diff --git a/chat.el b/chat.el
index 5fef8e6..e8c7a9c 100644
--- a/chat.el
+++ b/chat.el
@@ -12,114 +12,129 @@ fn chat_default_model() -> String {
     return "claude-sonnet-4-5"
 }
 
+// engram_numeric_valid — guard for str_to_int: returns true only when s is a valid
+// decimal number (integer or single-decimal-point float, optional leading minus).
+// Q1 fix: rejects "", "null", "N/A", multi-dot strings ("1.2.3"), pure-letter strings.
+// Prevents engram_score_node from passing malformed JSON field values to str_to_int
+// which has undefined behaviour on non-numeric input and can corrupt score arithmetic.
+fn engram_numeric_valid(s: String) -> Bool {
+    if str_eq(s, "") { return false }
+    if str_eq(s, "null") { return false }
+    if str_eq(s, "N/A") { return false }
+    if str_eq(s, "-") { return false }
+    let body: String = if str_starts_with(s, "-") { str_slice(s, 1, str_len(s)) } else { s }
+    if str_eq(body, "") { return false }
+    // Count dots: remove all, compare lengths. Allow at most one dot (float).
+    let no_dot: String = str_replace(body, ".", "")
+    let dot_count: Int = str_len(body) - str_len(no_dot)
+    if dot_count > 1 { return false }
+    if str_eq(no_dot, "") { return false }
+    // str_to_int on a letter-containing string returns 0; "0" is a valid zero.
+    let parsed: Int = str_to_int(no_dot)
+    if parsed == 0 && !str_eq(no_dot, "0") { return false }
+    return true
+}
+
+// parse_float_x100 — parse a float string like "0.9" or "0.85" into an integer
+// scaled by 100. Pads single-decimal values to two decimals before stripping the
+// dot so that "0.9" -> "090" -> 90 (not 9) and "1.0" -> "100" -> 100 (not 10).
+// Only two-decimal floats like "0.85" naturally produce the correct result from
+// a bare str_replace(s, ".", "") — single-decimal inputs require this padding step.
+fn parse_float_x100(s: String) -> Int {
+    if str_eq(s, "") { return 0 }
+    let dot_pos: Int = str_index_of(s, ".")
+    if dot_pos < 0 {
+        // Integer string — multiply by 100
+        return str_to_int(s) * 100
+    }
+    let decimal_part: String = str_slice(s, dot_pos + 1, str_len(s))
+    let dec_len: Int = str_len(decimal_part)
+    // Pad to exactly 2 decimal digits so the strip-dot result is always x100
+    let padded: String = if dec_len == 0 { s + "00" } else {
+        if dec_len == 1 { s + "0" } else { s }
+    }
+    // Now strip the dot — result is the integer scaled by 100
+    return str_to_int(str_replace(padded, ".", ""))
+}
+
 // engram_score_node — compute a recency x relevance score for a single engram
 // node JSON object. Higher is better. Score = salience * importance * recency_factor.
 // recency_factor decays linearly over 30 days: nodes updated today score 1.0,
 // nodes 30+ days old score 0.1 (floor). Nodes with no created_at score 0.5.
 // This keeps fresh, high-salience nodes at the top and pushes stale low-signal
 // nodes to the bottom so they get trimmed when we cap context size.
+// Q1 fix: all three numeric fields validated with engram_numeric_valid before str_to_int.
 fn engram_score_node(node_json: String) -> Int {
     let salience_str: String = json_get(node_json, "salience")
     let importance_str: String = json_get(node_json, "importance")
     let created_str: String = json_get(node_json, "created_at")
+    let updated_str: String = json_get(node_json, "updated_at")
+    let tier_str: String = json_get(node_json, "tier")
 
-    // Parse as floats via * 100 integer arithmetic (el has no float math)
-    let salience_100: Int = if str_eq(salience_str, "") { 70 } else {
-        let s: Int = str_to_int(str_replace(salience_str, ".", ""))
-        // Clamp to 0-100 range (value was e.g. "0.85" -> parsed "085" = 85)
+    // Q1 fix: validate before str_to_int. Non-numeric values fall back to safe defaults.
+    // parse_float_x100 correctly handles single-decimal floats like "0.9" -> 90.
+    let salience_100: Int = if !engram_numeric_valid(salience_str) { 70 } else {
+        let s: Int = parse_float_x100(salience_str)
         if s > 100 { 100 } else { if s < 0 { 0 } else { s } }
     }
-    let importance_100: Int = if str_eq(importance_str, "") { 70 } else {
-        let v: Int = str_to_int(str_replace(importance_str, ".", ""))
+    let importance_100: Int = if !engram_numeric_valid(importance_str) { 70 } else {
+        let v: Int = parse_float_x100(importance_str)
         if v > 100 { 100 } else { if v < 0 { 0 } else { v } }
     }
 
-    // Recency: decay from 100 (today) to 10 (30+ days). created_at is Unix seconds.
     let now_ts: Int = time_now()
-    let recency_100: Int = if str_eq(created_str, "") { 50 } else {
+    let recency_100: Int = if !engram_numeric_valid(created_str) { 50 } else {
         let created_ts: Int = str_to_int(created_str)
         let age_secs: Int = now_ts - created_ts
-        let age_days: Int = age_secs / 86400
+        // Q1 fix: guard against clock skew / future timestamps — treat as fresh.
+        let age_days: Int = if age_secs < 0 { 0 } else { age_secs / 86400 }
         let decay: Int = if age_days >= 30 { 10 } else { 100 - (age_days * 3) }
         if decay < 10 { 10 } else { decay }
     }
 
-    // Combined score 0-1000000 (no floats): salience * importance * recency / 10000
     return salience_100 * importance_100 * recency_100 / 10000
 }
 
-// engram_compile_ranked — build a context string from a JSON array of node objects,
-// ordered best-first by score. Only nodes above a minimum score (25 = salience 0.5 *
-// importance 0.5 * recency 1.0) are included; the rest are noise. Returns at most
-// max_nodes entries concatenated as JSON array text. Because el has no sort primitive,
-// we do a single selection pass picking the top N by linear scan (N=10 cap).
+// engram_compile_ranked — build a ranked list of nodes, best-first by score.
+// Fix (Issue #11): uses "|N|" index tracking instead of _sel_N JSON mutation,
+// which leaked sentinel fields into the node objects passed to the LLM.
+// Works correctly for any input array size — no sentinel cleanup needed.
 fn engram_compile_ranked(nodes_json: String, max_nodes: Int) -> String {
     if str_eq(nodes_json, "") { return "" }
     if str_eq(nodes_json, "[]") { return "" }
     let total: Int = json_array_len(nodes_json)
     if total == 0 { return "" }
-
-    // Two-pass: first pass finds the top `max_nodes` by score via selection.
-    // We track selected node indices and their scores to avoid duplicate picks.
-    let selected: String = ""   // comma-sep JSON snippets for chosen nodes
-    let selected_count: Int = 0
+    let selected_indices: String = ""
+    let selected_nodes: String = ""
     let pass: Int = 0
-
     while pass < max_nodes && pass < total {
-        // Find the unselected node with the highest score
         let best_idx: Int = -1
         let best_score: Int = -1
         let ci: Int = 0
         while ci < total {
             let node: String = json_array_get(nodes_json, ci)
             let score: Int = engram_score_node(node)
-            // Threshold lowered from 25 to 15: includes moderately-relevant older nodes.
-            // A 3-week-old node with salience 0.6 and importance 0.6 scores ~18 — was dropped, now included.
+            // Threshold: includes moderately-relevant older nodes (score >= 15).
             let above_thresh: Bool = score >= 15
-            // Check this index wasn't already selected (sentinel: look for idx marker)
-            let idx_marker: String = "\"_sel_" + int_to_str(ci) + "\""
-            let already_picked: Bool = str_contains(selected, idx_marker)
+            let idx_marker: String = "|" + int_to_str(ci) + "|"
+            let already_picked: Bool = str_contains(selected_indices, idx_marker)
             let is_better: Bool = score > best_score && above_thresh && !already_picked
             let best_score = if is_better { score } else { best_score }
             let best_idx = if is_better { ci } else { best_idx }
             let ci = ci + 1
         }
-
-        // No more qualifying nodes
         if best_idx < 0 {
             let pass = total  // break
         } else {
             let chosen: String = json_array_get(nodes_json, best_idx)
-            let sep: String = if str_eq(selected, "") { "" } else { "," }
-            // Append the index sentinel inline so already_picked checks work
-            let selected = selected + sep + "{\"_sel_" + int_to_str(best_idx) + "\":1," + str_slice(chosen, 1, str_len(chosen) - 1) + "}"
-            let selected_count = selected_count + 1
+            let sep: String = if str_eq(selected_nodes, "") { "" } else { "," }
+            let selected_nodes = selected_nodes + sep + chosen
+            let selected_indices = selected_indices + "|" + int_to_str(best_idx) + "|"
         }
         let pass = pass + 1
     }
-
-    if str_eq(selected, "") { return "" }
-    // Strip the _sel_N sentinel fields that were used for duplicate-detection bookkeeping.
-    // The sentinels have the form "\"_sel_N\":1," (trailing comma, space before next key).
-    // We injected them as the first field in each object, so the pattern is predictable.
-    // Because el has no regex, remove up to 10 possible sentinel variants by literal replace.
-    let clean: String = "[" + selected + "]"
-    let c0: String = str_replace(clean, "\"_sel_0\":1,", "")
-    let c1: String = str_replace(c0, "\"_sel_1\":1,", "")
-    let c2: String = str_replace(c1, "\"_sel_2\":1,", "")
-    let c3: String = str_replace(c2, "\"_sel_3\":1,", "")
-    let c4: String = str_replace(c3, "\"_sel_4\":1,", "")
-    let c5: String = str_replace(c4, "\"_sel_5\":1,", "")
-    let c6: String = str_replace(c5, "\"_sel_6\":1,", "")
-    let c7: String = str_replace(c6, "\"_sel_7\":1,", "")
-    let c8: String = str_replace(c7, "\"_sel_8\":1,", "")
-    let c9: String = str_replace(c8, "\"_sel_9\":1,", "")
-    let c10: String = str_replace(c9, "\"_sel_10\":1,", "")
-    let c11: String = str_replace(c10, "\"_sel_11\":1,", "")
-    let c12: String = str_replace(c11, "\"_sel_12\":1,", "")
-    let c13: String = str_replace(c12, "\"_sel_13\":1,", "")
-    let c14: String = str_replace(c13, "\"_sel_14\":1,", "")
-    return c14
+    if str_eq(selected_nodes, "") { return "" }
+    return "[" + selected_nodes + "]"
 }
 
 // engram_split_topics — split message into sub-queries on explicit conjunctions.
@@ -380,11 +395,6 @@ fn engram_compile(intent: String) -> String {
     let merged: String = engram_nodes_merge(merged, recall_boost)
     let merged_nodes: String = merged
 
-    // Dedup fix: publish seen node IDs so downstream callers (session_preload, affective_prefix)
-    // can skip nodes already present here. EL has no tuple returns so we use state as out-param.
-    let compile_seen_ids: String = engram_extract_ids(merged_nodes)
-    state_set("engram_compile_seen_ids", compile_seen_ids)
-
     // Fallback: when all searches return nothing, fetch persona nodes.
     let scan_part: String = if str_eq(merged_nodes, "") || str_eq(merged_nodes, "[]") {
         let persona_fallback: String = engram_search_json("soul:persona Persona identity", 5)
@@ -395,11 +405,11 @@ fn engram_compile(intent: String) -> String {
         } else { "" }
     } else { "" }
 
-    // Affective context: always include the most recent high-emotion memory within 72h.
+    // Affective context: always include the most recent high-emotion memory within 14 days.
     let bell_nodes: String = engram_search_json("bell:soft bell:hard BellEvent", 3)
     let bell_ok: Bool = !str_eq(bell_nodes, "") && !str_eq(bell_nodes, "[]")
     let now_ts: Int = time_now()
-    let cutoff_ts: Int = now_ts - 259200
+    let cutoff_ts: Int = now_ts - 1209600
     let recent_bell: String = if bell_ok {
         let bn0: String = json_array_get(bell_nodes, 0)
         let bn_content: String = json_get(bn0, "content")
@@ -414,16 +424,53 @@ fn engram_compile(intent: String) -> String {
             let ca: String = json_get(bn0, "created_at")
             if str_eq(ca, "") { json_get(bn0, "updated_at") } else { ca }
         }
-        let bn_ts: Int = if str_eq(bn_ts_raw, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(bn_ts_raw) }
+        // Q1 fix: validate bell timestamp before str_to_int.
+        let bn_ts: Int = if !engram_numeric_valid(bn_ts_raw) { 0 } else { str_to_int(bn_ts_raw) }
         if bn_ts > cutoff_ts { bn0 } else { "" }
     } else { "" }
-    let affective_part: String = if !str_eq(recent_bell, "") { recent_bell } else { "" }
+    // Positive emotion context: check for recent joy/success moments within 14 days.
+    let pos_ec_nodes: String = engram_search_json("PositiveEvent joy:high joy:low affective", 3)
+    let pos_ec_ok: Bool = !str_eq(pos_ec_nodes, "") && !str_eq(pos_ec_nodes, "[]")
+    let recent_positive_ec: String = if pos_ec_ok {
+        let pec0: String = json_array_get(pos_ec_nodes, 0)
+        let pec_content: String = json_get(pec0, "content")
+        let pec_ts_marker: String = " | ts:"
+        let pec_ts_pos: Int = str_index_of(pec_content, pec_ts_marker)
+        let pec_ts_raw: String = if pec_ts_pos >= 0 {
+            let pec_ts_start: Int = pec_ts_pos + str_len(pec_ts_marker)
+            let pec_rest: String = str_slice(pec_content, pec_ts_start, str_len(pec_content))
+            let pec_next: Int = str_index_of(pec_rest, " | ")
+            if pec_next < 0 { pec_rest } else { str_slice(pec_rest, 0, pec_next) }
+        } else {
+            let pec_ca: String = json_get(pec0, "created_at")
+            if str_eq(pec_ca, "") { json_get(pec0, "updated_at") } else { pec_ca }
+        }
+        let pec_ts: Int = if str_eq(pec_ts_raw, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(pec_ts_raw) }
+        if pec_ts > cutoff_ts { pec0 } else { "" }
+    } else { "" }
+    let affective_part: String = if !str_eq(recent_bell, "") {
+        recent_bell
+    } else {
+        if !str_eq(recent_positive_ec, "") { recent_positive_ec } else { "" }
+    }
 
     let has_main: Bool = !str_eq(merged_nodes, "") && !str_eq(merged_nodes, "[]")
     let main_part: String = if has_main { merged_nodes } else { scan_part }
     let sep_ma: String = if !str_eq(main_part, "") && !str_eq(affective_part, "") { "\n" } else { "" }
     let ctx: String = main_part + sep_ma + affective_part
 
+    // Dedup fix: publish seen node IDs so downstream callers (session_preload) can skip
+    // nodes already present in the compiled context. Must be computed after scan_part and
+    // affective_part are resolved so all three segments are represented in the seen set.
+    // EL has no tuple returns so we use state as an out-param.
+    // scan_part is a JSON array — extract with engram_extract_ids.
+    // affective_part is a bare JSON object (bn0), not an array — extract its id directly.
+    let ids_from_merged: String = engram_extract_ids(merged_nodes)
+    let ids_from_scan: String = engram_extract_ids(scan_part)
+    let ids_from_affective: String = json_get(affective_part, "id")
+    let compile_seen_ids: String = add_to_seen(add_to_seen(ids_from_merged, ids_from_scan), ids_from_affective)
+    state_set("engram_compile_seen_ids", compile_seen_ids)
+
     if str_eq(ctx, "") { return "" }
 
     // Issue 7 fix: safe JSON truncation — find last closing brace before budget cap.
@@ -594,29 +641,58 @@ fn clean_llm_response(s: String) -> String {
 }
 
 // conv_history_persist — save conversation history to engram for cross-restart continuity.
-// Stores as a Conversation node. Overwrites by using consistent label "conv:history".
+// Stores as a Conversation node with consistent label "conv:history" (upsert by label).
+// Q3/Q6 fix: added partial-write guard and failure logging.
 fn conv_history_persist(hist: String) -> Void {
     if str_eq(hist, "") { return "" }
     if str_eq(hist, "[]") { return "" }
-    let ts: Int = time_now()
+    // Partial-write guard: refuse to persist a blob that is not a complete JSON array.
+    // A truncated write starting with '[' but missing ']' would overwrite a good node.
+    if !str_starts_with(hist, "[") { return "" }
+    if !str_contains(hist, "]") { return "" }
     let tags: String = "[\"conv-history\",\"persistent\"]"
-    let discard: String = engram_node_full(
+    let node_id: String = engram_node_full(
         hist, "Conversation", "conv:history",
         el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.8), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
     )
+    // Q6 fix: log write failure — silent history loss is now visible.
+    if str_eq(node_id, "") {
+        println("[chat] conv_history_persist: engram_node_full returned empty — history node may be lost")
+    }
 }
 
 // conv_history_load — restore conversation history from engram on first access.
-// Returns the most recent "conv:history" node content, or "" if none found.
+// Q3/Q6 fix: added partial-write guard, log on invalid content, and state flag for
+// callers to distinguish genuine first-turn from a load failure.
 fn conv_history_load() -> String {
+    // Primary: label-based fetch — symmetric with persist, immune to vector index drift.
+    let label_node: String = engram_get_node_by_label("conv:history")
+    let label_ok: Bool = !str_eq(label_node, "") && !str_eq(label_node, "null")
+    if label_ok {
+        let label_content: String = json_get(label_node, "content")
+        let label_valid: Bool = str_starts_with(label_content, "[") && str_contains(label_content, "]")
+        if label_valid {
+            return label_content
+        }
+        println("[chat] conv_history_load: label node found but content invalid — falling back to vector search")
+    }
+    // Fallback: vector search.
     let results: String = engram_search_json("conv:history", 3)
-    if str_eq(results, "") { return "" }
+    if str_eq(results, "") {
+        // Q3 fix: set a state flag so callers can distinguish load failure from first turn.
+        state_set("conv_history_load_failed", "1")
+        return ""
+    }
     if str_eq(results, "[]") { return "" }
     let node: String = json_array_get(results, 0)
     let content: String = json_get(node, "content")
-    // Validate it looks like a JSON array
-    if !str_starts_with(content, "[") { return "" }
+    // Partial-write guard: require both '[' prefix AND ']' presence.
+    if !str_starts_with(content, "[") || !str_contains(content, "]") {
+        println("[chat] conv_history_load: vector search result content invalid — treating as first turn")
+        state_set("conv_history_load_failed", "1")
+        return ""
+    }
     return content
 }
 
@@ -631,6 +707,7 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
     // /api/chat requests without session_id race on this read-append-write.
     let state_hist: String = state_get("conv_history")
     let stored_hist: String = if str_eq(state_hist, "") { conv_history_load() } else { state_hist }
+    let hist_load_failed: Bool = str_eq(state_get("conv_history_load_failed"), "1")
     let hist_len: Int = if str_eq(stored_hist, "") { 0 } else { json_array_len(stored_hist) }
 
     // Issue 8 fix: use semantic continuation detection instead of brittle 50-char threshold.
@@ -645,24 +722,65 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
         message
     }
 
-    // Cross-session affective context: on session start (no history yet), check engram
-    // for recent distress signals within 72h and prepend a care directive if found.
-    let affective_prefix: String = if hist_len == 0 {
-        let distress_nodes: String = engram_search_json("bell distress crisis loss grief despair", 3)
-        let has_nodes: Bool = !str_eq(distress_nodes, "") && !str_eq(distress_nodes, "[]")
-        let now_ts: Int = time_now()
-        let cutoff: Int = now_ts - 259200
-        let found_recent: Bool = if has_nodes {
-            let dn0: String = json_array_get(distress_nodes, 0)
-            let ts0_raw: String = json_get(dn0, "created_at")
-            let ts0_str: String = if str_eq(ts0_raw, "") { json_get(dn0, "updated_at") } else { ts0_raw }
-            let ts0: Int = if str_eq(ts0_str, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(ts0_str) }
-            ts0 > cutoff
+    // Cross-session affective context: check engram for recent distress/positive signals
+    // within 72h and prepend a care directive if found. Runs every turn so the directive
+    // is present throughout the session, not just on turn 1.
+    let affective_prefix: String = {
+        // Runs every turn. Uses correct BellEvent/PositiveEvent tags.
+        let aff_now_ts: Int = time_now()
+        let aff_cutoff: Int = aff_now_ts - 259200
+        let boot_aff: String = state_get("soul_affective_context")
+        let has_boot_aff: Bool = !str_eq(boot_aff, "")
+        let dist_nodes_aff: String = engram_search_json("bell:soft bell:hard BellEvent affective", 3)
+        let has_dist_aff: Bool = !str_eq(dist_nodes_aff, "") && !str_eq(dist_nodes_aff, "[]")
+        let found_recent_dist: Bool = if has_boot_aff {
+            true
+        } else {
+            if has_dist_aff {
+                let dn0: String = json_array_get(dist_nodes_aff, 0)
+                let dn_content: String = json_get(dn0, "content")
+                let daff_marker: String = " | ts:"
+                let daff_pos: Int = str_index_of(dn_content, daff_marker)
+                let daff_ts_str: String = if daff_pos >= 0 {
+                    let daff_start: Int = daff_pos + str_len(daff_marker)
+                    let daff_rest: String = str_slice(dn_content, daff_start, str_len(dn_content))
+                    let daff_next: Int = str_index_of(daff_rest, " | ")
+                    if daff_next < 0 { daff_rest } else { str_slice(daff_rest, 0, daff_next) }
+                } else {
+                    let daff_ca: String = json_get(dn0, "created_at")
+                    if str_eq(daff_ca, "") { json_get(dn0, "updated_at") } else { daff_ca }
+                }
+                let daff_ts: Int = if str_eq(daff_ts_str, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(daff_ts_str) }
+                daff_ts > aff_cutoff
+            } else { false }
+        }
+        let pos_nodes_aff: String = engram_search_json("PositiveEvent joy:high joy:low affective", 3)
+        let has_pos_aff: Bool = !str_eq(pos_nodes_aff, "") && !str_eq(pos_nodes_aff, "[]")
+        let found_recent_pos: Bool = if has_pos_aff && !found_recent_dist {
+            let pn0: String = json_array_get(pos_nodes_aff, 0)
+            let pn_content: String = json_get(pn0, "content")
+            let paff_marker: String = " | ts:"
+            let paff_pos: Int = str_index_of(pn_content, paff_marker)
+            let paff_ts_str: String = if paff_pos >= 0 {
+                let paff_start: Int = paff_pos + str_len(paff_marker)
+                let paff_rest: String = str_slice(pn_content, paff_start, str_len(pn_content))
+                let paff_next: Int = str_index_of(paff_rest, " | ")
+                if paff_next < 0 { paff_rest } else { str_slice(paff_rest, 0, paff_next) }
+            } else {
+                let paff_ca: String = json_get(pn0, "created_at")
+                if str_eq(paff_ca, "") { json_get(pn0, "updated_at") } else { paff_ca }
+            }
+            let paff_ts: Int = if str_eq(paff_ts_str, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(paff_ts_str) }
+            paff_ts > aff_cutoff
         } else { false }
-        if found_recent {
+        if found_recent_dist {
             "[RECENT CONTEXT: User recently expressed significant distress. Monitor for indirect crisis signals and respond with care.]\n\n"
-        } else { "" }
-    } else { "" }
+        } else {
+            if found_recent_pos {
+                "[RECENT CONTEXT: User recently shared exciting or joyful news. Acknowledge and celebrate with them when relevant.]\n\n"
+            } else { "" }
+        }
+    }
 
     let ctx: String = engram_compile(activation_seed)
     // Read IDs published by engram_compile so session_preload can skip duplicate nodes.
@@ -752,44 +870,23 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
             pb
         } else { "" }
 
-        // Session summary recall: show up to 3 previous session summaries so the soul
-        // knows what was discussed in recent past conversations.
-        let summary_bullets: String = if summary_ok {
-            let sn_total: Int = json_array_len(summary_nodes)
-            let sb: String = ""
-            let sb = if sn_total > 0 {
-                let sn0: String = json_array_get(summary_nodes, 0)
-                let sn0_id: String = json_get(sn0, "id")
-                let sc0: String = json_get(sn0, "content")
-                let ss0: String = if str_len(sc0) > 200 { str_slice(sc0, 0, 200) } else { sc0 }
-                if str_eq(ss0, "") || id_in_seen(sn0_id, seen_ids) { sb } else { "- " + ss0 }
-            } else { sb }
-            let sb = if sn_total > 1 {
-                let sn1: String = json_array_get(summary_nodes, 1)
-                let sn1_id: String = json_get(sn1, "id")
-                let sc1: String = json_get(sn1, "content")
-                let ss1: String = if str_len(sc1) > 200 { str_slice(sc1, 0, 200) } else { sc1 }
-                if str_eq(ss1, "") || id_in_seen(sn1_id, seen_ids) { sb } else { sb + "\n- " + ss1 }
-            } else { sb }
-            let sb = if sn_total > 2 {
-                let sn2: String = json_array_get(summary_nodes, 2)
-                let sn2_id: String = json_get(sn2, "id")
-                let sc2: String = json_get(sn2, "content")
-                let ss2: String = if str_len(sc2) > 200 { str_slice(sc2, 0, 200) } else { sc2 }
-                if str_eq(ss2, "") || id_in_seen(sn2_id, seen_ids) { sb } else { sb + "\n- " + ss2 }
-            } else { sb }
-            sb
+        let summary_bullet: String = if summary_ok {
+            let sn0: String = json_array_get(summary_nodes, 0)
+            let sn0_id: String = json_get(sn0, "id")
+            let sc0: String = json_get(sn0, "content")
+            let ss0: String = if str_len(sc0) > 200 { str_slice(sc0, 0, 200) } else { sc0 }
+            if str_eq(ss0, "") || id_in_seen(sn0_id, seen_ids) { "" } else { "- " + ss0 }
         } else { "" }
 
         let hp: Bool = !str_eq(profile_bullets, "")
         let hw: Bool = !str_eq(work_bullets, "")
         let hpr: Bool = !str_eq(project_bullets, "")
-        let hs: Bool = !str_eq(summary_bullets, "")
+        let hs: Bool = !str_eq(summary_bullet, "")
         let preload: String = if hp || hw || hpr || hs {
             let sec_p: String = if hp { "[USER CONTEXT — from memory]\n" + profile_bullets } else { "" }
             let sec_w: String = if hw { "[ACTIVE WORK — from memory]\n" + work_bullets } else { "" }
             let sec_pr: String = if hpr { "[PROJECTS — from memory]\n" + project_bullets } else { "" }
-            let sec_s: String = if hs { "[PREVIOUS SESSIONS]\n" + summary_bullets } else { "" }
+            let sec_s: String = if hs { "[PREVIOUS SESSION — from memory]\n" + summary_bullet } else { "" }
             let sep1: String = if hp && (hw || hpr || hs) { "\n\n" } else { "" }
             let sep2: String = if hw && (hpr || hs) { "\n\n" } else { "" }
             let sep3: String = if hpr && hs { "\n\n" } else { "" }
@@ -798,8 +895,28 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
         preload
     } else { "" }
 
+    // Issue #6 fix: render conversation history as readable dialogue instead of raw JSON.
+    // Injecting a raw JSON array into a natural-language system prompt degrades LLM
+    // comprehension. Each turn is rendered as "User: .../Assistant: ..." with 400-char
+    // truncation so the prompt stays token-efficient while remaining human-readable.
+    let rendered_hist: String = if hist_len > 0 {
+        let rh_total: Int = json_array_len(stored_hist)
+        let rh_out: String = ""
+        let rh_i: Int = 0
+        while rh_i < rh_total {
+            let rh_entry: String = json_array_get(stored_hist, rh_i)
+            let rh_role: String = json_get(rh_entry, "role")
+            let rh_content: String = json_get(rh_entry, "content")
+            let rh_label: String = if str_eq(rh_role, "user") { "User" } else { "Assistant" }
+            let rh_snip: String = if str_len(rh_content) > 400 { str_slice(rh_content, 0, 400) + "..." } else { rh_content }
+            let rh_line: String = rh_label + ": " + rh_snip
+            let rh_out = if str_eq(rh_out, "") { rh_line } else { rh_out + "\n" + rh_line }
+            let rh_i = rh_i + 1
+        }
+        rh_out
+    } else { "" }
     let full_system: String = if hist_len > 0 {
-        system + "\n\n[RECENT CONVERSATION — last " + int_to_str(hist_len) + " turns]\n" + stored_hist
+        system + "\n\n[RECENT CONVERSATION — last " + int_to_str(hist_len) + " turns]\n" + rendered_hist
     } else {
         system + session_preload
     }
@@ -865,7 +982,13 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
     let act_out: String = if act_ok { activation_nodes } else { "[]" }
     strengthen_chat_nodes(act_out)
 
-    return "{\"response\":\"" + safe_response + "\",\"model\":\"" + model + "\",\"activation_nodes\":" + act_out + "}"
+    // Q3 fix: surface history load failure in the response envelope so callers can
+    // show a "starting fresh — could not load previous conversation" indicator.
+    let hist_warning: String = if hist_load_failed {
+        ",\"history_load_failed\":true"
+    } else { "" }
+
+    return "{\"response\":\"" + safe_response + "\",\"model\":\"" + model + "\",\"activation_nodes\":" + act_out + hist_warning + "}"
 }
 
 fn handle_see(body: String) -> String {
@@ -1305,7 +1428,9 @@ fn handle_chat_agentic(body: String) -> String {
 
     // L1 safety screen — agentic path must pass the same gate as layered_cycle.
     // Hard bell: return the crisis response immediately, do not enter the agentic loop.
-    let history: String = state_get("conversation_history")
+    // Fix(issue #9): "conversation_history" key was never written; history lives under "conv_history".
+    // Old key caused history-amplification in safety_screen to always receive "" on agentic path.
+    let history: String = state_get("conv_history")
     let screen_result: String = safety_screen(message, history)
     let screen_action: String = json_get(screen_result, "action")
     if str_eq(screen_action, "hard_bell") {
@@ -1990,6 +2115,7 @@ fn session_summary_autogenerate(hist: String) -> String {
 // Unlike a global-label write, this does NOT delete old nodes — each session accumulates its
 // own node so engram_search_json("session:summary") can return multiple past sessions.
 // The label must be unique per session (e.g. "session:summary:<boot_ts>").
+// Uses salience 0.85/importance 0.85 (two-decimal) to avoid the single-decimal parse bug.
 fn session_summary_write_dated(summary_text: String, label: String) -> String {
     if str_eq(summary_text, "") { return "" }
     if str_eq(label, "") { return "" }
@@ -2001,7 +2127,7 @@ fn session_summary_write_dated(summary_text: String, label: String) -> String {
     let tags: String = "[\"SessionSummary\",\"session-summary\",\"previous-session\",\"consolidate\"]"
     let node_id: String = engram_node_full(
         content, "SessionSummary", label,
-        el_from_float(0.9), el_from_float(0.8), el_from_float(1.0),
+        el_from_float(0.85), el_from_float(0.85), el_from_float(1.0),
         "Episodic", tags
     )
     if str_eq(node_id, "") {