Owner ruling 2026-10-04: the module is a sunk cost, retrievable from
history if ever revisited. Removed: core practice contracts + pipeline
helpers, the PracticeStore port + adapter + data dir path, server
service + API routes (sets, clusters picker, practice aborts), the
practice pages + dialog/exam/list UI, chain-table's Generate handoff,
sidebar nav, activity-dock practice rows, and the partitioner/
problemGenerator/grader model roles (BACKGROUND_MODEL_ROLES 8 → 5).
Survivors, moved to core/chains.ts (pure + browser-safe): ReasoningChain,
chainsForSelection, formatChainLine — the chain table and graph
emission still consume them.
Owner live-test verdict on the spine (2026-09-30): no perceptible gain —
the real problems (restatement nodes, shallow re-derivations, same
conclusion from many angles) are mint-time issues a post-hoc chain
minter cannot fix. This arc moves assembly INTO the extractor and adds
the deterministic dedupe the owner specified:
- Digest-aware extraction: each stretch's extractor prompt carries THE
GRAPH SO FAR (its own source's merged propositions + chains, ids
verbatim); build on existing ids instead of restating, lean on
established conclusions as premises. Mixed-namespace chain endpoints
(fresh p-ids OR existing n_-ids) validated at the submit seam.
- Serialized per source: a source's batches/chunks run strictly in
order (each extract reads every earlier merge); cross-source runs
stay parallel; source-wide abort stops the loop. The spine stage,
role, phase, usage stage, cost row, and setup roster are gone.
- Core-ideas prompt: goal reframed as uncovering core ideas and showing
how everything derives from the foundations; direction upward, prefer
lean derivations, never re-derive what the graph already holds.
- Chain simplification (merger maintenance): simplifyChains drops
provably redundant chains at every merge — prefer-fewest-premises +
ancestry-cover ([A,B]⟹X with [X,C]⟹Y covers [A,B,C]⟹Y, transitive);
same-key provenance lines drop together; rewriteLedgers under the
audit lock; droppedChains counted separately in stats.
Chunk budget stays 8192 (owner: keep for now, maybe lower later).
Per-batch pipeline is now extract → spine → audit → merge (owner order,
2026-09-30), the spine inside the serialized audit section so it reads
the graph exactly as the following audit will. Measured motive: 0 of 133
chains in the live corpus crossed a stretch boundary — no stage minted
cross-stretch chains.
- src/agent/subagents/spine.ts: SESSION/NOTES spine preambles + shared
SPINE_CORE (span doctrine; extraction doctrines carried over), the
submit_spine TypeBox schema, validateSpine (mechanical span law: every
chain touches >=1 fresh endpoint AND >=1 existing digest endpoint;
unknown ids, self-reference, and id collisions are loud), the digest
prompt builder, and the runner (strong tier, retry-only).
- extraction.ts: 'assembling' phase, spine stage in the per-need gate,
usage/billing stage, assemble() inside withAuditLock for both front
doors; first stretch of a source skips the call (empty digest, no
spend); the audit sees COMBINED propositions (chunk + connectives),
never chains; merger receives the combined findings.
- core/graph.ts mergeFindings: chain endpoints resolve through the
job-local map OR pass through verbatim as existing n_ ids (the spine's
mixed namespace).
- EXTRACTION_CORE: steps-of-reasoning selection bar (examples, notation
glosses, and restatements that no argument needs are not steps).
- Factory chunk budget 4096 -> 8192 (fewer seams, more local context).
- healStringifiedArrays moved to the shared submit seam (submit-agent.ts).
- Cost panel: Assembly row; usage records carry a spine stage (optional
on legacy records).
- Tests +5: prompt pins, span-law matrix, digest rendering, seeded
end-to-end flow (spanning chain + connective, verbatim n_ endpoint,
spine billed as its own stage), non-spanning refused + retried.
src/agent/subagents/practice.ts: createPracticeAgents(deps) with the
ExtractionModels mirror (per-stage engine overrides + engineFor +
providerKeyMissing + refuseIfStagesUnready, all three roles strong-tier).
Generator doctrine = the owner's problem-engineering framework verbatim
(minus Sources) + Part III wiring section per the green-lit amendments
(FULL SET input with minimal-use doctrine; degradation never in
meta-commentary). Partitioner: true-partition doctrine, validate via
chainCoverage + exactly-once + unknown-ids, error-back retries through
runSubmitAgent's new validate hook (ToolInputError → error tool result).
Generator: echo law (chains set === target). Grader: verdict union +
nonempty feedback (schema-enforced). renderChains/renderPropositions/
renderParams/renderPreviousProblems. BACKGROUND_MODEL_ROLES extended with
the practice trio (settings override symmetry). runSubmitAgent gains the
validate seam (null = accept). 16-test faux-engine suite incl. retry
paths, refusal gates, neverSubmitted.
The owner's asymmetry find (interlude over the zero-keys wave): the
models-unconfigured case guards BEFORE send — no request, no chat
created, setup opens — but the key cases only reacted to the 503 after
POST /api/chats had already created the record, leaving orphan error-shell
chats in the sidebar. The guards now twin the models mechanism on BOTH
creation paths (home start(), /chat/new send()):
- Zero keys (useZeroKeys reuse): no provider key present -> skip creation
and send entirely, open SetupDialog (stage 1 first-key screen).
- Strong-provider key missing (owner-approved extension): keys exist
generally but the strong slot's pinned provider has none — the original
deleted-key scenario. New pure strongKeyless(catalog) in setup-cta.tsx:
slots.strong resolved pin + providers[] (present-key only, the catalog's
own federation surface), false when unconfigured (the models guard owns
that case) or catalog not loaded (the server 503 gate remains the belt).
useStrongKeyless rides useModelCatalog, re-reading on the 'keys' AND
'models' signals (a deleted key or a re-pinned slot flips it live).
Both guards run after the configured check, same
skip-everything-and-open-setup treatment; 'force' (setup's onDone replay)
bypasses both — completing setup implies a keyed provider. /chat/[id]
sessions keep the 503 revert-draft interception unchanged: those chats
legitimately exist.
Pins: strongKeyless fires on a keyless strong pin (keys elsewhere or
none), never fires with the pin's key present (incl. the keyPresent=false
belt), false on unset pin / unloaded catalog. Normal-path pins ride the
existing startDraftSession contract suite. Live-verified on :3001 under
LH_IGNORE_ENV_KEYS=1 with a file-key anthropic + openrouter-pinned strong:
both guards on both pages (setup opens stage-1 / stage-2 respectively,
draft preserved, 154 chats unchanged, zero sidebar entries), normal path
with a keyed strong provider still creates and lands the prompt redirect.
929/929, tsc/lint/build green.
Over Platform's 66dbea9 key-presence seam, the five owner-locked tasks:
1. Zero-keys pill — components/setup-cta.tsx: pure hasProviderKey
(classifyKeys reuse — tool keys like Deepgram never count), useZeroKeys
(GET /api/keys, re-read on the new lh:settings-saved 'keys' signal),
ZeroKeysPill (testid setup-cta-keys) taking PRECEDENCE over the models
CTA on chat/home/new-session. SettingsSection gains 'keys'; keys-section
dispatches after save AND delete.
2. Setup stage 1 is self-contained: provider picker (MenuShell +
ProviderMenuList) + key paste + Save via PUT /api/keys/:id — the dialog
STAYS MOUNTED; its own save dispatches the keys signal, the fetch effect
re-runs on it, and the stage flips to the pickers on its own.
onOpenKeys + setup-open-keys die. SetupKeysBody exported for SSR pins.
3. parseProviderKeyRefusal (chat.tsx, envelope-verbatim twin of
parseModelsRefusal) joins the revert-draft-and-open-setup interception;
activity-dock reads 'needs a provider key'; dispatch-card shows
'Add a key' — both deep-link setup, which lands on stage 1 by itself.
4. Dictation trio: the token route's only 503 (missing Deepgram key)
becomes the client-authored DICTATION_KEYLESS short line; the errored
idle click clears the error and deep-links Settings -> Keys ->
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY via the new open(section, row) seam (dialog landOnRow
-> SettingsDialogBody initialRow -> KeysSection openRow follow-effect).
Live-verified on :3001 under LH_IGNORE_ENV_KEYS=1 (the fresh-user switch):
pill on all three surfaces + precedence over the CTA, stage-1 save ->
auto-advance with dialog mounted, real 503 send refusal reverting the
draft and opening setup, dictation 503 -> short line -> Settings lands on
the unfolded Deepgram row with the error cleared, keys-section save and
delete both flipping the pill live, and a fabricated refused research job
rendering the 'Add a key' dispatch card. 926/926, tsc/lint/build green.
amosblomqvist