frank-primary: fix the prefix-cache flag render (127 crash loop)

Two bash defects in the 9d8b185 prefix-cache wiring, both measured live
on the 2026-10-05 deploy attempt (unit crash-looped 190x, exit 127,
endpoint down for the whole 3600 s health window):

1. A # comment block inside the backslash-continued podman run
   terminates the continuation: the comment swallows the joined line
   and the flag line then runs as its own command
   ('--no-enable-prefix-caching: command not found'). The comment moves
   above the run block, with a no-comments-in-chain note.

2. The ${VAR:+A}${VAR:--B} double-expansion is ambiguous: when the
   variable is set, ${VAR:--B} parses as a SUBSTRING OFFSET, not the
   :- default — measured render was '--no-enable-prefix-caching1'.
   The flag is now branched explicitly into
   FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG (exactly one of the two flags
   reaches the engine; unset keeps the historical flag).

Seam: the render test sources the shipped env through the branch and
asserts the exact flag word the engine receives (render-assert, the
same pattern the spec knobs use). bash -n clean; all 22 frank-primary
seams pass.

scripts/serve-frank-primary.sh

@@ -137,6 +137,22 @@ fi
 # available" while device_count() says 2). --ipc=host for the engine's shared
 # memory; memlock unbounded for the pinned host slabs.
 # The entrypoint already execs `vllm serve "$@"`, so no `serve` here.
+# Prefix caching: the fork's QFN mamba align path corrupts GDN SSM state
+# at ~40k tokens (2026-10-04, 48 gdn_hip state faults, one request — the
+# evidence block is in frank-primary.env). FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING
+# flips to the fork-named mitigation (--no-enable-prefix-caching); empty
+# keeps the historical flag. NO comment lines inside the backslash chain
+# below — a comment there terminates the continuation and the next line
+# runs as its own command (the 2026-10-05 exit-127 crash loop).
+# The ${VAR:-word} / ${VAR:+word} double-expansion for the two directions is
+# AMBIGUOUS bash (${VAR:--flag} parses as a substring offset when set —
+# measured 2026-10-05: rendered "--no-enable-prefix-caching1"), so the flag
+# is branched explicitly: exactly one of the two reaches the engine.
+if [ -n "${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:-}" ]; then
+    FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--no-enable-prefix-caching
+else
+    FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--enable-prefix-caching
+fi
 podman run -d --name "$FRANK_PRIMARY_CONTAINER" \
   --publish "$FRANK_PRIMARY_PUBLISH" \
   --ipc=host --ulimit memlock=-1:-1 \
@@ -162,12 +178,7 @@ podman run -d --name "$FRANK_PRIMARY_CONTAINER" \
   --gpu-memory-utilization "$FRANK_PRIMARY_UTIL" \
   --kv-cache-memory-bytes "$FRANK_PRIMARY_KV_BYTES" \
   --kv-cache-dtype "$FRANK_PRIMARY_KV_DTYPE" \
-  # Prefix caching: the fork's QFN mamba align path corrupts GDN SSM state at
-  # ~40k tokens (2026-10-04, 48 gdn_hip state faults, one request). FRANK_
-  # PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING flips to the fork-named mitigation
-  # (--no-enable-prefix-caching); empty keeps the historical flag. The
-  # evidence block is in frank-primary.env.
-  ${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:+--no-enable-prefix-caching}${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:---enable-prefix-caching} \
+  "$FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG" \
   --enable-auto-tool-choice --tool-call-parser "$FRANK_PRIMARY_TOOL_PARSER" \
   --reasoning-parser "$FRANK_PRIMARY_REASONING_PARSER" \
   --default-chat-template-kwargs "$FRANK_PRIMARY_CHAT_TEMPLATE_KWARGS" \

tests/frank_primary_unit.bats

@@ -171,11 +171,28 @@ DOWNLOAD="$REPO_ROOT/scripts/download-frank-primary.sh"
     grep -q -- '${FRANK_PRIMARY_COMPCONFIG:+--compilation-config "$FRANK_PRIMARY_COMPCONFIG"}' "$SERVE"
     grep -q -- '${FRANK_PRIMARY_GEN_CONFIG:+--override-generation-config "$FRANK_PRIMARY_GEN_CONFIG"}' "$SERVE"
     grep -q -- '--tensor-parallel-size 2' "$SERVE"
-    # Prefix caching renders exactly ONE flag from the knob: set ->
-    # --no-enable-prefix-caching (the fork-named mitigation), unset -> the
-    # historical --enable-prefix-caching. Both directions are explicit so a
-    # fork default change cannot silently flip the contract.
-    grep -qF '${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:+--no-enable-prefix-caching}${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:---enable-prefix-caching}' "$SERVE"
+    # Prefix caching renders exactly ONE flag from the knob, branched
+    # explicitly in the serve script (the ${VAR:--flag} double-expansion is
+    # ambiguous bash — when set it parsed as a substring offset, measured
+    # 2026-10-05): set -> --no-enable-prefix-caching (the fork-named
+    # mitigation), unset -> the historical --enable-prefix-caching. Both
+    # directions are spelled out so a fork default change cannot silently
+    # flip the contract.
+    grep -qF 'FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--no-enable-prefix-caching' "$SERVE"
+    grep -qF 'FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--enable-prefix-caching' "$SERVE"
+    grep -qF '"$FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG"' "$SERVE"
+    # The observable contract: the exact flag word the engine receives,
+    # rendered from the shipped env through the serve script's branch (the
+    # same render-assert pattern the spec knobs use above).
+    run bash -c '
+        set -a; . "$1" >/dev/null; set +a
+        if [ -n "${FRANK_PRIMARY_NO_PREFIX_CACHING:-}" ]; then
+            FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--no-enable-prefix-caching
+        else
+            FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG=--enable-prefix-caching
+        fi
+        printf %s "$FRANK_PRIMARY_PREFIX_CACHE_FLAG"' _ "$ENV_FILE"
+    [ "$output" = "--no-enable-prefix-caching" ]
     grep -q -- '--trust-remote-code' "$SERVE"
     # DCP is opt-in: the flag is passed only when FRANK_PRIMARY_DCP is set
     # (DCP reuses the TP ranks when PCP is off, so TP=2 + DCP=2 fits two GPUs).