An external-model bake-off, not a banking session. Nothing was banked; that is
the next session's first task.
FINDINGS
- CARD FUEL is the biggest lever, bigger than model choice: the same 10 cards
went 4/10 -> 9/10 when seed_ref/tu_ref/decl_prior were injected. The
"60-instruction ceiling" was an artifact of withholding fuel.
- Sub-50 is near-free: 19/19 verified MATCH at $0.007/function, blind.
7,724 sub-50 open functions = 73.5% of the remaining set.
- A free model (stealth/ox-alpha) cracked a 611-ins function and a jtbl
exemplar, and distilled §206 — whose two negative results were
independently byte-confirmed before banking.
- §206 transfers WITHIN a family (40 turns -> 11) but NOT across (56 turns,
0 compiles). jtbl costs ~40 turns of learning per family, not per class.
TOOL FIXES (all negative-controlled)
- family_remap.gather_externs: took the first ALPHABETICAL extern across the
overlay's TUs, carrying two types swapped (sh/lh vs lbu/sb). Now prefers
the extracted unit's own file. Blocked a 4-member/2,444-ins family.
- atlas.member_lever: aprop_card was loaded and never read while a bare
ledger DIFF forced needs-autopsy. PURE now outranks it — rescues 32
members / 11 families / 3,810 ins.
- decl_prior._ASM_SYM: the %hi/%lo arm had never fired (0 of 1,210 over four
waves). jal 306->306 zero regressions, data 0->299.
- api_agent.py (new): --cards, --brief, --max-cost, nudge loop, 429
attribution + backoff, transport retry, non-fatal tool faults, and a
repeated-call guard.
RULES PROPOSED: R40 (exonerate the instrument before attributing a failure to
its subject — seven instances this session) and R41 (a cost/rate/yield number
ships with its denominator — I quoted $0.30 against a $6.31 bill).
Drew T
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