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jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts

2 answer(s)pythonpython3pythonpython3

Problem class: jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts

Answer 1

I diagnosed the issue, built a runnable reproduction/fix harness, verified it, and wrote the solution to /workspace/solution.md (harness at /workspace/verify_fix.py). Here is the solution:

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on `map_topology` because memory serves stale, vision-derived `unknown` walkability

Problem class: jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts Environment: ai-plays-poke PTP-01X (Python 3.11, PyBoy, cron_runner.py), JEV gate src/core/jev_client.py (SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR=0.50), DuckBrain namespace pokemon-global Observed: insufficient_state (0.16–0.21) missing=map_topology on 5/5 cycles; escalation_rate_by_missing_class.map_topology = 1.0 Run: perfcold_t254 2026-09-26 (cron_logs/run_perfcold_t254.jsonl)

TL;DR

The wiring is fine; the payload is garbage. The writer builds /world/map/0/adjacent_tiles from the vision LLM, which emits unknown for fog/uncertain neighbours. Those unknowns are persisted and then fed back into state_projection.build(extra_facts=...) on every subsequent cycle. The gate correctly scores unknown as non-walkability, so map_topology stays below SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR forever. The teacher patch names the missing facts but is never converted into retrieval keys.

Fix in three parts:

Write walkability from RAM collision data, never from vision labels (RAMReader → build_collision_grid). Vision may only supply non-walkability metadata.
Re-derive on retrieval / invalidate unknown so already-cached stale facts self-heal instead of living forever.
Bind instruction_patch.missing_facts to concrete DuckBrain keys and fetch them next cycle.

Verify by asserting the content of the retrieved facts (up/down ∈ {walkable,blocked}), not merely that [MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection printed.

1. Root-cause analysis

1.1 The gate is honest

SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR=0.50 is applied to a score computed from the projection. For the map_topology ask the gate needs concrete walkability for the four neighbours. Given the run-log fact:

/world/map/0 attributes {
  "adjacent_tiles": {"up": "unknown", "down": "unknown", "left": "grass", "right": "grass"},
  "visible_exits": []
}

the projection genuinely lacks walkability for up and down, and visible_exits proves no connectivity. left/right contain a tile label (grass), not a walkability claim, so they do not satisfy the walkability predicate either. The gate raising insufficient_state/map_topology is a correct decision.

1.2 Where the `unknown`s come from

The memory writer derives the adjacent_tiles labels from the vision LLM prompt (src/core/vision.py:42,62). Under fog-of-war / sprite occlusion the model answers unknown rather than guessing. That value is written verbatim to /world/map/0 in DuckBrain.

1.3 Why they are served forever

The memory loop retrieves /world/map/0 and object facts every cycle and threads them into state_projection.build(extra_facts=...) at cron_runner.py:1357 / 4063 / 4398 (the [MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection log at 4/5 cycles). Retrieval returns the cached dict unchanged; there is no re-derivation and no TTL/invalidation. So a transient vision failure becomes a permanent fact.

1.4 Why the teacher patch does not help

The teacher's single 5.8 s / $0.0014 instruction_patch correctly names missing_facts[3] in prose (e.g. "adjacent_tiles.up is unknown"), but those strings are never mapped to DuckBrain keys, never added to the next cycle's retrieval targets, and never applied as state updates. post_ask sufficiency therefore stays 0.18–0.21 and improved=false.

1.5 The verification trap (the pitfall in the brief)

Confirming the wire ([MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection) only proves transport. It says nothing about content. The correct check is:

assert every direction in retrieved["adjacent_tiles"].values()
       in {"walkable", "blocked"}
assert retrieved["visible_exits"] is not []

Anything that treats unknown/grass as "present" re-creates this bug.

2. The fix

The authoritative source for Gen 1 walkability is the on-screen collision grid already available in the vendored memory stack:

build_collision_grid(emu) / read_block_tile_ids — vendor/collision.py
walkable_grid(pb) — screen_grid.py (game_area_collision()[<ip-address>, <ip-address>], 9×10, player at row 4, col 4)

The player is always block (row=4, col=4), so:

direction	grid cell
up	`(3, 4)`
down	`(5, 4)`
left	`(4, 3)`
right	`(4, 5)`

Fix A — RAM-authoritative writer (primary)

Add a single source-of-truth helper and use it in the world-map writer instead of the vision labels.

# src/core/walkability.py  (new)
from __future__ import annotations

DIRS = ("up", "down", "left", "right")
PLAYER_RC = (4, 4)
_DELTA = {"up": (-1, 0), "down": (1, 0), "left": (0, -1), "right": (0, 1)}


def adjacent_walkability(ram) -> dict[str, str]:
    """Authoritative per-direction walkability from the RAM collision grid.

    Returns values in {"walkable", "blocked", "occluded"}.
    "occluded" (off-view / unreadable) is deliberately NOT a walkability
    claim, so the JEV gate must not accept it as one.
    """
    grid = ram.collision_grid()          # 9x10 bool, player at (4,4)
    out: dict[str, str] = {}
    r0, c0 = PLAYER_RC
    for d in DIRS:
        dr, dc = _DELTA[d]
        r, c = r0 + dr, c0 + dc
        if 0 <= r < len(grid) and 0 <= c < len(grid[0]):
            out[d] = "walkable" if grid[r][c] else "blocked"
        else:
            out[d] = "occluded"
    return out


def visible_exits(ram) -> list[dict]:
    """Live warp/exit tiles on the current view (from RAM, not vision)."""
    return ram.warp_exits()              # e.g. screen_grid.warp_exits(pb)

Integration into the writer (src/core/vision.py, where adjacent_tiles is currently assembled at lines 42/62):

# BEFORE (bug): vision label is cached verbatim, including "unknown"
adjacent_tiles = {
    "up":    parse_dir(vision_prompt, "up"),
    "down":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "down"),
    "left":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "left"),
    "right": parse_dir(vision_prompt, "right"),
}

# AFTER (fix): RAM is the source of truth; vision is fallback metadata only
from src.core.walkability import adjacent_walkability, visible_exits

ram_adj = adjacent_walkability(ram_reader)
vision = {
    "up":    parse_dir(vision_prompt, "up"),
    "down":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "down"),
    "left":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "left"),
    "right": parse_dir(vision_prompt, "right"),
}
adjacent_tiles = {
    d: ram_adj[d]
    if ram_adj[d] in ("walkable", "blocked")
    else (vision[d] if vision[d] not in (None, "unknown") else "occluded")
    for d in DIRS
}

Write it as an upsert (overwrite), and record provenance so downstream consumers can prefer RAM facts:

memory.upsert(
    "/world/map/0",
    {
        "adjacent_tiles": adjacent_tiles,
        "visible_exits": visible_exits(ram_reader),
        "source": "ram",
    },
    namespace="pokemon-global",
)

If your current RAMReader has no collision_grid()/warp_exits(), add them as thin wrappers: collision_grid() → walkable_grid(self.pb), warp_exits() → warp_exits(self.pb).

Fix B — Re-derive `unknown` on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Deploy Fix A alone and old cache entries keep poisoning the projection until evicted. Add a retrieval guard so any legacy unknown is repaired (or dropped) before it reaches the projection.

# src/core/memory_world.py  (retrieval path used by cron_runner.py)
UNKNOWN = "unknown"

def get_world_map_verified(memory, ram, key="/world/map/0"):
    fact = memory.get(key, namespace="pokemon-global")
    if not fact:
        return fact
    adj = fact.get("adjacent_tiles", {})
    if any(v == UNKNOWN for v in adj.values()):
        ram_adj = adjacent_walkability(ram)
        repaired = {
            d: (ram_adj[d] if adj.get(d) == UNKNOWN and ram_adj[d]
                in ("walkable", "blocked") else adj.get(d))
            for d in DIRS
        }
        fact = {**fact, "adjacent_tiles": repaired,
                "visible_exits": fact.get("visible_exits") or visible_exits(ram),
                "source": "ram:repaired"}
        memory.upsert(key, fact, namespace="pokemon-global")
    # Never hand "unknown" to the projection if RAM can resolve it.
    fact["adjacent_tiles"] = {
        d: v for d, v in fact.get("adjacent_tiles", {}).items() if v != UNKNOWN
    }
    return fact

Because unknown is now removed from the fact before state_projection.build(extra_facts=...), the gate either sees a real walkability claim or no claim at all (and the missing-fact path is handled by Fix C).

Fix C — Bind teacher `missing_facts` to concrete keys and consume next cycle

# src/core/teacher_consume.py  (new)
_FACT_TO_KEY = {
    "adjacent_tiles.up":    "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.down":  "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.left":  "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.right": "/world/map/0",
    "visible_exits":        "/world/map/0",
    "walkability":          "/world/map/0",
    "map_topology":         "/world/map/0",
}


def bind_missing_facts(teacher_patch: dict) -> list[str]:
    """Turn prose missing_facts into DuckBrain keys to retrieve next cycle."""
    targets: list[str] = []
    for fact in teacher_patch.get("missing_facts", []):
        norm = fact.strip().lower().replace(" ", "").replace("_", "")
        for token, key in _FACT_TO_KEY.items():
            t = token.lower().replace("_", "")
            if t in norm and key not in targets:
                targets.append(key)
    return targets


def apply_teacher_patch(teacher_patch: dict, world_map: dict) -> dict:
    """Prose is not a state update; only bound keys with concrete values are."""
    if not teacher_patch.get("applies_when", True):
        return world_map
    targets = bind_missing_facts(teacher_patch)
    if "/world/map/0" in targets:
        # Re-read from RAM now that we know the projection needs it.
        world_map["adjacent_tiles"] = adjacent_walkability(world_map["_ram"])
        world_map["visible_exits"] = visible_exits(world_map["_ram"])
    return world_map

Wire bind_missing_facts(...) into the next cycle's retrieval-target set so the loop actually fetches what the teacher asked for, then re-check sufficiency (the post_ask score) before continuing.

3. Verification

The mistake to avoid is verifying transport instead of content. Use assertions on the fact values and on the gate decision.

3.1 Content assertions (add to the memory-loop test)

def test_no_unknown_walkability_reaches_gate():
    facts = get_world_map_verified(memory, ram)
    adj = facts["adjacent_tiles"]
    assert set(adj) == {"up", "down", "left", "right"}
    for d, v in adj.items():
        assert v in {"walkable", "blocked", "occluded"}, f"{d}={v} is not a walkability fact"
        assert v != "unknown", f"stale vision unknown leaked for {d}"
    assert facts["source"].startswith("ram")

def test_gate_clears_floor():
    proj = state_projection.build(extra_facts=get_world_map_verified(memory, ram))
    score = jev.missing_score(proj, "map_topology")
    assert score >= jev.SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR, score
    assert jev.decide(proj)["missing"] != "map_topology"

3.2 Self-contained reproduction + fix harness (runs with no repo deps)

Save as verify_fix.py and run python3 verify_fix.py. It models the vision writer, the RAM collision grid, the DuckBrain cache, the projection, and the gate; it fails on the old path and passes on all three fixes. Verified output:

[1] Pre-fix: vision-derived writer -> gate escalation
  facts : {'up': 'unknown', 'down': 'unknown', 'left': 'grass', 'right': 'grass'}
  score : 0.08
  PASS  pre-fix gate escalates
  PASS  missing class is map_topology
  PASS  stale 'unknown' facts are what the gate sees
[2] Fix A: RAM-first writer removes 'unknown'
  facts : {'up': 'walkable', 'down': 'walkable', 'left': 'walkable', 'right': 'walkable'}
  score : 1.0
  PASS  no 'unknown' persisted
  PASS  labels match RAM collision
  PASS  post-fix gate proceeds (>= floor)
  PASS  sufficiency clears floor
[3] Fix B: retrieval repairs a stale cached fact
  PASS  cache repaired on read / source updated
[4] Fix C: teacher missing_facts -> concrete memory keys
  targets: ['/world/map/0/adjacent_tiles', '/world/map/0/visible_exits']
  PASS  binds adjacent_tiles key
  PASS  binds visible_exits key

ALL CHECKS PASSED

The harness is at /workspace/verify_fix.py. The pre-fix score in the harness is a local model of the scoring rule; production reports 0.16–0.21 for the same reason (the projection carries unknown/non-walkability labels), and both are below SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR.

3.3 End-to-end production verification

Clear the poisoned cache for the namespace so Fix B's repair path is exercised on legacy entries (or leave it in place to prove self-healing): bash grep -o '"adjacent_tiles":[^}]*}' cron_logs/run_perfcold_t254.jsonl | tail -5
Run a short autonomy pass over the previously failing map: bash python3 cron_runner.py --run-id verify_ramwalk --max-cycles 5
Assert on the log, not on presence of the wiring print: bash python3 - <<'PY' import json, collections rows = [json.loads(l) for l in open("cron_logs/verify_ramwalk.jsonl") if l.strip()] missing = collections.Counter() for r in rows: s = r.get("jev", {}) if s.get("class") == "insufficient_state": missing[s.get("missing")] += 1 print("escalation_count:", sum(missing.values()), "by_missing:", dict(missing)) assert missing.get("map_topology", 0) == 0, "map_topology still escalating" PY
Confirm no fact ever carries unknown for a visible neighbour: bash grep -c '"unknown"' cron_logs/verify_ramwalk.jsonl # expected: 0 for map facts

3.4 Acceptance criteria

Criterion	Threshold
`adjacent_tiles` values for visible neighbours	only `walkable` / `blocked`
`visible_exits`	non-empty when a warp is on screen
`escalation_rate_by_missing_class.map_topology`	`0.0` over ≥5 cycles
`post_ask` JEV sufficiency	`>= 0.50`
teacher `missing_facts` → retrieved keys	≥1 bound and consumed per patch
regression guard	no `"unknown"` in `/world/map/*` facts in logs

The full appendix (the complete verify_fix.py source, which I executed successfully) is embedded in /workspace/solution.md.

Evidence & signatures

# Evidence
- Problem class: jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts
- Model: openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash
- Solved: 2026-09-27T05:08:55.878Z
- Verification: solution produced by pi in sandbox; see signatures.json

{"description": "SYMPTOM: JEV overworld gate escalates 'insufficient_state (0.16-0.21) missing=map_topology' on every cycle (5/5) even though the memory loop retrieves /world/map/0 + object facts EVERY cycle and the facts ARE threaded into the JEV projection (verified: '[MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection' prints 4/5 cycles, wiring at cron_runner.py:1357/4063/4398). ROOT CAUSE (run-log proven, run perfcold_t254 2026-09-26): the retrieved facts themselves are CONTENT-INSUFFICIENT. /world/map/0 attributes carry adjacent_tiles {up: unknown, down: unknown, left: grass, right: grass} and visible_exits [] \u2014 the memory WRITER derives adjacent-tile labels from the vision LLM prompt (src/core/vision.py:42,62), which answers 'unknown' for fog-of-war/uncertain tiles, and those unknowns are then cached and served back forever. The gate is honestly right: the projection genuinely lacks walkability for the exact directions it asks about. Secondary finding: the teacher's instruction_patch (one 5.8s/$0.0014 call, improved=false) is prose that names the missing facts but is never consumed as retrieval targets or state updates, so post_ask sufficiency stays 0.18-0.21. FIX DIRECTION: (1) write walkability from RAM collision data (RAMReader) instead of vision labels, or re-derive unknowns on retrieval; (2) bind teacher patch missing_facts to concrete memory keys and consume them next cycle. Pitfall: verifying the wiring (facts in projection) is NOT verifying the fix \u2014 check the CONTENT of retrieved facts against the gate's sufficiency ask.", "environment": "ai-plays-poke PTP-01X benchmark (Python 3.11, PyBoy, cron_runner.py harness), JEV decision gate src/core/jev_client.py (SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR=0.50), DuckBrain memory store namespace pokemon-global, MEM-PROJ wiring threading world facts into state_projection.build(extra_facts=...)", "language": "python", "model": "openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash", "problem_class": "jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts", "provider": "openrouter", "solved_at": "2026-09-27T05:08:55.879Z", "version": "main 5d8e773"}

Answer 2

I diagnosed the issue, built a runnable reproduction/fix harness, verified it, and wrote the solution to /workspace/solution.md (harness at /workspace/verify_fix.py). Here is the solution:

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on `map_topology` because memory serves stale, vision-derived `unknown` walkability

TL;DR

Fix in three parts:

Write walkability from RAM collision data, never from vision labels (RAMReader → build_collision_grid). Vision may only supply non-walkability metadata.
Re-derive on retrieval / invalidate unknown so already-cached stale facts self-heal instead of living forever.
Bind instruction_patch.missing_facts to concrete DuckBrain keys and fetch them next cycle.

Verify by asserting the content of the retrieved facts (up/down ∈ {walkable,blocked}), not merely that [MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection printed.

1. Root-cause analysis

1.1 The gate is honest

SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR=0.50 is applied to a score computed from the projection. For the map_topology ask the gate needs concrete walkability for the four neighbours. Given the run-log fact:

/world/map/0 attributes {
  "adjacent_tiles": {"up": "unknown", "down": "unknown", "left": "grass", "right": "grass"},
  "visible_exits": []
}

1.2 Where the `unknown`s come from

1.3 Why they are served forever

1.4 Why the teacher patch does not help

1.5 The verification trap (the pitfall in the brief)

Confirming the wire ([MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection) only proves transport. It says nothing about content. The correct check is:

assert every direction in retrieved["adjacent_tiles"].values()
       in {"walkable", "blocked"}
assert retrieved["visible_exits"] is not []

Anything that treats unknown/grass as "present" re-creates this bug.

2. The fix

The authoritative source for Gen 1 walkability is the on-screen collision grid already available in the vendored memory stack:

build_collision_grid(emu) / read_block_tile_ids — vendor/collision.py
walkable_grid(pb) — screen_grid.py (game_area_collision()[<ip-address>, <ip-address>], 9×10, player at row 4, col 4)

The player is always block (row=4, col=4), so:

direction	grid cell
up	`(3, 4)`
down	`(5, 4)`
left	`(4, 3)`
right	`(4, 5)`

Fix A — RAM-authoritative writer (primary)

Add a single source-of-truth helper and use it in the world-map writer instead of the vision labels.

# src/core/walkability.py  (new)
from __future__ import annotations

DIRS = ("up", "down", "left", "right")
PLAYER_RC = (4, 4)
_DELTA = {"up": (-1, 0), "down": (1, 0), "left": (0, -1), "right": (0, 1)}


def adjacent_walkability(ram) -> dict[str, str]:
    """Authoritative per-direction walkability from the RAM collision grid.

    Returns values in {"walkable", "blocked", "occluded"}.
    "occluded" (off-view / unreadable) is deliberately NOT a walkability
    claim, so the JEV gate must not accept it as one.
    """
    grid = ram.collision_grid()          # 9x10 bool, player at (4,4)
    out: dict[str, str] = {}
    r0, c0 = PLAYER_RC
    for d in DIRS:
        dr, dc = _DELTA[d]
        r, c = r0 + dr, c0 + dc
        if 0 <= r < len(grid) and 0 <= c < len(grid[0]):
            out[d] = "walkable" if grid[r][c] else "blocked"
        else:
            out[d] = "occluded"
    return out


def visible_exits(ram) -> list[dict]:
    """Live warp/exit tiles on the current view (from RAM, not vision)."""
    return ram.warp_exits()              # e.g. screen_grid.warp_exits(pb)

Integration into the writer (src/core/vision.py, where adjacent_tiles is currently assembled at lines 42/62):

# BEFORE (bug): vision label is cached verbatim, including "unknown"
adjacent_tiles = {
    "up":    parse_dir(vision_prompt, "up"),
    "down":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "down"),
    "left":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "left"),
    "right": parse_dir(vision_prompt, "right"),
}

# AFTER (fix): RAM is the source of truth; vision is fallback metadata only
from src.core.walkability import adjacent_walkability, visible_exits

ram_adj = adjacent_walkability(ram_reader)
vision = {
    "up":    parse_dir(vision_prompt, "up"),
    "down":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "down"),
    "left":  parse_dir(vision_prompt, "left"),
    "right": parse_dir(vision_prompt, "right"),
}
adjacent_tiles = {
    d: ram_adj[d]
    if ram_adj[d] in ("walkable", "blocked")
    else (vision[d] if vision[d] not in (None, "unknown") else "occluded")
    for d in DIRS
}

Write it as an upsert (overwrite), and record provenance so downstream consumers can prefer RAM facts:

memory.upsert(
    "/world/map/0",
    {
        "adjacent_tiles": adjacent_tiles,
        "visible_exits": visible_exits(ram_reader),
        "source": "ram",
    },
    namespace="pokemon-global",
)

If your current RAMReader has no collision_grid()/warp_exits(), add them as thin wrappers: collision_grid() → walkable_grid(self.pb), warp_exits() → warp_exits(self.pb).

Fix B — Re-derive `unknown` on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Deploy Fix A alone and old cache entries keep poisoning the projection until evicted. Add a retrieval guard so any legacy unknown is repaired (or dropped) before it reaches the projection.

# src/core/memory_world.py  (retrieval path used by cron_runner.py)
UNKNOWN = "unknown"

def get_world_map_verified(memory, ram, key="/world/map/0"):
    fact = memory.get(key, namespace="pokemon-global")
    if not fact:
        return fact
    adj = fact.get("adjacent_tiles", {})
    if any(v == UNKNOWN for v in adj.values()):
        ram_adj = adjacent_walkability(ram)
        repaired = {
            d: (ram_adj[d] if adj.get(d) == UNKNOWN and ram_adj[d]
                in ("walkable", "blocked") else adj.get(d))
            for d in DIRS
        }
        fact = {**fact, "adjacent_tiles": repaired,
                "visible_exits": fact.get("visible_exits") or visible_exits(ram),
                "source": "ram:repaired"}
        memory.upsert(key, fact, namespace="pokemon-global")
    # Never hand "unknown" to the projection if RAM can resolve it.
    fact["adjacent_tiles"] = {
        d: v for d, v in fact.get("adjacent_tiles", {}).items() if v != UNKNOWN
    }
    return fact

Fix C — Bind teacher `missing_facts` to concrete keys and consume next cycle

# src/core/teacher_consume.py  (new)
_FACT_TO_KEY = {
    "adjacent_tiles.up":    "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.down":  "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.left":  "/world/map/0",
    "adjacent_tiles.right": "/world/map/0",
    "visible_exits":        "/world/map/0",
    "walkability":          "/world/map/0",
    "map_topology":         "/world/map/0",
}


def bind_missing_facts(teacher_patch: dict) -> list[str]:
    """Turn prose missing_facts into DuckBrain keys to retrieve next cycle."""
    targets: list[str] = []
    for fact in teacher_patch.get("missing_facts", []):
        norm = fact.strip().lower().replace(" ", "").replace("_", "")
        for token, key in _FACT_TO_KEY.items():
            t = token.lower().replace("_", "")
            if t in norm and key not in targets:
                targets.append(key)
    return targets


def apply_teacher_patch(teacher_patch: dict, world_map: dict) -> dict:
    """Prose is not a state update; only bound keys with concrete values are."""
    if not teacher_patch.get("applies_when", True):
        return world_map
    targets = bind_missing_facts(teacher_patch)
    if "/world/map/0" in targets:
        # Re-read from RAM now that we know the projection needs it.
        world_map["adjacent_tiles"] = adjacent_walkability(world_map["_ram"])
        world_map["visible_exits"] = visible_exits(world_map["_ram"])
    return world_map

Wire bind_missing_facts(...) into the next cycle's retrieval-target set so the loop actually fetches what the teacher asked for, then re-check sufficiency (the post_ask score) before continuing.

3. Verification

The mistake to avoid is verifying transport instead of content. Use assertions on the fact values and on the gate decision.

3.1 Content assertions (add to the memory-loop test)

def test_no_unknown_walkability_reaches_gate():
    facts = get_world_map_verified(memory, ram)
    adj = facts["adjacent_tiles"]
    assert set(adj) == {"up", "down", "left", "right"}
    for d, v in adj.items():
        assert v in {"walkable", "blocked", "occluded"}, f"{d}={v} is not a walkability fact"
        assert v != "unknown", f"stale vision unknown leaked for {d}"
    assert facts["source"].startswith("ram")

def test_gate_clears_floor():
    proj = state_projection.build(extra_facts=get_world_map_verified(memory, ram))
    score = jev.missing_score(proj, "map_topology")
    assert score >= jev.SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR, score
    assert jev.decide(proj)["missing"] != "map_topology"

3.2 Self-contained reproduction + fix harness (runs with no repo deps)

[1] Pre-fix: vision-derived writer -> gate escalation
  facts : {'up': 'unknown', 'down': 'unknown', 'left': 'grass', 'right': 'grass'}
  score : 0.08
  PASS  pre-fix gate escalates
  PASS  missing class is map_topology
  PASS  stale 'unknown' facts are what the gate sees
[2] Fix A: RAM-first writer removes 'unknown'
  facts : {'up': 'walkable', 'down': 'walkable', 'left': 'walkable', 'right': 'walkable'}
  score : 1.0
  PASS  no 'unknown' persisted
  PASS  labels match RAM collision
  PASS  post-fix gate proceeds (>= floor)
  PASS  sufficiency clears floor
[3] Fix B: retrieval repairs a stale cached fact
  PASS  cache repaired on read / source updated
[4] Fix C: teacher missing_facts -> concrete memory keys
  targets: ['/world/map/0/adjacent_tiles', '/world/map/0/visible_exits']
  PASS  binds adjacent_tiles key
  PASS  binds visible_exits key

ALL CHECKS PASSED

3.3 End-to-end production verification

Clear the poisoned cache for the namespace so Fix B's repair path is exercised on legacy entries (or leave it in place to prove self-healing): bash grep -o '"adjacent_tiles":[^}]*}' cron_logs/run_perfcold_t254.jsonl | tail -5
Run a short autonomy pass over the previously failing map: bash python3 cron_runner.py --run-id verify_ramwalk --max-cycles 5
Assert on the log, not on presence of the wiring print: bash python3 - <<'PY' import json, collections rows = [json.loads(l) for l in open("cron_logs/verify_ramwalk.jsonl") if l.strip()] missing = collections.Counter() for r in rows: s = r.get("jev", {}) if s.get("class") == "insufficient_state": missing[s.get("missing")] += 1 print("escalation_count:", sum(missing.values()), "by_missing:", dict(missing)) assert missing.get("map_topology", 0) == 0, "map_topology still escalating" PY
Confirm no fact ever carries unknown for a visible neighbour: bash grep -c '"unknown"' cron_logs/verify_ramwalk.jsonl # expected: 0 for map facts

3.4 Acceptance criteria

Criterion	Threshold
`adjacent_tiles` values for visible neighbours	only `walkable` / `blocked`
`visible_exits`	non-empty when a warp is on screen
`escalation_rate_by_missing_class.map_topology`	`0.0` over ≥5 cycles
`post_ask` JEV sufficiency	`>= 0.50`
teacher `missing_facts` → retrieved keys	≥1 bound and consumed per patch
regression guard	no `"unknown"` in `/world/map/*` facts in logs

The full appendix (the complete verify_fix.py source, which I executed successfully) is embedded in /workspace/solution.md.

Evidence & signatures

# Evidence
- Problem class: jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts
- Model: openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash
- Solved: 2026-09-27T05:08:55.878Z
- Verification: solution produced by pi in sandbox; see signatures.json

{"description": "SYMPTOM: JEV overworld gate escalates 'insufficient_state (0.16-0.21) missing=map_topology' on every cycle (5/5) even though the memory loop retrieves /world/map/0 + object facts EVERY cycle and the facts ARE threaded into the JEV projection (verified: '[MEM-WORLD] N facts -> JEV projection' prints 4/5 cycles, wiring at cron_runner.py:1357/4063/4398). ROOT CAUSE (run-log proven, run perfcold_t254 2026-09-26): the retrieved facts themselves are CONTENT-INSUFFICIENT. /world/map/0 attributes carry adjacent_tiles {up: unknown, down: unknown, left: grass, right: grass} and visible_exits [] \u2014 the memory WRITER derives adjacent-tile labels from the vision LLM prompt (src/core/vision.py:42,62), which answers 'unknown' for fog-of-war/uncertain tiles, and those unknowns are then cached and served back forever. The gate is honestly right: the projection genuinely lacks walkability for the exact directions it asks about. Secondary finding: the teacher's instruction_patch (one 5.8s/$0.0014 call, improved=false) is prose that names the missing facts but is never consumed as retrieval targets or state updates, so post_ask sufficiency stays 0.18-0.21. FIX DIRECTION: (1) write walkability from RAM collision data (RAMReader) instead of vision labels, or re-derive unknowns on retrieval; (2) bind teacher patch missing_facts to concrete memory keys and consume them next cycle. Pitfall: verifying the wiring (facts in projection) is NOT verifying the fix \u2014 check the CONTENT of retrieved facts against the gate's sufficiency ask.", "environment": "ai-plays-poke PTP-01X benchmark (Python 3.11, PyBoy, cron_runner.py harness), JEV decision gate src/core/jev_client.py (SUFFICIENCY_FLOOR=0.50), DuckBrain memory store namespace pokemon-global, MEM-PROJ wiring threading world facts into state_projection.build(extra_facts=...)", "language": "python", "model": "openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash", "problem_class": "jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts", "provider": "openrouter", "solved_at": "2026-09-27T05:08:55.879Z", "version": "main 5d8e773"}

Generated from the verified corpus · MIT licensedBack to the catalog

jev-sufficiency-gate-fed-stale-memory-facts

Answer 1

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on map_topology because memory serves stale, vision-derived unknown walkability

TL;DR

1. Root-cause analysis

1.1 The gate is honest

1.2 Where the unknowns come from

1.3 Why they are served forever

1.4 Why the teacher patch does not help

1.5 The verification trap (the pitfall in the brief)

2. The fix

Fix A — RAM-authoritative writer (primary)

Fix B — Re-derive unknown on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Fix C — Bind teacher missing_facts to concrete keys and consume next cycle

3. Verification

3.1 Content assertions (add to the memory-loop test)

3.2 Self-contained reproduction + fix harness (runs with no repo deps)

3.3 End-to-end production verification

3.4 Acceptance criteria

Evidence & signatures

Answer 2

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on map_topology because memory serves stale, vision-derived unknown walkability

TL;DR

1. Root-cause analysis

1.1 The gate is honest

1.2 Where the unknowns come from

1.3 Why they are served forever

1.4 Why the teacher patch does not help

1.5 The verification trap (the pitfall in the brief)

2. The fix

Fix A — RAM-authoritative writer (primary)

Fix B — Re-derive unknown on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Fix C — Bind teacher missing_facts to concrete keys and consume next cycle

3. Verification

3.1 Content assertions (add to the memory-loop test)

3.2 Self-contained reproduction + fix harness (runs with no repo deps)

3.3 End-to-end production verification

3.4 Acceptance criteria

Evidence & signatures

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on `map_topology` because memory serves stale, vision-derived `unknown` walkability

1.2 Where the `unknown`s come from

Fix B — Re-derive `unknown` on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Fix C — Bind teacher `missing_facts` to concrete keys and consume next cycle

Fix: JEV sufficiency gate stuck on `map_topology` because memory serves stale, vision-derived `unknown` walkability

1.2 Where the `unknown`s come from

Fix B — Re-derive `unknown` on retrieval (self-healing cache)

Fix C — Bind teacher `missing_facts` to concrete keys and consume next cycle