From 8854ee970772a5b7f41ae63d3edd8ab5d5f61aab Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 16:37:27 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 1/7] =?UTF-8?q?refactor(rwt):=20drop=20the=20rwt-policy.md?=
 =?UTF-8?q?=20chain=20=E2=80=94=20the=20taste=20is=20built=20in=20[spec=20?=
 =?UTF-8?q?13]?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

The file existed to give the listener a knob nobody was ever told about:
seeded with one debug line, mentioned nowhere a listener reads, and written
once (wx) so a later default never reaches an installed copy. The sibling
music-policy.md, same shape, measured byte-identical to its template after
nine days and 28 sessions. rwt has not shipped in a version yet, so the
chain leaves before it ever existed: no seeding, no reading, no path, no
config field, and no policy field on the fetch request — the prompt renders
the built-in policy itself.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 src/app.ts           |  4 +---
 src/config.ts        |  3 ---
 src/contracts.ts     |  1 -
 src/paths.ts         |  5 -----
 src/prompts.ts       |  7 ++++---
 src/rwt.ts           | 33 +--------------------------------
 test/app.test.ts     | 21 +++++----------------
 test/brain.test.ts   |  1 -
 test/config.test.ts  |  4 ++--
 test/prompts.test.ts |  4 +---
 test/rwt.test.ts     |  3 +--
 11 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 71 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/app.ts b/src/app.ts
index 27cc2e8..4998b0b 100644
--- a/src/app.ts
+++ b/src/app.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import { HostedListening } from './listening-data.ts'
 import { InProcessMemoryStore, PersistentMemoryStore } from './memory.ts'
 import { sentinelRoot } from './paths.ts'
 import { readMusicPolicy, seedMusicPolicy } from './music-policy.ts'
-import { readRwtPolicy, RealWorldTopics, RwtPool, RwtRoll, seedRwtPolicy } from './rwt.ts'
+import { RealWorldTopics, RwtPool, RwtRoll } from './rwt.ts'
 import { MusicProgrammer } from './music-programmer.ts'
 import { startReport, type ReportDeps, type ReportSession } from './report.ts'
 import { SteerResponder } from './steer-responder.ts'
@@ -309,7 +309,6 @@ export function buildRwt(
   language: () => string,
   host: Host,
 ): RealWorldTopics {
-  if (seedRwtPolicy(config.rwtPolicyPath)) host.debug?.(`rwt.policy seeded ${config.rwtPolicyPath}`)
   return new RealWorldTopics({
     pool: new RwtPool({
       path: config.rwtPoolPath,
@@ -324,7 +323,6 @@ export function buildRwt(
       timezone: Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone,
       // en-CA is the one locale whose short date is ISO YYYY-MM-DD, local.
       today: new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-CA'),
-      policy: readRwtPolicy(config.rwtPolicyPath),
     }),
     ...(host.debug !== undefined && { log: host.debug.bind(host) }),
   })
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 4966856..7ca0820 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import {
   dataRoot,
   homeRoot,
   musicPolicyPath,
-  rwtPolicyPath,
   rwtPoolPath,
   settingsPath,
   tuiSocketPath,
@@ -114,7 +113,6 @@ export const ConfigSchema = z.object({
   // numbers are env-only by-ear knobs. The fetch rides the cheap tier.
   rwtEnabled: z.boolean().default(true),
   rwtPoolPath: z.string().default(() => rwtPoolPath()),
-  rwtPolicyPath: z.string().default(() => rwtPolicyPath()),
   rwtModel: z.string().default('claude-haiku-4-5-20251001'),
   rwtP: z.coerce.number().min(0).max(1).default(0.35),
   rwtMinGap: z.coerce.number().int().nonnegative().default(1),
@@ -346,7 +344,6 @@ export function parseCli(argv: string[], env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env):
     memoryDir: join(dataRoot(env), 'memory'),
     musicPolicyPath: musicPolicyPath(env),
     rwtPoolPath: rwtPoolPath(env),
-    rwtPolicyPath: rwtPolicyPath(env),
     ...rwtFromEnv(env),
     listeningApiKey: env.MURMUR_LISTENING_API_KEY?.trim() ?? '',
     listeningUrl: env.MURMUR_LISTENING_URL?.trim() ?? '',
diff --git a/src/contracts.ts b/src/contracts.ts
index 1d29d94..0474e59 100644
--- a/src/contracts.ts
+++ b/src/contracts.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ export type FetchTopicsRequest = {
   readonly timezone: string
   readonly today: string
   readonly avoid: readonly string[]
-  readonly policy: string
 }
 
 export interface VoiceProvider {
diff --git a/src/paths.ts b/src/paths.ts
index b700da4..c7c91a5 100644
--- a/src/paths.ts
+++ b/src/paths.ts
@@ -92,8 +92,3 @@ export function musicPolicyPath(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): string {
 export function rwtPoolPath(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): string {
   return join(cacheRoot(env), 'rwt.json')
 }
-
-// The listener's topic policy (spec 13 §2.5): the music-policy shape, beside it.
-export function rwtPolicyPath(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): string {
-  return join(homeRoot(env), 'rwt-policy.md')
-}
diff --git a/src/prompts.ts b/src/prompts.ts
index 91c8697..9cbea37 100644
--- a/src/prompts.ts
+++ b/src/prompts.ts
@@ -354,7 +354,8 @@ export const RWT_FETCH_SYSTEM_PROMPT =
 
 export const RWT_POLICY_HEADER = 'What to look for:'
 
-// The TASTE half — replaceable wholesale by $MURMUR_HOME/rwt-policy.md.
+// The TASTE half — what to look for and how to weight it. Built in: the
+// per-listener half of the taste is the profile, not a file (spec 13 §3.4).
 export const DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY = `1. Four kinds of thing: news, tech, entertainment, sports. Mix them; do not
    let one kind take the whole batch.
 
@@ -377,7 +378,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY = `1. Four kinds of thing: news, tech, entertain
    with them scrubbed out is mood, not material.`
 
 // The CONTRACT half — code-owned: language, region, freshness, dedupe,
-// privacy, and how the task ends. A listener policy cannot loosen these.
+// privacy, and how the task ends. Nothing the listener says can loosen these.
 export function buildFetchTopicsPrompt(req: FetchTopicsRequest): string {
   const avoid =
     req.avoid.length === 0
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ export function buildFetchTopicsPrompt(req: FetchTopicsRequest): string {
     'to eight items. Each item: a one-line title, a gist of two to three spoken ' +
     'sentences a friend could say from memory (no URLs, no outlet names, no ' +
     'quotes), and its kind. Calling submit_topics ends the task.\n\n' +
-    `${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\n${req.policy.trim()}`
+    `${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\n${DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY}`
   )
 }
 
diff --git a/src/rwt.ts b/src/rwt.ts
index f4c64c3..47dee05 100644
--- a/src/rwt.ts
+++ b/src/rwt.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ import { tool } from '@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk'
 import { z } from 'zod'
 
 import type { Brain, FetchedTopic, FetchTopicsRequest, RwtTopic, Task } from './contracts.ts'
-import { readPolicyFile, seedPolicyFile } from './music-policy.ts'
-import { buildFetchTopicsPrompt, DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY, RWT_FETCH_SYSTEM_PROMPT } from './prompts.ts'
+import { buildFetchTopicsPrompt, RWT_FETCH_SYSTEM_PROMPT } from './prompts.ts'
 
 // --- the pool (§2.1) ------------------------------------------------------ //
 
@@ -311,33 +310,3 @@ export function fetchTopicsTask(req: FetchTopicsRequest, model: string): Task<Fe
     ],
   }
 }
-
-// --- the taste file (§2.5) ------------------------------------------------ //
-
-const POLICY_TEMPLATE = `<!--
-murmur real-world topics policy.
-
-This is the half of the topic search that is yours: what kinds of thing the
-host should have on hand to mention, and how to weight them. murmur re-reads
-it every time it refreshes its pool (a few times a day), so an edit lands on
-the next refresh -- no restart. Delete the file to go back to the default
-below. Anything inside an HTML comment (like this) is stripped before the
-text reaches the brain.
-
-What you cannot change from here is the mechanism: the gists are always
-written in the language the host speaks, weighted to where your clock says
-you are, only from today or yesterday, and never about private people. And
-whether the host brings any of it up at all is a settings knob, not this
-file -- tell it "stop with the news", or run with --no-rwt.
--->
-
-${DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY}
-`
-
-export function readRwtPolicy(path: string): string {
-  return readPolicyFile(path) ?? DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY
-}
-
-export function seedRwtPolicy(path: string): boolean {
-  return seedPolicyFile(path, POLICY_TEMPLATE)
-}
diff --git a/test/app.test.ts b/test/app.test.ts
index 65fd81d..307f1e7 100644
--- a/test/app.test.ts
+++ b/test/app.test.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ import { HostedVoice } from '../src/hosted-voice.ts'
 import { IpcHost } from '../src/ipc-host.ts'
 import { InProcessMemoryStore, PersistentMemoryStore } from '../src/memory.ts'
 import { LedgerScheduler } from '../src/scheduler.ts'
-import { DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY } from '../src/prompts.ts'
 import { readSettingsFile } from '../src/settings.ts'
 import { StubVoice } from '../src/voice.ts'
 
@@ -412,21 +411,22 @@ describe('memory wiring', () => {
 // spec 12 §2.4: one store per run, seeded from the merged config (flags/env
 // respected), persisting around the file's user-touched keys.
 // spec 13 §3.5: language from where the host reads it, region from the system
-// clock only, the policy file seeded so the listener can find it.
+// clock only; nothing is seeded into the home (the taste comes from the
+// profile, §3.4).
 describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
-  it('seeds the policy file and resolves the request at fetch time', async () => {
+  it('resolves the request at fetch time and seeds no file', async () => {
     const home = emptyHome()
     const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: home })
     const brain = new FakeBrain()
     const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost())
-    expect(existsSync(join(home, 'rwt-policy.md'))).toBe(true)
+    expect(existsSync(join(home, 'rwt-policy.md'))).toBe(false)
     rwt.maybeRefresh()
     await rwt.drain()
     const req = brain.fetchRequests[0]!
     expect(req.language).toBe('Japanese')
     expect(req.timezone).toBe(Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone)
     expect(req.today).toMatch(/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/)
-    expect(req.policy).toBe(DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY)
+    expect(req).not.toHaveProperty('policy')
   })
 
   it('the gist language is the override, else what the persona says it speaks, else the persona itself', () => {
@@ -437,17 +437,6 @@ describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
     const french = '# Brume\n\nTu es la voix de la nuit, douce et lente. Tu parles sans te presser.'
     expect(rwtLanguage(undefined, french)).toMatch(/the language this is written in: "Tu es la voix de la nuit/)
   })
-
-  it('a listener policy replaces the default wholesale', async () => {
-    const home = emptyHome()
-    const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: home })
-    writeFileSync(join(home, 'rwt-policy.md'), '<!-- mine -->\nOnly cats.\n')
-    const brain = new FakeBrain()
-    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'English', new FakeHost())
-    rwt.maybeRefresh()
-    await rwt.drain()
-    expect(brain.fetchRequests[0]!.policy).toBe('Only cats.')
-  })
 })
 
 describe('settings store wiring (spec 12)', () => {
diff --git a/test/brain.test.ts b/test/brain.test.ts
index b3fdead..a151688 100644
--- a/test/brain.test.ts
+++ b/test/brain.test.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ describe('StubBrain', () => {
       timezone: 'UTC',
       today: '2026-09-03',
       avoid: [],
-      policy: '',
     })
     expect(topics).toEqual([])
   })
diff --git a/test/config.test.ts b/test/config.test.ts
index e97a21d..8014eec 100644
--- a/test/config.test.ts
+++ b/test/config.test.ts
@@ -194,10 +194,10 @@ describe('real-world topics config', () => {
     expect(parseCli(['--no-rwt'], NO_ENV).config.rwtEnabled).toBe(false)
   })
 
-  it('places the pool under cache/ and the policy at the home root', () => {
+  it('places the pool under cache/ and seeds no policy file', () => {
     const { config } = parseCli([], { MURMUR_HOME: '/tmp/mh' })
     expect(config.rwtPoolPath).toBe('/tmp/mh/cache/rwt.json')
-    expect(config.rwtPolicyPath).toBe('/tmp/mh/rwt-policy.md')
+    expect(config).not.toHaveProperty('rwtPolicyPath')
   })
 
   it('reads the roll and freshness numbers from env, and ignores a bad one with a warning', () => {
diff --git a/test/prompts.test.ts b/test/prompts.test.ts
index 79f3cd5..54e955d 100644
--- a/test/prompts.test.ts
+++ b/test/prompts.test.ts
@@ -912,7 +912,6 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
     timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo',
     today: '2026-09-03',
     avoid: ['Already held', 'Also held'],
-    policy: 'Only cats.',
   }
 
   it('is a neutral researcher framing, not the persona', () => {
@@ -931,7 +930,7 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
     expect(p).toContain('- Also held')
     expect(p).toMatch(/private/i)
     expect(p).toContain('submit_topics')
-    expect(p).toContain(`${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\nOnly cats.`)
+    expect(p).toContain(`${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\n${DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY}`)
   })
 
   it('an empty avoid list renders no list', () => {
@@ -943,7 +942,6 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
       expect(DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY.toLowerCase()).toContain(word)
     }
     expect(DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY).toMatch(/hard nouns/i)
-    expect(buildFetchTopicsPrompt({ ...req, policy: DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY })).toContain(DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY)
   })
 
   it('the steer settings rule names the knob so "stop with the news" is a settings ask', () => {
diff --git a/test/rwt.test.ts b/test/rwt.test.ts
index 5c5c828..4669721 100644
--- a/test/rwt.test.ts
+++ b/test/rwt.test.ts
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ function feed(over: {
         return over.fetch === undefined ? [topic('A'), topic('B')] : over.fetch(req)
       },
     },
-    request: () => ({ language: 'Japanese', timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo', today: '2026-09-03', policy: 'news' }),
+    request: () => ({ language: 'Japanese', timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo', today: '2026-09-03' }),
     log: (m) => lines.push(m),
   })
   return { pool, rwt, requests, lines, clock }
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@ describe('fetchTopicsTask (spec 13 §2.2)', () => {
     timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo',
     today: '2026-09-03',
     avoid: [],
-    policy: 'news',
   }
 
   it('names WebSearch as its one built-in, bounds the turns, and frames neutrally', async () => {

From 29301da49a98e9dd018e478acf66a9f99f2aa96b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 16:41:39 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 2/7] feat(rwt): the profile's About section steers the fetch
 [spec 13]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

With the policy file gone the per-listener half of the taste needs a
source, and the fetch had none: a request was language, timezone, date and
the held titles, so every install with the same two settings searched for
the same things. The profile already grows (compaction), fades ([seen]
tags) and forgets (forget_memory); the fetch now reads its (About the
listener) section at refresh time — only that section: (Relationship &
style) is tone, and tone is not a search term. The block carries the line
the code owns: search for what they follow, never for them. An empty
profile renders nothing, so a new listener is exactly today's.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 src/app.ts           | 12 ++++++++----
 src/contracts.ts     |  2 ++
 src/prompts.ts       | 24 +++++++++++++++++++++++-
 test/app.test.ts     | 14 +++++++++++++-
 test/brain.test.ts   |  1 +
 test/prompts.test.ts | 42 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 test/rwt.test.ts     |  3 ++-
 7 files changed, 91 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/app.ts b/src/app.ts
index 4998b0b..33f79cc 100644
--- a/src/app.ts
+++ b/src/app.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ import { YtDlpMusicProvider } from './music.ts'
 import { detectLanguage } from './locale.ts'
 import { loadPersona, personaLanguage, personaLine } from './persona.ts'
 import { lineReader, quitLatch, runSetup, setupComplete, type SetupTargets } from './guide.ts'
-import { buildFindMusicInstruction } from './prompts.ts'
+import { aboutSection, buildFindMusicInstruction } from './prompts.ts'
 import { LedgerScheduler } from './scheduler.ts'
 import { readSettingsFile, SETTINGS_FILE, SettingsStore } from './settings.ts'
 import {
@@ -300,14 +300,16 @@ export function rwtLanguage(override: string | undefined, persona: string): stri
 }
 
 // Real-world topics (spec 13): the pool under cache/, the roll from the env
-// knobs, the fetch on the cheap tier. `language` is read at fetch time from
-// where the host reads it, so an override lands on the next refresh; region
-// is the system timezone, in the prompt only, never stored.
+// knobs, the fetch on the cheap tier. `language` and the profile's About
+// section are read at fetch time, so an override or a compaction lands on
+// the next refresh; region is the system timezone, in the prompt only, never
+// stored.
 export function buildRwt(
   config: Config,
   brain: Pick<Brain, 'fetchTopics'>,
   language: () => string,
   host: Host,
+  memory: Pick<MemoryStore, 'profile'>,
 ): RealWorldTopics {
   return new RealWorldTopics({
     pool: new RwtPool({
@@ -323,6 +325,7 @@ export function buildRwt(
       timezone: Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone,
       // en-CA is the one locale whose short date is ISO YYYY-MM-DD, local.
       today: new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-CA'),
+      follows: aboutSection(memory.profile()),
     }),
     ...(host.debug !== undefined && { log: host.debug.bind(host) }),
   })
@@ -844,6 +847,7 @@ export async function runApp(config: Config, maxSegments?: number): Promise<void
           new ClaudeBrain(config.rwtModel),
           () => rwtLanguage(settings.current().language, persona),
           host,
+          memory,
         )
 
   const director = new Director({
diff --git a/src/contracts.ts b/src/contracts.ts
index 0474e59..3f40cf7 100644
--- a/src/contracts.ts
+++ b/src/contracts.ts
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ export type FetchTopicsRequest = {
   readonly timezone: string
   readonly today: string
   readonly avoid: readonly string[]
+  // The profile's (About the listener) section, tags stripped; '' = none.
+  readonly follows: string
 }
 
 export interface VoiceProvider {
diff --git a/src/prompts.ts b/src/prompts.ts
index 9cbea37..0439b97 100644
--- a/src/prompts.ts
+++ b/src/prompts.ts
@@ -168,6 +168,21 @@ function profileBlock(ctx: ContextPack): string {
   return profile ? `(What you know about the listener)\n${profile}\n\n` : ''
 }
 
+// The profile's first section alone, tags stripped (spec 13 §3.4): what the
+// listener follows is a search term, how they like to be spoken to is not.
+// A profile without the labelled section (PROFILE_SHAPE) yields nothing —
+// the conservative reading, since the text leaves for a search task.
+const ABOUT_HEADER = '(About the listener)'
+const STYLE_HEADER = '(Relationship & style)'
+
+export function aboutSection(profile: string): string {
+  const start = profile.indexOf(ABOUT_HEADER)
+  if (start === -1) return ''
+  const body = profile.slice(start + ABOUT_HEADER.length)
+  const end = body.indexOf(STYLE_HEADER)
+  return (end === -1 ? body : body.slice(0, end)).replaceAll(PROFILE_TAGS, '').trim()
+}
+
 // A single volatile "recently covered — don't repeat" cue from the tier-③
 // ledger (spec 05 §3.5). Ledger-backed and cross-day, so it holds even when the
 // transcript is empty (the issue-#44 cold-open case). Empty -> nothing.
@@ -380,6 +395,13 @@ export const DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY = `1. Four kinds of thing: news, tech, entertain
 // The CONTRACT half — code-owned: language, region, freshness, dedupe,
 // privacy, and how the task ends. Nothing the listener says can loosen these.
 export function buildFetchTopicsPrompt(req: FetchTopicsRequest): string {
+  // The listener's half of the taste, with the line the code owns: their
+  // interests steer the search; they themselves are never its subject.
+  const follows = req.follows.trim()
+    ? `(What the listener follows)\n${req.follows.trim()}\n` +
+      'Lean the search toward these. Search for what they follow, never for ' +
+      'them, and never for anything that identifies them.\n\n'
+    : ''
   const avoid =
     req.avoid.length === 0
       ? ''
@@ -396,7 +418,7 @@ export function buildFetchTopicsPrompt(req: FetchTopicsRequest): string {
     'to eight items. Each item: a one-line title, a gist of two to three spoken ' +
     'sentences a friend could say from memory (no URLs, no outlet names, no ' +
     'quotes), and its kind. Calling submit_topics ends the task.\n\n' +
-    `${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\n${DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY}`
+    `${follows}${RWT_POLICY_HEADER}\n${DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY}`
   )
 }
 
diff --git a/test/app.test.ts b/test/app.test.ts
index 307f1e7..c954393 100644
--- a/test/app.test.ts
+++ b/test/app.test.ts
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
     const home = emptyHome()
     const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: home })
     const brain = new FakeBrain()
-    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost())
+    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost(), new InProcessMemoryStore())
     expect(existsSync(join(home, 'rwt-policy.md'))).toBe(false)
     rwt.maybeRefresh()
     await rwt.drain()
@@ -429,6 +429,18 @@ describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
     expect(req).not.toHaveProperty('policy')
   })
 
+  it('hands the fetch what the listener follows, from the profile, read at fetch time', async () => {
+    const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: emptyHome() })
+    const brain = new FakeBrain()
+    let profile = ''
+    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost(), { profile: () => profile })
+    // Written after wiring, before the refresh: the fetch reads the live file.
+    profile = '(About the listener)\nFollows sumo. [stable]\n\n(Relationship & style)\nDry.'
+    rwt.maybeRefresh()
+    await rwt.drain()
+    expect(brain.fetchRequests[0]!.follows).toBe('Follows sumo.')
+  })
+
   it('the gist language is the override, else what the persona says it speaks, else the persona itself', () => {
     expect(rwtLanguage('Japanese', 'Always speak in Chinese (Mandarin).')).toBe('Japanese')
     expect(rwtLanguage(undefined, 'Always speak in Chinese (Mandarin).')).toBe('Chinese (Mandarin)')
diff --git a/test/brain.test.ts b/test/brain.test.ts
index a151688..40e3040 100644
--- a/test/brain.test.ts
+++ b/test/brain.test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ describe('StubBrain', () => {
       timezone: 'UTC',
       today: '2026-09-03',
       avoid: [],
+      follows: '',
     })
     expect(topics).toEqual([])
   })
diff --git a/test/prompts.test.ts b/test/prompts.test.ts
index 54e955d..05790f3 100644
--- a/test/prompts.test.ts
+++ b/test/prompts.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   STATUS_MICROCOPY,
   statusMicrocopy,
   withLanguage,
+  aboutSection,
   buildFetchTopicsPrompt,
   DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY,
   RWT_FETCH_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
@@ -912,6 +913,7 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
     timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo',
     today: '2026-09-03',
     avoid: ['Already held', 'Also held'],
+    follows: '',
   }
 
   it('is a neutral researcher framing, not the persona', () => {
@@ -937,6 +939,21 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
     expect(buildFetchTopicsPrompt({ ...req, avoid: [] })).not.toMatch(/already in the pool/i)
   })
 
+  // spec 13 §3.4: the listener's half of the taste is the profile's (About the
+  // listener) section — what they follow, never how they like to be spoken to.
+  it('renders what the listener follows before the policy, with the privacy line', () => {
+    const p = buildFetchTopicsPrompt({ ...req, follows: 'Follows the Premier League.\nReads about Rust.' })
+    expect(p).toContain('(What the listener follows)\nFollows the Premier League.\nReads about Rust.')
+    expect(p).toMatch(/never for them/i)
+    expect(p.indexOf('(What the listener follows)')).toBeLessThan(p.indexOf(RWT_POLICY_HEADER))
+  })
+
+  it('an empty follows renders no block at all', () => {
+    const p = buildFetchTopicsPrompt({ ...req, follows: '' })
+    expect(p).not.toContain('What the listener follows')
+    expect(p).not.toMatch(/never for them/i)
+  })
+
   it('the default policy names the four categories and the local weighting', () => {
     for (const word of ['news', 'tech', 'entertainment', 'sports']) {
       expect(DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY.toLowerCase()).toContain(word)
@@ -954,3 +971,28 @@ describe('the fetch prompt (spec 13 §3.3)', () => {
     expect(p).toMatch(/real-world|news/i)
   })
 })
+
+// spec 13 §3.4: only the (About the listener) section leaves for the fetch —
+// (Relationship & style) is tone, and tone is not a search term.
+describe('aboutSection (spec 13 §3.4)', () => {
+  const profile = `(About the listener)
+Follows the Premier League. [seen 2026-09-01]
+Learning Rust. [stable]
+
+(Relationship & style)
+Likes a slow evening voice; running joke about the kettle.`
+
+  it('cuts the About section out, tags stripped, and leaves the style section behind', () => {
+    expect(aboutSection(profile)).toBe('Follows the Premier League.\nLearning Rust.')
+  })
+
+  it('a profile without the labelled section yields nothing', () => {
+    expect(aboutSection('')).toBe('')
+    expect(aboutSection('Just some notes\nwith no sections.')).toBe('')
+    expect(aboutSection('(Relationship & style)\nGentle.')).toBe('')
+  })
+
+  it('the About section may be the whole profile', () => {
+    expect(aboutSection('(About the listener)\nRuns at night.\n')).toBe('Runs at night.')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/test/rwt.test.ts b/test/rwt.test.ts
index 4669721..098a71a 100644
--- a/test/rwt.test.ts
+++ b/test/rwt.test.ts
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ function feed(over: {
         return over.fetch === undefined ? [topic('A'), topic('B')] : over.fetch(req)
       },
     },
-    request: () => ({ language: 'Japanese', timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo', today: '2026-09-03' }),
+    request: () => ({ language: 'Japanese', timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo', today: '2026-09-03', follows: '' }),
     log: (m) => lines.push(m),
   })
   return { pool, rwt, requests, lines, clock }
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ describe('fetchTopicsTask (spec 13 §2.2)', () => {
     timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo',
     today: '2026-09-03',
     avoid: [],
+    follows: '',
   }
 
   it('names WebSearch as its one built-in, bounds the turns, and frames neutrally', async () => {

From 8ab59f2477a36fbc28a371b71e8aca56c94eb240 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 16:45:24 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 3/7] feat(rwt): a told topic is a ledger row, and the fetch
 avoids the ledger [spec 13]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Every other content source leaves a footprint in the ledger; a real-world
item lived only in cache/rwt.json's used mark, on an entry that expires in
48 h in a directory the listener may delete. A story that runs longer than
that — a series, a tournament, an argument — came back as new and got told
again. LedgerKind gains 'rwt'; the Director ledgers the title with the take
(the pool spends it there too); the fetch is told the pool's titles plus
the ledger's last 32, and a covered title returned anyway is dropped before
the merge. forget_memory does not touch the ledger, by design: what was
heard stays avoided; what the listener stopped following leaves the profile.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 src/app.ts                |  5 +++--
 src/contracts.ts          |  5 ++++-
 src/director.ts           |  3 +++
 src/memory.ts             | 18 +++++++++++++++++-
 src/rwt.ts                | 17 +++++++++++++++--
 test/app.test.ts          | 14 +++++++++++++-
 test/director-rwt.test.ts | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++--
 test/memory.test.ts       | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 test/rwt.test.ts          | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 9 files changed, 120 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/app.ts b/src/app.ts
index 33f79cc..c1d3b8b 100644
--- a/src/app.ts
+++ b/src/app.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import { HostedListening } from './listening-data.ts'
 import { InProcessMemoryStore, PersistentMemoryStore } from './memory.ts'
 import { sentinelRoot } from './paths.ts'
 import { readMusicPolicy, seedMusicPolicy } from './music-policy.ts'
-import { RealWorldTopics, RwtPool, RwtRoll } from './rwt.ts'
+import { RealWorldTopics, RWT_AVOID_DEPTH, RwtPool, RwtRoll } from './rwt.ts'
 import { MusicProgrammer } from './music-programmer.ts'
 import { startReport, type ReportDeps, type ReportSession } from './report.ts'
 import { SteerResponder } from './steer-responder.ts'
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ export function buildRwt(
   brain: Pick<Brain, 'fetchTopics'>,
   language: () => string,
   host: Host,
-  memory: Pick<MemoryStore, 'profile'>,
+  memory: Pick<MemoryStore, 'profile' | 'recentRwt'>,
 ): RealWorldTopics {
   return new RealWorldTopics({
     pool: new RwtPool({
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ export function buildRwt(
       today: new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-CA'),
       follows: aboutSection(memory.profile()),
     }),
+    covered: () => memory.recentRwt(RWT_AVOID_DEPTH),
     ...(host.debug !== undefined && { log: host.debug.bind(host) }),
   })
 }
diff --git a/src/contracts.ts b/src/contracts.ts
index 3f40cf7..2b116b3 100644
--- a/src/contracts.ts
+++ b/src/contracts.ts
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ export type BedPosition = { track: string; offsetS: number }
 // the same gaps quiet instead of re-opening the conversation.
 // 'forget' keys one honoured forget request (spec 05-01 §3.5) — the time only,
 // never the text: an event that kept what was forgotten would defeat the point.
-export type LedgerKind = 'topic' | 'song' | 'anchor' | 'setup' | 'forget'
+export type LedgerKind = 'topic' | 'song' | 'anchor' | 'setup' | 'forget' | 'rwt'
 
 // Where a recalled line came from (spec 05-01 §2.1): a history row's speaker,
 // or 'faded' for a profile fact that has aged out of the prompts but is still
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ export interface MemoryStore {
   recentTopics(n: number): string[]
   recentSongs(n: number): string[]
   recentAnchors(n: number): string[]
+  // Real-world items told on air (spec 13 §3.7): the fetch's avoid list
+  // past the pool's own 48 h memory.
+  recentRwt(n: number): string[]
   // Search everything on record, past the recent window (spec 05-01 §3.4).
   recall(query: string, limit: number): RecallHit[]
   // Remove every history row and profile line matching `what`, physically and
diff --git a/src/director.ts b/src/director.ts
index 9cf44d4..ecba083 100644
--- a/src/director.ts
+++ b/src/director.ts
@@ -1124,6 +1124,9 @@ export class Director {
     // batch, not a second chance at a topic. Anchors and the coda have a job
     // of their own and are never offered one (spec 13 §2.4).
     const offered = cue === undefined && this.deps.settings().rwtEnabled ? this.deps.rwt?.offer() : undefined
+    // Ledgered with the take, not the air (spec 13 §3.7): the pool has already
+    // spent it, and the ledger is what outlives the pool's 48 h.
+    if (offered != null) this.deps.memory.recordEvent('rwt', offered.title)
     const rwt = offered == null ? undefined : { title: offered.title, gist: offered.gist }
     for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= ATTEMPTS; attempt++) {
       try {
diff --git a/src/memory.ts b/src/memory.ts
index c241c3b..a2686da 100644
--- a/src/memory.ts
+++ b/src/memory.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ export class InProcessMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
   private anchors: string[] = []
   private setup: string[] = []
   private forgets: string[] = []
+  private rwt: string[] = []
 
   private maxlen: number
 
@@ -80,6 +81,10 @@ export class InProcessMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
     return n > 0 ? this.anchors.slice(-n) : []
   }
 
+  recentRwt(n: number): string[] {
+    return n > 0 ? this.rwt.slice(-n) : []
+  }
+
   recentEvents(kind: LedgerKind, n: number): string[] {
     return n > 0 ? this.ledger(kind).slice(-n) : []
   }
@@ -96,6 +101,8 @@ export class InProcessMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
         return this.setup
       case 'forget':
         return this.forgets
+      case 'rwt':
+        return this.rwt
     }
   }
 }
@@ -316,6 +323,7 @@ export class PersistentMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
   private anchors: string[] = []
   private setup: string[] = []
   private forgets: string[] = []
+  private rwt: string[] = []
   private profileText = ''
   // Built on first recall/forget, not at boot (spec 05-01 §3.4).
   private recallIndex: RecallIndex | null = null
@@ -456,6 +464,10 @@ export class PersistentMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
     return n > 0 ? this.anchors.slice(-n) : []
   }
 
+  recentRwt(n: number): string[] {
+    return n > 0 ? this.rwt.slice(-n) : []
+  }
+
   // Any ledger kind, by name. Impl-level and deliberately NOT on the MemoryStore
   // contract: the setup offer reads its own standing answer (spec 03-03 §7.1),
   // and the Director has no business in that tier.
@@ -472,6 +484,8 @@ export class PersistentMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
         return this.setup.slice(-n)
       case 'forget':
         return this.forgets.slice(-n)
+      case 'rwt':
+        return this.rwt.slice(-n)
     }
   }
 
@@ -712,7 +726,9 @@ export class PersistentMemoryStore implements MemoryStore {
               ? this.setup
               : kind === 'forget'
                 ? this.forgets
-                : null
+                : kind === 'rwt'
+                  ? this.rwt
+                  : null
     if (target === null) return
     target.push(key)
     if (target.length > LEDGER_TAIL) target.splice(0, target.length - LEDGER_TAIL)
diff --git a/src/rwt.ts b/src/rwt.ts
index 47dee05..5ab9d8e 100644
--- a/src/rwt.ts
+++ b/src/rwt.ts
@@ -186,9 +186,19 @@ export type RealWorldTopicsDeps = {
   brain: Pick<Brain, 'fetchTopics'>
   // Resolved at fetch time, so a language change lands on the next refresh.
   request: () => Omit<FetchTopicsRequest, 'avoid'>
+  // Titles already told on air, from the ledger (spec 13 §3.7): the pool's
+  // own memory is 48 h, a story can run for weeks.
+  covered?: () => readonly string[]
   log?: (message: string) => void
 }
 
+// How many ledgered titles the fetch is told to avoid. The music avoid list
+// settled at 32 after 8 brought a favourite back every other session; a
+// topic is offered far less often than a song plays, so 32 here spans weeks
+// of sessions — enough to outlast a running story — at one prompt line each,
+// on a background task.
+export const RWT_AVOID_DEPTH = 32
+
 type Refresh = { promise: Promise<void>; done: () => boolean }
 
 export class RealWorldTopics {
@@ -232,15 +242,18 @@ export class RealWorldTopics {
   private async run(): Promise<void> {
     const started = Date.now()
     try {
+      const covered = new Set(this.deps.covered?.() ?? [])
       const topics = await this.deps.brain.fetchTopics({
         ...this.deps.request(),
-        avoid: this.deps.pool.titles(),
+        avoid: [...new Set([...this.deps.pool.titles(), ...covered])],
       })
       if (topics.length === 0) {
         this.log('rwt.refresh failed (no topics returned)')
         return
       }
-      const n = this.deps.pool.merge(topics)
+      // A title the fetch was told to avoid and returned anyway is dropped
+      // here: the prompt is a request, the ledger is the record.
+      const n = this.deps.pool.merge(topics.filter((t) => !covered.has(t.title)))
       this.log(`rwt.refresh n=${n} ms=${Date.now() - started}`)
       this.logPool()
     } catch (err) {
diff --git a/test/app.test.ts b/test/app.test.ts
index c954393..9b878d5 100644
--- a/test/app.test.ts
+++ b/test/app.test.ts
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
     const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: emptyHome() })
     const brain = new FakeBrain()
     let profile = ''
-    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost(), { profile: () => profile })
+    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost(), { profile: () => profile, recentRwt: () => [] })
     // Written after wiring, before the refresh: the fetch reads the live file.
     profile = '(About the listener)\nFollows sumo. [stable]\n\n(Relationship & style)\nDry.'
     rwt.maybeRefresh()
@@ -441,6 +441,18 @@ describe('real-world topics wiring (spec 13)', () => {
     expect(brain.fetchRequests[0]!.follows).toBe('Follows sumo.')
   })
 
+  it('tells the fetch what the ledger already heard, newest last', async () => {
+    const c = config([], { MURMUR_HOME: emptyHome() })
+    const brain = new FakeBrain()
+    const memory = new InProcessMemoryStore()
+    memory.recordEvent('rwt', 'Typhoon season opens early')
+    memory.recordEvent('rwt', 'A late equaliser')
+    const rwt = buildRwt(c, brain, () => 'Japanese', new FakeHost(), memory)
+    rwt.maybeRefresh()
+    await rwt.drain()
+    expect(brain.fetchRequests[0]!.avoid).toEqual(['Typhoon season opens early', 'A late equaliser'])
+  })
+
   it('the gist language is the override, else what the persona says it speaks, else the persona itself', () => {
     expect(rwtLanguage('Japanese', 'Always speak in Chinese (Mandarin).')).toBe('Japanese')
     expect(rwtLanguage(undefined, 'Always speak in Chinese (Mandarin).')).toBe('Chinese (Mandarin)')
diff --git a/test/director-rwt.test.ts b/test/director-rwt.test.ts
index f1c73d2..3b53813 100644
--- a/test/director-rwt.test.ts
+++ b/test/director-rwt.test.ts
@@ -69,19 +69,20 @@ function build(over: Partial<DirectorDeps> & { rwtEnabled?: boolean; player?: Fa
   const host = new FakeHost()
   const rwt = new FakeRwt()
   const knobs = directorSettings({ gapSeconds: 0, rwtEnabled })
+  const memory = new InProcessMemoryStore()
   const deps: DirectorDeps = {
     persona: 'p',
     brain,
     voice: new FakeVoice(),
     player,
-    memory: new InProcessMemoryStore(),
+    memory,
     host,
     settings: () => knobs,
     openUrl: () => {},
     rwt,
     ...rest,
   }
-  return { brain, host, player, rwt, knobs, director: new Director(deps) }
+  return { brain, host, player, rwt, knobs, memory, director: new Director(deps) }
 }
 
 describe('real-world topics on the talk path (spec 13 §2.4)', () => {
@@ -101,6 +102,25 @@ describe('real-world topics on the talk path (spec 13 §2.4)', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  // spec 13 §3.7: the ledger row lands with the take — the pool's own `used`
+  // mark and the ledger agree on when a topic is spent.
+  it('an offered item is ledgered as rwt, by title, once per offer', async () => {
+    const { brain, rwt, memory, director } = build()
+    brain.batches = [['a', 'b'], ['c', 'd'], ['e', 'f'], ['g', 'h']]
+    await director.run(3)
+    await until(() => brain.nextTalksCalls >= 2, 'refill fired')
+    expect(memory.recentRwt(10)).toHaveLength(rwt.offers)
+    expect(new Set(memory.recentRwt(10))).toEqual(new Set(['Typhoon season opens early']))
+  })
+
+  it('a null offer leaves no ledger row', async () => {
+    const { brain, rwt, memory, director } = build()
+    rwt.topic = null
+    brain.batches = [['a', 'b'], ['c', 'd']]
+    await director.run(1)
+    expect(memory.recentRwt(10)).toEqual([])
+  })
+
   it('a null offer leaves the pack without the field', async () => {
     const { brain, rwt, director } = build()
     rwt.topic = null
diff --git a/test/memory.test.ts b/test/memory.test.ts
index 1b318c6..e3621b2 100644
--- a/test/memory.test.ts
+++ b/test/memory.test.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,19 @@ describe('InProcessMemoryStore', () => {
     expect(store.recentSongs(9)).toEqual(['A — B'])
     expect(store.recentTopics(0)).toEqual([])
   })
+
+  // spec 13 §3.7: a real-world item told on air is a ledger footprint of its
+  // own kind — the pool forgets in 48 h, the ledger does not.
+  it('keeps real-world topics as their own kind', () => {
+    const store = new InProcessMemoryStore()
+    store.recordEvent('rwt', 'Typhoon season opens early')
+    store.recordEvent('topic', 'rain')
+    store.recordEvent('rwt', 'A late equaliser at Anfield')
+    expect(store.recentRwt(1)).toEqual(['A late equaliser at Anfield'])
+    expect(store.recentRwt(9)).toEqual(['Typhoon season opens early', 'A late equaliser at Anfield'])
+    expect(store.recentTopics(9)).toEqual(['rain'])
+    expect(store.recentRwt(0)).toEqual([])
+  })
 })
 
 const dir = () => mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'murmur-mem-'))
@@ -102,6 +115,17 @@ describe('PersistentMemoryStore', () => {
     expect(b.recentSongs(10)).toEqual(['X — Y'])
   })
 
+  it('persists real-world topics across instances and sessions (spec 13 §3.7)', () => {
+    const c = clock()
+    const path = dir()
+    const a = opened(path, c)
+    a.recordEvent('rwt', 'Typhoon season opens early')
+    a.recordEvent('topic', 'rain')
+    const b = opened(path, c)
+    expect(b.recentRwt(10)).toEqual(['Typhoon season opens early'])
+    expect(b.recentTopics(10)).toEqual(['rain'])
+  })
+
   it('skips corrupt jsonl lines and malformed rows, warns, and keeps booting', () => {
     const c = clock()
     const path = dir()
diff --git a/test/rwt.test.ts b/test/rwt.test.ts
index 098a71a..2a778c8 100644
--- a/test/rwt.test.ts
+++ b/test/rwt.test.ts
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ function feed(over: {
   fetch?: (req: FetchTopicsRequest) => Promise<FetchedTopic[]>
   roll?: RwtRoll
   clock?: { now: number }
+  covered?: () => readonly string[]
 } = {}) {
   const clock = over.clock ?? { now: 1000 }
   const { pool } = poolAt(clock)
@@ -146,6 +147,7 @@ function feed(over: {
       },
     },
     request: () => ({ language: 'Japanese', timezone: 'Asia/Tokyo', today: '2026-09-03', follows: '' }),
+    ...(over.covered !== undefined && { covered: over.covered }),
     log: (m) => lines.push(m),
   })
   return { pool, rwt, requests, lines, clock }
@@ -196,6 +198,23 @@ describe('RealWorldTopics (spec 13 §2.4 / §3.1)', () => {
     await until(() => requests.length === 2)
     expect(requests[1]?.avoid).toEqual(['A', 'B'])
   })
+
+  // spec 13 §3.7: the pool forgets in 48 h; what was told on air is in the
+  // ledger, so the fetch is told both — once each, in that order.
+  it('the fetch is told what was told on air too, and a returned one is not merged', async () => {
+    const { pool, rwt, requests, clock } = feed({
+      covered: () => ['B', 'Old story'],
+      fetch: async () => [topic('A'), topic('B'), topic('Old story'), topic('C')],
+    })
+    rwt.maybeRefresh()
+    await rwt.drain()
+    expect(requests[0]?.avoid).toEqual(['B', 'Old story'])
+    expect(pool.titles()).toEqual(['A', 'C'])
+    clock.now += 7 * HOUR
+    rwt.maybeRefresh()
+    await until(() => requests.length === 2)
+    expect(requests[1]?.avoid).toEqual(['A', 'C', 'B', 'Old story'])
+  })
 })
 
 // The fetch task itself (spec 13 §2.2): WebSearch bounded in, one terminal

From 592a82038f5eaba3e3661ca1a8f1d70689a5b580 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 16:48:52 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 4/7] docs(spec13): the taste is the profile and a told topic
 is a ledger row

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md | 178 +++++++++++++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 137 insertions(+), 41 deletions(-)

diff --git a/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md b/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
index 74a5504..8f9316d 100644
--- a/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
+++ b/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 # spec/13 · real-world-topics — an off-loop pool of things that actually happened
 
-> **Status**: **Built 2026-09-03** (this PR). Pool, roll, fetch task, prompt
-> rendering, the settings knob and the steer field all land; the unit suite is
-> green; a real `fetchTopics` was smoked through the SDK and a real `rwt.offer`
-> was read out of `.dev/dev.log` against the beat it produced. **§5's by-ear
-> criteria are open** — user-run, tracked as one issue.
+> **Status**: **Built 2026-09-03** (PR #203); **redesigned 2026-09-04**
+> (PR #208): the taste file is gone, the profile's *About the listener*
+> section steers the fetch, and a told topic is a ledger row the fetch
+> avoids. Pool, roll, fetch task, prompt rendering, the settings knob and the
+> steer field stand as built; the unit suite is green; a real `fetchTopics`
+> was smoked through the SDK with the profile block in the prompt and the
+> ledger titles in the avoid list, and a real `rwt.offer` was read out of
+> `.dev/dev.log` against the beat it produced. **§5's by-ear criteria are
+> open** — user-run, tracked as one issue
+> ([#202](https://github.com/wine-fall/murmur/issues/202)).
 > **Part**: Delivers the "say real things" line of
 > [`../../ROADMAP.md`](../../ROADMAP.md), which deletes a line once it lands —
 > so this spec, not that file, is the record. Gives the self-initiated talk
@@ -20,9 +25,13 @@
 > call** — the host's brain, the voice, the music pull, and now a bounded
 > WebSearch task. The "three network calls" wording in `DESIGN.md` is already
 > stale ([#104](https://github.com/wine-fall/murmur/issues/104)) and is not
-> edited here. Nothing about the listener leaves the machine except what the
-> task is told: a language name, a timezone name, and the titles already in
-> the pool.
+> edited here. What leaves the machine for the search task: a language name,
+> a timezone name, the titles already in the pool and the ledger's recent
+> real-world titles, and the profile's *About the listener* section — the
+> one section, never *Relationship & style* — under the code-owned line
+> "search for what they follow, never for them" (§3.4). The profile already
+> leaves for the talk brain on every batch; this is the same text on a
+> second, bounded task.
 > **Conventions**: English; written for a coding agent. Mechanism and
 > contracts, not final code. Prompt text centralized in `src/prompts.ts`; no
 > CJK in source (master §0).
@@ -50,9 +59,16 @@
 5. **The knob**: `rwtEnabled` in settings (default on), `--no-rwt`, and a
    `rwt` field on `change_settings` so "stop with the news" typed to the radio
    turns it off.
-6. **The taste file**: `$MURMUR_HOME/rwt-policy.md`, the music-policy shape
-   (spec 03-01 §2.3) — code owns the contract (shape, freshness, dedupe,
-   privacy), the listener owns what to look for.
+6. **The taste, from the profile**: the fetch reads the profile's *About the
+   listener* section at refresh time and leans the search toward what it
+   says the listener follows (§3.4). Code owns the contract (shape,
+   freshness, dedupe, privacy); the listener's half is what memory already
+   knows, and it grows, fades and forgets with the profile — no file, no
+   second store.
+7. **A ledger footprint**: a topic taken for a batch is `recordEvent('rwt',
+   title)`; the fetch is told the ledger's recent titles beside the pool's,
+   so a story that outlives the pool's 48 h is not fetched and told again
+   (§3.7).
 
 ### Out of scope (explicit non-goals)
 
@@ -68,7 +84,20 @@
 - **Fact-checking, citations, or source attribution on air.** The host may
   mention what it read; it does not read out URLs or outlets.
 - **Personal or private material.** The fetch prompt forbids it outright
-  (§3.3); nothing in the pool is about the listener.
+  (§3.3); nothing in the pool is about the listener, and the profile text
+  the fetch carries steers the search, never becomes its subject (§3.4).
+- **A listener-editable taste file.** The first build seeded
+  `$MURMUR_HOME/rwt-policy.md` in the music-policy shape. Removed before it
+  ever shipped in a version: a file nobody is told about is not a knob
+  (seeded with one debug line, named nowhere a listener reads), and its
+  once-only seed (`wx`) froze the policy at install time so a later default
+  never reached an installed copy — the sibling `music-policy.md`, same
+  shape, measured byte-identical to its template after nine days and 28
+  sessions. `music-policy.md` itself is left alone: it has shipped, and a
+  music taste is likelier to be edited than a topic taste.
+- **Reaction tracking** (did the listener type after a real-world beat) and
+  a negative-constraint steer ("no sports") — the signal is too dirty and the
+  machinery too heavy for what #202 has shown so far.
 - **The stub brain.** `StubBrain.fetchTopics` returns nothing; an empty pool
   never offers, so a stub run is exactly its pre-spec-13 self.
 
@@ -112,8 +141,8 @@ export type FetchTopicsRequest = {
   readonly language: string       // the gist's language, a name ("Japanese")
   readonly timezone: string       // IANA, from Intl — the only region signal
   readonly today: string          // YYYY-MM-DD, local
-  readonly avoid: readonly string[] // titles already in the pool
-  readonly policy: string         // the taste half (§2.5)
+  readonly avoid: readonly string[] // pool titles, then the ledger's recent rwt titles
+  readonly follows: string        // the profile's (About the listener) section; '' = none
 }
 
 interface Brain {
@@ -181,8 +210,8 @@ rwt?: {
   became "a friend wanted to watch a show") — the #44 attractor with a fig
   leaf. Absent → renders nothing.
 - `DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY` / `RWT_POLICY_HEADER` / `buildFetchTopicsPrompt(req)`
-  live in `src/prompts.ts`. The listener's `rwt-policy.md` replaces the policy
-  wholesale (HTML comments stripped, the music-policy discipline).
+  / `aboutSection(profile)` live in `src/prompts.ts`. The policy is built in;
+  the per-listener half of the taste is `req.follows` (§3.4).
 - `STEER_SETTINGS_RULE` names the new knob so the reply turn knows "stop with
   the news" is a settings ask.
 
@@ -232,22 +261,44 @@ it does not persist — a restart may offer on the first batch, which is fine.
 `buildFetchTopicsPrompt` states, in this order: the language the gists must
 be written in; the timezone with "weight what matters there, international as
 the fallback"; today's date and the freshness rule (**today or yesterday**
-only); the titles to avoid (already in the pool); the privacy line (nothing
-about private individuals, nothing that identifies a person who is not a
-public figure); the output contract (call `submit_topics` once, 3–8 items,
-each gist two to three spoken sentences a friend could say without reading
-from a screen, no URLs, no outlet names). Then `RWT_POLICY_HEADER` and the
-policy.
-
-### 3.4 The taste half (listener-owned)
-
-`DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY`: the categories — news, tech, entertainment, sports —
-and the weighting: mostly what is happening where the listener is, some of
-what the whole world is talking about, nothing that needs a screen to make
-sense of, nothing that is only a number, prefer the human-scale angle of a
-big story over the headline, and **keep the hard nouns** — a title, a name,
-a place, a date — because they are what make the thing real said aloud. Seeded to `rwt-policy.md` on first use so it is
-discoverable; read fresh on every fetch.
+only); the privacy line (nothing about private individuals, nothing that
+identifies a person who is not a public figure); the titles to avoid (the
+pool's, then the ledger's — §3.7); the output contract (call `submit_topics`
+once, 3–8 items, each gist two to three spoken sentences a friend could say
+without reading from a screen, no URLs, no outlet names); then, when the
+profile has one, the *What the listener follows* block (§3.4); then
+`RWT_POLICY_HEADER` and `DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY`.
+
+### 3.4 The taste half: the profile, not a file
+
+`DEFAULT_RWT_POLICY` is built in: the categories — news, tech,
+entertainment, sports — and the weighting: mostly what is happening where
+the listener is, some of what the whole world is talking about, nothing that
+needs a screen to make sense of, nothing that is only a number, prefer the
+human-scale angle of a big story over the headline, and **keep the hard
+nouns** — a title, a name, a place, a date — because they are what make the
+thing real said aloud.
+
+The per-listener half is the profile. Without it every install with the
+same language and timezone searched for the same things. `profile.md`
+already grows (compaction, spec 05 §3.6), fades (`[seen]` tags, spec 05-01
+§3.3) and forgets (`forget_memory`, spec 05-01 §3.5), so the taste rides
+along for free and keeps no state of its own:
+
+- `aboutSection(profile)` cuts out the *(About the listener)* section of the
+  two-section shape both profile writers produce (`PROFILE_SHAPE`, spec 06),
+  bookkeeping tags stripped. **Only that section.** *(Relationship &
+  style)* is an observation of tone, and tone is not a search term. A
+  profile without the labelled section yields `''` — the conservative
+  reading, since the text leaves for a search task.
+- `buildRwt` reads it at **fetch time** (`memory.profile()` inside the
+  `request` closure), so a compaction or a forget lands on the next refresh.
+- The prompt renders it as a *(What the listener follows)* block before the
+  policy, with the line the code owns and no listener text can loosen:
+  *"Lean the search toward these. Search for what they follow, never for
+  them, and never for anything that identifies them."*
+- Empty → the block is not rendered, and a new listener (or one who declined
+  the spec-06 slice-B bootstrap) gets exactly the pre-change fetch.
 
 ### 3.5 Language and region without a store
 
@@ -270,6 +321,36 @@ French gists about what matters in Japan, which is the intended reading of
 | no network at all | never offers; radio unchanged |
 | `rwtEnabled` false | no roll, no offer; the refresh still keeps the pool warm so turning it back on is instant |
 
+### 3.7 The ledger footprint
+
+rwt was the one content source with no ledger row: a song played is
+`recordEvent('song')` and the pick avoids the last 32 (`AVOID_DEPTH`, spec
+05 §3.5); a talk beat's topic key is `recordEvent('topic')` and feeds
+`coveredTopics`. A real-world item's anti-repeat lived only in
+`cache/rwt.json`'s `used` mark — on an entry that expires in 48 h, in a
+directory that is rebuildable by design. A story that runs longer than that
+(a series airing, a tournament, an argument still going) was fetched again
+as new and told again.
+
+- `LedgerKind` gains `'rwt'`; `MemoryStore` gains `recentRwt(n)` beside
+  `recentSongs` — the Director's tier, unlike the impl-level `recentEvents`.
+- The Director ledgers the **title** at **take** time, in `generateTalks`
+  right after `offer()` — the same moment the pool marks it `used` (§2.1),
+  so the two records agree on when a topic is spent. Not at air time: a
+  batch generated and discarded still burned its topic.
+- The fetch is told `pool.titles()` then the ledger's last
+  `RWT_AVOID_DEPTH` (32) rwt titles, deduplicated, in `avoid`; a title the
+  fetch was told to avoid and returned anyway is dropped before `merge`.
+  32 is the music list's settled depth — 8 brought a favourite back every
+  other session — and a topic is offered far less often than a song plays,
+  so 32 here spans weeks of sessions, long enough to outlast a running
+  story, at one prompt line each on a background task.
+- `forget_memory` does **not** touch the ledger, by design (spec 05-01
+  §3.5 removes history rows and profile lines). What was heard stays
+  avoided; what the listener stopped following leaves the profile and so
+  leaves `follows` (§3.4). "Don't bring that up again" is served by the two
+  together, not by erasing the record of having said it.
+
 ---
 
 ## 4. Dependencies
@@ -299,21 +380,36 @@ French gists about what matters in Japan, which is the intended reading of
    `change_settings({ rwt: false })` lands `rwtEnabled: false`.
 6. Director: a stub/fake `rwt` dep is offered once per non-anchor, non-coda
    batch and never on those two.
+7. Taste: `aboutSection` returns the About section alone, tags stripped,
+   and `''` for a profile without the labelled section; the fetch prompt
+   renders the *(What the listener follows)* block with the privacy line
+   before the policy, and nothing for an empty `follows`; `buildRwt` reads
+   the profile at fetch time and seeds no file under the home.
+8. Ledger: `recentRwt` on both stores, persisted across instances; an offer
+   ledgers the title once and a null offer none; the fetch's `avoid` is the
+   pool's titles then the ledger's, and a covered title returned is not
+   merged.
 
 ### Real seam (done once in this PR, evidence in the PR body)
 
-7. A real `fetchTopics` through the SDK writes ≥ 3 entries into
-   `cache/rwt.json`, gists in the requested language, dated today/yesterday.
-8. A `make dev` run shows `rwt.offer <id>` in `.dev/dev.log`, and the beat
-   generated from that batch is read against the entry's gist.
+9. A real `fetchTopics` through the SDK writes ≥ 3 entries into
+   `cache/rwt.json`, gists in the requested language, dated today/yesterday;
+   the prompt it ran carries the profile block and the ledger titles, and
+   its WebSearch queries are about what the listener follows, not the
+   listener.
+10. A `make dev` run shows `rwt.offer <id>` in `.dev/dev.log`, the beat
+    generated from that batch is read against the entry's gist, and the
+    title lands in `ledger.jsonl` as `kind: "rwt"`.
 
 ### By-ear (open — one issue)
 
-9. A mentioned topic is named — the title, who, where — and said the way a
-   host says it, not a newsreader: one item, no rundown, no list.
-10. The proportion feels right — present but not every stretch.
-11. The gist language matches the persona's spoken language.
-12. Turning it off by typing works and the host does not keep mentioning news.
+11. A mentioned topic is named — the title, who, where — and said the way a
+    host says it, not a newsreader: one item, no rundown, no list.
+12. The proportion feels right — present but not every stretch.
+13. The gist language matches the persona's spoken language.
+14. Turning it off by typing works and the host does not keep mentioning news.
+15. Over a week, the pool leans toward what the profile says the listener
+    follows, and a story already told is not told again as new.
 
 ---
 

From 580f8b7aaf36d2d23e869ccc4cacd866122cbb65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 16:56:58 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 5/7] fix(rwt): a fetch that returns only covered titles is a
 failed refresh [spec 13]

Filtering after the emptiness check let merge([]) stamp the pool fresh on an
all-covered response, leaving it empty and silent for a whole stale interval.
The filter now runs first; an all-covered result logs a failure and the next
boundary retries, exactly as a thrown fetch does (codex review).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 src/rwt.ts       | 13 ++++++++-----
 test/rwt.test.ts | 15 +++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/rwt.ts b/src/rwt.ts
index 5ab9d8e..db1c196 100644
--- a/src/rwt.ts
+++ b/src/rwt.ts
@@ -243,17 +243,20 @@ export class RealWorldTopics {
     const started = Date.now()
     try {
       const covered = new Set(this.deps.covered?.() ?? [])
-      const topics = await this.deps.brain.fetchTopics({
+      const fetched = await this.deps.brain.fetchTopics({
         ...this.deps.request(),
         avoid: [...new Set([...this.deps.pool.titles(), ...covered])],
       })
+      // A title the fetch was told to avoid and returned anyway is dropped
+      // here: the prompt is a request, the ledger is the record. Dropped
+      // BEFORE the emptiness check — merging nothing would stamp the pool
+      // fresh and leave it empty for a whole stale interval.
+      const topics = fetched.filter((t) => !covered.has(t.title))
       if (topics.length === 0) {
-        this.log('rwt.refresh failed (no topics returned)')
+        this.log(`rwt.refresh failed (${fetched.length === 0 ? 'no topics returned' : 'nothing new returned'})`)
         return
       }
-      // A title the fetch was told to avoid and returned anyway is dropped
-      // here: the prompt is a request, the ledger is the record.
-      const n = this.deps.pool.merge(topics.filter((t) => !covered.has(t.title)))
+      const n = this.deps.pool.merge(topics)
       this.log(`rwt.refresh n=${n} ms=${Date.now() - started}`)
       this.logPool()
     } catch (err) {
diff --git a/test/rwt.test.ts b/test/rwt.test.ts
index 2a778c8..057cb30 100644
--- a/test/rwt.test.ts
+++ b/test/rwt.test.ts
@@ -215,6 +215,21 @@ describe('RealWorldTopics (spec 13 §2.4 / §3.1)', () => {
     await until(() => requests.length === 2)
     expect(requests[1]?.avoid).toEqual(['A', 'C', 'B', 'Old story'])
   })
+
+  // codex review: a fetch that returns only ledgered titles must count as a
+  // failed refresh — merging nothing would stamp the pool fresh and leave it
+  // empty and silent for a whole stale interval.
+  it('a fetch that returns only covered titles is a failed refresh, retried', async () => {
+    const { pool, rwt, lines } = feed({
+      covered: () => ['Old story'],
+      fetch: async () => [topic('Old story')],
+    })
+    rwt.maybeRefresh()
+    await rwt.drain()
+    expect(pool.counts()).toEqual({ fresh: 0, used: 0 })
+    expect(lines).toContain('rwt.refresh failed (nothing new returned)')
+    expect(rwt.maybeRefresh()).toBe(true) // still due
+  })
 })
 
 // The fetch task itself (spec 13 §2.2): WebSearch bounded in, one terminal

From 27685e357303c17aecb7b38cc340a2aed6608bef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 17:04:15 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 6/7] docs(status): spec 13 now rides memory

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 specs/STATUS.md | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/specs/STATUS.md b/specs/STATUS.md
index b92bf48..a52631f 100644
--- a/specs/STATUS.md
+++ b/specs/STATUS.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ _This file is a **card, not a ledger**: an entry that is done and no longer
 guides the work gets **deleted**, not archived. History lives in git and PR
 bodies; measured facts live in the spec they verify._
 
-_Last updated: 2026-09-03 (real-world topics built — spec 13)_
+_Last updated: 2026-09-04 (real-world topics ride memory: profile taste + ledger — spec 13 §3.4/§3.7)_
 
 ## Where we are
 

From 91a229d8b14d018eb1f7e9237f418198355d3702 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: wine-fall <62830944+wine-fall@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2026 17:05:45 +0800
Subject: [PATCH 7/7] docs(spec13): the PR is #209

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Jej4WJFNKP1JZ8Z77UUG64
---
 specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md b/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
index 8f9316d..11b6fd4 100644
--- a/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
+++ b/specs/spec13/13-real-world-topics.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # spec/13 · real-world-topics — an off-loop pool of things that actually happened
 
 > **Status**: **Built 2026-09-03** (PR #203); **redesigned 2026-09-04**
-> (PR #208): the taste file is gone, the profile's *About the listener*
+> (PR #209): the taste file is gone, the profile's *About the listener*
 > section steers the fetch, and a told topic is a ledger row the fetch
 > avoids. Pool, roll, fetch task, prompt rendering, the settings knob and the
 > steer field stand as built; the unit suite is green; a real `fetchTopics`