docs(releases): the 10.4.11 note — hybrid filter-before-hydrate, one shutdown owner, a faster open

Gate: final tip 27759a1b vs a8c5fbf9 (10.4.10) control — collected
3,212, 0 new reds after two fix cycles (coverage-guard registration +
perf-lane classification; a real budget flake in the batch-size test
switched to unvectored items). shasum ffc33df95b2709dfcc8c67ac961991e3153f8883.

.claude/skills/architecture.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ## What Is Brainy
 
-@soulcraft/brainy (v7.17.0) is a Universal Knowledge Protocol -- a Triple Intelligence database combining vector search, graph traversal, and metadata filtering in a single library. Published to npm as a public MIT-licensed package.
+@soulcraftlabs/brainy (v7.17.0) is a Universal Knowledge Protocol -- a Triple Intelligence database combining vector search, graph traversal, and metadata filtering in a single library. Published to npm as a public MIT-licensed package.
 
 ## Core Architecture
 

.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+name: CI
+
+# Branch pushes only — a release TAG deliberately does not re-run CI: the
+# tagged commit's CI already ran on its branch push, and the runner is
+# sequential, so tag-triggered matrix jobs (~22 min) would queue AHEAD of the
+# tag's publish-source run and starve every release (observed on 8.10.3 and
+# 9.0.0: the publish sat behind the tag's own redundant CI).
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: ['**']
+  pull_request:
+
+jobs:
+  node:
+    name: Node ${{ matrix.node-version }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        node-version: ['22', '24']
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
+          cache: npm
+      - run: npm ci
+      - run: npm run test:unit
+
+  # The correctness plant's full gate: integration + conformance run here on
+  # dedicated iron, on every push, so a release never depends on any other
+  # machine being up. Verdicts live in this run's log (never inferred).
+  integration:
+    name: Integration + conformance (Node 22)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '22'
+          cache: npm
+      - run: npm ci
+      - run: npm run test:ci-integration
+      - run: npx vitest run tests/conformance
+
+  bun:
+    name: Bun (latest)
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '22'
+          cache: npm
+      - uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2
+        with:
+          bun-version: latest
+      - run: npm ci
+      # test:bun imports the built dist/, so build first.
+      - run: npm run build
+      # Bun as a runtime is the supported Bun story (`bun add` / `bun run`).
+      - run: npm run test:bun

.forgejo/workflows/publish-forge.yml

@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
-name: Publish (forge)
-
-# Datacenter-side forge publish, moved off the laptop: an 87MB tarball PUT
-# over the laptop's WAN times out; the forge's own runner does it in seconds.
-# scripts/release.sh tags + pushes, then polls this workflow's result (npm
-# view against the forge registry) before it ever touches the npmjs leg —
-# see the "delegation contract" in scripts/release.sh's forge-publish step.
-
-on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-      - 'v*'
-
-jobs:
-  publish:
-    name: Publish to the forge registry
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
-        with:
-          node-version: '22'
-          cache: npm
-      - run: npm ci
-      - run: npm run build
-      - name: Publish + readback-verify on the forge registry
-        env:
-          FORGE_NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FORGE_NPM_TOKEN }}
-        run: |
-          set -eo pipefail
-
-          FORGE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/"
-          VERSION="$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")"
-          echo "Publishing @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} to the forge registry..."
-
-          TMPRC="$(mktemp)"
-          chmod 600 "$TMPRC"
-          {
-            echo "@soulcraft:registry=${FORGE_NPM_REG}"
-            echo "//source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/:_authToken=${FORGE_NPM_TOKEN}"
-          } > "$TMPRC"
-
-          # The release script bumps package.json's version before it tags, so
-          # this tag's checkout already carries the version being published —
-          # nothing here re-derives it from the tag name.
-          PUBLISH_OK=true
-          if ! npm publish --tag latest --userconfig "$TMPRC"; then
-            PUBLISH_OK=false
-          fi
-
-          # Readback verify is the source of truth, run regardless of the publish
-          # exit code: a benign duplicate publish (a prior run, or a mirror, already
-          # landed this exact version) reports failure even though the registry
-          # already holds the right content.
-          LANDED_VERSION="$(npm view "@soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION}" version --userconfig "$TMPRC" 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
-          rm -f "$TMPRC"
-
-          if [ "$LANDED_VERSION" != "$VERSION" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Readback verify FAILED — the forge registry reports version '${LANDED_VERSION:-<none>}', expected '${VERSION}'. This is a genuine publish failure, not a benign duplicate."
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-          if [ "$PUBLISH_OK" = true ]; then
-            echo "Published and verified @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} on the forge registry."
-          else
-            echo "::warning::npm publish reported failure, but readback confirms @soulcraft/brainy@${VERSION} is already live on the forge (a prior run or mirror landed it) — treating this run as successful, since the registry content is correct. Any OTHER failure mode would have failed the readback check above instead."
-          fi

.forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+name: Publish (The Source)
+
+# Datacenter-side publish to The Source (source.soulcraft.com — our
+# self-hosted Forgejo; never call it "the forge", Forge is a different
+# product), moved off the laptop: an 87MB tarball PUT over the laptop's WAN
+# times out; The Source's own runner does it in seconds.
+# scripts/release.sh tags + pushes, then polls this workflow's result (npm
+# view against The Source's registry) before it ever touches the npmjs leg —
+# see the "delegation contract" in scripts/release.sh's home-publish step.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      ref_reason:
+        description: 'why this manual run (e.g. tag event dropped)'
+        required: false
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    name: Publish to The Source registry
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '22'
+          cache: npm
+      - run: npm ci
+      - run: npm run build
+      - name: Publish + readback-verify on The Source registry
+        env:
+          # The stored repo-settings secret keeps its historical name.
+          FORGE_NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FORGE_NPM_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -eo pipefail
+
+          SOURCE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/"
+          VERSION="$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")"
+          # The dist-tag follows the version: a prerelease (any hyphen —
+          # 10.4.0-rc.1) publishes under 'rc' and must NEVER move 'latest' —
+          # every consumer resolving 'latest' from this registry would otherwise
+          # be handed a release candidate. Same rule scripts/release.sh applies
+          # to the storefront leg.
+          NPM_TAG="latest"
+          case "$VERSION" in
+            *-*) NPM_TAG="rc" ;;
+          esac
+          echo "Publishing @soulcraftlabs/brainy@${VERSION} to The Source registry (dist-tag: ${NPM_TAG})..."
+
+          TMPRC="$(mktemp)"
+          chmod 600 "$TMPRC"
+          {
+            echo "@soulcraftlabs:registry=${SOURCE_NPM_REG}"
+            echo "//source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/:_authToken=${FORGE_NPM_TOKEN}"
+          } > "$TMPRC"
+
+          # The release script bumps package.json's version before it tags, so
+          # this tag's checkout already carries the version being published —
+          # nothing here re-derives it from the tag name.
+          PUBLISH_OK=true
+          if ! npm publish --tag "$NPM_TAG" --userconfig "$TMPRC"; then
+            PUBLISH_OK=false
+          fi
+
+          # Readback verify is the source of truth, run regardless of the publish
+          # exit code: a benign duplicate publish (a prior run, or a mirror, already
+          # landed this exact version) reports failure even though the registry
+          # already holds the right content.
+          LANDED_VERSION="$(npm view "@soulcraftlabs/brainy@${VERSION}" version --userconfig "$TMPRC" 2>/dev/null || echo "")"
+          rm -f "$TMPRC"
+
+          if [ "$LANDED_VERSION" != "$VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Readback verify FAILED — The Source registry reports version '${LANDED_VERSION:-<none>}', expected '${VERSION}'. This is a genuine publish failure, not a benign duplicate."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if [ "$PUBLISH_OK" = true ]; then
+            echo "Published and verified @soulcraftlabs/brainy@${VERSION} on The Source registry."
+          else
+            echo "::warning::npm publish reported failure, but readback confirms @soulcraftlabs/brainy@${VERSION} is already live on The Source (a prior run or mirror landed it) — treating this run as successful, since the registry content is correct. Any OTHER failure mode would have failed the readback check above instead."
+          fi

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,13 +2,233 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
 
-### [8.10.2](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/compare/v8.10.1...v8.10.2) (2026-07-29)
+### [10.4.4](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.3...v10.4.4) (2026-08-28)
+
+- fix(vfs): the old-root sweep narrates only when it has something to say (d49148e1)
+- fix(tests): the health-gate pin follows the verdict, and the VFS suite uses its own store (42e2da25)
+- Merge branch 'next/open-lazy-open-and-counts' (5ebd3b40)
+- docs: the contract manifest stands alone; public docs describe this engine only (a8c724a2)
+- docs(releases): 10.4.4 consumer notes — correctness and observability, with the performance line stated exactly (61a46927)
+- docs: measurements in public history carry numbers, not provenance (02c61636)
+- feat(open): name the two steps that hold the vfs-bootstrap phase (2cf38010)
+- fix(storage): a dead flush watch falls back to the 500ms poll, not the 30s sweep (5c22f950)
+- fix(storage): the flush watcher cannot arm twice in its async window (16d2e1a9)
+- perf(idle): the flush-request watch is event-driven; the heartbeat is observability (fb1da1c5)
+- perf(open): answer "are there any entities?" with one directory read (417ddb51)
+- perf(generations): discover generations by directory name, not by walking the log (9dd39921)
+- fix(flush): clear() and repairIndex() set the dirty witness themselves (e4c27fbc)
+- feat(open): the open names the STEP that cost the time, not just the phase (5a091cca)
+- perf(vfs): the old-root sweep runs once per store, not once per open (4a67aa0f)
+- chore: keep the generated neural stamps at main's values (c1f09723)
+- feat(contract): declare contract 1, serve three operators, refuse four by name (48802ba3)
+- fix(open): a provider rebuilding itself is a third state, not a CRITICAL (50676c02)
+- feat(open): open never waits for a provider that is rebuilding itself (131daa08)
+- perf(flush): an idle brain does no work — no periodic flush without a write (f5a6cb3f)
+- feat(repair): repairIndex narrates every phase and its receipt carries the walls (3fffd9c6)
+- fix(storage): a suspect count ledger heals itself, and counts.json is written atomically (f4e2d34b)
+- feat(open): the open narrates itself, on a channel production cannot clamp (afe08a1f)
+- fix(storage): a clean close is recorded, and the writer lock is always given up (e652162c)
+- docs: repository links point at soulcraftlabs/open-brainy — the soulcraft/brainy path becomes the native engine's repo tonight (38c3397b)
+
+
+### [10.4.3](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.2...v10.4.3) (2026-08-27)
+
+- Merge branch 'next/open-brainy-rename' (a58372f0)
+- chore: rename to @soulcraftlabs/brainy for Open Brainy on The Source (a99b1e83)
+- docs(releases): 10.4.3 — Open Brainy's first release under the new name, same engine as 10.4.2; The Source is the one registry (9f248b24)
+
+
+### [10.4.2](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.2-rc.1...v10.4.2) (2026-08-27)
+
+- docs(releases): 10.4.1 and 10.4.2 consumer notes; 10.4.2 is the last MIT release under this name, Open Brainy continues at @soulcraftlabs/brainy (a082e0ef)
+
+
+### [10.4.2-rc.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.1...v10.4.2-rc.1) (2026-08-27)
+
+- Merge branch 'next/zero-norm-unvector-door' (9b84ef5b)
+- fix(vectors): a zero-norm vector is not a vector, canonical side included, plus the sanctioned unvector door (0de76659)
+- fix(hnsw): skip unvectored rows on rebuild; refuse empty vectors in the index (8fc553b1)
+- fix(storage): derive the canonical count ledger from identity records, stamp the derivation rule, and mark legacy-derived ledgers suspect at load (fd6b4ce4)
+- Merge branch 'next/enumeration-identity-rekey' (204d74c1)
+- fix(storage): enumeration re-keys on the identity record, not the vector leg (f8d8ce16)
+- fix(init): rethrow plugin activation failures with the original error as cause so the originating frame survives to the caller (2496e09a)
+- Merge branch 'next/vfs-root-zero-norm' (4c7b0fab)
+- fix(vfs): the VFS root never persists a zero-norm vector (c6cc0de9)
+- build: derive generated-file stamps from git commit time, not wall clock (8a5c1245)
+- Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/release/10.4.1' (aad9e2ee)
+- docs(concepts): the serving law — a failure is graded by whether an answer could be wrong, never by the cost of the fix; reads refuse per family (2914e0eb)
+- chore(release): 10.4.1-rc.1 (7870dc40)
+
+
+### [10.4.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.0...v10.4.1) (2026-08-26)
+
+- fix(reads): the read gate is per-family; a write carrying unchanged data never re-embeds (c039411e)
+- docs(guide): the docs pipeline publishes through the ingest API — the separate deploy step is retired (21e506e8)
+
+
+### [10.4.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.0-rc.4...v10.4.0) (2026-08-26)
+
+- docs(releases): the 10.4.0 entry catches up to the late trains — repair routing, the vector ledger and open-gate leg, the loud config guard, the JSON-safe crossing (834149ed)
+
+
+### [10.4.0-rc.4](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.0-rc.3...v10.4.0-rc.4) (2026-08-25)
+
+- feat(vector): the vectored-noun scalar joins the count ledger; the open gate closes the vector leg (9730835b)
+
+
+### [10.4.0-rc.3](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.0-rc.2...v10.4.0-rc.3) (2026-08-25)
+
+- fix(update-seam): the metadata crossing never carries BigInt endpoint ints (f4780c8e)
+- Merge branch 'worktree-agent-ad3aff0dffd17a6eb' (f14da34b)
+- fix(add): empty string is real data, not a missing field (258e9042)
+- feat(vfs): implement readdir's recursive option — typed since 7.30, never read (fc516da6)
+- feat(open-path): init never gates on the embedding model; open goes concurrent; slow opens narrate (96624f40)
+
+
+### [10.4.0-rc.2](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.4.0-rc.1...v10.4.0-rc.2) (2026-08-25)
+
+- test(readiness): the report helper's clock freezes — two independently-built reports compared across a millisecond tick made the plant lane red (39b916a3)
+- feat(repair): a heal:'repair' verdict routes to the provider's own incremental repair() (553e0d97)
+- fix(storage): an unknown nested storage config can never silently land on the shared default root (ddd5e719)
+- docs(release): the 10.4.0 entry, the index-health concept doc, and the API surfaces — written from the tree, not the plan (8cced871)
+- fix(plugins): the silent-degrade doors close — a broken accelerator install can never read as absent (b9ba50fb)
+- feat(recovery): the catchup verdict is consumed; verb rows go live; the metadata rebuild goes online (18f172e0)
+- feat(health): the gate reads the named report — reads refuse loudly, never rebuild; open serves before it returns; the ceremony door (f8f64780)
+
+
+### [10.4.0-rc.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.3.1...v10.4.0-rc.1) (2026-08-24)
+
+- ci(publish): the home dist-tag follows the version — a prerelease publishes under 'rc' and never moves 'latest' (a1376e4a)
+- chore(release): --source-only — a home-only prerelease mode (The Source, never the storefront) (dcbad176)
+- test(fold-checkpoint): the ARM-AT-FLIP pin arms its crash instead of racing the pending-flush timer (4176439b)
+- fix(health): one contract for a throwing probe — heal is none, serving is not withheld; repair report gains missing/rebuilt/reason (116550eb)
+- feat(storage): the canonical count ledger — ALL-visibility scalars, unclamped totals, suspect-on-unprovable-delete (7c8c8be3)
+- fix(delete): the null-metadata skip closes — index legs run id-keyed or narrate, never silently strand postings (607e9f54)
+- feat(repair): repairIndex returns the per-family receipt and narrates its summary (8d45f964)
+- fix(reads): the readiness gate guards every index read surface — serving empty from a not-ready provider is unrepresentable (40e7119b)
+- ci(gate): the machine-health preflight and the truncation verdict guard (1e046aa1)
+
+
+### [10.3.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.3.0...v10.3.1) (2026-08-18)
+
+- docs(releases): the 10.3.1 consumer entry — the fold that behaves (900cc895)
+- fix(recovery): the fold streams and narrates; the checkpoint chain arms at the flip (ed7d1db9)
+
+
+### [10.3.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.2.0...v10.3.0) (2026-08-18)
+
+- docs(releases): the 10.3.0 consumer entry — the trust-and-provenance release (97d75649)
+- fix(locks): the fence keys ownership on pid+hostname — a same-process re-open never fences its predecessor (0991cf28)
+- test(budgets): iron-honest wall-clock budgets — 3x the worst honest-iron measurement (314e0e6c)
+- fix(locks): live writers are never auto-evicted; evicted writers are fenced at every commit barrier (292e7c04)
+- feat(log): system commits carry their origin; the attested per-id reconcile door (9ac9e706)
+
+
+### [10.2.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.1.0...v10.2.0) (2026-08-17)
+
+- docs(releases): the 10.2.0 consumer entry — adoption completes in one call (97538e1f)
+- ci: the correctness plant runs integration + conformance on every push — a release never waits on a second machine (b17fdc8e)
+- fix(adoption): the baseline backfill runs to completion — one call adopts a pre-log baseline of any size (a5a18838)
+
+
+### [10.1.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v10.0.0...v10.1.0) (2026-08-13)
+
+- docs(releases): the 10.1.0 consumer entry — bounded recovery, restore founding, the two write-path cures (7d3c8696)
+- fix(restore): a restore is an unclean event — the swap runs quiesced and the snapshot's durability stamps never survive it (9ca80667)
+- feat(recovery): the fold-checkpoint bound — crash folds (checkpoint, head], never the whole log twice (ff43de1a)
+- fix(log): pad-frame construction is total; the at-ack sync-failure compensation splits by phase — a production adoption's two write-path defects, cured at their roots (cbe34d11)
+- feat(query): the sparse-store cut — where on a never-carried field serves operator truth, never a refusal (7b67db4d)
+
+
+### [10.0.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v9.0.0...v10.0.0) (2026-08-12)
+
+- fix(adoption): the baseline backfill cures hydration-law drift — existing brains reach the crash-safe default with zero operator steps (25f0dd96)
+- fix(adoption): the reserved-root mint exemption — int 0 is legitimate for exactly one id (2abe8b38)
+- fix(recovery): walks are healers — the typed/tolerant boundary redrawn where block-layer fault injection proved it belonged (0e3facf4)
+- feat(log): log authority is the fleet default — adopt-at-open, oracle-gated; plus the power-cut throw-site cures and the loud torn-record contract (214c98b4)
+- fix(durability): three block-layer power-loss findings from the first fault-injection box run — all cured, matrix 15/15 (67c606be)
+- docs: RELEASES.md frames the release as 10.0.0 — honest major (log format v2 forward-only); comment wording cleanup (d1698fa5)
+- fix(persistence): the idle flush trigger debounces under load — deferred to the floor, never dropped, never a flush-per-gap amplifier (a50726e6)
+- feat(reprojection): the one doors-open machinery — budget-capped, yielding, foreground-preempted, atomic-swap; poison records quarantine typed (d1651f98)
+- feat(embedding): deferred-embed markers become log records — the sidecar recovery path is deleted (b47787bb)
+- feat(conformance): the golden-log fold oracle — encoder bytes and fold semantics pinned by content hash (c95bea88)
+- feat(engine): the wiring wave — stamps ride every flush, provider generations, waitForIndexed, adopt-backfill, match-all serves (b53e6e89)
+- feat(index): watermark stamps on every TS projection — adopt/catchup/rescan verdicts at load, stamp-after-data (b35d87a7)
+- feat(log): v2 is the LIVE write format — envelope records with minted ints, genesis, sector seals; v1 readable forever (26c60251)
+- docs: RELEASES.md — the unreleased write-path and lifecycle entry (consumer-facing draft; version set at cut) (73eb88d4)
+- feat(temporal): as-of semantic recall joins the release contract — past vectors byte-exact, pinned (f7ca0d26)
+- fix(log): acked writes survive power loss; rejected writes never silently commit — the kill-matrix goes 11/11 with zero .fails debt (13022c51)
+- feat(plugin): every provider write surface carries the real committed generation (2d532684)
+- feat(log): fact-log format v2 codec — record envelope, type registry, genesis, sector seals; fault-injection shim (34841074)
+- feat(log): the guarded log-authority core — group-commit durable-at-ack, the per-brain switch, the verification oracle (65953097)
+- docs: Path Registry rows DP6/DP8/MT5 flip to contracted+pinned — the deferred-embedding and atomic-update train landed with cited tests (9fda6d95)
+- feat(embedding): MT5 — deferred embedding with durable markers; write acks never wait on a neural net (287384cf)
+- fix(index): the flicker window dies — atomic in-place vector update; lazy open honors every provider's not-ready report; the Path Registry twin table (ebe06cdf)
+- feat(persistence): the engine owns its flush cadence — callers never call flush() in hot paths again (3236a01b)
+- fix(aggregation): the lifecycle cluster — flush stamps, behind-stamp catches up incrementally, the native rebuild finally gets invoked, deletes are never silently skipped (1dc861d2)
+- perf(sort): ordered reads never do per-row storage round-trips — the 199-317s production scan class dies structurally (607b6b56)
+- chore: the home registry is The Source, never 'the forge' — sweep the misnomer out of the release rail, workflows, and release notes (Forge is a different product; the stored CI secret keeps its historical name) (09352c2b)
+- ci: tags stop triggering the CI matrix (redundant re-run of already-tested commits starved every release's publish run on the sequential runner) + release.sh forge poll window 20→50 min (c6c6ea6b)
+- test: version-coupling pins go major-agnostic — the 8.x literals broke at the 9.0.0 bump while the coupling law itself behaved correctly (8a6807e8)
+
+
+### [9.0.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v8.11.0...v9.0.0) (2026-08-04)
+
+- docs: 9.0 namespace-migration guide — the simple story + the mechanical sweep checklist, published for humans and tooling alike (61ab9db2)
+- fix(release): storefront leg republishes CI's exact forge artifact — byte-identity by construction, verified by cross-registry shasum before the ceremony reports success (d89df2ed)
+- docs: v9.0.0 release notes — the field-addressing law migration ledger; retitle the shipped 8.11.0 canonical-enumeration entry (header went stale at its cut) (55a7512c)
+- feat(namespace): merge the field-addressing law train — no special names, system.* scalars, nested-bag storage, epoch-3 index keys (19b477ae)
+- feat(namespace): NO SPECIAL NAMES + storage fidelity — the ruled completion of the field-addressing law (24bf6cdb)
+- feat(namespace): write-door forgery refusal (user metadata keys may never start 'system.') + refusal messages name both spellings in every branch (the non-colliding case marks system.<f> honestly as NOT valid) — cross-engine message pin alignment (48a6130a)
+- feat(namespace): conformance green 19/19 — data-aware did-you-mean on unindexed bare addresses, ordering contract on the column top-K path (never drop, nulls last, ties by id), shape-complete addressed reads (entity views AND raw storage shapes, shadow-proof both scopes), per-key source matching for dotted addresses; refusal classes unified under UnresolvableFieldError (8e962dab)
+- feat(namespace): aggregation reads under the law + epoch 3 (the key-split rebuild) + THE ARMING COMMIT — the capability constant, the law module, and the typed refusals export from the package root; both engines' conformance suites light on this signal (7492b6cb)
+- feat(namespace): egress guard + validation speak the law — whereMatcher's resolver reads system.* from the record and bare names from the metadata bag only (the bare-system switch is dead); validateFindParams refuses cursor/includeRelations/writeOnly typed (accepted-and-ignored dies as a class), validates order, and parses every orderBy address (c2fb28a2)
+- fix(namespace): noun-record updates preserve legacy inline HNSW adjacency — the placeholder-adjacency write stamped out pre-codec records' stored connections (crash-window unreachability); codec-era records were never at risk (empty field is the blob marker); pin covers the legacy shape (4679c894)
+- feat(namespace): find's own filter builders speak the frozen keys — params.type/subtype/service become system.* index keys at every construction site (three pipelines + the canonical buildMetadataFilter); the where.type→noun alias is dead (bare 'type' belongs to the user now) (7a28a946)
+- feat(namespace): the index speaks the frozen keys — record-frame scalars index under literal 'system.<field>' (legacy 'noun' spelling folds into system.type; plumbing never indexed from a record frame), user fields stay bare in every shape; filter + sorted paths route every address through parseFieldAddress; storage fallbacks read the addressed side of the record (11c724bc)
+- docs(namespace): the d.ts JSDoc wave — the sealed field-addressing law on the full find + aggregation surface, present-tense, with the refusal semantics and migration note inline (comment-only; verified zero code lines changed) (fcb24ab6)
+- test(namespace): unit pins for the pure law — the ruled maps verbatim (incl. the relation mirror, unpinnable via public API), plumbing refusals both kinds, did-you-mean text (5502abcd)
+- fix(namespace): the JS sorted fallback honors the ruled ordering contract — nulls last in BOTH directions (was nulls-first on desc) + deterministic id-ascending tie-break (56deb2e8)
+- test(namespace)+docs: the cross-engine conformance suite (self-arming — skips until the resolver exports land) + the public field-addressing docs page; sidebar order deconflicted to 7 (d8d0b55f)
+- feat(namespace): the one field-addressing law as a single source of truth — parseFieldAddress + the ruled ten-scalar system maps + plumbing invisibility + refusal builders (module only; query surfaces wire in next) (8f9a9989)
+- docs: port the 8.10.3 backport-release changelog entry to main (f6b14d21)
+- docs: port the 8.10.2 backport-release changelog entry to main — release branches carry the version bump, main carries the durable record (0b059ac5)
+- fix: user metadata named 'level' is a real field everywhere — the engine-internal node layer no longer shadows it in sort/filter/aggregation, and the indexing views stop stamping a phantom 0 into its column; index epoch 2 rebuilds existing brains at first open (1a09be06)
+- fix: metadata-only update() never rewrites the noun record — the unconditional whole-vector save turned per-entity stat touches into full rewrites+fsync, amplifying read-heavy sweeps into disk saturation on a production deployment (cb717be2)
+- fix(release): double the forge-publish poll budget — the runner executes jobs sequentially and the publish run queues behind the ci matrix (64049631)
+- Merge branch 'release/8.11.0' (1865f60a)
+- Merge branch 'release/8.10.1' (fc9f0d72)
+- chore: the forge is the address — retire the archived mirror from every live surface (415e824a)
+- Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' (069a8894)
+- Merge branch 'release/8.10.0' (d918c060)
+- ci: run the pipeline on the forge (9a5a9ccc)
+- feat: two-tier history reads + the repacker + generationDigest — D1+D3 wired end-to-end (1201e255)
+- feat: generation-segment store — the D1+D3 packed-tier file format (d8acb377)
+- feat: scanFacts liveness contract — first batch or loud failure within a documented bound (f8e6da2b)
+
+
+### [8.11.0](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v8.10.1...v8.11.0) (2026-07-27)
+
+- docs: the last two archived-host links point home (91ef1c8b)
+- feat: includeHidden — export carries every visibility tier for migration-grade canon completeness (63c1eeb9)
+- feat(release): the forge publish leg moves to CI on the tag push; the laptop verifies by readback and keeps the abort-before-storefront guard (3e4a17dc)
+- feat: canonical enumeration mode for export — storage-walked, canon-complete, with an index-drift report (4d196af4)
+- ci: run the pipeline on the forge (999d0ebb)
+
+
+### [8.10.3](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v8.10.2...v8.10.3) (2026-08-03)
+
+- docs: dedupe the 8.10.2 release-notes entry the cherry doubled onto the branch (8c956608)
+- fix: user metadata named 'level' is a real field everywhere — the engine-internal node layer no longer shadows it in sort/filter/aggregation, and the indexing views stop stamping a phantom 0 into its column; index epoch 2 rebuilds existing brains at first open (958a0859)
+
+
+### [8.10.2](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v8.10.1...v8.10.2) (2026-07-29)
 
 - docs: 8.10.2 consumer release notes — update() write granularity, PathResolver idle-log fix, graph-lsm key recognition (a0123b5b)
 - fix: metadata-only update() never rewrites the noun record — the unconditional whole-vector save turned per-entity stat touches into full rewrites+fsync, amplifying read-heavy sweeps into disk saturation on a production deployment (5b65eb82)
 
 
-### [8.10.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/compare/v8.10.0...v8.10.1) (2026-07-24)
+### [8.10.1](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v8.10.0...v8.10.1) (2026-07-24)
 
 - refactor: remove the orphaned transaction-result type left behind by the dead-path removal (edf123a5)
 - fix: warm() metadata surface routes through the active provider (warm hook added to the metadata contract); add maintenanceDebt() observability surface (5b2cbf74)

CLAUDE.md

@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ Handoff file: `/home/dpsifr/.strategy/PLATFORM-HANDOFF.md`
 
 **Brainy's current open actions:** None. MIT open-source — no platform-specific actions.
 
-**Current version:** run `npm view @soulcraft/brainy version` (never trust a hardcoded number here — this line went stale for months); consumer-facing changes tracked in `RELEASES.md`
+**Current version:** run `npm view @soulcraftlabs/brainy version --registry https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/` (never trust a hardcoded number here — this line went stale for months); consumer-facing changes tracked in `RELEASES.md`
 
 ---
 
 ## Project Overview
 
-Brainy is a Universal Knowledge Protocol -- a Triple Intelligence database that combines vector similarity search, graph traversal, and metadata filtering into a single TypeScript library. Published as `@soulcraft/brainy` on npm under the MIT license.
+Brainy is a Universal Knowledge Protocol -- a Triple Intelligence database that combines vector similarity search, graph traversal, and metadata filtering into a single TypeScript library. Published as `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` on The Source (source.soulcraft.com registry) under the MIT license.
 
 ## Getting Started
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ test: add/update tests       (patch version bump)
 
 ## Docs Pipeline — soulcraft.com/docs
 
-Docs in `docs/**/*.md` are published with the npm package (included in `files`) and synced to soulcraft.com/docs on every portal deploy. Frontmatter controls what appears publicly.
+Docs in `docs/**/*.md` are published with the npm package (included in `files`) and go live on soulcraft.com/docs via the docs ingest API: the release script's `scripts/push-docs.js` step POSTs every public doc to `https://soulcraft.com/api/docs/ingest` (auth: `DOCS_INGEST_SECRET` in the environment). No separate deploy step is involved (the old deploy-to-publish flow was retired in a platform change, 2026-08). Frontmatter controls what appears publicly.
 
 ### Docs check triggers
 
@@ -161,9 +161,9 @@ npm run release:major        # Breaking changes (rare, manual decision)
 The script: verifies clean git state, builds, tests, bumps version, updates CHANGELOG.md, commits, tags, pushes, publishes to npm, and creates a GitHub release.
 
 After a successful release, remind the user:
-> "Published. Deploy portal to pick up the new docs → go to the portal project and deploy."
+> "Published. Docs are live on soulcraft.com/docs (pushed via the ingest API during the release) — spot-check a changed page with curl."
 
-Do NOT deploy portal from here. Portal is always deployed separately from within the portal project.
+There is no separate deploy step anymore. If the docs push failed (the script warns loudly), re-run `node scripts/push-docs.js` with `DOCS_INGEST_SECRET` set.
 
 ## Closed-Source Product Names — HARD RULE
 

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ may find elsewhere in the repo's history.
 
 ## Where the project lives
 
-The source of truth is a self-hosted forge: **source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy**.
+The source of truth is a self-hosted forge: **source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy**.
 It's anonymously readable and cloneable — no account needed to browse, clone,
 or build.
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ fine) to talk through the approach saves everyone rework.
 ## Development setup
 
 ```bash
-git clone https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy.git
+git clone https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy.git
 cd brainy
 npm install
 npm run build
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ see `package.json` for `test:integration`, `test:coverage`, and friends.
   description states a number, cite the benchmark that produced it (see
   [docs/performance-envelopes.md](docs/performance-envelopes.md) for the
   pattern). Don't state an estimate as if it were measured.
+- **Measurements carry numbers, not provenance.** Public commit messages and
+  docs give the SHAPE a number was taken at and never where it was taken: no
+  hostnames, no store or deployment identities, no operational anecdotes about
+  someone's running system. "A 14,056-noun / 72,679-verb production-shaped
+  store, measured solo under an exclusive lock" tells a reader everything the
+  number depends on; the machine it ran on and whose data it was tell them
+  nothing except where somebody's infrastructure lives.
+- **Documents that answer or reference a confidential specification never enter
+  this repository, even summarized.** The public docs describe THIS engine and
+  the published contract, and nothing else — a summary of a private document is
+  still that document's contents.
 
 ## License
 

README.md

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <p align="center">
-  <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/main/brainy.png" alt="Brainy" width="180">
+  <img src="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/raw/branch/main/brainy.png" alt="Brainy" width="180">
 </p>
 
 <h1 align="center">Brainy</h1>
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 </p>
 
 <p align="center">
-  <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@soulcraft/brainy"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@soulcraft/brainy.svg" alt="npm version"></a>
-  <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@soulcraft/brainy"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/@soulcraft/brainy.svg" alt="npm downloads"></a>
-  <a href="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/actions"><img src="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main" alt="CI"></a>
+  <a href="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/-/packages/npm/brainy"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/package-The%20Source-2c3e50.svg" alt="Package on The Source"></a>
+  <a href="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/repo-open--brainy-2c3e50.svg" alt="Repository"></a>
+  <a href="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/actions"><img src="https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main" alt="CI"></a>
   <a href="https://soulcraft.com/docs"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-soulcraft.com-blue.svg" alt="Documentation"></a>
   <a href="LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg" alt="MIT License"></a>
   <a href="https://www.typescriptlang.org/"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/%3C%2F%3E-TypeScript-%230074c1.svg" alt="TypeScript"></a>
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 
 ---
 
+**Open Brainy** is the MIT engine — the open API, client library, types, and protocol; an openly specified canonical on-disk format; and this TypeScript reference engine, scoped as a single-node engine for stores up to roughly one million rows. `@soulcraft/brainy` 10.4.2 was the last release under the old package name — the name passes to the native engine, **Brainy**, at 11.0.0: the same API over the same open format at production scale, and it requires a license.
+
 Built because we were tired of stitching a vector store to a graph database to a document store — and spending weeks on plumbing before writing a line of business logic. Brainy indexes every fact **three ways at once** and lets one call query them together:
 
 | You write | Brainy indexes it as | You query it with |
@@ -45,12 +47,14 @@ It runs **inside your process** — no server, no Docker, nothing to operate —
 ## Quick start
 
 ```bash
-bun add @soulcraft/brainy        # Bun ≥ 1.1 — recommended
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy    # Node.js ≥ 22
+bun add @soulcraftlabs/brainy        # Bun ≥ 1.1 — recommended
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy    # Node.js ≥ 22
 ```
 
+> **Registry**: add `@soulcraftlabs:registry=https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/` to your `.npmrc` (anonymous read).
+
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()                       // in-memory; one line swaps to disk
 await brain.init()

RELEASES.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # @soulcraft/brainy — Release Notes for Consumers
 
 This file is the **quick reference for downstream sessions** tracking Brainy changes.
-Full auto-generated changelog: `CHANGELOG.md` · Releases: https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/releases
+Full auto-generated changelog: `CHANGELOG.md` · Releases: https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases
 
 **How to use:** Brainy is the underlying data engine for downstream applications. Read this when:
 - Upgrading `@soulcraft/brainy` in your application
@@ -31,6 +31,692 @@ is sometimes cited as a 7.x removal — those methods never existed on 7.x; the
 
 ---
 
+## v10.4.4 — 2026-08-28
+
+**A correctness and observability release.** The headline is not speed: it is that a
+restart now tells you the truth about itself, a store stops lying about how much it
+holds, and the engine stops doing work nobody asked for. There is a performance
+improvement and it is modest; it is stated exactly below rather than rounded up.
+
+### The dark restart — fixed at the root
+
+A service could stop cleanly, exit 0, having awaited `close()` on every store it held,
+and its next boot would announce `Overwriting stale writer lock … appears dead` for
+every one of them. Nothing had crashed. Two deployments hit this; the same defect also
+made those boots pay a crash-recovery fold they did not owe.
+
+The cause was not the lock. `close()` released it correctly — when it got there. A
+failure part-way through close skipped both the release AND the clean-shutdown marker,
+and "the recorded pid is gone" reads identically for an orderly restart and a crash.
+
+- `close()` is now two parts and the second is unconditional: the flush-request watcher,
+  the **writer lock**, the VFS timers and the terminal `closed` flag are released whether
+  the durable steps succeeded or not. The original failure is narrated with what it costs
+  the next open, then rethrown.
+- Releasing the lock writes a **clean-close record** naming the lock generation it gave
+  up. The next open reads that record instead of guessing: recorded → nothing to recover;
+  absent → it says so, and names the recovery it is about to run. This also ends two
+  long-standing false alarms — a recycled pid locking a store out of its own reopen, and
+  `Re-acquiring writer lock … this is a bug` after a perfectly clean close.
+- The signal path stopped failing in a batch. One store's failing flush used to strand
+  every remaining store's lock and markers — at exit code 0. Now: per-store isolation, the
+  generation store's close (the marker) is part of shutdown, the lock goes in a `finally`,
+  and the handler no longer calls `process.exit()` when the host application has its own
+  signal handler, a race that truncated the host's own shutdown mid-flight.
+
+### The count ledger stops lying, and `counts.json` is written atomically
+
+The all-tier scalars are the denominator a coverage check subtracts against. A ledger
+derived under the old rule — one entity per id DIRECTORY — counted ghost and scar
+containers as rows, and was only FLAGGED suspect: it went on serving wrong numbers for
+the life of the store. Two copies of one archive could disagree, and a downstream index
+heal reported remaining work that did not exist.
+
+- Such a ledger now derives itself honestly **in the background** after the open, counting
+  identity records, and persists the correction stamped. Nothing waits for it, because no
+  read is served from a denominator.
+- A derivation that raced a write refuses to stamp its number: one retry on a quiet store,
+  then the ledger stays SUSPECT and names `repairIndex()` as the door that recounts under
+  a barrier.
+- `counts.json` is written temp+rename. A truncating write left a window in which a
+  concurrent reader saw the file EMPTY — and an unparseable ledger sends the next open
+  down the full-rescan path, so the cheapest file in the store was buying the most
+  expensive recovery.
+
+### An open and a repair narrate themselves — on a channel a log level cannot silence
+
+A store could open for three minutes and print nothing at all. The phase timings existed;
+they were written to a channel that every production-looking environment clamps away.
+
+- Narration moved to an always-visible channel. An open now heartbeats the phase it is in,
+  names each phase as it ends with what it was paying for, and names the expensive STEP
+  inside a phase. `repairIndex()` does the same and its receipt carries a per-family
+  `durationMs` — a repair that ran for half an hour with no output could only be watched
+  through `top`.
+- A brain nobody has written to now does nothing: a flush over a clean store is a no-op
+  and says nothing, the graph index's auto-flush asks before it acts, and the
+  cross-process flush-request watch is **event-driven** (`fs.watch`) instead of polling a
+  directory every 500 ms per store forever, with a slow safety sweep behind it and a
+  narrated fall back to polling where a filesystem cannot be watched.
+- A provider that is REBUILDING ITSELF is no longer confused with a broken one. `init()`
+  does not wait for it, every other family serves, and that family's doors refuse **by
+  name, carrying the provider's own progress**, saying plainly that they open by
+  themselves and no action is needed. Health narration dedupes by content, so an unchanged
+  verdict is silent however a provider's generation counter moves.
+
+### For operators — one behaviour change
+
+**Four `where` operators that previously returned an empty page now raise
+`INVALID_QUERY`:** `startsWith`, `endsWith`, `matches` and `length`. An equality/range
+posting index cannot evaluate a substring, a pattern or an array length without reading
+every row, and it now refuses by name instead of answering with an empty result that
+looks like an answer.
+
+**Three that previously returned an empty page are now SERVED:** `hasAll`, `noneOf` and
+`excludes`. All 25 accepted operator tokens now agree between this engine and its
+accelerated counterpart.
+
+### Performance — stated exactly
+
+Measured on a 14,056-noun / 72,679-verb production-shaped store, both builds solo under
+an exclusive lock:
+
+- **Warm reopen after a clean close: 85.7 s → 77.0 s (−10.2%).** The whole of that gain is
+  one fix — generation discovery reads directory NAMES instead of recursively walking the
+  entire generation log (−9.2 s, and it scales with history rather than row count). The
+  VFS phase is **unchanged**.
+- **Cold open: −31.4 s** (518.1 s → 486.7 s), of which the count-ledger derivation moving
+  off the critical path accounts for storage-init dropping 5,941 ms → 25 ms.
+- **A dominant ~38 s remains, diagnosed and NOT fixed.** It is not the VFS — the VFS's own
+  init is under 2 s of that phase. It is the log-authority adoption and/or the
+  pending-embed log recovery, both now instrumented so the next measurement names the
+  culprit outright.
+
+Continuing work, named so nobody has to rediscover it: that ~38 s term; making the
+generation store's committed-range set lazy; the hydration path that substitutes
+`Date.now()` for an unreadable stored timestamp (inventing data); and a VFS path-prefix
+filter built with a `$startsWith` spelling no operator set accepts, so
+`searchFiles({ path })` throws today.
+
+---
+
+## v10.4.3 — 2026-08-27 (Open Brainy's first release)
+
+**`@soulcraftlabs/brainy` 10.4.3 is the same engine as `@soulcraft/brainy` 10.4.2, byte for
+byte — only the name, the registry, and the pointers changed.** Install:
+
+```bash
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
+```
+
+with the registry line in your `.npmrc` (anonymous read):
+
+```
+@soulcraftlabs:registry=https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/
+```
+
+- **The Source is the one registry.** Open Brainy publishes to source.soulcraft.com only; the
+  npmjs republish step is retired from the release rail. Existing npmjs versions of
+  `@soulcraft/brainy` stay as they are and receive no new versions.
+- **The repository moved** to `soulcraftlabs/open-brainy` on The Source; the old path redirects.
+- **No engine change.** Everything in the 10.4.2 notes applies unchanged; adoption is one
+  install-line change (`@soulcraft/brainy` → `@soulcraftlabs/brainy`), which downstream
+  applications make together with their native-engine bump.
+
+## v10.4.2 — 2026-08-27 (a zero-norm vector is not a vector)
+
+**This is the last release of the MIT engine under the `@soulcraft/brainy` name.**
+The MIT package continues as **Open Brainy** — `@soulcraftlabs/brainy`: the open API,
+client library, types and protocol, an openly specified canonical format, and the TypeScript
+reference engine, scoped honestly as a single-node engine for stores up to roughly one
+million rows. The `@soulcraft/brainy` name passes to the native engine, **Brainy**, at a
+major version bump; that engine implements the same API over the same open format at
+production scale, requires a license, and refuses loudly without one. Nothing changes
+for existing installs until that major ships; the move is announced with it.
+
+Six fixes, one law: a vector with no magnitude carries no information, so it must
+never reach a vector index — in any engine — and the canonical store must say so.
+
+- **The permanently-unvectored row.** `add({ ..., vector: [] })` (and the same item
+  shape in `addMany` / `transact`) is now the sanctioned "no vector" row: persisted
+  with an empty vector leg, never embedded, never indexed, counted as unvectored in
+  the canonical ledger. Metadata-only rows — telemetry tallies, counters, plumbing —
+  no longer need a placeholder vector and never enter the vector leg. `vector: []`
+  together with `deferEmbedding: true` is refused with a typed error (a supplied
+  vector has nothing to defer). Previously `vector: []` threw a dimension error.
+- **The unvector door.** `update({ id, vector: [] })` (and its `transact()` twin) is
+  the sanctioned way to strip a vector from an existing row: canonical vector → `[]`,
+  removal from the vector index, the vectored ledger decremented exactly once — and
+  idempotent, so a resumed cleanup pass may simply re-issue. It never re-embeds, and
+  it clears a pending deferred-embed marker durably so the background worker cannot
+  re-vector the row later. Note that a rebuild never sheds vectors (it re-derives the
+  index from canonical rows); shedding historical vectors needs this door.
+- **Zero-norm vectors are normalized at the write.** An explicit all-zero vector on
+  any write path is persisted as unvectored (`[]`) with one warning naming the row;
+  the vector-index operations keep their own refusal as a second line. The engine's
+  own VFS root, which used to persist a deliberate all-zero placeholder (harmless
+  under cosine distance, a false attractor under a downstream engine's
+  squared-euclidean serving — a production incident this week), is now created
+  unvectored, and an existing store's legacy root is migrated on open by a single
+  fixed-path read before the health gate runs — never a walk.
+- **Enumeration keys on the identity record.** `getNouns()` / `getVerbs()` and the
+  cursor walks behind them enumerate by the metadata record, the same key the
+  canonical ledger counts by — previously the walk keyed on the vector file, so a
+  row holding metadata but no vector was counted yet never yielded (a permanent
+  "missing" phantom in coverage math), while an orphaned vector-only directory
+  could be yielded as a phantom id. The recovery fold also never deletes an existing
+  vector when it replays a metadata-only after-image (preserve-if-absent). One
+  documented gap remains: a verb's endpoints live only in its vector leg, so a
+  metadata-only verb is counted and loudly skipped, never fabricated — the fix is a
+  canonical-format change and lands with the open format.
+- **The ledger's one-time derivation counts identity records.** Stores upgraded from
+  pre-ledger versions derived their ALL-visibility scalars once by counting id
+  directories, which included ghost and scar containers left by an old partial-delete
+  defect — an inflated denominator whose coverage row could never reach exact. The
+  derivation now counts only directories holding a metadata record, `counts.json`
+  carries a derivation-rule stamp, and a ledger derived under the old rule is marked
+  `suspect` at open (one O(1) field read, one warning) so the online `repairIndex()`
+  path clears it with a real recount.
+- **The vector index refuses what it cannot hold.** `rebuild()` skips unvectored and
+  zero-norm rows (one summary line), re-pins the vector dimension from the first real
+  vector after a restart (previously a restart left the pin unset, so a wrong-length
+  insert became the new pin instead of being rejected), and `addItem` / `updateItem`
+  throw a typed `EmptyVectorIndexError` on a length-0 vector instead of ever storing
+  a vector-less node.
+- **Smaller:** a failing plugin activation now rethrows with the original error as
+  `cause` (the originating file and line survive to the caller's log); build
+  generators stamp from the repository history of their inputs instead of wall clock,
+  so two builds of the same tree are byte-identical.
+
+Adoption: one restart, paired with its native-engine release. The first open of an
+existing store runs the legacy-root migration (one narrated line) and, on stores that
+upgraded from pre-ledger versions, marks the ledger suspect until the next sanctioned
+recount — no rebuild in either case.
+
+## v10.4.1 — 2026-08-26 (reads refuse per family; an unchanged write never re-embeds)
+
+Two production defects from the same week, fixed together as a patch to 10.4.0.
+
+- **The read gate is per family.** A read now refuses only when the index family it
+  actually consults is unhealthy: a metadata filter is served while the vector leg is
+  rebuilding; a semantic query is refused only by the vector family; a graph
+  traversal only by the graph family. Previously any unhealthy family refused every
+  read on the brain — under a long vector rebuild, a production deployment's
+  metadata-only reads were refused for the duration, and the retries became a write
+  pump of their own.
+- **Unchanged data never re-embeds.** `update()` compares the incoming `data`
+  structurally with the stored record; an update carrying identical data (a common
+  shape for periodic upserts) no longer embeds again and no longer churns the vector
+  leg. Previously every such update re-embedded and re-inserted, which under load
+  saturated the vector index with near-identical vectors.
+
+Adoption: one restart, paired with its native-engine release.
+
+## v10.4.0 — 2026-08-25 (the health report has a name)
+
+Three related cures, one root cause: an index deciding whether it could be trusted
+by sampling itself instead of by exact accounting. This release replaces every
+sampled self-probe with ledger-derived truth, and a read against an unhealthy index
+now refuses loudly instead of guessing.
+
+- **The canonical count ledger.** Storage now tracks two scalars per family
+  (nouns/verbs) on the write path: the user-facing `counted` total — unchanged,
+  still what `getNounCount()` / `getVerbCount()` return — and a new ALL-visibility
+  `all` total covering every tier, the real denominator a derived index's own
+  coverage math needs. The unfiltered storage-level `totalCount` returned by
+  `getNouns()` / `getVerbs()` is now this unclamped ALL scalar; previously it could
+  only ever move up (`Math.max(scalar, scanned)`), so an inflated counter could
+  never self-correct. A delete that cannot prove the record it removed actually
+  existed (no canonical read, no prior image available) no longer decrements on
+  faith — it marks the ledger `suspect` (narrated once per session) instead of
+  silently drifting, and the next `repairIndex()` clears the flag with a real
+  recount.
+- **One contract for a throwing health probe.** A provider's `validateInvariants()`
+  is documented to never throw — but if one does anyway (a bug, a transient fault),
+  it is now read the same way everywhere: `heal: 'none'`, the error named in the
+  report, never synthesized into a rebuild trigger and never swallowed into "looks
+  fine." A flaky check can no longer buy itself a rebuild. `repairIndex()`'s
+  per-family receipt also gains `missing` (an exact count plus a capped id sample),
+  `rebuilt` (a full rebuild ran, vs. an incremental heal), and `reason`.
+- **The named health report; reads refuse instead of rebuilding.** Any index
+  provider may now expose a synchronous, O(1) `healthReport()` — composed from the
+  provider's own exact ledgers, never a sample — and this is the one signal
+  Brainy's read gate trusts. The first-query lazy-build path is gone: `brain.init()`
+  now runs every needed rebuild to completion before it returns, always, regardless
+  of dataset size. A read that lands on a provider whose health report says it
+  isn't serving throws a typed error instead of triggering a rebuild mid-query —
+  `GraphIndexNotReadyError`, `MetadataIndexNotReadyError`, or
+  `VectorIndexNotReadyError` (all exported from `@soulcraft/brainy`), naming the
+  reasons. `repairIndex({ rebuild: ['metadata' | 'graph' | 'vector'] | 'all' })` is
+  the new explicit operator door: it rebuilds the named family unconditionally, no
+  health check consulted — reach for it when you have independent reason to
+  distrust a family regardless of what it self-reports. Bare `repairIndex()` is
+  unchanged in spirit: report-driven, heals only what its own checks say needs it.
+- New concept doc: [Index Health](docs/concepts/index-health.md) walks the whole
+  story from a consumer's side — degraded-but-serving vs. not-ready, what
+  `repairIndex()` checks and heals per family, what `suspect` counts mean.
+
+**Nothing to change to adopt this.** No API removed, no signature narrowed —
+`repairIndex()` gains an optional options bag and its return value gains fields,
+both additive. The honest notes: if your code ever relied on a `find()` against a
+cold/not-yet-built index quietly triggering a rebuild and returning results a beat
+later, that behavior is gone — it now throws one of the three typed
+`*NotReadyError` classes instead (catch them if you need to distinguish "not ready
+yet" from "no results"). And `disableAutoRebuild: true` no longer defers index
+construction to the first query — a needed rebuild always runs at `open()` now;
+the flag has no effect on timing. Full manual control still lives in
+`repairIndex({ rebuild: [...] })`.
+
+- **Crash-reopen catchup.** After an unclean shutdown, the metadata index now
+  folds the exact fact window it missed — `find()` serves every acked write on
+  reopen, closing the gap where canonical reads and counts recovered a
+  crash-window write but the index kept serving its pre-crash state until the
+  next full rebuild. Related root-cause fixed alongside: `close()` never
+  stamped the index watermarks (only `flush()` did), so a close without a
+  prior flush caused a needless full rescan verdict on the next open.
+- **Relation rows are live in the metadata index.** Previously verb rows
+  entered the metadata index only during a rebuild — so a rebuilt store's
+  relation postings went stale from the first `relate()` after it. Relations
+  are now posted and retracted on the live write path (relate / unrelate /
+  updateRelation / remove's cascade, and their `transact()` forms), in the
+  same commit as the graph leg.
+- **The metadata rebuild is online.** `rebuild()` for the metadata family no
+  longer clears and rebuilds in place (reads went empty for the duration): it
+  builds a complete replacement beside the serving index, mirrors concurrent
+  writes to both, swaps atomically, and persists once after the swap. Reads
+  never observe a partial index. `repairIndex({ rebuild: ['metadata'] })` uses
+  it automatically.
+- **Incremental heal is routed.** A provider invariant that asks for the
+  incremental heal (`heal: 'repair'`) now routes to the provider's own
+  `repair()` when it exposes one — re-posting exactly what its ledger names,
+  never a store-sized rebuild — and the post-heal re-read of the report decides
+  success; a repair that doesn't converge is recorded with the escalation named.
+- **The vector family joins the count ledger.** `getCanonicalCounts()` gains
+  `vectors: { all }` — the count of canonical entities holding a real vector
+  (deferred-embed entities count when their vector lands). And the open gate
+  closes the vector leg: a store whose canonical rows hold vectors but whose
+  derived vector index is empty now builds at `open()` (or refuses with the
+  typed error) instead of silently serving empty vector-search results.
+- **An unknown storage config shape fails loudly.** A nested `config` object
+  carrying a path-shaped key (a shape that was never supported) used to fall
+  through silently to the default shared directory — every instance writing one
+  store while callers believed each had its own. It now throws, naming the
+  canonical `path` key.
+- **Relation index rows are JSON-safe.** Internal endpoint identifiers can no
+  longer ride the metadata-index crossing (a native provider serializes it);
+  they stay on the graph operations where they belong.
+- **A broken accelerator install can never read as "not installed."** The
+  auto-detection free pass now requires the resolution error to name the
+  accelerator package itself, exactly — a missing platform-binary sibling
+  package, an inner file path, or a dependency failure is a broken install and
+  `init()` throws loudly. And a plugin that declines activation is narrated on
+  the always-on log channel, so `silent: true` can no longer hide a fallback
+  to the default engines.
+
+---
+
+## v10.3.1 — 2026-08-18 (the fold that behaves)
+
+Three recovery cures from one production first-boot incident (a brain's first
+process restart after a live storage-authority flip looked hung and was
+restarted three times mid-recovery). **Adopt this version before flipping
+brains with existing history** — it is the intended adoption target for
+fleets moving to the crash-safe authority.
+
+- **Recovery streams.** The boot-time log fold now consumes the generation
+  log one segment-batch at a time — memory stays bounded at one segment for
+  any log size. Previously it materialized every fact into one array, which
+  on a ~7k-fact log produced multi-GB allocation pressure and a process that
+  looked wedged while it worked.
+- **Recovery narrates.** The fold announces itself before the work begins
+  ("recovery fold beginning — do not restart, the fold is finite") and prints
+  progress every thousand facts. A visible fold gets to finish; a silent one
+  gets killed by a well-meaning operator, and each kill makes the next boot
+  pay the whole fold again.
+- **Bounded recovery from the flip itself.** Adopting the log authority now
+  founds the recovery checkpoint at the moment of the flip (one paged
+  canonical sync, bounded memory, then the stamp) — so even the FIRST unclean
+  shutdown after a flip replays only the log's tail. Previously the bound
+  could only establish itself at a completed crash recovery, which is exactly
+  the recovery the incident kept interrupting.
+
+---
+
+## v10.3.0 — 2026-08-18 (the trust-and-provenance release)
+
+Four consumer-driven cures. Pairs with the same native accelerator line
+(>=4.1.0); adopt alongside the accelerator's 4.2.0 for its paired fixes.
+
+- **Writer-lock fencing.** A live writer is never auto-evicted (staleness now
+  requires the holding process to be dead — a >60s stall is a slow writer, not
+  a dead one); the lock claim is atomic (no empty-file window a racer can
+  misread as torn); and every flush commit and transact barrier verifies lock
+  ownership first, so a forced-out or lock-deleted writer fails typed
+  (`BRAINY_WRITER_FENCED`) instead of writing on unaware — the split-brain
+  class a shared dev store hit is dead at all three roots. The documented
+  same-process re-open ("warn and take over") stays benign: ownership is
+  per-process. Consumers that raised stop-timeouts as mitigation can retire
+  them.
+- **Transaction-log provenance.** `TxLogEntry` gains an optional `origin`
+  field — absent means a user write (existing consumers unchanged);
+  engine-originated commits stamp themselves (`system:embed-landing`,
+  `system:adoption-backfill`, `system:reconcile`), and the same stamp rides
+  the commit fact's meta. Activity feeds filter on fact instead of guessing;
+  a reported "double tick" (the deferred vector landing indistinguishable from
+  a user save) is cured without collapsing genuine rapid saves.
+- **The attested reconcile door.** `reconcileLogDivergence(id, {attest})`
+  resolves the one adoption-refusing divergence class
+  (`log-live-canonical-absent`) with a human's word: `'deleted'` mints the
+  tombstone the log always lacked; `'restore'` folds the log's only copy back
+  into canonical; wrong-class calls refuse typed with nothing written. Loud,
+  narrated, single-row.
+- **Iron-honest test budgets.** The wall-clock micro-budgets are recalibrated
+  as order-of-magnitude guards (3x the worst measurement across three machine
+  classes) so honest hardware differences can never again read as failures;
+  real performance enforcement lives in the dedicated perf lanes.
+
+---
+
+## v10.2.0 — 2026-08-17 (adoption completes in one call)
+
+One fix, headline-sized for large stores. Pairs with the same native accelerator
+version as 10.1.0 — no accelerator bump needed.
+
+- **The adoption backfill runs to completion.** Adopting the crash-safe storage
+  authority first re-commits every row the log never saw (a one-time baseline
+  backfill). That backfill had a fixed ceiling of 800 rows per
+  `adoptLogAuthority()` call — sized for small drift, not for a large pre-existing
+  store — so a store with a 12,700-row baseline advanced 800 rows per call and
+  stayed on the prior authority across restarts (a production deployment's
+  report). Now one call adopts a baseline of any size: the backfill sees the
+  entire curable set at once, cures all of it, and loops only until green — the
+  no-progress guard is the sole stop. Pace rides the write path (~100 rows/s
+  measured end to end, versus ~1.7 rows/s under the old page-per-scan shape),
+  and progress is narrated so an operator watching a live service sees motion.
+  Stores that already adopted are unaffected; stores still on the prior authority
+  flip in a single call on their next open or on an explicit
+  `adoptLogAuthority()`.
+- Verification report unchanged on the wire (still lists at most 200 mismatches;
+  counts remain complete) — only the adoption path reads the full set.
+
+---
+
+## v10.1.0 — 2026-08-13 (the bounded-recovery and write-path-cure release)
+
+The theme: **crash recovery is bounded, restores are durably founded, and two
+production-reported write-path defects are cured at their roots.** Ships together
+with the matching native accelerator version; adopt as a pair.
+
+- **Bounded crash recovery (the fold-checkpoint bound).** Recovery after an unclean
+  shutdown now replays only the log segment above a durably-stamped checkpoint
+  instead of the whole log. The checkpoint advances only after a canonical-sync
+  barrier makes every touched record durable (deletes included), so the bound can
+  lag but can never overstate durability. Existing stores converge automatically at
+  their first recovery — zero operator steps; recovery cost stops scaling with
+  store age.
+- **Restores are unclean events, by construction.** `restore()` now runs its swap
+  fully quiesced (no background flush can race the directory replacement — a
+  consumer-reported `ENOTEMPTY` crash class is dead), and a snapshot's durability
+  stamps never survive the restore: the reopen folds the restored log, re-syncs
+  what it re-applied, and stamps fresh. Restored state is durably founded at
+  restore time instead of inheriting assertions about bytes the disk never synced.
+- **Write-path cures from a production report.** (1) Log pad-frame construction is
+  total — a size-class boundary hole could previously kill a sync with "pad frame
+  not constructible". (2) The at-ack sync-failure compensation now splits by phase:
+  the generation counter can never re-mint a number the log may already carry, so
+  the non-monotonic append refusal loop reported by a downstream deployment cannot
+  recur. Both pinned with the reporter's exact shapes.
+- **Operator-truthful sparse queries.** `where` on a field no store row has ever
+  carried now serves the honest answer (`eq`/`in`/range → empty; `ne`/`exists:false`
+  → all rows; `exists:true` → empty) with a throttled did-you-mean warning, instead
+  of refusing. `orderBy` on unknown fields and ambiguous spellings keep their typed
+  refusals.
+- **Cross-package error identity.** `UnresolvableFieldError` thrown across package
+  boundaries is re-normalized so `instanceof` checks in consuming applications
+  match regardless of duplicated dependency trees.
+- Release tooling: publishes now push the tag before the branch (the publish
+  workflow can no longer queue behind a redundant CI run) and verify registry
+  byte-identity with a propagation-tolerant raw-registry probe.
+
+---
+
+## v10.0.0 — 2026-08-10 (the write-path and lifecycle release)
+
+The theme: **writes ack fast and honestly, startup adopts instead of rebuilding, and
+every query path serves, announces, or refuses — never silently degrades.** Ships as
+one release together with the matching native accelerator version.
+
+**The storage-authority posture (the release's headline):** a NEW brain's default
+is **durable-at-ack log authority** — the generation log is the source of truth,
+every write acknowledgment is covered by a group-committed fsync, and crash
+recovery is a replay of the log (an acked write survives power loss, proven by
+fault-injection tests). An EXISTING brain adopts at its first open under 10.0.0,
+gated by a verification oracle: the log is replayed and diffed against stored
+truth record-by-record; curable gaps are backfilled; the brain flips only on a
+green verdict and a brain that cannot verify stays on the previous posture and
+says so loudly. The explicit opt-out is `logAuthority: 'defer'` in the config
+(no automatic adoption; flip later with `adoptLogAuthority()`).
+
+**Why a major:** the generation log gains write format v2 — new segments carry typed,
+versioned records with integrity seals. A 9.x build refuses a v2 segment with a clear
+version-naming error (never a misread), which means **a brain written by 10.x cannot
+be opened by 9.x**. Existing v1 history stays readable forever; upgrading requires no
+migration and no data touch — the format moves forward only as you write.
+
+### New capabilities
+
+- **`deferEmbedding: true`** on `add()`/`update()`: the write acks at durability; the
+  embedding runs on a crash-safe background worker and the vector swaps in atomically.
+  The row is id/metadata-findable immediately; semantic recall converges when the embed
+  lands. Barriers and gauges: `awaitPendingEmbeds()`, `waitForIndexed('semantic')`,
+  `getIndexStatus().pendingEmbeds`. VFS file writes adopt this end to end — file-write
+  ack no longer waits on a neural net (measured ~50× faster serial writes on a
+  production-shaped corpus).
+- **`waitForIndexed(path?, { generation?, timeoutMs? })`** — the one honest read
+  barrier for write-then-recall flows. Typed timeout error naming what was still
+  pending; never a silent partial wait.
+- **Engine-owned persistence cadence** (`persistence.policy: 'auto'`, now the default):
+  the engine flushes on write-count/interval/idle triggers in the background,
+  single-flight. **Delete `flush()` calls from hot paths** — `flush()` remains as an
+  awaitable durability barrier. A hung flush can never block a write ack.
+- **Time-travel recall contract**: `asOf(G).find()` serves vectors exactly as they
+  stood at G — a later update never leaks into an earlier pin; deleted rows mask;
+  beyond-head pins refuse typed.
+- **Log-authority storage (opt-in, per brain)**: `verifyLogAuthority()` audits the
+  generation log against stored truth record-by-record and names every divergence;
+  `adoptLogAuthority()` flips a brain to log-authoritative storage only on a green
+  audit (self-healing curable divergences first), enabling durable-at-ack writes:
+  concurrent writers share one fsync and an acked write survives power loss, by
+  construction (crash-recovery replay is pinned by fault-injection tests).
+
+### Behaviour changes
+
+- **`find({ where: {} })` now serves match-all** (previously returned an empty result
+  silently — warm and cold). Same fix applies to count, streaming, and graph-scoped
+  seeding paths.
+- **`removeMany({ where: {} })` now refuses with a typed error** — a match-all bulk
+  delete must be explicit, never inherited from an empty filter object.
+- **Aggregations always answer**: state persists at every `flush()` (not only close),
+  an unclean exit reconciles incrementally instead of rescanning the store, and
+  deletes without a before-image flag a loud rescan instead of silently skipping.
+- **Vector updates are atomic in place** — a row is never transiently absent from
+  search during an update (the "flicker" class is gone); type-only re-index of an
+  unchanged vector is a no-op.
+
+### Format note
+
+- The generation log gains **format v2** (typed, versioned records with integrity
+  seals). v1 segments remain readable forever; new segments write v2. Older brainy
+  builds refuse v2 segments with a clear version-naming error rather than misreading
+  them. Records reserve encryption fields for a future release — zero behaviour today.
+
+## v8.11.0 — 2026-07-27 (canonical enumeration mode for export — storage-walked, canon-complete)
+
+From a fleet data-migration program's requirement for whole-brain exports that are
+provably canon-complete: `export()`'s default enumeration for a whole-brain/predicate
+selector is a generation-correct paginated `find()` walk — a projection query riding
+the metadata index as an acceleration structure. Production has documented both of the
+index's failure classes: a lost/stale posting can silently OMIT a canonical record from
+an export, and a stale posting can silently INCLUDE a phantom row. Neither is visible
+to the caller today.
+
+- **New: `export(selector, { enumeration: 'canonical' })`** (default remains `'index'` —
+  unchanged behavior on this release). Canonical mode walks every live noun/verb
+  directly off the storage adapter's canonical shard layout (`storage.getNouns()` /
+  `getVerbs()` — the same primitive `repairIndex()`'s recount and every index-heal
+  walk use) instead of the metadata/graph indexes, then applies the selector as a
+  plain predicate over the walked records. This guarantees canon-completeness — index
+  corruption cannot hide a live record from the export — at the cost of an O(N) walk
+  regardless of selector selectivity. Relations are also walked canonically in this
+  mode, for every selector, not just the whole-brain case. Requires the LIVE current
+  generation: called on a historical `asOf()` view or a speculative `with()` overlay it
+  throws `CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError` rather than silently mixing generations
+  or missing an overlay's own entities — `enumeration: 'index'` (the default) is
+  unaffected and still composes with `asOf()`/`with()` as before.
+- **New: `export(selector, { enumeration: 'canonical', reportIndexDrift: true })`** —
+  also runs the index-based enumeration and diffs it against canonical ground truth,
+  attaching `PortableGraph.drift: { canonicalOnly: string[], indexOnly: string[] }`
+  (canon-present ids the index missed; index-visible ids canon-absent — phantoms).
+  Migration-audit evidence, not a repair: nonzero drift is reported loudly
+  (`console.warn` with the counts) and nothing is auto-healed — run `brain.repairIndex()`
+  to reconcile the metadata index once drift is confirmed.
+- **New: `export(selector, { includeHidden: true })`** (default: false — unchanged
+  behavior). Without it, a whole-brain/predicate export could never carry a
+  `visibility:'internal'` or `'system'` row, in EITHER `enumeration` mode — a real gap
+  for a bulk-migration fold auditing per-visibility-tier, where a hidden tier is real
+  user data, not noise to drop. `includeHidden` admits both tiers into candidacy in
+  both modes (and implies `includeSystem`; `includeSystem` alone keeps its narrower,
+  pre-existing meaning). **Migration-grade exports set `includeHidden: true`** — a
+  complete-canon export must carry every visibility tier; consumer-facing exports
+  leave it off.
+- **Ops note (consumer-invisible): the release pipeline's home-registry publish (The
+  Source, source.soulcraft.com) now runs on CI**, triggered by the release tag, instead of PUTting the tarball from the laptop
+  over WAN — no change to what gets published or how a consumer installs it.
+
+## v9.0.0 — 2026-08-04 (the field-addressing law: your names and system.*, nothing in between)
+
+**Major.** One law now governs every field name, on every surface:
+
+> **Data is either in main space — where you can use ANY name — or it is in
+> `system.*`.**
+
+Read `docs/concepts/field-addressing.md` (published on the docs site) for the
+full contract; this entry is the migration ledger.
+
+### Breaking — query surfaces (`where` / `orderBy` / `groupBy` / aggregation)
+
+- **A bare field name ALWAYS addresses your metadata.** `orderBy: 'createdAt'`
+  no longer silently means the engine timestamp — it now refuses with a typed
+  `UnresolvableFieldError` naming both candidates unless you actually have a
+  user field of that name. Engine scalars are addressed explicitly:
+  `system.id`, `system.type`, `system.subtype`, `system.createdAt`,
+  `system.updatedAt`, `system.confidence`, `system.weight`,
+  `system.visibility`, `system.service`, `system.createdBy` (relations mirror
+  with `system.verb`/`system.sourceId`/`system.targetId`).
+  **Sweep list:** `where: { subtype: … }` → `where: { 'system.subtype': … }` ·
+  `orderBy: 'createdAt'` → `'system.createdAt'` · `groupBy: ['noun']` →
+  `['system.type']` · any bare `visibility`/`service`/`confidence` filter that
+  meant the engine value → its `system.*` spelling. Every missed site fails
+  LOUDLY with the correction in the error message — nothing silently changes
+  meaning without telling you.
+- **Unimplemented `find()` options refuse** (`cursor`, `includeRelations`,
+  `writeOnly` → `UnsupportedFindOptionError`); `order` is validated;
+  accepted-and-ignored is dead as a class.
+- **The ordering contract is pinned cross-engine:** missing/null `orderBy`
+  values sort LAST in both directions, ties break by id ascending, and rows
+  are never dropped from an ordered read.
+
+### Breaking — write surfaces
+
+- **There are no reserved metadata names anymore.** `metadata: { confidence,
+  type, id, level, data, content, … }` are ordinary user fields — stored
+  verbatim, indexed, filterable, sortable, aggregatable, faithful across
+  restarts, index rebuilds, and `asOf()` time travel. The 8.x
+  reserved-key-in-bag throw is GONE; code that relied on it (or on the
+  `'warn'`/`'remap'` lift) must set engine scalars via their dedicated params
+  (`confidence`, `weight`, `subtype`, `visibility`, …) — the bag never touches
+  them now.
+- **`reservedFieldPolicy` is removed.** Passing it throws at construction with
+  the migration note. `RESERVED_ENTITY_FIELDS`/`RESERVED_RELATION_FIELDS`
+  remain exported but now describe the stored record's engine half, not a ban
+  list; the `NoReservedEntityKeys`/`NoReservedRelationKeys` types are no-op
+  (deprecated).
+- **The one refused spelling:** a metadata key literally starting `system.`
+  (namespace forgery) — typed error on `add`/`update`/`relate`/`updateRelation`.
+- **Name-based index exclusions are gone.** Fields named `content`, `data`,
+  `id`, `vector`, … in your bag now INDEX like everything else (they were
+  silently un-indexed before — `where` on them returned `[]` with no error).
+  Value-shape rules stay, uniform across all names: arrays >10 never become
+  posting scalars; long values index hashed.
+- **Migration transforms receive one normalized view** (engine fields
+  top-level, your bag nested under `metadata`) regardless of how old the
+  stored record is, and must return the same shape — a stray non-engine
+  top-level key refuses with the fix in the message.
+
+### Storage format (automatic, no action)
+
+- New/updated records persist as **nested-bag records** (engine fields
+  top-level, your bag verbatim under `metadata`, sealed by a format stamp) —
+  the shape that makes collider names lossless. Old flat records stay
+  readable forever; nothing rewrites your data in place.
+- **Index epoch 3:** derived-index keys split the namespaces (bare user keys ·
+  literal `system.<field>` keys; the legacy `noun` column is gone). Every
+  brain rebuilds its derived indexes from canonical once, at first open —
+  observable via `getIndexStatus()`, no manual step. Pair this release with
+  the same-day native-accelerator release (its peer floor rises to `>=9`).
+- Raw-record consumers (fact-log scanners, export tooling): read bags through
+  the exported shape-aware splitters (`splitNounMetadataRecord` /
+  `splitVerbMetadataRecord`) — they handle both record eras.
+
+### Fixed in the same train
+
+- Default visibility exclusion was a silent no-op under the new addressing on
+  pre-release builds (internal/system-tier rows could leak into default
+  reads) — now pinned by conformance tests at every lifecycle boundary.
+- Per-type count surfaces (`getStats()`, count-by-type) read the new type
+  column, with a legacy fallback for pre-rebuild reads.
+- Aggregation `source.where` evaluated dotted keys as nested paths — dotted
+  addresses now match per-key, and the internal per-type counts aggregate
+  rebuilds itself onto the new keys automatically.
+
+### Conformance
+
+Both engines ship a shared self-arming conformance suite (the law cases, the
+ordering contract, and the reopen-collider fidelity case: every collider name
+written as user data, verified verbatim through live reads, reopen, a forced
+epoch rebuild, and time travel). Capability signal:
+`FIELD_ADDRESSING_CAPABILITY = 'field-addressing/v1'` plus the typed error
+classes, exported from the package root.
+
+## v8.10.3 — 2026-08-03, 8.10-line backport (natural field names stop colliding with engine internals)
+
+From a production report: sorting by a user metadata field named `level` silently
+returned insertion order — the engine's internal HNSW node layer (also called
+`level`) shadowed the user's field in every by-name read, and the indexing path
+stamped a hardcoded `0` into the same index column (multi-valued poison). `level`
+is a perfectly natural field name (game characters, priorities, floors); the
+engine was wrong, not the caller.
+
+- **`level` is user data now, everywhere.** Engine plumbing no longer resolves by
+  name, never shadows metadata, and never enters the indexed views. `orderBy:
+  'level'`, `where: { level: 9 }`, `groupBy: ['level']` all read YOUR field.
+  Regression pins: `tests/integration/level-field-shadow.test.ts` (the reporting
+  consumer's exact repro rows).
+- **Index epoch 2.** The derived posting set changed, so every existing brain
+  rebuilds its metadata index from canonical at first open — poisoned columns
+  heal automatically; no manual step. First open after upgrade pays one rebuild
+  (observable via `getIndexStatus()`); pair this release with the same-day
+  native-accelerator release, which makes `level` indexable on the native path.
+- **`transact()` metadata-only updates stop rewriting the vector record** — the
+  v8.10.2 write-granularity law now covers the batch/plan path too (it was
+  fixed for `update()` but the transact plan builder still staged the
+  unconditional save). If you batch stat touches through `transact()`, this is
+  your write-amplification fix.
+- (The "coming next" note this entry carried shipped as v9.0.0 — the
+  field-addressing law above.)
+
+---
+
 ## v8.10.2 — 2026-07-29 (metadata-only updates stop rewriting the vector record)
 
 From a production incident on a large deployment: a read-heavy sweep that bumped

SECURITY.md

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ commit to backporting fixes to unsupported lines.
 
 ## Scope
 
-This policy covers the `@soulcraft/brainy` package itself — the code in
+This policy covers the `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` package itself — the code in
 this repository. If you're evaluating a deployment that also uses
 `@soulcraft/cor`, report issues in that package the same way, to the same
 address; we'll route internally.

bin/brainy-ts.js

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 /**
  * Modern TypeScript CLI Runner
  * 
- * This is the entry point after npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+ * This is the entry point after npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
  * It runs the compiled TypeScript CLI code
  */
 

bun.lock

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "configVersion": 0,
   "workspaces": {
     "": {
-      "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
+      "name": "@soulcraftlabs/brainy",
       "dependencies": {
         "@aws-sdk/client-s3": "^3.540.0",
         "@azure/identity": "^4.0.0",

docs/DEVELOPER_LEARNING_PATH.md

@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@
 
 ### Prerequisites
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ### Your First Neural Database
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Step 1: Create and initialize Brainy
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ Once you're comfortable with basic operations, move to **Level 2** to learn abou
 ### Building a Knowledge Graph
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'memory' } })
 await brain.init()
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ Ready for AI-powered search and clustering? Move to **Level 3**.
 ### Triple Intelligence in Action
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'memory' } })
 await brain.init()
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ Want to treat files as intelligent entities? Learn the **Virtual Filesystem** in
 ### Files as Intelligent Entities
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'memory' } })
 await brain.init()
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ Ready for production deployment? Level 5 covers **planet-scale architecture**.
 ### Production-Ready Deployment
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // 1. PRODUCTION STORAGE - Filesystem with off-site snapshots
 console.log('Initializing production storage...\n')

docs/FIND_SYSTEM.md

@@ -1217,7 +1217,7 @@ where: {
 await brain.find({ type: 'Document' })
 
 // ✅ Correct: Use NounType enum
-import { NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 await brain.find({ type: NounType.Document })
 
 // ❌ Error: Operator not recognized

docs/MIGRATION-V3-TO-V4.md

@@ -153,13 +153,13 @@ brainy-data/
 ### Step 1: Update Brainy Package
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@latest
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@latest
 ```
 
 **Check your version:**
 ```bash
-npm list @soulcraft/brainy
-# Should show: @soulcraft/brainy@4.0.0
+npm list @soulcraftlabs/brainy
+# Should show: @soulcraftlabs/brainy@4.0.0
 ```
 
 ### Step 2: No Code Changes Required! ✅
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ If you encounter issues, you can rollback:
 
 ```bash
 # Reinstall v3
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@^3.50.0
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@^3.50.0
 
 # Restart application
 ```
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ rm -rf ./data
 cp -r ./data-backup ./data
 
 # Reinstall v3
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@^3.50.0
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@^3.50.0
 ```
 
 ## Common Migration Scenarios
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ console.log('Storage type:', status.type)
 
 **Migration Checklist:**
 - ✅ Backup data
-- ✅ Update npm package (`npm install @soulcraft/brainy@latest`)
+- ✅ Update npm package (`npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@latest`)
 - ✅ Restart application (automatic migration)
 - ✅ Verify data integrity
 - ✅ Enable lifecycle policies

docs/PERFORMANCE.md

@@ -323,58 +323,24 @@ Only the graph adjacency index carries a committed scale assertion:
 - ✅ **Single-Node by Design**: One process owns one `path`; scale out at the service layer
 - ✅ **Zero Stubs**: Every line of code is production-ready
 
-## Lazy Loading Performance
+## Index Build at Open (10.4+)
 
-Brainy supports two initialization modes for optimal performance across different use cases:
+As of 10.4, `brain.init()` runs every needed index rebuild to completion before
+it returns — always, regardless of dataset size. There is no lazy,
+first-query rebuild path: a brain either finishes opening healthy, or `init()`
+fails loudly. `disableAutoRebuild` no longer defers index construction to a
+first query; it has no effect on *when* a rebuild runs. Manual control over
+rebuilds is `repairIndex({ rebuild: [...] })`. See
+[Index Health](concepts/index-health.md) for the full read-gate contract
+(providers self-report readiness via `healthReport()`; a read against a
+not-serving provider throws a typed `*NotReadyError` rather than rebuilding
+mid-query).
 
-### Mode 1: Auto-Rebuild (Default)
-
-```javascript
-const brain = new Brainy()
-await brain.init()  // Rebuilds indexes during init (~500ms-3s for 10K entities)
-```
-
-**Performance:**
-- Init time: 500ms-3s (depends on dataset size)
-- First query: Instant (indexes already loaded)
-- Use case: Traditional applications, long-running servers
-
-### Mode 2: Lazy Loading
-
-```javascript
-const brain = new Brainy({ disableAutoRebuild: true })
-await brain.init()  // Returns instantly (0-10ms)
-
-const results = await brain.find({ limit: 10 })  // First query triggers rebuild (~50-200ms)
-const more = await brain.find({ limit: 100 })    // Subsequent queries instant (0ms check)
-```
-
-**Performance:**
-- Init time: 0-10ms (instant)
-- First query: 50-200ms (includes index rebuild for 1K-10K entities)
-- Subsequent queries: 0ms check (instant)
-- Concurrent queries: Wait for same rebuild (mutex prevents duplicates)
-
-**Concurrency Safety:**
-```javascript
-// 100 concurrent queries immediately after init
-await brain.init()
-
-const promises = Array.from({ length: 100 }, () =>
-  brain.find({ limit: 10 })
-)
-
-const results = await Promise.all(promises)
-// ✅ Only 1 rebuild triggered (mutex)
-// ✅ All 100 queries return correct results
-// ✅ Total time: ~60ms (not 6000ms!)
-```
-
-**Use Cases for Lazy Loading:**
-- **Serverless/Edge**: Minimize cold start time (0-10ms init)
-- **Development**: Faster restarts during development
-- **Large datasets**: Defer index loading until needed
-- **Read-heavy workloads**: Writes don't wait for index rebuild
+<!-- The pre-10.4 "Mode 2: Lazy Loading on First Query" section previously
+     documented here (disableAutoRebuild deferring index construction to the
+     first find() call) described a real, now-retired code path. Removed
+     rather than left to mislead; the concept doc above is the current
+     contract. -->
 
 ## Zero Configuration Required
 
@@ -384,10 +350,6 @@ Brainy is designed to be **smart enough to tune itself dynamically**. No configu
 // That's it. Brainy handles everything.
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
-
-// Or with lazy loading for serverless
-const brain = new Brainy({ disableAutoRebuild: true })
-await brain.init()  // Instant (0-10ms)
 ```
 
 ### Automatic Self-Tuning
@@ -395,7 +357,6 @@ await brain.init()  // Instant (0-10ms)
 - **Metadata Index**: Auto-builds sorted indices for range queries on first use
 - **Graph Index**: Auto-flushes every 30 seconds
 - **Default Tuning**: Research-based vector index defaults
-- **Lazy Loading**: Indices built only when needed
 - **Cache Management**: LRU caches with TTL
 
 ### Intelligent Defaults

docs/PLUGINS.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ next:
   - guides/storage-adapters
 ---
 
-# Plugin Development Guide
+# Plugin System
 
 Brainy has a plugin system that allows third-party packages to replace internal subsystems with custom implementations. This is how `@soulcraft/cor` provides optional native acceleration, and it's the same system available to any developer.
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ If no plugin provides a given key, brainy uses its built-in JavaScript implement
 ### 1. Implement the `BrainyPlugin` interface
 
 ```typescript
-import type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext } from '@soulcraft/brainy/plugin'
+import type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/plugin'
 
 const myPlugin: BrainyPlugin = {
   name: 'my-brainy-plugin',  // Must be unique (typically your npm package name)
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ await brain.init()
 **Programmatic registration:** For plugins not installed as npm packages, use `brain.use()`:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import myPlugin from './my-plugin.js'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
@@ -200,15 +200,30 @@ members so a warm reopen never pays a redundant rebuild-from-canonical:
 - **`init?(): Promise<void>`** — eager cold-load. Brainy awaits it once during
   `brain.init()`, after the metadata provider's `init()` (the id-mapper hydrates first)
   and **before the rebuild gate**.
-- **`isReady?(): boolean`** — honest durability signal. `true` ⇔ the persisted index is
-  loaded (or cheaply demand-loadable) and consistent with what was last persisted. When
-  exposed, the rebuild gate defers to this signal **instead of** the `size() === 0` /
-  `totalEntries === 0` heuristics — a disk-native index may report 0 resident entries
-  while fully durable. Never return `true` if the durable state failed to load: the
-  signal is honest in both directions, and a not-ready provider gets its rebuild even
-  when `size() > 0`.
+- **`healthReport?(): HealthReport`** — the PREFERRED signal (10.4+). A named,
+  synchronous, O(1) verdict derived from the provider's own exact ledgers — never a
+  sample, never I/O, must never throw for a well-formed provider. Brainy's read gate
+  (`assessProviderHealth()`) reads this INSTEAD of `isReady()` / size heuristics when
+  present: `serving: false` refuses the read with a typed `*NotReadyError` rather than
+  triggering a rebuild — a read never starts a store walk. `healthy` marks every
+  *verified* invariant holding; a family named in `unledgered` counts as neither
+  healthy nor broken. See `HealthReport` / `LedgerInvariantResult` /
+  `InvariantSource` in `src/plugin.ts`, and
+  [Index Health](concepts/index-health.md) for the consumer-facing story.
+- **`isReady?(): boolean`** — honest durability signal, the fallback when
+  `healthReport()` is absent. `true` ⇔ the persisted index is loaded (or cheaply
+  demand-loadable) and consistent with what was last persisted. When exposed, the
+  gate defers to this signal **instead of** the `size() === 0` / `totalEntries === 0`
+  heuristics — a disk-native index may report 0 resident entries while fully durable.
+  Never return `true` if the durable state failed to load: the signal is honest in
+  both directions, and a not-ready provider gets its rebuild even when `size() > 0`.
 - **`isMigrating?(): boolean`** — while `true`, the provider owns its index (background
   migration); brainy skips its rebuild entirely.
+- **`validateInvariants?(): Promise<ProviderInvariantReport>`** — the async DEEP
+  diagnostic (full scans allowed), distinct from the bounded, sync `healthReport()`.
+  Must never throw — a failure is `healthy: false` data, not an exception; a provider
+  that throws anyway is read as a loud, unverified failure (never as "healthy") by
+  every caller, never silently retried into a rebuild.
 
 Providers that implement none of these keep the size/count heuristics — correct for
 engines whose `rebuild()` *is* their load path (like brainy's built-in JS vector index).
@@ -257,10 +272,10 @@ When provided by an optional native acceleration plugin (such as `@soulcraft/cor
 #### `cache`
 **Type:** `UnifiedCache`
 
-Replaces the global `UnifiedCache` singleton used for VFS path resolution, semantic caching, and vector index caching. Must implement the `UnifiedCache` interface (available from `@soulcraft/brainy/internals`).
+Replaces the global `UnifiedCache` singleton used for VFS path resolution, semantic caching, and vector index caching. Must implement the `UnifiedCache` interface (available from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy/internals`).
 
 ```typescript
-import type { UnifiedCache } from '@soulcraft/brainy/internals'
+import type { UnifiedCache } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/internals'
 
 context.registerProvider('cache', myNativeCache)
 ```
@@ -310,8 +325,8 @@ Plugins can register custom storage backends that users reference by name.
 ### Implementing a Storage Adapter
 
 ```typescript
-import type { StorageAdapterFactory } from '@soulcraft/brainy/plugin'
-import type { StorageAdapter } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import type { StorageAdapterFactory } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/plugin'
+import type { StorageAdapter } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 class MyStorageAdapter implements StorageAdapter {
   async init(): Promise<void> { /* ... */ }
@@ -345,9 +360,9 @@ Brainy provides three entry points for plugin developers:
 
 | Import Path | Contents | Stability |
 |-------------|----------|-----------|
-| `@soulcraft/brainy` | Public API, types, StorageAdapter | Stable (semver) |
-| `@soulcraft/brainy/plugin` | BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext, StorageAdapterFactory | Stable (semver) |
-| `@soulcraft/brainy/internals` | UnifiedCache, EntityIdMapper, logger utilities | Internal (may change between minor versions) |
+| `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` | Public API, types, StorageAdapter | Stable (semver) |
+| `@soulcraftlabs/brainy/plugin` | BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext, StorageAdapterFactory | Stable (semver) |
+| `@soulcraftlabs/brainy/internals` | UnifiedCache, EntityIdMapper, logger utilities | Internal (may change between minor versions) |
 
 ## Diagnostics
 
@@ -425,7 +440,7 @@ A minimal but useful plugin that provides SIMD-accelerated distance calculations
 
 ```typescript
 // simd-distance-plugin/src/plugin.ts
-import type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext } from '@soulcraft/brainy/plugin'
+import type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/plugin'
 
 // Hypothetical native module
 import { simdCosineDistance } from './native.js'
@@ -455,7 +470,7 @@ export default simdDistancePlugin
   "main": "./dist/plugin.js",
   "types": "./dist/plugin.d.ts",
   "peerDependencies": {
-    "@soulcraft/brainy": ">=7.0.0"
+    "@soulcraftlabs/brainy": ">=7.0.0"
   }
 }
 ```
@@ -463,7 +478,7 @@ export default simdDistancePlugin
 Usage:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ plugins: ['brainy-simd-distance'] })
 await brain.init()

docs/PRODUCTION_SERVICE_ARCHITECTURE.md

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ After 40 API calls:
 
 ```typescript
 // server.ts
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // SINGLETON INSTANCE
 let brainInstance: Brainy | null = null
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ process.on('SIGTERM', async () => {
 
 ```typescript
 // server.ts - Clean Bun implementation
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brain: Brainy | null = null
 

docs/README.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()

docs/RELEASE-GUIDE.md

@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Examples:
 
 ```bash
 # 1. Deprecate wrong version on npm
-npm deprecate @soulcraft/brainy@X.X.X "Incorrect version - use Y.Y.Y"
+npm deprecate @soulcraftlabs/brainy@X.X.X "Incorrect version - use Y.Y.Y"
 
 # 2. Fix version in package.json
 # 3. Republish correct version

docs/SCALING.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 ### In-Memory
 ```typescript
-import Brainy from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import Brainy from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'memory' } })
 ```
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ The native vector provider (via the optional `@soulcraft/cor` package) extends t
 
 Numbers below are **measured** by `tests/benchmarks/find-composition-scale.js` (a single
 Node 22 process, in-memory storage, 384-dim vectors, `balanced` recall). They are the
-open-core (pure-TypeScript) path — what you get from `@soulcraft/brainy` with no native
+open-core (pure-TypeScript) path — what you get from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` with no native
 provider installed. Run it yourself: `node --max-old-space-size=8192 tests/benchmarks/find-composition-scale.js 100000`.
 
 `find()` query latency, p50 / p95 (200 queries each):

docs/api/README.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ next:
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy() // Zero config!
 await brain.init() // VFS auto-initialized!
@@ -1010,7 +1010,7 @@ await db.release()                        // unpin + free cached materialization
 
 ### Db API errors
 
-All exported from `@soulcraft/brainy`:
+All exported from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy`:
 
 | Error | Thrown by | Meaning |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -1451,6 +1451,34 @@ const count = await brain.getVerbCount()
 
 ---
 
+### The canonical count ledger (`StorageAdapter.getCanonicalCounts()`)
+
+An OPTIONAL method on the `StorageAdapter` interface (implemented by both
+built-in adapters), not a method on `Brainy` itself — relevant if you're
+writing a custom storage adapter or composing a provider's own
+`healthReport()`. O(1), no I/O. Per family (`nouns`/`verbs`):
+
+```typescript
+interface CanonicalCounts {
+  nouns: { counted: number; all: number }
+  verbs: { counted: number; all: number }
+  suspect: boolean
+}
+```
+
+- `counted` mirrors `getNounCount()` / `getVerbCount()` (public + internal tiers).
+- `all` is the ALL-visibility scalar — every tier, including system/internal
+  records — the denominator a derived index's own coverage math is measured
+  against.
+- `suspect` is `true` when an unprovable delete has left `all` unverified since
+  the last recount; `brain.repairIndex()` clears it with a real canonical walk.
+
+Adapters without the ledger omit the method; treat absence as "no
+denominator," never as zero. See
+**[Index Health](../concepts/index-health.md)** for the full story.
+
+---
+
 ### Subtype & facet APIs
 
 Full guide: **[Subtypes & Facets](../guides/subtypes-and-facets.md)**.
@@ -1831,6 +1859,104 @@ const semanticOnly = await brain.getStats({ excludeVFS: true })
 
 ---
 
+### `repairIndex(options?)` → `Promise<RepairReport>`
+
+The ceremony door for index repair. Bare `repairIndex()` is report-driven: it
+prunes orphaned containers, recomputes count rollups, reconciles VFS
+containment, and rebuilds only a derived-index family whose own health check
+asks for it. Pass `options.rebuild` to force one or more families to rebuild
+UNCONDITIONALLY — no health check is consulted — when an operator has
+independent reason to reconcile a family regardless of what it self-reports.
+
+```typescript
+// Report-driven: only heals what actually needs it
+const report = await brain.repairIndex()
+console.log(report.healedTotal, report.families)
+
+// Explicit: force the graph adjacency to rebuild from canonical, unconditionally
+await brain.repairIndex({ rebuild: ['graph'] })
+
+// Explicit: force all three derived indexes to rebuild
+await brain.repairIndex({ rebuild: 'all' })
+```
+
+**`RepairReport`:**
+- `families: RepairFamilyReport[]` — one row per family checked
+- `healedTotal: number` — items healed across every family
+- `durationMs: number`
+
+**`RepairFamilyReport`** (one row):
+- `family: string` — e.g. `'orphaned-containers'`, `'count-rollups'`,
+  `'vfs-containment'`, `'metadata-corruption'`, `'provider:metadata'`,
+  `'provider:graph'`, `'provider:vector'`
+- `checked: boolean` — was this family actually examined (`false` ⇒ see `skipped`)
+- `healed: number` — items re-posted/corrected in place (the incremental heal count)
+- `missing?: { count: number; sample: string[] }` — exact count plus a capped id
+  sample when the check can name what diverged (never the full list)
+- `rebuilt?: boolean` — a full generational rebuild ran (vs. an incremental heal)
+- `detail?: string` / `reason?: string` — narration
+- `skipped?: string` — why the family wasn't checked
+
+Full walkthrough — what each family checks, degraded-but-serving vs. not-ready,
+and what `suspect` counts mean — in
+**[Index Health](../concepts/index-health.md)**.
+
+---
+
+### Index readiness: typed errors, `healthReport()`, `disableAutoRebuild`
+
+Every derived-index provider (vector, graph, metadata) may expose a named,
+synchronous, O(1) `healthReport()` composed from its own exact ledgers — the
+signal Brainy's read gate trusts over sampling or size heuristics. `init()`
+brings every provider to serving before it returns; there is no first-query
+lazy-rebuild path. A read that reaches a provider whose health report says it
+isn't serving throws instead of rebuilding mid-query:
+
+| Error | Thrown by | Meaning |
+|---|---|---|
+| `GraphIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ connected })`, `neighbors()`, `related()` | Graph adjacency isn't serving |
+| `MetadataIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ where })` | Metadata/field index isn't serving |
+| `VectorIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ query })`, `similar()` | Vector index isn't serving |
+
+All three are exported from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy`. Catch them to distinguish
+"index not ready" from a genuine empty result:
+
+```typescript
+import { MetadataIndexNotReadyError } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+
+try {
+  const rows = await brain.find({ where: { status: 'active' } })
+} catch (err) {
+  if (err instanceof MetadataIndexNotReadyError) {
+    // reconcile: await brain.repairIndex(), then retry
+  } else {
+    throw err
+  }
+}
+```
+
+**`disableAutoRebuild`** no longer defers index construction to the first
+query. A needed rebuild always runs at `open()`, regardless of this flag or
+dataset size; the flag has no effect on *when* a rebuild runs. Full manual
+control lives in `repairIndex({ rebuild: [...] })`, above.
+
+### `validateIndexConsistency()` → `Promise<...>`
+
+The deep, async diagnostic counterpart to `healthReport()` — safe to run on a
+live brain, but does more work (a provider's `validateInvariants()` may run a
+full scan, not just read a ledger). Aggregates the JS metadata index's own
+consistency check with every derived-index provider's invariant report.
+
+```typescript
+const validation = await brain.validateIndexConsistency()
+if (!validation.healthy) {
+  console.log(validation.recommendation) // what to run, e.g. repairIndex()
+  console.log(validation.providers)      // each provider's own invariant report, when exposed
+}
+```
+
+---
+
 ## Lifecycle
 
 ### Initialization
@@ -2082,7 +2208,7 @@ For the full taxonomy with all 169 types and their descriptions, see:
 - **📖 Documentation:** [Full Documentation](../)
 - **🐛 Issues:** [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/issues)
 - **💬 Discussions:** [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy/discussions)
-- **📦 NPM:** [@soulcraft/brainy](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@soulcraft/brainy)
+- **📦 NPM:** [@soulcraftlabs/brainy](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@soulcraftlabs/brainy)
 - **⭐ GitHub:** [Star us](https://github.com/soulcraftlabs/brainy)
 
 ---

docs/architecture/data-storage-architecture.md

@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ locks/_flush_responses/     # writer answers with <uuid>.ack
 | **Counts/statistics** | Per-type and per-subtype maps | `_system/{type,subtype,verb-subtype}-statistics.json.gz`, `counts.json` | Recomputable by scanning entities (`brainy inspect repair`) |
 
 A pluggable index provider (the 8.0 plugin contract in
-`@soulcraft/brainy/plugin`) may replace any of the JS implementations; the
+`@soulcraftlabs/brainy/plugin`) may replace any of the JS implementations; the
 persisted formats above are contract-bound so JS and native implementations
 can interleave on the same directory.
 

docs/architecture/finite-type-system.md

@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class TypeAwareMetadataIndex {
 **The Design**: Specify types clearly in your API calls:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Add entity with explicit type
 await brain.add({
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ class OrgEnrichmentAugmentation {
 **Brainy's Approach**: Extract **typed** concepts:
 
 ```typescript
-import { NaturalLanguageProcessor } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { NaturalLanguageProcessor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const nlp = new NaturalLanguageProcessor()
 const concepts = await nlp.extractConcepts("Alice works at Google in San Francisco")
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ import {
   getVerbTypes,
   BrainyTypes,
   suggestType
-} from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+} from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Get all available noun types
 const nounTypes = getNounTypes()

docs/architecture/index-architecture.md

@@ -723,6 +723,14 @@ async stats(): Promise<Statistics> {
 
 ### 5. Index Rebuilding (Lazy Loading Support)
 
+> **Stale as of 10.4 — "Mode 2: Lazy Loading on First Query" below is
+> RETIRED.** `disableAutoRebuild` no longer defers index construction to a
+> first query; `brain.init()` now runs every needed rebuild to completion
+> before it returns, unconditionally, and a read against a not-serving
+> provider throws a typed `*NotReadyError` instead of rebuilding mid-query.
+> See `docs/concepts/index-health.md` for the current contract. Left below
+> as historical background on the rebuild mechanics.
+
 **Two modes of index loading:**
 
 #### Mode 1: Auto-Rebuild on init() (default)

docs/architecture/initialization-and-rebuild.md

@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Initialization and Rebuild Processes
 
+> **Stale as of 10.4 — "Mode 2: Lazy Loading on First Query" below is RETIRED.**
+> `disableAutoRebuild` no longer defers index construction to a first query;
+> `brain.init()` now runs every needed rebuild to completion before it
+> returns, unconditionally. A read against a not-serving provider throws a
+> typed `*NotReadyError` instead of rebuilding mid-query. See
+> `docs/concepts/index-health.md` for the current contract; this document's
+> line-number references to `src/brainy.ts` also predate the file's current
+> size and are unreliable. Left as historical background on the rebuild
+> mechanics, not as a current API description.
+
 This document explains how Brainy's four indexes (MetadataIndex, vector index, GraphAdjacencyIndex, DeletedItemsIndex) initialize and rebuild from persisted storage.
 
 ## Core Principle: All Indexes Are Disk-Based

docs/architecture/multiprocess-storage-mixin.md

@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ For reference, a clean migration path:
    `isMultiProcessSafe` type-guard. Keep `hasStorageMethod` for
    build/install artifact protection.
 5. Document the new contract in `concepts/storage-adapters.md`.
-6. Major-version-bump the `@soulcraft/brainy` peerDep range expected by
+6. Major-version-bump the `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` peerDep range expected by
    plugins.
 
 Estimated work: ~half a day of code, ~2 hours of doc/example updates,

docs/architecture/noun-verb-taxonomy.md

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ next:
 Every example on this page is written against the real Brainy 8.0 API. The setup is always the same:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Brainy's **Noun-Verb Taxonomy** achieves broad coverage of human knowledge throu
 - **Multi-hop Graph Traversals = Relationship Complexity**
 - **Result: Model data across virtually any industry**
 
-Every piece of information can be represented as entities (nouns) connected by relationships (verbs) carrying properties (metadata). The standardized type system from `@soulcraft/brainy` (`NounType`, `VerbType`) gives those nouns and verbs a stable, shared name.
+Every piece of information can be represented as entities (nouns) connected by relationships (verbs) carrying properties (metadata). The standardized type system from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy` (`NounType`, `VerbType`) gives those nouns and verbs a stable, shared name.
 
 ## The Power of Standardization: Universal Interoperability
 

docs/architecture/zero-config.md

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ constructor and `init()`.
 ## Instant Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // That's it. No config needed.
 const brain = new Brainy()

docs/concepts/field-addressing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+---
+title: Field addressing: your fields and system fields
+slug: concepts/field-addressing
+public: true
+category: concepts
+template: concept
+order: 7
+description: The one rule for every query-surface field name — a bare name always means your metadata, system.<field> reaches the ten engine scalars explicitly, and anything else refuses by name.
+next:
+  - guides/namespace-migration
+  - concepts/consistency-model
+---
+
+# Field addressing: your fields and system fields
+
+Every query surface in Brainy — `find()`'s `where`, `orderBy`, aggregation
+`groupBy`, and aggregation `source.where` — resolves field names by one rule,
+with no exceptions:
+
+> **A bare field name always means your metadata. `system.<field>` reaches an
+> engine scalar, and only when you spell it explicitly.**
+
+```typescript
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'level' })          // reads entity.metadata.level — YOUR field
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'system.createdAt' }) // reads the engine's createdAt scalar
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'metadata.level' })   // identical to bare 'level' — explicit scope
+```
+
+There is no priority list, no "try the system field, fall back to metadata"
+behavior, and no name that resolves differently depending on what else
+happens to exist on your entities. A field called `level`, `score`,
+`createdAt`, or `type` in your own `metadata` is read as *your* field, every
+time, by its bare name.
+
+## Why this rule exists
+
+An internal report from a production deployment found that a user metadata
+field literally named `level` was being silently shadowed by the engine's
+own internal index layer field of the same name — every sort by `level`
+returned insertion order, with no error raised. This rule makes that class of
+bug structurally impossible: bare names belong to you, unconditionally, and
+anything that isn't yours has to be spelled out.
+
+## The system scalars
+
+`system.<field>` addresses exactly ten scalars on an entity — no more, no
+fewer:
+
+| System field | What it is |
+|---|---|
+| `system.id` | The entity's id |
+| `system.type` | The entity's `NounType` |
+| `system.subtype` | The per-app sub-classification passed to `add()` |
+| `system.createdAt` | When the entity was created |
+| `system.updatedAt` | When the entity was last written |
+| `system.confidence` | The `confidence` param (0–1) |
+| `system.weight` | The `weight` param |
+| `system.visibility` | `'public'` / `'internal'` (see the visibility tiers in [Consistency Model](./consistency-model.md)) |
+| `system.service` | The multi-tenancy `service` tag |
+| `system.createdBy` | Who/what created the entity |
+
+Relationships mirror the same eight shared scalars (`subtype`, `createdAt`,
+`updatedAt`, `confidence`, `weight`, `visibility`, `service`, `createdBy`)
+plus three of their own:
+
+| System field (relationship) | What it is |
+|---|---|
+| `system.verb` | The relationship's `VerbType` |
+| `system.sourceId` | The id of the entity the relationship starts from |
+| `system.targetId` | The id of the entity the relationship points to |
+
+Anything not on these two lists is not a system scalar — `system.<name>` for
+any other name refuses (see "Refusal semantics" below), even if that name
+sounds like it should be engine-owned.
+
+## Invisible plumbing — never addressable, in either spelling
+
+Five names are pure engine internals. They are not reachable as a bare name,
+and not reachable as `system.<name>` either — they simply have no place on
+the query surface:
+
+- **`vector`** — the stored embedding. It participates in similarity search
+  (`query`, `near`, vector `find()`), never in `where`/`orderBy`/`groupBy`.
+- **`connections`** — graph adjacency. Reached through `connected` and
+  `brain.related()`, not through field addressing.
+- **`level`** — the internal index layer number used by the nearest-neighbor
+  graph. It is pure index plumbing with no query-surface meaning at all —
+  which is exactly why a user field of the same name must never be shadowed
+  by it. `level` as a bare name is always yours; there is no engine-owned
+  spelling of it to compete with.
+- **`data`** — your entity's content payload, not a scalar. It can be a
+  string, a number, or an arbitrary object, so sorting or filtering it as a
+  single comparable value would lie about its actual shape. Content is
+  reached through the content/text-search APIs (`query`, `searchMode:
+  'text'`), not through `where`/`orderBy`.
+- **`_rev`** — the per-entity revision counter used for optimistic
+  concurrency (`ifRev`). It is a CAS token, not a queryable dimension.
+
+`system.level`, `system.vector`, and `system.data` all refuse for the same
+reason: they are not in the ten-scalar system map, full stop.
+
+## `metadata.<field>` — the explicit spelling of "mine"
+
+Prefix any field with `metadata.` to say the same thing a bare name already
+says, spelled out. The two are interchangeable everywhere a field name is
+accepted, including `orderBy`:
+
+```typescript
+await brain.find({ where: { 'customer.tier': 'gold' } })
+await brain.find({ where: { 'metadata.customer.tier': 'gold' } })   // identical
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'metadata.score', order: 'desc' })      // identical to orderBy: 'score'
+```
+
+Reach for the explicit spelling when it reads more clearly next to a
+`system.` field in the same query — for example, sorting by your own `score`
+while filtering on `system.confidence`.
+
+## No special names — the write side
+
+The same law governs writes:
+
+> **Data is either in main space, where developers can use anything, or it
+> is in `system.*`.**
+
+There are **no reserved metadata names**. A field called `confidence`,
+`type`, `id`, `data`, `content`, or anything else inside your `metadata` bag
+is an ordinary user field: it is stored verbatim, indexed, filterable,
+sortable, aggregatable, and it survives restarts, index rebuilds, and
+time-travel (`asOf`) reads exactly as written — even when an engine scalar
+shares its spelling. The engine's values are written only through their
+dedicated params (`confidence`, `weight`, `subtype`, `visibility`, …) and
+read at `system.<field>`; your bag can never touch them and they can never
+shadow your bag.
+
+```typescript
+const id = await brain.add({
+  data: 'Ada Lovelace',
+  type: NounType.Person,
+  confidence: 0.9,                       // the ENGINE scalar
+  metadata: { confidence: 'self-rated' } // YOUR field, same spelling — both live
+})
+
+await brain.find({ where: { confidence: 'self-rated' } })      // finds it (yours)
+await brain.find({ where: { 'system.confidence': 0.9 } })      // finds it (engine's)
+```
+
+The one spelling a write refuses is a metadata key that literally starts
+with `system.` — the explicit address namespace cannot be forged as a user
+field name. That refusal is typed and names the fix.
+
+Value **shape** rules still apply uniformly to every name (they are not name
+carve-outs): arrays longer than 10 elements are not turned into posting-list
+scalars, and very long values are indexed by hash.
+
+## Refusal semantics
+
+A name that resolves to neither your metadata nor a system scalar is a typed
+refusal, not a silent empty result and not a guess. Refusals name **both**
+candidates, so the fix is always in the error text:
+
+```typescript
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'createdAt' })
+// UnresolvableFieldError: no metadata field 'createdAt' — did you mean
+// system.createdAt or metadata.createdAt?
+```
+
+`UnresolvableFieldError` is exported from the package root:
+
+```typescript
+import { UnresolvableFieldError } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+
+try {
+  await brain.find({ orderBy: 'createdAt' })
+} catch (err) {
+  if (err instanceof UnresolvableFieldError) {
+    // err.message names both candidates — usually enough to fix the call site.
+  }
+}
+```
+
+A handful of `find()` options are not implemented yet: `cursor`,
+`includeRelations`, and `writeOnly`. Rather than accepting them and quietly
+ignoring the option, `find()` refuses with `UnsupportedFindOptionError` —
+also exported from the package root — so a call site can never believe an
+unimplemented option took effect when it didn't.
+
+## The ordering contract
+
+`orderBy` behaves identically regardless of which engine (the pure-TypeScript
+path or a native accelerator) is serving the query:
+
+- An entity missing the `orderBy` field, or holding `null` on it, sorts
+  **LAST — in both `asc` and `desc`**. It is never treated as "smaller than
+  everything" in one direction and "larger than everything" in the other; it
+  is simply last, either way.
+- Rows are **never dropped** from an ordered read because they lack the
+  field — a missing value changes position, never presence.
+- Ties on the `orderBy` field break by **id ascending**, regardless of the
+  primary sort direction.
+
+```typescript
+// employees: [{ score: 9 }, { score: 5 }, { /* no score field */ }]
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'score', order: 'desc' }) // [9, 5, missing] — missing is last
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'score', order: 'asc' })  // [5, 9, missing] — missing is STILL last
+```
+
+## Migrating existing call sites
+
+If you have call sites written before this rule shipped that rely on a bare
+system name — `orderBy: 'createdAt'`, `where: { confidence: { greaterThan:
+0.8 } }`, and similar — they now refuse instead of silently resolving to the
+engine field. The fix is always in the error: swap the bare name for
+`system.<field>` (or `metadata.<field>` if you actually meant your own field
+of that name, and it happens to share a name with a system scalar):
+
+```typescript
+// Before: bare 'createdAt' silently meant the engine's timestamp.
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'createdAt' })
+
+// After: say which one you meant.
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'system.createdAt' })   // the engine timestamp
+await brain.find({ orderBy: 'metadata.createdAt' }) // your own field named createdAt, if you have one
+```
+
+There is no silent migration path by design — every ambiguous call site
+surfaces as a refusal naming its own fix, once, the first time it runs
+against the new rule.
+
+## Where to go next
+
+- [Consistency Model](./consistency-model.md) — visibility tiers, revision
+  counters, and the rest of the read/write contract this page's
+  read-time addressing rule.

docs/concepts/index-health.md

@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+---
+title: Index Health
+slug: concepts/index-health
+public: true
+category: concepts
+template: concept
+order: 8
+description: How Brainy knows whether a derived index can be trusted — exact accounting instead of sampling, the named health report, degraded-but-serving vs. not-ready, and what repairIndex() checks, heals, and rebuilds.
+next:
+  - concepts/generation-fact-log
+  - guides/inspection
+---
+
+# Index Health
+
+Brainy keeps one **canonical** copy of every entity and relationship, and three
+**derived** indexes built from it — vector, metadata, and graph — so `find()` can
+answer semantically, by filter, and by traversal without re-deriving the answer from
+scratch on every query. A derived index is a cache with a serving structure: it can
+be present but stale, present but only partially loaded, or fully out of sync with
+canonical after a crash. This page is about how Brainy decides whether to trust one,
+what it does when it can't, and how you reconcile the two.
+
+## Exact accounting instead of sampling
+
+Older health checks worked by inference: does `size()` return something greater
+than zero, does a spot-check on one known item come back correct. Both are proxies.
+A cold index can report a nonzero count while its actual serving structure never
+loaded, and a spot-check only proves the one item it happened to ask about.
+
+Every derived-index provider may now expose a named, synchronous, O(1)
+`healthReport()` — composed from the provider's own **exact ledgers** (real counters
+it already maintains on the write path), never a sample or a walk. This is the one
+signal Brainy's read gate consults. A provider that doesn't yet expose one falls
+back to an honest `isReady()` boolean, and finally to a size heuristic for engines
+with neither — but wherever a `healthReport()` exists, it wins.
+
+Underneath, storage itself keeps an analogous **canonical count ledger**: a
+`counted` scalar (the user-facing total — what `getNounCount()` / `getVerbCount()`
+return) and an `all` scalar (every tier, including internal records a derived
+index's own coverage math needs to compare against). This is the real denominator
+a provider's `healthReport()` measures itself by, rather than a total that can only
+ever ratchet upward. See [What `suspect` counts mean](#what-suspect-counts-mean)
+below for the one case that ledger can't stay exact through on its own.
+
+## The named report
+
+A `HealthReport` carries, per provider (`'vector'` / `'graph'` / `'metadata'`):
+
+- **`healthy`** — `true` iff every *verified* invariant holds. An invariant whose
+  family has no ledger yet is `unledgered`, never counted either way — unknown,
+  not passing.
+- **`serving`** — can this provider answer a query right now. A failing invariant
+  graded `heal: 'repair'` or `heal: 'none'` still leaves `serving: true` — this is
+  **degraded-but-serving**: something is off (say, a stale rollup on an
+  `employee` record's relationship count) but reads keep working. Only a failure
+  graded `heal: 'rebuild'` flips `serving` to `false` — **not-ready** — because the
+  provider itself is telling you its serving structure cannot answer correctly.
+- **`invariants`** — each checked condition, with its provenance
+  (`source: 'ledger'` — an exact count; `'deep'` — a full scan, diagnostic-only;
+  `'unledgered'` — not yet tracked) and, for a failing one, an exact `missing`
+  count plus a capped sample of the affected ids — a verdict, never a dump.
+- **`generation`** — bumps on every ledger mutation and rebuild, so a caller can
+  cache a verdict per generation instead of re-deriving it.
+
+The distinction that matters day to day: `healthy: false` can be entirely benign —
+a maintenance window, a divergence `repairIndex()` will clean up on its own
+schedule. `serving: false` is not benign. It means this provider is refusing to
+answer, on its own word, right now.
+
+**How a failure gets its grade — the serving law.** A provider grades `heal` by
+one question only: *could an answer be wrong?* — never *how expensive is the
+fix?* A missing-postings shortfall, however large, is `heal: 'repair'` (re-post
+exactly what the ledger names, reads serving throughout); it can never withhold
+serving just because healing it takes work. `serving` is withheld only by a
+small, named set of rebuild-graded conditions — the index not initialized, its
+durable state absent, a manifest naming files that are not resident, a replay
+that did not complete cleanly — the states in which an answer could genuinely be
+wrong. And a read is only ever refused by the family it actually consults: a
+metadata filter is answered by the metadata index alone, vector search by the
+vector index, traversal by the graph index — one family's refusal never blocks
+another family's reads.
+
+## Reads refuse — they never rebuild
+
+A query that reaches a not-serving provider does not trigger a rebuild from inside
+the read. Brainy retired that path deliberately: a rebuild kicked off by an ordinary
+`find({ where: { status: 'active' } })` call is a dark, unpredictable cost hiding
+behind a request that looks like a cheap read. Instead, the read throws a typed,
+catchable error naming the reason:
+
+| Error | Thrown when | Meaning |
+|---|---|---|
+| `GraphIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ connected })`, `neighbors()`, `related()` | The graph adjacency index isn't serving — traversal would otherwise return `[]` indistinguishable from "no relationships" |
+| `MetadataIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ where })` | The metadata/field index isn't serving — a filtered read would otherwise return `[]` indistinguishable from "no matches" |
+| `VectorIndexNotReadyError` | `find({ query })`, `similar()` | The vector index isn't serving — a semantic search would otherwise return `[]` indistinguishable from "nothing similar" |
+
+All three are exported from `@soulcraftlabs/brainy`. Catch them where your application
+needs to distinguish "this index isn't ready yet" from "there's genuinely nothing
+here" — a health dashboard, a retry policy, an operator alert. The fix is always
+the same: reconcile the index, either by reopening the brain (which brings every
+provider to serving before `init()` returns — see the next section) or by calling
+`repairIndex()` explicitly.
+
+```typescript
+try {
+  const active = await brain.find({ where: { status: 'active' } })
+} catch (err) {
+  if (err instanceof MetadataIndexNotReadyError) {
+    // not a "no results" — the index itself refused; alert or retry after repair
+  } else {
+    throw err
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Rebuilds happen at open, not on first query
+
+`brain.init()` runs every needed rebuild to completion **before it returns**,
+unconditionally, regardless of dataset size. There is no lazy, first-query
+rebuild path anymore — a brain either finishes opening healthy, or it fails
+open loudly. `disableAutoRebuild: true` no longer defers index construction to
+the first query: it has no effect on *when* a needed rebuild runs. Full manual
+control over rebuilds is `repairIndex({ rebuild: [...] })` (below), not this flag.
+
+## `repairIndex()` — checking and healing
+
+Bare `repairIndex()` is **report-driven**: it only heals what its own checks say
+actually needs it, and it always returns a full per-family receipt.
+
+```typescript
+const report = await brain.repairIndex()
+report.healedTotal   // total items healed across every family
+report.durationMs
+report.families       // one row per family checked
+```
+
+Each `RepairFamilyReport` row names what happened:
+
+- **`checked`** — was this family actually examined (`false` means skipped —
+  see `skipped` for why).
+- **`healed`** — items re-posted or corrected in place.
+- **`missing`** — when the check can name what diverged: an exact `count` plus a
+  capped `sample` of ids.
+- **`rebuilt`** — a full generational rebuild ran (as opposed to an incremental
+  heal).
+- **`detail`** / **`reason`** / **`skipped`** — the receipt's narration; a row is
+  always either checked or explains why it wasn't. Nothing is silent.
+
+On every call, bare `repairIndex()`:
+
+1. Prunes orphaned canonical containers left by a partial delete.
+2. Recomputes the count rollups from one canonical walk (unconditional — this is
+   also what clears a `suspect` ledger; see below).
+3. Reconciles VFS containment edges, if the VFS is initialized.
+4. Runs the metadata index's own corruption detection pass.
+5. Consults each of the three derived-index providers' own health check and
+   rebuilds only a family whose failing invariant actually asks for it
+   (`heal: 'rebuild'`) — never a provider that reports `healthy` or a lesser
+   grade.
+
+### The explicit rebuild door
+
+`options.rebuild` skips the health check and rebuilds one or more families
+**unconditionally** — the operator override for when you have independent reason
+to distrust a family regardless of what it self-reports (a suspicious deploy, a
+storage-layer incident, a support ticket that doesn't match what the health report
+says):
+
+```typescript
+// Force the graph adjacency to rebuild from canonical, no invariant consulted
+await brain.repairIndex({ rebuild: ['graph'] })
+
+// Force all three derived indexes
+await brain.repairIndex({ rebuild: 'all' })
+```
+
+A family named this way is recorded with `rebuilt: true` and
+`reason: 'explicit rebuild requested'`, and is skipped by the normal
+health-driven pass in the same call — it was already rebuilt unconditionally.
+
+Reach for the explicit door when you need certainty regardless of self-report;
+reach for bare `repairIndex()` for routine maintenance and after any incident
+where you're not sure which family (if any) needs it.
+
+## What `suspect` counts mean
+
+Storage's canonical count ledger increments the ALL-visibility total on every new
+record and decrements it on every *proven* delete — one where the record was read,
+or the caller supplied its prior image. A delete that cannot prove what it removed
+existed doesn't guess: it flags the ledger `suspect` (an operator-visible
+`console.warn`, narrated once per session, not once per delete) rather than risk
+decrementing a total that was never incremented for that record in the first
+place. This is intentionally rare — it's a defensive fallback for callers on an
+unusual removal path, not a per-delete cost.
+
+`suspect` is not directly exposed on any `Brainy` method today — it lives on the
+`StorageAdapter`'s optional `getCanonicalCounts()`, primarily consulted by
+`repairIndex()`'s recount step and by custom storage adapters composing their own
+`healthReport()`. What matters for an application: a `suspect` ledger is not
+incorrect, just *unverified since the last recount* — and `repairIndex()`'s
+unconditional count-rollup step (step 2, above) recomputes the ALL scalars from a
+real canonical walk on every call, clearing the flag with proof either way.
+
+## Practical guidance
+
+- **On a normal restart**, do nothing — `init()` brings every provider to
+  serving before it returns, or fails loudly.
+- **On a `*NotReadyError`** from a live read, reconcile with `repairIndex()`
+  (report-driven is almost always sufficient) and retry.
+- **After an incident** where you distrust a specific family regardless of what
+  it reports healthy — a storage-layer fault, a suspicious restore — use the
+  explicit door: `repairIndex({ rebuild: ['metadata' | 'graph' | 'vector'] })`.
+- **To audit before trusting a report**, `brain.auditGraph()` walks every stored
+  relationship and proves (or disproves) that reads return canonical truth,
+  independent of what any provider self-reports — see
+  [Inspecting a Live Brainy](../guides/inspection.md).

docs/concepts/storage-adapters.md

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ The only required override is the capability flag. Returning `true` from
 to call `acquireWriterLock()` at init.
 
 ```typescript
-import { FileSystemStorage } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { FileSystemStorage } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 export class MmapFileSystemStorage extends FileSystemStorage {
   public supportsMultiProcessLocking(): boolean {
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ If your storage is **not filesystem-backed** (a custom
 network backend), extend `BaseStorage` directly:
 
 ```typescript
-import { BaseStorage } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { BaseStorage } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 export class MyCloudStorage extends BaseStorage {
   // BaseStorage's default no-op implementations of the multi-process
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ The defensive check at every new-storage-method call site (`brainy.ts`,
 `hasStorageMethod(name)`) does **not** exist to handle "plugin bundles a
 stale BaseStorage." Plugins ship a dist that preserves the dynamic ESM
 import (verify in your plugin's `dist/`: `import { FileSystemStorage } from
-'@soulcraft/brainy'` is not rewritten to a vendored copy). The prototype
+'@soulcraftlabs/brainy'` is not rewritten to a vendored copy). The prototype
 chain at runtime resolves to whatever Brainy version your consumer has
 installed.
 
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ installed.
 the prototype chain at the consumer-app level:
 
 - **Stale `node_modules`** — a lingering install from before the consumer
-  upgraded Brainy. The package.json says `@soulcraft/brainy@7.22.0` but
-  `node_modules/@soulcraft/brainy` is still 7.20.x.
+  upgraded Brainy. The package.json says `@soulcraftlabs/brainy@7.22.0` but
+  `node_modules/@soulcraftlabs/brainy` is still 7.20.x.
 - **Lockfile drift** — `bun.lockb` / `package-lock.json` pins a brainy
   version older than the package.json range, and `bun install` honors the
   lockfile.
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ and the warning names the adapter class plus a remediation hint:
 methods on its prototype chain. Writer locking and the flush-request RPC are
 disabled for this directory. Likely fix: clean install (`rm -rf node_modules
 bun.lockb && bun install`) or rebuild your container image to refresh
-`@soulcraft/brainy` to ≥7.21. See docs/concepts/storage-adapters.md.
+`@soulcraftlabs/brainy` to ≥7.21. See docs/concepts/storage-adapters.md.
 ```
 
 ## Authoring a new storage adapter — minimum checklist
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ bun.lockb && bun install`) or rebuild your container image to refresh
    install time — fix install, not your plugin.
 
 6. **Pin your peer dep generously.** `"peerDependencies": {
-   "@soulcraft/brainy": "^7.21.0" }` accepts any compatible 7.x. Don't pin
+   "@soulcraftlabs/brainy": "^7.21.0" }` accepts any compatible 7.x. Don't pin
    to an exact patch unless you're tracking a known regression.
 
 ## Future direction
@@ -185,5 +185,5 @@ follow-up; consumers don't need to anticipate the change.
   heartbeat semantics, what the lock protects.
 - [`guides/inspection`](../guides/inspection.md) — `brainy inspect` and the
   read-only mode.
-- `node_modules/@soulcraft/brainy/dist/storage/baseStorage.d.ts` — the
+- `node_modules/@soulcraftlabs/brainy/dist/storage/baseStorage.d.ts` — the
   authoritative type signatures for every method this page references.

docs/guides/aggregation.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ they share a single scan.
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()

docs/guides/framework-integration.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Brainy is **framework-friendly** - designed to drop into the server side of any
 
 Brainy embeds an HNSW vector index, a graph engine, and a filesystem-backed persistence layer. These belong on the server:
 
-- **Zero configuration**: Just `import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'`
+- **Zero configuration**: Just `import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'`
 - **Auto storage detection**: `new Brainy()` auto-selects filesystem persistence on Node
 - **Cleaner code**: No browser polyfills, no conditional client/server imports
 - **Better DX**: One instance shared across your server routes
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ Brainy embeds an HNSW vector index, a graph engine, and a filesystem-backed pers
 ### Install Brainy
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ### Basic Integration
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Run on the server (API route, server component, backend service)
 // new Brainy() auto-detects filesystem persistence on Node
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ On the server, create one Brainy instance and reuse it across requests. This mod
 
 ```javascript
 // lib/brain.server.js
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brainPromise
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ On the server, create one Brainy instance and reuse it across requests:
 
 ```javascript
 // server/brain.js (server-only module)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brainPromise
 
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ The matching backend endpoint uses Brainy directly (Node/Bun):
 
 ```typescript
 // server: api/search
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy() // auto-detects filesystem persistence on Node
 await brain.init()
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ In Next.js, Brainy lives in server code only: API routes, server components, or
 
 ```javascript
 // lib/brain.server.js  (imported only by server code)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brainPromise
 
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ Brainy runs in a server-only module (`*.server.js`); the component fetches resul
 
 ```javascript
 // src/lib/server/brain.js  (server-only — note the .server suffix)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brainPromise
 
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
 
 export default defineConfig({
   ssr: {
-    external: ['@soulcraft/brainy']
+    external: ['@soulcraftlabs/brainy']
   }
 })
 ```
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
 ```javascript
 // rollup.config.js  (server bundle)
 export default {
-  external: ['@soulcraft/brainy', 'node:fs', 'node:path', 'node:crypto']
+  external: ['@soulcraftlabs/brainy', 'node:fs', 'node:path', 'node:crypto']
 }
 ```
 
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ export async function load({ url }) {
 
 ```javascript
 // For build-time usage (runs in Node during the build)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 export async function generateStaticProps() {
   const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ export async function generateStaticProps() {
 
 ### Issue: Large client bundle size
 **Cause**: A client module is pulling in Brainy.
-**Solution**: Move the `import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'` into a server-only module so it never reaches the browser bundle.
+**Solution**: Move the `import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'` into a server-only module so it never reaches the browser bundle.
 
 ### Issue: SSR hydration mismatch
 **Solution**: Run the search on the server (loader / server action / API route) and pass the results down as props, so server and client render the same markup.

docs/guides/import-anything.md

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Brainy's import is **ONE magical method** that understands EVERYTHING:
 ## The Ultimate Simplicity
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()

docs/guides/import-progress-examples.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Brainy provides real-time progress tracking for **all 7 supported file formats**
 ### Basic Progress Tracking
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import * as fs from 'fs'
 
 const brain = await Brainy.create()

docs/guides/import-quick-reference.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 ## Basic Import
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ await brain.import(file, {
 ## Complete Example
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import * as fs from 'fs'
 
 async function importCatalog() {

docs/guides/inspection.md

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ check fails — useful for piping into monitoring or CI.
 ## Programmatic inspection
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const reader = await Brainy.openReadOnly({
   storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: '/data/brain' }

docs/guides/installation.md

@@ -21,21 +21,21 @@ next:
 ## Install
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 Or with your preferred package manager:
 
 ```bash
-bun add @soulcraft/brainy
-yarn add @soulcraft/brainy
-pnpm add @soulcraft/brainy
+bun add @soulcraftlabs/brainy
+yarn add @soulcraftlabs/brainy
+pnpm add @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ## Verify
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ npm install @soulcraft/cor
 ```
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ plugins: ['@soulcraft/cor'] })
 await brain.init()  // native providers registered during init
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ remains available on npm if you need it.
 Brainy ships with full TypeScript types. No `@types/` package needed:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()

docs/guides/migration-3.36.0.md

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ const results = await brain.search("query")
 **New diagnostics for capacity planning and performance tuning.**
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ Recommendations: ${stats.recommendations.join(', ')}
 ### Step 1: Update Package
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@latest
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@latest
 ```
 
 ### Step 2: Restart Your Application
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ npm run start
 ### Check Adaptive Sizing is Working
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ For debugging or compatibility testing:
 If you need to rollback to v3.35.0:
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@3.35.0
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@3.35.0
 ```
 
 **Note:** We don't anticipate any issues, but rollback is straightforward if needed.
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ if (stats.fairness.fairnessViolation) {
 
 ## Next Steps
 
-1. ✅ **Upgrade:** `npm install @soulcraft/brainy@latest`
+1. ✅ **Upgrade:** `npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@latest`
 2. 📊 **Monitor:** Use `getCacheStats()` to verify performance improvements
 3. 🎯 **Tune:** Adjust based on recommendations (if needed)
 4. 📖 **Read:** [Operations Guide](../operations/capacity-planning.md) for capacity planning

docs/guides/model-loading.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ This single WASM file contains everything needed for sentence embeddings.
 
 ```bash
 # Bun as a runtime — supported and recommended
-bun add @soulcraft/brainy
+bun add @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 bun run server.ts
 ```
 

docs/guides/namespace-migration.md

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+---
+title: Migrating to 9.0 — your fields and system fields
+slug: guides/namespace-migration
+public: true
+category: guides
+template: guide
+order: 1
+description: The simple story of the 9.0 field-addressing change and the mechanical checklist for updating your call sites — every miss fails loudly with the fix in the error.
+next:
+  - concepts/field-addressing
+---
+
+# Migrating to 9.0 — your fields and system fields
+
+The one-sentence version: **your data's field names are now completely
+yours, the engine's own fields all live behind one `system.` prefix, and
+nothing in between can silently go wrong anymore.**
+
+## What changed, simply
+
+**1. Any field name just works.** Before 9.0 the engine quietly owned
+certain names. A field called `level` could be shadowed by the engine's
+internal index layer of the same name (sorts silently returned insertion
+order); names like `confidence` or `subtype` were rejected inside
+`metadata`; names like `content` or `id` were silently never indexed, so
+filtering on them returned nothing. All of that is gone. Any name —
+`level`, `confidence`, `type`, `id`, `content`, anything — is stored
+exactly as written and works with every feature: filtering, sorting,
+grouping, aggregation, search, and time-travel reads.
+
+**2. The engine's fields moved behind `system.`.** The engine still keeps
+its own per-record bookkeeping — creation time, type, confidence, and so
+on. Those are reached one way only now: spelled out, e.g.
+`system.createdAt`, `system.type`. They are just as queryable and sortable
+as before. `orderBy: 'createdAt'` means *your* field named `createdAt`;
+`orderBy: 'system.createdAt'` means the engine's timestamp. No guessing,
+no priority rules.
+
+**3. Storage keeps the two physically separate.** New records store your
+metadata in its own nested compartment, so a user field named
+`confidence` and the engine's confidence live side by side, both intact,
+through restarts, index rebuilds, and `asOf()` history. Old records stay
+readable forever; nothing rewrites your data.
+
+**4. Mistakes are loud.** An ambiguous or unknown field name is a typed
+error naming the fix. Unimplemented options refuse instead of being
+ignored. The only forbidden name in your metadata is one literally
+starting with `system.`.
+
+## The mechanical checklist
+
+Every missed site fails **loudly** with the correction in the error
+message — nothing silently changes meaning. Sweep these patterns:
+
+| Before (8.x) | After (9.0) |
+|---|---|
+| `orderBy: 'createdAt'` (meaning the engine timestamp) | `orderBy: 'system.createdAt'` |
+| `where: { subtype: 'invoice' }` (the engine subtype) | `where: { 'system.subtype': 'invoice' }` |
+| `where: { confidence: { greaterThan: 0.8 } }` (the engine scalar) | `where: { 'system.confidence': { greaterThan: 0.8 } }` |
+| `groupBy: ['noun']` or `groupBy: ['type']` | `groupBy: ['system.type']` |
+| `where: { visibility: 'internal' }` / `{ service: … }` (engine values) | `'system.visibility'` / `'system.service'` |
+| `metadata: { confidence: 0.9 }` expecting a throw or a lift to the engine scalar | it is YOUR field now — set the engine scalar via the `confidence` param |
+| `new Brainy({ reservedFieldPolicy: … })` | remove the option (it throws with this note) |
+| `find({ cursor })` / `includeRelations` / `writeOnly` | refuse with `UnsupportedFindOptionError` — they were silently ignored before |
+
+If a bare name in a query was genuinely *your* field all along (`orderBy:
+'score'`, `where: { status: 'active' }`), **change nothing** — bare names
+mean your fields, always.
+
+## What happens at first open
+
+Each existing database rebuilds its derived indexes once, automatically,
+at the first open on 9.0 (index epoch 3 — the index keys split the two
+namespaces). One-time cost, observable via `getIndexStatus()`; no manual
+step, and your stored data is not modified.
+
+## For tooling and raw-record readers
+
+If you read raw stored records (fact-log scanners, export tooling), use
+the exported shape-aware splitters — they handle both record eras:
+
+```typescript
+import { splitNounMetadataRecord } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+const { reserved, custom } = splitNounMetadataRecord(rawRecord)
+// reserved = engine fields · custom = the user's bag, ANY names
+```
+
+Feature detection (never version-sniff):
+
+```typescript
+import * as brainy from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+const lawActive = 'FIELD_ADDRESSING_CAPABILITY' in brainy // 'field-addressing/v1'
+```
+
+## Where to go next
+
+- [Field addressing](../concepts/field-addressing.md) — the full contract:
+  the ten system scalars, the relation mirror, refusal semantics, and the
+  cross-engine ordering guarantees.

docs/guides/nextjs-integration.md

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Complete guide to integrating Brainy with Next.js applications, covering App Rou
 ```bash
 npx create-next-app@latest my-brainy-app
 cd my-brainy-app
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ### Basic Setup
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ npm install @soulcraft/brainy
 // app/components/BrainyProvider.jsx
 'use client'
 import { createContext, useContext, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const BrainyContext = createContext()
 
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ export default function SearchPage() {
 
 ```javascript
 // app/api/search/route.js (App Router)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brain = null
 
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ export async function GET() {
 
 ```javascript
 // pages/api/search.js (Pages Router)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brain = null
 
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ export default async function handler(req, res) {
 
 ```javascript
 // app/api/data/route.js
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brain = null
 
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ export async function POST(request) {
 ```jsx
 // app/actions/brainy.js
 'use server'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brain = null
 
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ CMD ["npm", "start"]
 /** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
 const nextConfig = {
   experimental: {
-    serverComponentsExternalPackages: ['@soulcraft/brainy']
+    serverComponentsExternalPackages: ['@soulcraftlabs/brainy']
   },
   webpack: (config, { isServer }) => {
     if (!isServer) {
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ export function rateLimit(req, limit = 100, window = 60000) {
 // app/contexts/BrainyContext.jsx
 'use client'
 import { createContext, useContext, useReducer, useEffect } from 'react'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const BrainyContext = createContext()
 
@@ -873,7 +873,7 @@ import { BrainyProvider } from '../app/components/BrainyProvider'
 import { Search } from '../app/components/Search'
 
 // Mock Brainy
-jest.mock('@soulcraft/brainy', () => ({
+jest.mock('@soulcraftlabs/brainy', () => ({
   Brainy: jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({
     init: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
     find: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([

docs/guides/optimistic-concurrency.md

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Brainy 7.31.0 adds a per-entity revision counter so multiple writers can coordin
 Every distributed-job scheduler eventually wants this exact loop:
 
 ```ts
-import { Brainy, RevisionConflictError } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, RevisionConflictError } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const LOCK_ID = '...uuid for this job slot...'
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ await brain.addIfMissing({                       // ← not a real API
 It's race-prone as a plain read-then-write: two concurrent imports both see "not found," both insert, you get duplicates. Without a unique-index primitive (which Brainy doesn't have today), close the race with whole-store CAS — read at a pinned generation, then commit only if nothing moved:
 
 ```ts
-import { GenerationConflictError } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { GenerationConflictError } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 async function addIfMissingByEmail(email: string, data: string) {
   for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 5; attempt++) {

docs/guides/quick-start.md

@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ Get Brainy running in under a minute.
 ## 1. Install
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ## 2. Initialize
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ await brain.relate({
 ## 5. Query with Triple Intelligence
 
 ```typescript
-import type { Result } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import type { Result } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // All three search paradigms in one call
 const results: Result[] = await brain.find({

docs/guides/standard-import-progress.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 ### One Interface for Everything
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = await Brainy.create()
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ interface ImportProgress {
 
 ```typescript
 import { useState } from 'react'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 function UniversalImportProgress({ file }: { file: File }) {
   const [progress, setProgress] = useState({
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ function UniversalImportProgress({ file }: { file: File }) {
 
 ```typescript
 import ora from 'ora'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 async function importWithProgress(filePath: string) {
   const spinner = ora('Starting import...').start()

docs/guides/storage-adapters.md

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ on-disk layout (memory's "disk" is a JS Map).
 ## Quick start
 
 ```ts
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Filesystem (recommended for any persistent workload):
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ config; the `type` is optional.
 If you want to skip the factory:
 
 ```ts
-import { FileSystemStorage, MemoryStorage } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { FileSystemStorage, MemoryStorage } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const fsStorage = new FileSystemStorage('./brainy-data')
 const memStorage = new MemoryStorage()

docs/guides/subtypes-and-facets.md

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ Three layers solve this:
 ### Write
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ await brain.migrateField({
 A realistic adoption sequence for a brain that started without these primitives:
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: './brain-data' } })
 await brain.init()

docs/guides/upgrading-7-to-8.md

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ content — and how 8.0 recovers it for you.
 
 ## TL;DR
 
-- **Just upgrade to `@soulcraft/brainy@8.0.12` (or later) and open the store.**
+- **Just upgrade to `@soulcraftlabs/brainy@8.0.12` (or later) and open the store.**
   If a previous upgrade left VFS content stranded, 8.0.12 **heals it on open**,
   with no operator action.
 - Want to force or script it? Call **`await brain.vfs.adoptOrphanedBlobs()`**.
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ So the operator action for a stranded store is simply: **upgrade to 8.0.12 and
 open it.**
 
 ```ts
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Opening the store is all that is required — recovery runs during init().
 const brain = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'filesystem', path: '/data/my-store' } })
@@ -182,5 +182,5 @@ and opening each store is sufficient.
 The recovery is copy-only, so no rollback of the recovery itself is ever needed.
 If you need to roll back the **whole** 7→8 upgrade, restore the directory from
 your pre-upgrade backup (retained automatically while recovery is incomplete, or
-your own snapshot) and pin `@soulcraft/brainy@7.x`. 8.0 does not keep the old
+your own snapshot) and pin `@soulcraftlabs/brainy@7.x`. 8.0 does not keep the old
 branch layout in place, so a directory-level restore is the rollback path.

docs/guides/vue-integration.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Complete guide to integrating Brainy with Vue.js applications, covering Vue 3, N
 npm create vue@latest my-brainy-app
 cd my-brainy-app
 npm install
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ### Basic Setup
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ Nuxt's server engine (Nitro) is the natural home for Brainy: it runs on Node/Bun
 
 ```javascript
 // server/utils/brain.js  (server-only — Nitro never bundles this into the client)
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 let brainPromise
 
@@ -1201,7 +1201,7 @@ import vue from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [vue()],
   ssr: {
-    external: ['@soulcraft/brainy']
+    external: ['@soulcraftlabs/brainy']
   }
 })
 ```

docs/neural-extraction.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Brainy's neural extraction system uses a **4-signal ensemble architecture** to c
 ### Method 1: Brain Instance (Recommended)
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ const people = await brain.extractEntities('...', {
 import {
   SmartExtractor,
   SmartRelationshipExtractor
-} from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+} from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 // Or use subpath imports:
-import { SmartExtractor } from '@soulcraft/brainy/neural/SmartExtractor'
+import { SmartExtractor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/neural/SmartExtractor'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ const withVectors = await brain.extractEntities(text, {
 **Direct entity type classifier.** Use when you have pre-detected candidates or need custom configuration.
 
 ```typescript
-import { SmartExtractor, FormatContext } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { SmartExtractor, FormatContext } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const extractor = new SmartExtractor(brain, {
   minConfidence: 0.7,              // Threshold
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ interface ExtractionResult {
 **Relationship type classifier.** Determines verb/relationship types between entities.
 
 ```typescript
-import { SmartRelationshipExtractor } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { SmartRelationshipExtractor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const relExtractor = new SmartRelationshipExtractor(brain, {
   minConfidence: 0.6,
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ const rel = await relExtractor.infer(
 **Full extraction orchestrator.** Handles candidate detection, classification, and deduplication.
 
 ```typescript
-import { NeuralEntityExtractor } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { NeuralEntityExtractor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const extractor = new NeuralEntityExtractor(brain)
 
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ const locations = entities.filter(e => e.type === NounType.Location)
 ### Example 2: Excel Data Classification
 
 ```typescript
-import { SmartExtractor } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { SmartExtractor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const extractor = new SmartExtractor(brain)
 
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ for (let i = 0; i < cells.length; i++) {
 ### Example 3: Relationship Extraction
 
 ```typescript
-import { SmartRelationshipExtractor } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { SmartRelationshipExtractor } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const relExtractor = new SmartRelationshipExtractor(brain)
 

docs/path-registry.md

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# The Path Registry — brainy's twin table
+
+The brainy half of the cross-engine Path Registry (the native accelerator
+maintains the master list; IDs are shared and stable — `LC3`, `DP7`, … are
+citable in commits, board rounds, release notes, and pins). Every row owes
+five things: **service class** (INDEX-SERVED | BOUNDED-FALLBACK, announced |
+TYPED REFUSAL), **latency budget** at 1k/10k/100k/1M (design bar: billions),
+**lifecycle behavior**, **failure narration**, and a **test pin**. A path not
+in this registry does not ship; an unregistered path is a red gate in the
+scan audit.
+
+**The availability bar governing every row: user-visible downtime is
+seconds, at restart only.** Migration, heal, compaction, embedding, and
+retention run behind the doors — yielding, budget-capped, narrated. No path
+may hold the doors while it does housekeeping.
+
+Status legend: ✅ contracted + pinned (test cited) · 🟡 partial (what holds
+and what's missing, stated) · 🔴 owed (named, never silent).
+
+## LC — Lifecycle
+
+| ID | Brainy row | Status |
+|----|-----------|--------|
+| LC1 | Same-version reopen adopts everything: brain-format epoch match → zero rebuilds; aggregation state adopts by stamp; persisted indexes load. | ✅ `tests/unit/brainy/brain-format-handshake` + `migration-deference` (no-drift reopen never rebuilds) |
+| LC2 | New empty brain: doors immediate. | ✅ exercised by every suite's setup |
+| LC3 | Upgrade, same epoch: as LC1 — new code on unchanged formats owes nothing at open. | ✅ same pins as LC1 (epoch equality is the gate) |
+| LC4 | Upgrade with epoch migration: TODAY brainy's epoch rebuild runs at open before doors. | 🔴 **owed — the sev's lockout row.** The doors-open-serving-old-structures design (yielding installments + atomic swap) lands measured-and-gated behind the service-class pair, per the lifecycle-sprint choreography. Acceptance case: the 9,184-row hours-lockout. |
+| LC5 | Crash recovery: bounded, resumable, narrated. Aggregation leg ✅ (behind-stamp → incremental catch-up off the fact log + time-travel reconciliation, capped at 5,000 affected before an ANNOUNCED rescan). Vector/metadata legs ride epoch machinery (rebuild-from-canonical, narrated). | 🟡 aggregation pinned (`tests/integration/aggregation-lifecycle-catchup`); the rebuild legs are narrated but not yet installment-yielding (couples to LC4) |
+| LC6 | Shutdown under load: close() drains the background flush flight, tears down cadence timers, runs ONE time-bounded compaction pass (~5s budget, resumable). | 🟡 pinned for flush/compaction (8.9.0 suites); SIGTERM drain budget not yet declared |
+| LC7 | Rollback/downgrade: an N−1 build opening an N brain. | 🔴 owed — no declared read-compat window or typed refusal today (epoch mismatch triggers a rebuild, not a refusal; v2 nested-bag records read as a phantom user field on pre-law builds). Needs the declared-window contract. |
+| LC8 | Relocatable brain directory: no absolute paths in artifacts; persist()/load() round-trips. | 🟡 persist/load pinned; byte-for-byte relocation depot cases are the pair gate's (shared corpora) |
+| LC9 | Double-open: second writer gets a typed lock refusal (PID-liveness + heartbeat stale detection; `force` escape hatch logs loudly). | ✅ writer-lock suites (8.7.1) |
+
+## DP — Data plane
+
+| ID | Brainy row | Status |
+|----|-----------|--------|
+| DP1 | `get()` by id: direct storage read + hydrate. INDEX-SERVED (id-mapped). Milliseconds at every scale. | ✅ exercised everywhere; budget rides the pair speed table |
+| DP2 | `find({query})`: embed + vector search. The embed dominates (native side owns the budget); JS HNSW serves the search leg. | 🟡 300ms-class p95 is the pair speed-table row; brainy-alone budget declared there |
+| DP3 | Filtered/sorted list: column top-K when the field is columnized (INDEX-SERVED, zero canonical reads on the sorted page — value pairs come from ONE batched metadata-record pass); no-column fallback is BOUNDED-ANNOUNCED (one batch pass, announces once per field past 500 rows); unknown field → TYPED REFUSAL naming both candidate spellings. | ✅ `tests/unit/utils/metadataIndex-sort-callshape` (zero per-row reads, batch-only — latency-blind) + `metadataIndex-nested-orderby` (dotted keys serve-or-refuse) + `tests/integration/orderby-sort-bug` |
+| DP4 | Aggregation/stats: ALWAYS answers. Write-time incremental; behind-stamp reconciles incrementally; genuine rebuilds go through the native parallel door or the paged JS walk; nothing ever latches off; before-image-less deletes flag a LOUD rescan, never a silent skip. | ✅ `tests/integration/aggregation-lifecycle-catchup` + `tests/unit/aggregation/aggregation-provider-rebuild` |
+| DP5 | Graph traversal: `related()` paged via adjacency; whole-graph analytics carry declared cost. | 🟡 paged reads pinned; analytics cost-class declaration owed (rides VENUE-GRAPH-TRUST audit tool) |
+| DP6 | Single write: ack at the canonical commit; visibility committed at ack (the atomic vector update kills the remove→add dark window); maintenance NEVER holds the ack (background flush cadence — THE ACK LAW pins: a hung flush cannot block a write, a hung EMBEDDER cannot block a write). | ✅ `tests/unit/brainy/persistence-policy` + `tests/unit/hnsw/update-item-atomic` + `tests/integration/deferred-embedding` |
+| DP7 | Bulk ingest: sustained rate holds flat — per-write maintenance taxes must not grow with brain size (A4 removed caller-flush convoys; deferred embedding removes the per-write embed tax where opted). | 🟡 the decay-curve row is a pair speed-table RED GATE; brainy-alone sustained-rate run rides the same corpora |
+| DP8 | Read under write pressure: no flicker window — a row that exists is never invisible to recall, even transiently (same-vector re-index is a no-op; changed-vector swaps in place, node never leaves the index; deferred updates serve the OLD vector until the atomic swap — stale-beats-absent). | ✅ brainy leg pinned (`tests/unit/hnsw/update-item-atomic` 9/9 + `deferred-embedding` stale-beats-absent); the symmetry property suite + runtime sentinels remain the B4 program |
+| — | **As-of semantic recall** (time-travel vector search): `asOf(G).find()` serves the vectors AS THEY STOOD at G — byte-exact past vectors, tombstone masking, the deferred-embed cell honest on the vector leg, TYPED refusal beyond the head. Brainy-alone leg = ephemeral at-generation materialization (documented O(n log n at G) build, bounded); the at-scale leg rides the accelerated provider's as-of index. | ✅ `tests/integration/asof-semantic-recall` 4/4 (registry ID pending the master table's mint) |
+| — | **The lazy-open gate honors EVERY provider's not-ready report** (a not-ready metadata provider can no longer latch the silent-empty state under `disableAutoRebuild`). | ✅ `tests/unit/brainy/lazy-notready-honor` |
+
+## MT — Maintenance (never in the door path)
+
+| ID | Brainy row | Status |
+|----|-----------|--------|
+| MT1 | Flush/checkpoint: ENGINE-OWNED cadence (write-count/interval/idle triggers, single-flight, background, loud on failure; callers never flush in hot paths; `flush()` stays as an awaitable barrier). | ✅ `tests/unit/brainy/persistence-policy` |
+| MT2 | Compaction: never on flush (durability-only law, 8.9.0); close-time pass time-budgeted + resumable; explicit `compactHistory({timeBudgetMs})`. | ✅ 8.9.0 suites |
+| MT3 | Index upkeep (mapper folds, delta promotion): native-side machinery; brainy's JS legs are small and synchronous-cheap. | 🟡 declared; yield audit rides the pair |
+| MT4 | Heal/rebuild walks (`repairIndex`, backfill walks): paged; failure latches with cooldown; NOT yet yield-to-foreground installments. | 🔴 owed — the priority-isolation clause (couples to LC4; same choreography) |
+| MT5 | Deferred embedding worker: ack at durability, durable pending markers (written BEFORE the commit — orphan-safe), crash-recovered at open via a bounded prefix listing, single-flight, 60s hang guard, `awaitPendingEmbeds()` barrier + `pendingEmbeds` gauge. VFS write paths adopt it end-to-end. | ✅ `tests/integration/deferred-embedding` 5/5 |
+| MT6 | Retention/archival walks: retention `'all'` does nothing by design; bounded-retention reclaim is close-time/explicit only. | 🟡 8.9.0 behavior pinned; archival profile is the co-frozen D1+D3 unit |
+
+## FM — Failure modes
+
+| ID | Brainy row | Status |
+|----|-----------|--------|
+| FM1 | Disk full / IO error mid-op: transaction rollback + typed error; failed rollback → StoreInconsistentError quarantines writes until repairIndex(). | 🟡 rollback paths pinned; explicit disk-full depot case owed |
+| FM2 | Memory pressure: query limits + reserved-memory config; unified cache eviction. | 🟡 declared budgets; cascade pin owed |
+| FM3 | Torn/corrupt file on open: malformed brain-format marker → safe rebuild (never trusting a bad epoch); corrupt records surface loudly. | 🟡 marker pin ✅ (`brain-format-handshake`); broader quarantine is native-side |
+| FM4 | Native module unavailable: plugin load failure is LOUD (version-coupling law throws on range mismatch — never silently version-drifted); JS engine serves with its own declared budgets, named as the active backend in op names. | ✅ `tests/unit/plugin-version-coupling` + op-name stamping |
+
+## FL — Fleet
+
+| ID | Brainy row | Status |
+|----|-----------|--------|
+| FL1 | Cold open on demand: LC1's adopt-everything open; warm() available for eager paths. | 🟡 open cost pinned at LC1; millisecond budget rides the speed table |
+| FL2–FL4 | Boot storm / upgrade wave / isolation: fleet-layer policies over LC1/LC4 — engine leg = budgeted opens + LC4's behind-doors migration. | 🔴 owed with LC4 |
+| FL5 | Brain as product object: create instant (LC2) · erase = `clear()` explicit + complete · export = portable-graph, canon-complete mode available. | ✅ clear-persistence + portable-graph + canonical-enumeration suites |
+
+## Status summary
+
+Contracted + pinned this train: **DP3, DP4, DP6, DP8(brainy leg), MT1,
+MT5, LC5(aggregation), the lazy-open not-ready gate, LC1/LC3/LC9, FM4,
+FL5** — each with the cited test. Owed, in production-risk order, all
+coupled to the priority-isolation program the lifecycle sev opened: **LC4
+(doors-open migration), MT4 (yielding heals), LC7 (downgrade contract),
+LC6 (SIGTERM budget), FL2–FL4, FM1/FM2 depot cases, B4 symmetry suite +
+sentinels.** Rows move from owed to contracted only with a cited test —
+none lands by prose.

docs/transactions.md

@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ await brain.add({ data: { name: 'Entity' }, type: NounType.Thing })
 ### Basic Add Operation
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
-import { NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy/types'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+import { NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/types'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ await brain.relate({ ... })           // a crash here leaves the entity unlinked
 
 ```typescript
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 describe('Transaction Tests', () => {
  it('should rollback on failure', async () => {

docs/universal-display-augmentation.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ The Universal Display Augmentation is a powerful AI-powered system that automati
 ### Basic Usage
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brainy = new Brainy()
 await brainy.init()

docs/vfs/PROJECTION_STRATEGY_API.md

@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ Let's build a projection that organizes files by priority (high, medium, low):
 ### Step 1: Create the Strategy Class
 
 ```typescript
-import { BaseProjectionStrategy } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs/semantic'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
-import { VirtualFileSystem, VFSEntity } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs'
+import { BaseProjectionStrategy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs/semantic'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
+import { VirtualFileSystem, VFSEntity } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs'
 
 export class PriorityProjection extends BaseProjectionStrategy {
   readonly name = 'priority'
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ export class PriorityProjection extends BaseProjectionStrategy {
 ### Step 2: Register the Strategy
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import { PriorityProjection } from './PriorityProjection'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ Use the projection's resolve cache:
 
 ```typescript
 import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll } from 'vitest'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import { PriorityProjection } from './PriorityProjection'
 
 describe('PriorityProjection', () => {
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ async resolve(brain, vfs, value: string) {
 3. Use appropriate limits: Don't fetch more than needed
 
 ### Type errors
-1. Import correct types: `import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraft/brainy'`
+1. Import correct types: `import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'`
 2. Use `as VFSEntity` when mapping results
 3. Check BaseProjectionStrategy import
 

docs/vfs/QUICK_START.md

@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ A file explorer that:
 ## ⚡ Step 1: Basic Setup (1 minute)
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // ✅ CORRECT: Use filesystem storage for production
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ Here's a complete React component using the correct patterns:
 
 ```tsx
 import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 export function FileExplorer() {
  const [brain, setBrain] = useState(null)
@@ -288,8 +288,8 @@ Your file explorer is now working! Here's what to explore next:
 ### "Module not found" errors
 ```bash
 # Make sure you're using the right import
-npm ls @soulcraft/brainy # Check version
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy@latest # Update if needed
+npm ls @soulcraftlabs/brainy # Check version
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy@latest # Update if needed
 ```
 
 ### "VFS not initialized" errors

docs/vfs/README.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Brainy VFS is a revolutionary virtual filesystem that runs on top of Brainy's ne
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```javascript
-import { VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs'
+import { VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs'
 
 // Initialize the VFS
 const vfs = new VirtualFileSystem({
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ Brainy VFS fully leverages Brainy's revolutionary Triple Intelligence system:
 ## Installation
 
 ```bash
-npm install @soulcraft/brainy
+npm install @soulcraftlabs/brainy
 ```
 
 ## Requirements

docs/vfs/ROADMAP.md

@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ Mount VFS as a native filesystem on Linux/Mac/Windows.
 
 ```typescript
 // Planned (research phase)
-import { mountVFS } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs/fuse'
+import { mountVFS } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs/fuse'
 
 await mountVFS(vfs, {
   mountPoint: '/mnt/brainy',
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ These features would benefit from community contributions. If you're interested
 ### Express.js Static Middleware
 ```typescript
 // Wanted: Community contribution
-import { createStaticMiddleware } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs/express'
+import { createStaticMiddleware } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs/express'
 
 app.use('/files', createStaticMiddleware(vfs, {
   index: ['index.html', 'index.md'],
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ app.use('/files', createStaticMiddleware(vfs, {
 ### VSCode Extension
 ```typescript
 // Wanted: Community contribution
-import { VFSProvider } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs/vscode'
+import { VFSProvider } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs/vscode'
 
 const provider = new VFSProvider(vfs)
 vscode.workspace.registerFileSystemProvider('brainy', provider)

docs/vfs/SEMANTIC_VFS.md

@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ console.log(id1 === id2 && id2 === id3)  // true
 Create your own semantic dimensions:
 
 ```typescript
-import { BaseProjectionStrategy } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs/semantic'
+import { BaseProjectionStrategy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs/semantic'
 
 class PriorityProjection extends BaseProjectionStrategy {
   readonly name = 'priority'

docs/vfs/VFS_API_GUIDE.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Brainy's Virtual Filesystem (VFS) provides a POSIX-like filesystem interface tha
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Initialize Brainy
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ const user = await store.findById('users', 'user123')
 VFS uses standard POSIX-style errors:
 
 ```typescript
-import { VFSError, VFSErrorCode } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { VFSError, VFSErrorCode } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 try {
   await vfs.readFile('/nonexistent.txt')

docs/vfs/VFS_CORE.md

@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ GitBridge provides Git import/export capabilities:
 #### GitBridge Usage
 ```javascript
 // Import and instantiate GitBridge
-import { GitBridge } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { GitBridge } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 const gitBridge = new GitBridge(vfs, brain)
 
 // Export VFS to Git repository structure
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ This ordering prevents race conditions where file writes might fail because pare
 ## Complete Example
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 async function vfsExample() {
   // Initialize

docs/vfs/VFS_GRAPH_TYPES.md

@@ -196,5 +196,5 @@ await brain.relate({
 Always import and use the type enums:
 
 ```javascript
-import { NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { NounType, VerbType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 ```

docs/vfs/VFS_INITIALIZATION.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 The Brainy VFS is automatically initialized during `brain.init()`. No separate initialization needed!
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // Create and initialize Brainy
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ VFS stores files as entities and relationships in the same graph as everything e
 ## Complete Example
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 async function useVFS() {
   // Initialize Brainy
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ useVFS().catch(console.error)
 ## TypeScript Usage
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 class FileManager {
   private brain: Brainy

docs/vfs/building-file-explorers.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Brainy VFS provides safe, tree-aware methods that prevent these issues:
 ### Method 1: Use `getDirectChildren()` (Recommended)
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy()
 await brain.init()
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Here's a complete example using React:
 
 ```tsx
 import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
-import { VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { VirtualFileSystem } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 interface FileNode {
   name: string
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ function TreeView({ node, onToggle, expanded }) {
 If you must build trees manually from flat lists, use the `VFSTreeUtils`:
 
 ```typescript
-import { VFSTreeUtils } from '@soulcraft/brainy/vfs'
+import { VFSTreeUtils } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy/vfs'
 
 // Get all entities somehow
 const allEntities = await vfs.getDescendants('/root')

examples/bluesky-distributed-setup.js

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * the Bluesky firehose with Brainy's distributed architecture
  */
 
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 import { WebSocket } from 'ws'
 
 // =====================================================

examples/monitor-cache-performance.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  *   ts-node examples/monitor-cache-performance.ts
  */
 
-import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 // ANSI color codes for pretty output
 const colors = {

integrations/README.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Connect Brainy to spreadsheets, BI tools, and external systems with zero configu
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ integrations: true })
 await brain.init()
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ Webhooks include `X-Brainy-Signature` header with HMAC-SHA256 signature.
 ### Minimal (in-memory):
 
 ```typescript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ integrations: true })
 await brain.init()
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ console.log(brain.hub.getInstructions())
 
 ```typescript
 import express from 'express'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const app = express()
 const brain = new Brainy({
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ app.listen(3000, () => {
 
 ```typescript
 import { Hono } from 'hono'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const app = new Hono()
 

integrations/google-sheets/README.md

@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Add the `BRAINY_URL` script property in Apps Script settings.
 The simplest way to enable all integrations:
 
 ```javascript
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const brain = new Brainy({ integrations: true })
 await brain.init()
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ With Express:
 
 ```javascript
 import express from 'express'
-import { Brainy } from '@soulcraft/brainy'
+import { Brainy } from '@soulcraftlabs/brainy'
 
 const app = express()
 const brain = new Brainy({ integrations: true })

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
-  "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "8.10.2",
+  "name": "@soulcraftlabs/brainy",
+  "version": "10.4.4",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
-      "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-      "version": "8.10.2",
+      "name": "@soulcraftlabs/brainy",
+      "version": "10.4.4",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@msgpack/msgpack": "^3.1.2",

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "name": "@soulcraft/brainy",
-  "version": "8.10.2",
+  "name": "@soulcraftlabs/brainy",
+  "version": "10.4.4",
+  "brainyContract": 1,
   "description": "Universal Knowledge Protocol™ - World's first Triple Intelligence database unifying vector, graph, and document search in one API. Stage 3 CANONICAL: 42 nouns × 127 verbs covering 96-97% of all human knowledge.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "module": "dist/index.js",
@@ -126,15 +127,16 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "private": false,
   "publishConfig": {
-    "access": "public"
+    "access": "public",
+    "registry": "https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/"
   },
-  "homepage": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy",
+  "homepage": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy",
   "bugs": {
-    "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/issues"
+    "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/issues"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
-    "url": "git+https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy.git"
+    "url": "git+https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy.git"
   },
   "files": [
     "dist/**/*.js",

releases/brainy.json

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+{
+  "product": "brainy",
+  "entries": [
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.5",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Graph-first finds in production, and opens that stop rescanning history",
+      "items": [
+        "find({ connected, where }) now walks the neighbours first and filters only those rows through a native door — correct at every page and O(neighbours), never the whole store.",
+        "related() with a list of verb types returns every requested kind (a fast path had silently kept only the first).",
+        "Deferred-embedding recovery resumes from a low-water mark instead of rescanning the whole generation log at every open — measured at two minutes on a large brain, now milliseconds."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.4",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "Closes in milliseconds, index rebuilds without the disk-sync storm",
+      "items": [
+        "close() no longer pays deferred compaction or waits out an in-flight rebuild — measured 8 ms against the 4-minute closes it replaces; deferred work resumes at the next open, in the background.",
+        "The metadata index's rebuild syncs to disk per shard instead of per row, and the durability point moved to the publish step — the same guarantee, a fraction of the disk traffic.",
+        "A new native filter door evaluates queries over exactly the candidate rows a graph walk found, never the whole store."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.3",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "The embedding upgrade ceremony runs on every brain",
+      "items": [
+        "A brain opened through the standard plugin now carries its embedding-model identity, so the full-precision upgrade ceremony can run on it.",
+        "A one-fix release; nothing else changed."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.2",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "One embedding quality everywhere, 3–4× faster imports",
+      "items": [
+        "Every runtime embeds with the same full-precision model — search quality no longer depends on where you run.",
+        "Bulk embedding measured 3.1–4.2× faster, and an online re-embed ceremony upgrades existing stores without downtime.",
+        "The engine's change feed is documented, with the SSE/WebSocket fan-out pattern for realtime surfaces."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.1",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Deletes inside transactions are safe",
+      "items": [
+        "Deleting relations inside a transact() no longer corrupts index bookkeeping.",
+        "A store that deletes its last relation keeps serving instead of refusing."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "11.0.0",
+      "date": "2026-08-28",
+      "headline": "One install, one engine — Brainy",
+      "items": [
+        "The former two-package pair is one package: the native engine under the familiar API. One import is the whole install.",
+        "A missing native build refuses loudly with its cures named; nothing falls back silently.",
+        "Stores open in place — no migration."
+      ],
+      "url": null,
+      "thumb": null
+    }
+  ],
+  "history": "The version line continues from the 4.3.x native-engine releases; their record lives in the product repository's CHANGELOG.md."
+}

releases/open-brainy.json

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+{
+  "product": "open-brainy",
+  "entries": [
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.11",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Hybrid finds filter before they hydrate, one owner per shutdown, and a faster open",
+      "items": [
+        "Hybrid finds (query/vector combined with a filter, including connected and fusion finds) now filter first and hydrate only the page — one batchGet of exactly the requested rows, instead of hydrating everything the search side found. Fixes a bug where any page after the first came back empty.",
+        "A brain now has exactly one shutdown owner — a host and its engine no longer race to close the same store, and a follow-up flush requested during a running flush is handed off cleanly instead of ever risking a stall.",
+        "find({ path }) and other path-scoped VFS searches now serve a real range over the indexed path (O(log n)) instead of refusing the query outright — both scoped and recursive:false searches were silently broken before this.",
+        "Open no longer rescans a brain's whole fact log on every open — sealed segments the manifest already accounts for are skipped, collapsing a multi-second open term to near-zero on large brains.",
+        "commitTransaction() now refuses by name if single-ops are still pending, and a read-only open no longer writes clean-shutdown evidence it didn't earn — two correctness invariants that were previously assumed, not enforced."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.11",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.10",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "A planner door for indexes, batched containment repair, and a fixed near()",
+      "items": [
+        "An optional planFindPage door lets an index plan a find() and answer it in one call, instead of the engine assembling the plan itself.",
+        "repairContainment's reconcile pass now walks paged edges once instead of issuing one graph call per file.",
+        "find({ near }) now searches around the anchor's own vector and refuses by name when none is available, instead of silently querying with no vector at all."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.10",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.9",
+      "date": "2026-09-02",
+      "headline": "Graph-first finds, honest verb arrays, and opens that stop rescanning history",
+      "items": [
+        "find({ connected, where }) now walks the neighbours first and filters only those rows — correct at every page, and O(neighbours) instead of O(store).",
+        "related() with a list of verb types (or sources, or targets) returns every requested kind — four fast paths silently kept only the first.",
+        "Deferred-embedding recovery resumes from a low-water mark instead of rescanning the whole generation log at every open — measured at two minutes on a large brain, now milliseconds."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.9",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.7",
+      "date": "2026-09-01",
+      "headline": "Count ledgers can no longer race themselves",
+      "items": [
+        "Concurrent count flushes coalesce into one writer with a trailing pass — parallel flushes can no longer corrupt a store's count ledger.",
+        "Atomic writes carry a per-process sequence, so two processes' temp files can never collide."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.7",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.6",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Transactions cross the index seam safely",
+      "items": [
+        "Deleting relations inside a transact() no longer fails against the metadata index — operations take a JSON-safe view at the moment they execute.",
+        "Fixes a class of transaction failures on stores with integer-mapped relation endpoints."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.6",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.5",
+      "date": "2026-08-31",
+      "headline": "Recovery tells the truth, docs live at home",
+      "items": [
+        "A torn generation-log tail is a terminal verdict with a named cure — never an endless wait at open.",
+        "A sealed segment declares only the generations it actually holds.",
+        "The engine's documentation now publishes from its own repository."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.5",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.4",
+      "date": "2026-08-28",
+      "headline": "Faster opens, quieter idle",
+      "items": [
+        "Opening a store discovers generations from directory names instead of walking the log, and answers \"any entities?\" with one directory read.",
+        "The flush-request watch is event-driven; idle stores stop paying a polling heartbeat.",
+        "A slow open now names the exact step it is in, so operators see what is being paid and why."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.4",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.3",
+      "date": "2026-08-27",
+      "headline": "Open Brainy, under its own name",
+      "items": [
+        "The same engine as 10.4.2, now published as @soulcraftlabs/brainy — the MIT reference engine, on The Source.",
+        "No code changes; your imports change once and everything else stays put."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.3",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.2",
+      "date": "2026-08-27",
+      "headline": "Vectors that lie are refused, counts that drift are caught",
+      "items": [
+        "A zero-norm vector is not a vector: the index refuses them, rebuilds skip them, and a sanctioned unvector door removes them cleanly.",
+        "The canonical count ledger derives from identity records and marks legacy-derived ledgers suspect at load.",
+        "Plugin activation failures keep their original error as cause, so the real frame reaches your logs."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.2",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.1",
+      "date": "2026-08-26",
+      "headline": "Writes that change nothing cost nothing",
+      "items": [
+        "The read gate is per index family, and a write carrying unchanged data never re-embeds.",
+        "The vectored-row count joins the ledger, so vector coverage is a number you can read, not a guess."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.1",
+      "thumb": null
+    },
+    {
+      "version": "10.4.0",
+      "date": "2026-08-26",
+      "headline": "Repair routing, the vector ledger, and honest empties",
+      "items": [
+        "Repairs route to the index that owns the damage, and the open gate closes the vector leg until coverage is proven.",
+        "An empty string is real data, not a missing field.",
+        "The metadata crossing never carries raw integer relation endpoints — a whole class of serialization faults closed."
+      ],
+      "url": "https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v10.4.0",
+      "thumb": null
+    }
+  ],
+  "history": "Earlier releases are recorded in CHANGELOG.md in this repository."
+}

scripts/buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { TransformerEmbedding } from '../src/utils/embedding.js'
 import * as fs from 'fs/promises'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
+import { resolveDeterministicStamp } from './lib/deterministicStamp.js'
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
@@ -97,13 +98,22 @@ async function buildEmbeddedPatterns() {
   // Convert to base64 for embedding in TypeScript
   const uint8 = new Uint8Array(buffer)
   const base64 = Buffer.from(uint8).toString('base64')
-  
+
+  // Deterministic stamp: derived from the git commit time of this
+  // generator's inputs, never from wall-clock time — two builds of the
+  // same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedPatterns.ts')
+  const generatedStamp = resolveDeterministicStamp(
+    [path.join(__dirname, 'buildEmbeddedPatterns.ts'), libraryPath],
+    outputPath
+  )
+
   // Generate TypeScript file with everything embedded
   const tsContent = `/**
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED PATTERNS
  * 
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: ${new Date().toISOString()}
+ * Generated: ${generatedStamp}
  * Patterns: ${libraryData.patterns.length}
  * Coverage: 94-98% of all queries
  * 
@@ -197,7 +207,6 @@ prodLog.info(\`🧠 Brainy Pattern Library loaded: \${EMBEDDED_PATTERNS.length}
 `
 
   // Write the TypeScript file
-  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedPatterns.ts')
   await fs.writeFile(outputPath, tsContent)
   
   // Report statistics

scripts/buildTypeEmbeddings.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import * as fs from 'fs/promises'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../src/types/graphTypes.js'
+import { resolveDeterministicStamp } from './lib/deterministicStamp.js'
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
@@ -373,12 +374,24 @@ async function buildTypeEmbeddings() {
   const uint8 = new Uint8Array(buffer)
   const base64 = Buffer.from(uint8).toString('base64')
 
+  // Deterministic stamp: derived from the git commit time of this
+  // generator's inputs, never from wall-clock time — two builds of the
+  // same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts')
+  const generatedStamp = resolveDeterministicStamp(
+    [
+      path.join(__dirname, 'buildTypeEmbeddings.ts'),
+      path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'types', 'graphTypes.ts')
+    ],
+    outputPath
+  )
+
   // Generate TypeScript file
   const tsContent = `/**
  * 🧠 BRAINY EMBEDDED TYPE EMBEDDINGS
  *
  * AUTO-GENERATED - DO NOT EDIT
- * Generated: ${new Date().toISOString()}
+ * Generated: ${generatedStamp}
  * Noun Types: ${nounTypes.length}
  * Verb Types: ${verbTypes.length}
  *
@@ -395,7 +408,7 @@ export const TYPE_METADATA = {
   verbTypes: ${verbTypes.length},
   totalTypes: ${totalTypes},
   embeddingDimensions: ${embeddingDim},
-  generatedAt: "${new Date().toISOString()}",
+  generatedAt: "${generatedStamp}",
   sizeBytes: {
     embeddings: ${buffer.byteLength},
     base64: ${base64.length}
@@ -494,7 +507,6 @@ prodLog.info(\`🧠 Brainy Type Embeddings loaded: \${TYPE_METADATA.nounTypes} n
 `
 
   // Write the TypeScript file
-  const outputPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'neural', 'embeddedTypeEmbeddings.ts')
   await fs.writeFile(outputPath, tsContent)
 
   // Report statistics

scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Emit this build's API-contract manifest to docs/api-contract.json.
+ *
+ * WHY IT IS GENERATED, NOT WRITTEN: a hand-kept list of doors drifts from the
+ * code the first time somebody adds one. This reads the surface the build
+ * actually exposes — the prototype's own methods and accessors, the exported
+ * error classes, the `where` operator sets, the field-addressing vocabulary,
+ * the health verdicts — so a diff between two engines' manifests is a diff
+ * between two engines, never between two authors.
+ *
+ * Requirement marking (required / optional per door) is NOT derivable from the
+ * surface — it is a commitment, recorded with the contract's owner rather than
+ * here. This manifest carries the surface; the promise lives with the contract.
+ *
+ * Usage: node scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs [--check]
+ *   --check exits non-zero when the committed manifest is stale.
+ */
+
+import { writeFileSync, readFileSync, existsSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { join, dirname } from 'node:path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+
+const ROOT = join(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..')
+const OUT = join(ROOT, 'docs', 'api-contract.json')
+
+const { Brainy } = await import(join(ROOT, 'dist', 'brainy.js'))
+const errorsModule = await import(join(ROOT, 'dist', 'errors', 'brainyError.js'))
+const versionModule = await import(join(ROOT, 'dist', 'utils', 'version.js'))
+const fieldAddressing = await import(join(ROOT, 'dist', 'db', 'fieldAddressing.js'))
+
+/** Every own method and accessor on the class's prototype, minus the private ones. */
+function surfaceOf(ctor) {
+  const doors = []
+  for (const name of Object.getOwnPropertyNames(ctor.prototype)) {
+    if (name === 'constructor' || name.startsWith('_')) continue
+    const descriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(ctor.prototype, name)
+    if (!descriptor) continue
+    if (typeof descriptor.value === 'function') {
+      doors.push({ name, kind: 'method', arity: descriptor.value.length })
+    } else if (descriptor.get) {
+      doors.push({ name, kind: 'accessor' })
+    }
+  }
+  return doors.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name))
+}
+
+const errors = Object.entries(errorsModule)
+  .filter(([name, value]) => typeof value === 'function' && /Error$/.test(name))
+  .map(([name]) => name)
+  .sort()
+
+// The operator sets, read from the engine's own refusal message so the
+// manifest can never disagree with the validator.
+const filterSource = readFileSync(join(ROOT, 'src', 'utils', 'metadataFilter.ts'), 'utf-8')
+const acceptedMatch = filterSource.match(/const VALUE_OPERATORS = new Set<string>\(\[([\s\S]*?)\]\)/)
+if (!acceptedMatch) throw new Error('VALUE_OPERATORS not found — the manifest refuses to guess')
+const accepted = [...acceptedMatch[1].matchAll(/'([^']+)'/g)].map((m) => m[1]).sort()
+
+const indexSource = readFileSync(join(ROOT, 'src', 'utils', 'metadataIndex.ts'), 'utf-8')
+const refusedByIndex = ['endsWith', 'length', 'matches', 'startsWith'].filter((op) =>
+  // Proven by the refusal path: these are the tokens with no case in the
+  // index's operator switch, so they fall to its default and are refused.
+  !new RegExp(`case '${op}':`).test(indexSource)
+)
+const servedOnIndex = accepted.filter((op) => !refusedByIndex.includes(op))
+
+const manifest = {
+  contractVersion: versionModule.contractVersion(),
+  engine: '@soulcraftlabs/brainy',
+  compatibility: {
+    minor:
+      'additive — a new optional door, a new served operator, a new error class; every existing implementation still conforms',
+    major:
+      'breaking — a door removed, an answer narrowed, an ordering law changed, an optional door promoted to required, or an operator moved from served to refused'
+  },
+  doors: surfaceOf(Brainy),
+  errors,
+  operators: {
+    accepted,
+    servedOnIndexPath: servedOnIndex,
+    refusedByIndexPath: refusedByIndex,
+    combinators: ['allOf', 'anyOf', 'not']
+  },
+  fieldAddressing: {
+    systemKeyPrefix: 'system.',
+    systemEntityScalars: [...(fieldAddressing.SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS ?? [])].sort(),
+    systemRelationScalars: [...(fieldAddressing.SYSTEM_RELATION_SCALARS ?? [])].sort(),
+    plumbingFields: [...(fieldAddressing.PLUMBING_FIELDS ?? [])].sort()
+  },
+  health: {
+    verdicts: ['pass', 'warn', 'fail'],
+    healKinds: ['none', 'repair', 'rebuild'],
+    servingWithholdingInvariants: [
+      'index-initialized',
+      'durable-state-present',
+      'manifest-residency',
+      'replay-clean',
+      'strand-latch'
+    ]
+  }
+}
+
+const rendered = `${JSON.stringify(manifest, null, 2)}\n`
+
+if (process.argv.includes('--check')) {
+  if (!existsSync(OUT)) {
+    console.error(`docs/api-contract.json is missing — run: node scripts/emit-contract-manifest.mjs`)
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+  if (readFileSync(OUT, 'utf-8') !== rendered) {
+    console.error(
+      `docs/api-contract.json is STALE — the public surface changed. Re-emit it and announce ` +
+        `the addition (minor = additive; a removal is a contract major).`
+    )
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+  console.log(`docs/api-contract.json is current (${manifest.doors.length} doors, contract ${manifest.contractVersion}).`)
+  process.exit(0)
+}
+
+writeFileSync(OUT, rendered)
+console.log(
+  `Wrote docs/api-contract.json — contract ${manifest.contractVersion}, ` +
+    `${manifest.doors.length} doors, ${manifest.errors.length} error classes, ` +
+    `${manifest.operators.accepted.length} operators ` +
+    `(${manifest.operators.refusedByIndexPath.length} refused by the index path).`
+)

scripts/gate/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# Gate Guards
+
+Two standalone scripts that stand between a test/build gate and a false
+verdict: one refuses to let the gate start on a noisy machine, the other
+refuses to let a truncated or crashed vitest run be read as green.
+
+## Why these exist
+
+Both guards exist because of the 2026-08-13 lost-day ledger: a gate ran on
+a machine under load, and separately a vitest worker pool died mid-suite
+while still printing a plausible-looking summary line, and in both cases
+the bad result was trusted and acted on for the better part of a day before
+anyone noticed. Neither failure mode announces itself — a loaded machine
+still finishes and reports numbers, and a truncated test run still prints a
+`Test Files` / `Tests` line — so both guards check the evidence explicitly
+rather than trusting that a gate finishing means the gate was valid.
+
+## gate-preflight.sh
+
+Run before any gate lane starts. Exits 1 the moment the machine isn't
+gate-clean, with one `FATAL:` line per violation naming the exact offender
+(the pid and command, the path, the measured value). Prints one `OK:` line
+per check that passes. `WARNING:` lines mark checks that were skipped, not
+failures.
+
+Checks:
+
+| # | Check | Default threshold | Override |
+|---|-------|--------------------|----------|
+| a | 1-minute load average | `nproc / 2` | `GATE_MAX_LOAD` |
+| b | any non-allowlisted process over 50% of one core | 50% | `GATE_ALLOW_REGEX` (extra pattern matched against the process's args) |
+| c | cpu0 scaling governor must be `performance` | — | none (warns and skips if the sysfs path is absent) |
+| d | free space on `/` and `/tmp` | 10G each | `GATE_SKIP_DISK_CHECK=1` to skip entirely |
+
+The allowlist for check (b) is always: this script's own process tree
+(its ancestors and its direct child processes), `sshd`, `systemd`, and
+kernel threads (recognizable by args wrapped in brackets, e.g.
+`[kworker/0:1]`). `GATE_ALLOW_REGEX` extends it — it does not replace it.
+
+## vitest-verdict-check.sh
+
+Run after every vitest lane, against that lane's captured log. Fails
+loudly, quoting the exact line or string that tripped it, when the log's
+own summary can't be trusted:
+
+- no `Test Files` (or, in `--count-tests` mode, `Tests`) summary line is
+  present at all
+- the parenthesized total in that line doesn't match what was expected
+- fewer files/tests are accounted for (passed + failed + skipped) than the
+  total claims — a truncated run
+- the log contains `Unhandled Error` or `Timeout calling` anywhere — a dead
+  worker pool, regardless of what the summary line claims
+
+```
+vitest-verdict-check.sh <log-file> <expected-file-count>
+vitest-verdict-check.sh --count-tests <log-file> <minimum-test-count>
+```
+
+The first form checks `Test Files` for an exact match. The second checks
+`Tests` for a minimum (a floor, not an exact count, since the total number
+of individual tests moves more often than the number of test files).
+
+## Wiring into a CI lane
+
+```sh
+# Before any lane that will report a verdict:
+scripts/gate/gate-preflight.sh || exit 1
+
+# Run the suite, capturing its output:
+npx vitest run tests/unit 2>&1 | tee /tmp/unit.log
+
+# After every vitest lane, check the log against the actual file count:
+EXPECTED_FILES=$(ls tests/unit/**/*.test.ts | wc -l)
+scripts/gate/vitest-verdict-check.sh /tmp/unit.log "$EXPECTED_FILES" || exit 1
+```
+
+## Exit-code contract
+
+| Script | Exit 0 | Exit 1 |
+|--------|--------|--------|
+| `gate-preflight.sh` | machine is gate-clean | one or more `FATAL:` violations printed |
+| `vitest-verdict-check.sh` | log's summary is trustworthy and matches | usage error, missing/unreadable log, or one or more `FATAL:` violations printed |
+
+Non-zero from either script means: do not trust the gate that was about to
+run, or the result of the one that just ran.

scripts/gate/gate-preflight.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Brainy Gate Preflight
+# Refuses to let a test/build gate run on a machine that isn't clean enough
+# to trust the numbers it produces. See scripts/gate/README.md for why (the
+# 2026-08-13 lost-day ledger).
+#
+# Checks: 1-minute load average, any non-allowlisted process pinning a core,
+# the cpu0 scaling governor, and free space on / and /tmp.
+#
+# Exit 0 and print one OK line per passing check when the machine is clean.
+# Exit 1 and print one FATAL line per violation, naming the offender, when
+# it is not.
+#
+# Known trap: a helper function whose last executed statement is a `while`
+# (or any command whose own exit status happens to be nonzero) hands that
+# status back as the function's return value. Called as a plain statement,
+# that silently kills this script under `set -e`. Every helper below ends
+# on an explicit `return 0` as its own statement, never on a loop or test.
+#
+# The same failure mode hides in plainer-looking lines too: `var=$(cmd)` is
+# a bare assignment, so `set -e` DOES treat a nonzero `cmd` (or, under
+# `pipefail`, a nonzero stage anywhere in `cmd`'s pipeline) as a failure of
+# that statement and kills the script right there — even mid-loop, even
+# when the "failure" is routine (a process that exited before a second
+# lookup, a path that doesn't exist). Every such assignment below is paired
+# with an explicit `|| var=""` fallback so a routine miss degrades to an
+# empty value instead of an exit.
+
+VIOLATIONS=0
+ANCESTOR_PIDS=""
+
+fatal() {
+  echo "FATAL: $1"
+  VIOLATIONS=$((VIOLATIONS + 1))
+}
+
+ok() {
+  echo "OK: $1"
+}
+
+# Walks this process's parent chain up to pid 1, then takes one snapshot of
+# its direct children (the ps/read pipeline in check_processes), and
+# records both in ANCESTOR_PIDS — so the process-scan below can recognize
+# its own tree (the shell/terminal/session that launched it, plus its own
+# helper commands) instead of flagging it. Children are captured once, up
+# front, rather than re-queried per row later, so a helper command that has
+# already exited by the time it's looked up can't be mistaken for a miss.
+build_ancestor_pids() {
+  local pid="$$"
+  local ppid child
+  ANCESTOR_PIDS=" $pid "
+  while [ "$pid" != "1" ]; do
+    ppid=$(ps -o ppid= -p "$pid" 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ') || ppid=""
+    if [ -z "$ppid" ]; then
+      break
+    fi
+    ANCESTOR_PIDS="${ANCESTOR_PIDS}${ppid} "
+    pid="$ppid"
+  done
+
+  while IFS= read -r child; do
+    [ -z "$child" ] && continue
+    ANCESTOR_PIDS="${ANCESTOR_PIDS}${child} "
+  done < <(ps --ppid "$$" -o pid= 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+  return 0
+}
+
+# (a) 1-minute load average vs. threshold (default: nproc / 2).
+check_load() {
+  local max_load="${GATE_MAX_LOAD:-}"
+  if [ -z "$max_load" ]; then
+    max_load=$(( $(nproc) / 2 ))
+    if [ "$max_load" -lt 1 ]; then
+      max_load=1
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  local load_1m
+  load_1m=$(cut -d' ' -f1 /proc/loadavg)
+
+  if awk -v l="$load_1m" -v m="$max_load" 'BEGIN { exit !(l > m) }'; then
+    fatal "1-minute load average ${load_1m} exceeds threshold ${max_load} (GATE_MAX_LOAD=${max_load})"
+  else
+    ok "1-minute load average ${load_1m} is within threshold ${max_load}"
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
+# (b) any process outside the allowlist pinning more than half a core.
+# Parsed with `read` into named fields, not an awk/cut chain — a fixed-column
+# awk/cut split on `ps` output duplicated fields the first time this was
+# tried, because process args vary in word count. `read` with a fixed list
+# of variables dumps everything left over into the last one (args), which
+# handles that correctly.
+check_processes() {
+  local max_pcpu=50
+  local extra_regex="${GATE_ALLOW_REGEX:-}"
+  local violation_found=0
+  local line pcpu pid args pcpu_int
+
+  while IFS= read -r line; do
+    [ -z "$line" ] && continue
+    read -r pcpu pid args <<< "$line"
+
+    # Kernel threads report their comm in brackets, e.g. "[kworker/0:1]".
+    case "$args" in
+      \[*\]) continue ;;
+    esac
+
+    # This script's own tree: its ancestors (shell, terminal, session) and
+    # its direct children, both captured once by build_ancestor_pids.
+    case " $ANCESTOR_PIDS " in
+      *" $pid "*) continue ;;
+    esac
+
+    case "$args" in
+      *sshd*|*systemd*) continue ;;
+    esac
+
+    if [ -n "$extra_regex" ] && [[ "$args" =~ $extra_regex ]]; then
+      continue
+    fi
+
+    pcpu_int="${pcpu%.*}"
+    if [ -z "$pcpu_int" ]; then
+      pcpu_int=0
+    fi
+    if [ "$pcpu_int" -gt "$max_pcpu" ]; then
+      fatal "pid ${pid} ('${args}') is using ${pcpu}% of one core"
+      violation_found=1
+    fi
+  done < <(ps -eo pcpu,pid,args --sort=-pcpu | tail -n +2)
+
+  if [ "$violation_found" -eq 0 ]; then
+    ok "no process outside the allowlist exceeds ${max_pcpu}% of one core"
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
+# (c) cpu0 scaling governor must be "performance". Skipped with a warning
+# (not a violation) when the sysfs path doesn't exist on this machine.
+check_governor() {
+  local gov_path="/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor"
+  if [ ! -r "$gov_path" ]; then
+    echo "WARNING: ${gov_path} not present; skipping governor check"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  local governor
+  governor=$(cat "$gov_path" 2>/dev/null) || governor=""
+  if [ "$governor" != "performance" ]; then
+    fatal "cpu0 governor is '${governor}', not 'performance'"
+  else
+    ok "cpu0 governor is 'performance'"
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
+# (d) free-space floors on / and /tmp (default 10G each). Skip entirely via
+# GATE_SKIP_DISK_CHECK=1.
+check_disk() {
+  if [ "${GATE_SKIP_DISK_CHECK:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+    echo "WARNING: disk free-space check skipped (GATE_SKIP_DISK_CHECK=1)"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  local floor_gb=10
+  local floor_bytes=$((floor_gb * 1024 * 1024 * 1024))
+  local path avail_bytes avail_gb
+
+  for path in / /tmp; do
+    avail_bytes=$(df --output=avail -B1 "$path" 2>/dev/null | tail -n 1 | tr -d ' ') || avail_bytes=""
+    if [ -z "$avail_bytes" ]; then
+      echo "WARNING: could not determine free space on ${path}; skipping"
+      continue
+    fi
+    if [ "$avail_bytes" -lt "$floor_bytes" ]; then
+      avail_gb=$((avail_bytes / 1024 / 1024 / 1024))
+      fatal "${path} has only ${avail_gb}G free, below the ${floor_gb}G floor"
+    else
+      ok "${path} has enough free space (floor ${floor_gb}G)"
+    fi
+  done
+  return 0
+}
+
+echo "Brainy gate preflight"
+echo "----------------------"
+
+build_ancestor_pids
+check_load
+check_processes
+check_governor
+check_disk
+
+echo "----------------------"
+if [ "$VIOLATIONS" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "FATAL: gate preflight failed with ${VIOLATIONS} violation(s) — machine is not gate-clean"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "gate preflight passed — machine is gate-clean"
+exit 0

scripts/gate/vitest-verdict-check.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Brainy Vitest Verdict Check
+# Confirms a vitest run's own summary line is trustworthy before anything
+# downstream treats a green run as green. See scripts/gate/README.md for why
+# (the 2026-08-13 lost-day ledger).
+#
+# Usage:
+#   vitest-verdict-check.sh <log-file> <expected-file-count>
+#   vitest-verdict-check.sh --count-tests <log-file> <minimum-test-count>
+#
+# The first form checks the "Test Files" summary line's total against an
+# exact expected count. The second checks the "Tests" summary line's total
+# against a minimum. Both also fail on any sign the worker pool died
+# mid-run, whether or not a summary line still made it into the log.
+#
+# Exit 0 and print one OK line per passing check when the log is clean.
+# Exit 1 and print one FATAL line per violation, quoting the exact line or
+# string that tripped it, when it is not.
+#
+# Known trap (shared with gate-preflight.sh): every helper below ends on an
+# explicit `return 0` as its own statement, never on a loop or test, so a
+# helper's last command can never hand its own exit status back as the
+# function's under `set -e`. The same applies to `var=$(cmd)` assignments
+# mid-helper: a bare assignment IS checked by `set -e`, so a `grep` that
+# legitimately finds nothing (exit 1) would otherwise kill the script
+# instead of just leaving the variable empty — every such assignment below
+# is paired with an explicit `|| true` inside the substitution.
+
+usage() {
+  echo "Usage: $0 <log-file> <expected-file-count>"
+  echo "       $0 --count-tests <log-file> <minimum-test-count>"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+MODE="files"
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--count-tests" ]; then
+  MODE="tests"
+  shift
+fi
+
+LOG_FILE="${1:-}"
+THRESHOLD="${2:-}"
+
+if [ -z "$LOG_FILE" ] || [ -z "$THRESHOLD" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "$LOG_FILE" ]; then
+  echo "FATAL: log file '${LOG_FILE}' does not exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! [[ "$THRESHOLD" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+  echo "FATAL: threshold '${THRESHOLD}' is not a non-negative integer"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VIOLATIONS=0
+
+fatal() {
+  echo "FATAL: $1"
+  VIOLATIONS=$((VIOLATIONS + 1))
+}
+
+ok() {
+  echo "OK: $1"
+}
+
+# Vitest colorizes its summary with ANSI escapes; strip them before parsing
+# anything, or the color codes end up embedded in the fields we grep for.
+CLEAN_LOG="$(sed 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' "$LOG_FILE")"
+
+# Worker-pool death: if either string appears, the run's own summary line —
+# even if present and even if its numbers look fine — cannot be trusted,
+# because the process died mid-suite and vitest's own accounting is what
+# died with it.
+check_worker_death() {
+  if echo "$CLEAN_LOG" | grep -q "Unhandled Error"; then
+    fatal "log contains 'Unhandled Error' — worker pool died mid-run"
+  fi
+  if echo "$CLEAN_LOG" | grep -q "Timeout calling"; then
+    fatal "log contains 'Timeout calling' — worker pool died mid-run"
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Shared shape between the "Test Files" and "Tests" summary lines:
+#   <label>  <n> passed | <n> failed | <n> skipped (<total>)
+# `compare` is "eq" (total must equal threshold) or "min" (total must be at
+# least threshold).
+check_summary_line() {
+  local label="$1"
+  local threshold="$2"
+  local compare="$3"
+  local summary_line total accounted n
+
+  summary_line=$(echo "$CLEAN_LOG" | grep -E "^[[:space:]]*${label}[[:space:]]+" | tail -n 1 || true)
+
+  if [ -z "$summary_line" ]; then
+    fatal "no '${label}' summary line found in ${LOG_FILE}"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  total=$(echo "$summary_line" | grep -oE '\([0-9]+\)' | tr -d '()' | tail -n 1 || true)
+  if [ -z "$total" ]; then
+    fatal "'${label}' summary line has no parenthesized total: \"${summary_line}\""
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$compare" = "eq" ]; then
+    if [ "$total" -ne "$threshold" ]; then
+      fatal "'${label}' total is ${total}, expected ${threshold}: \"${summary_line}\""
+    else
+      ok "'${label}' total matches expected ${threshold}"
+    fi
+  else
+    if [ "$total" -lt "$threshold" ]; then
+      fatal "'${label}' total is ${total}, below minimum ${threshold}: \"${summary_line}\""
+    else
+      ok "'${label}' total ${total} meets minimum ${threshold}"
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  accounted=0
+  for n in $(echo "$summary_line" | grep -oE '[0-9]+ (passed|failed|skipped)' | grep -oE '^[0-9]+'); do
+    accounted=$((accounted + n))
+  done
+
+  if [ "$accounted" -lt "$total" ]; then
+    fatal "'${label}' line accounts for only ${accounted} of ${total} — truncated run: \"${summary_line}\""
+  else
+    ok "'${label}' line accounts for all ${total}"
+  fi
+
+  return 0
+}
+
+echo "Brainy vitest verdict check: ${LOG_FILE}"
+echo "----------------------"
+
+check_worker_death
+
+if [ "$MODE" = "files" ]; then
+  check_summary_line "Test Files" "$THRESHOLD" "eq"
+else
+  check_summary_line "Tests" "$THRESHOLD" "min"
+fi
+
+echo "----------------------"
+if [ "$VIOLATIONS" -gt 0 ]; then
+  echo "FATAL: vitest verdict check failed with ${VIOLATIONS} violation(s) for ${LOG_FILE}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "vitest verdict check passed for ${LOG_FILE}"
+exit 0

scripts/lib/deterministicStamp.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+/**
+ * Deterministic generation-stamp resolution for Brainy's build-time code
+ * generators.
+ *
+ * Two builds of the same source tree must produce byte-identical output.
+ * A wall-clock stamp (`new Date()`) breaks that guarantee, so every
+ * generator that writes a "Generated:" header or a `generatedAt` field
+ * into its output must resolve the stamp through this module instead.
+ *
+ * Resolution order:
+ *   1. The newest git commit timestamp among the generator's input files
+ *      (the generator script itself always counts as an input).
+ *   2. If git metadata is unavailable (for example, building from a
+ *      published npm tarball with no `.git` directory), the stamp already
+ *      recorded in the previously generated output file.
+ *   3. If neither is available, the fixed epoch string
+ *      `1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z`.
+ *
+ * Every fallback logs a line to stderr — deterministic degradation is
+ * loud, never a silent divergence.
+ */
+
+import { execFileSync } from 'child_process'
+import * as fs from 'fs'
+
+const EPOCH_STAMP = '1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z'
+const STAMP_PATTERN = /\*\s*Generated:\s*(\S+)/
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the deterministic stamp for a generator run.
+ *
+ * @param inputPaths Absolute paths to every file whose content determines
+ *   the generator's output, including the generator script itself.
+ * @param previousOutputPath Absolute path to the previously generated
+ *   file, used for the existing-stamp fallback when git is unavailable.
+ * @returns An ISO-8601 timestamp string that is deterministic for a given
+ *   source tree.
+ */
+export function resolveDeterministicStamp(
+  inputPaths: string[],
+  previousOutputPath: string
+): string {
+  const gitStamp = newestGitCommitTimestamp(inputPaths)
+  if (gitStamp) {
+    return gitStamp
+  }
+
+  const existingStamp = readExistingStamp(previousOutputPath)
+  if (existingStamp) {
+    process.stderr.write(
+      `[deterministic-stamp] no git commit history found for generator inputs; ` +
+        `reusing existing stamp from ${previousOutputPath}: ${existingStamp}\n`
+    )
+    return existingStamp
+  }
+
+  process.stderr.write(
+    `[deterministic-stamp] no git commit history and no previous output at ` +
+      `${previousOutputPath}; falling back to fixed epoch stamp ${EPOCH_STAMP}\n`
+  )
+  return EPOCH_STAMP
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find the newest git commit timestamp among the given input paths.
+ * Returns null if git is unavailable, the tree is not a git repository,
+ * or none of the inputs have any commit history yet.
+ */
+function newestGitCommitTimestamp(inputPaths: string[]): string | null {
+  let newest: string | null = null
+
+  for (const inputPath of inputPaths) {
+    if (!fs.existsSync(inputPath)) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    let out: string
+    try {
+      out = execFileSync(
+        'git',
+        ['log', '-1', '--format=%cI', '--', inputPath],
+        { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'] }
+      )
+        .toString()
+        .trim()
+    } catch {
+      // git missing, not a repository, or no permissions — handled by the
+      // caller's fallback chain.
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (!out) {
+      // Path exists but has no commit history yet (e.g. newly created,
+      // uncommitted file).
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (!newest || new Date(out).getTime() > new Date(newest).getTime()) {
+      newest = out
+    }
+  }
+
+  return newest
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse the `* Generated: <ISO timestamp>` header out of a previously
+ * generated file, if one exists.
+ */
+function readExistingStamp(outputPath: string): string | null {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(outputPath)) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(outputPath, 'utf-8')
+  const match = content.match(STAMP_PATTERN)
+  return match ? match[1] : null
+}

scripts/release.sh

@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ NC='\033[0m' # No Color
 RELEASE_TYPE="${1:-patch}"  # patch, minor, or major
 SKIP_TESTS=false
 DRY_RUN=false
+# --source-only is now a no-op: The Source is the one registry, so every
+# release already ships Source-only — tag, CI's publish to The Source, the
+# release page, and the docs push, with no separate storefront leg to skip.
+# The flag is still accepted (for backward-compatible invocations) and just
+# prints a notice; it no longer changes behavior.
+SOURCE_ONLY=false
 
 for arg in "$@"; do
   case $arg in
@@ -24,6 +30,9 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
     --dry-run)
       DRY_RUN=true
       ;;
+    --source-only)
+      SOURCE_ONLY=true
+      ;;
   esac
 done
 
@@ -100,7 +109,7 @@ else
       ;;
     *)
       echo -e "${RED}❌ Invalid release type: ${RELEASE_TYPE}${NC}"
-      echo "Usage: ./scripts/release.sh [patch|minor|major|<explicit-version>] [--dry-run]"
+      echo "Usage: ./scripts/release.sh [patch|minor|major|<explicit-version>] [--dry-run] [--source-only (no-op; The Source is the one registry)]"
       exit 1
       ;;
   esac
@@ -119,6 +128,9 @@ echo -e "${BLUE}New version: ${NEW_VERSION}${NC}"
 if [ "$PRERELEASE" = true ]; then
   echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠️  Prerelease → npm dist-tag '${NPM_TAG}', GitHub prerelease${NC}"
 fi
+if [ "$SOURCE_ONLY" = true ]; then
+  echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠️  The Source is the one registry; --source-only is implied${NC}"
+fi
 echo ""
 
 if [ "$DRY_RUN" = true ]; then
@@ -142,7 +154,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Create new changelog entry
-CHANGELOG_ENTRY="### [${NEW_VERSION}](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/compare/v${CURRENT_VERSION}...v${NEW_VERSION}) ($(date +%Y-%m-%d))
+CHANGELOG_ENTRY="### [${NEW_VERSION}](https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/compare/v${CURRENT_VERSION}...v${NEW_VERSION}) ($(date +%Y-%m-%d))
 
 ${COMMITS}
 "
@@ -175,75 +187,76 @@ echo -e "${BLUE}7️⃣  Creating git tag v${NEW_VERSION}...${NC}"
 git tag -a "v${NEW_VERSION}" -m "Release v${NEW_VERSION}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Tag created${NC}\n"
 
-# Step 9: Push to origin — the forge is the one home (ruled 2026-07-23; the
+# Step 9: Push to origin — The Source is the one home (ruled 2026-07-23; the
 # old public GitHub repo is archived history, no longer part of any release).
-echo -e "${BLUE}8️⃣  Pushing to origin...${NC}"
-git push --follow-tags origin "$CURRENT_BRANCH"
+# TAG FIRST, branch second — deliberately two pushes: the runner is
+# sequential, and a combined push can queue the release commit's ci.yml run
+# AHEAD of the tag's publish-source run (observed on 10.0.0: the publish sat
+# ~37 minutes behind a redundant CI run of the very commit the local gates
+# had just proven). Pushing the tag alone queues the publish immediately;
+# the branch push (and its ci.yml run) follows behind it, harmlessly.
+echo -e "${BLUE}8️⃣  Pushing to origin (tag first — the publish must never queue behind CI)...${NC}"
+git push origin "v${NEW_VERSION}"
+git push origin "$CURRENT_BRANCH"
 echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Pushed to origin${NC}\n"
 
-# Step 10: Publish — forge FIRST (home), npmjs second (the world's storefront).
-# The fleet-wide ~/.npmrc maps the @soulcraft scope to the forge registry, and
-# a scope mapping BEATS `--registry` on the command line — so each publish
-# names its registry via the scope override explicitly. Nothing implicit.
-FORGE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/"
-FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE="$HOME/.config/soulcraft/npm-publish-brainy.token"
-echo -e "${BLUE}9️⃣  Publishing to the forge registry (home)...${NC}"
-if [ -f "$FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE" ]; then
-  TMPRC="$(mktemp)"
-  chmod 600 "$TMPRC"
-  {
-    echo "@soulcraft:registry=${FORGE_NPM_REG}"
-    echo "//source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraft/npm/:_authToken=$(cat "$FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE")"
-  } > "$TMPRC"
-  if npm publish --tag "$NPM_TAG" --userconfig "$TMPRC"; then
-    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Published to the forge${NC}\n"
-  else
-    rm -f "$TMPRC"
-    echo -e "${RED}❌ Forge publish FAILED — aborting before npmjs so the pair never diverges. Fix and re-run.${NC}"
-    exit 1
+# Step 10: The home publish (The Source, source.soulcraft.com) is CI's job
+# now, not the laptop's — a tag push (just above) triggers
+# .forgejo/workflows/publish-source.yml, which builds and publishes on The
+# Source's own runner (datacenter-side: seconds, not the laptop's WAN timing
+# out on an 87MB tarball PUT). The laptop holds no home-registry publish
+# credential anymore; it only waits for CI's result before continuing on to
+# the release page and the docs push.
+SOURCE_NPM_REG="https://source.soulcraft.com/api/packages/soulcraftlabs/npm/"
+SOURCE_POLL_INTERVAL_S=15
+SOURCE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS=200  # 200 × 15s = 50 minutes — the runner is sequential and a busy day's ci.yml
+                             # backlog has twice exceeded the old 20-minute window (8.10.3, 9.0.0);
+                             # ci.yml no longer runs on tag pushes, but same-day branch pushes still queue ahead
+echo -e "${BLUE}9️⃣  Waiting for CI to publish v${NEW_VERSION} to The Source registry (home)...${NC}"
+SOURCE_LANDED=false
+for ((attempt = 1; attempt <= SOURCE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS; attempt++)); do
+  LANDED_VERSION=$(npm view "@soulcraftlabs/brainy@${NEW_VERSION}" version "--@soulcraftlabs:registry=${SOURCE_NPM_REG}" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+  if [ "$LANDED_VERSION" = "$NEW_VERSION" ]; then
+    SOURCE_LANDED=true
+    break
   fi
-  rm -f "$TMPRC"
+  echo -e "${YELLOW}   … not yet on The Source (attempt ${attempt}/${SOURCE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS}); retrying in ${SOURCE_POLL_INTERVAL_S}s${NC}"
+  sleep "$SOURCE_POLL_INTERVAL_S"
+done
+
+if [ "$SOURCE_LANDED" = true ]; then
+  echo -e "${GREEN}✅ CI published v${NEW_VERSION} to The Source${NC}\n"
 else
-  echo -e "${RED}❌ Forge publish token missing (${FORGE_NPM_TOKEN_FILE}) — aborting. The forge is home; publish it first or restage the token.${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}❌ CI's home publish did not land — check the workflow run on The Source; the pair must not diverge.${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}   v${NEW_VERSION} was tagged and pushed, but @soulcraftlabs/brainy@${NEW_VERSION} never became visible on the${NC}"
+  echo -e "${RED}   Source registry after ${SOURCE_POLL_MAX_ATTEMPTS} attempts, ${SOURCE_POLL_INTERVAL_S}s apart. Aborting.${NC}"
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo -e "${BLUE}9️⃣½  Publishing to npmjs (storefront, dist-tag: ${NPM_TAG})...${NC}"
-npm publish --tag "$NPM_TAG" "--@soulcraft:registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/"
-# Brainy is the only PUBLIC @soulcraft package — verify visibility after every publish.
-npm access get status @soulcraft/brainy "--@soulcraft:registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/" || true
-echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Published to npmjs${NC}\n"
-
-# Step 11: Release object on the forge (presentational — the tag, CHANGELOG,
-# and RELEASES.md are the record; this just gives the forge UI a release page).
-echo -e "${BLUE}🔟 Creating forge release...${NC}"
+# Step 11: Release object on The Source (presentational — the tag, CHANGELOG,
+# and RELEASES.md are the record; this just gives The Source's UI a release page).
+echo -e "${BLUE}🔟 Creating release page on The Source...${NC}"
 if [ -n "${FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
-  if curl -sf -X POST "https://source.soulcraft.com/api/v1/repos/soulcraft/brainy/releases" \
+  if curl -sf -X POST "https://source.soulcraft.com/api/v1/repos/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases" \
     -H "Authorization: token ${FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d "{\"tag_name\":\"v${NEW_VERSION}\",\"name\":\"v${NEW_VERSION}\",\"prerelease\":${PRERELEASE}}" >/dev/null; then
-    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Forge release created${NC}\n"
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Release page created on The Source${NC}\n"
   else
-    echo -e "${RED}⚠️  Forge release API call failed — tag + CHANGELOG remain the record; create the release page via the forge UI if wanted${NC}\n"
+    echo -e "${RED}⚠️  Release-page API call failed — tag + CHANGELOG remain the record; create the page via The Source's UI if wanted${NC}\n"
   fi
 else
   echo -e "${RED}⚠️  FORGEJO_RELEASE_TOKEN unset — no release page created; tag + CHANGELOG remain the record${NC}\n"
 fi
 
-# Step 12: Push public docs to the soulcraft.com docs ingest door
-# (VENUE-DOCS-RELEASE-PUSH). Skips with a loud warning when
-# DOCS_INGEST_SECRET is unset; fails loudly (without undoing the publish —
-# that already happened) when a push errors, so the docs site never
-# silently trails npm.
-echo -e "${BLUE}1️⃣2️⃣ Pushing public docs to soulcraft.com/docs...${NC}"
-if node scripts/push-docs.js; then
-  echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Docs push step done${NC}\n"
-else
-  echo -e "${RED}❌ Docs push FAILED — soulcraft.com/docs trails npm until re-run or interim sync${NC}\n"
-fi
+# Step 12 RETIRED (2026-08-31, CORTEX-SITE-BRAINY-RENAME round 12, David-ruled):
+# soulcraft.com/docs carries the paid product's documentation only. This
+# engine's documentation home is THIS repository — README and docs/ — and the
+# site serves 301s for the slugs this rail used to push. The push script stays
+# in the tree for history; the rail no longer calls it.
+echo -e "${BLUE}Docs step: this engine documents itself in its own repo (site push retired 2026-08-31)${NC}"
 
 echo -e "${GREEN}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${NC}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}🎉 Release ${NEW_VERSION} complete!${NC}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${NC}"
 echo ""
-echo -e "📦 npm: ${BLUE}https://www.npmjs.com/package/@soulcraft/brainy/v/${NEW_VERSION}${NC}"
-echo -e "🏠 Forge: ${BLUE}https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraft/brainy/releases/tag/v${NEW_VERSION}${NC}"
+echo -e "🏠 The Source: ${BLUE}https://source.soulcraft.com/soulcraftlabs/open-brainy/releases/tag/v${NEW_VERSION}${NC}"

src/aggregation/AggregationIndex.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,22 @@
  */
 
 import type { StorageAdapter, HNSWNounWithMetadata } from '../coreTypes.js'
-import { resolveEntityField } from '../coreTypes.js'
+import { parseFieldAddress, readEntityFieldAddress } from '../db/fieldAddressing.js'
+import type { HNSWNounWithMetadata as AddressedEntity } from '../coreTypes.js'
+
+/**
+ * Read a user-supplied field name under the one addressing law (sealed
+ * 2026-08-03): bare / `metadata.` = the user's metadata field, `system.<x>` =
+ * the ruled engine scalar, malformed = typed refusal. The aggregation engine
+ * NEVER resolves names any other way — the pre-law resolver made bare
+ * `subtype`/`confidence` read engine scalars, silently shadowing user fields.
+ */
+function readAddressed(e: unknown, name: string): unknown {
+  return readEntityFieldAddress(
+    e as AddressedEntity,
+    parseFieldAddress(name, 'entity')
+  )
+}
 import type {
   AggregateDefinition,
   AggregateGroupState,
@@ -95,11 +110,15 @@ function matchesSource(entity: Record<string, unknown>, source: AggregateDefinit
   // live in the custom bag, so those filters could never match anything.
   if (source.where && Object.keys(source.where).length > 0) {
     const e = entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata
-    const resolved: Record<string, unknown> = {}
-    for (const key of Object.keys(source.where)) {
-      resolved[key] = resolveEntityField(e, key)
+    for (const [key, condition] of Object.entries(source.where)) {
+      // Evaluate ONE field at a time under a neutral key: the address may be
+      // dotted ('system.subtype'), and the filter evaluator would otherwise
+      // walk dots as a nested path instead of treating the key as an address.
+      const value = readAddressed(e, key)
+      if (!matchesMetadataFilter({ v: value }, { v: condition } as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+        return false
+      }
     }
-    if (!matchesMetadataFilter(resolved, source.where)) return false
   }
 
   return true
@@ -129,11 +148,11 @@ function computeGroupKeys(
 
   for (const dim of groupBy) {
     if (typeof dim === 'string') {
-      const val = resolveEntityField(e, dim)
+      const val = readAddressed(e, dim)
       const v = val !== undefined && val !== null ? String(val) : '__null__'
       for (const k of keys) k[dim] = v
     } else if ('unnest' in dim) {
-      const val = resolveEntityField(e, dim.field)
+      const val = readAddressed(e, dim.field)
       const raw = Array.isArray(val) ? val : val !== undefined && val !== null ? [val] : []
       // Distinct elements: an entity with duplicate tags counts once per distinct tag.
       const elems = Array.from(new Set(raw.map(x => String(x))))
@@ -145,7 +164,7 @@ function computeGroupKeys(
       keys = next
     } else {
       // Time-windowed field
-      const val = resolveEntityField(e, dim.field)
+      const val = readAddressed(e, dim.field)
       const v = typeof val === 'number' ? bucketTimestamp(val, dim.window) : '__null__'
       for (const k of keys) k[dim.field] = v
     }
@@ -174,7 +193,7 @@ function computeGroupKey(
  * in metadata are both handled in one place.
  */
 function getNumericField(entity: Record<string, unknown>, field: string): number | undefined {
-  const val = resolveEntityField(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, field)
+  const val = readAddressed(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, field)
   if (typeof val === 'number' && !isNaN(val)) return val
   if (typeof val === 'string') {
     const num = parseFloat(val)
@@ -352,6 +371,15 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
    */
   private pendingAdopt = new Set<string>()
 
+  /**
+   * Aggregates adopted with a BEHIND stamp: name → the exact generation
+   * window `(from, to]` whose writes the adopted state has not seen. The
+   * owner (Brainy) drains this via {@link getPendingCatchUps} +
+   * {@link reconcileEntity} + {@link finishCatchUp} BEFORE serving queries —
+   * cost bounded by the window's affected entities, never store size.
+   */
+  private pendingCatchUp = new Map<string, { from: number; to: number }>()
+
   /**
    * In-flight rescan targets. While a name has a staging map, ALL
    * contributions (the walk's and concurrent write hooks') land there instead
@@ -418,25 +446,47 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
   }
 
   /**
-   * May this persisted state be ADOPTED? When the store exposes its committed
-   * watermark, the state's `sourceGeneration` must EQUAL it: behind means
-   * later writes are missing from the state (unclean shutdown); ahead means
-   * it counts writes that no longer exist (e.g. a fact-log truncation on a
-   * copied store pulled the watermark back). Either way: one exact rescan,
-   * said out loud — never a silent adopt. Stores without the capability (and
-   * pre-stamp state on them) fall back to hash-only adoption.
+   * The adoption verdict for persisted state, against the store's committed
+   * watermark (SELF-ENGINE-LIFECYCLE-SPRINT ask (b) — behind-stamp is no
+   * longer a whole-store rescan):
+   *
+   * - `'adopt'` — stamp equals the watermark (clean), or the store has no
+   *   watermark capability (hash-only adoption, the pre-stamp behavior).
+   * - `'catchup'` — stamp is BEHIND the watermark (an unclean exit after
+   *   later writes, or a long-lived writer whose last flush predates recent
+   *   writes). The state is exact AS OF its stamp, so it is adopted and the
+   *   missing window `(stamp, committed]` is reconciled INCREMENTALLY per
+   *   affected entity via time-travel reads — bounded by writes since the
+   *   last flush, never by store size. The owner drains
+   *   {@link getPendingCatchUps} before serving queries.
+   * - `'rescan'` — no stamp (pre-stamp state on a stamped store) or stamp
+   *   AHEAD of the watermark (e.g. a fact-log truncation on a copied store
+   *   pulled the watermark back): the state over-counts unverifiably; one
+   *   exact rescan, said out loud.
    */
-  private stateGenerationAdoptable(name: string, stateData: unknown): boolean {
+  private stateAdoptionVerdict(
+    name: string,
+    stateData: unknown
+  ): 'adopt' | 'catchup' | 'rescan' {
     const committed = this.storage.committedGeneration?.() ?? null
-    if (committed === null) return true
+    if (committed === null) return 'adopt'
     const raw = (stateData as Record<string, unknown>).sourceGeneration
     const stamped = typeof raw === 'number' ? raw : null
-    if (stamped === committed) return true
+    if (stamped === committed) return 'adopt'
+    if (stamped !== null && stamped < committed) {
+      this.pendingCatchUp.set(name, { from: stamped, to: committed })
+      prodLog.info(
+        `[Aggregation] '${name}': persisted state is at generation ${stamped}, store is at ` +
+          `${committed} — adopting and reconciling the ${committed - stamped}-generation window ` +
+          `incrementally (no store rescan)`
+      )
+      return 'catchup'
+    }
     prodLog.warn(
       `[Aggregation] '${name}': persisted state is at generation ${stamped ?? 'unstamped'} ` +
         `but the store's committed generation is ${committed} — rescanning instead of adopting`
     )
-    return false
+    return 'rescan'
   }
 
   private async loadPersisted(): Promise<void> {
@@ -457,20 +507,21 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
           const appHash = this.definitionHashes.get(def.name) || ''
           if (appHash === savedHash && this.pendingAdopt.has(def.name)) {
             const stateData = await this.storage.getMetadata(`${STATE_KEY_PREFIX}${def.name}__`)
-            if (
-              stateData &&
-              stateData.groups &&
-              this.stateGenerationAdoptable(def.name, stateData)
-            ) {
+            const verdict =
+              stateData && stateData.groups
+                ? this.stateAdoptionVerdict(def.name, stateData)
+                : 'rescan'
+            if (verdict !== 'rescan') {
               const groupMap = new Map<string, AggregateGroupState>()
-              for (const group of stateData.groups as AggregateGroupState[]) {
+              for (const group of stateData!.groups as AggregateGroupState[]) {
                 groupMap.set(serializeGroupKey(group.groupKey), group)
               }
               this.states.set(def.name, groupMap)
               this.pendingAdopt.delete(def.name)
               this.needsBackfill.delete(def.name)
               prodLog.info(
-                `[Aggregation] '${def.name}': adopted persisted state (${groupMap.size} groups) — no rescan`
+                `[Aggregation] '${def.name}': adopted persisted state (${groupMap.size} groups) — ` +
+                  (verdict === 'catchup' ? 'incremental catch-up pending' : 'no rescan')
               )
             }
             // No/invalid persisted state: stays in pendingAdopt and resolves
@@ -485,22 +536,23 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
         const currentHash = hashDefinition(def)
 
         const stateData = await this.storage.getMetadata(`${STATE_KEY_PREFIX}${def.name}__`)
-        if (
-          stateData &&
-          stateData.groups &&
-          savedHash === currentHash &&
-          this.stateGenerationAdoptable(def.name, stateData)
-        ) {
-          // Definition unchanged — load state
+        const restoreVerdict =
+          stateData && stateData.groups && savedHash === currentHash
+            ? this.stateAdoptionVerdict(def.name, stateData)
+            : 'rescan'
+        if (restoreVerdict !== 'rescan') {
+          // Definition unchanged — load state (exact as of its stamp; a
+          // 'catchup' verdict reconciles the missing window incrementally).
           const groupMap = new Map<string, AggregateGroupState>()
-          for (const group of stateData.groups as AggregateGroupState[]) {
+          for (const group of stateData!.groups as AggregateGroupState[]) {
             const serialized = serializeGroupKey(group.groupKey)
             groupMap.set(serialized, group)
           }
           this.states.set(def.name, groupMap)
           this.needsBackfill.delete(def.name)
           prodLog.info(
-            `[Aggregation] '${def.name}': restored definition + adopted persisted state (${groupMap.size} groups)`
+            `[Aggregation] '${def.name}': restored definition + adopted persisted state (${groupMap.size} groups)` +
+              (restoreVerdict === 'catchup' ? ' — incremental catch-up pending' : '')
           )
         } else {
           // Definition changed or no saved state — start fresh and backfill from
@@ -518,15 +570,35 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
       }
     }
 
-    // Restore native provider state from persistence
+    // Restore native provider state from persistence — GATED by the same
+    // adoption verdict as caller-side state (the unconditional adopt was an
+    // asymmetry: a stale native blob restored over a moved store silently
+    // over/under-counted). 'adopt' restores; 'catchup' restores too (the
+    // incremental reconciliation drives the provider through
+    // incrementalUpdate over the exact missing window); 'rescan' SKIPS the
+    // blob — the flagged rebuild repopulates the provider from source.
+    // Legacy unstamped envelopes verdict as rescan, loudly, never silently.
     if (this.nativeProvider?.restoreState) {
       const nativeState = await this.storage.getMetadata('__aggregation_native_state__')
-      if (nativeState && typeof nativeState === 'string') {
-        this.nativeProvider.restoreState(nativeState)
-      } else if (nativeState && typeof nativeState === 'object' && nativeState.data) {
-        // flush() persists `{ data: serializeState() }`, so `data` is the
-        // provider's serialized state string.
-        this.nativeProvider.restoreState(nativeState.data as string)
+      const blob =
+        nativeState && typeof nativeState === 'string'
+          ? nativeState
+          : nativeState && typeof nativeState === 'object' && nativeState.data
+            ? (nativeState.data as string)
+            : null
+      if (blob !== null) {
+        const verdict = this.stateAdoptionVerdict(
+          '__native__',
+          nativeState && typeof nativeState === 'object' ? (nativeState as Record<string, unknown>) : {}
+        )
+        if (verdict === 'adopt' || verdict === 'catchup') {
+          this.nativeProvider.restoreState(blob)
+        } else {
+          prodLog.warn(
+            `[Aggregation] native provider state not adopted (verdict: ${verdict}) — ` +
+              `the flagged rescan repopulates the provider from source`
+          )
+        }
       }
     }
   }
@@ -562,12 +634,17 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
       }
     }
 
-    // Persist native provider state
+    // Persist native provider state — stamped. noteSourceGeneration lets the
+    // provider bake the committed watermark into its OWN envelope before
+    // serializing (so a native-side reopen can verify honesty without our
+    // wrapper); the wrapper carries the same stamp for OUR adoption verdict.
     if (this.nativeProvider?.serializeState) {
+      const nativeGen = this.storage.committedGeneration?.() ?? null
+      if (nativeGen !== null) this.nativeProvider.noteSourceGeneration?.(nativeGen)
       const nativeState = this.nativeProvider.serializeState()
       await this.storage.saveMetadata(
         '__aggregation_native_state__',
-        { data: nativeState }
+        nativeGen === null ? { data: nativeState } : { data: nativeState, sourceGeneration: nativeGen }
       )
     }
 
@@ -728,6 +805,119 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
     this.dirty.add(name)
   }
 
+  // ============= Incremental Catch-Up (behind-stamp adoption) =============
+
+  /** The aggregates adopted behind the watermark, with their exact missing windows. */
+  getPendingCatchUps(): Array<{ name: string; from: number; to: number }> {
+    return Array.from(this.pendingCatchUp, ([name, w]) => ({ name, ...w }))
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Reconcile ONE entity's contribution across a catch-up window using the
+   * same exact delta algebra the write-time hooks use: remove the
+   * contribution the adopted state counted (the entity AS OF the stamp),
+   * add the contribution it should count (AS OF the window's end). `null`
+   * on either side means the entity did not exist then. Composes exactly
+   * with live hooks because every application is a precise old/new pair —
+   * order between catch-up and post-window writes cannot drift the totals.
+   */
+  reconcileEntity(
+    name: string,
+    id: string,
+    before: Record<string, unknown> | null,
+    after: Record<string, unknown> | null
+  ): void {
+    const def = this.definitions.get(name)
+    if (!def) return
+    if (before && after) {
+      if (isAggregateEntity(after)) return
+      const oldMatches = matchesSource(before, def.source)
+      const newMatches = matchesSource(after, def.source)
+      if (this.nativeProvider && (oldMatches || newMatches)) {
+        this.applyNativeResults(
+          name,
+          this.nativeProvider.incrementalUpdate(name, def, after, 'update', before)
+        )
+        return
+      }
+      if (oldMatches) this.removeContribution(name, def, before)
+      if (newMatches) this.addContribution(name, def, after)
+      return
+    }
+    if (after) {
+      if (isAggregateEntity(after) || !matchesSource(after, def.source)) return
+      if (this.nativeProvider) {
+        this.applyNativeResults(name, this.nativeProvider.incrementalUpdate(name, def, after, 'add'))
+      } else {
+        this.addContribution(name, def, after)
+      }
+      return
+    }
+    if (before) {
+      if (isAggregateEntity(before) || !matchesSource(before, def.source)) return
+      if (this.nativeProvider) {
+        this.applyNativeResults(name, this.nativeProvider.incrementalUpdate(name, def, before, 'delete'))
+      } else {
+        this.removeContribution(name, def, before)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** Whether the native provider offers the parallel whole-rebuild path. */
+  hasProviderRebuild(): boolean {
+    return typeof this.nativeProvider?.rebuildAggregate === 'function'
+  }
+
+  /** The catch-up window for `name` is fully reconciled; state is current. */
+  finishCatchUp(name: string): void {
+    this.pendingCatchUp.delete(name)
+    this.dirty.add(name)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * A catch-up could not complete (window unreadable, affected set over the
+   * bound, …): demote to an exact rescan, loudly — never serve un-reconciled.
+   */
+  demoteCatchUpToBackfill(name: string, reason: string): void {
+    this.pendingCatchUp.delete(name)
+    this.needsBackfill.add(name)
+    prodLog.warn(`[Aggregation] '${name}': catch-up demoted to full rescan — ${reason}`)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Rebuild an aggregate through the native provider's parallel path
+   * (SELF-ENGINE-LIFECYCLE-SPRINT ask (c) — `rebuildAggregate` existed on
+   * the provider contract but was never invoked; the JS walk fed
+   * per-entity FFI calls instead). Returns false when no provider rebuild
+   * exists — the caller streams the JS walk as before.
+   */
+  rebuildWithProvider(name: string, entities: Array<Record<string, unknown>>): boolean {
+    const def = this.definitions.get(name)
+    if (!def || !this.nativeProvider?.rebuildAggregate) return false
+    const rebuilt = this.nativeProvider.rebuildAggregate(
+      def,
+      entities.filter(e => !isAggregateEntity(e) && matchesSource(e, def.source))
+    )
+    this.states.set(name, rebuilt)
+    this.backfillStaging.delete(name)
+    this.needsBackfill.delete(name)
+    this.dirty.add(name)
+    return true
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * A write-path hook could not see the entity it needed (e.g. a delete
+   * whose before-image was unavailable): flag EVERY defined aggregate for
+   * an exact rescan, loudly — the counts must never silently drift
+   * (SELF-ENGINE-LIFECYCLE-SPRINT ask (d): the gated hook used to SKIP).
+   */
+  flagAllForRescan(reason: string): void {
+    for (const name of this.definitions.keys()) this.needsBackfill.add(name)
+    prodLog.warn(
+      `[Aggregation] all ${this.definitions.size} aggregate(s) flagged for rescan — ${reason}`
+    )
+  }
+
   // ============= Write-Time Hooks =============
 
   /**
@@ -990,7 +1180,7 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
           // distinctCount tracks distinct values of ANY type (strings, numbers, booleans),
           // keyed by their string form — NOT numeric-coerced, since its primary use is
           // categorical (distinct categories / users / tags), not numeric columns.
-          const raw = resolveEntityField(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, metricDef.field!)
+          const raw = readAddressed(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, metricDef.field!)
           if (raw !== undefined && raw !== null) {
             if (!state.valueCounts) state.valueCounts = {}
             const key = String(raw)
@@ -1034,7 +1224,7 @@ export class AggregationIndex {
           state.count = Math.max(0, state.count - 1)
           state.sum = Math.max(0, state.sum - 1)
         } else if (metricDef.op === 'distinctCount') {
-          const raw = resolveEntityField(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, metricDef.field!)
+          const raw = readAddressed(entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata, metricDef.field!)
           if (raw !== undefined && raw !== null && state.valueCounts) {
             const key = String(raw)
             const c = state.valueCounts[key]

src/coreTypes.ts

@@ -284,7 +284,12 @@ export const STANDARD_ENTITY_FIELDS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   'id',
   'vector',
   'connections',
-  'level',
+  // 'level' is deliberately ABSENT: it is HNSW plumbing, not an entity field.
+  // Listing it here made every by-name read of a user metadata field called
+  // `level` resolve to the engine's internal node layer instead — a silent
+  // shadow that broke sort/filter/aggregation on a perfectly natural field
+  // name (VENUE-BRAINY-ORDERBY-NOOP). Engine plumbing is invisible to the
+  // query surface; a bare `level` reads `entity.metadata.level`.
   'type',
   'subtype',
   'visibility',
@@ -787,6 +792,30 @@ export interface DerivedFamilyDeclaration {
   rebuildable?: boolean
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description The canonical count ledger a storage adapter maintains on its
+ * write path: per family, the user-facing `counted` scalar and the
+ * ALL-visibility `all` scalar (every tier — the coverage-ledger denominator).
+ * See {@link StorageAdapter.getCanonicalCounts}.
+ */
+export interface CanonicalCounts {
+  nouns: { counted: number; all: number }
+  verbs: { counted: number; all: number }
+  /**
+   * The count of canonical nouns holding a REAL (non-empty) vector — the
+   * coverage denominator a vector index's node-count ledger is measured
+   * against (`nodeCount === vectors.all` is the whole-store coverage
+   * verdict for the vector leg, the vector-side mirror of `nouns.all` for
+   * metadata/graph). A deferred-embed noun (`add({ deferEmbedding: true })`)
+   * counts only once its vector actually LANDS — its canonical record exists
+   * (counted in `nouns.all`) with an empty vector until then, so it is
+   * deliberately NOT counted here in the interim.
+   */
+  vectors: { all: number }
+  /** An unprovable delete has left the `all` scalars unverified since the last recount. */
+  suspect: boolean
+}
+
 export interface StorageAdapter {
   init(): Promise<void>
 
@@ -801,14 +830,68 @@ export interface StorageAdapter {
    * Save noun metadata separately
    * @param id Noun ID
    * @param metadata Noun metadata
+   * @param hasVector - OPTIONAL vectored-noun ledger hint: `true` when this
+   *   write is a FRESH insert (`isNew`) whose vector is a real, non-empty
+   *   array — the caller already knows this for free (the insert's own
+   *   `vector` local), so the increment rides the SAME isNew gate that
+   *   already protects `totalNounCountAll` from double-counting on HNSW
+   *   neighbor-link re-saves (`saveNoun_internal` re-runs on every link
+   *   change; this metadata seam does not). Absent/`false` ⇒ no ledger
+   *   action. A deferred-embed insert passes `false` (its vector lands
+   *   later — see {@link StorageAdapter.noteVectorLanded}).
    */
-  saveNounMetadata(id: string, metadata: NounMetadata): Promise<void>
+  saveNounMetadata(id: string, metadata: NounMetadata, hasVector?: boolean): Promise<void>
 
   /**
    * Delete noun metadata
    * @param id Noun ID
+   * @param priorRecord - OPTIONAL already-known metadata (the caller's
+   *   pre-delete read) — see {@link StorageAdapter.deleteNoun}.
+   * @param hadVector - OPTIONAL vectored-noun ledger hint: `true`/`false`
+   *   when the caller already knows (read as a side effect of ITS OWN delete
+   *   flow — e.g. `remove()`'s pre-read for the vector-index removal — never
+   *   a read added FOR this ledger), `undefined` when genuinely unknown. A
+   *   known `true` decrements the vectored-noun ledger; a known `false` is a
+   *   no-op (it was never counted); `undefined` marks the ledger SUSPECT
+   *   rather than guessing — the delete path must never add a canonical read
+   *   to answer this question.
    */
-  deleteNounMetadata(id: string): Promise<void>
+  deleteNounMetadata(id: string, priorRecord?: NounMetadata | null, hadVector?: boolean): Promise<void>
+
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL narrow ledger hook: record that a canonical noun's vector just
+   * LANDED for the first time. Exists ONLY for the deferred-embedding
+   * lifecycle — the landing commit (`system:embed-landing`) carries a vector
+   * write with no accompanying metadata operation, so the normal
+   * `saveNounMetadata(..., hasVector)` seam never fires for it. Callers MUST
+   * call this only when the noun held NO real vector before this write (the
+   * deferred-embed worker already holds that fact for free, from its own
+   * pre-embed read — never an added read). A backend without vectored-noun
+   * tracking is a no-op via this method's absence (feature-detected).
+   * @param id - The noun whose vector just landed.
+   */
+  noteVectorLanded?(id: string): Promise<void>
+
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL narrow ledger hook, the mirror of {@link noteVectorLanded}:
+   * record that a canonical noun's vector was just REMOVED — rewritten from
+   * a real (non-empty) vector to the "unvectored" empty-array shape. Exists
+   * for the ONE sanctioned reverse migration this engine supports: the VFS
+   * root's zero-norm fix (see `VirtualFileSystem.doInitializeRoot()` and
+   * `Brainy.unvectorNounForRootMigration()`), which rewrites a pre-fix
+   * store's all-zero placeholder root vector to `[]` and must decrement
+   * `vectors.all` through this hook so the coverage ledger never drifts.
+   * NOT a general-purpose "I removed a vector" callback — ordinary
+   * application data has no sanctioned path from vectored back to
+   * unvectored (`update()` refuses an empty vector as a dimension
+   * mismatch by design). Callers MUST call this only when the noun held a
+   * REAL vector immediately before this write (the caller already holds
+   * that fact for free, from its own pre-write read — never an added read).
+   * A backend without vectored-noun tracking is a no-op via this method's
+   * absence (feature-detected).
+   * @param id - The noun whose vector was just removed.
+   */
+  noteVectorUnlanded?(id: string): Promise<void>
 
   /**
    * Get noun with metadata combined
@@ -857,8 +940,11 @@ export interface StorageAdapter {
    *   REQUIRE re-reading the record being removed: when the internal read
    *   returns `null` (replace race, or a ghost left by an earlier version) the
    *   decrement falls back to this record instead of being silently skipped.
+   * @param hadVector OPTIONAL vectored-noun ledger hint — see
+   *   {@link StorageAdapter.deleteNounMetadata}'s `hadVector` param, which
+   *   this forwards to unchanged.
    */
-  deleteNoun(id: string, priorMetadata?: NounMetadata | null): Promise<void>
+  deleteNoun(id: string, priorMetadata?: NounMetadata | null, hadVector?: boolean): Promise<void>
 
   /**
    * Save verb - Pure HNSW verb with core fields only
@@ -1288,6 +1374,19 @@ export interface StorageAdapter {
    */
   getVerbCount(): Promise<number>
 
+  /**
+   * The canonical count ledger — O(1), no I/O. `counted` mirrors
+   * `getNounCount()` / `getVerbCount()` (public + internal tiers); `all` is
+   * the ALL-visibility scalar every unfiltered storage walk is measured
+   * against — the denominator a derived-index provider's coverage ledger
+   * subtracts from. `suspect` is `true` when an unprovable delete has left
+   * `all` unverified since the last sanctioned recount (`repairIndex()`).
+   * Optional: adapters without the ledger omit it; a consumer treats absence
+   * as "no denominator", never as zero.
+   * @returns Both scalars per family plus the suspect flag.
+   */
+  getCanonicalCounts?(): Promise<CanonicalCounts>
+
   /**
    * OPTIONAL — create a pre-upgrade backup of the whole store and return its
    * location, or `null` when there is nothing to back up (empty store). On the

src/db/db.ts

@@ -59,14 +59,10 @@ import type {
 import type { StorageAdapter } from '../coreTypes.js'
 import { exportGraph } from './portableGraph.js'
 import type { ExportSelector, ExportOptions, PortableGraph } from './portableGraph.js'
-import {
-  splitNounMetadataRecord,
-  splitVerbMetadataRecord
-} from '../types/reservedFields.js'
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from '../universal/uuid.js'
 import { coerceNewEntityId, resolveEntityId, ORIGINAL_ID_KEY } from '../utils/idNormalization.js'
 import { EntityNotFoundError } from '../errors/notFound.js'
-import { SpeculativeOverlayError } from './errors.js'
+import { SpeculativeOverlayError, CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError } from './errors.js'
 import type { GenerationStore } from './generationStore.js'
 import type { ChangedIds, TransactReceipt, TxOperation } from './types.js'
 import { entityMatchesFind, resolveEntityField, UnsupportedWhereOperatorError } from './whereMatcher.js'
@@ -520,14 +516,37 @@ export class Db<T = any> {
    * (no generation history) — distinct from `persist()` (native whole-brain snapshot
    * that preserves history). Restore with `brain.import(backup)`.
    *
+   * `options.enumeration: 'canonical'` (default: `'index'`) walks the storage
+   * adapter's canonical noun/verb layout directly instead of the metadata/graph
+   * indexes, guaranteeing canon-completeness against index corruption — see
+   * {@link ExportOptions.enumeration}. It requires the LIVE, current-generation
+   * view: called on a historical `asOf()` pin or a speculative `with()` overlay it
+   * throws {@link CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError} rather than silently mixing
+   * generations or missing the overlay's own entities.
+   *
+   * `options.includeHidden: true` admits BOTH hidden visibility tiers
+   * (`'internal'` and `'system'`) into a whole-brain/predicate export, in EITHER
+   * `enumeration` mode — see {@link ExportOptions.includeHidden}. Migration-grade
+   * exports set this; consumer-facing exports leave it off (default: false).
+   *
    * @param selector - WHAT to export (omit for the whole brain). See {@link ExportSelector}.
-   * @param options - HOW to export (vectors / VFS bytes / edge policy). See {@link ExportOptions}.
+   * @param options - HOW to export (vectors / VFS bytes / edge policy / enumeration mode). See {@link ExportOptions}.
    * @returns A versioned, portable `PortableGraph` document.
+   * @throws {@link CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError} if `enumeration:'canonical'` is
+   *   requested on a historical or speculative-overlay view.
    * @example
    * const backup = await brain.now().export({ collection: id }, { includeVectors: true })
+   * @example
+   * // Canon-complete audit export, with an index-drift report attached.
+   * const audit = await brain.now().export({}, { enumeration: 'canonical', reportIndexDrift: true })
+   * if (audit.drift) console.log(audit.drift.canonicalOnly, audit.drift.indexOnly)
    */
   async export(selector: ExportSelector = {}, options: ExportOptions = {}): Promise<PortableGraph> {
     this.assertUsable('export')
+    if (options.enumeration === 'canonical') {
+      if (this.overlay) throw new CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError(this.gen, 'overlay')
+      if (this.isHistorical()) throw new CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError(this.gen, 'historical')
+    }
     return exportGraph(this, this.host.storage, selector, options)
   }
 
@@ -682,23 +701,15 @@ export class Db<T = any> {
     for (const op of ops) {
       switch (op.op) {
         case 'add': {
-          // Reserved-field normalization — mirror of the brain.transact()
-          // write path: user-settable fields lift to their dedicated field
-          // (top-level wins), system-managed fields drop, and the entity's
-          // metadata bag carries ONLY custom fields. Speculative views skip
-          // the one-shot warnings — committing the same ops through
-          // `brain.transact()` warns on the real write path.
-          const { reserved, custom } = splitNounMetadataRecord(
-            op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined
-          )
-          const confidence =
-            op.confidence ?? (typeof reserved.confidence === 'number' ? reserved.confidence : undefined)
-          const weight =
-            op.weight ?? (typeof reserved.weight === 'number' ? reserved.weight : undefined)
-          const subtype =
-            op.subtype ?? (typeof reserved.subtype === 'string' ? reserved.subtype : undefined)
-          const service =
-            op.service ?? (typeof reserved.service === 'string' ? reserved.service : undefined)
+          // Field-addressing law: the metadata bag is the user's, VERBATIM —
+          // no reserved-name lift, no drops. Engine scalars come ONLY from
+          // their dedicated op fields; a bag field named `confidence` is an
+          // ordinary user field, exactly as on the committed write path.
+          const custom = { ...(op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) }
+          const confidence = op.confidence
+          const weight = op.weight
+          const subtype = op.subtype
+          const service = op.service
 
           // Id normalization (8.0) — mirror of the committed transact() add
           // path: a natural key coerces to a STABLE UUID (v5), preserving the
@@ -736,16 +747,12 @@ export class Db<T = any> {
               `with(): entity ${updateId} not found at generation ${this.gen}`
             )
           }
-          // Same reserved-field normalization as the committed update path.
-          const { reserved, custom } = splitNounMetadataRecord(
-            op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined
-          )
-          const confidence =
-            op.confidence ?? (typeof reserved.confidence === 'number' ? reserved.confidence : undefined)
-          const weight =
-            op.weight ?? (typeof reserved.weight === 'number' ? reserved.weight : undefined)
-          const subtype =
-            op.subtype ?? (typeof reserved.subtype === 'string' ? reserved.subtype : undefined)
+          // Field-addressing law — mirror of the add case: the patch bag is
+          // the user's verbatim; engine scalars only from dedicated op fields.
+          const custom = { ...(op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) }
+          const confidence = op.confidence
+          const weight = op.weight
+          const subtype = op.subtype
           const mergedMetadata =
             op.merge !== false
               ? ({ ...(base.metadata as object), ...custom } as T)
@@ -807,19 +814,14 @@ export class Db<T = any> {
           }
           if (duplicate) break
 
-          // Reserved-field normalization — relationship mirror of the add
-          // op above (and of the committed relate() path).
-          const { reserved, custom } = splitVerbMetadataRecord(
-            op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined
-          )
-          const confidence =
-            op.confidence ?? (typeof reserved.confidence === 'number' ? reserved.confidence : undefined)
-          const weight =
-            op.weight ?? (typeof reserved.weight === 'number' ? reserved.weight : undefined)
-          const subtype =
-            op.subtype ?? (typeof reserved.subtype === 'string' ? reserved.subtype : undefined)
-          const service =
-            op.service ?? (typeof reserved.service === 'string' ? reserved.service : undefined)
+          // Field-addressing law — relationship mirror of the add case: the
+          // edge bag is the user's verbatim; engine scalars only from
+          // dedicated op fields.
+          const custom = { ...(op.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined) }
+          const confidence = op.confidence
+          const weight = op.weight
+          const subtype = op.subtype
+          const service = op.service
 
           const id = uuidv4()
           overlay.verbs.set(id, {

src/db/errors.ts

@@ -23,8 +23,12 @@
  *   serve the full query surface via at-generation index materialization.
  * - {@link GenerationCompactedError} — `asOf()` asked for a generation whose
  *   immutable records were reclaimed by `compactHistory()`.
+ * - {@link CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError} — `export()`'s
+ *   `enumeration:'canonical'` mode was called on a historical `asOf()` view or a
+ *   speculative `with()` overlay; the canonical storage walk only ever answers
+ *   "what is live right now."
  *
- * All three are exported from the package root (`@soulcraft/brainy`).
+ * All are exported from the package root (`@soulcraftlabs/brainy`).
  */
 
 /**
@@ -160,6 +164,64 @@ export class GenerationCompactedError extends Error {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description Thrown by `db.export(selector, { enumeration: 'canonical' })` when
+ * the `Db` it is called on is not the live, current-generation view: a historical
+ * `brain.asOf(g)` pin, or a speculative `db.with()` overlay.
+ *
+ * Canonical enumeration mode walks the storage adapter's canonical shard layout
+ * directly (`storage.getNouns()`/`getVerbs()`) instead of the metadata/graph
+ * indexes — but that walk has no generation parameter, it can only ever answer
+ * "what is live right now." Serving it against a historical pin would silently
+ * mix generations (today's canonical records under yesterday's selector), and
+ * against a speculative overlay it would silently miss the overlay's own
+ * in-memory entities (which never touched storage). Both are exactly the kind of
+ * silently-wrong result canonical mode exists to prevent elsewhere — so this
+ * boundary throws instead.
+ *
+ * `enumeration: 'index'` (the default) is unaffected: it composes with
+ * `asOf()`/`with()` exactly as before, via the generation-correct `find()` walk.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * const past = await brain.asOf(g1)
+ * try {
+ *   await past.export({}, { enumeration: 'canonical' })
+ * } catch (err) {
+ *   if (err instanceof CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError) {
+ *     // Time-travel export: use the default index-based enumeration instead.
+ *     await past.export({}, { enumeration: 'index' })
+ *   }
+ * }
+ */
+export class CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError extends Error {
+  /** The view's pinned generation. */
+  public readonly generation: number
+  /** Why canonical mode cannot serve this view. */
+  public readonly reason: 'historical' | 'overlay'
+
+  /**
+   * @param generation - The view's pinned generation.
+   * @param reason - `'historical'` (a past `asOf()` pin) or `'overlay'` (a speculative `with()`).
+   */
+  constructor(generation: number, reason: 'historical' | 'overlay') {
+    const what =
+      reason === 'historical'
+        ? `a historical view pinned at generation ${generation}`
+        : `a speculative with() overlay (base generation ${generation})`
+    super(
+      `export()'s enumeration:'canonical' requires the live, current-generation view — ` +
+        `it was called on ${what}. The canonical storage walk has no generation parameter, ` +
+        `so it can only answer "what is live right now"; serving it here would silently ` +
+        `mix generations (historical) or miss the overlay's own in-memory entities ` +
+        `(overlay). Use enumeration:'index' (the default) for a time-travel or what-if ` +
+        `export, or pin brain.now() for a live canonical export.`
+    )
+    this.name = 'CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError'
+    this.generation = generation
+    this.reason = reason
+  }
+}
+
 /** One entity/relationship left in an unreconciled state by a failed rollback. */
 export interface UnreconciledRecord {
   /** The entity or relationship id. */

src/db/familyStamp.ts

@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
  *   the verified surface is a small set of rollup invariants (entity/
  *   relationship counts) plus `sourceGeneration`.
  *
- * `sourceGeneration` is the generation of the source-of-truth log this
- * projection reflects — open-time coherence becomes a COMPARISON (stamp vs
- * log head), not a walk:
+ * `sourceGeneration` is the COMMITTED generation of the source-of-truth log
+ * this projection reflects — never the allocated counter, which names a
+ * generation that may never commit (see {@link StampVerdict.torn}) — so
+ * open-time coherence becomes a COMPARISON (stamp vs committed head), not a
+ * walk:
  *
  * - equal + invariants hold → coherent, serve.
  * - behind → the projection missed the tail (crash between commit and stamp);
@@ -24,6 +26,9 @@
  * - invariants FAIL at equal generation → genuine incoherence: loud, and the
  *   repair ritual (`repairIndex()`, whose recount rebuilds the rollups from a
  *   canonical walk) heals it.
+ * - AHEAD → a torn generation-log tail: the stamp's fsync outlived the log
+ *   tail's. TERMINAL, never a wait — the generation the stamp names does not
+ *   exist to arrive.
  *
  * Stamps are JSON on purpose — every incident gets debugged by reading a
  * stamp in a terminal.
@@ -70,6 +75,12 @@ export type StampVerdict =
   | { state: 'coherent' }
   | { state: 'absent' } // legacy store — first stamp writes at the next flush
   | { state: 'behind'; stampSource: number; head: number }
+  /**
+   * TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL: the stamp witnesses a source generation the
+   * store's committed watermark can no longer show. TERMINAL — there is no
+   * generation to wait for, so the open demotes (or refuses) and never spins.
+   */
+  | { state: 'torn'; stampSource: number; head: number }
   | { state: 'incoherent'; failures: string[] }
   | { state: 'unverifiable'; reason: string } // a FAULT reading the stamp — never conflated with absence
 
@@ -118,12 +129,15 @@ export function verifyFamilyStamp(
 ): StampVerdict {
   if (stamp === null) return { state: 'absent' }
   if (stamp.sourceGeneration > head) {
-    // A stamp AHEAD of the log claims state that never committed — the
-    // projection was stamped against truth that a crash rolled back.
-    return {
-      state: 'incoherent',
-      failures: [`sourceGeneration ${stamp.sourceGeneration} is ahead of the log head ${head}`]
-    }
+    // A stamp AHEAD of committed truth witnesses a generation the store can no
+    // longer show: the stamp's fsync survived a crash that the log tail did
+    // not. This is the TORN GENERATION-LOG TAIL — its own class, never folded
+    // in with `incoherent` (a count that drifted at a generation both sides
+    // agree on), because the two have opposite cures: incoherence is recounted,
+    // a tear is DEMOTED. It is also terminal by construction — there is no
+    // generation the open can wait for, because the one the stamp names is
+    // gone.
+    return { state: 'torn', stampSource: stamp.sourceGeneration, head }
   }
   if (stamp.sourceGeneration < head) {
     return { state: 'behind', stampSource: stamp.sourceGeneration, head }

src/db/faultInjectionStorage.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+/**
+ * @module db/faultInjectionStorage
+ * @description Deterministic fault injection at the fact log's raw-byte
+ * storage surface — the test harness half of the durability protocol. Wraps
+ * any adapter exposing the {@link FactLogStorage} primitives (the exact
+ * surface the fact log appends and syncs through) and injects the three
+ * crash shapes durability tests must prove against:
+ *
+ * - **torn write** ({@link FaultInjectionStorage.tearWriteAtByte}): the next
+ *   append persists only its first N bytes, then reports success — the shape
+ *   of power loss after a partially-flushed page. The caller-side "crash" is
+ *   simulated by abandoning in-memory state and reopening from storage.
+ * - **dropped sync** ({@link FaultInjectionStorage.dropNextSync}): the next
+ *   sync becomes a silent no-op — an fsync the device acknowledged into a
+ *   volatile cache and lost.
+ * - **failed append** ({@link FaultInjectionStorage.failNextAppend}): the next
+ *   append throws {@link FaultInjectedError} without writing a byte — EIO or
+ *   a full disk, surfaced to the writer.
+ *
+ * Every injected fault is journaled on {@link FaultInjectionStorage.injectedFaults}
+ * so tests can assert not just the outcome but that the fault actually fired.
+ * Knobs are one-shot (they disarm on firing) and re-arming overwrites the
+ * pending shot. All other operations pass through untouched.
+ */
+import type { FactLogStorage } from './factLog.js'
+
+/** The error a {@link FaultInjectionStorage.failNextAppend} shot throws. */
+export class FaultInjectedError extends Error {
+  /** The operation the fault fired on. */
+  public readonly operation: 'append'
+  /** The storage path the operation targeted. */
+  public readonly path: string
+
+  constructor(operation: 'append', path: string) {
+    super(`fault injection: ${operation} to ${path} failed by test design`)
+    this.name = 'FaultInjectedError'
+    this.operation = operation
+    this.path = path
+  }
+}
+
+/** One journaled fault event — proof the injected fault actually fired. */
+export interface InjectedFault {
+  kind: 'torn-write' | 'dropped-sync' | 'failed-append'
+  /** The target path (torn-write / failed-append). */
+  path?: string
+  /** The paths a dropped sync was asked to make durable. */
+  paths?: string[]
+  /** Bytes the caller asked to append (torn-write). */
+  requestedBytes?: number
+  /** Bytes actually persisted (torn-write). */
+  writtenBytes?: number
+}
+
+/**
+ * A {@link FactLogStorage} wrapper that injects deterministic storage faults.
+ * Construct it around any conforming adapter and hand it wherever a
+ * FactLogStorage is accepted — unarmed, it is a transparent passthrough.
+ */
+export class FaultInjectionStorage implements FactLogStorage {
+  private readonly inner: FactLogStorage
+  /** Pending torn-write byte count, or null when unarmed. */
+  private tearAtByte: number | null = null
+  /** Pending dropped-sync shot. */
+  private dropSyncArmed = false
+  /** Pending failed-append shot. */
+  private failAppendArmed = false
+  /** Journal of every fault that fired, in firing order. */
+  public readonly injectedFaults: InjectedFault[] = []
+
+  constructor(inner: FactLogStorage) {
+    this.inner = inner
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Arm a torn write: the NEXT {@link appendRawBytes} persists only the first
+   * `n` bytes of its buffer (all of it when `n` exceeds the buffer) and then
+   * reports success. One-shot.
+   */
+  tearWriteAtByte(n: number): void {
+    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < 0) {
+      throw new Error(`fault injection: tearWriteAtByte needs a non-negative integer; got ${n}`)
+    }
+    this.tearAtByte = n
+  }
+
+  /** Arm a dropped sync: the NEXT {@link syncRawObjects} silently does nothing. One-shot. */
+  dropNextSync(): void {
+    this.dropSyncArmed = true
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Arm a failed append: the NEXT {@link appendRawBytes} throws
+   * {@link FaultInjectedError} without writing. One-shot; wins over a
+   * simultaneously-armed torn write (nothing is written at all).
+   */
+  failNextAppend(): void {
+    this.failAppendArmed = true
+  }
+
+  /** Append bytes — the injection point for torn writes and failed appends. */
+  async appendRawBytes(path: string, bytes: Uint8Array): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.failAppendArmed) {
+      this.failAppendArmed = false
+      this.injectedFaults.push({ kind: 'failed-append', path })
+      throw new FaultInjectedError('append', path)
+    }
+    if (this.tearAtByte !== null) {
+      const writtenBytes = Math.min(this.tearAtByte, bytes.length)
+      this.tearAtByte = null
+      this.injectedFaults.push({
+        kind: 'torn-write',
+        path,
+        requestedBytes: bytes.length,
+        writtenBytes
+      })
+      if (writtenBytes > 0) {
+        await this.inner.appendRawBytes(path, bytes.subarray(0, writtenBytes))
+      }
+      return
+    }
+    return this.inner.appendRawBytes(path, bytes)
+  }
+
+  /** Make paths durable — the injection point for dropped syncs. */
+  async syncRawObjects(paths: string[]): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.dropSyncArmed) {
+      this.dropSyncArmed = false
+      this.injectedFaults.push({ kind: 'dropped-sync', paths: [...paths] })
+      return
+    }
+    return this.inner.syncRawObjects(paths)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async readRawBytes(path: string): Promise<Uint8Array | null> {
+    return this.inner.readRawBytes(path)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async writeRawBytes(path: string, bytes: Uint8Array): Promise<void> {
+    return this.inner.writeRawBytes(path, bytes)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async rawByteSize(path: string): Promise<number | null> {
+    return this.inner.rawByteSize(path)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async readRawObject(path: string): Promise<any | null> {
+    return this.inner.readRawObject(path)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async writeRawObject(path: string, data: any): Promise<void> {
+    return this.inner.writeRawObject(path, data)
+  }
+
+  /** Passthrough. */
+  async deleteRawObject(path: string): Promise<void> {
+    return this.inner.deleteRawObject(path)
+  }
+}

src/db/fieldAddressing.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,345 @@
+/**
+ * @module db/fieldAddressing
+ * @description The one field-addressing law for every query surface (find()'s
+ * `where` / `orderBy` / `groupBy`, aggregation `source.where`), ruled
+ * 2026-08-03 after a production incident in which a user metadata field
+ * named `level` was silently shadowed by the engine's internal HNSW node
+ * layer (VENUE-BRAINY-ORDERBY-NOOP — thread id kept verbatim as the audit
+ * key; it names no product):
+ *
+ *   1. A BARE field name addresses the user's metadata field. Always.
+ *      No priority resolution, no fallback chain — `orderBy: 'level'`
+ *      reads `entity.metadata.level`, full stop.
+ *   2. `system.<field>` addresses an engine scalar, reachable ONLY with the
+ *      explicit prefix. The entity map is exactly ten scalars; the relation
+ *      map mirrors it with `verb`/`sourceId`/`targetId` as the structural
+ *      members.
+ *   3. Engine plumbing (`vector`, `connections`, `level`, `data`, `_rev`) is
+ *      INVISIBLE to the query surface in either spelling — `system.level`
+ *      refuses; bare `level` is the user's field.
+ *   4. `metadata.<field>` is the explicit spelling of the bare form —
+ *      identical semantics on every path.
+ *   5. Anything unresolvable refuses with a TYPED error naming both
+ *      candidate spellings — an accepted name either works or refuses;
+ *      there is no third state.
+ *
+ * This module is the SINGLE source of truth for the law: parsing, the maps,
+ * and the refusal builders live here so the JS engine, the provider seams,
+ * and the cross-engine conformance suite can never drift on the contract.
+ */
+
+import type { HNSWNounWithMetadata, HNSWVerbWithMetadata } from '../coreTypes.js'
+
+/**
+ * @description The entity-side `system.*` map — EXACTLY the ten engine
+ * scalars David ruled queryable (2026-08-03). Adding a name here is a
+ * cross-engine contract change: the native accelerator's conformance suite
+ * pins this list verbatim, so any edit must ship as a paired release.
+ */
+export const SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'id',
+  'type',
+  'subtype',
+  'createdAt',
+  'updatedAt',
+  'confidence',
+  'weight',
+  'visibility',
+  'service',
+  'createdBy'
+])
+
+/**
+ * @description The relation-side `system.*` map — the verb mirror of
+ * {@link SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS}: `verb`, `sourceId`, `targetId` are the
+ * structural members beside the eight shared scalars. Same one law, same
+ * pairing rule for edits.
+ */
+export const SYSTEM_RELATION_SCALARS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'verb',
+  'sourceId',
+  'targetId',
+  'subtype',
+  'createdAt',
+  'updatedAt',
+  'confidence',
+  'weight',
+  'visibility',
+  'service',
+  'createdBy'
+])
+
+/**
+ * @description Engine plumbing — never addressable from the query surface in
+ * ANY spelling. `level` is the HNSW node layer (the incident field: listing
+ * it as resolvable shadowed real user data); `data` is the payload container,
+ * not a scalar — content is reached through the content/text-search APIs,
+ * and addressing it as a sortable field would lie about its shape.
+ */
+export const PLUMBING_FIELDS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
+  'vector',
+  'connections',
+  'level',
+  'data',
+  '_rev'
+])
+
+/** @description Which record kind a field address is being resolved against. */
+export type FieldAddressKind = 'entity' | 'relation'
+
+/**
+ * @description A parsed, law-valid field address. `scope` says which side of
+ * the record the name lives on; `field` is the unprefixed name to read.
+ */
+export interface FieldAddress {
+  /** 'metadata' = the user's field (bare or `metadata.`-prefixed); 'system' = an engine scalar. */
+  scope: 'metadata' | 'system'
+  /** The field name with any scope prefix removed. */
+  field: string
+  /** The exact spelling the caller used — preserved for error text and telemetry. */
+  raw: string
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse a query-surface field name under the one law. Pure and data-blind:
+ * this validates the ADDRESS (spelling + map membership), not whether any
+ * row actually carries the field — data-aware refusals (the did-you-mean
+ * for a bare system-scalar name no row carries) belong to the query layer,
+ * which calls {@link buildUnresolvableMessage} with index knowledge.
+ *
+ * @param raw - The field name as the caller wrote it (`level`,
+ *   `metadata.level`, `system.createdAt`, …)
+ * @param kind - Entity or relation resolution (selects the system map)
+ * @returns The parsed {@link FieldAddress}
+ * @throws {InvalidFieldAddressError} for a `system.*` name outside the ruled
+ *   map (including every plumbing field) or a malformed spelling — the error
+ *   text enumerates the valid system scalars so the fix is in the message.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * parseFieldAddress('level', 'entity')            // { scope: 'metadata', field: 'level' }
+ * parseFieldAddress('metadata.level', 'entity')   // { scope: 'metadata', field: 'level' }
+ * parseFieldAddress('system.createdAt', 'entity') // { scope: 'system', field: 'createdAt' }
+ * parseFieldAddress('system.level', 'entity')     // throws — plumbing is invisible
+ */
+export function parseFieldAddress(
+  raw: string,
+  kind: FieldAddressKind
+): FieldAddress {
+  const systemMap =
+    kind === 'entity' ? SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS : SYSTEM_RELATION_SCALARS
+
+  if (raw.startsWith('system.')) {
+    const field = raw.slice('system.'.length)
+    if (!systemMap.has(field)) {
+      throw new InvalidFieldAddressError(raw, kind, systemMap)
+    }
+    return { scope: 'system', field, raw }
+  }
+
+  if (raw.startsWith('metadata.')) {
+    const field = raw.slice('metadata.'.length)
+    if (field.length === 0) {
+      throw new InvalidFieldAddressError(raw, kind, systemMap)
+    }
+    return { scope: 'metadata', field, raw }
+  }
+
+  if (raw.length === 0) {
+    throw new InvalidFieldAddressError(raw, kind, systemMap)
+  }
+
+  // Bare name = the user's metadata field. Always. Even when the same name
+  // exists in the system map — `confidence` as a bare name is the user's
+  // metadata field named confidence; the engine scalar is system.confidence.
+  return { scope: 'metadata', field: raw, raw }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Read the addressed value off an entity. The ONLY sanctioned way a query
+ * surface turns a {@link FieldAddress} into a value — direct property reads
+ * against records re-create the shadow class this module exists to kill.
+ *
+ * @returns The value, or `undefined` when the record does not carry it
+ *   (missing values sort LAST in both directions per the ordering contract —
+ *   they are never grounds for dropping a row).
+ */
+export function readEntityFieldAddress(
+  entity: HNSWNounWithMetadata,
+  address: FieldAddress
+): unknown {
+  const rec = entity as unknown as Record<string, unknown>
+  const bag =
+    rec.metadata && typeof rec.metadata === 'object'
+      ? (rec.metadata as Record<string, unknown>)
+      : null
+
+  if (address.scope === 'system') {
+    // System scalars live at the record's top level, NEVER in the user's
+    // bag — a user field named `confidence` must be unreachable from
+    // system.confidence (and vice versa). Entity views carry the scalars
+    // top-level directly; record-derived views spell the type `noun`.
+    const top = rec[address.field]
+    if (top !== undefined) return top
+    if (address.field === 'type') return rec.noun
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  // User scope: the bag IS the user's namespace, authoritative — EVERY name
+  // reads from it, engine spellings included (`bag.confidence` is the user's
+  // confidence field under the field-addressing law).
+  if (bag) return bag[address.field]
+
+  // No bag at all: a LEGACY flat record (pre-nested-bag storage). Its keys
+  // matching system/plumbing names are the ENGINE's — the pre-law write door
+  // refused user colliders — so a bare system name reads as ABSENT rather
+  // than resurrecting the shadow this module exists to kill. Same for the
+  // legacy 'noun' spelling.
+  if (
+    SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS.has(address.field) ||
+    PLUMBING_FIELDS.has(address.field) ||
+    address.field === 'noun'
+  ) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  return rec[address.field]
+}
+
+/**
+ * Relation twin of {@link readEntityFieldAddress}. The stored flat record
+ * keys the relation type under `verb`; public Relation shapes may carry it
+ * as `type` — both spellings of the record are read, the ADDRESS is always
+ * `system.verb`.
+ */
+export function readRelationFieldAddress(
+  verb: HNSWVerbWithMetadata,
+  address: FieldAddress
+): unknown {
+  if (address.scope === 'system') {
+    const rec = verb as unknown as Record<string, unknown>
+    if (address.field === 'verb') return rec.verb ?? rec.type
+    return rec[address.field]
+  }
+  return verb.metadata?.[address.field]
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build the ruled did-you-mean refusal text for a bare name that resolved to
+ * metadata but is UNKNOWN to the index — the data-aware half of the law,
+ * called by the query layer once it has consulted the known-field set:
+ *
+ *   "no metadata field 'createdAt' — did you mean system.createdAt or
+ *    metadata.createdAt?"
+ *
+ * When the bare name is NOT a system scalar the system candidate is omitted
+ * (there is only one thing the caller could have meant; the refusal exists
+ * because refusing beats silently sorting nothing).
+ */
+export function buildUnresolvableMessage(
+  raw: string,
+  kind: FieldAddressKind
+): string {
+  const systemMap =
+    kind === 'entity' ? SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS : SYSTEM_RELATION_SCALARS
+  if (systemMap.has(raw)) {
+    return (
+      `no metadata field '${raw}' — did you mean system.${raw} or metadata.${raw}? ` +
+      `(bare names always address your metadata; engine fields need the system. prefix)`
+    )
+  }
+  return (
+    `no metadata field '${raw}' on this store — nothing carries it, so an ordered or ` +
+    `filtered read against it cannot mean anything. Spell it metadata.${raw} once the ` +
+    `field exists, or check the field name (system.${raw} is NOT valid — '${raw}' is ` +
+    `not one of the engine's system scalars).`
+  )
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description Refusal for a syntactically valid address that resolves to
+ * NOTHING — a bare name no user field carries. Carries the did-you-mean
+ * (both candidate spellings when the name collides with a system scalar) so
+ * the fix ships inside the error. Thrown by the query layer with index
+ * knowledge, never by the pure parser.
+ */
+/**
+ * Cross-package identity normalizer (the seam belt): the native accelerator
+ * throws ITS OWN UnresolvableFieldError class, which fails `instanceof`
+ * against this package's export — consumers were forced to match by name.
+ * Every provider-boundary catch routes suspected field-refusals through
+ * here: a foreign refusal (matched by name, duck fields tolerated) is
+ * rethrown as THIS package's class, so exactly one identity ever reaches
+ * consumers. Anything else returns null (caller rethrows the original).
+ */
+export function asBrainyFieldRefusal(err: unknown): UnresolvableFieldError | null {
+  if (err instanceof UnresolvableFieldError) return err
+  const e = err as { name?: string; message?: string; raw?: string; kind?: string } | null
+  if (e && e.name === 'UnresolvableFieldError') {
+    return new UnresolvableFieldError(
+      e.raw ?? 'unknown-field',
+      (e.kind as FieldAddressKind) ?? 'entity',
+      e.message
+    )
+  }
+  return null
+}
+
+export class UnresolvableFieldError extends Error {
+  public readonly raw: string
+  public readonly kind: FieldAddressKind
+
+  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind, messageOverride?: string) {
+    super(messageOverride ?? buildUnresolvableMessage(raw, kind))
+    this.name = 'UnresolvableFieldError'
+    this.raw = raw
+    this.kind = kind
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description Refusal for a malformed or out-of-map field ADDRESS —
+ * `system.<anything-not-in-the-map>` (including all plumbing), an empty
+ * name, or a bare `metadata.` prefix. The message carries the full valid
+ * system map so the fix never needs a docs lookup.
+ */
+export class InvalidFieldAddressError extends UnresolvableFieldError {
+  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind, systemMap: ReadonlySet<string>) {
+    const valid = [...systemMap].map((f) => `system.${f}`).join(', ')
+    super(
+      raw,
+      kind,
+      `'${raw}' is not an addressable ${kind} field. Bare names address your own ` +
+        `metadata fields; engine fields are exactly: ${valid}. Engine plumbing ` +
+        `(vector, connections, level, data, _rev) is not part of the query surface.`
+    )
+    this.name = 'InvalidFieldAddressError'
+  }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * @description Refusal for a find() option that is accepted by the type
+ * surface but NOT implemented — an accepted option must work or refuse;
+ * accepted-and-ignored died as a class (sealed 2026-08-03). Names the
+ * option and the honest state so nobody discovers a no-op by measurement.
+ */
+export class UnsupportedFindOptionError extends Error {
+  public readonly option: string
+
+  constructor(option: string) {
+    super(
+      `find() option '${option}' is not implemented — it used to be silently ` +
+        `ignored, which read as working. Remove it from the call (or track the ` +
+        `feature request); it will be honored or refused, never swallowed.`
+    )
+    this.name = 'UnsupportedFindOptionError'
+    this.option = option
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description The capability signal both engines' conformance suites arm on
+ * (never a version guess): its presence at the package root means the one
+ * field-addressing law is LIVE on every query surface — bare = user metadata,
+ * `system.*` = the ruled scalars, plumbing invisible, refusals typed.
+ */
+export const FIELD_ADDRESSING_CAPABILITY = 'field-addressing/v1'

src/db/generationSegments.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,570 @@
+/**
+ * @module db/generationSegments
+ * @description The generation-segment store — Stage-2 D1+D3+repacking's file
+ * format (co-frozen 2026-07-19; design: the d1-d3-repacking spec).
+ *
+ * Packs CONSECUTIVE cold generations' record-sets (before-images + delta)
+ * into append-once segment files with derived sidecar indexes, so history
+ * scales in SEGMENTS (tens) instead of FILES-PER-GENERATION (hundreds of
+ * thousands), and cold-open reads ONE manifest instead of listing the
+ * backlog. Layout under `_generations/segments/`:
+ *
+ * - `seg-<firstGen, zero-padded 20>.bgs` — magic "BGS1", then one frame per
+ *   generation: `u32 payloadLen | u32 crc32c | msgpack payload`. Payload is
+ *   POSITIONAL: `[generation, timestamp, delta, records[], flags]` with
+ *   records `[kindByte, id, record]`. `flags` reserves encoding evolution
+ *   (bit 0 = compressed payload — v1 always 0; a future writer upgrade,
+ *   never a format break). Sealed segments are IMMUTABLE — the fact log's
+ *   own law, generalized.
+ * - `seg-<firstGen>.idx` — DERIVED sidecar (msgpack): per-generation frame
+ *   offsets (point reads = one ranged read, never a listing) + per-id
+ *   generation postings (per-id chain rebuilds read only what they need).
+ *   Corrupt/missing → rebuilt from its segment in one sequential read,
+ *   loudly.
+ * - `manifest.json` — the segment catalogue + `compactedBelow` (D3's
+ *   horizon marker). Cold-open reads THIS; the packed backlog is never
+ *   listed.
+ *
+ * D3 semantics carried here: bounded-retention reclaim drops WHOLE segments
+ * at boundaries (O(1) per segment, no rewrite); under the archival profile
+ * (`retention: 'all'`) nothing here is ever dropped — folding is the only
+ * transform (re-representation, never deletion).
+ */
+
+import { encode as msgpackEncode, decode as msgpackDecode } from '@msgpack/msgpack'
+import { crc32c } from '../utils/crc32c.js'
+import type { FactLogStorage } from './factLog.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../utils/logger.js'
+
+/** Directory for segment files + manifest, under the generations prefix. */
+export const SEGMENTS_PREFIX = '_generations/segments'
+
+/** Target sealed-segment size (co-freeze proposal; tunable on evidence). */
+export const SEGMENT_TARGET_BYTES = 64 * 1024 * 1024
+
+const MAGIC = new TextEncoder().encode('BGS1')
+const FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES = 8 // u32 payloadLen + u32 crc32c
+const MANIFEST_PATH = `${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/manifest.json`
+
+/** One generation's fold input — exactly what the live tier holds for it. */
+export interface FoldGeneration {
+  generation: number
+  timestamp: number
+  /** The tx.json delta object, carried verbatim. */
+  delta: unknown
+  /** The before-image record-set (empty for record-less generations). */
+  records: Array<{ kind: 'noun' | 'verb'; id: string; record: unknown }>
+}
+
+/** Manifest entry for one sealed segment. */
+export interface SegmentMeta {
+  file: string
+  firstGeneration: number
+  lastGeneration: number
+  frames: number
+  bytes: number
+  /** crc32c of the full segment byte stream — the digest chain's link. */
+  checksum: number
+}
+
+interface SegmentManifest {
+  version: 1
+  compactedBelow: number
+  segments: SegmentMeta[]
+}
+
+interface SidecarIndex {
+  version: 1
+  /** [generation, frameOffset, frameLen] ascending by generation. */
+  generations: Array<[number, number, number]>
+  /** `${kindByte}:${id}` → ascending generations holding a record for it. */
+  ids: Record<string, number[]>
+}
+
+const segmentFileName = (firstGeneration: number): string =>
+  `seg-${String(firstGeneration).padStart(20, '0')}.bgs`
+const sidecarFileName = (firstGeneration: number): string =>
+  `seg-${String(firstGeneration).padStart(20, '0')}.idx`
+
+/**
+ * The generation-segment store. Owns the packed tier ONLY — the live
+ * per-generation tier and the routing between tiers belong to
+ * `GenerationStore`. All mutating entry points here are called under the
+ * generation store's commit mutex.
+ */
+export class GenerationSegmentStore {
+  private readonly storage: FactLogStorage
+  private manifest: SegmentManifest = { version: 1, compactedBelow: 0, segments: [] }
+  /** Sidecar cache — segments are immutable, so entries never invalidate. */
+  private readonly sidecars = new Map<string, SidecarIndex>()
+
+  constructor(storage: FactLogStorage) {
+    this.storage = storage
+  }
+
+  /** Load the manifest (ONE read — never a directory listing). */
+  async open(): Promise<void> {
+    const raw = (await this.storage.readRawObject(MANIFEST_PATH)) as SegmentManifest | null
+    if (raw) {
+      if (raw.version !== 1) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `[GenerationSegments] manifest version ${String(raw.version)} is newer than this ` +
+            `engine understands — refusing to serve partial history. Upgrade the engine.`
+        )
+      }
+      this.manifest = raw
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** The packed tier's catalogue (ascending, immutable snapshot). */
+  segments(): readonly SegmentMeta[] {
+    return this.manifest.segments
+  }
+
+  /** D3's horizon marker: generations below this were reclaimed (bounded profiles only). */
+  compactedBelow(): number {
+    return this.manifest.compactedBelow
+  }
+
+  /** The covering sealed segment for `gen`, or null if it lives outside the packed tier. */
+  private coveringSegment(gen: number): SegmentMeta | null {
+    // Manifest is ascending and ranges never overlap — binary search.
+    const segs = this.manifest.segments
+    let lo = 0
+    let hi = segs.length - 1
+    while (lo <= hi) {
+      const mid = (lo + hi) >> 1
+      const s = segs[mid]
+      if (gen < s.firstGeneration) hi = mid - 1
+      else if (gen > s.lastGeneration) lo = mid + 1
+      else return s
+    }
+    return null
+  }
+
+  /** True when `gen` is packed (readable from this tier). */
+  hasGeneration(gen: number): boolean {
+    return this.coveringSegment(gen) !== null
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description True when `meta` declares more generations than it holds
+   * frames — a segment sealed by a writer that folded across a hole. The
+   * manifest records `frames` at fold time, so this is an O(1) comparison
+   * against the declared span and needs no I/O.
+   */
+  private isSparse(meta: SegmentMeta): boolean {
+    return meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1 !== meta.frames
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description The generations this tier ACTUALLY holds, as coalesced
+   * ascending intervals — not what the segments declare.
+   *
+   * Dense segments (every one a current writer produces) contribute their
+   * declared range with no I/O. A SPARSE segment — one sealed before the
+   * density law was enforced, whose declared range spans generations it has
+   * no frame for — has its real generation list read from its sidecar and
+   * contributed instead, with the discrepancy narrated once.
+   *
+   * This is what keeps a store that already carries the damage from wedging.
+   * `open()` seeds `committedRanges` from these intervals, so a hole is never
+   * re-admitted as a committed generation, and the auto-compaction pass that
+   * used to fail on every run with "packed history is damaged" simply never
+   * asks for the missing frame.
+   *
+   * @returns Ascending, non-overlapping `[first, last]` intervals.
+   */
+  async actualRanges(): Promise<Array<[number, number]>> {
+    const out: Array<[number, number]> = []
+    for (const meta of this.manifest.segments) {
+      if (!this.isSparse(meta)) {
+        out.push([meta.firstGeneration, meta.lastGeneration])
+        continue
+      }
+      const missing = meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1 - meta.frames
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[GenerationSegments] sealed segment ${meta.file} declares generations ` +
+          `${meta.firstGeneration}..${meta.lastGeneration} but holds only ${meta.frames} ` +
+          `frame(s) — ${missing} generation(s) in that span were never folded into it. ` +
+          `Serving the frames it actually holds; the declared span is not treated as ` +
+          `committed history. (Written by a pre-density-law writer that folded across a ` +
+          `gap; the segment itself is intact and no record is lost.)`
+      )
+      const idx = await this.sidecarFor(meta)
+      for (const [gen] of idx.generations) {
+        const last = out[out.length - 1]
+        if (last !== undefined && gen === last[1] + 1) last[1] = gen
+        else out.push([gen, gen])
+      }
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fold consecutive generations into ONE new sealed segment + sidecar and
+   * append it to the manifest atomically. Caller guarantees: `gens` is
+   * ascending, contiguous with the packed tier (first = last packed + 1 when
+   * segments exist), and already durable in the live tier. Crash between the
+   * segment write and the caller's live-tier delete leaves a DUPLICATE
+   * representation — resolved live-tier-wins by the reader; never a gap.
+   */
+  async fold(gens: FoldGeneration[]): Promise<SegmentMeta> {
+    if (gens.length === 0) {
+      throw new Error('[GenerationSegments] fold() requires at least one generation')
+    }
+    for (let i = 1; i < gens.length; i++) {
+      if (gens[i].generation <= gens[i - 1].generation) {
+        throw new Error('[GenerationSegments] fold() input must be strictly ascending')
+      }
+    }
+    // THE DENSITY LAW, MADE MECHANICAL.
+    //
+    // A sealed segment declares a CONTIGUOUS range [firstGeneration,
+    // lastGeneration] and every reader treats that range as containment:
+    // `coveringSegment` is an interval test, `hasGeneration` returns true for
+    // anything inside it, and `open()` seeds committedRanges from it. So a
+    // segment folded from a SPARSE input silently claims generations it does
+    // not hold, and the first read of one of those holes throws
+    // "inside sealed segment ... but has no frame — packed history is damaged".
+    //
+    // That is exactly how the damage was produced. `repackHistory` skipped
+    // generations mid-batch — ones absent from committedRanges, ones still in
+    // the pending buffer, ones whose tx.json would not read — and handed the
+    // survivors here, where the range was computed from the first and last of
+    // them. Worse, the mis-declared range was then merged back into
+    // committedRanges at the next open, which is what turned a quiet hole into
+    // a repeating auto-compaction failure on every subsequent run.
+    //
+    // Callers now split at discontinuities; this refusal is what keeps any
+    // future caller from reintroducing the class. A refusal here loses
+    // nothing — the generations stay in the live tier, readable, and the next
+    // pass folds them correctly.
+    for (let i = 1; i < gens.length; i++) {
+      if (gens[i].generation !== gens[i - 1].generation + 1) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `[GenerationSegments] fold() input is not contiguous: ${gens[i - 1].generation} → ` +
+            `${gens[i].generation} skips ${gens[i].generation - gens[i - 1].generation - 1} ` +
+            `generation(s). A sealed segment declares a dense range, so folding a sparse ` +
+            `batch would claim generations it does not hold. Split the batch at the gap.`
+        )
+      }
+    }
+    const last = this.manifest.segments[this.manifest.segments.length - 1]
+    if (last && gens[0].generation <= last.lastGeneration) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `[GenerationSegments] fold() overlaps the packed tier: ${gens[0].generation} ≤ ` +
+          `sealed ${last.lastGeneration} — segments are immutable, never rewritten`
+      )
+    }
+
+    const first = gens[0].generation
+    const file = segmentFileName(first)
+    const sidecar: SidecarIndex = { version: 1, generations: [], ids: {} }
+
+    // Encode all frames, tracking offsets for the sidecar.
+    const parts: Uint8Array[] = [MAGIC]
+    let offset = MAGIC.length
+    for (const g of gens) {
+      const payload = msgpackEncode([
+        g.generation,
+        g.timestamp,
+        g.delta,
+        g.records.map((r) => [r.kind === 'noun' ? 0 : 1, r.id, r.record]),
+        0 // flags: v1 = uncompressed
+      ])
+      const frame = new Uint8Array(FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES + payload.length)
+      const view = new DataView(frame.buffer)
+      view.setUint32(0, payload.length, true)
+      view.setUint32(4, crc32c(payload), true)
+      frame.set(payload, FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES)
+      sidecar.generations.push([g.generation, offset, frame.length])
+      for (const r of g.records) {
+        const key = `${r.kind === 'noun' ? 0 : 1}:${r.id}`
+        ;(sidecar.ids[key] ??= []).push(g.generation)
+      }
+      parts.push(frame)
+      offset += frame.length
+    }
+    const total = parts.reduce((n, p) => n + p.length, 0)
+    const bytes = new Uint8Array(total)
+    let at = 0
+    for (const p of parts) {
+      bytes.set(p, at)
+      at += p.length
+    }
+
+    const meta: SegmentMeta = {
+      file,
+      firstGeneration: first,
+      lastGeneration: gens[gens.length - 1].generation,
+      frames: gens.length,
+      bytes: total,
+      checksum: crc32c(bytes)
+    }
+
+    // Durability order: segment + sidecar fsync'd BEFORE the manifest names
+    // them (a crash before the manifest = invisible orphan files, harmless);
+    // manifest last, atomically.
+    const segPath = `${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${file}`
+    const idxPath = `${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${sidecarFileName(first)}`
+    await this.storage.writeRawBytes(segPath, bytes)
+    await this.storage.writeRawBytes(idxPath, msgpackEncode(sidecar))
+    await this.storage.syncRawObjects([segPath, idxPath])
+    const next: SegmentManifest = {
+      ...this.manifest,
+      segments: [...this.manifest.segments, meta]
+    }
+    await this.storage.writeRawObject(MANIFEST_PATH, next)
+    await this.storage.syncRawObjects([MANIFEST_PATH])
+    this.manifest = next
+    this.sidecars.set(file, sidecar)
+    return meta
+  }
+
+  /** Load (or rebuild, loudly) a segment's sidecar. */
+  private async sidecarFor(meta: SegmentMeta): Promise<SidecarIndex> {
+    const cached = this.sidecars.get(meta.file)
+    if (cached) return cached
+    const idxPath = `${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${sidecarFileName(meta.firstGeneration)}`
+    const raw = await this.storage.readRawBytes(idxPath)
+    if (raw) {
+      try {
+        const idx = msgpackDecode(raw) as SidecarIndex
+        if (idx.version === 1) {
+          this.sidecars.set(meta.file, idx)
+          return idx
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // fall through to rebuild
+      }
+    }
+    // Sidecars are DERIVED: rebuild from the segment, loudly — never serve
+    // wrong offsets silently.
+    prodLog.warn(
+      `[GenerationSegments] sidecar for ${meta.file} missing or unreadable — rebuilding from the segment`
+    )
+    const rebuilt = await this.rebuildSidecar(meta)
+    await this.storage.writeRawBytes(idxPath, msgpackEncode(rebuilt))
+    this.sidecars.set(meta.file, rebuilt)
+    return rebuilt
+  }
+
+  /** One sequential read of the segment → a fresh sidecar. Verifies every frame CRC. */
+  private async rebuildSidecar(meta: SegmentMeta): Promise<SidecarIndex> {
+    const frames = await this.readAllFrames(meta)
+    const idx: SidecarIndex = { version: 1, generations: [], ids: {} }
+    for (const f of frames) {
+      idx.generations.push([f.generation, f.offset, f.frameLen])
+      for (const r of f.records) {
+        const key = `${r.kind === 'noun' ? 0 : 1}:${r.id}`
+        ;(idx.ids[key] ??= []).push(f.generation)
+      }
+    }
+    return idx
+  }
+
+  private decodeFrame(
+    payload: Uint8Array
+  ): { generation: number; timestamp: number; delta: unknown; records: FoldGeneration['records'] } {
+    const [generation, timestamp, delta, rawRecords] = msgpackDecode(payload) as [
+      number,
+      number,
+      unknown,
+      Array<[number, string, unknown]>,
+      number
+    ]
+    return {
+      generation,
+      timestamp,
+      delta,
+      records: rawRecords.map(([kindByte, id, record]) => ({
+        kind: kindByte === 0 ? ('noun' as const) : ('verb' as const),
+        id,
+        record
+      }))
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async readAllFrames(meta: SegmentMeta): Promise<
+    Array<ReturnType<GenerationSegmentStore['decodeFrame']> & { offset: number; frameLen: number }>
+  > {
+    const bytes = await this.storage.readRawBytes(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${meta.file}`)
+    if (!bytes) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `[GenerationSegments] sealed segment ${meta.file} is MISSING — packed history is damaged; ` +
+          `refusing to continue silently`
+      )
+    }
+    const out: Array<ReturnType<GenerationSegmentStore['decodeFrame']> & { offset: number; frameLen: number }> = []
+    let at = MAGIC.length
+    const view = new DataView(bytes.buffer, bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteLength)
+    while (at + FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES <= bytes.length) {
+      const payloadLen = view.getUint32(at, true)
+      const crc = view.getUint32(at + 4, true)
+      const payload = bytes.subarray(at + FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES, at + FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES + payloadLen)
+      if (payload.length !== payloadLen || crc32c(payload) !== crc) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `[GenerationSegments] frame CRC mismatch in ${meta.file} at offset ${at} — ` +
+            `packed history is damaged; refusing to serve it`
+        )
+      }
+      out.push({ ...this.decodeFrame(payload), offset: at, frameLen: FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES + payloadLen })
+      at += FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES + payloadLen
+    }
+    return out
+  }
+
+  /** Read one packed generation's frame via its sidecar offset (one ranged read). */
+  private async readFrame(
+    gen: number
+  ): Promise<ReturnType<GenerationSegmentStore['decodeFrame']> | null> {
+    const meta = this.coveringSegment(gen)
+    if (!meta) return null
+    const idx = await this.sidecarFor(meta)
+    // generations ascending → binary search.
+    const gens = idx.generations
+    let lo = 0
+    let hi = gens.length - 1
+    while (lo <= hi) {
+      const mid = (lo + hi) >> 1
+      if (gens[mid][0] < gen) lo = mid + 1
+      else if (gens[mid][0] > gen) hi = mid - 1
+      else {
+        const [, offset, frameLen] = gens[mid]
+        const bytes = await this.storage.readRawBytes(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${meta.file}`)
+        if (!bytes) {
+          throw new Error(`[GenerationSegments] sealed segment ${meta.file} is MISSING`)
+        }
+        const frame = bytes.subarray(offset, offset + frameLen)
+        const view = new DataView(frame.buffer, frame.byteOffset, frame.byteLength)
+        const payloadLen = view.getUint32(0, true)
+        const crc = view.getUint32(4, true)
+        const payload = frame.subarray(FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES, FRAME_PREFIX_BYTES + payloadLen)
+        if (payload.length !== payloadLen || crc32c(payload) !== crc) {
+          throw new Error(
+            `[GenerationSegments] frame CRC mismatch for generation ${gen} in ${meta.file} — ` +
+              `packed history is damaged; refusing to serve it`
+          )
+        }
+        return this.decodeFrame(payload)
+      }
+    }
+    // Inside the covering range but with no frame. Two very different causes,
+    // and conflating them is what made this class wedge every maintenance pass
+    // on the affected stores.
+    //
+    // (1) A SPARSE SEGMENT — the manifest's own `frames` count is smaller than
+    //     the span it declares. That segment was sealed by a writer that
+    //     folded across a hole (the class this file's density law now bars).
+    //     The segment is INTACT and nothing is lost; it simply never held this
+    //     generation. Answering "not packed" is the honest answer, and it lets
+    //     the caller's two-tier read decide what a genuinely absent generation
+    //     means, instead of every compaction pass dying on a repeating throw.
+    //     `actualRanges()` keeps such holes out of committedRanges at open, so
+    //     in a healed store nobody asks this question in the first place.
+    //
+    // (2) A DENSE SEGMENT missing a frame it says it has — the manifest and
+    //     the sidecar disagree about a segment that claims to be complete.
+    //     That IS damage, and it stays loud.
+    if (this.isSparse(meta)) {
+      prodLog.warn(
+        `[GenerationSegments] generation ${gen} falls inside sealed segment ${meta.file}'s ` +
+          `declared range ${meta.firstGeneration}..${meta.lastGeneration}, but that segment ` +
+          `holds ${meta.frames} frame(s) for a ${meta.lastGeneration - meta.firstGeneration + 1}` +
+          `-generation span — it was sealed across a gap and never held this generation. ` +
+          `Reporting it as unpacked rather than as damage; no record is lost.`
+      )
+      return null
+    }
+    throw new Error(
+      `[GenerationSegments] generation ${gen} is inside sealed segment ${meta.file}'s declared ` +
+        `range but has no frame, and that segment declares a complete ${meta.frames}-frame ` +
+        `span — the manifest and the sidecar disagree; packed history is damaged`
+    )
+  }
+
+  /** The packed tier's delta for `gen` (null = not packed). */
+  async readDelta(gen: number): Promise<{ delta: unknown; timestamp: number } | null> {
+    const frame = await this.readFrame(gen)
+    return frame ? { delta: frame.delta, timestamp: frame.timestamp } : null
+  }
+
+  /** The packed tier's full record-set for `gen` (null = not packed). */
+  async readRecords(gen: number): Promise<FoldGeneration['records'] | null> {
+    const frame = await this.readFrame(gen)
+    return frame ? frame.records : null
+  }
+
+  /** One packed before-image (null = not packed OR no record for the id in that generation). */
+  async readRecord(gen: number, kind: 'noun' | 'verb', id: string): Promise<unknown | null> {
+    const frame = await this.readFrame(gen)
+    if (!frame) return null
+    const hit = frame.records.find((r) => r.kind === kind && r.id === id)
+    return hit ? hit.record : null
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * D3 reclaim: drop WHOLE segments whose lastGeneration < `belowGeneration`
+   * and bump `compactedBelow`. Partial segments are never dropped — the
+   * boundary waits. NEVER called under the archival profile (the caller
+   * enforces retention semantics; this method only executes boundary drops).
+   */
+  async dropSegmentsBelow(belowGeneration: number): Promise<{ dropped: number; compactedBelow: number }> {
+    const keep: SegmentMeta[] = []
+    const drop: SegmentMeta[] = []
+    for (const s of this.manifest.segments) {
+      ;(s.lastGeneration < belowGeneration ? drop : keep).push(s)
+    }
+    if (drop.length === 0) {
+      return { dropped: 0, compactedBelow: this.manifest.compactedBelow }
+    }
+    const compactedBelow = Math.max(
+      this.manifest.compactedBelow,
+      drop[drop.length - 1].lastGeneration + 1
+    )
+    // Manifest first (the drop is authoritative once named), then bytes —
+    // a crash between leaves orphan segment files invisible to the manifest,
+    // harmless and re-collectable.
+    const next: SegmentManifest = { ...this.manifest, compactedBelow, segments: keep }
+    await this.storage.writeRawObject(MANIFEST_PATH, next)
+    await this.storage.syncRawObjects([MANIFEST_PATH])
+    this.manifest = next
+    for (const s of drop) {
+      await this.storage.deleteRawObject(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${s.file}`)
+      await this.storage.deleteRawObject(`${SEGMENTS_PREFIX}/${sidecarFileName(s.firstGeneration)}`)
+      this.sidecars.delete(s.file)
+    }
+    return { dropped: drop.length, compactedBelow }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * D8 rider — the packed portion of `generationDigest(g)`: a deterministic
+   * crc32c chain over sealed-segment checksums fully below `g`, plus the
+   * frame CRC of `g`'s own frame when `g` is mid-segment. O(segments), not
+   * O(generations); identical history ⇒ identical digest on any machine.
+   * The live-tier portion is composed by the caller.
+   */
+  async digestThroughPacked(g: number): Promise<number | null> {
+    let digest = 0
+    let covered = false
+    for (const s of this.manifest.segments) {
+      if (s.lastGeneration <= g) {
+        digest = crc32c(new TextEncoder().encode(`${digest}:${s.checksum}`))
+        if (s.lastGeneration === g) covered = true
+      } else if (s.firstGeneration <= g) {
+        // g is mid-segment: chain the partial prefix via g's frame CRC.
+        const frame = await this.readFrame(g)
+        if (frame === null) return null
+        const idx = await this.sidecarFor(s)
+        const upTo = idx.generations.filter(([gen]) => gen <= g)
+        for (const [gen, offset, frameLen] of upTo) {
+          digest = crc32c(new TextEncoder().encode(`${digest}:${gen}:${offset}:${frameLen}`))
+        }
+        covered = true
+        break
+      }
+    }
+    return covered || this.manifest.segments.length > 0 ? digest : null
+  }
+}

src/db/logAuthority.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,341 @@
+/**
+ * @module db/logAuthority
+ * @description The per-brain LOG-AUTHORITY SWITCH and its verification
+ * oracle — the guarded adoption path for log-canonical storage.
+ *
+ * Two storage authorities exist during the adoption window:
+ * - `'tree'` (the default, today's behavior): the canonical record tree is
+ *   authoritative; the generation log is a complete dual-written journal.
+ * - `'log'`: the generation log is authoritative for this brain; single-op
+ *   write acks await a covering log fsync (durable-at-ack), and derived
+ *   state treats the log as ground truth.
+ *
+ * THE SWITCH IS PER BRAIN, STORED, CHECKED AT OPEN ONLY, and ONE-DIRECTIONAL
+ * unless explicitly reverted by an operator. A brain flips ONLY when its
+ * verification oracle is green: a full replay-and-diff of the log against
+ * the still-authoritative tree (the read-only witness). The oracle failing
+ * NAMES every divergence — a brain with pre-log history (records the log
+ * never saw) reports them as `pre-log-record` mismatches and needs a
+ * baseline backfill before it can ever flip.
+ *
+ * Nothing in this module mutates data: the oracle is read-only; the flip
+ * writes ONE artifact. Reverting = rewriting the artifact to 'tree' (the
+ * tree remained authoritative-quality throughout the window by dual-write).
+ */
+
+import type { FactScanHandle } from './factLog.js'
+import { prodLog } from '../utils/logger.js'
+import { createHash } from 'crypto'
+
+/** Storage-root-relative path of the authority switch artifact. */
+export const LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH = '_system/log-authority.json'
+
+/** The persisted shape of the authority switch. */
+export interface LogAuthorityRecord {
+  /** Which store is authoritative for this brain. */
+  authority: 'tree' | 'log'
+  /** When the flip happened (ms epoch). Absent while authority = 'tree'. */
+  flippedAt?: number
+  /** The oracle verdict that justified the flip (summary, not the full report). */
+  oracle?: {
+    verifiedAt: number
+    generationsScanned: number
+    nounsChecked: number
+    verbsChecked: number
+  }
+  /**
+   * Recorded when an OPEN-TIME adoption attempt (the 10.0.0 fleet default)
+   * was refused — the oracle could not go green. Keeps subsequent opens
+   * cheap; an operator re-runs adoptLogAuthority() after resolving it.
+   */
+  adoptRefusal?: { at: number; reason: string }
+}
+
+/** The narrow storage surface this module needs. */
+export interface LogAuthorityStorage {
+  readRawObject(path: string): Promise<unknown | null>
+  writeRawObject(path: string, data: unknown): Promise<void>
+  syncRawObjects(paths: string[]): Promise<void>
+  getNouns(opts: {
+    pagination: { limit: number; offset?: number; cursor?: string }
+  }): Promise<{ items: unknown[]; hasMore?: boolean; nextCursor?: string }>
+  getNounMetadata(id: string): Promise<unknown | null>
+}
+
+/** One divergence found by the oracle. */
+export interface OracleMismatch {
+  id: string
+  kind: 'noun' | 'verb'
+  reason:
+    | 'pre-log-record' // canonical row the log never saw — needs baseline backfill
+    | 'state-differs' // latest log after-image ≠ canonical bytes
+    | 'log-live-canonical-absent' // log says live, canonical has no record
+    | 'log-tombstone-canonical-present' // log says deleted, canonical still has it
+}
+
+/** The oracle's full report. */
+export interface OracleReport {
+  verdict: 'green' | 'red'
+  generationsScanned: number
+  nounsChecked: number
+  verbsChecked: number
+  matched: number
+  mismatches: OracleMismatch[]
+  /** Mismatch listing is capped; the counts above are always complete. */
+  mismatchListTruncated: boolean
+}
+
+const MISMATCH_LIST_CAP = 200
+
+/** Read the stored authority (absent artifact = 'tree', the safe default). */
+export async function readLogAuthority(
+  storage: Pick<LogAuthorityStorage, 'readRawObject'>
+): Promise<LogAuthorityRecord> {
+  const raw = (await storage
+    .readRawObject(LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH)
+    .catch(() => null)) as LogAuthorityRecord | null
+  if (raw && (raw.authority === 'log' || raw.authority === 'tree')) return raw
+  return { authority: 'tree' }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Normalize a canonical noun record to its ENTITY TRUTH before diffing:
+ * the canonical vector-file wrapper denormalizes derived index residue
+ * (`connections` — HNSW graph edges; `level` — the node's random skip-list
+ * level) that the generation log deliberately does NOT carry (projections
+ * own their own rebuild paths). Digesting the residue would report false
+ * `state-differs` on ~any brain whose HNSW assigned a nonzero level. Both
+ * sides of every oracle comparison pass through this normalizer.
+ */
+export function nounEntityTruth(record: {
+  metadata: unknown
+  vector: unknown
+}): { metadata: unknown; vector: unknown } {
+  const v = record.vector
+  if (v && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v)) {
+    const { connections: _c, level: _l, ...entity } = v as Record<string, unknown>
+    return { metadata: record.metadata, vector: entity }
+  }
+  return { metadata: record.metadata, vector: v }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Stable content hash of a stored record for diffing — key-sorted JSON so
+ * property order can never fake a divergence.
+ */
+export function recordDigest(record: unknown): string {
+  const stable = (v: unknown): unknown => {
+    if (Array.isArray(v)) return v.map(stable)
+    if (v && typeof v === 'object') {
+      const out: Record<string, unknown> = {}
+      for (const k of Object.keys(v as Record<string, unknown>).sort()) {
+        out[k] = stable((v as Record<string, unknown>)[k])
+      }
+      return out
+    }
+    return v
+  }
+  return createHash('sha256').update(JSON.stringify(stable(record))).digest('hex')
+}
+
+/**
+ * THE VERIFICATION ORACLE: replay the fact log's noun records and diff the
+ * final state per id against the canonical tree (the witness). Read-only;
+ * bounded memory (id → {tombstoned, digest} — digests, never bodies).
+ *
+ * Verdict law: 'green' iff EVERY canonical row's latest state is exactly
+ * reproduced by the log AND the log claims nothing canonical denies. A
+ * brain older than its log reports its unlogged rows as `pre-log-record`
+ * mismatches — the named cure is a baseline backfill, never a silent pass.
+ */
+export async function runLogCompletenessOracle(args: {
+  storage: LogAuthorityStorage
+  scanFacts: () => FactScanHandle | null
+  /** Digest the canonical record the same way the log's after-image is digested. */
+  canonicalNounDigest: (id: string) => Promise<string | null>
+  /** Digest a log after-image record's payload. */
+  factRecordDigest: (record: unknown) => string
+  /**
+   * Verb legs (optional until every owner wires them): the canonical verb
+   * digest + the paged verb enumeration. When ABSENT, the oracle counts NO
+   * verbs and says so via verbsChecked = 0 — an honest partial verdict,
+   * never a silent full-pass claim.
+   */
+  canonicalVerbDigest?: (id: string) => Promise<string | null>
+  getVerbs?: (opts: {
+    pagination: { limit: number; offset?: number; cursor?: string }
+  }) => Promise<{ items: unknown[]; hasMore?: boolean; nextCursor?: string }>
+  /**
+   * Cap on the LISTED mismatches (counts are always complete). Defaults to
+   * the wire-friendly {@link MISMATCH_LIST_CAP}; the adoption backfill passes
+   * `Infinity` so ONE scan yields the ENTIRE curable set — a production
+   * brain with a 12.7k-row pre-log baseline once advanced only 800 rows per
+   * adoption call because each pass could see (and cure) at most 200.
+   */
+  mismatchListCap?: number
+}): Promise<OracleReport> {
+  const listCap = args.mismatchListCap ?? MISMATCH_LIST_CAP
+  const report: OracleReport = {
+    verdict: 'red',
+    generationsScanned: 0,
+    nounsChecked: 0,
+    verbsChecked: 0,
+    matched: 0,
+    mismatches: [],
+    mismatchListTruncated: false
+  }
+  const addMismatch = (m: OracleMismatch): void => {
+    if (report.mismatches.length < listCap) report.mismatches.push(m)
+    else report.mismatchListTruncated = true
+  }
+
+  // Pass 1: fold the log — latest state per noun id (digest or tombstone).
+  const scan = args.scanFacts()
+  if (!scan) {
+    // No fact log on this store: nothing can be verified — red, loudly.
+    prodLog.warn('[logAuthority] oracle: this store has no fact log — cannot verify, verdict red')
+    return report
+  }
+  const logState = new Map<string, { tombstoned: boolean; digest: string | null }>()
+  const verbLogState = new Map<string, { tombstoned: boolean; digest: string | null }>()
+  for await (const batch of scan.batches()) {
+    for (const fact of batch.facts) {
+      report.generationsScanned++
+      for (const op of fact.ops) {
+        const state =
+          op.record === null
+            ? { tombstoned: true, digest: null }
+            : { tombstoned: false, digest: args.factRecordDigest(op.record) }
+        if (op.kind === 'noun') logState.set(op.id, state)
+        else verbLogState.set(op.id, state)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Pass 2: walk canonical (paged) and diff.
+  const seenCanonical = new Set<string>()
+  const PAGE = 500
+  let offset = 0
+  let cursor: string | undefined
+  for (;;) {
+    const page = await args.storage.getNouns({
+      pagination: cursor ? { limit: PAGE, cursor } : { limit: PAGE, offset }
+    })
+    for (const item of page.items) {
+      const id = (item as { id: string }).id
+      seenCanonical.add(id)
+      report.nounsChecked++
+      const inLog = logState.get(id)
+      if (!inLog) {
+        addMismatch({ id, kind: 'noun', reason: 'pre-log-record' })
+        continue
+      }
+      if (inLog.tombstoned) {
+        addMismatch({ id, kind: 'noun', reason: 'log-tombstone-canonical-present' })
+        continue
+      }
+      const canonicalDigest = await args.canonicalNounDigest(id)
+      if (canonicalDigest === null) {
+        addMismatch({ id, kind: 'noun', reason: 'pre-log-record' })
+        continue
+      }
+      if (canonicalDigest === inLog.digest) report.matched++
+      else addMismatch({ id, kind: 'noun', reason: 'state-differs' })
+    }
+    if (!page.hasMore || page.items.length === 0) break
+    if (page.nextCursor) cursor = page.nextCursor
+    else offset += page.items.length
+  }
+
+  // Pass 3: log-live ids canonical never showed us.
+  for (const [id, state] of logState) {
+    if (!state.tombstoned && !seenCanonical.has(id)) {
+      addMismatch({ id, kind: 'noun', reason: 'log-live-canonical-absent' })
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Verb passes — only when the owner wired the verb legs; otherwise the
+  // report says verbsChecked: 0, an honest partial scope, never a claim.
+  if (args.canonicalVerbDigest && args.getVerbs) {
+    const seenVerbs = new Set<string>()
+    let vOffset = 0
+    let vCursor: string | undefined
+    for (;;) {
+      const page = await args.getVerbs({
+        pagination: vCursor ? { limit: PAGE, cursor: vCursor } : { limit: PAGE, offset: vOffset }
+      })
+      for (const item of page.items) {
+        const id = (item as { id: string }).id
+        seenVerbs.add(id)
+        report.verbsChecked++
+        const inLog = verbLogState.get(id)
+        if (!inLog) {
+          addMismatch({ id, kind: 'verb', reason: 'pre-log-record' })
+          continue
+        }
+        if (inLog.tombstoned) {
+          addMismatch({ id, kind: 'verb', reason: 'log-tombstone-canonical-present' })
+          continue
+        }
+        const canonical = await args.canonicalVerbDigest(id)
+        if (canonical === null) {
+          addMismatch({ id, kind: 'verb', reason: 'pre-log-record' })
+          continue
+        }
+        if (canonical === inLog.digest) report.matched++
+        else addMismatch({ id, kind: 'verb', reason: 'state-differs' })
+      }
+      if (!page.hasMore || page.items.length === 0) break
+      if (page.nextCursor) vCursor = page.nextCursor
+      else vOffset += page.items.length
+    }
+    for (const [id, state] of verbLogState) {
+      if (!state.tombstoned && !seenVerbs.has(id)) {
+        addMismatch({ id, kind: 'verb', reason: 'log-live-canonical-absent' })
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  const totalMismatches =
+    report.mismatches.length + (report.mismatchListTruncated ? 1 : 0)
+  report.verdict = totalMismatches === 0 ? 'green' : 'red'
+  return report
+}
+
+/**
+ * Flip this brain's authority to the log — REFUSES unless the supplied
+ * oracle report is green (the caller runs the oracle; the flip records its
+ * summary). Writes + fsyncs the switch artifact; the mode takes full effect
+ * at the NEXT open (checked-at-open-only law), except durable-at-ack which
+ * the owner may enable immediately.
+ */
+export async function flipToLogAuthority(
+  storage: Pick<LogAuthorityStorage, 'writeRawObject' | 'syncRawObjects'>,
+  oracle: OracleReport
+): Promise<LogAuthorityRecord> {
+  if (oracle.verdict !== 'green') {
+    throw new Error(
+      `log-authority flip refused: the verification oracle is RED ` +
+        `(${oracle.mismatches.length}${oracle.mismatchListTruncated ? '+' : ''} mismatches; ` +
+        `first: ${oracle.mismatches[0] ? `${oracle.mismatches[0].reason} on ${oracle.mismatches[0].id}` : 'n/a'}). ` +
+        `A brain flips only on green — fix the divergences (pre-log records need a baseline backfill) and re-run.`
+    )
+  }
+  const record: LogAuthorityRecord = {
+    authority: 'log',
+    flippedAt: Date.now(),
+    oracle: {
+      verifiedAt: Date.now(),
+      generationsScanned: oracle.generationsScanned,
+      nounsChecked: oracle.nounsChecked,
+      verbsChecked: oracle.verbsChecked
+    }
+  }
+  await storage.writeRawObject(LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH, record)
+  await storage.syncRawObjects([LOG_AUTHORITY_PATH])
+  prodLog.info(
+    `[logAuthority] this brain's storage authority is now the generation log ` +
+      `(oracle green over ${oracle.nounsChecked} nouns / ${oracle.generationsScanned} generations)`
+  )
+  return record
+}

src/db/portableGraph.ts

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 import { Entity, Relation, Result } from '../types/brainy.types.js'
 import { NounType, VerbType } from '../types/graphTypes.js'
-import { StorageAdapter } from '../coreTypes.js'
+import { StorageAdapter, HNSWVerbWithMetadata } from '../coreTypes.js'
 import { getBrainyVersion } from '../utils/version.js'
 import { TxOperation } from './types.js'
 
@@ -94,8 +94,85 @@ export interface ExportOptions {
   includeContent?: boolean
   /** Include `visibility:'system'` entities (e.g. the VFS root) (default: false). */
   includeSystem?: boolean
+  /**
+   * Admit BOTH hidden visibility tiers — `'internal'` AND `'system'` — into the
+   * whole-brain/predicate candidate set, in EITHER `enumeration` mode (default:
+   * false — today's behavior is byte-identical). `includeSystem` alone only ever
+   * reached `'system'` for a structural selector's per-entity gate; whole-brain/
+   * predicate enumeration never forwarded it into the candidate walk at all, so a
+   * hidden-tier row could never survive a whole-brain export regardless of any
+   * flag — the gap this option closes. `includeHidden: true` IMPLIES
+   * `includeSystem: true` (both tiers are admitted together; there is no
+   * "system but not internal" combination via this flag) — `includeSystem` on
+   * its own keeps its narrower, pre-existing meaning for back-compat.
+   *
+   * Migration-grade exports set `includeHidden: true` — a complete-canon export
+   * must carry every visibility tier; consumer-facing exports leave it off.
+   */
+  includeHidden?: boolean
   /** Which edges to include (default: `'induced'`). */
   edges?: 'induced' | 'incident' | 'none'
+  /**
+   * How the whole-brain / predicate selector (no `ids`/`collection`/`connected`/
+   * `vfsPath`) resolves its candidate id set:
+   *
+   * - `'index'` (DEFAULT — unchanged behavior) — the generation-correct
+   *   paginated `find()` walk. Fast (O(matches), not O(N)) but rides the
+   *   metadata index as an acceleration structure: a lost/stale index posting
+   *   can silently OMIT a canonical record, and a stale posting pointing at a
+   *   record that no longer matches can silently produce a phantom (dropped
+   *   later by the same predicate re-check `'canonical'` mode also runs, so
+   *   phantoms never reach `entities` — but they ARE lost silently unless
+   *   {@link reportIndexDrift} is set).
+   * - `'canonical'` — walks every live noun/verb directly off the storage
+   *   adapter's canonical shard layout (`storage.getNouns()`/`getVerbs()` —
+   *   the same primitive `repairIndex()`'s recount and every index-heal walk
+   *   use), then applies the selector as a plain predicate over the walked
+   *   records. This GUARANTEES canon-completeness — the metadata/graph
+   *   indexes are never consulted, so their corruption cannot hide a live
+   *   record — at the cost of an O(N) walk regardless of selector
+   *   selectivity (unlike the index path's O(matches)). Structural selectors
+   *   (`ids`/`collection`/`connected`/`vfsPath`) resolve their node set
+   *   exactly as in `'index'` mode either way (they never rode the metadata
+   *   index); `'canonical'` additionally walks relations canonically for
+   *   EVERY selector, since a lost adjacency-index posting can hide a
+   *   relation regardless of how the node set was produced. Requires a
+   *   storage adapter and the CURRENT generation — throws on a historical
+   *   `asOf()` view or a speculative `with()` overlay (see
+   *   {@link CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError}), because the canonical
+   *   walk has no notion of "as of a past generation."
+   */
+  enumeration?: 'index' | 'canonical'
+  /**
+   * Only meaningful with `enumeration:'canonical'` (ignored otherwise): ALSO
+   * run the `'index'` enumeration in parallel and diff it against the
+   * canonical ground truth, attaching the result as {@link PortableGraph.drift}.
+   * Never auto-heals anything — this is migration-audit evidence, reported
+   * loudly (`console.warn` with the counts) whenever either list is non-empty,
+   * never silently. Default: false.
+   */
+  reportIndexDrift?: boolean
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description Index-vs-canonical drift for one `export({ enumeration: 'canonical',
+ * reportIndexDrift: true })` call. Only populated for the whole-brain / predicate
+ * selector (structural selectors never consulted the metadata index for their node
+ * set, so there is nothing to diff — both lists are empty for those).
+ */
+export interface ExportIndexDrift {
+  /**
+   * Ids the canonical storage walk confirmed (live, selector-matching) that the
+   * index-based `find()` enumeration did NOT return — canonical records the
+   * metadata index has lost track of.
+   */
+  canonicalOnly: string[]
+  /**
+   * Ids the index-based `find()` enumeration returned for this selector that
+   * canonical ground truth (the storage walk + the same predicate check) does
+   * NOT support — phantom index rows (stale or cross-bucket postings).
+   */
+  indexOnly: string[]
 }
 
 /** Controls how a `PortableGraph` is applied on `import()`. */
@@ -151,6 +228,8 @@ export interface PortableGraph {
   relations: PortableGraphRelation[]
   blobs?: Record<string, string>
   danglingIds?: string[]
+  /** Present only when `export()` was called with `reportIndexDrift: true`. */
+  drift?: ExportIndexDrift
   stats: { entityCount: number; relationCount: number; blobCount: number; vectorDimensions?: number }
 }
 
@@ -271,11 +350,19 @@ export function validatePortableGraph(data: unknown): PortableGraphValidation {
 /**
  * @description Serialize part or all of a graph (read through `reader` at its pinned
  * generation) into a portable `PortableGraph` document.
+ *
+ * `enumeration:'canonical'` (see {@link ExportOptions.enumeration}) requires a
+ * storage adapter and the current generation: it throws
+ * {@link CanonicalEnumerationUnavailableError} if `storage` is absent, and the
+ * caller (`Db.export()`) throws the same error before this runs if the view is
+ * historical or a speculative overlay — the canonical storage walk has no
+ * generation parameter, so it can only ever answer "as of right now."
+ *
  * @param reader - Generation-correct read surface (`Db` or `Brainy`).
- * @param storage - Storage adapter (used only for VFS blob bytes when `includeContent`).
+ * @param storage - Storage adapter (VFS blob bytes when `includeContent`; the
+ *   canonical noun/verb walk when `enumeration:'canonical'`).
  * @param selector - WHAT to export (omit for the whole brain).
- * @param options - HOW to export (vectors / file bytes / edge policy).
- * @param dimensions - Embedding dimensionality for the manifest.
+ * @param options - HOW to export (vectors / file bytes / edge policy / enumeration mode).
  */
 export async function exportGraph<T = any>(
   reader: PortableGraphReader<T>,
@@ -287,28 +374,81 @@ export async function exportGraph<T = any>(
     includeVectors = false,
     includeContent = false,
     includeSystem = false,
-    edges = 'induced'
+    includeHidden = false,
+    edges = 'induced',
+    enumeration = 'index',
+    reportIndexDrift = false
   } = options
 
-  // 1. Resolve the node-id set.
-  const idSet = await resolveSelector(reader, selector, includeSystem)
+  if (enumeration === 'canonical' && !storage) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `export(): enumeration:'canonical' requires a storage adapter, but none was supplied ` +
+        `to this reader. Use enumeration:'index' (the default), or export through a Db/Brainy ` +
+        `that carries its storage adapter.`
+    )
+  }
+  const wantDrift = enumeration === 'canonical' && reportIndexDrift
+  // includeHidden IMPLIES includeSystem (see ExportOptions.includeHidden's JSDoc) — every
+  // system-tier gate below reads THIS combined value, never the raw option, so
+  // `includeHidden` alone is always sufficient to see system-tier rows too.
+  const effectiveIncludeSystem = includeSystem || includeHidden
+
+  // 1. Resolve the node-id set (+ the index's raw candidate set, only when diffing it).
+  // Both `enumerateAllCanonical` and `enumerateAllIndexed` receive the SAME
+  // `effectiveIncludeSystem`/`includeHidden` pair below, so a drift diff can never
+  // contain tier-policy noise — only genuine index-vs-canonical disagreement.
+  const { idSet, indexCandidateIds } = await resolveSelector(
+    reader,
+    storage,
+    selector,
+    effectiveIncludeSystem,
+    enumeration,
+    wantDrift,
+    includeHidden
+  )
 
   // 2. Read canonical entities (reserved fields top-level), applying any predicate filter.
+  // Identical for both enumeration modes: 'canonical' only changes WHICH ids reach this
+  // loop, never how a candidate is verified — so the two modes can disagree on candidacy,
+  // never on what counts as a match.
   const usePredicate = hasPredicate(selector)
   const entityMap = new Map<string, Entity<T>>()
   const entities: PortableGraphEntity[] = []
   for (const id of idSet) {
     const e = await reader.get(id, { includeVectors })
     if (!e) continue
-    if (!includeSystem && (e as any).visibility === 'system') continue
+    if (!effectiveIncludeSystem && (e as any).visibility === 'system') continue
     if (usePredicate && !matchesPredicate(e, selector)) continue
     entityMap.set(id, e)
     entities.push(toPortableGraphEntity(e, includeVectors))
   }
   const keptIds = new Set(entityMap.keys())
 
-  // 3. Edges per policy.
-  const { relations, danglingIds } = await collectEdges(reader, keptIds, edges)
+  // 2b. Finalize the drift report now that ground truth (keptIds) is known.
+  let drift: ExportIndexDrift | undefined
+  if (wantDrift) {
+    const indexIds = indexCandidateIds ?? new Set<string>()
+    const canonicalOnly = [...keptIds].filter((id) => !indexIds.has(id))
+    const indexOnly = [...indexIds].filter((id) => !keptIds.has(id))
+    drift = { canonicalOnly, indexOnly }
+    if (canonicalOnly.length > 0 || indexOnly.length > 0) {
+      console.warn(
+        `[Brainy] export() index drift: ${canonicalOnly.length} canonical-only id(s) ` +
+          `(canon-present, the index-based enumeration missed them) and ${indexOnly.length} ` +
+          `index-only id(s) (index-visible, canon-absent — phantom rows). ` +
+          `See the returned PortableGraph's 'drift' field for the exact ids. Nothing was ` +
+          `auto-healed — run brain.repairIndex() to reconcile the metadata index.`
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
+  // 3. Edges per policy. Canonical mode ALSO walks verbs canonically for every
+  // selector (not just whole-brain) — a lost adjacency-index posting can hide a
+  // relation regardless of how the node set was produced.
+  const { relations, danglingIds } =
+    enumeration === 'canonical'
+      ? await collectEdgesCanonical(storage!, keptIds, edges, effectiveIncludeSystem, includeHidden)
+      : await collectEdges(reader, keptIds, edges, includeHidden)
 
   // 4. VFS blob bytes (only when requested).
   let blobs: Record<string, string> | undefined
@@ -330,6 +470,7 @@ export async function exportGraph<T = any>(
     relations,
     ...(blobs && blobCount > 0 ? { blobs } : {}),
     ...(danglingIds && danglingIds.length > 0 ? { danglingIds } : {}),
+    ...(drift ? { drift } : {}),
     stats: {
       entityCount: entities.length,
       relationCount: relations.length,
@@ -477,12 +618,36 @@ function hasPredicate(s: ExportSelector): boolean {
   )
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param reader - Generation-correct read surface.
+ * @param storage - Storage adapter (only touched when `enumeration:'canonical'`
+ *   resolves the whole-brain/predicate branch).
+ * @param s - The export selector.
+ * @param includeSystem - The ALREADY-COMBINED `includeSystem || includeHidden` value
+ *   (see `exportGraph`'s `effectiveIncludeSystem`) — whether `visibility:'system'`
+ *   entities are wanted.
+ * @param enumeration - `'index'` (default) or `'canonical'` — see {@link ExportOptions.enumeration}.
+ *   Only affects the whole-brain/predicate branch (the `else` below): structural
+ *   selectors (`ids`/`collection`/`connected`/`vfsPath`) never rode the metadata
+ *   index for their node set, so they resolve identically either way.
+ * @param wantIndexCandidates - When true (only meaningful with `enumeration:'canonical'`
+ *   on the whole-brain/predicate branch), ALSO run the index-based walk and return
+ *   its raw candidate set as `indexCandidateIds`, for {@link ExportIndexDrift}.
+ * @param includeHidden - Whether `visibility:'internal'` entities are ALSO wanted
+ *   (see {@link ExportOptions.includeHidden}). Threaded to BOTH enumeration
+ *   functions identically so a drift diff never contains tier-policy noise.
+ */
 async function resolveSelector<T>(
   reader: PortableGraphReader<T>,
+  storage: StorageAdapter | undefined,
   s: ExportSelector,
-  includeSystem: boolean
-): Promise<Set<string>> {
+  includeSystem: boolean,
+  enumeration: 'index' | 'canonical',
+  wantIndexCandidates: boolean,
+  includeHidden: boolean
+): Promise<{ idSet: Set<string>; indexCandidateIds?: Set<string> }> {
   let idSet: Set<string>
+  let indexCandidateIds: Set<string> | undefined
   if (s.ids && s.ids.length) {
     idSet = new Set(s.ids)
   } else if (s.collection ?? s.memberOf) {
@@ -491,20 +656,45 @@ async function resolveSelector<T>(
     idSet = await resolveConnected(reader, s.connected)
   } else if (s.vfsPath) {
     idSet = await resolveVfsPath(reader, s.vfsPath, s.recursive ?? true, s.depth)
+  } else if (enumeration === 'canonical') {
+    idSet = await enumerateAllCanonical(storage!, includeSystem, includeHidden)
+    if (wantIndexCandidates) indexCandidateIds = await enumerateAllIndexed(reader, s, includeHidden)
   } else {
-    idSet = await enumerateAll(reader, s)
+    idSet = await enumerateAllIndexed(reader, s, includeHidden)
   }
   if (!includeSystem) idSet.delete(VFS_ROOT_ID)
-  return idSet
+  return { idSet, indexCandidateIds }
 }
 
-/** Whole-brain / predicate enumeration via generation-correct paginated `find()`. */
-async function enumerateAll<T>(reader: PortableGraphReader<T>, s: ExportSelector): Promise<Set<string>> {
+/**
+ * @description Whole-brain / predicate enumeration via generation-correct
+ * paginated `find()`. The metadata index is an acceleration structure over
+ * this candidate set — see {@link enumerateAllCanonical} for the storage-level
+ * counterpart that never consults it.
+ *
+ * @param includeHidden - When true, forwards `includeInternal: true` AND
+ *   `includeSystem: true` into the SAME `find()` call — `find()` supports both
+ *   flags simultaneously (confirmed via `FindParams.includeInternal`/`includeSystem`
+ *   and `Brainy`'s `resolveHiddenIds`/`excludedVisibilityTiers`), so ONE pass
+ *   reaches both hidden tiers; no per-tier union pass is needed. When false
+ *   (default), neither flag is forwarded — the pre-existing behavior, preserved
+ *   byte-identically for back-compat (`ExportOptions.includeSystem` alone never
+ *   reached this far; see {@link ExportOptions.includeHidden}'s JSDoc).
+ */
+async function enumerateAllIndexed<T>(
+  reader: PortableGraphReader<T>,
+  s: ExportSelector,
+  includeHidden = false
+): Promise<Set<string>> {
   const params: any = {}
   if (s.type !== undefined) params.type = s.type
   if (s.subtype !== undefined) params.subtype = s.subtype
   if (s.where !== undefined) params.where = s.where
   if (s.service !== undefined) params.service = s.service
+  if (includeHidden) {
+    params.includeInternal = true
+    params.includeSystem = true
+  }
   const ids = new Set<string>()
   let offset = 0
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-constant-condition
@@ -517,6 +707,52 @@ async function enumerateAll<T>(reader: PortableGraphReader<T>, s: ExportSelector
   return ids
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description Canonical (storage-level) counterpart of {@link enumerateAllIndexed}:
+ * walks every live noun directly off the storage adapter's canonical shard layout
+ * (`storage.getNouns()` — the same primitive `repairIndex()`'s recount and every
+ * index-heal walk use) instead of going through the metadata index. Guarantees
+ * canon-completeness — a lost or stale metadata-index posting cannot cause a
+ * canonical record to be silently missing from the returned set — at the cost of
+ * an O(N) walk regardless of selector selectivity (unlike the index path's
+ * O(matches)). Returns the RAW candidate id set; `exportGraph`'s caller applies
+ * `matchesPredicate` per-entity via `reader.get()` afterward, exactly as the index
+ * path does, so both paths share one predicate-evaluation code path and can only
+ * disagree on candidacy, never on what a match means.
+ *
+ * Mirrors `find()`'s hidden-tier policy given the SAME `includeSystem`/`includeHidden`
+ * pair (see {@link enumerateAllIndexed}) so the two enumeration modes produce
+ * identical id sets when the index is healthy, at ANY tier-visibility setting.
+ *
+ * @param includeSystem - The ALREADY-COMBINED `includeSystem || includeHidden` value.
+ * @param includeHidden - Whether `'internal'`-tier nouns are ALSO admitted.
+ */
+async function enumerateAllCanonical(
+  storage: StorageAdapter,
+  includeSystem = false,
+  includeHidden = false
+): Promise<Set<string>> {
+  const ids = new Set<string>()
+  let offset = 0
+  let cursor: string | undefined
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-constant-condition
+  while (true) {
+    const page = await storage.getNouns({ pagination: { limit: ENUM_PAGE, offset, cursor } })
+    for (const item of page.items) {
+      if (item.visibility === 'internal' && !includeHidden) continue
+      if (item.visibility === 'system' && !includeSystem) continue
+      ids.add(item.id)
+    }
+    if (!page.hasMore || page.items.length === 0) break
+    if (page.nextCursor !== undefined) {
+      cursor = page.nextCursor
+    } else {
+      offset += ENUM_PAGE
+    }
+  }
+  return ids
+}
+
 async function resolveCollectionSubtree<T>(
   reader: PortableGraphReader<T>,
   rootId: string,
@@ -678,19 +914,27 @@ function toPortableGraphRelation<T>(r: Relation<T>): PortableGraphRelation {
   return br
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param includeHidden - When true, forwards `includeInternal`/`includeSystem` into
+ *   every `related()` call so hidden-tier relations reach candidacy too — mirrors
+ *   {@link enumerateAllIndexed}'s `includeHidden` handling, and preserves back-compat
+ *   when false/omitted (the pre-existing, unconditional hidden-tier exclusion).
+ */
 async function collectEdges<T>(
   reader: PortableGraphReader<T>,
   idSet: Set<string>,
-  edges: 'induced' | 'incident' | 'none'
+  edges: 'induced' | 'incident' | 'none',
+  includeHidden = false
 ): Promise<{ relations: PortableGraphRelation[]; danglingIds?: string[] }> {
   if (edges === 'none') return { relations: [] }
 
+  const tierOptIn = includeHidden ? { includeInternal: true, includeSystem: true } : {}
   const relations: PortableGraphRelation[] = []
   const dangling = new Set<string>()
   const seen = new Set<string>()
 
   for (const id of idSet) {
-    const rels = await reader.related({ from: id, limit: RELATION_FETCH_LIMIT })
+    const rels = await reader.related({ from: id, limit: RELATION_FETCH_LIMIT, ...tierOptIn })
     for (const r of rels) {
       if (seen.has(r.id)) continue
       const toIn = idSet.has(r.to)
@@ -703,7 +947,7 @@ async function collectEdges<T>(
 
   if (edges === 'incident') {
     for (const id of idSet) {
-      const rels = await reader.related({ to: id, limit: RELATION_FETCH_LIMIT })
+      const rels = await reader.related({ to: id, limit: RELATION_FETCH_LIMIT, ...tierOptIn })
       for (const r of rels) {
         if (seen.has(r.id)) continue
         if (!idSet.has(r.from)) {
@@ -718,6 +962,81 @@ async function collectEdges<T>(
   return dangling.size > 0 ? { relations, danglingIds: Array.from(dangling) } : { relations }
 }
 
+/** Converts a canonical verb record (as returned by `storage.getVerbs()`) into the wire shape. */
+function hnswVerbToPortableGraphRelation(v: HNSWVerbWithMetadata): PortableGraphRelation {
+  const br: PortableGraphRelation = { id: v.id, from: v.sourceId, to: v.targetId, type: v.verb as string }
+  if (v.subtype !== undefined) br.subtype = v.subtype
+  if (v.visibility !== undefined && v.visibility !== 'public') br.visibility = v.visibility
+  if (v.weight !== undefined) br.weight = v.weight
+  if (v.confidence !== undefined) br.confidence = v.confidence
+  if (v.metadata && Object.keys(v.metadata as any).length) br.metadata = v.metadata
+  return br
+}
+
+/**
+ * @description Canonical (storage-level) counterpart of {@link collectEdges}:
+ * walks every live verb directly off `storage.getVerbs()` — the same primitive
+ * `repairIndex()`'s recount and every index-heal walk use — instead of the graph
+ * adjacency index (`reader.related()`), so a lost/stale adjacency posting cannot
+ * cause a canonical relationship to be silently dropped from the export. Used for
+ * EVERY selector in `enumeration:'canonical'` mode, not just the whole-brain
+ * branch: relations can be blinded by adjacency-index corruption regardless of
+ * how `idSet` (the kept node ids) was produced.
+ *
+ * Mirrors `related()`'s default hidden-tier policy (hides `'internal'` and
+ * `'system'` unless `includeHidden`/`includeSystem` say otherwise) so the two
+ * enumeration modes produce identical relation sets when the index is healthy.
+ *
+ * @param includeSystem - Whether `'system'`-tier verbs are admitted (the
+ *   caller passes the ALREADY-combined `includeSystem || includeHidden` value —
+ *   see `exportGraph`'s `effectiveIncludeSystem`).
+ * @param includeHidden - Whether `'internal'`-tier verbs are ALSO admitted.
+ */
+async function collectEdgesCanonical(
+  storage: StorageAdapter,
+  idSet: Set<string>,
+  edges: 'induced' | 'incident' | 'none',
+  includeSystem = false,
+  includeHidden = false
+): Promise<{ relations: PortableGraphRelation[]; danglingIds?: string[] }> {
+  if (edges === 'none') return { relations: [] }
+
+  const relations: PortableGraphRelation[] = []
+  const dangling = new Set<string>()
+  const seen = new Set<string>()
+  let offset = 0
+  let cursor: string | undefined
+
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-constant-condition
+  while (true) {
+    const page = await storage.getVerbs({ pagination: { limit: ENUM_PAGE, offset, cursor } })
+    for (const v of page.items) {
+      if (seen.has(v.id)) continue
+      if (v.visibility === 'internal' && !includeHidden) continue
+      if (v.visibility === 'system' && !includeSystem) continue
+      const fromIn = idSet.has(v.sourceId)
+      const toIn = idSet.has(v.targetId)
+      if (edges === 'induced') {
+        if (!fromIn || !toIn) continue
+      } else if (!fromIn && !toIn) {
+        continue // 'incident': neither endpoint kept — irrelevant to this export
+      }
+      if (fromIn && !toIn) dangling.add(v.targetId)
+      if (toIn && !fromIn) dangling.add(v.sourceId)
+      seen.add(v.id)
+      relations.push(hnswVerbToPortableGraphRelation(v))
+    }
+    if (!page.hasMore || page.items.length === 0) break
+    if (page.nextCursor !== undefined) {
+      cursor = page.nextCursor
+    } else {
+      offset += ENUM_PAGE
+    }
+  }
+
+  return dangling.size > 0 ? { relations, danglingIds: Array.from(dangling) } : { relations }
+}
+
 async function collectBlobs<T>(
   storage: StorageAdapter | undefined,
   entityMap: Map<string, Entity<T>>

src/db/types.ts

@@ -412,6 +412,17 @@ export interface TxLogEntry {
   timestamp: number
   /** Transaction metadata, when supplied to `transact()`. */
   meta?: Record<string, unknown>
+  /**
+   * WHO committed. Absent = a user write (every pre-existing consumer's
+   * reading stays exact). Engine-originated commits stamp themselves —
+   * `'system:embed-landing'` (the deferred vector landing),
+   * `'system:adoption-backfill'` (baseline re-commits), `'system:reconcile'`
+   * (the attested per-id divergence door) — so activity feeds can filter on
+   * fact instead of collapsing near-in-time entries (a consumer refused that
+   * heuristic as a quiet loss, correctly; this field is the honest cure).
+   * The same stamp rides the commit fact's meta, so log and tx-log agree.
+   */
+  origin?: string
 }
 
 // ============================================================================
@@ -439,6 +450,21 @@ export interface GenerationStorage {
   deleteRawObject(path: string): Promise<void>
   /** List raw object paths under a prefix (normalized, `.gz`-stripped). */
   listRawObjects(prefix: string): Promise<string[]>
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL: the IMMEDIATE child directory names under a prefix — one level,
+   * no recursion, no file paths.
+   *
+   * Why it exists: discovering which generations are on disk needs only the
+   * top-level directory NAMES under `_generations/`, but the only door for it
+   * was `listRawObjects`, which recurses the whole tree and returns every file
+   * in every generation. On a store with a long history that is a full walk of
+   * the entire generation log, paid on EVERY open, to learn a set of integers
+   * the directory names already spell out.
+   *
+   * An adapter without this door keeps working — the caller falls back to the
+   * recursive listing.
+   */
+  listRawPrefixes?(prefix: string): Promise<string[]>
   /** Remove every object under a prefix (and the directory itself on disk). */
   removeRawPrefix(prefix: string): Promise<void>
   /** Durability barrier: fsync the given object paths (no-op in memory). */
@@ -462,6 +488,28 @@ export interface GenerationStorage {
   /** @see beginWriteBarrier — fsync every canonical write since begin. */
   flushWriteBarrier?(): Promise<void>
 
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL fold-checkpoint durability barrier: make the listed entities'
+   * CANONICAL live objects durable — fsync each present metadata/vector file
+   * AND the parent directory entry of each absent one (so a delete is as
+   * durable as a write). The generation store may only advance the fold
+   * checkpoint (`_system/fold-checkpoint.json`) after this resolves; the
+   * checkpoint bounds crash recovery's log fold to `(checkpoint, head]`.
+   * Adapters whose writes are durable per-call may leave this undefined —
+   * the store then treats canonical durability as immediate.
+   */
+  syncEntityCanonical?(nouns: string[], verbs: string[]): Promise<void>
+
+  /**
+   * OPTIONAL writer fence: throw `BRAINY_WRITER_FENCED` when this instance
+   * no longer owns the store's writer lock (an operator force-takeover or a
+   * removed lock file). Called at every flush commit and transact barrier —
+   * one small read per commit window — so an evicted writer fails loudly on
+   * its next commit instead of split-braining the store. Adapters without a
+   * cross-process lock model omit it.
+   */
+  assertWriterFenceHeld?(): Promise<void>
+
   /** Read an entity's raw stored metadata+vector objects. */
   readNounRaw(id: string): Promise<{ metadata: any | null; vector: any | null }>
   /** Restore an entity's raw stored objects (`null` part ⇒ delete that file). */

src/db/whereMatcher.ts

@@ -61,41 +61,44 @@ export class UnsupportedWhereOperatorError extends Error {
  * @returns The field's value, or `undefined` when absent.
  */
 export function resolveEntityField(entity: Entity, field: string): unknown {
-  switch (field) {
-    case 'noun':
-    case 'type':
-      return entity.type
-    case 'subtype':
-      return entity.subtype
-    case 'id':
-      return entity.id
-    case 'createdAt':
-      return entity.createdAt
-    case 'updatedAt':
-      return entity.updatedAt
-    case 'service':
-      return entity.service
-    case 'createdBy':
-      return entity.createdBy
-    case 'confidence':
-      return entity.confidence
-    case 'weight':
-      return entity.weight
-    case '_rev':
-      return entity._rev
-    case 'data':
-      return entity.data
+  // THE ONE ADDRESSING LAW (sealed 2026-08-03): `system.<field>` reads the
+  // entity scalar; bare and `metadata.`-prefixed names read the user's
+  // metadata bag (dotted paths traverse INSIDE the bag). The old bare-name
+  // switch over system fields is dead — bare `createdAt` is the user's own
+  // field now; the engine scalar is `system.createdAt`. Plumbing (vector,
+  // connections, level, data, _rev) is invisible: no spelling reaches it.
+  if (field.startsWith('system.')) {
+    switch (field.slice('system.'.length)) {
+      case 'type':
+        return entity.type
+      case 'subtype':
+        return entity.subtype
+      case 'id':
+        return entity.id
+      case 'createdAt':
+        return entity.createdAt
+      case 'updatedAt':
+        return entity.updatedAt
+      case 'service':
+        return entity.service
+      case 'createdBy':
+        return entity.createdBy
+      case 'confidence':
+        return entity.confidence
+      case 'weight':
+        return entity.weight
+      case 'visibility':
+        return (entity as unknown as Record<string, unknown>).visibility
+    }
+    // Out-of-map system spelling: parse refuses these upstream with a typed
+    // error; reaching here (internal callers only) reads as absent.
+    return undefined
   }
 
-  if (field.includes('.')) {
-    // Dotted path: resolve against the whole entity first (`metadata.x`),
-    // then against the metadata bag (`address.city` on nested metadata).
-    const fromEntity = resolvePath(entity as unknown as Record<string, unknown>, field)
-    if (fromEntity !== undefined) return fromEntity
-    return resolvePath((entity.metadata ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>, field)
-  }
-
-  return ((entity.metadata ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>)[field]
+  const path = field.startsWith('metadata.') ? field.slice('metadata.'.length) : field
+  const bag = (entity.metadata ?? {}) as Record<string, unknown>
+  if (!path.includes('.')) return bag[path]
+  return resolvePath(bag, path)
 }
 
 /** Walk a dotted path through nested plain objects. */

src/embeddings/wasm/modelLoader.ts

@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ async function loadBunAssets(): Promise<ModelAssets> {
   }
 
   // Strategy 2: node_modules path relative to CWD (for installed packages)
-  const nmPath = './node_modules/@soulcraft/brainy/assets/models/all-MiniLM-L6-v2'
+  const nmPath = './node_modules/@soulcraftlabs/brainy/assets/models/all-MiniLM-L6-v2'
   pathsToTry.push([
     `${nmPath}/model.safetensors`,
     `${nmPath}/tokenizer.json`,
@@ -168,9 +168,9 @@ async function loadBunAssets(): Promise<ModelAssets> {
   // If all strategies fail, provide helpful error message
   throw new Error(
     'Could not load model assets. For bun --compile, ensure model files are accessible:\n' +
-    '  Option 1: Keep node_modules/@soulcraft/brainy/assets/ alongside your binary\n' +
+    '  Option 1: Keep node_modules/@soulcraftlabs/brainy/assets/ alongside your binary\n' +
     '  Option 2: Copy assets/ folder to your working directory\n' +
-    '  Option 3: Use --asset flag: bun build --compile --asset="./node_modules/@soulcraft/brainy/assets/**/*"'
+    '  Option 3: Use --asset flag: bun build --compile --asset="./node_modules/@soulcraftlabs/brainy/assets/**/*"'
   )
 }
 
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ async function loadNodeAssets(): Promise<ModelAssets> {
   if (!fs.existsSync(assetsDir)) {
     throw new Error(
       `Model assets not found: ${assetsDir}\n` +
-      `Ensure @soulcraft/brainy is installed correctly.`
+      `Ensure @soulcraftlabs/brainy is installed correctly.`
     )
   }
 

src/errors/notFound.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * - {@link RelationNotFoundError} — a referenced relationship (verb) does
  *   not exist.
  *
- * Both are exported from the package root (`@soulcraft/brainy`).
+ * Both are exported from the package root (`@soulcraftlabs/brainy`).
  */
 
 /**

src/graph/graphAdjacencyIndex.ts

@@ -27,6 +27,22 @@ import { UnifiedCache, getGlobalCache } from '../utils/unifiedCache.js'
 import { prodLog } from '../utils/logger.js'
 import { LSMTree } from './lsm/LSMTree.js'
 import type { GraphIndexProvider } from '../plugin.js'
+import {
+  computeWatermarkVerdict,
+  makeProjectionStamp,
+  readStampedWatermark,
+  type WatermarkVerdict,
+  type WatermarkVerdictResult
+} from '../utils/projectionWatermark.js'
+
+/**
+ * Storage key for the graph-adjacency projection's watermark stamp — a
+ * sidecar record beside the artifact (the two verb-id LSM trees' persisted
+ * SSTables + manifests). Written LAST in
+ * {@link GraphAdjacencyIndex.flush} / {@link GraphAdjacencyIndex.close} so
+ * stamp-after-data ordering holds for every byte the stamp certifies.
+ */
+export const GRAPH_ADJACENCY_STAMP_KEY = '__index_graph_adjacency_watermark__'
 
 export interface GraphIndexConfig {
   maxIndexSize?: number      // Default: 100000
@@ -112,6 +128,14 @@ export class GraphAdjacencyIndex implements GraphIndexProvider {
   // Initialization flag
   private initialized = false
 
+  // --- Watermark stamp state (see utils/projectionWatermark for the law) ---
+  /** Generation handed in via {@link stampWatermark}, awaiting the next flush. */
+  private pendingWatermark: number | null = null
+  /** Last watermark durably stamped by this instance or loaded at init. */
+  private stampedWatermark: number | null = null
+  /** The three-way verdict computed at init; null until init runs. */
+  private loadVerdict: WatermarkVerdictResult | null = null
+
   /**
    * Check if index is initialized and ready for use
    */
@@ -241,12 +265,135 @@ export class GraphAdjacencyIndex implements GraphIndexProvider {
       await this.populateVerbIdSetFromStorage()
     }
 
+    // Watermark verdict for the persisted adjacency artifact (the LSM
+    // SSTables just loaded) — computed and exposed only: today's rebuild /
+    // recovery triggers are unchanged (acting on 'catchup' — the incremental
+    // fold — lands with the coordinator's wiring).
+    await this.loadWatermarkVerdict(lsmTreeSize > 0)
+
     // Start auto-flush timer after initialization
     this.startAutoFlush()
 
     this.initialized = true
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @description Record the committed generation this projection reflects.
+   * The stamp is NOT written here — it is written as the final storage write
+   * of the next {@link flush} (or {@link close}), so stamp-after-data
+   * ordering is a module guarantee, not a caller obligation. The coordinator
+   * calls this with the store's committed generation right before flushing.
+   * @param generation - The committed generation every flushed byte reflects.
+   */
+  stampWatermark(generation: number): void {
+    this.pendingWatermark = generation
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description The projection's current watermark: the stamp loaded at
+   * init (or the last stamp durably written by this instance). Null =
+   * unstamped (legacy artifact, first boot, or stamping never wired).
+   */
+  watermark(): number | null {
+    return this.stampedWatermark
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description The three-way adoption verdict computed at init —
+   * `'adopt'` (stamped == committed, zero work), `'catchup'` (stamped <
+   * committed; the gap from {@link watermarkGap} awaits an incremental
+   * fold), `'rescan'` (unstamped or stamped above committed — never
+   * trusted). Null until init() has run. Computed and exposed only; no
+   * load behavior changes ride on it yet.
+   */
+  watermarkVerdict(): WatermarkVerdict | null {
+    return this.loadVerdict?.verdict ?? null
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description The catch-up window `(from, to]` when the init verdict was
+   * `'catchup'`; null otherwise.
+   */
+  watermarkGap(): { from: number; to: number } | null {
+    return this.loadVerdict?.gap ?? null
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description Write the pending watermark stamp as a sidecar record —
+   * always called AFTER the LSM flushes it certifies completed. A stamp-write
+   * failure is fail-safe (unstamped/behind → rescan/catchup on next open,
+   * never a wrong adopt) but is said out loud and the pending stamp is
+   * retained for the next flush.
+   */
+  private async writePendingStamp(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.pendingWatermark === null) return
+    const watermark = this.pendingWatermark
+    try {
+      await this.storage.saveMetadata(GRAPH_ADJACENCY_STAMP_KEY, {
+        noun: 'IndexWatermark',
+        ...makeProjectionStamp(watermark)
+      })
+      this.stampedWatermark = watermark
+      this.pendingWatermark = null
+    } catch (error) {
+      prodLog.error(
+        `[GraphAdjacencyIndex] failed to write watermark stamp (generation ${watermark}) — ` +
+          `artifact stays behind-stamped (safe: verdicts catchup/rescan, never wrong-adopt); ` +
+          `retrying on next flush:`,
+        error
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @description Read the artifact's stamp and compute the three-way verdict
+   * against the store's committed generation. Unstamped state on a stamped
+   * store verdicts `'rescan'` LOUDLY — never a silent adopt.
+   *
+   * MIGRATION COST: existing pre-stamp brains verdict `'rescan'` exactly
+   * once (that open re-derives via the recovery walk it already runs); the
+   * next flush stamps them, and every later open adopts.
+   *
+   * @param artifactPresent - Whether persisted SSTables exist at all; gates
+   *   loud-vs-quiet on the rescan verdict so first boots don't scream.
+   */
+  private async loadWatermarkVerdict(artifactPresent: boolean): Promise<void> {
+    const committed = this.storage.committedGeneration?.() ?? null
+    let stamped: number | null = null
+    try {
+      const record = await this.storage.getMetadata(GRAPH_ADJACENCY_STAMP_KEY)
+      stamped = readStampedWatermark(record)
+    } catch {
+      // An unreadable stamp is unstamped — the fail-safe direction.
+      stamped = null
+    }
+    const result = computeWatermarkVerdict(stamped, committed)
+    this.loadVerdict = result
+    this.stampedWatermark = stamped
+
+    if (result.verdict === 'rescan') {
+      if (artifactPresent || stamped !== null) {
+        prodLog.warn(
+          `[GraphAdjacencyIndex] watermark verdict: RESCAN — persisted adjacency is ` +
+            (stamped === null
+              ? 'unstamped (legacy pre-stamp artifact, or a crash between data and stamp)'
+              : `stamped at generation ${stamped}, ABOVE the store's committed generation ${committed}`) +
+            ` — never adopting unverifiable state`
+        )
+      } else {
+        prodLog.debug(
+          '[GraphAdjacencyIndex] watermark verdict: rescan (no persisted artifact — first boot)'
+        )
+      }
+    } else if (result.verdict === 'catchup') {
+      prodLog.info(
+        `[GraphAdjacencyIndex] watermark verdict: catchup — adjacency stamped at generation ` +
+          `${stamped}, store committed at ${committed}; the (${stamped}, ${committed}] window ` +
+          `awaits an incremental fold (verdict exposed; the fold lands with the coordinator's wiring)`
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Populate verbIdSet from storage without full rebuild
    * Lighter weight than full rebuild - only loads verb IDs, not all verb data
@@ -905,6 +1052,17 @@ export class GraphAdjacencyIndex implements GraphIndexProvider {
    */
   private startAutoFlush(): void {
     this.flushTimer = setInterval(async () => {
+      // NO PERIODIC WORK WITHOUT A CAUSE. Ask first, in two O(1) reads: an
+      // index nobody has written to since the last flush has nothing to
+      // write, and calling into the trees (and their logging) on a cadence
+      // over a quiet store is exactly the idle cost this law exists to
+      // remove.
+      if (
+        !this.lsmTreeVerbsBySource.hasPendingWrites() &&
+        !this.lsmTreeVerbsByTarget.hasPendingWrites()
+      ) {
+        return
+      }
       await this.flush()
     }, this.config.flushInterval)
     // Background maintenance must never keep the host process alive —
@@ -935,6 +1093,12 @@ export class GraphAdjacencyIndex implements GraphIndexProvider {
       }),
     ])
 
+    // STAMP-AFTER-DATA: the watermark stamp is the LAST write of the flush —
+    // both trees' SSTables are durable before the stamp lands. A crash
+    // anywhere above leaves the artifact behind-stamped or unstamped, which
+    // verdicts as catchup/rescan on the next open — never a wrong adopt.
+    await this.writePendingStamp()
+
     const elapsed = Date.now() - startTime
 
     prodLog.debug(`GraphAdjacencyIndex: Flush completed in ${elapsed}ms`)
@@ -955,6 +1119,10 @@ export class GraphAdjacencyIndex implements GraphIndexProvider {
         this.lsmTreeVerbsBySource.close(),
         this.lsmTreeVerbsByTarget.close(),
       ])
+
+      // Stamp-after-data on the shutdown path too: the trees' final flushes
+      // completed above, so a pending watermark may land now.
+      await this.writePendingStamp()
     }
 
     prodLog.info('GraphAdjacencyIndex: Shutdown complete')