# Persistent memory — booth

_Last updated: 2026-09-22_

> **Always check for `/tmp/booth-dev-handoff.md`** — if it exists and its
> `Written:` stamp is under 8 hours old, read it (it carries the in-flight
> handoff from the previous session), then delete it. Older than 8 hours:
> stale — delete it unread.

## Repo purpose

The Booth is the fleet's **operator-review surface**: agents post work by
making a folder under `~/booth-data`, the operator looks at it and judges it in
the browser, and the judgment gets back to the agent that posted it. It was
built as a file-shuttle and is being converged, unit by unit, onto the review
loop it turned out to actually be.

## Current state / in-flight

_As of 2026-09-22:_

- **v1 is gated on seven units** in `ROADMAP.md`, dependency-ordered
  **U1 → U2 → {U3, U4, U5} → U7**, with **U6 independent**.
- **U1, U2 and U5 are landed and released.** Current version `0.3.0` (`95beede`,
  tagged), deployed, 341 tests green, tree clean, 24/24 booth pages verified 200
  and a full layout-probe sweep at 0 occlusions across 27 pages. U1 `ce598b3`;
  U2 `c7f9437` → `v0.2.0`, `5e41108` → `v0.2.1`, `026a1fc` → `v0.2.2`;
  U5 `c015a91` + `95beede` → `v0.3.0`.
- **THE NEXT UNIT IS THE OPERATOR'S CALL and has not been made.** The session's
  recommendation is **U4 (derived lifetime)**, on three grounds, none of which
  need re-deriving: (1) it is the only remaining unit whose defect was
  re-measured this session — the `.forever` rate is **17 of 24 (70%)**, up from
  the 54% in the IA doc and the 56% measured on 2026-09-21, and the absolute
  count rose too (14 → 17), so it is not only the denominator shrinking;
  (2) U2 built `open_marks` FOR it and says so in the predicate's docstring;
  (3) the bug-hunt panel's mtime-restore finding was deliberately left open
  because closing it properly is a TTL doctrine change — and U4 is the unit that
  owns TTL doctrine, so it closes a loop this session opened on purpose.
  U3 and U6 are the alternatives: U6 is independent and was *conceptually*
  unblocked by U5 giving job 5 a home, U3 is where verbatim-booth provenance was
  deferred to.
- **No gate is outstanding.** All three ran on U5 and were folded in: the cold
  `/heid-contract-review` panel (thread `01M340PNVRS21HPASZT38PXQPN`), the
  `/heid-code-review` conformance panel (`01M341E9XAPZEFBSPK9HPGAM0S`) and the
  `/heid-bug-hunt` (`01M343SXX27Z47C3STXXRC7M42`). All three loops are closed
  with heid.
- **Two dated predictions are pending and must not be forgotten.** U5's adoption
  re-measure on **2026-09-29** (two counts, see its entry — already at 3 of 24
  announced and 2 with a `why`, all from peers told nothing), and the `.forever`
  re-count **a fortnight after U4 lands**, which is U4's success criterion.
- **Three methodology proposals from this session sit with the operator**, routed
  by heid rather than decided unilaterally: reshaping the paraphrase gate toward
  a drift-check for narrative-heavy contracts, a standing
  "green-tests-prove-nothing" direction for the code-review gate, and regin's
  table-vs-signature consistency pass. They are changes to the `/heid*` skills,
  not to this repo.
- The booth set churns hard: 26 → 24 during this session as the sweeper ran.
  Re-count rather than trusting any number written here.

## Recent decisions

- `[2026-09-22]` **The size cap opened a service-wide hang** — a FIFO has st_size 0; a bound that trusts it inherits what it does not mean → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-size-cap-opened-a-hang.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **An existing test stopped me retiring documented behaviour** — the clean fix for the mtime race would have silently changed TTL doctrine → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-doctrine-not-defect.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **Two U5 panels, and prose reached a released outage** — read the detail before assuming a conformance finding stops at its own module → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-u5-panels-reached-a-released-bug.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **U5's adoption prediction split in two** — the handle rides for free, the why must be learned — RE-MEASURE 2026-09-29 → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-u5-adoption-split-in-two.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **The U2 bug-hunt panel was not ceremony** — the lock-unlink race and the TTL guard that was failing at its own job → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-u2-bug-hunt-panel.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **The lenient reader's blast radius was the whole service** — marks_for runs per booth per index load; a raise there is an outage → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-lenient-reader-blast-radius.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **`booth marks` / `booth answer` got real exit codes** — read it before changing anything the 17 consuming handles call → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-cli-exit-codes.md`
- `[2026-09-22]` **`scripts/booth` went from zero tests to five** — they run the real script under system python3, so they also check INV-1 → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-22-scripts-booth-got-tests.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **v0.2.0 was tagged while a gate was in flight** — the sequencing lesson: if a gate is outstanding, the tag waits → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-v020-tagged-with-a-gate-in-flight.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **A write over a damaged `.marks.json` wiped the booth** — the reads-lenient / writes-strict asymmetry, and why it exists → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-marks-write-wiped-judgment.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Seam review and cold panel had zero overlap, twice** — evidence for running both; neither substitutes for the other → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-two-gates-are-complementary.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Every code-changing finding came from the AMBIGUITY pass** — a finding about the /heid-contract-review skill, not about this repo → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-ambiguity-pass-did-the-work.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Deterministic order is a cross-cutting v1 invariant** — operator directive; read before adding ANY ordered surface → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-deterministic-order-invariant.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **U2 (marks) landed — one primitive for three mechanisms** — what moved where, and the HTTP mirror remote sessions poll → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-u2-marks-landed.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **A partially-answered pick counts as OPEN** — declared, not smuggled; it is the reading that makes U4 correct → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-partial-answer-counts-as-open.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **The U2 seam review earned its place, and how** — inline.place indexes by subscript — the miss a cold panel cannot see → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-u2-seam-review-earned-it.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Marks are one `.marks.json` per booth** — operator decision with two rejected alternatives; read before restructuring → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-marks-storage-decision.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **U7's section premise is half wrong** — every booth that needs navigation is FLAT — read before starting U7 → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-u7-section-premise-half-wrong.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **`sindra-finalists` is U2's flag motivation, caught live** — evidence, not argument → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-sindra-finalists-is-the-motivation.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **The information architecture and the v1 gate landed** — the single defect the seven units decompose → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-ia-and-v1-gate-landed.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **The `.forever` diagnosis is a falsifiable prediction** — U4's success criterion — re-count a fortnight AFTER U4 lands → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-forever-diagnosis-is-a-prediction.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Extracted from `eshpfi` into its own repo** — test_booth.py is the regression net the v1 rewrite is checked against → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-extracted-from-eshpfi.md`

## Tried and abandoned

- `[2026-09-21]` **Tagging a release while a review gate was in flight** — cost a same-hour v0.2.1 and a correction to 15 handles → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-tagging-with-a-gate-in-flight.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Letting the write path share the read path's leniency** — a tolerant reader and a tolerant writer are not the same decision → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-tolerant-writer-over-tolerant-reader.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Letting Jinja hot-reload templates in the deployment root** — caused a live outage: 19 of 25 booths at 500. Why auto_reload=False → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-jinja-hot-reload-outage.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Five mechanisms to get one question beside one artifact** — the accretion signature this whole v1 rewrite is undoing → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-five-mechanisms-one-job.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Regex-injecting chrome into arbitrary author HTML** — the defect U3 exists to close → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-regex-injecting-chrome.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **A boolean escape hatch as the lifetime mechanism** — why `.forever` is a symptom; the defect U4 exists to close → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-boolean-escape-hatch-as-lifetime.md`
- `[2026-09-21]` **Letting the link board absorb the announce job** — 69% rot; U5 gave the job a home, which is what unblocks U6 → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-21-link-board-absorbing-announce.md`