fix(engine): the agentic crisis screen reads the session's own history again (OpenAI-tools branch)

P0 SAFETY. Same defect as #129, carried INDEPENDENTLY on this branch — not a merge, not a duplicate report. feat/soul-openai-tools-v2 branched with the ff421d3 (2026-08-05) regression already in it, so fixing it on fix/129-history-amplification did nothing for this line of work. THE DEFECT, verified here at chat.el:2937 (the reported line number was exact): let history: String = state_get("conv_history") let screen_result: String = safety_screen(message, history) ff421d3 moved conversation history to a per-session key via conv_hist_key(session_id). This consumer did not move with it. The desktop app always mints a session id, so history is always written under session_hist_<id> and this read always returned "". The half of the crisis score that receives history is the escalation half — the one that exists for distress building across several turns, where no single message trips the bell on its own. It scored 0 on every real conversation on this branch too. Single-message hard bell was never affected. WHAT CHANGED — deliberately byte-identical to the sibling fix (43d0449) so the two branches CONVERGE and whichever merges second is a clean merge, not a conflict: - agentic_safety_screen(session_id, message) owns the two decisions that were inline — which window the screen sees, and the screen call. Inline safety inputs are untestable safety inputs; that is what let a rename starve this one with nothing failing and nothing logging. - the handler calls it with sess_for_root, the session id already in scope twenty lines above (this branch's handler is structurally unchanged from the sibling's here, so this is a clean mirror — no reshaping was needed). - the comment at the call site states the invariant (read window == written window) instead of naming a key that can be renamed out from under it. The old comment documented this same bug being fixed once already under #9; the rename re-broke it and the comment went on describing a repair that no longer held. A comment is not a gate. Also brings over the sibling's scripts/run-el-test.sh and the regression test (cherry-pick of b842e82, applied cleanly). NOTE: this branch already carries a DIFFERENT runner at tests/run-el-test.sh from de65991 (elb-based, links whole modules). Different path, no collision, both kept — the sibling's is the one this proof used. TWO-LEG PROOF, one variable — the single line state_get("conv_history") -> state_get(conv_hist_key(session_id)), with the extraction already in place on both legs so nothing else moved: before scripts/run-el-test.sh tests/test_history_amplification.el 3. REGRESSION #129 — agentic screen reads the session's own window FAIL: distress history escalates the agentic screen to hard_bell got: soft_bell expected: hard_bell history amplification tests: 8 passed, 1 failed [run-el-test] FAIL: reported failing assertions after same command, same tree, that one line changed 3. REGRESSION #129 — agentic screen reads the session's own window PASS: distress history escalates the agentic screen to hard_bell history amplification tests: 9 passed, 0 failed [run-el-test] PASS: test_history_amplification Full engine rebuild from THIS branch's sources is clean: gen-soul-amalgam.sh -> 1,185,285 bytes / 1231 inlined bodies (gate wants >= 1200), cc-brain.sh -> 903,144 bytes, 14 warnings, 0 errors. Both symbols present in the built binary (nm: T _agentic_safety_screen, T _conv_hist_key). Rung reached: BUILT + RUNS (discriminating test). NOT E2E-VERIFIED — not in a DMG, not exercised against a live OpenAI-wire agentic turn in the app a human opens. Neither is claimed. Refs #129 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
test(engine): a runner for tests/, and a failing regression test for #129
2026-08-07 10:19:04 -05:00 · 2026-08-07 10:16:57 -05:00 · 2026-08-06 16:41:18 -05:00 · 2026-08-06 11:34:12 -05:00 · 2026-08-05 23:25:48 -05:00 · 2026-08-05 23:10:53 -05:00
23 changed files with 17646 additions and 250 deletions
@@ -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: |
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+# PORT-NOTES — openai tools port working state (2026-08-06, session handoff-safe)
+
+Spec: `docs/specs/SPEC-soul-openai-tools-v2-2026-08-06.md` (Tim-approved 2026-08-06). Tasks #1-5
+tracked in-session (1 ✓ wiring verdict, 2 ✓ stub rig, 3 in-progress = THIS, 4-5 pending).
+Worktree: HERE (`_wt-openai-tools`, branch `feat/soul-openai-tools-v2` @ dba755d). Round-9 trees
+READ-ONLY. Nothing committed yet.
+
+## Step-0 verdict (evidence in journal note ncli-653ba964dd76)
+Shipped app never wires the v1 lane: launcher exports `SOUL_LLM_MODEL/PROVIDER/BASE_URL` +
+`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`+`SOUL_API_KEY` (= Keychain key for WHATEVER provider; installer/macos/
+neuron-daemons.sh:288-300 on hotfix/beta-round9); brain reads only SOUL_LLM_MODEL (chat.el:8) and
+NEURON_LLM_0_* (chat.el:1768-1794) which nothing sets. `/api/config` PATCH ignores llm_* fields
+(studio.el:36 handle_config: POST-only, reads model/provider/api_key only).
+**Bridge = brain-side ONLY (zero app-repo edits, zero round-9 collision):**
+- `llm_base_url()`: NEURON_LLM_0_URL → fallback SOUL_LLM_BASE_URL when SOUL_LLM_PROVIDER ∉ {"","anthropic"}
+- `llm_wire_format()`: NEURON_LLM_0_FORMAT → fallback derive from SOUL_LLM_PROVIDER (openai/grok/gemini/groq/ollama → "openai"; else "anthropic")
+- `agentic_api_key()`: already works (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY carries the provider key); add NEURON_LLM_0_KEY → SOUL_API_KEY fallback.
+
+## Design pins (stub asserts these — stub is green 58/58, tests/gate-openai/)
+- Request MUST send `"tool_choice":"auto"` (string) + `"parallel_tool_calls":false` explicitly.
+- `arguments` in tool_calls = JSON-ENCODED STRING; decode ONCE via json_get → feed dispatch_tool
+  verbatim. Stub's echo-mismatch check catches double-encode/decode (two-escaper trap).
+- Assistant echo turn: `{"role":"assistant","content":null,"tool_calls":[...]}` VERBATIM from response.
+- Feedback: `{"role":"tool","tool_call_id":"<id>","content":"<result string>"}`.
+- Resume must NOT re-answer an answered id (stub 400s on repeat tool_call_id).
+- Parallel tool_calls in a response: take FIRST only + log skip (mirror ADR-0005 stopgap); stub
+  scenario `parallel` proves behavior.
+- No tools in request when tools array empty/absent turns (boot probes) — stub defaults tolerate.
+
+## el idioms confirmed (from openai_chat_complete :1808-1854 + agentic_loop :2751-2838)
+- JSON: `json_get(s,k)` decoded string · `json_get_raw(s,k)` raw subtree · `json_array_len` ·
+  `json_array_get(arr,i)` · build by string concat + `json_escape()` (:1797, OpenAI-lane escaper).
+- HTTP: `let h: Map = {}` + `map_set(h,k,v)` + `http_post_with_headers(url, body, h)`;
+  Bearer auth via `Authorization` header when key non-empty (:1825-1830).
+- Loop-carried vars must be top-level locals in the fn, mutated as if-expressions at while-body
+  top level (see :2760-2791 pattern + comment :2903-2904 region).
+- Error shape: `str_starts_with(raw,"{\"error\"") || str_contains(raw,"\"error\":")` → return
+  `{"error":"llm unavailable","reply":""}` (:1835-1838).
+
+## Remaining read map (before writing the fork)
+- chat.el 2840-3200: block walk (2923-3000), policy gate (3009-3023: classify_tool_risk /
+  is_builtin_tool / ask_all / tool_auto_approved → needs_bridge), dispatch_tool call (3025),
+  tool_result feedback (3031, 3067-3072), run-progress ledger append (3078-3087), bridge_save
+  (3182), loop end + done envelope (~3100-3200).
+- agentic_resume 3227-3293 (hardcoded Anthropic headers to make wire-aware; blob gets `wire` field,
+  legacy default anthropic) · handle_tool_result 3293+ · dharma fork site 3465 (calls agentic_loop
+  direct, no use_openai check today).
+
+## Write plan (order)
+1. Env fallbacks (edit llm_base_url/llm_wire_format/agentic_api_key) — small, first, testable alone.
+2. `openai_tools_json(anthropic_tools: String) -> String` converter (walk array; per entry build
+   {"type":"function","function":{name,description,parameters:input_schema-raw}}).
+3. `openai_agentic_loop(...)` fork: same signature as agentic_loop minus Anthropic-only params;
+   INCLUDE run-progress ledger + tools_log + iteration cap 12; NO container_id/ws_drift/web_search
+   (out of scope; strip web_search entry from tools via agentic_tools_literal()+connector merge,
+   NOT _with_web()).
+4. Fork sites ×3: handle_chat_agentic :2695-2700 (route agentic to new loop when use_openai);
+   dharma :3465; agentic_resume wire-branch.
+5. `chat.elh` extern decls. 6. Compile (recipe: dist/ + elc/elb per neuron-soul-build-deploy memory;
+   round-9 tree soul.c regen'd 08-06 proves toolchain live). 7. Gate: stub selftest recipe in
+   tests/gate-openai/README.md. 8. Anthropic-lane regression via gate9 (READ-ONLY consume from
+   _wt-beta-round9). 9. Live Groq E2E (scratch profile, free port, key via Keychain read-only).
+
+## BUILD RECIPE — CORRECTED 2026-08-06 (the June memory is STALE for August code)
+`~/el-sdk/el_runtime.c` (Jun 15) is MISSING builtins the Aug engine calls (`engram_wm_count`,
+`engram_wm_top_json`, `http_delete_json`, `http_serve_async`) → link fails with
+"symbol(s) not found for architecture arm64". Use the REPO-PINNED runtime:
+```
+mkdir -p <scratch>
+elb --elc=$HOME/el-sdk/elc --runtime=vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501 --out=<scratch>/
+   # "elb: link failed" at the end is EXPECTED and harmless — the per-module .c files are produced
+cc -std=c11 -O1 -DHAVE_CURL -rdynamic \
+   -I vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501 -I <scratch> -I /opt/homebrew/opt/openssl@3/include \
+   -L /opt/homebrew/opt/openssl@3/lib \
+   -include dist/elp-c-decls.h -Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration \
+   -o <scratch>/soul <scratch>/*.c vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501/el_runtime.c \
+   -lssl -lcrypto -lcurl -lpthread -lm
+```
+Source: `_engine-plainchat-20260805/README.md:396-412`. Verified today: 0 errors, 887,296 B.
+`elb` ALSO rewrites every `*.elh` in the tree (cosmetic em-dash→hyphen in the auto-gen banner,
+plus true-ups) and drops a stray `soul..elh` — `git restore` the unrelated ones and delete the
+stray before staging, or the diff drowns in noise.
+
+## SELF-REVIEW FIX LIST (found by reading my own diff, 2026-08-06 — apply in ONE batch, then rebuild once)
+- **F3 (CORRECTNESS, do first):** the assistant echo currently replays the provider's FULL
+  `tool_calls` array (`tc_arr`) while the loop answers only the FIRST call. If a provider ignores
+  `parallel_tool_calls:false`, the next request carries an assistant turn with N tool_calls and
+  only ONE `role:"tool"` response → most OpenAI-format providers 400 ("missing tool response for
+  id X") and the run dies. This is the same class as ADR-0005's Anthropic failure, but here it is
+  cheap to close: echo ONLY the honored call (`"[" + tc0 + "]"`), so the conversation we send is
+  self-consistent and the dropped call never existed from the model's view. The DRIFT log line
+  stays (honest accounting of what we dropped).
+- **F4 (efficiency/latency):** `handle_chat_agentic` computes `agentic_tools_all()` at ~:2681
+  BEFORE the fork, then the OpenAI branch computes `agentic_tools_no_web()` again — two
+  `connector_tools_json()` calls per turn, each an HTTP round-trip to the connector bridge on
+  :7771 (two timeout exposures). Fix: compute the tools array ONCE, per lane, after `use_openai`
+  is known (check no other use of `tools_json` sits between :2681 and the fork before moving it).
+  Note: `openai_tools_json()` already skips any entry with no `input_schema`, so Anthropic's
+  server-side `web_search` entry is auto-dropped even if the full array is passed —
+  `agentic_tools_no_web()` is kept for EXPLICITNESS, not necessity.
+- **F1 (debuggability):** the "no choices in response" branch logs a generic string and discards
+  the body. Log the response head (as the `is_error` branch does) — a provider that returns 200
+  with an unexpected shape is otherwise undiagnosable from the log.
+- **OPEN QUESTION (evidence pending from the gate):** the tool-result feedback turn escapes with
+  `json_escape()` (this lane's escaper) rather than `json_safe()` (used everywhere else). The
+  Anthropic lane escapes that field with NEITHER, which is a latent defect on that side. If the
+  torture scenario shows any escaping loss, switch to `json_safe` and note the Anthropic-side
+  finding for Will.
+
+## TEST HARNESS — built 2026-08-06 (Task 4 side-work, reusable by anyone)
+- `tests/run-el-test.sh <tests/test_x.el> | --all` — the engine tests were NEVER runnable
+  before this (`elc` is a compiler: emits C to stdout and exits). It emits the test to C,
+  compiles `soul.c` separately with `main` renamed away (soul.c owns the daemon's real main
+  but also defines `layered_cycle` et al.), links the remaining modules + the repo-pinned
+  runtime, and executes. Modules cached under `/tmp/el-test-<worktree>/`; `REBUILD=1` forces.
+- **The runner computes the verdict itself** because the test FILES cannot: all 9 counted
+  test files do `let pass_count = pass_count + 1` inside an if BLOCK, which El scoping
+  discards, so every summary line reads `0 passed, 0 failed` forever. Per-assertion
+  `PASS:`/`FAIL:` lines ARE reliable; the runner counts those, exits non-zero on any FAIL
+  or on zero assertions, and was proven to discriminate with a negative control (broken
+  assertion → 31 passed / 1 failed / exit 1). Real in-file fix filed: **neuron#116**.
+- `tests/test_bridge_serialization.el`: 4 `bridge_save` calls updated for the new `wire`
+  argument, plus **Section 9** (8 new assertions) covering wire round-trip both ways, the
+  legacy no-wire blob (resumes as anthropic), and a FIELD-ORDER decoy guard — a fake
+  `"wire":"anthropic"` planted inside `messages_raw` must not beat the blob's own scalar.
+  That decoy is the round-9 first-match-scanner bug class, now pinned by a test. **32/32 green.**
+
+## MEMORY-SAVE CAVEAT RESOLVED 2026-08-06
+Earlier saves this session reported `-> OUTBOX only (real mind unreachable or read-back
+failed)`. That was a **read-back verifier false negative, not data loss** — a direct
+`POST :7770/api/neuron/recall` returns those notes from the live mind verbatim. Another
+terminal was fixing exactly this (multi-word read-back probe) the same afternoon. Do NOT
+re-save on an OUTBOX report without first querying the mind directly, or you duplicate nodes.
+
+## Standing cautions
+- PERSIST OFF on the real mind this boot (neuron#98/#92): journal saves only, ferry later. MCP link
+  down this terminal; use neuron_remember.py / neuron_recall.py.
+- Aug-16: Groq retires llama-3.3-70b-versatile (separate P0, Tim's call, catalog swap).
+- Never bind 7770/7779/17779; never touch ~/.neuron; round-9 worktrees read-only.
@@ -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
@@ -36,7 +53,14 @@ extern fn llm_base_url() -> String
 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 openai_tools_json(tools_anthropic: String) -> String
+extern fn utf8_safe_slice(s: String, n: Int) -> String
+extern fn json_trim_dangling_escape(s: String) -> String
+extern fn agentic_tools_no_web() -> String
+extern fn openai_agentic_loop(session_id: String, model: String, safe_sys: String, tools_json: String, messages_in: String, tools_log_in: 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
@@ -46,13 +70,17 @@ 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
 extern fn handle_chat_plan(body: String) -> String
 extern fn handle_chat_agentic(body: String) -> String
 extern fn agentic_loop(session_id: String, model: String, safe_sys: String, tools_json: String, messages_in: String, h: Map, tools_log_in: String) -> String
-extern fn bridge_save(session_id: String, model: String, safe_sys: String, tools_json: String, messages: String, tools_log: String, tool_use_id: String) -> Bool
+extern fn bridge_save(session_id: String, model: String, safe_sys: String, tools_json: String, messages: String, tools_log: String, tool_use_id: String, wire: String) -> Bool
 extern fn agentic_resume(session_id: String, tool_use_id: String, content: String) -> String
 extern fn handle_tool_result(session_id: String, body: String) -> String
 extern fn handle_chat_as_soul(body: String) -> String
@@ -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);
@@ -132,7 +141,7 @@ el_val_t awareness_run(void);
 el_val_t axon_get(el_val_t path);
 el_val_t axon_post(el_val_t path, el_val_t body);
 el_val_t bounded_persona_floor(void);
-el_val_t bridge_save(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t model, el_val_t safe_sys, el_val_t tools_json, el_val_t messages, el_val_t tools_log, el_val_t tool_use_id);
+el_val_t bridge_save(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t model, el_val_t safe_sys, el_val_t tools_json, el_val_t messages, el_val_t tools_log, el_val_t tool_use_id, el_val_t wire);
 el_val_t build_form_from_json(el_val_t semantic_form_json, el_val_t lang_code);
 el_val_t build_np(el_val_t referent, el_val_t slots);
 el_val_t build_pp(el_val_t loc);
@@ -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);
@@ -861,6 +875,11 @@ el_val_t non_weak_past(el_val_t stem, el_val_t slot);
 el_val_t non_weak_present(el_val_t stem, el_val_t slot);
 el_val_t one_cycle(void);
 el_val_t openai_chat_complete(el_val_t model, el_val_t base_url, el_val_t api_key, el_val_t safe_sys, el_val_t messages_json);
+el_val_t openai_tools_json(el_val_t tools_anthropic);
+el_val_t json_trim_dangling_escape(el_val_t s);
+el_val_t utf8_safe_slice(el_val_t s, el_val_t n);
+el_val_t agentic_tools_no_web(void);
+el_val_t openai_agentic_loop(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t model, el_val_t safe_sys, el_val_t tools_json, el_val_t messages_in, el_val_t tools_log_in);
 el_val_t parse_float_x100(el_val_t s);
 el_val_t path_within_root(el_val_t path, el_val_t root);
 el_val_t peo_ah_past(el_val_t slot);
@@ -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
@@ -28170,7 +28170,7 @@ el_val_t agentic_loop(el_val_t session_id, el_val_t model, el_val_t safe_sys, el
    state_set(el_str_concat(EL_STR("run_progress_"), session_id), EL_STR(""));
  }
  while (keep_going && (iteration < 8)) {
-    el_val_t req_body = el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"model\":\""), model), EL_STR("\"")), EL_STR(",\"max_tokens\":4096")), EL_STR(",\"system\":\"")), safe_sys), EL_STR("\"")), EL_STR(",\"tools\":")), tools_json), EL_STR(",\"messages\":")), messages), EL_STR("}"));
+    el_val_t req_body = el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(el_str_concat(EL_STR("{\"model\":\""), model), EL_STR("\"")), EL_STR(",\"max_tokens\":4096,\"tool_choice\":{\"type\":\"auto\",\"disable_parallel_tool_use\":true}")), EL_STR(",\"system\":\"")), safe_sys), EL_STR("\"")), EL_STR(",\"tools\":")), tools_json), EL_STR(",\"messages\":")), messages), EL_STR("}"));
    el_val_t raw_resp = http_post_with_headers(api_url, req_body, h);
    el_val_t is_error = ((str_starts_with(raw_resp, EL_STR("{\"error\"")) || str_starts_with(raw_resp, EL_STR("{\"type\":\"error\""))) || str_contains(raw_resp, EL_STR("authentication_error")));
    if (is_error) {
@@ -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.
 //
@@ -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
@@ -416,8 +456,11 @@ 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 +623,13 @@ 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
@@ -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"
@@ -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")
@@ -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
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# gate-openai — deterministic OpenAI-dialect provider stub
+
+Staging home for the **soul-openai-tools-v2** gate scaffolding
+(`docs/specs/SPEC-soul-openai-tools-v2-2026-08-06.md`, test-plan rung 1:
+"stub first — discriminates before El code exists"). Sibling of gate9's
+Anthropic stub (`_wt-beta-round9/scripts/gate9/stub-llm.py`): same scenario
+mechanism, opposite wire dialect. Stdlib Python only, 127.0.0.1 only,
+refuses ports 7770/7779/17779. Run `./selftest.sh` — exit 0 is green.
+
+## Files
+
+| File | Role |
+|---|---|
+| `stub-openai.py` | HTTP server: `POST /v1/chat/completions` (OpenAI dialect), scenario-scripted responses, request validation, ground-truth JSONL log, hostile modes via `--mode` |
+| `scenarios-openai.json` | Scenario contract: scripts + markers + per-class/per-step request assertions |
+| `selftest.sh` | curl-driven proof of every scenario, every rejection, all hostile modes (58 checks) |
+
+## What each scenario proves (when the brain drives it)
+
+| Class | Proves |
+|---|---|
+| `oa-plain` | finish_reason `stop` ends the loop; tools + `tool_choice` + `parallel_tool_calls:false` were offered on the wire |
+| `oa-tools-off` | the chat-only lane sends NO tools (offering them there is a 400) |
+| `oa-single-tool` | full round-trip: `tool_calls` parsed, assistant echo + `role:"tool"` turn with matching `tool_call_id` sent back, final text reached |
+| `oa-torture` | `function.arguments` (JSON-encoded string with nested quotes, backslashes, newlines, tabs, unicode) survives exactly ONE decode — the stub recomputes the issued payload from the script and 400s on any drift (`gate_echo_mismatch`, the spec §6 two-escaper trap) |
+| `oa-parallel` | two `tool_calls` in one response: the brain either answers both (paired correctly) or rejects cleanly — an unpaired echo is a 400 |
+| `oa-mission` | multi-round loop continuation; step index = assistant-message count, so resume threads index correctly by construction |
+| `oa-api-error` | provider errors 400/429/500/503 in the OpenAI error envelope surface honestly, no retry storm |
+
+Universal (every request, any scenario): Anthropic dialect leakage fails
+loudly with 400 — `anthropic-version` header, top-level `system` /
+`stop_sequences` / `max_tokens_to_sample`, `input_schema` inside tools,
+Anthropic content blocks (`tool_use`/`tool_result`/...). Tools must be
+`{type:"function", function:{name, description, parameters}}`, unique names;
+echoed `arguments` must be a JSON-encoded STRING, never a decoded object.
+
+## Hostile modes (`--mode`, same file)
+
+| Mode | Behavior | Brain invariant under test |
+|---|---|---|
+| `black-hole` | reads the request, never responds | HTTP timeout exists and surfaces; no silent hang |
+| `mid-body-drop` | 200 headers, half a JSON body, socket abort | truncated body = clean error, never a half-parsed reply shown as real |
+| `tool-pending-forever` | every request gets a fresh `tool_calls` response, forever | the loop's iteration cap trips (`max_loop_iterations: 16` in the contract); count actual round-trips via `GET /gate/stats` (`chat_hits`) |
+
+## How the brain-side gate consumes this
+
+1. Start: `stub-openai.py --port P --scenarios scenarios-openai.json --log run.jsonl`
+2. Point the brain at it: `NEURON_LLM_0_URL=http://127.0.0.1:P` +
+   `NEURON_LLM_0_FORMAT=openai` (spec step 0 must verify these actually
+   export at runtime), scratch profile, free soul port.
+3. Send each phrasing's `prompt` (the marker selects the script); assert the
+   brain's claims (`tools_used`, reply, ledger) against the stub's JSONL log
+   — truth, not narration — plus files on disk for write_file scenarios.
+4. Any stub 400 = the brain sent a malformed/leaked request; the gate fails
+   with the stub's reason string.
+5. Re-run gate9's Anthropic matrix unchanged = proof the Anthropic lane is
+   byte-untouched.
+
+## Reconciliation into gate9 (app repo) — AFTER round 9 merges
+
+This dir is staging only; the merge is mechanical by design:
+- `stub-openai.py` + `scenarios-openai.json` move to `scripts/gate9/`
+  alongside `stub-llm.py` + `scenarios.json` (shared conventions: marker
+  matching, assistant-count step indexing, `--port/--scenarios/--log`,
+  JSONL fields `seq/ts/kind/scenario_class/phrasing/step/validation/
+  delivered/http_status`, prod-port refusal, benign background responses,
+  `GATE-SCRIPT-EXHAUSTED` overrun, `{N}/{NN}` repeat expansion).
+- `prompt-matrix-gate.sh` gains a dialect axis (anthropic|openai) choosing
+  stub + scenario file; `matrix-asserts.py` reads the same log shape.
+- The `--mode` hostile flags here are PROVIDER-side (brain↔LLM boundary);
+  gate9's `hostile/` servers are SOUL-side (app↔brain boundary). They are
+  complementary, not duplicates — both stay.
+
+## Open questions for the port author (stub asserts a position; confirm or change)
+
+1. `parallel_tool_calls` must be **explicitly false** on every tool-bearing
+   request (ADR-0005 pin). If the builder omits it instead, relax
+   `defaults.expect_request.parallel_tool_calls` to `null`.
+2. `tool_choice` must be present (`"auto"` expected). If the brain relies on
+   the provider default, drop `require_tool_choice`.
+3. Tool-result `content` is asserted only to be a string; if the brain sends
+   structured JSON-in-string (like `{"ok":true,...}`), no change needed.
+4. Groq compatibility: Groq's OpenAI-compat endpoint rejects some optional
+   fields; whatever field set the brain settles on for live Groq E2E must be
+   mirrored here so the deterministic gate and the live lane assert the SAME
+   request shape.
+5. The stub treats a `role:"tool"` turn answering an already-answered id as
+   400; if the resume path can legitimately replay tool results, that rule
+   needs a resume-aware carve-out (gate9's Anthropic stub faced the same
+   issue — see its PASS 1 comment).
@@ -0,0 +1,559 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# run-lane-gate.sh — brain-side driver for the OpenAI-dialect gate.
+#
+# Drives the REAL soul binary against stub-openai.py for every class and every
+# phrasing in scenarios-openai.json, plus the three hostile provider modes, and
+# asserts the brain's claims against the stub's ground-truth JSONL (truth, not
+# narration) and against files on disk.
+#
+# SAFETY (hard rules, enforced below):
+#   - never binds 7770 / 7779 / 17779   - only 7891-7894
+#   - never reads or writes ~/.neuron   - HOME is redirected to a scratch dir
+#   - every process started here is killed on exit (trap) and proven with lsof
+#
+# The soul runs under `script -q /dev/null` so its stdout is a pty: El's
+# println() uses puts(), which is FULLY buffered to a file, and the process is
+# killed without flushing — the DRIFT lines would be invisible otherwise.
+#
+# Usage:  ./run-lane-gate.sh [all|bridge|local|toolsoff|hostile]
+#   bridge   = consent round-trip config (no workspace root -> write_file is
+#              "escalate" -> the loop suspends and the CLIENT executes the tool)
+#   local    = workspace-root config (write_file is "reversible" + builtin ->
+#              the loop executes the tool in-process and runs to completion)
+#   toolsoff = supplementary: non-agentic lane against a base URL WITHOUT the
+#              /v1 suffix (the el-runtime provider chain appends
+#              /v1/chat/completions itself, unlike chat.el which appends only
+#              /chat/completions)
+#   hostile  = black-hole / mid-body-drop / tool-pending-forever
+#
+# Env overrides: SOUL_BIN, STUB_PORT, SOUL_PORT, SOUL_PORT_B, RUN_ROOT
+set -uo pipefail
+
+HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+PHASES="${1:-all}"
+
+SOUL_BIN="${SOUL_BIN:-/tmp/soul-oai2/soul-openai-tools}"
+STUB_PORT="${STUB_PORT:-7891}"
+SOUL_PORT="${SOUL_PORT:-7892}"
+SOUL_PORT_B="${SOUL_PORT_B:-7893}"
+RUN_ROOT="${RUN_ROOT:-/tmp/oa-lane-gate}"
+STAMP="$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
+RUN="$RUN_ROOT/$STAMP"
+
+for p in "$STUB_PORT" "$SOUL_PORT" "$SOUL_PORT_B"; do
+  case "$p" in
+    7770|7779|17779) echo "FATAL: refusing production Neuron port $p"; exit 2;;
+    789[1-4]) ;;
+    *) echo "FATAL: port $p outside the allowed 7891-7894 range"; exit 2;;
+  esac
+done
+[ -x "$SOUL_BIN" ] || { echo "FATAL: soul binary not found/executable: $SOUL_BIN"; exit 2; }
+
+mkdir -p "$RUN/home" "$RUN/ws-bridge" "$RUN/ws-local" "$RUN/ws-off" "$RUN/engram"
+echo '{"nodes":[],"edges":[]}' > "$RUN/engram/snapshot.json"
+DRV="$RUN/drv.py"
+
+STUB_PID=""; SOUL_PID=""
+cleanup() {
+  [ -n "$SOUL_PID" ] && kill "$SOUL_PID" 2>/dev/null
+  pkill -f "$SOUL_BIN" 2>/dev/null
+  [ -n "$STUB_PID" ] && kill "$STUB_PID" 2>/dev/null
+  sleep 0.4
+  [ -n "$SOUL_PID" ] && kill -9 "$SOUL_PID" 2>/dev/null
+  [ -n "$STUB_PID" ] && kill -9 "$STUB_PID" 2>/dev/null
+  return 0
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM
+
+start_stub() { # $1 = mode, $2 = log path
+  local mode="$1" log="$2" args=""
+  [ "$mode" = "normal" ] && args="--scenarios $HERE/scenarios-openai.json"
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+  python3 "$HERE/stub-openai.py" --port "$STUB_PORT" --mode "$mode" --log "$log" $args \
+      > "$RUN/stub-$mode.out" 2>&1 &
+  STUB_PID=$!
+  for _ in $(seq 1 50); do
+    curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT/gate/health" >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
+    sleep 0.2
+  done
+  echo "FATAL: stub did not come up on $STUB_PORT"; cat "$RUN/stub-$mode.out"; exit 3
+}
+stop_stub() { [ -n "$STUB_PID" ] && kill "$STUB_PID" 2>/dev/null; sleep 0.3; STUB_PID=""; }
+
+start_soul() { # $1 = port, $2 = base url, $3 = soul log, $4 = agent root ("" = none)
+  local port="$1" base="$2" log="$3" root="$4"
+  script -q /dev/null \
+    env -u ANTHROPIC_API_KEY -u SOUL_API_KEY -u ENGRAM_URL -u ENGRAM_API_KEY \
+      -u NEURON_API_URL -u NEURON_TOKEN -u SOUL_LLM_PROVIDER -u SOUL_LLM_BASE_URL \
+      -u NEURON_LLM_1_URL -u NEURON_LLM_1_KEY -u SOUL_IDENTITY \
+      HOME="$RUN/home" PATH="$PATH" \
+      NEURON_PORT="$port" EL_HTTP_BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
+      SOUL_ENGRAM_PATH="$RUN/engram/snapshot.json" \
+      SOUL_CGI_ID=ntn-test SOUL_PERSONA_NAME=Neuron \
+      NEURON_LLM_0_URL="$base" NEURON_LLM_0_FORMAT=openai NEURON_LLM_0_KEY=gate-test-key \
+      ${root:+NEURON_AGENT_ROOT="$root"} \
+      "$SOUL_BIN" > "$log" 2>&1 &
+  SOUL_PID=$!
+  for _ in $(seq 1 100); do
+    curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$port/health" >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
+    sleep 0.2
+  done
+  echo "FATAL: soul did not come up on $port"; tail -20 "$log"; exit 3
+}
+stop_soul() {
+  [ -n "$SOUL_PID" ] && kill "$SOUL_PID" 2>/dev/null
+  pkill -f "$SOUL_BIN" 2>/dev/null
+  sleep 0.6; SOUL_PID=""
+}
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ driver ----
+cat > "$DRV" <<'PYEOF'
+import json, os, sys, time, threading, urllib.request, urllib.error
+
+CFG = json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))
+SOUL = "http://127.0.0.1:%d" % CFG["soul_port"]
+STUB = "http://127.0.0.1:%d" % CFG["stub_port"]
+WS = CFG["workspace"]
+MODE = CFG["mode"]                       # bridge | local | toolsoff
+SCEN = json.load(open(CFG["scenarios"]))
+STUBLOG = CFG["stub_log"]
+SOULLOG = CFG["soul_log"]
+ONLY = CFG.get("classes") or list(SCEN["classes"].keys())
+MAXHOPS = CFG.get("max_hops", 15)
+OUT = CFG["out"]
+# the chat-only class must be driven on the NON-agentic door: the agentic door
+# always advertises tools, which is a 400 on that scenario by contract.
+NON_AGENTIC = {"oa-tools-off"}
+
+def http(method, url, obj=None, timeout=300):
+    data = None if obj is None else json.dumps(obj).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=data, method=method,
+                                 headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"})
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as r:
+            body = r.read().decode("utf-8", "replace")
+            st = r.status
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        body = e.read().decode("utf-8", "replace"); st = e.code
+    except Exception as e:
+        return -1, "TRANSPORT-ERROR: %r" % (e,), None
+    try:
+        return st, body, json.loads(body)
+    except ValueError:
+        return st, body, None
+
+def fsize(p):
+    return os.path.getsize(p) if os.path.exists(p) else 0
+
+def tail_from(path, off):
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        return "", off
+    with open(path, "rb") as f:
+        f.seek(off); chunk = f.read(); return chunk.decode("utf-8", "replace"), f.tell()
+
+def stub_since(off):
+    """Exact correlation: only the JSONL bytes appended during this phrasing."""
+    txt, noff = tail_from(STUBLOG, off)
+    recs = []
+    for line in txt.splitlines():
+        line = line.strip()
+        if line:
+            try: recs.append(json.loads(line))
+            except ValueError: pass
+    return recs, noff
+
+def perform(name, ti):
+    """Execute the bridged tool for real, like the desktop client would."""
+    if name in ("write_file", "edit_file"):
+        p = ti.get("path", "")
+        dest = p if os.path.isabs(p) else os.path.join(WS, p)
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(dest) or WS, exist_ok=True)
+        body = ti.get("content", "")
+        with open(dest, "w") as f:
+            f.write(body)
+        return "wrote %s (%d bytes)" % (p, len(body.encode()))
+    return "ok"
+
+class Poller(threading.Thread):
+    def __init__(self, sid):
+        super().__init__(daemon=True); self.sid = sid; self.snaps = []; self.stop = False
+    def run(self):
+        while not self.stop:
+            st, body, js = http("GET", SOUL + "/api/run-progress/" + self.sid, timeout=60)
+            if js and js.get("progress"):
+                if not self.snaps or self.snaps[-1] != js["progress"]:
+                    self.snaps.append(js["progress"])
+            time.sleep(0.1)
+
+def progress(sid):
+    _, _, pj = http("GET", SOUL + "/api/run-progress/" + sid, timeout=30)
+    return (pj or {}).get("progress")
+
+def run_phrasing(cname, ph):
+    st, body, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/sessions", {"title": ph["id"]}, timeout=60)
+    sid = (js or {}).get("id", "")
+    rec = {"class": cname, "phrasing": ph["id"], "session_id": sid, "legs": [],
+           "pendings": [], "progress_during": [], "progress_per_leg": [],
+           "progress_final": None, "soul_log": "", "stub": [], "http": [],
+           "agentic": cname not in NON_AGENTIC}
+    if not sid:
+        rec["fatal"] = "session create failed: %s %s" % (st, body[:300]); return rec
+    soff = fsize(SOULLOG); loff = fsize(STUBLOG)
+    t0 = time.time()
+    pol = Poller(sid); pol.start()
+    payload = {"message": ph["prompt"], "session_id": sid, "workspace_root": WS,
+               "agentic": rec["agentic"]}
+    if MODE == "local":
+        payload["agent_workspace_root"] = WS
+    st, body, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/chat", payload, timeout=CFG.get("chat_timeout", 240))
+    rec["http"].append(st)
+    rec["legs"].append(js if js is not None else body[:600])
+    rec["progress_per_leg"].append(progress(sid))
+    hops = 0
+    while isinstance(js, dict) and js.get("tool_pending") and hops < MAXHOPS:
+        rec["pendings"].append({"call_id": js.get("call_id"), "tool_name": js.get("tool_name"),
+                                "tool_input": js.get("tool_input"), "risk_tier": js.get("risk_tier"),
+                                "narration": js.get("narration"), "tools_used": js.get("tools_used")})
+        try:
+            eff = perform(js.get("tool_name", ""), js.get("tool_input") or {})
+        except Exception as e:
+            eff = "client error: %r" % (e,)
+        st, body, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/sessions/%s/tool_result" % sid,
+                            {"call_id": js.get("call_id"), "content": eff},
+                            timeout=CFG.get("chat_timeout", 240))
+        rec["http"].append(st)
+        rec["legs"].append(js if js is not None else body[:600])
+        rec["progress_per_leg"].append(progress(sid))
+        hops += 1
+    pol.stop = True; time.sleep(0.3)
+    t1 = time.time()
+    rec["elapsed"] = round(t1 - t0, 2)
+    rec["progress_during"] = pol.snaps
+    rec["progress_final"] = progress(sid)
+    rec["soul_log"], _ = tail_from(SOULLOG, soff)
+    rec["stub"], _ = stub_since(loff)
+    rec["hops"] = hops
+    return rec
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------- assertions ----
+def expected_calls(cname, first_only=False):
+    out = []
+    for step in SCEN["classes"][cname]["script"]:
+        for k, call in enumerate(step.get("tool_calls") or []):
+            if first_only and k > 0:
+                continue
+            out.append((call["name"], call["arguments"]))
+    return out
+
+def final_text(cname):
+    for step in reversed(SCEN["classes"][cname]["script"]):
+        if step.get("text") and not step.get("tool_calls"):
+            return step["text"]
+    return None
+
+def judge(rec):
+    cname = rec["class"]; ok = []; bad = []
+    last = rec["legs"][-1] if rec["legs"] else None
+    reply = last.get("reply") if isinstance(last, dict) else None
+    err = last.get("error") if isinstance(last, dict) else None
+    tools_used = last.get("tools_used") if isinstance(last, dict) else None
+    stub = rec["stub"]
+    scen_recs = [r for r in stub if r.get("kind") == "scenario"]
+    rejects = [r for r in stub if r.get("validation") != "ok"]
+    bg = [r for r in stub if r.get("kind") in ("wrong_path", "background")]
+
+    def wire_clean():
+        if rejects:
+            for r in rejects:
+                bad.append("stub REJECTED a request: [%s] %s"
+                           % (r.get("validation"), r.get("validation_detail")))
+        else:
+            ok.append("stub ground truth: validation \"ok\" on all %d scenario leg(s), no "
+                      "gate_echo_mismatch / gate_tool_call_shape / dialect-leak 400s"
+                      % len(scen_recs))
+    if bg:
+        ok.append("NOTE background non-scenario request(s) in this window: %s"
+                  % [(r.get("kind"), r.get("path"), r.get("http_status")) for r in bg])
+
+    if cname == "oa-plain":
+        wire_clean()
+        want = final_text(cname)
+        if reply == want: ok.append("final reply == scripted final text (byte-exact)")
+        else: bad.append("final reply mismatch:\n  WANT: %r\n  GOT : %r" % (want, reply))
+        if tools_used == []: ok.append("tools_used == []  (no tool ran)")
+        else: bad.append("tools_used expected [] got %r" % (tools_used,))
+        if reply and ('"tool_calls"' in reply or '"function"' in reply or '"tool_use"' in reply):
+            bad.append("tool-call JSON leaked into the reply text")
+        else: ok.append("no tool-call JSON anywhere in the reply")
+
+    elif cname in ("oa-single-tool", "oa-torture", "oa-mission"):
+        wire_clean()
+        want = final_text(cname)
+        if reply == want: ok.append("final reply == scripted final text (byte-exact)")
+        else: bad.append("final reply mismatch:\n  WANT: %r\n  GOT : %r" % (want, reply))
+        exp = expected_calls(cname)
+        wantnames = [n for n, _ in exp]
+        if tools_used == wantnames:
+            ok.append("tools_used == %r  (carried across %d suspension(s))" % (wantnames, rec["hops"]))
+        else:
+            bad.append("tools_used expected %r got %r" % (wantnames, tools_used))
+        for name, args in exp:
+            p = args.get("path"); c = args.get("content")
+            dest = os.path.join(WS, p)
+            if not os.path.exists(dest):
+                bad.append("expected file missing on disk: %s" % dest); continue
+            got = open(dest, "rb").read()
+            if got == c.encode():
+                ok.append("%s on disk is byte-for-byte the issued payload (%d bytes)" % (p, len(got)))
+            else:
+                bad.append("%s content differs\n  WANT %r\n  GOT  %r"
+                           % (p, c[:300], got[:300].decode("utf-8", "replace")))
+        if MODE == "bridge":
+            for pend, (name, args) in zip(rec["pendings"], exp):
+                if pend["tool_input"] == args:
+                    ok.append("tool_input for %s survived exactly ONE decode (deep-equal to the "
+                              "issued arguments; no double-escaping)" % name)
+                else:
+                    bad.append("tool_input != issued arguments for %s\n  WANT %r\n  GOT  %r"
+                               % (name, args, pend["tool_input"]))
+            if rec["pendings"] and all(p["risk_tier"] == "escalate" for p in rec["pendings"]):
+                ok.append("every write_file classified \"escalate\" and bridged for consent")
+
+    elif cname == "oa-parallel":
+        drift = [l.strip() for l in rec["soul_log"].splitlines() if "DRIFT: provider returned" in l]
+        if drift: ok.append("soul log: " + drift[0])
+        else: bad.append("no 'DRIFT: provider returned N parallel tool_calls' line in the soul log")
+        delivered = [r for r in stub if r.get("delivered", {}).get("tool_calls")]
+        if delivered and len(delivered[0]["delivered"]["tool_calls"]) == 2:
+            ok.append("stub delivered 2 parallel tool_calls in one response (ground truth)")
+        if MODE == "bridge":
+            if len(rec["pendings"]) == 1:
+                ok.append("exactly ONE call honored: %s" % rec["pendings"][0]["call_id"])
+            else:
+                bad.append("expected exactly 1 honored call, got %d" % len(rec["pendings"]))
+        pairing = [r for r in rejects if "gate_pairing" in str(r.get("validation_detail")) or
+                   "tool_calls at end of thread" in str(r.get("validation_detail")) or
+                   "not fully answered" in str(r.get("validation_detail"))]
+        for r in pairing:
+            ok.append("EXPECTED-BY-CONTRACT stub 400 on the unpaired echo: %s"
+                      % r.get("validation_detail"))
+        other = [r for r in rejects if r not in pairing]
+        for r in other:
+            bad.append("unexpected stub rejection: [%s] %s"
+                       % (r.get("validation"), r.get("validation_detail")))
+        if err and not reply:
+            ok.append("honest error envelope after the 400 (no fabricated answer): %r" % err)
+        elif reply == final_text(cname):
+            ok.append("final reply == scripted final text (both calls paired)")
+        else:
+            bad.append("neither an honest error nor the scripted final text: %r" % (last,))
+
+    elif cname == "oa-api-error":
+        if err and not reply:
+            ok.append("honest error envelope: error=%r reply=%r" % (err, reply))
+        else:
+            bad.append("expected an error envelope with an empty reply, got %r" % (last,))
+        delivered = [r["delivered"].get("api_error") for r in stub if r.get("delivered")]
+        ok.append("stub delivered api_error status(es): %r" % [d for d in delivered if d])
+        n = len([r for r in stub if r.get("kind") == "scenario"])
+        ok.append("provider hit %d time(s) - no retry storm" % n)
+        if reply:
+            bad.append("FABRICATED ANSWER: reply non-empty on a provider error")
+
+    elif cname == "oa-tools-off":
+        ok.append("stub records for this phrasing: %r"
+                  % [{k: r.get(k) for k in ("kind", "path", "validation", "http_status")} for r in stub])
+        wrong = [r for r in stub if r.get("kind") == "wrong_path"]
+        matched = [r for r in stub if r.get("scenario_class") == cname]
+        if matched and not rejects:
+            ok.append("chat-only request reached /v1/chat/completions with NO tools offered")
+            want = final_text(cname)
+            if reply == want: ok.append("final reply == scripted final text (byte-exact)")
+            else: bad.append("final reply mismatch:\n  WANT: %r\n  GOT : %r" % (want, reply))
+            if reply and ('"tool_calls"' in reply or '"function"' in reply):
+                bad.append("tool-call JSON leaked into the reply text")
+            else: ok.append("no tool-call JSON in the reply")
+        elif wrong:
+            bad.append("the non-agentic lane never reached the provider endpoint: stub saw "
+                       "%s -> %s (the el-runtime provider chain appends /v1/chat/completions "
+                       "to NEURON_LLM_0_URL, chat.el appends only /chat/completions)"
+                       % (wrong[0]["path"], wrong[0]["http_status"]))
+        elif not stub:
+            bad.append("no request reached the stub at all")
+        else:
+            for r in rejects:
+                bad.append("stub REJECTED: [%s] %s" % (r.get("validation"), r.get("validation_detail")))
+    return ok, bad
+
+def main():
+    results = []
+    for cname in ONLY:
+        for ph in SCEN["classes"][cname]["phrasings"]:
+            rec = run_phrasing(cname, ph)
+            ok, bad = judge(rec)
+            rec["ok"] = ok; rec["bad"] = bad
+            rec["verdict"] = "FAIL" if bad else "PASS"
+            results.append(rec)
+            print("=" * 78)
+            print("[%s] %s / %s   (%.2fs, %d bridge hop(s), agentic=%s, mode=%s)"
+                  % (rec["verdict"], cname, ph["id"], rec.get("elapsed", 0),
+                     rec.get("hops", 0), rec["agentic"], MODE))
+            for l in ok:  print("   ok   " + l.replace("\n", "\n        "))
+            for l in bad: print("   FAIL " + l.replace("\n", "\n        "))
+            for i, leg in enumerate(rec["legs"]):
+                print("   leg%d envelope: %s" % (i, json.dumps(leg)[:430]))
+            for i, pr in enumerate(rec["progress_per_leg"]):
+                print("   run-progress after leg%d: %s" % (i, json.dumps(pr)[:380]))
+            if rec["progress_during"]:
+                print("   run-progress polled DURING (%d distinct snapshot(s)), last: %s"
+                      % (len(rec["progress_during"]), json.dumps(rec["progress_during"][-1])[:300]))
+            for r in rec["stub"]:
+                print("   stub: kind=%s class=%s phrasing=%s step=%s validation=%s%s delivered=%s http=%s"
+                      % (r.get("kind"), r.get("scenario_class"), r.get("phrasing"), r.get("step"),
+                         r.get("validation"),
+                         ("(" + str(r.get("validation_detail")) + ")") if r.get("validation_detail") else "",
+                         json.dumps(r.get("delivered")), r.get("http_status")))
+            if rec["soul_log"].strip():
+                for l in rec["soul_log"].splitlines():
+                    if l.strip(): print("   soul: " + l.strip())
+    json.dump(results, open(OUT, "w"), indent=1)
+    npass = sum(1 for r in results if r["verdict"] == "PASS")
+    print("=" * 78)
+    print("PHASE %s: %d/%d PASS" % (MODE, npass, len(results)))
+    for r in results:
+        print("   %-6s %-16s %s" % (r["verdict"], r["class"], r["phrasing"]))
+    return 0 if npass == len(results) else 1
+
+sys.exit(main())
+PYEOF
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------- hostile drv ---
+cat > "$RUN/hostile.py" <<'PYEOF'
+import json, os, sys, time, urllib.request, urllib.error
+
+CFG = json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))
+SOUL = "http://127.0.0.1:%d" % CFG["soul_port"]
+STUB = "http://127.0.0.1:%d" % CFG["stub_port"]
+
+def http(method, url, obj=None, timeout=400):
+    data = None if obj is None else json.dumps(obj).encode()
+    req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=data, method=method,
+                                 headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"})
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as r:
+            b = r.read().decode("utf-8", "replace"); st = r.status
+    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+        b = e.read().decode("utf-8", "replace"); st = e.code
+    except Exception as e:
+        return -1, "TRANSPORT-ERROR: %r" % (e,), None
+    try:
+        return st, b, json.loads(b)
+    except ValueError:
+        return st, b, None
+
+mode = CFG["mode"]; wsmode = CFG["ws_mode"]; WS = CFG["workspace"]
+_, _, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/sessions", {"title": "hostile-" + mode}, timeout=60)
+sid = (js or {}).get("id", "")
+payload = {"message": "oa-gate plain probe: hostile mode %s" % mode,
+           "agentic": True, "session_id": sid, "workspace_root": WS}
+if wsmode == "local":
+    payload["agent_workspace_root"] = WS
+t0 = time.time()
+st, body, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/chat", payload, timeout=CFG.get("timeout", 400))
+t_first = time.time() - t0
+legs = [js if js is not None else body[:500]]
+hops = 0
+while isinstance(js, dict) and js.get("tool_pending") and hops < CFG.get("max_hops", 14):
+    ti = js.get("tool_input") or {}
+    p = ti.get("path", "x.md")
+    dest = p if os.path.isabs(p) else os.path.join(WS, p)
+    try: open(dest, "w").write(ti.get("content", ""))
+    except Exception: pass
+    st, body, js = http("POST", SOUL + "/api/sessions/%s/tool_result" % sid,
+                        {"call_id": js.get("call_id"), "content": "ok"},
+                        timeout=CFG.get("timeout", 400))
+    legs.append(js if js is not None else body[:500]); hops += 1
+el = time.time() - t0
+_, _, stats = http("GET", STUB + "/gate/stats", timeout=30)
+_, _, prog = http("GET", SOUL + "/api/run-progress/" + sid, timeout=30)
+fab = [l for l in legs if isinstance(l, dict) and l.get("reply")]
+print("HOSTILE %s (ws_mode=%s)" % (mode, wsmode))
+print("   first /api/chat POST returned after %.2fs; whole chain %.2fs; client bridge hops=%d; "
+      "stub chat_hits=%s" % (t_first, el, hops, (stats or {}).get("chat_hits")))
+print("   first envelope : " + json.dumps(legs[0])[:430])
+print("   final envelope : " + json.dumps(legs[-1])[:430])
+print("   non-empty replies anywhere in the chain (fabrication check): %d" % len(fab))
+print("   run-progress   : " + json.dumps(prog)[:300])
+json.dump({"mode": mode, "ws_mode": wsmode, "t_first": t_first, "elapsed": el, "hops": hops,
+           "chat_hits": (stats or {}).get("chat_hits"), "legs": legs, "progress": prog},
+          open(CFG["out"], "w"), indent=1)
+PYEOF
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ phases ---
+RC_BRIDGE=0; RC_LOCAL=0; RC_OFF=0
+run_normal_phase() { # $1 = label, $2 = soul port, $3 = agent root, $4 = ws, $5 = base, $6 = classes json
+  local m="$1" port="$2" root="$3" ws="$4" base="$5" classes="$6"
+  echo; echo "############ PHASE: $m (soul :$port, NEURON_LLM_0_URL=$base) ############"
+  start_stub normal "$RUN/stub-$m.jsonl"
+  start_soul "$port" "$base" "$RUN/soul-$m.log" "$root"
+  cat > "$RUN/cfg-$m.json" <<JSON
+{"soul_port": $port, "stub_port": $STUB_PORT, "workspace": "$ws", "mode": "$m",
+ "scenarios": "$HERE/scenarios-openai.json", "stub_log": "$RUN/stub-$m.jsonl",
+ "soul_log": "$RUN/soul-$m.log", "out": "$RUN/results-$m.json", "chat_timeout": 240,
+ "classes": $classes}
+JSON
+  python3 "$DRV" "$RUN/cfg-$m.json"
+  local rc=$?
+  stop_soul; stop_stub
+  return $rc
+}
+
+if [ "$PHASES" = "all" ] || [ "$PHASES" = "bridge" ]; then
+  run_normal_phase bridge "$SOUL_PORT" "" "$RUN/ws-bridge" "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT/v1" null
+  RC_BRIDGE=$?
+fi
+if [ "$PHASES" = "all" ] || [ "$PHASES" = "local" ]; then
+  run_normal_phase local "$SOUL_PORT_B" "$RUN/ws-local" "$RUN/ws-local" "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT/v1" null
+  RC_LOCAL=$?
+fi
+if [ "$PHASES" = "all" ] || [ "$PHASES" = "toolsoff" ]; then
+  # supplementary: the el-runtime provider chain appends /v1/chat/completions itself,
+  # so the non-agentic door needs the base WITHOUT the /v1 suffix.
+  run_normal_phase toolsoff "$SOUL_PORT" "" "$RUN/ws-off" "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT" '["oa-tools-off","oa-plain"]'
+  RC_OFF=$?
+fi
+
+if [ "$PHASES" = "all" ] || [ "$PHASES" = "hostile" ]; then
+  echo; echo "############ PHASE: hostile ############"
+  for spec in "black-hole:bridge" "mid-body-drop:bridge" "tool-pending-forever:bridge" "tool-pending-forever:local"; do
+    mode="${spec%%:*}"; wsm="${spec##*:}"
+    echo; echo "---- hostile mode=$mode ws_mode=$wsm ----"
+    start_stub "$mode" "$RUN/stub-$mode-$wsm.jsonl"
+    if [ "$wsm" = "local" ]; then
+      start_soul "$SOUL_PORT" "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT/v1" "$RUN/soul-$mode-$wsm.log" "$RUN/ws-local"
+    else
+      start_soul "$SOUL_PORT" "http://127.0.0.1:$STUB_PORT/v1" "$RUN/soul-$mode-$wsm.log" ""
+    fi
+    cat > "$RUN/cfg-$mode-$wsm.json" <<JSON
+{"soul_port": $SOUL_PORT, "stub_port": $STUB_PORT, "mode": "$mode", "ws_mode": "$wsm",
+ "workspace": "$RUN/ws-local", "out": "$RUN/hostile-$mode-$wsm.json", "timeout": 400}
+JSON
+    python3 "$RUN/hostile.py" "$RUN/cfg-$mode-$wsm.json"
+    echo "   soul log (llm/DRIFT/cap lines):"
+    grep -E "DRIFT|llm error|iteration cap|\[llm\]" "$RUN/soul-$mode-$wsm.log" | tail -8 | sed 's/^/     /'
+    stop_soul; stop_stub
+  done
+fi
+
+echo; echo "############ CLEANUP ############"
+cleanup
+sleep 0.5
+echo "processes still matching the soul binary:"; pgrep -fl "$SOUL_BIN" || echo "   (none)"
+echo "processes still matching stub-openai.py:"; pgrep -fl "stub-openai.py" || echo "   (none)"
+echo "lsof on 7891-7894 after cleanup:"
+lsof -nP -iTCP:7891 -iTCP:7892 -iTCP:7893 -iTCP:7894 2>/dev/null || echo "   (no listeners - ports free)"
+echo
+echo "############ SUMMARY ############"
+echo "run dir: $RUN"
+echo "bridge rc=$RC_BRIDGE   local rc=$RC_LOCAL   toolsoff rc=$RC_OFF   (0 = every class PASS)"
+exit $(( RC_BRIDGE + RC_LOCAL + RC_OFF ))
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+{
+  "_comment": "OpenAI-dialect gate scenario contract (soul-openai-tools-v2). Single source of truth shared by stub-openai.py (scripted provider responses + request assertions), selftest.sh (stub self-verification), and the future brain-side gate driver. Same structure as gate9's scenarios.json: classes -> script + phrasings with markers; scripts are CLASS-level so assertions are behavioral, never pinned to a sentence. expect_request keys: require_tools, require_tool_choice, parallel_tool_calls (expected literal value; null = don't check), forbid_tools. defaults apply to every class unless overridden; steps may override with their own expect_request.",
+  "deadline_secs": 60,
+  "max_loop_iterations": 16,
+  "defaults": {
+    "expect_request": {
+      "require_tools": true,
+      "require_tool_choice": true,
+      "parallel_tool_calls": false
+    }
+  },
+  "classes": {
+    "oa-plain": {
+      "script": [
+        { "text": "Plain OpenAI-lane answer (gate fixture): the mechanism, the main caveat, and the practical takeaway in three sentences. No tools were needed for this one, and the finish reason on the wire is stop, which the loop must treat as terminal." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-plain-p1", "marker": "oa-gate plain probe", "prompt": "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." },
+        { "id": "oa-plain-p2", "marker": "oa-gate second plain", "prompt": "oa-gate second plain: another phrasing of the plain question." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-tools-off": {
+      "expect_request": {
+        "require_tools": false,
+        "forbid_tools": true,
+        "require_tool_choice": false,
+        "parallel_tool_calls": null
+      },
+      "script": [
+        { "text": "Chat-only OpenAI-lane answer (gate fixture): this lane offered no tools and none were used; the reply is plain text with finish reason stop." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-tools-off-p1", "marker": "oa-gate tools-off probe", "prompt": "oa-gate tools-off probe: plain chat with no tools offered." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-single-tool": {
+      "script": [
+        { "text": "Step 1: writing the note.",
+          "tool_calls": [
+            { "name": "write_file",
+              "arguments": { "path": "openai-single-note.md", "content": "# Note (gate fixture, OpenAI lane)\n\nDeterministic single-tool body.\n" } }
+          ] },
+        { "text": "All set - openai-single-note.md is written with the fixture body. Nothing else was needed for this one." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-single-p1", "marker": "oa-gate single tool note", "prompt": "oa-gate single tool note: save the fixture note to a file." },
+        { "id": "oa-single-p2", "marker": "oa-gate one file please", "prompt": "oa-gate one file please: write the fixture note file." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-torture": {
+      "script": [
+        { "tool_calls": [
+            { "name": "write_file",
+              "arguments": { "path": "torture-note.md", "content": "Line 1 has \"double quotes\", 'singles', and a mid-line backslash \\ here.\nLine 2\thas a tab, a literal \\n two-char sequence, and a Windows path C:\\temp\\new.txt.\nLine 3 unicode: naïve café — 日本語 ✓ 🚀\nLine 4 JSON-in-string: {\"k\": \"v\", \"arr\": [1, 2], \"s\": \"nested \\\"deep\\\" quotes\"}\nLine 5 ends with a lone backslash \\" } }
+          ] },
+        { "text": "Torture round-trip complete: the payload with nested quotes, backslashes, newlines, tabs, and unicode survived exactly one encode and one decode." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-torture-p1", "marker": "oa-gate torture probe", "prompt": "oa-gate torture probe: write the escaping torture file." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-parallel": {
+      "script": [
+        { "text": "Step 1: two writes at once (parallel probe).",
+          "tool_calls": [
+            { "name": "write_file", "arguments": { "path": "parallel-a.md", "content": "Parallel A (gate fixture).\n" } },
+            { "name": "write_file", "arguments": { "path": "parallel-b.md", "content": "Parallel B (gate fixture).\n" } }
+          ] },
+        { "text": "Parallel probe complete: both tool results arrived and were paired correctly. A brain that instead rejects the double call must do so cleanly - that outcome is asserted brain-side, not here." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-parallel-p1", "marker": "oa-gate parallel probe", "prompt": "oa-gate parallel probe: run the two-write parallel case." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-mission": {
+      "script": [
+        { "text": "Step 1: drafting part one.",
+          "tool_calls": [
+            { "name": "write_file", "arguments": { "path": "mission-part-1.md", "content": "Mission part 1 (gate fixture).\n" } }
+          ] },
+        { "text": "Step 2: drafting part two.",
+          "tool_calls": [
+            { "name": "write_file", "arguments": { "path": "mission-part-2.md", "content": "Mission part 2 (gate fixture).\n" } }
+          ] },
+        { "text": "Mission complete: mission-part-1.md and mission-part-2.md are written; the loop ran two tool rounds and finished cleanly with finish reason stop." }
+      ],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-mission-p1", "marker": "oa-gate mission probe", "prompt": "oa-gate mission probe: run the two-round mission." }
+      ]
+    },
+    "oa-api-error": {
+      "expect_request": {
+        "require_tools": false,
+        "require_tool_choice": false,
+        "parallel_tool_calls": null
+      },
+      "script": [],
+      "phrasings": [
+        { "id": "oa-err-400", "marker": "oa-gate error four hundred", "prompt": "oa-gate error four hundred: trigger the injected failure.",
+          "script": [ { "api_error": { "status": 400, "type": "invalid_request_error", "message": "gate-injected 400: request rejected by fixture", "code": "gate_injected" } } ] },
+        { "id": "oa-err-429", "marker": "oa-gate error rate limit", "prompt": "oa-gate error rate limit: trigger the injected failure.",
+          "script": [ { "api_error": { "status": 429, "type": "rate_limit_error", "message": "gate-injected 429: rate limited by fixture", "code": "rate_limit_exceeded" } } ] },
+        { "id": "oa-err-500", "marker": "oa-gate error five hundred", "prompt": "oa-gate error five hundred: trigger the injected failure.",
+          "script": [ { "api_error": { "status": 500, "type": "server_error", "message": "gate-injected 500: internal fixture error", "code": "gate_injected" } } ] },
+        { "id": "oa-err-503", "marker": "oa-gate error unavailable", "prompt": "oa-gate error unavailable: trigger the injected failure.",
+          "script": [ { "api_error": { "status": 503, "type": "server_error", "message": "gate-injected 503: fixture overloaded", "code": "gate_injected" } } ] }
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,409 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# selftest.sh - proves stub-openai.py before any brain code exists.
+# Drives the stub with curl through every scenario (plain, tools-off,
+# single tool round-trip, escaping torture, parallel double-call,
+# two-round mission, injected API errors, background, overrun), every
+# validation rejection (dialect leaks, pairing, echo round-trip, scenario
+# expectations), and all three hostile modes. Exit 0 = green.
+set -u
+cd "$(dirname "$0")" || exit 1
+PY=python3
+TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
+PIDS=()
+cleanup() {
+  for p in "${PIDS[@]:-}"; do kill -9 "$p" >/dev/null 2>&1; done
+  rm -rf "$TMP"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+PASS=0; FAIL=0
+ok()  { printf 'ok   - %s\n' "$1"; PASS=$((PASS+1)); }
+bad() { printf 'FAIL - %s\n' "$1"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); }
+check() {  # check <name> <cmd...>  - pass if cmd exits 0; show output on fail
+  local name="$1"; shift
+  local out
+  if out="$("$@" 2>&1)"; then ok "$name"
+  else bad "$name"; [ -n "$out" ] && printf '%s\n' "$out" | sed 's/^/       /' | head -8
+  fi
+}
+
+freeport() { "$PY" -c 'import socket;s=socket.socket();s.bind(("127.0.0.1",0));print(s.getsockname()[1]);s.close()'; }
+waithealth() {
+  local p="$1" i
+  for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+    curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1:$p/gate/health" >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
+    sleep 0.1
+  done
+  echo "stub on :$p never became healthy"; return 1
+}
+post() {  # post <port> <bodyfile> <respfile> [extra curl args...] -> echoes http code
+  local port="$1" body="$2" resp="$3"; shift 3
+  curl -s -o "$resp" -w '%{http_code}' -H 'content-type: application/json' \
+       "$@" --data-binary @"$body" "http://127.0.0.1:$port/v1/chat/completions"
+}
+
+# ---- embedded helper: builds OpenAI-dialect bodies, asserts on responses ----
+cat > "$TMP/helpers.py" <<'PYEOF'
+import copy, json, sys
+
+TOOLS = [
+    {"type": "function", "function": {
+        "name": "write_file", "description": "Write content to a file on disk.",
+        "parameters": {"type": "object",
+                       "properties": {"path": {"type": "string"},
+                                      "content": {"type": "string"}},
+                       "required": ["path", "content"]}}},
+    {"type": "function", "function": {
+        "name": "read_file", "description": "Read contents of a file from disk.",
+        "parameters": {"type": "object",
+                       "properties": {"path": {"type": "string"}},
+                       "required": ["path"]}}},
+]
+
+def dump(obj, out):
+    json.dump(obj, open(out, "w"), ensure_ascii=False)
+
+def base(prompt, tools=True):
+    b = {"model": "gate-openai-model", "max_tokens": 1024,
+         "messages": [
+             {"role": "system", "content": "You are Neuron (gate fixture)."},
+             {"role": "user", "content": prompt}]}
+    if tools:
+        b["tools"] = copy.deepcopy(TOOLS)
+        b["tool_choice"] = "auto"
+        b["parallel_tool_calls"] = False
+    return b
+
+def cmd_plain(out, prompt):
+    dump(base(prompt), out)
+
+def cmd_notools(out, prompt):
+    dump(base(prompt, tools=False), out)
+
+def cmd_mut(out, prompt, mutation):
+    b = base(prompt)
+    if mutation == "no-tool-choice":
+        del b["tool_choice"]
+    elif mutation == "ptc-true":
+        b["parallel_tool_calls"] = True
+    elif mutation == "top-system":
+        b["system"] = "You are Neuron."
+    elif mutation == "anth-tools":
+        b["tools"] = [{"name": "write_file", "description": "x",
+                       "input_schema": {"type": "object", "properties": {}}}]
+    elif mutation == "anth-block":
+        b["messages"][1] = {"role": "user", "content": [
+            {"type": "tool_result", "tool_use_id": "toolu_x", "content": "hi"},
+            {"type": "text", "text": prompt}]}
+    else:
+        raise SystemExit("unknown mutation " + mutation)
+    dump(b, out)
+
+def cmd_chain(out, prompt, variant, *resps):
+    """Build the next leg: echo each response's assistant turn and answer its
+    tool calls. `variant` applies to the LAST response only:
+    ok | no-tool-turn | wrong-id | only-first | double-encode | object-args"""
+    b = base(prompt)
+    for idx, p in enumerate(resps):
+        last = idx == len(resps) - 1
+        msg = json.load(open(p))["choices"][0]["message"]
+        tcs = msg.get("tool_calls")
+        if not tcs:
+            b["messages"].append({"role": "assistant",
+                                  "content": msg.get("content")})
+            continue
+        v = variant if last else "ok"
+        asst = {"role": "assistant", "content": msg.get("content"),
+                "tool_calls": copy.deepcopy(tcs)}
+        if v == "double-encode":
+            for tc in asst["tool_calls"]:
+                tc["function"]["arguments"] = json.dumps(
+                    tc["function"]["arguments"])
+        if v == "object-args":
+            for tc in asst["tool_calls"]:
+                tc["function"]["arguments"] = json.loads(
+                    tc["function"]["arguments"])
+        b["messages"].append(asst)
+        if v == "no-tool-turn":
+            continue
+        use = tcs[:1] if v == "only-first" else tcs
+        for tc in use:
+            tid = "call_bogus_123" if v == "wrong-id" else tc["id"]
+            b["messages"].append({"role": "tool", "tool_call_id": tid,
+                                  "content": "{\"ok\":true,\"bytes\":42}"})
+    dump(b, out)
+
+def cmd_chk(resp, expr):
+    r = json.load(open(resp))
+    if not eval(expr, {"r": r, "json": json, "len": len, "str": str,
+                       "isinstance": isinstance, "any": any, "all": all,
+                       "sorted": sorted}):
+        print("assertion failed:", expr)
+        print("resp:", json.dumps(r, ensure_ascii=False)[:400])
+        raise SystemExit(1)
+
+def cmd_torture(resp, scen):
+    r = json.load(open(resp))
+    tc = r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]
+    raw = tc["function"]["arguments"]
+    assert isinstance(raw, str), "arguments must be a JSON-encoded string"
+    got = json.loads(raw)
+    exp = json.load(open(scen))["classes"]["oa-torture"]["script"][0]["tool_calls"][0]["arguments"]
+    assert got == exp, "decoded arguments != scripted torture payload"
+    content = got["content"]
+    for needle in ['"', "\\", "\n", "\t", "日本語", "naïve", "🚀"]:
+        assert needle in content, "missing torture needle %r" % needle
+
+def cmd_notjson(path):
+    data = open(path, "rb").read()
+    assert data, "file empty - no partial body arrived"
+    try:
+        json.loads(data.decode("utf-8", "replace"))
+    except ValueError:
+        return
+    raise SystemExit("partial body unexpectedly parsed as complete JSON")
+
+def cmd_pending(*paths):
+    ids = []
+    for p in paths:
+        c = json.load(open(p))["choices"][0]
+        assert c["finish_reason"] == "tool_calls", c["finish_reason"]
+        tc = c["message"]["tool_calls"][0]
+        assert tc["function"]["name"] == "write_file"
+        json.loads(tc["function"]["arguments"])  # must decode
+        ids.append(tc["id"])
+    assert len(set(ids)) == len(ids), "call ids not distinct: %r" % ids
+
+def cmd_logcheck(path):
+    recs = [json.loads(l) for l in open(path) if l.strip()]
+    seqs = [r["seq"] for r in recs]
+    assert seqs == sorted(seqs) and len(set(seqs)) == len(seqs), "seq not monotonic"
+    kinds = {}
+    for r in recs:
+        kinds[r["kind"]] = kinds.get(r["kind"], 0) + 1
+    assert kinds.get("scenario", 0) >= 10, "too few scenario records: %r" % kinds
+    assert kinds.get("background", 0) >= 1, "no background record"
+    assert kinds.get("overrun", 0) >= 1, "no overrun record"
+    rejected = [r for r in recs if r["validation"] == "rejected"]
+    assert len(rejected) >= 10, "too few rejected records: %d" % len(rejected)
+    assert any(r["delivered"].get("tool_calls") == ["write_file"]
+               for r in recs), "no single write_file ground truth"
+    assert any(r["delivered"].get("tool_calls") == ["write_file", "write_file"]
+               for r in recs), "no parallel ground truth"
+
+def main():
+    fn = globals()["cmd_" + sys.argv[1].replace("-", "_")]
+    fn(*sys.argv[2:])
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
+PYEOF
+mk() { "$PY" "$TMP/helpers.py" "$@"; }
+
+echo "=== stub-openai selftest ==="
+
+# ---- normal mode ------------------------------------------------------------
+PORT="$(freeport)"
+"$PY" stub-openai.py --port "$PORT" --scenarios scenarios-openai.json \
+     --log "$TMP/req.jsonl" >"$TMP/stub.out" 2>&1 &
+PIDS+=($!); disown
+check "stub starts and answers /gate/health" waithealth "$PORT"
+
+# 1. plain completion
+mk plain "$TMP/plain.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply."
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/plain.json" "$TMP/r_plain.json")"
+check "plain: HTTP 200" test "$code" = "200"
+check "plain: chat.completion envelope, finish stop, real content" mk chk "$TMP/r_plain.json" \
+  'r["object"]=="chat.completion" and r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="stop" and isinstance(r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"],str) and len(r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"])>40'
+
+# 2. tools-off lane (chat-only request accepted, tool-bearing request refused)
+mk notools "$TMP/toolsoff.json" "oa-gate tools-off probe: plain chat with no tools offered."
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/toolsoff.json" "$TMP/r_toolsoff.json")"
+check "tools-off: chat-only request -> 200" test "$code" = "200"
+mk plain "$TMP/toolsoff_bad.json" "oa-gate tools-off probe: plain chat with no tools offered."
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/toolsoff_bad.json" "$TMP/r_toolsoff_bad.json")"
+check "tools-off negative: offering tools -> 400 gate_expect" \
+  bash -c "test $code = 400"
+check "tools-off negative: reason names gate_expect" mk chk "$TMP/r_toolsoff_bad.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_expect"'
+
+# 3. dialect-leak rejections (the loud-failure contract)
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/plain.json" "$TMP/r_leak_hdr.json" -H 'anthropic-version: 2023-06-01')"
+check "leak: anthropic-version header -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+check "leak: header reason names the leak" mk chk "$TMP/r_leak_hdr.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_dialect_leak" and "anthropic-version" in r["error"]["message"]'
+mk mut "$TMP/leak_tools.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." anth-tools
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/leak_tools.json" "$TMP/r_leak_tools.json")"
+check "leak: input_schema tools -> 400 gate_dialect_leak" bash -c \
+  "test $code = 400"
+check "leak: input_schema reason" mk chk "$TMP/r_leak_tools.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_dialect_leak" and "input_schema" in r["error"]["message"]'
+mk mut "$TMP/leak_sys.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." top-system
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/leak_sys.json" "$TMP/r_leak_sys.json")"
+check "leak: top-level system -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+mk mut "$TMP/leak_block.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." anth-block
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/leak_block.json" "$TMP/r_leak_block.json")"
+check "leak: Anthropic tool_result content block -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+
+# 4. scenario request expectations
+mk mut "$TMP/no_tc.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." no-tool-choice
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/no_tc.json" "$TMP/r_no_tc.json")"
+check "expect: missing tool_choice -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+mk mut "$TMP/ptc.json" "oa-gate plain probe: explain the fixture topic simply." ptc-true
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/ptc.json" "$TMP/r_ptc.json")"
+check "expect: parallel_tool_calls true -> 400 (ADR-0005 pin)" test "$code" = "400"
+
+# 5. single tool round-trip
+ST_PROMPT="oa-gate single tool note: save the fixture note to a file."
+mk plain "$TMP/st1.json" "$ST_PROMPT"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/st1.json" "$TMP/r_st1.json")"
+check "single-tool leg1: HTTP 200" test "$code" = "200"
+check "single-tool leg1: one write_file call, finish tool_calls, string args" mk chk "$TMP/r_st1.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="tool_calls" and len(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"])==1 and r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["type"]=="function" and r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["name"]=="write_file" and isinstance(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"],str) and json.loads(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"])["path"]=="openai-single-note.md"'
+mk chain "$TMP/st2.json" "$ST_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_st1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/st2.json" "$TMP/r_st2.json")"
+check "single-tool leg2: echo + tool turn -> 200 final text" test "$code" = "200"
+check "single-tool leg2: final names the file, finish stop" mk chk "$TMP/r_st2.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="stop" and "openai-single-note.md" in r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]'
+mk chain "$TMP/st2_no.json" "$ST_PROMPT" no-tool-turn "$TMP/r_st1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/st2_no.json" "$TMP/r_st2_no.json")"
+check "single-tool negative: echo without tool turn -> 400 gate_pairing" \
+  bash -c "test $code = 400"
+check "single-tool negative: pairing reason" mk chk "$TMP/r_st2_no.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_pairing"'
+mk chain "$TMP/st2_wrong.json" "$ST_PROMPT" wrong-id "$TMP/r_st1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/st2_wrong.json" "$TMP/r_st2_wrong.json")"
+check "single-tool negative: wrong tool_call_id -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+mk chain "$TMP/st2_obj.json" "$ST_PROMPT" object-args "$TMP/r_st1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/st2_obj.json" "$TMP/r_st2_obj.json")"
+check "single-tool negative: arguments echoed as object -> 400 shape" \
+  bash -c "test $code = 400"
+check "single-tool negative: shape reason names STRING" mk chk "$TMP/r_st2_obj.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_tool_call_shape" and "STRING" in r["error"]["message"]'
+
+# 6. escaping torture (the two-escaper trap, spec section 6)
+T_PROMPT="oa-gate torture probe: write the escaping torture file."
+mk plain "$TMP/t1.json" "$T_PROMPT"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/t1.json" "$TMP/r_t1.json")"
+check "torture leg1: HTTP 200" test "$code" = "200"
+check "torture leg1: arguments decode to the exact nasty payload" \
+  mk torture "$TMP/r_t1.json" scenarios-openai.json
+mk chain "$TMP/t2.json" "$T_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_t1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/t2.json" "$TMP/r_t2.json")"
+check "torture leg2: faithful echo -> 200 final" test "$code" = "200"
+mk chain "$TMP/t2_dbl.json" "$T_PROMPT" double-encode "$TMP/r_t1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/t2_dbl.json" "$TMP/r_t2_dbl.json")"
+check "torture negative: double-encoded echo -> 400" test "$code" = "400"
+check "torture negative: reason names the two-escaper trap" mk chk "$TMP/r_t2_dbl.json" \
+  'r["error"]["code"]=="gate_echo_mismatch" and "two-escaper" in r["error"]["message"]'
+
+# 7. parallel double-call
+P_PROMPT="oa-gate parallel probe: run the two-write parallel case."
+mk plain "$TMP/p1.json" "$P_PROMPT"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/p1.json" "$TMP/r_p1.json")"
+check "parallel leg1: TWO tool_calls, distinct ids" mk chk "$TMP/r_p1.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="tool_calls" and len(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"])==2 and r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["id"]!=r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][1]["id"]'
+mk chain "$TMP/p2.json" "$P_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_p1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/p2.json" "$TMP/r_p2.json")"
+check "parallel leg2: both results -> 200 final" test "$code" = "200"
+mk chain "$TMP/p2_one.json" "$P_PROMPT" only-first "$TMP/r_p1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/p2_one.json" "$TMP/r_p2_one.json")"
+check "parallel negative: answering only one call -> 400 pairing" test "$code" = "400"
+
+# 8. two-round mission (loop continuation + step indexing)
+M_PROMPT="oa-gate mission probe: run the two-round mission."
+mk plain "$TMP/m1.json" "$M_PROMPT"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/m1.json" "$TMP/r_m1.json")"
+check "mission leg1: part-1 tool call" mk chk "$TMP/r_m1.json" \
+  'json.loads(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"])["path"]=="mission-part-1.md"'
+mk chain "$TMP/m2.json" "$M_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_m1.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/m2.json" "$TMP/r_m2.json")"
+check "mission leg2: part-2 tool call (step indexed by assistant count)" mk chk "$TMP/r_m2.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="tool_calls" and json.loads(r["choices"][0]["message"]["tool_calls"][0]["function"]["arguments"])["path"]=="mission-part-2.md"'
+mk chain "$TMP/m3.json" "$M_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_m1.json" "$TMP/r_m2.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/m3.json" "$TMP/r_m3.json")"
+check "mission leg3: final text, finish stop" mk chk "$TMP/r_m3.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["finish_reason"]=="stop" and "Mission complete" in r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]'
+mk chain "$TMP/m4.json" "$M_PROMPT" ok "$TMP/r_m1.json" "$TMP/r_m2.json" "$TMP/r_m3.json"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/m4.json" "$TMP/r_m4.json")"
+check "mission overrun: past-script request -> GATE-SCRIPT-EXHAUSTED" mk chk "$TMP/r_m4.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"].startswith("GATE-SCRIPT-EXHAUSTED")'
+
+# 9. injected API errors (OpenAI error envelope)
+for want in 400 429 500 503; do
+  case "$want" in
+    400) marker="four hundred";; 429) marker="rate limit";;
+    500) marker="five hundred";; 503) marker="unavailable";;
+  esac
+  mk plain "$TMP/e_$want.json" "oa-gate error $marker: trigger the injected failure."
+  code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/e_$want.json" "$TMP/r_e_$want.json")"
+  check "api-error $want: status returned" test "$code" = "$want"
+  check "api-error $want: OpenAI error envelope" mk chk "$TMP/r_e_$want.json" \
+    'isinstance(r["error"]["message"],str) and "gate-injected" in r["error"]["message"] and isinstance(r["error"]["type"],str)'
+done
+
+# 10. background (unmatched) request
+mk plain "$TMP/bg.json" "hello there, just a boot probe with no marker"
+code="$(post "$PORT" "$TMP/bg.json" "$TMP/r_bg.json")"
+check "background: unmatched prompt -> benign ok" mk chk "$TMP/r_bg.json" \
+  'r["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]=="ok"'
+
+# 11. ground-truth log invariants
+check "ground-truth JSONL log invariants" mk logcheck "$TMP/req.jsonl"
+
+# 12. production-port refusal
+rc=0
+"$PY" stub-openai.py --port 7770 --scenarios scenarios-openai.json \
+     --log "$TMP/never.jsonl" >/dev/null 2>&1 || rc=$?
+check "refuses production port 7770" test "$rc" -ne 0
+
+# ---- hostile mode: black-hole ----------------------------------------------
+BH="$(freeport)"
+"$PY" stub-openai.py --port "$BH" --log "$TMP/bh.jsonl" --mode black-hole \
+     >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+PIDS+=($!); disown
+check "black-hole: healthy" waithealth "$BH"
+rc=0
+curl -s -o /dev/null --max-time 3 -H 'content-type: application/json' \
+     --data-binary @"$TMP/plain.json" \
+     "http://127.0.0.1:$BH/v1/chat/completions" || rc=$?
+check "black-hole: client times out (curl rc 28)" test "$rc" -eq 28
+check "black-hole: health still answers during the hang" \
+  curl -sf --max-time 2 "http://127.0.0.1:$BH/gate/health"
+
+# ---- hostile mode: mid-body-drop -------------------------------------------
+MD="$(freeport)"
+"$PY" stub-openai.py --port "$MD" --log "$TMP/md.jsonl" --mode mid-body-drop \
+     >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+PIDS+=($!); disown
+check "mid-body-drop: healthy" waithealth "$MD"
+rc=0
+curl -s --max-time 5 -o "$TMP/half.json" -H 'content-type: application/json' \
+     --data-binary @"$TMP/plain.json" \
+     "http://127.0.0.1:$MD/v1/chat/completions" || rc=$?
+check "mid-body-drop: transfer fails (curl rc $rc)" test "$rc" -ne 0
+check "mid-body-drop: partial body is not parseable JSON" mk notjson "$TMP/half.json"
+
+# ---- hostile mode: tool-pending-forever ------------------------------------
+TP="$(freeport)"
+"$PY" stub-openai.py --port "$TP" --log "$TMP/tp.jsonl" \
+     --mode tool-pending-forever >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+PIDS+=($!); disown
+check "tool-pending-forever: healthy" waithealth "$TP"
+for i in 1 2 3; do
+  code="$(post "$TP" "$TMP/plain.json" "$TMP/r_tp$i.json")"
+  check "tool-pending-forever: request $i -> 200" test "$code" = "200"
+done
+check "tool-pending-forever: three FRESH tool_calls, distinct ids" \
+  mk pending "$TMP/r_tp1.json" "$TMP/r_tp2.json" "$TMP/r_tp3.json"
+check "tool-pending-forever: /gate/stats counts 3 chat hits" \
+  bash -c "curl -sf http://127.0.0.1:$TP/gate/stats | grep -q '\"chat_hits\": 3'"
+
+# ---- summary ----------------------------------------------------------------
+echo
+echo "selftest: $PASS passed, $FAIL failed"
+if [ "$FAIL" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "SELFTEST RED"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "SELFTEST GREEN (stub-openai gate scaffolding verified)"
@@ -0,0 +1,652 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""stub-openai.py - deterministic local stand-in for an OpenAI-format
+/v1/chat/completions provider, for the soul-openai-tools-v2 gate
+(docs/specs/SPEC-soul-openai-tools-v2-2026-08-06.md). No API key, no network,
+no model.
+
+Sibling of gate9's stub-llm.py (Anthropic dialect, _wt-beta-round9/scripts/
+gate9/): same scenario mechanism (marker matching, assistant-count step
+indexing, ground-truth JSONL log, prod-port refusal), different wire.
+Staging home is tests/gate-openai/ in _wt-openai-tools; folds into
+scripts/gate9/ after round 9 merges (see README.md).
+
+WHAT IT DOES
+  * Serves POST /v1/chat/completions on 127.0.0.1 only (OpenAI dialect).
+  * VALIDATES every request - this is the gate's discriminator, built
+    BEFORE the brain-side El code exists so dialect leakage fails loudly:
+      - Anthropic tells are 400 code=gate_dialect_leak: `anthropic-version`
+        header; top-level `system` / `stop_sequences` / `max_tokens_to_sample`
+        / `anthropic_version`; `input_schema` inside a tool entry; Anthropic
+        content blocks (tool_use / tool_result / server_tool_use / ...).
+      - tools[] must be OpenAI-shaped {type:"function", function:{name,
+        description, parameters}} with unique names -> 400 gate_tools_shape.
+      - assistant tool_calls echoes must be {id, type:"function",
+        function:{name, arguments:<JSON-encoded STRING>}}; a decoded-object
+        `arguments` is a wire bug -> 400 gate_tool_call_shape.
+      - every assistant tool_calls turn must be answered by role:"tool"
+        messages covering EVERY tool_call_id, immediately following;
+        unknown / duplicate / missing ids -> 400 gate_pairing.
+      - echoed `arguments` for gate-issued call ids (call_gate_*) are
+        recomputed from the script and compared after ONE json decode ->
+        400 gate_echo_mismatch. This is the two-escaper-trap discriminator
+        named in the spec's security model (section 6).
+      - scenario-level request expectations from scenarios-openai.json
+        (tools offered, OpenAI-shaped tool_choice, parallel_tool_calls
+        pinned false per ADR-0005) -> 400 gate_expect.
+  * Answers with SCRIPTED responses: plain text (finish_reason "stop"),
+    tool calls (finish_reason "tool_calls", arguments JSON-encoded, incl. a
+    nested-quote/escaping torture payload and a parallel two-call case), and
+    API-error injection (OpenAI error envelope). Scenario is selected by
+    scanning user-message text (newest first) for a registered marker
+    substring; the step index is the number of assistant messages already in
+    the request (stateless replay - resumes index correctly by construction).
+  * Writes a ground-truth JSONL log (--log): one record per request with the
+    validation verdict, matched scenario/step, and exactly which tool calls
+    were delivered. Gate assertions compare the brain's claims against THIS
+    log - truth, not narration.
+  * Unmatched requests (boot probes, awareness chatter) get a benign "ok"
+    text response, logged kind=background, never counted as ground truth.
+  * HOSTILE MODES (--mode) on the same file:
+      black-hole            accept + read the request, never respond;
+      mid-body-drop         send half a JSON body, then abort the socket;
+      tool-pending-forever  every request gets a FRESH tool_call
+                            (finish_reason "tool_calls"), forever - tests
+                            the agentic loop's iteration cap; count the
+                            brain's round-trips via GET /gate/stats.
+
+usage: stub-openai.py --port P --scenarios scenarios-openai.json \
+                      --log requests.jsonl [--mode MODE]
+Listens on 127.0.0.1 only. Refuses production ports 7770/7779/17779.
+"""
+import argparse
+import itertools
+import json
+import socket
+import struct
+import threading
+import time
+import uuid
+from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer
+
+STATE = {"scenarios": None, "log_path": None, "lock": threading.Lock(),
+         "seq": 0, "mode": "normal", "chat_hits": 0}
+_PENDING_SEQ = itertools.count(1)
+
+ANTHROPIC_TOP_KEYS = ("system", "stop_sequences", "max_tokens_to_sample",
+                      "anthropic_version")
+ANTHROPIC_BLOCK_TYPES = {"tool_use", "tool_result", "server_tool_use",
+                         "web_search_tool_result", "thinking",
+                         "redacted_thinking"}
+DEFAULT_EXPECT = {"require_tools": True, "require_tool_choice": True,
+                  "parallel_tool_calls": False, "forbid_tools": False}
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------- loading ----
+def load_scenarios(path):
+    cfg = json.load(open(path))
+    defaults = dict(DEFAULT_EXPECT)
+    defaults.update(cfg.get("defaults", {}).get("expect_request", {}))
+    marker_map = []   # (marker_lower, cname, pid)
+    scripts = {}      # cname or cname/pid -> expanded script
+    pid_map = {}      # pid -> cname (for call_gate_* id -> script lookup)
+    expects = {}      # cname -> merged expect_request
+    for cname, cls in cfg["classes"].items():
+        scripts[cname] = expand_script(cls.get("script", []))
+        exp = dict(defaults)
+        exp.update(cls.get("expect_request", {}))
+        expects[cname] = exp
+        for ph in cls["phrasings"]:
+            if ph.get("script") is not None:
+                scripts[cname + "/" + ph["id"]] = expand_script(ph["script"])
+            marker_map.append((ph["marker"].lower(), cname, ph["id"]))
+            pid_map[ph["id"]] = cname
+    return {"cfg": cfg, "marker_map": marker_map, "scripts": scripts,
+            "pid_map": pid_map, "expects": expects}
+
+
+def expand_script(script):
+    """Same repeat-expansion contract as gate9's stub-llm.py ({N}/{NN})."""
+    out = []
+    for step in script:
+        if "repeat" in step:
+            for n in range(1, step["repeat"] + 1):
+                t = {k: v for k, v in step.items() if k != "repeat"}
+                out.append(json.loads(json.dumps(t)
+                                      .replace("{NN}", "%02d" % n)
+                                      .replace("{N}", str(n))))
+        else:
+            out.append(step)
+    return out
+
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------- validation ----
+def _rej(message, code):
+    return {"status": 400, "message": message, "code": code}
+
+
+def validate_dialect(headers, req):
+    """Universal checks - run on EVERY request, scenario-matched or not.
+    Anything Anthropic-shaped on this lane means the brain's translator
+    leaked; the whole point is that it fails loudly, here, with a reason."""
+    if headers.get("anthropic-version"):
+        return _rej("anthropic-version header on the OpenAI lane: this "
+                    "request was built by the Anthropic dialect path",
+                    "gate_dialect_leak")
+    for k in ANTHROPIC_TOP_KEYS:
+        if k in req:
+            return _rej("top-level `%s` is Anthropic dialect; the OpenAI "
+                        "dialect has no such field (system prompt goes in "
+                        "messages[0])" % k, "gate_dialect_leak")
+    tools = req.get("tools")
+    if tools is not None:
+        if not isinstance(tools, list):
+            return _rej("`tools` must be an array", "gate_tools_shape")
+        names = []
+        for i, t in enumerate(tools):
+            if not isinstance(t, dict):
+                return _rej("tools[%d] is not an object" % i,
+                            "gate_tools_shape")
+            if "input_schema" in t or (isinstance(t.get("function"), dict)
+                                       and "input_schema" in t["function"]):
+                return _rej("tools[%d] carries `input_schema` (Anthropic "
+                            "dialect); OpenAI dialect wants "
+                            "function.parameters" % i, "gate_dialect_leak")
+            if t.get("type") != "function":
+                return _rej("tools[%d].type must be \"function\", got %r"
+                            % (i, t.get("type")), "gate_tools_shape")
+            fn = t.get("function")
+            if not isinstance(fn, dict):
+                return _rej("tools[%d].function missing" % i,
+                            "gate_tools_shape")
+            if not isinstance(fn.get("name"), str) or not fn["name"]:
+                return _rej("tools[%d].function.name missing/empty" % i,
+                            "gate_tools_shape")
+            if not isinstance(fn.get("description"), str) or not fn["description"]:
+                return _rej("tools[%d].function.description missing/empty" % i,
+                            "gate_tools_shape")
+            if not isinstance(fn.get("parameters"), dict):
+                return _rej("tools[%d].function.parameters missing (JSON "
+                            "Schema object expected)" % i, "gate_tools_shape")
+            names.append(fn["name"])
+        if len(names) != len(set(names)):
+            return _rej("tools: tool names must be unique", "gate_tools_shape")
+    msgs = req.get("messages")
+    if not isinstance(msgs, list) or not msgs:
+        return _rej("`messages` must be a non-empty array",
+                    "gate_messages_shape")
+    for i, m in enumerate(msgs):
+        if not isinstance(m, dict):
+            return _rej("messages[%d] is not an object" % i,
+                        "gate_messages_shape")
+        c = m.get("content")
+        if isinstance(c, list):
+            for j, b in enumerate(c):
+                if isinstance(b, dict) and b.get("type") in ANTHROPIC_BLOCK_TYPES:
+                    return _rej("messages[%d].content[%d] is an Anthropic "
+                                "`%s` block; the OpenAI dialect uses "
+                                "tool_calls / role:\"tool\" messages"
+                                % (i, j, b.get("type")), "gate_dialect_leak")
+        if m.get("role") == "tool":
+            if not isinstance(m.get("tool_call_id"), str) or not m["tool_call_id"]:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: role \"tool\" requires a "
+                            "`tool_call_id`" % i, "gate_messages_shape")
+            if "content" not in m:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: role \"tool\" requires `content`"
+                            % i, "gate_messages_shape")
+        if m.get("role") == "assistant" and m.get("tool_calls") is not None:
+            tcs = m["tool_calls"]
+            if not isinstance(tcs, list) or not tcs:
+                return _rej("messages[%d].tool_calls must be a non-empty "
+                            "array" % i, "gate_tool_call_shape")
+            for j, tc in enumerate(tcs):
+                if not isinstance(tc, dict) or tc.get("type") != "function":
+                    return _rej("messages[%d].tool_calls[%d].type must be "
+                                "\"function\"" % (i, j), "gate_tool_call_shape")
+                if not isinstance(tc.get("id"), str) or not tc["id"]:
+                    return _rej("messages[%d].tool_calls[%d].id missing"
+                                % (i, j), "gate_tool_call_shape")
+                fn = tc.get("function")
+                if not isinstance(fn, dict) or not isinstance(fn.get("name"), str):
+                    return _rej("messages[%d].tool_calls[%d].function.name "
+                                "missing" % (i, j), "gate_tool_call_shape")
+                if not isinstance(fn.get("arguments"), str):
+                    return _rej("messages[%d].tool_calls[%d].function."
+                                "arguments must be a JSON-encoded STRING, "
+                                "got %s" % (i, j,
+                                            type(fn.get("arguments")).__name__),
+                                "gate_tool_call_shape")
+    return None
+
+
+def validate_pairing(msgs):
+    """OpenAI pairing rule: every assistant tool_calls turn must be followed
+    immediately by role:"tool" messages answering every tool_call_id."""
+    open_ids, open_at = set(), None
+    for i, m in enumerate(msgs):
+        role = m.get("role")
+        if role == "tool":
+            tid = m.get("tool_call_id")
+            if open_at is None:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: role \"tool\" message with no "
+                            "preceding assistant tool_calls turn "
+                            "(tool_call_id=%s)" % (i, tid), "gate_pairing")
+            if tid not in open_ids:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: tool message answers unknown or "
+                            "already-answered tool_call_id %s" % (i, tid),
+                            "gate_pairing")
+            open_ids.discard(tid)
+            continue
+        if open_ids:
+            return _rej("messages[%d]: assistant tool_calls not fully "
+                        "answered before messages[%d]; missing tool "
+                        "responses for: %s" % (open_at, i, sorted(open_ids)),
+                        "gate_pairing")
+        open_ids, open_at = set(), None
+        if role == "assistant" and m.get("tool_calls"):
+            ids = [tc.get("id") for tc in m["tool_calls"]]
+            open_ids, open_at = set(ids), i
+    if open_ids:
+        return _rej("messages[%d]: assistant tool_calls at end of thread "
+                    "without tool responses for: %s"
+                    % (open_at, sorted(open_ids)), "gate_pairing")
+    return None
+
+
+def validate_echo_args(msgs, loaded):
+    """Ground-truth round-trip check: for every echoed gate-issued call id,
+    recompute the arguments this stub originally sent from the script and
+    require one json decode to reproduce them exactly. Catches the
+    two-escaper trap (spec section 6) deterministically."""
+    if not loaded:
+        return None
+    for i, m in enumerate(msgs):
+        if m.get("role") != "assistant":
+            continue
+        for tc in m.get("tool_calls") or []:
+            tid = tc.get("id", "")
+            if not tid.startswith("call_gate_"):
+                continue
+            rest = tid[len("call_gate_"):]
+            try:
+                pid, s_part, k_part = rest.rsplit("_", 2)
+                step_idx, k = int(s_part[1:]), int(k_part)
+            except (ValueError, IndexError):
+                continue
+            cname = loaded["pid_map"].get(pid)
+            if cname is None:
+                continue
+            script = (loaded["scripts"].get(cname + "/" + pid)
+                      or loaded["scripts"].get(cname) or [])
+            if step_idx >= len(script):
+                continue
+            calls = script[step_idx].get("tool_calls") or []
+            if k >= len(calls):
+                continue
+            expected = calls[k]
+            fn = tc.get("function") or {}
+            if fn.get("name") != expected["name"]:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: echoed tool name %r != issued %r "
+                            "for %s" % (i, fn.get("name"), expected["name"],
+                                        tid), "gate_echo_mismatch")
+            try:
+                got = json.loads(fn.get("arguments", ""))
+            except ValueError:
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: echoed arguments for %s are not "
+                            "valid JSON after one decode (truncated or "
+                            "half-escaped?)" % (i, tid), "gate_echo_mismatch")
+            if got != expected["arguments"]:
+                hint = (" (decoded to a string, not an object: "
+                        "double-encoded - the two-escaper trap)"
+                        if isinstance(got, str) else "")
+                return _rej("messages[%d]: echoed arguments for %s do not "
+                            "round-trip to the issued payload%s"
+                            % (i, tid, hint), "gate_echo_mismatch")
+    return None
+
+
+def validate_expect(req, exp):
+    """Scenario-level request expectations (scenarios-openai.json)."""
+    tools = req.get("tools") or []
+    if exp.get("forbid_tools") and tools:
+        return _rej("this scenario is chat-only: no `tools` may be offered "
+                    "on it", "gate_expect")
+    if exp.get("require_tools") and not tools:
+        return _rej("scenario expects a `tools` array to be offered (the "
+                    "agentic lane must advertise its tools)", "gate_expect")
+    if exp.get("require_tool_choice"):
+        tc = req.get("tool_choice")
+        ok = tc in ("auto", "none", "required") or (
+            isinstance(tc, dict) and tc.get("type") == "function"
+            and isinstance(tc.get("function"), dict)
+            and tc["function"].get("name"))
+        if not ok:
+            return _rej("scenario expects an OpenAI-shaped `tool_choice`, "
+                        "got %r" % (tc,), "gate_expect")
+    want_ptc = exp.get("parallel_tool_calls", None)
+    if want_ptc is not None:
+        if "parallel_tool_calls" not in req:
+            return _rej("scenario expects explicit `parallel_tool_calls` "
+                        "(ADR-0005: must be pinned false on the wire)",
+                        "gate_expect")
+        if req["parallel_tool_calls"] != want_ptc:
+            return _rej("scenario expects parallel_tool_calls=%s, got %s"
+                        % (json.dumps(want_ptc),
+                           json.dumps(req["parallel_tool_calls"])),
+                        "gate_expect")
+    return None
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------- scenario match ----
+def extract_user_texts_newest_first(msgs):
+    texts = []
+    for m in reversed(msgs):
+        if not isinstance(m, dict) or m.get("role") != "user":
+            continue
+        c = m.get("content")
+        if isinstance(c, str):
+            texts.append(c)
+        elif isinstance(c, list):
+            for b in c:
+                if isinstance(b, dict) and b.get("type") == "text":
+                    texts.append(b.get("text", ""))
+    return texts
+
+
+def match_scenario(loaded, msgs):
+    for text in extract_user_texts_newest_first(msgs):
+        tl = text.lower()
+        for marker, cname, pid in loaded["marker_map"]:
+            if marker in tl:
+                return cname, pid
+    return None, None
+
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------- rendering ----
+def completion_envelope(msg, finish, model, usage=(100, 100)):
+    return {"id": "chatcmpl-gate-" + uuid.uuid4().hex[:12],
+            "object": "chat.completion", "created": int(time.time()),
+            "model": model,
+            "choices": [{"index": 0, "message": msg,
+                         "finish_reason": finish, "logprobs": None}],
+            "usage": {"prompt_tokens": usage[0],
+                      "completion_tokens": usage[1],
+                      "total_tokens": usage[0] + usage[1]}}
+
+
+def text_completion(text, model):
+    return completion_envelope({"role": "assistant", "content": text},
+                               "stop", model, usage=(1, 1))
+
+
+def pending_body(seq, model):
+    args = json.dumps({"path": "never-%04d.md" % seq,
+                       "content": "this run never completes"})
+    msg = {"role": "assistant", "content": None,
+           "tool_calls": [{"id": "call_hostile_pending_%04d" % seq,
+                           "type": "function",
+                           "function": {"name": "write_file",
+                                        "arguments": args}}]}
+    return completion_envelope(msg, "tool_calls", model, usage=(1, 1))
+
+
+def render_step(step, cname, pid, step_idx, model):
+    """Returns (http_status, body_dict, delivered) - delivered is ground
+    truth for the JSONL log."""
+    delivered = {"tool_calls": [], "finish_reason": None, "api_error": None}
+    if "api_error" in step:
+        e = step["api_error"]
+        delivered["api_error"] = e["status"]
+        return (e["status"],
+                {"error": {"message": e["message"],
+                           "type": e.get("type", "server_error"),
+                           "param": None, "code": e.get("code")}},
+                delivered)
+    msg = {"role": "assistant"}
+    finish = "stop"
+    if step.get("tool_calls"):
+        tcs = []
+        for k, call in enumerate(step["tool_calls"]):
+            tid = "call_gate_%s_s%d_%d" % (pid, step_idx, k)
+            tcs.append({"id": tid, "type": "function",
+                        "function": {"name": call["name"],
+                                     "arguments": json.dumps(
+                                         call["arguments"],
+                                         ensure_ascii=False)}})
+            delivered["tool_calls"].append(call["name"])
+        msg["tool_calls"] = tcs
+        msg["content"] = step.get("text")  # null when no narration, like real
+        finish = "tool_calls"
+    else:
+        msg["content"] = step["text"]
+    delivered["finish_reason"] = finish
+    return 200, completion_envelope(msg, finish, model), delivered
+
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------ log ------
+def log_record(rec):
+    with STATE["lock"]:
+        STATE["seq"] += 1
+        rec["seq"] = STATE["seq"]
+        with open(STATE["log_path"], "a") as f:
+            f.write(json.dumps(rec, ensure_ascii=False) + "\n")
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------- server -----
+class Handler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+    protocol_version = "HTTP/1.1"
+
+    def _send_json(self, status, obj):
+        body = json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False).encode("utf-8")
+        self.send_response(status)
+        self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(body)))
+        self.end_headers()
+        self.wfile.write(body)
+
+    def _send_error(self, verdict):
+        self._send_json(verdict["status"],
+                        {"error": {"message": verdict["message"],
+                                   "type": "invalid_request_error",
+                                   "param": None, "code": verdict["code"]}})
+
+    def _drop_mid_body(self):
+        """Valid 200 headers, half the promised body, then a socket abort
+        (same SO_LINGER teardown as gate9's mid-body-drop-brain.py)."""
+        full = json.dumps(text_completion(
+            "This reply will never finish arriving because the connection "
+            "dies in the middle of the body, which is exactly the point of "
+            "this hostile fixture.", "hostile-mid-drop")).encode("utf-8")
+        half = full[: len(full) // 2]
+        self.send_response(200)
+        self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(full)))  # promises more
+        self.end_headers()
+        self.wfile.write(half)
+        self.wfile.flush()
+        try:
+            self.connection.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_LINGER,
+                                       struct.pack("ii", 1, 0))
+            self.connection.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+        self.close_connection = True
+
+    def do_GET(self):
+        path = self.path.split("?")[0]
+        if path == "/gate/health":
+            self._send_json(200, {"ok": True, "mode": STATE["mode"]})
+        elif path == "/gate/stats":
+            with STATE["lock"]:
+                self._send_json(200, {"mode": STATE["mode"],
+                                      "chat_hits": STATE["chat_hits"]})
+        else:
+            self._send_json(404, {"error": {"message": "not found",
+                                            "type": "invalid_request_error",
+                                            "param": None,
+                                            "code": "unknown_route"}})
+
+    def do_POST(self):
+        n = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length") or 0)
+        raw = self.rfile.read(n)
+        mode = STATE["mode"]
+        rec = {"ts": time.time(), "path": self.path, "mode": mode,
+               "kind": "background", "scenario_class": None, "phrasing": None,
+               "step": None, "n_messages": 0, "n_assistant": 0,
+               "validation": "ok", "validation_detail": None,
+               "delivered": {"tool_calls": [], "finish_reason": None,
+                             "api_error": None},
+               "http_status": 200}
+        if self.path.split("?")[0] != "/v1/chat/completions":
+            rec.update(kind="wrong_path", http_status=404)
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_json(404, {"error": {
+                "message": "no such route: %s" % self.path,
+                "type": "invalid_request_error", "param": None,
+                "code": "unknown_route"}})
+            return
+        with STATE["lock"]:
+            STATE["chat_hits"] += 1
+
+        # ---- hostile modes: behavior first, no validation ----------------
+        if mode == "black-hole":
+            rec.update(kind="hostile", http_status=None)
+            log_record(rec)
+            threading.Event().wait()  # hold the socket open forever
+            return
+        if mode == "mid-body-drop":
+            rec.update(kind="hostile", http_status=200)
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._drop_mid_body()
+            return
+        if mode == "tool-pending-forever":
+            seq = next(_PENDING_SEQ)
+            rec.update(kind="hostile",
+                       delivered={"tool_calls": ["write_file"],
+                                  "finish_reason": "tool_calls",
+                                  "api_error": None})
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_json(200, pending_body(seq, "gate-openai-model"))
+            return
+
+        # ---- normal mode -------------------------------------------------
+        try:
+            req = json.loads(raw)
+        except ValueError as exc:
+            # DIAGNOSTIC CAPTURE (2026-08-06): an unparseable body used to be recorded as
+            # a bare "bad_json" with the bytes thrown away, which made an intermittent
+            # failure impossible to root-cause — you cannot fix what you did not keep.
+            # Dump the raw body next to the log, and record exactly where the parser gave
+            # up plus the offending byte, so one occurrence is enough to diagnose.
+            dump_path = "%s.badbody.%s" % (STATE.get("log_path", "/tmp/stub-openai"),
+                                           rec.get("seq", "x"))
+            try:
+                data = raw if isinstance(raw, (bytes, bytearray)) else str(raw).encode()
+                with open(dump_path, "wb") as fh:
+                    fh.write(data)
+            except Exception as dump_exc:
+                dump_path = "(dump failed: %s)" % dump_exc
+            pos = getattr(exc, "pos", None)
+            near = ""
+            byte_repr = ""
+            if isinstance(pos, int):
+                blob = raw if isinstance(raw, (bytes, bytearray)) else str(raw).encode()
+                near = blob[max(0, pos - 60):pos + 60].decode("utf-8", "replace")
+                if 0 <= pos < len(blob):
+                    byte_repr = "0x%02x" % blob[pos]
+            rec.update(kind="bad_json", validation="rejected",
+                       validation_detail="request body is not valid JSON: %s" % exc,
+                       http_status=400, raw_len=len(raw), raw_dump=dump_path,
+                       err_pos=pos, err_byte=byte_repr, err_near=near)
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_error(_rej("request body is not valid JSON",
+                                  "bad_json"))
+            return
+        msgs = req.get("messages") or []
+        rec["n_messages"] = len(msgs)
+        rec["n_assistant"] = sum(1 for m in msgs if isinstance(m, dict)
+                                 and m.get("role") == "assistant")
+        loaded = STATE["scenarios"]
+        cname, pid = match_scenario(loaded, msgs)
+        if cname:
+            rec.update(kind="scenario", scenario_class=cname, phrasing=pid)
+
+        # Wire-level validation runs for EVERY request, scenario or not.
+        verdict = (validate_dialect(self.headers, req)
+                   or validate_pairing([m for m in msgs
+                                        if isinstance(m, dict)])
+                   or validate_echo_args(msgs, loaded))
+        if verdict:
+            rec.update(validation="rejected",
+                       validation_detail=verdict["message"],
+                       http_status=verdict["status"])
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_error(verdict)
+            return
+
+        model = req.get("model", "gate-openai-model")
+        if not cname:
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_json(200, text_completion("ok", model))
+            return
+
+        script = (loaded["scripts"].get(cname + "/" + pid)
+                  or loaded["scripts"][cname])
+        step_idx = rec["n_assistant"]
+        if step_idx >= len(script):
+            rec.update(kind="overrun", step=step_idx)
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_json(200, text_completion(
+                "GATE-SCRIPT-EXHAUSTED %s step %d" % (pid, step_idx), model))
+            return
+
+        step = script[step_idx]
+        exp = dict(loaded["expects"][cname])
+        exp.update(step.get("expect_request", {}))
+        verdict = validate_expect(req, exp)
+        if verdict:
+            rec.update(step=step_idx, validation="rejected",
+                       validation_detail=verdict["message"],
+                       http_status=verdict["status"])
+            log_record(rec)
+            self._send_error(verdict)
+            return
+
+        status, body, delivered = render_step(step, cname, pid, step_idx,
+                                              model)
+        rec.update(step=step_idx, delivered=delivered, http_status=status)
+        log_record(rec)
+        self._send_json(status, body)
+
+    def log_message(self, *a):
+        pass
+
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    ap.add_argument("--port", type=int, required=True)
+    ap.add_argument("--scenarios",
+                    help="scenarios-openai.json (required in normal mode)")
+    ap.add_argument("--log", required=True)
+    ap.add_argument("--mode", default="normal",
+                    choices=["normal", "black-hole", "mid-body-drop",
+                             "tool-pending-forever"])
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+    if args.port in (7770, 7779, 17779):
+        raise SystemExit("stub-openai: refusing production Neuron port")
+    if args.mode == "normal" and not args.scenarios:
+        raise SystemExit("stub-openai: --scenarios is required in normal mode")
+    STATE["mode"] = args.mode
+    STATE["scenarios"] = (load_scenarios(args.scenarios)
+                          if args.scenarios else None)
+    STATE["log_path"] = args.log
+    open(args.log, "w").close()
+    n_markers = (len(STATE["scenarios"]["marker_map"])
+                 if STATE["scenarios"] else 0)
+    print("stub-openai [%s]: 127.0.0.1:%d /v1/chat/completions "
+          "(%d markers registered, log=%s)"
+          % (args.mode, args.port, n_markers, args.log), flush=True)
+    ThreadingHTTPServer(("127.0.0.1", args.port), Handler).serve_forever()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# run-el-test.sh — build and RUN one engine test (tests/*.el), printing its assertions.
+#
+# WHY THIS EXISTS (2026-08-06): the engine's tests/*.el files were never runnable from the
+# tree. `elc` is a COMPILER — it emits C to stdout and exits; it does not execute anything.
+# So "the tests" could only ever be read, not run, and a signature change could silently
+# break them (exactly what happened when bridge_save gained its `wire` argument). This
+# script closes that: emit the test to C, link it against the engine modules, execute it.
+#
+# HOW IT WORKS
+#   1. elc <test>.el              -> C on stdout (the test file's `main` + prototypes)
+#   2. elb (once, cached)         -> per-module C for the whole engine into a scratch dir
+#   3. cc test.c + all modules EXCEPT soul.c (soul.c owns the real `main`) + the runtime
+#   4. run it
+#
+# The test C references only the engine functions it actually calls, so there are no
+# duplicate-symbol collisions with the module objects.
+#
+# RUNTIME: the REPO-PINNED vendor/el-runtime (NOT ~/el-sdk/el_runtime.c — that June build
+# is missing builtins August code calls: engram_wm_count, engram_wm_top_json,
+# http_delete_json, http_serve_async; linking against it fails with "symbol(s) not found").
+#
+# USAGE
+#   tests/run-el-test.sh tests/test_bridge_serialization.el     # one test
+#   tests/run-el-test.sh --all                                  # every tests/test_*.el
+#   REBUILD=1 tests/run-el-test.sh ...                          # force module regeneration
+#
+# Tests that need a live API key / running soul (see each file's header) will report their
+# own skips or failures — this runner does not fake them.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$REPO_ROOT" || exit 2
+
+ELC="${ELC:-$HOME/el-sdk/elc}"
+ELB="${ELB:-$HOME/Development/el-sdk/bin/elb}"
+RUNTIME_DIR="${RUNTIME_DIR:-$REPO_ROOT/vendor/el-runtime/v1.0.0-20260501}"
+SCRATCH="${SCRATCH:-/tmp/el-test-$(basename "$REPO_ROOT")}"
+MODDIR="$SCRATCH/modules"
+OPENSSL_INC="${OPENSSL_INC:-/opt/homebrew/opt/openssl@3/include}"
+OPENSSL_LIB="${OPENSSL_LIB:-/opt/homebrew/opt/openssl@3/lib}"
+
+for req in "$ELC" "$ELB" "$RUNTIME_DIR/el_runtime.c"; do
+    [ -e "$req" ] || { echo "run-el-test: missing required input: $req" >&2; exit 2; }
+done
+
+mkdir -p "$MODDIR" || exit 2
+
+# ── Step 1: engine modules (cached — regeneration is the slow part) ────────────
+if [ "${REBUILD:-0}" = "1" ] || [ ! -f "$MODDIR/chat.c" ] || [ "chat.el" -nt "$MODDIR/chat.c" ]; then
+    echo "run-el-test: generating engine modules into $MODDIR (this takes ~1-2 min)..."
+    # elb's own final link step fails by design here (it wants to produce a binary named
+    # `neuron` and we only need the per-module .c files it emits first). Ignore its rc.
+    "$ELB" --elc="$ELC" --runtime="$RUNTIME_DIR" --out="$MODDIR/" >"$SCRATCH/elb.log" 2>&1
+    if [ ! -f "$MODDIR/chat.c" ]; then
+        echo "run-el-test: FATAL — elb produced no chat.c; see $SCRATCH/elb.log" >&2
+        tail -5 "$SCRATCH/elb.log" >&2
+        exit 2
+    fi
+    # elb rewrites *.elh in the source tree as a side effect (cosmetic banner churn plus a
+    # stray soul..elh). Say so; the caller decides whether to `git restore` them.
+    echo "run-el-test: NOTE — elb regenerated *.elh in the source tree (cosmetic churn is expected; a stray soul..elh may appear)."
+fi
+
+# soul.c is needed for its engine functions (layered_cycle et al.) but it also owns the
+# daemon's real `main`, which would collide with the test's own. Compile it ONCE to an
+# object with `main` renamed away, and link that instead of the .c.
+SOUL_OBJ="$SCRATCH/soul-nomain.o"
+if [ "${REBUILD:-0}" = "1" ] || [ ! -f "$SOUL_OBJ" ] || [ "$MODDIR/soul.c" -nt "$SOUL_OBJ" ]; then
+    cc -std=c11 -O1 -DHAVE_CURL -Dmain=el_soul_daemon_main_unused \
+        -I "$RUNTIME_DIR" -I "$MODDIR" -I "$OPENSSL_INC" \
+        -include dist/elp-c-decls.h -Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration \
+        -c "$MODDIR/soul.c" -o "$SOUL_OBJ" 2>"$SCRATCH/soul-nomain.err" \
+        || { echo "run-el-test: FATAL — could not compile soul.c without main" >&2
+             grep -E 'error:' "$SCRATCH/soul-nomain.err" | head -5 >&2; exit 2; }
+fi
+
+# Every module except soul.c (linked as the renamed object above) and the stray soul.elh.c.
+MODS=("$SOUL_OBJ")
+for f in "$MODDIR"/*.c; do
+    case "$(basename "$f")" in
+        soul.c|soul.elh.c) continue ;;
+    esac
+    MODS+=("$f")
+done
+[ "${#MODS[@]}" -gt 1 ] || { echo "run-el-test: no module objects found" >&2; exit 2; }
+
+run_one() {
+    local test_el="$1"
+    local name; name="$(basename "$test_el" .el)"
+    local cfile="$SCRATCH/$name.c"
+    local bin="$SCRATCH/$name"
+
+    printf '\n══ %s ══\n' "$name"
+
+    if ! "$ELC" "$test_el" >"$cfile" 2>"$SCRATCH/$name.elc.err"; then
+        echo "COMPILE FAILED (elc):"; tail -10 "$SCRATCH/$name.elc.err"; return 1
+    fi
+    [ -s "$cfile" ] || { echo "COMPILE FAILED (elc produced empty C)"; return 1; }
+
+    if ! cc -std=c11 -O1 -DHAVE_CURL -rdynamic \
+        -I "$RUNTIME_DIR" -I "$MODDIR" -I "$OPENSSL_INC" -L "$OPENSSL_LIB" \
+        -include dist/elp-c-decls.h -Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration \
+        -o "$bin" "$cfile" "${MODS[@]}" "$RUNTIME_DIR/el_runtime.c" \
+        -lssl -lcrypto -lcurl -lpthread -lm 2>"$SCRATCH/$name.link.err"; then
+        echo "LINK FAILED:"; grep -E '"_|error:' "$SCRATCH/$name.link.err" | head -10; return 1
+    fi
+
+    # THE RUNNER OWNS THE VERDICT — the test files cannot be trusted to report it.
+    #
+    # Every tests/*.el assert helper does `let pass_count = pass_count + 1` INSIDE an if
+    # BLOCK. El's scope rule (the same one chat.el documents at every while-body mutation:
+    # "mutations inside if *blocks* don't escape scope") means those counters never
+    # increment, so all 9 counted test files print "N passed, M failed" as "0 passed, 0
+    # failed" — forever, whatever actually happened. A summary that can never report a
+    # failure is worth exactly as much as an assertion that can never fail. Logged as a
+    # bug for the real in-file fix; until then the verdict is computed HERE, from the
+    # assert helpers' own per-line output, which IS reliable.
+    local out="$SCRATCH/$name.out"
+    "$bin" 2>&1 | tee "$out"; local rc=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
+
+    # NOTE: `grep -c` prints 0 AND exits 1 when there are no matches, so a `|| echo 0`
+    # fallback appends a SECOND zero and every later integer test breaks on "0\n0".
+    # (Caught by running this script — which is the whole argument for running things.)
+    local n_pass n_fail
+    n_pass=$(grep -c '^  PASS: ' "$out" 2>/dev/null); n_pass=${n_pass:-0}
+    n_fail=$(grep -c '^  FAIL: ' "$out" 2>/dev/null); n_fail=${n_fail:-0}
+    echo "── $name: $n_pass passed, $n_fail failed (counted by the runner, not by the file's dead counters)"
+    if [ "$n_fail" -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "   failing assertions:"; grep '^  FAIL: ' "$out" | sed 's/^/   /'
+        return 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$n_pass" -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "   WARNING: no assertions ran — treating as FAILURE (a test that asserts nothing is not a passing test)"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    [ $rc -eq 0 ] || { echo "   (test binary exited rc=$rc)"; return 1; }
+    return 0
+}
+
+rc_all=0
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--all" ]; then
+    for t in tests/test_*.el; do run_one "$t" || rc_all=1; done
+else
+    [ $# -ge 1 ] || { echo "usage: tests/run-el-test.sh <tests/test_x.el> | --all" >&2; exit 2; }
+    for t in "$@"; do run_one "$t" || rc_all=1; done
+fi
+exit $rc_all
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ println("1. bridge_save — empty messages guard")
 let sid1: String = "test-session-empty-messages"
 state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid1, "")

-let save1_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid1, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", "[]", "", "", "call-1")
+let save1_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid1, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", "[]", "", "", "call-1", "anthropic")
 assert_false("empty messages -> bridge_save returns false", save1_ok)

 let saved1: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid1)
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ println("2. bridge_save — empty tools_json guard")
 let sid2: String = "test-session-empty-tools"
 state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid2, "")

-let save2_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid2, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", "", "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]", "", "call-2")
+let save2_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid2, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", "", "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]", "", "call-2", "anthropic")
 assert_false("empty tools_json -> bridge_save returns false", save2_ok)

 let saved2: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid2)
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid3, "")

 let msgs3: String = "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hello\"}]"
 let tools3: String = "[{\"name\":\"read_file\"}]"
-let save3_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid3, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "You are a helper.", tools3, msgs3, "read_file", "toolu_abc")
+let save3_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid3, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "You are a helper.", tools3, msgs3, "read_file", "toolu_abc", "anthropic")
 assert_true("valid args -> bridge_save returns true", save3_ok)

 let blob3: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid3)
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid8, "")
 let special_id: String = "toolu_test\"quoted\""
 let msgs8: String = "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]"
 let tools8: String = "[{\"name\":\"read_file\"}]"
-let save8_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid8, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", tools8, msgs8, "", special_id)
+let save8_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid8, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", tools8, msgs8, "", special_id, "anthropic")
 assert_true("special chars in tool_use_id -> bridge_save returns true", save8_ok)

 let blob8: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid8)
@@ -251,6 +251,111 @@ let blob8: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid8)
 let retrieved_id: String = json_get(blob8, "tool_use_id")
 assert_eq("tool_use_id with quotes round-trips via json_safe", retrieved_id, special_id)

+// ── Section 9: the "wire" field (OpenAI-tools port, 2026-08-06) ───────────────
+//
+// A suspended turn must resume on the SAME wire format it suspended on: an OpenAI-lane
+// bridge answered with an Anthropic-shaped tool_result (or vice versa) is a dead run.
+// bridge_save therefore stamps the blob with "wire", and agentic_resume branches on it.
+//
+// §9c is the important one. json_get is a first-substring-match scanner, so any key that
+// appears inside the UNESCAPED conversation embedded in messages_raw can be matched
+// instead of the blob's own field — that exact class of bug produced the round-9 resume
+// failure (json_get(blob,"tool_use_id") matching a web_search_tool_result's id inside the
+// replayed conversation). "wire" is written as a json_safe'd SCALAR ahead of both raw
+// fields precisely so a decoy in model-controlled bytes can never win. This test plants
+// that decoy on purpose. If someone later moves the field after messages_raw, this fails.
+
+println("")
+println("9. bridge_save — wire tagging and its field-order guarantee")
+
+// 9a. an OpenAI-lane suspension round-trips as "openai"
+let sid9: String = "test-session-wire-openai"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9, "")
+let msgs9: String = "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]"
+let tools9: String = "[{\"name\":\"read_file\"}]"
+let save9_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid9, "llama-3.3-70b-versatile", "sys", tools9, msgs9, "", "call_abc", "openai")
+assert_true("openai wire -> bridge_save returns true", save9_ok)
+let blob9: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9)
+assert_eq("wire round-trips as openai", json_get(blob9, "wire"), "openai")
+
+// 9b. an Anthropic-lane suspension round-trips as "anthropic"
+let sid9b: String = "test-session-wire-anthropic"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9b, "")
+let save9b_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid9b, "claude-sonnet-4-5", "sys", tools9, msgs9, "", "toolu_abc", "anthropic")
+assert_true("anthropic wire -> bridge_save returns true", save9b_ok)
+let blob9b: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9b)
+assert_eq("wire round-trips as anthropic", json_get(blob9b, "wire"), "anthropic")
+
+// 9c. FIELD-ORDER GUARD: a decoy "wire" inside the conversation must NOT be matched.
+let sid9c: String = "test-session-wire-decoy"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9c, "")
+let msgs9c: String = "[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"please save this literal text: \\\"wire\\\":\\\"anthropic\\\" end\"}]"
+let save9c_ok: Bool = bridge_save(sid9c, "llama-3.3-70b-versatile", "sys", tools9, msgs9c, "", "call_decoy", "openai")
+assert_true("decoy conversation -> bridge_save returns true", save9c_ok)
+let blob9c: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9c)
+assert_eq("blob's own wire wins over a decoy planted in messages_raw", json_get(blob9c, "wire"), "openai")
+
+// 9d. LEGACY blob (written before the port) has no wire field: json_get yields "",
+// which agentic_resume treats as the Anthropic path — old suspensions still resume.
+let sid9d: String = "test-session-wire-legacy"
+let legacy_blob: String = "{\"model\":\"claude-sonnet-4-5\",\"safe_sys\":\"sys\",\"tools_log\":\"\""
+    + ",\"tool_use_id\":\"toolu_legacy\",\"tools_raw\":[{\"name\":\"read_file\"}]"
+    + ",\"messages_raw\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]}"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9d, legacy_blob)
+let blob9d: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9d)
+assert_eq("legacy blob has no wire field -> empty (resumes as anthropic)", json_get(blob9d, "wire"), "")
+assert_eq("legacy blob still reads its tool_use_id", json_get(blob9d, "tool_use_id"), "toolu_legacy")
+
+// 9e. THE HARDER DECOY: a LEGACY blob (no wire field of its own) that carries the bytes
+// of a wire tag deeper inside, where an unbounded first-match scan would find it and
+// misroute the resume onto the wrong loop — the round-9 defect class exactly.
+//
+// WHAT IS AND IS NOT REACHABLE (measured here, not assumed — an earlier version of this
+// test asserted the wrong thing and was corrected by running it):
+//   * NOT reachable from ordinary conversation TEXT. Any quote a user or model writes is
+//     backslash-escaped when it is serialized into the blob, so prose containing
+//     "wire":"openai" is stored as \"wire\":\"openai\" and does not match a scan for the
+//     unescaped key. §9f pins that.
+//   * REACHABLE from STRUCTURAL keys, which are embedded raw. Conversation and tool
+//     objects keep real quotes — that is precisely how round 9's scan found a
+//     web_search_tool_result's tool_use_id. A connector-supplied tool schema or a future
+//     message field literally named "wire" would be found the same way.
+// The bound removes the whole class rather than reasoning about which keys exist today.
+let sid9e: String = "test-session-wire-legacy-decoy"
+let decoy_blob: String = "{\"model\":\"claude-sonnet-4-5\",\"safe_sys\":\"sys\",\"tools_log\":\"\""
+    + ",\"tool_use_id\":\"toolu_legacy\""
+    + ",\"tools_raw\":[{\"name\":\"read_file\",\"wire\":\"openai\"}]"
+    + ",\"messages_raw\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"hi\"}]}"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9e, decoy_blob)
+let blob9e: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9e)
+
+// Unbounded read (what NOT to do) — proves the hazard this guard exists for is real.
+assert_eq("unbounded scan DOES find a structural decoy (why the bound is needed)", json_get(blob9e, "wire"), "openai")
+
+// Bounded read — the same computation agentic_resume performs.
+let d_traw: Int = str_index_of(blob9e, ",\"tools_raw\":")
+let d_tjson: Int = str_index_of(blob9e, ",\"tools_json\":")
+let d_mraw: Int = str_index_of(blob9e, ",\"messages_raw\":")
+let d_msgs: Int = str_index_of(blob9e, ",\"messages\":")
+let dcut1: Int = if d_traw > 0 { d_traw } else { str_len(blob9e) }
+let dcut2: Int = if d_tjson > 0 && d_tjson < dcut1 { d_tjson } else { dcut1 }
+let dcut3: Int = if d_mraw > 0 && d_mraw < dcut2 { d_mraw } else { dcut2 }
+let dcut: Int = if d_msgs > 0 && d_msgs < dcut3 { d_msgs } else { dcut3 }
+let head9e: String = str_slice(blob9e, 0, dcut)
+assert_eq("bounded scan ignores the decoy -> legacy blob resumes as anthropic", json_get(head9e, "wire"), "")
+assert_not_contains("scalar head excludes the bulk fields entirely", head9e, "read_file")
+
+// 9f. Escaping bounds the severity: prose CANNOT inject a scalar-looking key, because
+// its quotes are escaped on the way in. Documented as a measured fact, so nobody has to
+// re-derive it the next time this question comes up.
+let sid9f: String = "test-session-wire-prose"
+let prose_blob: String = "{\"model\":\"claude-sonnet-4-5\",\"safe_sys\":\"sys\",\"tools_log\":\"\""
+    + ",\"tool_use_id\":\"toolu_legacy\",\"tools_raw\":[{\"name\":\"read_file\"}]"
+    + ",\"messages_raw\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"remember this: \\\"wire\\\":\\\"openai\\\"\"}]}"
+state_set("mcp_bridge:" + sid9f, prose_blob)
+let blob9f: String = state_get("mcp_bridge:" + sid9f)
+assert_eq("escaped prose cannot spoof the key even unbounded (severity bound)", json_get(blob9f, "wire"), "")
+
 // ── Summary ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 println("")
@@ -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")
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+// tests/test_utf8_slice.el
+//
+// Guards utf8_safe_slice(), the fix for a live defect found 2026-08-06:
+//
+// The session preload cuts recalled memory content at a fixed length
+// (chat.el: `if str_len(acc) > 350 { str_slice(acc, 0, 350) }` and
+// session_preload_bullets' identical per-bullet cut). str_slice and str_len count
+// BYTES, so any cut landing inside a multi-byte UTF-8 character leaves a dangling
+// lead byte in the system prompt — and the whole request body is then invalid UTF-8.
+// Providers reject it outright, so the user sees "AI unavailable" with no clue why,
+// on both wire formats. Caught by an OpenAI-lane gate whose stub decodes strictly;
+// reproduced from a real memory whose content contained box-drawing rules (E2 94 80).
+//
+// Trigger is ordinary content: an em dash, a curly quote, an accented name, a table
+// border, an emoji — anything non-ASCII sitting on the cut boundary. It gets MORE
+// likely as a user's memory grows, which is the opposite of what should happen.
+//
+// §1 also pins the semantics this fix depends on: that str_char_code returns the
+// BYTE value at a byte index (not a decoded code point). If a future runtime changes
+// that, these assertions fail loudly instead of the truncation silently rotting.
+
+import "../chat.el"
+
+let pass_count: Int = 0
+let fail_count: Int = 0
+
+fn assert_eq(label: String, got: String, expected: String) -> Void {
+    if str_eq(got, expected) {
+        let pass_count = pass_count + 1
+        println("  PASS: " + label)
+    } else {
+        let fail_count = fail_count + 1
+        println("  FAIL: " + label)
+        println("    got:      " + got)
+        println("    expected: " + expected)
+    }
+}
+
+fn assert_eq_int(label: String, got: Int, expected: Int) -> Void {
+    assert_eq(label, int_to_str(got), int_to_str(expected))
+}
+
+println("")
+println("1. runtime semantics this fix relies on")
+
+// "─" is U+2500 = E2 94 80 (three bytes). If str_len counts bytes, len("─") is 3.
+let dash: String = "─"
+assert_eq_int("str_len counts BYTES (one box-drawing char = 3)", str_len(dash), 3)
+assert_eq_int("str_char_code returns the BYTE value (lead byte of U+2500 = 0xE2 = 226)", str_char_code(dash, 0), 226)
+assert_eq_int("str_char_code second byte = 0x94 = 148", str_char_code(dash, 1), 148)
+assert_eq_int("str_char_code third byte = 0x80 = 128", str_char_code(dash, 2), 128)
+
+println("")
+println("2. utf8_safe_slice — never leaves a partial character")
+
+// Pure ASCII: behaves exactly like str_slice.
+assert_eq("ascii under the limit is untouched", utf8_safe_slice("hello", 10), "hello")
+assert_eq("ascii over the limit cuts exactly", utf8_safe_slice("hello world", 5), "hello")
+
+// A cut landing INSIDE a 3-byte character must drop that character entirely.
+// "ab─cd": bytes a b E2 94 80 c d. Cutting at 3 or 4 lands mid-dash.
+let mixed: String = "ab─cd"
+assert_eq_int("fixture is 7 bytes (2 ascii + 3 + 2 ascii)", str_len(mixed), 7)
+assert_eq("cut inside the char (n=3) drops the partial char", utf8_safe_slice(mixed, 3), "ab")
+assert_eq("cut inside the char (n=4) drops the partial char", utf8_safe_slice(mixed, 4), "ab")
+// A cut landing exactly AFTER a complete character keeps it.
+assert_eq("cut on the char boundary (n=5) keeps the whole char", utf8_safe_slice(mixed, 5), "ab─")
+
+// 2-byte character (é = C3 A9) and 4-byte character (😀 = F0 9F 98 80).
+let acc: String = "xé"
+assert_eq("cut inside a 2-byte char drops it", utf8_safe_slice(acc, 2), "x")
+assert_eq("cut after a 2-byte char keeps it", utf8_safe_slice(acc, 3), "xé")
+let emo: String = "x😀"
+assert_eq("cut inside a 4-byte char drops it (n=3)", utf8_safe_slice(emo, 3), "x")
+assert_eq("cut inside a 4-byte char drops it (n=4)", utf8_safe_slice(emo, 4), "x")
+assert_eq("cut after a 4-byte char keeps it", utf8_safe_slice(emo, 5), "x😀")
+
+println("")
+println("3. the real-world shape that produced the bug")
+
+// A run of box-drawing rules, cut mid-character — the exact captured failure.
+let rules: String = "──────"
+assert_eq_int("six box rules = 18 bytes", str_len(rules), 18)
+// n=16 lands one byte into the sixth character.
+let cut16: String = utf8_safe_slice(rules, 16)
+assert_eq_int("cut at 16 backs off to a clean 15-byte boundary", str_len(cut16), 15)
+// Every byte of the result must belong to a complete character: the last byte of a
+// well-formed run of these is always 0x80, and 15 is divisible by 3.
+assert_eq_int("result ends on a complete char (last byte 0x80)", str_char_code(cut16, 14), 128)
+
+println("")
+println("test_utf8_slice.el: " + int_to_str(pass_count) + " passed, " + int_to_str(fail_count) + " failed")
@@ -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
@@ -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