plist CLI workflows on inert data. Real OS close-failure incidence and Windows behavior remain unverified.
Refs #4723
morluto