The link-formation scan walked candidate slots ascending and stopped at
ENGRAM_HEBB_LINK_PER_CALL (2). Slot index is a hash of the node id pair, so
whenever more than two candidates cleared LINK_MIN in the same call, the two
consolidated were the two with the lowest hash and a stronger association
waited - indefinitely, since the scan restarts from slot 0 every call while
the leader decays at ENGRAM_HEBB_DECAY.
Measured 08-13..08-15: hebb_cand_max peaked at 0.4963, 3.3x LINK_MIN, during
a ~14h stretch of continuous qualification at the 2/call cap.
Same defect the 2026-08-02 review named and fixed for breakthrough weights
(index order is not a cognitive criterion), never carried across to the one
path that writes permanent structure - and there is no pruning path, so
growth is one-way. Selection pressure matters most where the result is
irreversible.
No-op when <=2 candidates qualify; picks the best when more do.
bigmerge
05e5d3c402