README + CONTRIBUTING + CHANGELOG launch-readiness: stale changelog/links, missing Droid/Windows, lane jargon, broken dev setup

[arul28]

Summary: The repo's three most-read launch files (README, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG) have accuracy gaps that make ADE look half-maintained and dead-end a first-time contributor.

CHANGELOG staleness:

• CHANGELOG.md is 12+ releases stale — newest entry ## [1.0.16] - 2026-04-11 (CHANGELOG.md:10) while latest tag is v1.1.12; missing 1.0.17-1.0.19 + the whole 1.1.x series (all exist as tags + /changelog/v1.1.x.mdx). The ## [1.0.16] heading has no matching compare link (link-ref block :131-134 defines only 1.0.13/1.0.2/1.0.1/1.0.0). Fix: regenerate through v1.1.12; rebuild the link-ref block so every heading has a compare link.
• README changelog links 12 versions stale — README.md:19 (badge) and :228 (footer) hardcode .../docs/changelog/v1.1.0. Fix: point both at a stable changelog index/latest. Add a CI guard that fails when the top CHANGELOG version (and README link) lags the latest git tag. (Correct ade-app.dev domain here — version-pinning drift, not the ADE-43 domain bug.)

README launch accuracy:

• Missing Droid provider — README.md:36,:58-59 market only 'Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, opencode' yet Factory Droid is first-class (modelRegistry.ts:97; ProvidersSection.tsx:74-77,:847-862; 161 source files). Add Droid; ideally generate the list.
• No Windows install info — README.md:9,:106-110 are macOS-only, yet release-core.yml has a build-win-release job (:178) and publish HARD-REQUIRES Windows assets (:439,:441). Add a Windows subsection / update the subtitle (or label experimental).
• 'lane' jargon in marketing prose — README.md:36 'lane-scoped' and :45 alt="Parallel worktrees" referencing lanes.png; public site uses 'Worktrees'. Replace user-facing 'lane' with 'worktree' in the top prose; keep literal ade lanes … commands.

CONTRIBUTING dev setup broken:

• CONTRIBUTING.md:6-11 (cd apps/desktop → npm install → npm run dev) starts no ADE runtime — dev.cjs:301-303 only spawns Vite+tsup+Electron, never ade serve/ADE_DEV_RUNTIME_SOCKET_PATH/builds apps/ade-cli. Fix: document the root flow npm run setup then root npm run dev (per README.md:131,143-157, apps/desktop/README.md:8); drop the stale cd apps/desktop instructions.

Verification confidence: High — git tag | sort -V confirms v1.1.12; CHANGELOG head/link-ref and README links read directly; Droid traced to registry/UI; Windows traced to required-asset gates; dev.cjs confirmed not to launch the runtime. Jargon item is medium (subjective branding).

[linear-code]

ADE-87