test: empty commit — is dev CI red independent of any change?

Baseline probe. #89 shows red on dev CI and this Gitea instance does not serve Actions logs (404/500 on every route), so the only way to learn whether dev CI is broken on its own is to run it against dev with no change at all. Reproduced locally first: control (dev head) and treatment (dev + #89) produce BYTE-IDENTICAL test results — both build the self-hosted compiler and elb, both fail the same three timezone tests (earth-zone, dst-spring-forward, rhythm-grounding). That exonerates #89 locally. This probe asks the same question of the real runner. Close once it reports. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Sync main into dev (GitOps: keep dev current; main authoritative) (#84 )
2026-08-09 14:45:39 -05:00 · 2026-08-03 15:38:40 +00:00 · 2026-07-31 04:25:44 +00:00 · 2026-07-23 16:41:51 -03:00 · 2026-07-22 21:44:01 +00:00 · 2026-07-22 21:20:17 +00:00
22 changed files with 1037 additions and 3313 deletions
@@ -214,9 +214,18 @@ jobs:
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
        run: |
+          # Fail loudly: previously this step had no `set -e`, so an auth or
+          # upload failure was swallowed (step exited 0 on the trailing echo)
+          # and the SDK silently never published. Surface failures now.
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -z "${GCP_SA_KEY:-}" ]; then
+            echo "FATAL: GCP_SA_KEY secret is empty — cannot authenticate to publish" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
          echo "${GCP_SA_KEY}" > /tmp/gcp-key.json
          gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=/tmp/gcp-key.json
          gcloud config set project neuron-785695
+          echo "Publishing as active account: $(gcloud config get-value account 2>/dev/null)"

          VERSION="${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}"

@@ -268,6 +277,12 @@ jobs:
        # Patches ci-base:dev in-place: pulls the existing image (which has all
        # system deps — Node, Go, gcloud, Docker CLI, etc.) and overlays the freshly
        # built El SDK on top. Keeps the full ci-base rebuild fast and incremental.
+        #
+        # continue-on-error: this is a CI-cache optimization, NOT the release
+        # artifact. It runs Docker (pull/build/push ~600MB) on the host-mode GCE
+        # runner where DinD/Docker availability is fragile. A failure here must
+        # never block or redden the job — the SDK publish above is the deliverable.
+        continue-on-error: true
        if: github.event_name == 'push'
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
@@ -212,12 +212,21 @@ jobs:
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
        run: |
+          # Fail loudly: previously this step had no `set -e`, so an auth or
+          # upload failure was swallowed (step exited 0 on the trailing echo)
+          # and the SDK silently never published. Surface failures now.
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -z "${GCP_SA_KEY:-}" ]; then
+            echo "FATAL: GCP_SA_KEY secret is empty — cannot authenticate to publish" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
          echo "${GCP_SA_KEY}" > /tmp/gcp-key.json
          apt-get install -y -qq apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl
          echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list
          apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y google-cloud-cli
          gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=/tmp/gcp-key.json
          gcloud config set project neuron-785695
+          echo "Publishing as active account: $(gcloud config get-value account 2>/dev/null)"

          VERSION="${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}"

@@ -253,6 +262,12 @@ jobs:
        # Patches ci-base:stage in-place: pulls the existing image (which has all
        # system deps — Node, Go, gcloud, Docker CLI, etc.) and overlays the freshly
        # built El SDK on top. Keeps the full ci-base rebuild fast and incremental.
+        #
+        # continue-on-error: this is a CI-cache optimization, NOT the release
+        # artifact. It runs Docker (pull/build/push ~600MB) on the host-mode GCE
+        # runner where DinD/Docker availability is fragile. A failure here must
+        # never block or redden the job — the SDK publish above is the deliverable.
+        continue-on-error: true
        if: github.event_name == 'push'
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
@@ -288,12 +288,21 @@ jobs:
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
        run: |
+          # Fail loudly: previously this step had no `set -e`, so an auth or
+          # upload failure was swallowed (step exited 0 on the trailing echo)
+          # and the SDK silently never published. Surface failures now.
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -z "${GCP_SA_KEY:-}" ]; then
+            echo "FATAL: GCP_SA_KEY secret is empty — cannot authenticate to publish" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
          echo "${GCP_SA_KEY}" > /tmp/gcp-key.json
          apt-get install -y -qq apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl
          echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list
          apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y google-cloud-cli
          gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=/tmp/gcp-key.json
          gcloud config set project neuron-785695
+          echo "Publishing as active account: $(gcloud config get-value account 2>/dev/null)"

          VERSION="${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}"

@@ -345,6 +354,12 @@ jobs:
        # Patches ci-base:latest in-place: pulls the existing image (which has all
        # system deps — Node, Go, gcloud, Docker CLI, etc.) and overlays the freshly
        # built El SDK on top. Keeps the full ci-base rebuild fast and incremental.
+        #
+        # continue-on-error: this is a CI-cache optimization, NOT the release
+        # artifact. It runs Docker (pull/build/push ~600MB) on the host-mode GCE
+        # runner where DinD/Docker availability is fragile. A failure here must
+        # never block or redden the job — the SDK publish above is the deliverable.
+        continue-on-error: true
        if: github.event_name == 'push'
        env:
          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+# El
+
+**A self-hosting, statically-typed language that compiles to C — built around a graph-native runtime instead of a database driver.**
+
+El is the execution substrate for the Neuron agent runtime, the DHARMA network, and the Engram knowledge graph. This repository is the monorepo for the whole stack: the language itself, the graph memory engine it's built to talk to natively, and the tools (package manager, IDE, UI framework, diagramming) built on top of it.
+
+---
+
+## Why El exists
+
+Every other language treats persistent, associative state as something you reach for through a driver — a SQL client, an ORM, a Redis library bolted on from outside. El inverts that: graph operations (`engram_*`) are runtime primitives, on the same footing as string or list operations. There is no separate database driver because the database is not separate.
+
+El has four defining properties:
+
+1. **Self-hosting compiler.** The compiler (`lexer.el`, `parser.el`, `codegen.el`, `compiler.el`) is written in El. It compiles El source to C, which `cc` compiles against a fixed runtime into a native binary. A Rust genesis compiler bootstrapped the first iteration; the self-hosted binary at `lang/dist/platform/elc` has been the canonical compiler ever since — every binary in `dist/platform/` was produced by an earlier version of itself compiling `el-compiler/src/`. The chain is auditable: source is the ground truth, not the binary. See [lang/BOOTSTRAP.md](lang/BOOTSTRAP.md) for the full recovery path if that binary is ever lost.
+2. **C compilation target.** Every compiled program is plain C11. Every El value is `el_val_t` (`int64_t`); strings are heap pointers cast through it. Functions become C functions; top-level statements become `main()`.
+3. **Graph-native runtime.** The runtime provides first-class graph operations over an in-process Engram store — no separate DB driver, no ORM.
+4. **DHARMA-aware identity.** A `cgi` block declares a program's DHARMA identity at compile time. The runtime resolves identity before user code runs, so `dharma_*` calls have a stable principal and channel surface throughout.
+
+---
+
+## Architecture map
+
+```
+                     ┌─────────────┐
+                     │    lang     │   El compiler + C runtime
+                     │ (El itself) │   everything below is written in it,
+                     └──────┬──────┘   or compiles down through it
+                            │
+              ┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
+              │             │             │
+       ┌──────▼─────┐ ┌─────▼─────┐ ┌─────▼─────┐
+       │   engram   │ │    epm    │ │    ide    │
+       │ graph/mem  │ │  package  │ │  editor + │
+       │  substrate │ │  manager  │ │    LSP    │
+       └──────┬─────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘
+              │
+      ┌───────┼────────────────┬─────────────────────┐
+      │       │                │                     │
+┌─────▼───┐ ┌─▼──────────┐  ┌──▼──────────┐    ┌─────▼──────┐
+│   elp   │ │ ql         │  │  ui         │    │   arbor    │
+│  NLG /  │ │engram-el.  │  |spreading-   │    |arbor       │
+│ 31 langs│ │studio+tests│  |activation UI│    |diagram lang│
+└─────────┘ └────────────┘  └─────────────┘    └────────────┘
+```
+
+`lang` is the foundation — the compiler and C runtime everything else builds on. `engram` is the graph-native memory/state engine that gives El its identity (property 3 above). Everything else is either a tool for working with El (`epm`, `ide`) or a system built on top of Engram's graph model (`elp`, `ql`, `ui`, `arbor`).
+
+---
+
+## Repository layout
+
+### [lang/](lang/) — the El language
+
+The compiler and runtime. Self-hosting: `elc-cli.el` → `compiler.el` → `lexer.el` / `parser.el` / `codegen.el` / `codegen-js.el`, textually inlined and compiled in one pass. Compiles to C11 and links against `el-compiler/runtime/el_seed.c`, a hand-maintained OS-boundary layer (libcurl HTTP, pthreads, filesystem, arena allocation) — everything else in the runtime is native El (`runtime/*.el`).
+
+Two layers to know: **El programs** (`.el` files — where nearly all work belongs) and **the C seed** (`el_seed.c` — edit only for genuine OS-level access; never re-implement what El can already express).
+
+Current status (single source of truth: [lang/spec/language.md](lang/spec/language.md)): lexer/parser/codegen and the C runtime's core (I/O, strings, math, lists, maps, filesystem, args) are implemented. In flight: `%` operator, match-statement codegen, `?` nil-propagation, `cgi` block parsing + DHARMA identity resolution, VBD role enforcement (`@manager`/`@engine`/`@accessor`), the real `engram_*` and `dharma_*` runtimes (currently stubs), and libcurl-backed `http_get`/`http_post`/`http_serve`. Bitwise operators, `??`, and `as` casts are explicitly **not** in this language.
+
+Key docs: [AGENTS.md](lang/AGENTS.md) (agent-facing orientation), [BOOTSTRAP.md](lang/BOOTSTRAP.md) (compiler recovery from scratch), [spec/language.md](lang/spec/language.md), [spec/codegen-js.md](lang/spec/codegen-js.md).
+
+### [engram/](engram/) — graph intelligence substrate
+
+**A local-first memory substrate for accumulating intelligence**, and the reason El's runtime doesn't need a database driver. Rust core (`engram-core`, `engram-ffi`) exposed to El and other languages (Kotlin, TypeScript/WASM, Go bindings).
+
+The model: retrieval is **spreading activation**, not query. You name seed nodes and a query embedding; activation propagates outward through weighted edges, attenuating multiplicatively per hop (`strength = parent_strength × edge_weight × target_salience × cosine_sim`), gets pruned below a threshold, and the top-N nodes by activation strength come back. Storage and retrieval are the same structure — the way long-term potentiation works in biological memory, not the way a relational or vector database works.
+
+Nodes live in four tiers (Working / Episodic / Semantic / Procedural, mirroring prefrontal / hippocampal / neocortical / cerebellar memory) and migrate between them based on **salience decay** — `importance × recency-decay × log(activation_count)`. Forgetting is adaptive pruning, not a bug: unreinforced memories stop competing for attention without being deleted.
+
+Backed by `sled` (embedded, local-first, no daemon) with flat cosine scan for vector search — deliberately simple until scale demands an HNSW layer. Full API and design rationale in [engram/README.md](engram/README.md).
+
+### [elp/](elp/) — Engram Language Protocol
+
+Bidirectional engine mapping between Engram semantic forms and natural-language surface text, across **31 languages** — from Spanish and Japanese through historical/liturgical languages (Old Norse, Sanskrit, Sumerian, Coptic, Akkadian, Ge'ez). Compilation order runs `language-profile` + `vocabulary` → per-language `morphology-*` → `grammar` → `realizer` → `semantics` → `elp`. This is what lets an Engram graph node round-trip to and from readable text in any of those languages.
+
+### [epm/](epm/) — El Package Manager
+
+Manages **vessels** (El's package unit): publish, install, resolve dependencies. Vessels are stored in Engram as graph nodes, not files in a registry index — `epm` reads the local `manifest.el`, talks to Engram over HTTP, and writes resolved vessels to `.epm/vessels/`. Source: `registry.el`, `install.el`, `update.el`, `manifest.el`.
+
+### [ide/](ide/) — El IDE
+
+Three vessels: **el-ide-server** (HTTP backend — file ops, build/run, LSP bridge, plugin host, settings), **el-lsp** (the language server — completion, hover, diagnostics, outline, format, type graph), and **el-plugin-host** (first-party plugin lifecycle: install/remove/enable/disable). `ide/projects/` and `ide/examples/` hold sample projects, including the canonical `hello-friends` first-program walkthrough.
+
+### [ql/](ql/) — engram-el
+
+The El-native integration layer for a *live* Engram server — not a library (no importable modules, no build artifact), a set of standalone `.el` programs run directly via `el run-file`. Three components: **Studio** (`studio/studio.el`, a full terminal graph explorer), a **Hebbian field-model** proof of concept, and El builtin / LLM-builtin smoke test suites. This is the reference for correct patterns when an El program uses Engram as its substrate. Spec: [ql/spec/elql.md](ql/spec/elql.md).
+
+### [ui/](ui/) — el-ui
+
+A frontend framework where **component state is an Engram graph and reactivity is spreading activation** — not virtual-DOM diffing (React), Proxy-based dependency tracking (Vue), or compile-time analysis (Svelte). Re-renders are activated and propagated the same way associative memory retrieval works in `engram/`.
+
+~15 vessels covering the full frontend surface: `el-platform` (env/fs/network/clock abstraction), `el-config`, `el-html` (SSR emit primitives), `el-layout`, `el-style` (design tokens/themes), `el-i18n`, `el-auth` / `el-identity` (JWT, sessions, OAuth PKCE — Engram-native), `el-services` (REST/gRPC/WebSocket bindings), `el-aop` (`@authenticate`/`@authorize`/`@cache`/`@rate_limit` decorators), `el-secrets`, `el-graph` (graph rendering/editor), `el-publish` (App Store / Play Store automation), and `el-ui-compiler` (El→JS component compiler; currently a stub pending a JS backend in `elc`). Spec: [ui/spec/framework.md](ui/spec/framework.md).
+
+### [arbor/](arbor/) — diagram language
+
+A `.arbor` diagram language and toolchain: `arbor-core` (NodeId/shape/edge-kind types), `arbor-parse` (recursive-descent parser), `arbor-diagram` (IR + Mermaid serializer + architecture-diagram builders), `arbor-layout` (hierarchical layout — rank assignment, positioning, group bounds), `arbor-render` (SVG renderer), `arbor-cli`. (The architecture map above is the kind of diagram this is for.)
+
+---
+
+## Getting started
+
+Install the El SDK from the latest release:
+
+```bash
+bash lang/install.sh
+# EL_VERSION=v1.0.0   bash lang/install.sh   # pin a specific release tag
+# EL_PREFIX=/opt/el   bash lang/install.sh   # custom install prefix
+```
+
+Or build the compiler from source and verify the self-hosting chain:
+
+```bash
+cd lang
+./dist/platform/elc elc-cli.el > elc-new.c
+cc -std=c11 -I el-compiler/runtime -lcurl -lpthread \
+   -o dist/platform/elc-new \
+   elc-new.c el-compiler/runtime/el_seed.c
+
+# Confirm the new binary reproduces itself exactly
+./dist/platform/elc-new elc-cli.el > elc-verify.c
+diff elc-new.c elc-verify.c   # should be identical
+
+mv dist/platform/elc-new dist/platform/elc
+```
+
+Run your first program:
+
+```bash
+./lang/dist/platform/elc lang/examples/hello.el > hello.c
+cc -std=c11 -I lang/el-compiler/runtime -lcurl -lpthread \
+   -o hello hello.c lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_seed.c
+./hello
+```
+
+More examples in [lang/examples/](lang/examples/), including a full starter project at `lang/examples/hello-project/`.
+
+If the compiler binary is ever lost or corrupted, [lang/BOOTSTRAP.md](lang/BOOTSTRAP.md) is the authoritative recovery path.
+
+---
+
+## Development workflow
+
+Branching follows `dev → stage → main`: work lands on `dev`, promotes to `stage` for integration testing, and is promoted to `main` for release (visible directly in the git history of this repo). CI is defined per-subproject under `.gitea/workflows/` — `lang`/`epm`/`ide` share the root pipeline; `engram` and `ql` carry their own (`ci-dev`, `ci-stage`, and a release workflow each).
+
+- Language/runtime specs live at `*/spec/*.md` (`lang/spec/`, `ql/spec/`, `ui/spec/`) and are the single source of truth for implemented-vs-planned status — code and docs are expected to agree with the spec's status markers, not the other way around.
+- Agent-facing orientation guides live at `*/AGENTS.md` (currently `lang/AGENTS.md`); more subprojects may grow their own as they need agent-specific conventions documented.
+- Tagged releases live under `lang/releases/`, each with its own `RELEASE.md`.
+
+---
+
+## Status
+
+This is an actively developed, internal monorepo — not yet published under an open license. Treat everything here as proprietary to Neuron Technologies unless told otherwise.
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ jobs:
      # Link to produce the engram binary
      - name: Link engram binary
        run: |
-          cc -std=c11 -O2 \
+          cc -std=c11 -O2 -DHAVE_CURL \
            -I /usr/local/lib/el \
            -o dist/engram \
            dist/engram.c \
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
      # Link to produce the engram binary
      - name: Link engram binary
        run: |
-          cc -std=c11 -O2 \
+          cc -std=c11 -O2 -DHAVE_CURL \
            -I /usr/local/lib/el \
            -o dist/engram \
            dist/engram.c \
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:
      # Link to produce the engram binary
      - name: Link engram binary
        run: |
-          cc -std=c11 -O2 \
+          cc -std=c11 -O2 -DHAVE_CURL \
            -I /usr/local/lib/el \
            -o dist/engram \
            dist/engram.c \
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ el_val_t query_param(el_val_t path, el_val_t key);
 el_val_t query_int(el_val_t path, el_val_t key, el_val_t default_val);
 el_val_t extract_id(el_val_t path, el_val_t prefix);
 el_val_t route_stats(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
-el_val_t route_act_stats(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
-el_val_t route_text_health(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t persist_canonical(void);
 el_val_t route_create_node(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_get_node(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
@@ -20,19 +18,16 @@ el_val_t route_scan_edges(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_search(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_activate(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_create_edge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
-el_val_t route_create_edges_batch(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_neighbors(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_strengthen(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_forget(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_save(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_load(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_health(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
-el_val_t route_embed_backfill(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_sync(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_load_merge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_emit_ise(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t route_capture_knowledge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
-el_val_t route_similarity(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t check_auth_ok(el_val_t method, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);

@@ -121,20 +116,11 @@ el_val_t route_stats(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  return 0;
 }

-el_val_t route_act_stats(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  return engram_act_stats_json();
-  return 0;
-}
-
-el_val_t route_text_health(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  return engram_text_health_json();
-  return 0;
-}
-
 el_val_t persist_canonical(void) {
  el_val_t dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_1 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_1 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_1 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_1; });
-  return engram_save(el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json")));
+  engram_save(el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json")));
+  return 1;
  return 0;
 }

@@ -142,18 +128,9 @@ el_val_t route_create_node(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t content = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("content"));
  el_val_t nt_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("node_type"));
  el_val_t node_type = ({ el_val_t _if_result_2 = 0; if (str_eq(nt_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_2 = (EL_STR("Memory")); } else { _if_result_2 = (nt_raw); } _if_result_2; });
-  el_val_t sal_present = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("salience"));
-  el_val_t salience = ({ el_val_t _if_result_3 = 0; if (str_eq(sal_present, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_3 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_3 = (json_get_float(body, EL_STR("salience"))); } _if_result_3; });
-  el_val_t label_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("label"));
-  el_val_t label = ({ el_val_t _if_result_4 = 0; if (str_eq(label_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_4 = (content); } else { _if_result_4 = (label_raw); } _if_result_4; });
-  el_val_t imp_present = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("importance"));
-  el_val_t importance = ({ el_val_t _if_result_5 = 0; if (str_eq(imp_present, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_5 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_5 = (json_get_float(body, EL_STR("importance"))); } _if_result_5; });
-  el_val_t conf_present = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("confidence"));
-  el_val_t confidence = ({ el_val_t _if_result_6 = 0; if (str_eq(conf_present, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_6 = (el_from_float(1.0)); } else { _if_result_6 = (json_get_float(body, EL_STR("confidence"))); } _if_result_6; });
-  el_val_t tier_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("tier"));
-  el_val_t tier = ({ el_val_t _if_result_7 = 0; if (str_eq(tier_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_7 = (EL_STR("Working")); } else { _if_result_7 = (tier_raw); } _if_result_7; });
-  el_val_t tags = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("tags"));
-  el_val_t id = engram_node_full(content, node_type, label, salience, importance, confidence, tier, tags);
+  el_val_t sal_raw = json_get_float(body, EL_STR("salience"));
+  el_val_t salience = ({ el_val_t _if_result_3 = 0; if ((sal_raw == el_from_float(0.0))) { _if_result_3 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_3 = (sal_raw); } _if_result_3; });
+  el_val_t id = engram_node(content, node_type, salience);
  el_val_t saved = persist_canonical();
  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"id\":\""), id), EL_STR("\",\"content\":\"")), content), EL_STR("\",\"node_type\":\"")), node_type), EL_STR("\"}"));
  return 0;
@@ -181,7 +158,7 @@ el_val_t route_scan_nodes(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {

 el_val_t route_scan_edges(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_8 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_8 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_8 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_8; });
+  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_4 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_4 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_4 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_4; });
  el_val_t snap_path = el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/.scan-export.json"));
  engram_save(snap_path);
  el_val_t snap = fs_read(snap_path);
@@ -197,22 +174,22 @@ el_val_t route_scan_edges(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
 }

 el_val_t route_search(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  el_val_t q = ({ el_val_t _if_result_9 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_9 = (query_param(path, EL_STR("q"))); } else { _if_result_9 = (json_get_string(body, EL_STR("query"))); } _if_result_9; });
+  el_val_t q = ({ el_val_t _if_result_5 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_5 = (query_param(path, EL_STR("q"))); } else { _if_result_5 = (json_get_string(body, EL_STR("query"))); } _if_result_5; });
  el_val_t lim_url = query_int(path, EL_STR("limit"), 0);
  el_val_t lim_body = json_get_int(body, EL_STR("limit"));
-  el_val_t lim_either = ({ el_val_t _if_result_10 = 0; if ((lim_url > 0)) { _if_result_10 = (lim_url); } else { _if_result_10 = (lim_body); } _if_result_10; });
-  el_val_t limit = ({ el_val_t _if_result_11 = 0; if ((lim_either > 0)) { _if_result_11 = (lim_either); } else { _if_result_11 = (20); } _if_result_11; });
+  el_val_t lim_either = ({ el_val_t _if_result_6 = 0; if ((lim_url > 0)) { _if_result_6 = (lim_url); } else { _if_result_6 = (lim_body); } _if_result_6; });
+  el_val_t limit = ({ el_val_t _if_result_7 = 0; if ((lim_either > 0)) { _if_result_7 = (lim_either); } else { _if_result_7 = (20); } _if_result_7; });
  return engram_search_json(q, limit);
  return 0;
 }

 el_val_t route_activate(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  el_val_t q = ({ el_val_t _if_result_12 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_12 = (query_param(path, EL_STR("q"))); } else { _if_result_12 = (json_get_string(body, EL_STR("query"))); } _if_result_12; });
+  el_val_t q = ({ el_val_t _if_result_8 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_8 = (query_param(path, EL_STR("q"))); } else { _if_result_8 = (json_get_string(body, EL_STR("query"))); } _if_result_8; });
  if (str_eq(q, EL_STR(""))) {
    return err_json(EL_STR("missing query"));
  }
-  el_val_t d_raw = ({ el_val_t _if_result_13 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_13 = (query_int(path, EL_STR("depth"), 3)); } else { _if_result_13 = (json_get_int(body, EL_STR("depth"))); } _if_result_13; });
-  el_val_t depth = ({ el_val_t _if_result_14 = 0; if ((d_raw > 0)) { _if_result_14 = (d_raw); } else { _if_result_14 = (3); } _if_result_14; });
+  el_val_t d_raw = ({ el_val_t _if_result_9 = 0; if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET"))) { _if_result_9 = (query_int(path, EL_STR("depth"), 3)); } else { _if_result_9 = (json_get_int(body, EL_STR("depth"))); } _if_result_9; });
+  el_val_t depth = ({ el_val_t _if_result_10 = 0; if ((d_raw > 0)) { _if_result_10 = (d_raw); } else { _if_result_10 = (3); } _if_result_10; });
  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"results\":"), engram_activate_json(q, depth)), EL_STR("}"));
  return 0;
 }
@@ -221,50 +198,15 @@ el_val_t route_create_edge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t from_id = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("from_id"));
  el_val_t to_id = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("to_id"));
  el_val_t rel_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("relation"));
-  el_val_t relation = ({ el_val_t _if_result_15 = 0; if (str_eq(rel_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_15 = (EL_STR("associates")); } else { _if_result_15 = (rel_raw); } _if_result_15; });
-  el_val_t w_present = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("weight"));
-  el_val_t weight = ({ el_val_t _if_result_16 = 0; if (str_eq(w_present, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_16 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_16 = (json_get_float(body, EL_STR("weight"))); } _if_result_16; });
+  el_val_t relation = ({ el_val_t _if_result_11 = 0; if (str_eq(rel_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_11 = (EL_STR("associates")); } else { _if_result_11 = (rel_raw); } _if_result_11; });
+  el_val_t w_raw = json_get_float(body, EL_STR("weight"));
+  el_val_t weight = ({ el_val_t _if_result_12 = 0; if ((w_raw == el_from_float(0.0))) { _if_result_12 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_12 = (w_raw); } _if_result_12; });
  engram_connect(from_id, to_id, weight, relation);
  el_val_t saved = persist_canonical();
  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":true,\"from_id\":\""), from_id), EL_STR("\",\"to_id\":\"")), to_id), EL_STR("\",\"relation\":\"")), relation), EL_STR("\"}"));
  return 0;
 }

-el_val_t route_create_edges_batch(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  el_val_t arr = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("edges"));
-  if (str_eq(arr, EL_STR(""))) {
-    return err_json(EL_STR("missing edges array"));
-  }
-  el_val_t n = json_array_len(arr);
-  if (n == 0) {
-    return EL_STR("{\"ok\":true,\"accepted\":0,\"skipped\":0}");
-  }
-  el_val_t i = 0;
-  el_val_t accepted = 0;
-  el_val_t skipped = 0;
-  while (i < n) {
-    el_val_t item = json_array_get(arr, i);
-    el_val_t from_id = json_get_string(item, EL_STR("from_id"));
-    el_val_t to_id = json_get_string(item, EL_STR("to_id"));
-    if (str_eq(from_id, EL_STR("")) || str_eq(to_id, EL_STR(""))) {
-      skipped = (skipped + 1);
-    } else {
-      el_val_t rel_raw = json_get_string(item, EL_STR("relation"));
-      el_val_t relation = ({ el_val_t _if_result_17 = 0; if (str_eq(rel_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_17 = (EL_STR("associates")); } else { _if_result_17 = (rel_raw); } _if_result_17; });
-      el_val_t w_present = json_get_raw(item, EL_STR("weight"));
-      el_val_t weight = ({ el_val_t _if_result_18 = 0; if (str_eq(w_present, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_18 = (el_from_float(0.5)); } else { _if_result_18 = (json_get_float(item, EL_STR("weight"))); } _if_result_18; });
-      engram_connect(from_id, to_id, weight, relation);
-      accepted = (accepted + 1);
-    }
-    i = (i + 1);
-  }
-  if (accepted > 0) {
-    el_val_t saved = persist_canonical();
-  }
-  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":true,\"accepted\":"), int_to_str(accepted)), EL_STR(",\"skipped\":")), int_to_str(skipped)), EL_STR("}"));
-  return 0;
-}
-
 el_val_t route_neighbors(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t id = extract_id(path, EL_STR("/api/neighbors/"));
  if (str_eq(id, EL_STR(""))) {
@@ -300,51 +242,36 @@ el_val_t route_forget(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
 el_val_t route_save(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t p_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("path"));
  el_val_t dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_19 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_19 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_19 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_19; });
-  el_val_t p = ({ el_val_t _if_result_20 = 0; if (str_eq(p_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_20 = (el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"))); } else { _if_result_20 = (p_raw); } _if_result_20; });
-  el_val_t sv = engram_save(p);
-  el_val_t sv_ok = ({ el_val_t _if_result_21 = 0; if ((sv == 0)) { _if_result_21 = (EL_STR("false")); } else { _if_result_21 = (EL_STR("true")); } _if_result_21; });
-  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":"), sv_ok), EL_STR(",\"path\":\"")), p), EL_STR("\",\"node_count\":")), int_to_str(engram_node_count())), EL_STR(",\"edge_count\":")), int_to_str(engram_edge_count())), EL_STR("}"));
+  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_13 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_13 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_13 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_13; });
+  el_val_t p = ({ el_val_t _if_result_14 = 0; if (str_eq(p_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_14 = (el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"))); } else { _if_result_14 = (p_raw); } _if_result_14; });
+  engram_save(p);
+  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":true,\"path\":\""), p), EL_STR("\"}"));
  return 0;
 }

 el_val_t route_load(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t p_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("path"));
  el_val_t dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_22 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_22 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_22 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_22; });
-  el_val_t p = ({ el_val_t _if_result_23 = 0; if (str_eq(p_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_23 = (el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"))); } else { _if_result_23 = (p_raw); } _if_result_23; });
-  el_val_t ld = engram_load(p);
-  el_val_t ld_ok = ({ el_val_t _if_result_24 = 0; if ((ld == 0)) { _if_result_24 = (EL_STR("false")); } else { _if_result_24 = (EL_STR("true")); } _if_result_24; });
-  el_val_t nc_after = engram_node_count();
-  el_val_t hollow = ({ el_val_t _if_result_25 = 0; if ((nc_after == 0)) { _if_result_25 = (EL_STR("true")); } else { _if_result_25 = (EL_STR("false")); } _if_result_25; });
-  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":"), ld_ok), EL_STR(",\"path\":\"")), p), EL_STR("\",\"node_count\":")), int_to_str(nc_after)), EL_STR(",\"edge_count\":")), int_to_str(engram_edge_count())), EL_STR(",\"hollow\":")), hollow), EL_STR("}"));
+  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_15 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_15 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_15 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_15; });
+  el_val_t p = ({ el_val_t _if_result_16 = 0; if (str_eq(p_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_16 = (el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"))); } else { _if_result_16 = (p_raw); } _if_result_16; });
+  engram_load(p);
+  return ok_json();
  return 0;
 }

 el_val_t route_health(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"status\":\"ok\",\"engine\":\"engram-runtime-native\",\"node_count\":"), int_to_str(engram_node_count())), EL_STR(",\"edge_count\":")), int_to_str(engram_edge_count())), EL_STR("}"));
-  return 0;
-}
-
-el_val_t route_embed_backfill(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  el_val_t n = query_int(path, EL_STR("n"), 32);
-  el_val_t result = engram_embed_backfill(n);
-  el_val_t done = json_get_float(result, EL_STR("embedded"));
-  if (done > el_from_float(0.0)) {
-    el_val_t saved = persist_canonical();
-  }
-  return result;
+  return EL_STR("{\"status\":\"ok\",\"engine\":\"engram-runtime-native\"}");
  return 0;
 }

 el_val_t route_sync(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_26 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_26 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_26 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_26; });
+  el_val_t dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_17 = 0; if (str_eq(dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_17 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_17 = (dir_raw); } _if_result_17; });
  el_val_t snap_path = el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/.sync-export.json"));
  engram_save(snap_path);
  el_val_t snap = fs_read(snap_path);
  if (str_eq(snap, EL_STR(""))) {
-    return err_json(EL_STR("sync export failed: snapshot unreadable"));
+    return EL_STR("{\"nodes\":[],\"edges\":[]}");
  }
  return snap;
  return 0;
@@ -378,7 +305,7 @@ el_val_t route_emit_ise(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t conf = el_from_float(0.8);
  el_val_t id = engram_node_full(content, EL_STR("InternalStateEvent"), EL_STR("state-event"), sal, imp, conf, EL_STR("Episodic"), EL_STR("[\"internal-state\",\"InternalStateEvent\"]"));
  el_val_t ret_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_ISE_RETENTION_MS"));
-  el_val_t ret_ms = ({ el_val_t _if_result_27 = 0; if (str_eq(ret_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_27 = (172800000); } else { _if_result_27 = (str_to_int(ret_raw)); } _if_result_27; });
+  el_val_t ret_ms = ({ el_val_t _if_result_18 = 0; if (str_eq(ret_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_18 = (172800000); } else { _if_result_18 = (str_to_int(ret_raw)); } _if_result_18; });
  el_val_t pruned = engram_prune_telemetry(ret_ms);
  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"ok\":true,\"id\":\""), id), EL_STR("\",\"pruned\":")), int_to_str(pruned)), EL_STR("}"));
  return 0;
@@ -390,21 +317,21 @@ el_val_t route_capture_knowledge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body)
    return err_json(EL_STR("missing content"));
  }
  el_val_t title = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("title"));
-  el_val_t label = ({ el_val_t _if_result_28 = 0; if (str_eq(title, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_28 = (str_slice(content, 0, 60)); } else { _if_result_28 = (title); } _if_result_28; });
+  el_val_t label = ({ el_val_t _if_result_19 = 0; if (str_eq(title, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_19 = (str_slice(content, 0, 60)); } else { _if_result_19 = (title); } _if_result_19; });
  el_val_t category_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("category"));
-  el_val_t category = ({ el_val_t _if_result_29 = 0; if (str_eq(category_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_29 = (EL_STR("other")); } else { _if_result_29 = (category_raw); } _if_result_29; });
+  el_val_t category = ({ el_val_t _if_result_20 = 0; if (str_eq(category_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_20 = (EL_STR("other")); } else { _if_result_20 = (category_raw); } _if_result_20; });
  el_val_t ktier_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("tier"));
-  el_val_t ktier = ({ el_val_t _if_result_30 = 0; if (str_eq(ktier_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_30 = (EL_STR("note")); } else { _if_result_30 = (ktier_raw); } _if_result_30; });
+  el_val_t ktier = ({ el_val_t _if_result_21 = 0; if (str_eq(ktier_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_21 = (EL_STR("note")); } else { _if_result_21 = (ktier_raw); } _if_result_21; });
  el_val_t project = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("project"));
  el_val_t tags_raw = json_get_raw(body, EL_STR("tags"));
-  el_val_t tags_base = ({ el_val_t _if_result_31 = 0; if (str_eq(tags_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_31 = (EL_STR("[]")); } else { _if_result_31 = (tags_raw); } _if_result_31; });
+  el_val_t tags_base = ({ el_val_t _if_result_22 = 0; if (str_eq(tags_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_22 = (EL_STR("[]")); } else { _if_result_22 = (tags_raw); } _if_result_22; });
  el_val_t base_len = str_len(tags_base);
  el_val_t head = str_slice(tags_base, 0, (base_len - 1));
-  el_val_t sep = ({ el_val_t _if_result_32 = 0; if (str_eq(head, EL_STR("["))) { _if_result_32 = (EL_STR("")); } else { _if_result_32 = (EL_STR(",")); } _if_result_32; });
+  el_val_t sep = ({ el_val_t _if_result_23 = 0; if (str_eq(head, EL_STR("["))) { _if_result_23 = (EL_STR("")); } else { _if_result_23 = (EL_STR(",")); } _if_result_23; });
  el_val_t safe_cat = str_replace(category, EL_STR("\""), EL_STR("'"));
  el_val_t safe_tier = str_replace(ktier, EL_STR("\""), EL_STR("'"));
  el_val_t safe_proj = str_replace(project, EL_STR("\""), EL_STR("'"));
-  el_val_t proj_tag = ({ el_val_t _if_result_33 = 0; if (str_eq(safe_proj, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_33 = (EL_STR("")); } else { _if_result_33 = (el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR(",\"project:"), safe_proj), EL_STR("\""))); } _if_result_33; });
+  el_val_t proj_tag = ({ el_val_t _if_result_24 = 0; if (str_eq(safe_proj, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_24 = (EL_STR("")); } else { _if_result_24 = (el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR(",\"project:"), safe_proj), EL_STR("\""))); } _if_result_24; });
  el_val_t tags = el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(head, sep), EL_STR("\"category:")), safe_cat), EL_STR("\",\"tier:")), safe_tier), EL_STR("\"")), proj_tag), EL_STR("]"));
  el_val_t sal = el_from_float(0.5);
  el_val_t imp = el_from_float(0.5);
@@ -415,20 +342,6 @@ el_val_t route_capture_knowledge(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body)
  return 0;
 }

-el_val_t route_similarity(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  el_val_t a = query_param(path, EL_STR("a"));
-  el_val_t b = query_param(path, EL_STR("b"));
-  if (str_eq(a, EL_STR(""))) {
-    return err_json(EL_STR("missing a"));
-  }
-  if (str_eq(b, EL_STR(""))) {
-    return err_json(EL_STR("missing b"));
-  }
-  el_val_t sim = engram_cosine_sim(a, b);
-  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"a\":\""), a), EL_STR("\",\"b\":\"")), b), EL_STR("\",\"cosine\":")), float_to_str(sim)), EL_STR("}"));
-  return 0;
-}
-
 el_val_t check_auth_ok(el_val_t method, el_val_t body) {
  el_val_t key = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_API_KEY"));
  if (str_eq(key, EL_STR(""))) {
@@ -464,12 +377,6 @@ el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/stats")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/stats")))) {
    return route_stats(method, path, body);
  }
-  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/act-stats")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/act-stats")))) {
-    return route_act_stats(method, path, body);
-  }
-  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/text-health")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/text-health")))) {
-    return route_text_health(method, path, body);
-  }
  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("POST")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/nodes")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/nodes")))) {
    return route_create_node(method, path, body);
  }
@@ -488,9 +395,6 @@ el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("POST")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/edges")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/edges")))) {
    return route_create_edge(method, path, body);
  }
-  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("POST")) && (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/edges/batch")) || str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/edges/batch")))) {
-    return route_create_edges_batch(method, path, body);
-  }
  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && str_starts_with(clean, EL_STR("/api/neighbors/"))) {
    return route_neighbors(method, path, body);
  }
@@ -521,12 +425,6 @@ el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/sync"))) {
    return route_sync(method, path, body);
  }
-  if (str_eq(clean, EL_STR("/api/embed-backfill"))) {
-    return route_embed_backfill(method, path, body);
-  }
-  if (str_eq(method, EL_STR("GET")) && str_starts_with(clean, EL_STR("/api/similarity"))) {
-    return route_similarity(method, path, body);
-  }
  return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"error\":\"not found\",\"path\":\""), clean), EL_STR("\"}"));
  return 0;
 }
@@ -534,10 +432,10 @@ el_val_t handle_request(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
 int main(int _argc, char** _argv) {
  el_runtime_init_args(_argc, _argv);
  bind_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_BIND"));
-  bind_str = ({ el_val_t _if_result_34 = 0; if (str_eq(bind_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_34 = (EL_STR(":8742")); } else { _if_result_34 = (bind_raw); } _if_result_34; });
+  bind_str = ({ el_val_t _if_result_25 = 0; if (str_eq(bind_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_25 = (EL_STR(":8742")); } else { _if_result_25 = (bind_raw); } _if_result_25; });
  port = parse_port(bind_str);
  data_dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  data_dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_35 = 0; if (str_eq(data_dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_35 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_35 = (data_dir_raw); } _if_result_35; });
+  data_dir = ({ el_val_t _if_result_26 = 0; if (str_eq(data_dir_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_26 = (EL_STR("/tmp/engram")); } else { _if_result_26 = (data_dir_raw); } _if_result_26; });
  snapshot_path = el_str_concat(data_dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"));
  engram_load(snapshot_path);
  boot_snap = fs_read(snapshot_path);
@@ -76,38 +76,6 @@ fn route_stats(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    engram_stats_json()
 }

-// route_act_stats — GET /api/act-stats
-// (2026-08-04 self-review) engram_act_stats_json() has existed since the
-// 2026-07-27 review but was reachable ONLY through the soul daemon's heartbeat
-// binding. Every activation-layer gauge — WM evictions, breakthroughs, embedder
-// breaker state, context drift, and now the Hebbian counters — was therefore
-// invisible unless the soul happened to be running and its ISEs were read back
-// out of the store. Diagnosing the activation layer required a working soul,
-// which is exactly backwards: the lower layer should be observable on its own.
-// This review needed it to verify link formation and could not get at it. One
-// line of plumbing, and the whole activation layer becomes directly diagnosable.
-fn route_act_stats(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    engram_act_stats_json()
-}
-
-// route_text_health — GET /api/text-health
-// (2026-08-08 self-review) The daily census half of the text-integrity gauge.
-// Today's review found that the JSON parser had been replacing every \uXXXX
-// escape with a literal '?' for at least two months: 3,119 of 4,081
-// non-telemetry nodes (76%) were damaged, including the self traversal root
-// and every values node, and NOTHING detected it — because every gauge in the
-// system measured whether the machinery was running, and none measured whether
-// the text it carried was intact. No snapshot on disk predates the damage, so
-// it cannot be undone; it can only be made impossible to repeat quietly.
-//
-// The parser is fixed. This route is the standing check: `damaged` should now
-// hold flat at its historical floor and never climb. `write_damaged` (also on
-// the heartbeat as txt_damaged) is the live regression signal — non-zero means
-// a write path is mangling text right now.
-fn route_text_health(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    engram_text_health_json()
-}
-
 // (2026-07-18 self-review) Scoping sweep: `let` inside an if-block creates an
 // inner scope only — it does NOT mutate the outer binding (documented with
 // evidence in awareness.el, 2026-05-25). Every default/reassignment below used
@@ -133,54 +101,17 @@ fn route_text_health(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
 fn persist_canonical() -> Int {
    let dir_raw: String = env("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR")
    let dir: String = if str_eq(dir_raw, "") { "/tmp/engram" } else { dir_raw }
-    // (2026-08-10 self-review) This returned a hardcoded 1, which made every
-    // caller's `let saved: Int = persist_canonical()` a dead variable — six
-    // durable write paths each believed they had confirmation of a successful
-    // canonical persist and none of them had any. Propagate the real result.
-    return engram_save(dir + "/snapshot.json")
+    engram_save(dir + "/snapshot.json")
+    return 1
 }

-// INCOMPLETE-ROUTE FIX (2026-07-24 self-review): this route silently dropped
-// label, importance, tier, and tags — engram_node() defaults label to content
-// and importance to 0.5, so every node created over HTTP lost its metadata.
-// Observed live: the soul's boot-counter write-back landed with
-// label="soul:boot_count:99" (content), importance 0.5, no tags. Honor the
-// full field set via engram_node_full when any of them is supplied.
-// PRESENCE-AWARE DEFAULTS (2026-08-01 self-review): the old pattern
-// `if x == 0.0 { default }` made a legitimate 0.0 unrepresentable — a caller
-// setting salience/importance/weight to zero silently got 0.5. json_get_raw
-// returns "" when the key is ABSENT and the raw token when present, so
-// absence and zero are now distinguishable. Also: confidence was hardcoded
-// to 1.0 regardless of input — every HTTP-created node claimed full
-// epistemic confidence. Now honored from the payload (default 1.0).
 fn route_create_node(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let content: String = json_get_string(body, "content")
    let nt_raw: String = json_get_string(body, "node_type")
    let node_type: String = if str_eq(nt_raw, "") { "Memory" } else { nt_raw }
-    let sal_present: String = json_get_raw(body, "salience")
-    let salience: Float = if str_eq(sal_present, "") { 0.5 } else { json_get_float(body, "salience") }
-    let label_raw: String = json_get_string(body, "label")
-    let label: String = if str_eq(label_raw, "") { content } else { label_raw }
-    let imp_present: String = json_get_raw(body, "importance")
-    let importance: Float = if str_eq(imp_present, "") { 0.5 } else { json_get_float(body, "importance") }
-    let conf_present: String = json_get_raw(body, "confidence")
-    let confidence: Float = if str_eq(conf_present, "") { 1.0 } else { json_get_float(body, "confidence") }
-    let tier_raw: String = json_get_string(body, "tier")
-    let tier: String = if str_eq(tier_raw, "") { "Working" } else { tier_raw }
-    let tags: String = json_get_string(body, "tags")
-    // NO el_from_float WRAPPER (2026-08-01 self-review): salience/importance/
-    // confidence are already Float (el_val_t) values — json_get_float and
-    // Float literals both encode. Wrapping them in el_from_float AGAIN
-    // reinterpreted the boxed bits as a raw double, producing garbage that
-    // failed engram_decode_score's range check and clamped every HTTP-created
-    // node to defaults (salience 0.9 in → 0.5 stored; confidence 0.6 in → 1.0
-    // stored — verified live). route_emit_ise always passed Floats bare and
-    // its 0.3/0.3/0.8 stored correctly; this call now does the same.
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(
-        content, node_type, label,
-        salience, importance, confidence,
-        tier, tags
-    )
+    let sal_raw: Float = json_get_float(body, "salience")
+    let salience: Float = if sal_raw == 0.0 { 0.5 } else { sal_raw }
+    let id: String = engram_node(content, node_type, salience)
    let saved: Int = persist_canonical()
    "{\"id\":\"" + id + "\",\"content\":\"" + content + "\",\"node_type\":\"" + node_type + "\"}"
 }
@@ -246,64 +177,13 @@ fn route_create_edge(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let to_id: String = json_get_string(body, "to_id")
    let rel_raw: String = json_get_string(body, "relation")
    let relation: String = if str_eq(rel_raw, "") { "associates" } else { rel_raw }
-    // Presence-aware (2026-08-01): weight 0.0 is a legitimate edge weight
-    // (dormant association); only default when the key is absent.
-    let w_present: String = json_get_raw(body, "weight")
-    let weight: Float = if str_eq(w_present, "") { 0.5 } else { json_get_float(body, "weight") }
+    let w_raw: Float = json_get_float(body, "weight")
+    let weight: Float = if w_raw == 0.0 { 0.5 } else { w_raw }
    engram_connect(from_id, to_id, weight, relation)
    let saved: Int = persist_canonical()
    "{\"ok\":true,\"from_id\":\"" + from_id + "\",\"to_id\":\"" + to_id + "\",\"relation\":\"" + relation + "\"}"
 }

-// route_create_edges_batch — POST /api/edges/batch {"edges":[{from_id,to_id,relation,weight}, ...]}
-//
-// WHY THIS EXISTS (2026-08-07 self-review). persist_canonical() writes the
-// FULL canonical snapshot — 60MB at current graph size — and route_create_edge
-// calls it once per edge. That is correct for the interactive one-edge case and
-// ruinous for any bulk write: the soul's Hebbian consolidation path delivers
-// ~14 associations per 8-minute heartbeat, which through the single-edge route
-// would be ~840MB of disk writes per beat, ~150GB/day, to persist 14 edges.
-//
-// The fix is not to weaken durability — it is to make the unit of durability
-// the BATCH. Connect every edge, then snapshot exactly once. Same guarantee
-// (nothing acknowledged is lost to a restart), 1/N the writes. Empty or
-// malformed entries are skipped rather than aborting the batch: a consolidation
-// payload is best-effort by design, and one bad id should not cost the other 13.
-//
-// Returns the accepted count so the caller can tell delivery from silence.
-fn route_create_edges_batch(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    let arr: String = json_get_raw(body, "edges")
-    if str_eq(arr, "") { return err_json("missing edges array") }
-    let n: Int = json_array_len(arr)
-    if n == 0 { return "{\"ok\":true,\"accepted\":0,\"skipped\":0}" }
-    let i: Int = 0
-    let accepted: Int = 0
-    let skipped: Int = 0
-    while i < n {
-        let item: String = json_array_get(arr, i)
-        let from_id: String = json_get_string(item, "from_id")
-        let to_id: String = json_get_string(item, "to_id")
-        if str_eq(from_id, "") || str_eq(to_id, "") {
-            let skipped = skipped + 1
-        } else {
-            let rel_raw: String = json_get_string(item, "relation")
-            let relation: String = if str_eq(rel_raw, "") { "associates" } else { rel_raw }
-            let w_present: String = json_get_raw(item, "weight")
-            let weight: Float = if str_eq(w_present, "") { 0.5 } else { json_get_float(item, "weight") }
-            engram_connect(from_id, to_id, weight, relation)
-            let accepted = accepted + 1
-        }
-        let i = i + 1
-    }
-    // ONE snapshot for the whole batch — the entire point of this route.
-    // Skip it when nothing was accepted: an all-malformed payload must not
-    // trigger a 60MB write.
-    if accepted > 0 {
-        let saved: Int = persist_canonical()
-    }
-    return "{\"ok\":true,\"accepted\":" + int_to_str(accepted) + ",\"skipped\":" + int_to_str(skipped) + "}"
-}
-
 fn route_neighbors(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let id: String = extract_id(path, "/api/neighbors/")
    if str_eq(id, "") { return err_json("missing id") }
@@ -332,15 +212,8 @@ fn route_save(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let dir_raw: String = env("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR")
    let dir: String = if str_eq(dir_raw, "") { "/tmp/engram" } else { dir_raw }
    let p: String = if str_eq(p_raw, "") { dir + "/snapshot.json" } else { p_raw }
-    // (2026-08-10 self-review) engram_save returns 0 on an empty path and the
-    // route discarded it, so the response was a literal "ok":true regardless
-    // of whether anything was written. Report the actual result AND the counts
-    // that were supposed to have been written — the same move that made
-    // route_health honest on 2026-08-01. A caller can now tell "saved 13k
-    // nodes" from "saved nothing and said ok".
-    let sv: Int = engram_save(p)
-    let sv_ok: String = if sv == 0 { "false" } else { "true" }
-    "{\"ok\":" + sv_ok + ",\"path\":\"" + p + "\",\"node_count\":" + int_to_str(engram_node_count()) + ",\"edge_count\":" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()) + "}"
+    engram_save(p)
+    "{\"ok\":true,\"path\":\"" + p + "\"}"
 }

 fn route_load(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
@@ -348,59 +221,12 @@ fn route_load(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let dir_raw: String = env("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR")
    let dir: String = if str_eq(dir_raw, "") { "/tmp/engram" } else { dir_raw }
    let p: String = if str_eq(p_raw, "") { dir + "/snapshot.json" } else { p_raw }
-    // (2026-08-10 self-review) This was a stub response over the single most
-    // destructive operation in the server. engram_load returns 0 on an empty
-    // path, an unopenable file, a zero-length file, or malloc failure — and
-    // this route answered ok_json() in every one of those cases.
-    //
-    // Precise failure shape (el_runtime.c:9890): the fopen guard runs BEFORE
-    // the store reset, so a MISSING path is genuinely safe — it returns 0 with
-    // the graph intact. The dangerous case is a readable-but-malformed file:
-    // the reset loop frees every node and edge FIRST, then parses, so a
-    // truncated or non-snapshot JSON leaves a hollow store — and the caller
-    // was told "ok":true. With 37 GB of stale dated snapshots sitting in the
-    // data dir as tempting restore targets, "restore reported success and
-    // silently emptied the graph" is a live risk, not a hypothetical one.
-    //
-    // Fix: surface the return value AND the resulting counts. node_count=0
-    // after a load is the unambiguous hollow-store signal (same convention
-    // route_health adopted 2026-08-01). Callers can now verify a restore
-    // instead of trusting it.
-    let ld: Int = engram_load(p)
-    let ld_ok: String = if ld == 0 { "false" } else { "true" }
-    let nc_after: Int = engram_node_count()
-    let hollow: String = if nc_after == 0 { "true" } else { "false" }
-    "{\"ok\":" + ld_ok + ",\"path\":\"" + p + "\",\"node_count\":" + int_to_str(nc_after) + ",\"edge_count\":" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()) + ",\"hollow\":" + hollow + "}"
+    engram_load(p)
+    ok_json()
 }

-// (2026-08-01 self-review) Health previously returned a hardcoded literal —
-// it reported "ok" even when the snapshot failed to load and the store was
-// empty. Now reports live counts so a monitor can distinguish "up and
-// loaded" from "up and hollow" (node_count=0 after boot = failed load).
 fn route_health(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    "{\"status\":\"ok\",\"engine\":\"engram-runtime-native\",\"node_count\":" + int_to_str(engram_node_count()) + ",\"edge_count\":" + int_to_str(engram_edge_count()) + "}"
-}
-
-// route_embed_backfill — GET/POST /api/embed-backfill?n=48
-//
-// (2026-07-25 self-review) The lazy embedding backfill runs only inside
-// engram_activate, and nothing in production calls /api/activate on this
-// store — the soul's curiosity loop activates its own in-process graph.
-// After a restart from a snapshot without vectors, embedded_count stalled
-// at 93/12175 and would never recover. This route lets the soul's
-// heartbeat pump the backfill explicitly (48/min clears a 12k backlog in
-// ~4h). Persists the canonical snapshot whenever new vectors were
-// generated — the 2026-07-25 regression happened precisely because 3747
-// in-RAM embeddings were never snapshotted before a restart. Self-
-// limiting: once coverage is full, embedded=0 and no save occurs.
-fn route_embed_backfill(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    let n: Int = query_int(path, "n", 32)
-    let result: String = engram_embed_backfill(n)
-    let done: Float = json_get_float(result, "embedded")
-    if done > 0.0 {
-        let saved: Int = persist_canonical()
-    }
-    return result
+    "{\"status\":\"ok\",\"engine\":\"engram-runtime-native\"}"
 }

 // route_sync — return a snapshot of non-ISE/non-Working nodes for the soul daemon
@@ -423,16 +249,7 @@ fn route_sync(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    let snap_path: String = dir + "/.sync-export.json"
    engram_save(snap_path)
    let snap: String = fs_read(snap_path)
-    // 2026-08-02 self-review: this used to return {"nodes":[],"edges":[]} when
-    // the export/read failed. The soul's sync_ok test (awareness.el) only
-    // checks for "" and "{}", so that placeholder PASSED as a healthy sync:
-    // soul.last_sync_ok_ts got stamped, sync_age_ms stayed green, the
-    // sync_empty warn ISE never fired, and engram_sync reported added:0
-    // forever. A totally broken sync was indistinguishable from a quiet
-    // healthy one — the exact failure class this route was added to fix in
-    // the first place (see 2026-06-27 note above). Return a real error so the
-    // failure is loud on both sides.
-    if str_eq(snap, "") { return err_json("sync export failed: snapshot unreadable") }
+    if str_eq(snap, "") { return "{\"nodes\":[],\"edges\":[]}" }
    return snap
 }

@@ -554,25 +371,6 @@ fn route_capture_knowledge(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String
    "{\"ok\":true,\"id\":\"" + id + "\"}"
 }

-// route_similarity — GET /api/similarity?a=<id>&b=<id>
-//
-// (2026-08-01 self-review) engram_cosine_sim was added 2026-07-24
-// (bl-b2d1c944) with the stated purpose of exposing semantic distance to
-// "EL code and the introspection API" — but it had ZERO callers anywhere:
-// no route, no soul-daemon use. The activation path uses embeddings
-// internally (semantic seeding, Pass-2 additive term), but there was no way
-// to probe pairwise node similarity from outside. This closes that: cosine
-// in [-1,1], or -2 when either node is missing or not yet embedded (so
-// "not comparable" is distinguishable from "genuinely orthogonal" 0.0).
-fn route_similarity(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
-    let a: String = query_param(path, "a")
-    let b: String = query_param(path, "b")
-    if str_eq(a, "") { return err_json("missing a") }
-    if str_eq(b, "") { return err_json("missing b") }
-    let sim: Float = engram_cosine_sim(a, b)
-    "{\"a\":\"" + a + "\",\"b\":\"" + b + "\",\"cosine\":" + float_to_str(sim) + "}"
-}
-
 // ── Auth ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 fn check_auth_ok(method: String, body: String) -> Bool {
@@ -619,12 +417,6 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    if str_eq(method, "GET") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/stats") || str_eq(clean, "/stats")) {
        return route_stats(method, path, body)
    }
-    if str_eq(method, "GET") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/act-stats") || str_eq(clean, "/act-stats")) {
-        return route_act_stats(method, path, body)
-    }
-    if str_eq(method, "GET") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/text-health") || str_eq(clean, "/text-health")) {
-        return route_text_health(method, path, body)
-    }

    // Nodes
    if str_eq(method, "POST") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/nodes") || str_eq(clean, "/nodes")) {
@@ -647,13 +439,6 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
    if str_eq(method, "POST") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/edges") || str_eq(clean, "/edges")) {
        return route_create_edge(method, path, body)
    }
-    // Batch edge write — one snapshot for the whole payload. Must be tested
-    // BEFORE nothing else claims it; the exact-match on "/api/edges" above
-    // does not catch "/api/edges/batch", so order is not load-bearing here,
-    // but keeping the two adjacent keeps them from drifting apart.
-    if str_eq(method, "POST") && (str_eq(clean, "/api/edges/batch") || str_eq(clean, "/edges/batch")) {
-        return route_create_edges_batch(method, path, body)
-    }
    if str_eq(method, "GET") && str_starts_with(clean, "/api/neighbors/") {
        return route_neighbors(method, path, body)
    }
@@ -693,16 +478,6 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
        return route_sync(method, path, body)
    }

-    // Embedding backfill — pumped by the soul heartbeat (2026-07-25)
-    if str_eq(clean, "/api/embed-backfill") {
-        return route_embed_backfill(method, path, body)
-    }
-
-    // Semantic similarity probe (2026-08-01)
-    if str_eq(method, "GET") && str_starts_with(clean, "/api/similarity") {
-        return route_similarity(method, path, body)
-    }
-
    "{\"error\":\"not found\",\"path\":\"" + clean + "\"}"
 }

@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@
 //   4. Append dep to order after all its transitive deps
 //   5. Deduplicate: skip already-ordered vessels

+// ── Cross-module forward declarations ─────────────────────────────────────────
+// Defined in sibling epm modules; resolved at link time. The `extern fn` decls
+// give elc the C prototypes so generated install.c compiles cleanly under strict
+// compilers (gcc>=14 / clang) that reject implicit function declarations.
+extern fn manifest_name(src: String) -> String                        // manifest.el
+extern fn manifest_deps(src: String) -> String                        // manifest.el
+extern fn registry_token() -> String                                  // registry.el
+extern fn registry_find(name: String, version: String) -> String     // registry.el
+extern fn registry_latest_version(name: String) -> String            // registry.el
+
 // ── Install paths ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 // packages_dir returns the root directory for installed vessels.
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@
 //   EPM_REGISTRY_ORG — org name that hosts vessel repos (default: neuron-technologies)
 //   EPM_TOKEN      — Gitea personal access token (required for publish)

+// ── Cross-module forward declarations ─────────────────────────────────────────
+// These symbols are defined in sibling epm modules or the El runtime and are
+// resolved at link time. The `extern fn` decls give elc the C prototype so the
+// generated registry.c compiles cleanly under strict compilers (gcc>=14 / clang)
+// that reject implicit function declarations. Signature arity must match the
+// definition; return/param types are informational (all lower to el_val_t).
+extern fn config(key: String) -> String          // El runtime builtin
+extern fn read_installed() -> String              // install.el
+
 // ── Config helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 // registry_api_url returns the Gitea API base URL with no trailing slash.
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@
 // Depends on: registry.el (registry_latest_version, registry_find),
 //             install.el  (read_installed, install_vessel, installed_version)

+// ── Cross-module forward declarations ─────────────────────────────────────────
+// Defined in sibling epm modules; resolved at link time. The `extern fn` decls
+// give elc the C prototypes so generated update.c compiles cleanly under strict
+// compilers (gcc>=14 / clang) that reject implicit function declarations.
+extern fn read_installed() -> String                                  // install.el
+extern fn installed_version(name: String) -> String                   // install.el
+extern fn install_vessel(name: String, version: String) -> Bool      // install.el
+extern fn registry_latest_version(name: String) -> String            // registry.el
+
 // ── Semver helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 // semver_part extracts the Nth dot-separated component from a semver string.
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ static inline void* el_win_dlsym(void* handle, const char* name) {
 #include <direct.h>            /* _mkdir */
 #define mkdir(path, mode) _mkdir(path)     /* POSIX mkdir(path,mode) → _mkdir(path) */
 #define timegm _mkgmtime                   /* UTC tm → time_t */
+#define fsync(fd) _commit(fd)              /* no fsync() on Windows; _commit() (<io.h>) is the equiv */

 /* setenv/unsetenv: not in the Windows CRT; map to _putenv_s / SetEnvironmentVariable. */
 static inline int setenv(const char* name, const char* value, int overwrite) {
@@ -82,8 +82,14 @@ static _Thread_local ElArena _tl_arena = {NULL, 0, 0};
 static _Thread_local int     _tl_arena_active = 0;

 /* Binary-safe fs_read length — set by fs_read, consumed by http_send_response.
- * Allows serving PNGs and other binary files without strlen truncation. */
-static _Thread_local size_t  _tl_fs_read_len  = 0;
+ * Allows serving PNGs and other binary files without strlen truncation.
+ * PAIRED with the buffer pointer it describes: the length may only be applied
+ * to the exact buffer fs_read returned. Without the pairing, any handler that
+ * fs_read a file and then WRAPPED it into a larger response had that response
+ * truncated to the file's length (Content-Length lied AND the send stopped
+ * short) — the safety-contact onboarding trap, 2026-07-17. */
+static _Thread_local size_t      _tl_fs_read_len  = 0;
+static _Thread_local const char* _tl_fs_read_buf  = NULL;

 static void el_arena_track(char* p) {
    if (!_tl_arena_active || !p) return;
@@ -101,6 +107,8 @@ static void el_arena_track(char* p) {
 void el_request_start(void) {
    _tl_arena.count  = 0;
    _tl_arena_active = 1;
+    _tl_fs_read_len  = 0;     /* never let a previous request's file length */
+    _tl_fs_read_buf  = NULL;  /* leak into this response's byte accounting  */
 }

 /* Called by http_worker after the El handler returns and the response is sent.
@@ -1484,11 +1492,14 @@ static void http_send_response(int fd, const char* body) {
    }

    const char* eff_body = is_envelope ? env_body : body;
-    /* Use the real byte count from fs_read if available (handles binary files
-     * with embedded null bytes — PNG, WOFF2, etc.). Fall back to strlen for
-     * normal text/JSON responses where _tl_fs_read_len is 0. */
-    size_t blen = (_tl_fs_read_len > 0) ? _tl_fs_read_len : strlen(eff_body);
+    /* Use the real byte count from fs_read ONLY when this body IS the exact
+     * buffer fs_read returned (binary files with embedded null bytes — PNG,
+     * WOFF2, etc.). Any other body — wrapped, enveloped, or derived — must be
+     * measured with strlen, or it is truncated/over-read to the file's size. */
+    size_t blen = (_tl_fs_read_len > 0 && eff_body == _tl_fs_read_buf)
+                      ? _tl_fs_read_len : strlen(eff_body);
    _tl_fs_read_len = 0;  /* consume — one-shot per response */
+    _tl_fs_read_buf = NULL;
    int head_only = _tl_http_head_only;

    JsonBuf hdrs; jb_init(&hdrs);
@@ -1545,17 +1556,6 @@ typedef struct {
 #endif
 } HttpWorkerArg;

-/* Forward declarations for the loopback/API-key hardening helpers defined
- * further down. Without these, http_worker's calls below were implicit
- * declarations and the later `static` definitions conflicted with them — this
- * file did not compile at all. (2026-08-08 self-review: the hardening work
- * they belong to had been sitting uncommitted in the working tree since
- * 2026-07-15 in exactly this non-building state, which is presumably why it
- * was never committed. Adding the two prototypes is the whole fix.) */
-static int  el_http_request_authorized(const char* method, const char* path,
-                                       const char* hdr_block);
-static void el_http_send_401(int fd);
-
 static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
    HttpWorkerArg* a = (HttpWorkerArg*)arg;
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -1564,13 +1564,8 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
    int fd = a->fd;
 #endif
    free(a);
-    char *method = NULL, *path = NULL, *body = NULL, *hdr_block = NULL;
-    if (http_read_request(fd, &method, &path, &body, &hdr_block) == 0
-        && !el_http_request_authorized(method, path, hdr_block)) {
-        /* Loopback hardening: EL_HTTP_AUTH_KEY is set and this request lacks the
-         * matching X-Neuron-Auth header — refuse before it reaches any handler. */
-        el_http_send_401(fd);
-    } else if (method != NULL) {
+    char *method = NULL, *path = NULL, *body = NULL;
+    if (http_read_request(fd, &method, &path, &body, NULL) == 0) {
        http_handler_fn h = http_lookup_active();
        char* response = NULL;
        /* HEAD: dispatch as GET so existing handlers respond with the same
@@ -1584,11 +1579,22 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
            const char* rs = EL_CSTR(r);
            /* Copy response out BEFORE arena teardown.
             * For binary files, _tl_fs_read_len holds the real byte count —
-             * use memcpy instead of strdup so null bytes are preserved. */
-            size_t rlen = _tl_fs_read_len > 0 ? _tl_fs_read_len : (rs ? strlen(rs) : 0);
+             * use memcpy instead of strdup so null bytes are preserved.
+             * The stored length applies ONLY when the response IS the exact
+             * fs_read buffer; a wrapped/derived response must use strlen or
+             * it gets truncated (or over-read) to the file's length. */
+            size_t rlen;
+            if (_tl_fs_read_len > 0 && rs && rs == _tl_fs_read_buf) {
+                rlen = _tl_fs_read_len;   /* raw file bytes — binary-safe */
+            } else {
+                rlen = rs ? strlen(rs) : 0;
+                _tl_fs_read_len = 0;      /* hint doesn't describe this body */
+                _tl_fs_read_buf = NULL;
+            }
            response = malloc(rlen + 1);
            if (response && rs) { memcpy(response, rs, rlen); response[rlen] = '\0'; }
            else if (response) { response[0] = '\0'; }
+            if (_tl_fs_read_len > 0) _tl_fs_read_buf = response; /* hint follows the copy */
        } else {
            response = el_strdup_persist("el-runtime: no http handler registered");
        }
@@ -1598,7 +1604,7 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
        _tl_http_head_only = 0;
        free(response);
    }
-    free(method); free(path); free(body); free(hdr_block);
+    free(method); free(path); free(body);
    el_closesocket(fd);
    /* release a slot */
    pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
@@ -1608,108 +1614,6 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
    return NULL;
 }

-/* ── loopback lock + local API-key auth (shipped desktop hardening) ────────
- * Both controls are OFF by default (their env vars unset), so dev, self-host,
- * and server builds behave exactly as before. The shipped macOS launcher
- * neuron-daemons.sh sets them so a customer's soul is neither reachable from
- * other machines on the LAN nor callable by other local users/processes
- * without the per-install key held in the login Keychain:
- *
- *   EL_HTTP_BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1    -> bind loopback only (el_http_apply_bind_addr)
- *   EL_HTTP_AUTH_KEY=<per-install> -> require "X-Neuron-Auth: <key>" per request
- */
-
-/* Set the listen address on the dual-stack (AF_INET6, V6ONLY=0) socket. Default
- * is in6addr_any (all interfaces) — unchanged. When EL_HTTP_BIND_HOST names a
- * loopback ("127.0.0.1", "localhost", "loopback", or "::1") we bind the IPv4-
- * mapped IPv6 loopback ::ffff:127.0.0.1: on a V6ONLY=0 socket this accepts IPv4
- * 127.0.0.1 clients (the desktop app connects there) while refusing every
- * off-machine address. */
-static void el_http_apply_bind_addr(struct sockaddr_in6* addr) {
-    const char* h = getenv("EL_HTTP_BIND_HOST");
-    int loopback = h && *h && (strcmp(h, "127.0.0.1") == 0
-                            || strcmp(h, "localhost") == 0
-                            || strcmp(h, "loopback")  == 0
-                            || strcmp(h, "::1")       == 0);
-    if (loopback) {
-        memset(&addr->sin6_addr, 0, sizeof(addr->sin6_addr));
-        addr->sin6_addr.s6_addr[10] = 0xff;   /* ::ffff:127.0.0.1 */
-        addr->sin6_addr.s6_addr[11] = 0xff;
-        addr->sin6_addr.s6_addr[12] = 127;
-        addr->sin6_addr.s6_addr[15] = 1;
-    } else {
-        addr->sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
-    }
-}
-
-/* Human-readable description of the active bind host, for the listen log line. */
-static const char* el_http_bind_desc(void) {
-    const char* h = getenv("EL_HTTP_BIND_HOST");
-    if (h && *h && (strcmp(h, "127.0.0.1") == 0 || strcmp(h, "localhost") == 0
-                 || strcmp(h, "loopback") == 0 || strcmp(h, "::1") == 0)) {
-        return "127.0.0.1 (loopback)";
-    }
-    return "[::] (dual-stack)";
-}
-
-/* Case-insensitive compare of the first n bytes of a and b. */
-static int el_ci_eq_n(const char* a, const char* b, size_t n) {
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-        unsigned char ca = (unsigned char)a[i], cb = (unsigned char)b[i];
-        if (tolower(ca) != tolower(cb)) return 0;
-    }
-    return 1;
-}
-
-/* Return 1 iff the raw header block carries a header named `name` (case-
- * insensitive) whose trimmed value equals `want` exactly. */
-static int el_http_header_equals(const char* hdr_block, const char* name,
-                                 const char* want) {
-    if (!hdr_block || !name || !want) return 0;
-    size_t nlen = strlen(name), wlen = strlen(want);
-    const char* p = hdr_block;
-    while (*p) {
-        const char* line_end = strstr(p, "\r\n");
-        const char* end = line_end ? line_end : p + strlen(p);
-        const char* colon = memchr(p, ':', (size_t)(end - p));
-        if (colon && (size_t)(colon - p) == nlen && el_ci_eq_n(p, name, nlen)) {
-            const char* v = colon + 1;
-            while (v < end && (*v == ' ' || *v == '\t')) v++;
-            size_t vlen = (size_t)(end - v);
-            while (vlen > 0 && (v[vlen - 1] == ' ' || v[vlen - 1] == '\t')) vlen--;
-            if (vlen == wlen && memcmp(v, want, wlen) == 0) return 1;
-        }
-        if (!line_end) break;
-        p = line_end + 2;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-/* Authorize an inbound request. Enforcement is active only when EL_HTTP_AUTH_KEY
- * is set; otherwise every request is allowed (dev default). GET/HEAD /health*
- * are always allowed so launch-agent liveness probes work without the key. */
-static int el_http_request_authorized(const char* method, const char* path,
-                                      const char* hdr_block) {
-    const char* key = getenv("EL_HTTP_AUTH_KEY");
-    if (!key || !*key) return 1;
-    if (method && (strcmp(method, "GET") == 0 || strcmp(method, "HEAD") == 0)
-        && path && strncmp(path, "/health", 7) == 0) return 1;
-    return el_http_header_equals(hdr_block, "x-neuron-auth", key);
-}
-
-/* Minimal 401 for unauthorized requests — never reaches an EL handler. */
-static void el_http_send_401(int fd) {
-    static const char* body = "{\"error\":\"unauthorized\",\"code\":\"auth_required\"}";
-    char resp[256];
-    int n = snprintf(resp, sizeof(resp),
-                     "HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized\r\n"
-                     "Content-Type: application/json\r\n"
-                     "Content-Length: %zu\r\n"
-                     "Connection: close\r\n\r\n%s",
-                     strlen(body), body);
-    if (n > 0) http_send_all(fd, resp, (size_t)n);
-}
-
 el_val_t http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
    /* If `handler` looks like a string name, register it as the active handler. */
    const char* hname = EL_CSTR(handler);
@@ -1728,13 +1632,13 @@ el_val_t http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
    struct sockaddr_in6 addr;
    memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
    addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
-    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
+    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
    addr.sin6_port = htons((uint16_t)p);
    if (bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) {
        perror("bind"); el_closesocket(sock); return 0;
    }
    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); el_closesocket(sock); return 0; }
-    fprintf(stderr, "[http] listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http] listening on [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
    while (1) {
        struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
        socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
@@ -1940,10 +1844,20 @@ static void* http_worker_v2(void* arg) {
            el_val_t hmap = http_build_headers_map(hdr_block ? hdr_block : "");
            el_val_t r = h(EL_STR(dispatch_method), EL_STR(path), hmap, EL_STR(body));
            const char* rs = EL_CSTR(r);
-            size_t rlen = _tl_fs_read_len > 0 ? _tl_fs_read_len : (rs ? strlen(rs) : 0);
+            /* Same pairing rule as the v1 worker: the fs_read length is only
+             * trustworthy for the exact buffer fs_read returned. */
+            size_t rlen;
+            if (_tl_fs_read_len > 0 && rs && rs == _tl_fs_read_buf) {
+                rlen = _tl_fs_read_len;   /* raw file bytes — binary-safe */
+            } else {
+                rlen = rs ? strlen(rs) : 0;
+                _tl_fs_read_len = 0;      /* hint doesn't describe this body */
+                _tl_fs_read_buf = NULL;
+            }
            response = malloc(rlen + 1);
            if (response && rs) { memcpy(response, rs, rlen); response[rlen] = '\0'; }
            else if (response) { response[0] = '\0'; }
+            if (_tl_fs_read_len > 0) _tl_fs_read_buf = response; /* hint follows the copy */
            el_release(hmap);
        } else {
            response = el_strdup_persist(
@@ -1984,13 +1898,13 @@ el_val_t http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
    struct sockaddr_in6 addr;
    memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
    addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
-    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
+    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
    addr.sin6_port = htons((uint16_t)p);
    if (bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) {
        perror("bind"); el_closesocket(sock); return 0;
    }
    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); el_closesocket(sock); return 0; }
-    fprintf(stderr, "[http v2] listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http v2] listening on [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
    while (1) {
        struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
        socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
@@ -2081,18 +1995,19 @@ void http_serve_async(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
    int sock = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    if (sock < 0) { perror("socket"); return; }
    int yes = 1; int no = 0;
-    setsockopt(sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &yes, sizeof(yes));
-    setsockopt(sock, IPPROTO_IPV6, IPV6_V6ONLY, &no, sizeof(no));
+    /* Win32/mingw setsockopt takes optval as (const char*); the cast is portable on POSIX too. */
+    setsockopt(sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (const char*)&yes, sizeof(yes));
+    setsockopt(sock, IPPROTO_IPV6, IPV6_V6ONLY, (const char*)&no, sizeof(no));
    struct sockaddr_in6 addr;
    memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
    addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
-    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
+    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
    addr.sin6_port = htons((uint16_t)p);
    if (bind(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) {
        perror("bind"); close(sock); return;
    }
    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); close(sock); return; }
-    fprintf(stderr, "[http] async listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http] async listening on [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
    HttpServeAsyncArg* a = malloc(sizeof(HttpServeAsyncArg));
    if (!a) { close(sock); return; }
    a->sock = sock;
@@ -2141,6 +2056,7 @@ el_val_t http_response(el_val_t status, el_val_t headers_json, el_val_t body) {
 el_val_t fs_read(el_val_t pathv) {
    const char* path = EL_CSTR(pathv);
    _tl_fs_read_len = 0;
+    _tl_fs_read_buf = NULL;
    if (!path) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
    FILE* f = fopen(path, "rb");
    if (!f) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
@@ -2152,6 +2068,7 @@ el_val_t fs_read(el_val_t pathv) {
    size_t got = fread(buf, 1, (size_t)sz, f);
    buf[got] = '\0';
    _tl_fs_read_len = got;   /* store real byte count for binary-safe send */
+    _tl_fs_read_buf = buf;   /* ...valid ONLY for this exact buffer */
    fclose(f);
    return el_wrap_str(buf);
 }
@@ -3257,72 +3174,10 @@ static char* jp_parse_string_raw(JsonParser* jp) {
                case 'r':  c = '\r'; break;
                case 't':  c = '\t'; break;
                case 'u': {
-                    /* Decode \uXXXX (with surrogate pairs) to UTF-8.
-                     * Ported from lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501 (2026-08-08
-                     * self-review). This copy carried the identical defect:
-                     * the escape was skipped and a literal '?' emitted, which
-                     * silently destroyed every non-ASCII character in any JSON
-                     * string entering the runtime. Two copies of one parser
-                     * bug is exactly how this class of fault survives, so the
-                     * fix lands in both. See the release copy for the full
-                     * measurement and rationale. */
-                    unsigned cp = 0;
-                    int ok = 1;
-                    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
-                        if (jp->p >= jp->end) { ok = 0; break; }
-                        char h = *jp->p++;
-                        unsigned d;
-                        if      (h >= '0' && h <= '9') d = (unsigned)(h - '0');
-                        else if (h >= 'a' && h <= 'f') d = (unsigned)(h - 'a' + 10);
-                        else if (h >= 'A' && h <= 'F') d = (unsigned)(h - 'A' + 10);
-                        else { ok = 0; break; }
-                        cp = (cp << 4) | d;
-                    }
-                    if (!ok) { c = '?'; break; }
-                    if (cp >= 0xD800 && cp <= 0xDBFF &&
-                        (size_t)(jp->end - jp->p) >= 6 &&
-                        jp->p[0] == '\\' && jp->p[1] == 'u') {
-                        const char* save = jp->p;
-                        unsigned lo = 0; int ok2 = 1;
-                        jp->p += 2;
-                        for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
-                            char h = *jp->p++;
-                            unsigned d;
-                            if      (h >= '0' && h <= '9') d = (unsigned)(h - '0');
-                            else if (h >= 'a' && h <= 'f') d = (unsigned)(h - 'a' + 10);
-                            else if (h >= 'A' && h <= 'F') d = (unsigned)(h - 'A' + 10);
-                            else { ok2 = 0; break; }
-                            lo = (lo << 4) | d;
-                        }
-                        if (ok2 && lo >= 0xDC00 && lo <= 0xDFFF)
-                            cp = 0x10000u + ((cp - 0xD800u) << 10) + (lo - 0xDC00u);
-                        else jp->p = save;
-                    }
-                    if (cp >= 0xD800 && cp <= 0xDFFF) cp = 0xFFFD;
-
-                    char ub[4]; int un;
-                    if (cp < 0x80) {
-                        ub[0] = (char)cp; un = 1;
-                    } else if (cp < 0x800) {
-                        ub[0] = (char)(0xC0 | (cp >> 6));
-                        ub[1] = (char)(0x80 | (cp & 0x3F)); un = 2;
-                    } else if (cp < 0x10000) {
-                        ub[0] = (char)(0xE0 | (cp >> 12));
-                        ub[1] = (char)(0x80 | ((cp >> 6) & 0x3F));
-                        ub[2] = (char)(0x80 | (cp & 0x3F)); un = 3;
-                    } else {
-                        ub[0] = (char)(0xF0 | (cp >> 18));
-                        ub[1] = (char)(0x80 | ((cp >> 12) & 0x3F));
-                        ub[2] = (char)(0x80 | ((cp >> 6) & 0x3F));
-                        ub[3] = (char)(0x80 | (cp & 0x3F)); un = 4;
-                    }
-                    while (len + (size_t)un >= cap) {
-                        cap *= 2;
-                        out = realloc(out, cap);
-                        if (!out) { fputs("el_runtime: out of memory\n", stderr); exit(1); }
-                    }
-                    for (int i = 0; i < un; i++) out[len++] = ub[i];
-                    continue; /* bytes already appended */
+                    /* Skip 4 hex digits; emit '?' as a placeholder */
+                    for (int i = 0; i < 4 && jp->p < jp->end; i++) jp->p++;
+                    c = '?';
+                    break;
                }
                default: c = esc; break;
            }
@@ -3756,8 +3611,10 @@ el_val_t json_get_raw(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key) {
    const char* k    = EL_CSTR(key);
    const char* p = json_find_key(json, k);
    /* Clear fs_read binary-length hint — result is a fresh null-terminated
-     * string, not the raw file bytes, so Content-Length must use strlen. */
+     * string, not the raw file bytes, so Content-Length must use strlen.
+     * (Kept although the pointer pairing now makes this redundant.) */
    _tl_fs_read_len = 0;
+    _tl_fs_read_buf = NULL;
    if (!p) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
    const char* end = json_skip_value(p);
    size_t n = (size_t)(end - p);
@@ -6228,13 +6085,6 @@ void el_cgi_init(el_val_t name, el_val_t dharma_id, el_val_t principal,
 #define ENGRAM_SUPPRESSION_BREAKTHROUGH 5
 #define ENGRAM_BREAKTHROUGH_WEIGHT   0.25
 #define ENGRAM_INHIBITION_FACTOR     0.1
-/* ENGRAM_WM_CAP: hard global ceiling on nodes holding working_memory_weight
- * > 0 at any time. Cowan (2001) puts human WM capacity at ~4 chunks; 24 gives
- * the daemon generous headroom while preventing the unbounded growth observed
- * in production (wm_active 288-778 per heartbeat — "working memory" that is
- * really the whole recently-touched graph). Ported from release runtime
- * v1.0.0-20260501 Pass 5 on 2026-07-15 self-review. */
-#define ENGRAM_WM_CAP                24

 /* ── Layered consciousness architecture ──────────────────────────────────────
 *
@@ -7082,6 +6932,243 @@ static int engram_rank_cmp(const void* a, const void* b) {
    return 0;
 }

+/* ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+ * SEMANTIC SEARCH LAYER — nomic-embed-text via Ollama /api/embeddings
+ * ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Augments the lexical (istr_contains) matcher with dense-vector retrieval.
+ * Node content and the query are embedded through a local Ollama server;
+ * nodes are ranked by cosine similarity and UNIONED with lexical hits. This
+ * lets a paraphrase query surface a node whose words never appear in it.
+ *
+ * DEGRADABLE BY DESIGN. The whole layer is gated on HAVE_CURL plus a one-shot
+ * runtime probe of the embedding endpoint. If curl is not compiled in, or
+ * Ollama is unreachable, or ENGRAM_SEMANTIC=0, every entry point returns
+ * "no semantic signal" and callers fall back to pure lexical behaviour —
+ * byte-for-byte the pre-existing search.
+ *
+ * CACHE. Node embeddings are computed lazily on first use and cached in
+ * process memory keyed by node id, with an FNV-1a content hash for
+ * invalidation (edited content re-embeds). The query is embedded once per
+ * search call. This is what "avoid re-embedding the whole graph every query"
+ * buys us: a warm cache serves cosine from RAM. (A cold process still pays
+ * O(N) embed calls the first time each node is scanned — persisting the cache
+ * to a snapshot sidecar is the documented next step, not done here.)
+ *
+ * nomic task prefixes ("search_query:" / "search_document:") are applied
+ * because nomic-embed-text is trained with them; they materially improve
+ * retrieval separation (empirically: paraphrase 0.72 vs distractors <0.48).
+ *
+ * ENV:
+ *   ENGRAM_SEMANTIC       "0" disables; unset/other = auto-probe
+ *   ENGRAM_EMBED_URL      default http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings
+ *   ENGRAM_EMBED_MODEL    default nomic-embed-text
+ *   ENGRAM_SEMANTIC_MIN   cosine threshold for a pure-semantic match (def 0.6)
+ * ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ */
+
+static double engram_semantic_min(void) {
+    static double v = -1.0;
+    if (v >= 0.0) return v;
+    const char* s = getenv("ENGRAM_SEMANTIC_MIN");
+    double d = 0.6;
+    if (s && *s) { char* e = NULL; double t = strtod(s, &e);
+                   if (e != s && t >= 0.0 && t <= 1.0) d = t; }
+    v = d; return v;
+}
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CURL
+
+typedef struct { char* id; uint64_t hash; float* vec; int dim; } EngramEmbEntry;
+static EngramEmbEntry* g_emb_items = NULL;
+static int64_t g_emb_count = 0, g_emb_cap = 0;
+static int g_emb_state = 0;   /* 0=unprobed, 1=available, -1=disabled */
+
+static uint64_t engram_fnv1a(const char* s) {
+    uint64_t h = 1469598103934665603ULL;
+    if (s) for (const unsigned char* p = (const unsigned char*)s; *p; p++) {
+        h ^= *p; h *= 1099511628211ULL;
+    }
+    return h;
+}
+
+/* Parse "embedding":[f,f,...] from an Ollama response. malloc'd vec, or NULL. */
+static float* engram_parse_embedding(const char* json, int* out_dim) {
+    if (!json) return NULL;
+    const char* p = strstr(json, "\"embedding\"");
+    if (!p) return NULL;
+    p = strchr(p, '[');
+    if (!p) return NULL;
+    p++;
+    int cap = 1024, n = 0;
+    float* v = malloc((size_t)cap * sizeof(float));
+    if (!v) return NULL;
+    while (*p && *p != ']') {
+        while (*p == ' ' || *p == '\t' || *p == '\n' || *p == '\r' || *p == ',') p++;
+        if (*p == ']' || !*p) break;
+        char* e = NULL;
+        double d = strtod(p, &e);
+        if (e == p) break;
+        if (n >= cap) { cap *= 2; float* nv = realloc(v, (size_t)cap * sizeof(float));
+                        if (!nv) { free(v); return NULL; } v = nv; }
+        v[n++] = (float)d;
+        p = e;
+    }
+    if (n == 0) { free(v); return NULL; }
+    *out_dim = n;
+    return v;
+}
+
+/* JSON-escape src into a malloc'd buffer (no surrounding quotes). */
+static char* engram_json_escape(const char* src) {
+    if (!src) src = "";
+    size_t n = strlen(src);
+    char* out = malloc(n * 2 + 1);
+    if (!out) return NULL;
+    size_t j = 0;
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+        unsigned char c = (unsigned char)src[i];
+        if      (c == '"')  { out[j++] = '\\'; out[j++] = '"'; }
+        else if (c == '\\') { out[j++] = '\\'; out[j++] = '\\'; }
+        else if (c == '\n') { out[j++] = '\\'; out[j++] = 'n'; }
+        else if (c == '\r') { out[j++] = '\\'; out[j++] = 'r'; }
+        else if (c == '\t') { out[j++] = '\\'; out[j++] = 't'; }
+        else if (c < 0x20)  { /* drop other control bytes */ }
+        else                { out[j++] = (char)c; }
+    }
+    out[j] = '\0';
+    return out;
+}
+
+/* Embed `prefix+text` via Ollama. Returns malloc'd vec (caller frees), or NULL. */
+static float* engram_embed_raw(const char* prefix, const char* text, int* out_dim) {
+    if (!text) return NULL;
+    const char* url = getenv("ENGRAM_EMBED_URL");
+    if (!url || !*url) url = "http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings";
+    const char* model = getenv("ENGRAM_EMBED_MODEL");
+    if (!model || !*model) model = "nomic-embed-text";
+    /* Bound content length to keep latency/memory sane on huge nodes. */
+    char* trunc = NULL;
+    size_t maxlen = 8192;
+    if (strlen(text) > maxlen) {
+        trunc = malloc(maxlen + 1);
+        if (trunc) { memcpy(trunc, text, maxlen); trunc[maxlen] = '\0'; text = trunc; }
+    }
+    char* esc_prefix = engram_json_escape(prefix ? prefix : "");
+    char* esc = engram_json_escape(text);
+    free(trunc);
+    if (!esc || !esc_prefix) { free(esc); free(esc_prefix); return NULL; }
+    size_t blen = strlen(esc) + strlen(esc_prefix) + strlen(model) + 64;
+    char* body = malloc(blen);
+    if (!body) { free(esc); free(esc_prefix); return NULL; }
+    snprintf(body, blen, "{\"model\":\"%s\",\"prompt\":\"%s%s\"}", model, esc_prefix, esc);
+    free(esc); free(esc_prefix);
+
+    CURL* c = curl_easy_init();
+    if (!c) { free(body); return NULL; }
+    HttpBuf rb; httpbuf_init(&rb);
+    struct curl_slist* h = curl_slist_append(NULL, "Content-Type: application/json");
+    char errbuf[CURL_ERROR_SIZE]; errbuf[0] = '\0';
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_URL, url);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, http_write_cb);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &rb);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_POST, 1L);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, body);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDSIZE, (long)strlen(body));
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, h);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, el_http_timeout_ms());
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_NOSIGNAL, 1L);
+    curl_easy_setopt(c, CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER, errbuf);
+    CURLcode rc = curl_easy_perform(c);
+    curl_slist_free_all(h);
+    curl_easy_cleanup(c);
+    free(body);
+    if (rc != CURLE_OK) { free(rb.data); return NULL; }
+    float* v = engram_parse_embedding(rb.data, out_dim);
+    free(rb.data);
+    return v;
+}
+
+/* One-shot probe: is semantic search available? Caches the verdict. */
+static int engram_semantic_enabled(void) {
+    if (g_emb_state != 0) return g_emb_state == 1;
+    const char* s = getenv("ENGRAM_SEMANTIC");
+    if (s && strcmp(s, "0") == 0) { g_emb_state = -1; return 0; }
+    int dim = 0;
+    float* v = engram_embed_raw("search_query: ", "probe", &dim);
+    if (v && dim > 0) { free(v); g_emb_state = 1; return 1; }
+    free(v);
+    g_emb_state = -1; return 0;
+}
+
+/* Embed the query. Returns malloc'd vec (caller frees), or NULL if semantic off. */
+static float* engram_embed_query(const char* q, int* dim) {
+    if (!engram_semantic_enabled()) return NULL;
+    if (!q || !*q) return NULL;
+    return engram_embed_raw("search_query: ", q, dim);
+}
+
+/* Cached node embedding. Returns a pointer OWNED BY THE CACHE — do not free. */
+static const float* engram_node_vec(EngramNode* n, int* out_dim) {
+    if (!n || !n->id) return NULL;
+    uint64_t h = engram_fnv1a(n->content);
+    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g_emb_count; i++) {
+        if (g_emb_items[i].id && strcmp(g_emb_items[i].id, n->id) == 0) {
+            if (g_emb_items[i].hash == h && g_emb_items[i].vec) {
+                *out_dim = g_emb_items[i].dim; return g_emb_items[i].vec;
+            }
+            /* content changed → re-embed in place */
+            int dim = 0;
+            float* v = engram_embed_raw("search_document: ", n->content ? n->content : "", &dim);
+            if (!v) return NULL;
+            free(g_emb_items[i].vec);
+            g_emb_items[i].vec = v; g_emb_items[i].dim = dim; g_emb_items[i].hash = h;
+            *out_dim = dim; return v;
+        }
+    }
+    int dim = 0;
+    float* v = engram_embed_raw("search_document: ", n->content ? n->content : "", &dim);
+    if (!v) return NULL;
+    if (g_emb_count >= g_emb_cap) {
+        int64_t nc = g_emb_cap ? g_emb_cap * 2 : 256;
+        EngramEmbEntry* ni = realloc(g_emb_items, (size_t)nc * sizeof(EngramEmbEntry));
+        if (!ni) { free(v); return NULL; }
+        g_emb_items = ni; g_emb_cap = nc;
+    }
+    g_emb_items[g_emb_count].id   = strdup(n->id);
+    g_emb_items[g_emb_count].hash = h;
+    g_emb_items[g_emb_count].vec  = v;
+    g_emb_items[g_emb_count].dim  = dim;
+    g_emb_count++;
+    *out_dim = dim; return v;
+}
+
+static double engram_cosine(const float* a, const float* b, int dim) {
+    double dot = 0, na = 0, nb = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i < dim; i++) { dot += (double)a[i] * b[i];
+                                    na  += (double)a[i] * a[i];
+                                    nb  += (double)b[i] * b[i]; }
+    if (na <= 0 || nb <= 0) return 0.0;
+    return dot / (sqrt(na) * sqrt(nb));
+}
+
+/* Cosine of node n against the query vector; 0 if unavailable / dim mismatch. */
+static double engram_node_cosine(EngramNode* n, const float* qvec, int qdim) {
+    if (!qvec || qdim <= 0) return 0.0;
+    int ndim = 0;
+    const float* nv = engram_node_vec(n, &ndim);
+    if (!nv || ndim != qdim) return 0.0;
+    return engram_cosine(qvec, nv, qdim);
+}
+
+#else  /* !HAVE_CURL — semantic layer compiled out; callers stay pure-lexical.
+        * Only the two boundary functions the always-compiled search/activate
+        * code calls are stubbed; the query embed always yields NULL so every
+        * cosine is 0 and every caller collapses to lexical-only. */
+static float* engram_embed_query(const char* q, int* dim) { (void)q; (void)dim; return NULL; }
+static double engram_node_cosine(EngramNode* n, const float* qvec, int qdim) {
+    (void)n; (void)qvec; (void)qdim; return 0.0;
+}
+#endif /* HAVE_CURL */
+
 el_val_t engram_search(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
    EngramStore* g = engram_get();
    const char* q = EL_CSTR(query);
@@ -7092,8 +7179,15 @@ el_val_t engram_search(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
    char toks[ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN];
    int ntok = engram_tokenize_query(q, toks, ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS);
    if (ntok == 0) return lst;
+    /* Semantic augmentation: embed the query once; a node is a hit if it covers
+     * >=1 query token (tokenized-lexical, #66) OR its cosine clears the
+     * threshold (#67). qvec is NULL (cosine 0) when semantic is unavailable →
+     * pure tokenized-lexical, byte-identical to the lexical-only behaviour. */
+    int qdim = 0;
+    float* qvec = engram_embed_query(q, &qdim);
+    double sem_min = engram_semantic_min();
    EngramRankEntry* hits = malloc((size_t)g->node_count * sizeof(EngramRankEntry));
-    if (!hits) return lst;
+    if (!hits) { free(qvec); return lst; }
    int64_t nhits = 0;
    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
        EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
@@ -7103,20 +7197,24 @@ el_val_t engram_search(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
         * + engram_compile_layered_json — that's the legitimate path. */
        if (engram_layer_is_transparent(n->layer_id)) continue;
        int sc = engram_node_match_score(n, toks, ntok);
-        if (sc > 0) {
+        double sem = qvec ? engram_node_cosine(n, qvec, qdim) : 0.0;
+        if (sc > 0 || sem >= sem_min) {
            hits[nhits].idx      = i;
            hits[nhits].score    = sc;
            hits[nhits].salience = n->salience;
            nhits++;
        }
    }
-    /* Rank by distinct tokens matched (desc) then salience (desc), then cap. */
+    /* Rank by distinct tokens matched (desc) then salience (desc), then cap.
+     * Pure-semantic hits (token score 0) sort after every lexical hit — a
+     * lexical ∪ semantic union with lexical precedence. */
    qsort(hits, (size_t)nhits, sizeof(EngramRankEntry), engram_rank_cmp);
    int64_t end = nhits < lim ? nhits : lim;
    for (int64_t k = 0; k < end; k++) {
        lst = el_list_append(lst, engram_node_to_map(&g->nodes[hits[k].idx]));
    }
    free(hits);
+    free(qvec);
    return lst;
 }

@@ -7439,48 +7537,6 @@ static double engram_goal_bias(const EngramNode* n, const char* query) {
    return bias;
 }

-/* eg_cmp_double_desc — qsort comparator, descending doubles. */
-static int eg_cmp_double_desc(const void* a, const void* b) {
-    double da = *(const double*)a, db = *(const double*)b;
-    if (da < db) return 1;
-    if (da > db) return -1;
-    return 0;
-}
-
-/* eg_enforce_wm_cap_global — clamp the store-wide working-memory population
- * to ENGRAM_WM_CAP, keeping the top-K by current weight. Runs at every point
- * that materializes WM: post-activation persist and snapshot load/merge.
- * (Ported from release runtime v1.0.0-20260501 Pass 5, 2026-07-15.) */
-static void eg_enforce_wm_cap_global(EngramStore* g) {
-    int64_t wm_count = 0;
-    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
-        if (g->nodes[i].working_memory_weight > 0.0) wm_count++;
-    }
-    if (wm_count <= ENGRAM_WM_CAP) return;
-    double* vals = malloc((size_t)wm_count * sizeof(double));
-    if (!vals) return; /* OOM: over cap this call, no corruption */
-    int64_t vi = 0;
-    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
-        if (g->nodes[i].working_memory_weight > 0.0)
-            vals[vi++] = g->nodes[i].working_memory_weight;
-    }
-    qsort(vals, (size_t)wm_count, sizeof(double), eg_cmp_double_desc);
-    double cutoff = vals[ENGRAM_WM_CAP - 1];
-    free(vals);
-    int64_t above = 0;
-    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
-        if (g->nodes[i].working_memory_weight > cutoff) above++;
-    }
-    int64_t slots_at_cutoff = ENGRAM_WM_CAP - above;
-    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
-        EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
-        if (n->working_memory_weight <= 0.0) continue;
-        if (n->working_memory_weight > cutoff) continue;
-        if (slots_at_cutoff > 0) { slots_at_cutoff--; continue; }
-        n->working_memory_weight = 0.0; /* evict: over global cap */
-    }
-}
-
 el_val_t engram_activate(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth) {
    EngramStore* g = engram_get();
    const char* q = EL_CSTR(query);
@@ -7508,21 +7564,31 @@ el_val_t engram_activate(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth) {
    if (!seeds) {
        free(best_bg); free(best_hops); free(reached); return out;
    }
-    /* Tokenize once: a node seeds if it matches ANY query token, and its seed
-     * activation is scaled by token coverage (fraction of distinct query
-     * tokens it contains) so a node matching all words seeds more strongly
-     * than one matching a single word. Single-word queries → coverage 1.0,
-     * identical to the prior whole-query behavior. */
+    /* Tokenized + semantic seeding: a node seeds if it covers >=1 query token
+     * (tokenized-lexical, #66) OR its cosine clears the threshold (#67). A
+     * lexical seed's activation is scaled by token coverage (fraction of
+     * distinct query tokens covered) so a node matching all words seeds more
+     * strongly than one matching a single word; single-word queries → coverage
+     * 1.0. A pure-semantic seed (no token match) is instead down-weighted by
+     * its cosine so paraphrase matches spread without overpowering exact seeds.
+     * q_vec is NULL (cosine 0) when semantic is unavailable → the seed set is
+     * exactly the tokenized-lexical one. q_vec is freed right after this loop
+     * so the many downstream early-returns need no cleanup change. */
    char toks[ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN];
    int ntok = engram_tokenize_query(q, toks, ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS);
+    int q_dim = 0;
+    float* q_vec = engram_embed_query(q, &q_dim);
+    double q_sem_min = engram_semantic_min();
    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
        EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
        int sc = engram_node_match_score(n, toks, ntok);
-        if (sc > 0) {
+        double sem = q_vec ? engram_node_cosine(n, q_vec, q_dim) : 0.0;
+        if (sc > 0 || sem >= q_sem_min) {
            double tdecay = engram_temporal_decay(n, now_ms);
            double dampen = engram_activation_dampen(n);
-            double cover  = ntok > 0 ? (double)sc / (double)ntok : 1.0;
-            double act    = n->salience * tdecay * dampen * cover;
+            double act    = n->salience * tdecay * dampen;
+            if (sc > 0) act *= (ntok > 0 ? (double)sc / (double)ntok : 1.0);
+            else        act *= sem;  /* pure-semantic seed: down-weight by cosine */
            seeds[seed_count].idx        = i;
            seeds[seed_count].act        = act;
            seeds[seed_count].created_at = n->created_at;
@@ -7532,6 +7598,7 @@ el_val_t engram_activate(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth) {
            reached[i]   = 1;
        }
    }
+    free(q_vec);
    /* Compute mean seed created_at for temporal proximity bonus. */
    int64_t seed_epoch = 0;
    if (seed_count > 0) {
@@ -7686,12 +7753,6 @@ el_val_t engram_activate(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth) {
        g->nodes[i].working_memory_weight = wm_weights[i];
    }

-    /* Global WM cap: keep only the top ENGRAM_WM_CAP by weight across the
-     * whole store (see eg_enforce_wm_cap_global). Without this, repeated
-     * activation calls accumulate hundreds of "promoted" nodes and WM stops
-     * meaning anything (production heartbeats showed wm_active up to 778). */
-    eg_enforce_wm_cap_global(g);
-
    /* ── Collect all background-activated nodes for the return value ────
     * Callers see both layers. Context compilation uses only promoted nodes
     * (working_memory_weight > 0). Sort: promoted first by wm_weight desc,
@@ -8069,9 +8130,6 @@ el_val_t engram_load(el_val_t path) {
            }
        }
    }
-    /* WM cap discipline applies to every entry point that materializes WM,
-     * including snapshot restore (see eg_enforce_wm_cap_global). */
-    eg_enforce_wm_cap_global(g);
    free(data);
    return 1;
 }
@@ -8096,14 +8154,16 @@ el_val_t engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id) {
 * matches the given string. Returns the node as a JSON object string, or "{}"
 * if no match is found.
 *
- * Exact match (strcmp, not substring) because labels like "conv:history"
- * must not collide with nodes whose content contains that substring.
+ * Used by chat.el to retrieve well-known nodes (e.g. "conv:history",
+ * "session:summary") by their stable label rather than by ID, which is immune
+ * to vector index drift across restarts.
 *
- * Ported from the release runtime 2026-07-16 self-review: chat.el has called
- * this since 2026-07-01 but the function only existed in
- * releases/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.c — the soul daemon (which builds
- * against THIS runtime) failed to compile once clang made implicit
- * declarations an error. */
+ * Exact match (strcmp, not istr_contains) because labels like "conv:history"
+ * must not collide with nodes whose content happens to contain that substring.
+ *
+ * Backported verbatim (idiom-adapted to jb_finish) from release runtime
+ * v1.0.0-20260501 to unblock the soul regen link: chat.el references this
+ * native but the current runtime lacked its definition. */
 el_val_t engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label) {
    const char* lbl = EL_CSTR(label);
    if (!lbl || !*lbl) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup("{}"));
@@ -8126,39 +8186,50 @@ el_val_t engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
    if (lim <= 0) lim = 100;
    JsonBuf b; jb_init(&b);
    jb_putc(&b, '[');
-    int first = 1;
-    if (q && *q) {
+    if (q && *q && g->node_count > 0) {
+        /* Collect candidates from the UNION of tokenized-lexical and semantic
+         * matches, score each, rank by score, emit the top `lim`. A node is a
+         * candidate if it covers >=1 query token (tokenized-lexical, #66) OR its
+         * query cosine clears the threshold (#67). Lexical score is the distinct
+         * token count (>=1), so any lexical hit outranks a pure-semantic hit
+         * (cosine < 1); pure-semantic hits are scored by cosine alone. When
+         * semantic is unavailable qvec is NULL, sem is 0, only tokenized-lexical
+         * hits are collected, and the stable insertion sort preserves order. */
        char toks[ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS][ENGRAM_QTOK_LEN];
        int ntok = engram_tokenize_query(q, toks, ENGRAM_MAX_QTOKENS);
-        if (ntok > 0) {
-            EngramRankEntry* hits =
-                malloc((size_t)g->node_count * sizeof(EngramRankEntry));
-            if (hits) {
-                int64_t nhits = 0;
-                for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
-                    EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
-                    /* Filter transparent layers — same as engram_search. */
-                    if (engram_layer_is_transparent(n->layer_id)) continue;
-                    int sc = engram_node_match_score(n, toks, ntok);
-                    if (sc > 0) {
-                        hits[nhits].idx      = i;
-                        hits[nhits].score    = sc;
-                        hits[nhits].salience = n->salience;
-                        nhits++;
-                    }
+        int qdim = 0;
+        float* qvec = engram_embed_query(q, &qdim);
+        double sem_min = engram_semantic_min();
+        typedef struct { int64_t idx; double score; } Cand;
+        Cand* cand = malloc((size_t)g->node_count * sizeof(Cand));
+        if (cand) {
+            int64_t nc = 0;
+            for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
+                EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
+                if (engram_layer_is_transparent(n->layer_id)) continue;
+                int sc = engram_node_match_score(n, toks, ntok);
+                double sem = qvec ? engram_node_cosine(n, qvec, qdim) : 0.0;
+                if (sc > 0 || sem >= sem_min) {
+                    cand[nc].idx   = i;
+                    cand[nc].score = (double)sc + sem;
+                    nc++;
                }
-                /* Rank by distinct tokens matched (desc) then salience (desc). */
-                qsort(hits, (size_t)nhits, sizeof(EngramRankEntry),
-                      engram_rank_cmp);
-                int64_t end = nhits < lim ? nhits : lim;
-                for (int64_t k = 0; k < end; k++) {
-                    if (!first) jb_putc(&b, ',');
-                    engram_emit_node_json(&b, &g->nodes[hits[k].idx]);
-                    first = 0;
-                }
-                free(hits);
            }
+            /* Insertion sort by score desc; stable for equal scores. */
+            for (int64_t i = 1; i < nc; i++) {
+                Cand k = cand[i]; int64_t j = i - 1;
+                while (j >= 0 && cand[j].score < k.score) { cand[j + 1] = cand[j]; j--; }
+                cand[j + 1] = k;
+            }
+            int first = 1;
+            for (int64_t i = 0; i < nc && i < lim; i++) {
+                if (!first) jb_putc(&b, ',');
+                engram_emit_node_json(&b, &g->nodes[cand[i].idx]);
+                first = 0;
+            }
+            free(cand);
        }
+        free(qvec);
    }
    jb_putc(&b, ']');
    return el_wrap_str(jb_finish(&b));
@@ -8676,9 +8747,6 @@ el_val_t engram_load_merge(el_val_t path) {
        }
    }

-    /* Merged nodes can carry snapshot WM weights too — hold the cap here as
-     * well (see eg_enforce_wm_cap_global). */
-    eg_enforce_wm_cap_global(g);
    free(data);
    return (el_val_t)added_nodes;
 }
@@ -1072,6 +1072,7 @@ el_val_t __engram_save(el_val_t path)                       { return engram_save
 el_val_t __engram_load(el_val_t path)                       { return engram_load(path); }

 el_val_t __engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id)               { return engram_get_node_json(id); }
+el_val_t __engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label)        { return engram_get_node_by_label(label); }

 el_val_t __engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
    return engram_search_json(query, limit);
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ el_val_t  __engram_activate(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth);
 el_val_t  __engram_save(el_val_t path);
 el_val_t  __engram_load(el_val_t path);
 el_val_t  __engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id);
+el_val_t  __engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label);
 el_val_t  __engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit);
 el_val_t  __engram_scan_nodes_json(el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
 el_val_t  __engram_scan_nodes_by_type_json(el_val_t node_type, el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
@@ -2670,6 +2670,7 @@ fn builtin_arity(name: String) -> Int {
    if str_eq(name, "engram_save") { return 1 }
    if str_eq(name, "engram_load") { return 1 }
    if str_eq(name, "engram_get_node_json") { return 1 }
+    if str_eq(name, "engram_get_node_by_label") { return 1 }
    if str_eq(name, "engram_search_json") { return 2 }
    if str_eq(name, "engram_scan_nodes_json") { return 2 }
    if str_eq(name, "engram_neighbors_json") { return 3 }
@@ -2916,24 +2917,6 @@ fn build_int_names_for_params(params: [Map<String, Any>]) -> Bool {
    return true
 }

-// fn_has_decorator — does this FnDef carry a decorator named `name`?
-// Reads the `decorators` list [{name, args}] attached by the parser. Absent
-// key -> native_list_len returns 0 -> false. This is the multi-decorator-aware
-// replacement for the old single `decorator` string check, so a fn may stack
-// roles with other decorators (e.g. `@route(...) @manager fn ...`).
-fn fn_has_decorator(stmt: Map<String, Any>, name: String) -> Bool {
-    let dl = stmt["decorators"]
-    let n: Int = native_list_len(dl)
-    let i = 0
-    while i < n {
-        let d = native_list_get(dl, i)
-        let dn: String = d["name"]
-        if str_eq(dn, name) { return true }
-        let i = i + 1
-    }
-    false
-}
-
 fn cg_fn(stmt: Map<String, Any>) -> Void {
    let fn_name: String = stmt["name"]
    // Skip El's `fn main()` - C provides its own main() for top-level stmts
@@ -2945,10 +2928,10 @@ fn cg_fn(stmt: Map<String, Any>) -> Void {
    let params_c: String = params_to_c(params)
    // VBD role enforcement: dharma_emit / dharma_field may only be called
    // from @manager-decorated functions. Surface violations to the C compiler
-    // via #error directives emitted before the function definition. Read the
-    // decorator LIST so the role may be stacked with other decorators.
+    // via #error directives emitted before the function definition.
+    let decorator: String = stmt["decorator"]
    if vbd_has_restricted_call(body) {
-        if !fn_has_decorator(stmt, "manager") {
+        if !str_eq(decorator, "manager") {
            emit_line("#error \"VBD violation: dharma_emit/dharma_field called from non-@manager fn '" + fn_name + "'\"")
        }
    }
@@ -3497,259 +3480,6 @@ fn cg_decl_streaming(stmt: Map<String, Any>) -> Void {
    }
 }

-// ── @route dispatcher generation ──────────────────────────────────────────────
-//
-// Scan the token stream for @route-decorated fns and synthesize a generic HTTP
-// dispatcher `el_route_dispatch(method, clean, path, body)`. A decorated handler
-// must have the uniform signature (method, path, body) -> String. The dispatcher
-// matches `clean` (the query-stripped path, supplied by the caller) against each
-// route and calls the handler with the ORIGINAL `path` so query strings survive.
-// Returns the sentinel "__EL_NO_ROUTE__" when nothing matches, so the caller may
-// fall through to any remaining hand-written branches (mixed mode).
-//
-// Decorator grammar: @route(path, method, kind, suffix)
-//   path   — the match string (or the prefix, for compound)
-//   method — "GET" | "POST" | ... ; a '|'-list like "GET|POST"; "ANY"/"" = no guard
-//   kind   — "exact" (default) | "prefix" | "suffix" | "compound"
-//   suffix — for "compound": the required str_ends_with suffix
-//
-// The dispatch table is emitted SPECIFICITY-SORTED (most-specific first), NOT in
-// source order, so overlapping prefixes (e.g. /api/x/search vs /api/x) never
-// shadow each other regardless of how the handlers are written.
-
-// split_pipe — split "GET|POST" on '|' into ["GET","POST"]. Self-contained
-// (no dependency on str_split runtime semantics).
-fn split_pipe(s: String) -> [String] {
-    let out: [String] = native_list_empty()
-    let cur: String = ""
-    let n: Int = str_len(s)
-    let i: Int = 0
-    while i < n {
-        let ch: String = str_slice(s, i, i + 1)
-        if str_eq(ch, "|") {
-            let out = native_list_append(out, cur)
-            let cur = ""
-        } else {
-            let cur = cur + ch
-        }
-        let i = i + 1
-    }
-    let out = native_list_append(out, cur)
-    out
-}
-
-// route_make_record — build a route record map from the @route decorator args.
-fn route_make_record(fn_name: String, args: [String]) -> Map<String, Any> {
-    let na: Int = native_list_len(args)
-    let rpath: String = ""
-    if na >= 1 { let rpath = native_list_get(args, 0) }
-    let rmethod: String = "GET"
-    if na >= 2 { let rmethod = native_list_get(args, 1) }
-    let rkind: String = "exact"
-    if na >= 3 { let rkind = native_list_get(args, 2) }
-    let rsuffix: String = ""
-    if na >= 4 { let rsuffix = native_list_get(args, 3) }
-    { "name": fn_name, "path": rpath, "method": rmethod, "kind": rkind, "suffix": rsuffix }
-}
-
-// route_spec_score — higher = more specific = emitted earlier. Ordering:
-// exact > compound > suffix > prefix; within a class, a longer path/suffix
-// wins (so /api/x/search sorts before /api/x). Guarantees correct dispatch
-// independent of source order.
-fn route_spec_score(rec: Map<String, Any>) -> Int {
-    let kind: String = rec["kind"]
-    let path: String = rec["path"]
-    let suffix: String = rec["suffix"]
-    let plen: Int = str_len(path)
-    let slen: Int = str_len(suffix)
-    if str_eq(kind, "exact") { return 4000000 + plen }
-    if str_eq(kind, "compound") { return 3000000 + plen * 100 + slen }
-    if str_eq(kind, "suffix") { return 2000000 + slen }
-    return 1000000 + plen
-}
-
-// route_sort_desc — selection sort of route records by descending specificity.
-// N is small (routes per module), so O(n^2) is fine and keeps codegen simple.
-fn route_sort_desc(recs: [Map<String, Any>]) -> [Map<String, Any>] {
-    let n: Int = native_list_len(recs)
-    let out: [Map<String, Any>] = native_list_empty()
-    let used: [Bool] = native_list_empty()
-    let u: Int = 0
-    while u < n {
-        let used = native_list_append(used, false)
-        let u = u + 1
-    }
-    let picked: Int = 0
-    while picked < n {
-        let best_i: Int = 0 - 1
-        let best_score: Int = 0 - 1
-        let i: Int = 0
-        while i < n {
-            let is_used: Bool = native_list_get(used, i)
-            if !is_used {
-                let sc: Int = route_spec_score(native_list_get(recs, i))
-                if sc > best_score {
-                    let best_score = sc
-                    let best_i = i
-                }
-            }
-            let i = i + 1
-        }
-        let out = native_list_append(out, native_list_get(recs, best_i))
-        // Rebuild `used` with best_i marked (runtime has no native_list_set).
-        let new_used: [Bool] = native_list_empty()
-        let j: Int = 0
-        while j < n {
-            if j == best_i {
-                let new_used = native_list_append(new_used, true)
-            } else {
-                let new_used = native_list_append(new_used, native_list_get(used, j))
-            }
-            let j = j + 1
-        }
-        let used = new_used
-        let picked = picked + 1
-    }
-    out
-}
-
-// scan_routes — token-level scan collecting every @route-decorated fn as a
-// route record. Runs once per module (like scan_fn_sigs) so the dispatcher can
-// be synthesized in the streaming backend, which discards per-fn ASTs. Handles
-// decorator STACKING: `@route(...) @manager fn` still records the route.
-fn scan_routes(tokens: [Any]) -> [Map<String, Any>] {
-    let total: Int = native_list_len(tokens) / 2
-    let recs: [Map<String, Any>] = native_list_empty()
-    let has_pending: Bool = false
-    let pending_args: [String] = native_list_empty()
-    let pos: Int = 0
-    let going: Bool = true
-    while going {
-        if pos >= total {
-            let going = false
-        } else {
-            let k: String = tok_kind(tokens, pos)
-            if str_eq(k, "Eof") {
-                let going = false
-            } else {
-                if str_eq(k, "At") {
-                    let dname: String = tok_value(tokens, pos + 1)
-                    let p: Int = pos + 2
-                    let args: [String] = native_list_empty()
-                    let ka: String = tok_kind(tokens, p)
-                    if str_eq(ka, "LParen") {
-                        let p = p + 1
-                        let running: Bool = true
-                        while running {
-                            let kd: String = tok_kind(tokens, p)
-                            if str_eq(kd, "RParen") {
-                                let running = false
-                            } else {
-                                if str_eq(kd, "Eof") {
-                                    let running = false
-                                } else {
-                                    if str_eq(kd, "Str") {
-                                        let args = native_list_append(args, tok_value(tokens, p))
-                                    }
-                                    let p = p + 1
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                        if str_eq(tok_kind(tokens, p), "RParen") { let p = p + 1 }
-                    }
-                    if str_eq(dname, "route") {
-                        let has_pending = true
-                        let pending_args = args
-                    }
-                    let pos = p
-                } else {
-                    if str_eq(k, "Fn") {
-                        let fname: String = tok_value(tokens, pos + 1)
-                        if has_pending {
-                            let recs = native_list_append(recs, route_make_record(fname, pending_args))
-                            let has_pending = false
-                        }
-                        let pos = pos + 2
-                    } else {
-                        let pos = pos + 1
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    recs
-}
-
-// program_has_routes — did scan_routes find any @route fn?
-fn program_has_routes(recs: [Map<String, Any>]) -> Bool {
-    native_list_len(recs) > 0
-}
-
-// route_method_guard — C boolean prefix guarding on HTTP method, or "" for none.
-fn route_method_guard(method: String) -> String {
-    if str_eq(method, "") { return "" }
-    if str_eq(method, "ANY") { return "" }
-    if str_contains(method, "|") {
-        let parts: [String] = split_pipe(method)
-        let np: Int = native_list_len(parts)
-        let expr: String = ""
-        let i: Int = 0
-        while i < np {
-            let m: String = native_list_get(parts, i)
-            if str_eq(m, "") {
-                let i = i + 1
-            } else {
-                let piece: String = "str_eq(method, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(m) + "))"
-                if str_eq(expr, "") {
-                    let expr = piece
-                } else {
-                    let expr = expr + " || " + piece
-                }
-                let i = i + 1
-            }
-        }
-        if str_eq(expr, "") { return "" }
-        return "(" + expr + ") && "
-    }
-    "str_eq(method, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(method) + ")) && "
-}
-
-// route_match_expr — C boolean matching `clean` against the route path/kind.
-fn route_match_expr(kind: String, path: String, suffix: String) -> String {
-    if str_eq(kind, "prefix") {
-        return "str_starts_with(clean, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(path) + "))"
-    }
-    if str_eq(kind, "suffix") {
-        return "str_ends_with(clean, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(path) + "))"
-    }
-    if str_eq(kind, "compound") {
-        return "str_starts_with(clean, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(path) + ")) && str_ends_with(clean, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(suffix) + "))"
-    }
-    "str_eq(clean, EL_STR(" + c_str_lit(path) + "))"
-}
-
-// emit_route_dispatch — emit the generated el_route_dispatch definition from the
-// specificity-sorted route records. No-op if there are no routes.
-fn emit_route_dispatch(recs: [Map<String, Any>]) -> Void {
-    if !program_has_routes(recs) { return }
-    let sorted: [Map<String, Any>] = route_sort_desc(recs)
-    emit_line("// ── generated @route dispatcher (specificity-sorted) ──")
-    emit_line("el_val_t el_route_dispatch(el_val_t method, el_val_t clean, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {")
-    let n: Int = native_list_len(sorted)
-    let i: Int = 0
-    while i < n {
-        let rec = native_list_get(sorted, i)
-        let guard: String = route_method_guard(rec["method"])
-        let match_e: String = route_match_expr(rec["kind"], rec["path"], rec["suffix"])
-        let fn_name: String = rec["name"]
-        emit_line("  if (" + guard + match_e + ") { return " + fn_name + "(method, path, body); }")
-        let i = i + 1
-    }
-    emit_line("  return EL_STR(\"__EL_NO_ROUTE__\");")
-    emit_line("}")
-    emit_blank()
-}
-
 // emit_streaming_preamble — emit #includes, forward decls, and file-scope lets
 // using the pre-scanned signature data (no full AST).
 fn emit_streaming_preamble(sigs: [Map<String, Any>], source: String) -> Void {
@@ -3842,17 +3572,6 @@ fn codegen_streaming(tokens: [Any], sigs: [Map<String, Any>], source: String) ->
    emit_streaming_preamble(sigs, source)
    el_arena_pop(preamble_mark)

-    // @route: scan the token stream once for @route-decorated fns. Kept in
-    // codegen_streaming scope (survives the per-fn arena pops and el_release of
-    // tokens below via refcount, like `sigs`). If any exist, forward-declare the
-    // generated dispatcher NOW so hand-written fns (e.g. handle_request) may call
-    // it before its definition is emitted after the fn-emit loop.
-    let route_records: [Map<String, Any>] = scan_routes(tokens)
-    if program_has_routes(route_records) {
-        emit_line("el_val_t el_route_dispatch(el_val_t method, el_val_t clean, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);")
-        emit_blank()
-    }
-
    // Detect whether there is a fn main() and whether there are top-level
    // executable stmts (for library detection) from sigs.
    let has_el_main: Bool = false
@@ -4040,15 +3759,6 @@ fn codegen_streaming(tokens: [Any], sigs: [Map<String, Any>], source: String) ->
        }
    }

-    // @route: emit the generated dispatcher definition now — after every handler
-    // fn has been emitted, but before `tokens` is released (route_records holds
-    // its own refs to the extracted strings). No-op unless the module declared
-    // at least one @route fn. Emitted before the test/library early-returns so it
-    // is present in library modules (e.g. neuron's routes.el) too.
-    let route_arena_mark: Any = el_arena_push()
-    emit_route_dispatch(route_records)
-    el_arena_pop(route_arena_mark)
-
    // Tokens fully consumed by the streaming loop — release now to free peak heap.
    el_release(tokens)

@@ -1758,68 +1758,23 @@ fn parse_stmt(tokens: [Any], pos: Int) -> Map<String, Any> {
        return make_result({ "stmt": "TryCatch", "try_body": try_body, "catch_name": catch_name, "catch_body": native_list_empty() }, p)
    }

-    // @decorator - capture decorator name (and optional string args) and
-    // attach to the following stmt. Backward-compatible: bare @manager /
-    // @engine / @accessor still parse (no parens -> empty args). Decorators
-    // STACK: `@route("/p","GET") @manager fn f()` attaches BOTH to f via a
-    // `decorators` list [{name, args}]. The legacy `decorator` string is kept
-    // populated (topmost decorator) so the JS backend keeps working unchanged.
+    // @decorator - capture decorator name and attach to following stmt
    if k == "At" {
        let p = pos + 1
        let dec_name = tok_value(tokens, p)
        let p = p + 1
-        // Optional decorator argument list: @name("a", "b", ...)
-        let dec_args = native_list_empty()
-        let ka = tok_kind(tokens, p)
-        if str_eq(ka, "LParen") {
-            let p = p + 1
-            let running_da = true
-            while running_da {
-                let kd = tok_kind(tokens, p)
-                if str_eq(kd, "RParen") {
-                    let running_da = false
-                } else {
-                    if str_eq(kd, "Eof") {
-                        let running_da = false
-                    } else {
-                        if str_eq(kd, "Str") {
-                            let dec_args = native_list_append(dec_args, tok_value(tokens, p))
-                        }
-                        let p = p + 1
-                        let kc = tok_kind(tokens, p)
-                        if str_eq(kc, "Comma") {
-                            let p = p + 1
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-            let p = expect(tokens, p, "RParen")
-        }
        let r = parse_stmt(tokens, p)
        let inner = r["node"]
        let p2 = r["pos"]
        let inner_kind: String = inner["stmt"]
        if str_eq(inner_kind, "FnDef") {
-            // Stack this decorator (topmost-first) onto any decorators the inner
-            // FnDef already carries from decorators written below this one.
-            let this_dec = { "name": dec_name, "args": dec_args }
-            let existing = inner["decorators"]
-            let dlist = native_list_empty()
-            let dlist = native_list_append(dlist, this_dec)
-            let ne: Int = native_list_len(existing)
-            let ei = 0
-            while ei < ne {
-                let dlist = native_list_append(dlist, native_list_get(existing, ei))
-                let ei = ei + 1
-            }
            let with_dec = {
                "stmt": "FnDef",
                "name": inner["name"],
                "params": inner["params"],
                "body": inner["body"],
                "ret_type": inner["ret_type"],
-                "decorator": dec_name,
-                "decorators": dlist
+                "decorator": dec_name
            }
            // r result map fully consumed — release to free peak heap.
            el_release(r)
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+#ifndef EL_PLATFORM_WIN_H
+#define EL_PLATFORM_WIN_H
+/*
+ * el_platform_win.h — Windows OS-boundary shim for el_runtime.c.
+ *
+ * Branch: feat/windows-el-runtime. Included ONLY when _WIN32 is defined; the POSIX build is
+ * untouched. Goal: let el_runtime.c (a BSD-sockets / dlfcn / fork host) compile and link with
+ * mingw-w64 into a native neuron.exe, with no behavioural change to the Linux/macOS build.
+ *
+ * What it maps:
+ *   - sockets  : winsock2 (same call names: socket/bind/listen/accept/recv/send/setsockopt).
+ *                Sockets close with closesocket() (see el_closesocket), and the stack must be
+ *                started once with WSAStartup — done automatically via a load-time constructor.
+ *   - dlsym    : el_runtime.c uses dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, name) to resolve callback/tool symbols
+ *                exported by the main module. Windows equivalent: GetProcAddress on the process
+ *                module. Link the soul with -Wl,--export-all-symbols so the symbols are findable.
+ *   - popen    : mapped to _popen/_pclose.
+ *   - threads  : UNCHANGED. mingw-w64 ships winpthreads, so <pthread.h> + -lpthread just work.
+ */
+
+#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#endif
+#include <winsock2.h>
+#include <ws2tcpip.h>
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <io.h>
+#include <process.h>
+
+/* Portable headers mingw-w64 provides (verified present). */
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <strings.h>   /* strcasecmp */
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <math.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <sys/time.h>  /* mingw-w64 provides gettimeofday here */
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <dirent.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+/* ── socket close ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+/* Winsock closes sockets with closesocket(), not close() (close() is for file fds). The POSIX
+   build defines the same helper as close() so the call sites are identical across platforms. */
+static inline int el_closesocket(SOCKET s) { return closesocket(s); }
+
+/* ── setsockopt optval type ───────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+/* Winsock's setsockopt takes optval as (const char*); POSIX takes (const void*), so el_runtime.c
+   passes &int directly. GCC 14+ makes that an error under -Wincompatible-pointer-types. Wrap it so
+   the runtime's POSIX-style call sites compile unchanged (defined before the macro so the wrapper
+   itself resolves to the real winsock setsockopt). */
+static inline int el_setsockopt(SOCKET s, int level, int optname, const void* optval, int optlen) {
+    return setsockopt(s, level, optname, (const char*)optval, optlen);
+}
+#define setsockopt(s, l, o, v, n) el_setsockopt((s), (l), (o), (v), (int)(n))
+
+/* ── winsock init (once, at load) ─────────────────────────────────────────── */
+static void el__win_net_init(void) {
+    static int inited = 0;
+    if (!inited) { WSADATA w; WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &w); inited = 1; }
+}
+__attribute__((constructor)) static void el__win_ctor(void) { el__win_net_init(); }
+
+/* ── dlsym → GetProcAddress ───────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+#ifndef RTLD_DEFAULT
+#define RTLD_DEFAULT ((void*)0)
+#endif
+static inline void* el_win_dlsym(void* handle, const char* name) {
+    (void)handle;
+    return (void*)(uintptr_t)GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandleA(NULL), name);
+}
+#define dlsym(h, n) el_win_dlsym((h), (n))
+
+/* ── popen / pclose ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+#define popen  _popen
+#define pclose _pclose
+
+/* ── misc POSIX → Win32 shims ─────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+#include <direct.h>            /* _mkdir */
+#define mkdir(path, mode) _mkdir(path)     /* POSIX mkdir(path,mode) → _mkdir(path) */
+#define timegm _mkgmtime                   /* UTC tm → time_t */
+
+/* setenv/unsetenv: not in the Windows CRT; map to _putenv_s / SetEnvironmentVariable. */
+static inline int setenv(const char* name, const char* value, int overwrite) {
+    (void)overwrite;
+    return _putenv_s(name, value ? value : "");
+}
+static inline int unsetenv(const char* name) {
+    /* _putenv_s(name, "") sets VAR="" rather than removing it.
+     * SetEnvironmentVariableA(name, NULL) truly deletes it from the Win32
+     * env block; then we sync the CRT cache with _putenv("NAME=").       */
+    SetEnvironmentVariableA(name, NULL);
+    size_t len = strlen(name);
+    char *buf = (char*)malloc(len + 2);
+    if (!buf) return -1;
+    memcpy(buf, name, len);
+    buf[len] = '=';
+    buf[len + 1] = '\0';
+    _putenv(buf);
+    free(buf);
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* nanosleep — not available in MSVC/UCRT; approximate with Sleep(). */
+static inline int el_nanosleep(const struct timespec *req, struct timespec *rem) {
+    (void)rem;
+    DWORD ms = (DWORD)((req->tv_sec * 1000ULL) + (req->tv_nsec / 1000000ULL));
+    Sleep(ms ? ms : 1);
+    return 0;
+}
+#define nanosleep(req, rem) el_nanosleep((req), (rem))
+
+/* localtime_r/gmtime_r: Windows offers localtime_s/gmtime_s with reversed arg order. */
+static inline struct tm* localtime_r(const time_t* t, struct tm* out) {
+    return localtime_s(out, t) == 0 ? out : (struct tm*)0;
+}
+static inline struct tm* gmtime_r(const time_t* t, struct tm* out) {
+    return gmtime_s(out, t) == 0 ? out : (struct tm*)0;
+}
+
+/* ── libcurl: degradable stubs for the curl-less Windows build ─────────────── */
+/* The curl-less validation build (WITH_CURL=0) links no libcurl. el_runtime.c uses libcurl
+ * unconditionally for its HTTP client / LLM layer; these stubs let it compile and link so the
+ * runtime, HTTP *server*, graph and memory work natively on Windows. Live outbound HTTP/LLM calls
+ * degrade to a runtime error (curl_easy_perform returns an error) — matching the documented
+ * curl-less contract. When HAVE_CURL is defined (WITH_CURL=1) the real <curl/curl.h> is used and
+ * this whole block is compiled out. POSIX never sees this header, so the POSIX build is untouched. */
+#ifndef HAVE_CURL
+
+typedef void CURL;
+typedef int  CURLcode;
+
+#define CURLE_OK                    0
+#define CURLE_HTTP_RETURNED_ERROR   22
+#define CURL_ERROR_SIZE             256
+
+/* Option ids: values are irrelevant to the no-op setopt below; kept distinct for readability. */
+#define CURLOPT_URL              10002
+#define CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION    20011
+#define CURLOPT_WRITEDATA        10001
+#define CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS       10015
+#define CURLOPT_POSTFIELDSIZE      120
+#define CURLOPT_POST                47
+#define CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER       10023
+#define CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS         155
+#define CURLOPT_NOSIGNAL            99
+#define CURLOPT_USERAGENT        10018
+#define CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION      52
+#define CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER      10010
+#define CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST    10036
+#define CURLOPT_FAILONERROR         45
+
+struct curl_slist { char* data; struct curl_slist* next; };
+
+static inline struct curl_slist* curl_slist_append(struct curl_slist* list, const char* s) {
+    struct curl_slist* node = (struct curl_slist*)malloc(sizeof(struct curl_slist));
+    if (!node) return list;
+    node->data = s ? strdup(s) : NULL;
+    node->next = NULL;
+    if (!list) return node;
+    struct curl_slist* p = list;
+    while (p->next) p = p->next;
+    p->next = node;
+    return list;
+}
+static inline void curl_slist_free_all(struct curl_slist* list) {
+    while (list) { struct curl_slist* n = list->next; free(list->data); free(list); list = n; }
+}
+
+static inline CURL* curl_easy_init(void) { return (CURL*)malloc(1); }
+static inline CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL* h, int opt, ...) { (void)h; (void)opt; return CURLE_OK; }
+static inline CURLcode curl_easy_perform(CURL* h) { (void)h; return 7 /* CURLE_COULDNT_CONNECT */; }
+static inline void curl_easy_cleanup(CURL* h) { free(h); }
+static inline const char* curl_easy_strerror(CURLcode c) {
+    (void)c; return "libcurl not built in (curl-less build)";
+}
+
+#endif /* !HAVE_CURL */
+
+#endif /* EL_PLATFORM_WIN_H */
@@ -117,15 +117,6 @@ el_val_t  el_min(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
 void      el_retain(el_val_t v);
 void      el_release(el_val_t v);

-/* ── Arena scoping ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- * el_arena_push() activates the string arena (if not already active) and
- * returns a mark; el_arena_pop(mark) frees all strings allocated since that
- * mark. Used by codegen for per-function/statement scoping and by long-running
- * EL loops (e.g. the soul daemon's awareness tick) to reclaim per-iteration
- * allocations. */
-el_val_t  el_arena_push(void);
-el_val_t  el_arena_pop(el_val_t mark);
-
 /* ── List ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */

 el_val_t  el_list_new(el_val_t count, ...);
@@ -151,7 +142,6 @@ el_val_t  http_get_with_headers(el_val_t url, el_val_t headers_map);
 el_val_t  http_post_with_headers(el_val_t url, el_val_t body, el_val_t headers_map);
 el_val_t  http_post_form_auth(el_val_t url, el_val_t form_body, el_val_t auth_header);
 el_val_t  http_delete(el_val_t url);
-el_val_t  http_delete_json(el_val_t url, el_val_t json_body);
 void      http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
 void      http_set_handler(el_val_t name);

@@ -177,11 +167,6 @@ void      http_set_handler(el_val_t name);
 void      http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
 void      http_set_handler_v2(el_val_t name);

-/* Non-blocking variant of http_serve: runs the accept loop in a background
- * pthread and returns immediately so the caller can continue (used by the
- * soul daemon to run awareness_run() after starting its HTTP API). */
-void      http_serve_async(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
-
 /* Build an HTTP response envelope. `headers_json` should be a JSON object
 * literal like `{"WWW-Authenticate":"Basic"}` (or "" / "{}" for none). The
 * returned string carries the discriminator `{"el_http_response":1,...}`
@@ -591,7 +576,6 @@ el_val_t  engram_list_layers(void);
 el_val_t  engram_get_node(el_val_t id);
 void      engram_strengthen(el_val_t node_id);
 void      engram_forget(el_val_t node_id);
-el_val_t  engram_prune_telemetry(el_val_t older_than_ms);
 el_val_t  engram_node_count(void);
 el_val_t  engram_search(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit);
 el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes(el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
@@ -610,25 +594,12 @@ el_val_t  engram_load(el_val_t path);
 * can pass results straight through without round-tripping ElList/ElMap
 * through json_stringify. */
 el_val_t  engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id);
-el_val_t  engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label);
 el_val_t  engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit);
 el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes_json(el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
 el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes_by_type_json(el_val_t node_type, el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
 el_val_t  engram_neighbors_json(el_val_t node_id, el_val_t max_depth, el_val_t direction);
 el_val_t  engram_activate_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth);
 el_val_t  engram_stats_json(void);
-el_val_t  engram_act_stats_json(void);
-el_val_t  engram_text_health_json(void);
-el_val_t  engram_cosine_sim(el_val_t id_a, el_val_t id_b);
-/* Destructively pop up to `max` newly-formed Hebbian associations as a JSON
- * array of {from_id,to_id,weight,hebb}. The learning process (soul daemon) is
- * not the process that owns persistence (engram HTTP server); this is how a
- * self-formed association crosses that boundary. (2026-08-07 self-review.) */
-el_val_t  engram_hebb_drain_json(el_val_t max);
-/* Document frequency of a term across node labels — term-specificity signal
- * for curiosity seed selection. (2026-08-03 self-review.) */
-el_val_t  engram_label_df(el_val_t term);
-el_val_t  engram_embed_backfill(el_val_t count);
 el_val_t  engram_list_layers_json(void);
 /* Working memory introspection — count, mean weight, and top-N snapshot.
 * Ported from el-compiler/runtime on 2026-06-30 self-review. */
@@ -787,6 +758,18 @@ el_val_t trace_span_start(el_val_t name);
 el_val_t trace_span_end(el_val_t span_handle);
 el_val_t emit_event(el_val_t name, el_val_t duration_ms);

+/* ── Runtime symbols required by the soul modules ──────────────────────────── */
+/* All implemented in el_runtime.c but omitted from this release header; the soul dist modules
+ * reference them directly, so the public header must export them. Declarations only — mirrors the
+ * mainline el_runtime.h and is platform-independent (no behavioural change to the POSIX build). */
+typedef el_val_t (*http_handler_fn)(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
+typedef el_val_t (*http_handler4_fn)(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body, el_val_t headers);
+el_val_t  el_arena_push(void);
+el_val_t  el_arena_pop(el_val_t mark);
+void      http_serve_async(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
+el_val_t  engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label);
+el_val_t  engram_prune_telemetry(el_val_t older_than_ms);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
Neuron	ac248887c2	test: empty commit — is dev CI red independent of any change? El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Failing after 12m14s Details Baseline probe. #89 shows red on dev CI and this Gitea instance does not serve Actions logs (404/500 on every route), so the only way to learn whether dev CI is broken on its own is to run it against dev with no change at all. Reproduced locally first: control (dev head) and treatment (dev + #89) produce BYTE-IDENTICAL test results — both build the self-hosted compiler and elb, both fail the same three timezone tests (earth-zone, dst-spring-forward, rhythm-grounding). That exonerates #89 locally. This probe asks the same question of the real runner. Close once it reports. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-08-09 14:45:39 -05:00
will.anderson	5d0d4555ae	Sync main into dev (GitOps: keep dev current; main authoritative) (#84 ) El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Successful in 8m32s Details	2026-08-03 15:38:40 +00:00
will.anderson	8347a2f1c0	Merge pull request 'docs: add root README mapping the El monorepo' (#83 ) from feat/AddingReadme into dev El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Successful in 8m22s Details	2026-07-31 04:25:44 +00:00
Andre Botelho Rodrigues Almeida	b97b644799	Addind readme.md file to start documenting the repo El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 8m18s Details	2026-07-23 16:41:51 -03:00
will.anderson	d71fc4c1c0	Merge pull request 'promote stage -> main: reconciled el runtime (engram search + natives + durable truncation fix + Windows port)' (#82 ) from stage into main El SDK Release / build-and-release (push) Successful in 8m31s Details El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 8m41s Details	2026-07-22 21:44:01 +00:00
will.anderson	a118d19393	Merge pull request 'promote dev -> stage: el cluster (#66 engram + #79 truncation fix + release-runtime Windows port)' (#81 ) from dev into stage El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (push) Successful in 7m58s Details El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Successful in 4m16s Details	2026-07-22 21:20:17 +00:00
will.anderson	c6aa1e5c53	Merge pull request 'Land el cluster: #66 engram search + natives, #79 truncation fix, + release-runtime Windows port (reconciled)' (#80 ) from reconcile/el-cluster-windows-runtime into dev El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Successful in 8m3s Details El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 4m25s Details Land el cluster (#66 + #79 + release-runtime Windows-port reconciliation) into dev	2026-07-22 21:06:36 +00:00
will.anderson	ff577391f2	reconcile(release-runtime): Windows-port + complete v1.0.0 release runtime so the desktop soul cross-compiles El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 7m7s Details The desktop soul (neuron/dist) compiles against the v1.0.0-20260501 release runtime. After #66 landed the engram natives (tokenized/ranked search, engram_prune_telemetry) and #79 the durable truncation fix into this runtime, two gaps remained before it could cross-compile the Windows brain: 1. Windows OS boundary: the release runtime had no Win32 path. Ported the same _WIN32-guarded shim the mainline runtime carries (#69): #ifdef _WIN32 -> el_platform_win.h (winsock/dlsym/popen + WSAStartup ctor), SOCKET fd guards and el_closesocket() at every socket site, CreateProcessA for exec_bg, the tm_zone/mingw guard, an el_setsockopt optval wrapper (GCC14), and curl-less libcurl stubs. Every change is _WIN32/HAVE_CURL-gated — the POSIX build is byte-identical (gcc -fsyntax-only clean; native behaviour unchanged). 2. Header exports: the release el_runtime.h omitted symbols the soul dist calls that are defined in this runtime's .c — the http_handler_fn/http_handler4_fn typedefs and el_arena_push/pop, engram_prune_telemetry, engram_get_node_by_label. Declaration-only, POSIX-neutral; fixes implicit-declaration/unknown-type errors under the C11 mingw build. Result: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc compiles el_runtime.c + all 48 soul modules clean; POSIX gcc -fsyntax-only clean. This is the Windows-port PR the runtime needed on main (the release-runtime counterpart to #69), landed via stage.	2026-07-22 15:56:08 -05:00
will.anderson	ee0d5f9b97	Merge #79 : durable HTTP response-truncation fix, both runtimes (via stage)	2026-07-22 15:46:02 -05:00
will.anderson	391bd818ea	Merge #66 : tokenized+ranked engram lexical search + engram natives (via stage)	2026-07-22 15:45:54 -05:00
will.anderson	43636aed99	runtime: pair fs_read length hint with its buffer in BOTH runtimes — kill response truncation for good El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Failing after 7s Details The binary-safe fs_read length (_tl_fs_read_len) was consumed by the HTTP response path for ANY body, even when a handler wrapped a smaller file into a larger reply. Content-Length then lied AND the send stopped short: the safety-contact (988) routes returned 178 of 208/218 bytes, cut mid-'set_at' — unparseable JSON. The desktop app read that as failure. On Windows the shipped brain is an OLD build without even the per-handler workaround, so EVERY reply truncated: the app can't read confirmations and refuses the new user. Durable fix: pair the length hint with the exact buffer pointer it describes (_tl_fs_read_buf). Apply the raw byte count ONLY when the response IS that buffer (binary file serving stays correct); every wrapped/enveloped/derived body is measured with strlen. Reset both at request start and in fs_read / json_get_raw. This also closes the stale-hint heap over-read (a length larger than a later body would read past it out the socket) that a plain max() leaves open — so this class of bug dies on every platform, not just where a handler happened to be patched. Applied identically to the mainline runtime (lang/el-compiler/runtime) AND the frozen release runtime (lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501) the desktop souls compile against — the release copy still carried the raw leak, which is why the Windows brain kept truncating. Same proven approach as PR #78 (Tim Lingo), extended to cover the release runtime and rebased onto current main. Both runtimes: gcc -fsyntax-only clean.	2026-07-22 15:04:25 -05:00
will.anderson	2baa0b9a41	Merge pull request 'release: promote stage -> main (ci publish hardening for sdk-release)' (#77 ) from stage into main El SDK Release / build-and-release (push) Successful in 7m55s Details	2026-07-15 21:21:28 +00:00
will.anderson	6a8b2461cd	Merge pull request 'release: promote dev -> stage (ci publish hardening for stage/main)' (#76 ) from dev into stage El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (push) Successful in 8m19s Details El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Failing after 13m1s Details	2026-07-15 21:16:11 +00:00
will.anderson	bcb356fe69	Merge pull request 'ci(stage,main): decouple ci-base rebuild, make SDK publish fail loudly' (#75 ) from hotfix/ci-stage-main-publish-hardening into dev El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 4m27s Details El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Failing after 14m3s Details	2026-07-15 21:15:27 +00:00
will.anderson	dd7827059a	ci(stage,main): decouple ci-base rebuild, make SDK publish fail loudly El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Failing after 14m30s Details Mirror the PR #72 fix (applied to ci-dev.yaml) onto ci-stage.yaml and sdk-release.yaml. The stage and prod release jobs reported FAILURE even when the el-runtime-c/-h publish SUCCEEDED, because the ancillary ci-base Docker rebuild (a CI-cache optimization on the fragile host-mode GCE runner) reddened the whole job. - Rebuild ci-base step: continue-on-error: true — never blocks/reddens the job; the SDK publish is the deliverable. - Publish step: set -euo pipefail + empty-key guard + active-account echo so a real publish failure still fails loud and is diagnosable.	2026-07-15 16:14:50 -05:00
will.anderson	208e36c899	Merge pull request 'release: promote stage -> main (tokenized search, get_node_by_label, epm fix, win portability)' (#74 ) from stage into main El SDK Release / build-and-release (push) Successful in 8m23s Details	2026-07-15 18:24:39 +00:00
will.anderson	b97ce74d1f	Merge pull request 'release: promote dev -> stage (tokenized search, get_node_by_label, epm fix)' (#73 ) from dev into stage El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (push) Failing after 8m45s Details El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Successful in 4m1s Details	2026-07-15 17:20:11 +00:00
will.anderson	155a449c4e	Merge pull request 'ci(dev): make SDK publish fail loudly, decouple ci-base rebuild' (#72 ) from hotfix/ci-dev-publish-hardening into dev El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Successful in 8m56s Details El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 4m10s Details	2026-07-15 16:34:14 +00:00
will.anderson	4696fd6833	ci(dev): make SDK publish fail loudly, decouple ci-base rebuild El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 8m51s Details The dev push build went green-then-red while nothing published: the Publish step had no set -e, so an auth/upload failure exited 0 (silent no-publish), while the ci-base rebuild (set -euo pipefail + Docker on the host-mode runner) hard-failed the job. Add set -euo pipefail + an empty-key guard + active-account echo to the Publish step so failures surface with a retrievable log, and mark the ci-base cache rebuild continue-on-error so the fragile Docker step can never block the actual SDK artifact publish.	2026-07-15 11:33:37 -05:00
will.anderson	581a351fb1	Merge pull request 'integrate: stack PRs #65–#69 (elc OOM guard, tokenized+semantic engram search, get_node_by_label, win portability) for green CI' (#71 ) from hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration into dev El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (push) Failing after 14m31s Details	2026-07-15 15:49:57 +00:00
will.anderson	8ce8656de2	epm: declare cross-module callees as extern fn so strict compilers accept generated C El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Successful in 7m33s Details epm's sibling modules (registry/install/update) call functions defined in other modules and in the El runtime (config, read_installed, registry_find, manifest_deps, manifest_name, registry_latest_version, registry_token, install_vessel, installed_version) without importing them, so elc emits no C prototype for those calls. gcc<=13 treated the resulting implicit declarations as warnings; gcc>=14 and clang reject them as hard errors, which is why the "Build epm" CI step fails and blocks the whole dev/stage pipeline. Add `extern fn` forward declarations -- El's own separate-compilation mechanism -- for each cross-module callee at the top of registry/install/update. This gives elc the correct C prototype in every generated translation unit, so the calls compile cleanly and still resolve at link time. Simply suppressing -Wimplicit-function-declaration would be unsafe: an implicit int return truncates the 64-bit pointer returns of config/registry_find into a latent crash, so declaring the true signatures is the correct fix. Localized to epm; touches neither elc nor the runtime.	2026-07-15 10:14:43 -05:00
will.anderson	1e49560f1f	Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/feat/engram-semantic-search' into hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration El SDK CI - dev / build-and-test (pull_request) Failing after 14m39s Details # Conflicts: # lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c	2026-07-15 09:33:05 -05:00
will.anderson	e8f0b5a9de	Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/fix/engram-lexical-tokenized-search' into hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration	2026-07-15 09:28:44 -05:00
will.anderson	40287c4cfc	Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/hotfix/win-runtime-portability' into hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration	2026-07-15 09:28:44 -05:00
will.anderson	0481bea44d	Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/hotfix/runtime-engram-get-node-by-label' into hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration	2026-07-15 09:28:44 -05:00
will.anderson	9d565ca080	Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/hotfix/elc-fixes' into hotfix/stage-elc-engram-integration	2026-07-15 09:28:44 -05:00
will.anderson	4773dd0aa2	runtime: make Windows soul reproducible from a clean el checkout El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Failing after 16s Details Two el_runtime portability defects only ever lived in staged local copies used to hand-build neuron-ui PR #136's curl-enabled Windows neuron.exe. gcc 15 promotes both to hard errors, so a clean el checkout cannot rebuild that soul. Upstream the minimal fixes so the build is reproducible: - http_serve_async: cast setsockopt optval to (const char). Win32/mingw setsockopt wants const char, not int*; the cast is a no-op on POSIX and matches the four already-cast sites elsewhere in this file. - engram_save persist path: map fsync -> _commit in the _WIN32-only el_platform_win.h (io.h already included). Windows has no fsync(); the POSIX path is untouched.	2026-07-15 04:24:08 -05:00
will.anderson	6b9d9e6c4a	Add engram_get_node_by_label runtime native to unblock soul link El SDK Release / build-and-release (pull_request) Failing after 22s Details chat.el calls the runtime native engram_get_node_by_label to fetch well-known nodes (conv:history, session:summary) by stable label rather than by ID — immune to vector-index drift across restarts. The current runtime never defined it, so the regenerated dist/soul.c fails to link. Backport the function verbatim (idiom-adapted to jb_finish) from release runtime v1.0.0-20260501 and register it as an EL builtin exactly like its siblings: runtime definition + prototype, __-prefixed seed wrapper + prototype, and codegen arity entry. No search-site code is touched.	2026-07-15 04:07:33 -05:00
will.anderson	b4967af13e	feat(engram): semantic search layer via nomic-embed-text (cosine ∪ lexical) Lexical istr_contains alone can't surface a node whose words don't appear in the query. This adds an optional dense-vector layer: node content and the query are embedded through Ollama (nomic-embed-text), and nodes are ranked by cosine similarity unioned with lexical hits, so a paraphrase query reaches the right node. Wired into all three query entry points in el_runtime.c: - engram_search_json (HTTP /api/search): collect lexical ∪ semantic candidates, score (lexical base 1.0 + cosine; pure-semantic = cosine), rank, emit top-N. Stable sort preserves old order when semantic is off. - engram_search (internal el_val twin): lexical ∪ semantic union. - engram_activate seed loop (HTTP /api/activate): a node seeds if it lexically matches OR clears the cosine threshold; pure-semantic seeds enter scaled by cosine so paraphrase spreads without overpowering. Degradable by design: the whole layer is gated on HAVE_CURL plus a one-shot runtime probe. If curl is compiled out, Ollama is unreachable, or ENGRAM_SEMANTIC=0, every entry point yields zero semantic signal and callers fall back byte-for-byte to the pre-existing lexical search. Node embeddings are cached in process memory keyed by node id with an FNV-1a content hash for invalidation; the query is embedded once per call — so the graph is not re-embedded on every query. nomic task prefixes (search_query:/search_document:) are applied for retrieval separation. Build steps gain -DHAVE_CURL so the engram artifact compiles the layer in (-lcurl was already linked). Env: ENGRAM_SEMANTIC, ENGRAM_EMBED_URL, ENGRAM_EMBED_MODEL, ENGRAM_SEMANTIC_MIN (cosine threshold, default 0.6).	2026-07-14 18:48:16 -05:00
will.anderson	2b2a1246e7	Merge pull request 'runtime: fix the memory-leak + write-corruption pair in el_runtime.c' (#64 ) from hotfix/el-runtime-leak-and-persist into main El SDK Release / build-and-release (push) Failing after 10m52s Details	2026-07-13 21:23:31 +00:00
will.anderson	5c41c66a0f	Merge pull request 'fix(windows): guard el_mem_check with _WIN32 — rusage is POSIX-only' (#60 ) from fix/windows-rusage-guard into stage El SDK CI - stage / build-and-test (push) Failing after 13m21s Details fix(windows): guard el_mem_check with _WIN32 — rusage is POSIX-only	2026-06-25 16:48:13 +00:00