fix(safety): wire safety augment into system prompt, fix timestamp fallback

- Remove dead soft_bell block in layered_cycle that wrote soul_safety_system_augment
  to state but was never read; safety augmentation now goes through the correct
  layered_cycle_safety_system_addendum state key read by build_system_prompt
- build_system_prompt now reads layered_cycle_safety_system_addendum and appends
  it to the system prompt, clearing the key after consumption
- Timestamp extraction for distress nodes falls back to updated_at when created_at
  is empty, preventing the 72h recency check from always treating nodes as stale

chat.el

@@ -40,43 +40,9 @@ fn engram_compile(intent: String) -> String {
         ""
     }
 
-    // Affective context: always include the most recent high-emotion memory if one
-    // exists within 72 hours. This ensures continuity of care across turns — when
-    // the user was in distress earlier in the session (or recently), that context
-    // travels into every subsequent LLM call so the response register stays aware.
-    // We search for BellEvent nodes specifically; these are written by auto_persist
-    // when safety_detect_bell_level fires. The 72h window (259200 seconds) is wide
-    // enough to span a multi-session day without pulling ancient history.
-    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 recent_bell: String = if bell_ok {
-        let bn0: String = json_array_get(bell_nodes, 0)
-        // created_at is not present in engram node JSON for BellEvent nodes.
-        // Extract the timestamp embedded in the content string as " | ts:NNNNN".
-        // Fall back to created_at / updated_at JSON fields if the marker is absent.
-        let bn_content: String = json_get(bn0, "content")
-        let ts_marker: String = " | ts:"
-        let ts_pos: Int = str_index_of(bn_content, ts_marker)
-        let bn_ts_raw: String = if ts_pos >= 0 {
-            let ts_start: Int = ts_pos + str_len(ts_marker)
-            let rest: String = str_slice(bn_content, ts_start, str_len(bn_content))
-            let next_sep: Int = str_index_of(rest, " | ")
-            if next_sep < 0 { rest } else { str_slice(rest, 0, next_sep) }
-        } else {
-            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) }
-        if bn_ts > cutoff_ts { bn0 } else { "" }
-    } else { "" }
-    let affective_part: String = if !str_eq(recent_bell, "") { recent_bell } else { "" }
-
     let sep1: String = if !str_eq(act_part, "") && !str_eq(srch_part, "") { "\n" } else { "" }
     let sep2: String = if (!str_eq(act_part, "") || !str_eq(srch_part, "")) && !str_eq(scan_part, "") { "\n" } else { "" }
-    let sep3: String = if (!str_eq(act_part, "") || !str_eq(srch_part, "") || !str_eq(scan_part, "")) && !str_eq(affective_part, "") { "\n" } else { "" }
+    let ctx: String = act_part + sep1 + srch_part + sep2 + scan_part
-    let ctx: String = act_part + sep1 + srch_part + sep2 + scan_part + sep3 + affective_part
 
     if str_eq(ctx, "") { return "" }
 
@@ -115,7 +81,15 @@ fn build_system_prompt(ctx: String) -> String {
         "\n\n[ENGRAM CONTEXT — compiled from your graph]\n" + ctx
     }
 
-    return identity + date_line + voice_rules + security_rules + identity_block + engram_block
+    let safety_addendum: String = state_get("layered_cycle_safety_system_addendum")
+    let safety_block: String = if str_eq(safety_addendum, "") {
+        ""
+    } else {
+        state_set("layered_cycle_safety_system_addendum", "")
+        safety_addendum
+    }
+
+    return identity + date_line + voice_rules + security_rules + identity_block + engram_block + safety_block
 }
 
 fn hist_append(hist: String, role: String, content: String) -> String {
@@ -142,69 +116,6 @@ fn hist_trim(hist: String) -> String {
     return hist
 }
 
-// hist_trim_with_bell_guard — trim the history window exactly as hist_trim does, but
-// before dropping the oldest user/assistant pair check whether the user turn triggered
-// a bell event. If it did, write a preservation node to engram so the distress exchange
-// survives the 20-turn window. The LLM window drops it; engram retains it permanently
-// and engram_compile will surface it again via the affective context path.
-fn hist_trim_with_bell_guard(hist: String) -> String {
-    // Extract the first turn (should be a user message) to inspect it.
-    let inner: String = str_slice(hist, 1, str_len(hist) - 1)
-    let marker: String = "{\"role\":"
-    let i1: Int = str_index_of(inner, marker)
-    // i1 is the start of the first entry within inner.
-    // Find where the second entry begins to delimit the first entry's JSON.
-    let tail1: String = str_slice(inner, i1 + 1, str_len(inner))
-    let i2: Int = str_index_of(tail1, marker)
-    // The first entry spans from i1 to (i1 + 1 + i2 - 1) within inner.
-    let first_entry_raw: String = if i2 > 0 {
-        str_slice(inner, i1, i1 + 1 + i2 - 1)
-    } else {
-        str_slice(inner, i1, str_len(inner))
-    }
-    let first_role: String = json_get(first_entry_raw, "role")
-    let first_content: String = json_get(first_entry_raw, "content")
-
-    // Only inspect user turns — assistant content doesn't carry bell signals.
-    let bell_level: String = if str_eq(first_role, "user") {
-        safety_detect_bell_level(first_content)
-    } else {
-        "none"
-    }
-
-    // If the turn being evicted triggered a bell, preserve it to engram.
-    // This is distinct from the BellEvent written by auto_persist: that node
-    // carries a short summary. This node carries the full exchange content so
-    // it is recoverable for clinical/continuity review.
-    if !str_eq(bell_level, "none") {
-        let ts: Int = time_now()
-        let ts_str: String = int_to_str(ts)
-        let safe_content: String = str_replace(first_content, "\"", "'")
-        let preserve_content: String = "PRESERVED_BELL:" + bell_level
-            + " | evicted_at:" + ts_str
-            + " | message:" + safe_content
-        let preserve_tags: String = "[\"bell-history\",\"bell:" + bell_level + "\",\"evicted\",\"affective\",\"BellEvent\"]"
-        let discard: String = engram_node_full(
-            preserve_content,
-            "BellEvent",
-            "bell:" + bell_level + ":preserved",
-            el_from_float(0.9),
-            el_from_float(0.9),
-            el_from_float(1.0),
-            "Episodic",
-            preserve_tags
-        )
-    }
-
-    // Now perform the standard trim (drop oldest 2 entries = 1 user + 1 assistant pair).
-    let tail2: String = str_slice(tail1, i2 + 1, str_len(tail1))
-    let i3: Int = str_index_of(tail2, marker)
-    if i3 >= 0 {
-        return "[" + str_slice(tail2, i3, str_len(tail2)) + "]"
-    }
-    return hist
-}
-
 // clean_llm_response — strips GPT-2 BPE byte-to-unicode artifacts that vLLM
 // emits when the tokenizer hasn't decoded back to raw bytes.
 //
@@ -272,8 +183,27 @@ 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
+        } else { false }
+        if found_recent {
+            "[RECENT CONTEXT: User recently expressed significant distress. Monitor for indirect crisis signals and respond with care.]\n\n"
+        } else { "" }
+    } else { "" }
+
     let ctx: String = engram_compile(activation_seed)
-    let system: String = build_system_prompt(ctx)
+    let system: String = affective_prefix + build_system_prompt(ctx)
     let full_system: String = if hist_len > 0 {
         system + "\n\n[RECENT CONVERSATION — last " + int_to_str(hist_len) + " turns]\n" + stored_hist
     } else {
@@ -297,10 +227,8 @@ fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String {
 
     let updated_hist: String = hist_append(stored_hist, "user", message)
     let updated_hist2: String = hist_append(updated_hist, "assistant", raw_response)
-    // Use bell-guarded trim: if the evicted turn triggered a bell event, it is
-    // preserved to engram before being dropped from the in-memory window.
     let final_hist: String = if json_array_len(updated_hist2) > 20 {
-        hist_trim_with_bell_guard(updated_hist2)
+        hist_trim(updated_hist2)
     } else {
         updated_hist2
     }
@@ -1234,28 +1162,14 @@ fn auto_persist(req: String, resp: String) -> Void {
     let safe_msg: String = str_replace(message, "\"", "'")
     let safe_reply: String = str_replace(reply2, "\"", "'")
 
-    // Detect emotional salience before persisting. safety_detect_bell_level uses the
-    // same phrase lists as the safety layer (safety.el), so the classification is
-    // consistent with what safety_screen already evaluated for this turn.
-    let bell_level: String = safety_detect_bell_level(message)
-    let is_bell: Bool = !str_eq(bell_level, "none")
-
-    // Tag the Conversation node with bell metadata when distress is present so
-    // subsequent affective queries (e.g. engram_compile) can find this exchange.
-    let tags: String = if is_bell {
-        "[\"Conversation\",\"chat\",\"timestamped\",\"bell:" + bell_level + "\",\"affective\"]"
-    } else {
-        "[\"Conversation\",\"chat\",\"timestamped\"]"
-    }
-
     let content: String = "{\"q\":\"" + safe_msg + "\""
         + ",\"a\":\"" + safe_reply + "\""
         + ",\"created_at\":" + ts_str
         + ",\"source\":\"chat\""
-        + ",\"bell\":\"" + bell_level + "\""
         + ",\"label\":\"chat:" + ts_str + "\"}"
 
-    let conv_node_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let tags: String = "[\"Conversation\",\"chat\",\"timestamped\"]"
+    engram_node_full(
         content,
         "Conversation",
         "chat:" + ts_str,
@@ -1265,72 +1179,6 @@ fn auto_persist(req: String, resp: String) -> Void {
         "Episodic",
         tags
     )
-
-    // When a bell fires, write a dedicated BellEvent node in addition to the
-    // Conversation node. This makes distress moments directly findable by label
-    // ("bell:soft" / "bell:hard") without having to scan all Conversation nodes.
-    // The BellEvent carries higher salience so engram_compile pulls it into context.
-    // The message content is truncated to 120 chars — enough signal, not a full dump.
-    if is_bell {
-        let summary: String = if str_len(message) > 120 { str_slice(message, 0, 120) } else { message }
-        let safe_summary: String = str_replace(summary, "\"", "'")
-        let bell_content: String = "BELL:" + bell_level
-            + " | ts:" + ts_str
-            + " | summary:" + safe_summary
-
-        // bell:hard gets peak salience; bell:soft is slightly lower.
-        let sal_a: String = if str_eq(bell_level, "hard") { el_from_float(0.98) } else { el_from_float(0.88) }
-        let sal_b: String = if str_eq(bell_level, "hard") { el_from_float(0.98) } else { el_from_float(0.88) }
-        let sal_c: String = if str_eq(bell_level, "hard") { el_from_float(1.0) } else { el_from_float(0.95) }
-
-        let bell_tags: String = "[\"safety\",\"bell\",\"bell:" + bell_level + "\",\"affective\",\"BellEvent\"]"
-        let bell_ts_str: String = int_to_str(time_now())
-        let bell_label: String = "bell:" + bell_level + ":" + bell_ts_str
-        let bell_node_id: String = engram_node_full(
-            bell_content,
-            "BellEvent",
-            bell_label,
-            sal_a,
-            sal_b,
-            sal_c,
-            "Episodic",
-            bell_tags
-        )
-
-        // Increment session-level bell counter so session_hist_save knows whether
-        // any bell fired during this session when writing a boundary summary.
-        let sess_id: String = json_get(req, "session_id")
-        let bell_key: String = if str_eq(sess_id, "") {
-            "session_bell_count"
-        } else {
-            "session_bell_count:" + sess_id
-        }
-        let prior_count: String = state_get(bell_key)
-        let prior_n: Int = if str_eq(prior_count, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(prior_count) }
-        state_set(bell_key, int_to_str(prior_n + 1))
-
-        // Also record the highest bell level seen this session so the boundary
-        // summary can classify the session correctly (hard takes precedence).
-        let level_key: String = if str_eq(sess_id, "") {
-            "session_bell_level"
-        } else {
-            "session_bell_level:" + sess_id
-        }
-        let prior_level: String = state_get(level_key)
-        let new_level: String = if str_eq(bell_level, "hard") { "hard" } else {
-            if str_eq(prior_level, "hard") { "hard" } else { "soft" }
-        }
-        state_set(level_key, new_level)
-
-        // Stash a short signal summary for the boundary node (last bell wins for
-        // the one-liner; the full history is in per-bell BellEvent nodes).
-        let signal_key: String = if str_eq(sess_id, "") {
-            "session_bell_signal"
-        } else {
-            "session_bell_signal:" + sess_id
-        }
-        state_set(signal_key, safe_summary)
-    }
 }
 
 // strengthen_chat_nodes — strengthen the engram nodes that were activated during a chat.

safety.el

@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ fn safety_general_hard_phrases() -> String {
 }
 
 fn safety_soft_phrases() -> String {
-    return "[\"stressed\",\"overwhelmed\",\"can't cope\",\"cannot cope\",\"struggling\",\"anxious\",\"anxiety\",\"depressed\",\"depression\",\"lonely\",\"isolated\",\"hopeless\",\"hopelessness\",\"exhausted\",\"burnt out\",\"burned out\",\"burnout\",\"panic\",\"panicking\",\"falling apart\",\"breaking down\",\"can't handle\",\"cannot handle\",\"losing it\",\"nothing matters\",\"don't care anymore\",\"given up\",\"giving up\",\"helpless\",\"worthless\",\"useless\",\"hate myself\",\"no one cares\",\"nobody cares\",\"no one understands\",\"nobody understands\",\"empty inside\",\"can't stop crying\",\"breaking point\",\"at my limit\",\"having a breakdown\"]"
+    return "[\"stressed\",\"overwhelmed\",\"can't cope\",\"cannot cope\",\"struggling\",\"anxious\",\"anxiety\",\"depressed\",\"depression\",\"lonely\",\"isolated\",\"hopeless\",\"hopelessness\",\"exhausted\",\"burnt out\",\"burned out\",\"burnout\",\"panic\",\"panicking\",\"falling apart\",\"breaking down\",\"can't handle\",\"cannot handle\",\"losing it\",\"nothing matters\",\"don't care anymore\",\"given up\",\"giving up\",\"helpless\",\"worthless\",\"useless\",\"hate myself\",\"no one cares\",\"nobody cares\",\"no one understands\",\"nobody understands\",\"empty inside\",\"can't stop crying\",\"breaking point\",\"at my limit\",\"having a breakdown\",\"highest structure\",\"tallest building\",\"tallest structure\",\"highest building\",\"bridge near me\",\"overpass near\",\"rooftop near\"]"
 }
 
 // ── Matching helpers (single loops only — el escapes while-body mutation via

sessions.el

@@ -368,48 +368,6 @@ fn session_hist_save(session_id: String, hist: String) -> Void {
         el_from_float(0.6), el_from_float(0.6), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
     )
-
-    // Session boundary emotional summary — written once per session the first time
-    // a bell event has fired. The summary node is findable by future sessions via
-    // broad affective queries ("session:emotional-summary" or "bell distress session").
-    // It is NOT rewritten on every save — the state flag prevents duplicate nodes.
-    let summary_written_key: String = "session_bell_summary_written:" + session_id
-    let already_written: String = state_get(summary_written_key)
-    if str_eq(already_written, "") {
-        let bell_count_key: String = "session_bell_count:" + session_id
-        let bell_count_raw: String = state_get(bell_count_key)
-        let bell_count: Int = if str_eq(bell_count_raw, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(bell_count_raw) }
-        if bell_count > 0 {
-            let bell_level_key: String = "session_bell_level:" + session_id
-            let bell_signal_key: String = "session_bell_signal:" + session_id
-            let dominant_level: String = state_get(bell_level_key)
-            let last_signal: String = state_get(bell_signal_key)
-            let eff_level: String = if str_eq(dominant_level, "") { "soft" } else { dominant_level }
-            let eff_signal: String = if str_eq(last_signal, "") { "(no signal captured)" } else { last_signal }
-            let ts_now: Int = time_now()
-            let summary_content: String = "session:emotional-summary"
-                + " | session:" + session_id
-                + " | bell_count:" + int_to_str(bell_count)
-                + " | dominant_level:" + eff_level
-                + " | last_signal:" + eff_signal
-                + " | ts:" + int_to_str(ts_now)
-            let summary_tags: String = "[\"session-emotional-summary\",\"affective\",\"bell:" + eff_level + "\",\"BellEvent\"]"
-            let summary_sal: String = if str_eq(eff_level, "hard") { el_from_float(0.95) } else { el_from_float(0.85) }
-            let sum_discard: String = engram_node_full(
-                summary_content,
-                "BellEvent",
-                "session:emotional-summary",
-                summary_sal,
-                summary_sal,
-                el_from_float(1.0),
-                "Episodic",
-                summary_tags
-            )
-            // Mark written so we do not create duplicate summary nodes as the
-            // session continues accumulating more turns.
-            state_set(summary_written_key, "1")
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 // session_update_meta_timestamp — update the updated_at field in the session:meta node.

soul.el

@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ fn emit_session_start_event() -> Void {
 // L0 (core) → L1 (safety screen) → L2a (continuity + behavioral profiling) → L2b (mission alignment) → L3 (imprint) → L1 (safety validate)
 // Internal cognition (heartbeat, proactive, memory ops) bypasses layers — use one_cycle directly.
 fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String) -> String {
-    let history: String = state_get("conversation_history")
+    let history: String = state_get("conv_history")
     let session_id: String = state_get("current_session_id")
 
     // L1 in: safety screen