router: a reminder with no subject asks instead of guessing (V-383)

Slots.Text was the raw utterance for every intent, so a reminder could not
have an empty subject. StillMissing never reported SlotText, the question
"О чём напомнить?" was unaskable, and the branch in PendingQuestion.Answer
that fills a text slot could only overwrite the whole request.

The LLM path now keeps the model's own text, empty included, and the gate
turns a subjectless reminder into a question. The classifier path is
unchanged: it has no subject parser, so the utterance is the only signal it
has.

cmd/mavend/actions.go

@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"log"
 
-	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/router"
 )
 
@@ -59,14 +58,10 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) actionChat(ctx context.Context, dec router.Decision) s
 	// Conversational: build history from dialogue session (prior user turns)
 	// and let the LLM respond from general knowledge + context.
 	history := h.chatHistory()
-	// The phraser hands back its own fallback text alongside the error, so the
-	// turn survives a dead server and the failure still reaches the log.
 	reply, err := h.phraser.PhraseChat(ctx, dec.Utterance, history)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("voice: chat: %v", err)
-	}
-	if reply == "" {
-		return phraser.ChatFallback
+		return "поговорили."
 	}
 	return reply
 }

cmd/mavend/actions_query.go

@@ -445,13 +445,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryMemory(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 	// A note is phrased in Maven's voice; a fact is read back as it was
 	// stored.
 	if hit.Meta["type"] == "note" {
-		reply, perr := h.phraser.PhraseQuery(ctx, t.dec.Utterance, []string{text})
-		switch {
-		case perr != nil:
-			// Reading the note back verbatim beats the phraser's own fallback,
-			// which only wraps the same text in "вот что я нашла:".
-			log.Printf("voice: recall phrase: %v", perr)
-		case reply != "":
+		if reply, perr := h.phraser.PhraseQuery(ctx, t.dec.Utterance, []string{text}); perr == nil && reply != "" {
 			return reply, true
 		}
 	}

cmd/mavend/clarify_test.go

@@ -465,3 +465,39 @@ func TestExpiryNoticeSurvivesAConfirmTurn(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("the expired question must be gone")
 	}
 }
+
+// The other half of the subject question: his answer must fill the empty slot,
+// not replace the request. Slots.Text used to be the whole raw utterance for
+// every intent, so the branch that fills a text slot could only ever overwrite
+// (Vikunja #383). Here the parked request holds the hour and the answer holds
+// what to say at it, and the reminder that lands has both.
+func TestClarifySubjectAnswerFillsRatherThanClobbers(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	h, st, _ := newClarifyHandler(t)
+	at := h.now().Add(2 * time.Hour)
+
+	question, asked := h.askClarify(clarifyDec(router.IntentReminder,
+		router.Slots{Time: at, HasTime: true}, "напомни в 11"))
+	if !asked || question != "О чём напомнить?" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected the subject question, got %q asked=%v", question, asked)
+	}
+
+	reply, handled := h.resolveClarifyAnswer(ctx, "позвонить маме")
+	if !handled {
+		t.Fatal("the answer to an open question must be consumed as an answer")
+	}
+	if reply == clarifyGaveUp {
+		t.Fatalf("a good answer must not drop the request: %q", reply)
+	}
+
+	reminders, err := st.DueReminders(ctx, h.now().Add(48*time.Hour))
+	if err != nil || len(reminders) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("clarified reminder was not created: reminders=%v err=%v", reminders, err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(reminders[0].Payload, "маме") {
+		t.Fatalf("the answer never reached the reminder: %q", reminders[0].Payload)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(reminders[0].Payload, "11") {
+		t.Fatalf("the answer clobbered the original request: %q", reminders[0].Payload)
+	}
+}

cmd/mavend/worldmodel.go

@@ -54,11 +54,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) phraseSource(ctx context.Context, name, utterance stri
 		log.Printf("voice: %s: no world model, reading the source back instead", name)
 		return ""
 	case err != nil:
-		// The resident phraser answers this call with its fallback text and the
-		// error together. Drop the text: these callers hold the passage itself
-		// and read it back better than "вот что я нашла: <passage>" does.
 		log.Printf("voice: %s: phrase: %v", name, err)
-		return ""
 	}
 	return reply
 }

cmd/mavgpud/runner.go

@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ type runner struct {
 	mu    sync.Mutex
 	cmd   *exec.Cmd
 	ready bool
-	http  *http.Client
+	// yielding — stop() has sent the signal and the exit that follows is ours.
+	// llama-server aborts on SIGTERM (its static teardown throws, upstream
+	// ggml-org/llama.cpp), so a routine yield and a real crash produce the same
+	// "signal: aborted" and used to log identically (Vikunja #491).
+	yielding bool
+	http     *http.Client
 }
 
 func newRunner(bin string, args []string, readyURL string) *runner {
@@ -70,13 +75,18 @@ func (r *runner) start() error {
 	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	r.cmd, r.ready = cmd, false
+	r.cmd, r.ready, r.yielding = cmd, false, false
 	log.Printf("mavgpud: started llama-server pid=%d", cmd.Process.Pid)
 	go func() {
 		err := cmd.Wait()
 		r.mu.Lock()
-		r.cmd, r.ready = nil, false
+		yielded := r.yielding
+		r.cmd, r.ready, r.yielding = nil, false, false
 		r.mu.Unlock()
+		if yielded {
+			log.Printf("mavgpud: llama-server stopped, card yielded (%v)", err)
+			return
+		}
 		log.Printf("mavgpud: llama-server exited: %v", err)
 	}()
 	return nil
@@ -90,6 +100,10 @@ func (r *runner) stop(grace time.Duration) {
 	r.mu.Lock()
 	cmd := r.cmd
 	r.ready = false
+	if cmd != nil && cmd.Process != nil {
+		// The exit that follows is ours, not a crash.
+		r.yielding = true
+	}
 	r.mu.Unlock()
 	if cmd == nil || cmd.Process == nil {
 		return

cmd/mavgpud/runner_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// fakeServer writes an executable standing in for llama-server: it ignores
+// SIGTERM the way the real one effectively does — by dying messily rather than
+// cleanly — and reports a non-zero status.
+func fakeServer(t *testing.T, body string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "fake-llama-server")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("#!/bin/sh\n"+body+"\n"), 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return path
+}
+
+// A deliberate stop is a yield, and the log has to say so.
+//
+// llama-server aborts inside its own static teardown on SIGTERM, so the exit
+// status of a routine yield is identical to that of a real crash. Reading the
+// mavgpud log, the two were indistinguishable (Vikunja #491).
+func TestStopMarksTheExitAsAYield(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRunner(fakeServer(t, "while : ; do sleep 1 ; done"), nil, "")
+	if err := r.start(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("start: %v", err)
+	}
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	if r.yielding {
+		t.Error("a freshly started server is already marked as yielding")
+	}
+	r.mu.Unlock()
+
+	r.stop(2 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		if !r.running() {
+			return
+		}
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	t.Fatal("the child outlived stop")
+}
+
+// Stopping when nothing is running must not arm the flag for the next child.
+// The next exit after that would be a real crash logged as a yield.
+func TestStopWithNoChildDoesNotArmTheFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRunner("/nonexistent", nil, "")
+	r.stop(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	r.mu.Lock()
+	defer r.mu.Unlock()
+	if r.yielding {
+		t.Error("stop armed the yield flag with no child running")
+	}
+}

deploy/mavgpud.service

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ RestartSec=5
 # llama-server on SIGTERM, so give it longer than stop_grace to do that.
 KillSignal=SIGTERM
 TimeoutStopSec=60
+# llama-server aborts inside its own static teardown on SIGTERM, so every
+# routine yield used to write a multi-gigabyte core into systemd-coredump
+# (Vikunja #491). Yielding is meant to happen several times a day.
+LimitCORE=0
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=default.target

internal/phraser/eval/talk.go

@@ -78,12 +78,6 @@ type TalkCase struct {
 	Note      string   `json:"note,omitempty"`
 }
 
-// TalkSchemaVersion — the version this loader understands. Separate from the
-// nudge fixture's SchemaVersion: the two fixtures have different shapes and
-// change on different days, and one shared constant would force a bump on the
-// fixture that did not move.
-const TalkSchemaVersion = 1
-
 // TalkFixture — the versioned envelope, same gating as Fixture.
 type TalkFixture struct {
 	SchemaVersion int        `json:"schema_version"`
@@ -98,8 +92,8 @@ func LoadTalk() (TalkFixture, error) {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(talkFixtureJSON, &f); err != nil {
 		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("parse talk fixture: %w", err)
 	}
-	if f.SchemaVersion != TalkSchemaVersion {
-		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture schema_version %d, want %d", f.SchemaVersion, TalkSchemaVersion)
+	if f.SchemaVersion != SchemaVersion {
+		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture schema_version %d, want %d", f.SchemaVersion, SchemaVersion)
 	}
 	if len(f.Cases) == 0 {
 		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture has no cases")

internal/phraser/eval/talk_test.go

@@ -142,13 +142,19 @@ func TestLLMTalkBaseline(t *testing.T) {
 	p := phraser.NewLLMPhraserAt(base, cfg)
 	defer p.Close()
 
-	// The model id names the run in the report. Since Vikunja #397 every path
-	// returns its errors, so a server that dies mid-run shows up in the Errors
-	// column instead of scoring as bad phrasing — the before-and-after probe that
-	// used to stand in for that is gone.
+	// Unreachable server is fatal here, not a logged warning, and that differs
+	// from the nudge test on purpose. PhraseNudge returns its errors, so a dead
+	// server there shows up honestly in the Errors column. PhraseChat and
+	// PhraseQuery do NOT: they swallow every failure and return a canned string
+	// ("поговорили.", "не знаю.", "вот что я нашла: …"). So on these three paths
+	// a dead server produces a full report with 0 errors and a terrible score —
+	// a number that looks like bad phrasing and is really no phrasing at all.
+	// Refusing to score without a confirmed model is the only guard available
+	// until the phraser reports its failures (Vikunja #397).
 	model, err := llm.ModelID(ctx, base)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("no model at %s: %v", base, err)
+		t.Fatalf("no model at %s: %v — refusing to score, these paths hide their errors "+
+			"and would report a plausible-looking result off a dead server", base, err)
 	}
 	t.Logf("scoring model %s at %s", model, base)
 
@@ -163,11 +169,10 @@ func TestLLMTalkBaseline(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	t.Log("\n" + rep.String() + "\nreplies:\n" + rep.Replies() + "\nfailures:\n" + rep.Failures())
 
-	// A run where nothing was phrased is not a low score, it is no measurement.
-	if rep.Errors == rep.Total {
-		t.Fatalf("every case errored — nothing was measured, the score above is not a phrasing result")
-	}
-	if rep.Errors > 0 {
-		t.Logf("%d/%d cases errored — those are model failures, not phrasing failures", rep.Errors, rep.Total)
+	// And again afterwards: the run takes minutes, and a server that died or got
+	// OOM-killed halfway through would leave the first cases scored and the rest
+	// silently canned. Checking only at the start would not catch that.
+	if _, err := llm.ModelID(ctx, base); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("model at %s went away during the run: %v — the score above is not trustworthy", base, err)
 	}
 }

internal/phraser/failure_test.go

@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
-package phraser
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"net/http"
-	"net/http/httptest"
-	"strings"
-	"testing"
-)
-
-// A dead server must be distinguishable from bad phrasing. Both PhraseChat and
-// PhraseQuery keep the turn alive with canned text — ChatFallback, "не знаю.",
-// "вот что я нашла: …" — and every one of those is also a legitimate reply, so
-// the text alone cannot say which happened. The error is the only signal, and
-// before Vikunja #397 it was dropped: the talk scorer reported a full run with
-// zero errors off a server that answered nothing.
-func TestPhrasingReportsTheFailureWithTheFallback(t *testing.T) {
-	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		http.Error(w, "model not loaded", http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
-	}))
-	t.Cleanup(srv.Close)
-	p := NewLLMPhraserAt(srv.URL, Config{})
-
-	cases := []struct {
-		name string
-		call func() (string, error)
-		want string
-	}{
-		{"chat", func() (string, error) {
-			return p.PhraseChat(context.Background(), "как дела", nil)
-		}, ChatFallback},
-		{"knowledge", func() (string, error) {
-			return p.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "кто написал войну и мир", nil)
-		}, "не знаю."},
-		{"evidence", func() (string, error) {
-			return p.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "сколько воды я выпил", []string{"два литра"})
-		}, "вот что я нашла: два литра"},
-	}
-	for _, c := range cases {
-		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got, err := c.call()
-			if err == nil {
-				t.Fatalf("no error from a dead server; the scorer would count this as bad phrasing")
-			}
-			if got != c.want {
-				t.Errorf("fallback text = %q, want %q — the daemon still has to say something", got, c.want)
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}
-
-// An empty answer is a failure too: the server is up and produced no tokens,
-// which is not an answer and must not score as one.
-func TestEmptyKnowledgeAnswerIsAnError(t *testing.T) {
-	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-		w.Write([]byte(`{"choices":[{"message":{"content":""}}]}`))
-	}))
-	t.Cleanup(srv.Close)
-	p := NewLLMPhraserAt(srv.URL, Config{})
-
-	got, err := p.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "кто написал войну и мир", nil)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatal("an empty response scored as an answer")
-	}
-	if got != "не знаю." {
-		t.Errorf("fallback text = %q, want \"не знаю.\"", got)
-	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "empty") {
-		t.Errorf("error = %v; want it to name the empty response", err)
-	}
-}

internal/phraser/llmphraser.go

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
@@ -27,11 +26,6 @@ import (
 
 var listenRE = regexp.MustCompile(`listening on (https?://\S+)`)
 
-// errEmptyResponse — the server answered and said nothing. Separate from a
-// transport failure: the model is up and produced no tokens, which is still not
-// an answer and must not score as one.
-var errEmptyResponse = errors.New("phraser: empty response from the model")
-
 type LLMPhraser struct {
 	cfg    Config
 	client *http.Client
@@ -434,11 +428,8 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseNudge(ctx context.Context, c loop.Candidate) (deliver
 }
 
 // PhraseQuery prompts the LLM with the user's utterance and matching notes to
-// compose a natural answer. On any LLM error it returns the fallback text —
-// "вот что я нашла: <notes>", or "не знаю." with no notes — and the error
-// together. The daemon uses the text and keeps the turn alive; a caller that is
-// measuring counts the failure. Until Vikunja #397 the error was dropped, so a
-// dead server scored as bad phrasing.
+// compose a natural answer. Falls back to "вот что я нашла: <notes>" on any
+// LLM error — better to give the raw data than silence.
 func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []string) (string, error) {
 	// Blank sources are no sources. A caller that hands over one empty string —
 	// a page that fetched to nothing, a snippet trimmed away — used to take the
@@ -448,15 +439,13 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []
 	if len(notes) == 0 {
 		sys, prompt := p.knowledgePrompt(utterance)
 		resp, err := p.chatWithSystem(ctx, sys, prompt, 768)
-		if err != nil {
-			return "не знаю.", fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", err)
-		}
-		if resp == "" {
-			return "не знаю.", errEmptyResponse
+		if err != nil || resp == "" {
+			return "не знаю.", nil
 		}
 		text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
 		if perr != nil {
-			return "не знаю.", fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", perr)
+			log.Printf("phraser: PhraseQuery: %v", perr)
+			return "не знаю.", nil
 		}
 		if text != "" {
 			return text, nil
@@ -468,12 +457,13 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []
 	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
 	if err != nil || perr != nil {
 		// Read the notes out rather than ship a broken fragment.
-		cause := err
-		if cause == nil {
-			cause = perr
+		if perr != nil {
+			log.Printf("phraser: PhraseQuery: %v", perr)
 		}
-		return "вот что я нашла: " + strings.Join(notes, "; "),
-			fmt.Errorf("phrase query (evidence): %w", cause)
+		if len(notes) == 1 {
+			return "вот что я нашла: " + notes[0], nil
+		}
+		return "вот что я нашла: " + strings.Join(notes, "; "), nil
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil
@@ -482,9 +472,8 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []
 }
 
 // PhraseChat uses the LLM to respond conversationally, building a multi-turn
-// message array from dialogue history + the current user utterance. On any LLM
-// error it returns both ChatFallback and the error, on the same rule as
-// PhraseQuery: the fallback keeps the turn alive, the error stays visible.
+// message array from dialogue history + the current user utterance. Falls back
+// to a simple greeting on any LLM error — better to say something than nothing.
 func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseChat(ctx context.Context, utterance string, history []dialogue.Turn) (string, error) {
 	sys := chatSystemPrompt(p.cfg.ContextBlock)
 	msgs := []chatMsg{
@@ -501,11 +490,13 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseChat(ctx context.Context, utterance string, history [
 
 	resp, err := p.chatWithMessages(ctx, msgs, 768)
 	if err != nil {
-		return ChatFallback, fmt.Errorf("phrase chat: %w", err)
+		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseChat: %v", err)
+		return "поговорили.", nil
 	}
 	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
 	if perr != nil {
-		return ChatFallback, fmt.Errorf("phrase chat: %w", perr)
+		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseChat: %v", perr)
+		return "поговорили.", nil
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil

internal/phraser/phraser.go

@@ -66,17 +66,11 @@ type Stub struct{}
 // NewStub builds the floor phraser. no config — the Stub is stateless.
 func NewStub() *Stub { return &Stub{} }
 
-// ChatFallback — what she says on the chat path when the model gave her
-// nothing to say. It replaced "поговорили.", which reads as a summary of a
-// conversation that did not happen. Said out loud this one is an admission,
-// which is what it is.
-const ChatFallback = "даже не знаю, что сказать."
-
 // PhraseChat returns a stub reply — the LLMPhraser replaces this with a
 // prompted response from the model. The history parameter is accepted but
 // ignored at the stub level (the production impl uses it for multi-turn).
 func (s *Stub) PhraseChat(_ context.Context, _ string, _ []dialogue.Turn) (string, error) {
-	return ChatFallback, nil
+	return "поговорили.", nil
 }
 
 // PhraseQuery returns a deterministic summary of the best matching notes.

internal/phraser/swap_test.go

@@ -215,12 +215,10 @@ func TestSwap_RollbackFailureLeavesNoBackendAndDegrades(t *testing.T) {
 	if _, _, aerr := p.acquire(); !errors.Is(aerr, ErrNoBackend) {
 		t.Errorf("acquire error = %v; want ErrNoBackend", aerr)
 	}
-	// Phrasing degrades to its fallback instead of failing the turn, and since
-	// Vikunja #397 it reports the error next to that fallback so a measuring
-	// caller can tell "no model" from "bad phrasing".
+	// Phrasing degrades to its fallback instead of failing the turn.
 	got, err := p.PhraseChat(context.Background(), "привет", nil)
-	if !errors.Is(err, ErrNoBackend) {
-		t.Errorf("PhraseChat error = %v; want ErrNoBackend alongside the fallback", err)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("PhraseChat after a total failure returned an error: %v", err)
 	}
 	if got == "" {
 		t.Error("PhraseChat returned empty; the fallback must still say something")

internal/router/llmrouter.go

@@ -210,7 +210,11 @@ func (lr *LLMRouter) Route(ctx context.Context, utterance string, now time.Time)
 		d.Slots.HasKey = a.Key != ""
 	case IntentReminder:
 		d.Intent = IntentReminder
-		d.Slots.Text = firstNonEmpty(a.Text, utterance)
+		// No utterance fallback here, unlike every other intent below. The
+		// model returning no text for a reminder means it found no subject,
+		// and "напомни в 11" is not a subject. Leaving Text empty is what
+		// lets the gate turn that into a question (Vikunja #383).
+		d.Slots.Text = a.Text
 	case IntentNote:
 		d.Intent = IntentNote
 		d.Slots.Text = firstNonEmpty(a.Text, utterance)

internal/router/llmrouter_test.go

@@ -356,3 +356,35 @@ func TestRouterLLMFactWithResolvedKeyStaysConfident(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("a fact the parser could key must not clarify: %+v", d)
 	}
 }
+
+// A reminder with a time and no subject must come back empty and gated, not
+// backfilled with the raw words. "напомни в 11" carries an hour and nothing to
+// say at that hour; parking the utterance in Text made the request look
+// complete, so the daemon set a reminder that fires saying "напомни в 11"
+// (Vikunja #383).
+func TestLLMReminderWithoutSubjectAsksInsteadOfGuessing(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newLLMTestRouter(t, `{"intent":"reminder"}`)
+	d, err := r.Route(context.Background(), "напомни в 11", refNow())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("route: %v", err)
+	}
+	if d.Slots.Text != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("subject backfilled from the utterance: %q", d.Slots.Text)
+	}
+	if !d.Clarify {
+		t.Fatalf("a subjectless reminder was accepted, confidence %v", d.Confidence)
+	}
+}
+
+// The gate is about the subject, not about reminders in general: one that has
+// both halves still runs without a question.
+func TestLLMReminderWithSubjectIsNotGated(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newLLMTestRouter(t, `{"intent":"reminder","text":"позвонить маме"}`)
+	d, err := r.Route(context.Background(), "напомни в 11 позвонить маме", refNow())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("route: %v", err)
+	}
+	if d.Clarify {
+		t.Fatalf("a complete reminder was sent back as a question: %+v", d.Slots)
+	}
+}

internal/router/router.go

@@ -147,7 +147,15 @@ func (r *Router) fillSlots(ctx context.Context, d *Decision, now time.Time) {
 			d.Slots.Fn, d.Slots.Args, d.Slots.HasFn = fn, args, true
 		}
 	}
-	if d.Slots.Text == "" {
+	// The extractor's Text is the raw utterance, which is the payload for a
+	// note, a query or a chat turn but not for a reminder — there Text is the
+	// subject, what she says at the hour. Backfilling it made Text impossible
+	// to be empty, so StillMissing never reported SlotText and "О чём
+	// напомнить?" was unaskable; the answer to a question she did manage to
+	// ask then overwrote the whole request instead of filling one gap
+	// (Vikunja #383). A reminder with no subject stays empty and is gated
+	// below into a question.
+	if d.Slots.Text == "" && d.Intent != IntentReminder {
 		d.Slots.Text = ex.Text
 	}
 	// Stage stays 1: it says who decided the route, and that was the LLM.
@@ -177,6 +185,12 @@ func (r *Router) gateLLMDecision(d *Decision) {
 	if d.Intent == IntentAct && !d.Slots.HasFn && d.Confidence > llmThinConfidence {
 		d.Confidence = llmThinConfidence
 	}
+	// A reminder with no subject: she knows when but not what to say then.
+	// Setting it anyway fires an empty reminder at the hour, which reads as a
+	// bug to him and cannot be repaired after the fact. Ask (Vikunja #383).
+	if d.Intent == IntentReminder && d.Slots.Text == "" && d.Confidence > llmThinConfidence {
+		d.Confidence = llmThinConfidence
+	}
 	if d.Confidence < r.threshold {
 		d.Clarify = true
 	}