Announce tick-inferred routines, opt-in and rate-limited (#247, #43)

The digestion tick already runs the pattern detector over all recorded
events (67563ed) and writes a proposed_routines row. What was missing is
the other half of #247: a proposal that nobody is at the mic for reaches
nothing but the /routines page, so a pattern noticed at 03:00 is only
seen if he goes looking.

This wires the tick's proposals into the existing care-delivery path
rather than a second channel: sev1 nudge, loop.Gate, dispatcher, same
routing table as an accepted routine. Restraints, since a feature that
speaks unprompted is the easiest way to turn Maven into a nag:

  - off unless configured — the new pattern_proposals block, absent by
    default, and deploy/mavend.json ships notify: false;
  - at most one announcement per tick however many patterns surfaced;
  - at most one per cooldown (24h default) across all pairs;
  - sev1, so quiet hours, away and snooze suppress it;
  - suppressed means dropped, not queued — /routines still has it;
  - once per pair for good, since proposed_routines is
    UNIQUE(action, object) and the row survives dismissal.

The body is pattern.PhraseRoutine's literal Russian, not LLM-worded, so
an inferred routine cannot arrive describing something never observed.

Also raises pattern.MinEvents from 3 to 4 — the interval-quality item on
#43. Two intervals with a ±50% band is a coincidence with a mean, not a
pattern, and now that a scan of all history can announce itself the cost
of a false positive is a permanent dismissal of that pair.

cmd/mavend/main.go

@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 		tickInterval := time.Duration(cfg.TickInterval)
 		repeatInterval := time.Duration(cfg.RepeatInterval)
 		autotuneInterval := time.Duration(cfg.AutotuneInterval)
-		tl = newTickLoop(st, gatherer, dispatcher, phr, rules, tickInterval, repeatInterval, autotuneInterval, cfg.Digest, routinesFromConfig(cfg.Routines), config.MorningRoutinesFromConfig(cfg.MorningRoutines))
+		tl = newTickLoop(st, gatherer, dispatcher, phr, rules, tickInterval, repeatInterval, autotuneInterval, cfg.Digest, routinesFromConfig(cfg.Routines), config.MorningRoutinesFromConfig(cfg.MorningRoutines), cfg.PatternProposals)
 		factWorker = newFactEnrichmentWorker(st, eco, time.Duration(cfg.FactEnrichmentInterval))
 
 		coreAPI = &daemonAPI{
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 			tickInterval := time.Duration(cfg.TickInterval)
 			repeatInterval := time.Duration(cfg.RepeatInterval)
 			autotuneInterval := time.Duration(cfg.AutotuneInterval)
-			tl = newTickLoop(st, gatherer, dispatcher, phr, rules, tickInterval, repeatInterval, autotuneInterval, cfg.Digest, routinesFromConfig(cfg.Routines), config.MorningRoutinesFromConfig(cfg.MorningRoutines))
+			tl = newTickLoop(st, gatherer, dispatcher, phr, rules, tickInterval, repeatInterval, autotuneInterval, cfg.Digest, routinesFromConfig(cfg.Routines), config.MorningRoutinesFromConfig(cfg.MorningRoutines), cfg.PatternProposals)
 			factWorker = newFactEnrichmentWorker(st, eco, time.Duration(cfg.FactEnrichmentInterval))
 
 			// Swap the CoreAPI from the locked placeholder to the real store adapter.

cmd/mavend/patterns_test.go

@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/config"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/delivery"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/loop"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/pattern"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
 )
 
@@ -27,16 +32,16 @@ func seedRefillEvents(t *testing.T, st *store.Store, ctx context.Context, base t
 
 // TestTickDetectsPatternFromStoredEvents proves the tick notices a pattern on
 // its own, reading straight from the store — not as a side effect of a live
-// utterance (Vikunja #43). Three weekly events with no voice turn in sight
-// must produce exactly one proposed routine.
+// utterance (Vikunja #43). MinEvents weekly events with no voice turn in
+// sight must produce exactly one proposed routine.
 func TestTickDetectsPatternFromStoredEvents(t *testing.T) {
 	st := newTestStore(t)
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	now := refNow()
-	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, 3)
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
 
 	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, &fakeSink{}, nil)
-	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now)
+	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now, loop.State{})
 
 	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -58,11 +63,11 @@ func TestTickPatternDetectionIsIdempotent(t *testing.T) {
 	st := newTestStore(t)
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	now := refNow()
-	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, 3)
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
 
 	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, &fakeSink{}, nil)
-	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now)
-	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now.Add(time.Hour))
+	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now, loop.State{})
+	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now.Add(time.Hour), loop.State{})
 
 	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -81,10 +86,10 @@ func TestTickPatternDetectionRespectsDismissal(t *testing.T) {
 	st := newTestStore(t)
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	now := refNow()
-	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, 3)
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
 
 	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, &fakeSink{}, nil)
-	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now)
+	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now, loop.State{})
 
 	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -99,8 +104,8 @@ func TestTickPatternDetectionRespectsDismissal(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// More events for the same pair arrive, and the tick runs again — a
 	// dismissed pattern must not resurface.
-	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now.Add(30*24*time.Hour), 3)
-	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now.Add(60*24*time.Hour))
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now.Add(30*24*time.Hour), pattern.MinEvents)
+	tl.detectPatterns(ctx, now.Add(60*24*time.Hour), loop.State{})
 
 	proposed, err := st.ListProposedRoutinesByStatus(ctx, store.RoutineProposed)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -120,3 +125,161 @@ func TestTickPatternDetectionRespectsDismissal(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("status = %s, want dismissed", all[0].Status)
 	}
 }
+
+// proposalRule — the rule name announceProposal uses for the seeded pair.
+const proposalRule = "proposal:refill cat_water"
+
+// TestTickProposalSilentByDefault — detection is always on, announcing is not.
+// With no pattern_proposals block the tick still records the proposal, and says
+// nothing about it: Maven is not autonomous, so a behaviour that speaks without
+// being asked stays off until it is configured.
+func TestTickProposalSilentByDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	now := refNow()
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
+	markPresent(t, st, ctx, now)
+
+	sink := &fakeSink{}
+	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, sink, nil)
+	tl.tick(ctx, now)
+
+	if n := countSends(sink, proposalRule); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("announced %d proposals with no config, want 0", n)
+	}
+	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutinesByStatus(ctx, store.RoutineProposed)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list proposed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(rows) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("proposed routines = %d, want 1 (silent, but recorded)", len(rows))
+	}
+}
+
+// TestTickAnnouncesProposalWhenConfigured — with notify on, the proposal goes
+// out once through the ordinary delivery path, worded by the detector itself.
+// Later ticks stay quiet because the pair is already proposed: one pattern is
+// one announcement, ever.
+func TestTickAnnouncesProposalWhenConfigured(t *testing.T) {
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	now := refNow()
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
+	markPresent(t, st, ctx, now)
+
+	sink := &fakeSink{}
+	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, sink, nil)
+	tl.proposalCfg = &config.PatternProposalConfig{Notify: true}
+	tl.tick(ctx, now)
+
+	var got *delivery.Sendable
+	for i := range sink.sends {
+		if sink.sends[i].RuleName == proposalRule {
+			got = &sink.sends[i]
+		}
+	}
+	if got == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("proposal was not announced; sends=%+v", sink.sends)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got.Body, "напоминать?") {
+		t.Errorf("body = %q, want the detector's own question", got.Body)
+	}
+	if got.Channel != delivery.ChannelVoice {
+		t.Errorf("channel = %v, want voice (sev1, present)", got.Channel)
+	}
+
+	// A month of further ticks: the pair already has a row, so there is
+	// nothing new to detect and nothing more to say.
+	sink.sends = nil
+	later := now.Add(40 * 24 * time.Hour)
+	markPresent(t, st, ctx, later)
+	tl.tick(ctx, later)
+	if n := countSends(sink, proposalRule); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("re-announced an existing proposal %d times, want 0", n)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestTickProposalRespectsGate — a proposal is the least urgent thing Maven can
+// say, so it is sev1 and the restraint gate suppresses it. Away presence means
+// it is not announced at all: it is not held, not retried, it just lives on
+// /routines. The proposal row is still written — noticing is never gated.
+func TestTickProposalRespectsGate(t *testing.T) {
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	now := refNow()
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
+	// no presence probes ⇒ away ⇒ care-class gate blocks.
+
+	sink := &fakeSink{}
+	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, sink, nil)
+	tl.proposalCfg = &config.PatternProposalConfig{Notify: true}
+	tl.tick(ctx, now)
+
+	if n := countSends(sink, proposalRule); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("away: announced %d proposals, want 0", n)
+	}
+	if !tl.lastProposalAt.IsZero() {
+		t.Error("cooldown clock advanced on a suppressed announcement")
+	}
+	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutinesByStatus(ctx, store.RoutineProposed)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list proposed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(rows) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("proposed routines = %d, want 1 (detection is never gated)", len(rows))
+	}
+}
+
+// TestTickProposalCooldownSpacesAnnouncements — two patterns detected on the
+// same tick must not become two interruptions. The second one waits for the
+// cooldown, and is on /routines meanwhile.
+func TestTickProposalCooldownSpacesAnnouncements(t *testing.T) {
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	now := refNow()
+	seedRefillEvents(t, st, ctx, now, pattern.MinEvents)
+	for i := 0; i < pattern.MinEvents; i++ {
+		ts := now.Add(time.Duration(i) * 3 * 24 * time.Hour)
+		factID, err := st.WriteFact(ctx, ts, store.KindSelf, "litter_box", "clean", "test", 1.0, sql.NullInt64{})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("write fact: %v", err)
+		}
+		if _, err := st.CreateEvent(ctx, factID, "clean", "litter_box", ts); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("create event: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+	markPresent(t, st, ctx, now)
+
+	sink := &fakeSink{}
+	tl := newTestTickLoop(t, st, sink, nil)
+	tl.proposalCfg = &config.PatternProposalConfig{Notify: true, Cooldown: config.Duration(24 * time.Hour)}
+	tl.tick(ctx, now)
+
+	announced := 0
+	for _, s := range sink.sends {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s.RuleName, "proposal:") {
+			announced++
+		}
+	}
+	if announced != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("announced %d proposals on one tick, want exactly 1", announced)
+	}
+	rows, err := st.ListProposedRoutinesByStatus(ctx, store.RoutineProposed)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list proposed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(rows) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("proposed routines = %d, want 2 (both recorded, one announced)", len(rows))
+	}
+
+	// Still inside the cooldown: silence, even though a proposal is pending.
+	sink.sends = nil
+	soon := now.Add(time.Hour)
+	markPresent(t, st, ctx, soon)
+	tl.tick(ctx, soon)
+	for _, s := range sink.sends {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s.RuleName, "proposal:") {
+			t.Fatalf("announced %q inside the cooldown", s.RuleName)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mavend/tick.go

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/loop"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/morning"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/pattern"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/routine"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
@@ -67,6 +68,14 @@ type tickLoop struct {
 	morningRoutines []morning.Routine
 	morningLast     map[string]time.Time
 
+	// proposalCfg — announcement policy for routines the tick inferred itself.
+	// nil ⇒ detect silently, never announce (the default). lastProposalAt is
+	// the cooldown clock, in-memory on purpose: a restart is allowed to permit
+	// one more announcement, and a restart-per-day loop is a bigger problem
+	// than a duplicate proposal notice.
+	proposalCfg    *config.PatternProposalConfig
+	lastProposalAt time.Time
+
 	// digestQ — in-memory queue of eligible nudges waiting for batch flush.
 	// populated when digestCfg != nil && digestCfg.Enabled.
 	digestQ []QueuedNudge
@@ -92,6 +101,7 @@ func newTickLoop(
 	digestCfg *config.DigestConfig,
 	routines []routine.Routine,
 	morningRoutines []morning.Routine,
+	proposalCfg *config.PatternProposalConfig,
 ) *tickLoop {
 	return &tickLoop{
 		store:            st,
@@ -108,6 +118,7 @@ func newTickLoop(
 		routineLast:      make(map[string]time.Time),
 		morningRoutines:  morningRoutines,
 		morningLast:      make(map[string]time.Time),
+		proposalCfg:      proposalCfg,
 		lastPhrase:       make(map[string]delivery.PhrasedNudge),
 	}
 }
@@ -212,7 +223,7 @@ func (t *tickLoop) tick(ctx context.Context, now time.Time) {
 	// path, so a pattern already sitting in history went unnoticed until he
 	// happened to mention it again by voice. See patterns.go and
 	// detectPatterns below for how idempotence and dismissal are respected.
-	t.detectPatterns(ctx, now)
+	t.detectPatterns(ctx, now, state)
 
 	// reminders: gate-bypassing class. fired once, marked after a successful
 	// delivery.  a failed send leaves the reminder pending — the next tick
@@ -381,16 +392,19 @@ func (t *tickLoop) flushDigest(ctx context.Context, now time.Time, state loop.St
 //     resurrecting — there is nothing tick-specific to get right here beyond
 //     calling the same shared path the voice route already used.
 //
-// This only ever creates a row for the /routines page to show. It does not
-// notify, ring, or speak — Maven is "not a nag, not autonomous" (CLAUDE.md),
-// and detection is not the same act as disturbing him about it. A proposal
-// only starts producing nudges once he accepts it (fireAcceptedRoutines).
-func (t *tickLoop) detectPatterns(ctx context.Context, now time.Time) {
+// By default this only creates a row for the /routines page to show: it does
+// not notify, ring, or speak. Detection is not the same act as disturbing him
+// about it, and Maven is "not a nag, not autonomous" (CLAUDE.md). Announcing
+// is opt-in through the pattern_proposals config block — see announceProposal
+// for the restraints that apply even then. A proposal only starts producing
+// recurring nudges once he accepts it (fireAcceptedRoutines).
+func (t *tickLoop) detectPatterns(ctx context.Context, now time.Time, state loop.State) {
 	pairs, err := t.store.DistinctEventPairs(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("tick: distinct event pairs: %v", err)
 		return
 	}
+	announced := false
 	for _, p := range pairs {
 		r, _, err := detectAndPropose(ctx, t.store, p.Action, p.Object, now)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -401,9 +415,65 @@ func (t *tickLoop) detectPatterns(ctx context.Context, now time.Time) {
 			continue // no stable pattern, or already proposed/accepted/dismissed
 		}
 		log.Printf("tick: proposed routine: %s/%s every %.1f days", r.Action, r.Object, r.IntervalDays)
+		// One announcement per tick at most, whatever the scan turned up. The
+		// rest are on /routines; they are not lost, they are just not shouted.
+		if announced {
+			continue
+		}
+		announced = t.announceProposal(ctx, r, now, state)
 	}
 }
 
+// announceProposal offers a freshly inferred routine through the ordinary
+// care-delivery path, if announcing is switched on at all. Returns true when
+// something was actually sent.
+//
+// Everything here is restraint. The feature is off unless configured; when on
+// it is sev1 (the lowest severity, so quiet hours, away presence and snooze
+// all suppress it via loop.Gate exactly like a care nudge); it is spaced by
+// proposalCfg.Cooldown across every pair, not per pair; and a suppressed or
+// dropped announcement is NOT retried — the cooldown clock advances only on a
+// real send, but the proposal row already exists, so the next tick will not
+// re-detect it and nothing queues up behind it. A missed announcement means
+// he reads it on /routines instead, which is the whole point of the page.
+//
+// The body is the detector's own literal Russian phrasing (pattern.PhraseRoutine
+// — "ты заправляешь поилку раз в 7 дней — напоминать?"), not LLM-generated, so
+// an inferred routine cannot arrive worded as something Maven never observed.
+func (t *tickLoop) announceProposal(ctx context.Context, r *pattern.ProposedRoutine, now time.Time, state loop.State) bool {
+	if !t.proposalCfg.AnnounceProposals() {
+		return false
+	}
+	cooldown := time.Duration(t.proposalCfg.Cooldown)
+	if cooldown <= 0 {
+		cooldown = config.DefaultProposalCooldown
+	}
+	if !t.lastProposalAt.IsZero() && now.Sub(t.lastProposalAt) < cooldown {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	rule := loop.Rule{Name: "proposal:" + r.Action + " " + r.Object, Severity: loop.Sev1}
+	if !loop.Gate(state, rule) {
+		return false
+	}
+	body := pattern.PhraseRoutine(r)
+	pn := delivery.PhrasedNudge{
+		Candidate: loop.Candidate{Rule: rule, Severity: rule.Severity, State: state},
+		Body:      body,
+		Summary:   body,
+	}
+	sent, err := t.dispatcher.DispatchNudge(ctx, pn, now)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("tick: announce proposal %s/%s: %v", r.Action, r.Object, err)
+		return false
+	}
+	if len(sent) == 0 {
+		return false // routing dropped it — /routines still has it.
+	}
+	t.lastProposalAt = now
+	return true
+}
+
 // digestExpiry — how long a gate-suppressed care nudge stays worth
 // resurfacing. 24h: these are daily-cadence rules (water/meal/break run on
 // hour-scale cooldowns and re-derive from facts that reset every day), so a

cmd/mavend/tick_test.go

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func newTestTickLoop(t *testing.T, st *store.Store, sink delivery.Sink, digestCf
 		Nudges:    st,
 		Reminders: st,
 	})
-	return newTickLoop(st, g, d, phraser.NewStub(), rules, time.Second, 5*time.Minute, 0, digestCfg, nil, nil)
+	return newTickLoop(st, g, d, phraser.NewStub(), rules, time.Second, 5*time.Minute, 0, digestCfg, nil, nil, nil)
 }
 
 func TestTickFiresRoutineWhenScheduleCrosses(t *testing.T) {
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func TestTickFiresRoutineWhenScheduleCrosses(t *testing.T) {
 	sink := &fakeSink{}
 	d := delivery.NewDispatcher(delivery.Config{Voice: sink, Ntfy: sink, Telegram: sink, Nudges: st, Reminders: st})
 	rs := []routine.Routine{{Name: "morning", Cron: "0 12 * * *", Body: "полдень, время воды", Severity: 1}}
-	tl := newTickLoop(st, g, d, phraser.NewStub(), rules, time.Second, 5*time.Minute, 0, nil, rs, nil)
+	tl := newTickLoop(st, g, d, phraser.NewStub(), rules, time.Second, 5*time.Minute, 0, nil, rs, nil, nil)
 
 	// first tick: seeds, does not fire the routine.
 	tl.tick(ctx, now)

deploy/mavend.json

@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@
     "severity_ceiling": 2
   },
 
+  "pattern_proposals": {
+    "notify": false,
+    "cooldown": "24h"
+  },
+
   "nexus":  { "url": "http://nexus:9740" },
   "praxis": { "url": "http://praxis:8989" },
   "hexis":  { "url": "http://hexis:9741" },

internal/config/config.go

@@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	// item. See internal/morning for the evaluation engine. Empty ⇒ disabled.
 	MorningRoutines []MorningRoutineConfig `json:"morning_routines,omitempty"`
 
+	// PatternProposals — whether a routine the digestion tick inferred on its
+	// own may be announced, and how often. nil / absent ⇒ silent detection
+	// only: proposals are written for /routines and never announced. See
+	// PatternProposalConfig.
+	PatternProposals *PatternProposalConfig `json:"pattern_proposals,omitempty"`
+
 	// Praxis — the ecosystem attention-state service. When configured, maven
 	// calls the Praxis HTTP tools API for attention listing and item lifecycle.
 	// Maven never touches Praxis's database directly (ecosystem invariant: no
@@ -352,6 +358,40 @@ type DigestConfig struct {
 	SeverityCeiling int      `json:"severity_ceiling,omitempty"` // max sev batched
 }
 
+// PatternProposalConfig — announcement policy for routines the digestion tick
+// inferred by itself (Vikunja #247, #43).
+//
+// Detection is always on and always silent by default: the tick writes a
+// proposed_routines row and the /routines page shows it. Notify is what turns
+// "she noticed" into "she said something", and it is OFF unless configured —
+// Maven is not a nag and not autonomous, so a behaviour that speaks without
+// being asked has to be switched on deliberately, like weather and telegram.
+//
+// When Notify is on, the announcement is still heavily restrained:
+//   - at most one proposal per tick, however many were detected;
+//   - at most one per Cooldown across all pairs (not per pair), so a batch of
+//     freshly-detected patterns cannot turn into a queue of interruptions;
+//   - through the ordinary care-class gate (quiet hours / away / snooze), at
+//     sev1 — the lowest severity there is. A proposal is the least urgent
+//     thing Maven can say.
+//
+// A pair is only ever announced once, because it is only ever proposed once:
+// proposed_routines is UNIQUE(action, object) and the row survives dismissal.
+type PatternProposalConfig struct {
+	// Notify — announce newly inferred routines. Default false.
+	Notify bool `json:"notify,omitempty"`
+
+	// Cooldown — minimum spacing between two proposal announcements. 0 ⇒
+	// DefaultProposalCooldown (24h).
+	Cooldown Duration `json:"cooldown,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// AnnounceProposals reports whether inferred routines may be announced. Safe
+// on a nil receiver — an absent config block means silent detection.
+func (p *PatternProposalConfig) AnnounceProposals() bool {
+	return p != nil && p.Notify
+}
+
 // PhraserConfig — the LLM-backed phraser seam. The daemon spawns llama-server
 // as a managed subprocess and sends chat-completion requests to phrase nudge
 // and reminder messages. nil ⇒ the template-based Stub is used instead.
@@ -448,6 +488,11 @@ const (
 	DefaultLLMRouter = true
 
 	DefaultFactEnrichmentInterval = 30 * time.Second
+
+	// DefaultProposalCooldown — one inferred-routine announcement per day at
+	// most. A proposal is never urgent; if two patterns surface in the same
+	// hour, the second one waits, and the /routines page has it either way.
+	DefaultProposalCooldown = 24 * time.Hour
 )
 
 // Load reads the JSON config at path and applies defaults. A missing file is
@@ -520,6 +565,12 @@ func (c *Config) applyDefaults() {
 		c.Digest.SeverityCeiling = 2
 	}
 
+	// Absent block stays nil (⇒ silent detection). Present-but-partial gets the
+	// cooldown default, so `{"notify": true}` is enough to switch it on.
+	if c.PatternProposals != nil && c.PatternProposals.Cooldown <= 0 {
+		c.PatternProposals.Cooldown = Duration(DefaultProposalCooldown)
+	}
+
 	if c.Voice != nil {
 		if c.Voice.RouterThreshold <= 0 {
 			c.Voice.RouterThreshold = DefaultRouterThreshold

internal/pattern/detector.go

@@ -20,9 +20,19 @@ type ProposedRoutine struct {
 const MaxIntervalRatio = 1.5
 
 // MinEvents is the minimum number of events needed to detect a pattern.
-// With N events, there are N-1 intervals; we need at least 2 intervals
-// before proposing anything.
-const MinEvents = 3
+// With N events there are N-1 intervals, so 4 events means 3 intervals.
+//
+// This used to be 3 (two intervals), which is not a pattern — it is a
+// coincidence with a mean. Two gaps of similar length happen constantly:
+// water the plants on a Sunday, again the next Sunday, once more the Sunday
+// after, and a detector with a ±50% band calls that a weekly routine. The
+// cost of being wrong is asymmetric now that the digestion tick scans all of
+// history on its own schedule and can announce what it finds: a false
+// positive is something the owner has to read and dismiss, and a dismissal
+// is permanent, so one bad guess burns that action+object pair forever.
+// Three intervals is the cheapest bar that makes a run distinguishable from
+// a repeat. False negatives cost one more observation and nothing else.
+const MinEvents = 4
 
 // Detect checks whether a sequence of events for the same action+object
 // forms a stable recurring pattern. Returns a ProposedRoutine when:

internal/pattern/detector_test.go

@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestDetectEnoughEvents(t *testing.T) {
-	// 3 events with 7-day intervals → stable pattern
+	// MinEvents events with 7-day intervals → stable pattern
 	base := time.Date(2026, 7, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 	events := []Event{
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(7 * 24 * time.Hour)},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(14 * 24 * time.Hour)},
+		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(21 * 24 * time.Hour)},
 	}
 
 	r, err := Detect(events)
@@ -24,8 +25,8 @@ func TestDetectEnoughEvents(t *testing.T) {
 	if r.Action != "refill" || r.Object != "cat_water" {
 		t.Fatalf("action/object: want refill/cat_water, got %s/%s", r.Action, r.Object)
 	}
-	if r.N != 3 {
-		t.Fatalf("want N=3, got %d", r.N)
+	if r.N != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("want N=4, got %d", r.N)
 	}
 	// ~7 days
 	if r.IntervalDays < 6.9 || r.IntervalDays > 7.1 {
@@ -33,19 +34,28 @@ func TestDetectEnoughEvents(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestDetectNotEnoughEvents — two intervals are a coincidence, not a routine
+// (Vikunja #43). Three same-day-of-week events used to be enough to propose a
+// weekly reminder; MinEvents is 4 now so a repeat has to happen a third time
+// before Maven calls it a pattern.
 func TestDetectNotEnoughEvents(t *testing.T) {
 	base := time.Date(2026, 7, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
-	events := []Event{
-		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base},
-		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(7 * 24 * time.Hour)},
-	}
-
-	r, err := Detect(events)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Detect: %v", err)
-	}
-	if r != nil {
-		t.Fatal("want nil for <3 events")
+	for _, n := range []int{1, 2, MinEvents - 1} {
+		events := make([]Event, n)
+		for i := range events {
+			events[i] = Event{
+				Action: "refill",
+				Object: "cat_water",
+				Ts:     base.Add(time.Duration(i) * 7 * 24 * time.Hour),
+			}
+		}
+		r, err := Detect(events)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Detect(%d events): %v", n, err)
+		}
+		if r != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Detect(%d events) proposed %+v, want nil below MinEvents=%d", n, r, MinEvents)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -68,12 +78,13 @@ func TestDetectEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestDetectIrregularRejects(t *testing.T) {
-	// 3 events but wildly irregular: 1 day, then 14 days → ratio 14 > 1.5
+	// wildly irregular: 1 day, then 14 days → ratio 14 > 1.5
 	base := time.Date(2026, 7, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 	events := []Event{
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(1 * 24 * time.Hour)},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(15 * 24 * time.Hour)},
+		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(16 * 24 * time.Hour)},
 	}
 
 	r, err := Detect(events)
@@ -117,6 +128,7 @@ func TestDetectSameTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base},
 		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(7 * 24 * time.Hour)},
+		{Action: "refill", Object: "cat_water", Ts: base.Add(14 * 24 * time.Hour)},
 	}
 
 	r, err := Detect(events)