Correct Epiphany phase memory

notes/epiphany-fork-implementation-plan.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Status
 
-Updated on 2026-04-24 after landing the Phase 4 retrieval/indexing/core-extraction baseline on `main`.
+Updated on 2026-04-24 after landing the Phase 4 retrieval/indexing/core-extraction baseline and moving into Phase 5 semantic distillation/promotion on `main`.
 
 This note tracks Epiphany as a fork of Codex with an opinionated modeling architecture. The point is not to offer Codex another collaboration preset. The point is to make the harness force the model to carry explicit structure about the codebase, the active subgoal, the evidence trail, and the machine it is modifying.
 
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ This note tracks Epiphany as a fork of Codex with an opinionated modeling archit
 - a first typed state-update slice that adds explicit loaded-thread-only `thread/epiphany/update`, appends observations/evidence, replaces bounded map/scratch/churn fields, bumps the state revision, and persists an immediate rollout `EpiphanyState` snapshot
 - a first typed distillation/proposal slice that adds read-only loaded-thread-only `thread/epiphany/distill`, producing deterministic observation/evidence patches for explicit promotion through `thread/epiphany/update`
 - a first richer promotion-policy slice that treats map/churn/frontier/checkpoint replacements as higher-risk state edits: accepted promotions must be tied to explicit observations and patch evidence, and structural graph/churn mistakes are rejected before the durable update path
+- current phase: Phase 5 semantic distillation/promotion/proposal machinery
 
 The next job is no longer to prove the retriever exists, sketch the persistent follow-up in prose, invent the first red-pen path, build the first observation proposal surface, or make promotion notice broken map/churn replacements. Those parts are landed. The next job is to keep the landing zone honest: do not casually turn `thread/epiphany/retrieve` or `thread/epiphany/distill` into durable Epiphany-state writers, and do not widen the explicit indexing/update paths into watcher-driven or GUI-shaped machinery before they earn it.
 
@@ -266,13 +267,13 @@ Add tests for:
 
 ## Immediate Next Step
 
-Treat the current retrieval baseline, explicit indexing follow-up, explicit update path, and first distillation proposal path as real and live-smoked. The next machine gap is no longer "can Epiphany retrieve code?" or "can it propose one durable observation patch?" It can. The next gap is "can Epiphany decide which observations deserve promotion, and what map/churn edits they imply?"
+Treat the current retrieval baseline and explicit indexing follow-up as landed Phase 4. Treat the explicit update path, distillation proposal path, verifier-backed promotion gate, and structural map/churn promotion validation as the active Phase 5 baseline. The next machine gap is no longer "can Epiphany retrieve code?" or "can it propose one durable observation patch?" It can. The next gap is "can Epiphany decide which observations deserve promotion, and what map/churn edits they imply?"
 
 1. treat the current verified-and-landed query-time hybrid retriever as the Phase 4 slice 1 baseline
 2. treat the verified and live-smoked `thread/epiphany/index` slice as the bounded persistent-semantic follow-up
 3. keep the new `epiphany-core` boundary honest instead of letting vendored Codex re-accumulate the heavy implementation
 4. do not add durable retrieval-summary writes from `thread/epiphany/retrieve` without a clean out-of-band rollout/update semantic
-5. build the next layer above the landed distill/update/promote surfaces:
+5. continue Phase 5 by building the next layer above the landed distill/update/promote surfaces:
    - richer typed observation distillation from tool/model outputs
    - promotion policy beyond structural validation, but only when it can stay evidence-backed
    - verifier-backed acceptance/rejection evidence

notes/fresh-workspace-handoff.md

@@ -345,12 +345,15 @@ If a future session wakes up from compaction and starts bluffing, this is the pa
   - `thread/start`, `thread/resume`, `thread/fork`, `thread/read`, `thread/unarchive`, and detached review-thread startup can carry `thread.epiphanyState` when present
   - loaded threads use live state
   - stored thread reads reconstruct from rollout with the same rollback/compaction semantics as core
-- later slices added dedicated experimental `thread/epiphany/update`, `thread/epiphany/distill`, `thread/epiphany/promote`, `thread/epiphany/retrieve`, and `thread/epiphany/index`; there is still no live `thread/epiphany/*` notification stream
-- The next phase is **not** GUI work.
-- The current landed phase is **Phase 4 repo-local retrieval/indexing**:
+- Phase 4 repo-local retrieval/indexing is landed:
   - Epiphany now has a real typed repo retrieval subsystem instead of repeated file-by-file shell archaeology
   - persistent semantic indexing now exists behind explicit `thread/epiphany/index`
-  - the next bounded follow-up is live smoke and operational polish, not proving the retriever exists again
+- Phase 5 semantic distillation/promotion is active:
+  - dedicated experimental `thread/epiphany/update`, `thread/epiphany/distill`, and `thread/epiphany/promote` exist and are live-smoked
+  - structural map/churn promotion validation is landed in `epiphany-core`
+  - the next bounded follow-up is richer observation-to-map/churn proposal machinery, not proving the retriever exists again
+- There is still no live `thread/epiphany/*` notification stream.
+- The next phase is **not** GUI work.
 - The current pushed baseline also extracted most Epiphany-owned implementation into `epiphany-core`:
   - prompt rendering, rollout replay, and retrieval/indexing logic are now repo-owned
   - vendored Codex keeps the typed protocol/thread/app-server seam plus thin adapters
@@ -443,16 +446,16 @@ Without that, you get to learn about `symlink_dir failed: ... A required privile
 
 ## Recommended Next Implementation
 
-Do not restart verification from superstition. The current Phase 4 retrieval/indexing/core-extraction baseline is already verified, committed, and pushed.
+Do not restart verification from superstition. Phase 4 retrieval/indexing/core-extraction is already verified, committed, and pushed. Phase 5 distill/promote/update and the first structural promotion safety layer are also landed.
 
 The durable state seam exists, the turn loop reads it, clients can load typed Epiphany state directly, the first retrieval slice is real, the explicit persistent-semantic indexing path is landed, the first distill/promote/update path is live-smoked, and promotion now has a first structural map/churn safety layer. The next clean move is richer observation-to-map proposal machinery, not pretending the already-shipped slices still need ceremony.
 
-Current next implementation move:
+Current Phase 5 implementation move:
 
-1. treat the live-smoked retrieval/indexing baseline, typed update surface, typed distill proposal surface, and typed promote gate as real
+1. treat the live-smoked retrieval/indexing baseline as Phase 4 and the typed update/distill/promote surfaces as the active Phase 5 baseline
 2. keep the current env/default Qdrant/Ollama config surface for now
 3. keep `thread/epiphany/retrieve` and `thread/epiphany/distill` read-only
-4. build the next layer above the distill/promote/update surfaces:
+4. continue Phase 5 by building the next layer above the distill/promote/update surfaces:
    - richer map/churn patch generation from verified observations
    - promotion policy beyond structural validation only when the evidence path stays explicit
    - verifier-backed acceptance/rejection evidence