# Session 0018.0 — Transcript

> App: human-experience-filter-art
> Start: 2026-06-25T09-42 (PST)
> End: 2026-06-26T05-56 (PST)
> Type: planning-and-executing
> Posture: yolo
> Claude-Session: b96041e5-c682-49f5-88ee-380ea7abb6af
> Status: **FINALIZED**

## Launch prompt

```
Find a better public-domain nebula flythrough video for the cosmos scale (the current text-free SVS Orion clip lost quality when cropped to remove its text overlay), or upscale the existing one if no better source exists.
```

A content-and-polish session on the simulator's cosmos scale that grew, by
operator follow-ups, into four merged PRs: the nebula swap, two cache fixes, a
ring-landing artifact fix, and a Right-brain affect rework.

## Pre-state

- Branch `feature/ring-transitions-real` (later merged): HEAD `129bb23` had just
  swapped the cosmos primary off the captioned/cropped JPL "Orion: Dust and Death"
  clip onto the text-free SVS 30957 Orion flythrough.
- Sim served by a manually-launched `uvicorn ... --port 8000` (no `--reload`),
  booted before the session's media changes.
- Affect channel gated on `min(left, right)` (session 0013 rule).
- Concurrent unfinalized sessions present (0015, 0017).

## Arc (turn by turn)

1. **Anchor + research.** Classified as planning-and-executing, claimed session
   0018. Found the current cosmos clip was already the uncropped text-free SVS
   30957 Orion (the crop damage the prompt described was already fixed at HEAD).
   Researched NASA SVS: (a) the same Orion clip exists in 4K; (b) the Webb
   **"Cosmic Cliffs"** Carina flythrough (SVS 31348) is a 4K PD alternative.
   Offered three options; **operator chose #2 — switch to Cosmic Cliffs.**

2. **Cosmos swap (PR #21).** Downloaded the Carina 4K master
   (`Clifs-3d-STScI.mp4`, 3840×2160, 60 fps, 103 s), sampled frames to find a
   clean window, trimmed **10–34 s** (clears the title card ~8 s and the
   end-credit card ~102 s), ran `tools.pipeline.run.process_clip` → 4K master +
   supersampled 1080p base (5.5 Mbps, crisper than the old 2.9 Mbps Orion encode).
   Updated `build_pool_manifest.py` META (new `CCBY_WEBB` credit, Carina labels:
   emission nebula / protostar, redshift→distance ≈7,500 ly), regenerated
   `manifest.json` (also corrected stale JPL-Orion provenance) + all ring-edge
   transitions, and `docs/content-candidate-pool.md`. Operator authorized the
   merge → opened + merged **PR #21** (the whole `feature/ring-transitions-real`
   line), synced main, deleted the local branch. Remote branch delete returned
   HTTP 405 (known Gitea perm limit).

3. **"Still seeing Orion" — caching (PRs #22, #23).** Diagnosed: the sim server
   (PID 33672) had been running since before the media swap and was launched
   **without `--reload`**, holding the pre-swap manifest in memory; the browser
   also held the old clip via the in-memory blob preload and a possible pre-
   `no-cache` immutable HTTP entry. Restarted the server with `make sim-local`
   (`--reload`). Shipped **PR #22** (`cache: "reload"` on the preload fetch), then
   — at operator request for a permanent fix — **PR #23**: a content-hash
   `GET /api/media-versions` endpoint (sha1[:12] per served file, cached by
   mtime/size) and client `?v=<hash>` on every /media URL, so a re-baked clip's
   URL changes with its bytes.

4. **Coast landing artifact (in PR #23).** Operator noticed zooming into coast
   showed birdrock then switched to another clip. Root cause: the baked ring
   transition lands on the scale **primary** (birdrock), but the rotating pool
   picks a **random member** on landing — a non-primary pick hard-cut from primary
   to chosen. Fix: `advance()` masks the swap behind a short fade through the
   existing `#black` overlay when `target_clip_id !== ring.scales[to_index].clip_id`;
   general across all pooled scales.

5. **Right-brain affect (PR #24).** Operator: emotions should be controlled by the
   right brain, not the left. Reversed `affect.strength = min(left, right)` →
   `strength = right`; intensity keyed off Right; Left no longer gates emotions.
   Updated engine + client comments + the affect design spec (revision note) +
   tests. Live-verified: left=0/right=4 → strength 4; left=4/right=0 → 0.

## Cut state

- **`main` @ (session-0018 merges all landed):** PRs **#21** (`7da7446`), **#22**
  (`aa56dfe`), **#23** (`5bb762a`), **#24** (`d0ad9a9`) — all confirmed in main's
  ancestry. Session 0019 has since advanced main further (cosmos_miri pool member,
  networked-control-surface spec, sim-local venv fix).
- **Tests:** 271 passed, 2 skipped (+ media-version tests + rewritten affect
  tests).
- **Sim:** running on :8000 as `uvicorn --reload` (PID 50199, restarted this
  session). The cosmos Cosmic Cliffs clip, content-hash cache-bust, coast fade,
  and Right-only affect are all live and API/logic-verified.
- **No plan artifact** archived — leaf content/polish task executed directly
  (no `superpowers:writing-plans` doc).

## Operator plate

- **Cosmic Cliffs looks "incredible"** (operator) — the cosmos primary is now the
  Webb Carina flythrough.
- **Unverified by eye** (no Chrome on the box): the coast landing fade timing, and
  the Right-only affect look (Left=0 + Right up should show emotion words over an
  un-annotated scene). Worth a by-eye pass in `make sim-local`.
- **Pipeline §9:** changes merged to `main` (= done); no PPE/prod run — the E2E +
  PPE machinery is still being built (§10.6), and the simulator is a local dev
  surface. Not shipped to prod.
- **Left untouched (not this session's work):** session 0019's in-flight audio
  work is dirty in the tree (`docs/audio-candidate-pool.md`, `.gitignore` audio
  entries) — left for 0019 to finalize. Pre-existing unfinalized sessions 0015,
  0017, 0019 remain `--INPROGRESS`.

## Deferred decisions

None logged — every call this session was operator-directed (the option-2 clip
choice, the permanent cache-bust request, the Right-brain affect direction).

## Next-session prompt

```
/goal By-eye review of session 0018's sim changes in `make sim-local` (:8000): the
Webb Cosmic Cliffs cosmos clip, the coast/pool landing fade (no hard cut to the
random member), and Right-only emotions (Left=0 + Right up shows feeling words over
an un-annotated scene). Tune the ~200ms fade timing if it feels off. Then continue
the experience/content line — deferred i2v ring transitions and/or the Pi renderer
(per [[simulator-first-before-hardware]]). Note: session 0019 separately owns the
audio pool + networked-control-surface work.
```
