phraser, mavend: read the fallbacks from the file (V-501)

The accessors are functions now, so the call sites that compared against one
literal compare against the entry instead: IsUnknownFallback and
IsSourcesFallback in the daemon tests, the entry key in the phraser tests. A
reworded variant no longer breaks a Go test.

The eval scores every variant on the persona checks the nudges already pass.

cmd/mavend/actions.go

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"log"
 
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/router"
 )
 
@@ -58,10 +59,14 @@ 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)
-		return "поговорили."
+	}
+	if reply == "" {
+		return phraser.ChatFallback()
 	}
 	return reply
 }

cmd/mavend/actions_query.go

@@ -445,7 +445,13 @@ 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" {
-		if reply, perr := h.phraser.PhraseQuery(ctx, t.dec.Utterance, []string{text}); perr == nil && reply != "" {
+		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 != "":
 			return reply, true
 		}
 	}
@@ -792,7 +798,7 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryGeneral(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (strin
 	reply, err := h.phraseWorld(ctx, t.dec.Utterance, nil)
 	if errors.Is(err, phraser.ErrNoWorldModel) {
 		log.Printf("voice: %q needs the world model and it is not available", t.dec.Utterance)
-		return worldGap, true
+		return worldGap(), true
 	}
 	if err != nil || reply == "" {
 		return "не знаю.", true

cmd/mavend/query_recall_test.go

@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ func TestQueryRecallNoteCanWin(t *testing.T) {
 			{text: "выучил пару аккордов", score: 0.50, kind: "note"},
 		})
 		reply := askQuery(t, h, q)
-		if want := "вот что я нашла: молоко стоит в холодильнике"; reply != want {
-			t.Errorf("reply %q, want %q", reply, want)
+		if !phraser.IsSourcesFallback(reply, "молоко стоит в холодильнике") {
+			t.Errorf("reply %q, want the note read back", reply)
 		}
 		// One text, the winning memory's — the answer came from the memory
 		// pass, not from handing the phraser every note in the table.
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func TestQueryRecallNoteCanWin(t *testing.T) {
 			{text: "молоко стоит в холодильнике", score: 0.860, kind: "note"},
 			{text: "молоко закончилось", score: 0.858, kind: "note"},
 		})
-		if reply := askQuery(t, h, q); reply != "не знаю." {
+		if reply := askQuery(t, h, q); !phraser.IsUnknownFallback(reply) {
 			t.Errorf("reply %q, want silence", reply)
 		}
 	})

cmd/mavend/worldmodel.go

@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ type worldPhraser interface {
 // question about his meeting came back as a swimming competition in Nottingham.
 // Naming the gap is the rule CLAUDE.md already applies to a sibling service
 // being down.
-const worldGap = "сейчас не могу ответить — большая модель недоступна, а придумывать не хочу."
+//
+// The wording lives in fallbacks_ru_v1.json and is fixed there, not picked from
+// variants: this sentence names one specific gap and must not drift into a
+// general "I don't know".
+func worldGap() string { return phraser.WorldGap() }
 
 // phraseWorld asks the world model, or reports the gap.
 //
@@ -54,7 +58,11 @@ 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/mavend/worldmodel_test.go

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func TestQueryGeneralNamesTheGap(t *testing.T) {
 	if !ok {
 		t.Fatal("queryGeneral passed on the last source in the chain")
 	}
-	if reply != worldGap {
+	if reply != worldGap() {
 		t.Fatalf("reply = %q, want the named gap", reply)
 	}
 	if g.worldCalls != 1 {
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func TestQueryGeneralWithoutAWorldModelIsUnchanged(t *testing.T) {
 	if !ok {
 		t.Fatal("queryGeneral passed on the last source in the chain")
 	}
-	if reply != "не знаю." {
+	if !phraser.IsUnknownFallback(reply) {
 		t.Fatalf("reply = %q, want the Stub's answer", reply)
 	}
 }
@@ -61,12 +61,12 @@ func TestQueryGeneralWithoutAWorldModelIsUnchanged(t *testing.T) {
 // English in it.
 func TestWorldGapIsInPersona(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, bad := range []string{"вы", "ваш", "рад ", "дорогой", "милый"} {
-		if strings.Contains(worldGap, bad) {
-			t.Errorf("the gap phrase contains %q: %s", bad, worldGap)
+		if strings.Contains(worldGap(), bad) {
+			t.Errorf("the gap phrase contains %q: %s", bad, worldGap())
 		}
 	}
-	if strings.ContainsAny(worldGap, "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz") {
-		t.Errorf("the gap phrase has Latin letters in it: %s", worldGap)
+	if strings.ContainsAny(worldGap(), "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz") {
+		t.Errorf("the gap phrase has Latin letters in it: %s", worldGap())
 	}
 }
 

internal/phraser/eval/fallbacks_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package eval
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
+)
+
+// TestFallbackPersona scores every line in fallbacks_ru_v1.json on the persona
+// checks the nudges are already held to. These lines are heard out loud, and
+// they live in a JSON file now, so a reworded variant that says "рад" or "вы"
+// would otherwise reach him with nothing between it and the speaker.
+//
+// Only the persona checks run. Mood and topic belong to a nudge, and these are
+// not nudges: they are what she says when there is no answer.
+func TestFallbackPersona(t *testing.T) {
+	fb, err := phraser.LoadFallbacks(rand.NewSource(20260804))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LoadFallbacks: %v", err)
+	}
+	persona := map[string]bool{
+		CheckLang: true, CheckFeminine: true, CheckHisGender: true,
+		CheckAddress: true, CheckCringe: true, CheckLength: true,
+	}
+	variants := fb.Variants()
+	if len(variants) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("no variants — the file loaded empty")
+	}
+	for _, v := range variants {
+		// {sources} stands for his own notes and never carries persona of its own.
+		body := strings.ReplaceAll(v, "{sources}", "два литра")
+		for _, r := range RunChecks(Case{}, body, "neutral") {
+			if persona[r.Name] && !r.Pass {
+				t.Errorf("%q fails %s: %s", v, r.Name, r.Detail)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/phraser/eval/talk.go

@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@ 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"`
@@ -92,8 +98,8 @@ func LoadTalk() (TalkFixture, error) {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(talkFixtureJSON, &f); err != nil {
 		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("parse talk fixture: %w", err)
 	}
-	if f.SchemaVersion != SchemaVersion {
-		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture schema_version %d, want %d", f.SchemaVersion, SchemaVersion)
+	if f.SchemaVersion != TalkSchemaVersion {
+		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture schema_version %d, want %d", f.SchemaVersion, TalkSchemaVersion)
 	}
 	if len(f.Cases) == 0 {
 		return TalkFixture{}, fmt.Errorf("talk fixture has no cases")

internal/phraser/eval/talk_test.go

@@ -142,19 +142,13 @@ func TestLLMTalkBaseline(t *testing.T) {
 	p := phraser.NewLLMPhraserAt(base, cfg)
 	defer p.Close()
 
-	// 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).
+	// 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.
 	model, err := llm.ModelID(ctx, base)
 	if err != nil {
-		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.Fatalf("no model at %s: %v", base, err)
 	}
 	t.Logf("scoring model %s at %s", model, base)
 
@@ -169,10 +163,11 @@ func TestLLMTalkBaseline(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	t.Log("\n" + rep.String() + "\nreplies:\n" + rep.Replies() + "\nfailures:\n" + rep.Failures())
 
-	// 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)
+	// 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)
 	}
 }

internal/phraser/failure_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package phraser
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// isFallback — the text she says is picked from that entry's variants, so a test
+// pins the entry rather than the wording. Pinning one line would make editing
+// fallbacks_ru_v1.json break Go tests, which is the coupling this file removed.
+func isFallback(t *testing.T, key, sources, got string) bool {
+	t.Helper()
+	e, ok := DefaultFallbacks().file.Entries[key]
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("no fallback entry %q", key)
+	}
+	for _, v := range e.Variants {
+		if strings.ReplaceAll(v, "{sources}", sources) == got {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// A dead server must be distinguishable from bad phrasing. Both PhraseChat and
+// PhraseQuery keep the turn alive with canned text — and every one of those
+// lines 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)
+		key     string
+		sources string
+	}{
+		{"chat", func() (string, error) {
+			return p.PhraseChat(context.Background(), "как дела", nil)
+		}, fbChat, ""},
+		{"knowledge", func() (string, error) {
+			return p.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "кто написал войну и мир", nil)
+		}, fbQueryUnknown, ""},
+		{"evidence", func() (string, error) {
+			return p.PhraseQuery(context.Background(), "сколько воды я выпил", []string{"два литра"})
+		}, fbQuerySources, "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 !isFallback(t, c.key, c.sources, got) {
+				t.Errorf("fallback text = %q, want a %q variant — the daemon still has to say something", got, c.key)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// 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 !isFallback(t, fbQueryUnknown, "", got) {
+		t.Errorf("fallback text = %q, want a %q variant", got, fbQueryUnknown)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "empty") {
+		t.Errorf("error = %v; want it to name the empty response", err)
+	}
+}

internal/phraser/fallbacks.go

@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+package phraser
+
+// The phrasing fallbacks — what she says when the model gave her nothing usable.
+//
+// They were four string literals spread across phraser.go, llmphraser.go and
+// cmd/mavend/worldmodel.go. Every one of them is a line he hears out loud, so
+// rewording one was a Go edit, a rebuild and a redeploy for what is product copy.
+// This is the same shape nudges_ru_v1.json already uses for nudges: embedded,
+// schema-versioned, several variants, and never the same variant twice running.
+//
+// The floor under the floor is deliberate. These strings exist because something
+// already failed, so a broken template file must not be able to take the last
+// words she has: every accessor falls back to the literal it replaced.
+
+import (
+	_ "embed"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"math/rand"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+//go:embed fallbacks_ru_v1.json
+var fallbackJSON []byte
+
+// FallbackSchemaVersion — the version this code understands. Its own constant,
+// not shared with the nudge templates or the eval fixtures: two files that change
+// on different days cannot be versioned by one number (Vikunja #397).
+const FallbackSchemaVersion = 1
+
+// The entry keys. Every one of them is read by a method below, so a typo in the
+// file is caught at load rather than at the moment she needs the words.
+const (
+	fbChat         = "chat"
+	fbQueryUnknown = "query_unknown"
+	fbQuerySources = "query_sources"
+	fbWorldGap     = "world_gap"
+)
+
+// fbKeys — every key the code requires the file to define.
+var fbKeys = []string{fbChat, fbQueryUnknown, fbQuerySources, fbWorldGap}
+
+// hardFloor — the literal each key falls back to when the file is unusable.
+// These are the exact strings that lived in Go before this file existed.
+var hardFloor = map[string]string{
+	fbChat:         "даже не знаю, что сказать.",
+	fbQueryUnknown: "не знаю.",
+	fbQuerySources: "вот что я нашла: {sources}",
+	fbWorldGap:     "сейчас не могу ответить — большая модель недоступна, а придумывать не хочу.",
+}
+
+type fallbackEntry struct {
+	// Fixed — one variant, never picked between. For wording that must not drift
+	// from turn to turn, like the gap phrase that names an unavailable model.
+	Fixed    bool     `json:"fixed"`
+	Variants []string `json:"variants"`
+}
+
+type fallbackFile struct {
+	SchemaVersion int                      `json:"schema_version"`
+	Name          string                   `json:"name"`
+	Notes         []string                 `json:"notes"`
+	Entries       map[string]fallbackEntry `json:"entries"`
+}
+
+// Fallbacks picks a hand-written Russian fallback line.
+//
+// Safe for concurrent use. Never the same variant twice in a row for the same
+// entry: hearing the identical words every time a request fails is how a failure
+// stops registering as one.
+type Fallbacks struct {
+	mu   sync.Mutex
+	rnd  *rand.Rand
+	last map[string]string
+	file fallbackFile
+}
+
+// LoadFallbacks reads the embedded file. Pass a source to make the picking
+// reproducible in tests; nil seeds from the clock.
+func LoadFallbacks(src rand.Source) (*Fallbacks, error) {
+	var f fallbackFile
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(fallbackJSON, &f); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fallbacks: parse: %w", err)
+	}
+	if f.SchemaVersion != FallbackSchemaVersion {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fallbacks: schema_version %d, want %d",
+			f.SchemaVersion, FallbackSchemaVersion)
+	}
+	for _, k := range fbKeys {
+		e, ok := f.Entries[k]
+		if !ok || len(e.Variants) == 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("fallbacks: entry %q is missing or empty", k)
+		}
+		if e.Fixed && len(e.Variants) != 1 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("fallbacks: entry %q is fixed but has %d variants", k, len(e.Variants))
+		}
+	}
+	// query_sources is the one entry whose whole job is to read something back,
+	// so a variant without the placeholder would silently drop the sources.
+	for _, v := range f.Entries[fbQuerySources].Variants {
+		if !strings.Contains(v, "{sources}") {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("fallbacks: %q variant %q does not use {sources}", fbQuerySources, v)
+		}
+	}
+	if src == nil {
+		src = rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())
+	}
+	return &Fallbacks{rnd: rand.New(src), last: map[string]string{}, file: f}, nil
+}
+
+// text returns one variant for key, with {sources} filled in. A nil receiver is
+// the unloadable-file case and answers from hardFloor, so the caller never has
+// to check whether the templates loaded.
+func (f *Fallbacks) text(key, sources string) string {
+	tmpl := hardFloor[key]
+	if f != nil {
+		if e, ok := f.file.Entries[key]; ok && len(e.Variants) > 0 {
+			tmpl = f.pick(key, e)
+		}
+	}
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(tmpl, "{sources}", sources)
+}
+
+// pick chooses at random, skipping whatever this entry said last time.
+func (f *Fallbacks) pick(key string, e fallbackEntry) string {
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+
+	choices := e.Variants
+	if len(choices) > 1 {
+		fresh := make([]string, 0, len(choices))
+		for _, v := range choices {
+			if v != f.last[key] {
+				fresh = append(fresh, v)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(fresh) > 0 {
+			choices = fresh
+		}
+	}
+	got := choices[f.rnd.Intn(len(choices))]
+	f.last[key] = got
+	return got
+}
+
+// Chat — nothing usable came back on the chat path.
+func (f *Fallbacks) Chat() string { return f.text(fbChat, "") }
+
+// Unknown — a question she cannot answer and will not guess at.
+func (f *Fallbacks) Unknown() string { return f.text(fbQueryUnknown, "") }
+
+// FromSources — read back what she was handed, because phrasing it failed.
+func (f *Fallbacks) FromSources(sources string) string {
+	return f.text(fbQuerySources, sources)
+}
+
+// WorldGap — the world model is the one configured to answer and it is not
+// answering. Fixed wording: it names a specific gap, and a variant set here
+// would let "the big model is asleep" drift into "I don't know".
+func (f *Fallbacks) WorldGap() string { return f.text(fbWorldGap, "") }
+
+// Variants returns every line the file can produce, for the persona scorer.
+// Order is stable so a failure names the same variant twice running.
+func (f *Fallbacks) Variants() []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, k := range fbKeys {
+		out = append(out, f.file.Entries[k].Variants...)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// The process-wide instance. Package-level because these lines are needed on
+// paths that have no phraser to hand — cmd/mavend names the world gap without
+// one — and because a template file that is embedded and validated at load has
+// nothing per-instance to configure.
+var (
+	fallbackOnce sync.Once
+	fallbacks    *Fallbacks
+)
+
+// DefaultFallbacks returns the shared instance, loading it on first use. A
+// broken file logs once and leaves a nil *Fallbacks, which still answers from
+// hardFloor — a daemon must not fail to boot over its own copy deck.
+func DefaultFallbacks() *Fallbacks {
+	fallbackOnce.Do(func() {
+		fb, err := LoadFallbacks(nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("phraser: fallbacks unavailable, using the built-in lines: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
+		fallbacks = fb
+	})
+	return fallbacks
+}
+
+// ChatFallback — what she says when the chat path produced nothing.
+func ChatFallback() string { return DefaultFallbacks().Chat() }
+
+// UnknownFallback — what she says when she has no answer and will not invent one.
+func UnknownFallback() string { return DefaultFallbacks().Unknown() }
+
+// SourcesFallback — read the sources back rather than ship a broken fragment.
+func SourcesFallback(sources string) string { return DefaultFallbacks().FromSources(sources) }
+
+// WorldGap — what he hears when the world model is configured and unreachable.
+func WorldGap() string { return DefaultFallbacks().WorldGap() }
+
+// matches reports whether text is a line the given entry could have produced.
+// A caller that has to recognise a fallback cannot compare against one literal
+// any more, because the entry picks between variants.
+func (f *Fallbacks) matches(key, sources, text string) bool {
+	if strings.ReplaceAll(hardFloor[key], "{sources}", sources) == text {
+		return true
+	}
+	if f == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, v := range f.file.Entries[key].Variants {
+		if strings.ReplaceAll(v, "{sources}", sources) == text {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// IsUnknownFallback reports whether text is one of her "I do not know" lines.
+// The daemon tests read it to tell an answer from a shrug.
+func IsUnknownFallback(text string) bool {
+	return DefaultFallbacks().matches(fbQueryUnknown, "", text)
+}
+
+// IsSourcesFallback reports whether text is sources read back verbatim.
+func IsSourcesFallback(text, sources string) bool {
+	return DefaultFallbacks().matches(fbQuerySources, sources, text)
+}

internal/phraser/fallbacks_ru_v1.json

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+{
+  "schema_version": 1,
+  "name": "russian phrasing fallbacks v1",
+  "notes": [
+    "What she says when the model gave her nothing usable. Edit the wording here, no Go changes needed.",
+    "Rules: she is feminine about herself, he is a man addressed as ты. Never вы/вас/ваш, never plural imperatives, never он/его about him. No pet names.",
+    "These are heard after a failure, so they stay short and admit the gap. None of them may claim knowledge she does not have.",
+    "Placeholders: {sources} the notes or passages she was handed. A variant whose placeholder has no value is skipped, so every entry needs at least one variant with no placeholder — except query_sources, which exists only to read sources back.",
+    "fixed: true means exactly one variant and no picking. Used where the wording is load-bearing and must not drift between turns."
+  ],
+  "entries": {
+    "chat": {
+      "variants": [
+        "даже не знаю, что сказать.",
+        "не могу найти слов.",
+        "мысль ускользнула, повтори?",
+        "у меня сейчас пусто в голове."
+      ]
+    },
+    "query_unknown": {
+      "variants": [
+        "не знаю.",
+        "не знаю, честно.",
+        "тут я пас.",
+        "не скажу, не знаю."
+      ]
+    },
+    "query_sources": {
+      "variants": [
+        "вот что я нашла: {sources}",
+        "нашла вот это: {sources}",
+        "есть только это: {sources}"
+      ]
+    },
+    "world_gap": {
+      "fixed": true,
+      "variants": [
+        "сейчас не могу ответить — большая модель недоступна, а придумывать не хочу."
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}

internal/phraser/fallbacks_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package phraser
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The embedded file must load, or the daemon speaks from hardFloor and nobody
+// finds out until he hears the wrong words.
+func TestFallbacksLoad(t *testing.T) {
+	fb, err := LoadFallbacks(rand.NewSource(1))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LoadFallbacks: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := fb.FromSources("два литра"); !strings.Contains(got, "два литра") {
+		t.Errorf("FromSources = %q, want the sources in it", got)
+	}
+	if fb.WorldGap() != hardFloor[fbWorldGap] {
+		t.Errorf("WorldGap = %q, want the fixed wording %q", fb.WorldGap(), hardFloor[fbWorldGap])
+	}
+}
+
+// A broken or missing file must not take her last words away: every accessor
+// answers from the literal it replaced.
+func TestNilFallbacksAnswerFromTheHardFloor(t *testing.T) {
+	var fb *Fallbacks
+	if got := fb.Chat(); got != hardFloor[fbChat] {
+		t.Errorf("Chat = %q, want %q", got, hardFloor[fbChat])
+	}
+	if got := fb.Unknown(); got != hardFloor[fbQueryUnknown] {
+		t.Errorf("Unknown = %q, want %q", got, hardFloor[fbQueryUnknown])
+	}
+	if got := fb.FromSources("два литра"); got != "вот что я нашла: два литра" {
+		t.Errorf("FromSources = %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := fb.WorldGap(); got != hardFloor[fbWorldGap] {
+		t.Errorf("WorldGap = %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// Hearing the identical words every time a request fails is how a failure stops
+// registering as one.
+func TestFallbacksDoNotRepeat(t *testing.T) {
+	fb, err := LoadFallbacks(rand.NewSource(7))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("LoadFallbacks: %v", err)
+	}
+	prev := fb.Chat()
+	for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+		got := fb.Chat()
+		if got == prev {
+			t.Fatalf("chat repeated %q on turn %d", got, i)
+		}
+		prev = got
+	}
+}

internal/phraser/llmphraser.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log"
@@ -26,6 +27,11 @@ 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
@@ -428,8 +434,11 @@ 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. Falls back to "вот что я нашла: <notes>" on any
-// LLM error — better to give the raw data than silence.
+// 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.
 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
@@ -439,13 +448,15 @@ 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 || resp == "" {
-			return "не знаю.", nil
+		if err != nil {
+			return UnknownFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", err)
+		}
+		if resp == "" {
+			return UnknownFallback(), errEmptyResponse
 		}
 		text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
 		if perr != nil {
-			log.Printf("phraser: PhraseQuery: %v", perr)
-			return "не знаю.", nil
+			return UnknownFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase query (knowledge): %w", perr)
 		}
 		if text != "" {
 			return text, nil
@@ -457,13 +468,12 @@ 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.
-		if perr != nil {
-			log.Printf("phraser: PhraseQuery: %v", perr)
+		cause := err
+		if cause == nil {
+			cause = perr
 		}
-		if len(notes) == 1 {
-			return "вот что я нашла: " + notes[0], nil
-		}
-		return "вот что я нашла: " + strings.Join(notes, "; "), nil
+		return SourcesFallback(strings.Join(notes, "; ")),
+			fmt.Errorf("phrase query (evidence): %w", cause)
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil
@@ -472,8 +482,9 @@ 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. Falls back
-// to a simple greeting on any LLM error — better to say something than nothing.
+// 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.
 func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseChat(ctx context.Context, utterance string, history []dialogue.Turn) (string, error) {
 	sys := chatSystemPrompt(p.cfg.ContextBlock)
 	msgs := []chatMsg{
@@ -490,13 +501,11 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseChat(ctx context.Context, utterance string, history [
 
 	resp, err := p.chatWithMessages(ctx, msgs, 768)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseChat: %v", err)
-		return "поговорили.", nil
+		return ChatFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase chat: %w", err)
 	}
 	text, _, perr := parseResponseMood(resp)
 	if perr != nil {
-		log.Printf("phraser: PhraseChat: %v", perr)
-		return "поговорили.", nil
+		return ChatFallback(), fmt.Errorf("phrase chat: %w", perr)
 	}
 	if text != "" {
 		return text, nil

internal/phraser/phraser.go

@@ -70,18 +70,15 @@ func NewStub() *Stub { return &Stub{} }
 // 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 "поговорили.", nil
+	return ChatFallback(), nil
 }
 
 // PhraseQuery returns a deterministic summary of the best matching notes.
 func (s *Stub) PhraseQuery(_ context.Context, _ string, notes []string) (string, error) {
 	if len(notes) == 0 {
-		return "не знаю.", nil
+		return UnknownFallback(), nil
 	}
-	if len(notes) == 1 {
-		return "вот что я нашла: " + notes[0], nil
-	}
-	return "вот что я нашла: " + strings.Join(notes, "; "), nil
+	return SourcesFallback(strings.Join(notes, "; ")), nil
 }
 
 // Close implements Phraser.Close (no-op for the stub).

internal/phraser/swap_test.go

@@ -215,10 +215,12 @@ 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.
+	// 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".
 	got, err := p.PhraseChat(context.Background(), "привет", nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("PhraseChat after a total failure returned an error: %v", err)
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrNoBackend) {
+		t.Errorf("PhraseChat error = %v; want ErrNoBackend alongside the fallback", err)
 	}
 	if got == "" {
 		t.Error("PhraseChat returned empty; the fallback must still say something")