transduce: name the invisible mechanism, fix a silent-failure bug, drop a CRUD verb

ingest and transduce are complements, not synonyms: ingest is the conscious,
deliberate act of pointing at a source (ingest_file/dir/url/llm/stream stay
named exactly that); transduce is the automatic, invisible mechanism inside
it that converts extracted surface content into geometry (renamed
build_prose/build_structured -> transduce_prose/transduce_structured, the
functions that actually turn raw text into a node+edge manifold).

Real bug found and fixed along the way: the final /api/load-merge response
was never checked for an error. A total failure (bad auth, network down,
anything) silently reported nodes_added:0/edges_added:0 — indistinguishable
from a benign 'everything was already known' outcome. Verified live: with a
wrong key, the tool now honestly returns {"error":"load-merge failed:
unauthorized",...} instead of a misleading zero.

Also dropped a CRUD-verb smell: the per-decision println said CREATE (a
database-log verb for something that hasn't actually been written to the
server yet — it's a local, tentative decision pending the batch merge).
Renamed to FORM. The dead-code eg_create_node (defined, never called)
renamed to eg_crystallize_node and annotated honestly as unused, since if
it's ever wired up it represents the real server-confirmed write, unlike
the local FORM guess.

Not yet re-verified end-to-end against a real successful write: the
ingest-test sandbox (nsbx up ingest-test) is itself currently broken —
it prints a green "ready" banner after its own readiness check fails,
and nothing is actually listening. Filed separately; not in scope here.

.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml

@@ -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 }}

.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml

@@ -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 }}

.gitea/workflows/sdk-release.yaml

@@ -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 }}

engram/.gitea/workflows/ci-dev.yaml

@@ -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 \

engram/.gitea/workflows/ci-stage.yaml

@@ -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 \

engram/.gitea/workflows/engram-release.yaml

@@ -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 \

epm/src/install.el

@@ -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.

epm/src/registry.el

@@ -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.

epm/src/update.el

@@ -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.

ingest/src/ingest.el

@@ -0,0 +1,764 @@
+// ingest.el — the native EL AFFERENT INGEST ORGAN
+//
+// The source-polymorphic ingest(source) primitive: point it at a directory,
+// file, url, llm-query, structured-primitive set, or stream; it EXTRACTS the
+// real content faithfully (no invention), TRANSDUCES it into a DISCRETE
+// MANIFOLD (multiple nodes + internal edges — meaning-structure, never a
+// single blob; the conversion from extracted surface content into geometry
+// is automatic and invisible to the caller, the way digestion is invisible
+// to the one who chose to eat — ingest is the conscious act, transduce is
+// the mechanism underneath it, and it is no less real for being unseen),
+// and MERGES that manifold into the engram geometry: shared
+// meanings DEDUP onto existing nodes (search + exact/cosine match), genuinely
+// new meanings add nodes, relations add edges. Every node enters with
+// PROVENANCE + grounding-level + stewardship class from the moment of entry.
+//
+// It is a pure HTTP CLIENT of the engram server — it links only el_runtime.c
+// via fs/http/json/string builtins; it never links el_seed.c or the engram
+// engine. This is the general afferent metabolism the migration / reseed /
+// fetch_fact / conversation / multimodal-learning all ride on.
+//
+// Build (canonical runtime):
+//   ELC=lang/dist/platform/elc ; RT=lang/releases/v1.0.0-20260501
+//   $ELC ingest/src/ingest.el > ingest/build/ingest.c
+//   cc -std=c11 -O2 -I $RT -o ingest/build/ingest ingest/build/ingest.c $RT/el_runtime.c -lcurl -lpthread
+//
+// Run (against an nsbx sandbox clone — NEVER the live :8742):
+//   ENGRAM_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8902 ENGRAM_KEY=sbx-ingest-test \
+//   INGEST_KIND=file INGEST_ARG=/abs/path.md ./ingest/build/ingest
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION A — JSON helpers (self-defined; canonical runtime does not export
+//             json_build_object / json_escape_string, so we own them here)
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+fn j_esc(s: String) -> String {
+    let a: String = str_replace(s, "\\", "\\\\")
+    let b: String = str_replace(a, "\"", "\\\"")
+    let c: String = str_replace(b, "\n", "\\n")
+    let d: String = str_replace(c, "\r", "\\r")
+    let e: String = str_replace(d, "\t", "\\t")
+    return e
+}
+
+// a quoted, escaped JSON string literal
+fn j_q(s: String) -> String {
+    return "\"" + j_esc(s) + "\""
+}
+
+// Extract the top-level keys of a JSON object string. A thin, self-contained
+// scanner (FLAGGED: the one non-trivial parser in this organ — everything else
+// is faithful text handling). Tracks string state + brace/bracket depth; a key
+// is a string at object-interior depth 1 immediately followed by ':'.
+fn json_object_keys(obj: String) -> [String] {
+    let keys: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let n: Int = str_len(obj)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    let depth: Int = 0
+    let in_str: Bool = false
+    let esc: Bool = false
+    let str_start: Int = -1
+    let cur: String = ""
+    let have_key: Bool = false
+    while i < n {
+        let c: String = str_char_at(obj, i)
+        if in_str {
+            if esc {
+                esc = false
+            } else {
+                if str_eq(c, "\\") {
+                    esc = true
+                } else {
+                    if str_eq(c, "\"") {
+                        in_str = false
+                        cur = str_slice(obj, str_start + 1, i)
+                        have_key = true
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if str_eq(c, "\"") {
+                in_str = true
+                str_start = i
+            }
+            if str_eq(c, "{") { depth = depth + 1 }
+            if str_eq(c, "}") { depth = depth - 1 }
+            if str_eq(c, "[") { depth = depth + 1 }
+            if str_eq(c, "]") { depth = depth - 1 }
+            if str_eq(c, ":") {
+                if have_key {
+                    if depth == 1 {
+                        keys = el_list_append(keys, cur)
+                    }
+                }
+                have_key = false
+            }
+            if str_eq(c, ",") { have_key = false }
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return keys
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION B — engram HTTP client (provenance-carrying afferent LOAD)
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+fn eg_base() -> String {
+    let u: String = env("ENGRAM_URL")
+    if !str_eq(u, "") { return u }
+    let s: String = env("SBX_URL")
+    if !str_eq(s, "") { return s }
+    return "http://127.0.0.1:8902"
+}
+
+fn eg_key() -> String {
+    let k: String = env("ENGRAM_KEY")
+    if !str_eq(k, "") { return k }
+    let s: String = env("SBX_KEY")
+    if !str_eq(s, "") { return s }
+    return ""
+}
+
+// POST a JSON body (auth _auth injected) to an engram path.
+fn eg_post(path: String, body_inner: String) -> String {
+    let key: String = eg_key()
+    let auth: String = if str_eq(key, "") { "" } else { ",\"_auth\":" + j_q(key) }
+    let body: String = "{" + body_inner + auth + "}"
+    return http_post_json(eg_base() + path, body)
+}
+
+fn eg_get(path: String) -> String {
+    return http_get(eg_base() + path)
+}
+
+// crystallize a node with full provenance-bearing metadata (server-confirmed
+// write — unlike the local FORM decision in merge_manifold, this is real);
+// returns the new node id. Not currently called by any live path (dead code,
+// kept for a future single-node ad-hoc write use case) — 2026-08-15.
+fn eg_crystallize_node(content: String, ntype: String, tier: String,
+                  sal: String, imp: String, conf: String, tags: String) -> String {
+    let inner: String =
+        "\"content\":" + j_q(content) +
+        ",\"node_type\":" + j_q(ntype) +
+        ",\"label\":" + j_q(str_slice(content, 0, 80)) +
+        ",\"tier\":" + j_q(tier) +
+        ",\"salience\":" + sal +
+        ",\"importance\":" + imp +
+        ",\"confidence\":" + conf +
+        ",\"tags\":" + j_q(tags)
+    let resp: String = eg_post("/api/nodes", inner)
+    return json_get_string(resp, "id")
+}
+
+// search the existing geometry (lexical token-overlap rank); returns JSON array
+fn eg_search(query: String, limit: Int) -> String {
+    let inner: String = "\"query\":" + j_q(query) + ",\"limit\":" + int_to_str(limit)
+    return eg_post("/api/search", inner)
+}
+
+// cosine similarity between two existing (embedded) nodes; -2 if not comparable
+fn eg_similarity(a: String, b: String) -> Float {
+    let resp: String = eg_get("/api/similarity?a=" + a + "&b=" + b)
+    return json_get_float(resp, "cosine")
+}
+
+fn eg_embed_backfill(n: Int) -> String {
+    return eg_get("/api/embed-backfill?n=" + int_to_str(n))
+}
+
+fn eg_forget(id: String) -> String {
+    return http_delete(eg_base() + "/api/nodes/" + id)
+}
+
+// ── DEDUP probe: is this meaning already in the graph? ──────────────────────
+// TIER 1 (deterministic, no embedding needed): search by content tokens, then
+// exact normalized-content match among the candidates. Returns the existing
+// node id, or "" if the meaning is genuinely new.
+fn find_existing_by_content(content: String) -> String {
+    let want: String = str_trim(content)
+    if str_eq(want, "") { return "" }
+    let arr: String = eg_search(content, 8)
+    let n: Int = json_array_len(arr)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        let hit: String = json_array_get(arr, i)
+        let hc: String = str_trim(json_get_string(hit, "content"))
+        if str_eq(hc, want) {
+            return json_get_string(hit, "id")
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return ""
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION C — manifold representation (nodes + internal edges, in memory)
+// A NODE is a JSON obj {lid, content, ntype, tier, sal, imp, conf, tags}.
+// An EDGE is a JSON obj {from, rel, to}. lid = local id within this manifold.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+fn mk_node(lid: String, content: String, ntype: String, tier: String,
+           sal: String, imp: String, conf: String, tags: String) -> String {
+    return "{\"lid\":" + j_q(lid) +
+        ",\"content\":" + j_q(content) +
+        ",\"ntype\":" + j_q(ntype) +
+        ",\"tier\":" + j_q(tier) +
+        ",\"sal\":" + j_q(sal) +
+        ",\"imp\":" + j_q(imp) +
+        ",\"conf\":" + j_q(conf) +
+        ",\"tags\":" + j_q(tags) + "}"
+}
+
+fn mk_edge(ef: String, rel: String, et: String) -> String {
+    return "{\"from\":" + j_q(ef) + ",\"rel\":" + j_q(rel) + ",\"to\":" + j_q(et) + "}"
+}
+
+// linear lookup in parallel lid/real lists
+fn lid_lookup(lids: [String], reals: [String], lid: String) -> String {
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(lids)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        if str_eq(el_list_get(lids, i), lid) {
+            return el_list_get(reals, i)
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return ""
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION D — the MERGE: resolve each manifold node (dedup or create), then
+//             wire the internal edges onto the resolved real ids. This is the
+//             merge boundary: shared meanings collapse onto existing nodes;
+//             genuinely-new meanings add nodes; relations add edges. Structure
+//             grows, size saturates.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+// within-run content dedup: has this exact meaning already been resolved in
+// THIS manifold? returns its real id, or "".
+fn lookup_content(contents: [String], reals: [String], content: String) -> String {
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(contents)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        if str_eq(el_list_get(contents, i), content) {
+            return el_list_get(reals, i)
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return ""
+}
+
+fn ingest_snap_path() -> String {
+    let p: String = env("INGEST_SNAP")
+    if !str_eq(p, "") { return p }
+    return "/tmp/ingest-organ-snap.json"
+}
+
+// The MERGE. Resolve every manifold node against (1) already-resolved nodes in
+// this run and (2) the existing graph (search + exact content match). Shared
+// meanings collapse onto an existing id (DEDUP); genuinely-new meanings get a
+// fresh id and go into the snapshot (CREATE). Then wire the internal edges onto
+// resolved ids. LOAD is ONE snapshot merged via /api/load-merge — a single
+// write (scales to the migration), the sanctioned rail. Structure grows, size
+// saturates: re-ingesting adds ~0 nodes, only edges/strengthening.
+fn merge_manifold(nodes: [String], edges: [String]) -> String {
+    let nn: Int = el_list_len(nodes)
+    let lids: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let reals: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let contents: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let snap_nodes: String = "["
+    let sn_count: Int = 0
+    let created: Int = 0
+    let deduped: Int = 0
+
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < nn {
+        let node: String = el_list_get(nodes, i)
+        let lid: String = json_get_string(node, "lid")
+        let content: String = json_get_string(node, "content")
+        let ntype: String = json_get_string(node, "ntype")
+        let tier: String = json_get_string(node, "tier")
+        let sal: String = json_get_string(node, "sal")
+        let imp: String = json_get_string(node, "imp")
+        let conf: String = json_get_string(node, "conf")
+        let tags: String = json_get_string(node, "tags")
+
+        let real: String = ""
+        let prior: String = lookup_content(contents, reals, content)
+        if !str_eq(prior, "") {
+            real = prior
+            deduped = deduped + 1
+            println("  DEDUP* " + real + " :: " + head80(content))
+        } else {
+            let existing: String = find_existing_by_content(content)
+            if !str_eq(existing, "") {
+                real = existing
+                deduped = deduped + 1
+                println("  DEDUP  " + real + " :: " + head80(content))
+            } else {
+                real = uuid_v4()
+                // provenance + grounding + stewardship: searchable in tags,
+                // structured in metadata — carried from the moment of entry.
+                let meta: String = "{\"provenance\":" + j_q(tags) + ",\"ingest_organ\":\"native-el\"}"
+                let njson: String = "{\"id\":" + j_q(real) +
+                    ",\"content\":" + j_q(content) +
+                    ",\"node_type\":" + j_q(ntype) +
+                    ",\"label\":" + j_q(head80(content)) +
+                    ",\"tier\":" + j_q(tier) +
+                    ",\"tags\":" + j_q(tags) +
+                    ",\"metadata\":" + j_q(meta) +
+                    ",\"salience\":" + sal +
+                    ",\"importance\":" + imp +
+                    ",\"confidence\":" + conf + "}"
+                let sep: String = if sn_count == 0 { "" } else { "," }
+                snap_nodes = snap_nodes + sep + njson
+                sn_count = sn_count + 1
+                created = created + 1
+                println("  FORM   " + real + " :: " + head80(content))
+            }
+        }
+        lids = el_list_append(lids, lid)
+        reals = el_list_append(reals, real)
+        contents = el_list_append(contents, content)
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    snap_nodes = snap_nodes + "]"
+
+    // resolve internal edges onto real ids
+    let ne: Int = el_list_len(edges)
+    let snap_edges: String = "["
+    let ec: Int = 0
+    let j: Int = 0
+    while j < ne {
+        let edge: String = el_list_get(edges, j)
+        let flid: String = json_get_string(edge, "from")
+        let tlid: String = json_get_string(edge, "to")
+        let rel: String = json_get_string(edge, "rel")
+        let fr: String = lid_lookup(lids, reals, flid)
+        let tr: String = lid_lookup(lids, reals, tlid)
+        if !str_eq(fr, "") {
+            if !str_eq(tr, "") {
+                let eid: String = uuid_v4()
+                let ejson: String = "{\"id\":" + j_q(eid) +
+                    ",\"from_id\":" + j_q(fr) + ",\"to_id\":" + j_q(tr) +
+                    ",\"relation\":" + j_q(rel) + ",\"weight\":0.6}"
+                let sep: String = if ec == 0 { "" } else { "," }
+                snap_edges = snap_edges + sep + ejson
+                ec = ec + 1
+                println("  EDGE   " + fr + " -" + rel + "-> " + tr)
+            }
+        }
+        j = j + 1
+    }
+    snap_edges = snap_edges + "]"
+
+    // LOAD: one snapshot, one merge (single write).
+    let snap: String = "{\"nodes\":" + snap_nodes + ",\"edges\":" + snap_edges + "}"
+    let path: String = ingest_snap_path()
+    fs_write(path, snap)
+    let resp: String = eg_post("/api/load-merge", "\"path\":" + j_q(path))
+
+    // HONESTY GATE: the local FORM/DEDUP/EDGE decisions above are real (they
+    // describe what this manifold contains), but they are NOT confirmation of
+    // a server write — only this response is. If the server returned an error
+    // (bad auth, network failure, anything), nodes_added/edges_added silently
+    // default to 0 via json_get_int, which reads identically to "everything
+    // was already known" — a real failure and a benign no-op must never look
+    // the same. Surface the distinction explicitly rather than let a caller
+    // (or a human) infer success from a quiet zero.
+    let srv_err: String = json_get_string(resp, "error")
+    if !str_eq(srv_err, "") {
+        return "{\"error\":" + j_q("load-merge failed: " + srv_err) +
+            ",\"nodes_formed_locally\":" + int_to_str(created) +
+            ",\"nodes_deduped_locally\":" + int_to_str(deduped) +
+            ",\"manifold_nodes\":" + int_to_str(nn) +
+            ",\"manifold_edges\":" + int_to_str(ne) +
+            ",\"note\":" + j_q("nothing below this manifold was confirmed persisted by the server") + "}"
+    }
+
+    let nadd: Int = json_get_int(resp, "nodes_added")
+    let eadd: Int = json_get_int(resp, "edges_added")
+
+    return "{\"nodes_created\":" + int_to_str(created) +
+        ",\"nodes_deduped\":" + int_to_str(deduped) +
+        ",\"new_in_snapshot\":" + int_to_str(sn_count) +
+        ",\"nodes_added\":" + int_to_str(nadd) +
+        ",\"edges_resolved\":" + int_to_str(ec) +
+        ",\"edges_added\":" + int_to_str(eadd) +
+        ",\"manifold_nodes\":" + int_to_str(nn) +
+        ",\"manifold_edges\":" + int_to_str(ne) + "}"
+}
+
+fn head80(s: String) -> String {
+    let t: String = str_trim(s)
+    if str_len(t) <= 80 { return t }
+    return str_slice(t, 0, 80) + "..."
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION E — EXTRACTORS (faithful; no invention). Each returns a manifold by
+//             APPENDING to the nodes/edges accumulators via a returned struct.
+//             We accumulate into module-level lists carried by the caller.
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+// PROSE: chunk text into a discrete manifold. Split on blank lines into
+// paragraphs; every non-empty paragraph is its own node (NEVER one blob).
+// Edges: doc-root -contains-> chunk; chunk -precedes-> next chunk;
+// most-recent-heading -section_of-> chunk. Content is verbatim (substring of
+// the source) — pure extraction of ground truth.
+fn transduce_prose(nodes: [String], edges: [String], text: String,
+               prov: String, ground: String, steward: String,
+               root_lid: String, root_title: String) -> [String] {
+    // returns [nodes_json_list_encoded, edges_json_list_encoded] is awkward in
+    // EL; instead we mutate by returning a 2-list. We package results as a
+    // single JSON array string carrying {nodes:[...],edges:[...]} additions.
+    // (Kept simple: caller passes empty lists and receives the packaged pair.)
+    let tagbase: String = "prov:" + prov + " ground:" + ground + " steward:" + steward
+    // root node
+    nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(root_lid, "document: " + root_title,
+        "Concept", "Semantic", "0.6", "0.6", "0.9", tagbase + " kind:document"))
+
+    let paras: [String] = str_split(text, "\n\n")
+    let np: Int = el_list_len(paras)
+    let idx: Int = 0
+    let last_chunk: String = ""
+    let last_heading: String = ""
+    let ci: Int = 0
+    while idx < np {
+        let raw: String = str_trim(el_list_get(paras, idx))
+        if !str_eq(raw, "") {
+            let lid: String = root_lid + ":c" + int_to_str(ci)
+            let is_heading: Bool = str_starts_with(raw, "#")
+            let kind: String = if is_heading { "kind:heading" } else { "kind:doc-chunk" }
+            nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(lid, raw,
+                "Knowledge", "Semantic", "0.55", "0.55", "0.9", tagbase + " " + kind))
+            // containment: document root -contains-> chunk
+            edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(root_lid, "contains", lid))
+            // sequence: previous chunk -precedes-> this chunk
+            if !str_eq(last_chunk, "") {
+                edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(last_chunk, "precedes", lid))
+            }
+            // sectioning: most-recent heading -section_of-> this chunk
+            if is_heading {
+                last_heading = lid
+            } else {
+                if !str_eq(last_heading, "") {
+                    edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(last_heading, "section_of", lid))
+                }
+            }
+            last_chunk = lid
+            ci = ci + 1
+        }
+        idx = idx + 1
+    }
+    // package: we return the two lists concatenated via a sentinel; but EL
+    // lists can't nest heterogeneously here, so we instead return nodes and
+    // rely on the caller holding edges by reference is not possible — so we
+    // encode both into one list: [ "N" + nodejson ... , "E" + edgejson ... ].
+    let packed: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let a: Int = 0
+    let an: Int = el_list_len(nodes)
+    while a < an { packed = el_list_append(packed, "N" + el_list_get(nodes, a)) a = a + 1 }
+    let b: Int = 0
+    let bn: Int = el_list_len(edges)
+    while b < bn { packed = el_list_append(packed, "E" + el_list_get(edges, b)) b = b + 1 }
+    return packed
+}
+
+// STRUCTURED / RAW-GEOMETRY: ingest structured primitives (phonetics/formants,
+// instrument signatures, scene primitives) as GEOMETRY, faithfully. Normalized
+// input shape:
+//   {"dataset":"<name>","primitive_type":"<t>",
+//    "records":[{"key":"<id>","features":{...categorical...},"attributes":{...}}]}
+// Each record -> a primitive node; each categorical feature -> a SHARED feature
+// node (deduped across records: many primitives -> one feature node = real
+// connective geometry, meaning saturates); numeric attributes fold into the
+// primitive's content (unique values, no dedup benefit). This is knowledge
+// represented as geometry, not prose — the path speech/music/image ingest on.
+fn transduce_structured(nodes: [String], edges: [String], js: String,
+                    prov: String, ground: String, steward: String,
+                    root_lid: String) -> [String] {
+    // grounding integrity: the SOURCE may declare its own epistemic grounding
+    // (measured / derived / convention / ...) via a top-level "grounding" field;
+    // honor it faithfully over the ingest-time default. This keeps the per-node
+    // ground: facet consistent with the source's honest self-description.
+    let src_ground: String = json_get_string(js, "grounding")
+    let use_ground: String = if str_eq(src_ground, "") { ground } else { src_ground }
+    let tagbase: String = "prov:" + prov + " ground:" + use_ground + " steward:" + steward
+    let dsname: String = json_get_string(js, "dataset")
+    let ptype: String = json_get_string(js, "primitive_type")
+    // capture the source's own scholarly provenance citation (verbatim) onto
+    // the dataset root — faithful attribution, retrievable, reachable from every
+    // primitive via its -contains- edge back to the root.
+    let src_cite: String = json_get_string(js, "provenance")
+    let root_content: String = "dataset: " + dsname + " (" + ptype + ")"
+    if !str_eq(src_cite, "") { root_content = root_content + " | provenance: " + src_cite }
+    nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(root_lid, root_content,
+        "Concept", "Semantic", "0.6", "0.6", "0.9", tagbase + " kind:dataset"))
+
+    let recs: String = json_get_raw(js, "records")
+    let nr: Int = json_array_len(recs)
+    let r: Int = 0
+    while r < nr {
+        let rec: String = json_array_get(recs, r)
+        let rkey: String = json_get_string(rec, "key")
+        let attrs: String = json_get_raw(rec, "attributes")
+        // faithful compact serialization of the primitive's numeric signature
+        let attr_str: String = flatten_pairs(attrs)
+        let content: String = ptype + " " + rkey
+        if !str_eq(attr_str, "") { content = content + " | " + attr_str }
+        let plid: String = root_lid + ":" + rkey
+        nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(plid, content,
+            "Concept", "Semantic", "0.6", "0.6", "0.92",
+            tagbase + " kind:primitive primitive:" + ptype + " key:" + rkey))
+        edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(root_lid, "contains", plid))
+
+        // categorical features -> SHARED (deduped) feature nodes + labelled edges
+        let feats: String = json_get_raw(rec, "features")
+        let fkeys: [String] = json_object_keys(feats)
+        let fk: Int = el_list_len(fkeys)
+        let k: Int = 0
+        while k < fk {
+            let fname: String = el_list_get(fkeys, k)
+            let fval: String = json_get_string(feats, fname)
+            // shared feature node: content is the feature=value pair; identical
+            // pairs across records dedup onto ONE node (the geometry).
+            let flid: String = "feat:" + fname + "=" + fval
+            let fcontent: String = fname + "=" + fval
+            nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(flid, fcontent,
+                "Concept", "Semantic", "0.5", "0.5", "0.9",
+                tagbase + " kind:feature feature:" + fname))
+            edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(plid, fname, flid))
+            k = k + 1
+        }
+        r = r + 1
+    }
+    let packed: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let a: Int = 0
+    let an: Int = el_list_len(nodes)
+    while a < an { packed = el_list_append(packed, "N" + el_list_get(nodes, a)) a = a + 1 }
+    let b: Int = 0
+    let bn: Int = el_list_len(edges)
+    while b < bn { packed = el_list_append(packed, "E" + el_list_get(edges, b)) b = b + 1 }
+    return packed
+}
+
+// flatten a flat JSON object of scalar fields into "k=v k=v" (faithful; values
+// verbatim). Used for numeric attribute signatures.
+fn flatten_pairs(obj: String) -> String {
+    if str_eq(obj, "") { return "" }
+    let keys: [String] = json_object_keys(obj)
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(keys)
+    let out: String = ""
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        let k: String = el_list_get(keys, i)
+        // json_get_raw returns the raw token — works for NUMBERS (bare, e.g.
+        // "270") where json_get_string yields "" for non-string values. Strip
+        // surrounding quotes if the value happens to be a string token.
+        let raw: String = json_get_raw(obj, k)
+        let v: String = str_replace(raw, "\"", "")
+        let sep: String = if i == 0 { "" } else { " " }
+        out = out + sep + k + "=" + v
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return out
+}
+
+// unpack the "N"/"E"-prefixed packed list back into two lists, then merge
+fn merge_packed(packed: [String]) -> String {
+    let nodes: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let edges: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(packed)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        let item: String = el_list_get(packed, i)
+        let tag: String = str_slice(item, 0, 1)
+        let rest: String = str_slice(item, 1, str_len(item))
+        if str_eq(tag, "N") { nodes = el_list_append(nodes, rest) }
+        if str_eq(tag, "E") { edges = el_list_append(edges, rest) }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return merge_manifold(nodes, edges)
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION F — DISPATCH on source kind
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+fn basename(path: String) -> String {
+    let parts: [String] = str_split(path, "/")
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(parts)
+    if n == 0 { return path }
+    return el_list_get(parts, n - 1)
+}
+
+fn ends_with_ci(s: String, suf: String) -> Bool {
+    return str_ends_with(str_to_lower(s), suf)
+}
+
+fn is_text_file(path: String) -> Bool {
+    return ends_with_ci(path, ".md") || ends_with_ci(path, ".txt")
+        || ends_with_ci(path, ".markdown") || ends_with_ci(path, ".text")
+}
+
+// default ingestion grounding; overridable per-invocation via INGEST_GROUND.
+// Note: a source's OWN top-level "grounding" field (structured) takes precedence
+// over this — the author's honest self-description wins.
+fn default_ground() -> String {
+    let g: String = env("INGEST_GROUND")
+    if str_eq(g, "") { return "extracted" }
+    return g
+}
+
+fn default_steward() -> String {
+    let s: String = env("INGEST_STEWARD")
+    if str_eq(s, "") { return "local-private" }
+    return s
+}
+
+// ingest one file -> report JSON
+fn ingest_file(path: String) -> String {
+    let text: String = fs_read(path)
+    if str_eq(text, "") {
+        return "{\"error\":\"empty or unreadable\",\"path\":" + j_q(path) + "}"
+    }
+    let prov: String = "file:" + path
+    if ends_with_ci(path, ".json") {
+        let packed: [String] = transduce_structured(el_list_empty(), el_list_empty(),
+            text, prov, default_ground(), default_steward(), "ds:" + basename(path))
+        return merge_packed(packed)
+    }
+    let packed: [String] = transduce_prose(el_list_empty(), el_list_empty(),
+        text, prov, default_ground(), default_steward(),
+        "doc:" + basename(path), basename(path))
+    return merge_packed(packed)
+}
+
+// ingest a directory: walk one level, ingest each supported file, aggregate
+fn ingest_dir(path: String) -> String {
+    let entries: [String] = fs_list(path)
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(entries)
+    let tot_created: Int = 0
+    let tot_deduped: Int = 0
+    let tot_edges: Int = 0
+    let files: Int = 0
+    let i: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        let name: String = str_trim(el_list_get(entries, i))
+        if !str_eq(name, "") {
+            let full: String = path + "/" + name
+            if is_text_file(full) || ends_with_ci(full, ".json") {
+                println("FILE " + full)
+                let rep: String = ingest_file(full)
+                tot_created = tot_created + json_get_int(rep, "nodes_created")
+                tot_deduped = tot_deduped + json_get_int(rep, "nodes_deduped")
+                tot_edges = tot_edges + json_get_int(rep, "edges_added")
+                files = files + 1
+            }
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return "{\"kind\":\"directory\",\"path\":" + j_q(path) +
+        ",\"files_ingested\":" + int_to_str(files) +
+        ",\"nodes_created\":" + int_to_str(tot_created) +
+        ",\"nodes_deduped\":" + int_to_str(tot_deduped) +
+        ",\"edges_accepted\":" + int_to_str(tot_edges) + "}"
+}
+
+// ingest a url: fetch, treat body as prose (faithful extraction of what's there)
+fn ingest_url(url: String) -> String {
+    let body: String = http_get(url)
+    if str_eq(body, "") { return "{\"error\":\"empty fetch\",\"url\":" + j_q(url) + "}" }
+    let packed: [String] = transduce_prose(el_list_empty(), el_list_empty(),
+        body, "url:" + url, "extracted", "public-web",
+        "url:" + url, url)
+    return merge_packed(packed)
+}
+
+// ingest an llm-query: pose the query to the local guide model, take the answer
+// as a CANDIDATE (provisional, guide-sourced grounding) — never believe-the-
+// model. The answer is ingested faithfully as what the model said, marked.
+fn ingest_llm(query: String) -> String {
+    let model: String = if str_eq(env("INGEST_MODEL"), "") { "qwen3:1.7b" } else { env("INGEST_MODEL") }
+    let body: String = "{\"model\":" + j_q(model) + ",\"prompt\":" + j_q(query) + ",\"stream\":false}"
+    let resp: String = http_post_json("http://127.0.0.1:11434/api/generate", body)
+    let answer: String = json_get_string(resp, "response")
+    if str_eq(answer, "") { return "{\"error\":\"no model response\"}" }
+    let packed: [String] = transduce_prose(el_list_empty(), el_list_empty(),
+        answer, "llm:" + model + ":" + query, "candidate-provisional", "guide-provisional",
+        "llm:" + query, "guide answer: " + query)
+    return merge_packed(packed)
+}
+
+// ingest a stream: a file whose lines are turns; each line a node, sequence
+// edges — the conversational-manifold degenerate case (continuous metabolism).
+fn ingest_stream(path: String) -> String {
+    let text: String = fs_read(path)
+    if str_eq(text, "") { return "{\"error\":\"empty stream\"}" }
+    let lines: [String] = str_split(text, "\n")
+    let nodes: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let edges: [String] = el_list_empty()
+    let prov: String = "stream:" + path
+    let tagbase: String = "prov:" + prov + " ground:extracted steward:local-private"
+    nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node("stream", "stream: " + basename(path),
+        "Concept", "Semantic", "0.6", "0.6", "0.9", tagbase + " kind:stream"))
+    let n: Int = el_list_len(lines)
+    let i: Int = 0
+    let prev: String = ""
+    let ci: Int = 0
+    while i < n {
+        let ln: String = str_trim(el_list_get(lines, i))
+        if !str_eq(ln, "") {
+            let lid: String = "stream:t" + int_to_str(ci)
+            nodes = el_list_append(nodes, mk_node(lid, ln,
+                "Memory", "Episodic", "0.5", "0.5", "0.85", tagbase + " kind:turn"))
+            edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge("stream", "contains", lid))
+            if !str_eq(prev, "") { edges = el_list_append(edges, mk_edge(prev, "precedes", lid)) }
+            prev = lid
+            ci = ci + 1
+        }
+        i = i + 1
+    }
+    return merge_manifold(nodes, edges)
+}
+
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+// SECTION G — ENTRY
+// ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+let kind: String = env("INGEST_KIND")
+let arg: String = env("INGEST_ARG")
+
+println("[ingest] organ online — engram=" + eg_base() + " kind=" + kind)
+println("[ingest] source=" + arg)
+
+let report: String = ""
+if str_eq(kind, "dir") {
+    report = ingest_dir(arg)
+} else {
+    if str_eq(kind, "file") {
+        report = ingest_file(arg)
+    } else {
+        if str_eq(kind, "structured") {
+            report = ingest_file(arg)
+        } else {
+            if str_eq(kind, "url") {
+                report = ingest_url(arg)
+            } else {
+                if str_eq(kind, "llm") {
+                    report = ingest_llm(arg)
+                } else {
+                    if str_eq(kind, "stream") {
+                        report = ingest_stream(arg)
+                    } else {
+                        report = "{\"error\":\"unknown INGEST_KIND: " + kind + "\"}"
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+println("REPORT " + report)

lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_platform_win.h

@@ -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) {

lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c

@@ -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);
@@ -1568,11 +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");
         }
@@ -1822,10 +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(
@@ -1963,8 +1995,9 @@ 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;
@@ -2023,6 +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(""));
@@ -2034,6 +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);
 }
@@ -3576,8 +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);
@@ -6895,6 +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);
@@ -6905,8 +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];
@@ -6916,20 +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;
 }
 
@@ -7279,21 +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;
@@ -7303,6 +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) {
@@ -7854,6 +8150,35 @@ 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.
+ *
+ * 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.
+ *
+ * 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("{}"));
+    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);
@@ -7861,39 +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));

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/el-compiler/runtime/el_seed.c

@@ -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);

lang/el-compiler/runtime/el_seed.h

@@ -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);

lang/el-compiler/src/codegen.el

@@ -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 }

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

@@ -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 */

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

@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
 
 #include "el_runtime.h"
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+/* Windows OS-boundary shim (winsock/dlsym/popen). Threading stays on <pthread.h> (winpthreads). */
+#include "el_platform_win.h"
+#else
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <strings.h>     /* strcasecmp */
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -42,7 +46,16 @@
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+/* On POSIX, sockets close with the same close() as files; el_platform_win.h supplies the Windows
+   variant. Defined here so the socket call sites are identical across platforms. */
+static inline int el_closesocket(int s) { return close(s); }
+#endif
+/* libcurl: present on POSIX and on the WITH_CURL Windows build; absent on the curl-less Windows
+   validation build, where el_platform_win.h supplies degradable stubs. On POSIX (_WIN32 undefined)
+   this is always taken, so the POSIX build is unchanged. */
+#if !defined(_WIN32) || defined(HAVE_CURL)
 #include <curl/curl.h>
+#endif
 
 /* ── Internal allocators ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
@@ -71,8 +84,14 @@ 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;
@@ -90,6 +109,8 @@ 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.
@@ -1403,11 +1424,14 @@ 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);
@@ -1457,12 +1481,20 @@ static void http_send_response(int fd, const char* body) {
 }
 
 typedef struct {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    SOCKET fd;
+#else
     int fd;
+#endif
 } HttpWorkerArg;
 
 static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
     HttpWorkerArg* a = (HttpWorkerArg*)arg;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    SOCKET fd = a->fd;
+#else
     int fd = a->fd;
+#endif
     free(a);
     char *method = NULL, *path = NULL, *body = NULL;
     if (http_read_request(fd, &method, &path, &body, NULL) == 0) {
@@ -1479,11 +1511,22 @@ 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");
         }
@@ -1494,7 +1537,7 @@ static void* http_worker(void* arg) {
         free(response);
     }
     free(method); free(path); free(body);
-    close(fd);
+    el_closesocket(fd);
     /* release a slot */
     pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
     _http_conn_active--;
@@ -1524,14 +1567,18 @@ void http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
     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;
+        perror("bind"); el_closesocket(sock); return;
     }
-    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); close(sock); return; }
+    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); el_closesocket(sock); return; }
     fprintf(stderr, "[http] listening on [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
     while (1) {
         struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
         socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        SOCKET cfd = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&cli, &clen);
+#else
         int cfd = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&cli, &clen);
+#endif
         if (cfd < 0) {
             if (errno == EINTR) continue;
             perror("accept"); break;
@@ -1543,11 +1590,11 @@ void http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
         _http_conn_active++;
         pthread_mutex_unlock(&_http_conn_mu);
         HttpWorkerArg* arg = malloc(sizeof(HttpWorkerArg));
-        if (!arg) { close(cfd); continue; }
+        if (!arg) { el_closesocket(cfd); continue; }
         arg->fd = cfd;
         pthread_t tid;
         if (pthread_create(&tid, NULL, http_worker, arg) != 0) {
-            close(cfd); free(arg);
+            el_closesocket(cfd); free(arg);
             pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
             _http_conn_active--;
             pthread_cond_signal(&_http_conn_cv);
@@ -1556,7 +1603,7 @@ void http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
         }
         pthread_detach(tid);
     }
-    close(sock);
+    el_closesocket(sock);
 }
 
 /* ── http_serve_async — non-blocking HTTP server ─────────────────────────── */
@@ -1792,7 +1839,11 @@ static el_val_t http_build_headers_map(const char* hdr_block) {
 
 static void* http_worker_v2(void* arg) {
     HttpWorkerArg* a = (HttpWorkerArg*)arg;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    SOCKET fd = a->fd;
+#else
     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) {
@@ -1805,10 +1856,20 @@ 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(
@@ -1822,7 +1883,7 @@ static void* http_worker_v2(void* arg) {
         free(response);
     }
     free(method); free(path); free(body); free(hdr_block);
-    close(fd);
+    el_closesocket(fd);
     pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
     _http_conn_active--;
     pthread_cond_signal(&_http_conn_cv);
@@ -1852,14 +1913,18 @@ void http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
     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;
+        perror("bind"); el_closesocket(sock); return;
     }
-    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); close(sock); return; }
+    if (listen(sock, 64) < 0) { perror("listen"); el_closesocket(sock); return; }
     fprintf(stderr, "[http v2] listening on [::]:%d (dual-stack)\n", p);
     while (1) {
         struct sockaddr_in6 cli;
         socklen_t clen = sizeof(cli);
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        SOCKET cfd = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&cli, &clen);
+#else
         int cfd = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr*)&cli, &clen);
+#endif
         if (cfd < 0) {
             if (errno == EINTR) continue;
             perror("accept"); break;
@@ -1871,11 +1936,11 @@ void http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
         _http_conn_active++;
         pthread_mutex_unlock(&_http_conn_mu);
         HttpWorkerArg* arg = malloc(sizeof(HttpWorkerArg));
-        if (!arg) { close(cfd); continue; }
+        if (!arg) { el_closesocket(cfd); continue; }
         arg->fd = cfd;
         pthread_t tid;
         if (pthread_create(&tid, NULL, http_worker_v2, arg) != 0) {
-            close(cfd); free(arg);
+            el_closesocket(cfd); free(arg);
             pthread_mutex_lock(&_http_conn_mu);
             _http_conn_active--;
             pthread_cond_signal(&_http_conn_cv);
@@ -1884,7 +1949,7 @@ void http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler) {
         }
         pthread_detach(tid);
     }
-    close(sock);
+    el_closesocket(sock);
 }
 
 /* Build the response envelope a 4-arg handler can return. We hand-write
@@ -1924,6 +1989,7 @@ 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(""));
@@ -1935,6 +2001,7 @@ 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);
 }
@@ -2029,6 +2096,23 @@ el_val_t exec(el_val_t cmdv) {
 el_val_t exec_bg(el_val_t cmdv) {
     const char* cmd = EL_CSTR(cmdv);
     if (!cmd || !*cmd) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    /* Windows: no fork/exec. Launch a detached `cmd /c <command>` with no console window via
+       CreateProcess (DETACHED_PROCESS | CREATE_NO_WINDOW). Returns the PID as a string, "" on fail.
+       Mirrors the POSIX branch: child runs independently, caller is not blocked. */
+    char cmdline[8192];
+    snprintf(cmdline, sizeof(cmdline), "cmd.exe /c %s", cmd);
+    STARTUPINFOA si; ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si)); si.cb = sizeof(si);
+    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi; ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
+    BOOL ok = CreateProcessA(NULL, cmdline, NULL, NULL, FALSE,
+                             DETACHED_PROCESS | CREATE_NO_WINDOW, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
+    if (!ok) return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(""));
+    char pidbuf[32];
+    snprintf(pidbuf, sizeof(pidbuf), "%lu", (unsigned long)pi.dwProcessId);
+    CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
+    CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
+    return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(pidbuf));
+#else
     pid_t pid = fork();
     if (pid < 0) {
         /* fork failed */
@@ -2051,6 +2135,7 @@ el_val_t exec_bg(el_val_t cmdv) {
     char pidbuf[32];
     snprintf(pidbuf, sizeof(pidbuf), "%d", (int)pid);
     return el_wrap_str(el_strdup(pidbuf));
+#endif
 }
 
 el_val_t fs_list(el_val_t pathv) {
@@ -3305,8 +3390,10 @@ 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);
@@ -4178,7 +4265,12 @@ static int _el_decompose_earth(el_caltime_t* ct, struct tm* tm_out, int* abbr_le
     localtime_r(&s, &tm);
     *tm_out = tm;
     if (abbr_buf && abbr_cap > 0) {
+        /* mingw's struct tm has no tm_zone (BSD/glibc extension); no abbrev available there. */
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        const char* z_str = "";
+#else
         const char* z_str = tm.tm_zone ? tm.tm_zone : "";
+#endif
         size_t n = strlen(z_str);
         if (n >= abbr_cap) n = abbr_cap - 1;
         memcpy(abbr_buf, z_str, n);

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

@@ -758,6 +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