diff --git a/internal/phraser/world_test.go b/internal/phraser/world_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1cdb6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/phraser/world_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+package phraser
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/loop"
+)
+
+// fakeRemote — a workstation model that is up or down on command, and records
+// what it was asked.
+type fakeRemote struct {
+	up    bool
+	reply string
+	err   error
+	got   []llm.Req
+}
+
+func (f *fakeRemote) Available() bool { return f.up }
+
+func (f *fakeRemote) CompleteRemote(_ context.Context, r llm.Req) (string, error) {
+	f.got = append(f.got, r)
+	if f.err != nil {
+		return "", f.err
+	}
+	return f.reply, nil
+}
+
+// The three outcomes of the naming half, in one place. The middle one is the
+// whole task: a gap he is told about, not an answer from the smaller model.
+func TestPhraseWorldNamesTheGapOnlyWhenThereIsOne(t *testing.T) {
+	answer := `{"response": "Небо голубое из-за рэлеевского рассеяния.", "mood": "neutral"}`
+
+	t.Run("no workstation configured: the resident model answers as today", func(t *testing.T) {
+		spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+		p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+		got, err := p.PhraseWorld(context.Background(), "почему небо голубое", nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("PhraseWorld: %v", err)
+		}
+		if got == "" {
+			t.Fatal("no reply from the resident model")
+		}
+		if len(spy.user) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("resident model saw %d requests, want 1", len(spy.user))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("workstation up: it answers and the resident model is not asked", func(t *testing.T) {
+		spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+		p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+		remote := &fakeRemote{up: true, reply: answer}
+		p.UseRemote(remote)
+		got, err := p.PhraseWorld(context.Background(), "почему небо голубое", nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("PhraseWorld: %v", err)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "рассеяния") {
+			t.Errorf("reply is not the workstation's: %q", got)
+		}
+		if len(spy.user) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("the resident model was asked %d times, want 0", len(spy.user))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("workstation down: the gap, and nothing invented", func(t *testing.T) {
+		spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+		p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+		p.UseRemote(&fakeRemote{up: false})
+		got, err := p.PhraseWorld(context.Background(), "почему небо голубое", nil)
+		if !errors.Is(err, ErrNoWorldModel) {
+			t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrNoWorldModel", err)
+		}
+		if got != "" {
+			t.Errorf("got a reply %q with no world model", got)
+		}
+		if len(spy.user) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("the resident model answered a world question %d times, want 0", len(spy.user))
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("workstation errors mid-request: still the gap", func(t *testing.T) {
+		spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+		p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+		p.UseRemote(&fakeRemote{up: true, err: errors.New("connection refused")})
+		if _, err := p.PhraseWorld(context.Background(), "почему небо голубое", nil); !errors.Is(err, ErrNoWorldModel) {
+			t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrNoWorldModel", err)
+		}
+		if len(spy.user) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("the resident model answered a world question %d times, want 0", len(spy.user))
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// Prompt parity: the workstation model is asked the same question in the same
+// words, or the fixtures measure one thing and the daemon ships another.
+func TestPhraseWorldSendsTheSamePromptsAsPhraseQuery(t *testing.T) {
+	spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+	resident := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+	if _, err := resident.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "кто написал войну и мир", []string{"Лев Толстой"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	remote := &fakeRemote{up: true, reply: `{"response": "Толстой.", "mood": "neutral"}`}
+	offloaded := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{})
+	offloaded.UseRemote(remote)
+	if _, err := offloaded.PhraseWorld(context.Background(), "кто написал войну и мир", []string{"Лев Толстой"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if len(remote.got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the workstation saw %d requests, want 1", len(remote.got))
+	}
+	if remote.got[0].System != spy.system[0] {
+		t.Errorf("system prompts differ:\nremote:   %q\nresident: %q", remote.got[0].System, spy.system[0])
+	}
+	if remote.got[0].User != spy.user[0] {
+		t.Errorf("user prompts differ:\nremote:   %q\nresident: %q", remote.got[0].User, spy.user[0])
+	}
+}
+
+// The silent half. A nudge phrased on the workstation is not news, and one
+// phrased here because the card is busy is not news either — but it must be
+// sampled the same way, or the workstation quietly changes how she sounds.
+func TestNudgePhrasingPrefersTheWorkstationSilently(t *testing.T) {
+	spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+	p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{LLMNudges: true})
+	remote := &fakeRemote{up: true, reply: `{"response": "Выпей воды.", "mood": "neutral"}`}
+	p.UseRemote(remote)
+
+	pn, err := p.PhraseNudge(context.Background(), loop.Candidate{Rule: loop.WaterRule(), Severity: loop.Sev1})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("PhraseNudge: %v", err)
+	}
+	if pn.Body != "Выпей воды." {
+		t.Errorf("body = %q, want the workstation's wording", pn.Body)
+	}
+	if len(remote.got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the workstation saw %d requests, want 1", len(remote.got))
+	}
+	if remote.got[0].Temperature != chatTemperature {
+		t.Errorf("temperature = %v, want %v (what the resident transport samples at)",
+			remote.got[0].Temperature, chatTemperature)
+	}
+	if len(spy.user) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the resident model phrased %d nudges, want 0", len(spy.user))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNudgePhrasingFallsBackWhenTheCardIsBusy(t *testing.T) {
+	spy := newPromptSpy(t)
+	p := NewLLMPhraserAt(spy.srv.URL, Config{LLMNudges: true})
+	p.UseRemote(&fakeRemote{up: false})
+
+	if _, err := p.PhraseNudge(context.Background(), loop.Candidate{Rule: loop.WaterRule(), Severity: loop.Sev1}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("PhraseNudge: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(spy.user) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the resident model phrased %d nudges, want 1", len(spy.user))
+	}
+}