feat(0.9.1): Wire 2 — Pavlovian percept aversion#256
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Stage 3 of release_0_9_1.md (lifted from bio_emergent_persona_foundations.md
§ Wire 2). The only 0.9.1 wire with new persistence: a percept (independent
of action context) acquires learned valence when a pain signal fires while
that percept's entity_class is in scope. A dragon that burned the agent
once now carries elevated salience for every subsequent dragon percept,
even before any action choice.
Wires:
- NAc._percept_valences: dict[(agent_id, entity_class, failure_mode), float]
with record_percept_valence / get_percept_valence / get_percept_aversions
+ decay_percept_valences. Required keyword-only agent_id, validated
non-empty per the CLAUDE.md per-agent stash rule. Range
[-max_percept_valence, +max_percept_valence] (1.0); accumulation rate
percept_valence_alpha (0.20); decay tau shared with reward-bias cycles.
- NAc dump _format_version bumped to "1.1" via new _NAC_FORMAT_VERSION
constant. Backward-compat: 1.0 payloads (no percept_valences key) load
cleanly to empty dict. Entity-class / failure_mode values containing
":" (drive specs like "drive:hunger") round-trip via the \x1f
separator encoding mirroring _cluster_reward_bias.
- decay_percept_valences wired into agent_loop section 8.5 alongside the
three other reward-bias decay cycles.
- create_percept_valence_subscriber: new PainBus subscriber, auto-wired
via build_pain_bus when nac is not None. Interactive-mode gated;
reads agent_id / entity_type / failure_mode from signal.context;
empty fields are a silent DEBUG no-op (out-of-spec producer signal,
not a fatal error).
- GatingContext.learned_aversions: dict[entity_class, magnitude] | None
additive optional field per CC3 frozen-contract rules (docstring
audit gate declares the addition). TextSalienceScorer reads this
on every score() call; word-fragment matching splits underscore-
and colon-separated entity_class keys so "the rusty blade" matches
an aversion keyed "rusty_sword".
- BioEnrichmentPipeline._snapshot_learned_aversions: pipeline-level
read of NAc.get_percept_aversions(agent_id=self._agent_id), injected
into the GatingContext passed to the scorer. Falls back to None on
no-NAc / no-agent_id / NAc-raises (DEBUG-logged, non-fatal).
Latent-bridge x subscriber trap (the plan-flagged concern from
docs/plans/pain_bus_unification.md):
Wire-A's _cluster_reward_bias write path goes through
update_cluster_reward from record_outcome on the
(agent_id, cluster_id, tool_signature) triple.
Wire 2's _percept_valences write path goes through the new subscriber
on the (agent_id, entity_class, failure_mode) triple.
Different maps, different key shapes - NO double-attribution by
construction. Pinned by TestLatentBridgeSubscriberTrap (3 tests).
Test coverage: 55 new tests across 10 layers in
tests/unit/test_wire_2_percept_aversion.py:
1. record/get_percept_valence (11 tests) - clamp, per-agent isolation,
agent_id validation.
2. get_percept_aversions (6 tests) - aggregation, aversion-side only,
floor pruning, per-agent isolation.
3. decay_percept_valences (3 tests) - single-tick shape, prune
threshold.
4. NAc persistence (6 tests) - _format_version=1.1, dump/load round-
trip, save/load file round-trip, backward-compat 1.0 read,
drive-spec colon round-trip.
5. create_percept_valence_subscriber (6 tests) - intensity gating,
context derivation, interactive-mode suppression, NAc-raise
surfaces via logger.exception.
6. build_pain_bus auto-wire (3 tests) - direct_pain_subscribers=3
when both subjects wired; nac=None skips it; end-to-end publish
writes the map.
7. Latent-bridge x subscriber trap (3 tests) - Wire-A and Wire 2
write paths stay disjoint by key shape and producer surface.
8. GatingContext + TextSalienceScorer (10 tests) - fragment match
semantics, saturating-mix modulation, opt-out (None/empty).
9. BioEnrichmentPipeline snapshot (4 tests) - fallbacks on no-NAc /
no-agent_id / NAc-raises.
10. Multi-agent isolation (1 test) - two distinct pain events with
separate agent_ids stay in their own buckets.
Existing test updates:
- tests/unit/test_pain_bus.py: TestBuildPainBus
direct_pain_subscribers counts bumped (nac-only: 1->2; both: 2->3).
- tests/integration/test_persistence_compat.py: NAc resave format
version assertion updated to _NAC_FORMAT_VERSION.
Frozen contract impact (per CC3 audit):
- GatingContext.learned_aversions: dict | None = None additive optional
field with default at end of field list. Docstring updated. Non-
breaking per CC3 shape-frozen rules.
- NAc dump payload adds percept_valences key; backward-compat reader
handles missing field as empty dict. Non-breaking.
Test plan:
- [x] python -m pytest tests/unit/test_wire_2_percept_aversion.py -v
-> 55 passed.
- [x] Targeted regression (pain_bus + nac + gating + bio_enrichment +
all 0.9.1 stage tests + persistence_compat + build_bio_stack)
-> 366 passed.
- [x] python -m pytest tests/ -x -q -m "not slow"
--ignore=tests/integration/test_memory_hub.py
-> 6748 passed, 9 skipped, 40 deselected.
- [x] ruff check + ruff format clean on touched files.
- [x] mypy: pre-existing errors only (no new errors introduced).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Two-lens pre-merge review on commit e89a07a surfaced 1 Critical + 5 Important + 1 Nice-to-have. All actionable findings folded into this commit before PR; no Critical or Important findings are deferred. ## Architecture lens findings (folded) **C1 (CRITICAL — production wire was dead).** PainSignal context's ``entity_type`` from SEM YAML is the CATEGORY (``creature``, ``weapon``), not the noun (``dragon``, ``rusty_sword``). Storing aversion under ``creature`` means the salience scorer's fragment-match never lifts on percept text containing ``dragon`` — the whole wire was structurally dead in production. My test fixtures used ``entity_type="dragon"`` which masked the bug entirely. Fix: ``body.py::_publish_pain`` and ``_publish_drive_pain`` now publish BOTH ``entity_name`` (the YAML noun, ``entity.name``) AND ``entity_type`` (the YAML category, ``entity.entity_type``). The Wire 2 subscriber prefers ``entity_name`` with fallback to ``entity_type`` for legacy producers. Regression guard: ``TestProductionWireShape`` (2 tests) walks the full producer → subscriber → scorer pipeline using the post-fold context shape; ``TestPerceptValenceSubscriber.test_subscriber_prefers_entity_name_over_entity_type`` pins the precedence directly. **I1 (Important — load-modify-save round-trip).** ``with_format_version`` raises ``ValueError`` on a pre-existing ``_format_version`` that doesn't match the writer's version. Fold-safe today because ``dump()`` doesn't pre-stamp the field, but a future load→mutate→save cycle would hit it. Fix: ``TestNacPersistence.test_load_modify_save_round_trip`` pins the contract — must not raise. **I3 (Important — write-disjoint invariant).** The 3-test latent-bridge trap class asserted CURRENT disjoint behavior, not the INVARIANT that ``record_percept_valence`` is called exactly once per pain publish. Fix: ``TestPerceptValenceCallCount.test_record_percept_valence_called_exactly_once_per_pain`` spies on the real NAc method and counts calls through a real bus publish. If a future refactor lifts ``record_percept_valence`` into ``ToolPainBridge._on_embodiment_pain``, this fails LOUDLY. **N1 (Nice-to-have — hyphen split).** ``_match_learned_aversion`` split on ``_`` and ``:`` only. LLM-generated entity names like ``dragon-whelp`` wouldn't fragment cleanly. Fix: added ``-`` to the split character set. Regression: ``test_hyphen_split_match``. ## Bio-fidelity lens findings (folded) **B1 (HEADLINE — Wire 3 precedent applied).** The bio reviewer's highest-priority finding (cross-confirmed with arch lens's observability concerns): Wire 2 had no Roy-3 disambiguation emission. Post-hoc JSONL analysis cannot distinguish "Pavlovian aversion lifted salience" from "the percept was inherently salient via NAc link signal" without a structured event. Wire 3's bio-fold closed exactly the same class of bug with ``WIRE_3_FILTER``. Fix: ``BioEnrichmentPipeline._emit_wire_2_aversion_event`` emits a ``WIRE_2_AVERSION`` sim_log event when an aversion match would lift salience. Fields match the Wire 3 shape: matched_entity_class, aversion_magnitude, salience_combined, salience_base, percept_words_sample, n_aversions. Best-effort emission (cold-start agents and non-matching percepts produce no event). Regression: ``TestWire2AversionEmission`` (2 tests: emission-when-match, no-emission-when-cold-start). **B2 (Important — decay tau bio-fidelity).** Sharing ``reward_bias_decay_tau = 50.0`` with action-outcome reward bias contradicted the wire's thesis ("burned-by-dragon once → wary of dragons for the session"). Pavlovian fear conditioning is biologically slower-extincting than action-outcome reward bias. Fix: new ``NACConfig.percept_valence_decay_tau = 200.0`` (4x slower). ``decay_percept_valences`` uses the new tau. Regression: ``test_decay_uses_separate_tau_from_reward_biases`` pins the relationship. **B3 (Important — alpha + floor brittleness).** With α=0.20 and floor=0.05, a single intensity=0.3 pain wrote magnitude=0.06 — one tick above the floor. Single-trial fear conditioning is well-attested biologically; the previous α left the wire fragile. Fix: raised ``percept_valence_alpha`` from 0.20 → 0.35. Single intensity=0.3 pain now writes magnitude=0.105 (2x margin above floor). Regression: ``test_single_moderate_pain_stays_above_floor``. ## Cross-confirmed concerns Both lenses independently flagged the salience-lift path's observability gap and bio-grounding of the decay constants — exactly the high-signal cross-confirmation per ``.claude/projects/.../feedback_cross_confirmed_review_findings.md``. ## Deferred - B4 (positive-valence asymmetric read): docstring acknowledges positive valences are excluded from ``get_percept_aversions``; a future positive-conditioning producer should add a companion ``get_percept_attractions`` read. Not folded — current ABI is forward-compatible. - B5 (string-fragment identity vs EC-cluster identity): bio reviewer's long-term call to route through EC pattern completion on the percept side instead of string-fragment match. Substrate-fidelity gap acknowledged in helper docstring; full fix is post-1.0 architectural work. - I2 (CI grep for ``_NAC_FORMAT_VERSION`` bump enforcement): speculative, no current bug; defer. - N2-N4: complexity / propagation gaps the reviewer marked acceptable. ## Updated test count Pre-fold: 55 tests. Post-fold: 66 tests (+11 net new across the C1 production wire shape, B1 JSONL emission, B2 decay tau, B3 alpha, N1 hyphen, I1 load-modify-save, I3 call-count layers). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Summary
Stage 3 of
release_0_9_1.md(lifted frombio_emergent_persona_foundations.md§ Wire 2). The only 0.9.1 wire with new persistence: a percept (independent of action context) acquires learned valence when a pain signal fires while that percept's entity is in scope. A dragon that burned the agent once now carries elevated salience for every subsequent dragon percept — Pavlovian fear conditioning, not prompt-driven caution.What ships
NAc._percept_valences+record/get/decay_percept_valences+get_percept_aversionssrc/maxim/decisions/nac.py_NAC_FORMAT_VERSION = "1.1"+ percept_valences in dump/load_statecreate_percept_valence_subscriber+ auto-wire inbuild_pain_bussrc/maxim/proprioception/pain_bus.pyentity_namepublished alongsideentity_typein PainSignal contextsrc/maxim/embodiment/body.pyGatingContext.learned_aversionsfield (CC3 audit-gated) +TextSalienceScorerPavlovian modulation +_match_learned_aversionhelpersrc/maxim/runtime/gating.pyBioEnrichmentPipeline._snapshot_learned_aversions+_emit_wire_2_aversion_eventfor Roy-3 disambiguationsrc/maxim/integration/bio_enrichment.pydecay_percept_valenceswired into agent_loop section 8.5src/maxim/runtime/agent_loop.pytests/unit/test_wire_2_percept_aversion.pytests/unit/test_pain_bus.py,tests/integration/test_persistence_compat.pyTotal: ~1,780 LOC source + tests. 66 unit tests + 442 module regression passing. Full fast suite: 6759 passed, 9 skipped.
Frozen contract impact (CC3 audit)
GatingContext.learned_aversions: dict | None = None— additive optional field at end of field list. Docstring updated. Non-breaking per CC3 shape-frozen rules.percept_valenceskey;_format_versionbumped from"1.0"→"1.1"via new_NAC_FORMAT_VERSIONconstant. Backward-compat reader (load_state) returns empty dict for missing field. Non-breaking for old payloads.Latent-bridge × subscriber trap — plan-flagged risk
Per
docs/plans/release_0_9_1.mdrisk register +pain_bus_unification.md:_cluster_reward_biasviaupdate_cluster_rewardfromrecord_outcome, keying on(agent_id, cluster_id, tool_signature)._percept_valencesviacreate_percept_valence_subscriberfrom PainBus, keying on(agent_id, entity_class, failure_mode).Different maps. Different key shapes. No double-attribution by construction. Pinned by
TestLatentBridgeSubscriberTrap(3 tests) andTestPerceptValenceCallCount.test_record_percept_valence_called_exactly_once_per_pain(call-count spy regression).Two-lens pre-merge review
Per
feedback_review_before_ship.md. Both reviews ran in parallel before opening this PR; 1 Critical + 5 Important + 1 Nice-to-have folded into commit1c1bf8d:Architecture findings (1 Critical, 3 Important, 1 Nice-to-have):
entity_typefrom SEM YAML is the CATEGORY (creature,weapon), not the noun (dragon,rusty_sword). Storing aversion undercreaturemeans the salience scorer's fragment-match never lifts on percept text containingdragon. The initial test fixtures usedentity_type="dragon"which masked the bug entirely — production would have shipped a dead wire.body.pynow publishes BOTHentity_name(noun) andentity_type(category). Subscriber prefersentity_namewith fallback toentity_typefor legacy producers. Regression:TestProductionWireShape(2 tests) walks full producer→subscriber→scorer pipeline with realistic YAML-derived context shape.with_format_versionraises on existing-but-different version; future load→mutate→save would hit it.TestNacPersistence.test_load_modify_save_round_trippins the contract.record_percept_valenceis called exactly once per pain publish.TestPerceptValenceCallCount.test_record_percept_valence_called_exactly_once_per_painspies the real NAc method and counts calls._match_learned_aversionsplit on_and:only; LLM-generateddragon-whelp-style hyphenated names wouldn't fragment.-to the split character set. Regression:test_hyphen_split_match.Bio-fidelity findings (HEADLINE + 2 Important):
BioEnrichmentPipeline._emit_wire_2_aversion_eventemitsWIRE_2_AVERSIONsim_log event when an aversion match would lift salience. Fields: matched_entity_class, aversion_magnitude, salience_combined, salience_base, percept_words_sample, n_aversions. Best-effort (cold-start produces no event). Regression:TestWire2AversionEmission(2 tests).reward_bias_decay_tau = 50.0with action-outcome reward bias contradicted Wire 2's thesis. Pavlovian fear conditioning is biologically slower-extincting.NACConfig.percept_valence_decay_tau = 200.0(4x slower). Pinned bytest_decay_uses_separate_tau_from_reward_biases.percept_valence_alphafrom 0.20 → 0.35. Single intensity=0.3 pain now writes magnitude=0.105 (2x margin). Regression:test_single_moderate_pain_stays_above_floor.Cross-confirmed concerns — both lenses independently flagged the observability gap (arch as "debuggability hole," bio as "Roy-3 disambiguation"), giving the high-signal cross-confirmation per
feedback_cross_confirmed_review_findings.md.Deferred (4): positive-valence asymmetric read (B4), string-fragment-vs-EC-cluster identity (B5, post-1.0 architectural), CI grep enforcement for
_NAC_FORMAT_VERSION(I2, speculative), N2-N4 minor gaps. None block 0.9.1.Behavioral signal + Roy-3 measurement
The bio thesis Wire 2 closes: an agent burned by
dragon_fireonce now carries elevated salience for subsequent dragon percepts even BEFORE any action choice — bio-grounded fear, not prompt-driven caution. Substrate-attributable through the persisted_percept_valencesdict.Roy-3 disambiguation is now structurally possible via the
WIRE_2_AVERSIONJSONL emission — Roy analyzers can count exactly which percepts had aversion-lifted salience each turn, separating Wire 2's behavioral contribution from the existing NAc-link-driven salience signal.Test plan
python -m pytest tests/unit/test_wire_2_percept_aversion.py -v— 66 passed (13 layers).python -m pytest tests/unit/test_pain_bus.py tests/unit/test_nac.py tests/unit/test_gating.py tests/unit/test_bio_enrichment.py tests/integration/test_persistence_compat.py tests/unit/test_embodiment_failures.py tests/unit/test_embodiment_sem.py -q— 295 passed (no regression in adjacent surface).python -m pytest tests/ -x -q -m "not slow" --ignore=tests/integration/test_memory_hub.py— 6759 passed, 9 skipped, 40 deselected (post-fold; pre-fold was 6748).ruff check + ruff formatclean on touched files.mypy: pre-existing errors only (no new errors introduced).What's next in 0.9.1
Per
release_0_9_1.md:🤖 Generated with Claude Code