web: seed a backdated event from the routines page (V-518)

A "seed" action on the existing POST /routines, taking key, value and
ago-in-hours. That route is already step-up gated and already the place a
proposed routine is accepted or dismissed, so seeding lands next to the thing
it produces. No new page and no second gated surface.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011x5DgnExQ5XZy8TZPs5bot

cmd/mavend/main.go

@@ -127,8 +127,10 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 	cfgPath := flag.String("config", defaultConfigPath(), "path to mavend JSON config")
 	wrappedKeyPath := flag.String("wrapped-key-file", "", "path to wrapped encryption key blob (enables cold-start unlock)")
 	reembed := flag.Bool("reembed", false, "re-embed every stored note and fact with the configured embedder, then serve normally (run once after an embedder swap; the daemon does not answer until it finishes)")
+	allowSeed := flag.Bool("allow-seed", false, "enable the backdated seed_event write path (QA only: it lets a caller place a fact in the past and mint a routine the tick loop will then act on; off means the method has nothing to write with)")
 	flag.CommandLine.Parse(args)
 	reembedOnStart = *reembed
+	allowSeedOnStart = *allowSeed
 	cfg, err := config.Load(*cfgPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -338,6 +340,7 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 			getMorningStatus: func(ctx context.Context) []ipc.MorningRoutineStatus { return tl.morningStatus(ctx, time.Now()) },
 			getDayPlan:       func(ctx context.Context) ipc.DayPlan { return tl.dayPlan(ctx, time.Now()) },
 			getEvents:        intakeEventsFn(evBus),
+			seedStore:        seedStoreIfAllowed(st),
 		}
 		if voiceW != nil && voiceW.handler != nil {
 			api := coreAPI.(*daemonAPI)
@@ -605,6 +608,7 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 				getMorningStatus: func(ctx context.Context) []ipc.MorningRoutineStatus { return tl.morningStatus(ctx, time.Now()) },
 				getDayPlan:       func(ctx context.Context) ipc.DayPlan { return tl.dayPlan(ctx, time.Now()) },
 				getEvents:        intakeEventsFn(evBus),
+				seedStore:        seedStoreIfAllowed(st),
 			}
 			if voiceW != nil && voiceW.handler != nil {
 				newAPI.chatFn = voiceW.handler.handleText

cmd/mavend/seed.go

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+// mavend/seed.go — the backdated-fact seam (Vikunja #518).
+//
+// The pattern detector needs four events for one action+object, spread by at
+// least pattern.MinIntervalDays, before it proposes a routine. Nothing could
+// produce that against a running daemon in one sitting: the only writer is a
+// fact write at time.Now(), so V-43, V-46, V-247 and V-254 all stopped at the
+// same missing step and had been stopped there since they were filed.
+//
+// This is the write path that unblocks them, and it is deliberately the narrow
+// one. It takes a fact, not an event, so pattern.Extract runs for real and a
+// key the extractor ignores seeds nothing. It runs detectAndPropose, so what a
+// seed proves is the daemon's own wiring rather than the detector in isolation
+// — which is what an eval-lab fixture would have proved, and is not what those
+// four tasks doubt.
+//
+// It is off unless mavend was started with -allow-seed, and AuthStepUp in the
+// authority table besides. See ipc.SeedEventReq and auth.Requirement.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"database/sql"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/pattern"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
+)
+
+// errSeedDisabled — what a caller gets on an ordinary box. Named rather than
+// inline so the mavweb route can tell "not allowed here" apart from "the seed
+// ran and the extractor declined", which look the same to a reader otherwise.
+var errSeedDisabled = errors.New("mavend: seeding is off (start with -allow-seed)")
+
+// seedSource — every seeded fact carries this, and no other writer uses it.
+// The point is that seeded data stays identifiable forever: a fact that came
+// from a QA sitting must never be mistaken for something he said, either by a
+// person reading /history or by the wipe in V-494 when it lands.
+const seedSource = "seed:qa"
+
+// seedStoreIfAllowed returns st only when -allow-seed was passed, and logs the
+// fact loudly when it does. A box that can rewrite its own past should say so
+// in its boot log, so nobody reads a seeded routine months later as evidence of
+// something he actually did.
+func seedStoreIfAllowed(st *store.Store) *store.Store {
+	if !allowSeedOnStart {
+		return nil
+	}
+	log.Printf("seed: -allow-seed is ON — backdated fact writes are permitted under source %q (Vikunja #518)", seedSource)
+	return st
+}
+
+// SeedEvent writes the fact at the caller's timestamp, extracts an event from
+// it, and runs the same detect-and-propose step the voice path runs.
+//
+// Best-effort is NOT the shape here, unlike detectPattern: a seed that half
+// worked is a QA result nobody can trust, so every step reports its own
+// failure. Extraction declining is not a failure — it is the extractor's
+// documented answer for a value outside its lexicon, and Extracted says so.
+func (d *daemonAPI) SeedEvent(ctx context.Context, req ipc.SeedEventReq) (ipc.SeedEventResp, error) {
+	if d.seedStore == nil {
+		return ipc.SeedEventResp{}, errSeedDisabled
+	}
+	if req.Key == "" || req.Value == "" {
+		return ipc.SeedEventResp{}, errors.New("mavend: seed needs a key and a value")
+	}
+	if req.Ts.IsZero() {
+		return ipc.SeedEventResp{}, errors.New("mavend: seed needs an explicit timestamp")
+	}
+
+	// No Subject, unlike the voice path: a seeded key must not queue a Nexus
+	// resolution. QA data has no business reaching the ecosystem.
+	factID, err := d.seedStore.WriteFact(ctx, req.Ts, store.KindSelf, req.Key, req.Value, seedSource, 1.0, sql.NullInt64{})
+	if err != nil {
+		return ipc.SeedEventResp{}, fmt.Errorf("seed write fact: %w", err)
+	}
+	resp := ipc.SeedEventResp{FactID: factID}
+
+	ev := pattern.Extract(factID, req.Key, req.Value, req.Ts)
+	if ev == nil {
+		// The fact is written and stays written. Saying so matters: a caller
+		// that assumed a seed always produces an event would otherwise read
+		// four silent successes and conclude the detector is broken.
+		log.Printf("seed: %s=%s wrote fact %d, no event (value outside the action lexicon)", req.Key, req.Value, factID)
+		return resp, nil
+	}
+	resp.Extracted, resp.Action, resp.Object = true, ev.Action, ev.Object
+
+	eventID, err := d.seedStore.CreateEvent(ctx, factID, ev.Action, ev.Object, req.Ts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return resp, fmt.Errorf("seed create event: %w", err)
+	}
+	resp.EventID = eventID
+
+	r, routineID, err := detectAndPropose(ctx, d.seedStore, ev.Action, ev.Object, req.Ts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return resp, fmt.Errorf("seed detect: %w", err)
+	}
+	if r == nil {
+		return resp, nil // too few events yet, too irregular, or already decided
+	}
+	resp.Proposed, resp.RoutineID, resp.IntervalDays = true, routineID, r.IntervalDays
+	log.Printf("seed: proposed routine %d — %s/%s every %.1f days", routineID, r.Action, r.Object, r.IntervalDays)
+	return resp, nil
+}

cmd/mavend/seed_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+)
+
+// Off is the default and it must mean "nothing to write with", not "permission
+// to refuse later". A daemonAPI with no seedStore writes no fact at all.
+func TestSeedRefusedWithoutTheFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	d := &daemonAPI{CoreAPI: ipc.UnimplementedCoreAPI{}}
+	_, err := d.SeedEvent(context.Background(), ipc.SeedEventReq{
+		Key: "cat_water_fountain", Value: "заправил", Ts: time.Now(),
+	})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("seed succeeded with no seedStore")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "-allow-seed") {
+		t.Errorf("error does not name the flag: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// The whole point of the task: four seeds spread past the detector's floor
+// produce a proposal against the real daemon path, which is what nobody could
+// do before (Vikunja #518). Three seeds must NOT propose — MinEvents is four,
+// and a test that only checked the happy end would pass on an off-by-one.
+func TestSeedFourEventsProposesARoutine(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	d := &daemonAPI{CoreAPI: ipc.UnimplementedCoreAPI{}, seedStore: newTestStore(t)}
+	now := time.Now()
+
+	var last ipc.SeedEventResp
+	// Oldest first, three hours apart — past MinIntervalDays (two hours).
+	for i := 3; i >= 0; i-- {
+		var err error
+		last, err = d.SeedEvent(ctx, ipc.SeedEventReq{
+			Key:   "cat_water_fountain",
+			Value: "заправил",
+			Ts:    now.Add(-time.Duration(i) * 3 * time.Hour),
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("seed %d: %v", i, err)
+		}
+		if !last.Extracted {
+			t.Fatalf("seed %d: no event extracted from a lexicon verb", i)
+		}
+		if i > 0 && last.Proposed {
+			t.Fatalf("proposed after only %d events, MinEvents is 4", 4-i)
+		}
+	}
+	if !last.Proposed {
+		t.Fatal("four spaced events did not propose a routine")
+	}
+	if last.Action != "refill" || last.Object != "cat_water_fountain" {
+		t.Errorf("wrong pair: %s/%s", last.Action, last.Object)
+	}
+	if last.IntervalDays < 0.1 {
+		t.Errorf("interval %v — the detector saw a burst, not a rhythm", last.IntervalDays)
+	}
+
+	// The proposal is readable through the same list the /routines page uses,
+	// which is the wiring an eval-lab fixture would not have proved.
+	proposed, err := d.seedStore.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(proposed) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 proposed routine, got %d", len(proposed))
+	}
+}
+
+// A value outside the action lexicon writes the fact and says it seeded
+// nothing. Silence here would read as four working seeds and a broken
+// detector.
+func TestSeedReportsWhenExtractionDeclines(t *testing.T) {
+	d := &daemonAPI{CoreAPI: ipc.UnimplementedCoreAPI{}, seedStore: newTestStore(t)}
+	resp, err := d.SeedEvent(context.Background(), ipc.SeedEventReq{
+		Key: "mood", Value: "ok", Ts: time.Now(),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("seed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.FactID == 0 {
+		t.Error("fact was not written")
+	}
+	if resp.Extracted || resp.EventID != 0 || resp.Proposed {
+		t.Errorf("claimed an event for a non-action value: %+v", resp)
+	}
+}
+
+// A seed with no timestamp is refused rather than defaulting to now: the only
+// reason this seam exists is the caller choosing when, so a zero Ts is a bug in
+// the caller and must not silently write a fact at the wrong time.
+func TestSeedRequiresAnExplicitTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
+	d := &daemonAPI{CoreAPI: ipc.UnimplementedCoreAPI{}, seedStore: newTestStore(t)}
+	if _, err := d.SeedEvent(context.Background(), ipc.SeedEventReq{
+		Key: "cat_water_fountain", Value: "заправил",
+	}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("seed accepted a zero timestamp")
+	}
+}

cmd/mavend/tick_api.go

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/loop"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
 )
 
 // daemonAPI wraps a store-backed CoreAPI and overrides TickTrace with the
@@ -22,6 +23,11 @@ type daemonAPI struct {
 	chatFn           func(ctx context.Context, conversation, text string) string
 	getMCPServers    func() []ipc.MCPServerStatus
 	getEvents        func(n int) []ipc.IntakeEvent
+	// seedStore — non-nil ONLY when mavend was started with -allow-seed. It is
+	// the whole off-switch for the backdated write path (Vikunja #518), and it
+	// is a store rather than a bool so that leaving the flag off means the
+	// method has nothing to write with, not merely permission to refuse.
+	seedStore *store.Store
 }
 
 // RecentEvents — the unified intake journal (Vikunja #283). Empty, not an

cmd/mavend/voicewire.go

@@ -552,6 +552,11 @@ func repairFactVectors(dataStore *store.Store, emb router.Embedder) {
 // runReembed.
 var reembedOnStart bool
 
+// allowSeedOnStart is the -allow-seed flag (set in run()). Opt-in, and the
+// default is the one that matters: a box nobody is testing has no live path to
+// write a fact into the past. See seed.go and Vikunja #518.
+var allowSeedOnStart bool
+
 // checkStoredEmbedder compares the embedder we just loaded with the one that
 // wrote the vectors already in the DB (Vikunja #378).
 //

cmd/mavweb/main.go

@@ -1094,34 +1094,53 @@ func handleRoutines(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, core ipc.CoreAPI, se
 	var msg string
 	if r.Method == http.MethodPost {
 		action := r.FormValue("action")
-		idStr := r.FormValue("id")
-		var rid int64
-		if n, _ := fmt.Sscanf(idStr, "%d", &rid); n != 1 {
-			http.Error(w, "invalid id", http.StatusBadRequest)
-			return
-		}
-		switch action {
-		case "accept":
+		// "seed" is the one action with no routine to act on — it is what
+		// MAKES a routine (Vikunja #518), so it runs before the id parse. It
+		// lives on this route rather than a page of its own because it is
+		// already the step-up-gated surface for this table, and a second gated
+		// surface is a second thing to get wrong.
+		if action == "seed" {
 			if !stepUpOK(session, requireStepUp) {
 				http.Error(w, "step-up required: assert a passkey first", http.StatusForbidden)
 				return
 			}
-			if err := acceptRoutine(ctx, core, rid); err != nil {
-				log.Printf("routines: accept %d: %v", rid, err)
-				http.Error(w, "accept failed: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadGateway)
+			out, err := seedRoutineEvent(ctx, core, r)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("routines: seed: %v", err)
+				http.Error(w, "seed failed: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadGateway)
 				return
 			}
-			msg = "accepted routine — maven will remind you"
-		case "dismiss":
-			if err := core.DismissProposedRoutine(ctx, rid); err != nil {
-				log.Printf("routines: dismiss %d: %v", rid, err)
-				http.Error(w, "dismiss failed: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadGateway)
+			msg = out
+		} else {
+			idStr := r.FormValue("id")
+			var rid int64
+			if n, _ := fmt.Sscanf(idStr, "%d", &rid); n != 1 {
+				http.Error(w, "invalid id", http.StatusBadRequest)
+				return
+			}
+			switch action {
+			case "accept":
+				if !stepUpOK(session, requireStepUp) {
+					http.Error(w, "step-up required: assert a passkey first", http.StatusForbidden)
+					return
+				}
+				if err := acceptRoutine(ctx, core, rid); err != nil {
+					log.Printf("routines: accept %d: %v", rid, err)
+					http.Error(w, "accept failed: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadGateway)
+					return
+				}
+				msg = "accepted routine — maven will remind you"
+			case "dismiss":
+				if err := core.DismissProposedRoutine(ctx, rid); err != nil {
+					log.Printf("routines: dismiss %d: %v", rid, err)
+					http.Error(w, "dismiss failed: "+err.Error(), http.StatusBadGateway)
+					return
+				}
+				msg = "dismissed routine"
+			default:
+				http.Error(w, "unknown action", http.StatusBadRequest)
 				return
 			}
-			msg = "dismissed routine"
-		default:
-			http.Error(w, "unknown action", http.StatusBadRequest)
-			return
 		}
 	}
 	proposed, err := core.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
@@ -1158,6 +1177,45 @@ func toRoutineViews(rs []ipc.ProposedRoutine) []routineView {
 // may do it (Vikunja #367): accepting gives the tick loop a standing new
 // reason to speak, which DESIGN.md puts at layer 3, and the button here is
 // behind step-up. Voice can park the question and dismiss, never accept.
+// seedRoutineEvent drives one backdated fact write through core (Vikunja #518),
+// so the pattern detector can be exercised against a running daemon instead of
+// over real days. Refused unless mavend was started with -allow-seed; on an
+// ordinary box the error says so and nothing is written.
+//
+// Takes "ago" rather than an absolute timestamp — hours before now, as a float
+// so a QA sitting can space four seeds three hours apart without doing clock
+// arithmetic. The detector's floor is two hours, and "0" is a legal answer
+// meaning now.
+func seedRoutineEvent(ctx context.Context, core ipc.CoreAPI, r *http.Request) (string, error) {
+	key := strings.TrimSpace(r.FormValue("key"))
+	value := strings.TrimSpace(r.FormValue("value"))
+	if key == "" || value == "" {
+		return "", errors.New("seed needs a key and a value")
+	}
+	agoHours, err := strconv.ParseFloat(strings.TrimSpace(r.FormValue("ago")), 64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("seed: bad ago (hours before now): %w", err)
+	}
+	if agoHours < 0 {
+		return "", errors.New("seed: ago is hours BEFORE now, so it cannot be negative")
+	}
+	resp, err := core.SeedEvent(ctx, ipc.SeedEventReq{
+		Key:   key,
+		Value: value,
+		Ts:    time.Now().Add(-time.Duration(agoHours * float64(time.Hour))),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if !resp.Extracted {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("wrote fact %d, but %q is not in the action lexicon — no event, no pattern", resp.FactID, value), nil
+	}
+	if !resp.Proposed {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("seeded %s/%s (fact %d, event %d) — not enough yet to propose", resp.Action, resp.Object, resp.FactID, resp.EventID), nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("seeded %s/%s and PROPOSED routine %d, every %.1f days", resp.Action, resp.Object, resp.RoutineID, resp.IntervalDays), nil
+}
+
 func acceptRoutine(ctx context.Context, core ipc.CoreAPI, id int64) error {
 	proposed, err := core.ListProposedRoutines(ctx)
 	if err != nil {

docs/qa.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # QA plan: checking Maven properly
 
-*Last verified: 2026-08-04 @ a4d5155. Living doc: correct it in place, do not append.*
+*Last verified: 2026-08-04 @ 8d816f4. Living doc: correct it in place, do not append.*
 
 Written 2026-08-01, after the 35-PR stack landed and the box came back up.
 Refreshed 2026-08-02 against the live list, after PRs #85-#90.
@@ -88,8 +88,71 @@ session quality), **321** steps 3-5 (quiet mode), **288** (STT golden audio).
 **288 is not blocked.** The fixtures are committed under `cmd/mavsttd/testdata/`
 and `make test-stt-golden` runs today. This plan said otherwise until 02-08-2026.
 
-Steps 1 and 3-6 were run on 02-08-2026 and pass. Steps 2 and 7-9 still need a
-person at the box, because they need a microphone or a nudge to arrive.
+Steps 1 and 3-6 were run on 02-08-2026 and pass.
+
+**Step 2 no longer needs a person, and step 9 has a number now** (04-08-2026).
+`POST /api/ptt` takes raw PCM16 16kHz mono and answers with audio plus an
+`X-Reply-Text` header, so the committed STT fixtures stand in for a microphone:
+
+```sh
+tail -c +45 cmd/mavsttd/testdata/ru_query.wav > /tmp/q.pcm
+curl -s --noproxy '*' -D /tmp/h -o /tmp/reply.pcm -X POST \
+  http://127.0.0.1:9201/api/ptt --data-binary @/tmp/q.pcm \
+  -H 'Content-Type: application/octet-stream' -m 180
+```
+
+That covers audio in → STT → router → phrasing → TTS audio out. It leaves only
+browser microphone capture needing a person, and the wake path needing a machine.
+Do not post `en_act.wav` without deciding first: it is a mutating act.
+
+**Steps 7 and 8 still cannot run, but 15 is no longer the reason** (04-08-2026).
+The desk presence poster is installed on workpc. It is a `maven-desk` systemd
+user timer on a 60s cadence, gated by hypridle at 120s idle. `desk_active` facts
+now arrive, and the first landed at 18:43.
+
+What blocks the two steps now is that no rule wants to fire. `/trace` shows all
+five at `predicate`, none inert:
+
+| rule | sev | why it is false |
+|---|---|---|
+| water | 1 | needs ≥3h since the last `water` fact; step 2's `ru_fact` wrote one |
+| meal | 1 | needs ≥6h since a `meal` fact; none exists |
+| break | 2 | needs both `desk_active` and a `break` fact; `break` has never been written |
+| service_down | 4 | no kuma monitor is down |
+| netdata_critical | 3 | nothing critical |
+
+So the honest way to run step 8 is to wait three hours after the last `water`
+fact, or to write one antedated. Do not read the water rule's silence as a defect.
+
+**The sev4 telegram reach works** (04-08-2026). Resuming a paused kuma monitor
+for paperless, which is genuinely down, put a real `service_down` through the
+whole path with presence away:
+
+```
+23:03 voicesink: no live voice session for service_down, falling through to away channels
+/notifications: 19:03 | service_down | telegram | pending | Сервис перестал отвечать.
+                04.08 23:03 | nudge | service_down | telegram | sent | 23:03
+```
+
+`ChannelsFor(Sev4, Away)` returned telegram, the send succeeded, and the row
+holds at `pending` because sev4 repeats until acked. The 15:51 row shows the
+same rule reaching `acted` earlier, so the ack path works too.
+
+The body was `Сервис перестал отвечать.`, which names no service. That is a bug
+and it is deterministic, filed as **534**. `nudgeValues` fills `{service}` from
+`State.Fact("service_down")`, an exact key mavpoll stopped writing when
+per-monitor facts landed. Nine of the ten templates carry `{service}`, so all
+nine are rejected as unfillable. The one nameless variant is left as the only
+usable one, every time. The stub and LLM phrasers both call `loop.DownServices`
+and get it right. The template path is the one that runs.
+
+**Presence itself has a real defect, filed as 532.** `SavePresenceState` has no
+caller outside tests, so the singleton row is never written. The gate is fine,
+because it reads the bucket `GatherState` computes in memory each tick. Two
+things follow. Hysteresis is dead, because `lastBucket` is always cold-start `Away`
+and the 0.30-0.55 hold band never applies. And every presence readout lies:
+`/dash` shows `away — score 0.00 (never)` with fresh `desk_active` facts arriving
+every 60s. Do not trust that number while checking anything else here.
 
 Steps 1 and 3-6 do not need a browser. `POST /api/chat` takes a form-encoded
 `text=` field and a cookie jar, and answers with the rendered `/chat` page:
@@ -112,6 +175,33 @@ turns look misaligned when they are not.
    back. This covers browser mic to STT to core to TTS as one path. It does
    **not** cover the wake word or the voice-activity gate, and no step here
    does — see below.
+   **Passes below the browser** (04-08-2026, three fixtures through `/api/ptt`):
+   HTTP 200, `audio/l16;rate=16000;channels=1`, and real speech back. `ru_query`
+   answered `на 04.08.2026 ничего нет.` in 3.82s of audio at RMS 3865, `ru_fact`
+   answered `отметила: water = выпил`, `ru_reminder` answered `хорошо, напомню.`
+   at `intent=reminder`.
+   **Passes in the browser too** (04-08-2026), and it needed no person. Headless
+   Chrome takes a fake microphone, so the whole browser half runs unattended:
+
+   ```sh
+   chrome --headless=new --remote-debugging-port=9333 --remote-allow-origins='*' \
+     --use-fake-device-for-media-stream --use-fake-ui-for-media-stream \
+     --use-file-for-fake-audio-capture=cmd/mavsttd/testdata/ru_query.wav%noloop
+   ```
+
+   Then drive it over the debug protocol: click `#btn`, wait, click again, read
+   `#status` and `#log`. That covers `getUserMedia`, `MediaRecorder`, the webm
+   decode and the hand-written resample to 16k Int16. It logged
+   `sending 188160 bytes`, which is 5.88s at 16k mono, and got the reply back.
+
+   **The button is on `/`, not `/dash`.** `handleVoice` serves it at the root
+   (`main.go:332`). `/dash` is the presence and fact dashboard and carries no
+   `#btn`. This step said `/dash` until 04-08-2026.
+
+   One defect fell out, filed as **533**. The reply logged as
+   `на+04.08.2026+ничего+нет.` The header is escaped with `url.QueryEscape`,
+   which writes a space as `+`, then decoded with `decodeURIComponent`, which
+   leaves `+` alone. Transcript only, the audio is fine.
 3. Say `тихий режим`. Expect `тихий режим включён. буду реже напоминать.` **Passes.**
 4. Say `выключи тихий режим`. Expect `тихий режим выключен.` Negation must win. **Passes.**
 5. Say `в комнате тихо`. Quiet mode must NOT flip. Confirm on `/history` that no
@@ -132,6 +222,29 @@ turns look misaligned when they are not.
    **First evidence, in text** (02-08-2026): nothing breaks, but answers wander
    and stitch unrelated topics. Asked whether he should move flats, she opened
    with the weather. That is 287, and it is a phrasing problem, not a loop problem.
+   **The slowness now has a cause and a number** (04-08-2026). A spoken turn
+   takes 32 to 34 seconds. One phrasing call is 30.0s of that. STT is 1.0s
+   and routing is under 10ms. Both interactive calls decoded exactly 512 tokens,
+   which is the phrasing cap. Both were truncated, to produce a reply of
+   under 25 characters.
+   The cause is `responseGrammar`, not the model. Its last rule is
+   `ws ::= [ \t\n]*`, and `*` is unbounded, so the model emits `{` and then
+   satisfies `ws` with whitespace until `max_tokens` stops it. Reproduced on a
+   second server: at `repeat_penalty` 1.0 it runs to 512 and returns
+   `finish_reason=length`, at 1.3 it stops at 24. Bounding the rule to
+   `[ \t\n]{0,4}` gives a clean stop at 33 tokens three times out of three with
+   no penalty at all.
+   Only some callers are exposed. `internal/llm.Req` sends `repeat_penalty` and
+   the replier sets it to 1.3, so that path is protected by accident. `chatReq`
+   in the phraser sends no penalty, so `PhraseChat`, `PhraseQuery`,
+   `PhraseNudge` and `PhraseReminder` all run at the default 1.0. Filed as
+   **531**.
+   Two guesses were wrong on the way and are recorded so nobody repeats them.
+   It is not reasoning tokens: the probe returned `reasoning_content` of length
+   0, and the grammar constrains output from the first token. It is not the
+   `--cache-ram 512` limit either: that is MiB of prompt cache and the 512 that
+   was hit is a token count.
+   The wandering is a second thing and stays on 287.
 
 **The wake path cannot be checked here, and that is now the decision rather
 than a gap.** `mavwaked` and `mavenclient` appear in no compose file and run as

internal/auth/policy.go

@@ -91,6 +91,19 @@ func Requirement(m ipc.Method) Authority {
 		// can do is make Maven stop recognising someone, which is the state the
 		// box ships in anyway.
 		return AuthWrite
+	case ipc.MethodSeedEvent:
+		// The one backdating write path in the tree (Vikunja #518). AuthStepUp,
+		// the same rung as mutating the tool allowlist, and for a reason that is
+		// not about privilege: every other write records when something actually
+		// happened, and this one asserts it. A caller who can place a fact in the
+		// past can manufacture a routine Maven will then act on forever, which is
+		// the tick loop obeying evidence nobody produced.
+		//
+		// Step-up is not the real gate and is not meant to be. mavend refuses the
+		// method entirely unless started with -allow-seed, so the ordinary state
+		// of the box is that no gesture reaches it. This rung is what stops a
+		// module from calling it on a box where QA left the flag on.
+		return AuthStepUp
 	case ipc.MethodWriteFact:
 		return AuthWrite
 	case ipc.MethodIngestMail:

internal/ipc/api.go

@@ -184,6 +184,48 @@ type CaptureTaskResp struct {
 	Promoted bool `json:"promoted,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// SeedEventReq — write one fact at a caller-supplied timestamp and run the
+// pattern path over it, so a recurring routine can be produced on demand
+// instead of over real days (Vikunja #518).
+//
+// This is the ONLY backdating write path in the tree, and it exists for one
+// reason: the detector needs four events spread over hours before it proposes
+// anything, so V-43, V-46, V-247 and V-254 could not be verified against a
+// running daemon at all. A store fixture would have exercised the detector
+// without the wiring those tasks doubt.
+//
+// Two things hold it shut. It is AuthStepUp in the authority table, the same
+// rung as mutating the tool allowlist. And mavend refuses it outright unless
+// started with -allow-seed, so a box nobody is testing carries no live
+// backdating path even for a caller who cleared the gate.
+//
+// Key and Value are a fact, not an event: extraction runs for real, so a key
+// the extractor ignores seeds nothing and says so. That is deliberate — a
+// seam that accepted action and object directly would let QA prove a detector
+// against events no utterance could ever produce.
+type SeedEventReq struct {
+	Key   string    `json:"key"`
+	Value string    `json:"value"`
+	Ts    time.Time `json:"ts"`
+}
+
+// SeedEventResp — what the seed produced. Extracted is false when the fact was
+// written but yielded no event, which is the extractor declining rather than a
+// failure. Proposed is true only when this seed completed a pattern; the first
+// three seeds of a run return false with no routine.
+type SeedEventResp struct {
+	FactID    int64 `json:"fact_id"`
+	EventID   int64 `json:"event_id,omitempty"`
+	Extracted bool  `json:"extracted"`
+	Action    string `json:"action,omitempty"`
+	Object    string `json:"object,omitempty"`
+	Proposed  bool   `json:"proposed"`
+	RoutineID int64  `json:"routine_id,omitempty"`
+	// IntervalDays — the median the detector settled on, echoed so QA can
+	// check it against the spacing it asked for.
+	IntervalDays float64 `json:"interval_days,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // IngestMailReq — one message a mail reader has fetched, handed to core for
 // extraction (Vikunja #246).
 //

internal/ipc/client.go

@@ -487,6 +487,14 @@ func (c *Client) ListProposedRoutines(ctx context.Context) ([]ProposedRoutine, e
 	return r.Routines, nil
 }
 
+func (c *Client) SeedEvent(ctx context.Context, req SeedEventReq) (SeedEventResp, error) {
+	var r SeedEventResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodSeedEvent, req, &r); err != nil {
+		return SeedEventResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
 func (c *Client) CaptureTask(ctx context.Context, req CaptureTaskReq) (CaptureTaskResp, error) {
 	var r CaptureTaskResp
 	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodCaptureTask, req, &r); err != nil {

internal/ipc/coreapi.go

@@ -110,6 +110,13 @@ type RoutineAPI interface {
 	// loop takes the schedule from there — no reminder is created (Vikunja #366).
 	AcceptProposedRoutine(ctx context.Context, id int64) error
 
+	// SeedEvent writes a backdated fact and runs extraction and detection over
+	// it, so a proposal can be produced in one sitting rather than over real
+	// days (Vikunja #518). See SeedEventReq for why this exists and what keeps
+	// it shut. Daemon-computed, like MorningStatus — the store adapter refuses
+	// it, because the detect-and-propose step lives in mavend.
+	SeedEvent(ctx context.Context, req SeedEventReq) (SeedEventResp, error)
+
 	// MorningStatus returns each configured morning routine's current
 	// checklist state (see internal/morning): active today/now, which items
 	// are done, which are still missing.

internal/ipc/server.go

@@ -524,6 +524,9 @@ var methodTable = map[Method]handlerFunc{
 	MethodCaptureTask: withParams(func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI, p CaptureTaskReq) (CaptureTaskResp, error) {
 		return api.CaptureTask(ctx, p)
 	}),
+	MethodSeedEvent: withParams(func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI, p SeedEventReq) (SeedEventResp, error) {
+		return api.SeedEvent(ctx, p)
+	}),
 	MethodListTasks: withParams(func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI, p listTasksReq) (listTasksResp, error) {
 		out, err := api.ListTasks(ctx, p.Status)
 		if err != nil {

internal/ipc/storeapi.go

@@ -265,6 +265,14 @@ func (a *storeAPI) TickTrace(ctx context.Context) (TickTrace, error) {
 	return TickTrace{}, errors.New("store: tick trace not available via direct store API")
 }
 
+// SeedEvent — same shape as MorningStatus: writing the fact is a store call,
+// but extraction and detect-and-propose live in mavend, and a seed that wrote
+// the fact without running them would be the one thing this seam must not be,
+// a way to prove a detector that never ran (Vikunja #518).
+func (a *storeAPI) SeedEvent(ctx context.Context, req SeedEventReq) (SeedEventResp, error) {
+	return SeedEventResp{}, errors.New("store: seed event not available via direct store API")
+}
+
 func (a *storeAPI) MorningStatus(ctx context.Context) ([]MorningRoutineStatus, error) {
 	return nil, errors.New("store: morning status not available via direct store API")
 }

internal/ipc/unimplemented.go

@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ func (UnimplementedCoreAPI) DeleteTool(ctx context.Context, name string) error {
 func (UnimplementedCoreAPI) CaptureTask(ctx context.Context, req CaptureTaskReq) (CaptureTaskResp, error) {
 	return CaptureTaskResp{}, ErrNotImplemented
 }
+func (UnimplementedCoreAPI) SeedEvent(ctx context.Context, req SeedEventReq) (SeedEventResp, error) {
+	return SeedEventResp{}, ErrNotImplemented
+}
 func (UnimplementedCoreAPI) ListTasks(ctx context.Context, status string) ([]Task, error) {
 	return nil, ErrNotImplemented
 }

internal/ipc/wire.go

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ const (
 	MethodListSpeakers           Method = "list_speakers"
 	MethodForgetSpeaker          Method = "forget_speaker"
 	MethodRecentEvents           Method = "recent_events"
+	MethodSeedEvent              Method = "seed_event"
 
 	// MethodPing — liveness, and the only method that answers in locked mode
 	// without a passkey assertion. It reaches no store, takes no arguments and

internal/phraser/nudge_templates.go

@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (t *NudgeTemplates) PhraseNudge(_ context.Context, c loop.Candidate) (deliv
 // template fits it uses the plain per-rule fallback.
 func (t *NudgeTemplates) Nudge(c loop.Candidate) (body, mood string) {
 	rule := c.Rule.Name
-	family := t.family(rule)
+	family := t.pluralFamily(t.family(rule), c)
 	set, ok := t.file.Rules[family]
 	if !ok {
 		return fallbackNudge(c), "neutral"
@@ -155,6 +155,25 @@ func (t *NudgeTemplates) family(rule string) string {
 	return "default"
 }
 
+// pluralFamily swaps in the plural wording when {service} will hold a list.
+// Russian agrees the verb with the subject, so one set of templates cannot
+// serve both: "Сервис paperless не отвечает" and "Сервисы nginx, paperless не
+// отвечают" differ in the noun, the verb and the adjective. Filling a list into
+// the singular text is the kind of near-miss that reads as machine-written.
+//
+// Only service_down has a plural form today. A family with no "_many" set in
+// the file is returned unchanged, so adding one is a data change.
+func (t *NudgeTemplates) pluralFamily(family string, c loop.Candidate) string {
+	if len(loop.DownServices(c.State)) < 2 {
+		return family
+	}
+	many := family + "_many"
+	if _, ok := t.file.Rules[many]; ok {
+		return many
+	}
+	return family
+}
+
 // placeholderRE — the {name} slots a template may use.
 var placeholderRE = regexp.MustCompile(`\{([a-z]+)\}`)
 
@@ -165,17 +184,25 @@ func nudgeValues(c loop.Candidate) map[string]string {
 	vals := map[string]string{}
 	rule := c.Rule.Name
 
+	// {service} — one fact per kuma monitor, keyed "service_down:<name>", so
+	// the name lives in the key SUFFIX and there is no fact called plain
+	// "service_down" to read. loop.DownServices is the same helper the rule
+	// fired on, which is what stops the message naming a service that is up.
+	// This used to read c.State.Fact(rule) — the pre-per-monitor aggregate —
+	// and so never filled, leaving the one nameless variant as the only
+	// fillable template every time (Vikunja #534).
+	if down := loop.DownServices(c.State); len(down) > 0 {
+		vals["service"] = strings.Join(down, ", ")
+	}
 	// {since} — only at hour scale. Below an hour the phrase would be minutes,
-	// and none of the templates read well with "сорок минут".
+	// and none of the templates read well with "сорок минут". service_down has
+	// no {since} to offer: its facts are keyed by monitor, and the rule is
+	// edge-triggered, so it fires on the transition rather than hours later.
 	if d, ok := c.State.Since(rule); ok && d >= time.Hour {
 		if s := ruSinceWords(d); s != "" {
 			vals["since"] = s
 		}
 	}
-	// {service} — the aggregate fact's key carries the service name.
-	if f, ok := c.State.Fact(rule); ok && f.Key != "" && f.Key != rule {
-		vals["service"] = f.Key
-	}
 	// {what} — the Russian suffix of "routine:таблетки" / "morning:утро".
 	if i := strings.IndexByte(rule, ':'); i > 0 && i+1 < len(rule) {
 		vals["what"] = rule[i+1:]

internal/phraser/nudge_templates_test.go

@@ -11,6 +11,102 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
 )
 
+// downCand builds a service_down candidate the way a tick actually does it:
+// one fact per kuma monitor under the prefix, carrying the source and value
+// loop.DownServices checks. The old cand() shape wrote a single fact keyed
+// plain "service_down", which mavpoll stopped producing, and that is why the
+// tests passed through the whole of #534.
+func downCand(names ...string) loop.Candidate {
+	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 31, 21, 40, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	st := loop.State{Now: now, Facts: map[string]store.Fact{}}
+	for _, n := range names {
+		key := loop.ServiceDownPrefix + n
+		st.Facts[key] = store.Fact{
+			Key: key, Ts: now.Add(-3 * time.Minute),
+			Source: loop.ServiceDownSource, Value: `"down"`,
+		}
+	}
+	return loop.Candidate{
+		Rule:     loop.Rule{Name: "service_down", Severity: loop.Sev4},
+		Severity: loop.Sev4, State: st,
+	}
+}
+
+// The nudge he reads on telegram must name what broke. It is a sev4 that
+// reaches him away from the box, so "a service is down" costs him a trip to
+// kuma to learn anything at all.
+func TestNudgeNamesTheDownService(t *testing.T) {
+	// Lowercased before matching: a name that opens the sentence is
+	// capitalized by capitalizeFirst, which is wanted.
+	nt := newTestTemplates(t, 5)
+	for i := 0; i < 40; i++ {
+		body, _ := nt.Nudge(downCand("paperless"))
+		if !strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(body), "paperless") {
+			t.Fatalf("body does not name the service: %q", body)
+		}
+	}
+	// Two down: both named, in the key order the rule itself uses.
+	for i := 0; i < 40; i++ {
+		body, _ := nt.Nudge(downCand("nginx", "paperless"))
+		low := strings.ToLower(body)
+		if !strings.Contains(low, "nginx") || !strings.Contains(low, "paperless") {
+			t.Fatalf("body drops a service: %q", body)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Russian agrees the verb with the subject, so a list of services cannot go
+// into the singular sentence. One down takes the singular set, two or more
+// take service_down_many.
+func TestNudgeAgreesWithTheServiceCount(t *testing.T) {
+	nt := newTestTemplates(t, 9)
+	// "упал " keeps its trailing space: "упали" starts with "упал", and the
+	// plural must not read as the singular by prefix.
+	singular := []string{"не отвечает", "недоступен", "лежит", "упал "}
+	plural := []string{"не отвечают", "недоступны", "лежат", "упали"}
+
+	for i := 0; i < 60; i++ {
+		body, _ := nt.Nudge(downCand("paperless"))
+		if !containsAny(body, singular) {
+			t.Fatalf("one down, no singular verb: %q", body)
+		}
+		if containsAny(body, plural) {
+			t.Fatalf("one down, plural wording: %q", body)
+		}
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < 60; i++ {
+		body, _ := nt.Nudge(downCand("nginx", "paperless"))
+		if !containsAny(body, plural) {
+			t.Fatalf("two down, no plural verb: %q", body)
+		}
+		if containsAny(body, singular) {
+			t.Fatalf("two down, singular wording: %q", body)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func containsAny(s string, subs []string) bool {
+	for _, sub := range subs {
+		if strings.Contains(s, sub) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// Nothing down means no template fits, and the fallback answers rather than
+// the picker inventing a name.
+func TestNudgeServiceDownWithoutFacts(t *testing.T) {
+	nt := newTestTemplates(t, 5)
+	body, mood := nt.Nudge(downCand())
+	if body != "Сервис не отвечает." {
+		t.Fatalf("fallback body %q", body)
+	}
+	if mood != "neutral" {
+		t.Fatalf("mood %q", mood)
+	}
+}
+
 // cand builds a candidate the way a tick would.
 func cand(rule string, sinceMin int, factKey string) loop.Candidate {
 	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 31, 21, 40, 0, 0, time.UTC)
@@ -36,7 +132,7 @@ func newTestTemplates(t *testing.T, seed int64) *NudgeTemplates {
 
 func TestNudgeTemplatesLoad(t *testing.T) {
 	nt := newTestTemplates(t, 1)
-	for _, rule := range []string{"water", "meal", "break", "service_down", "netdata_critical", "routine", "morning", "default"} {
+	for _, rule := range []string{"water", "meal", "break", "service_down", "service_down_many", "netdata_critical", "routine", "morning", "default"} {
 		set, ok := nt.file.Rules[rule]
 		if !ok {
 			t.Errorf("no templates for %q", rule)
@@ -46,8 +142,12 @@ func TestNudgeTemplatesLoad(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("%s: only %d variants", rule, len(set.Variants))
 		}
 		// Every rule needs one variant that needs no value, or a candidate
-		// without context has nothing to say. routine and morning are exempt:
-		// they always carry a name and must always say it.
+		// without context has nothing to say. routine, morning and
+		// service_down are exempt: they always carry a name and must always
+		// say it. service_down's predicate cannot fire without a down fact,
+		// so loop.DownServices always has something to fill {service} with,
+		// and the nameless variant it used to carry was the bug (#534) —
+		// {service} never filled, so that variant was the only fillable one.
 		plain := 0
 		seen := map[string]bool{}
 		for _, v := range set.Variants {
@@ -59,7 +159,7 @@ func TestNudgeTemplatesLoad(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			seen[v] = true
 		}
-		if plain == 0 && rule != "routine" && rule != "morning" {
+		if plain == 0 && rule != "routine" && rule != "morning" && !strings.HasPrefix(rule, "service_down") {
 			t.Errorf("%s: every variant needs a placeholder value", rule)
 		}
 	}
@@ -102,8 +202,8 @@ func TestNudgeNoLeftoverPlaceholders(t *testing.T) {
 		cand("water", 0, ""),   // no duration
 		cand("water", 30, ""),  // under an hour
 		cand("water", 200, ""), // hours
-		cand("service_down", 3, "vaultwarden"),
-		cand("service_down", 3, ""), // no service name
+		downCand("vaultwarden"),
+		downCand(), // nothing down: the fallback answers
 		cand("routine:таблетки", 0, ""),
 		cand("morning:утро", 0, ""),
 		cand("unknown_rule", 0, ""),

internal/phraser/nudges_ru_v1.json

@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
     "Hand-written Russian nudges. 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 (выпейте), never он/его about him.",
     "One short sentence. No questions, no emoji, no pet names, no emotional support.",
-    "Placeholders: {since} how long it has been (only used when it is at least an hour), {service} the service name, {what} the routine name. A variant whose placeholder has no value is skipped, so every rule needs at least one variant with no placeholder. The exception is routine and morning: those only exist for rules like routine:таблетки that always carry a name, and a routine nudge that drops the name is useless.",
+    "Placeholders: {since} how long it has been (only used when it is at least an hour), {service} the service name, {what} the routine name. A variant whose placeholder has no value is skipped, so every rule needs at least one variant with no placeholder. The exception is routine, morning and service_down: those only exist for rules that always carry a name, and one that drops the name is useless.",
+    "A rule may carry a second set named <rule>_many, used when {service} holds more than one name. Russian agrees the verb with the subject, so the plural needs its own wording rather than a list dropped into the singular sentence. Only service_down has one.",
     "mood must be one of: neutral, happy, thinking, tired, confused."
   ],
   "rules": {
@@ -62,13 +63,24 @@
         "{service} не отвечает, сервис нужно поднимать.",
         "Сервис {service} недоступен.",
         "Проверь {service}: сервис не отвечает.",
-        "Сервис перестал отвечать.",
         "Сервис {service} лежит, нужно смотреть.",
-        "{service} не отвечает уже {since}.",
         "Мониторинг сообщает: {service} лежит.",
         "Сервис {service} не отвечает, посмотри логи."
       ]
     },
+    "service_down_many": {
+      "mood": "neutral",
+      "variants": [
+        "Сервисы {service} не отвечают.",
+        "{service} упали — сервисы не отвечают.",
+        "{service} не отвечают, сервисы нужно поднимать.",
+        "Сервисы {service} недоступны.",
+        "Проверь {service}: сервисы не отвечают.",
+        "Сервисы {service} лежат, нужно смотреть.",
+        "Мониторинг сообщает: {service} лежат.",
+        "Сервисы {service} не отвечают, посмотри логи."
+      ]
+    },
     "netdata_critical": {
       "mood": "neutral",
       "variants": [