@hviana/sema 0.1.5 → 0.1.6

package/dist/src/mind/traverse.js

@@ -9,57 +9,50 @@ import { cosine } from "../vec.js";
 import { gistOf, read } from "./primitives.js";
 const structCaches = new WeakMap();
 function getStructCache(ctx) {
-  if (ctx.climbMemo === null) {
-    return null;
-  }
-  let c = structCaches.get(ctx.climbMemo);
-  if (c === undefined) {
-    structCaches.set(
-      ctx.climbMemo,
-      c = {
-        hasNext: new Map(),
-        prevCount: new Map(),
-        hasParents: new Map(),
-      },
-    );
-  }
-  return c;
+    if (ctx.climbMemo === null)
+        return null;
+    let c = structCaches.get(ctx.climbMemo);
+    if (c === undefined) {
+        structCaches.set(ctx.climbMemo, c = {
+            hasNext: new Map(),
+            prevCount: new Map(),
+            hasParents: new Map(),
+        });
+    }
+    return c;
 }
 /** Cached {@link Store.hasNext} — pure during one respond(). */
 function cachedHasNext(ctx, id, cache) {
-  if (cache === null) {
-    return ctx.store.hasNext(id);
-  }
-  let v = cache.hasNext.get(id);
-  if (v === undefined) {
-    v = ctx.store.hasNext(id);
-    cache.hasNext.set(id, v);
-  }
-  return v;
+    if (cache === null)
+        return ctx.store.hasNext(id);
+    let v = cache.hasNext.get(id);
+    if (v === undefined) {
+        v = ctx.store.hasNext(id);
+        cache.hasNext.set(id, v);
+    }
+    return v;
 }
 /** Cached {@link Store.prevCount} — pure during one respond(). */
 function cachedPrevCount(ctx, id, cache) {
-  if (cache === null) {
-    return ctx.store.prevCount(id);
-  }
-  let v = cache.prevCount.get(id);
-  if (v === undefined) {
-    v = ctx.store.prevCount(id);
-    cache.prevCount.set(id, v);
-  }
-  return v;
+    if (cache === null)
+        return ctx.store.prevCount(id);
+    let v = cache.prevCount.get(id);
+    if (v === undefined) {
+        v = ctx.store.prevCount(id);
+        cache.prevCount.set(id, v);
+    }
+    return v;
 }
 /** Cached {@link Store.hasParents} — pure during one respond(). */
 function cachedHasParents(ctx, id, cache) {
-  if (cache === null) {
-    return ctx.store.hasParents(id);
-  }
-  let v = cache.hasParents.get(id);
-  if (v === undefined) {
-    v = ctx.store.hasParents(id);
-    cache.hasParents.set(id, v);
-  }
-  return v;
+    if (cache === null)
+        return ctx.store.hasParents(id);
+    let v = cache.hasParents.get(id);
+    if (v === undefined) {
+        v = ctx.store.hasParents(id);
+        cache.hasParents.set(id, v);
+    }
+    return v;
 }
 // ── Graph climbing ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 /** Climb the structural DAG from a node to its edge-bearing ancestor contexts.
@@ -74,165 +67,152 @@ function cachedHasParents(ctx, id, cache) {
  *  chunk's prefixes — so without the memo every repeat re-pays the full
  *  fan-out reads. */
 export function edgeAncestors(ctx, id, contextCount, memo) {
-  const hit = memo?.get(id);
-  if (hit !== undefined) {
-    return hit;
-  }
-  const bound = Math.ceil(Math.sqrt(contextCount));
-  const roots = [];
-  const seen = new Set([id]);
-  const ctxSeen = new Set();
-  let saturated = false;
-  // EXPAND-UNTIL-DECIDED: a reach is consumed either as a VOTE (which needs
-  // contextsReached exactly, and only while ≤ √N — beyond that the region is
-  // non-discriminative) or as an ABSTENTION (saturated — whose roots and
-  // counts no consumer reads).  So the climb may STOP the moment the answer
-  // is decided:
-  //   • a node whose prev fan-in alone exceeds √N decides it (its
-  //     predecessors are √N+ distinct contexts) — no read needed, prevCount
-  //     is an indexed O(1);
-  //   • distinct contexts crossing √N decides it;
-  //   • a node with more than √N parents decides its own expansion (the
-  //     classic hub guard; the walk aborts rather than continue, which no
-  //     consumer can distinguish — saturated reaches are never voted).
-  // Below every decision threshold the walk is EXACT — identical roots and
-  // contexts to the unbounded climb — because prevFirst(√N) IS the full prev
-  // list and parentsFirst(√N+1) IS the full parent list whenever they do not
-  // decide.  Work is bounded by √N contexts × the climb's local structure,
-  // never by the corpus.
-  const structCache = getStructCache(ctx);
-  // LATERAL-BRANCH ACCOUNT — the cumulative dual of the per-node hub guard.
-  // Within one deposit the ascent is a CHAIN (each node's first parent);
-  // every parent BEYOND a node's first is an entry into another containing
-  // structure (hash-consing: a shared subtree's extra parents are other
-  // deposits' chunks).  The per-node guard already declares a node with more
-  // than √N parents non-discriminative; a climb whose ACCUMULATED lateral
-  // entries exceed √N has spread across just as many distinct containing
-  // structures — the same commonness, distributed along the cone instead of
-  // concentrated at one node — and is decided: saturated.  A deep chain in
-  // ONE structure accrues no laterals, so legitimate deep scaffolding (a
-  // fragment far down a long cumulative context) still climbs to its root
-  // at any depth; what dies is the cross-structure drift that visited tens
-  // of thousands of edge-free interiors (profiled on a 17.7M-node store:
-  // ~20K distinct nodes per climb family, >95% unique — not memoisable)
-  // while the context account never decided.
-  let lateral = 0;
-  const visit = (x) => {
-    const hasNx = cachedHasNext(ctx, x, structCache);
-    const pc = cachedPrevCount(ctx, x, structCache);
-    if (hasNx || pc > 0) {
-      roots.push(x);
-      if (hasNx) {
-        ctxSeen.add(x);
-      }
-      if (pc > bound) {
-        return false; // decided: ≥ pc > √N distinct contexts
-      }
-      for (const p of ctx.store.prevFirst(x, bound)) {
-        ctxSeen.add(p);
-      }
-      if (ctxSeen.size > bound) {
-        return false; // decided
-      }
-    }
-    const parents = ctx.store.parentsFirst(x, bound + 1);
-    if (parents.length > bound) {
-      return false; // decided: hub
-    }
-    let fresh = 0;
-    for (const p of parents) {
-      if (!seen.has(p)) {
-        seen.add(p);
-        stack.push(p);
-        fresh++;
-      }
-    }
-    if (fresh > 1) {
-      lateral += fresh - 1;
-      if (lateral > bound) {
-        return false; // decided: cone-wide hub
-      }
-    }
-    return true;
-  };
-  const stack = [];
-  const containment = !cachedHasParents(ctx, id, structCache);
-  if (!containment) {
-    stack.push(id);
-  }
-  // The containment seed is STREAMED in pages of √N: a distinctive window's
-  // containers (which converge on one or two contexts, however many chunks
-  // of one deposit repeat it) are walked IN FULL — exact — while a common
-  // window's corpus-sized container list is abandoned at the first decision
-  // above, after O(√N) pages at most (each page adds containers whose climbs
-  // add contexts; √N distinct contexts decide).
-  let containerOff = 0;
-  let containersExhausted = !containment;
-  climb: for (;;) {
-    if (stack.length === 0) {
-      if (containersExhausted) {
-        break;
-      }
-      const page = ctx.store.containersSlice(id, containerOff, bound);
-      containerOff += page.length;
-      if (page.length < bound) {
-        containersExhausted = true;
-      }
-      for (const c of page) {
-        if (!seen.has(c)) {
-          seen.add(c);
-          stack.push(c);
+    const hit = memo?.get(id);
+    if (hit !== undefined)
+        return hit;
+    const bound = Math.ceil(Math.sqrt(contextCount));
+    const roots = [];
+    const seen = new Set([id]);
+    const ctxSeen = new Set();
+    let saturated = false;
+    // EXPAND-UNTIL-DECIDED: a reach is consumed either as a VOTE (which needs
+    // contextsReached exactly, and only while ≤ √N — beyond that the region is
+    // non-discriminative) or as an ABSTENTION (saturated — whose roots and
+    // counts no consumer reads).  So the climb may STOP the moment the answer
+    // is decided:
+    //   • a node whose prev fan-in alone exceeds √N decides it (its
+    //     predecessors are √N+ distinct contexts) — no read needed, prevCount
+    //     is an indexed O(1);
+    //   • distinct contexts crossing √N decides it;
+    //   • a node with more than √N parents decides its own expansion (the
+    //     classic hub guard; the walk aborts rather than continue, which no
+    //     consumer can distinguish — saturated reaches are never voted).
+    // Below every decision threshold the walk is EXACT — identical roots and
+    // contexts to the unbounded climb — because prevFirst(√N) IS the full prev
+    // list and parentsFirst(√N+1) IS the full parent list whenever they do not
+    // decide.  Work is bounded by √N contexts × the climb's local structure,
+    // never by the corpus.
+    const structCache = getStructCache(ctx);
+    // LATERAL-BRANCH ACCOUNT — the cumulative dual of the per-node hub guard.
+    // Within one deposit the ascent is a CHAIN (each node's first parent);
+    // every parent BEYOND a node's first is an entry into another containing
+    // structure (hash-consing: a shared subtree's extra parents are other
+    // deposits' chunks).  The per-node guard already declares a node with more
+    // than √N parents non-discriminative; a climb whose ACCUMULATED lateral
+    // entries exceed √N has spread across just as many distinct containing
+    // structures — the same commonness, distributed along the cone instead of
+    // concentrated at one node — and is decided: saturated.  A deep chain in
+    // ONE structure accrues no laterals, so legitimate deep scaffolding (a
+    // fragment far down a long cumulative context) still climbs to its root
+    // at any depth; what dies is the cross-structure drift that visited tens
+    // of thousands of edge-free interiors (profiled on a 17.7M-node store:
+    // ~20K distinct nodes per climb family, >95% unique — not memoisable)
+    // while the context account never decided.
+    let lateral = 0;
+    const visit = (x) => {
+        const hasNx = cachedHasNext(ctx, x, structCache);
+        const pc = cachedPrevCount(ctx, x, structCache);
+        if (hasNx || pc > 0) {
+            roots.push(x);
+            if (hasNx)
+                ctxSeen.add(x);
+            if (pc > bound)
+                return false; // decided: ≥ pc > √N distinct contexts
+            for (const p of ctx.store.prevFirst(x, bound))
+                ctxSeen.add(p);
+            if (ctxSeen.size > bound)
+                return false; // decided
         }
-      }
-      if (stack.length === 0) {
-        if (containerOff === 0) {
-          stack.push(id); // no containers at all
-        } else {
-          break;
+        const parents = ctx.store.parentsFirst(x, bound + 1);
+        if (parents.length > bound)
+            return false; // decided: hub
+        let fresh = 0;
+        for (const p of parents) {
+            if (!seen.has(p)) {
+                seen.add(p);
+                stack.push(p);
+                fresh++;
+            }
         }
-      }
-    }
-    while (stack.length > 0) {
-      let x = stack.pop();
-      // TRANSPARENT-CHAIN HOP: a node with no edges in or out and exactly one
-      // parent contributes nothing here — no root, no context, no lateral
-      // entry — so the run to its first non-transparent ancestor is skipped
-      // in ONE store read (Store.chainRun) instead of three probes per node.
-      // The interior nodes still enter `seen`, exactly as a node-at-a-time
-      // ascent would have recorded them at push time, so sibling entries into
-      // the same chain keep identical fresh/lateral accounting; and if the
-      // terminal was already seen (another chain merged into this one first),
-      // it is not visited twice — the same dedup the push-time seen-check
-      // used to provide.
-      const run = ctx.store.chainRun(x);
-      if (run.length > 1) {
-        const top = run[run.length - 1];
-        const dup = seen.has(top);
-        for (let i = 1; i < run.length; i++) {
-          seen.add(run[i]);
+        if (fresh > 1) {
+            lateral += fresh - 1;
+            if (lateral > bound)
+                return false; // decided: cone-wide hub
         }
-        if (dup) {
-          continue;
+        return true;
+    };
+    const stack = [];
+    const containment = !cachedHasParents(ctx, id, structCache);
+    if (!containment)
+        stack.push(id);
+    // The containment seed is STREAMED in pages of √N: a distinctive window's
+    // containers (which converge on one or two contexts, however many chunks
+    // of one deposit repeat it) are walked IN FULL — exact — while a common
+    // window's corpus-sized container list is abandoned at the first decision
+    // above, after O(√N) pages at most (each page adds containers whose climbs
+    // add contexts; √N distinct contexts decide).
+    let containerOff = 0;
+    let containersExhausted = !containment;
+    climb: for (;;) {
+        if (stack.length === 0) {
+            if (containersExhausted)
+                break;
+            const page = ctx.store.containersSlice(id, containerOff, bound);
+            containerOff += page.length;
+            if (page.length < bound)
+                containersExhausted = true;
+            for (const c of page) {
+                if (!seen.has(c)) {
+                    seen.add(c);
+                    stack.push(c);
+                }
+            }
+            if (stack.length === 0) {
+                if (containerOff === 0)
+                    stack.push(id); // no containers at all
+                else
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+        while (stack.length > 0) {
+            let x = stack.pop();
+            // TRANSPARENT-CHAIN HOP: a node with no edges in or out and exactly one
+            // parent contributes nothing here — no root, no context, no lateral
+            // entry — so the run to its first non-transparent ancestor is skipped
+            // in ONE store read (Store.chainRun) instead of three probes per node.
+            // The interior nodes still enter `seen`, exactly as a node-at-a-time
+            // ascent would have recorded them at push time, so sibling entries into
+            // the same chain keep identical fresh/lateral accounting; and if the
+            // terminal was already seen (another chain merged into this one first),
+            // it is not visited twice — the same dedup the push-time seen-check
+            // used to provide.
+            const run = ctx.store.chainRun(x);
+            if (run.length > 1) {
+                const top = run[run.length - 1];
+                const dup = seen.has(top);
+                for (let i = 1; i < run.length; i++)
+                    seen.add(run[i]);
+                if (dup)
+                    continue;
+                x = top;
+            }
+            if (!visit(x)) {
+                saturated = true;
+                break climb;
+            }
         }
-        x = top;
-      }
-      if (!visit(x)) {
-        saturated = true;
-        break climb;
-      }
     }
-  }
-  const reach = { roots, contextsReached: ctxSeen.size, saturated };
-  memo?.set(id, reach);
-  return reach;
+    const reach = { roots, contextsReached: ctxSeen.size, saturated };
+    memo?.set(id, reach);
+    return reach;
 }
 /** Convenience: forward edges of a node. */
 export function nextOf(ctx, id) {
-  return ctx.store.next(id);
+    return ctx.store.next(id);
 }
 /** Convenience: reverse edges of a node. */
 export function prevOf(ctx, id) {
-  return ctx.store.prev(id);
+    return ctx.store.prev(id);
 }
 /** Whether a node LEADS SOMEWHERE — it bears a continuation edge or a halo.
  *  The admission predicate recognition filters sites with (HOW_IT_WORKS
@@ -243,11 +223,10 @@ export function prevOf(ctx, id) {
  *  indexed point probe per candidate, and the candidates that reach this
  *  check have already been filtered by hasNext above in edgeAncestors. */
 export function leadsSomewhere(ctx, id) {
-  const memo = getStructCache(ctx);
-  if (cachedHasNext(ctx, id, memo)) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  return ctx.store.hasHalo(id);
+    const memo = getStructCache(ctx);
+    if (cachedHasNext(ctx, id, memo))
+        return true;
+    return ctx.store.hasHalo(id);
 }
 /** The structural IDF read of ONE node: how many distinct learnt contexts
  *  its containment/edge climb reaches, or Infinity when it reaches none or
@@ -257,25 +236,24 @@ export function leadsSomewhere(ctx, id) {
  *  reaching a corpus MINORITY of contexts discriminates (an entity, a
  *  filler); content reaching a majority is frame scaffolding. */
 export function reachOf(ctx, id, contextCount, memo) {
-  const r = edgeAncestors(ctx, id, contextCount, memo);
-  if (r.saturated || r.roots.length === 0) {
-    return Infinity;
-  }
-  return Math.max(1, r.contextsReached);
+    const r = edgeAncestors(ctx, id, contextCount, memo);
+    if (r.saturated || r.roots.length === 0)
+        return Infinity;
+    return Math.max(1, r.contextsReached);
 }
 /** The corpus scale N — the count of DISTINCT learnt contexts, floored at 2
  *  so its derived readings (ln N in the consensus floor, √N in the hub bound)
  *  stay meaningful on a near-empty store.  The one definition every consumer
  *  of "how big is this corpus?" reads. */
 export function corpusN(ctx) {
-  return Math.max(2, ctx.store.edgeSourceCount());
+    return Math.max(2, ctx.store.edgeSourceCount());
 }
 /** The hub bound √N itself (≥ 2 always, since N is floored at 2) — for
  *  consumers that pass it to the store's LIMITed reads instead of capping a
  *  materialised list.  {@link hubCap} is the list-side reading of the same
  *  convention. */
 export function hubBound(ctx) {
-  return Math.ceil(Math.sqrt(corpusN(ctx)));
+    return Math.ceil(Math.sqrt(corpusN(ctx)));
 }
 /** Cap a candidate list at the hub bound √N (insertion order) — the ONE
  *  fan-out convention every walk and disambiguation uses (see HOW_IT_WORKS
@@ -283,35 +261,32 @@ export function hubBound(ctx) {
  *  connections carry ~no discriminative information; materialising or scoring
  *  them all would make single decisions scale with the corpus. */
 export function hubCap(ctx, ids) {
-  const bound = hubBound(ctx);
-  return ids.length > bound ? ids.slice(0, bound) : ids;
+    const bound = hubBound(ctx);
+    return ids.length > bound ? ids.slice(0, bound) : ids;
 }
 /** Whether `descendant` lies within `ancestor`'s subtree — a structural DAG
  *  relation read off the hash-consed `kids` lists, by a bounded explicit-stack
  *  descent.  Used by articulation to keep a voice from revoicing a fragment
  *  OF that voice. */
 export function contains(ctx, ancestor, descendant) {
-  if (ancestor === descendant) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  const seen = new Set([ancestor]);
-  const stack = [ancestor];
-  while (stack.length > 0) {
-    const rec = ctx.store.get(stack.pop());
-    if (!rec?.kids) {
-      continue;
-    }
-    for (const k of rec.kids) {
-      if (k === descendant) {
+    if (ancestor === descendant)
         return true;
-      }
-      if (!seen.has(k)) {
-        seen.add(k);
-        stack.push(k);
-      }
+    const seen = new Set([ancestor]);
+    const stack = [ancestor];
+    while (stack.length > 0) {
+        const rec = ctx.store.get(stack.pop());
+        if (!rec?.kids)
+            continue;
+        for (const k of rec.kids) {
+            if (k === descendant)
+                return true;
+            if (!seen.has(k)) {
+                seen.add(k);
+                stack.push(k);
+            }
+        }
     }
-  }
-  return false;
+    return false;
 }
 // ── Edge disambiguation (Section 6) ──────────────────────────────────────
 /** The best-scoring item by cosine against `query`, among items scoring at
@@ -320,61 +295,51 @@ export function contains(ctx, ancestor, descendant) {
  *  caller needs: `true` keeps the first-seen leader on a tie (`>`), the
  *  default lets a later equal score take it (`>=`). */
 export function argmaxBy(items, scoreOf, threshold, strict = false) {
-  let best = null;
-  for (const item of items) {
-    const score = scoreOf(item);
-    const bar = best?.score ?? threshold;
-    if (strict ? score > bar : score >= bar) {
-      best = { item, score };
+    let best = null;
+    for (const item of items) {
+        const score = scoreOf(item);
+        const bar = best?.score ?? threshold;
+        if (strict ? score > bar : score >= bar)
+            best = { item, score };
     }
-  }
-  return best;
+    return best;
 }
 export function argmaxCosine(query, items, vecOf, threshold, strict = false) {
-  return argmaxBy(
-    items,
-    (item) => {
-      const v = vecOf(item);
-      return v ? cosine(query, v) : -Infinity;
-    },
-    threshold,
-    strict,
-  );
+    return argmaxBy(items, (item) => {
+        const v = vecOf(item);
+        return v ? cosine(query, v) : -Infinity;
+    }, threshold, strict);
 }
 /** The guided-or-first continuation of a node, as answer-shaped bytes source:
  *  chooseNext under the response guide, falling back to the FIRST-inserted
  *  edge — the one no-guide convention chooseNext, project() and the search's
  *  formRules all share.  undefined when the node has no continuation. */
 export function guidedFirst(ctx, id) {
-  const pick = guidedNext(ctx, id);
-  if (pick !== undefined) {
-    return pick;
-  }
-  // No guide in flight (or nothing chosen): the first-inserted edge, read
-  // with LIMIT 1 — never the full fan-out.
-  const nx = ctx.store.nextFirst(id, 1);
-  return nx.length > 0 ? nx[0] : undefined;
+    const pick = guidedNext(ctx, id);
+    if (pick !== undefined)
+        return pick;
+    // No guide in flight (or nothing chosen): the first-inserted edge, read
+    // with LIMIT 1 — never the full fan-out.
+    const nx = ctx.store.nextFirst(id, 1);
+    return nx.length > 0 ? nx[0] : undefined;
 }
 export function guidedNext(ctx, node) {
-  if (ctx._edgeGuide === null) {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-  // The pick memo is BYPASSED while a rationale trace is attached — the same
-  // policy climbMemo and recogniseMemo follow (every mechanism must emit its
-  // own steps; a memo hit would swallow the repeat's `disambiguate` step).
-  // Consistency does not need the memo: chooseNext is a pure function of the
-  // (read-only) store and the guide, so recomputation yields the same pick.
-  if (!ctx.trace) {
-    const memo = ctx._edgeChoice.get(node);
-    if (memo !== undefined) {
-      return memo === -1 ? undefined : memo;
+    if (ctx._edgeGuide === null)
+        return undefined;
+    // The pick memo is BYPASSED while a rationale trace is attached — the same
+    // policy climbMemo and recogniseMemo follow (every mechanism must emit its
+    // own steps; a memo hit would swallow the repeat's `disambiguate` step).
+    // Consistency does not need the memo: chooseNext is a pure function of the
+    // (read-only) store and the guide, so recomputation yields the same pick.
+    if (!ctx.trace) {
+        const memo = ctx._edgeChoice.get(node);
+        if (memo !== undefined)
+            return memo === -1 ? undefined : memo;
     }
-  }
-  const pick = chooseNext(ctx, node, ctx._edgeGuide);
-  if (!ctx.trace) {
-    ctx._edgeChoice.set(node, pick ?? -1);
-  }
-  return pick;
+    const pick = chooseNext(ctx, node, ctx._edgeGuide);
+    if (!ctx.trace)
+        ctx._edgeChoice.set(node, pick ?? -1);
+    return pick;
 }
 /** Disambiguate among a node's learnt continuations by distributional
  *  support.  NOTE the `guide` contract: its VALUE is deliberately unused —
@@ -389,71 +354,61 @@ export function guidedNext(ctx, node) {
  *  therefore scores by guide cosine.  The two directions consult different
  *  halves of the evidence on purpose. */
 export function chooseNext(ctx, id, guide) {
-  // CAPPED read: only the first √N continuations are ever candidates (the
-  // documented hub trade), so only they are read — a hub context's full
-  // fan-out is corpus-sized and must never be materialised.  hubBound ≥ 2,
-  // so the single-continuation fast path below stays exact.
-  const nx = ctx.store.nextFirst(id, hubBound(ctx));
-  if (nx.length === 0) {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-  if (nx.length === 1 || !guide) {
-    return nx[0];
-  }
-  // Cap candidates at √N — the same bound the original chooseAmong used.
-  // A hub context can accumulate thousands of continuations; the best-fit
-  // one is among the first √N by insertion order (edges are never deleted,
-  // so the oldest are the most established).  A strongly-supported edge
-  // inserted beyond the cap is invisible here — the deliberate trade
-  // against paying O(fan-out) count reads on every disambiguation.
-  const capped = nx; // already the hub-capped prefix, by the read above
-  // Distributional-evidence disambiguation, consulting BOTH read-outs of the
-  // evidence the training poured:
-  //   1. prevCount — how many DISTINCT contexts predict this candidate (one
-  //      indexed COUNT; never a materialisation — a common continuation's
-  //      reverse fan-in is corpus-sized).  Diversity of independent evidence
-  //      is the primary signal: three different formulations agreeing beat
-  //      one formulation repeated.
-  //   2. haloMass — how many episode signatures were poured into the
-  //      candidate's halo (repetition counts).  The tie-break among equally
-  //      diverse candidates: a fact reinforced across many episodes is more
-  //      corroborated than one seen once, and this is the DIRECT measure of
-  //      that — consulting only the structural count would leave poured
-  //      evidence on the table.
-  // When both are equal, first-inserted wins (backward compatible).
-  let best = capped[0];
-  let bestSupport = ctx.store.prevCount(best);
-  let bestMass = ctx.store.haloMass(best);
-  for (let i = 1; i < capped.length; i++) {
-    const support = ctx.store.prevCount(capped[i]);
-    if (support < bestSupport) {
-      continue;
+    // CAPPED read: only the first √N continuations are ever candidates (the
+    // documented hub trade), so only they are read — a hub context's full
+    // fan-out is corpus-sized and must never be materialised.  hubBound ≥ 2,
+    // so the single-continuation fast path below stays exact.
+    const nx = ctx.store.nextFirst(id, hubBound(ctx));
+    if (nx.length === 0)
+        return undefined;
+    if (nx.length === 1 || !guide)
+        return nx[0];
+    // Cap candidates at √N — the same bound the original chooseAmong used.
+    // A hub context can accumulate thousands of continuations; the best-fit
+    // one is among the first √N by insertion order (edges are never deleted,
+    // so the oldest are the most established).  A strongly-supported edge
+    // inserted beyond the cap is invisible here — the deliberate trade
+    // against paying O(fan-out) count reads on every disambiguation.
+    const capped = nx; // already the hub-capped prefix, by the read above
+    // Distributional-evidence disambiguation, consulting BOTH read-outs of the
+    // evidence the training poured:
+    //   1. prevCount — how many DISTINCT contexts predict this candidate (one
+    //      indexed COUNT; never a materialisation — a common continuation's
+    //      reverse fan-in is corpus-sized).  Diversity of independent evidence
+    //      is the primary signal: three different formulations agreeing beat
+    //      one formulation repeated.
+    //   2. haloMass — how many episode signatures were poured into the
+    //      candidate's halo (repetition counts).  The tie-break among equally
+    //      diverse candidates: a fact reinforced across many episodes is more
+    //      corroborated than one seen once, and this is the DIRECT measure of
+    //      that — consulting only the structural count would leave poured
+    //      evidence on the table.
+    // When both are equal, first-inserted wins (backward compatible).
+    let best = capped[0];
+    let bestSupport = ctx.store.prevCount(best);
+    let bestMass = ctx.store.haloMass(best);
+    for (let i = 1; i < capped.length; i++) {
+        const support = ctx.store.prevCount(capped[i]);
+        if (support < bestSupport)
+            continue;
+        const mass = ctx.store.haloMass(capped[i]);
+        if (support > bestSupport || mass > bestMass) {
+            best = capped[i];
+            bestSupport = support;
+            bestMass = mass;
+        }
     }
-    const mass = ctx.store.haloMass(capped[i]);
-    if (support > bestSupport || mass > bestMass) {
-      best = capped[i];
-      bestSupport = support;
-      bestMass = mass;
+    // Trace is built lazily — the filter + map below only execute when a
+    // trace listener is attached, so the common (no-trace) path pays only
+    // for the prevCount calls in the loop above, never for extra rItemShort
+    // byte-reads.
+    if (ctx.trace) {
+        const others = capped.filter((c) => c !== best);
+        ctx.trace.step("disambiguate", [rItemShort(ctx, best, "halo-evidence", bestSupport)], others.map((c) => rItemShort(ctx, c, "candidate", ctx.store.prevCount(c))), `${capped.length} continuations — distributional evidence selects ` +
+            `the most corroborated (distinct contexts ${bestSupport}, ` +
+            `poured mass ${bestMass})`);
     }
-  }
-  // Trace is built lazily — the filter + map below only execute when a
-  // trace listener is attached, so the common (no-trace) path pays only
-  // for the prevCount calls in the loop above, never for extra rItemShort
-  // byte-reads.
-  if (ctx.trace) {
-    const others = capped.filter((c) => c !== best);
-    ctx.trace.step(
-      "disambiguate",
-      [rItemShort(ctx, best, "halo-evidence", bestSupport)],
-      others.map((c) =>
-        rItemShort(ctx, c, "candidate", ctx.store.prevCount(c))
-      ),
-      `${capped.length} continuations — distributional evidence selects ` +
-        `the most corroborated (distinct contexts ${bestSupport}, ` +
-        `poured mass ${bestMass})`,
-    );
-  }
-  return best;
+    return best;
 }
 /** The perceived gist of a candidate node, through the session gist cache.
  *  Re-gisting a candidate is a full river fold of its bytes — the measured
@@ -463,38 +418,30 @@ export function chooseNext(ctx, id, guide) {
  *  every "score node ids against a guide" decision (chooseAmong here, the
  *  bridge's junction pick) so they share ONE cache and one convention. */
 export function candidateGist(ctx, c) {
-  const hit = ctx._gistCache.get(c);
-  if (hit !== undefined) {
-    return hit;
-  }
-  const b = read(ctx, c);
-  if (b.length === 0) {
-    return null;
-  }
-  const g = gistOf(ctx, b);
-  ctx._gistCache.set(c, g);
-  return g;
+    const hit = ctx._gistCache.get(c);
+    if (hit !== undefined)
+        return hit;
+    const b = read(ctx, c);
+    if (b.length === 0)
+        return null;
+    const g = gistOf(ctx, b);
+    ctx._gistCache.set(c, g);
+    return g;
 }
 export function chooseAmong(ctx, candidates, guide) {
-  const capped = hubCap(ctx, candidates);
-  const found = argmaxCosine(
-    guide,
-    capped,
-    (c) => candidateGist(ctx, c),
-    -Infinity,
-    true,
-  );
-  return found
-    ? { id: found.item, score: found.score }
-    : { id: candidates[0], score: -Infinity };
+    const capped = hubCap(ctx, candidates);
+    const found = argmaxCosine(guide, capped, (c) => candidateGist(ctx, c), -Infinity, true);
+    return found
+        ? { id: found.item, score: found.score }
+        : { id: candidates[0], score: -Infinity };
 }
 // ── Trace shim (used by chooseNext before trace module is loaded) ────────
 import { decodeText } from "./rationale.js";
 function rItemShort(ctx, id, role, score) {
-  return {
-    text: decodeText(read(ctx, id)),
-    node: id,
-    role,
-    score,
-  };
+    return {
+        text: decodeText(read(ctx, id)),
+        node: id,
+        role,
+        score,
+    };
 }