@animalabs/agent-framework 0.26.1 → 0.27.0

package/src/gate/event-gate.ts

@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
  * inference tokens, not whether the agent should know about the event.
  */
 
-import { existsSync, readFileSync, statSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { basename, dirname, join } from 'node:path';
 import { GateScript } from './gate-script.js';
+import { canonical, duplicateName, lastRecipePath, noChanges, reconcileLine, reconcileWithRecipe, ruleName, type WrittenConfig } from './recipe-reconcile.js';
+import { closestNames, isNearMiss } from '../closest-names.js';
 import { MAX_TIMER_MS } from '../deadline-timer.js';
 import { safeSlice } from '../safe-slice.js';
 
@@ -24,6 +26,8 @@ import type {
   GatePolicyMatch,
   GateBehavior,
   GateDecision,
+  GateEntryRef,
+  WakeLine,
   GateEventInfo,
   GatePolicyStats,
   GateStatus,
@@ -32,7 +36,7 @@ import type {
 } from './types.js';
 
 // Re-export types consumers need
-export type { GateConfig, GateOptions, GateDecision, GateEventInfo } from './types.js';
+export type { GateConfig, GateOptions, GateDecision, GateEntryRef, GateEventInfo, WakeLine } from './types.js';
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Constants
@@ -60,6 +64,21 @@ const MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS = 100;
 /** Maximum debounce value (ms). */
 const MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS = 300_000;
 
+/** Whether a check made at `last` is still fresh at `now`, less than the
+ *  reload throttle ago. A clock stepped backwards since makes it stale, so
+ *  the next check runs rather than wait for the clock to catch up. */
+function checkedRecently(now: number, last: number): boolean {
+  const elapsed = now - last;
+  return elapsed >= 0 && elapsed < RELOAD_THROTTLE_MS;
+}
+
+/** A read that failed because nothing is at the path. Any other failure
+ *  (EACCES on a directory, ELOOP, ENOTDIR) is a file that's there but can't
+ *  be read. */
+function isMissing(err: unknown): boolean {
+  return (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException | null)?.code === 'ENOENT';
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Default config
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -104,12 +123,25 @@ interface PendingEvent {
    *  whose `channelId` is the adapter's raw id (a bare Discord snowflake for a
    *  DM) — unroutable. Absent when the host could not resolve one. */
   routeChannelId?: string;
+  /** The event's own identity among what the framework stored at arrival:
+   *  a channel message's id, a push event's event id (isNewestEntry). */
+  messageId?: string;
+  eventId?: string;
+}
+
+/** Where the host put a message the gate wrote: the agent whose window it
+ *  went to and, when it was held for that agent's live turn, the id it waits
+ *  under in the host's queue. */
+export interface WritePlacement {
+  agent?: string;
+  deferredId?: string;
 }
 
 /**
  * Where a gate-requested wake came from, handed to the framework alongside the
  * reason so the turn's InferenceRequest can carry it (host telemetry stamps
- * "who woke the agent" from it). Ids only, never content or display names.
+ * "who woke the agent" from it). Ids only, never content or display names,
+ * except `line`, which is the batch's own text for the agent's window.
  */
 export interface WakeProvenance {
   /** Composite channel id of the chosen event — telemetry only, never a
@@ -131,9 +163,20 @@ export interface WakeProvenance {
    *  (2026-09-30: a DM reply published into a guild channel). Ambient-only
    *  batches still set nothing and keep the legacy fallback. */
   routeChannelId?: string;
+  /** The server of `routeChannelId`'s channel, beside it whenever the chosen
+   *  event named its server: channel ids are unique only within one
+   *  server's connection (MCPL §14.2). */
+  routeServerId?: string;
   /** Timestamp (ms) of the chosen event, so a consumer coalescing several
    *  requests can order by event recency, not by flush order. */
   at?: number;
+  /** The batch's `[Gate: …]` line, when the gate handed it to the wake rather
+   *  than wrote it: a WakeLine, the parts its text is rendered from when it's
+   *  written (wakeLineText), decided by a fresh start of the wake's turn as
+   *  WakeLine says. Unlike the fields above, this is content for the agent's
+   *  window, not telemetry: it carries the channel's name as the agent is
+   *  shown it. */
+  line?: WakeLine;
 }
 
 interface DebounceState {
@@ -236,11 +279,39 @@ export function wakeProvenance(events: PendingEvent[]): WakeProvenance | undefin
     ...(channelId ? { channelId } : {}),
     ...(pick.authorId ? { counterparty: `${ns}:user:${pick.authorId}` } : {}),
     ...(pick.addressed ? { addressed: true } : {}),
-    ...(pick.addressed && pick.routeChannelId ? { routeChannelId: pick.routeChannelId } : {}),
+    ...(pick.addressed && pick.routeChannelId
+      ? { routeChannelId: pick.routeChannelId, ...(pick.serverId ? { routeServerId: pick.serverId } : {}) }
+      : {}),
     at: pick.timestamp,
   };
 }
 
+/** A `[Gate: …]` line's reference to messages already in the window: how
+ *  many, in which channel, and how long ago the oldest arrived, as of `now`. */
+function referenceLine(count: number, channel: string, oldest: number, now: number): string {
+  const age = Math.round((now - oldest) / 1000);
+  return `- ${count} message${count > 1 ? 's' : ''} in ${channel} ` +
+    `(oldest ~${age}s ago) — already shown above at arrival; this is a ` +
+    `batched wake, not new content`;
+}
+
+/** A handed batched-wake line's text (WakeLine), as it reads when written at
+ *  `now`: the gate's words, its message's age counted to then. */
+export function wakeLineText(line: WakeLine, now: number): string {
+  return `[Gate: 1 event matched]\n\n${referenceLine(1, line.shown, line.at, now)}`;
+}
+
+/** The event's own stored entry, as the framework is asked about it. */
+function entryRef(event: PendingEvent): GateEntryRef {
+  return {
+    eventType: event.eventType,
+    ...(event.serverId !== undefined ? { serverId: event.serverId } : {}),
+    ...(event.channelId !== undefined ? { channelId: event.channelId } : {}),
+    ...(event.messageId !== undefined ? { messageId: event.messageId } : {}),
+    ...(event.eventId !== undefined ? { eventId: event.eventId } : {}),
+  };
+}
+
 /**
  * Default route-channel resolution when the host supplies none: a
  * channel-incoming event's channel id is already the registered composite id;
@@ -277,169 +348,1316 @@ function behaviorFingerprint(b: import('./types.js').GateBehavior): string {
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// Config validation
+// Reading rules
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-function validateConfig(raw: unknown): GateConfig {
-  if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'object') {
-    throw new Error('gate.json must be a JSON object');
+// A rule is read as written when it can be, and every problem it has is named.
+// gate.json and the host's starting rules are what a deployment already runs,
+// so a rule with a problem is read the way earlier releases read it, and no
+// event that woke the agent there goes quiet: a behavior the gate doesn't know
+// is read as "always"; a field of the wrong type, one slip from one the gate
+// reads there, or one the gate reads at another level of the rule (a match's
+// "tagsAny" beside "name"), as left out, its problem naming where it's read;
+// and a number out of range the way the starting rules ran it, but for a
+// debounce, read at its nearest bound, which can send a batch later or sooner
+// but drops no event in it, and a refill interval of 0, read as refilling at
+// once. A rule is left out only where earlier releases refused it. One that
+// skips or defers is read past a problem too, holding back what they held back:
+// left out, the events it held back would go on to the rules after it, where a
+// rate limit, a sample or a debounce could spend them and then hold back an
+// event that woke the agent before. Under a default that holds events back, a
+// file that leaves out a rule that could wake the agent isn't used, since that
+// would hold back what the rule was written to wake on; earlier releases didn't
+// use it either. A change through addPolicy, whose caller is there to fix it,
+// refuses any problem, and nothing is saved. A field name that is no slip of
+// one the gate reads there, and that it reads at no other level, changes
+// nothing, a slip of another level's field included: it loads, and a note names
+// it with the fields its place holds. In a rule, a name holding a field's whole
+// name is such a name beside that field, an extra that explains it, and a slip
+// of the field where it's given in the field's place (fieldNames); at
+// gate.json's top, where it can be a label of the file, it's such a name either
+// way. A file earlier releases loaded loads as they read it: a slip of
+// "policies", a list of rules parked under a name the gate doesn't read, a
+// rule's fields at gate.json's top and a "policies" that isn't a list each do
+// nothing, and a note names each, so where "policies" writes no rules the file
+// has none, and under "skip" or "defer" it holds back every event, as it did. A
+// "policies" holding nothing writes no rules, as one left out does. A null is a
+// field left out, and so is "", with a note: earlier releases read most fields
+// that way, and none narrows anything by them. Where they refused a rule or a
+// file for a null or a "" (a passthrough, a behavior's kind, gate.json's
+// default), it now loads without it.
+
+const CONFIG_FIELDS = ['default', 'policies'];
+const POLICY_FIELDS = ['name', 'match', 'behavior', 'resets', 'passthrough'];
+const MATCH_FIELDS = [
+  'scope', 'source', 'channel', 'mount', 'pathGlob', 'tagsAny', 'tagsAll', 'tagsNone', 'metadataTrue', 'filter',
+];
+const FILTER_FIELDS = ['type', 'pattern'];
+const BEHAVIOR_KINDS = ['debounce', 'rate_limit', 'passive_sample'] as const;
+const RATE_LIMIT_FIELDS = ['tokens', 'refillIntervalMs', 'keyBy'];
+const PASSIVE_SAMPLE_FIELDS = ['every', 'keyBy'];
+
+function isPlainObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return value !== null && typeof value === 'object' && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
+
+/** A value that sets nothing: null, "", an empty list, or an object holding only such values. */
+function holdsNothing(value: unknown): boolean {
+  return value === null || value === '' || (Array.isArray(value) && value.length === 0)
+    || (isPlainObject(value) && Object.values(value).every(holdsNothing));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether a failed write left its file as it was: writeFileSync reports a
+ * failure once it has the file open, so it may have changed it, as its write
+ * or its close.
+ */
+function beforeWriting(err: unknown): boolean {
+  const syscall = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).syscall;
+  return syscall !== 'write' && syscall !== 'close';
+}
+
+/**
+ * A change's refusal where gate.json has no rule list it could edit without
+ * writing over what it holds: a list, JSON that isn't an object, or a
+ * "policies" that isn't a list and holds something. `runs` is what the gate
+ * runs meanwhile (rulesRun).
+ */
+function noListRefusal(noList: string, runs: string): string {
+  return `${noList}, so it has no list of rules a change could edit without writing over what it holds, and nothing `
+    + `was saved. Meanwhile the gate runs ${runs}. Until gate.json is an object whose "policies" is a list holding its `
+    + 'rules, a change is refused the same way.';
+}
+
+/**
+ * A change's refusal where gate.json is there but couldn't be used as a file
+ * a change edits: it couldn't be read, or it isn't JSON (`notJson`). Nothing is
+ * written over it, so what it holds, often an operator's unfinished edit, stays
+ * as it is. `runs` is what the gate runs meanwhile (rulesRun).
+ */
+function unusableRefusal(unusable: { error: string; notJson?: true }, runs: string): string {
+  if (!unusable.notJson) {
+    return `gate.json couldn't be read (${unusable.error}), so a change can't edit it, and nothing was written over it. `
+      + `Meanwhile the gate runs ${runs}. Whoever runs this host can make gate.json readable; until then, a change is `
+      + 'refused the same way.';
+  }
+  return `gate.json isn't JSON the gate can read (${unusable.error}), so a change can't edit its rules without writing `
+    + `over what it holds, and nothing was saved. Meanwhile the gate runs ${runs}. Until gate.json is JSON, a change is `
+    + 'refused the same way.';
+}
+
+/**
+ * A change's refusal at a start that didn't use gate.json, which has no rules
+ * of its own (start-without): a change puts the rules gate.json then holds in
+ * force, so it would take out of force what the start runs in its place.
+ * `runs` is what the gate runs meanwhile (rulesRun); gate_status's entries
+ * (notUsedClause, describeStart) say which rules keep gate.json out of use
+ * and each fix.
+ */
+function notUsedRefusal(runs: string): string {
+  return "gate.json isn't used at this start, which runs as one without it does, and a change would put gate.json's rules in "
+    + `force in place of what that runs, so nothing was saved. Meanwhile the gate runs ${runs}. gate_status says what keeps `
+    + 'gate.json out of use and what would put it in use, such as giving it rules under "policies", or fixing the starting '
+    + 'rules, which whoever runs this host can do, for the next start; until then, a change is refused the same way.';
+}
+
+/**
+ * A value as a message quotes it: its JSON, cut short when long, never inside a
+ * surrogate pair, since the message reaches the agent's context.
+ */
+export function shownValue(value: unknown): string {
+  if (value === undefined) return 'missing';
+  // JSON writes NaN and the infinities as null.
+  if (typeof value === 'number' && !Number.isFinite(value)) return String(value);
+  let json: string;
+  try {
+    json = JSON.stringify(value) ?? String(value);
+  } catch {
+    json = String(value);
+  }
+  return json.length > 80 ? `${safeSlice(json, 0, 77)}...` : json;
+}
+
+/** Entries of a list as a message quotes them. */
+function shownValues(values: readonly unknown[]): string {
+  return values.map(shownValue).join(', ');
+}
+
+/** `a`, `a and b`, `a, b and c` (or "or"). */
+function joinedList(items: readonly string[], joiner: 'and' | 'or' = 'and'): string {
+  return items.length < 2 ? items.join('') : `${items.slice(0, -1).join(', ')} ${joiner} ${items[items.length - 1]}`;
+}
+
+/** `"a"`, `"a" and "b"`, `"a", "b" and "c"` (or "or"). */
+function quotedList(names: readonly string[], joiner: 'and' | 'or' = 'and'): string {
+  return joinedList(names.map((n) => `"${n}"`), joiner);
+}
+
+/** 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 21st. */
+function ordinal(n: number): string {
+  const tens = n % 100;
+  const suffix = tens >= 11 && tens <= 13 ? 'th' : (['th', 'st', 'nd', 'rd'][n % 10] ?? 'th');
+  return `${n}${suffix}`;
+}
+
+/** A message part as one sentence, for joining several. */
+function sentence(text: string): string {
+  return /[.?!]$/.test(text) ? text : `${text}.`;
+}
+
+/** How a note speaks of what it checks: a rule's fields, or a tool's parameters. */
+const RULE_FIELDS_TERMS = { unread: "which the gate doesn't read", listed: 'Its fields are' };
+const TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS = { unread: "which it doesn't take", listed: 'Its parameters are' };
+
+/** A field name one slip from one or more the gate reads in its place. */
+interface Slip {
+  key: string;
+  /** Every field it could be meant for, in closestNames' order: `tags` is part of "tagsAny", "tagsAll" and "tagsNone". */
+  meant: string[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * An object's field names that the gate doesn't read in its place: slips of
+ * one it does, and the rest. A name is a slip of each field isNearMiss finds
+ * it close to and, where `held`, of each whose whole name it holds, ignoring
+ * case, that the object doesn't give: sent in that field's place, it's the
+ * field under another name (`matchTags` with no `match`), where beside it,
+ * it's an extra. The object is one withoutEmpty read, so a field given as
+ * null or "" isn't given.
+ */
+function fieldNames(
+  obj: Record<string, unknown>, fields: readonly string[], held = true,
+): { slips: Slip[]; unread: string[] } {
+  const slips: Slip[] = [];
+  const unread: string[] = [];
+  for (const key of Object.keys(obj)) {
+    if (obj[key] === undefined || fields.includes(key)) continue;
+    // Every field the gate reads has four characters or more, so holding one
+    // needs no length of its own here. A field of two characters or fewer
+    // would be held by names that have nothing to do with it ("valid" holds
+    // "id"), and holding it would need the three characters isNearMiss asks
+    // of a part.
+    const holds = (field: string): boolean => key.toLowerCase().includes(field.toLowerCase());
+    const near = fields.filter((field) => isNearMiss(key, field) || (held && !Object.hasOwn(obj, field) && holds(field)));
+    if (near.length === 0) {
+      unread.push(key);
+      continue;
+    }
+    // closestNames keeps every name decided on above, in its order.
+    slips.push({ key, meant: closestNames(key, near, near.length) });
+  }
+  return { slips, unread };
+}
+
+/** `"tags" (did you mean "tagsAny", "tagsAll" or "tagsNone"?)` */
+function slipShown(slip: Slip): string {
+  return `"${slip.key}" (did you mean ${quotedList(slip.meant, 'or')}?)`;
+}
+
+/** Names an object has that are fields read at another level, with where that is (`homes`). */
+interface Misplaced {
+  keys: string[];
+  homes: string[];
+}
+
+/**
+ * An object's names that do nothing in its place, split into those that are
+ * fields read elsewhere, grouped by where (`homesOf`), and the rest.
+ */
+function placedElsewhere(
+  unread: readonly string[], homesOf: (key: string) => string[],
+): { misplaced: Misplaced[]; rest: string[] } {
+  const misplaced: Misplaced[] = [];
+  const rest: string[] = [];
+  for (const key of unread) {
+    const homes = homesOf(key);
+    if (homes.length === 0) {
+      rest.push(key);
+      continue;
+    }
+    const same = misplaced.find((m) => m.homes.join() === homes.join());
+    if (same) same.keys.push(key);
+    else misplaced.push({ keys: [key], homes });
+  }
+  return { misplaced, rest };
+}
+
+/** `"tagsAny", a field of "match"`; `"tagsAny" and "source", fields of "match"` */
+function misplacedShown(m: Misplaced): string {
+  return `${quotedList(m.keys)}, ${m.keys.length === 1 ? 'a field' : 'fields'} of ${joinedList(m.homes)}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The levels of a gate.json the gate reads fields at, each as a message names
+ * it, `file` naming the file itself.
+ */
+function fieldLevels(file: string): ReadonlyArray<{ name: string; fields: readonly string[] }> {
+  return [
+    { name: file, fields: CONFIG_FIELDS },
+    { name: 'a rule', fields: POLICY_FIELDS },
+    { name: '"match"', fields: MATCH_FIELDS },
+    { name: '"match.filter"', fields: FILTER_FIELDS },
+    { name: '"behavior"', fields: BEHAVIOR_KINDS },
+    { name: '"behavior.rate_limit"', fields: RATE_LIMIT_FIELDS },
+    { name: '"behavior.passive_sample"', fields: PASSIVE_SAMPLE_FIELDS },
+  ];
+}
+
+/** Where a name is a field the gate reads, at a level other than the one whose fields are `here`. */
+function homesOf(file: string, here: readonly string[]): (key: string) => string[] {
+  return (key) => fieldLevels(file)
+    .filter((level) => level.fields !== here && level.fields.includes(key))
+    .map((level) => level.name);
+}
+
+/** Where each field of an object schema's nested objects is taken: `tagsAny` in "match". */
+function nestedFields(properties: Readonly<Record<string, unknown>>, path = ''): Map<string, string[]> {
+  const homes = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  const add = (field: string, where: string) => homes.set(field, [...(homes.get(field) ?? []), where]);
+  for (const [name, schema] of Object.entries(properties)) {
+    if (!isPlainObject(schema) || !isPlainObject(schema.properties)) continue;
+    const where = path ? `${path}.${name}` : name;
+    for (const field of Object.keys(schema.properties)) add(field, `"${where}"`);
+    for (const [field, inner] of nestedFields(schema.properties, where)) for (const at of inner) add(field, at);
+  }
+  return homes;
+}
+
+/** A note naming the fields an object has that do nothing in its place, with the fields that do. */
+function noteUnread(
+  where: string, unread: readonly string[], fields: readonly string[], notes: string[], terms = RULE_FIELDS_TERMS,
+): void {
+  if (unread.length === 0) return;
+  notes.push(
+    `${where} has ${quotedList(unread)}, ${terms.unread}, so ${unread.length === 1 ? 'it does' : 'they do'} `
+    + `nothing. ${terms.listed} ${quotedList(fields)}.`,
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * A tool's input, its parameters given by its schema's `properties`, read as a
+ * rule's fields are: a null or "" parameter is left out (a note names each "",
+ * with what leaving it out does where `means` says), a slip of a parameter
+ * (fieldNames) is refused, naming the one meant, and so is a field of one of
+ * its object parameters given on its own, naming that parameter; any other
+ * name is noted, or named in that refusal. Returns the input without what was
+ * left out.
+ */
+export function checkToolInput(
+  tool: string, input: Record<string, unknown>, properties: Readonly<Record<string, unknown>>, notes: string[],
+  means: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {},
+): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const params = Object.keys(properties);
+  const given = withoutEmpty(tool, input, notes, means);
+  const { slips, unread } = fieldNames(given, params);
+  const homes = nestedFields(properties);
+  const { misplaced, rest } = placedElsewhere(unread, (key) => homes.get(key) ?? []);
+  if (slips.length > 0 || misplaced.length > 0) {
+    // Every name it doesn't take is named, so the call that follows the refusal doesn't count on one.
+    const has = [
+      ...(slips.length > 0 ? [`${slips.map(slipShown).join(' and ')}, ${TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS.unread}`] : []),
+      ...misplaced.map((m) => `${misplacedShown(m)}, ${TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS.unread} here`),
+      ...(rest.length > 0 ? [`${quotedList(rest)}, ${TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS.unread}`] : []),
+    ];
+    // Where a field has one home, show it there, as the call would give it. A
+    // value shownValue cuts short isn't one the call could give, so then the
+    // parameter is named alone.
+    const moves = misplaced.filter((m) => m.homes.length === 1).map((m) => {
+      const it = m.keys.length === 1 ? 'it' : 'them';
+      const shown = m.keys.map((key) => [key, shownValue(given[key])] as const);
+      return shown.every(([key, value]) => value === JSON.stringify(given[key]))
+        ? `Put ${it} in ${m.homes[0]}: {${shown.map(([key, value]) => `${JSON.stringify(key)}: ${value}`).join(', ')}}.`
+        : `Put ${it} in ${m.homes[0]}.`;
+    });
+    throw new Error(
+      `${tool} has ${has.join(', and ')}, so nothing was saved. ${moves.map((move) => `${move} `).join('')}`
+      + `${TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS.listed} ${quotedList(params)}.`,
+    );
+  }
+  noteUnread(tool, rest, params, notes, TOOL_PARAMETERS_TERMS);
+  return given;
+}
+
+/**
+ * An object's fields as the gate reads them: a null or "" is a field left out,
+ * and a note names each "", with what leaving it out does where that's more
+ * than setting no constraint (`means`, by field). Every other field stays an
+ * own field of the copy, "__proto__" included, which JSON gives as one: set by
+ * assignment, it would make its value the copy's prototype, whose fields the
+ * gate would then read as the object's own.
+ */
+function withoutEmpty(
+  where: string, obj: Record<string, unknown>, notes: string[], means: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {},
+): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const kept: Array<[string, unknown]> = [];
+  const empty: string[] = [];
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(obj)) {
+    if (value === null || value === undefined) continue;
+    if (value === '') empty.push(key);
+    else kept.push([key, value]);
+  }
+  const out: Record<string, unknown> = Object.fromEntries(kept);
+  if (empty.length > 0) {
+    const meant = empty.flatMap((key) => {
+      // An own field only: a name such as "constructor" would find Object.prototype's.
+      const what = Object.hasOwn(means, key) ? means[key] : undefined;
+      return what ? [what] : [];
+    });
+    notes.push(
+      `${where} has ${quotedList(empty)} as "", so ${empty.length === 1 ? "it's" : "they're"} left out`
+      + `${meant.length > 0 ? `: ${meant.join(', and ')}` : ''}.`,
+    );
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** What leaving out a rule's field does, where that's more than setting no constraint. */
+const RULE_LEFT_OUT = { behavior: 'a rule without one has the behavior "always"', match: 'a rule without one matches every event' };
+/** The same for gate.json's own fields, under the default it then has. */
+function configLeftOut(defaultBehavior: unknown): Record<string, string> {
+  return {
+    default: 'its default is "always"',
+    policies: defaultBehavior === 'skip' || defaultBehavior === 'defer'
+      ? `it has no rules, so under its default, "${defaultBehavior}", every event is held back`
+      : 'it has no rules, so every event gets the default, "always"',
+  };
+}
+
+/** A problem a rule has. */
+interface RuleProblem {
+  /** What's wrong: the field, what it holds, and what's needed. */
+  text: string;
+  /** How the rule is read past it ("so …"), the way earlier releases read it.
+   *  Absent where they refused the rule, which is then left out. */
+  read?: string;
+  /** The reading only narrows what the rule matches (an empty scope entry),
+   *  so a rule that holds events back holds back no more for it. */
+  narrows?: boolean;
+}
+
+/** A rule as the gate reads it. */
+interface RuleReading {
+  /** How messages name it: `Policy "x"`, or its place when it has no name. */
+  where: string;
+  /** The rule as read, unless a problem has no reading. */
+  policy?: GatePolicy;
+  /** It wakes on none of what it matches, even where it can't be read: it
+   *  skips or defers, or it's a rate limit whose tokens are a number not over
+   *  0. Left out, such a rule holds back nothing it was written to wake on,
+   *  though what it matches goes on to the rules after it, as for any rule
+   *  left out. */
+  quiet: boolean;
+  /** Every problem it has, in the order its fields are read. */
+  problems: RuleProblem[];
+  /** Its fields that do nothing, and those given as "", each a sentence. */
+  notes: string[];
+  /** Set where it would be in force, and nothing left in its match narrows it. */
+  matchesAll?: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A rule's notes, ending with what a match that narrows nothing does. A
+ * refusal says it of the rule read without what's wrong in its match, as
+ * earlier releases read it, since that's why what's wrong there matters.
+ */
+function notesOf(reading: RuleReading, refused = false): string[] {
+  if (!reading.matchesAll) return reading.notes;
+  return [...reading.notes, refused
+    ? "Read without what's wrong in its match, as earlier releases read it, the rule would match every event."
+    : `${reading.where}: nothing left in match narrows the rule, so it matches every event.`];
+}
+
+/** Where a rule's fields are read into: the rule's name in messages, its problems, and its notes. */
+interface Reader {
+  where: string;
+  /** How messages name the file the rule is in, for a field of the file's own put in the rule. */
+  file: string;
+  problems: RuleProblem[];
+  notes: string[];
+  /** Set where its rate limit's tokens are a number not over 0, so it wakes on none of what it matches. */
+  noTokens?: boolean;
+  /** Set where its match is left with nothing that narrows it, once something in it was named. */
+  matchesAll?: boolean;
+}
+
+/** How a slip is read: as a field left out, which does nothing. */
+const SLIP_READ = 'so it does nothing';
+/** How a field of the wrong type is read: as one left out. */
+const DROPPED = 'so the rule is read without it';
+
+/**
+ * An object's field names, at `level` of the rule (such as "match"): a slip of
+ * a field is a problem, read as the field left out, and so is a field the gate
+ * reads at another level, named with where that is (`misplacedReadOf` says
+ * how the rule then reads, where that's more than the field doing nothing);
+ * any other name the gate doesn't read is noted.
+ */
+function readFieldNames(
+  r: Reader, level: string | null, obj: Record<string, unknown>, fields: readonly string[],
+  readOf: (slip: Slip) => string = () => SLIP_READ,
+  misplacedReadOf: (m: Misplaced) => string | undefined = () => undefined,
+): void {
+  const { slips, unread } = fieldNames(obj, fields);
+  const { misplaced, rest } = placedElsewhere(unread, homesOf(r.file, fields));
+  noteUnread(level ? `${r.where}: ${level}` : r.where, rest, fields, r.notes);
+  for (const slip of slips) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `${level ?? 'it'} has ${slipShown(slip)}, which the gate doesn't read`, read: readOf(slip) });
+  }
+  for (const m of misplaced) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `${level ?? 'it'} has ${misplacedShown(m)}, which the gate doesn't read here`,
+      read: misplacedReadOf(m) ?? (m.keys.length === 1 ? SLIP_READ : 'so they do nothing'),
+    });
   }
+}
 
-  const obj = raw as Record<string, unknown>;
+/** "so that entry is dropped", "so those entries are dropped". */
+function droppedEntries(count: number): string {
+  return count === 1 ? 'so that entry is dropped' : 'so those entries are dropped';
+}
 
-  const defaultBehavior = obj.default ?? 'always';
-  if (defaultBehavior !== 'always' && defaultBehavior !== 'defer' && defaultBehavior !== 'skip') {
-    throw new Error(`gate.json "default" must be "always", "defer", or "skip", got: ${defaultBehavior}`);
+/**
+ * A rule, read as written, or past each problem it has. `unnamed` names a rule
+ * without a name in messages, and `file` the file it's in.
+ */
+function readRule(raw: unknown, unnamed: string, file = 'gate.json'): RuleReading {
+  if (!isPlainObject(raw)) {
+    return {
+      where: unnamed,
+      problems: [{ text: `it's ${shownValue(raw)}, where a rule is an object, such as {"name": "my-rule", "behavior": "always"}` }],
+      notes: [],
+      quiet: false,
+    };
   }
+  const name = nameOf(raw);
+  const r: Reader = { where: name ? `Policy "${name}"` : unnamed, file, problems: [], notes: [] };
+  const obj = withoutEmpty(r.where, raw, r.notes, RULE_LEFT_OUT);
+  // Field names first, so a slip of one is named before what its absence does.
+  readFieldNames(r, null, obj, POLICY_FIELDS, (slip) => {
+    if (slip.meant.includes('behavior') && obj.behavior === undefined) return 'so the rule\'s behavior is "always"';
+    if (slip.meant.includes('match') && obj.match === undefined) return 'so the rule matches every event';
+    return SLIP_READ;
+  }, (m) => {
+    const of = (fields: readonly string[]) => m.keys.some((key) => fields.includes(key));
+    if (obj.match === undefined && (of(MATCH_FIELDS) || of(FILTER_FIELDS))) return 'so the rule matches every event';
+    if (obj.behavior === undefined && (of(BEHAVIOR_KINDS) || of(RATE_LIMIT_FIELDS) || of(PASSIVE_SAMPLE_FIELDS))) {
+      return 'so the rule\'s behavior is "always"';
+    }
+    return undefined;
+  });
+  if (!name) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: obj.name === undefined ? 'it has no "name"' : `name is ${shownValue(obj.name)}, where a non-empty string is needed`,
+    });
+  }
+  const { behavior, kind } = readBehavior(r, obj.behavior);
+  const match = readMatch(r, obj.match);
+  const resets = readResets(r, obj.resets);
+  const passthrough = readPassthrough(r, obj.passthrough, behavior, kind);
+  const reading: RuleReading = {
+    where: r.where, problems: r.problems, notes: r.notes, quiet: kind === 'skip' || kind === 'defer' || r.noTokens === true,
+  };
+  if (name && behavior && r.problems.every((p) => p.read !== undefined)) {
+    const policy: GatePolicy = { name, match, behavior };
+    if (resets) policy.resets = resets;
+    if (passthrough) policy.passthrough = true;
+    reading.policy = policy;
+    if (r.matchesAll) reading.matchesAll = true;
+  }
+  return reading;
+}
+
+type BehaviorKind = 'always' | 'defer' | 'skip' | (typeof BEHAVIOR_KINDS)[number];
+
+const BEHAVIORS_NEEDED = '"always", "defer" or "skip", or an object holding one of "debounce", "rate_limit" and "passive_sample"';
 
-  const policies: GatePolicy[] = [];
-  if (Array.isArray(obj.policies)) {
-    for (const p of obj.policies) {
-      policies.push(validatePolicy(p));
+/**
+ * A rule's behavior: "always" when left out; one of the three names; or an
+ * object holding one of the timing kinds. Anything else but a list or an
+ * object was read as "always", a rule that wakes on every event it matches,
+ * and is read so; a list, or an object holding none of the kinds, was
+ * refused, and the rule is left out. Of
+ * two kinds or more, "debounce", then "rate_limit", then "passive_sample" was
+ * the one read, whatever their order, and is read so. Each other kind is read
+ * on its own as well, so that a refusal names its problems too, and a load
+ * reads past them, since it isn't read either way. `kind` is the behavior's
+ * kind even where it can't be read, for passthrough's check.
+ */
+function readBehavior(r: Reader, value: unknown): { behavior?: GateBehavior | undefined; kind?: BehaviorKind | undefined } {
+  if (value === undefined) return { behavior: 'always', kind: 'always' };
+  if (value === 'always' || value === 'defer' || value === 'skip') return { behavior: value, kind: value };
+  if (!isPlainObject(value)) {
+    if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+      r.problems.push({ text: `behavior is ${shownValue(value)}, where ${BEHAVIORS_NEEDED} is needed` });
+      return {};
     }
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior is ${shownValue(value)}, where ${BEHAVIORS_NEEDED} is needed`, read: 'so it\'s read as "always"' });
+    return { behavior: 'always', kind: 'always' };
+  }
+  const b = withoutEmpty(`${r.where}: behavior`, value, r.notes);
+  readFieldNames(r, 'behavior', b, BEHAVIOR_KINDS);
+  const kinds = BEHAVIOR_KINDS.filter((k) => b[k] !== undefined);
+  const kind = kinds[0];
+  if (kind === undefined) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: 'behavior holds none of "debounce", "rate_limit" and "passive_sample"' });
+    return {};
+  }
+  if (kinds.length > 1) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior holds ${quotedList(kinds)}, and a rule has one behavior`, read: `so only its "${kind}" is read` });
+  }
+  const behavior = READ_KIND[kind](r, b[kind]);
+  for (const other of kinds.slice(1)) {
+    const unread: Reader = { where: r.where, file: r.file, problems: [], notes: [] };
+    READ_KIND[other](unread, b[other]);
+    for (const p of unread.problems) r.problems.push({ text: p.text, read: `which goes unread with the rest of "${other}"` });
+  }
+  return { behavior, kind };
+}
+
+/**
+ * A debounce: a number of milliseconds. One out of the gate's range is read
+ * at its nearest bound. Earlier releases refused it in gate.json and ran it
+ * as written in the starting rules, where one over 2,147,483,647 ms ran after
+ * 1 ms, the most a timer takes; read at the bound, a batch goes out later or
+ * sooner than it did there, and every event in it is still delivered.
+ */
+function readDebounce(r: Reader, ms: unknown): GateBehavior | undefined {
+  if (typeof ms !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(ms)) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior.debounce is ${shownValue(ms)}, where a number of milliseconds is needed, such as 60000` });
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (ms < MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.debounce is ${ms} ms, under the ${MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS} ms minimum`, read: `so it's read as ${MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS} ms`,
+    });
+    return { debounce: MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS };
   }
+  if (ms > MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.debounce is ${ms} ms, over the ${MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS} ms maximum`, read: `so it's read as ${MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS} ms`,
+    });
+    return { debounce: MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS };
+  }
+  return { debounce: ms };
+}
 
-  return { policies, default: defaultBehavior };
+/**
+ * A rate limit. A refill interval under 0 ran as a bucket that never refills,
+ * waking on its first tokens and then on none of what the rule matched, and
+ * is read so. One of 0 refilled the bucket once and then never, its clock left
+ * at NaN; it's read as refilling at once, every time, so the rule limits
+ * nothing, which holds back nothing it woke the agent on (applyRateLimit). A
+ * rule whose tokens aren't a positive number is left out, as earlier releases'
+ * check refused it. Tokens that are a number not over 0, which ran unchecked
+ * from the starting rules, woke the agent on nothing the rule matched, so that
+ * rule is quiet (noTokens): leaving it out holds back nothing it was written
+ * to wake on, though what it matches goes on to the rules after it, as for any
+ * rule left out.
+ */
+function readRateLimit(r: Reader, value: unknown): GateBehavior | undefined {
+  if (!isPlainObject(value)) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.rate_limit is ${shownValue(value)}, where an object is needed, such as {"tokens": 3, "refillIntervalMs": 60000}`,
+    });
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const conf = withoutEmpty(`${r.where}: behavior.rate_limit`, value, r.notes, { keyBy: 'every event the rule matches shares one bucket' });
+  readFieldNames(r, 'behavior.rate_limit', conf, RATE_LIMIT_FIELDS);
+  const tokens = conf.tokens;
+  const refill = conf.refillIntervalMs;
+  const tokensUsable = typeof tokens === 'number' && Number.isFinite(tokens) && tokens > 0;
+  if (typeof tokens === 'number' && !(tokens > 0)) r.noTokens = true;
+  if (!tokensUsable) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior.rate_limit.tokens is ${shownValue(tokens)}, where a positive number is needed` });
+  }
+  const refillUsable = typeof refill === 'number' && Number.isFinite(refill);
+  if (!refillUsable) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.rate_limit.refillIntervalMs is ${shownValue(refill)}, where a positive number of milliseconds is needed`,
+    });
+  } else if (refill <= 0) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.rate_limit.refillIntervalMs is ${refill}, where a positive number of milliseconds is needed`,
+      read: refill === 0
+        ? 'so its tokens refill at once, and it limits nothing it matches'
+        : "so its tokens never refill, and once they're spent it wakes the agent on nothing it matches",
+    });
+  }
+  const keyBy = readKeyBy(r, 'rate_limit', conf.keyBy);
+  if (!tokensUsable || !refillUsable) return undefined;
+  const out: { tokens: number; refillIntervalMs: number; keyBy?: string } = { tokens, refillIntervalMs: refill };
+  if (keyBy !== undefined) out.keyBy = keyBy;
+  return { rate_limit: out };
 }
 
-function validatePolicy(raw: unknown): GatePolicy {
-  if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'object') {
-    throw new Error('Each gate policy must be an object');
+/**
+ * A sample. A step at or under 0 sampled every event, as 1 does, and a
+ * fraction its next whole number, since the count was compared with it, so
+ * each is read that way.
+ */
+function readPassiveSample(r: Reader, value: unknown): GateBehavior | undefined {
+  if (!isPlainObject(value)) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior.passive_sample is ${shownValue(value)}, where an object is needed, such as {"every": 10}` });
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const conf = withoutEmpty(`${r.where}: behavior.passive_sample`, value, r.notes, { keyBy: 'every event the rule matches shares one count' });
+  readFieldNames(r, 'behavior.passive_sample', conf, PASSIVE_SAMPLE_FIELDS);
+  const given = conf.every;
+  let every: number | undefined;
+  if (typeof given !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(given)) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `behavior.passive_sample.every is ${shownValue(given)}, where a whole number of 1 or more is needed` });
+  } else if (Number.isInteger(given) && given > 0) {
+    every = given;
+  } else {
+    every = given <= 0 ? 1 : Math.ceil(given);
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `behavior.passive_sample.every is ${given}, ${given <= 0 ? 'under 1' : 'not a whole number'}`,
+      read: `so it's read as ${every}`,
+    });
   }
+  const keyBy = readKeyBy(r, 'passive_sample', conf.keyBy);
+  if (every === undefined) return undefined;
+  const out: { every: number; keyBy?: string } = { every };
+  if (keyBy !== undefined) out.keyBy = keyBy;
+  return { passive_sample: out };
+}
 
-  const obj = raw as Record<string, unknown>;
+/** How each kind of behavior object is read. */
+const READ_KIND: Readonly<Record<(typeof BEHAVIOR_KINDS)[number], (r: Reader, value: unknown) => GateBehavior | undefined>> = {
+  debounce: readDebounce,
+  rate_limit: readRateLimit,
+  passive_sample: readPassiveSample,
+};
+
+/** A timing kind's keyBy: a field name. One of another type was read as none. */
+function readKeyBy(r: Reader, kind: 'rate_limit' | 'passive_sample', value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (value === undefined) return undefined;
+  if (typeof value === 'string') return value;
+  r.problems.push({
+    text: `behavior.${kind}.keyBy is ${shownValue(value)}, where a field name is needed, such as "channelId"`,
+    read: `so it does nothing, and every event the rule matches shares one ${kind === 'rate_limit' ? 'bucket' : 'count'}`,
+  });
+  return undefined;
+}
 
-  if (typeof obj.name !== 'string' || !obj.name) {
-    throw new Error('Gate policy must have a "name" string');
+/**
+ * A rule's match: every field optional, and one left out matches anything. A
+ * field of the wrong type, or an entry of one in a list, was dropped, which
+ * widened the rule, and is read so; an empty entry in a list, dropped, but for
+ * one in `scope`, which was kept and narrows the rule, since no event's type is
+ * "". A match that isn't an object matched every event, and so does one left
+ * with nothing that narrows it, which readRule notes, for a rule it can read,
+ * where something in the match was named: dropped, left out or unread.
+ */
+function readMatch(r: Reader, value: unknown): GatePolicyMatch {
+  const match: GatePolicyMatch = {};
+  if (value === undefined) return match;
+  if (!isPlainObject(value)) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `match is ${shownValue(value)}, where an object is needed, such as {"source": "discord"}`,
+      read: 'so the rule matches every event',
+    });
+    return match;
   }
+  const named = r.problems.length + r.notes.length;
+  const m = withoutEmpty(`${r.where}: match`, value, r.notes);
+  readFieldNames(r, 'match', m, MATCH_FIELDS);
 
-  // Validate behavior
-  let behavior: GateBehavior;
-  if (obj.behavior === 'always' || obj.behavior === 'defer' || obj.behavior === 'skip') {
-    behavior = obj.behavior;
-  } else if (obj.behavior && typeof obj.behavior === 'object') {
-    const b = obj.behavior as Record<string, unknown>;
-    if ('debounce' in b) {
-      if (typeof b.debounce !== 'number' || b.debounce <= 0) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": debounce must be a positive number`);
-      }
-      if (b.debounce < MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": debounce must be >= ${MIN_DEBOUNCE_MS}ms, got ${b.debounce}`);
-      }
-      if (b.debounce > MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": debounce must be <= ${MAX_DEBOUNCE_MS}ms, got ${b.debounce}`);
-      }
-      behavior = { debounce: b.debounce };
-    } else if ('rate_limit' in b) {
-      const rl = b.rate_limit;
-      if (!rl || typeof rl !== 'object') {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": rate_limit must be an object`);
-      }
-      const conf = rl as Record<string, unknown>;
-      if (typeof conf.tokens !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(conf.tokens) || conf.tokens <= 0) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": rate_limit.tokens must be a positive number`);
-      }
-      if (typeof conf.refillIntervalMs !== 'number' || !Number.isFinite(conf.refillIntervalMs) || conf.refillIntervalMs <= 0) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": rate_limit.refillIntervalMs must be a positive number`);
-      }
-      const out: { tokens: number; refillIntervalMs: number; keyBy?: string } = {
-        tokens: conf.tokens,
-        refillIntervalMs: conf.refillIntervalMs,
-      };
-      if (typeof conf.keyBy === 'string' && conf.keyBy.length > 0) {
-        out.keyBy = conf.keyBy;
+  if (m.scope !== undefined) {
+    if (!Array.isArray(m.scope)) {
+      r.problems.push({
+        text: `match.scope is ${shownValue(m.scope)}, where a list of event types is needed, such as ["mcpl:channel-incoming"]`,
+        read: 'so the rule matches every type of event',
+      });
+    } else {
+      const types = m.scope.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string');
+      const dropped = m.scope.filter((s) => typeof s !== 'string');
+      if (dropped.length > 0) {
+        r.problems.push({
+          text: `match.scope holds ${shownValues(dropped)}, which ${dropped.length === 1 ? "isn't an event type" : "aren't event types"}`,
+          read: types.length > 0 ? droppedEntries(dropped.length) : `${droppedEntries(dropped.length)}, and the rule matches every type of event`,
+        });
       }
-      behavior = { rate_limit: out };
-    } else if ('passive_sample' in b) {
-      const ps = b.passive_sample;
-      if (!ps || typeof ps !== 'object') {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": passive_sample must be an object`);
+      if (types.includes('')) {
+        r.problems.push({
+          text: 'match.scope holds "", and no event\'s type is ""',
+          read: types.every((t) => t === '') ? 'so the rule matches no event' : 'so that entry matches no event',
+          narrows: true,
+        });
       }
-      const conf = ps as Record<string, unknown>;
-      if (typeof conf.every !== 'number' || !Number.isInteger(conf.every) || conf.every <= 0) {
-        throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": passive_sample.every must be a positive integer`);
+      match.scope = types;
+    }
+  }
+  for (const [field, example] of [
+    ['source', '"discord"'], ['channel', '"discord:*:12345"'], ['mount', '"project"'], ['pathGlob', '"notes/*.md"'],
+  ] as const) {
+    const given = m[field];
+    if (given === undefined) continue;
+    if (typeof given === 'string') match[field] = given;
+    else r.problems.push({ text: `match.${field} is ${shownValue(given)}, where a string is needed, such as ${example}`, read: DROPPED });
+  }
+  for (const [field, example] of [
+    ['metadataTrue', '["mentioned"]'], ['tagsAny', '["chat:ambient"]'], ['tagsAll', '["chat:ambient"]'], ['tagsNone', '["chat:ambient"]'],
+  ] as const) {
+    const given = m[field];
+    if (given === undefined) continue;
+    if (!Array.isArray(given)) {
+      r.problems.push({
+        text: `match.${field} is ${shownValue(given)}, where a list of non-empty strings is needed, such as ${example}`, read: DROPPED,
+      });
+      continue;
+    }
+    const kept = given.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0);
+    const dropped = given.filter((s) => typeof s !== 'string' || s.length === 0);
+    if (dropped.length > 0) {
+      r.problems.push({
+        text: `match.${field} holds ${shownValues(dropped)}, where each entry is a non-empty string`,
+        read: kept.length > 0 ? droppedEntries(dropped.length) : `${droppedEntries(dropped.length)}, and with none left the list narrows nothing`,
+      });
+    }
+    if (kept.length > 0) match[field] = kept;
+  }
+
+  if (m.filter !== undefined) {
+    if (!isPlainObject(m.filter)) {
+      r.problems.push({
+        text: `match.filter is ${shownValue(m.filter)}, where an object is needed, such as {"type": "text", "pattern": "release"}`,
+        read: DROPPED,
+      });
+    } else {
+      // An empty pattern matches every event's content, so a filter with one
+      // narrows nothing, as before, and it's left out, its other problems named.
+      const emptyPattern = m.filter.pattern === '';
+      const f = withoutEmpty(`${r.where}: match.filter`, emptyPattern ? { ...m.filter, pattern: undefined } : m.filter, r.notes);
+      readFieldNames(r, 'match.filter', f, FILTER_FIELDS);
+      const without = 'so the rule is read without its filter';
+      const type = f.type === 'text' || f.type === 'regex' ? f.type : undefined;
+      if (type === undefined) {
+        r.problems.push({ text: `match.filter.type is ${shownValue(f.type)}, where "text" or "regex" is needed`, read: without });
       }
-      const out: { every: number; keyBy?: string } = { every: conf.every };
-      if (typeof conf.keyBy === 'string' && conf.keyBy.length > 0) {
-        out.keyBy = conf.keyBy;
+      if (emptyPattern) {
+        r.notes.push(`${r.where}: match.filter's pattern is "", so the filter narrows nothing, and it's left out.`);
+      } else if (typeof f.pattern !== 'string') {
+        r.problems.push({
+          text: `match.filter.pattern is ${shownValue(f.pattern)}, where the text or regular expression to look for is needed`,
+          read: without,
+        });
+      } else if (type === 'text') {
+        match.filter = { type, pattern: f.pattern };
+      } else if (type === 'regex') {
+        try {
+          new RegExp(f.pattern);
+          match.filter = { type, pattern: f.pattern };
+        } catch (e) {
+          r.problems.push({ text: `match.filter.pattern isn't a regular expression the gate can read (${errorText(e)})` });
+        }
       }
-      behavior = { passive_sample: out };
-    } else {
-      throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": unknown behavior — expected always | defer | skip | { debounce } | { rate_limit } | { passive_sample }`);
     }
-  } else {
-    behavior = 'always';
   }
 
-  // Validate match (lenient — missing fields mean "match all")
-  const match: GatePolicyMatch = {};
-  if (obj.match && typeof obj.match === 'object') {
-    const m = obj.match as Record<string, unknown>;
-    if (Array.isArray(m.scope)) match.scope = m.scope.filter(s => typeof s === 'string');
-    if (typeof m.source === 'string') match.source = m.source;
-    if (typeof m.channel === 'string') match.channel = m.channel;
-    if (typeof m.mount === 'string') match.mount = m.mount;
-    if (typeof m.pathGlob === 'string') match.pathGlob = m.pathGlob;
-    if (Array.isArray(m.metadataTrue)) {
-      const fields = m.metadataTrue.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0);
-      if (fields.length > 0) match.metadataTrue = fields;
-    }
-    const tagList = (v: unknown): string[] | undefined => {
-      if (!Array.isArray(v)) return undefined;
-      const out = v.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0);
-      return out.length > 0 ? out : undefined;
+  // Left with nothing that narrows it once something in it was named, it
+  // matches every event. Empty lists and nulls alone always meant no
+  // constraint, and name nothing.
+  const narrows = Object.entries(match).some(([field, v]) => !(field === 'scope' && Array.isArray(v) && v.length === 0));
+  if (!narrows && r.problems.length + r.notes.length > named) r.matchesAll = true;
+  return match;
+}
+
+/** A rule's resets: names of rules whose state it clears when it fires. An entry that isn't a name was dropped. */
+function readResets(r: Reader, value: unknown): string[] | undefined {
+  if (value === undefined) return undefined;
+  if (!Array.isArray(value)) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `resets is ${shownValue(value)}, where a list of rule names is needed, such as ["other-rule"]`,
+      read: 'so the rule resets no other',
+    });
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  // Unknown names are ignored at runtime, so reload races don't blow up.
+  const names = value.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0);
+  const dropped = value.filter((s) => typeof s !== 'string' || s.length === 0);
+  if (dropped.length > 0) {
+    r.problems.push({
+      text: `resets holds ${shownValues(dropped)}, where each entry is a rule's name`,
+      read: names.length > 0 ? droppedEntries(dropped.length) : `${droppedEntries(dropped.length)}, and the rule resets no other`,
+    });
+  }
+  return names.length > 0 ? names : undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A rule's passthrough. It's meaningful only on the counting behaviors, where
+ * "matched but didn't fire" is a distinct outcome that can fall through. On
+ * always, defer, skip or a debounce it would be a no-op at best and a
+ * misleading promise at worst, so it's refused rather than ignored.
+ */
+function readPassthrough(
+  r: Reader, value: unknown, behavior: GateBehavior | undefined, kind: BehaviorKind | undefined,
+): boolean {
+  if (value === undefined || value === false) return false;
+  if (value !== true) {
+    r.problems.push({ text: `passthrough is ${shownValue(value)}, where true or false is needed` });
+    return false;
+  }
+  if (kind === undefined || kind === 'rate_limit' || kind === 'passive_sample') return true;
+  r.problems.push({
+    text: `passthrough is only valid with rate_limit or passive_sample behaviors — for "${behavior ? formatBehavior(behavior) : kind}" `
+      + 'there is no non-firing match to fall through on',
+  });
+  return false;
+}
+
+/** What a load or a start does with a rule. */
+type RuleOutcome = 'as-written' | 'read' | 'left-out';
+
+/**
+ * A rule with no problem is in force as written. One with a problem is read
+ * past it, the way earlier releases read it, so it wakes the agent wherever
+ * they did and holds back what they held back, a rule that skips or defers
+ * included. It's left out only where they refused it.
+ */
+function ruleOutcome(reading: RuleReading): RuleOutcome {
+  if (reading.problems.length === 0) return 'as-written';
+  return reading.policy === undefined ? 'left-out' : 'read';
+}
+
+/** What a load or a start says of a rule: how it's read past its problems, or that it's left out, and its notes. */
+function readingSentences(reading: RuleReading, outcome: RuleOutcome): string[] {
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  if (outcome === 'read') {
+    // Read past a problem that can widen it, a rule that holds events back holds back what it now matches.
+    const behavior = reading.policy?.behavior;
+    const holds = (behavior === 'skip' || behavior === 'defer') && reading.problems.some((p) => !p.narrows)
+      ? ` Read so, it ${behavior === 'skip' ? 'skips' : 'defers'} every event it now matches, as earlier releases did.`
+      : '';
+    said.push(`${reading.where}: ${reading.problems.map((p) => `${p.text}, ${p.read}`).join('; ')}.${holds}`);
+  } else if (outcome === 'left-out') {
+    said.push(`${reading.where} is left out: ${reading.problems.map((p) => p.text).join('; ')}.`);
+  }
+  return [...said, ...notesOf(reading)];
+}
+
+/** addPolicy's refusal of a rule with problems: every one of them, and its notes. */
+function refusalOf(reading: RuleReading): string {
+  return [`${reading.where} wasn't saved: ${reading.problems.map((p) => p.text).join('; ')}.`, ...notesOf(reading, true)].join(' ');
+}
+
+/** gate.json, or the host's starting rules, as the gate reads them. */
+type ConfigReading =
+  /** Not used: why, and what a change would edit, since one that parses is
+   *  edited as written, whether it's used or not (rulesForChange); where it's
+   *  the rules left out, each one's name, or undefined for one without. */
+  | { refused: string; listed: Listed; silenced?: Array<string | undefined> }
+  | {
+    /** What's in force from it. */
+    config: GateConfig;
+    /** Each rule as given, as read, and what's done with it. */
+    rules: Array<{ raw: unknown; reading: RuleReading; outcome: RuleOutcome }>;
+    /** What the gate says of it, each a sentence: its own problems and notes, then each rule's. */
+    sentences: string[];
+    /** Its own fields as loaded, and its rule list, each rule as written, for
+     *  a write to edit by name; or, for one with no rule list to edit (a list,
+     *  or a "policies" that isn't one and holds something), what it is instead. */
+    listed: Listed;
+  };
+
+/** A gate.json's own fields and its rule list, as written, or why it has none a write could edit. */
+type Listed = { top: Record<string, unknown>; rules: unknown[] } | { noList: string };
+
+/** A rule's name as written, when it has a usable one. */
+function nameOf(rule: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return isPlainObject(rule) && typeof rule.name === 'string' && rule.name ? rule.name : undefined;
+}
+
+/** What a load of gate.json says, from what its reading says of it: nothing, when that's nothing. */
+function loadNote(sentences: readonly string[]): string | null {
+  return sentences.length > 0 ? `gate.json loaded. ${sentences.join(' ')}` : null;
+}
+
+/** The names of the rules a gate.json holds as written: none, for one with no rule list. */
+function heldNames(listed: Listed): Set<string> {
+  return new Set('noList' in listed ? [] : listed.rules.map(nameOf).filter((name): name is string => name !== undefined));
+}
+
+/**
+ * gate.json, or the host's starting rules, read (`file` names which in
+ * messages). A file earlier releases loaded loads as they read it, with a
+ * note naming what they didn't read: a list is read as no rules under the
+ * default "always", and a slip of "policies", a name the gate doesn't read
+ * (a list of rules parked under one included), a field of a rule at the
+ * file's top and a "policies" that isn't a list each as nothing, so where
+ * "policies" writes no rules the file has none, and its default decides every
+ * event. A "policies" holding nothing, an empty list or one that isn't a
+ * list, writes no rules, as one left out does. Earlier releases refused it
+ * whole where it isn't an object, or its default isn't one of the three, and
+ * it isn't used. Each rule is read on its own. Under a default that holds
+ * events back, a rule left out that could wake the agent would hold back what
+ * it was written to wake on, so the file isn't used, as earlier releases,
+ * which refused such a rule and so the file, didn't use it. `start` is what a
+ * later start ran over a gate.json with no rules of its own, for its note: the
+ * host's starting rules beside one with no rule list, or, where gate.json
+ * isn't used at that start, the clause saying why and what runs instead
+ * (notUsedClause), which the sentence saying it has no rules carries.
+ */
+function readConfig(
+  raw: unknown, file: 'gate.json' | 'the starting config', start?: 'beside' | { notUsed: string },
+): ConfigReading {
+  const File = file === 'gate.json' ? file : 'The starting config';
+  if (Array.isArray(raw)) {
+    return {
+      config: { policies: [], default: 'always' },
+      rules: [],
+      sentences: [
+        `${File} is a list, where an object is needed, such as {"policies": [{"name": "my-rule", "behavior": "always"}]}, `
+        + (start === 'beside'
+          ? 'so none of it is read, and the gate runs the host\'s starting rules beside it, under the default, "always".'
+          : 'so none of it is read, and every event gets the default, "always".'),
+      ],
+      listed: { noList: `${File} is a list` },
     };
-    const tagsAny = tagList(m.tagsAny); if (tagsAny) match.tagsAny = tagsAny;
-    const tagsAll = tagList(m.tagsAll); if (tagsAll) match.tagsAll = tagsAll;
-    const tagsNone = tagList(m.tagsNone); if (tagsNone) match.tagsNone = tagsNone;
-    if (m.filter && typeof m.filter === 'object') {
-      const f = m.filter as Record<string, unknown>;
-      if ((f.type === 'text' || f.type === 'regex') && typeof f.pattern === 'string') {
-        match.filter = { type: f.type, pattern: f.pattern };
-        if (f.type === 'regex') {
-          try { new RegExp(f.pattern as string); } catch (e) {
-            throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": invalid regex pattern: ${e}`);
-          }
-        }
-      }
+  }
+  if (!isPlainObject(raw)) return { refused: `${file} must be a JSON object`, listed: { noList: `${File} is ${shownValue(raw)}` } };
+
+  const sentences: string[] = [];
+  // At a start that doesn't use it, what having no rules does is that.
+  const notUsedWhy = typeof start === 'object' ? start.notUsed : undefined;
+  const notUsed = notUsedWhy === undefined ? undefined : `it has no rules, so ${notUsedWhy}`;
+  const obj = withoutEmpty(file, raw, sentences, { ...configLeftOut(raw.default), ...(notUsed ? { policies: notUsed } : {}) });
+  // Here a name holding "default" or "policies" isn't a slip of it: at the
+  // top, such a name can be a label of the file ("policiesUpdated").
+  const names = fieldNames(obj, CONFIG_FIELDS, false);
+  const { misplaced, rest } = placedElsewhere(names.unread, homesOf(file, CONFIG_FIELDS));
+  noteUnread(file, rest, CONFIG_FIELDS, sentences);
+  for (const m of misplaced) {
+    sentences.push(
+      `${file} has ${misplacedShown(m)}, which the gate doesn't read here, so ${m.keys.length === 1 ? 'it does' : 'they do'} nothing.`,
+    );
+  }
+  // A "policies" holding nothing writes no rules, as one left out does.
+  const noPolicies = obj.policies === undefined || holdsNothing(obj.policies);
+  // What a change edits, used or not: its own fields and rule list as written
+  // (a list left out, null or "", or one holding nothing, is an empty one),
+  // beside whatever else it holds; or, where "policies" isn't a list and holds
+  // something, what it is instead, since a list there would write over it.
+  const listed: Listed = noPolicies || Array.isArray(obj.policies)
+    ? { top: raw, rules: Array.isArray(obj.policies) ? obj.policies : [] }
+    : { noList: `${File}'s "policies" is ${shownValue(obj.policies)}` };
+  const given = obj.default;
+  if (given !== undefined && given !== 'always' && given !== 'defer' && given !== 'skip') {
+    return { refused: `${file} "default" must be "always", "defer", or "skip", got: ${shownValue(given)}`, listed };
+  }
+  const defaultBehavior = given ?? 'always';
+  // Beside a start that runs the host's starting rules, since it has no list to add them to, they're what its default
+  // meets; at one that doesn't use it, what runs in its place is.
+  const noRules = start === 'beside'
+    ? `it has no rules, so the gate runs the host's starting rules beside it, under its default, "${defaultBehavior}"`
+    : notUsed ?? configLeftOut(defaultBehavior).policies;
+  for (const slip of names.slips) {
+    let read = SLIP_READ;
+    // Where "policies" writes no rules, what a slip of it holds leaves the file with none.
+    if (slip.meant.includes('policies') && noPolicies) read = `and ${noRules}`;
+    else if (slip.meant.includes('default') && obj.default === undefined) read = 'so its default is "always"';
+    sentences.push(`${File} has ${slipShown(slip)}, which the gate doesn't read, ${read}.`);
+  }
+  const policies: unknown[] = Array.isArray(obj.policies) ? obj.policies : [];
+  if (!Array.isArray(obj.policies) && obj.policies !== undefined) {
+    sentences.push(
+      `${File}'s "policies" is ${shownValue(obj.policies)}, where a list of rules is needed, such as `
+      + `[{"name": "my-rule", "behavior": "always"}], and ${noRules}.`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const rules = policies.map((rule, i) => {
+    const reading = readRule(rule, `The ${ordinal(i + 1)} policy`, file);
+    return { raw: rule, reading, outcome: ruleOutcome(reading) };
+  });
+  if (defaultBehavior !== 'always') {
+    const silenced = rules.filter((rule) => rule.outcome === 'left-out' && !rule.reading.quiet);
+    if (silenced.length > 0) {
+      const one = silenced.length === 1;
+      return {
+        refused: [
+          `${file} leaves out ${one ? 'a rule' : 'rules'} that could wake the agent, and under its default, "${defaultBehavior}", `
+          + `what ${one ? 'it was' : 'they were'} written to wake it on would be held back.`,
+          ...silenced.flatMap((rule) => readingSentences(rule.reading, rule.outcome)),
+        ].join(' '),
+        listed,
+        silenced: silenced.map((rule) => nameOf(rule.raw)),
+      };
     }
   }
+  for (const rule of rules) sentences.push(...readingSentences(rule.reading, rule.outcome));
+  // A list with no rules, or none the gate reads, where no sentence above said it has none.
+  if (notUsed !== undefined && !sentences.some((said) => said.includes(notUsed))) {
+    sentences.push(`${File} has no rules${rules.length > 0 ? ' but ones the gate leaves out' : ''}, so ${notUsedWhy}.`);
+  }
+  return {
+    config: {
+      policies: rules.filter((rule) => rule.outcome !== 'left-out').map((rule) => rule.reading.policy as GatePolicy),
+      default: defaultBehavior,
+    },
+    rules,
+    sentences,
+    listed,
+  };
+}
 
-  // Validate resets (optional list of policy names; unknown names are ignored
-  // at runtime so reload races don't blow up).
-  let resets: string[] | undefined;
-  if (Array.isArray(obj.resets)) {
-    const names = obj.resets.filter((s): s is string => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0);
-    if (names.length > 0) resets = names;
-  }
-
-  // Validate passthrough — only meaningful on the counting behaviors, where
-  // "matched but didn't fire" is a distinct outcome that can fall through.
-  // On always/defer/skip/debounce the flag would be a no-op at best and a
-  // misleading promise at worst, so reject it loudly instead of ignoring it.
-  let passthrough: boolean | undefined;
-  if (obj.passthrough !== undefined) {
-    if (typeof obj.passthrough !== 'boolean') {
-      throw new Error(`Policy "${obj.name}": passthrough must be a boolean`);
-    }
-    if (obj.passthrough) {
-      const counting = typeof behavior === 'object'
-        && ('rate_limit' in behavior || 'passive_sample' in behavior);
-      if (!counting) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `Policy "${obj.name}": passthrough is only valid with rate_limit or `
-          + `passive_sample behaviors — for "${formatBehavior(behavior)}" there is `
-          + 'no non-firing match to fall through on',
-        );
-      }
-      passthrough = true;
+/** One of the host's starting rules: as given, with its name when it has one, and as read. */
+interface StartingRule { name: string | undefined; raw: unknown; policy: GatePolicy | undefined; quiet: boolean }
+
+/** The host's starting rules (initialConfig), read as gate.json is, for the seed and the reconcile. */
+interface StartingRules {
+  /** Why none of them is used, when that's so. */
+  refusedWhole?: string;
+  /** What they put in force when gate.json can't be loaded: each rule not left out, as read. */
+  config?: GateConfig;
+  /** With `config`, the starting config as given, which a first start writes,
+   *  since gate.json is read the same way. */
+  given?: unknown;
+  /** Each starting rule as given, with its name when it has one, for the reconcile to add by name, and as read:
+   *  the rule, unless it's left out, and whether it wakes on none of what it matches (RuleReading.quiet). */
+  rules: StartingRule[];
+  /** What the gate says of them, each a sentence. */
+  sentences: string[];
+}
+
+function readStartingRules(raw: unknown): StartingRules {
+  const read = readConfig(raw, 'the starting config');
+  if ('refused' in read) return { refusedWhole: read.refused, rules: [], sentences: [] };
+  return {
+    config: read.config,
+    given: raw,
+    rules: read.rules.map((rule) => ({ name: nameOf(rule.raw), raw: rule.raw, policy: rule.reading.policy, quiet: rule.reading.quiet })),
+    sentences: read.sentences,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The recipe the gate last applied (lastRecipePath), as written, or null when
+ * it has none on record. It's read as the host's starting rules are, so a
+ * recipe recorded as given reads back as the start read it. A record that
+ * exists and isn't one the gate wrote (it can't be read, isn't JSON, is
+ * refused as the starting rules are, or names a rule twice) gives null with
+ * the reason, which quotes nothing from the file but a rule's name: a start
+ * then removes and redefines nothing, as the first does, and says why.
+ */
+function readLastRecipe(path: string): { recipe: WrittenConfig | null; problem?: string } {
+  if (!existsSync(path)) return { recipe: null };
+  let raw: unknown;
+  try {
+    raw = parseGateJson(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8'));
+  } catch (err) {
+    const code = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
+    return { recipe: null, problem: code ? `reading it failed with ${code}` : "it isn't JSON" };
+  }
+  const read = readStartingRules(raw);
+  if (read.refusedWhole !== undefined) return { recipe: null, problem: "it isn't read as the starting rules are" };
+  const rules = read.rules.map((rule) => rule.raw);
+  const twice = duplicateName(rules);
+  if (twice !== undefined) return { recipe: null, problem: `it names the rule "${twice}" twice` };
+  return { recipe: { rules, default: isPlainObject(raw) ? raw.default : undefined } };
+}
+
+/**
+ * A rule's meaning, for the start's merge: the rule as the gate reads it,
+ * where it reads, and as written where it doesn't. So a rule `wake_add_rule`
+ * wrote as read agrees with the same rule written more briefly.
+ */
+function ruleMeaning(rule: unknown): string {
+  const reading = readRule(rule, 'A policy');
+  return reading.policy ? `read ${canonical(reading.policy)}` : `written ${canonical(rule)}`;
+}
+
+/** What a start's write of the host's starting rules to gate.json did. */
+type StartWrite =
+  | { kind: 'none' }
+  /** A first start's write of the starting rules threw: at its open, or partway. */
+  | { kind: 'seed-failed'; error: string; atOpen: boolean }
+  /**
+   * A later start's write to gate.json threw, or couldn't be made; `config` is
+   * what it was writing: the rules it read plus the ones it was adding
+   * (`names`), with the merge's other changes (`changing`: the rules it was
+   * removing, redefining or moving, and "default").
+   */
+  | {
+    kind: 'reconcile-failed'; names: string[]; changing?: string[]; error: string; atOpen: boolean; config: GateConfig;
+    /** The text it was writing, whose reading is `config`, and what a load of it says, when the write itself failed. */
+    text?: string;
+    note?: string | null;
+    sentences?: readonly string[];
+  }
+  /** A later start over a gate.json with no rule list to add the ones it lacks to: `config` is gate.json's default with them, which the gate runs beside it, unsaved. */
+  | { kind: 'reconcile-unsaved'; names: string[]; error: string; config: GateConfig }
+  /** A later start over a gate.json with no rules of its own (no rule list, an empty one, or one holding only rules the
+   *  gate leaves out) whose default, `default`, holds events back, where the host's starting rules can't all be put in
+   *  force beside it or in it: some that could wake the agent are left out (`leftOut`, by name, and `nameless`, a count of
+   *  those with no name) or kept out by gate.json's rules of their names, which the gate leaves out (`heldOut`); or
+   *  they're refused whole under their own default. gate.json isn't used at that start, which runs as one without it
+   *  does. */
+  | {
+    kind: 'start-without'; default: NonNullable<GateConfig['default']>;
+    leftOut?: string[]; nameless?: number; heldOut?: string[];
+  };
+
+/**
+ * What gate_status says about the start, which stays until the next one: the
+ * host's starting rules that couldn't be used and what the start did instead,
+ * how it read them past problems, and rules a reconcile couldn't add. Worded
+ * about the start, so later writes and reloads
+ * leave it true; configSource says what's in force now. `held` is the names
+ * of the rules gate.json holds as written, when it loaded.
+ */
+function describeStart(starting: StartingRules, write: StartWrite, held: ReadonlySet<string> | null): string | null {
+  const parts: string[] = [];
+  if (starting.refusedWhole !== undefined) {
+    // gate.json's rules: as loaded, or as read before a write of the start's
+    // own left it unable to load; or none, where gate.json wasn't used either.
+    const instead = write.kind === 'start-without'
+      ? `gate.json, which has no rules the gate reads, wasn't used either: under its default, "${write.default}", it would hold back every `
+        + 'event, so the gate started with no rules, as a start without gate.json does. Giving gate.json rules under '
+        + '"policies", or fixing the starting rules, puts rules in force (a fix to the starting rules, at the next start).'
+      : held !== null || write.kind === 'reconcile-failed'
+        ? "The gate started with gate.json's rules."
+        : 'The gate started with no rules, as on a host without starting rules.';
+    parts.push(`At start, the host's starting rules weren't used: ${sentence(starting.refusedWhole)} ${instead}`);
+  }
+  if (starting.sentences.length > 0) parts.push(`In the host's starting rules, ${starting.sentences.join(' ')}`);
+  // A reconcile whose write failed and left gate.json loading: the rules it
+  // was adding didn't reach it, unless the write landed before failing.
+  if (write.kind === 'reconcile-failed' && held) {
+    if (!write.names.every((name) => held.has(name))) {
+      parts.push(
+        `At start, the host's starting rules ${quotedList(write.names)} couldn't be added to gate.json (${write.error}), `
+        + "so they weren't put in force. "
+        + (write.text !== undefined
+          ? 'Whoever runs this host can fix what kept them from being written.'
+          : 'A start adds them once what kept them out is fixed.'),
+      );
+    }
+    // The merge's other changes: removals, redefinitions, moves and the default.
+    if (write.changing?.length) {
+      parts.push(
+        `At start, the recipe's changes to gate.json (${quotedList(write.changing)}) `
+        + (write.atOpen
+          ? `weren't saved (${write.error}), so the gate started with gate.json's rules as they were. `
+          : `may not all have been saved (${write.error}): the gate started with gate.json as the write left it. `)
+        + (write.text !== undefined
+          ? 'Whoever runs this host can fix what kept them from being written.'
+          : 'A start applies them once what kept them out is fixed.'),
+      );
     }
   }
+  return parts.length > 0 ? parts.join(' ') : null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Why gate.json, which has no rules of its own, isn't used at a start that runs
+ * as one without it (start-without), and what runs in its place: the clause
+ * after "it has no rules, so" in its note.
+ */
+function notUsedClause(write: Extract<StartWrite, { kind: 'start-without' }>, starting: StartingRules): string {
+  const back = 'Giving gate.json rules under "policies"';
+  const out = outOfForce(write);
+  if (out) {
+    return `it isn't used at this start: under its default, "${write.default}", ${out.said}, so the gate runs the starting `
+      + `rules under their own default, "${starting.config?.default ?? 'always'}", as a start without gate.json does. ${back}, or ${out.fix}, puts it in use`
+      + (out.nextStart ? ' (a fix to the starting rules, at the next start)' : '');
+  }
+  return `under its default, "${write.default}", it would hold back every event: it isn't used at this start, and the gate runs `
+    + `no rules, as a start without gate.json does, so every event gets the default, "always". ${back}, or fixing the starting rules, puts rules in force`
+    + ' (a fix to the starting rules, at the next start)';
+}
+
+/**
+ * The starting rules a start that doesn't use gate.json couldn't put in force
+ * beside it or in it, which could wake the agent, and what would put them in
+ * force: null where the starting rules were refused whole.
+ */
+function outOfForce(write: Extract<StartWrite, { kind: 'start-without' }>): { said: string; fix: string; nextStart: boolean } | null {
+  const nameless = write.nameless ?? 0;
+  const left = [...(write.leftOut ?? []).map((name) => `"${name}"`), ...(nameless === 0 ? [] : [nameless === 1 ? 'one with no name' : `${nameless} with no name`])];
+  const held = write.heldOut ?? [];
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const fix: string[] = [];
+  if (left.length > 0) {
+    said.push(`the host's starting rules would leave out ${joinedList(left)}, which could wake the agent`);
+    fix.push(`fixing ${joinedList(left)} in the starting rules`);
+  }
+  if (held.length > 0) {
+    said.push(`the host's ${quotedList(held)}, which could wake the agent, would be kept out by gate.json's `
+      + `${held.length === 1 ? 'rule of that name' : 'rules of those names'}, which the gate leaves out`);
+    fix.push(`fixing gate.json's ${quotedList(held)}`);
+  }
+  // While gate.json has no rules of its own, every one of them has to be put
+  // in force for it to be used, so where both kinds keep it out, both fixes
+  // are needed; giving gate.json rules of its own is the other way, which the
+  // entry gives first.
+  // The starting rules are read at a start, so a fix to them puts gate.json in
+  // use from the next one.
+  return said.length > 0
+    ? { said: said.join(', and '), fix: fix.length > 1 ? `both ${fix.join(', and ')}` : fix[0]!, nextStart: left.length > 0 }
+    : null;
+}
 
-  const policy: GatePolicy = { name: obj.name, match, behavior };
-  if (resets) policy.resets = resets;
-  if (passthrough) policy.passthrough = passthrough;
-  return policy;
+/**
+ * What gate_status says when the start left rules in force unsaved: a first
+ * start's seed that failed, a reconcile whose write left gate.json unable to
+ * load (`loaded` false), or, over a gate.json with no rule list (`loaded`
+ * true), the starting rules it lacks, run beside it, or, over one with no rules
+ * of its own, the starting rules run under their own default where gate.json
+ * isn't used. It goes once gate.json is written, or a reload applies its text
+ * or, but where the start ran rules beside or in place of such a gate.json,
+ * finds it holding the text in force.
+ */
+function describeUnsaved(starting: StartingRules, write: StartWrite, loaded: boolean): string | null {
+  if (write.kind === 'reconcile-unsaved') {
+    if (!loaded) return null;
+    return `At start, the host's starting rules ${quotedList(write.names)} couldn't be added to gate.json (${write.error}). `
+      + `The gate runs them under gate.json's default, "${write.config.default ?? 'always'}", as if gate.json held them, but `
+      + "they aren't saved in it: once gate.json changes and loads, what it holds is in force instead. Once gate.json has a "
+      + 'list of rules under "policies", a start adds them to it, as to any gate.json with a list.';
+  }
+  if (write.kind === 'start-without') {
+    // Starting rules refused whole put none in force, and describeStart says so.
+    const out = outOfForce(write);
+    if (!out) return null;
+    return `At start, gate.json, which has no rules the gate reads, wasn't used: under its default, "${write.default}", ${out.said}. The gate `
+      + `runs the starting rules under their own default, "${starting.config?.default ?? 'always'}", as a start without gate.json `
+      + 'does, but they aren\'t saved in it: once gate.json changes and loads, what it holds is in force instead. Giving '
+      + `gate.json rules under "policies", or ${out.fix}, puts it in use`
+      + `${out.nextStart ? ' (a fix to the starting rules, at the next start)' : ''}.`;
+  }
+  if (loaded) return null;
+  if (write.kind === 'seed-failed') {
+    return write.atOpen
+      ? `At start, gate.json couldn't be created (${write.error}), so the host's starting rules are in force but aren't saved in it. `
+        + 'Whoever runs this host can fix what keeps it from being written.'
+      : `At start, writing the host's starting rules to gate.json failed partway (${write.error}), so gate.json may be left `
+        + "part-written. The starting rules are in force but aren't saved in it, and a restart before gate.json is fixed starts "
+        + 'from them too. Whoever runs this host can fix what kept it from being written, and gate.json.';
+  }
+  if (write.kind === 'reconcile-failed') {
+    // A write of the recipe's merge that did more than add rules, or one that only added them.
+    const merging = (write.changing?.length ?? 0) > 0;
+    const changes = quotedList([...write.names, ...(write.changing ?? [])]);
+    const what = merging
+      ? write.atOpen
+        ? `the recipe's changes to gate.json (${changes}) couldn't be written (${write.error}), and gate.json couldn't be loaded after that`
+        : `writing the recipe's changes to gate.json (${changes}) failed partway (${write.error}), so gate.json may be left part-written`
+      : write.atOpen
+        ? `the host's starting rules ${quotedList(write.names)} couldn't be added to gate.json (${write.error}), and gate.json `
+          + "couldn't be loaded after that"
+        : `adding the host's starting rules ${quotedList(write.names)} to gate.json failed partway (${write.error}), so gate.json `
+          + 'may be left part-written';
+    // What those rules hold that the gate reads past or leaves out, since
+    // gate.json's own entry is now its load error.
+    const read = write.sentences?.length ? `, read as a load reads them: ${write.sentences.join(' ')}` : '.';
+    const runs = merging ? 'the rules that write held' : "the rules it read from gate.json and the ones it was adding";
+    return `At start, ${what}. The gate runs ${runs}, which aren't saved${read} `
+      + `A restart before gate.json is fixed starts from ${starting.config ? "the host's starting rules" : 'no rules'}. `
+      + 'Whoever runs this host can fix what kept it from being written, and gate.json.';
+  }
+  return null;
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -544,6 +1762,45 @@ export function formatShadowWarning(w: ShadowWarning): string {
     + `(first match wins — every event "${w.later}" would match is consumed by "${w.earlier}" first)`;
 }
 
+/** The text of a thrown value, for a log line. It never throws itself, whatever was thrown. */
+function errorText(err: unknown): string {
+  try {
+    return err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+  } catch {
+    return 'a value that could not be printed';
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run a caller's callback once the change it's told of is made and traced. A
+ * throw from it is logged, not thrown, so the call answers as the change it
+ * made: told the change had failed, an agent could make it a second time.
+ */
+function afterChange(name: string, callback: () => void): void {
+  try {
+    callback();
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`[gate] ${name} threw once the change was made, and the change stands: ${errorText(err)}`);
+  }
+}
+
+/** The privileged-users file's error when some entries of its list aren't user ids. */
+function skippedPrivilegedIds(skipped: unknown[], loaded: number): string {
+  const one = skipped.length === 1;
+  const shown = skipped.slice(0, 5).map((x) => {
+    if (typeof x === 'number' && Number.isInteger(x)) {
+      return `${x} (a number this large can't be read exactly: write the id as a string, in quotes)`;
+    }
+    const json = JSON.stringify(x) ?? String(x);
+    return json.length > 40 ? `${safeSlice(json, 0, 39)}…` : json;
+  });
+  const more = skipped.length > shown.length ? `, and ${skipped.length - shown.length} more` : '';
+  const rest = loaded === 0 ? 'no id loaded, so no one is privileged' : `${loaded} ${loaded === 1 ? 'id' : 'ids'} did load`;
+  return `${skipped.length} ${one ? 'entry' : 'entries'} in the privileged-users file ${one ? "isn't a user id" : "aren't user ids"}, `
+    + `so ${one ? 'it was' : 'they were'} skipped: ${shown.join(', ')}${more}. A user id is a non-empty string, or a safe integer `
+    + `(a whole number within 2^53 - 1 of zero); ${rest}.`;
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // EventGate
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -554,11 +1811,37 @@ export class EventGate {
   /** Optional agent-authored programmable gate (gate.js). */
   private gateScript: GateScript;
   private compiledPolicies: CompiledPolicy[] = [];
-  private configMtime: number = 0;
+  /** The text of gate.json whose rules are in force, from a load or a write
+   *  (or the start's reconcile, whose write failed); or, while what's in force
+   *  is what a start ran beside gate.json or in its place (configSource not
+   *  "file"), gate.json's text as that start found it.
+   *  A reload parses the file again only when its text differs; a file that
+   *  holds it again after failing to load (a chmod that makes it readable,
+   *  an edit undone) needs nothing applied, only its error cleared. */
+  private configText: string | undefined;
+  /** The notes on fields the text in force has that the gate doesn't read, if any. */
+  private configNote: string | null = null;
   private lastReloadCheck: number = 0;
   private configSource: 'file' | 'initial' | 'default' = 'default';
   private lastReloadTimestamp: number | null = null;
-  private configErrors: string[] = [];
+  /** The current problem with each file the gate reads, one each, replaced
+   *  whenever that file is read again (gate_status `errors`). */
+  private configError: string | null = null;
+  /** Whether gate.json's error is one that keeps what it holds out of force
+   *  (configUnreadable), so gate_status says what's in force instead. */
+  private configUnused = false;
+  private privilegedError: string | null = null;
+  /** What the start did with the host's starting rules that it couldn't use
+   *  or add (describeStart), kept apart from gate.json's own error, until the
+   *  next start. */
+  private startNotice: string | null = null;
+  /** The rules in force that the start couldn't save (describeUnsaved),
+   *  until gate.json is written or a reload applies its text. */
+  private startUnsaved: string | null = null;
+  /** What the start's merge of the recipe couldn't do (seedOrReconcile), said with startNotice until the next start. */
+  private startMergeNote: string | null = null;
+  /** Whether the start's unsaved rules (startUnsaved) are a merge's that did more than add rules. */
+  private startUnsavedMerged = false;
 
   // Debounce state
   private debounceTimers = new Map<string, DebounceState>();
@@ -618,7 +1901,9 @@ export class EventGate {
   // privilegedUsersPath on change.
   private privilegedUsersPath: string | undefined;
   private privilegedUserIds = new Set<string>();
-  private privilegedMtime = 0;
+  /** The privileged-users file's text as last read, whether or not it loaded;
+   *  undefined when it was missing or its last read failed. */
+  private privilegedText: string | undefined;
   private lastPrivilegedCheck = 0;
 
   // Dependency-injected callbacks
@@ -629,10 +1914,14 @@ export class EventGate {
     metadata?: Record<string, unknown>,
     /** Registry agent to deliver into; absent = primary (historical). */
     forAgent?: string,
+    /** Out-param: where the message landed, for the wake that goes with it. */
+    placement?: WritePlacement,
   ) => unknown;
-  private requestInferenceFn: (agentName: string, reason: string, source: string, provenance?: WakeProvenance) => void;
+  private requestInferenceFn: (agentName: string, reason: string, source: string, provenance?: WakeProvenance, after?: WritePlacement) => void;
   private getAgentNamesFn: () => string[];
   private resolveRouteChannelFn: (info: GateEventInfo) => string | undefined;
+  private channelShownFn?: (channel: { serverId: string; channelId: string }) => string;
+  private isNewestEntryFn?: (entry: GateEntryRef) => boolean;
   /** Clock injection — keeps the new rate_limit / passive_sample paths
    *  testable without monkey-patching Date.now globally. */
   private now: () => number;
@@ -647,17 +1936,37 @@ export class EventGate {
       content: Array<{ type: 'text'; text: string }>,
       metadata?: Record<string, unknown>,
       forAgent?: string,
+      placement?: WritePlacement,
     ) => unknown;
-    requestInference: (agentName: string, reason: string, source: string, provenance?: WakeProvenance) => void;
+    /** `after`: the placement of the message the wake is for, when it has
+     *  one, so the host can drop the wake once a request that carried the
+     *  message is answered. */
+    requestInference: (agentName: string, reason: string, source: string, provenance?: WakeProvenance, after?: WritePlacement) => void;
     getAgentNames: () => string[];
     /** Optional clock — defaults to Date.now. Tests inject for deterministic time. */
     now?: () => number;
     /** Per-event timeout (ms) for the optional gate.js script. Default 50. */
     scriptTimeoutMs?: number;
     /** Map an event to the registered channel it arrived on (the host knows
-     *  how push-event origins compose into channel ids). Default: a
-     *  channel-incoming event's own channel id; nothing for push events. */
+     *  how push-event origins compose into channel ids). The gate routes a
+     *  batched wake by it, tests a policy's `match.channel` against it when
+     *  the event's own id misses, and keys `keyBy: "channelId"` counts on it.
+     *  A resolver that throws counts as returning nothing. Default: a
+     *  channel-incoming event's own channel id; nothing for push events, so
+     *  a push then matches and counts by its own id alone. */
     resolveRouteChannel?: (info: GateEventInfo) => string | undefined;
+    /** How the agent is shown a channel, its server's and its id (the
+     *  framework's ChannelRegistry.nameShown): a batched wake's summary names
+     *  each channel so, since two servers' channels can share an id. Default:
+     *  the id. */
+    channelShown?: (channel: { serverId: string; channelId: string }) => string;
+    /** Whether an MCPL event's own context entry is still the newest entry in
+     *  the window a batched wake's line would be written to, with nothing
+     *  waiting to be written there. A batched wake for that one message
+     *  doesn't write its line when it fires: it hands the line to the wake
+     *  (WakeProvenance.line), for a fresh start of the wake's turn to decide
+     *  (WakeLine). Absent: every batched wake writes its line, as before. */
+    isNewestEntry?: (entry: GateEntryRef) => boolean;
   }) {
     this.configPath = opts.configPath;
     this.privilegedUsersPath = opts.privilegedUsersPath;
@@ -666,52 +1975,77 @@ export class EventGate {
     this.requestInferenceFn = opts.requestInference;
     this.getAgentNamesFn = opts.getAgentNames;
     this.resolveRouteChannelFn = opts.resolveRouteChannel ?? defaultRouteChannel;
+    this.channelShownFn = opts.channelShown;
+    this.isNewestEntryFn = opts.isNewestEntry;
     this.now = opts.now ?? (() => Date.now());
     this.loadPrivileged();
 
-    // Seed or reconcile the on-disk config.
+    // Seed or reconcile the on-disk config from the host's starting rules
+    // (`initialConfig`), which are read as gate.json is, rule by rule: a rule
+    // with a problem is read past it, or left out (readConfig).
     //
-    // First start: write `initialConfig` verbatim.
-    // Subsequent starts: if the recipe/config source declares policies that
-    // aren't yet in gate.json (e.g. the user edited the recipe between
-    // sessions), append them by name. Existing policies are left alone so
-    // user edits via `workspace--edit _config/gate.json` survive.
-    // The `default` field is not reconciled — it's an explicit operator
-    // choice and a recipe change shouldn't silently flip live wake
-    // behavior for a session that's already been running.
-    if (opts.initialConfig) {
-      try {
-        mkdirSync(dirname(this.configPath), { recursive: true });
-        if (!existsSync(this.configPath)) {
-          writeFileSync(this.configPath, JSON.stringify(opts.initialConfig, null, 2) + '\n');
-        } else {
-          const existing = this.loadConfig();
-          if (existing) {
-            const existingNames = new Set(existing.policies.map(p => p.name));
-            const missing = opts.initialConfig.policies.filter(p => !existingNames.has(p.name));
-            if (missing.length > 0) {
-              const reconciled: GateConfig = {
-                ...existing,
-                policies: [...existing.policies, ...missing],
-              };
-              writeFileSync(this.configPath, JSON.stringify(reconciled, null, 2) + '\n');
-              opts.emitTrace({
-                type: 'gate:config-reconciled',
-                configPath: this.configPath,
-                addedPolicies: missing.map(p => p.name),
-                timestamp: Date.now(),
-              });
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      } catch (err) {
-        const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-        this.configErrors.push(`Failed to seed/reconcile gate.json: ${msg}`);
-      }
+    // First start: write `initialConfig` as given, since gate.json is read the
+    // same way, and record it as the recipe last applied, beside gate.json.
+    // Later starts: merge the recipe into gate.json against that record,
+    // three ways and as written (seedOrReconcile), so a rule the recipe
+    // dropped, renamed, moved or redefined follows it, while a rule edited at
+    // run time or by `workspace--edit _config/gate.json`, and one no recipe
+    // declared, stays. `default` follows the same rule: an unedited one takes
+    // the recipe's.
+    const initial = opts.initialConfig;
+    const starting = initial !== undefined ? readStartingRules(initial) : undefined;
+    const write: StartWrite = starting ? this.seedOrReconcile(starting) : { kind: 'none' };
+
+    // Load config: gate.json; without it, the starting rules as read, unless
+    // none of them is used; and otherwise no rules, as a host without any has. When a
+    // reconcile's own write left gate.json unable to load, the gate runs what
+    // that write held, the rules it read as the recipe's merge changed them,
+    // since a failed write of ours shouldn't take rules out of force. Over a gate.json
+    // with no rule list to add them to, it runs gate.json's default with the
+    // starting rules it lacks, as earlier releases did once they had written
+    // them over it, where seedOrReconcile gives them (reconcile-unsaved). Where
+    // gate.json has no rules of its own and they can't run beside it or be
+    // added to it (start-without), earlier releases couldn't load what they
+    // wrote and ran the starting rules from memory, so gate.json isn't used,
+    // and the start runs as one without it does.
+    const read = this.readConfigFile();
+    if (read.state === 'loaded') {
+      // Beside a gate.json with no rule list, the host's starting rules it
+      // lacks, and its note says they run beside it, or, in place of one with
+      // no rules of its own, those a start without it runs, and its note says
+      // why.
+      const beside = write.kind === 'reconcile-unsaved';
+      const without = write.kind === 'start-without' ? write : null;
+      this.config = beside ? write.config : without ? (starting?.config ?? { ...DEFAULT_CONFIG }) : read.config;
+      this.configText = read.text;
+      const start = beside ? 'beside' : without && starting ? { notUsed: notUsedClause(without, starting) } : undefined;
+      const asStarted = start ? readConfig(parseGateJson(read.text), 'gate.json', start) : null;
+      this.configNote = asStarted && 'sentences' in asStarted ? loadNote(asStarted.sentences) : read.note;
+      this.configError = this.configNote;
+      this.configSource = beside || starting?.config && without ? 'initial' : without ? 'default' : 'file';
+      if (this.configNote) console.error(`[gate] ${this.configNote}`);
+    } else if (write.kind === 'reconcile-failed') {
+      this.config = write.config;
+      // A change over the part-written gate.json is refused; once gate.json is
+      // gone, this text is what a change edits, so every rule it holds keeps its name.
+      this.configText = write.text;
+      this.configNote = write.note ?? null;
+      this.configSource = 'file';
+    } else {
+      this.config = starting?.config ?? { ...DEFAULT_CONFIG };
+      this.configSource = starting?.config ? 'initial' : 'default';
+    }
+    // What the start did is kept apart from gate.json's load error, so the
+    // load above can't clear it when it succeeds.
+    if (starting) {
+      const described = describeStart(starting, write, read.state === 'loaded' ? heldNames(read.listed) : null);
+      this.startNotice = [described, this.startMergeNote].filter((part): part is string => part !== null).join(' ') || null;
+      this.startUnsaved = describeUnsaved(starting, write, read.state === 'loaded');
+      this.startUnsavedMerged = write.kind === 'reconcile-failed' && (write.changing?.length ?? 0) > 0;
+    }
+    for (const said of [this.startNotice, this.startUnsaved]) {
+      if (said) console.error(`[gate] ${said}`);
     }
-
-    // Load config
-    this.config = this.loadConfig() ?? opts.initialConfig ?? { ...DEFAULT_CONFIG };
     this.compiledPolicies = this.compilePolicies(this.config);
     this.refreshShadowWarnings('startup');
 
@@ -728,29 +2062,377 @@ export class EventGate {
   // Config loading
   // =========================================================================
 
-  private loadConfig(): GateConfig | null {
-    if (!existsSync(this.configPath)) {
-      return null;
+  /**
+   * Write the starting rules to gate.json, as given, when it's absent, and
+   * record them as the recipe last applied (lastRecipePath); or, when it
+   * loads, merge them into its own rule list against that record, three ways
+   * and as written (reconcileWithRecipe), and record them. A rule as the last
+   * recipe left it follows the new one, a rule edited since keeps its edit, a
+   * rule no recipe declared stays, and `default` follows the same rule. A
+   * rule gate.json holds holds its name, whether the gate reads it or leaves
+   * it out. gate.json is written before the record, so a stop between the two
+   * leaves a state the next start reads rightly: the other order would make
+   * the old recipe's rules read as edits. Nothing is recorded where gate.json
+   * isn't written as the merge asks, or a name is given twice. Where
+   * gate.json has no rules of its own and, under its default, one of them that
+   * could wake the agent can't be put in force (left out, with no name, or kept
+   * out by a rule of gate.json's of its name that the gate leaves out), or
+   * they're refused whole and that default holds events back, gate.json isn't
+   * used at this start, which runs as one without it does. Otherwise, where
+   * gate.json has no rule list to add them to, it writes nothing, and the gate
+   * runs beside it those of them it reads. Says what it did when that wasn't
+   * simply done or not needed.
+   */
+  private seedOrReconcile(starting: StartingRules): StartWrite {
+    const read = this.readConfigFile();
+    if (read.state === 'absent') {
+      if (!starting.config) return { kind: 'none' };
+      try {
+        mkdirSync(dirname(this.configPath), { recursive: true });
+        writeFileSync(this.configPath, JSON.stringify(starting.given, null, 2) + '\n');
+      } catch (err) {
+        return { kind: 'seed-failed', error: errorText(err), atOpen: beforeWriting(err) };
+      }
+      const twice = duplicateName(starting.rules.map((rule) => rule.raw));
+      if (twice !== undefined) {
+        this.startMergeNote = `At start, the recipe names the rule "${twice}" twice, so gate.json was seeded with it as given and it `
+          + "wasn't recorded as the recipe last applied: a later start merges the recipe by name, once gate.json and the recipe "
+          + 'name each rule once.';
+      } else {
+        this.recordRecipe(lastRecipePath(this.configPath), starting.given, 'gate.json was seeded with the recipe');
+      }
+      return { kind: 'none' };
+    }
+    if (read.state !== 'loaded') return { kind: 'none' };
+    const held = heldNames(read.listed);
+    const fileDefault = read.config.default ?? 'always';
+    // No rule list, an empty one, or one holding only rules the gate leaves out.
+    const noRules = read.config.policies.length === 0;
+    // Starting rules refused whole put none beside or in a gate.json with no
+    // rules of its own, which holds events back. Earlier releases wrote them
+    // over it or into it, couldn't load what they wrote, and ran them from
+    // memory, so gate.json isn't used at this start either.
+    if (noRules && starting.refusedWhole !== undefined && fileDefault !== 'always') {
+      return { kind: 'start-without', default: fileDefault };
     }
+    // Nor can a start put in force, beside or in a gate.json with no rules of
+    // its own, a starting rule a load leaves out, one with no name, which it
+    // can't add by name, or one whose name gate.json holds in a rule the gate
+    // leaves out, which keeps the host's rule of that name out. Where, under
+    // gate.json's default, one of them could wake the agent, earlier releases
+    // ran the starting rules from memory: they couldn't load what they wrote
+    // over gate.json or into it, or, refusing its rule, didn't load it at all.
+    // So gate.json isn't used at this start, which runs as one without it does.
+    if (noRules && fileDefault !== 'always') {
+      const out = starting.rules.filter((rule) => !rule.quiet && (rule.policy === undefined || (rule.name !== undefined && held.has(rule.name))));
+      if (out.length > 0) {
+        const named = out.flatMap((rule) => (rule.name === undefined ? [] : [rule.name]));
+        return {
+          kind: 'start-without',
+          default: fileDefault,
+          leftOut: named.filter((name) => !held.has(name)),
+          nameless: out.length - named.length,
+          heldOut: named.filter((name) => held.has(name)),
+        };
+      }
+    }
+    if ('noList' in read.listed) {
+      const missing = starting.rules.filter((rule): rule is StartingRule & { name: string } => rule.name !== undefined && !held.has(rule.name));
+      if (missing.length === 0) return { kind: 'none' };
+      const names = missing.map((rule) => rule.name);
+      // Adding them would write over what gate.json holds. Earlier releases
+      // wrote them over it and ran them under its default, so the gate runs
+      // them so, unsaved, beside it.
+      const error = `${read.listed.noList}, so there's no list of rules to add them to without writing over what it holds`;
+      // The ones it runs: a starting rule left out is named as the starting rules are read.
+      const running = missing.flatMap((rule) => (rule.policy === undefined ? [] : [rule.policy]));
+      if (running.length === 0) return { kind: 'reconcile-failed', names, atOpen: true, config: read.config, error };
+      return { kind: 'reconcile-unsaved', names: running.map((policy) => policy.name), error, config: { policies: running, default: fileDefault } };
+    }
+    // Starting rules refused whole have nothing to merge or record.
+    if (starting.refusedWhole !== undefined) return { kind: 'none' };
+    // The merge, as written: gate.json's rule list and default against the
+    // recipe's, three ways, with the recipe last applied.
+    const recordPath = lastRecipePath(this.configPath);
+    const last = readLastRecipe(recordPath);
+    const given = isPlainObject(starting.given) ? starting.given : {};
+    let merged: ReturnType<typeof reconcileWithRecipe>;
+    let appended = false;
+    let appendedNote = '';
     try {
-      const raw = readFileSync(this.configPath, 'utf-8');
-      const stat = statSync(this.configPath);
-      this.configMtime = stat.mtimeMs;
-      const config = validateConfig(parseGateJson(raw));
-      this.configSource = 'file';
-      this.configErrors = [];
-      return config;
+      merged = reconcileWithRecipe(
+        { rules: read.listed.rules, default: read.listed.top.default },
+        { rules: starting.rules.map((rule) => rule.raw), default: given.default },
+        last.recipe,
+        ruleMeaning,
+      );
     } catch (err) {
-      const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
-      this.configErrors = [msg];
+      // A name given twice: a merge by name can't say which rule was meant.
+      // So the start adds the rules gate.json lacks, after its own, as
+      // earlier releases did, and removes, redefines and records nothing.
+      const missing = starting.rules.filter((rule): rule is StartingRule & { name: string } => rule.name !== undefined && !held.has(rule.name));
+      const lacked = [...new Set(missing.map((rule) => rule.name))];
+      appended = true;
+      // What it did is said once its write is made (appendedNote), and a
+      // write that fails is said as any start's is.
+      const why = `At start, ${errorText(err)}, and the merge with the recipe needs one rule per name, so it didn't run`;
+      const remedy = 'Once gate.json and the recipe name each rule once, a start merges the recipe.';
+      this.startMergeNote = `${why}. ${remedy}`;
+      appendedNote = `${why}: `
+        + (lacked.length > 0
+          ? `the start added the rules gate.json lacked (${quotedList(lacked)}), after its own, and removed, redefined and recorded nothing. `
+          : 'gate.json is as it was, and nothing was recorded. ')
+        + remedy;
+      merged = {
+        rules: [...read.listed.rules, ...missing.map((rule) => rule.raw)],
+        default: read.listed.top.default,
+        defaultChanged: false,
+        changes: { ...noChanges(), added: missing.map((rule) => rule.name) },
+      };
+    }
+    const { changes } = merged;
+    if (last.problem !== undefined) changes.recordUnreadable = last.problem;
+    const top = { ...read.listed.top };
+    if (merged.defaultChanged) {
+      if (merged.default === undefined) delete top.default;
+      else top.default = merged.default;
+    }
+    const reconciled = { ...top, policies: merged.rules };
+    const names = [...changes.added, ...changes.restored];
+    const changing = [...changes.removed, ...changes.updated, ...changes.moved, ...(changes.defaultChange ? ['default'] : [])];
+    const written = canonical(reconciled) !== canonical({ ...read.listed.top, policies: read.listed.rules });
+    if (written) {
+      // What the write holds, as a load reads it, for a write that fails partway.
+      const holds = readConfig(reconciled, 'gate.json');
+      if ('refused' in holds) {
+        // A write of ours doesn't take gate.json's own rules out of force:
+        // nothing is written or recorded, so it loads as it did. (With no
+        // rules of its own, gate.json isn't used at this start, above.)
+        const error = 'with them, gate.json would leave out a rule that could wake the agent, and under its default, '
+          + `"${changes.defaultChange?.to ?? read.config.default ?? 'always'}", it wouldn't be used`;
+        return { kind: 'reconcile-failed', names, changing, atOpen: true, config: read.config, error };
+      }
+      const text = JSON.stringify(reconciled, null, 2) + '\n';
+      try {
+        writeFileSync(this.configPath, text);
+      } catch (err) {
+        return {
+          kind: 'reconcile-failed',
+          names,
+          changing,
+          error: errorText(err),
+          atOpen: beforeWriting(err),
+          config: holds.config,
+          text,
+          note: loadNote(holds.sentences),
+          sentences: holds.sentences,
+        };
+      }
+    }
+    if (appended) this.startMergeNote = appendedNote;
+    // Said before the record is written, so a failed record write still
+    // leaves what the start did to gate.json named. A start that only added
+    // rules, since the merge couldn't run, is said in startNotice instead.
+    const line = appended ? null : reconcileLine(changes);
+    if (line) console.error(line);
+    if (line || names.length > 0) {
+      this.emitTrace({
+        type: 'gate:config-reconciled',
+        configPath: this.configPath,
+        ...changes,
+        // Every name the start added to gate.json, as an append's trace gave.
+        addedPolicies: names,
+        timestamp: Date.now(),
+      });
+    }
+    if (!appended && (!last.recipe || canonical({ rules: last.recipe.rules, default: last.recipe.default }) !== canonical({ rules: starting.rules.map((rule) => rule.raw), default: given.default }))) {
+      this.recordRecipe(recordPath, starting.given, written ? 'gate.json holds the recipe merged into it' : 'the merge left gate.json as it was');
+    }
+    return { kind: 'none' };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Record the starting config, as given, as the recipe last applied, after
+   * gate.json holds what the start merged (`holds` says what that is). A
+   * write that fails is said with the start: the next start merges against
+   * the record as the write left it.
+   */
+  private recordRecipe(recordPath: string, given: unknown, holds: string): void {
+    try {
+      writeFileSync(recordPath, JSON.stringify(given, null, 2) + '\n');
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.startMergeNote = `At start, ${holds}, and the gate runs it, but recording the recipe in ${basename(recordPath)} failed `
+        + `(${errorText(err)}), so the next start merges against the record as this write left it. Whoever runs this host can `
+        + 'fix what kept it from being written.';
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * gate.json as it is on disk: absent; loaded; refused, when it's JSON that
+   * readConfig doesn't use; or unreadable, when it can't be read or isn't
+   * JSON (`notJson`, where it could be read). A loaded file comes with its note,
+   * which names what it holds that does nothing or is read past a problem, and
+   * a loaded or refused one with its own fields and rule list as written, for a
+   * write to edit (Listed).
+   * Reading applies nothing: whoever applies a loaded config records its text
+   * as `configText`. With `unlessUnchanged`, a file whose text is
+   * `configText` comes back `unchanged`, unparsed, since the rules in force
+   * came from it, or are what a start ran beside it or in its place.
+   */
+  private readConfigFile(opts?: { unlessUnchanged?: boolean }):
+    | { state: 'absent' }
+    | { state: 'unchanged' }
+    | { state: 'loaded'; config: GateConfig; text: string; note: string | null; listed: Listed }
+    | { state: 'refused'; error: string; listed: Listed; silenced?: Array<string | undefined> }
+    | { state: 'unreadable'; error: string; notJson?: true } {
+    let raw: string;
+    try {
+      raw = readFileSync(this.configPath, 'utf-8');
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (!isMissing(err)) return this.configUnreadable(err);
+      // No file is no problem with it: the rules in force stay.
+      this.configError = null;
+      this.configUnused = false;
+      return { state: 'absent' };
+    }
+    // A file holding the text in force has that text's notes as its error,
+    // whatever a failed read or a look at other text since left there: beside
+    // the host's starting rules, they say those run beside it.
+    const inForce = raw === this.configText;
+    if (opts?.unlessUnchanged && inForce) {
+      this.configError = this.configNote;
+      this.configUnused = false;
+      return { state: 'unchanged' };
+    }
+    let parsed: unknown;
+    try {
+      parsed = parseGateJson(raw);
+    } catch (err) {
+      return { ...this.configUnreadable(err), notJson: true };
+    }
+    const read = readConfig(parsed, 'gate.json');
+    // JSON the gate doesn't use is still the operator's file, edited as written.
+    if ('refused' in read) {
+      return { ...this.configUnreadable(new Error(read.refused)), state: 'refused', listed: read.listed, silenced: read.silenced };
+    }
+    // A field the gate doesn't read does nothing, and a rule is read past a
+    // problem or left out, so the file loads, and each is named.
+    const note = loadNote(read.sentences);
+    this.configError = inForce ? this.configNote : note;
+    this.configUnused = false;
+    return { state: 'loaded', config: read.config, text: raw, note, listed: read.listed };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * gate.json's current error, replacing the last one, and traced and logged
+   * when it's new, so an edit that doesn't load is in the log once.
+   */
+  private configUnreadable(err: unknown): { state: 'unreadable'; error: string } {
+    const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    if (msg !== this.configError) {
+      console.error(`[gate] ${this.configPath} couldn't be used (${msg}), so what it holds isn't in force`);
       this.emitTrace({
         type: 'gate:config-error',
         error: msg,
         configPath: this.configPath,
         timestamp: Date.now(),
       });
-      return null; // Caller keeps previous config
     }
+    this.configError = msg;
+    this.configUnused = true;
+    return { state: 'unreadable', error: msg };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * gate.json's error as gate_status shows it: one that keeps what the file
+   * holds out of force says what's in force instead, so it reads on its own.
+   */
+  private configErrorShown(): string | null {
+    if (this.configError === null || !this.configUnused) return this.configError;
+    return `${sentence(this.configError)} So what gate.json holds isn't in force, and the gate runs ${this.rulesRun()}.`;
+  }
+
+  /** What the gate runs, by where its rules came from, for a text that says so: "the host's starting rules". */
+  private rulesRun(): string {
+    if (this.config.policies.length === 0) return `no rules: every event gets the default, "${this.config.default ?? 'always'}"`;
+    // Rules from a gate.json text, with the start's unsaved: only a start
+    // whose reconcile write left gate.json unable to load runs those, since a
+    // write of gate.json that lands, a reload that finds it holding a text
+    // that loads, or, while gate.json's rules are in force, one that finds it
+    // holding the text in force, clears startUnsaved.
+    return this.configSource === 'file'
+      ? this.startUnsaved !== null
+        ? this.startUnsavedMerged
+          ? 'the rules its start was writing to gate.json'
+          : 'the rules it read from gate.json at start and the ones it was adding'
+        : 'the rules of the last gate.json it used'
+      : "the host's starting rules";
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * What a policy change edits: gate.json's own fields and rule list as
+   * written, each rule as written, so a write keeps every rule it doesn't
+   * change, problems and unknown fields included, whether gate.json loads or
+   * is JSON the gate doesn't use. Over one it doesn't use, writeConfig writes
+   * only what loads, so a change is refused, naming what keeps the file out
+   * and what would bring it into force (`remedy`), unless it mends that, and
+   * the file stays as its operator wrote it. When
+   * gate.json is absent, the same of the text whose rules are in force, so a
+   * rule it leaves out keeps its name; or the rules in force, where no text
+   * is, it has no rule list, or what's in force is what a start ran beside or
+   * in place of it. A change is refused (`refused`) for a gate.json that can't
+   * be read or isn't JSON (unusableRefusal), whose rules can't be edited
+   * without writing over what it holds, and for one with no rule list a write
+   * could edit without that (a list, a "policies" that isn't one and holds
+   * something, or JSON that isn't an object): so a removal or an anchor is
+   * refused too, rather than looked for in rules that may not be what the
+   * file holds. It's refused as well for a gate.json that holds the text a
+   * start didn't use (start-without), since what the change wrote would put
+   * its rules in force in place of what the start runs.
+   */
+  private rulesForChange():
+    | { top: Record<string, unknown>; rules: unknown[]; remedy?: string }
+    | { refused: string } {
+    const read = this.readConfigFile();
+    if (read.state === 'unreadable') return { refused: unusableRefusal(read, this.rulesRun()) };
+    if (read.state === 'loaded' || read.state === 'refused') {
+      if ('noList' in read.listed) return { refused: noListRefusal(read.listed.noList, this.rulesRun()) };
+      // Rules not gate.json's in force while it holds the text in force: what a
+      // start ran in place of one with no rules of its own, until it changes.
+      if (read.state === 'loaded' && read.text === this.configText && this.configSource !== 'file') {
+        return { refused: notUsedRefusal(this.rulesRun()) };
+      }
+      const edit = { top: read.listed.top, rules: [...read.listed.rules] };
+      if (read.state === 'loaded') return edit;
+      // What would bring it into force, for a change that doesn't. A change
+      // finds its rule by name: a replacement takes the first rule with it,
+      // and a removal every one.
+      const names = [...new Set(read.silenced ?? [])];
+      const only = names.length === 1 ? names[0] : undefined;
+      const sharing = only === undefined ? 0 : edit.rules.filter((rule) => nameOf(rule) === only).length;
+      // A removal that would leave no rules in force is refused (writeConfig),
+      // so it isn't offered.
+      const rest = readConfig({ ...edit.top, policies: edit.rules.filter((rule) => nameOf(rule) !== only) }, 'gate.json');
+      const removes = !('refused' in rest) && rest.config.policies.length > 0;
+      return {
+        ...edit,
+        remedy: sharing === 1
+          ? `${removes ? 'Replacing or removing' : 'Replacing'} "${only}" by name would bring gate.json into force.`
+          : sharing > 1
+            ? `gate.json has ${sharing} rules named "${only}", and a change by that name replaces the first of them`
+              + `${removes ? ' or removes them all' : ''}.`
+            : 'No change through the gate can bring it into force, so gate.json has to be fixed by an edit of its own; '
+              + 'until then, a change is refused the same way.',
+      };
+    }
+    // While the rules in force aren't gate.json's, configText is the text a
+    // start ran them beside or in place of, so its rules aren't the ones in force.
+    const text = this.configText !== undefined && this.configSource === 'file'
+      ? readConfig(parseGateJson(this.configText), 'gate.json')
+      : undefined;
+    return text && !('refused' in text) && !('noList' in text.listed)
+      ? { top: text.listed.top, rules: [...text.listed.rules] }
+      : { top: { policies: [], default: this.config.default ?? 'always' }, rules: [...this.config.policies] as unknown[] };
   }
 
   private compilePolicies(config: GateConfig): CompiledPolicy[] {
@@ -778,54 +2460,67 @@ export class EventGate {
     });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Clear the state of each rule `was` held in force that `next` leaves out or
+   * gives another behavior: a reload calls it before it puts `next` in force,
+   * a write after. Without this, a rule that came back, or whose tokens 100
+   * became 5 (or keyBy switched, or every 10 became 3), would run on the
+   * buckets and counters of the rule it was. A rule left out loses its stats
+   * (matchCount, lastMatchTimestamp) too; a rule kept keeps them, which are
+   * history, not live state, and one kept with the same behavior keeps all its
+   * state, its denial and fire counts included. Rules that share a name share
+   * its state, so a name keeps it only where its rules, in order, keep their
+   * behaviors. Each pending debounce batch is sent last, as its timer would
+   * have sent it, once every rule's state is cleared; one whose delivery throws
+   * is named in the log and dropped (fireDebounce), and the rest are still
+   * sent, so the write or reload that cleared it has done what it was for, its
+   * caller hears that it did, and no state is left behind.
+   */
+  private clearStateFor(was: GateConfig, next: GateConfig): { removed: string[]; cleared: string[] } {
+    const behaviorsByName = (config: GateConfig): Map<string, string> => {
+      const byName = new Map<string, string[]>();
+      for (const p of config.policies) byName.set(p.name, [...(byName.get(p.name) ?? []), behaviorFingerprint(p.behavior)]);
+      return new Map([...byName].map(([name, behaviors]) => [name, JSON.stringify(behaviors)]));
+    };
+    const before = behaviorsByName(was);
+    const after = behaviorsByName(next);
+    const removed = [...before.keys()].filter((name) => !after.has(name));
+    for (const name of removed) {
+      this.clearPolicyState(name);
+      this.stats.delete(name);
+    }
+    const cleared = [...after.keys()].filter((name) => before.has(name) && before.get(name) !== after.get(name));
+    for (const name of cleared) this.clearPolicyState(name);
+    for (const name of [...removed, ...cleared]) this.fireDebounce(name);
+    return { removed, cleared };
+  }
+
   private reloadIfChanged(): void {
     const now = Date.now();
-    if (now - this.lastReloadCheck < RELOAD_THROTTLE_MS) return;
+    if (checkedRecently(now, this.lastReloadCheck)) return;
     this.lastReloadCheck = now;
 
     try {
-      if (!existsSync(this.configPath)) return;
-      const stat = statSync(this.configPath);
-      if (stat.mtimeMs === this.configMtime) return;
-
-      const newConfig = this.loadConfig();
-      if (!newConfig) return; // Parse error — keep previous config
-
-      // Capture old policies' behavior fingerprints before any state
-      // mutation — needed to detect kept policies whose parameters changed.
-      const oldBehaviorByName = new Map<string, string>();
-      for (const p of this.config.policies) {
-        oldBehaviorByName.set(p.name, behaviorFingerprint(p.behavior));
-      }
+      // Missing, unchanged or unreadable: the rules in force stay.
+      const read = this.readConfigFile({ unlessUnchanged: true });
+      // gate.json holds the text in force, so none the start ran is unsaved,
+      // unless what's in force is what the start ran beside it or in its place.
+      if (read.state === 'unchanged' && this.configSource === 'file') this.startUnsaved = null;
+      if (read.state !== 'loaded') return;
+      const newConfig = read.config;
 
-      // Clean up state for REMOVED policies (gone from new config entirely).
-      const newPolicyNames = new Set(newConfig.policies.map(p => p.name));
-      const removedPolicies: string[] = [];
-      for (const oldName of oldBehaviorByName.keys()) {
-        if (!newPolicyNames.has(oldName)) {
-          this.clearPolicyState(oldName, { deliverPendingDebounce: true });
-          this.stats.delete(oldName);
-          removedPolicies.push(oldName);
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Clean up state for KEPT policies whose behavior parameters changed.
-      // Without this, a tokens 100→5 edit (or keyBy switch, or every 10→3,
-      // etc.) wouldn't take effect until existing buckets/counters drained.
-      // Stats are preserved — matchCount is historical, not live state.
-      const stateClearedPolicies: string[] = [];
-      for (const newPolicy of newConfig.policies) {
-        const oldHash = oldBehaviorByName.get(newPolicy.name);
-        if (oldHash === undefined) continue; // new policy, no state to clear
-        const newHash = behaviorFingerprint(newPolicy.behavior);
-        if (oldHash !== newHash) {
-          this.clearPolicyState(newPolicy.name, { deliverPendingDebounce: true });
-          stateClearedPolicies.push(newPolicy.name);
-        }
-      }
+      const { removed: removedPolicies, cleared: stateClearedPolicies } = this.clearStateFor(this.config, newConfig);
 
       this.config = newConfig;
       this.compiledPolicies = this.compilePolicies(newConfig);
+      // Recorded only now that its rules are in force, so a reload that
+      // throws before here is tried again at the next check.
+      this.configText = read.text;
+      this.configNote = read.note;
+      this.configSource = 'file';
+      if (read.note) console.error(`[gate] ${read.note}`);
+      // The rules in force are now gate.json's, so none the start ran is unsaved.
+      this.startUnsaved = null;
       this.lastReloadTimestamp = now;
       this.refreshShadowWarnings('reload');
 
@@ -839,7 +2534,7 @@ export class EventGate {
         timestamp: now,
       });
     } catch {
-      // Ignore stat errors
+      // The rules in force stay, and the next check tries again.
     }
   }
 
@@ -850,55 +2545,87 @@ export class EventGate {
   /**
    * Add or replace (upsert) a single policy in gate.json and apply it live.
    *
-   * The raw policy is validated with the SAME `validatePolicy` used when loading
-   * gate.json — an invalid shape throws (nothing is written) and the caller
-   * surfaces it as a tool error. On success the policy is persisted to gate.json
-   * (so it survives restart and is visible to `workspace--edit _config/gate.json`)
+   * The raw policy is read with the SAME `readRule` used when loading gate.json,
+   * and since its caller is there to fix it, any problem it has throws, naming
+   * every one (nothing is written), and the caller surfaces it as a tool error,
+   * where a load reads past it (readConfig). On success the policy is persisted
+   * to gate.json (so it survives restart and is visible to `workspace--edit _config/gate.json`)
    * and the in-memory config is swapped in immediately, so the rule takes effect
-   * without waiting for the throttled mtime reload.
+   * without waiting for the throttled reload.
    *
    * The freshest on-disk config is re-read first, so a concurrent operator edit
-   * isn't clobbered. A policy with the same `name` is replaced IN PLACE when no
-   * `position` is given (order preserved); WITH a `position` it is moved there
-   * — so re-issuing a rule is also how you reposition it. New policies append
-   * by default; `'prepend'` puts one at the very front (ahead of EVERYTHING,
-   * including addressed-message wake rules — see the shadow lint), and the
-   * anchored forms `{before: name}` / `{after: name}` insert relative to an
-   * existing rule, which is almost always the safer way to order a sampler
-   * or debounce against a specific catch-all.
+   * isn't clobbered, and the change edits gate.json's own rule list by name:
+   * every rule it doesn't change is written back as it was written, problems and
+   * fields the gate doesn't read included, and so is everything else gate.json
+   * holds, such as a list of rules parked under another name, beside which a
+   * change adds a "policies" list where there's none (rulesForChange). Over a
+   * gate.json the gate doesn't use, only a change after which it loads is
+   * written, such as one replacing or removing the rule that keeps it out, and
+   * that leaves it rules in force, since it holds events back by default; any
+   * other is refused, naming what does, and the file stays as written. When
+   * gate.json is absent, the change edits the text whose rules are in force the
+   * same way, or the rules in force where there's none. A gate.json that can't
+   * be read or isn't JSON is refused (unusableRefusal), and stays as it is. A policy with the
+   * same `name` is replaced IN PLACE when no `position` is given (order
+   * preserved); WITH a `position` it is moved there — so re-issuing a rule is
+   * also how you reposition it. New policies append by default; `'prepend'` puts
+   * one at the very front (ahead of EVERYTHING, including addressed-message wake
+   * rules — see the shadow lint), and the anchored forms `{before: name}` /
+   * `{after: name}` insert relative to an existing rule, which is almost always
+   * the safer way to order a sampler or debounce against a specific catch-all.
+   * Fields of the policy the gate reads nowhere, and that aren't a slip of one
+   * it does, are left out of what's written, and named to `onIgnoredFields` once
+   * the change is written and traced. A throw from the callback is logged,
+   * and the change stands (afterChange). A field it reads at another level is a
+   * problem, like a slip.
+   *
+   * Throws, writing nothing, for an invalid policy, a placement it can't make,
+   * a gate.json that can't be read or isn't JSON, one with no rule list it
+   * could edit without writing over what it holds, one a start didn't use,
+   * which runs as one without it does, while it's unchanged, or one the gate
+   * doesn't use that the change doesn't mend or would leave with no rules in
+   * force; and throws when the write fails, which may leave gate.json
+   * part-written.
    */
   addPolicy(
     rawPolicy: unknown,
-    options?: { position?: 'append' | 'prepend' | { before: string } | { after: string } },
+    options?: {
+      position?: 'append' | 'prepend' | { before: string } | { after: string };
+      onIgnoredFields?: (notes: string[]) => void;
+    },
   ): GatePolicy {
-    const policy = validatePolicy(rawPolicy);
-    const current = this.loadConfig() ?? this.config;
-    const policies = [...current.policies];
-    const idx = policies.findIndex((p) => p.name === policy.name);
+    const reading = readRule(rawPolicy, 'A policy');
+    if (reading.problems.length > 0 || !reading.policy) throw new Error(refusalOf(reading));
+    const policy = reading.policy;
+    const ignored = notesOf(reading);
+    const edit = this.rulesForChange();
+    if ('refused' in edit) throw new Error(edit.refused);
+    const { top, rules, remedy } = edit;
+    const idx = rules.findIndex((rule) => nameOf(rule) === policy.name);
     const position = options?.position;
 
     if (idx >= 0 && position === undefined) {
-      policies[idx] = policy; // replace in place, order preserved
+      rules[idx] = policy; // replace in place, order preserved
     } else {
-      if (idx >= 0) policies.splice(idx, 1); // repositioning a known rule
+      if (idx >= 0) rules.splice(idx, 1); // repositioning a known rule
       if (position === 'prepend') {
-        policies.unshift(policy);
+        rules.unshift(policy);
       } else if (position !== undefined && typeof position === 'object') {
         const anchorName = 'before' in position ? position.before : position.after;
-        const anchorIdx = policies.findIndex((p) => p.name === anchorName);
+        const anchorIdx = rules.findIndex((rule) => nameOf(rule) === anchorName);
         if (anchorIdx < 0) {
           throw new Error(
             `addPolicy: no policy named "${anchorName}" to anchor on — `
-            + `have: [${policies.map((p) => p.name).join(', ')}]`,
+            + `have: [${rules.map(nameOf).filter((name) => name !== undefined).join(', ')}]`,
           );
         }
-        policies.splice('before' in position ? anchorIdx : anchorIdx + 1, 0, policy);
+        rules.splice('before' in position ? anchorIdx : anchorIdx + 1, 0, policy);
       } else {
-        policies.push(policy);
+        rules.push(policy);
       }
     }
 
-    this.writeConfig({ ...current, policies });
+    this.writeConfig(top, rules, remedy);
     this.emitTrace({
       type: 'gate:policy-added',
       configPath: this.configPath,
@@ -906,26 +2633,43 @@ export class EventGate {
       replaced: idx >= 0,
       timestamp: Date.now(),
     });
+    if (ignored.length > 0) {
+      // A caller that doesn't take the notes still gets them said, in the log.
+      const onIgnoredFields = options?.onIgnoredFields;
+      if (onIgnoredFields) afterChange('onIgnoredFields', () => onIgnoredFields(ignored));
+      else console.error(`[gate] ${ignored.join(' ')}`);
+    }
     return policy;
   }
 
   /**
    * Remove a policy by name from gate.json and clear its live state. Any pending
-   * debounce batch is delivered first (matching reloadIfChanged's removal path,
-   * so buffered events aren't silently dropped). Returns false if no policy of
-   * that name exists (nothing written). Freshest on-disk config is re-read first
-   * (see addPolicy).
+   * debounce batch is sent once the removal is written and in force, as its
+   * timer would have sent it, so buffered events aren't silently dropped
+   * (clearStateFor). Freshest on-disk config is re-read first, and every other
+   * rule is written back as it was written (see addPolicy). A name that isn't
+   * a non-empty string names no rule, so it returns false, writing nothing,
+   * whatever gate.json holds. Otherwise it throws, writing nothing, for a
+   * gate.json that can't be read or isn't JSON, one with no rule list it could
+   * edit, or one a start didn't use, as addPolicy does, and returns false,
+   * writing nothing, if no policy of that name exists, gate.json's own rules
+   * included, so one the gate leaves out can be removed by name too. For a name
+   * it holds, it throws, writing nothing, for a gate.json the gate doesn't use
+   * that the removal doesn't mend or would leave with no rules in force, and
+   * throws when the write fails, which may
+   * leave gate.json part-written; the rules in force then stay as they were,
+   * with their state.
    */
   removePolicy(name: string): boolean {
-    const current = this.loadConfig() ?? this.config;
-    if (!current.policies.some((p) => p.name === name)) {
-      return false;
-    }
-    // Deliver any pending debounce batch, then drop timers/buckets/counters.
-    this.clearPolicyState(name, { deliverPendingDebounce: true });
-    this.stats.delete(name);
-    const policies = current.policies.filter((p) => p.name !== name);
-    this.writeConfig({ ...current, policies });
+    // nameOf gives undefined for a rule with no name, so a call from JavaScript
+    // with no name would otherwise remove every such rule.
+    if (typeof name !== 'string' || name === '') return false;
+    const edit = this.rulesForChange();
+    if ('refused' in edit) throw new Error(edit.refused);
+    if (!edit.rules.some((rule) => nameOf(rule) === name)) return false;
+    // The write clears the rule's state once it has succeeded (writeConfig),
+    // so a refusal or a failed write leaves the rule in force with its state.
+    this.writeConfig(edit.top, edit.rules.filter((rule) => nameOf(rule) !== name), edit.remedy);
     this.emitTrace({
       type: 'gate:policy-removed',
       configPath: this.configPath,
@@ -936,34 +2680,78 @@ export class EventGate {
   }
 
   /**
-   * List the current policy names (freshest on-disk view). Cheap helper for
+   * List the current policy names: those of a newer gate.json that loads (the
+   * freshest on-disk view), and otherwise the rules in force, which beside a
+   * gate.json with no rule list are the host's starting rules. Cheap helper for
    * tools/UX that want to show what's active without the full status payload.
    */
   listPolicyNames(): string[] {
-    const current = this.loadConfig() ?? this.config;
+    const read = this.readConfigFile({ unlessUnchanged: true });
+    const current = read.state === 'loaded' ? read.config : this.config;
     return current.policies.map((p) => p.name);
   }
 
   /**
-   * Persist a config to gate.json and apply it in memory together: write the
-   * file, swap in the compiled policies, and sync `configMtime` to the new file
-   * so `reloadIfChanged` doesn't redundantly re-parse identical content. Throws
-   * if the write fails (disk/permission) — callers surface it as a tool error.
+   * Persist gate.json and apply it in memory together: `top`, its own fields,
+   * with `rules` as its rule list. Only what loads is written: a change to a
+   * gate.json the gate doesn't use, for which `remedy` is given, what would
+   * bring it into force, throws, naming that and `remedy`, and writes nothing,
+   * where the change doesn't mend what keeps it out, or where it would leave
+   * gate.json with no rules in force: such a gate.json holds events back by
+   * default, so putting it in force would hold back every event, those the
+   * rules in force wake on included. The rules in force are then what the text
+   * written reads as, as at a load, so what it still holds that the gate reads
+   * past or leaves out stays named; the text is kept as `configText`, so
+   * `reloadIfChanged` doesn't parse it again. Once the text is written and its
+   * rules are in force, a rule that was in force that it leaves out or gives
+   * another behavior loses its state (clearStateFor), last, since a pending
+   * batch it sends can't be taken back, and a write that fails leaves the
+   * rules in force with their state; a batch that can't be delivered is
+   * logged, not thrown. A write that fails throws, saying whether gate.json was
+   * changed: one that fails before writing leaves it as it was, and one that
+   * fails after its open may leave it part-written (beforeWriting). Callers
+   * surface it as a tool error.
    */
-  private writeConfig(config: GateConfig): void {
-    mkdirSync(dirname(this.configPath), { recursive: true });
-    writeFileSync(this.configPath, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2) + '\n');
-    this.config = config;
-    this.compiledPolicies = this.compilePolicies(config);
+  private writeConfig(top: Record<string, unknown>, rules: unknown[], remedy?: string): void {
+    const text = JSON.stringify({ ...top, policies: rules }, null, 2) + '\n';
+    const read = readConfig(JSON.parse(text), 'gate.json');
+    if ('refused' in read) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Nothing was saved: with this change, gate.json wouldn't be used. ${sentence(read.refused)}${remedy ? ` ${remedy}` : ''}`,
+      );
+    }
+    // One the gate doesn't use, and that a change can mend, holds back what a
+    // rule it leaves out would wake on, so its default holds events back.
+    if (remedy !== undefined && read.config.policies.length === 0) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'Nothing was saved: with this change, gate.json would have no rules the gate reads, and its default would hold back every '
+        + `event. Meanwhile the gate runs ${this.rulesRun()}. ${remedy}`,
+      );
+    }
+    try {
+      mkdirSync(dirname(this.configPath), { recursive: true });
+      writeFileSync(this.configPath, text);
+    } catch (err) {
+      throw new Error(beforeWriting(err)
+        ? `gate.json couldn't be written (${errorText(err)}), so nothing was saved: the rules in force and gate.json stay `
+          + 'as they were. Whoever runs this host can fix what keeps it from being written.'
+        : `Writing gate.json failed partway (${errorText(err)}), so the change isn't in force: the rules in force stay as `
+          + 'they were. gate.json may hold the whole change, which the gate reads at its next reload; or it may hold part of it '
+          + 'or nothing, which the gate can\'t read, and then they stay until gate.json is fixed. '
+          + 'Whoever runs this host can fix what kept it from being written, and check what gate.json holds.', { cause: err });
+    }
+    const was = this.config;
+    this.configText = text;
+    this.configNote = loadNote(read.sentences);
+    this.config = read.config;
+    this.compiledPolicies = this.compilePolicies(read.config);
     this.refreshShadowWarnings('policy-mutation');
     this.configSource = 'file';
-    this.configErrors = [];
+    this.configError = this.configNote;
+    this.configUnused = false;
+    this.startUnsaved = null;
     this.lastReloadTimestamp = Date.now();
-    try {
-      this.configMtime = statSync(this.configPath).mtimeMs;
-    } catch {
-      // A failed stat only risks one redundant reload; keep the old mtime.
-    }
+    this.clearStateFor(was, read.config);
   }
 
   // =========================================================================
@@ -984,9 +2772,16 @@ export class EventGate {
       return false;
     }
 
-    // Channel check
+    // Channel check: the event's own channel id, or the registered id the
+    // gate resolves for its route. A push event carries the adapter's raw id
+    // (`origin.channelId`, or none), and a channels/incoming message the
+    // registered one, so a pattern in the registered form matches every
+    // event in its channel whose push names the channel (by `mcplChannelId`,
+    // or a Discord origin's guild and channel): its messages on both paths,
+    // and its reactions, edits, voice reports and other pushes.
     if (compiled.channelRegex && !compiled.channelRegex.test(info.channelId)) {
-      return false;
+      const registered = this.routeChannelFor(info);
+      if (registered === undefined || !compiled.channelRegex.test(registered)) return false;
     }
 
     // Mount check (workspace fs events)
@@ -1057,10 +2852,9 @@ export class EventGate {
     // marker requires too: a `source` in an event's metadata is the server's
     // own word, which any server can give.
     if (this.sleepUntil > this.now()) {
-      this.reloadPrivilegedIfChanged();
       const isHeartbeat = info.serverId === 'heartbeat';
       const authorId = this.extractAuthorId(info.metadata);
-      const privileged = authorId !== null && this.privilegedUserIds.has(authorId);
+      const privileged = this.isPrivilegedUser(authorId);
       if (!isHeartbeat && !privileged) {
         this.sleepSuppressed++;
         this.totalEvaluations++;
@@ -1190,10 +2984,17 @@ export class EventGate {
   // rate_limit + passive_sample + resets
   // =========================================================================
 
-  /** Resolve the partition key for keyBy-style behaviors. */
-  private resolveKey(metadata: Record<string, unknown> | undefined, keyBy: string | undefined): string {
+  /** Resolve the partition key for keyBy-style behaviors. `keyBy:
+   *  "channelId"` takes the registered id the gate resolves for the event when
+   *  it has one, as channel matching does, so a channel's push events count
+   *  with its channels/incoming messages rather than under their raw id. */
+  private resolveKey(info: GateEventInfo, keyBy: string | undefined): string {
     if (!keyBy) return SHARED_BUCKET_KEY;
-    const value = metadata?.[keyBy];
+    if (keyBy === 'channelId') {
+      const registered = this.routeChannelFor(info);
+      if (registered !== undefined) return registered;
+    }
+    const value = info.metadata?.[keyBy];
     if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') return SHARED_BUCKET_KEY;
     return String(value);
   }
@@ -1203,7 +3004,7 @@ export class EventGate {
     info: GateEventInfo,
     config: { tokens: number; refillIntervalMs: number; keyBy?: string },
   ): GateDecision {
-    const key = this.resolveKey(info.metadata, config.keyBy);
+    const key = this.resolveKey(info, config.keyBy);
     let buckets = this.rateLimitBuckets.get(policy.name);
     if (!buckets) {
       buckets = new Map();
@@ -1217,7 +3018,14 @@ export class EventGate {
       buckets.set(key, bucket);
     } else if (bucket.tokens < config.tokens) {
       const elapsed = now - bucket.lastRefill;
-      if (elapsed > 0) {
+      // A refill interval of 0, read from gate.json or the starting rules
+      // (readRateLimit), refills at once; divided by, it refilled the bucket
+      // once and left its clock at NaN. Under 0, no number of whole intervals
+      // has passed, so it never refills.
+      if (config.refillIntervalMs === 0) {
+        bucket.tokens = config.tokens;
+        bucket.lastRefill = now;
+      } else if (elapsed > 0) {
         const tokensToAdd = Math.floor(elapsed / config.refillIntervalMs);
         if (tokensToAdd > 0) {
           bucket.tokens = Math.min(config.tokens, bucket.tokens + tokensToAdd);
@@ -1245,7 +3053,7 @@ export class EventGate {
     info: GateEventInfo,
     config: { every: number; keyBy?: string },
   ): GateDecision {
-    const key = this.resolveKey(info.metadata, config.keyBy);
+    const key = this.resolveKey(info, config.keyBy);
     let counters = this.passiveSampleCounters.get(policy.name);
     if (!counters) {
       counters = new Map();
@@ -1277,24 +3085,16 @@ export class EventGate {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Clear ALL per-policy state (debounce timer, rate-limit buckets,
-   * passive-sample counters, denial / fire counters) for one policy.
-   * Used by reloadIfChanged when a policy is removed or its behavior
-   * params change. Stats (matchCount, lastMatchTimestamp) are preserved
-   * — those are historical and shouldn't reset on a config edit.
+   * Clear one policy's live state (rate-limit buckets, passive-sample
+   * counters, denial / fire counters) and stop its debounce timer, leaving
+   * its pending batch for fireDebounce to send, as clearStateFor does once
+   * every policy's state is cleared. It leaves stats (matchCount,
+   * lastMatchTimestamp), which are history; clearStateFor deletes a removed
+   * policy's.
    */
-  private clearPolicyState(
-    name: string,
-    options: { deliverPendingDebounce: boolean },
-  ): void {
+  private clearPolicyState(name: string): void {
     const debounce = this.debounceTimers.get(name);
-    if (debounce) {
-      clearTimeout(debounce.timer);
-      if (options.deliverPendingDebounce && debounce.events.length > 0) {
-        this.deliverEvents(debounce.events);
-      }
-      this.debounceTimers.delete(name);
-    }
+    if (debounce) clearTimeout(debounce.timer);
     this.rateLimitBuckets.delete(name);
     this.passiveSampleCounters.delete(name);
     this.rateLimitDenied.delete(name);
@@ -1318,11 +3118,14 @@ export class EventGate {
       if ('debounce' in b) return false; // batches; never triggers inline
       if ('rate_limit' in b) {
         const cfg = b.rate_limit;
-        const key = this.resolveKey(info.metadata, cfg.keyBy);
+        const key = this.resolveKey(info, cfg.keyBy);
         const bucket = this.rateLimitBuckets.get(policy.name)?.get(key);
         if (!bucket) return true; // fresh bucket starts full
+        // As applyRateLimit refills: at once, for an interval of 0, and never
+        // for one under 0.
+        if (cfg.refillIntervalMs === 0) return true;
         let tokens = bucket.tokens;
-        if (tokens < cfg.tokens) {
+        if (tokens < cfg.tokens && cfg.refillIntervalMs > 0) {
           const elapsed = Math.max(0, this.now() - bucket.lastRefill);
           tokens = Math.min(cfg.tokens, tokens + Math.floor(elapsed / cfg.refillIntervalMs));
         }
@@ -1330,7 +3133,7 @@ export class EventGate {
       }
       if ('passive_sample' in b) {
         const cfg = b.passive_sample;
-        const key = this.resolveKey(info.metadata, cfg.keyBy);
+        const key = this.resolveKey(info, cfg.keyBy);
         const count = this.passiveSampleCounters.get(policy.name)?.get(key) ?? 0;
         return count + 1 >= cfg.every;
       }
@@ -1357,16 +3160,8 @@ export class EventGate {
     return { trigger, policyName: null, behavior: this.config.default ?? 'always' };
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Probe a canonical set of synthetic chat/heartbeat events and report which
-   * rule wins each and whether it would wake. Backs the before/after table in
-   * the wake_add_rule result — the point where a rule change's real semantics
-   * must become legible (af#105; the Mythos stand-back-density incident would
-   * have been visible as `dm: discord-direct-address → stand-back-density`).
-   * Probes are representative shapes, not an exhaustive event space — rules
-   * keyed on specific channels/mounts may not match any probe.
-   */
-  probeTable(): GateProbeRow[] {
+  /** The canonical synthetic events the probe table runs: chat shapes as MCPL delivers them, and a heartbeat. */
+  private probeEvents(): Array<{ label: string; info: GateEventInfo }> {
     const chat = (
       label: string,
       eventType: string,
@@ -1412,8 +3207,34 @@ export class EventGate {
         } as GateEventInfo,
       },
     ];
+    return probes;
+  }
 
-    return probes.map(({ label, info }) => {
+  /**
+   * The rules no probe event matches, such as one scoped to an event type
+   * the probes don't model (`external-message`, how a module's messages are
+   * gated): the probe table can't show what they do, so a result that shows
+   * the table names them rather than let its rows read as their effect.
+   */
+  probeUnreached(): string[] {
+    const events = this.probeEvents().map(({ info }) => info);
+    return this.compiledPolicies
+      .filter((compiled) => !events.some((info) => this.compiledMatches(compiled, info)))
+      .map((compiled) => compiled.policy.name);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Probe a canonical set of synthetic chat/heartbeat events and report which
+   * rule wins each and whether it would wake. Backs the before/after table in
+   * the wake_add_rule result — the point where a rule change's real semantics
+   * must become legible (af#105; the Mythos stand-back-density incident would
+   * have been visible as `dm: discord-direct-address → stand-back-density`).
+   * Probes are representative shapes, not an exhaustive event space — rules
+   * keyed on specific channels/mounts, or on other event types, may not match
+   * any probe; `probeUnreached` names those.
+   */
+  probeTable(): GateProbeRow[] {
+    return this.probeEvents().map(({ label, info }) => {
       const d = this.probe(info);
       return {
         probe: label,
@@ -1514,6 +3335,8 @@ export class EventGate {
       serverId: info.serverId || undefined,
       addressed: Array.isArray(info.tags) && info.tags.includes('chat:addressed'),
       routeChannelId: this.routeChannelFor(info),
+      ...(typeof info.metadata?.messageId === 'string' ? { messageId: info.metadata.messageId } : {}),
+      ...(typeof info.metadata?.eventId === 'string' ? { eventId: info.metadata.eventId } : {}),
     };
 
     const existing = this.debounceTimers.get(policy.name);
@@ -1546,7 +3369,20 @@ export class EventGate {
       return;
     }
 
-    this.deliverEvents(events);
+    // A delivery that throws drops the batch, named in the log: thrown from
+    // its timer, it would be uncaught, and stop the process, and thrown to a
+    // write or reload that sends it (clearStateFor), it would report a change
+    // that was made as failed.
+    try {
+      this.deliverEvents(events);
+    } catch (err) {
+      const one = events.length === 1;
+      console.error(
+        `[gate] Policy "${policyName}": its pending batch of ${events.length} ${one ? 'event' : 'events'} couldn't be delivered `
+        + `(${errorText(err)}), so the batch is dropped`,
+      );
+      return;
+    }
 
     this.emitTrace({
       type: 'gate:debounce-delivered',
@@ -1574,40 +3410,68 @@ export class EventGate {
     const referenced = events.filter(e => e.inContext);
 
     const lines: string[] = quoted.map(e => `- [${e.policyName}] (${e.eventType}): ${e.content}`);
+    // How each referenced channel is named in the line, in order.
+    const shown: string[] = [];
     if (referenced.length > 0) {
-      const byChannel = new Map<string, { count: number; oldest: number; label?: string }>();
+      // By channel, its server and its id: two servers' channels can share
+      // an id.
+      const byChannel = new Map<string, { name: string; count: number; oldest: number; label?: string }>();
       for (const e of referenced) {
         // The registered id when known, so this line names the channel the
         // same way routing notices and send tools do (a push event's own
-        // channelId is the adapter's raw id).
-        const key = e.routeChannelId ?? e.channelId ?? '(unknown channel)';
-        const entry = byChannel.get(key) ?? { count: 0, oldest: e.timestamp, label: e.channelLabel };
+        // channelId is the adapter's raw id), shown as the agent names it
+        // back where the event names its server.
+        // Only a registered id is a channel name; an adapter's raw id is
+        // shown as it is.
+        const id = e.routeChannelId ?? e.channelId;
+        const name = id === undefined
+          ? '(unknown channel)'
+          : e.routeChannelId !== undefined && e.serverId !== undefined && this.channelShownFn
+            ? this.channelShownFn({ serverId: e.serverId, channelId: e.routeChannelId })
+            : id;
+        const key = JSON.stringify([e.serverId ?? null, id ?? null]);
+        const entry = byChannel.get(key) ?? { name, count: 0, oldest: e.timestamp, label: e.channelLabel };
         entry.count += 1;
         entry.oldest = Math.min(entry.oldest, e.timestamp);
         entry.label = entry.label ?? e.channelLabel;
         byChannel.set(key, entry);
       }
-      for (const [channelId, { count, oldest, label }] of byChannel) {
+      for (const { name, count, oldest, label } of byChannel.values()) {
         // Prefer the human-readable name; keep the id parenthesized so the
         // agent can still address tools that want the composite id. A name
         // may carry its own `#`, so one is added only where the name lacks
         // it, as at the other places that add a `#`.
-        const channel = label ? `${label.startsWith('#') ? label : `#${label}`} (${channelId})` : channelId;
-        const age = Math.round((Date.now() - oldest) / 1000);
-        lines.push(
-          `- ${count} message${count > 1 ? 's' : ''} in ${channel} ` +
-          `(oldest ~${age}s ago) — already shown above at arrival; this is a ` +
-          `batched wake, not new content`,
-        );
+        const channel = label ? `${label.startsWith('#') ? label : `#${label}`} (${name})` : name;
+        shown.push(channel);
+        lines.push(referenceLine(count, channel, oldest, Date.now()));
       }
     }
 
+    // The line says which messages a wake is for. For one message that is
+    // still the newest thing in the window it would be written to, it says
+    // nothing the message right above doesn't. But the turn compiles later,
+    // and what lands in between puts the message above other entries, so the
+    // gate hands the line to the wake (WakeProvenance.line) and a fresh start
+    // of the wake's turn decides it (WakeLine). Several messages, one with
+    // anything after it, or content the line quotes, keep the line now.
     const text = `[Gate: ${events.length} event${events.length > 1 ? 's' : ''} matched]\n\n${lines.join('\n')}`;
-
-    this.addMessageFn('user', [{ type: 'text', text }], {
-      source: 'gate:debounce',
-      policies: policyNames,
-    });
+    const only = events.length === 1 && events[0].inContext ? events[0] : undefined;
+    let line: WakeLine | undefined;
+    if (only && this.newestEntry(only)) {
+      const shownChannel = only.routeChannelId ?? only.channelId;
+      line = {
+        entry: entryRef(only),
+        policyNames,
+        shown: shown[0],
+        at: only.timestamp,
+        ...(shownChannel !== undefined ? { channelId: shownChannel } : {}),
+      };
+    } else {
+      this.addMessageFn('user', [{ type: 'text', text }], {
+        source: 'gate:debounce',
+        policies: policyNames,
+      });
+    }
 
     // Provenance of the batched wake (who/where woke the agent): the newest
     // ADDRESSED event first, else the newest event naming a channel or an
@@ -1615,13 +3479,26 @@ export class EventGate {
     // event addressed the agent and its registered channel is known,
     // `routeChannelId` names the turn's speech locus too — the reply goes
     // back to whoever addressed the agent, not to whichever channel last saw
-    // any traffic. Ambient-only batches carry telemetry only.
-    const provenance = wakeProvenance(events);
+    // any traffic. Ambient-only batches set no locus. A batch whose line the
+    // gate left to the turn's start carries it too (`line`), one object
+    // shared by every agent the batch wakes, so it is written once.
+    const chosen = wakeProvenance(events);
+    const provenance = line ? { ...chosen, line } : chosen;
     for (const agentName of this.getAgentNamesFn()) {
       this.requestInferenceFn(agentName, 'gate:debounce', 'gate', provenance);
     }
   }
 
+  /** isNewestEntry for one event; a callback fault keeps the line. */
+  private newestEntry(event: PendingEvent): boolean {
+    if (!this.isNewestEntryFn) return false;
+    try {
+      return this.isNewestEntryFn(entryRef(event)) === true;
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
   // =========================================================================
   // Inference lifecycle
   // =========================================================================
@@ -1673,8 +3550,20 @@ export class EventGate {
     if (this.quiesced) return;
     if (this.inferring.size === 0 && this.inferenceBuffer.length > 0) {
       const events = this.inferenceBuffer.splice(0);
-      // Defer to avoid re-entrancy inside trace callbacks
-      queueMicrotask(() => this.deliverEvents(events));
+      // Defer to avoid re-entrancy inside trace callbacks. A delivery that
+      // throws drops what was held, named in the log, as fireDebounce drops a
+      // batch: thrown in the microtask, it would be uncaught.
+      queueMicrotask(() => {
+        try {
+          this.deliverEvents(events);
+        } catch (err) {
+          const one = events.length === 1;
+          console.error(
+            `[gate] ${events.length} ${one ? 'event' : 'events'} held for an agent's turn or the host's quiesce couldn't be `
+            + `delivered (${errorText(err)}), so ${one ? "it's" : "they're"} dropped`,
+          );
+        }
+      });
     }
   }
 
@@ -1782,10 +3671,9 @@ export class EventGate {
 
   /**
    * `agentName` is gone, as a conversation fork's end or an ephemeral run's
-   * removes one: its pending self-wake is cancelled, and a sleep it set ends.
-   * The gate's sleep holds back every agent's wakes, so nobody is asleep once
-   * its agent is gone, and neither wake would reach a name that no longer
-   * exists. A sleep another agent set, or one set with no agent, stays.
+   * removes one: its pending self-wake is cancelled, rather than wake a name
+   * that no longer exists. It holds no sleep: neither can set one (the
+   * framework refuses their `sleep`).
    */
   agentGone(agentName: string): void {
     const selfWake = this.selfWakeTimers.get(agentName);
@@ -1793,7 +3681,6 @@ export class EventGate {
       clearTimeout(selfWake);
       this.selfWakeTimers.delete(agentName);
     }
-    if (this.sleepUntil !== 0 && this.sleepAgent === agentName) this.clearSleep();
   }
 
   // =========================================================================
@@ -1832,15 +3719,21 @@ export class EventGate {
       const nowIso = new Date(this.now()).toISOString().slice(0, 19) + 'Z';
       // Deliver the notice into the WAKING agent's window — a self-wake
       // armed by a non-primary agent (e.g. a subconscious cadence) must not
-      // narrate itself into the primary's context.
+      // narrate itself into the primary's context. Its wake goes with it: an
+      // agent that heard the notice during a turn was awake when its timer
+      // fired, and the host drops the wake once a request that carried the
+      // notice is answered.
+      const placement: WritePlacement = {};
       this.addMessageFn('user', [{
         type: 'text',
         text: `[self-wake] your ${source} timer (${Math.round(ms / 1000)}s) elapsed — now ${nowIso}`,
-      }], { source: 'gate:self-wake' }, agentName);
+      }], { source: 'gate:self-wake' }, agentName, placement);
       this.requestInferenceFn(
         agentName,
         `self-scheduled wake (${source}, ${Math.round(ms / 1000)}s)`,
         'self-wake',
+        undefined,
+        placement,
       );
     }, ms);
     this.selfWakeTimers.set(agentName, timer);
@@ -1918,7 +3811,6 @@ export class EventGate {
     return null;
   }
 
-  /** Load the privileged-users file (bare array or { userIds: [...] }). */
   /**
    * Whether an author id is on the privileged-users list (hot-reloaded).
    * Shared by sleep bypass and tune-out wake classification (#77: wakes are
@@ -1926,45 +3818,74 @@ export class EventGate {
    */
   isPrivilegedUser(authorId: string | null | undefined): boolean {
     if (!authorId) return false;
-    this.loadPrivileged();
+    this.reloadPrivilegedIfChanged();
     return this.privilegedUserIds.has(authorId);
   }
 
-  private loadPrivileged(): void {
+  /**
+   * Read the privileged-users file: a list of user ids, or `{"userIds": [...]}`,
+   * each a non-empty string or a safe integer (a whole number within 2^53 - 1 of zero). An absent file
+   * means no one is privileged. A file that can't be read, isn't JSON, or
+   * holds no list leaves the list that last loaded in this process in effect
+   * (none, at startup), with its error in gate_status until the file is read
+   * again. In a list, an entry that isn't a user id is skipped, and named in
+   * the file's error, and the rest load. With `unlessUnchanged`, a file whose
+   * text is the text last read isn't parsed again.
+   */
+  private loadPrivileged(opts?: { unlessUnchanged?: boolean }): void {
     if (!this.privilegedUsersPath) return;
+    const failed = (why: string): string => `Failed to load privileged-users file: ${why}`;
+    let raw: string;
     try {
-      if (!existsSync(this.privilegedUsersPath)) {
+      raw = readFileSync(this.privilegedUsersPath, 'utf8');
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Read again next time: a file can become readable with its text
+      // unchanged, as a chmod makes it.
+      this.privilegedText = undefined;
+      if (isMissing(err)) {
         this.privilegedUserIds = new Set();
-        this.privilegedMtime = 0;
-        return;
+        this.privilegedError = null;
+      } else {
+        this.privilegedError = failed(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
       }
-      this.privilegedMtime = statSync(this.privilegedUsersPath).mtimeMs;
-      const raw: any = parseGateJson(readFileSync(this.privilegedUsersPath, 'utf8'));
-      const ids = Array.isArray(raw) ? raw : Array.isArray(raw?.userIds) ? raw.userIds : [];
-      this.privilegedUserIds = new Set(ids.map((x: unknown) => String(x)));
+      return;
+    }
+    if (opts?.unlessUnchanged && raw === this.privilegedText) return;
+    this.privilegedText = raw;
+    let ids: unknown;
+    try {
+      const parsed: unknown = parseGateJson(raw);
+      ids = Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : (parsed as { userIds?: unknown } | null)?.userIds;
     } catch (err) {
-      this.configErrors.push(
-        `Failed to load privileged-users file: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
-      );
+      this.privilegedError = failed(err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err));
+      return;
+    }
+    // A file that parses but holds no list hasn't loaded either: it used to
+    // mean no one is privileged, without a word.
+    if (!Array.isArray(ids)) {
+      this.privilegedError = failed('expected a list of user ids, or {"userIds": [...]}');
+      return;
+    }
+    const loaded = new Set<string>();
+    const skipped: unknown[] = [];
+    for (const id of ids) {
+      if (typeof id === 'string' && id !== '') loaded.add(id);
+      // JSON.parse has already rounded an integer past 2^53, and the rounded
+      // value can be another user's id, so it's skipped rather than loaded.
+      else if (typeof id === 'number' && Number.isSafeInteger(id)) loaded.add(String(id));
+      else skipped.push(id);
     }
+    this.privilegedUserIds = loaded;
+    this.privilegedError = skipped.length > 0 ? skippedPrivilegedIds(skipped, loaded.size) : null;
   }
 
-  /** Throttled mtime-based reload of the privileged-users file. */
+  /** At most once a second, the privileged-users file read again, and loaded when its text has changed. */
   private reloadPrivilegedIfChanged(): void {
     if (!this.privilegedUsersPath) return;
     const now = this.now();
-    if (now - this.lastPrivilegedCheck < RELOAD_THROTTLE_MS) return;
+    if (checkedRecently(now, this.lastPrivilegedCheck)) return;
     this.lastPrivilegedCheck = now;
-    try {
-      if (!existsSync(this.privilegedUsersPath)) {
-        if (this.privilegedUserIds.size > 0) this.privilegedUserIds = new Set();
-        return;
-      }
-      const mtime = statSync(this.privilegedUsersPath).mtimeMs;
-      if (mtime !== this.privilegedMtime) this.loadPrivileged();
-    } catch {
-      /* leave the last-known set in place on a transient stat/read error */
-    }
+    this.loadPrivileged({ unlessUnchanged: true });
   }
 
   getToolDefinition(): ToolDefinition {
@@ -1978,6 +3899,10 @@ export class EventGate {
   }
 
   async handleToolCall(): Promise<{ success: boolean; data?: GateStatus; error?: string }> {
+    // What's in force now: each file read again if a check is due, as the
+    // next event would.
+    this.reloadIfChanged();
+    this.reloadPrivilegedIfChanged();
     const status = this.getStatus();
     return { success: true, data: status };
   }
@@ -2036,7 +3961,8 @@ export class EventGate {
       default: this.config.default ?? 'always',
       script: this.gateScript.status(),
       policies,
-      errors: [...this.configErrors],
+      errors: [this.configErrorShown(), this.startNotice, this.startUnsaved, this.privilegedError]
+        .filter((e): e is string => e !== null),
       shadowWarnings: this.shadowWarningsCache.map(formatShadowWarning),
       totalEvaluations: this.totalEvaluations,
       defaultDecisions: {