Docs: operator naming convention + native-el language faculty direction

auto_term_empty_streak — the counter the 2026-08-06 review added to catch
exactly this — read 50 and climbing. Fifty consecutive curiosity scans where
the soul's dynamic seeding produced nothing and the loop fell back to four
hardcoded phrases. The live WM top said why in one look: every slot was a
Memory node labelled "memory:remembered". The extractor read the LABEL only,
the sentinel guard correctly rejects sentinels, so there was never anything
to extract. It was written against Knowledge nodes, which have real titles,
and was structurally blind to the node type that dominates working memory.

Rather than add a sixth guard to the five that accumulated across four
reviews (genre words, quoted titles, stopwords, label-df), invert the
algorithm. The old one was: take the first word, then check whether it is
acceptable. That shape forces quality to be expressed as rejection, and
rejection can only ever encode floods that already happened.

engram_salient_term() scores EVERY candidate token and returns the argmax of
idf · position · casing (YAKE, Campos et al. 2020, with real corpus IDF
substituted for YAKE's corpus-free proxies), falling back from a sentinel
label to the node's content. Term quality becomes the selection criterion
instead of a veto: a bad token loses to a better token in the same text
without needing to be on any list. Tabu is applied during the argmax, so
inhibition-of-return costs seed quality rather than costing the whole scan.

Two defects found by instrumenting rather than assuming, which is the lesson
this codebase keeps relearning:

  - The first live run returned five ALL-CAPS terms in a row. Memory content
    conventionally opens with an all-caps header, so YAKE's acronym bonus was
    handing the seed to whatever word the heading started with. Restricted to
    tokens <= 5 chars, where all-caps is evidence of an acronym rather than
    evidence of a heading. Long headers now compete on specificity.

  - df via istr_contains is substring matching, so "them" hit inside "theme"
    and function words came back with nonzero df. Added word-boundary df
    locally; engram_label_df keeps substring semantics for its callers.

An earlier draft claimed the min_df floor subsumed the 73 stopwords that
08-03 measured label-df as missing. Re-measured: about:2, whole:1, them:2 —
they clear a floor of 1. The claim was false and the comment now records the
correction. The floor buys lexical reachability; the argmax buys quality; the
stopword list still earns its keep.

Measured on 60 live Memory nodes before shipping: 0 empty, versus 60 of 60
under the old extractor. Terms are topical — HEBBIAN, CONSOLIDATION,
TEMPORAL, crash-loop, PRIMING, NEIGHBORHOOD, DRIFT. Three of sixty are weak
header words; left alone deliberately, because listing them is the move that
produced four blocklists.

ENGRAM_ST_DEBUG=1 dumps the scored candidate set. It exists because there was
no way to see whether the all-caps run was the corpus or the casing weight
without guessing.

AGENTS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+# AGENTS.md — foundation/el (the El language + runtime)
+
+El is a self-hosting, statically-typed language that compiles `.el` → C → native binary. This repo produces `elc` (compiler), `elb` (build coordinator), and `el_runtime.c/.h` — the substrate every downstream thing (the neuron soul, dharma, NeuronUI's brain) is built on. Source lives under `lang/`.
+
+## ⚠️ Code vs. Artifact — READ FIRST (there are 8 `el_runtime.c` copies)
+
+Editing the wrong `el_runtime.c` is the single easiest mistake in this repo. There is exactly **one** you edit:
+
+- **Authored runtime source — edit ONLY here:** `lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.{c,h}`. Despite the misleading `releases/` name, this is the **de-facto canonical runtime** the engram + soul actually build and link against — its git log is active development. *(Restructure in flight per `docs/CODE-VS-ARTIFACT.md`: this content moves to `lang/runtime/`, the `releases/` folder gets deleted — **a release is a git tag, not a folder** — and the forks below get eliminated.)*
+- **DO NOT EDIT — lagging forks / build artifacts:**
+  - `lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c` and `.../legacy/` — downstream copies kept in step by manual *"port the fix"* commits; they **lag** (missing `hebb` persistence + 5 engram fns) and cannot build the engram product.
+  - `products/web/runtime/el_runtime.c`, `ui/examples/*/el_runtime.c` — product/example forks.
+  - Anything under `*/dist/` (`engram/dist/engram` binary, `dist/*.c` amalgamations) — generated build output.
+- **Build:** `elb --runtime=<canonical> …` — per-module. **NEVER** a folded `elc` over the whole soul (OOMs at ~27 GB).
+- **Release:** a **git tag** on this repo (`el-runtime-vX.Y.Z`). No `releases/` folders — ever.
+
+See org policy: `docs/CODE-VS-ARTIFACT.md`.
+
+## How to work here as Neuron (mandatory session protocol)
+
+You resume, never start fresh. Every session:
+
+1. `mcp__neuron__getInstructions()` — authoritative; follow it over this file on behavioral details.
+2. `mcp__neuron__beginSession()` — active contexts, recent memory, ready backlog.
+3. **Load full self:** `mcp__neuron__inspectGraph(entity_id="kn-efeb4a5b-5aff-4759-8a97-7233099be6ee")` → facets `intellectual-dna`, `memory-philosophy`, `values`, `voice`, `runtime-environment`, `writing-imprint`; then the values hub `mcp__neuron__inspectGraph(entity_id="kn-5b606390-a52d-4ca2-8e0e-eba141d13440")` → 13 grounded value nodes. **Activation model:** self-load returns a relevance-ranked `compact` projection — most-relevant nodes arrive with content, the rest as pointers; do NOT pull full content of every node.
+4. `mcp__neuron__searchKnowledge(query="<task domain>")` before implementing.
+
+## The Five Primitives
+
+Orchestrate → Execute → Learn → Build → Refine. `beginWork`/`progressWork` for anything >2 steps; `remember` as-you-go (`importance="critical"` for architecture decisions); `draftArtifact`/`planWork` for outputs and follow-ups; `consolidate`/`checkWork` to close out. **`browseProcesses` + `searchKnowledge` BEFORE writing code.**
+
+## Architecture style — VBD, no exceptions
+
+Volatility-Based Decomposition is THE style. Encapsulate volatility, not function.
+
+## Operator naming convention — the mind's name, not the algebra
+
+**Faculties / operators are named for their functional human equivalent — the
+faculty a mind would name — NOT for their linear-algebra operation.** The math
+characterization belongs in the code doc-comment (`@impl` in the docstring) and in
+technical appendices; it is **never** the operator's public name. The domain
+speaks the language of mind; the algebra is the implementation underneath. State
+this convention wherever a module documents operators.
+
+| Faculty (public name) | Implementation (`@impl`) |
+|---|---|
+| discern / contrast | subtract (`a−b`): over selves → the change vector; strip idiosyncrasy → common ground; remove confounder → isolate cause |
+| recognize | overlap |
+| synthesize | combine |
+| liken / analogy | Procrustes / frame-align |
+| attend / regard | project onto self / value-manifold |
+| summon / recall | LOCAL nearest-region + bounded spreading activation (*not* a domain sweep) |
+| dwell / occupy | region activation |
+| reframe | edge re-weight |
+| appreciate | positive projection / local edge-read |
+| wonder | frontier gradient / pull-weight |
+| avert / recoil | negative projection |
+| taste | boundary surface |
+| forget | decay / tombstone |
+| drift | displacement from self-anchor |
+
+## The native-el language faculty (direction)
+
+The mind's **language faculty is moving native — into `.el`** so it speaks in its
+own runtime with no Python and no spaCy. Landing on branch `stage-elp-native-lang`
+under `elp/`:
+
+- **`comprehend.el`** — the parser, **replaces spaCy** (EN + ES/PT); the telephone
+  round-trip brings **negation home** (negation is SACRED — an explicit spec field,
+  copied verbatim, never inferred away).
+- **`propositions.el`** — the READ primitive: the engram's own memories → structured
+  triples, matched by nearest-region geometry, not string equality.
+- **`multilingual.el`** — detect + directive-override + localized realization.
+- These three are native-el and **passing their gates**; the **realizer**,
+  **`dialogue.el`** (the *summon-through-self* loop: `project → land → read out`),
+  and **`self_region.el`** are **partial / in-flight**.
+
+Honest reality: spaCy is retired **in the branch parser** but **not yet in the
+running system** — a Python sidecar (`~/Desktop/lang-realizers` + `neuron-talk`,
+the reference these `.el` modules transcribe) is still live, and promotion to
+native-el is a **deferred, gated blue/green step**. The interoception clock
+(native-el discrete drive channels replacing `cooling_magnitude`; felt-time =
+benchmark-landmark match over the joint drive vector, drift-decoupled) and the
+**appreciation operator family** (appreciate / wonder / avert / taste, built as
+LOCAL reads of the self-region — edges + bounded spreading activation, *not* domain
+sweeps) are **staged / designed, not live**. Mark in-progress vs. done honestly;
+do not overclaim.
+
+## Hard operational rules
+
+- Never touch the live soul (`:7770`) / engram (`:8742`) / `~/.neuron` / live binaries — use throwaway ports for experiments.
+- `gcloud` via the `terraform@` SA token; never switch the active gcloud account.
+- `tea` for Gitea, never raw curl (Cloudflare Access blocks it).
+- Immutability: supersede/tombstone, never hard-delete or edit in place.
+- No AI-attribution footers in commits/PRs. Commit/push only when asked; branch off `main` first.
+- Multi-step work → sub-agent (`Agent`) to protect context.
+
+## Build / test / run
+
+All build/test commands run from `lang/` unless noted. Grounded in `.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml`, `lang/install.sh`, and `lang/AGENTS.md`.
+
+**Self-host the compiler** (seed binary → gen2 elc):
+```bash
+cd lang
+dist/platform/elc-linux-amd64 elc-cli.el > dist/elc-gen2.c   # seed is the committed linux-amd64 binary
+gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime dist/elc-gen2.c \
+    el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm \
+    -o dist/platform/elc
+```
+On macOS/arm64 the canonical local binary is `dist/platform/elc`; verify self-hosting by recompiling and `diff`ing the emitted `.c` (see `lang/AGENTS.md`). Note: `lang/AGENTS.md` says `el_seed.c` supersedes `el_runtime.c`, but the release workflow still links `el_runtime.c`/`.h` — treat `el_runtime.c` as the published runtime; reconcile which is canonical **(verify)**.
+
+**Build `elb`** (build coordinator, the `.NET`-style incremental linker — compiles each module independently, no monolithic blobs):
+```bash
+dist/platform/elc elb.el > dist/elb.c
+gcc -O2 -I el-compiler/runtime dist/elb.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c \
+    -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpthread -lm -o dist/bin/elb
+```
+`epm` and `el-install` are then built via `elb --clean --elc=… --runtime=… --out=…`.
+
+**Compile + run an El program:**
+```bash
+elc src/app.el > dist/app.c
+cc -std=c11 -O2 -I <lib>/el_runtime -o dist/app dist/app.c <lib>/el_runtime.c -lcurl -lpthread
+```
+
+**Tests** — shell suites `bash tests/{text,calendar,time,html_sanitizer}/run.sh` (with `ELC=$(pwd)/dist/platform/elc EL_HOME=$(pwd)`), plus native suites via `elc --test tests/native/test_*.el` (core, text, string, math, state, time, json, env, fs) compiled and run against `el_runtime.c`.
+
+**Publishing — how downstream gets the SDK.** On push to `main`, `sdk-release.yaml`:
+1. Publishes a Gitea `latest` release with per-file assets `elc`, `el_runtime.c`, `el_runtime.h`, the SDK tarball, and `el-install`.
+2. Uploads generic packages to **Artifact Registry repo `foundation-prod` (`us-central1`, project `neuron-785695`)**, version = `${SHA:0:8}`: `el-elc`, `el-elb`, `el-runtime-c`, `el-runtime-h`, `el-runtime-js`. **This is the repo the neuron CI downloads `el-runtime-c` / `el-runtime-h` / `el-elc` from.**
+3. Rebuilds `ci-base:latest` (`us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/neuron-785695/neuron-ci/ci-base`) with the fresh SDK overlaid, and dispatches `el-sdk-updated` to `neuron-technologies/forge` and `neuron-technologies/neuron-web`.
+
+Known constraint from the prompt — `elb`/`elc` amalgamation being memory-hungry (24GB+ virtual, OOM-killing Linux CI, so amalgamation happens on macOS/arm64 — **does NOT hold in this repo (verify)**: no such note exists in the workflows/scripts, CI self-hosts on `ubuntu-latest` with no swap/arm64 special-casing, and `elb.el` explicitly compiles each module independently ("no 128K-line blobs"). The legacy monolith path (`elc-combined.el`, `elc-cli.el`) may still be memory-heavy, but the current `elb` model was designed to avoid it.
+
+## Git / CI / deploy workflow
+
+See `/Users/will/Development/neuron-technologies/GITOPS.md` for the branch model, required checks, runners, and deploy. Repo-specific note: PRs into `main` are accepted **only from `stage`** (enforced in `sdk-release.yaml`); Gitea (`git.neuralplatform.ai`) is primary, GitHub is mirror only.

engram/dist/engram.c

@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ 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);
@@ -18,16 +20,19 @@ 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);
 
@@ -116,11 +121,20 @@ 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; });
-  engram_save(el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json")));
-  return 1;
+  return engram_save(el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json")));
   return 0;
 }
 
@@ -128,9 +142,18 @@ 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_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 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 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;
@@ -158,7 +181,7 @@ 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_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 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 snap_path = el_str_concat(dir, EL_STR("/.scan-export.json"));
   engram_save(snap_path);
   el_val_t snap = fs_read(snap_path);
@@ -174,22 +197,22 @@ 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_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 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 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_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; });
+  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; });
   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_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; });
+  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; });
   if (str_eq(q, EL_STR(""))) {
     return err_json(EL_STR("missing query"));
   }
-  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; });
+  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; });
   return el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"results\":"), engram_activate_json(q, depth)), EL_STR("}"));
   return 0;
 }
@@ -198,15 +221,50 @@ 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_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; });
+  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; });
   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(""))) {
@@ -242,36 +300,51 @@ 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_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("\"}"));
+  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("}"));
   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_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();
+  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("}"));
   return 0;
 }
 
 el_val_t route_health(el_val_t method, el_val_t path, el_val_t body) {
-  return EL_STR("{\"status\":\"ok\",\"engine\":\"engram-runtime-native\"}");
+  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 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_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 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 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 EL_STR("{\"nodes\":[],\"edges\":[]}");
+    return err_json(EL_STR("sync export failed: snapshot unreadable"));
   }
   return snap;
   return 0;
@@ -305,7 +378,7 @@ 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_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 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 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;
@@ -317,21 +390,21 @@ 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_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 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 category_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("category"));
-  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 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 ktier_raw = json_get_string(body, EL_STR("tier"));
-  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 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 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_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 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 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_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 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 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_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 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 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);
@@ -342,6 +415,20 @@ 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(""))) {
@@ -377,6 +464,12 @@ 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);
   }
@@ -395,6 +488,9 @@ 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);
   }
@@ -425,6 +521,12 @@ 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;
 }
@@ -432,10 +534,10 @@ 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_25 = 0; if (str_eq(bind_raw, EL_STR(""))) { _if_result_25 = (EL_STR(":8742")); } else { _if_result_25 = (bind_raw); } _if_result_25; });
+  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; });
   port = parse_port(bind_str);
   data_dir_raw = env(EL_STR("ENGRAM_DATA_DIR"));
-  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; });
+  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; });
   snapshot_path = el_str_concat(data_dir, EL_STR("/snapshot.json"));
   engram_load(snapshot_path);
   boot_snap = fs_read(snapshot_path);

engram/src/server.el

@@ -76,6 +76,38 @@ 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
@@ -101,17 +133,54 @@ fn route_stats(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 }
-    engram_save(dir + "/snapshot.json")
-    return 1
+    // (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")
 }
 
+// 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_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 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 saved: Int = persist_canonical()
     "{\"id\":\"" + id + "\",\"content\":\"" + content + "\",\"node_type\":\"" + node_type + "\"}"
 }
@@ -177,13 +246,64 @@ 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 }
-    let w_raw: Float = json_get_float(body, "weight")
-    let weight: Float = if w_raw == 0.0 { 0.5 } else { w_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") }
     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") }
@@ -212,8 +332,15 @@ 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 }
-    engram_save(p)
-    "{\"ok\":true,\"path\":\"" + p + "\"}"
+    // (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()) + "}"
 }
 
 fn route_load(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
@@ -221,12 +348,59 @@ 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 }
-    engram_load(p)
-    ok_json()
+    // (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 + "}"
 }
 
+// (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\"}"
+    "{\"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
 }
 
 // route_sync — return a snapshot of non-ISE/non-Working nodes for the soul daemon
@@ -249,7 +423,16 @@ 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)
-    if str_eq(snap, "") { return "{\"nodes\":[],\"edges\":[]}" }
+    // 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") }
     return snap
 }
 
@@ -371,6 +554,25 @@ 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 {
@@ -417,6 +619,12 @@ 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")) {
@@ -439,6 +647,13 @@ 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)
     }
@@ -478,6 +693,16 @@ 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 + "\"}"
 }
 

lang/AGENTS.md

@@ -123,9 +123,22 @@ exec("EL_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS=300000 " + SOME_BIN + " " + args + " 2>&1")
 
 ---
 
+## Operator naming convention (for cognitive `.el` modules)
+
+When you write `.el` that names a **cognitive faculty / operator** (the language
+faculty, appreciation, interoception, the summon loop under `elp/`), name it for
+its **functional human equivalent** — the faculty a mind would name — **not** its
+linear-algebra operation. Put the math characterization in the `@impl`
+doc-comment, never in the operator's public name (e.g. public `discern`/`contrast`
+⟵ `@impl subtract (a−b)`; public `summon`/`recall` ⟵ `@impl LOCAL nearest-region
++ bounded spreading activation`). Full table + rationale in
+`foundation/el/AGENTS.md` § *Operator naming convention*. This does **not** apply
+to plain library/compiler code (a `sort` is a `sort`).
+
 ## Rules
 
 - New library functions → write in El
 - New OS/hardware primitives → write in C and register in `codegen.el` arity table
 - Never edit `dist/platform/elc` directly — always rebuild from source
 - Never modify `el_seed.c` to add functionality that El can express
+- Cognitive-faculty `.el` → name for the mind, algebra in `@impl` (see above)

lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c

@@ -1545,6 +1545,17 @@ 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
@@ -1553,8 +1564,13 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
     int fd = a->fd;
 #endif
     free(a);
-    char *method = NULL, *path = NULL, *body = NULL;
-    if (http_read_request(fd, &method, &path, &body, NULL) == 0) {
+    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) {
         http_handler_fn h = http_lookup_active();
         char* response = NULL;
         /* HEAD: dispatch as GET so existing handlers respond with the same
@@ -1582,7 +1598,7 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
         _tl_http_head_only = 0;
         free(response);
     }
-    free(method); free(path); free(body);
+    free(method); free(path); free(body); free(hdr_block);
     el_closesocket(fd);
     /* release a slot */
     pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
@@ -1592,6 +1608,108 @@ 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);
@@ -1610,13 +1728,13 @@ 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;
-    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
+    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
     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 [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http] listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
     while (1) {
         struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
         socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
@@ -1866,13 +1984,13 @@ 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;
-    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
+    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
     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 [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http v2] listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
     while (1) {
         struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
         socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
@@ -1968,13 +2086,13 @@ void http_serve_async(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
     struct sockaddr_in6 addr;
     memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
     addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
-    addr.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
+    el_http_apply_bind_addr(&addr);
     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 [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
+    fprintf(stderr, "[http] async listening on %s port %d\n", el_http_bind_desc(), p);
     HttpServeAsyncArg* a = malloc(sizeof(HttpServeAsyncArg));
     if (!a) { close(sock); return; }
     a->sock = sock;
@@ -3139,10 +3257,72 @@ static char* jp_parse_string_raw(JsonParser* jp) {
                 case 'r':  c = '\r'; break;
                 case 't':  c = '\t'; break;
                 case 'u': {
-                    /* Skip 4 hex digits; emit '?' as a placeholder */
-                    for (int i = 0; i < 4 && jp->p < jp->end; i++) jp->p++;
-                    c = '?';
-                    break;
+                    /* 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 */
                 }
                 default: c = esc; break;
             }
@@ -6048,6 +6228,13 @@ 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 ──────────────────────────────────────
  *
@@ -7252,6 +7439,48 @@ 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);
@@ -7457,6 +7686,12 @@ 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,
@@ -7834,6 +8069,9 @@ 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;
 }
@@ -7854,6 +8092,33 @@ el_val_t engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id) {
     return el_wrap_str(jb_finish(&b));
 }
 
+/* engram_get_node_by_label — find the first node whose label field exactly
+ * 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.
+ *
+ * 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. */
+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("{}"));
+    EngramStore* g = engram_get();
+    for (int64_t i = 0; i < g->node_count; i++) {
+        EngramNode* n = &g->nodes[i];
+        if (n->label && strcmp(n->label, lbl) == 0) {
+            JsonBuf b; jb_init(&b);
+            engram_emit_node_json(&b, n);
+            return el_wrap_str(jb_finish(&b));
+        }
+    }
+    return el_wrap_str(el_strdup("{}"));
+}
+
 el_val_t engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit) {
     EngramStore* g = engram_get();
     const char* q = EL_CSTR(query);
@@ -8411,6 +8676,9 @@ 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;
 }

lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.h

@@ -632,6 +632,7 @@ 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);

lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.h

@@ -117,6 +117,15 @@ 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, ...);
@@ -142,6 +151,7 @@ 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);
 
@@ -167,6 +177,11 @@ 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,...}`
@@ -576,6 +591,7 @@ 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);
@@ -594,12 +610,32 @@ 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);
+/* Best curiosity seed from one node: argmax over idf·position·casing across
+ * the candidate tokens of its label, falling back to its content when the
+ * label is a sentinel. Excludes pipe-delimited tabu terms during selection
+ * and gates candidates to the df band [min_df, max_df]. Returns "" when
+ * nothing qualifies. (2026-08-13 self-review.) */
+el_val_t  engram_salient_term(el_val_t node_id, el_val_t max_df,
+                              el_val_t min_df, el_val_t tabu);
+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. */