@remnic/core 1.1.11 → 1.1.13

package/src/extraction-judge.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,846 @@
+/**
+ * Extraction Judge — LLM-as-judge fact-worthiness gate (issue #376).
+ *
+ * Evaluates extracted facts against a durability rubric before they are
+ * persisted. Facts that are unlikely to be useful 30+ days from now or
+ * across sessions are rejected (or shadow-logged depending on config).
+ *
+ * Design constraints:
+ *   - Corrections and principles are auto-approved (safety bypass).
+ *   - Critical-importance facts are auto-approved.
+ *   - Batches respect extractionJudgeBatchSize.
+ *   - Content-hash caching avoids redundant LLM calls.
+ *   - Performance budget: <= 1.5s per batch.
+ */
+
+import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
+import { log } from "./logger.js";
+import type { PluginConfig, ImportanceLevel } from "./types.js";
+import type { LocalLlmClient } from "./local-llm.js";
+import type { FallbackLlmClient } from "./fallback-llm.js";
+import { extractJsonCandidates } from "./json-extract.js";
+import { normalizeProcedureSteps } from "./procedural/procedure-types.js";
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Public interfaces
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+export interface JudgeCandidate {
+  text: string;
+  category: string;
+  confidence: number;
+  tags?: string[];
+  /** Local importance level, set by caller before judging. */
+  importanceLevel?: ImportanceLevel;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Verdict kinds (issue #562, PR 1).
+ *
+ * - `"accept"`: fact is durable, persist it.
+ * - `"reject"`: fact is not durable, drop it.
+ * - `"defer"`: fact is ambiguous; push it back into the buffer for another
+ *   pass with fresh context. Inspired by MemReader (arxiv 2604.07877).
+ *
+ * PR 1 only introduces the type. No emit path produces `"defer"` yet — the
+ * defer-capable prompt, buffer re-routing, telemetry, and GRPO data
+ * collection are landing in PRs 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
+ */
+export type JudgeVerdictKind = "accept" | "reject" | "defer";
+
+/**
+ * Judge verdict shape.
+ *
+ * Back-compat note: `kind` is optional. Verdicts serialized before PR 1
+ * (both in-memory cache entries and any persisted caches) only carry
+ * `{ durable, reason }`. Downstream consumers must either read `durable`
+ * directly, or use {@link getVerdictKind} / {@link isDurableVerdict} which
+ * gracefully fall back to the boolean when `kind` is missing, and ignore
+ * unknown future `kind` values rather than crashing.
+ */
+export interface JudgeVerdict {
+  /**
+   * True iff the fact should be persisted. For `"defer"` verdicts this is
+   * `false` — a deferred fact is not (yet) persisted, so callers that only
+   * look at `durable` will treat defer as "skip this turn", which matches
+   * the pre-PR-1 fail-closed behavior for non-accepted verdicts.
+   */
+  durable: boolean;
+  reason: string;
+  /**
+   * Optional explicit verdict kind. Added in PR 1 of issue #562. Legacy
+   * verdicts (including cache entries produced before this field existed)
+   * do not set `kind`; use {@link getVerdictKind} to read this safely.
+   */
+  kind?: JudgeVerdictKind;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve a verdict's effective kind.
+ *
+ * - If `kind` is explicitly set to one of the known values, return it.
+ * - If `kind` is absent, infer from `durable` (back-compat with pre-PR-1
+ *   cache entries and emit paths that have not been updated yet).
+ * - If `kind` is set to an unrecognised value (forward-compat, e.g. a
+ *   future cache entry loaded by an older build), fall back to `durable`
+ *   so we never crash on unknown strings.
+ */
+export function getVerdictKind(verdict: JudgeVerdict): JudgeVerdictKind {
+  const raw = verdict.kind;
+  if (raw === "accept" || raw === "reject" || raw === "defer") {
+    return raw;
+  }
+  return verdict.durable ? "accept" : "reject";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Type guard: returns `true` only for verdicts that should be persisted.
+ * Treats both `"reject"` and `"defer"` as "not durable" — defer means the
+ * caller should re-evaluate later, not write now.
+ */
+export function isDurableVerdict(verdict: JudgeVerdict): boolean {
+  return getVerdictKind(verdict) === "accept";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validate a cache entry loaded from persistence / another process.
+ *
+ * Strict: accepts legacy `{ durable, reason }` entries and new entries
+ * whose `kind` is one of the three known `JudgeVerdictKind` values.
+ * Rejects structurally wrong types and unknown `kind` strings so the
+ * type-guard narrowing is sound — callers that receive
+ * `value is JudgeVerdict` can safely treat `kind` as the declared
+ * union.
+ *
+ * Forward-compat is handled by {@link normalizeCachedVerdict}, which
+ * drops unknown `kind` strings before validation so a newer build's
+ * cache entry still loads instead of being rejected.
+ */
+export function isValidCachedVerdict(value: unknown): value is JudgeVerdict {
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) return false;
+  const v = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+  if (typeof v.durable !== "boolean") return false;
+  if (typeof v.reason !== "string") return false;
+  if (v.kind !== undefined) {
+    if (v.kind !== "accept" && v.kind !== "reject" && v.kind !== "defer") {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Forward-compatible cache-entry loader.
+ *
+ * Drops unknown `kind` strings to `undefined` (so `getVerdictKind` can
+ * fall back to `durable`), then validates structurally. Non-string
+ * `kind` values are still treated as structural violations and rejected.
+ * Returns the sanitised verdict, or `null` when the entry is structurally
+ * unusable.
+ */
+export function normalizeCachedVerdict(value: unknown): JudgeVerdict | null {
+  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) return null;
+  const v = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+  if (typeof v.durable !== "boolean") return null;
+  if (typeof v.reason !== "string") return null;
+  let kind: JudgeVerdictKind | undefined;
+  if (v.kind !== undefined) {
+    if (typeof v.kind !== "string") return null;
+    if (v.kind === "accept" || v.kind === "reject" || v.kind === "defer") {
+      kind = v.kind;
+    }
+    // Unknown string `kind`: dropped to undefined for forward-compat.
+  }
+  const out: JudgeVerdict = { durable: v.durable, reason: v.reason };
+  if (kind !== undefined) out.kind = kind;
+  return out;
+}
+
+export interface JudgeBatchResult {
+  verdicts: Map<number, JudgeVerdict>;
+  /** Number of verdicts served from cache. */
+  cached: number;
+  /** Number of verdicts produced by an LLM call. */
+  judged: number;
+  /** Total wall-clock time in milliseconds. */
+  elapsed: number;
+  /**
+   * Number of verdicts in this batch that resolved to `"defer"` (issue #562,
+   * PR 2). Callers can use this to decide whether to retain buffer turns for
+   * the next extraction pass.
+   */
+  deferred: number;
+  /**
+   * Number of defers that were forcibly converted to `"reject"` because the
+   * same candidate text had already been deferred at least
+   * `extractionJudgeMaxDeferrals` times. Rolled out of `deferred` — a
+   * candidate counted here is *not* also in `deferred`.
+   */
+  deferredCappedToReject: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Per-verdict observation emitted by `judgeFactDurability` when an
+ * `onVerdict` callback is supplied (issue #562, PR 3). Used to wire the
+ * observation ledger / telemetry stream without coupling the judge module
+ * directly to filesystem I/O. One event is emitted for every resolved
+ * verdict, including auto-approved and cache-hit paths.
+ */
+export interface JudgeVerdictObservation {
+  verdict: JudgeVerdict;
+  /** The original `JudgeCandidate` passed in (same reference). */
+  candidate: JudgeCandidate;
+  /** SHA-256 of `text\0category`, same key the cache/deferCounter use. */
+  contentHash: string;
+  /** Verdict resolution path. Useful for debugging + dashboards. */
+  source: "auto-approve" | "cache" | "llm" | "llm-cap-rejected" | "fail-open";
+  /**
+   * How many times this candidate had already been deferred before this
+   * verdict resolved. 0 when the candidate had never been deferred.
+   */
+  priorDeferrals: number;
+  /**
+   * Milliseconds from batch start to now. Shared across verdicts emitted in
+   * the same batch.
+   */
+  elapsedMs: number;
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Prompt (embedded; mirrors prompts/extraction_judge.prompt.md)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const JUDGE_SYSTEM_PROMPT = `You are a memory curator evaluating whether extracted facts are **durable** — worth storing for long-term recall across sessions.
+
+A fact is **durable** if it will still be useful 30+ days from now and is relevant across multiple sessions, not just the current task.
+
+Return one of three verdicts per candidate:
+
+ACCEPT — the fact is durable, persist it:
+- Personal preferences, identities, or relationships
+- Decisions with rationale that affect future work
+- Corrections to previously held beliefs
+- Principles, rules, or constraints the user wants respected
+- Stable facts about projects, tools, or workflows
+- Commitments, deadlines, or obligations
+
+REJECT — the fact is not durable, drop it:
+- Transient task details ("currently debugging line 42")
+- Ephemeral state ("the build is running now")
+- Routine operations ("ran npm install")
+- Conversational filler or acknowledgements
+- Information that will be stale within hours
+- Step-by-step instructions for a one-time task
+
+DEFER — the fact MIGHT be durable but needs more context to decide. The candidate will be re-evaluated on a later extraction pass with fresh context; if it cannot be resolved within a small number of re-evaluations it will be rejected.
+- Ambiguous referents ("he said they'd follow up on it")
+- Partial or in-progress statements that might become durable once completed
+- Future-tense commitments whose subject or timeline is unclear
+- Facts whose durability hinges on context not present in the candidate text
+
+Do NOT use defer as a soft reject. Reject facts you are confident are transient. Only defer when another turn of context would genuinely change the verdict.
+
+Return a JSON array of objects with these fields:
+- index: number (the candidate index)
+- kind: string — one of "accept", "reject", "defer"
+- reason: string (brief explanation, under 80 characters)
+
+You may also include durable (boolean) for backwards compatibility: true for accept, false for reject or defer. If kind is omitted, durable determines the verdict.
+
+Rules:
+1. Return exactly one verdict per input candidate, matched by index.
+2. When in doubt between accept and reject, lean toward accept — false negatives (losing a useful fact) are worse than false positives (keeping a marginal one).
+3. Use defer only when another turn of context would genuinely change the verdict.
+4. Output valid JSON only. No markdown fences, no commentary.
+
+Example output:
+[{"index": 0, "kind": "accept", "durable": true, "reason": "Stable personal preference"}, {"index": 1, "kind": "reject", "durable": false, "reason": "Ephemeral build status"}, {"index": 2, "kind": "defer", "durable": false, "reason": "Ambiguous pronoun"}]`;
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Content-hash cache (in-memory, per-process fallback)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/** Maximum entries before evicting the oldest half. */
+const VERDICT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE = 10_000;
+
+/** Module-level fallback cache, used when callers do not pass their own. */
+const defaultVerdictCache = new Map<string, JudgeVerdict>();
+
+/**
+ * Per-content-hash deferral counter (issue #562, PR 2).
+ *
+ * When the judge emits a `"defer"` verdict for a candidate whose content
+ * has already been deferred `extractionJudgeMaxDeferrals` times, the verdict
+ * is forcibly converted to `"reject"` so a pathological LLM response cannot
+ * produce an infinite defer loop.
+ *
+ * Module-level with a size cap so stale test state cannot leak between runs
+ * in the unlikely case a caller does not clear it between processes.
+ */
+const defaultDeferCounts = new Map<string, number>();
+const DEFER_COUNT_MAX_SIZE = 20_000;
+
+function cacheKey(text: string, category: string): string {
+  return createHash("sha256").update(`${text}\0${category}`).digest("hex");
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the effective defer cap from config, defaulting to 2 when the
+ * config value is missing or non-positive. Matches the PR 2 spec.
+ */
+function resolveDeferCap(config: PluginConfig): number {
+  const raw = (config as { extractionJudgeMaxDeferrals?: number })
+    .extractionJudgeMaxDeferrals;
+  if (typeof raw === "number" && Number.isFinite(raw) && raw >= 1) {
+    return Math.floor(raw);
+  }
+  return 2;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Enforce the max-size invariant on a verdict cache. When the cache exceeds
+ * VERDICT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE, the oldest half of entries are deleted (Map
+ * iteration order is insertion order).
+ */
+function enforceMaxCacheSize(cache: Map<string, JudgeVerdict>): void {
+  if (cache.size <= VERDICT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE) return;
+  const deleteCount = Math.floor(cache.size / 2);
+  let deleted = 0;
+  for (const key of cache.keys()) {
+    if (deleted >= deleteCount) break;
+    cache.delete(key);
+    deleted++;
+  }
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Categories that bypass the judge (safety / correctness)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const AUTO_APPROVE_CATEGORIES = new Set(["correction", "principle"]);
+
+/** Explicit trigger phrasing — procedures must match to persist (issue #519). */
+const PROCEDURE_TRIGGER_RE =
+  /(when you|whenever|before you|before running|always\s|first\b.*\bthen|to deploy|to ship|run these steps|follow these steps|how (i|we)\s|recipe for|workflow|each time you)/i;
+
+/**
+ * Deterministic gate for extracted `procedure` memories: ≥2 steps with non-empty
+ * intents and explicit trigger wording in title and/or steps.
+ */
+export function validateProcedureExtraction(input: {
+  content: string;
+  procedureSteps?: unknown;
+}): JudgeVerdict {
+  const steps = normalizeProcedureSteps(input.procedureSteps);
+  if (steps.length < 2) {
+    return { durable: false, reason: "Procedure requires at least two steps with intents" };
+  }
+  const combined = [input.content, ...steps.map((s) => s.intent)].join(" ").toLowerCase();
+  if (!PROCEDURE_TRIGGER_RE.test(combined)) {
+    return { durable: false, reason: "Procedure missing explicit trigger phrasing" };
+  }
+  return { durable: true, reason: "Procedure structure validated" };
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Core judge function
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/**
+ * Evaluate a batch of candidate facts for durability.
+ *
+ * Auto-approves corrections, principles, and critical-importance facts.
+ * Remaining candidates are batched (up to extractionJudgeBatchSize),
+ * checked against an in-memory content-hash cache, and sent to the LLM
+ * for verdict.
+ */
+export async function judgeFactDurability(
+  candidates: JudgeCandidate[],
+  config: PluginConfig,
+  localLlm: LocalLlmClient | null,
+  fallbackLlm: FallbackLlmClient | null,
+  cache?: Map<string, JudgeVerdict>,
+  deferCounts?: Map<string, number>,
+  onVerdict?: (observation: JudgeVerdictObservation) => void,
+): Promise<JudgeBatchResult> {
+  const startMs = Date.now();
+  const verdicts = new Map<number, JudgeVerdict>();
+  let cached = 0;
+  let judged = 0;
+  let deferred = 0;
+  let deferredCappedToReject = 0;
+
+  // Use caller-provided cache for per-orchestrator scoping, or fall back
+  // to the module-level default cache.
+  const verdictCache = cache ?? defaultVerdictCache;
+  const deferCountMap = deferCounts ?? defaultDeferCounts;
+  const deferCap = resolveDeferCap(config);
+
+  // Lazy emit (Codex P2): when `onVerdict` is undefined (default path —
+  // telemetry off), payload construction is skipped entirely. Callers
+  // pass a factory instead of a pre-built observation so the `sha256`
+  // `contentHash` and surrounding object allocation only run when a
+  // subscriber is present. For large batches with telemetry off this
+  // removes per-verdict overhead that would otherwise fire on every
+  // auto-approved / cache / fail-open path.
+  const emit = (build: () => JudgeVerdictObservation): void => {
+    if (!onVerdict) return;
+    let observation: JudgeVerdictObservation;
+    try {
+      observation = build();
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.debug(
+        `extraction-judge: onVerdict builder threw (non-fatal): ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      );
+      return;
+    }
+    try {
+      onVerdict(observation);
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Fail-open: telemetry errors must never block extraction.
+      log.debug(
+        `extraction-judge: onVerdict callback threw (non-fatal): ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      );
+    }
+  };
+
+  if (candidates.length === 0) {
+    return {
+      verdicts,
+      cached,
+      judged,
+      elapsed: 0,
+      deferred,
+      deferredCappedToReject,
+    };
+  }
+
+  // Indices that need LLM judgment
+  const pendingIndices: number[] = [];
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < candidates.length; i++) {
+    const c = candidates[i];
+
+    // Auto-approve safety categories
+    if (AUTO_APPROVE_CATEGORIES.has(c.category)) {
+      const v: JudgeVerdict = {
+        durable: true,
+        reason: `Auto-approved: ${c.category} category bypasses judge`,
+      };
+      verdicts.set(i, v);
+      emit(() => ({
+        verdict: v,
+        candidate: c,
+        contentHash: cacheKey(c.text, c.category),
+        source: "auto-approve",
+        priorDeferrals: 0,
+        elapsedMs: Date.now() - startMs,
+      }));
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Auto-approve critical importance
+    if (c.importanceLevel === "critical") {
+      const v: JudgeVerdict = {
+        durable: true,
+        reason: "Auto-approved: critical importance",
+      };
+      verdicts.set(i, v);
+      emit(() => ({
+        verdict: v,
+        candidate: c,
+        contentHash: cacheKey(c.text, c.category),
+        source: "auto-approve",
+        priorDeferrals: 0,
+        elapsedMs: Date.now() - startMs,
+      }));
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Check cache
+    const key = cacheKey(c.text, c.category);
+    const cachedVerdict = verdictCache.get(key);
+    if (cachedVerdict) {
+      verdicts.set(i, cachedVerdict);
+      cached++;
+      emit(() => ({
+        verdict: cachedVerdict,
+        candidate: c,
+        contentHash: key,
+        source: "cache",
+        priorDeferrals: deferCountMap.get(key) ?? 0,
+        elapsedMs: Date.now() - startMs,
+      }));
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    pendingIndices.push(i);
+  }
+
+  // If all resolved without LLM, return early
+  if (pendingIndices.length === 0) {
+    return {
+      verdicts,
+      cached,
+      judged,
+      elapsed: Date.now() - startMs,
+      deferred,
+      deferredCappedToReject,
+    };
+  }
+
+  // Batch the pending candidates up to batchSize
+  const batchSize = config.extractionJudgeBatchSize;
+  for (let batchStart = 0; batchStart < pendingIndices.length; batchStart += batchSize) {
+    const batchIndices = pendingIndices.slice(batchStart, batchStart + batchSize);
+    const batchPayload = batchIndices.map((idx) => ({
+      index: idx,
+      text: candidates[idx].text,
+      category: candidates[idx].category,
+      confidence: candidates[idx].confidence,
+    }));
+
+    const userPrompt = JSON.stringify(batchPayload);
+
+    try {
+      const llmResponse = await callJudgeLlm(
+        userPrompt,
+        config,
+        localLlm,
+        fallbackLlm,
+      );
+
+      if (llmResponse) {
+        const parsed = parseJudgeResponse(llmResponse, batchIndices);
+        // Per-batch defer-increment dedupe (codex P2): a single extraction
+        // pass must not advance the cap more than once for identical
+        // candidate content, even if the same text appears multiple times
+        // in the same LLM response. Duplicate hits share the first
+        // increment's `priorDeferrals` snapshot.
+        const deferredThisBatch = new Set<string>();
+        for (const [idx, rawVerdict] of parsed.entries()) {
+          const c = candidates[idx];
+          const key = cacheKey(c.text, c.category);
+          let verdict = rawVerdict;
+          let source: JudgeVerdictObservation["source"] = "llm";
+          const priorDefers = deferCountMap.get(key) ?? 0;
+
+          // Defer cap (issue #562, PR 2). A candidate that has already been
+          // deferred `deferCap` times is forcibly rejected so a pathological
+          // LLM response cannot produce an infinite defer loop.
+          if (getVerdictKind(verdict) === "defer") {
+            if (priorDefers >= deferCap) {
+              verdict = {
+                durable: false,
+                reason: `Defer cap reached (${deferCap} prior defers); rejecting`,
+                kind: "reject",
+              };
+              source = "llm-cap-rejected";
+              // Only clear + count the cap conversion once per batch for
+              // this key — duplicates in the same response all resolve to
+              // reject but should not inflate the cap-rejection counter.
+              if (!deferredThisBatch.has(key)) {
+                deferCountMap.delete(key);
+                deferredCappedToReject++;
+                deferredThisBatch.add(key);
+              }
+            } else if (!deferredThisBatch.has(key)) {
+              deferCountMap.set(key, priorDefers + 1);
+              deferred++;
+              deferredThisBatch.add(key);
+              // Bound the per-process defer-counter map.
+              if (deferCountMap.size > DEFER_COUNT_MAX_SIZE) {
+                const drop = Math.floor(deferCountMap.size / 2);
+                let dropped = 0;
+                for (const k of deferCountMap.keys()) {
+                  if (dropped >= drop) break;
+                  deferCountMap.delete(k);
+                  dropped++;
+                }
+              }
+            }
+            // else: duplicate defer for a key already counted this batch —
+            // no additional counter increment, verdict still marked defer.
+          } else {
+            // On accept/reject, clear any outstanding defer counter so a
+            // future reappearance of the same text starts fresh.
+            deferCountMap.delete(key);
+          }
+
+          verdicts.set(idx, verdict);
+          judged++;
+          // Cache non-defer verdicts. Defer is intentionally NOT cached:
+          // caching it would short-circuit the re-evaluation pass that is
+          // the entire point of the defer verdict.
+          if (getVerdictKind(verdict) !== "defer") {
+            verdictCache.set(key, verdict);
+          }
+          emit(() => ({
+            verdict,
+            candidate: c,
+            contentHash: key,
+            source,
+            priorDeferrals: priorDefers,
+            elapsedMs: Date.now() - startMs,
+          }));
+        }
+        // Evict oldest entries if cache exceeds max size
+        enforceMaxCacheSize(verdictCache);
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Fail-open: if the LLM call fails, approve all candidates in this batch
+      log.warn(
+        `extraction-judge: LLM call failed, approving batch (fail-open): ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    // Fill in any missing verdicts from this batch (fail-open: approve).
+    // Clear defer counts so a transient outage doesn't leave stale state
+    // that causes later defers to hit the cap early.
+    for (const idx of batchIndices) {
+      if (!verdicts.has(idx)) {
+        const c = candidates[idx];
+        const hash = cacheKey(c.text, c.category);
+        // Capture the prior deferral count BEFORE clearing so the
+        // telemetry event reflects the true state rather than always 0.
+        const priorDefers = deferCountMap.get(hash) ?? 0;
+        deferCountMap.delete(hash);
+        const v: JudgeVerdict = {
+          durable: true,
+          reason: "Approved by default (judge unavailable or parse error)",
+        };
+        verdicts.set(idx, v);
+        emit(() => {
+          return {
+            verdict: v,
+            candidate: c,
+            contentHash: hash,
+            source: "fail-open",
+            priorDeferrals: priorDefers,
+            elapsedMs: Date.now() - startMs,
+          };
+        });
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    verdicts,
+    cached,
+    judged,
+    elapsed: Date.now() - startMs,
+    deferred,
+    deferredCappedToReject,
+  };
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// LLM call helpers
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+async function callJudgeLlm(
+  userPrompt: string,
+  config: PluginConfig,
+  localLlm: LocalLlmClient | null,
+  fallbackLlm: FallbackLlmClient | null,
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  const messages: Array<{ role: "system" | "user"; content: string }> = [
+    { role: "system", content: JUDGE_SYSTEM_PROMPT },
+    { role: "user", content: userPrompt },
+  ];
+
+  const modelOverride = config.extractionJudgeModel || undefined;
+
+  // When modelSource is "gateway", skip localLlm and go directly to fallback
+  // (the gateway-routed backend). This respects the operator's explicit
+  // routing preference.
+  const skipLocal = config.modelSource === "gateway";
+
+  // Resolve the gateway agent ID so the fallback LLM routes through the
+  // correct agent persona's model chain — identical to the pattern used
+  // by ExtractionEngine.withGatewayAgent().
+  const agentId =
+    config.modelSource === "gateway"
+      ? (config.gatewayAgentId || undefined)
+      : undefined;
+
+  // Try local LLM first (unless modelSource says gateway)
+  if (localLlm && !skipLocal) {
+    try {
+      const result = await (localLlm as any).chatCompletion(messages, {
+        temperature: 0.1,
+        maxTokens: 2048,
+        responseFormat: { type: "json_object" },
+        timeoutMs: 1500,
+        operation: "extraction-judge",
+        ...(modelOverride ? { model: modelOverride } : {}),
+      });
+      if (result?.content) {
+        return result.content;
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.debug(
+        `extraction-judge: local LLM failed, trying fallback: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Try fallback LLM
+  if (fallbackLlm) {
+    try {
+      const result = await fallbackLlm.chatCompletion(
+        messages as Array<{ role: "system" | "user" | "assistant"; content: string }>,
+        {
+          temperature: 0.1,
+          maxTokens: 2048,
+          timeoutMs: 1500,
+          ...(modelOverride ? { model: modelOverride } : {}),
+          ...(agentId ? { agentId } : {}),
+        },
+      );
+      if (result?.content) {
+        return result.content;
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.debug(
+        `extraction-judge: fallback LLM failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Response parsing
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function parseJudgeResponse(
+  raw: string,
+  expectedIndices: number[],
+): Map<number, JudgeVerdict> {
+  const result = new Map<number, JudgeVerdict>();
+  const expectedSet = new Set(expectedIndices);
+
+  try {
+    // Try direct parse first, then fall back to JSON extraction
+    let parsed: unknown;
+    try {
+      parsed = JSON.parse(raw);
+    } catch {
+      const candidates = extractJsonCandidates(raw);
+      if (candidates.length > 0) {
+        parsed = JSON.parse(candidates[0]);
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (!Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+      // Might be wrapped in an object with a key
+      if (parsed && typeof parsed === "object" && !Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+        const values = Object.values(parsed as Record<string, unknown>);
+        for (const v of values) {
+          if (Array.isArray(v)) {
+            parsed = v;
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      if (!Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+        log.debug("extraction-judge: response is not an array, cannot parse");
+        return result;
+      }
+    }
+
+    for (const item of parsed) {
+      if (
+        typeof item !== "object" ||
+        item === null ||
+        typeof (item as any).index !== "number"
+      ) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      const idx = (item as any).index as number;
+      if (!expectedSet.has(idx)) continue;
+
+      // Parse kind first — it's the primary signal in PR 2 and above.
+      // Fall back to durable for pre-PR-2 model responses that only return
+      // the boolean.
+      let kind: JudgeVerdictKind | undefined;
+      const rawKind = (item as any).kind;
+      const rawAction = (item as any).action;
+      if (rawKind === "accept" || rawKind === "reject" || rawKind === "defer") {
+        kind = rawKind;
+      } else if (
+        rawAction === "accept" ||
+        rawAction === "reject" ||
+        rawAction === "defer"
+      ) {
+        // Tolerate `action` as an alias — MemReader uses that word in the
+        // paper and models may echo it.
+        kind = rawAction;
+      }
+
+      const hasDurable = typeof (item as any).durable === "boolean";
+      const durableFromModel = hasDurable
+        ? ((item as any).durable as boolean)
+        : undefined;
+
+      // Resolve the durable flag from kind when present; otherwise trust
+      // the model's boolean; otherwise fail-open to durable=true.
+      let durable: boolean;
+      if (kind === "accept") {
+        durable = true;
+      } else if (kind === "reject" || kind === "defer") {
+        durable = false;
+      } else if (durableFromModel !== undefined) {
+        durable = durableFromModel;
+      } else {
+        durable = true; // fail-open
+      }
+
+      const reason =
+        typeof (item as any).reason === "string"
+          ? ((item as any).reason as string).slice(0, 120)
+          : "No reason provided";
+
+      const verdict: JudgeVerdict = { durable, reason };
+      if (kind !== undefined) verdict.kind = kind;
+      result.set(idx, verdict);
+    }
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.debug(
+      `extraction-judge: failed to parse response: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Cache management (exposed for testing)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/** Clear the in-memory default verdict cache. Primarily for tests. */
+export function clearVerdictCache(): void {
+  defaultVerdictCache.clear();
+  defaultDeferCounts.clear();
+}
+
+/** Return the current default verdict cache size. Primarily for tests. */
+export function verdictCacheSize(): number {
+  return defaultVerdictCache.size;
+}
+
+/** Create a new per-instance verdict cache. Orchestrators should hold one. */
+export function createVerdictCache(): Map<string, JudgeVerdict> {
+  return new Map();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a new per-instance defer-counter map. Orchestrators should hold one
+ * alongside their verdict cache so defer counts survive across extraction
+ * passes within a single orchestrator but do not leak across orchestrators.
+ */
+export function createDeferCountMap(): Map<string, number> {
+  return new Map();
+}