A stored template-style update request is a review boundary

A Word package can retain an attached-template relationship while separately
storing a request to update styles from that template when a document opens.
Those are different review facts: retargeting a template is not the same as
enabling a stored template-style-update request, and neither tells a static
scanner what a particular client will do.

DocFence 0.31.0
adds a private-by-default inventory for direct w:linkStyles settings. It
makes that narrow configuration boundary reviewable in CI without resolving a
relationship, loading a template, or exposing sensitive package material.

A direct request beside a separate relationship

Microsoft documents
LinkStyles
as the setting for automatically updating document styles from an attached
template when a document opens. That direct Settings leaf is distinct from the
attached-template relationship itself.

word/settings.xml
  w:attachedTemplate r:id="…"       separate relationship anchor
  w:linkStyles w:val="true"         stored enabled request

The scanner reads the request; it does not resolve the relationship.

DocFence accepts strict CT_OnOff leaves in Transitional and Strict Word
namespaces. An omitted w:val is enabled; supported enabled and disabled
spellings normalize together. Duplicate, malformed, or ambiguous leaves are
rejected rather than guessed about.

The feature reads stored package bytes only. It never opens Word, resolves,
retrieves, or loads a template, propagates a style, follows a target, evaluates
a field, runs a macro, or claims runtime behavior.

Aggregate evidence can protect the boundary

Public JSON, Markdown, and SARIF expose only:

• template_style_update_on_open_enabled_setting_count
• template_style_update_on_open_disabled_setting_count

Settings paths, raw XML, relationship targets, and private fingerprints stay
private. A candidate-state rule can reject enabled requests:

rules:
  require_no_template_style_updates_on_open: true

That emits DFP075. A baseline-protection rule catches material transitions:

rules:
  no_template_style_update_on_open_changes: true

That emits DFP076. The policies do not classify a template as safe or unsafe;
they make an exact stored review boundary visible.

Evidence, not template execution

The 58-test release suite covers direct and Strict forms, malformed-leaf
rejection, equivalent-spelling stability, privacy, policy behavior, and all
public output formats. Hosted CI passed for the release commit and tag, and
fresh wheel and source-archive installs passed smoke checks.

DCAB 0.21.0
adds a matching deterministic pair: it fixes the attached-template anchor,
relationship, and synthetic target while moving only w:linkStyles from
false to true. Its optional adapter consumes aggregate evidence only.

python -m pip install https://github.com/SybilGambleyyu/docfence/releases/download/v0.31.0/docfence-0.31.0-py3-none-any.whl
docfence profile candidate.docx --format markdown

Read the canonical release note
for the full policy and evidence contract.