The guidance is domain-specific and non-obvious, but the body carries substantial discursive prose and repeated full-sentence quotations from external sources (Azure, Google SRE, Martin Fowler) that could be tightened to the actionable rule. Not a 1 because it does not explain basic concepts Claude already knows; not a 3 because not every token earns its place.

Provides concrete, copy-paste-ready guidance: field tables for the dependency graph, ACTION/DECISION gate kinds, specific trigger examples ("5xx rate above 1 percent sustained 5 minutes"), and a filled-out output-template document skeleton. Not a 2 because the instruction is specific and complete rather than pseudocode-level.

Sequenced as Steps 1–7 with Step 7 an explicit validation checklist ("Every one is a defect in the plan, not a judgment call") covering ownership, ordering, timebox, triggers, and reversibility — a clear feedback loop for a risky production operation.

Body is the overview/procedure; worked-example, output-template, and anti-patterns are split into three real one-level-deep reference files, each clearly signaled with a relative link. Verified that references/worked-example.md, references/output-template.md, and references/anti-patterns.md all exist and match what is described.

Lists multiple concrete actions — "builds the cross-service dependency graph", "converts it into a numbered gate list", "derives the reverse-order rollback path", "Emits one cutover plan document with an authority table and a runtime log" — matching the multi-action anchor.

Explicitly answers both: what (sequence, graph, gate list, reverse path, document) and when via an explicit "Use when two or more teams must cut over interdependent services inside one shared release window..." clause. Not a 2 because the when is explicit, not implied.

Uses natural domain terms a planner would say — "multi-team release cutover", "release window", "interdependent services", "who calls each gate" — with good coverage rather than jargon. Not a 2 because common variations (cutover, release window, dependency order) are all present.

Occupies a narrow, well-defined niche — cross-team cutover sequencing — with triggers specific enough that it would not fire for a single-service release runbook or generic deployment help.