[leehack]

Summary

• Document that Windows x64 builds download the whole pinned native archive, about 700 MiB (703 MiB for v0.7.0-1), mostly CUDA DLLs, even when cuda is not selected.
• Explain that the archive is cached once per pinned release, and that llamadart_native_path avoids the download.
• One Unreleased changelog bullet in both changelogs.

Refs #812. This does not fix it, and #812 stays open. The hook already bundles CUDA only when it is selected, but the pinned release publishes one archive per platform, and the fail-closed archive checksum rules out a partial download. The real fix needs CUDA sidecars from llamadart-native (llamadart-native#37, qualification llamadart-native#64), then a pin sync and a hook consumer.

Production-readiness scope

• User-facing scope: docs only.
• Supported platforms/paths: Windows x64 native builds.
• Unsupported or intentionally unavailable paths: N/A, no behavior change.
• Out of scope / follow-ups: Windows x64 builds download llamadart-native's 700 MiB CUDA tarball even without CUDA #812 (CUDA sidecar consumer), blocked on llamadart-native#37 and feat(tui_coding_agent): add TurboVision-style MDI session desktop #64.

Completeness checklist

• Declared scope is fully implemented.
• Unsupported combinations: N/A (docs).
• Docs and changelog updated.
• Regression coverage: N/A, docs only.
• Validation coverage registry: N/A.
• Security/privacy: no secrets or paths.
• Follow-ups: Windows x64 builds download llamadart-native's 700 MiB CUDA tarball even without CUDA #812 stays open.

PR type guidance

• Docs-only PR: no runtime behavior changes. The archive size comes from the v0.7.0-1 release asset (llamadart-native-windows-x64-v0.7.0-1.tar.gz, 703 MiB) and a listing of its contents (cublasLt64_12.dll alone is 675 MB uncompressed).

Test Plan

• dart run tool/prepare_workspace.dart
• dart format --output=none --set-exit-if-changed .
• dart analyze: N/A, docs only.
• dart test -p vm test/unit/tooling/: 883 passed (Markdown changes select tooling checks).
• dart test -p chrome: N/A, docs only.
• verify_release_docs_versions.dart: pass.
• Docs build: CI Docs Build Check.

Matrix Evidence

Matrix row	Scope covered	Platform / model / backend	Result	Evidence / notes
docs	native build hooks page	N/A	pending CI	Docs Build Check

Review Notes

• Independent review status: N/A, docs only (standard risk).
• CI status / head SHA: pending / 3b4b1196c

High-risk regression review

• Classification: standard
• Implementation task: N/A
• Independent blocking QA task: N/A
• Exact head / current base: N/A
• Production-branch deletion, bypass, or miswire proof: N/A
• Affected-family real-model/artifact evidence: N/A
• Explicit unavailable-family or other N/A evidence: N/A
• Known PR-caused P1 regressions: 0
• Unresolved review threads: 0

[leehack]

Landed on main through batch integration PR #1282 (rebase merge 9ee96c3; tree identical to the audited integration head).