Auto cache-sizing is OFF on this box: the boot ledger refused it at
36.9 GB (2 x full-entry) floor vs 35.7 GB free, so every deep agent
request re-prefills its whole 79-81k context (84.9-179.8 s measured on
serve_api lines, 2026-10-06) for ~500-650 new tokens per turn. Pin
HALOGEN_CACHE_MB=16384 (>= one full-slot entry at ~70 KB/token) — the
documented override; the per-store reserve re-check keeps the host safe.
Also: the serve script's 'podman run -d > LOG' captured only the
container ID — the runbook's boot-ledger grep read a one-line hex file
and the ledger existed nowhere on disk. Foreground 'podman run' makes
the ledger land in the log file as documented; exit-code and ExecStop
semantics are unchanged. Test seam updated for both.
Frank
ba67ca5c9e