The hour after "к" is read, and an hour nobody read is asked about (V-610)

"напомни завтра к трём часам дня позвонить врачу" now sets 15:00. It set 03:53,
which was the clock at the moment of the turn. She confirmed that as the hour he
had just said.

#252 taught hourPrepositions and the dateparser rewrite the preposition "к". So
HasTime and NamesAnHour started answering true for the sentence. The value did
not follow. The rewrite kept his preposition and handed dateparser "завтра к
03:00 pm". dateparser joins a day word to a clock through "в" and through no
other Russian preposition. It read the day, dropped the clock and filled the time
from its relative base. The completeness rule then saw what, time and day all
answered, and committed at the current minute.

The preposition is normalised along with the hour now. "на" was losing the clock
the same way and was never measured. So "напомни завтра на 9" was landing on the
current minute too.

The second half is the durable one. ResolvedTheHour is the gate the reminder slot
reads, and it refuses a parse whose minute nobody spoke. A spoken hour lands on
the hour. The three shapes that name a minute of their own are a written clock, a
half hour and a quarter to. Anything else came off the clock the parser was
handed. An interval is exempt, because it lands where the arithmetic says.
Comparing the whole instant to now is the obvious test and it is wrong.
ru-rem-006 resolves to 12:00 and the fixture reference clock is 12:00. That is an
hour he did say, reading as an hour nobody did.

The five sentences measured on the box are pinned as tests. They run against the
stub and against the production parser, and the two that already passed are in
there too.

Fixture unchanged. classifier+hash is 27/91 and classifier+onnx is 64/91, before
and after. reach is 18/30 and 27/30, before and after. No case moved and no
clarify count changed. Suite green under -race.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cmd/mavend/actions_reminder.go

@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) actionReminder(ctx context.Context, dec router.Decisio
 		// time wasn't parsed. Run the parser as a fallback.
 		if dec.Stage == 0 && h.timeParser != nil {
 			t, ok, err := h.timeParser.Parse(ctx, dec.Utterance, h.now())
-			// Same gate as the extractor (V-577, V-579): a request that named
-			// no hour gets asked about, never completed from the clock.
-			if err == nil && ok && router.NamesAnHour(dec.Utterance) {
+			// Same gate as the extractor (V-577, V-579, V-610): a request whose
+			// hour was not spoken, or was spoken and not read, gets asked about
+			// and is never completed from the clock.
+			if err == nil && ok && router.ResolvedTheHour(dec.Utterance, t) {
 				dec.Slots.Time = t
 				dec.Slots.HasTime = true
 			}

internal/router/dateparser.go

@@ -58,8 +58,15 @@ try:
     # read at all until V-579: "в 9" set the reminder and "на 9" did not.
     # "к двум часам" is a third preposition and the dative that goes with it,
     # and it was read as no time at all until V-609.
+    # The preposition is normalised as well as the hour (V-610). dateparser
+    # joins a day word to a clock through "в" and through no other Russian
+    # preposition, so "завтра к 03:00 pm" loses the clock and resolves to
+    # tomorrow at the CURRENT minute. "на" was silently losing it the same way.
+    def _at(m):
+        prep = 'at' if m.group(1).lower() in ('at', 'by') else 'в'
+        return '%s %02d:00' % (prep, int(m.group(2)))
     text = re.sub(r'(?<![\w:])(в|во|на|к|ко|at|by)\s+([01]?\d|2[0-3])(?:\s+час(?:а|ов|у|ам)?)?(?![\d:.\w])',
-                  lambda m: '%s %02d:00' % (m.group(1), int(m.group(2))), text, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
+                  _at, text, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
     settings = {'PREFER_DATES_FROM': 'future', 'RELATIVE_BASE': now}
     # Two-step: search_dates finds the date substring in text,
     # parse() gets the time right (search_dates mishandles AM/PM).

internal/router/kpreposition_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+package router
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os/exec"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// probeNow is the clock the five sentences below were measured against on the
+// box at 03:53 on 2026-08-06, right after #252 deployed. Three of them wrote a
+// reminder for 03:53 itself, which is the current minute and not an hour anyone
+// said (V-610).
+var probeNow = time.Date(2026, 8, 6, 3, 53, 0, 0, time.Local)
+
+// kProbe — the five sentences, with what each must resolve to. The two that
+// already worked are here so that fixing "к" cannot cost "в".
+var kProbe = []struct {
+	text string
+	// day is the offset from probeNow's date, hour is the fire hour.
+	day     int
+	hour    int
+	whyItIs string
+}{
+	{
+		text:    "напомни завтра в три часа дня позвонить врачу",
+		day:     1,
+		hour:    15,
+		whyItIs: "в plus a spoken hour and a qualifier resolves, and did before #252",
+	},
+	{
+		text:    "напомни завтра в 15:00 позвонить врачу",
+		day:     1,
+		hour:    15,
+		whyItIs: "a written clock resolves, and did before #252",
+	},
+	{
+		text:    "напомни завтра к трём часам дня позвонить врачу",
+		day:     1,
+		hour:    15,
+		whyItIs: "к names the same hour в does, and wrote 03:53 after #252",
+	},
+	{
+		text:    "напомни сегодня к пяти часам вечера позвонить врачу",
+		day:     0,
+		hour:    17,
+		whyItIs: "the same defect on today and on the oblique пяти",
+	},
+	{
+		text:    "напомни завтра к трём часам позвонить врачу",
+		day:     1,
+		hour:    3,
+		whyItIs: "no qualifier, so the hour reads as spoken and the daemon asks which half",
+	},
+}
+
+// TestKPrepositionHourStub — the probe against the floor parser, which answers
+// on every box whether or not python is installed.
+func TestKPrepositionHourStub(t *testing.T) {
+	ex := Extractor{Time: StubDateTimeParser{}}
+	for _, c := range kProbe {
+		t.Run(c.text, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, c.text, probeNow)
+			if !got.HasTime {
+				t.Fatalf("time slot empty: %s", c.whyItIs)
+			}
+			checkFire(t, got.Time, c.day, c.hour, c.whyItIs)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestKPrepositionHourPython — the same probe against the production parser.
+// Skips where python3 or dateparser is missing, as the rest of this package's
+// python tests do.
+func TestKPrepositionHourPython(t *testing.T) {
+	requirePython(t)
+	p := NewPythonDateParser()
+	ex := Extractor{Time: p}
+	for _, c := range kProbe {
+		t.Run(c.text, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, c.text, probeNow)
+			if !got.HasTime {
+				t.Fatalf("time slot empty: %s", c.whyItIs)
+			}
+			checkFire(t, got.Time, c.day, c.hour, c.whyItIs)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func checkFire(t *testing.T, fire time.Time, dayOffset, hour int, why string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if fire.Hour() != hour || fire.Minute() != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("fire = %s, want %02d:00 — %s", fire.Format("2006-01-02 15:04"), hour, why)
+	}
+	if fire.Minute() == probeNow.Minute() && fire.Hour() == probeNow.Hour() {
+		t.Errorf("fire = %s, which is the clock at the moment of the turn and not an hour he said", fire.Format("15:04"))
+	}
+	want := probeNow.AddDate(0, 0, dayOffset)
+	if fire.Year() != want.Year() || fire.Month() != want.Month() || fire.Day() != want.Day() {
+		t.Errorf("fire = %s, want the %s — %s", fire.Format("2006-01-02"), want.Format("2006-01-02"), why)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestUnresolvedHourLeavesTheSlotEmpty — the durable half. A parser that read
+// the day and took the minute off the clock must not fill the time slot, no
+// matter which preposition lost the hour. This is the whole class the "к" case
+// was one member of.
+func TestUnresolvedHourLeavesTheSlotEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	ex := Extractor{Time: clockEchoParser{}}
+	for _, s := range []string{
+		"напомни завтра к трём часам дня позвонить врачу",
+		"напомни завтра в три часа дня позвонить врачу",
+		"напомни завтра на девять позвонить врачу",
+		"напомни сегодня к пяти часам вечера позвонить врачу",
+	} {
+		got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, s, probeNow)
+		if got.HasTime {
+			t.Errorf("Extract(%q) filled the slot with %s, which is the current minute; she has to ask", s, got.Time.Format("15:04"))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestSpokenMinutesSurviveTheRefusal — the three shapes that name a minute of
+// their own, and an hour that happens to be the hour it is spoken in. Refusing
+// on the whole instant instead of on the minute would cost every one of these,
+// and ru-rem-006 in the routing fixture is the case that says so.
+func TestSpokenMinutesSurviveTheRefusal(t *testing.T) {
+	noon := time.Date(2026, 7, 30, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	ex := Extractor{Time: StubDateTimeParser{}}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		text string
+		hour int
+		min  int
+	}{
+		{"напомни послезавтра в 12 забрать заказ", 12, 0},
+		{"разбуди меня в 6:30", 6, 30},
+		{"напомни в половине восьмого выпить таблетку", 7, 30},
+		{"напомни без четверти восемь выходить", 7, 45},
+	} {
+		got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, c.text, noon)
+		if !got.HasTime {
+			t.Errorf("Extract(%q) left the slot empty; he said the time", c.text)
+			continue
+		}
+		if got.Time.Hour() != c.hour || got.Time.Minute() != c.min {
+			t.Errorf("Extract(%q) = %s, want %02d:%02d", c.text, got.Time.Format("15:04"), c.hour, c.min)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestIntervalKeepsTheCurrentMinute — an interval is measured from now and may
+// land on now's own minute, so the refusal above must not reach it.
+func TestIntervalKeepsTheCurrentMinute(t *testing.T) {
+	ex := Extractor{Time: StubDateTimeParser{}}
+	got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, "напомни через час позвонить врачу", probeNow)
+	if !got.HasTime {
+		t.Fatal("через час names one instant and answers the hour and the day together")
+	}
+	if want := probeNow.Add(time.Hour); !got.Time.Equal(want) {
+		t.Errorf("fire = %s, want %s", got.Time.Format("15:04"), want.Format("15:04"))
+	}
+}
+
+func requirePython(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if _, err := exec.LookPath("python3"); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("python3 not on PATH — skipping dateparser tests")
+	}
+	if err := exec.Command("python3", "-c", "import dateparser").Run(); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("python dateparser not installed — skipping dateparser tests")
+	}
+}

internal/router/slots.go

@@ -55,11 +55,12 @@ func (e Extractor) Extract(ctx context.Context, intent Intent, utterance string,
 	switch intent {
 	case IntentReminder:
 		if e.Time != nil {
-			// NamesAnHour is the gate, not the parser's ok (V-577, V-579). A
-			// sentence that names a day and no hour parses to that day at the
-			// current minute, and filling the slot with it invents the answer
-			// she asked for. Left empty, the daemon asks.
-			if t, ok, err := e.Time.Parse(ctx, utterance, now); err == nil && ok && NamesAnHour(utterance) {
+			// ResolvedTheHour is the gate, not the parser's ok (V-577, V-579,
+			// V-610). A sentence that names a day and no hour parses to that day
+			// at the current minute, and so does one whose hour the parser could
+			// not read. Filling the slot with either invents the answer she asked
+			// for. Left empty, the daemon asks.
+			if t, ok, err := e.Time.Parse(ctx, utterance, now); err == nil && ok && ResolvedTheHour(utterance, t) {
 				s.Time = t
 				s.HasTime = true
 			}

internal/router/timementions.go

@@ -119,6 +119,55 @@ func NamesAnHour(text string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// ResolvedTheHour reports whether a parse read the hour the sentence names,
+// rather than inheriting the clock it was handed as its relative base.
+//
+// It is the second half of the gate NamesAnHour opens (V-610). NamesAnHour asks
+// whether an hour was spoken and cannot ask whether it was read, so a
+// preposition the parser half knew wrote a reminder at 03:53 for "напомни
+// завтра к трём часам дня" and confirmed it as if it were the hour he said. A
+// wrong instant she states as fact is worse than a question, because he stops
+// thinking about it.
+//
+// The tell is the minute. A spoken hour lands on the hour, and the only three
+// shapes that name a minute of their own are a written clock, a half hour and a
+// quarter to. A parse that came back with any other minute took it from the
+// clock it was handed, whatever hour it put in front of it. An interval is
+// exempt, because it is measured from now and lands wherever the arithmetic
+// says.
+//
+// Comparing the whole instant to now would be the obvious test and it is the
+// wrong one: "напомни послезавтра в 12" resolves to 12:00 and the fixture's
+// reference clock is 12:00, so an hour he did say would read as an hour nobody
+// did.
+func ResolvedTheHour(text string, t time.Time) bool {
+	if !NamesAnHour(text) {
+		return false
+	}
+	if NamesAnInterval(text) || t.Minute() == 0 {
+		return true
+	}
+	return namesTheMinute(text)
+}
+
+// namesTheMinute reports whether the sentence says which minute of the hour it
+// means, in any of the three ways it can.
+func namesTheMinute(text string) bool {
+	toks := strings.Fields(strings.ToLower(text))
+	for i, raw := range toks {
+		if isDigitClock(cleanWord(raw)) {
+			return true
+		}
+		if _, _, ok := halfPastAt(toks, i); ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		if _, _, _, ok := quarterToAt(toks, i); ok {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // NamesAnInterval reports whether the sentence measures the time from now
 // instead of naming it: "через час", "через 10 минут", "in 30 minutes".
 //

internal/router/timementions_test.go

@@ -93,8 +93,17 @@ func TestReminderSlotRefusesAnHourNobodySaid(t *testing.T) {
 	if got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, "на завтра", now); got.HasTime {
 		t.Errorf("«на завтра» filled the time slot with %s, which is the clock", got.Time.Format("15:04"))
 	}
-	if got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, "на 9", now); !got.HasTime {
-		t.Error("«на 9» names an hour and must still fill the slot")
+	// "на 9" names an hour, and a parser that answered with the clock did not
+	// read it (V-610). Naming one is necessary and reading it is what fills the
+	// slot, so this echo is refused too and the daemon asks.
+	if got := ex.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, "на 9", now); got.HasTime {
+		t.Errorf("«на 9» took %s from the clock; the parser never read the nine", got.Time.Format("15:04"))
+	}
+	// A parser that does read it fills the slot, which is the other half of the
+	// same rule.
+	real := Extractor{Time: StubDateTimeParser{}}
+	if got := real.Extract(context.Background(), IntentReminder, "на 9", now); !got.HasTime || got.Time.Hour() != 9 {
+		t.Errorf("«на 9» must fill the slot with nine o'clock, got %+v", got)
 	}
 }