From 115a7c5569c2912ab01f51efdeb177e97dc12e45 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: igneum-labs <337424239+igneum-labs@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 22:28:49 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Ember helper (F), from the 0.3.16 window on PC 1: the tune
 path wrote its request index as the wire sequence ("00 dev 1", "01 pl 160")
 below the cap path's unix-based numbers, so the helper skipped every tune
 command as stale and both climbs stopped on "the helper did not run sequence
 1 within 15 s"; every writer now draws from one monotonic space
 (powertask::wire_seq), the acknowledgement matches the wire number; test

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
(cherry picked from commit 9e22a7a399614780deb1c53ef3c5ee75c854a821)
---
 app/igneum-app/src/engine.rs    | 11 +++++++----
 app/igneum-app/src/powertask.rs | 14 ++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/app/igneum-app/src/engine.rs b/app/igneum-app/src/engine.rs
index b94715b41..c76cbd129 100644
--- a/app/igneum-app/src/engine.rs
+++ b/app/igneum-app/src/engine.rs
@@ -1905,7 +1905,7 @@ impl Engine {
             std::thread::spawn(move || {
                 let r = crate::powertask::start().and_then(|_| {
                     let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir);
-                    let mut seq = crate::platform::unix_now() % 1_000_000;
+                    let mut seq = crate::powertask::wire_seq();
                     let mut text = String::new();
                     for (dev, w) in &pairs {
                         seq += 1;
@@ -2583,7 +2583,7 @@ impl Engine {
             // under a scratch IGNEUM_APP_DATA), no prompt
             let hdir = crate::powertask::helper_dir();
             let _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(&hdir);
-            let _ = std::fs::write(hdir.join("cmd.txt"), format!("{} dev {}\n", crate::platform::unix_now() % 1_000_000, c.device));
+            let _ = std::fs::write(hdir.join("cmd.txt"), format!("{} dev {}\n", crate::powertask::wire_seq(), c.device));
             crate::powertask::start()?;
             self.shared.log("tune helper: the Igneum Power Helper task (no prompt)");
             self.sweep_helper = true;
@@ -2664,7 +2664,10 @@ impl Engine {
                     return;
                 }
                 let dev = device.to_string();
-                let cmd = format!("{seq}0 dev {dev}\n{seq}1 pl {w}\n{seq}2 {}\n{seq}3 {}\n", if clock > 0 { format!("lgc {clock}") } else { "rgc".to_string() }, if mem > 0 { format!("lmc {mem}") } else { "rmc".to_string() });
+                // (F) the wire numbers come from the one monotonic space every writer uses (powertask::wire_seq);
+                // `seq` (the run's request index) stays the engine's own id for the acknowledgement
+                let wire = crate::powertask::wire_seq();
+                let cmd = format!("{} dev {dev}\n{} pl {w}\n{} {}\n{} {}\n", wire, wire + 1, wire + 2, if clock > 0 { format!("lgc {clock}") } else { "rgc".to_string() }, wire + 3, if mem > 0 { format!("lmc {mem}") } else { "rmc".to_string() });
                 let dir = self.helper_cmd_dir();
                 let is_task = self.sweep_helper_is_task;
                 // 6 October 2026, PC 1: (B) the task's helper had exited while the engine's flag still said it ran,
@@ -2674,7 +2677,7 @@ impl Engine {
                 // is started and a fresh heartbeat awaited BEFORE the command is written; and the acknowledgement
                 // is the helper's own log line for this sequence (`<seq>3 nvidia-smi ...`), read for up to 15 s;
                 // a missing line is a failure with that reason
-                let want = format!(" {seq}3 nvidia-smi");
+                let want = format!(" {} nvidia-smi", wire + 3);
                 let log_file = dir.join("helper.log");
                 std::thread::spawn(move || {
                     if is_task {
diff --git a/app/igneum-app/src/powertask.rs b/app/igneum-app/src/powertask.rs
index 3f22d2378..a4f9043fd 100644
--- a/app/igneum-app/src/powertask.rs
+++ b/app/igneum-app/src/powertask.rs
@@ -119,6 +119,17 @@ pub fn parse_line(line: &str) -> Option<(u64, HelperCmd)> {
     }
 }
 
+/// The sequence number a command line carries on the wire. The helper runs a line only when its number is above
+/// every number it has seen (its `last_seq`, seeded from the file at its start), so every writer must draw from
+/// ONE monotonic space: the unix time modulo a million (six digits, what `parse_line` accepts), plus a small
+/// offset per line. (F) 6 October 2026, 22:19Z on PC 1: the tune path wrote its request index ("00 dev 1", "01 pl
+/// 160", ...) while the cap path had written 305327 and up, so the helper skipped every tune command as stale and
+/// both climbs stopped on "the helper did not run sequence 1 within 15 s". Wraps every 11.6 days; the helper's
+/// idle exit (20 minutes) re-seeds it from the file, so a wrap costs at most one tune step.
+pub fn wire_seq() -> u64 {
+    crate::platform::unix_now() % 999_990
+}
+
 /// The commands a helper acts on: the lines added after its start (`skip` = the line count at the start, 0 again
 /// when the file shrank). A stale `quit` or `remove` from an earlier engine is never a command.
 pub fn commands_after(text: &str, skip: usize) -> Vec<(u64, HelperCmd)> {
@@ -360,6 +371,9 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(commands_after("5 dev 0\n6 pl 460\nquit\n7 dev 1\n", 3), vec![(7, HelperCmd::Dev("1".into()))]);
         assert_eq!(commands_after("quit\n", 3), vec![(0, HelperCmd::Quit)]);
         // the heartbeat: fresh within ALIVE_MAX_S, dead after, dead when unreadable
+        // (F) every wire number parses (six digits at most) and leaves room for the four lines of a tune step
+        let w = wire_seq();
+        assert!(w + 3 <= 999_999 && parse_line(&format!("{} rmc", w + 3)).is_some());
         assert!(alive_at("1791309325", 1791309325 + ALIVE_MAX_S));
         assert!(!alive_at("1791309325", 1791309325 + ALIVE_MAX_S + 1));
         assert!(!alive_at("", 1791309325));