# K1616–K1620: bounded directory tree traversal

The read-only tree has at most sixteen inode records. Inode 1 is the root
directory. Each other inode has a unique number, an ASCII name of one to
sixteen safe bytes, a directory parent, and a finite path to the root.
Validation rejects self loops and longer cycles before publishing a tree.
Sibling names are unique. Path lookup starts at `/`, rejects empty components,
and refuses to walk through a regular file.

The positive case resolves `/a/b/file` through three directory levels. The
negative case includes a self loop and a mutual cycle, both rejected without
publishing a partial tree. Host tests are synthetic; disk-backed directory
records and six guest profiles require K1620 evidence.