feat(soul): write-through to the persistence owner — memories survive restart (#117)

The soul obeys half of its own ownership rule. soul.el:571-573 says "when
ENGRAM_URL is set the HTTP Engram owns persistence — the soul must NEVER write
to the local snapshot", and it doesn't. But nothing was ever built to hand the
soul's writes TO that owner: sync is pull-only (/api/sync -> engram_load_merge),
so every node created inside the soul lived in process RAM and was shed on
restart. Measured live 2026-08-07: soul node_count=102184, engram 79197.

SCOPE CORRECTION vs the earlier internal spec: engram provisional claim 17's
"pull-then-push" is a PEER-ENGRAM to PEER-ENGRAM protocol (claims 15-18 say so
explicitly). The soul is a CALLER of the database API, not a peer. Claim 17 is
NOT authority for a soul<->engram contract and is no longer cited as such. The
design here follows from the ownership rule alone.

Mechanism: a new Accessor, persist.el, is the single boundary. Writes stage a
delta to a filesystem spool and are pushed to the owner via POST /api/load-merge
— NOT POST /api/nodes, which mints a new server-side id (breaking dedup and
edges) and drops label/tier/tags/importance/confidence (verified in a sandbox:
a tier "Canonical" probe came back "Working"). load-merge preserves the id and
every field, dedups nodes by id and edges by (from,to,relation) so retries are
no-ops, and calls persist_canonical() so THE OWNER writes its own file — the
ownership rule is honoured rather than worked around.

Spool-and-drain rather than push-per-write: measured ~0.38s per load-merge at
live scale (79k nodes/176MB), and a chat turn writes 5-7 nodes. The spool is on
disk, not in process state, because the soul serves each connection on its own
pthread and a shared buffer would lose entries to a read-modify-write race. That
also buys crash recovery: writes orphaned by kill -9 are drained on next boot.

Honesty: api_persisted (the gate all 10 MCP write handlers pass through) and
mem_store now assert AT THE OWNER instead of reading back the soul's own RAM.
With the owner down a write returns {"ok":false,"error":"write_not_persisted"}
and the delta is queued — where main returns {"ok":true} for a write that dies.

Coverage: 35 node sites + 9 edge sites routed through the boundary. Deliberately
excluded, with reasons in persist.el: 4 InternalStateEvent sites (Will's own
telemetry carve-out), the boot counter and the persona (both already have
bespoke owner-side write-backs), and soul.el's 54 genesis identity edges
(file-mode only). engram_strengthen and engram_forget are NOT propagated —
load-merge cannot update or delete, and hard-deleting at the owner would fail
verify-soul-contract.sh section B.

Also fixed here:
- routes.el GET /api/graph/edges engram_save()'d straight over the owner's
  canonical snapshot.json — a read route, in a non-owner process, clobbering the
  canonical on every call. Same defect class Will removed from the engram in el
  dc39a61. Now exports to a scratch path. With this gone the soul writes nothing
  at all in HTTP mode.
- persist.el must clear the runtime's _tl_fs_read_len hint after every fs_read.
  In vendored runtime v1.0.0-20260501 that hint becomes the NEXT response's
  Content-Length, so reading a spool file mid-request made an 86-byte reply go
  out as 497 bytes with 411 bytes of adjacent heap trailing it. Caught and fixed
  at our boundary; the runtime class was fixed upstream in el 43636ae, which is
  not the pinned runtime here.

Rung: E2E-VERIFIED, discriminating. Same harness, same engram binary:
  write-through: LEG 1 PRESENT at owner, LEG 2 SURVIVED kill -9 + restart
  main:          LEG 1 ABSENT  at owner, LEG 2 LOST
verify-soul-contract.sh: GATE PASS on both builds (27/27 routes, immutability).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
             > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list
           apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y google-cloud-cli
 
-      - name: Download El runtime from Artifact Registry
+      - name: Authenticate to GCP + stage PINNED El runtime
         env:
           GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
         run: |
@@ -47,41 +47,21 @@ jobs:
           gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=/tmp/gcp-key.json
           gcloud config set project neuron-785695
 
+          # PINNED RUNTIME — do NOT pull "latest" from Artifact Registry.
+          # The ship-soul calls engram_prune_telemetry (awareness.el sync/heartbeat
+          # self-review). The latest published el-runtime-c no longer defines that
+          # symbol, so an unpinned build fails to LINK — which is exactly how a
+          # broken/handlerless soul reached prod before. Compile against the
+          # vendored release runtime v1.0.0-20260501: the exact runtime the merged
+          # ship-soul was verified against (verify-soul-contract GATE PASS +
+          # genesis boot survives + full safety-contact response). It is committed
+          # under vendor/ so the soul build is fully reproducible and never depends
+          # on a moving AR "latest".
           rm -rf /opt/el/runtime
           mkdir -p /opt/el/runtime
-
-          # Get latest version of each runtime package (elc/elb not needed — we compile
-          # dist/soul.c directly; running elb on Linux OOM-kills the runner, and we
-          # always use the repo's pre-built soul.c anyway).
-          get_latest() {
-            gcloud artifacts versions list \
-              --repository=foundation-prod \
-              --location=us-central1 \
-              --project=neuron-785695 \
-              --package="$1" \
-              --sort-by="~createTime" \
-              --limit=1 \
-              --format="value(name)" 2>/dev/null | awk -F/ '{print $NF}'
-          }
-
-          RC_VER=$(get_latest el-runtime-c)
-          RH_VER=$(get_latest el-runtime-h)
-
-          echo "Downloading runtime@${RC_VER}"
-
-          gcloud artifacts generic download \
-            --repository=foundation-prod --location=us-central1 --project=neuron-785695 \
-            --package=el-runtime-c --version="${RC_VER}" \
-            --destination=/opt/el/runtime/
-
-          gcloud artifacts generic download \
-            --repository=foundation-prod --location=us-central1 --project=neuron-785695 \
-            --package=el-runtime-h --version="${RH_VER}" \
-            --destination=/opt/el/runtime/
-
-          mv /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.c* /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.c 2>/dev/null || true
-          mv /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.h* /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.h 2>/dev/null || true
-          echo "El runtime ready: $(ls /opt/el/runtime/)"
+          cp vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.c /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.c
+          cp vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.h /opt/el/runtime/el_runtime.h
+          echo "El runtime PINNED to v1.0.0-20260501: $(ls /opt/el/runtime/)"
 
       - name: Build neuron soul binary
         run: |

awareness.el

@@ -889,10 +889,29 @@ fn awareness_run() -> Void {
             state_set("soul.last_beat_ts", int_to_str(now_ts))
             // Persist in-process Engram (sessions, memories, conversation nodes)
             // to local snapshot so they survive restarts.
+            // FILE MODE ONLY: "soul_snapshot_path" is set exclusively in the
+            // genesis+safe_to_seed branch of soul.el, and safe_to_seed is
+            // unconditionally false when ENGRAM_URL is set. In HTTP mode the
+            // owner persists; the soul must not (soul.el:571-573).
             let snap_path: String = state_get("soul_snapshot_path")
             if !str_eq(snap_path, "") {
                 mem_save(snap_path)
             }
+            // WRITE-THROUGH RETRY (neuron#117). The HTTP-mode counterpart of the
+            // save above: hand anything still spooled to the persistence owner.
+            //
+            // This is the retry arm of the whole design. Deltas that could not be
+            // pushed — owner down, owner restarting, transient refusal — stay on
+            // disk and are re-offered here every heartbeat until they land. It is
+            // also the catch-all for writes made by the awareness loop itself,
+            // which never passes through the HTTP handler's flush point.
+            //
+            // No-op with no HTTP call when the spool is empty or ENGRAM_URL is
+            // unset, so an idle soul in file mode pays nothing for this.
+            let wt_pushed: Int = wt_drain()
+            if wt_pushed < 0 {
+                ise_post("{\"event\":\"write_through_backlog\",\"ts\":" + int_to_str(now_ts) + "}")
+            }
         }
 
         // Curiosity scan: idle-gated AND wall-clock based. Only fires when the

chat.elh

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// auto-generated by elc --emit-header — do not edit
+// auto-generated by elc --emit-header - do not edit
 extern fn chat_default_model() -> String
 extern fn engram_numeric_valid(s: String) -> Bool
 extern fn parse_float_x100(s: String) -> Int
@@ -16,18 +16,35 @@ extern fn engram_nodes_merge(a: String, b: String) -> String
 extern fn id_in_seen(node_id: String, seen: String) -> Bool
 extern fn add_to_seen(seen: String, node_id: String) -> String
 extern fn engram_extract_ids(nodes_json: String) -> String
+extern fn affective_node_ts(node_json: String) -> Int
 extern fn engram_compile(intent: String) -> String
 extern fn distill_transcript(transcript: String) -> String
 extern fn json_safe(s: String) -> String
 extern fn current_engine_note(model: String) -> String
+extern fn bounded_persona_floor() -> String
+extern fn operator_identity_block() -> String
 extern fn build_system_prompt(ctx: String, chat_mode: Bool) -> String
 extern fn hist_append(hist: String, role: String, content: String) -> String
+extern fn conv_hist_key(session_id: String) -> String
+extern fn conv_hist_label(session_id: String) -> String
+extern fn is_utility_request(body: String, session_id: String) -> Bool
+extern fn provenance_scan_urls(arr: String, acc: String) -> String
+extern fn provenance_add_sources(block: String, btype: String, has_cit: Bool, cit_raw: String, acc: String) -> String
+extern fn provenance_names(tools_used: String) -> String
+extern fn text_join_sep(accumulated: String, incoming: String, after_interruption: Bool) -> String
+extern fn receipt_rule() -> String
+extern fn receipt_strip(s: String) -> String
+extern fn tool_receipt(tools_used: String, sources: String) -> String
 extern fn hist_trim(hist: String) -> String
 extern fn hist_trim_with_bell_guard(hist: String) -> String
 extern fn clean_llm_response(s: String) -> String
-extern fn conv_history_persist(hist: String) -> Void
-extern fn conv_history_load() -> String
+extern fn conv_history_persist(session_id: String, hist: String) -> Void
+extern fn conv_history_load(session_id: String) -> String
+extern fn conv_history_record(session_id: String, user_msg: String, assistant_msg: String, receipt: String) -> Void
+extern fn conv_history_block(session_id: String) -> String
+extern fn layered_generate(prompt: String, imprint_id: String, session_id: String) -> String
 extern fn session_preload_bullets(nodes: String, max_bullets: Int, snip_len: Int) -> String
+extern fn affective_context_prefix() -> String
 extern fn handle_chat(body: String) -> String
 extern fn handle_see(body: String) -> String
 extern fn studio_tools_json() -> String
@@ -37,6 +54,8 @@ extern fn llm_wire_format() -> String
 extern fn json_escape(s: String) -> String
 extern fn openai_chat_complete(model: String, base_url: String, api_key: String, safe_sys: String, messages_json: String) -> String
 extern fn agentic_tools_literal() -> String
+extern fn web_search_tool_json() -> String
+extern fn strip_client_web_search(tools_inner: String) -> String
 extern fn agentic_tools_with_web() -> String
 extern fn connector_tools_json() -> String
 extern fn agentic_tools_all() -> String
@@ -46,6 +65,10 @@ extern fn call_neuron_mcp(tool_name: String, args: String) -> String
 extern fn agent_workspace_root() -> String
 extern fn path_within_root(path: String, root: String) -> Bool
 extern fn resolve_in_root(path: String, root: String) -> String
+extern fn run_command_is_readonly(cmd: String) -> Bool
+extern fn cmd_abs_escape_at(cmd: String, root: String, needle: String) -> Bool
+extern fn run_command_guard(cmd: String, root: String) -> String
+extern fn classify_tool_risk(tool_name: String, tool_input: String) -> String
 extern fn dispatch_tool(tool_name: String, tool_input: String) -> String
 extern fn is_builtin_tool(tool_name: String) -> Bool
 extern fn next_bridge_id() -> String

dist/elp-c-decls.h

@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@ el_val_t add_punct(el_val_t s, el_val_t intent);
 el_val_t add_to_seen(el_val_t seen, el_val_t node_id);
 el_val_t aff_try_slot(el_val_t slot_json, el_val_t aff_7d_ts, el_val_t acc_key);
 el_val_t affective_context_prefix(void);
+el_val_t is_utility_request(el_val_t body, el_val_t session_id);
+el_val_t operator_identity_block(void);
+el_val_t provenance_add_sources(el_val_t block, el_val_t btype, el_val_t has_cit, el_val_t cit_raw, el_val_t acc);
+el_val_t provenance_names(el_val_t tools_used);
+el_val_t provenance_scan_urls(el_val_t arr, el_val_t acc);
+el_val_t text_join_sep(el_val_t accumulated, el_val_t incoming, el_val_t after_interruption);
+el_val_t receipt_rule(void);
+el_val_t receipt_strip(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t tool_receipt(el_val_t tools_used, el_val_t sources);
 el_val_t agent_number(el_val_t agent);
 el_val_t agent_person(el_val_t agent);
 el_val_t agent_workspace_root(void);
@@ -151,8 +160,12 @@ el_val_t cmd_abs_escape_at(el_val_t cmd, el_val_t root, el_val_t needle);
 el_val_t connectd_get(el_val_t suffix);
 el_val_t connectd_post(el_val_t suffix, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t connector_tools_json(void);
-el_val_t conv_history_load(void);
-el_val_t conv_history_persist(el_val_t hist);
+el_val_t conv_hist_key(el_val_t session_id);
+el_val_t conv_hist_label(el_val_t session_id);
+el_val_t conv_history_block(el_val_t session_id);
+el_val_t conv_history_load(el_val_t session_id);
+el_val_t conv_history_persist(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t hist);
+el_val_t conv_history_record(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t user_msg, el_val_t assistant_msg, el_val_t receipt);
 el_val_t cop_article(el_val_t gender, el_val_t number, el_val_t definite);
 el_val_t cop_bwk_future(el_val_t prefix);
 el_val_t cop_bwk_perfect(el_val_t prefix);
@@ -782,7 +795,8 @@ el_val_t lang_profile_uga(void);
 el_val_t lang_profile_zh(void);
 el_val_t lang_profile(el_val_t code, el_val_t word_order, el_val_t morph_type, el_val_t has_case, el_val_t has_gender, el_val_t script_dir, el_val_t agreement, el_val_t null_subject);
 el_val_t lang_word_order(el_val_t profile);
-el_val_t layered_cycle(el_val_t raw_input);
+el_val_t layered_cycle(el_val_t raw_input, el_val_t session_id, el_val_t utility);
+el_val_t layered_generate(el_val_t prompt, el_val_t imprint_id, el_val_t session_id);
 el_val_t lex_class(el_val_t entry);
 el_val_t lex_form(el_val_t entry, el_val_t idx);
 el_val_t lex_pos(el_val_t entry);

dist/soul-with-nlg.el

@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
+// ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
+// ║ STALE BUNDLE — DO NOT BUILD. UNSAFE CHAT PATH.                           ║
+// ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
+// This concatenated bundle is a snapshot, not a source of truth, and it is stale in
+// a way that matters for safety: it wires /api/chat straight to handle_chat and
+// contains NO layered_cycle at all (verified: zero occurrences in the bundled code —
+// the only textual hit in this file is this banner). A binary built from
+// this file would run chat with no enforcing input gate (no safety_screen, no
+// hard-bell short-circuit) and no enforcing output gate (no safety_validate).
+//
+// Build from the .el sources via manifest.el (entry soul.el), or from dist/soul.c.
+// Nothing in the repo references this file. It is kept only as a historical artifact
+// and should be deleted once Will confirms nothing external depends on it.
+// (Flagged 2026-08-04 in _engine-websearch-20260804/SAFETY-STOP.md; banner added
+// 2026-08-05 with the plain-chat generation fix.)
 // language-profile.el - Language profile data and accessors.
 //
 // A language profile is a slot map ([String] key-value list) describing the

memory.el

@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+import "persist.el"
+
 fn tier_working() -> String { return "Working" }
 fn tier_episodic() -> String { return "Episodic" }
 fn tier_canonical() -> String { return "Canonical" }
 
 fn mem_store(content: String, label: String, tags: String) -> String {
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let id: String = wt_node(
         content,
         "Memory",
         label,
@@ -17,13 +19,23 @@ fn mem_store(content: String, label: String, tags: String) -> String {
         println("[memory] write rejected by engram (empty id): label=" + label)
         return ""
     }
-    // Read back to verify the node actually persisted — guards against silent write failures.
-    let readback: String = engram_get_node_json(id)
-    if str_eq(readback, "") || str_eq(readback, "{}") {
-        println("[memory] WRITE VERIFY FAILED: label=" + label + " id=" + id + " — node absent after write")
-        return ""
+    // wt_node has already read the node back locally and returns "" if it did
+    // not land, so the old duplicate read-back here is gone.
+    //
+    // HONESTY (neuron#117): the receipt now says WHERE the write is.
+    // The old unconditional "write verified" line asserted against the soul's
+    // own RAM — true in memory, false on disk — and printed ~115,000 times on
+    // Tim's machine while the canonical snapshot sat frozen for three days.
+    // wt_commit flushes the spool and then asks the OWNER. When it says false
+    // the node is real and recallable but not yet durable, and the log says so
+    // rather than claiming a save that did not happen. The id is still returned:
+    // the local write DID succeed, and the queued delta will be retried.
+    let durable: Bool = wt_commit(id)
+    if durable {
+        println("[memory] write persisted at owner: " + id + " label=" + label)
+    } else {
+        println("[memory] write IN MEMORY ONLY (queued for owner, not yet durable): " + id + " label=" + label)
     }
-    println("[memory] write verified: " + id + " ok")
     return id
 }
 
@@ -51,12 +63,12 @@ fn mem_strengthen(node_id: String) -> Void {
 // memory.el (imported first) so awareness.el and neuron-api.el can both call it.
 fn mem_tombstone(node_id: String) -> String {
     let tags: String = "[\"Tombstone\",\"status:deleted\"]"
-    let marker: String = engram_node_full(
+    let marker: String = wt_node(
         node_id, "Tombstone", "tombstone:" + node_id,
         el_from_float(0.01), el_from_float(0.01), el_from_float(1.0),
         "Episodic", tags)
     if !str_eq(marker, "") {
-        engram_connect(marker, node_id, el_from_float(1.0), "tombstones")
+        wt_edge(marker, node_id, el_from_float(1.0), "tombstones")
     }
     return marker
 }

neuron-api.el

@@ -195,15 +195,24 @@ fn api_compact_activated(raw: String, max_items: Int, snip: Int) -> String {
 }
 
 // api_persisted — read-back-after-write guard against hallucinated saves.
-// After a write builtin returns an id, confirm the node is actually queryable
-// via engram_get_node_json(id) (returns "" or "null" when missing). Returns
-// true only when the node is genuinely persisted.
+//
+// WIDENED FOR neuron#117. This function is the single gate every MCP write
+// handler passes through before it reports success (10 call sites), which makes
+// it the right place to close the honesty gap rather than editing ten receipts.
+//
+// It used to read back from engram_get_node_json — the SOUL'S OWN in-process
+// graph. In HTTP-engram mode that asserts the wrong thing: the soul is not the
+// persistence owner, so a node present in its RAM and absent from the owner read
+// as "persisted" and then vanished on the next restart. The guard was doing
+// exactly what its comment promised and still certifying writes that did not
+// survive. It now flushes the write-through spool and asks the OWNER.
+//
+// In file mode (no ENGRAM_URL) the soul IS the owner and wt_commit collapses to
+// the original local read-back — unchanged behaviour, which is what keeps this
+// reversible.
 fn api_persisted(id: String) -> Bool {
     if str_eq(id, "") { return false }
-    let node: String = engram_get_node_json(id)
-    // engram_get_node_json returns "{}" (empty object) when node is not found — not "" or "null".
-    // Check all three to guard against any runtime variation.
-    return !str_eq(node, "") && !str_eq(node, "null") && !str_eq(node, "{}")
+    return wt_commit(id)
 }
 
 // api_not_persisted — standard error for a write that did not read back.
@@ -342,7 +351,7 @@ fn handle_api_remember(body: String) -> String {
         let inner: String = str_slice(base_tags, 1, str_len(base_tags) - 1)
         "[" + inner + ",\"project:" + project + "\"]"
     }
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Memory", "memory:remembered",
+    let id: String = wt_node(content, "Memory", "memory:remembered",
         sal, sal, el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", final_tags)
     if !api_persisted(id) { return api_not_persisted(id) }
@@ -369,7 +378,7 @@ fn handle_api_node_create(body: String) -> String {
             if str_eq(importance, "low") { 0.25 } else { 0.5 }
         }
     }
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(content, node_type, label,
+    let id: String = wt_node(content, node_type, label,
         sal, sal, el_from_float(0.9),
         tier, tags)
     if !api_persisted(id) { return api_not_persisted(id) }
@@ -422,11 +431,11 @@ fn handle_api_node_update(body: String) -> String {
     }
     let body_tags: String = json_get(body, "tags")
     let tags: String = if str_eq(body_tags, "") { "[\"" + node_type + "\"]" } else { body_tags }
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, node_type, label,
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(content, node_type, label,
         el_from_float(0.5), el_from_float(0.5), el_from_float(0.8),
         tier, tags)
     if !api_persisted(new_id) { return api_not_persisted(new_id) }
-    engram_connect(new_id, id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
+    wt_edge(new_id, id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
     return "{\"id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + id + "\",\"ok\":true}"
 }
 
@@ -498,7 +507,7 @@ fn handle_api_capture_knowledge(body: String) -> String {
     let full: String = if str_eq(title, "") { content } else { title + ": " + content }
     let lbl: String = str_slice(title, 0, 80)
     let tags: String = "[\"Knowledge\",\"captured\"]"
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(full, "Knowledge", lbl,
+    let id: String = wt_node(full, "Knowledge", lbl,
         el_from_float(0.85), el_from_float(0.8), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags)
     if !api_persisted(id) { return api_not_persisted(id) }
@@ -513,12 +522,12 @@ fn handle_api_evolve_knowledge(body: String) -> String {
     if !str_eq(prior_id, "") && is_protected_node(prior_id) { return api_err_protected(prior_id) }
     let tags: String = "[\"Knowledge\",\"evolved\"]"
     // Empty label → engram_node_full derives content[:60] (LABEL FIX 2026-07-23).
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Knowledge", "",
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(content, "Knowledge", "",
         el_from_float(0.75), el_from_float(0.75), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags)
     if !api_persisted(new_id) { return api_not_persisted(new_id) }
     if !str_eq(prior_id, "") {
-        engram_connect(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
+        wt_edge(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
     }
     return "{\"id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + prior_id + "\",\"ok\":true}"
 }
@@ -535,11 +544,11 @@ fn handle_api_promote_knowledge(body: String) -> String {
         "[\"Knowledge\",\"tier:canonical\",\"disposition:stable\"]"
     } else { tags_raw }
     // Empty label → engram_node_full derives content[:60] (LABEL FIX 2026-07-23).
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Knowledge", "",
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(content, "Knowledge", "",
         el_from_float(0.9), el_from_float(0.9), el_from_float(1.0),
         "Canonical", tags)
     if !api_persisted(new_id) { return api_not_persisted(new_id) }
-    engram_connect(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.95), "supersedes")
+    wt_edge(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.95), "supersedes")
     return "{\"ok\":true,\"new_id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + prior_id + "\"}"
 }
 
@@ -562,7 +571,7 @@ fn handle_api_define_process(body: String) -> String {
     if str_eq(content, "") { return api_err("content is required") }
     let label: String = if str_eq(name, "") { "process:unnamed" } else { "process:" + name }
     let tags: String = "[\"Process\"]"
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Process", label,
+    let id: String = wt_node(content, "Process", label,
         el_from_float(0.8), el_from_float(0.8), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Canonical", tags)
     if !api_persisted(id) { return api_not_persisted(id) }
@@ -647,7 +656,7 @@ fn handle_api_tune_config(body: String) -> String {
     if str_eq(key, "") { return api_err("key is required") }
     let content: String = "config:" + key + "=" + value
     let tags: String = "[\"ConfigEntry\",\"config\"]"
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(content, "ConfigEntry", key,
+    let id: String = wt_node(content, "ConfigEntry", key,
         el_from_float(0.85), el_from_float(0.85), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Canonical", tags)
     if !api_persisted(id) { return api_not_persisted(id) }
@@ -694,7 +703,7 @@ fn handle_api_link_entities(body: String) -> String {
     if is_protected_node(to_id) { return api_err_protected(to_id) }
     let relation: String = json_get(body, "relation")
     let eff_relation: String = if str_eq(relation, "") { "associates" } else { relation }
-    engram_connect(from_id, to_id, el_from_float(0.5), eff_relation)
+    wt_edge(from_id, to_id, el_from_float(0.5), eff_relation)
     return "{\"ok\":true,\"from_id\":\"" + from_id + "\",\"to_id\":\"" + to_id + "\",\"relation\":\"" + eff_relation + "\"}"
 }
 
@@ -727,11 +736,11 @@ fn handle_api_evolve_memory(body: String) -> String {
         }
     }
     let tags: String = "[\"Memory\",\"evolved\"]"
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Memory", "memory:evolved",
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(content, "Memory", "memory:evolved",
         sal, sal, el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags)
     if !str_eq(prior_id, "") && !str_eq(new_id, "") {
-        engram_connect(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
+        wt_edge(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
     }
     return "{\"id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + prior_id + "\",\"ok\":true}"
 }
@@ -789,11 +798,11 @@ fn handle_api_cultivate(body: String) -> String {
         let content: String = json_get(body, "content")
         if str_eq(content, "") { return api_err("content is required") }
         let tags: String = "[\"Knowledge\",\"evolved\",\"cultivated\"]"
-        let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Knowledge", "knowledge:cultivated",
+        let new_id: String = wt_node(content, "Knowledge", "knowledge:cultivated",
             el_from_float(0.75), el_from_float(0.75), el_from_float(0.9),
             "Episodic", tags)
         if !str_eq(prior_id, "") && !str_eq(new_id, "") {
-            engram_connect(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
+            wt_edge(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
         }
         return "{\"id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + prior_id + "\",\"ok\":true,\"cultivated\":true}"
     }
@@ -809,11 +818,11 @@ fn handle_api_cultivate(body: String) -> String {
             }
         }
         let tags: String = "[\"Memory\",\"evolved\",\"cultivated\"]"
-        let new_id: String = engram_node_full(content, "Memory", "memory:cultivated",
+        let new_id: String = wt_node(content, "Memory", "memory:cultivated",
             sal, sal, el_from_float(0.9),
             "Episodic", tags)
         if !str_eq(prior_id, "") && !str_eq(new_id, "") {
-            engram_connect(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
+            wt_edge(new_id, prior_id, el_from_float(0.9), "supersedes")
         }
         return "{\"id\":\"" + new_id + "\",\"supersedes\":\"" + prior_id + "\",\"ok\":true,\"cultivated\":true}"
     }
@@ -833,7 +842,7 @@ fn handle_api_cultivate(body: String) -> String {
         if str_eq(to_id, "") { return api_err("to_id is required") }
         let relation: String = json_get(body, "relation")
         let eff_relation: String = if str_eq(relation, "") { "associates" } else { relation }
-        engram_connect(from_id, to_id, el_from_float(0.5), eff_relation)
+        wt_edge(from_id, to_id, el_from_float(0.5), eff_relation)
         return "{\"ok\":true,\"from_id\":\"" + from_id + "\",\"to_id\":\"" + to_id + "\",\"relation\":\"" + eff_relation + "\",\"cultivated\":true}"
     }
 
@@ -868,7 +877,7 @@ fn handle_api_consolidate(body: String) -> String {
     if !str_eq(summary, "") {
         let safe_summary: String = str_replace(summary, "\"", "'")
         let tags: String = "[\"SessionSummary\",\"consolidate\"]"
-        let summary_id: String = engram_node_full(
+        let summary_id: String = wt_node(
             "[session-summary] " + safe_summary,
             "SessionSummary", "session:summary",
             el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),

persist.el

@@ -0,0 +1,426 @@
+// persist.el — the soul→engram WRITE-THROUGH boundary (neuron#117).
+//
+// WHY THIS FILE EXISTS
+//   soul.el:571-573 states the ownership rule: "when ENGRAM_URL is set the HTTP
+//   Engram owns persistence — the soul must NEVER write to the local snapshot
+//   (not the persistence owner)." The soul obeys the NEGATIVE half. The POSITIVE
+//   half — how a write made inside the soul actually REACHES the owner — was
+//   never built. Sync is pull-only (awareness.el `/api/sync` -> engram_load_merge),
+//   so every node the soul creates lives in its process RAM and is shed on
+//   restart. Measured live 2026-08-07: soul node_count=102184, engram
+//   node_count=79197 — ~23k nodes existing nowhere but RAM.
+//
+// SCOPE NOTE ON THE PATENT (corrects an earlier internal reading)
+//   Engram provisional claims 15-18 describe a delta-sync protocol "with peer
+//   Engram instances"; claim 17's pull-then-push sequence is PEER-ENGRAM to
+//   PEER-ENGRAM. The soul is NOT a peer Engram — it is a CALLER of the database
+//   system API (cf. claim 27, "invoked explicitly by a caller of the database
+//   system API"). So claim 17 does not specify a soul↔engram contract and is not
+//   cited as authority here. This design is derived from the ownership rule
+//   alone: the owner owns the writes, therefore the soul must HAND writes to the
+//   owner and must never write the owner's file itself.
+//
+// THE MECHANISM, AND WHY NOT `POST /api/nodes`
+//   The obvious route is the one the persona/boot-counter write-backs already
+//   use, POST /api/nodes. It is the wrong instrument here, verified against the
+//   live engram binary in a sandbox:
+//     - it mints a NEW server-side id (engram_node), so the soul's id and the
+//       owner's id diverge — the next /api/sync pull re-imports the node as a
+//       DUPLICATE, and any edge referencing the soul's id never resolves;
+//     - it accepts only {content, node_type, salience} and drops label, tier,
+//       tags, importance, confidence, metadata. A probe posted with tier
+//       "Canonical" came back tier "Working", importance 0.5.
+//   POST /api/load-merge (Will's own route, el `dc39a61`) is the right one:
+//     - engram_load_merge PRESERVES the id and every field;
+//     - it dedups nodes by id and edges by (from_id,to_id,relation), so a
+//       re-submitted delta is a NO-OP — retry safety is free, and it is the same
+//       local-wins semantics the graph already uses;
+//     - it calls persist_canonical() — THE OWNER writes its own canonical file.
+//       The soul never touches it. The ownership rule is honoured in its
+//       strongest form rather than worked around;
+//     - it returns real counts {ok, nodes_added, edges_added, node_count},
+//       so a receipt can be a MEASUREMENT instead of a fixed success shape.
+//
+// SPOOL-AND-DRAIN, AND WHY IT IS NOT JUST A DIRECT POST
+//   Measured in a sandbox against a 79k-node / 176MB graph (live scale): one
+//   load-merge costs ~0.38s, essentially all of it the owner's persist_canonical.
+//   A chat turn writes 5-7 nodes; pushing each separately would add ~2.7s per
+//   turn. So writes are STAGED and pushed in one coalesced batch.
+//   The staging buffer is the FILESYSTEM, not process state, because the soul
+//   serves each HTTP connection on its own pthread (el_runtime http_serve_async)
+//   and a shared in-process buffer would lose entries to a read-modify-write
+//   race — silently, which is the one failure mode this file exists to end.
+//   One file per write, named with uuid_v4, is race-free by construction and
+//   buys a property a memory buffer cannot: writes that could not be pushed
+//   SURVIVE A SOUL CRASH and are drained on the next boot.
+//
+// WHAT IS DELIBERATELY NOT PUSHED
+//   - InternalStateEvent / heartbeat telemetry. Will's own carve-out, stated in
+//     engram server.el 8f8ccc9: "48h-pruned, loss-tolerant, ~2/min; snapshotting
+//     28MB per heartbeat is waste."
+//   NOTE (ours, flagged for Will): we do NOT additionally exclude Working-tier
+//   nodes. That exclusion exists in `fb0bb55` to stop the boot counter leaking
+//   through the /api/sync PULL; it is about sync backflow, not durability.
+//   Applying it here would exclude mem_store — which writes tier "Working" — and
+//   mem_store is the single most important durable write path in the soul. Boot
+//   seeding reads the canonical file wholesale, so a pushed Working-tier node
+//   does survive restart. This is the one classification call this file makes
+//   that Will has not ruled on.
+//
+// WHAT THIS BOUNDARY CANNOT EXPRESS (by construction, not by omission)
+//   - engram_strengthen (salience/activation drift): load-merge SKIPS ids that
+//     already exist, so it cannot update an existing node. There is no owner-side
+//     update/upsert route. Not pushable through any current route; left as a
+//     follow-up that needs a change in the engram repo.
+//   - engram_forget (hard delete): load-merge is additive and has no delete verb.
+//     Propagating deletes would mean DELETE /api/nodes/<id>, a HARD delete at the
+//     owner — which scripts/verify-soul-contract.sh section B explicitly fails the
+//     build for ("to delete is to supersede/tombstone, never hard-remove"). Local
+//     deletes therefore stay local; the TOMBSTONE NODE and its "tombstones" edge
+//     (mem_tombstone) are pushed, and that is the sanctioned representation of a
+//     deletion in this graph.
+
+// ── Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// wt_engram_url — same resolution order as ise_post: env, then the state key
+// stashed at boot. NO hardcoded localhost fallback: unlike telemetry, inventing
+// a destination for durable data would risk pushing a user's memories at whatever
+// happens to be listening on 8742. Empty means "no HTTP owner" -> file mode.
+fn wt_engram_url() -> String {
+    let env_url: String = env("ENGRAM_URL")
+    if !str_eq(env_url, "") { return env_url }
+    return state_get("soul_engram_url")
+}
+
+fn wt_api_key() -> String {
+    let env_key: String = env("ENGRAM_API_KEY")
+    if !str_eq(env_key, "") { return env_key }
+    return state_get("soul_engram_api_key")
+}
+
+// wt_enabled — true only in HTTP-engram mode. In file mode the soul IS the
+// persistence owner and every path below is a no-op, so this whole feature is
+// inert for genesis/local deployments. That is also what makes it reversible.
+fn wt_enabled() -> Bool {
+    return !str_eq(wt_engram_url(), "")
+}
+
+// wt_spool_dir — where staged deltas live. MUST be readable by the engram
+// process: /api/load-merge takes a PATH and the owner opens it itself. Both
+// processes are same-host by construction (dev-stack LaunchAgents; the GKE
+// image starts engram and soul in one container per entrypoint.sh).
+fn wt_spool_dir() -> String {
+    let raw: String = env("SOUL_OUTBOX_DIR")
+    let dir: String = if str_eq(raw, "") { env("HOME") + "/.neuron/soul-outbox" } else { raw }
+    fs_mkdir(dir)
+    return dir
+}
+
+// ── Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// wt_esc — minimal JSON string escape. Deliberately local rather than reusing
+// chat.el's json_safe: persist.el is imported BY memory.el, which is imported by
+// chat.el, so depending on chat.el here would be an import cycle.
+fn wt_esc(s: String) -> String {
+    let s1: String = str_replace(s, "\\", "\\\\")
+    let s2: String = str_replace(s1, "\"", "\\\"")
+    let s3: String = str_replace(s2, "\n", "\\n")
+    let s4: String = str_replace(s3, "\r", "\\r")
+    let s5: String = str_replace(s4, "\t", "\\t")
+    return s5
+}
+
+// wt_durable_class — Will's telemetry carve-out, by node_type. See header.
+fn wt_durable_class(node_type: String) -> Bool {
+    if str_eq(node_type, "InternalStateEvent") { return false }
+    return true
+}
+
+// wt_inner — strip the surrounding brackets off a JSON array so several arrays
+// can be concatenated into one. Returns "" for "[]" / "" / anything too short.
+fn wt_inner(arr: String) -> String {
+    let n: Int = str_len(arr)
+    if n < 3 { return "" }
+    if !str_starts_with(arr, "[") { return "" }
+    return str_slice(arr, 1, n - 1)
+}
+
+// wt_read — fs_read, plus a MANDATORY reset of the runtime's binary-length hint.
+//
+// THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL AND MUST NOT BE "SIMPLIFIED" BACK TO A BARE fs_read.
+// The pinned runtime (vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501) keeps a thread-local
+// `_tl_fs_read_len` that fs_read SETS to the file's byte count (so binary files
+// can be served with a correct Content-Length) and that http_send_response
+// CONSUMES as the Content-Length of the next reply. Nothing else clears it
+// except json_get_raw. So any fs_read during request handling that is not
+// followed by a json_get_raw makes the NEXT HTTP response advertise the FILE's
+// length instead of the body's — and the runtime then sends that many bytes,
+// appending whatever adjacent heap memory follows the reply.
+//
+// Caught here, measured: a /api/neuron/memory reply that should be 86 bytes went
+// out as 497, with 411 bytes of this module's own spool paths and log strings
+// trailing the JSON. The drain reads spool files mid-request, so this boundary
+// is exactly where the landmine gets stepped on.
+//
+// Upstream el fixed the class in `43636ae` ("pair fs_read length hint with its
+// buffer"); that runtime is NOT the one vendored here, and re-pinning the
+// runtime is deliberately out of scope for this change. Clearing the hint at
+// our own boundary fixes our exposure without touching the pinned C.
+// json_get_raw is used as the reset because it is the only builtin in this
+// runtime that zeroes the hint, and it does so before any early return.
+fn wt_clear_binlen() -> Void {
+    let discard: String = json_get_raw("{}", "_wt_reset")
+}
+
+fn wt_read(path: String) -> String {
+    let data: String = fs_read(path)
+    wt_clear_binlen()
+    return data
+}
+
+// wt_sweep — best-effort removal of the zero-byte husks left by truncation.
+// The runtime exposes no unlink builtin, so a drained delta is emptied rather
+// than deleted; this reclaims the directory entries.
+//
+// `-empty` is the safety property, not an optimisation: the command is
+// STRUCTURALLY INCAPABLE of removing a delta that still has content, so it can
+// never destroy a pending write even if it runs concurrently with a stage.
+// Only the directory path is interpolated (never a filename), and it is quoted.
+// The exit code is ignored — an un-swept husk costs one directory entry.
+fn wt_sweep(dir: String) -> Void {
+    if str_eq(dir, "") { return }
+    if str_contains(dir, "'") { return }
+    exec_command("find '" + dir + "' -maxdepth 1 -name 'wt*.json' -empty -delete 2>/dev/null")
+}
+
+// ── Staging ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// wt_stage — write ONE delta file. uuid_v4 in the name makes concurrent stagers
+// collision-free without any lock. Returns true if the delta is on disk.
+fn wt_stage(nodes_json: String, edges_json: String) -> Bool {
+    let dir: String = wt_spool_dir()
+    if str_eq(dir, "") { return false }
+    let payload: String = "{\"nodes\":" + nodes_json + ",\"edges\":" + edges_json + "}"
+    let path: String = dir + "/wt-" + uuid_v4() + ".json"
+    fs_write(path, payload)
+    // Read-back-verify the stage itself. A stage that did not land is a write we
+    // would otherwise believe was queued — exactly the hallucinated-save class.
+    if str_eq(wt_read(path), "") {
+        println("[persist] wt_stage: FAILED to write spool file " + path + " — delta not queued")
+        return false
+    }
+    return true
+}
+
+// ── The write boundary ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// wt_node — create a node locally AND queue it for the persistence owner.
+// Same signature and same return contract as engram_node_full ("" on failure),
+// so converting a call site is a rename and nothing else.
+fn wt_node(content: String, node_type: String, label: String,
+           salience: Float, importance: Float, confidence: Float,
+           tier: String, tags: String) -> String {
+    let id: String = engram_node_full(content, node_type, label,
+                                      salience, importance, confidence,
+                                      tier, tags)
+    if str_eq(id, "") { return "" }
+    // engram_get_node_json emits the SAME record shape engram_save writes (minus
+    // the embedding vector, which the owner backfills lazily), so the read-back
+    // doubles as the delta payload — no second serialization to drift.
+    let rec: String = engram_get_node_json(id)
+    if str_eq(rec, "") || str_eq(rec, "{}") {
+        println("[persist] wt_node: local write did not read back, id=" + id + " label=" + label)
+        return ""
+    }
+    if wt_enabled() && wt_durable_class(node_type) {
+        wt_stage("[" + rec + "]", "[]")
+    }
+    return id
+}
+
+// wt_edge — create an edge locally AND queue it. Mirrors engram_connect.
+//
+// The edge id is freshly generated rather than read back: the runtime exposes no
+// "id of the edge I just created" accessor, and the owner dedups edges by
+// (from_id,to_id,relation), never by id — so the id is not load-bearing. The
+// consequence, stated plainly: the soul's copy and the owner's copy of the same
+// edge carry different edge ids. Nothing in either codebase looks an edge up by
+// id (neighbors traversal scans from_id/to_id), so this is cosmetic.
+fn wt_edge(from_id: String, to_id: String, weight: Float, relation: String) -> Void {
+    engram_connect(from_id, to_id, weight, relation)
+    if !wt_enabled() { return }
+    if str_eq(from_id, "") || str_eq(to_id, "") { return }
+    let ts: Int = time_now()
+    let rec: String = "{\"id\":\"" + uuid_v4() + "\""
+        + ",\"from_id\":\"" + wt_esc(from_id) + "\""
+        + ",\"to_id\":\"" + wt_esc(to_id) + "\""
+        + ",\"relation\":\"" + wt_esc(relation) + "\""
+        + ",\"metadata\":\"{}\""
+        + ",\"weight\":" + float_to_str(weight)
+        + ",\"confidence\":1"
+        + ",\"created_at\":" + int_to_str(ts)
+        + ",\"updated_at\":" + int_to_str(ts)
+        + ",\"last_fired\":0,\"inhibitory\":0,\"layer_id\":1}"
+    wt_stage("[]", "[" + rec + "]")
+}
+
+// ── The drain ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// wt_drain — coalesce every staged delta into ONE load-merge against the owner.
+//
+// Returns: nodes_added on success (>= 0), 0 when there was nothing to do, and
+// -1 when the push FAILED. -1 is load-bearing: on failure the spool files are
+// left untouched, so nothing is lost and the next drain retries them. A caller
+// must never read a non-negative return as "my particular node is durable" —
+// use wt_durable(id) for that.
+//
+// Concurrency: several threads may drain at once. Each builds its own batch file
+// (uuid-named), and overlapping batches are harmless because load-merge dedups.
+// Files are truncated ONLY after a confirmed ok:true, so a lost race costs a
+// redundant push, never a dropped write.
+fn wt_drain() -> Int {
+    if !wt_enabled() { return 0 }
+    let dir: String = wt_spool_dir()
+    if str_eq(dir, "") { return 0 }
+
+    // el_list_len/el_list_get, NOT json_stringify(fs_list(...)): fs_list builds
+    // a native list via el_list_append, and json_stringify does not serialize
+    // that type — it renders the raw pointer value. (Verified in isolation; the
+    // same latent defect is live in studio.el's /api/tools/file/list route,
+    // which returns e.g. {"entries":4386409744}. Noted, not fixed here.)
+    let listing = fs_list(dir)
+    let count: Int = el_list_len(listing)
+    if count == 0 { return 0 }
+
+    let nodes_acc: String = ""
+    let edges_acc: String = ""
+    let drained: String = ""
+    let found: Int = 0
+    let i: Int = 0
+    // No `continue` / `break`: elc lists them as keywords but not one line of
+    // the shipped soul uses either, so they are unexercised on this build path.
+    // Guard conditions are expressed as nested ifs instead, and every rebind is
+    // at the loop-body top level where `let x = ...` is assignment (the idiom
+    // memory.el's boot-counter loop relies on) — never inside a nested block,
+    // where it would shadow instead.
+    while i < count {
+        let name: String = el_list_get(listing, i)
+        // A delta is only usable when it ends with the closing "]}" that
+        // wt_stage writes last. fs_write is not atomic, so a file being written
+        // right now can be observed half-formed; requiring the terminator means
+        // it is picked up whole on the next drain instead of merged as garbage.
+        // An empty read means "already drained and truncated" — not an error.
+        let p: String = if str_starts_with(name, "wt-") { dir + "/" + name } else { "" }
+        let raw: String = if str_eq(p, "") { "" } else { wt_read(p) }
+        let usable: Bool = !str_eq(raw, "") && str_ends_with(raw, "]}")
+        let nj: String = if usable { wt_inner(json_get_raw(raw, "nodes")) } else { "" }
+        let ej: String = if usable { wt_inner(json_get_raw(raw, "edges")) } else { "" }
+        let nodes_acc = if str_eq(nj, "") { nodes_acc } else if str_eq(nodes_acc, "") { nj } else { nodes_acc + "," + nj }
+        let edges_acc = if str_eq(ej, "") { edges_acc } else if str_eq(edges_acc, "") { ej } else { edges_acc + "," + ej }
+        let drained = if !usable { drained } else if str_eq(drained, "") { p } else { drained + "\n" + p }
+        let found = if usable { found + 1 } else { found }
+        let i = i + 1
+    }
+
+    if found == 0 { return 0 }
+
+    let combined: String = "{\"nodes\":[" + nodes_acc + "],\"edges\":[" + edges_acc + "]}"
+    let batch: String = dir + "/wtb-" + uuid_v4() + ".json"
+    fs_write(batch, combined)
+    if str_eq(wt_read(batch), "") {
+        println("[persist] wt_drain: could not write batch file " + batch + " — " + int_to_str(found) + " deltas stay queued")
+        return -1
+    }
+
+    let url: String = wt_engram_url()
+    let key: String = wt_api_key()
+    let body: String = "{\"path\":\"" + wt_esc(batch) + "\",\"_auth\":\"" + wt_esc(key) + "\"}"
+    let resp: String = http_post_json(url + "/api/load-merge", body)
+
+    // The batch file is pure scratch — the retry is rebuilt from the SPOOL, not
+    // from it. Truncate it unconditionally, before branching on the outcome, so
+    // a persistently unreachable owner cannot accumulate one husk per attempt.
+    fs_write(batch, "")
+
+    // Distinguish the two failures rather than collapsing them: "cannot reach
+    // the owner" and "the owner refused this delta" need different human
+    // responses, and a log line that says the wrong one costs a debugging hour.
+    // curl surfaces transport errors as a JSON body, so an empty response is not
+    // the only unreachable signal.
+    // (str_contains rather than a strict parse on purpose — the engram's HTTP
+    //  responses have been observed carrying trailing bytes past the JSON.)
+    let unreachable: Bool = str_eq(resp, "")
+        || str_contains(resp, "Couldn't connect")
+        || str_contains(resp, "Failed to connect")
+        || str_contains(resp, "Could not resolve")
+        || str_contains(resp, "timed out")
+    if unreachable {
+        wt_sweep(dir)
+        println("[persist] wt_drain: owner UNREACHABLE at " + url + " — " + int_to_str(found)
+            + " deltas stay queued in " + dir + " (will retry): " + resp)
+        return -1
+    }
+    if !str_contains(resp, "\"ok\":true") {
+        wt_sweep(dir)
+        println("[persist] wt_drain: owner REJECTED the delta — " + int_to_str(found)
+            + " stay queued in " + dir + ": " + resp)
+        return -1
+    }
+
+    let added: Int = json_get_int(resp, "nodes_added")
+    let added_e: Int = json_get_int(resp, "edges_added")
+
+    // Confirmed. Truncate the drained spool files so they are not re-pushed.
+    // Truncation (not deletion) because the runtime exposes no unlink builtin;
+    // an emptied file is inert to the loop above. The zero-byte husks are then
+    // swept below.
+    let paths = str_split(drained, "\n")
+    let pn: Int = el_list_len(paths)
+    let k: Int = 0
+    while k < pn {
+        let one: String = el_list_get(paths, k)
+        if !str_eq(one, "") { fs_write(one, "") }
+        let k = k + 1
+    }
+    wt_sweep(dir)
+
+    println("[persist] wt_drain: pushed " + int_to_str(found) + " deltas -> owner added "
+        + int_to_str(added) + " nodes, " + int_to_str(added_e) + " edges")
+    return added
+}
+
+// wt_durable — is this id present AT THE OWNER? The only honest answer to
+// "did my write persist" in HTTP mode.
+//
+// In file mode the soul IS the owner, so the local read-back is the owner-side
+// read-back and this collapses to the pre-existing check.
+//
+// nodes_added from wt_drain is NOT a substitute: a concurrent drain may have
+// already pushed this node, making our own added count 0 while the node is
+// perfectly durable. Presence at the owner is the fact; counts are telemetry.
+fn wt_durable(id: String) -> Bool {
+    if str_eq(id, "") { return false }
+    if !wt_enabled() {
+        let local: String = engram_get_node_json(id)
+        return !str_eq(local, "") && !str_eq(local, "null") && !str_eq(local, "{}")
+    }
+    let url: String = wt_engram_url()
+    let resp: String = http_get(url + "/api/nodes/" + id)
+    if str_eq(resp, "") { return false }
+    if str_eq(resp, "{}") { return false }
+    return str_contains(resp, "\"id\"")
+}
+
+// wt_commit — flush, then assert at the owner. The receipt callers should use.
+// Deliberately NOT a fixed success shape: it can and does return false while the
+// local write is perfectly fine in RAM, which is the true state of affairs when
+// the owner is unreachable.
+fn wt_commit(id: String) -> Bool {
+    if str_eq(id, "") { return false }
+    if !wt_enabled() {
+        let local: String = engram_get_node_json(id)
+        return !str_eq(local, "") && !str_eq(local, "null") && !str_eq(local, "{}")
+    }
+    let pushed: Int = wt_drain()
+    return wt_durable(id)
+}

routes.el

@@ -15,6 +15,40 @@ fn flag_true(body: String, key: String) -> Bool {
     return json_get_bool(body, key) || json_get_int(body, key) > 0
 }
 
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// plain_chat_envelope — the JSON response contract for a non-agentic ("Tools: Off")
+// chat turn. Every /api/chat dispatch that calls layered_cycle goes through here, so
+// the three call sites cannot drift apart.
+//
+// WHY THE ENVELOPE IS BUILT HERE AND NOT INSIDE layered_cycle:
+// layered_cycle returns the user-facing text AFTER safety_validate has acted on it.
+// Keeping the JSON out of the cycle means the output gate always sees raw model text
+// and never an escaped blob — there is nothing to unwrap and re-wrap on the crisis
+// path, which is exactly the failure mode that made wiring handle_chat unsafe.
+// Escaping is the last thing that happens, strictly after the gate.
+//
+// FIELDS: `reply` and `response` carry the same validated text. Both are required by
+// live clients — the desktop app reads `reply` first (DaemonClient.parseChatResponse),
+// while the CLI tools and the Telegram gateway read `response` (the gateway reads only
+// `response`). Emitting one would break the other.
+//
+// EMPTY MEANS FAILURE, NOT AN EMPTY ANSWER: a hard bell returns the fixed crisis
+// message and a soft bell is padded to non-empty by safety_validate, so the only way
+// an empty string leaves the cycle is a failed model call. It is reported as an error
+// rather than dressed up as a successful blank reply.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+fn plain_chat_envelope(validated: String, model: String) -> String {
+    if str_eq(validated, "") {
+        return "{\"error\":\"llm unavailable\",\"reply\":\"\",\"response\":\"\",\"agentic\":false,\"tools_used\":[]}"
+    }
+    let safe: String = json_safe(validated)
+    return "{\"reply\":\"" + safe + "\""
+        + ",\"response\":\"" + safe + "\""
+        + ",\"model\":\"" + json_safe(model) + "\""
+        + ",\"agentic\":false"
+        + ",\"tools_used\":[]}"
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Rate limiting — simple in-memory per-IP sliding window counter.
 //
@@ -152,7 +186,7 @@ fn route_imprint_contextual(body: String) -> String {
         return "{\"ok\":false,\"error\":\"empty body\"}"
     }
     let tags: String = "[\"imprint\",\"contextual\"]"
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let id: String = wt_node(
         body,
         "Entity",
         "imprint:contextual",
@@ -174,7 +208,7 @@ fn route_imprint_user(body: String) -> String {
         return "{\"ok\":false,\"error\":\"empty body\"}"
     }
     let tags: String = "[\"imprint\",\"user\"]"
-    let id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let id: String = wt_node(
         body,
         "Entity",
         "imprint:user",
@@ -205,7 +239,7 @@ fn route_synthesize(body: String) -> String {
     }
     let req: String = "synthesize " + parent_a + " " + parent_b
     let tags: String = "[\"soul-inbox-pending\",\"synthesis-request\"]"
-    engram_node_full(
+    wt_node(
         req,
         "Entity",
         "synthesis-request",
@@ -243,8 +277,14 @@ fn handle_dharma_recv(body: String) -> String {
         } else if agentic_flag {
             handle_chat_agentic(chat_body)
         } else {
-            let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(raw_msg)
-            screened_reply
+            // Non-agentic ("Tools: Off"): the full L1→L2→L3→L1 cycle, which now generates
+            // at L3 instead of echoing. Envelope built outside the cycle — see
+            // plain_chat_envelope.
+            // FIX B/E1 (2026-08-05): the cycle is told which conversation it is in, and
+            // whether this generation is conversation at all. Same two arguments at all
+            // three dispatch sites.
+            let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(raw_msg, json_get(chat_body, "session_id"), is_utility_request(chat_body, json_get(chat_body, "session_id")))
+            plain_chat_envelope(screened_reply, chat_default_model())
         }
         auto_persist(chat_body, reply)
         return reply
@@ -355,7 +395,28 @@ fn handle_connectors(method: String, clean: String, body: String) -> String {
     return "{\"ok\":false,\"error\":\"unknown connectors route\"}"
 }
 
+// handle_request — the soul's HTTP entry point.
+//
+// NOTE ON THE NAME (neuron#117): the el runtime resolves this handler by NAME
+// via dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "handle_request") — that is why the Linux build must
+// link -rdynamic. So the dispatcher body moved to route_dispatch and the name
+// `handle_request` stays put as a thin wrapper. Do not rename it back.
+//
+// The wrapper exists to give the write-through boundary a guaranteed flush
+// point. route_dispatch returns from ~60 places; a per-branch flush would be
+// forgotten on the 61st. Draining here means EVERY request that staged a write
+// pushes it before the connection closes, whatever route produced it, including
+// routes added later that know nothing about persistence.
+//
+// wt_drain is a no-op (no HTTP, no cost) when nothing is staged and when the
+// soul is not in HTTP-engram mode, so this is free on read traffic.
 fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
+    let resp: String = route_dispatch(method, path, body)
+    let flushed: Int = wt_drain()
+    return resp
+}
+
+fn route_dispatch(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
     let clean: String = strip_query(path)
 
     // ACTIVITY STAMP (2026-07-30 self-review): every inbound HTTP request —
@@ -392,10 +453,27 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
             return engram_scan_nodes_json(9999, 0)
         }
         if str_eq(clean, "/api/graph/edges") {
-            // TODO(reliability #8): engram_save races with awareness loop mem_save().
-            // Both now use atomic write-to-temp+rename (el_runtime.c). Serialised
-            // by engram_global_mu. Future: add engram_edges_json() builtin.
-            let snap_path: String = env("HOME") + "/.neuron/engram/snapshot.json"
+            // FIXED (neuron#117): this GET used to engram_save() straight over
+            // ~/.neuron/engram/snapshot.json — a READ route, in a process that is
+            // NOT the persistence owner, overwriting the owner's canonical file
+            // on every call. It broke soul.el:571-573 ("the soul must NEVER write
+            // to the local snapshot") and it is the same defect class Will removed
+            // from the engram itself in el `dc39a61` ("stop read routes clobbering
+            // canonical snapshot"), where route_scan_edges/route_sync were moved
+            // to scratch paths for exactly this reason. It was also the race the
+            // old TODO(reliability #8) admitted to.
+            //
+            // Export to a scratch path instead. Same response, no canonical write.
+            // The soul's own snapshot writes are otherwise already gated behind
+            // state key "soul_snapshot_path", which is set ONLY in the genesis
+            // file-mode branch (soul.el: is_genesis && safe_to_seed, and
+            // safe_to_seed is unconditionally false when ENGRAM_URL is set) — so
+            // after this change the soul writes nothing at all in HTTP mode.
+            // Future: add an engram_edges_json() builtin and drop the file round
+            // trip entirely.
+            let scratch_dir: String = env("TMPDIR")
+            let scratch_base: String = if str_eq(scratch_dir, "") { "/tmp" } else { scratch_dir }
+            let snap_path: String = scratch_base + "/soul-edges-export-" + state_get("soul_cgi_id") + ".json"
             engram_save(snap_path)
             let snap: String = fs_read(snap_path)
             let edges_raw: String = json_get_raw(snap, "edges")
@@ -416,8 +494,11 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
             } else if agentic_flag {
                 handle_chat_agentic(body)
             } else {
-                let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(eff_msg)
-                screened_reply
+                // Non-agentic ("Tools: Off") — same cycle and same envelope as POST.
+                // FIX B/E1: same threading. A GET probe usually carries no session_id, which
+                // resolves to the anonymous window — the documented behaviour for this door.
+                let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(eff_msg, json_get(body, "session_id"), is_utility_request(body, json_get(body, "session_id")))
+                plain_chat_envelope(screened_reply, chat_default_model())
             }
             auto_persist(body, reply)
             return reply
@@ -580,8 +661,13 @@ fn handle_request(method: String, path: String, body: String) -> String {
             } else if agentic_flag {
                 handle_chat_agentic(body)
             } else {
-                let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(raw_msg)
-                screened_reply
+                // Non-agentic ("Tools: Off") — the app's DEFAULT mode (AgentMode.NEVER).
+                // Full L1→L2→L3→L1 cycle with real generation at L3; envelope built
+                // outside the cycle so safety_validate always sees raw text.
+                // FIX B/E1: same threading. This is the app's main plain-chat door, so this
+                // is the site that ends the blank stare in practice.
+                let screened_reply: String = layered_cycle(raw_msg, json_get(body, "session_id"), is_utility_request(body, json_get(body, "session_id")))
+                plain_chat_envelope(screened_reply, chat_default_model())
             }
             auto_persist(body, reply)
             return reply

safety.el

@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ fn safety_log_bell(level: String, reason: String, input_summary: String) -> Stri
     // Emit a fallback println so the bell event leaves at least a log trace even
     // when engram is degraded. This does not replace engram persistence -- it is a
     // last-resort audit trail when the primary write cannot be confirmed.
-    let node_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let node_id: String = wt_node(
         content,
         "BellEvent",
         "bell:" + level,

scripts/run-el-test.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# run-el-test.sh — compile and run one El test program from tests/.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS (2026-08-07, issue #129):
+#   tests/ has held 14 test programs for months with no way to run them. CI does
+#   not run them. The convention printed in their own headers
+#   (`elc soul.el && ./soul --test tests/x.el`) refers to a --test flag the El
+#   runtime does not implement. So the tests were documentation, not gates —
+#   which is how a P0 safety regression shipped with a test directory present.
+#
+# THE RECIPE, AND WHY IT IS THIS SHAPE:
+#   Same discovery as gen-soul-amalgam.sh — `elc --target=c` emits only an extern
+#   prototype for any module that has a .elh header next to it, and inlines the
+#   module's bodies when it does not. A test that imports ../chat.el therefore
+#   compiles to a 18 KB unit full of unresolved externs unless the headers are
+#   out of the way. So: copy the sources into a scratch tree, delete every .elh
+#   on the import chain, and compile the test there.
+#
+#   Scratch copy on purpose: the worktree is shared with other terminals and
+#   deleting headers in place would be a shared-tree mutation with no owner.
+#
+# EXIT STATUS IS THE GATE: non-zero if the binary fails to build, crashes, or if
+# its output contains a FAIL line or reports a non-zero failed count. Do not
+# "improve" this into something that only checks the exit code of the test
+# binary — these El tests print failures and still exit 0.
+#
+# usage: scripts/run-el-test.sh tests/test_history_amplification.el
+set -euo pipefail
+
+TEST_REL="${1:?usage: run-el-test.sh tests/<test>.el}"
+SRC="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+TEST_NAME="$(basename "$TEST_REL" .el)"
+
+ELC="${ELC:-$HOME/neuron-dev-stack/src/el/lang/dist/platform/elc}"
+[ -x "$ELC" ] || ELC="$HOME/el-sdk/elc"
+[ -x "$ELC" ] || { echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: no elc found (set ELC=)"; exit 1; }
+
+RTC="${RTC:-$SRC/vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.c}"
+[ -f "$RTC" ] || RTC="$HOME/el-sdk/el_runtime.c"
+[ -f "$RTC" ] || { echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: no el_runtime.c found (set RTC=)"; exit 1; }
+RTDIR="$(dirname "$RTC")"
+
+EL_REPO="${EL_REPO:-$HOME/Development/neuron-technologies/el}"
+SSL="${SSL_PREFIX:-/opt/homebrew/opt/openssl@3}"
+
+GEN="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/el-test.XXXXXX")"
+trap 'rm -rf "$GEN"' EXIT
+
+mkdir -p "$GEN/neuron/tests" "$GEN/foundation/el/elp/src"
+cp "$SRC"/*.el "$GEN/neuron/"
+cp "$SRC"/tests/*.el "$GEN/neuron/tests/" 2>/dev/null || true
+[ -d "$EL_REPO/elp/src" ] && cp "$EL_REPO"/elp/src/*.el "$GEN/foundation/el/elp/src/" 2>/dev/null || true
+# The whole recipe depends on there being no headers to short-circuit inlining.
+find "$GEN" -name '*.elh' -delete
+
+echo "[run-el-test] compiling $TEST_REL"
+( cd "$GEN/neuron" && "$ELC" --target=c "tests/${TEST_NAME}.el" ) > "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}.c"
+
+BODIES=$(grep -c '^el_val_t .*) {$' "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}.c" || true)
+echo "[run-el-test] $(wc -c < "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}.c" | tr -d ' ') bytes, ${BODIES} inlined function bodies"
+# A test that imports ../chat.el pulls in the bulk of the engine. A tiny body
+# count means an import was read from a header instead of inlined, and the test
+# would be exercising extern stubs rather than the real code.
+if [ "$BODIES" -lt 100 ]; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: only $BODIES inlined bodies — an import was not inlined"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+cc -O2 -DHAVE_CURL \
+   -I"$RTDIR" -I"$SSL/include" -L"$SSL/lib" \
+   "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}.c" "$RTC" \
+   -lssl -lcrypto -lcurl -lpthread -lm \
+   -o "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}" 2> "$GEN/cc.log" || {
+     echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: compile error"; tail -30 "$GEN/cc.log"; exit 1; }
+
+# arm64 pointer-truncation guard (cc-brain.sh's rule): an implicit declaration of
+# a runtime symbol truncates its returned pointer to 32 bits.
+if grep -E 'implicit.*(engram_|el_)' "$GEN/cc.log"; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: implicit declarations of runtime symbols"; exit 1; fi
+
+# Throwaway HOME so a test can never read or write the live engram at ~/.neuron.
+TEST_HOME="$GEN/home"
+mkdir -p "$TEST_HOME"
+
+echo "[run-el-test] running $TEST_NAME"
+set +e
+HOME="$TEST_HOME" NEURON_HOME="$TEST_HOME/.neuron" "$GEN/${TEST_NAME}" 2>&1 | tee "$GEN/out.txt"
+RC=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
+set -e
+
+if [ "$RC" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: $TEST_NAME exited $RC (crash or abort)"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if grep -q "  FAIL:" "$GEN/out.txt"; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: $TEST_NAME reported failing assertions"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if grep -qE '[1-9][0-9]* failed' "$GEN/out.txt"; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: $TEST_NAME reported a non-zero failed count"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if ! grep -q "PASS:" "$GEN/out.txt"; then
+  echo "[run-el-test] FAIL: $TEST_NAME produced no assertions at all"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "[run-el-test] PASS: $TEST_NAME"

sessions.el

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ fn session_create(body: String) -> String {
     let folder: String = json_get(body, "folder")
     let content: String = session_make_content(id, title, ts, ts, folder)
     let tags: String = "[\"session\",\"session:meta\",\"Conversation\"]"
-    let node_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let node_id: String = wt_node(
         content, "Conversation", "session:meta",
         el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ fn session_update_patch(session_id: String, body: String) -> String {
     let created_int: Int = str_to_int(old_created)
     let new_content: String = session_make_content(session_id, eff_title, created_int, ts, eff_folder)
     let tags: String = "[\"session\",\"session:meta\",\"Conversation\"]"
-    let new_node_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let new_node_id: String = wt_node(
         new_content, "Conversation", "session:meta",
         el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ fn session_hist_save(session_id: String, hist: String) -> Void {
     // TODO(reliability #7): delete-then-insert is not atomic — concurrent saves for the
     // same session can produce orphan history nodes. State is primary truth; engram fallback.
     let tags: String = "[\"session\",\"session-history\",\"Conversation\"]"
-    let discard: String = engram_node_full(
+    let discard: String = wt_node(
         hist, "Conversation", "session:messages:" + session_id,
         el_from_float(0.6), el_from_float(0.6), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ fn session_hist_save(session_id: String, hist: String) -> Void {
                 + " | 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(
+            let sum_discard: String = wt_node(
                 summary_content,
                 "BellEvent",
                 "session:emotional-summary",
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ fn session_hist_save(session_id: String, hist: String) -> Void {
             if !str_eq(ot_id, "") { engram_forget(ot_id) }
             let oti = oti + 1
         }
-        let discard_topic: String = engram_node_full(
+        let discard_topic: String = wt_node(
             topic_content, "Conversation", topic_label,
             el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),
             "Episodic", topic_tags
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ fn session_update_meta_timestamp(session_id: String) -> Void {
     let created_int: Int = str_to_int(old_created)
     let new_content: String = session_make_content(session_id, old_title, created_int, ts, old_folder)
     let tags: String = "[\"session\",\"session:meta\",\"Conversation\"]"
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(
         new_content, "Conversation", "session:meta",
         el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ fn session_auto_title(session_id: String, first_message: String) -> Void {
     let created_int: Int = str_to_int(old_created)
     let new_content: String = session_make_content(session_id, new_title, created_int, ts, old_folder)
     let tags: String = "[\"session\",\"session:meta\",\"Conversation\"]"
-    let new_id: String = engram_node_full(
+    let new_id: String = wt_node(
         new_content, "Conversation", "session:meta",
         el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.7), el_from_float(0.9),
         "Episodic", tags

soul.el

@@ -379,9 +379,23 @@ fn emit_session_start_event() -> Void {
 // layered_cycle — routes user-facing requests through the 4-layer consciousness stack.
 // 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("conv_history")
-    let session_id: String = state_get("current_session_id")
+//
+// FIX B (2026-08-05) — the cycle now knows which conversation it is in.
+//
+// session_id: the caller's session, threaded from the route. Was previously read from the
+// state key "current_session_id", which is read HERE and written NOWHERE in the entire
+// source — verified across every .el file. So this value was unconditionally "", and every
+// downstream consumer of it silently fell back to a process-global bucket: conversation
+// history, and the steward's continuity tracking (TODO reliability #4, below, describes the
+// cross-session bleed this caused; threading the real id closes it). The plain path's blank
+// stare and the agentic path's scoped history were the same defect seen from two sides.
+//
+// utility: true when the generation is not part of the user's conversation — the app's
+// title and insight passes. Answered normally, never recorded. See is_utility_request.
+fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String, session_id: String, utility: Bool) -> String {
+    // Safety-screen history amplification now reads the SAME window the turn will be
+    // recorded into, so a session's own escalation pattern is what gets scored.
+    let history: String = state_get(conv_hist_key(session_id))
 
     // L1 in: safety screen
     let screen_result: String = safety_screen(raw_input, history)
@@ -423,8 +437,10 @@ fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String) -> String {
     let cont_action: String = json_get(continuity, "action")
 
     // Store continuity status so imprint can adjust its response register.
-    // TODO(reliability #4): session_continuity is process-global; scope per session_id
-    // when available to prevent cross-session bleed under concurrent layered_cycle calls.
+    // TODO(reliability #4) CLOSED 2026-08-05: this line was already written to scope per
+    // session — it just never received a session id, because the only source was a state key
+    // nothing wrote. It is now threaded from the route, so named sessions genuinely get their
+    // own continuity state and only anonymous callers share the global one.
     let cont_key: String = if str_eq(session_id, "") { "session_continuity" } else { "session_continuity:" + session_id }
     state_set(cont_key, cont_status)
 
@@ -453,40 +469,24 @@ fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String) -> String {
     let lc_aff_cutoff: Int = time_now() - 259200
     let lc_bell_nodes: String = engram_search_json("bell:soft bell:hard BellEvent affective", 2)
     let lc_has_bell: Bool = !str_eq(lc_bell_nodes, "") && !str_eq(lc_bell_nodes, "[]")
+    // CRASH FIX 2026-08-05 (BUG-PLAINCHAT-1): the " | ts:" parser used to be inline here.
+    // Inside this block-expression initializer elc compiled `lbmp + str_len(lbm)` to
+    // el_str_concat() on two integers, which segfaulted the whole daemon the moment a
+    // distress turn followed an earlier affective turn — i.e. exactly on the crisis path.
+    // Verified against the unmodified baseline binary AND present in the committed
+    // dist/soul.c. affective_node_ts() is a top-level function, where the same expression
+    // compiles to integer addition. Do not inline it back.
     let lc_bell_note: String = if lc_has_bell {
         let lb0: String = json_array_get(lc_bell_nodes, 0)
-        let lb_c: String = json_get(lb0, "content")
-        let lbm: String = " | ts:"
-        let lbmp: Int = str_index_of(lb_c, lbm)
-        let lb_ts_raw: String = if lbmp >= 0 {
-            let lbs: Int = lbmp + str_len(lbm)
-            let lbr: String = str_slice(lb_c, lbs, str_len(lb_c))
-            let lbn: Int = str_index_of(lbr, " | ")
-            if lbn < 0 { lbr } else { str_slice(lbr, 0, lbn) }
-        } else {
-            let lbca: String = json_get(lb0, "created_at")
-            if str_eq(lbca, "") { json_get(lb0, "updated_at") } else { lbca }
-        }
-        let lb_ts: Int = if str_eq(lb_ts_raw, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(lb_ts_raw) }
+        let lb_ts: Int = affective_node_ts(lb0)
         if lb_ts > lc_aff_cutoff { "[AFFECTIVE NOTE: User was in distress in a recent session.]" } else { "" }
     } else { "" }
     let lc_pos_nodes: String = engram_search_json("PositiveEvent joy:high joy:low affective", 2)
     let lc_has_pos: Bool = !str_eq(lc_pos_nodes, "") && !str_eq(lc_pos_nodes, "[]")
+    // Same crash fix as the bell note above (BUG-PLAINCHAT-1).
     let lc_pos_note: String = if lc_has_pos && str_eq(lc_bell_note, "") {
         let lp0: String = json_array_get(lc_pos_nodes, 0)
-        let lp_c: String = json_get(lp0, "content")
-        let lpm: String = " | ts:"
-        let lpmp: Int = str_index_of(lp_c, lpm)
-        let lp_ts_raw: String = if lpmp >= 0 {
-            let lps: Int = lpmp + str_len(lpm)
-            let lpr: String = str_slice(lp_c, lps, str_len(lp_c))
-            let lpn: Int = str_index_of(lpr, " | ")
-            if lpn < 0 { lpr } else { str_slice(lpr, 0, lpn) }
-        } else {
-            let lpca: String = json_get(lp0, "created_at")
-            if str_eq(lpca, "") { json_get(lp0, "updated_at") } else { lpca }
-        }
-        let lp_ts: Int = if str_eq(lp_ts_raw, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(lp_ts_raw) }
+        let lp_ts: Int = affective_node_ts(lp0)
         if lp_ts > lc_aff_cutoff { "[AFFECTIVE NOTE: User shared positive news in a recent session.]" } else { "" }
     } else { "" }
     let lc_affective_note: String = if !str_eq(lc_bell_note, "") { lc_bell_note } else { lc_pos_note }
@@ -498,11 +498,47 @@ fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String) -> String {
     }
     state_set("layered_cycle_safety_system_addendum", augmented_addendum)
 
-    // L3: imprint responds
-    let output: String = imprint_respond(aligned, imprint_id)
+    // L3: imprint responds — applies the active imprint's voice/domain annotation to the
+    // steward-aligned input. This produces the PROMPT, not the answer.
+    let prompt: String = imprint_respond(aligned, imprint_id)
 
-    // L1 out: validate output before delivery
-    return safety_validate(output, screen_action)
+    // L3b: the imprint SPEAKS (added 2026-08-05).
+    //
+    // Until now the cycle stopped at the annotation above, so /api/chat with agentic:false
+    // handed the user's own screened text back as the "reply" — every gate ran, but nothing
+    // ever generated. The generation is placed HERE, inside the cycle, rather than by
+    // pointing the route at handle_chat(): handle_chat has no enforcing input gate and no
+    // enforcing output gate, so calling it instead of this cycle would have traded the whole
+    // safety pipeline for a working reply. Composing keeps both.
+    //
+    // Order is deliberate and must not be rearranged: this call sits strictly AFTER the L1
+    // screen, the safe-mode guard, the hard-bell short-circuit and the L2 stewardship layers,
+    // and strictly BEFORE the L1 output gate. A hard bell never reaches a model — the branch
+    // above returns first. Tools are not offered on this turn; see layered_generate.
+    let output: String = layered_generate(prompt, imprint_id, session_id)
+
+    // L1 out: validate output before delivery. Still the terminal gate — nothing below this
+    // line can change the string this function returns.
+    let validated: String = safety_validate(output, screen_action)
+
+    // Turn bookkeeping. Records the VALIDATED text, never the raw model output, and is only
+    // reachable on the non-bell path: both bell branches above return before this point, so
+    // bell turns still never enter conversation history. Pure state side effect — it cannot
+    // alter what is returned.
+    //
+    // FIX A: the receipt is unconditional and always negative on this path, because on this
+    // path it is structurally true — layered_generate offers no tools at all (build_system_prompt
+    // chat mode + a request body with no "tools" key). Recording "no tools ran" is not padding:
+    // it is the only thing that distinguishes "nothing ran" from "we forgot to write down what
+    // ran", and that ambiguity is what made the model confess to a search it had performed.
+    //
+    // FIX E1: a utility generation is answered but not recorded. Guarded here rather than at
+    // the route so every /api/chat dispatch site inherits it from one place.
+    let receipt: String = tool_receipt("", "")
+    if !utility {
+        conv_history_record(session_id, raw_input, validated, receipt)
+    }
+    return validated
 }
 
 let soul_cgi_id_raw: String = env("SOUL_CGI_ID")
@@ -621,6 +657,23 @@ if is_genesis && safe_to_seed {
     }
 }
 
+// CRASH RECOVERY (neuron#117). Deltas the previous process staged but could not
+// hand to the owner are still on disk — the spool is a filesystem queue, not a
+// memory buffer, precisely so that a soul that died mid-flight does not take its
+// unpushed writes with it. Drain them before serving, so recovered memories are
+// durable and recallable from the owner from the first request onward.
+//
+// Safe on a clean boot: an empty spool means no HTTP call at all. Safe in file
+// mode: wt_drain returns immediately when ENGRAM_URL is unset.
+let wt_recovered: Int = wt_drain()
+if wt_recovered > 0 {
+    println("[soul] write-through: recovered " + int_to_str(wt_recovered)
+        + " nodes from a previous process's spool -> persistence owner")
+}
+if wt_recovered < 0 {
+    println("[soul] write-through: spool present but the persistence owner is unreachable — queued, will retry on heartbeat")
+}
+
 println("[soul] serving on port " + int_to_str(port))
 http_serve_async(port, "handle_request")
 println("[soul] awareness loop starting")

soul.elh

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // auto-generated by elc --emit-header - do not edit
 extern fn init_soul_edges() -> Void
+extern fn ensure_self_canonical_bridge() -> Void
+extern fn aff_try_slot(slot_json: String, aff_7d_ts: Int, acc_key: String) -> Void
 extern fn load_identity_context() -> Void
 extern fn seed_persona_from_env() -> Void
 extern fn emit_session_start_event() -> Void
-extern fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String) -> String
+extern fn layered_cycle(raw_input: String, session_id: String, utility: Bool) -> String

stewardship.el

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import "memory.el"
 fn steward_log_event(kind: String, detail: String) -> Void {
     let content: String = "STEWARD:" + kind + " | " + detail
     let tags: String = "[\"stewardship\",\"steward:" + kind + "\"]"
-    let discard: String = engram_node_full(
+    let discard: String = wt_node(
         content,
         "StewardshipEvent",
         "steward:" + kind,
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ fn steward_fingerprint_session(input: String, session_id: String) -> String {
         + " formality=" + fs_str
         + " time=" + tb_str
     let sample_tags: String = "[\"behavior\",\"BehaviorSample\",\"stewardship\"]"
-    let discard: String = engram_node_full(
+    let discard: String = wt_node(
         sample_content,
         "BehaviorSample",
         "behavior:" + session_id,

tests/test_history_amplification.el

@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+// ── test_history_amplification.el ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// REGRESSION TEST FOR ISSUE #129 (P0, SAFETY).
+//
+// What this guards: on the agentic path, the crisis score has two halves — the
+// message you just sent, and the distress that has accumulated across the
+// conversation. The second half is the whole reason the escalation logic exists:
+// someone whose distress builds over several turns never sends one message that
+// trips the bell on its own.
+//
+// The defect this test was written against (ff421d3, 2026-08-05 → fixed
+// 2026-08-07): conversation history moved to a per-session key via
+// conv_hist_key(session_id), but the agentic path's safety screen was left
+// reading the old anonymous "conv_history" bucket. The desktop app always sends
+// a session_id, so the screen received "" on every real conversation and the
+// escalation half always scored 0. Nothing failed. Nothing logged. The comment
+// above the defective line documented this same bug being fixed once before.
+//
+// THE INVARIANT UNDER TEST, stated so it survives future renames:
+//   the window the safety screen READS must be the window conv_history_record
+//   WRITES. Not "must be called conv_history" — must AGREE.
+//
+// This test is deliberately written to fail loudly on the pre-fix source. If it
+// ever passes on code where the screen reads a key nothing writes, it is broken.
+//
+// To run (macOS, from the worktree root):
+//   scripts/run-el-test.sh tests/test_history_amplification.el
+// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+import "../chat.el"
+import "../safety.el"
+import "../sessions.el"
+
+// Program class. Without this an El program compiles as a 'utility', and a
+// utility may not call the self-formation primitives (llm_call_system,
+// llm_vision) that chat.el's agentic loop references — the unit fails to
+// compile with a capability violation even though the test never calls them.
+// Declaring 'cgi' matches how soul.el declares itself.
+//
+// The endpoints below are deliberately DEAD: this test must never reach a live
+// engram, and nothing it asserts depends on one. Port 9 is discard.
+cgi "neuron-test-history-amplification" {
+    dharma_id: "ntn-test@http://127.0.0.1:9",
+    principal: "test-harness",
+    network:   "dharma-testnet",
+    engram:    "http://127.0.0.1:9"
+}
+
+// ── Counters ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// NOTE for anyone copying this harness: the idiom used by the older tests in
+// this directory — `let pass_count = pass_count + 1` inside an assert function —
+// does NOT mutate the module-level binding. It declares a new local that dies
+// with the call, so those suites all print "0 passed, 0 failed" no matter what
+// happened. Counters go through the state store here so the summary is real.
+
+fn bump(counter: String) -> Void {
+    let cur: String = state_get(counter)
+    let n: Int = if str_eq(cur, "") { 0 } else { str_to_int(cur) }
+    state_set(counter, int_to_str(n + 1))
+}
+
+fn counter_of(counter: String) -> Int {
+    let cur: String = state_get(counter)
+    if str_eq(cur, "") { return 0 }
+    return str_to_int(cur)
+}
+
+fn assert_eq(label: String, got: String, expected: String) -> Void {
+    if str_eq(got, expected) {
+        bump("t_pass")
+        println("  PASS: " + label)
+    } else {
+        bump("t_fail")
+        println("  FAIL: " + label)
+        println("    got:      " + got)
+        println("    expected: " + expected)
+    }
+}
+
+fn assert_true(label: String, cond: Bool) -> Void {
+    if cond {
+        bump("t_pass")
+        println("  PASS: " + label)
+    } else {
+        bump("t_fail")
+        println("  FAIL: " + label)
+    }
+}
+
+// ── Fixtures ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// ESCALATION_MSG scores 50 on its own ("can't go on", safety_score_crisis s9).
+// 50 is >= soft (35) and < hard (70): a soft bell by itself, which is the point.
+// It is the message that is only a crisis IN CONTEXT.
+//
+// DISTRESS_TURN carries five history phrases:
+//   hopeless 15 + worthless 15 + nobody cares 15 + can't take it anymore 20
+//   + want to disappear 20 = 85; contributed at 1/3 weight = 28.
+// 50 + 28 = 78 >= 70 → hard_bell. That 28-point swing IS the escalation logic,
+// and it is exactly what the defect suppressed.
+
+let TEST_SESSION: String = "sess-test-129-history-amplification"
+let ESCALATION_MSG: String = "honestly i can't go on like this"
+let DISTRESS_TURN: String = "i feel hopeless and worthless, nobody cares, i can't take it anymore, i want to disappear"
+
+println("")
+println("test_history_amplification.el — issue #129 (agentic multi-turn crisis escalation)")
+
+// ── 1. Baseline: the message alone is a SOFT bell, not a hard one ─────────────
+//
+// If this ever returns hard_bell, the test below proves nothing — the message
+// would trip the bell without any history and the amplification would be
+// invisible. This assertion is what keeps the real test honest.
+
+println("")
+println("1. baseline — escalation message with NO history is a soft bell")
+
+let baseline: String = safety_screen(ESCALATION_MSG, "")
+assert_eq("no history -> soft_bell (not hard)", json_get(baseline, "action"), "soft_bell")
+
+// ── 2. Producer sanity: history lands in the session's own window ─────────────
+
+println("")
+println("2. producer — conv_history_record writes the session's window")
+
+conv_history_record(TEST_SESSION, DISTRESS_TURN, "i hear you, that sounds heavy", "")
+
+let written: String = state_get(conv_hist_key(TEST_SESSION))
+assert_true("session window is non-empty after record", !str_eq(written, ""))
+assert_true("session window contains the distress turn", str_contains(written, "hopeless"))
+
+// ── 3. THE REGRESSION: the agentic screen must SEE that window ────────────────
+//
+// Pre-fix this returns soft_bell, because agentic_safety_screen read the
+// anonymous bucket and got "". Post-fix it returns hard_bell.
+
+println("")
+println("3. REGRESSION #129 — agentic screen reads the session's own window")
+
+let screened: String = agentic_safety_screen(TEST_SESSION, ESCALATION_MSG)
+assert_eq(
+    "distress history escalates the agentic screen to hard_bell",
+    json_get(screened, "action"),
+    "hard_bell"
+)
+
+// ── 4. The invariant, stated directly ─────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Independent of thresholds and phrase lists: whatever the screen reads for a
+// session must equal what the recorder wrote for that session. This is the
+// assertion that survives a future rename of either side.
+
+println("")
+println("4. invariant — read window == written window")
+
+let read_back: String = state_get(conv_hist_key(TEST_SESSION))
+assert_true("screen input is the recorded window, not empty", !str_eq(read_back, ""))
+assert_eq("read window is byte-identical to written window", read_back, written)
+
+// ── 5. No false positive: a calm session does not escalate ────────────────────
+//
+// A test that only ever asserts "hard_bell" would pass on code that hard-bells
+// every message. This is the other leg, and it runs BEFORE the anonymous case
+// below on purpose: that case writes the shared bucket, and under the defect a
+// calm session would then inherit it.
+
+println("")
+println("5. specificity — a calm history does NOT escalate")
+
+let CALM_SESSION: String = "sess-test-129-calm"
+state_set("conv_history", "")
+conv_history_record(CALM_SESSION, "what is the weather like today", "clear and mild", "")
+let calm: String = agentic_safety_screen(CALM_SESSION, ESCALATION_MSG)
+assert_eq("calm history stays at soft_bell", json_get(calm, "action"), "soft_bell")
+
+// ── 6. Cross-session leakage ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// The same defect had a second face: because the screen read one shared bucket,
+// a calm session could be scored against a DIFFERENT session's distress. That is
+// wrong in both directions — it fabricates a crisis for the calm user and it
+// leaks the distressed user's content into another session's scoring.
+
+println("")
+println("6. isolation — one session's distress must not score another session")
+
+state_set("conv_history", "")
+let OTHER_SESSION: String = "sess-test-129-other"
+conv_history_record(OTHER_SESSION, DISTRESS_TURN, "i hear you", "")
+let isolated: String = agentic_safety_screen(CALM_SESSION, ESCALATION_MSG)
+assert_eq(
+    "a distressed OTHER session does not escalate the calm session",
+    json_get(isolated, "action"),
+    "soft_bell"
+)
+
+// ── 7. Anonymous sessions still work ──────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// conv_hist_key("") deliberately falls back to the shared "conv_history" bucket.
+// The fix must not break the no-session_id path older callers rely on. Runs last
+// because it writes that shared bucket.
+
+println("")
+println("7. anonymous path — empty session_id still screens against the shared window")
+
+state_set("conv_history", "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"" + DISTRESS_TURN + "\"}]")
+let anon: String = agentic_safety_screen("", ESCALATION_MSG)
+assert_eq("anonymous session escalates too", json_get(anon, "action"), "hard_bell")
+
+// ── Summary ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+println("")
+println("history amplification tests: " + int_to_str(counter_of("t_pass")) + " passed, " + int_to_str(counter_of("t_fail")) + " failed")

vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/RELEASE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# El Compiler Release v1.0.0 — 2026-05-02
+
+## Components
+- `bootstrap.py` — El language compiler (Python, recursive descent parser, emits C)
+- `el_runtime.c` — El runtime (C, HTTP server, engram, DHARMA, LLM chain)
+- `el_runtime.h` — Runtime public API header
+
+## Changes in this release
+
+### Critical bug fixes
+- `state_set`/`state_get` are now thread-safe (pthread_mutex). Was racing across 64 worker threads.
+- `looks_like_string` threshold raised from 1,000,000 to 4GB. Unix timestamps were being dereferenced as heap pointers.
+- `fs_read` guards against negative `ftell` result (pipe/special file overflow).
+
+### Engram architecture (major)
+- Two-layer activation: `background_activation` (Layer 1, broad fan-out) + `working_memory_weight` (Layer 2, executive filter)
+- Inhibitory edges: `EngramEdge.inhibitory` flag suppresses working memory promotion without affecting background activation
+- Suppression memory: `suppression_count` — nodes activated-but-suppressed accumulate pressure toward breakthrough
+- Temporal decay: `temporal_decay_rate`, `created_at`, `last_activated_at`, `activation_count` on EngramNode
+- Per-type activation thresholds (Safety: 0.05, Canonical: 0.15, Lesson: 0.25, Note: 0.40)
+- Temporal range query: `engram_query_range(start_ms, end_ms)`
+- Layered consciousness: `EngramLayer` struct, `layer_id` on nodes and edges, `EngramStore.layers[]`
+- Layer 0 override pass: safety layer fires last and cannot be suppressed
+
+## SHA256
+bootstrap.py
+el_runtime.c
+el_runtime.h

vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.h

@@ -0,0 +1,786 @@
+/*
+ * el_runtime.h — El language C runtime header
+ *
+ * Declares all built-in functions available to compiled El programs.
+ * Include this in every generated .c file.
+ *
+ * Value model:
+ *   All El values are represented as el_val_t (= int64_t).
+ *   On 64-bit systems a pointer fits in int64_t.
+ *   String values are cast: (el_val_t)(uintptr_t)"hello"
+ *   Integer values are stored directly.
+ *   This lets arithmetic work naturally while still passing strings around.
+ *
+ * Type conventions (El -> C):
+ *   String  -> el_val_t  (holds const char* via uintptr_t cast)
+ *   Int     -> el_val_t
+ *   Bool    -> el_val_t  (0 = false, nonzero = true)
+ *   Any     -> el_val_t
+ *   Void    -> void
+ *
+ * Macros for convenience:
+ *   EL_STR(s)    cast string literal to el_val_t
+ *   EL_CSTR(v)   cast el_val_t back to const char*
+ *   EL_INT(v)    identity — el_val_t is already int64_t
+ *
+ * Link requirements:
+ *   -lcurl     — required for the HTTP client (http_get, http_post, llm_*).
+ *   -lpthread  — required for the HTTP server (one detached thread per
+ *                connection, capped at 64 concurrent).
+ *   -loqs      — optional; required only when liboqs is installed and the
+ *                pq_* / sha3_256_hex entry points are needed. Detected at
+ *                compile time via __has_include(<oqs/oqs.h>).
+ *   -lcrypto   — optional; pulled in alongside -loqs. Used for X25519 in
+ *                pq_hybrid_* and HKDF-SHA256 derivation.
+ *
+ * Canonical compile command:
+ *   cc -std=c11 -I el-compiler/runtime -lcurl -lpthread \
+ *      -o <out> <prog>.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c
+ *
+ * With liboqs (post-quantum stack):
+ *   cc -std=c11 -I el-compiler/runtime -lcurl -lpthread -loqs -lcrypto \
+ *      -o <out> <prog>.c el-compiler/runtime/el_runtime.c
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+typedef int64_t el_val_t;
+
+#define EL_STR(s)  ((el_val_t)(uintptr_t)(s))
+#define EL_CSTR(v) ((const char*)(uintptr_t)(v))
+#define EL_INT(v)  (v)
+#define EL_NULL    ((el_val_t)0)
+
+/* Float values share the el_val_t (int64) slot via a bit-cast.
+ * The codegen emits Float literals as `el_from_float(<dbl>)` so the
+ * underlying bits represent the IEEE 754 double. Float-aware builtins
+ * (math, format, json) round-trip via these helpers. */
+static inline double el_to_float(el_val_t v) {
+    union { int64_t i; double f; } u;
+    u.i = (int64_t)v;
+    return u.f;
+}
+
+static inline el_val_t el_from_float(double f) {
+    union { double f; int64_t i; } u;
+    u.f = f;
+    return (el_val_t)u.i;
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/* ── I/O ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+void      println(el_val_t s);
+void      print(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  readline(void);
+
+/* ── String builtins ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  el_str_concat(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  str_eq(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  str_starts_with(el_val_t s, el_val_t prefix);
+el_val_t  str_ends_with(el_val_t s, el_val_t suffix);
+el_val_t  str_len(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_concat(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  int_to_str(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  str_to_int(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_slice(el_val_t s, el_val_t start, el_val_t end);
+el_val_t  str_contains(el_val_t s, el_val_t sub);
+el_val_t  str_replace(el_val_t s, el_val_t from, el_val_t to);
+el_val_t  str_to_upper(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_to_lower(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_trim(el_val_t s);
+
+/* ── Math ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  el_abs(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  el_max(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_min(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+
+/* ── Refcount (ARC) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Lists and Maps carry a refcount. Strings and ints do not — el_retain and
+ * el_release are safe no-ops on non-refcounted values (they sniff a magic
+ * header at offset 0 and only act if the magic matches).
+ *
+ * Codegen emits these at let-binding shadowing, function entry (params), and
+ * function exit (locals other than the returned value). The refcount lets
+ * el_list_append and el_map_set mutate in place when uniquely owned (cheap)
+ * and copy-on-write when shared (preserves persistent semantics across
+ * accumulator patterns in the compiler itself).                              */
+
+void      el_retain(el_val_t v);
+void      el_release(el_val_t v);
+
+/* ── Arena scoping ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * el_arena_push() activates the string arena (if not already active) and
+ * returns a mark; el_arena_pop(mark) frees all strings allocated since that
+ * mark. Used by codegen for per-function/statement scoping and by long-running
+ * EL loops (e.g. the soul daemon's awareness tick) to reclaim per-iteration
+ * allocations. */
+el_val_t  el_arena_push(void);
+el_val_t  el_arena_pop(el_val_t mark);
+
+/* ── List ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  el_list_new(el_val_t count, ...);
+el_val_t  el_list_len(el_val_t list);
+el_val_t  el_list_get(el_val_t list, el_val_t index);
+el_val_t  el_list_append(el_val_t list, el_val_t elem);
+el_val_t  el_list_empty(void);
+el_val_t  el_list_clone(el_val_t list);
+
+/* ── Map ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  el_map_new(el_val_t pair_count, ...);
+el_val_t  el_get_field(el_val_t map, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  el_map_get(el_val_t map, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  el_map_set(el_val_t map, el_val_t key, el_val_t value);
+
+/* ── HTTP ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  http_get(el_val_t url);
+el_val_t  http_post(el_val_t url, el_val_t body);
+el_val_t  http_post_json(el_val_t url, el_val_t json_body);
+el_val_t  http_get_with_headers(el_val_t url, el_val_t headers_map);
+el_val_t  http_post_with_headers(el_val_t url, el_val_t body, el_val_t headers_map);
+el_val_t  http_post_form_auth(el_val_t url, el_val_t form_body, el_val_t auth_header);
+el_val_t  http_delete(el_val_t url);
+el_val_t  http_delete_json(el_val_t url, el_val_t json_body);
+void      http_serve(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
+void      http_set_handler(el_val_t name);
+
+/* HTTP server v2 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Same dispatch model as http_serve, but the handler signature is widened:
+ *
+ *     el_val_t handler(method, path, headers_map, body)
+ *
+ * `headers_map` is an ElMap from lowercased header name → header value (both
+ * Strings). Repeated headers are joined with ", " per RFC 7230.
+ *
+ * Response value: the handler may return either
+ *   (a) a plain body string — same auto-content-type / 200-OK behaviour as
+ *       http_serve (3-arg) — or
+ *   (b) a response envelope built with `http_response(status, headers_json,
+ *       body)`. The runtime detects the envelope discriminator
+ *       `"el_http_response":1` at the start of the returned string and
+ *       unpacks status / headers / body before sending.
+ *
+ * The 3-arg http_serve(port, handler) remains supported unchanged for
+ * existing handlers (e.g. products/web/server.el): it dispatches with
+ * (method, path, body), hardcodes 200 OK, and auto-detects content type. */
+void      http_serve_v2(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
+void      http_set_handler_v2(el_val_t name);
+
+/* Non-blocking variant of http_serve: runs the accept loop in a background
+ * pthread and returns immediately so the caller can continue (used by the
+ * soul daemon to run awareness_run() after starting its HTTP API). */
+void      http_serve_async(el_val_t port, el_val_t handler);
+
+/* Build an HTTP response envelope. `headers_json` should be a JSON object
+ * literal like `{"WWW-Authenticate":"Basic"}` (or "" / "{}" for none). The
+ * returned string carries the discriminator `{"el_http_response":1,...}`
+ * which the runtime's send-path detects and unpacks. Detection happens
+ * uniformly inside http_send_response, so a 3-arg handler may also return
+ * an envelope. The 3-arg variant remains documented as a fixed 200-OK
+ * auto-content-type contract for legacy handlers that return plain bodies. */
+el_val_t  http_response(el_val_t status, el_val_t headers_json, el_val_t body);
+
+/* HTTP timeout — every libcurl request honors EL_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS (default
+ * 60000ms). Read lazily on first use, so setting the env var any time before
+ * the first http_* call is sufficient.                                    */
+
+/* Streaming variants — write the response body straight to a file via
+ * libcurl's CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION = fwrite. These bypass the el_val_t string
+ * wrapper entirely, so binary payloads (audio/mpeg, image/png, etc.) survive
+ * embedded NUL bytes that would truncate a strlen()-based code path.
+ *
+ * Both honor EL_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS, follow redirects, and accept the same
+ * `headers_map` shape as http_post_with_headers (ElMap of String→String).
+ *
+ * Return value: 1 on success (file fully written), 0 on any failure
+ * (network, file open, partial write). On failure the output file is removed
+ * so callers cannot mistake a partially-written file for a valid one. */
+el_val_t  http_post_to_file(el_val_t url, el_val_t body, el_val_t headers_map, el_val_t output_path);
+el_val_t  http_get_to_file(el_val_t url, el_val_t headers_map, el_val_t output_path);
+
+/* ── URL encoding ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  url_encode(el_val_t s);   /* RFC 3986 unreserved set */
+el_val_t  url_decode(el_val_t s);   /* '+' → space, %XX → byte  */
+
+/* ── HTML allowlist sanitizer ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * el_html_sanitize(input_html, allowlist_json) — strict allowlist HTML
+ * cleaner. State-machine parser; tag/attribute names compared case-
+ * insensitively against the allowlist; `<a href>` / `<… src>` URL schemes
+ * validated (http, https, mailto, fragment-only, or relative); whole-
+ * subtree drop for script / style / iframe / object / embed / form; HTML-
+ * escapes free text outside dropped subtrees.
+ *
+ * The allowlist is JSON of the form
+ *     {"p":[],"a":["href","title"],"strong":[],...}
+ * where each value is the array of attribute names allowed for that tag. */
+el_val_t  el_html_sanitize(el_val_t input_html, el_val_t allowlist_json);
+
+/* ── Filesystem ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  fs_read(el_val_t path);
+el_val_t  fs_write(el_val_t path, el_val_t content);
+el_val_t  fs_list(el_val_t path);
+el_val_t  fs_exists(el_val_t path);
+el_val_t  fs_mkdir(el_val_t path);   /* mkdir -p, mode 0755                */
+
+/* Length-explicit binary write. `length` is an Int (el_val_t holding the
+ * byte count). The caller knows the length from context — typically because
+ * `bytes` came from base64_decode (which produces a magic-tagged binary
+ * buffer with embedded NULs possible) and the caller already tracks the
+ * decoded length, OR because the bytes came from a fixed-size source
+ * (sha256_bytes = 32, hmac_sha256_bytes = 32). Bypasses strlen entirely.
+ *
+ * Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure (invalid path, can't open, partial
+ * write, negative length). On partial-write failure, the file is removed
+ * so callers cannot read back a truncated artefact. */
+el_val_t  fs_write_bytes(el_val_t path, el_val_t bytes, el_val_t length);
+
+/* ── JSON ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  json_get(el_val_t json, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_parse(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  json_stringify(el_val_t v);
+el_val_t  json_get_string(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_get_int(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_get_float(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_get_bool(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_get_raw(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  json_set(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t key, el_val_t value);
+el_val_t  json_array_len(el_val_t json_str);
+el_val_t  json_array_get(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t index);
+el_val_t  json_array_get_string(el_val_t json_str, el_val_t index);
+
+/* ── Time ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  time_now(void);
+el_val_t  time_now_utc(void);
+el_val_t  sleep_secs(el_val_t secs);
+el_val_t  sleep_ms(el_val_t ms);
+el_val_t  time_format(el_val_t ts, el_val_t fmt);
+el_val_t  time_to_parts(el_val_t ts);
+el_val_t  time_from_parts(el_val_t secs, el_val_t ns, el_val_t tz);
+el_val_t  time_add(el_val_t ts, el_val_t n, el_val_t unit);
+el_val_t  time_diff(el_val_t ts1, el_val_t ts2, el_val_t unit);
+
+/* ── Instant + Duration: first-class temporal types ──────────────────────────
+ * Both types share the el_val_t (int64) slot. Instants are nanoseconds
+ * since the Unix epoch; Durations are signed nanoseconds. Type discipline
+ * is enforced at codegen-time: BinOps on names registered as Instant or
+ * Duration route through the typed wrappers below; mismatches like
+ * Instant+Instant become #error at the C compiler.
+ *
+ * Postfix literals — `30.seconds`, `1.hour`, `500.millis`, `30.nanos` — are
+ * recognised by the parser as DurationLit AST nodes and lowered to literal
+ * int64 nanoseconds at codegen time. The runtime never sees the units. */
+
+el_val_t  el_now_instant(void);
+el_val_t  now(void);
+el_val_t  unix_seconds(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  unix_millis(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  instant_from_iso8601(el_val_t s);
+
+el_val_t  el_duration_from_nanos(el_val_t ns);
+el_val_t  duration_seconds(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  duration_millis(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  duration_nanos(el_val_t n);
+
+el_val_t  el_instant_add_dur(el_val_t inst, el_val_t dur);
+el_val_t  el_instant_sub_dur(el_val_t inst, el_val_t dur);
+el_val_t  el_instant_diff(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_add(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_sub(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_scale(el_val_t dur, el_val_t scalar);
+el_val_t  el_duration_div(el_val_t dur, el_val_t scalar);
+
+el_val_t  el_instant_lt(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_instant_le(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_instant_gt(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_instant_ge(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_instant_eq(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_instant_ne(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_lt(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_le(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_gt(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_ge(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_eq(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_duration_ne(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+
+el_val_t  instant_to_unix_seconds(el_val_t i);
+el_val_t  instant_to_unix_millis(el_val_t i);
+el_val_t  instant_to_iso8601(el_val_t i);
+el_val_t  duration_to_seconds(el_val_t d);
+el_val_t  duration_to_millis(el_val_t d);
+el_val_t  duration_to_nanos(el_val_t d);
+
+el_val_t  el_sleep_duration(el_val_t dur);
+el_val_t  unix_timestamp(void);
+
+el_val_t  ttl_cache_set(el_val_t key, el_val_t value);
+el_val_t  ttl_cache_get(el_val_t key, el_val_t max_age);
+el_val_t  ttl_cache_age(el_val_t key);
+
+/* ── Calendar + CalendarTime + Rhythm + LocalDate/Time/DateTime ─────────────
+ * Phase 1.5 of the time system. Calendar is pluggable: EarthCalendar (IANA
+ * zones, Gregorian, DST) is the user-facing default; MarsCalendar,
+ * CycleCalendar(period), NoCycleCalendar, RelativeCalendar handle non-Earth
+ * domains.
+ *
+ * A Calendar interprets an Instant under a particular cycle convention and
+ * produces a CalendarTime. CalendarTime carries the underlying Instant and
+ * a back-pointer to its Calendar; arithmetic and formatting consult the
+ * Calendar to convert ns since epoch into year/month/day/hour/minute/second
+ * (or sol/phase, or cycle/phase, depending on kind).
+ *
+ * Storage convention: Calendar / CalendarTime / Rhythm / LocalDate /
+ * LocalDateTime are heap-allocated structs whose pointers are cast into
+ * el_val_t. A 24-bit magic header at offset 0 lets the runtime identify
+ * the kind safely. LocalTime is small enough to live in the int64 slot
+ * directly (nanos since midnight, signed).                                  */
+
+/* Zone — opaque IANA zone or fixed offset, used by EarthCalendar.
+ * `zone_id` is either an IANA name ("America/New_York", "UTC") or a fixed
+ * offset string ("+05:30", "-08:00"). The runtime resolves it via tzset()
+ * on first use of the owning EarthCalendar.                                  */
+el_val_t  zone(el_val_t id);
+el_val_t  zone_utc(void);
+el_val_t  zone_local(void);
+el_val_t  zone_offset(el_val_t hours, el_val_t minutes);
+
+/* Calendar constructors. Each returns an el_val_t pointer to a heap-
+ * allocated, magic-tagged Calendar struct. Calendars are interned by
+ * (kind, zone_id, period_ns, epoch_ns) so identical constructors return
+ * the same pointer — equality is reference equality.                        */
+el_val_t  earth_calendar(el_val_t z);
+el_val_t  earth_calendar_default(void);
+el_val_t  mars_calendar(void);
+el_val_t  cycle_calendar(el_val_t period_dur);
+el_val_t  no_cycle_calendar(void);
+el_val_t  relative_calendar(el_val_t epoch_inst);
+
+/* CalendarTime constructors and methods. Returns a heap-allocated struct
+ * whose pointer fits in el_val_t. */
+el_val_t  now_in(el_val_t cal);
+el_val_t  in_calendar(el_val_t inst, el_val_t cal);
+el_val_t  cal_format(el_val_t ct, el_val_t pattern);
+el_val_t  cal_to_instant(el_val_t ct);
+el_val_t  cal_cycle_phase(el_val_t ct);
+el_val_t  cal_in(el_val_t ct, el_val_t cal);
+
+/* LocalDate / LocalTime / LocalDateTime — calendar-agnostic value types.
+ * LocalTime carries nanoseconds since midnight as a signed int64 directly
+ * in the el_val_t slot (no allocation). LocalDate / LocalDateTime are
+ * heap-allocated structs with magic headers. */
+el_val_t  local_date(el_val_t y, el_val_t m, el_val_t d);
+el_val_t  local_time(el_val_t h, el_val_t m, el_val_t s, el_val_t ns);
+el_val_t  local_datetime(el_val_t date, el_val_t time);
+el_val_t  zoned(el_val_t date, el_val_t time, el_val_t cal);
+
+el_val_t  local_date_year(el_val_t ld);
+el_val_t  local_date_month(el_val_t ld);
+el_val_t  local_date_day(el_val_t ld);
+el_val_t  local_time_hour(el_val_t lt);
+el_val_t  local_time_minute(el_val_t lt);
+el_val_t  local_time_second(el_val_t lt);
+el_val_t  local_time_nanos(el_val_t lt);
+
+el_val_t  el_local_date_add_dur(el_val_t ld, el_val_t dur);
+el_val_t  el_local_time_add_dur(el_val_t lt, el_val_t dur);
+el_val_t  el_local_date_lt(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  el_local_date_eq(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+
+/* Rhythm — pluggable recurrence AST. Returns a heap-allocated struct
+ * pointer in el_val_t; rhythms are immutable so callers may share them. */
+el_val_t  rhythm_cycle_start(void);
+el_val_t  rhythm_cycle_phase(el_val_t phase);
+el_val_t  rhythm_duration(el_val_t d);
+el_val_t  rhythm_session_start(void);
+el_val_t  rhythm_event(el_val_t name);
+el_val_t  rhythm_and(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  rhythm_or(el_val_t a, el_val_t b);
+el_val_t  rhythm_weekday(el_val_t day);
+el_val_t  rhythm_weekly_at(el_val_t day, el_val_t hour, el_val_t minute);
+el_val_t  rhythm_next_after(el_val_t r, el_val_t after, el_val_t cal);
+el_val_t  rhythm_matches(el_val_t r, el_val_t ct);
+
+/* ── UUID ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  uuid_new(void);
+el_val_t  uuid_v4(void);
+
+/* ── Environment ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  env(el_val_t key);
+
+/* ── In-process state K/V ────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  state_set(el_val_t key, el_val_t value);
+el_val_t  state_get(el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  state_del(el_val_t key);
+el_val_t  state_keys(void);
+
+/* ── Float formatting ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  float_to_str(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  int_to_float(el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  float_to_int(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  format_float(el_val_t f, el_val_t decimals);
+el_val_t  decimal_round(el_val_t f, el_val_t decimals);
+el_val_t  str_to_float(el_val_t s);
+
+/* ── Math (Float-aware) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  math_sqrt(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  math_log(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  math_ln(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  math_sin(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  math_cos(el_val_t f);
+el_val_t  math_pi(void);
+
+/* ── String additions ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  str_index_of(el_val_t s, el_val_t sub);
+el_val_t  str_split(el_val_t s, el_val_t sep);
+el_val_t  str_char_at(el_val_t s, el_val_t i);
+el_val_t  str_char_code(el_val_t s, el_val_t i);
+el_val_t  str_pad_left(el_val_t s, el_val_t width, el_val_t pad);
+el_val_t  str_pad_right(el_val_t s, el_val_t width, el_val_t pad);
+el_val_t  str_format(el_val_t fmt, el_val_t data);
+el_val_t  str_lower(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_upper(el_val_t s);
+
+/* ── Text-processing primitives (Phase 1: byte/codepoint, ASCII char classes)
+ * Phase 2 (filed): Unicode-grapheme awareness, NFC/NFD normalization, regex.
+ * is_* predicates: empty input returns false; multi-char requires ALL bytes
+ * to match. ASCII ranges only in Phase 1. */
+
+/* Counting */
+el_val_t  str_count(el_val_t s, el_val_t sub);              /* non-overlapping */
+el_val_t  str_count_chars(el_val_t s);                      /* codepoint count */
+el_val_t  str_count_bytes(el_val_t s);                      /* alias of str_len */
+el_val_t  str_count_lines(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_count_words(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_count_letters(el_val_t s);                    /* ASCII [A-Za-z] */
+el_val_t  str_count_digits(el_val_t s);                     /* ASCII [0-9] */
+
+/* Find / position */
+el_val_t  str_index_of_all(el_val_t s, el_val_t sub);       /* [Int] of byte offsets */
+el_val_t  str_last_index_of(el_val_t s, el_val_t sub);
+el_val_t  str_find_chars(el_val_t s, el_val_t any_of);      /* first idx of any ch */
+
+/* Transform */
+el_val_t  str_repeat(el_val_t s, el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  str_reverse(el_val_t s);                          /* by codepoint */
+el_val_t  str_strip_prefix(el_val_t s, el_val_t prefix);
+el_val_t  str_strip_suffix(el_val_t s, el_val_t suffix);
+el_val_t  str_strip_chars(el_val_t s, el_val_t chars);
+el_val_t  str_lstrip(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_rstrip(el_val_t s);
+
+/* Char classification (Bool) */
+el_val_t  is_letter(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_digit(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_alphanumeric(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_whitespace(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_punctuation(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_uppercase(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  is_lowercase(el_val_t s);
+
+/* Split / join */
+el_val_t  str_split_lines(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  str_split_chars(el_val_t s);                      /* alias of native_string_chars */
+el_val_t  str_split_n(el_val_t s, el_val_t sep, el_val_t n);
+el_val_t  str_join(el_val_t list, el_val_t sep);            /* alias of list_join */
+
+/* ── List additions ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  list_push(el_val_t list, el_val_t elem);
+el_val_t  list_push_front(el_val_t list, el_val_t elem);
+el_val_t  list_join(el_val_t list, el_val_t sep);
+el_val_t  list_range(el_val_t start, el_val_t end);
+
+/* ── Bool helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  bool_to_str(el_val_t b);
+
+/* ── Numeric parsing ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+el_val_t  parse_int(el_val_t s, el_val_t default_val);
+
+/* ── Process ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+void      exit_program(el_val_t code);
+el_val_t  getpid_now(void);
+
+/* ── CGI identity ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Called at the start of main() in CGI programs (those with a `cgi {}` block).
+ * Records the program's DHARMA identity before any other code executes.      */
+
+void      el_cgi_init(el_val_t name, el_val_t dharma_id, el_val_t principal,
+                      el_val_t network, el_val_t engram);
+
+/* ── DHARMA network builtins ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Available to CGI programs (declared with a `cgi {}` block).
+ *
+ * Peers are addressed by `dharma_id` of the form
+ *     "<registry-id>@<transport-url>"   e.g. "ntn-genesis@http://localhost:7770"
+ * If the @<url> portion is omitted, transport defaults to
+ * "http://localhost:7770" (the local CGI daemon assumption).
+ *
+ * Wire protocol (all peers expose):
+ *   POST <url>/dharma/recv      { channel, from, content } → response body
+ *   POST <url>/dharma/event     { type, payload, source, timestamp }
+ *   POST <url>/api/activate     { query }                 → list of nodes
+ *
+ * Hosting application's responsibility: an El program with a `cgi {}` block
+ * runs http_serve() with its own request handler; that handler should route
+ * "/dharma/event" requests by calling el_runtime_dharma_event_arrive() so
+ * incoming events feed dharma_field() queues. The runtime itself does not
+ * intercept any /dharma path.                                                */
+
+el_val_t  dharma_connect(el_val_t cgi_id);
+el_val_t  dharma_send(el_val_t channel, el_val_t content);
+el_val_t  dharma_activate(el_val_t query);
+void      dharma_emit(el_val_t event_type, el_val_t payload);
+el_val_t  dharma_field(el_val_t event_type);
+void      dharma_strengthen(el_val_t cgi_id, el_val_t weight);
+el_val_t  dharma_relationship(el_val_t cgi_id);
+el_val_t  dharma_peers(void);
+
+/* Public C API: called by an El program's HTTP handler when a /dharma/event
+ * request arrives. Pushes onto the per-event-type queue and signals any
+ * pending dharma_field() blockers. All three arguments must be NUL-terminated
+ * C strings (or NULL — then treated as empty).                               */
+void      el_runtime_dharma_event_arrive(const char* event_type,
+                                         const char* payload,
+                                         const char* source);
+
+/* ── Engram local graph primitives ───────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Operate on the CGI's local Engram knowledge graph.
+ * `engram_activate` queries the local graph only; `dharma_activate` is
+ * network-wide across all connected CGI graphs.                              */
+
+el_val_t  engram_node(el_val_t content, el_val_t node_type, el_val_t salience);
+el_val_t  engram_node_full(el_val_t content, el_val_t node_type, el_val_t label,
+                           el_val_t salience, el_val_t importance, el_val_t confidence,
+                           el_val_t tier, el_val_t tags);
+/* Layered consciousness — see el_runtime.c for the layered architecture
+ * design notes (search "Layered consciousness architecture"). The five
+ * canonical layers (safety / core-identity / domain-knowledge / imprint /
+ * suit) are seeded automatically; engram_add_layer extends the registry
+ * with imprint or suit overlays at runtime. Nodes default to layer 1
+ * (core-identity) when created via engram_node / engram_node_full. */
+el_val_t  engram_node_layered(el_val_t content, el_val_t node_type, el_val_t label,
+                              el_val_t salience, el_val_t certainty, el_val_t confidence,
+                              el_val_t status, el_val_t tags, el_val_t layer_id);
+el_val_t  engram_add_layer(el_val_t name, el_val_t priority, el_val_t suppressible,
+                           el_val_t transparent, el_val_t injectable);
+el_val_t  engram_remove_layer(el_val_t layer_id);
+el_val_t  engram_list_layers(void);
+el_val_t  engram_get_node(el_val_t id);
+void      engram_strengthen(el_val_t node_id);
+void      engram_forget(el_val_t node_id);
+el_val_t  engram_prune_telemetry(el_val_t older_than_ms);
+el_val_t  engram_node_count(void);
+el_val_t  engram_search(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit);
+el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes(el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
+void      engram_connect(el_val_t from_id, el_val_t to_id, el_val_t weight, el_val_t relation);
+el_val_t  engram_edge_between(el_val_t from_id, el_val_t to_id);
+el_val_t  engram_neighbors(el_val_t node_id);
+el_val_t  engram_neighbors_filtered(el_val_t node_id, el_val_t max_depth, el_val_t direction);
+el_val_t  engram_edge_count(void);
+/* Three-pass activation: background fan-out → working-memory promotion →
+ * Layer 0 override. See "Three-pass activation" in el_runtime.c. */
+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);
+
+/* JSON-string accessors — return pre-serialized JSON so HTTP handlers
+ * can pass results straight through without round-tripping ElList/ElMap
+ * through json_stringify. */
+el_val_t  engram_get_node_json(el_val_t id);
+el_val_t  engram_get_node_by_label(el_val_t label);
+el_val_t  engram_search_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t limit);
+el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes_json(el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
+el_val_t  engram_scan_nodes_by_type_json(el_val_t node_type, el_val_t limit, el_val_t offset);
+el_val_t  engram_neighbors_json(el_val_t node_id, el_val_t max_depth, el_val_t direction);
+el_val_t  engram_activate_json(el_val_t query, el_val_t depth);
+el_val_t  engram_stats_json(void);
+el_val_t  engram_act_stats_json(void);
+el_val_t  engram_cosine_sim(el_val_t id_a, el_val_t id_b);
+/* Document frequency of a term across node labels — term-specificity signal
+ * for curiosity seed selection. (2026-08-03 self-review.) */
+el_val_t  engram_label_df(el_val_t term);
+el_val_t  engram_embed_backfill(el_val_t count);
+el_val_t  engram_list_layers_json(void);
+/* Working memory introspection — count, mean weight, and top-N snapshot.
+ * Ported from el-compiler/runtime on 2026-06-30 self-review. */
+el_val_t  engram_wm_count(void);
+el_val_t  engram_wm_avg_weight(void);
+el_val_t  engram_wm_top_json(el_val_t n);
+/* Merge-load: add nodes/edges from a snapshot without resetting the store. */
+el_val_t  engram_load_merge(el_val_t path);
+/* engram_compile_layered_json — produce a prompt-ready text block split
+ * into "[LAYER 0 — STRUCTURAL]" (non-suppressible layers, sacred fire)
+ * and "[ENGRAM CONTEXT]" (standard suppressible layers). Returns "" if
+ * no nodes promoted to working memory. */
+el_val_t  engram_compile_layered_json(el_val_t intent, el_val_t depth);
+
+/* ── LLM (Anthropic API client) ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * All functions call https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages with the API key
+ * from env ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. Default model when empty: claude-sonnet-4-5. */
+
+el_val_t  llm_call(el_val_t model, el_val_t prompt);
+el_val_t  llm_call_system(el_val_t model, el_val_t system_prompt, el_val_t user_prompt);
+el_val_t  llm_call_agentic(el_val_t model, el_val_t system, el_val_t user, el_val_t tools);
+el_val_t  llm_vision(el_val_t model, el_val_t system, el_val_t prompt, el_val_t image_url_or_b64);
+el_val_t  llm_models(void);
+
+/* Register a tool handler by name. The handler is looked up via dlsym
+ * (mirroring http_set_handler), so any El `fn <name>(input)` compiles to
+ * a global C symbol that this function can locate at runtime.
+ * Handler signature: `el_val_t handler(el_val_t input_json)` — receives
+ * the tool input as a JSON-string el_val_t and returns a JSON-string
+ * el_val_t result. Used by llm_call_agentic.                                 */
+void      llm_register_tool(el_val_t name, el_val_t handler_fn_name);
+
+/* ── args() ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * Provides access to command-line arguments passed to the program.
+ * Populated by el_runtime_init_args() before main() runs.           */
+
+el_val_t  args(void);
+void      el_runtime_init_args(int argc, char** argv);
+
+/* ── Crypto primitives ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ * SHA-256, HMAC-SHA-256, and base64 (standard + URL-safe).
+ * Self-contained — no OpenSSL/libcrypto dependency. The implementations are
+ * adapted from public-domain reference code (Brad Conte / RFC 4648).
+ *
+ * Bytes-returning variants (sha256_bytes, hmac_sha256_bytes) return a string
+ * value whose contents are raw binary; callers usually feed these into
+ * base64_encode. Note that el_val_t strings are NUL-terminated by convention,
+ * so the binary payload may contain embedded NULs — pass it directly into
+ * base64_encode (which uses an explicit length) rather than treating it as
+ * a printable C string.
+ *
+ * The "base64" variants emit/accept RFC 4648 standard alphabet with padding.
+ * The "base64url" variants use URL-safe alphabet (`-`/`_`) with no padding,
+ * as used in JWTs.                                                           */
+
+el_val_t  sha256_hex(el_val_t input);
+el_val_t  sha256_bytes(el_val_t input);
+el_val_t  hmac_sha256_hex(el_val_t key, el_val_t message);
+el_val_t  hmac_sha256_bytes(el_val_t key, el_val_t message);
+el_val_t  base64_encode(el_val_t input);
+el_val_t  base64_decode(el_val_t input);
+el_val_t  base64url_encode(el_val_t input);
+el_val_t  base64url_decode(el_val_t input);
+
+/* Length-aware variants (internal — exposed for the rare caller that already
+ * has a known-length binary buffer and doesn't want to round-trip through
+ * a NUL-terminated el_val_t string). Sha256_bytes and hmac_sha256_bytes feed
+ * these implicitly. */
+el_val_t  el_sha256_bytes_n(const unsigned char* data, size_t len);
+el_val_t  el_base64_encode_n(const unsigned char* data, size_t len, int url_safe);
+
+/* ── Post-quantum primitives (liboqs-backed) ────────────────────────────────
+ * All inputs/outputs hex-encoded. Algorithm choices:
+ *   Signature: CRYSTALS-Dilithium-3   (NIST level 3, balanced)
+ *   KEM:       CRYSTALS-Kyber-768     (NIST level 3)
+ *   Hash:      SHA3-256 (Keccak)      (PQ-aware protocols favour SHA3 over SHA2)
+ *
+ * If liboqs is not linked (detected via __has_include(<oqs/oqs.h>) at compile
+ * time), the pq_* entry points return a JSON-shaped error string so callers
+ * fail loudly rather than silently fall back to classical schemes:
+ *   {"error":"liboqs not linked, post-quantum primitives unavailable"}
+ *
+ * The hybrid handshake pairs X25519 with Kyber-768 per NIST PQ guidance and
+ * CNSA 2.0. Combined shared secret is HKDF-SHA256(x25519_ss || kyber_ss).
+ * Even if Kyber falls, X25519 holds; if X25519 falls under quantum attack,
+ * Kyber holds. SHA3-256 also remains usable independent of liboqs (the
+ * Keccak permutation is PQ-OK as a primitive). */
+
+el_val_t  pq_keygen_signature(void);
+el_val_t  pq_sign(el_val_t secret_key_hex, el_val_t message);
+el_val_t  pq_verify(el_val_t public_key_hex, el_val_t message, el_val_t signature_hex);
+
+el_val_t  pq_kem_keygen(void);
+el_val_t  pq_kem_encaps(el_val_t public_key_hex);
+el_val_t  pq_kem_decaps(el_val_t secret_key_hex, el_val_t ciphertext_hex);
+
+el_val_t  pq_hybrid_keygen(void);
+el_val_t  pq_hybrid_handshake(el_val_t remote_pub_combined);
+
+el_val_t  sha3_256_hex(el_val_t input);
+
+/* ── AEAD: AES-256-GCM (libcrypto-backed) ───────────────────────────────────
+ * Symmetric authenticated encryption used to wrap envelopes after a KEM
+ * handshake. Caller MUST supply a 32-byte key (64 hex chars) — typically the
+ * Kyber-768 / hybrid shared_secret, optionally normalized via SHA3-256.
+ *
+ * aead_encrypt returns a JSON map {"nonce":"...","ciphertext":"..."} where
+ * ciphertext is the AES-256-GCM output with the 16-byte auth tag appended.
+ * Nonce is a fresh 12-byte CSPRNG draw — callers never pick the nonce, which
+ * structurally rules out the GCM nonce-reuse footgun.
+ *
+ * aead_decrypt returns the plaintext String, or "" on any failure (including
+ * auth-tag mismatch). Callers MUST check for "" before trusting the result. */
+el_val_t  aead_encrypt(el_val_t key_hex, el_val_t plaintext);
+el_val_t  aead_decrypt(el_val_t key_hex, el_val_t nonce_hex, el_val_t ciphertext_hex);
+
+/* ── Native VM builtin aliases (for compiled El source) ─────────────────────
+ * These match the El VM's native_* builtins so that El source compiled
+ * to C can call the same names without modification.                */
+
+el_val_t  native_list_get(el_val_t list, el_val_t index);
+el_val_t  native_list_len(el_val_t list);
+el_val_t  native_list_append(el_val_t list, el_val_t elem);
+el_val_t  native_list_empty(void);
+el_val_t  native_list_clone(el_val_t list);
+el_val_t  native_string_chars(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t  native_int_to_str(el_val_t n);
+
+/* ── Method-call shorthand aliases ──────────────────────────────────────────
+ * The El method-call convention `obj.method(args)` compiles to
+ * `method(obj, args)`.  These aliases expose the runtime functions under
+ * the short names that result from method calls in El source.
+ *
+ * Example: `myList.append(x)` → `append(myList, x)` (calls this alias)
+ *          `myList.len()`     → `len(myList)`         (calls this alias)  */
+
+el_val_t  append(el_val_t list, el_val_t elem);   /* el_list_append */
+el_val_t  len(el_val_t list);                      /* el_list_len    */
+el_val_t  get(el_val_t list, el_val_t index);      /* el_list_get    */
+el_val_t  map_get(el_val_t map, el_val_t key);     /* el_map_get     */
+el_val_t  map_set(el_val_t map, el_val_t key, el_val_t value); /* el_map_set */
+
+/* ── OTLP/HTTP Observability ─────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+/* See bottom of el_runtime.c for the implementation.
+ * Configured by env vars OTLP_ENDPOINT, OTEL_SERVICE_NAME, OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION.
+ * No-op when OTLP_ENDPOINT is unset. Drop-on-failure semantics. */
+/* ── Subprocess execution ────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+el_val_t exec_command(el_val_t cmd);   /* run shell command, return exit code */
+el_val_t exec_capture(el_val_t cmd);   /* run shell command, capture stdout   */
+el_val_t exec(el_val_t cmd);           /* exec(cmd) → stdout String (30s timeout) */
+el_val_t exec_bg(el_val_t cmd);        /* exec_bg(cmd) → PID String (non-blocking) */
+
+el_val_t emit_log(el_val_t level, el_val_t msg, el_val_t fields_json);
+el_val_t emit_metric(el_val_t name, el_val_t value, el_val_t tags_json);
+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);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif