feat(health): the gate reads the named report — reads refuse loudly, never rebuild; open serves before it returns; the ceremony door

The read gate stops consulting the unnamed isReady() boolean: every provider
may expose healthReport() (sync, O(1), composed from exact ledgers —
HealthReport with a monotonic generation, per-invariant source
ledger|deep|unledgered, missing {count, sample}), and one readiness
authority (assessProviderHealth) derives the verdict. Unledgered families
are UNKNOWN — never healthy, never broken; a report that throws is a loud
not-ready, never a shrug. Reads at the four index choke points refuse with
the typed NotReady errors, narrated once per (provider, generation) — a
read NEVER starts a store walk:

- the first-read lazy build retires (open builds instead, regardless of
  size — the ≥10k deferral and the "lazy loading on first query" branch go;
  disableAutoRebuild is re-meant honestly in its docs);
- the verify*Live read-path rebuild triggers retire (refuse-or-serve);
- the read-time consistency probe that could launch a dark rebuild from an
  ordinary find() retires;
- repairIndex({ rebuild: ['metadata'|'graph'|'vector'] | 'all' }) is the
  one explicit door: rebuilds the named leg unconditionally and reports
  rebuilt per family; bare repairIndex() stays report-driven.

test(lifecycle): the biography lane — a store's whole life, refereed

tests/lifecycle/: an independent shadow model referees every read after
every chapter (founding, a working day, clean restart, crash, repair,
second life). Chapters 1-3 green. Chapters 4-6 assert the true contract and
are marked .fails as a release-blocking finding (the kill-matrix
convention): after a crash + adopt reopen the metadata index computes its
'catchup' watermark verdict and nothing consumes it — find() serves the
pre-crash index while canonical and counts recover. The catchup wiring is
the cure; a passing .fails will force the marker's removal. The lane runs
in the integration gate (config + coverage guard).

tests/configs/vitest.integration.config.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ export default defineConfig({
     // Include only integration tests  
     include: [
       'tests/integration/**/*.test.ts',
+      // The lifecycle biography lane (day-in-the-life scenarios; see
+      // tests/lifecycle/README.md) runs in the integration gate.
+      'tests/lifecycle/**/*.test.ts',
       'tests/**/*.integration.test.ts'
     ],
     

tests/integration/cold-graph-connected-8.0.test.ts

@@ -1,29 +1,29 @@
 /**
  * @module tests/integration/cold-graph-connected-8.0
  * @description BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED (8.0) — regression coverage for the silent-empty
- * graph-traversal bug, gated on the converged 8.0 contract: a sync `graphIndex.isReady()` that
- * is true ONLY when the source→target EDGES are loaded (NOT the membership/manifest count).
+ * graph-traversal bug, gated on the honest readiness signal: a sync `graphIndex.isReady()`
+ * that is true ONLY when the source→target EDGES are loaded (NOT the membership/manifest count).
  *
- * On the FIRST `find({ connected })` after a cold process start of a LARGE brain (≥10k nouns,
- * which skips the eager index rebuild), a native graph adjacency can reload its relationship
- * COUNT (so `size() > 0`) but NOT its edges — so `getNeighbors()` returns `[]` for EVERY source
- * and brainy would serve that `[]` as if the anchor were genuinely edgeless.
+ * On the FIRST `find({ connected })` after a cold process start, a native graph adjacency can
+ * reload its relationship COUNT (so `size() > 0`) but NOT its edges — so `getNeighbors()` returns
+ * `[]` for EVERY source and brainy would serve that `[]` as if the anchor were genuinely edgeless.
  *
- * The 8.0 guard (`verifyGraphAdjacencyLive`) prefers the honest `isReady()` signal:
- *  - `isReady() === false` → hydrate the id-mapper, rebuild from storage, re-check; a still-false
- *    `isReady()` throws {@link GraphIndexNotReadyError} instead of returning `[]` ('rebuilt' when
- *    the rebuild heals it);
+ * RE-POINTED to the health-gate law: `verifyGraphAdjacencyLive` NEVER rebuilds and NEVER walks the
+ * store from a read — a read-path rebuild is exactly the dark-rebuild failure mode the law retires
+ * (open() alone owns building). The guard now:
+ *  - `isReady() === false` → THROWS {@link GraphIndexNotReadyError} immediately — no rebuild attempt;
  *  - a genuinely edgeless anchor with `isReady() === true` verifies 'live' and the empty result
- *    stands — no spurious rebuild, no throw;
- *  - a provider WITHOUT `isReady()` falls back to the shipped 7.x known-edge-sample probe.
+ *    stands — no spurious throw;
+ *  - a provider WITHOUT `isReady()` falls back to the shipped known-edge-sample probe, which is
+ *    now READ-ONLY: it refuses loudly (throws) rather than self-healing via rebuild.
  *
  * These exercise REAL `find({ connected })` against an in-memory brain whose graph index is
- * instrumented with a test-double `isReady()` (and, for the fallback case, an empty-then-healed
+ * instrumented with a test-double `isReady()` (and, for the fallback case, an always-empty
  * `getNeighbors`). Only the readiness/edge surface is wrapped; the underlying real adjacency
- * (built by `relate()`) is unmasked once a rebuild "heals" it.
+ * (built by `relate()`) is what a healthy provider actually serves.
  */
 
-import { describe, it, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest'
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { Brainy } from '../../src/index.js'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
 import { GraphIndexNotReadyError } from '../../src/errors/brainyError.js'
@@ -63,17 +63,17 @@ async function buildBrain(
 }
 
 /**
- * Instrument the brain's real graph index with a test-double `isReady()` (the 8.0 contract) plus
- * an edge surface that goes empty while NOT ready. `getNeighbors` returns `[]` while `!ready`
- * (modelling the cold-unloaded adjacency) and delegates to the REAL index once a rebuild flips
- * `ready` on. `rebuild` is counted; it heals (`ready = true`) only when `healsOnRebuild` is set.
- * Pass `failFirstRebuild` to make the FIRST rebuild throw a transient error (without healing) so
- * the empty-result re-collect path in executeGraphSearch is exercised.
+ * Instrument the brain's real graph index with a test-double `isReady()` (the honest-readiness
+ * contract) plus an edge surface that goes empty while NOT ready. `getNeighbors` returns `[]`
+ * while `!ready` (modelling the cold-unloaded adjacency) and delegates to the REAL index once
+ * `ready` flips true (used only by the "healthy" control cases — the guard itself never flips
+ * this anymore, since it never rebuilds). `rebuild` is counted so tests can assert it is NEVER
+ * called by a read.
  */
 function instrumentIsReady(
   brain: any,
-  opts: { ready: boolean; healsOnRebuild: boolean; failFirstRebuild?: boolean }
-): { rebuildCalls: number } {
+  opts: { ready: boolean }
+): { rebuildCalls: number; ready: boolean } {
   const gi = brain.graphIndex
   const origGetNeighbors = gi.getNeighbors.bind(gi)
   const state = { ready: opts.ready, rebuildCalls: 0 }
@@ -85,10 +85,6 @@ function instrumentIsReady(
 
   gi.rebuild = async (): Promise<void> => {
     state.rebuildCalls++
-    if (opts.failFirstRebuild && state.rebuildCalls === 1) {
-      throw new Error('transient rebuild hiccup')
-    }
-    if (opts.healsOnRebuild) state.ready = true // unmask the real (already-populated) adjacency
   }
 
   return state
@@ -96,12 +92,12 @@ function instrumentIsReady(
 
 /**
  * Fallback instrumentation — a provider WITHOUT `isReady()` (older cortex / JS baseline). Wraps
- * `getNeighbors` to return `[]` while `broken` and delegates to the REAL index once a rebuild
- * heals it. This is the shipped 7.x known-edge-sample probe path on 8.0.
+ * `getNeighbors` to always return `[]` while `broken`. This is the shipped known-edge-sample
+ * probe path — now READ-ONLY: it refuses loudly rather than self-healing.
  */
 function instrumentNoIsReady(
   brain: any,
-  opts: { broken: boolean; healsOnRebuild: boolean }
+  opts: { broken: boolean }
 ): { rebuildCalls: number } {
   const gi = brain.graphIndex
   // Ensure the provider does NOT expose isReady() — the default JS provider doesn't.
@@ -114,13 +110,12 @@ function instrumentNoIsReady(
 
   gi.rebuild = async (): Promise<void> => {
     state.rebuildCalls++
-    if (opts.healsOnRebuild) state.broken = false
   }
 
   return state
 }
 
-describe('BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED 8.0 — isReady()-gated, never serves a silent []', () => {
+describe('BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED 8.0 — isReady()-gated, never serves a silent [], never rebuilds from a read', () => {
   let brains: any[] = []
   afterEach(async () => {
     for (const b of brains) {
@@ -131,35 +126,37 @@ describe('BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED 8.0 — isReady()-gated, never serves a si
       }
     }
     brains = []
+    vi.restoreAllMocks()
   })
 
-  it('(a) isReady() false → rebuild heals it true → find({ connected }) returns correct N (rebuilt)', async () => {
-    const { brain, anchorId, targetIds } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
-    brains.push(brain)
-    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false, healsOnRebuild: true })
-
-    const results = await brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
-
-    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1) // detected not-ready + healed it
-    const ids = results.map((r: any) => r.id).sort()
-    expect(ids).toEqual(targetIds.sort()) // B, C, D — the real edges, served after the heal
-  })
-
-  it('(b) isReady() stays false after rebuild → throws GraphIndexNotReadyError (NOT a silent [])', async () => {
+  it('(a) isReady() false → THROWS GraphIndexNotReadyError immediately, no rebuild attempt', async () => {
     const { brain, anchorId } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
     brains.push(brain)
-    instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false, healsOnRebuild: false }) // rebuild never makes it ready
+    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false })
 
     await expect(
       brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
     ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(GraphIndexNotReadyError)
+
+    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBe(0) // a read never rebuilds — it refuses loudly instead
+  })
+
+  it('(b) isReady() stays false → throws GraphIndexNotReadyError (NOT a silent [])', async () => {
+    const { brain, anchorId } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
+    brains.push(brain)
+    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false })
+
+    await expect(
+      brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(GraphIndexNotReadyError)
+    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBe(0)
   })
 
   it('(c) edgeless anchor + isReady() true → returns [] with NO rebuild and NO throw', async () => {
     // The anchor has no edges, but E -> F does — the adjacency is genuinely loaded (ready).
     const { brain, anchorId } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: false })
     brains.push(brain)
-    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: true, healsOnRebuild: false })
+    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: true })
 
     const results = await brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
 
@@ -170,7 +167,7 @@ describe('BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED 8.0 — isReady()-gated, never serves a si
   it('(d) healthy isReady() true → correct results, NO rebuild', async () => {
     const { brain, anchorId, targetIds } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
     brains.push(brain)
-    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: true, healsOnRebuild: false })
+    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: true })
 
     const results = await brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
 
@@ -179,30 +176,30 @@ describe('BRAINY-COLD-GRAPH-CONNECTED 8.0 — isReady()-gated, never serves a si
     expect(ids).toEqual(targetIds.sort())
   })
 
-  it('(e) provider WITHOUT isReady() → falls back to the known-edge-sample probe (self-heals)', async () => {
-    const { brain, anchorId, targetIds } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
+  it('(e) provider WITHOUT isReady() → the known-edge-sample probe REFUSES LOUDLY (never self-heals)', async () => {
+    const { brain, anchorId } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
     brains.push(brain)
-    const state = instrumentNoIsReady(brain, { broken: true, healsOnRebuild: true })
+    const state = instrumentNoIsReady(brain, { broken: true })
 
-    const results = await brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
+    await expect(
+      brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(GraphIndexNotReadyError)
 
-    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1) // detected the empty adjacency + healed it
-    const ids = results.map((r: any) => r.id).sort()
-    expect(ids).toEqual(targetIds.sort()) // B, C, D — served after the heal
+    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBe(0) // the fallback probe is READ-ONLY — it never calls rebuild()
   })
 
-  it('(f) executeGraphSearch re-collect: a transient first rebuild leaves connectedIds empty; the empty-result guard then heals + re-collects', async () => {
-    // First verify (inside neighbors()) hits a transient rebuild failure → returns 'live' without
-    // healing, so getNeighbors stays empty and connectedIds is empty. The empty connectedIds set
-    // then drives executeGraphSearch's own verify, whose rebuild now heals → 'rebuilt' → re-collect.
-    const { brain, anchorId, targetIds } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
+  it('(f) an empty connectedIds set re-verifies against a not-serving adjacency and throws, rather than serving [] as truth', async () => {
+    // executeGraphSearch's cold-load guard (connectedIds.size === 0 → re-verify) used to
+    // interpret a healed rebuild as "re-collect and serve." That rebuild-and-heal path is
+    // retired: the re-verify now either confirms a genuinely edgeless anchor ('live', case (c))
+    // or — as here — discovers the adjacency itself is not serving, and throws.
+    const { brain, anchorId } = await buildBrain({ anchorEdges: true })
     brains.push(brain)
-    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false, healsOnRebuild: true, failFirstRebuild: true })
+    const state = instrumentIsReady(brain, { ready: false })
 
-    const results = await brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
-
-    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2) // first transient, second heals
-    const ids = results.map((r: any) => r.id).sort()
-    expect(ids).toEqual(targetIds.sort()) // re-collected after the heal
+    await expect(
+      brain.find({ connected: { from: anchorId, direction: 'out' }, limit: 10 })
+    ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(GraphIndexNotReadyError)
+    expect(state.rebuildCalls).toBe(0)
   })
 })

tests/integration/health-gate.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,352 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/integration/health-gate
+ * @description Pins for the health-by-accounting read gate: the read gate stops
+ * consulting an unnamed `isReady()` boolean and reads a NAMED, sync, O(1)
+ * {@link HealthReport}; no read path may ever start a store walk; the open path
+ * brings every provider to serving before it returns; an explicit operator door
+ * (`repairIndex({ rebuild: [...] })`) rebuilds a named leg unconditionally.
+ *
+ * Providers here are white-box test doubles: a `healthReport()` (or, for the
+ * interim-path pins, an `isReady()`) function assigned directly onto the LIVE
+ * JS provider object, the same pattern `tests/unit/validate-invariants-delegation.test.ts`
+ * uses for `validateInvariants`. This exercises brainy's real gate/verify code
+ * against a controlled provider self-report — no engine mocks.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import {
+  Brainy,
+  NounType,
+  VerbType,
+  GraphIndexNotReadyError,
+  MetadataIndexNotReadyError,
+  VectorIndexNotReadyError
+} from '../../src/index.js'
+import type { HealthReport, LedgerInvariantResult } from '../../src/plugin.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../../src/utils/logger.js'
+import { createTestConfig } from '../helpers/test-factory.js'
+
+/** The white-box surface these pins drive on a live brain instance. */
+interface BrainInternals {
+  storage: {
+    getNoun(id: string): Promise<unknown>
+    getNounMetadata(id: string): Promise<unknown>
+    getNouns(options?: unknown): Promise<unknown>
+    getVerbs(options?: unknown): Promise<unknown>
+  }
+  index: { healthReport?: () => HealthReport; isReady?: () => boolean; rebuild(): Promise<void> }
+  metadataIndex: {
+    healthReport?: () => HealthReport
+    isReady?: () => boolean
+    rebuild(): Promise<void>
+    validateInvariants?: () => Promise<unknown>
+  }
+  graphIndex: {
+    healthReport?: () => HealthReport
+    isReady?: () => boolean
+    rebuild(): Promise<void>
+    validateInvariants?: () => Promise<unknown>
+  }
+  rebuildIndexesIfNeeded(force?: boolean): Promise<void>
+}
+
+function internalsOf(brain: Brainy): BrainInternals {
+  return brain as unknown as BrainInternals
+}
+
+function invariant(overrides: Partial<LedgerInvariantResult> = {}): LedgerInvariantResult {
+  return {
+    name: 'manifest-residency',
+    holds: true,
+    detail: 'ok',
+    heal: 'none',
+    source: 'ledger',
+    ...overrides
+  }
+}
+
+function healthReport(overrides: Partial<HealthReport> = {}): HealthReport {
+  return {
+    provider: 'vector',
+    healthy: true,
+    serving: true,
+    invariants: [],
+    checkedAt: Date.now(),
+    durationMs: 1,
+    generation: 1,
+    unledgered: [],
+    ...overrides
+  }
+}
+
+const brains: Brainy[] = []
+const dirs: string[] = []
+afterEach(async () => {
+  for (const b of brains.splice(0)) await b.close().catch(() => {})
+  for (const d of dirs.splice(0)) rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  vi.restoreAllMocks()
+})
+
+describe('health gate (a) — not-serving refuses loudly, ZERO canonical reads during the refusal', () => {
+  it('metadata not-serving: find() throws MetadataIndexNotReadyError naming the failing invariant', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'row', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.metadataIndex.healthReport = () =>
+      healthReport({
+        provider: 'metadata',
+        serving: false,
+        healthy: false,
+        invariants: [invariant({ name: 'posted-count-floor', holds: false, heal: 'rebuild', detail: 'posted 2 < canonical 5' })]
+      })
+
+    const getNounSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.storage, 'getNoun')
+    const getNounMetadataSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.storage, 'getNounMetadata')
+    const getNounsSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.storage, 'getNouns')
+
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(MetadataIndexNotReadyError)
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).rejects.toThrow(/posted-count-floor/)
+
+    expect(getNounSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(getNounMetadataSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(getNounsSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    delete internals.metadataIndex.healthReport
+  })
+
+  it('graph not-serving: related() throws GraphIndexNotReadyError naming the failing invariant, no canonical reads', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    const a = await brain.add({ data: 'a', type: NounType.Person })
+    const b = await brain.add({ data: 'b', type: NounType.Person })
+    await brain.relate({ from: a, to: b, type: VerbType.Knows })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.graphIndex.healthReport = () =>
+      healthReport({
+        provider: 'graph',
+        serving: false,
+        healthy: false,
+        invariants: [invariant({ name: 'adjacency-residency', holds: false, heal: 'rebuild', detail: 'edges not loaded' })]
+      })
+
+    const getNounSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.storage, 'getNoun')
+    const getVerbsSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.storage, 'getVerbs')
+
+    await expect(brain.related({ from: a })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(GraphIndexNotReadyError)
+    await expect(brain.related({ from: a })).rejects.toThrow(/adjacency-residency/)
+
+    expect(getNounSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(getVerbsSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    delete internals.graphIndex.healthReport
+  })
+})
+
+describe('health gate (b) — unledgered is unknown: never blocks a serving provider', () => {
+  it('serving:true with an unledgered family and no failing invariant serves normally; at most one narration', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'row', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.metadataIndex.healthReport = () =>
+      healthReport({
+        provider: 'metadata',
+        serving: true,
+        healthy: true,
+        invariants: [],
+        unledgered: ['canonical-verb-coverage']
+      })
+
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+
+    const r1 = await brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    const r2 = await brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    expect(r1.length).toBe(1)
+    expect(r2.length).toBe(1)
+
+    const narrations = warnSpy.mock.calls.filter(
+      ([msg]) => typeof msg === 'string' && msg.includes('canonical-verb-coverage')
+    )
+    expect(narrations.length).toBe(1) // one narration at most across both reads (same generation)
+
+    delete internals.metadataIndex.healthReport
+  })
+})
+
+describe('health gate (c) — degraded-but-serving narrates once per generation', () => {
+  it('a heal:"repair" failure serves; narrates once per generation, twice across a generation bump', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'row', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    let generation = 1
+    internals.index.healthReport = () =>
+      healthReport({
+        provider: 'vector',
+        serving: true,
+        healthy: false,
+        invariants: [invariant({ name: 'stale-vector-counter', holds: false, heal: 'repair', detail: 'counter drift' })],
+        generation
+      })
+
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    const countNarrations = () =>
+      warnSpy.mock.calls.filter(([msg]) => typeof msg === 'string' && msg.includes('stale-vector-counter')).length
+
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).resolves.toHaveLength(1)
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).resolves.toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(countNarrations()).toBe(1) // same generation both times — one narration
+
+    generation = 2
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).resolves.toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(countNarrations()).toBe(2) // generation bumped — a second narration
+
+    delete internals.index.healthReport
+  })
+})
+
+describe('health gate (d) — interim isReady()-only path (no healthReport) is unchanged', () => {
+  it('isReady() === true serves; isReady() === false refuses via the typed NotReady error', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'row', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.metadataIndex.isReady = () => true
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).resolves.toHaveLength(1)
+
+    internals.metadataIndex.isReady = () => false
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(MetadataIndexNotReadyError)
+
+    delete internals.metadataIndex.isReady
+  })
+})
+
+describe('health gate (e) — open builds; the first read never does', () => {
+  it('disableAutoRebuild:true on a populated store: open narrates + builds; the first find() triggers zero rebuilds', async () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'brainy-healthgate-open-'))
+    dirs.push(dir)
+
+    const writer = new Brainy({
+      storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+      requireSubtype: false,
+      silent: true,
+      disableAutoRebuild: true
+    })
+    await writer.init()
+    brains.push(writer)
+    await writer.add({ data: 'row one', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await writer.flush()
+    await brains.pop()!.close()
+
+    const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(prodLog, 'warn')
+    const reader = new Brainy({
+      storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir },
+      requireSubtype: false,
+      silent: true,
+      disableAutoRebuild: true
+    })
+    const internals = internalsOf(reader)
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded')
+
+    await reader.init()
+    brains.push(reader)
+
+    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1) // open() built it, exactly once
+    expect(
+      warnSpy.mock.calls.some(
+        ([msg]) => typeof msg === 'string' && msg.includes('open() is building')
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+
+    rebuildSpy.mockClear()
+    const rows = await reader.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0) // the read never builds
+    expect(rows.length).toBe(1)
+  }, 30000)
+})
+
+describe('health gate (f) — the ceremony door: explicit rebuild bypasses invariant consultation', () => {
+  it("repairIndex({ rebuild: ['graph'] }) rebuilds unconditionally without consulting validateInvariants", async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'x', type: NounType.Concept })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    let validateCalls = 0
+    internals.graphIndex.validateInvariants = async () => {
+      validateCalls++
+      return healthReport({ provider: 'graph' })
+    }
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.graphIndex, 'rebuild')
+
+    const report = await brain.repairIndex({ rebuild: ['graph'] })
+
+    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(validateCalls).toBe(0) // the door never consults validateInvariants to decide
+
+    const graphFamily = report.families.find((f) => f.family === 'provider:graph')
+    expect(graphFamily?.rebuilt).toBe(true)
+    expect(graphFamily?.checked).toBe(true)
+    expect(graphFamily?.reason).toBe('explicit rebuild requested')
+
+    delete internals.graphIndex.validateInvariants
+  })
+
+  it('bare repairIndex() on a healthy provider calls no rebuild()', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'x', type: NounType.Concept })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.graphIndex.validateInvariants = async () => healthReport({ provider: 'graph', healthy: true, serving: true })
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals.graphIndex, 'rebuild')
+
+    await brain.repairIndex()
+
+    expect(rebuildSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+
+    delete internals.graphIndex.validateInvariants
+  })
+})
+
+describe('health gate (g) — a throwing healthReport() is a contract violation, never read as healthy', () => {
+  it('healthReport() that throws refuses loudly with the typed NotReady error naming the throw', async () => {
+    const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ silent: true }))
+    await brain.init()
+    brains.push(brain)
+    await brain.add({ data: 'row', type: NounType.Document, metadata: { team: 'atlas' } })
+    await brain.flush()
+
+    const internals = internalsOf(brain)
+    internals.index.healthReport = () => {
+      throw new Error('accelerator: mmap window busy')
+    }
+
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(VectorIndexNotReadyError)
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { team: 'atlas' } })).rejects.toThrow(/mmap window busy/)
+
+    delete internals.index.healthReport
+  })
+})

tests/lifecycle/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# The Lifecycle Lane
+
+One brain, driven through founding, a working day, a clean restart, a
+crash, a repair, and a second life, checked chapter by chapter against an
+independent shadow-model referee (`biographyHarness.ts`). It catches
+COMPOSITION regressions unit tests miss — a store fine in one process but
+broken across a restart/crash/repair. Runs on the plain JS engine, so it
+gates every commit.
+
+Run it: `npx vitest run tests/lifecycle --pool=forks`
+
+A red names the chapter label, the id, and expected-vs-actual — diagnosable
+from the message alone. `biography.test.ts` is split into two `it` blocks
+(Ch1-3, then Ch4-6) purely for reporting; it is still ONE fixed-order story.
+Chapters must never be reordered, skipped, or made conditional, and a
+failing chapter's assertion must never be weakened to force green.

tests/lifecycle/biography.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,429 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/lifecycle/biography
+ * @description THE LIFECYCLE LANE — see `tests/lifecycle/README.md` for what
+ * this proves and how to run it. One scenario, "the working store": a single
+ * brain driven through founding, a working day, a clean restart, a crash, a
+ * repair, and a second life, verified chapter by chapter against an
+ * independent shadow-model referee (`biographyHarness.ts`).
+ *
+ * Split into two `it` blocks so a currently-failing later chapter (see the
+ * second block's header comment — a live engine finding, not a defect in
+ * this lane) never hides the earlier chapters' passing coverage. The two
+ * blocks share one brain's directory and one shadow model, run in the SAME
+ * fixed order the single scenario always has (`describe.sequential` below
+ * exists to say so explicitly, though vitest's own default is sequential
+ * within a file) — this is a split for REPORTING clarity, not a reordering
+ * or conditional skip of any chapter.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs'
+import { NounType, VerbType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import type { Brainy } from '../../src/brainy.js'
+import type { AddParams, RelateParams, UpdateParams, UpdateRelationParams } from '../../src/index.js'
+import { abandonAsCrashed, makeTempDir, openBrain, uid } from '../helpers/durabilityKillMatrix.js'
+import {
+  createModel,
+  getCanonicalCountsFor,
+  modelAdd,
+  modelDelete,
+  modelRelate,
+  modelUpdate,
+  modelUpdateRelation,
+  recordVfsFileWrite,
+  snapshotVfsBaseline,
+  verifyChapter,
+  type HubCheck,
+  type ShadowModel
+} from './biographyHarness.js'
+
+const STATUSES = ['active', 'pending', 'closed', 'archived'] as const
+
+/** Cycle a status value to the next one in the fixed rotation — used so
+ * Ch2's 40 updates provably MOVE entities across find() buckets rather than
+ * risking a no-op reassignment of the same value. */
+function nextStatus(current: unknown): (typeof STATUSES)[number] {
+  const currentStr = typeof current === 'string' ? current : STATUSES[0]
+  const idx = STATUSES.indexOf(currentStr as (typeof STATUSES)[number])
+  return STATUSES[(idx < 0 ? 0 : idx + 1) % STATUSES.length]
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Shared biography state — set up by the first `it`, consumed by the second.
+// The two blocks are one continuous story told in two named pieces; nothing
+// here resets or diverges between them.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+let dir: string
+let model: ShadowModel
+let brain: Brainy
+let hubs: HubCheck[]
+let employees: string[]
+let customers: string[]
+let invoices: string[]
+let tasks: string[]
+let projects: string[]
+let nonHub: string[]
+
+// ---- Wrappers: every call to the real brain updates the shadow model in
+// the same statement, so the two can never drift apart by construction.
+// Defined once, closing over the `let` bindings above so both `it` blocks
+// (and any future reopen inside them) operate on the current brain/model.
+async function doAdd(label: string, params: Omit<AddParams, 'id'>): Promise<string> {
+  const id = uid(label)
+  await brain.add({ ...params, id })
+  modelAdd(model, id, {
+    type: params.type,
+    subtype: params.subtype,
+    metadata: params.metadata ?? {},
+    visibility: params.visibility
+  })
+  return id
+}
+
+async function doUpdate(id: string, patch: Omit<UpdateParams, 'id'>): Promise<void> {
+  await brain.update({ ...patch, id })
+  modelUpdate(model, id, { metadata: patch.metadata, merge: patch.merge, visibility: patch.visibility })
+}
+
+async function doRemove(id: string): Promise<void> {
+  await brain.remove(id)
+  modelDelete(model, id)
+}
+
+async function doRelate(params: RelateParams): Promise<string> {
+  const id = await brain.relate(params)
+  modelRelate(model, id, {
+    from: params.from,
+    to: params.to,
+    type: params.type,
+    subtype: params.subtype,
+    metadata: params.metadata
+  })
+  return id
+}
+
+async function doUpdateRelation(id: string, patch: Omit<UpdateRelationParams, 'id'>): Promise<void> {
+  await brain.updateRelation({ ...patch, id })
+  modelUpdateRelation(model, id, { metadata: patch.metadata, merge: patch.merge })
+}
+
+async function doVfsWrite(path: string, content: string): Promise<void> {
+  await brain.vfs.writeFile(path, content)
+  recordVfsFileWrite(model)
+}
+
+describe.sequential('lifecycle — the working store', () => {
+  it(
+    'Ch1 FOUNDING -> Ch2 A WORKING DAY -> Ch3 CLEAN RESTART: every read serves truth',
+    async () => {
+      process.env.BRAINY_DETERMINISTIC_EMBEDDINGS = 'true'
+      dir = makeTempDir()
+      model = createModel()
+
+      // logAuthority: 'adopt' from the first open, mirrored across every
+      // reopen — see write-flow-production-shape.test.ts, which the later
+      // crash chapter's at-ack law is pinned against.
+      brain = await openBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+
+      // =================================================================
+      // CHAPTER 1 — FOUNDING
+      // =================================================================
+      // Baseline MUST be snapshotted before any biography act — it is the
+      // VFS root's own system-tier footprint, measured, never hardcoded.
+      await snapshotVfsBaseline(brain, model)
+
+      employees = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
+        employees.push(
+          await doAdd(`emp-${i}`, {
+            data: `employee record ${i}`,
+            type: NounType.Person,
+            subtype: 'employee',
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length], department: ['engineering', 'sales', 'support'][i % 3] }
+          })
+        )
+      }
+      customers = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
+        customers.push(
+          await doAdd(`cust-${i}`, {
+            data: `customer record ${i}`,
+            type: NounType.Person,
+            subtype: 'customer',
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length], tier: i % 2 === 0 ? 'gold' : 'standard' }
+          })
+        )
+      }
+      invoices = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 30; i++) {
+        invoices.push(
+          await doAdd(`inv-${i}`, {
+            data: `invoice record ${i}`,
+            type: NounType.Document,
+            subtype: 'invoice',
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length], amount: 100 + i * 17 }
+          })
+        )
+      }
+      tasks = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 25; i++) {
+        tasks.push(
+          await doAdd(`task-${i}`, {
+            data: `task record ${i}`,
+            type: NounType.Task,
+            subtype: 'milestone',
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length], priority: (i % 5) + 1 }
+          })
+        )
+      }
+      projects = []
+      for (let i = 0; i < 25; i++) {
+        projects.push(
+          await doAdd(`proj-${i}`, {
+            data: `project record ${i}`,
+            type: NounType.Project,
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length], budget: 1000 * (i + 1) }
+          })
+        )
+      }
+      expect(employees.length + customers.length + invoices.length + tasks.length + projects.length).toBe(120)
+
+      // Five hubs (proj-0..proj-4) fan out to tasks (Contains) and employees
+      // (WorksWith); a residual band of invoice->customer RelatedTo edges is
+      // unrelated to any hub. Hubs are never touched again for the rest of
+      // the biography, so they stay valid adjacency samples in every chapter.
+      const hubIds = projects.slice(0, 5)
+      for (let h = 0; h < 5; h++) {
+        for (let k = 0; k < 15; k++) {
+          const taskIdx = (h * 5 + k) % tasks.length
+          await doRelate({ from: hubIds[h], to: tasks[taskIdx], type: VerbType.Contains, subtype: 'delivers' })
+        }
+        for (let k = 0; k < 10; k++) {
+          const empIdx = (h * 4 + k) % employees.length
+          await doRelate({ from: hubIds[h], to: employees[empIdx], type: VerbType.WorksWith })
+        }
+      }
+      for (let j = 0; j < 25; j++) {
+        await doRelate({ from: invoices[j], to: customers[j % customers.length], type: VerbType.RelatedTo, subtype: 'billed-to' })
+      }
+      expect(model.relations.size).toBe(150)
+
+      // A handful of VFS files.
+      for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+        await doVfsWrite(`/report-${i}.txt`, `founding report ${i}`)
+      }
+
+      await brain.flush()
+
+      hubs = hubIds.map((id) => ({ id, typeFilters: [VerbType.Contains, VerbType.WorksWith] }))
+      await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch1 FOUNDING', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+      // =================================================================
+      // CHAPTER 2 — A WORKING DAY
+      // =================================================================
+      // Non-hub pool for every mutation below.
+      nonHub = [...employees, ...customers, ...invoices, ...tasks, ...projects.slice(5)]
+
+      // 40 updates that provably MOVE entities across find() status buckets.
+      const updateTargets = nonHub.slice(0, 40)
+      for (const id of updateTargets) {
+        const current = model.entities.get(id)!.metadata.status
+        await doUpdate(id, { metadata: { status: nextStatus(current) } })
+      }
+
+      // 10 visibility flips (public -> internal).
+      const visibilityTargets = nonHub.slice(40, 50)
+      for (const id of visibilityTargets) {
+        await doUpdate(id, { visibility: 'internal' })
+      }
+
+      // 15 deletes — some hub members (their edges cascade away), 3 of them
+      // earmarked for Ch6's resurrection.
+      const resurrectIds = [tasks[0], tasks[1], employees[0]]
+      const otherDeletes = [
+        tasks[2], tasks[3], tasks[4], tasks[5], tasks[6],
+        employees[1], employees[2], employees[3],
+        customers[0], customers[1], customers[2], customers[3]
+      ]
+      const ch2DeleteTargets = [...resurrectIds, ...otherDeletes]
+      expect(ch2DeleteTargets.length).toBe(15)
+      for (const id of ch2DeleteTargets) {
+        await doRemove(id)
+      }
+
+      // 20 new adds.
+      const ch2NewTypes = [NounType.Person, NounType.Document, NounType.Task]
+      for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
+        await doAdd(`ch2-new-${i}`, {
+          data: `working-day addition ${i}`,
+          type: ch2NewTypes[i % ch2NewTypes.length],
+          subtype: 'ad-hoc',
+          metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length] }
+        })
+      }
+
+      // 10 updateRelation metadata patches — read AFTER the deletes above,
+      // so only relations the cascade left alive are ever targeted.
+      const survivingRelationIds = [...model.relations.keys()].slice(0, 10)
+      expect(survivingRelationIds.length).toBe(10)
+      for (const relId of survivingRelationIds) {
+        await doUpdateRelation(relId, { metadata: { reviewed: true } })
+      }
+
+      await brain.flush()
+      await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch2 A WORKING DAY', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+      // =================================================================
+      // CHAPTER 3 — CLEAN RESTART
+      // =================================================================
+      await brain.close()
+      brain = await openBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+      await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch3 CLEAN RESTART', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+      // Leave the brain closed and the directory intact for the next `it`
+      // (the biography continues there) — do NOT remove `dir` here.
+      await brain.close()
+    },
+    300000
+  )
+
+  /**
+   * Ch4 CRASH is a LIVE ENGINE FINDING, not a defect in this lane (see
+   * README.md and the project report this lane's build produced): after a
+   * crash (writes acked at commit but never flushed, the process abandoned
+   * exactly as `abandonAsCrashed` models, then reopened), canonical storage
+   * (`get()`), the vector index, and `getNounCount()`/`getCanonicalCounts()`
+   * all correctly recover every acked write — but the METADATA INDEX behind
+   * `find({ where })` recovers NONE of the crash-window's acked writes
+   * (neither new adds nor metadata updates to pre-existing entities), even
+   * though `getIndexStatus()` reports `projections.metadata.synchronous:
+   * true`. `repairIndex()` cannot close the gap either: its own report names
+   * `provider:metadata` as `checked: false, skipped: "no
+   * validateInvariants/rebuild contract"`. The assertion below states the
+   * TRUE contract (find() must agree with get()) and is expected to fail
+   * against the current engine — it must never be loosened to paper over
+   * this. Ch5/Ch6 are written in full below it and will start running the
+   * moment this gap is closed; they are not dead code, they are blocked code.
+   */
+  // RELEASE-BLOCKING FINDING (the kill-matrix convention: assert the CONTRACT,
+  // mark `.fails`, never weaken): after a crash + adopt reopen, the JS metadata
+  // index computes its watermark verdict but nothing consumes 'catchup'
+  // (metadataIndex.ts loadWatermarkVerdict) — find() serves the pre-crash
+  // index while get()/counts recover. The catchup wiring is the cure; when it
+  // lands this `.fails` marker MUST be removed (vitest will force it: a
+  // passing `.fails` test is itself a failure).
+  it.fails(
+    'Ch4 CRASH -> Ch5 REPAIR -> Ch6 SECOND LIFE: continues the Ch3 store',
+    async () => {
+      try {
+        brain = await openBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+
+        // ===============================================================
+        // CHAPTER 4 — CRASH
+        // ===============================================================
+        const ch4Types = [NounType.Person, NounType.Document, NounType.Task, NounType.Project]
+        for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+          await doAdd(`ch4-new-${i}`, {
+            data: `crash-window addition ${i}`,
+            type: ch4Types[i % ch4Types.length],
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length] }
+          })
+        }
+        const ch4UpdateTargets = nonHub.slice(50, 55) // invoices[10..14] — untouched so far
+        for (const id of ch4UpdateTargets) {
+          await doUpdate(id, { metadata: { status: 'active' } })
+        }
+        // NO flush — abandon exactly the way process death would (the
+        // at-ack law: every write already awaited above must survive).
+        await abandonAsCrashed(brain)
+        brain = await openBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+        await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch4 CRASH', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+        // ===============================================================
+        // CHAPTER 5 — REPAIR
+        // ===============================================================
+        const report = await brain.repairIndex()
+        for (const family of report.families) {
+          const accounted =
+            family.checked === true || (family.checked === false && typeof family.skipped === 'string' && family.skipped.length > 0)
+          expect(
+            accounted,
+            `[Ch5 REPAIR] family '${family.family}' must be checked or explicitly skipped with a reason; got ${JSON.stringify(family)}`
+          ).toBe(true)
+        }
+        // A healthy store: repair must change nothing the model doesn't
+        // already expect — verifyChapter against the UNCHANGED model proves it.
+        await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch5 REPAIR', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+        // ===============================================================
+        // CHAPTER 6 — SECOND LIFE
+        // ===============================================================
+        const ch6Types = [NounType.Person, NounType.Document, NounType.Task, NounType.Project]
+        for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+          await doAdd(`ch6-new-${i}`, {
+            data: `second-life addition ${i}`,
+            type: ch6Types[i % ch6Types.length],
+            metadata: { status: STATUSES[i % STATUSES.length] }
+          })
+        }
+        const ch6UpdateTargets = nonHub.slice(55, 65) // invoices[15..24] — untouched so far
+        expect(ch6UpdateTargets.every((id) => model.entities.get(id)!.alive)).toBe(true)
+        for (const id of ch6UpdateTargets) {
+          await doUpdate(id, { metadata: { status: 'closed' } })
+        }
+        const ch6DeleteTargets = nonHub
+          .slice(65, 90) // invoices[25..29] + tasks[0..19] (some already dead — filtered below)
+          .filter((id) => model.entities.get(id)!.alive)
+          .slice(0, 7)
+        expect(ch6DeleteTargets.length).toBe(7)
+        for (const id of ch6DeleteTargets) {
+          await doRemove(id)
+        }
+
+        // Resurrection: the SAME three ids Ch2 deleted, reinserted with
+        // BRAND-NEW metadata — the model expects the new metadata only.
+        await doAdd('task-0', { data: 'resurrected task 0', type: NounType.Task, subtype: 'milestone', metadata: { status: 'active', resurrected: true } })
+        await doAdd('task-1', { data: 'resurrected task 1', type: NounType.Task, subtype: 'milestone', metadata: { status: 'pending', resurrected: true } })
+        await doAdd('emp-0', { data: 'resurrected employee 0', type: NounType.Person, subtype: 'employee', metadata: { status: 'active', resurrected: true } })
+        expect(tasks[0]).toBe(uid('task-0')) // same id as Ch1/Ch2 — the resurrection-adjacent shape
+
+        await brain.close()
+        brain = await openBrain(dir, { logAuthority: 'adopt' })
+        await verifyChapter(brain, model, 'Ch6 SECOND LIFE', { hubs, bucketField: 'status' })
+
+        // Final, standalone getCanonicalCounts() exactness check (beyond
+        // verifyChapter's own (f) leg) — the whole ledger, in one shot.
+        const finalCounts = await getCanonicalCountsFor(brain)
+        const aliveEntities = [...model.entities.values()].filter((e) => e.alive)
+        const alivePublicEntities = aliveEntities.filter((e) => (e.visibility ?? 'public') === 'public')
+        const aliveVerbs = model.relations.size
+        expect(finalCounts, 'final getCanonicalCounts() exactness — Ch6 SECOND LIFE').toEqual({
+          nouns: {
+            counted: alivePublicEntities.length + model.vfsFileNouns,
+            all: aliveEntities.length + model.vfsFileNouns + model.vfsBaselineNouns
+          },
+          verbs: {
+            counted: aliveVerbs + model.vfsContainsVerbs,
+            all: aliveVerbs + model.vfsContainsVerbs + model.vfsBaselineVerbs
+          },
+          suspect: false
+        })
+      } finally {
+        await brain.close().catch(() => {})
+        // Best-effort, retried: a still-draining background persistence
+        // write (e.g. count/index write-through) can race a single rmSync
+        // and leave a partial directory behind — retry a couple of times
+        // rather than let this temp dir leak.
+        for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 3; attempt++) {
+          try {
+            fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+            if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) break
+          } catch {
+            // ignore and retry
+          }
+          await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100))
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    300000
+  )
+})

tests/lifecycle/biographyHarness.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,389 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/lifecycle/biographyHarness
+ * @description The referee for the LIFECYCLE LANE (see `biography.test.ts`):
+ * a plain in-memory SHADOW MODEL of a brain's contents, updated by every act
+ * the biography performs (add/update/remove/relate/updateRelation/vfs writes),
+ * plus `verifyChapter()`, which asserts the live brain agrees with the model
+ * after every chapter. No engine code runs inside the model — it is an
+ * independent ledger, not a mirror of the implementation under test.
+ *
+ * COUNT SEMANTICS this harness encodes (verified against the live engine,
+ * not assumed — see the module-level comments below for how each was
+ * confirmed):
+ *
+ * - `getNounCount()` / `getVerbCount()` count PUBLIC-tier alive records only
+ *   (visibility absent or `'public'`) — `'internal'` and `'system'` are both
+ *   excluded. `storage.getCanonicalCounts()` mirrors that same PUBLIC-only
+ *   scalar as `counted`, and additionally reports `all` — every tier,
+ *   unfiltered — as the coverage-ledger denominator (see
+ *   tests/integration/canonical-count-ledger.test.ts).
+ * - `brain.vfs.writeFile()` for a brand-new file at a path directly under the
+ *   VFS root creates exactly ONE new File noun plus ONE new `Contains` verb
+ *   (root -> file), and BOTH are ordinary PUBLIC records (no visibility
+ *   field is set) — so they count toward `getNounCount()`/`getVerbCount()`
+ *   as well as the canonical `all` scalars. Only the VFS ROOT entity itself
+ *   is `'system'`-tier (created once, at `init()`, before any biography
+ *   chapter runs) — that lone record is the only hidden-tier footprint the
+ *   model does not construct explicitly, so it is captured empirically via
+ *   `snapshotVfsBaseline()` immediately after `init()` rather than hardcoded.
+ * - `related()` filters edges by the RELATION's own visibility tier, not by
+ *   the visibility of the entities the edge connects — flipping an entity to
+ *   `'internal'` does not hide its edges from `related()`. This lane never
+ *   sets relation visibility, so every relation the model tracks is exactly
+ *   as reachable as its presence in `model.relations` implies.
+ * - `remove()` cascades: every relation touching the removed entity (as
+ *   `from` or `to`) is hard-deleted along with it. The model mirrors this by
+ *   deleting the relation entirely from `model.relations` (no relation
+ *   "alive" flag — presence in the map IS aliveness).
+ */
+import { expect } from 'vitest'
+import type { Brainy } from '../../src/brainy.js'
+import type { NounType, VerbType } from '../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import type { EntityVisibility, StorageAdapter } from '../../src/coreTypes.js'
+
+/**
+ * One entity's complete lifecycle-relevant state, as the biography's acts
+ * leave it. `alive: false` means the model believes the id has been removed
+ * — the entry is KEPT (never deleted from the map) so `verifyChapter` can
+ * assert the negative half of the contract: a dead id must read as `null`.
+ */
+export interface ShadowEntity {
+  type: NounType
+  subtype?: string
+  metadata: Record<string, unknown>
+  visibility?: EntityVisibility
+  alive: boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * One relation's complete lifecycle-relevant state. There is no `alive`
+ * flag here — presence in {@link ShadowModel.relations} IS aliveness,
+ * mirroring the engine's hard delete of the canonical verb record on
+ * cascade (see the module header).
+ */
+export interface ShadowRelation {
+  from: string
+  to: string
+  type: VerbType
+  subtype?: string
+  metadata: Record<string, unknown>
+}
+
+/**
+ * The independent truth ledger the biography updates on every act it
+ * performs. `verifyChapter` checks the live brain against this — never the
+ * other way around.
+ */
+export interface ShadowModel {
+  entities: Map<string, ShadowEntity>
+  relations: Map<string, ShadowRelation>
+  /**
+   * `getCanonicalCounts()` nouns.all / verbs.all captured right after
+   * `init()`, before chapter 1 — the VFS root's own system-tier footprint.
+   * Set once via {@link snapshotVfsBaseline}; never hardcoded.
+   */
+  vfsBaselineNouns: number
+  vfsBaselineVerbs: number
+  /**
+   * Public nouns/verbs created by `vfs.writeFile()` for a brand-new file at
+   * a flat top-level path: exactly one File noun + one Contains verb per
+   * call (see the module header). Bumped by {@link recordVfsFileWrite}.
+   */
+  vfsFileNouns: number
+  vfsContainsVerbs: number
+}
+
+/** A fresh, empty shadow model — call once before chapter 1. */
+export function createModel(): ShadowModel {
+  return {
+    entities: new Map(),
+    relations: new Map(),
+    vfsBaselineNouns: 0,
+    vfsBaselineVerbs: 0,
+    vfsFileNouns: 0,
+    vfsContainsVerbs: 0
+  }
+}
+
+/** Narrow, documented private-storage access (the same style already used by
+ * `tests/helpers/durabilityKillMatrix.ts`'s `storeOf()`), needed because
+ * `getCanonicalCounts()` lives on the storage adapter, not on `Brainy`. */
+function storageOf(brain: Brainy): StorageAdapter {
+  return (brain as unknown as { storage: StorageAdapter }).storage
+}
+
+/** Public wrapper around the private-storage `getCanonicalCounts()` read, so
+ * callers never need their own private-access cast — used internally by
+ * {@link snapshotVfsBaseline} and {@link verifyChapter}, and by
+ * `biography.test.ts` for its final standalone exactness check. */
+export async function getCanonicalCountsFor(brain: Brainy): ReturnType<NonNullable<StorageAdapter['getCanonicalCounts']>> {
+  const storage = storageOf(brain)
+  if (!storage.getCanonicalCounts) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'lifecycle lane: the storage adapter under test has no getCanonicalCounts() — the canonical-count-exactness leg of this lane is unrepresentable without it.'
+    )
+  }
+  return storage.getCanonicalCounts()
+}
+
+/**
+ * Snapshot the VFS root's own hidden-tier footprint. Call exactly once,
+ * immediately after `init()` and before chapter 1 does anything — this is
+ * the ONE baseline offset the model does not construct by hand (see the
+ * module header for why: the root is `'system'`-tier plumbing the biography
+ * never explicitly creates).
+ */
+export async function snapshotVfsBaseline(brain: Brainy, model: ShadowModel): Promise<void> {
+  const counts = await getCanonicalCountsFor(brain)
+  model.vfsBaselineNouns = counts.nouns.all
+  model.vfsBaselineVerbs = counts.verbs.all
+}
+
+/**
+ * Record one `brain.vfs.writeFile()` call for a brand-new file at a flat
+ * top-level path (no intermediate directories). Bumps both the noun and verb
+ * VFS counters by one, matching the engine's actual write path exactly (see
+ * the module header) — never call this for an overwrite of an existing path,
+ * a nested path (which would also vivify intermediate directory nouns/edges,
+ * a different, unmodeled shape), or the biography loses its exactness.
+ */
+export function recordVfsFileWrite(model: ShadowModel): void {
+  model.vfsFileNouns += 1
+  model.vfsContainsVerbs += 1
+}
+
+/** Record a fresh `add()` (or a Ch6 resurrection — `Map.set` fully replaces
+ * whatever a prior dead entry held, which is exactly the "new metadata only"
+ * contract a resurrection must honor). */
+export function modelAdd(
+  model: ShadowModel,
+  id: string,
+  entity: { type: NounType; subtype?: string; metadata: Record<string, unknown>; visibility?: EntityVisibility }
+): void {
+  model.entities.set(id, {
+    type: entity.type,
+    subtype: entity.subtype,
+    metadata: { ...entity.metadata },
+    visibility: entity.visibility,
+    alive: true
+  })
+}
+
+/** Record an `update()` — merges metadata by default, matching the engine's
+ * `merge: true` default; pass `merge: false` to mirror a full replace. */
+export function modelUpdate(
+  model: ShadowModel,
+  id: string,
+  patch: { metadata?: Record<string, unknown>; merge?: boolean; visibility?: EntityVisibility }
+): void {
+  const existing = model.entities.get(id)
+  if (!existing || !existing.alive) {
+    throw new Error(`shadow model: update() targeted ${id}, which the model does not have alive — biography sequencing bug`)
+  }
+  if (patch.metadata) {
+    existing.metadata = patch.merge === false ? { ...patch.metadata } : { ...existing.metadata, ...patch.metadata }
+  }
+  if (patch.visibility !== undefined) {
+    existing.visibility = patch.visibility
+  }
+}
+
+/** Record a `remove()` — marks the entity dead (entry retained, per
+ * {@link ShadowEntity}) and cascades: every relation touching it, in either
+ * direction, is hard-deleted from the model too (matching the engine). */
+export function modelDelete(model: ShadowModel, id: string): void {
+  const existing = model.entities.get(id)
+  if (!existing || !existing.alive) {
+    throw new Error(`shadow model: remove() targeted ${id}, which the model does not have alive — biography sequencing bug`)
+  }
+  existing.alive = false
+  for (const [relId, rel] of model.relations) {
+    if (rel.from === id || rel.to === id) model.relations.delete(relId)
+  }
+}
+
+/** Record a `relate()` — `id` is the relation id the real call returned. */
+export function modelRelate(
+  model: ShadowModel,
+  id: string,
+  relation: { from: string; to: string; type: VerbType; subtype?: string; metadata?: Record<string, unknown> }
+): void {
+  model.relations.set(id, {
+    from: relation.from,
+    to: relation.to,
+    type: relation.type,
+    subtype: relation.subtype,
+    metadata: { ...(relation.metadata ?? {}) }
+  })
+}
+
+/** Record an `updateRelation()` metadata patch — merges by default. */
+export function modelUpdateRelation(
+  model: ShadowModel,
+  id: string,
+  patch: { metadata?: Record<string, unknown>; merge?: boolean }
+): void {
+  const existing = model.relations.get(id)
+  if (!existing) {
+    throw new Error(`shadow model: updateRelation() targeted ${id}, which the model does not have — biography sequencing bug`)
+  }
+  if (patch.metadata) {
+    existing.metadata = patch.merge === false ? { ...patch.metadata } : { ...existing.metadata, ...patch.metadata }
+  }
+}
+
+/** Order-independent structural equality for plain JSON-shaped metadata. */
+function deepEqual(a: unknown, b: unknown): boolean {
+  if (a === b) return true
+  if (typeof a !== typeof b) return false
+  if (a === null || b === null) return a === b
+  if (typeof a !== 'object') return false
+  const aKeys = Object.keys(a as Record<string, unknown>)
+  const bKeys = Object.keys(b as Record<string, unknown>)
+  if (aKeys.length !== bKeys.length) return false
+  for (const k of aKeys) {
+    if (!deepEqual((a as Record<string, unknown>)[k], (b as Record<string, unknown>)[k])) return false
+  }
+  return true
+}
+
+/** One hub entity to sample for the `related()` adjacency check, plus the
+ * verb type(s) it is known (by biography construction) to have OUT-edges
+ * of, so the type-filtered variant is exercised too. */
+export interface HubCheck {
+  id: string
+  typeFilters: VerbType[]
+}
+
+/** Options steering one `verifyChapter()` call. */
+export interface VerifyOptions {
+  /** Hub entities to sample for the `related()` adjacency check. */
+  hubs: HubCheck[]
+  /** The metadata field `find()` bucket-checks against (a bare string field
+   * every alive entity may or may not carry — distinct values present among
+   * ALIVE model entities are discovered automatically each call, so a
+   * chapter that moves entities across buckets is re-checked exactly). */
+  bucketField: string
+}
+
+/**
+ * Assert the live brain agrees with the model, in full, after one chapter.
+ * Every failure message names the chapter `label`, the id (where
+ * applicable), and expected-vs-actual — a red here must be diagnosable from
+ * the assertion message alone, with no need to re-read this file.
+ */
+export async function verifyChapter(brain: Brainy, model: ShadowModel, label: string, opts: VerifyOptions): Promise<void> {
+  // (a) + (b): every alive entity reads back exactly as modeled; every dead
+  // entity reads as null.
+  for (const [id, entity] of model.entities) {
+    const live = await brain.get(id)
+    if (entity.alive) {
+      expect(live, `[${label}] alive entity ${id} (type=${entity.type}) must be readable via get(), got null`).not.toBeNull()
+      const e = live!
+      expect(e.type, `[${label}] entity ${id} .type mismatch: expected ${entity.type}, got ${e.type}`).toBe(entity.type)
+      expect(e.subtype, `[${label}] entity ${id} .subtype mismatch: expected ${JSON.stringify(entity.subtype)}, got ${JSON.stringify(e.subtype)}`).toBe(entity.subtype)
+      expect(
+        e.visibility,
+        `[${label}] entity ${id} .visibility mismatch: expected ${JSON.stringify(entity.visibility)}, got ${JSON.stringify(e.visibility)}`
+      ).toBe(entity.visibility)
+      const metaMatches = deepEqual(e.metadata ?? {}, entity.metadata)
+      expect(
+        metaMatches,
+        `[${label}] entity ${id} .metadata mismatch: expected ${JSON.stringify(entity.metadata)}, got ${JSON.stringify(e.metadata)}`
+      ).toBe(true)
+    } else {
+      expect(live, `[${label}] dead entity ${id} (type=${entity.type}) must read as null, got ${JSON.stringify(live)}`).toBeNull()
+    }
+  }
+
+  // (c) find({ where: { <bucketField>: value } }) returns exactly the
+  // model's matching alive set, per distinct value currently present.
+  const bucketValues = new Set<string>()
+  for (const entity of model.entities.values()) {
+    if (!entity.alive) continue
+    const v = entity.metadata[opts.bucketField]
+    if (typeof v === 'string') bucketValues.add(v)
+  }
+  for (const value of bucketValues) {
+    const expectedIds = [...model.entities.entries()]
+      .filter(([, e]) => e.alive && e.metadata[opts.bucketField] === value)
+      .map(([id]) => id)
+      .sort()
+    const results = await brain.find({
+      where: { [opts.bucketField]: value } as Record<string, unknown>,
+      includeInternal: true,
+      limit: 100000
+    })
+    const actualIds = results.map((r) => r.id).sort()
+    expect(
+      actualIds,
+      `[${label}] find({ where: { ${opts.bucketField}: ${JSON.stringify(value)} } }) mismatch: expected ${expectedIds.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(expectedIds)}, got ${actualIds.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(actualIds)}`
+    ).toEqual(expectedIds)
+  }
+
+  // (d) related(id) / related(id, { type }) for the hub sample matches the
+  // model's adjacency exactly (out-edges — related(id) is shorthand for
+  // { from: id }).
+  for (const hub of opts.hubs) {
+    const expectedAll = [...model.relations.entries()]
+      .filter(([, r]) => r.from === hub.id)
+      .map(([id]) => id)
+      .sort()
+    const liveAll = await brain.related({ from: hub.id, limit: 100000 })
+    const actualAllIds = liveAll.map((r) => r.id).sort()
+    expect(
+      actualAllIds,
+      `[${label}] related(${hub.id}) mismatch: expected ${expectedAll.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(expectedAll)}, got ${actualAllIds.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(actualAllIds)}`
+    ).toEqual(expectedAll)
+
+    for (const typeFilter of hub.typeFilters) {
+      const expectedTyped = [...model.relations.entries()]
+        .filter(([, r]) => r.from === hub.id && r.type === typeFilter)
+        .map(([id]) => id)
+        .sort()
+      const liveTyped = await brain.related({ from: hub.id, type: typeFilter, limit: 100000 })
+      const actualTypedIds = liveTyped.map((r) => r.id).sort()
+      expect(
+        actualTypedIds,
+        `[${label}] related(${hub.id}, { type: '${typeFilter}' }) mismatch: expected ${expectedTyped.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(expectedTyped)}, got ${actualTypedIds.length} ids ${JSON.stringify(actualTypedIds)}`
+      ).toEqual(expectedTyped)
+    }
+  }
+
+  // (e) getNounCount() / getVerbCount(): PUBLIC-tier alive records
+  // (visibility absent/'public'; 'internal' and 'system' both excluded — see
+  // the module header) plus the VFS's own public contributions.
+  const alivePublicNouns = [...model.entities.values()].filter((e) => e.alive && (e.visibility ?? 'public') === 'public').length
+  const aliveVerbs = model.relations.size
+  const expectedNounCount = alivePublicNouns + model.vfsFileNouns
+  const expectedVerbCount = aliveVerbs + model.vfsContainsVerbs
+  expect(
+    await brain.getNounCount(),
+    `[${label}] getNounCount() mismatch: expected ${expectedNounCount} (alive public entities ${alivePublicNouns} + vfs file nouns ${model.vfsFileNouns})`
+  ).toBe(expectedNounCount)
+  expect(
+    await brain.getVerbCount(),
+    `[${label}] getVerbCount() mismatch: expected ${expectedVerbCount} (alive relations ${aliveVerbs} + vfs contains verbs ${model.vfsContainsVerbs})`
+  ).toBe(expectedVerbCount)
+
+  // (f) getCanonicalCounts(): ALL-visibility scalars (every tier) equal the
+  // model's alive totals including hidden tiers, plus the VFS's own
+  // contributions (both file nouns/verbs AND the once-measured root
+  // baseline). suspect must be false — every delete in this biography goes
+  // through brain.remove(), which always proves the record it decrements.
+  const ledger = await getCanonicalCountsFor(brain)
+  const aliveAllNouns = [...model.entities.values()].filter((e) => e.alive).length
+  const expectedNounsAll = aliveAllNouns + model.vfsFileNouns + model.vfsBaselineNouns
+  const expectedVerbsAll = aliveVerbs + model.vfsContainsVerbs + model.vfsBaselineVerbs
+  expect(
+    ledger.nouns.all,
+    `[${label}] getCanonicalCounts().nouns.all mismatch: expected ${expectedNounsAll} (alive incl. internal ${aliveAllNouns} + vfs file nouns ${model.vfsFileNouns} + vfs root baseline ${model.vfsBaselineNouns})`
+  ).toBe(expectedNounsAll)
+  expect(
+    ledger.verbs.all,
+    `[${label}] getCanonicalCounts().verbs.all mismatch: expected ${expectedVerbsAll} (alive relations ${aliveVerbs} + vfs contains verbs ${model.vfsContainsVerbs} + vfs root baseline ${model.vfsBaselineVerbs})`
+  ).toBe(expectedVerbsAll)
+  expect(ledger.nouns.counted, `[${label}] getCanonicalCounts().nouns.counted mismatch (should mirror getNounCount())`).toBe(expectedNounCount)
+  expect(ledger.verbs.counted, `[${label}] getCanonicalCounts().verbs.counted mismatch (should mirror getVerbCount())`).toBe(expectedVerbCount)
+  expect(ledger.suspect, `[${label}] getCanonicalCounts().suspect must be false — every delete in this biography proves its record`).toBe(false)
+}

tests/unit/brainy/lazy-notready-honor.test.ts

@@ -1,38 +1,49 @@
 /**
  * @module tests/unit/brainy/lazy-notready-honor
  * @description THE SILENT-EMPTY TRAP pin (found during a fleet adoption,
- * SELF-ENGINE-PAIR-STANDARD): under `disableAutoRebuild: true`, the lazy
+ * SELF-ENGINE-PAIR-STANDARD): under `disableAutoRebuild: true`, the OLD lazy
  * first-query path (`ensureIndexesLoaded`) assessed ONLY the vector index's
  * readiness — a native METADATA provider reporting not-ready (its strand
  * report) never blocked the completion latch, so the promised lazy rebuild
- * never fired and every `find()` silently returned `[]` on a populated
- * store (measured: 52 entities durable-but-unqueryable, first query
- * 0ms/0 rows). The law: a not-ready report from ANY provider falls through
- * to the rebuild — never a silent empty.
+ * never fired and every `find()` silently returned `[]` on a populated store
+ * (measured: 52 entities durable-but-unqueryable, first query 0ms/0 rows).
+ *
+ * RE-POINTED to the health-gate law (a read never builds; a rebuild runs
+ * entirely at open): `ensureIndexesLoaded()` is now a pure CHECK. A not-ready
+ * report from ANY provider — metadata, vector, or graph — makes it THROW the
+ * matching typed `*NotReadyError` rather than silently letting the read
+ * proceed, and it NEVER calls `rebuildIndexesIfNeeded` (that is entirely
+ * open()'s job now — see the second describe block below). The spirit is
+ * unchanged: a not-ready report from any single provider can never be
+ * shadowed into a silent empty result.
  *
  * White-box provider-double pattern per tests/unit/brainy/migration-deference.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { Brainy } from '../../../src/index.js'
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { Brainy, MetadataIndexNotReadyError } from '../../../src/index.js'
 import { NounType } from '../../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
 import { createTestConfig } from '../../helpers/test-factory.js'
 
 interface BrainInternals {
   index: { size(): number }
   metadataIndex: { isReady?: () => boolean }
-  lazyRebuildCompleted: boolean
-  ensureIndexesLoaded(): Promise<void>
+  ensureIndexesLoaded(): void
   rebuildIndexesIfNeeded(force?: boolean): Promise<void>
 }
 
 const brains: Brainy[] = []
+const dirs: string[] = []
 
 afterEach(async () => {
   for (const b of brains.splice(0)) await b.close().catch(() => {})
+  for (const d of dirs.splice(0)) rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true })
   vi.restoreAllMocks()
 })
 
-async function warmLazyBrain(): Promise<{ brain: Brainy; internals: BrainInternals }> {
+async function warmBrain(): Promise<{ brain: Brainy; internals: BrainInternals }> {
   const brain = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ disableAutoRebuild: true }))
   await brain.init()
   brains.push(brain)
@@ -40,36 +51,59 @@ async function warmLazyBrain(): Promise<{ brain: Brainy; internals: BrainInterna
     await brain.add({ data: `row ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, metadata: { i } })
   }
   const internals = brain as unknown as BrainInternals
-  internals.lazyRebuildCompleted = false // simulate the cold first query
   return { brain, internals }
 }
 
-describe('lazy path honors EVERY provider’s not-ready report', () => {
-  it('a not-ready METADATA provider blocks the completion latch and fires the rebuild', async () => {
-    const { internals } = await warmLazyBrain()
+describe('the read gate honors EVERY provider’s not-ready report', () => {
+  it('a not-ready METADATA provider refuses loudly — it never lets a read proceed, and it never rebuilds', async () => {
+    const { internals } = await warmBrain()
 
     // The trap's shape: vector side looks fine (populated), metadata
-    // provider says NOT ready — the old gate latched complete here.
-    ;(internals.metadataIndex as { isReady?: () => boolean }).isReady = () => false
-    const rebuildSpy = vi
-      .spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded')
-      .mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    // provider says NOT ready — the OLD gate silently latched complete here.
+    // The new gate refuses loudly instead; a read never triggers a rebuild.
+    internals.metadataIndex.isReady = () => false
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded').mockResolvedValue(undefined)
 
-    await internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()
-
-    expect(rebuildSpy, 'not-ready metadata provider must fire the lazy rebuild').toHaveBeenCalledWith(true)
+    expect(() => internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()).toThrow(MetadataIndexNotReadyError)
+    expect(rebuildSpy, 'a read NEVER triggers a rebuild — building is entirely open()\'s job now').not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
-  it('control: all providers ready/unknown+populated → latch completes, no rebuild', async () => {
-    const { internals } = await warmLazyBrain()
-    ;(internals.metadataIndex as { isReady?: () => boolean }).isReady = () => true
-    const rebuildSpy = vi
-      .spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded')
-      .mockResolvedValue(undefined)
-
-    await internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()
+  it('control: all providers ready/unknown+populated → the gate lets the read through, no rebuild', async () => {
+    const { internals } = await warmBrain()
+    internals.metadataIndex.isReady = () => true
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded').mockResolvedValue(undefined)
 
+    expect(() => internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()).not.toThrow()
     expect(rebuildSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-    expect(internals.lazyRebuildCompleted).toBe(true)
   })
 })
+
+describe('the open-time build honors the same law: a needed rebuild runs at open, never deferred to a read', () => {
+  it('disableAutoRebuild:true does not defer a needed rebuild past open() on a reopened, populated store', async () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'brainy-lazy-notready-honor-'))
+    dirs.push(dir)
+
+    const writer = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ disableAutoRebuild: true, storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir } }))
+    await writer.init()
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      await writer.add({ data: `row ${i}`, type: NounType.Document, metadata: { i } })
+    }
+    await writer.flush()
+    await writer.close()
+
+    // Fresh instance over the same store: its derived indexes start empty in
+    // memory, so open()'s rebuildIndexesIfNeeded MUST fire (and complete)
+    // before init() returns — even though disableAutoRebuild is true, there
+    // is no first-query lazy path left to defer to.
+    const reader = new Brainy(createTestConfig({ disableAutoRebuild: true, storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: dir } }))
+    const internals = reader as unknown as { rebuildIndexesIfNeeded(force?: boolean): Promise<void> }
+    const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded')
+
+    await reader.init()
+    brains.push(reader)
+
+    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    const rows = await reader.find({ where: { i: 1 } })
+    expect(rows.length).toBe(1)
+  }, 30000)
+})

tests/unit/brainy/metadata-provider-contract.test.ts

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 /**
  * @module tests/unit/brainy/metadata-provider-contract
- * @description Brainy-side wiring of the two metadata-provider contract additions
- * confirmed with cor for the lockstep:
+ * @description Brainy-side wiring of the metadata-provider contract.
  *
- *  1. `probeConsistency()` — an OPTIONAL O(1) cold-open consistency sampler. On the
- *     first read, brainy calls it once; on `false` it self-heals via
- *     `detectAndRepairCorruption()` (the metadata counterpart of the graph cold-load
- *     guard). The native provider implements it; the JS index omits it (no-op).
- *  2. `getIdsForFilter(filter, opts?)` — brainy passes a page bound on the UNSORTED
- *     `find({ type, where, limit })` path so a native provider can early-stop. The JS
- *     index ignores `opts`.
+ * `getIdsForFilter(filter, opts?)` — brainy passes a page bound on the UNSORTED
+ * `find({ type, where, limit })` path so a native provider can early-stop. The JS
+ * index ignores `opts`.
+ *
+ * RETIRED (health-gate law): `probeConsistency()` / `ensureMetadataConsistencyProbed()`
+ * — a read-time consistency probe that launches `detectAndRepairCorruption()` on
+ * `false` was exactly the read-triggered dark rebuild the law forbids (a read must
+ * never start a store walk or a rebuild). The probe's diagnostic value lives on in
+ * `validateIndexConsistency()` / `repairIndex()`, which remain explicit, operator-invoked
+ * calls. The pin below confirms the retirement: `probeConsistency()` is never called by
+ * a read, even when a provider exposes it.
  *
  * These are unit tests of brainy's CALL behaviour (the real end-to-end honoring is
  * exercised by cor's combined matrix); they inject probe/spy hooks onto the live JS
@@ -19,7 +22,7 @@ import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
 import { Brainy } from '../../../src/brainy'
 import { NounType } from '../../../src/types/graphTypes'
 
-describe('metadata-provider contract wiring (probeConsistency + getIdsForFilter opts)', () => {
+describe('metadata-provider contract wiring (getIdsForFilter opts)', () => {
   let brain: Brainy<any>
   let mi: any
 
@@ -29,47 +32,23 @@ describe('metadata-provider contract wiring (probeConsistency + getIdsForFilter
     await brain.add({ data: 'a', type: NounType.Thing, metadata: { kind: 'x' } })
     await brain.add({ data: 'b', type: NounType.Thing, metadata: { kind: 'y' } })
     mi = (brain as any).metadataIndex
-    ;(brain as any)._metadataConsistencyProbed = false // reset the one-shot guard
   })
 
-  it('calls probeConsistency once on cold open and self-heals via detectAndRepairCorruption on false', async () => {
+  it('RETIRED: a read never calls probeConsistency() / self-heals via detectAndRepairCorruption — that is the read-triggered dark rebuild the health-gate law forbids', async () => {
     let probes = 0
     let repairs = 0
-    mi.probeConsistency = async () => { probes++; return false } // corrupt → must repair
+    mi.probeConsistency = async () => { probes++; return false } // would-be corrupt signal
     const origRepair = mi.detectAndRepairCorruption.bind(mi)
     mi.detectAndRepairCorruption = async () => { repairs++; return origRepair() }
 
     await brain.find({ where: { kind: 'x' } })
-    expect(probes).toBe(1)
-    expect(repairs).toBe(1)
-
-    // Second read must NOT re-probe (once per brain).
     await brain.find({ where: { kind: 'y' } })
-    expect(probes).toBe(1)
-    expect(repairs).toBe(1)
-  })
 
-  it('does NOT repair when the probe reports healthy', async () => {
-    let repairs = 0
-    mi.probeConsistency = async () => true // clean
-    const origRepair = mi.detectAndRepairCorruption.bind(mi)
-    mi.detectAndRepairCorruption = async () => { repairs++; return origRepair() }
+    expect(probes).toBe(0) // no read-time probe exists anymore
+    expect(repairs).toBe(0) // and therefore no read-triggered self-heal either
 
-    await brain.find({ where: { kind: 'x' } })
-    expect(repairs).toBe(0)
-  })
-
-  it('a probe failure never breaks the read (best-effort, retried next time)', async () => {
-    let probes = 0
-    mi.probeConsistency = async () => { probes++; throw new Error('probe boom') }
-
-    // The read still succeeds despite the throwing probe.
-    const rows = await brain.find({ where: { kind: 'x' } })
-    expect(rows.length).toBe(1)
-    expect(probes).toBe(1)
-    // Guard reset on failure → the next read retries the probe.
-    await brain.find({ where: { kind: 'y' } })
-    expect(probes).toBe(2)
+    delete mi.probeConsistency
+    mi.detectAndRepairCorruption = origRepair
   })
 
   it('passes a page bound to getIdsForFilter on the unsorted find path (offset 0, brainy re-windows)', async () => {

tests/unit/brainy/migration-deference.test.ts

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, it, expect, afterEach, vi } from 'vitest'
-import { Brainy } from '../../../src/index.js'
+import { Brainy, VectorIndexNotReadyError } from '../../../src/index.js'
 import { NounType } from '../../../src/types/graphTypes.js'
 import { createTestConfig } from '../../helpers/test-factory.js'
 import { BaseStorage } from '../../../src/storage/baseStorage.js'
@@ -43,9 +43,8 @@ interface BrainInternals {
   metadataIndex: { rebuild(...a: unknown[]): Promise<unknown> }
   graphIndex: { size(): number; rebuild(...a: unknown[]): Promise<unknown> }
   _indexEpochStale: boolean
-  lazyRebuildCompleted: boolean
   rebuildIndexesIfNeeded(force?: boolean): Promise<void>
-  ensureIndexesLoaded(): Promise<void>
+  ensureIndexesLoaded(): void
   storage: { readRawObject(p: string): Promise<unknown> }
 }
 
@@ -181,40 +180,40 @@ describe('rc.8 no-freeze migration deference (isMigrating / stampBrainFormat / b
     expect(idxSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   })
 
-  // --- Hook 1: large-path first-query lazy force-rebuild deference ----------
+  // --- Hook 1: read-gate deference (RE-POINTED — the health-gate law retired
+  // the first-query lazy force-rebuild entirely: ensureIndexesLoaded() is now
+  // a pure CHECK that never calls rebuildIndexesIfNeeded, migrating or not.
+  // What survives from the original law is the DEFERENCE itself: a migrating
+  // provider's report is never judged by the gate — it neither throws nor
+  // rebuilds — while the exact same not-ready report on a NON-migrating
+  // provider throws the typed error instead of ever rebuilding.) ------------
 
-  it('lazy first-query force-rebuild is SKIPPED when the vector provider isMigrating()', async () => {
-    // disableAutoRebuild routes first queries through ensureIndexesLoaded() (the
-    // large-brain lazy path that would otherwise force a blocking rebuild).
+  it('the read gate defers to a migrating vector provider — a not-ready report neither throws nor rebuilds', async () => {
     const brain = await makeWarmBrain(2, { disableAutoRebuild: true })
     const internals = internalsOf(brain)
 
     const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded').mockResolvedValue(undefined)
-    // Simulate a cold/empty live vector index (cor is mid-swap, serving canonical).
-    vi.spyOn(internals.index, 'size').mockReturnValue(0)
-    internals.lazyRebuildCompleted = false
+    // Simulate a not-ready live vector index (cor is mid-swap, serving canonical).
+    ;(internals.index as unknown as { isReady?: () => boolean }).isReady = () => false
     setMigrating(internals.index, true)
 
-    await internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()
-
-    // A query during cor's background swap must not trigger brainy's blocking rebuild.
+    expect(() => internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()).not.toThrow()
+    // A query during cor's background swap must not trigger brainy's own
+    // rebuild — reads never rebuild in any case, migrating or not.
     expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0)
   })
 
-  it('lazy first-query force-rebuild STILL fires when the vector provider is not migrating (control)', async () => {
+  it('the read gate THROWS for the same not-ready vector provider once migration clears (control)', async () => {
     const brain = await makeWarmBrain(2, { disableAutoRebuild: true })
     const internals = internalsOf(brain)
 
     const rebuildSpy = vi.spyOn(internals, 'rebuildIndexesIfNeeded').mockResolvedValue(undefined)
-    vi.spyOn(internals.index, 'size').mockReturnValue(0)
-    internals.lazyRebuildCompleted = false
+    ;(internals.index as unknown as { isReady?: () => boolean }).isReady = () => false
     // No isMigrating → not deferring.
 
-    await internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()
-
-    // Without deference, the cold empty index drives the lazy force-rebuild.
-    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
-    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true)
+    expect(() => internals.ensureIndexesLoaded()).toThrow(VectorIndexNotReadyError)
+    // Still never rebuilds — the gate refuses loudly instead.
+    expect(rebuildSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0)
   })
 
   // --- Hook 2: public stampBrainFormat() -----------------------------------

tests/unit/metadata-cold-read-guard.test.ts

@@ -3,10 +3,14 @@
  * reported cold `find({ where })` returning a silent `[]` on a freshly-opened
  * brain (a native metadata index that reports data but has not loaded its field
  * postings). This guard, the field-index counterpart of verifyGraphAdjacencyLive,
- * probes a known persisted value on the first filtered find(): if the index does
- * not serve it, brainy rebuilds and re-probes, and raises a loud
- * MetadataIndexNotReadyError only if the rebuild still can't serve — never a
- * silent empty result that misrepresents existing data.
+ * probes a known persisted value on the first filtered find().
+ *
+ * RE-POINTED to the health-gate law: the guard NEVER rebuilds and NEVER walks
+ * the store from a read — a read-path rebuild is exactly the dark-rebuild
+ * failure mode the law retires (open() alone owns building). When the probe
+ * cannot serve the known value it raises a loud MetadataIndexNotReadyError
+ * IMMEDIATELY, with no rebuild attempt in between — never a silent empty
+ * result that misrepresents existing data.
  *
  * The 8.0 JS index cold-loads correctly, so we simulate the cold native failure
  * mode by intercepting the provider's getIdsForFilter/rebuild.
@@ -42,37 +46,19 @@ describe('Metadata cold-read guard (#venue silent-[])', () => {
     mi.rebuild = origRebuild
   })
 
-  it('cold index: verifyMetadataLive self-heals via rebuild — find({where}) is correct, NOT silent []', async () => {
+  it('cold index: verifyMetadataLive REFUSES immediately — find({where}) throws MetadataIndexNotReadyError, NEVER a silent [], and NEVER a rebuild attempt', async () => {
     const mi = brain.metadataIndex
     const origGetIds = mi.getIdsForFilter.bind(mi)
+    let rebuilds = 0
     const origRebuild = mi.rebuild.bind(mi)
-    let cold = true
     brain._metadataVerified = false // re-arm the one-shot for this scenario
-    mi.getIdsForFilter = async (...a: any[]) => (cold ? [] : origGetIds(...a))
-    mi.rebuild = async () => {
-      await origRebuild()
-      cold = false // the rebuild warms the postings
-    }
-    try {
-      const res = await brain.find({ where: { status: 'active' }, limit: 100 })
-      expect(res.length).toBe(1) // self-healed — the known entity is returned
-    } finally {
-      mi.getIdsForFilter = origGetIds
-      mi.rebuild = origRebuild
-    }
-  })
-
-  it('unrecoverably cold index: find({where}) throws MetadataIndexNotReadyError — never a silent []', async () => {
-    const mi = brain.metadataIndex
-    const origGetIds = mi.getIdsForFilter.bind(mi)
-    const origRebuild = mi.rebuild.bind(mi)
-    brain._metadataVerified = false
-    mi.getIdsForFilter = async () => [] // always cold; rebuild can't fix it
-    mi.rebuild = async () => {}
+    mi.getIdsForFilter = async () => [] // cold: the known value never resolves
+    mi.rebuild = async () => { rebuilds++; return origRebuild() }
     try {
       await expect(brain.find({ where: { status: 'active' }, limit: 100 })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(
         MetadataIndexNotReadyError
       )
+      expect(rebuilds).toBe(0) // the guard never rebuilds from a read — it refuses loudly instead
     } finally {
       mi.getIdsForFilter = origGetIds
       mi.rebuild = origRebuild

tests/unit/test-suite-coverage-guard.test.ts

@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ function inGate(rel: string): boolean {
   return (
     rel.startsWith('tests/unit/') ||
     rel.startsWith('tests/integration/') ||
+    // The lifecycle biography lane — included by the integration config
+    // ('tests/lifecycle/**/*.test.ts'; see tests/lifecycle/README.md).
+    rel.startsWith('tests/lifecycle/') ||
     rel.endsWith('.unit.test.ts') ||
     rel.endsWith('.integration.test.ts')
   )

tests/unit/utils/indexReadiness.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+/**
+ * @module tests/unit/utils/indexReadiness
+ * @description Pins for the read-gate authority, {@link assessProviderHealth}, and
+ * its older sibling {@link assessIndexReadiness}. The health-gate law: a provider's
+ * NAMED, synchronous, O(1) health report — when exposed — REPLACES the `isReady()`/
+ * size-heuristic fallback as the read gate's source of truth. A throw from
+ * `healthReport()` is a CONTRACT VIOLATION (never read as healthy, never swallowed
+ * into "unknown"); an `unledgered` family is UNKNOWN (never healthy, never broken —
+ * `serving` is always the provider's own verdict, verbatim).
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
+import { assessIndexReadiness, assessProviderHealth } from '../../../src/utils/indexReadiness.js'
+import type { HealthReport, LedgerInvariantResult } from '../../../src/plugin.js'
+
+function invariant(overrides: Partial<LedgerInvariantResult> = {}): LedgerInvariantResult {
+  return {
+    name: 'manifest-residency',
+    holds: true,
+    detail: 'ok',
+    heal: 'none',
+    source: 'ledger',
+    ...overrides
+  }
+}
+
+function report(overrides: Partial<HealthReport> = {}): HealthReport {
+  return {
+    provider: 'vector',
+    healthy: true,
+    serving: true,
+    invariants: [],
+    checkedAt: Date.now(),
+    durationMs: 1,
+    generation: 1,
+    unledgered: [],
+    ...overrides
+  }
+}
+
+describe('assessIndexReadiness (legacy isReady() classifier)', () => {
+  it('unknown when the provider is null/undefined', () => {
+    expect(assessIndexReadiness(null)).toBe('unknown')
+    expect(assessIndexReadiness(undefined)).toBe('unknown')
+  })
+
+  it('unknown when isReady() is absent', () => {
+    expect(assessIndexReadiness({})).toBe('unknown')
+  })
+
+  it('ready / not-ready mirror isReady()', () => {
+    expect(assessIndexReadiness({ isReady: () => true })).toBe('ready')
+    expect(assessIndexReadiness({ isReady: () => false })).toBe('not-ready')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('assessProviderHealth — the read-gate authority', () => {
+  it('via "none": no provider at all', () => {
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(null)
+    expect(a.via).toBe('none')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('unknown')
+    expect(a.report).toBeNull()
+    expect(a.reasons.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+  })
+
+  it('via "size-heuristic": provider exposes neither healthReport() nor isReady()', () => {
+    const a = assessProviderHealth({})
+    expect(a.via).toBe('size-heuristic')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('unknown')
+    expect(a.report).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('via "is-ready": provider exposes isReady() but no healthReport() — ready', () => {
+    const a = assessProviderHealth({ isReady: () => true })
+    expect(a.via).toBe('is-ready')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('ready')
+    expect(a.reasons).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('via "is-ready": isReady() === false — not-ready with a reason', () => {
+    const a = assessProviderHealth({ isReady: () => false })
+    expect(a.via).toBe('is-ready')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('not-ready')
+    expect(a.reasons.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+  })
+
+  it('healthReport() present REPLACES isReady() — serving:true wins even if isReady() lies false', () => {
+    const p = { isReady: () => false, healthReport: () => report({ serving: true }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.via).toBe('health-report')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('ready')
+  })
+
+  it('serving:true, healthy:true, no invariants failing → ready, no reasons', () => {
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ serving: true, healthy: true }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('ready')
+    expect(a.reasons).toEqual([])
+    expect(a.report).toEqual(report({ serving: true, healthy: true }))
+  })
+
+  it('serving:false with a named heal:"rebuild" failing invariant → not-ready, reason names it', () => {
+    const failing = invariant({ name: 'posted-count-floor', holds: false, heal: 'rebuild', detail: 'posted 10 < canonical 20' })
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ serving: false, healthy: false, invariants: [failing] }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('not-ready')
+    expect(a.reasons.some((r) => r.includes('posted-count-floor') && r.includes('heal:rebuild') && r.includes('posted 10 < canonical 20'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('unledgered-only report (serving:true, no failing invariant) → ready, reason names the unledgered family', () => {
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ serving: true, healthy: true, unledgered: ['canonical-verb-coverage'] }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('ready')
+    expect(a.reasons.some((r) => r.includes('unledgered') && r.includes('canonical-verb-coverage'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('UNLEDGERED IS UNKNOWN: an unledgered family never flips a NOT-serving provider to ready', () => {
+    const failing = invariant({ holds: false, heal: 'rebuild', name: 'x' })
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ serving: false, healthy: false, invariants: [failing], unledgered: ['some-family'] }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('not-ready')
+  })
+
+  it('serving:true, healthy:false with a heal:"repair" failure → still ready (degraded-but-serving)', () => {
+    const failing = invariant({ name: 'stale-counter', holds: false, heal: 'repair', detail: 'counter drift' })
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ serving: true, healthy: false, invariants: [failing] }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('ready')
+    expect(a.reasons.some((r) => r.includes('stale-counter') && r.includes('heal:repair'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('healthReport() that THROWS is a CONTRACT VIOLATION: not-ready, via health-report, reason names the throw — never "unknown"', () => {
+    const p = { healthReport: () => { throw new Error('mmap window busy') } }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.via).toBe('health-report')
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('not-ready')
+    expect(a.report).toBeNull()
+    expect(a.reasons.some((r) => r.includes('mmap window busy'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(a.readiness).not.toBe('unknown')
+  })
+
+  it('healthReport() that throws a non-Error value still produces a named reason (String(err))', () => {
+    const p = { healthReport: () => { throw 'boom' } }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.readiness).toBe('not-ready')
+    expect(a.reasons.some((r) => r.includes('boom'))).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('the returned report carries the generation for narration dedup', () => {
+    const p = { healthReport: () => report({ generation: 42 }) }
+    const a = assessProviderHealth(p)
+    expect(a.report?.generation).toBe(42)
+  })
+})

tests/unit/vector-cold-read-guard.test.ts

@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@
  * @description Pattern-A / Finding 1: a pure semantic find({ query }) has no
  * filter, so verifyMetadataLive never fires — nothing guarded the vector index.
  * A cold native vector index that loaded its COUNT but not its serving structure
- * returned a silent []. verifyVectorLive() closes that: honest isReady() first,
- * else a known-vector self-match probe; self-heal (rebuild) or throw
- * VectorIndexNotReadyError — never a silent empty result.
+ * returned a silent []. verifyVectorLive() closes that: the health-report/isReady()
+ * authority first, else a known-vector self-match probe.
+ *
+ * RE-POINTED to the health-gate law: the guard NEVER rebuilds and NEVER walks
+ * the store from a read — a read-path rebuild is exactly the dark-rebuild
+ * failure mode the law retires (open() alone owns building). A not-serving
+ * signal (from either strategy) THROWS VectorIndexNotReadyError immediately,
+ * with no rebuild attempt in between — never a silent empty result.
  */
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
 import { Brainy, NounType, VectorIndexNotReadyError } from '../../src/index.js'
@@ -34,50 +39,37 @@ describe('Vector cold-read guard (verifyVectorLive) — silent-[] on cold semant
     vi.rebuild = origRebuild
   })
 
-  it('cold index: verifyVectorLive self-heals via rebuild — semantic find is correct, NOT silent []', async () => {
-    const vi = brain.index
-    const origSearch = vi.search.bind(vi)
-    const origRebuild = vi.rebuild.bind(vi)
-    let cold = true
-    brain._vectorVerified = false
-    // size()>0 (count present) but search returns nothing until a rebuild warms it.
-    vi.search = async (...a: any[]) => (cold ? [] : origSearch(...a))
-    vi.rebuild = async (...a: any[]) => { await origRebuild(...a); cold = false }
-    try {
-      const res = await brain.find({ query: 'x', searchMode: 'semantic', limit: 100 })
-      expect(res.length).toBeGreaterThan(0) // self-healed
-    } finally {
-      vi.search = origSearch; vi.rebuild = origRebuild
-    }
-  })
-
-  it('unrecoverably cold index: semantic find throws VectorIndexNotReadyError', async () => {
+  it('cold index (no isReady()): verifyVectorLive REFUSES immediately — throws VectorIndexNotReadyError, NEVER rebuilds', async () => {
     const vi = brain.index
     const origSearch = vi.search.bind(vi)
+    let rebuilds = 0
     const origRebuild = vi.rebuild.bind(vi)
     brain._vectorVerified = false
-    vi.search = async () => []      // always cold; rebuild can't fix it
-    vi.rebuild = async () => {}
+    // size()>0 (count present) but search never returns a hit for the known vector.
+    vi.search = async () => []
+    vi.rebuild = async (...a: any[]) => { rebuilds++; return origRebuild(...a) }
     try {
       await expect(
         brain.find({ query: 'x', searchMode: 'semantic', limit: 100 })
       ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(VectorIndexNotReadyError)
+      expect(rebuilds).toBe(0) // the guard never rebuilds from a read — it refuses loudly instead
     } finally {
       vi.search = origSearch; vi.rebuild = origRebuild
     }
   })
 
-  it('native provider reporting isReady()===false rebuilds, then serves', async () => {
+  it('native provider reporting isReady()===false THROWS immediately — never rebuilds', async () => {
     const vi = brain.index
+    let rebuilds = 0
     const origRebuild = vi.rebuild.bind(vi)
-    let ready = false
     brain._vectorVerified = false
-    vi.isReady = () => ready
-    vi.rebuild = async (...a: any[]) => { await origRebuild(...a); ready = true }
+    vi.isReady = () => false
+    vi.rebuild = async (...a: any[]) => { rebuilds++; return origRebuild(...a) }
     try {
-      const res = await brain.find({ query: 'x', searchMode: 'semantic', limit: 100 })
-      expect(ready).toBe(true) // rebuild ran because isReady() was false
-      expect(res).toBeDefined()
+      await expect(
+        brain.find({ query: 'x', searchMode: 'semantic', limit: 100 })
+      ).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(VectorIndexNotReadyError)
+      expect(rebuilds).toBe(0) // a not-ready report throws immediately — it is never a rebuild trigger
     } finally {
       delete vi.isReady; vi.rebuild = origRebuild
     }