align(4909d): every rule arm that annotates reads one bar, kb_rule_threshold at 0.70

prompt_rule, pre_tool_rule and write_path_rule now share one settings key,
RULE_FLOOR_KEY = "kb_rule_threshold", default 0.70. The reply backstop keeps
its own 0.80, because there the floor is a stop bar. Moving the shared floor
through tune_retrieval or the Settings form records a tuning event on every
surface that reads it (set_dial, via retrieval_surfaces.sharing_floor), and
the result names the surfaces it carried as `moved_with`. Settings shows one
"Standing-rule confidence threshold" control where it showed three.

Operator ruling (2026-10-05): one shared bar for the rule arms, "especially
since we're only taking the first x number of them" -- the budget limits
what is shown; the bar only decides what is worth ranking. Kept a dial.

Why 0.70, from records read rather than percentiles:
- write_path_rule near-misses at 0.7199-0.72 were all false positives
  (rule 149 against a Lidarr comment, 157 against a retention Svelte file,
  121 against an Archives restore, 164 against a config test, 131 against a
  Go package), so the old 0.72 was not hiding real hits -- but the band does
  noise control on this arm, so dropping 0.02 costs little.
- prompt_rule: the operator set 0.70 by hand on 2026-09-18, after a 0.60
  experiment admitted junk and was reverted. 0.70 is the number with a human
  decision behind it.
- pre_tool_rule lines near 0.68 this session were mostly noise; rising to
  0.70 trims them, and the band still narrows what clears.

Retired keys: kb_promptrule_threshold, kb_toolrule_threshold and
kb_rulehint_threshold are no longer read. Rows an install stored under them
stay in the settings table, inert. On this instance the effective bars move
pre_tool_rule 0.68 -> 0.70, write_path_rule 0.72 -> 0.70, prompt_rule stays
0.70; record_release_defaults writes those per-surface release rows on boot,
so the telemetry shift has an event to explain it.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue

@@ -159,16 +159,10 @@ const kbWritePathEnabled = ref(true);
 // code embeddings sit on a much higher similarity floor than prose, so 0.55
 // lets unrelated code through. Shares top-k, not the threshold.
 const kbWritePathThreshold = ref("0.68");
-const kbRuleHintThreshold = ref("0.72");
+// One bar for every rule hint — prompt, command and edit alike. They search
+// the same rules, and what limits each is its budget, not the bar.
+const kbRuleThreshold = ref("0.70");
 const kbCheckpointThreshold = ref("0.80");
-// The two ACT arms do not share a bar. A write-path query is a code payload; a
-// pre-tool query is a shell command, often under a dozen words — less text,
-// less signal, lower scores for the same relevance — so one shared bar makes
-// them behave like different subsystems.
-const kbToolRuleThreshold = ref("0.68");
-// And the prompt boundary is a third query shape again — the operator's own
-// prose rather than anything a tool produced.
-const kbPromptRuleThreshold = ref("0.72");
 // The reply arm: its bar is the bar at which a finished reply
 // is HELD for one read, so it sits with the checkpoint, not with the hints.
 const kbReplyRuleThreshold = ref("0.8");
@@ -367,14 +361,10 @@ async function saveKbInject() {
   // Same `|| default` reasoning: falling back to 0 would surface every
   // snippet in the corpus on every edit, which is the failure this knob fixes.
   const wpT = asBar(kbWritePathThreshold.value, 0.68);
-  // Same `|| default` reasoning again, and it bites harder here: a rule hint
-  // fires on every write, so a fallback of 0 would attach a standing rule to
-  // every edit in the session.
-  const rhT = asBar(kbRuleHintThreshold.value, 0.72);
-  // Same `|| default` guard, and the same reason: this arm fires before every
-  // Bash call, so a fallback of 0 would put a rule in front of every command.
-  const trT = asBar(kbToolRuleThreshold.value, 0.68);
-  const prT = asBar(kbPromptRuleThreshold.value, 0.72);
+  // Same `|| default` reasoning again, and it bites harder here: rule hints
+  // fire on every edit and before every command, so a fallback of 0 would put
+  // a standing rule beside each of them.
+  const ruleT = asBar(kbRuleThreshold.value, 0.7);
   // The checkpoint bar, and the `|| default` guard matters most here of all:
   // this is the only number that can STOP a call, so a fallback of 0 would
   // hold the first command of every session behind whatever ranked first.
@@ -409,10 +399,8 @@ async function saveKbInject() {
   kbGateNoteOverlapFloor.value = String(gateOverlap);
   kbPlanMatchThreshold.value = String(planT);
   kbWritePathThreshold.value = String(wpT);
-  kbRuleHintThreshold.value = String(rhT);
+  kbRuleThreshold.value = String(ruleT);
   kbCheckpointThreshold.value = String(cpT);
-  kbToolRuleThreshold.value = String(trT);
-  kbPromptRuleThreshold.value = String(prT);
   kbReplyRuleThreshold.value = String(ryT);
   savingKbInject.value = true;
   kbInjectSaved.value = false;
@@ -426,20 +414,15 @@ async function saveKbInject() {
       // measurements that split them.
       kb_writepath_enabled: kbWritePathEnabled.value ? 'true' : 'false',
       kb_writepath_threshold: String(wpT),
-      // A THIRD corpus with a third bar — see RULEHINT_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD
-      // in services/plugin_context.py for why rules cannot share the
-      // code threshold any more than code could share the prose one.
-      kb_rulehint_threshold: String(rhT),
+      // A third corpus with a third bar — see RULE_FLOOR_DEFAULT in
+      // services/retrieval_pipeline.py for why every rule hint shares it.
+      kb_rule_threshold: String(ruleT),
       // The one bar that stops a call rather than annotating it. Its own key,
-      // never derived from the two rule bars above: it answers a different
+      // never derived from the rule bar above: it answers a different
       // question of the same scores — not "is this worth showing" but "is the
       // corpus confident enough to be read first" — and a number that moves
       // when another moves is a number nobody can reason about.
       kb_checkpoint_threshold: String(cpT),
-      // A FOURTH and FIFTH bar, and they are separate keys on purpose: one
-      // number cannot serve arms whose queries are different shapes. Moving one must not move the others.
-      kb_toolrule_threshold: String(trT),
-      kb_promptrule_threshold: String(prT),
       // The reply backstop's own bar: it HOLDS a reply, so like the
       // checkpoint it is never derived from a hint bar.
       kb_replyrule_threshold: String(ryT),
@@ -864,14 +847,8 @@ onMounted(async () => {
   if (allSettings.kb_checkpoint_threshold !== undefined) {
     kbCheckpointThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_checkpoint_threshold;
   }
-  if (allSettings.kb_rulehint_threshold !== undefined) {
-    kbRuleHintThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_rulehint_threshold;
-  }
-  if (allSettings.kb_toolrule_threshold !== undefined) {
-    kbToolRuleThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_toolrule_threshold;
-  }
-  if (allSettings.kb_promptrule_threshold !== undefined) {
-    kbPromptRuleThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_promptrule_threshold;
+  if (allSettings.kb_rule_threshold !== undefined) {
+    kbRuleThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_rule_threshold;
   }
   if (allSettings.kb_replyrule_threshold !== undefined) {
     kbReplyRuleThreshold.value = allSettings.kb_replyrule_threshold;
@@ -1772,10 +1749,10 @@ async function deleteUser(userId: number) {
           <p class="field-hint">How many snippets and issues one edit may be offered (1–10). Reach for this rather than the threshold when the hint feels long: lowering it keeps the best matches and drops the tail, while raising the bar above throws away good matches along with weak ones.</p>
         </div>
         <div class="field">
-          <label for="kb-rulehint-threshold">Standing-rule confidence threshold (0–1)</label>
+          <label for="kb-rule-threshold">Standing-rule confidence threshold (0–1)</label>
           <input
-            id="kb-rulehint-threshold"
-            v-model="kbRuleHintThreshold"
+            id="kb-rule-threshold"
+            v-model="kbRuleThreshold"
             type="number"
             min="0"
             max="1"
@@ -1784,14 +1761,14 @@ async function deleteUser(userId: number) {
             style="max-width: 8rem"
           />
           <p class="field-hint">
-            The same hint can mention a standing rule whose trigger resembles the
-            code being written. <em>Every</em> rule is eligible — nothing is
-            preloaded any more, so this is the only way a rule reaches a write.
-            Stricter than the threshold above, because there are far fewer rules
-            than snippets: with a small set something always ranks first, so the
-            bar has to carry more of the judgement. If rules arrive unread, or one
-            you needed never showed up, that is Claude's to notice and correct
-            from the telemetry — and the budget below is usually the better lever.
+            The bar for a standing rule or preference to be offered at all,
+            whether against the code being written, a command about to run, or
+            what you just said. <em>Every</em> rule is eligible — nothing is
+            preloaded, so this is how a rule reaches the work. One bar serves all
+            three: they search the same rules, and how many each may show is set
+            by its own budget below, which is usually the better lever. If rules
+            arrive unread, or one you needed never showed up, that is Claude's to
+            notice and correct from the telemetry.
           </p>
         </div>
         <div class="field">
@@ -1834,26 +1811,6 @@ async function deleteUser(userId: number) {
             only — file edits are never held.
           </p>
         </div>
-        <div class="field">
-          <label for="kb-toolrule-threshold">Command confidence threshold (0–1)</label>
-          <input
-            id="kb-toolrule-threshold"
-            v-model="kbToolRuleThreshold"
-            type="number"
-            min="0"
-            max="1"
-            step="0.01"
-            class="fs-input input"
-            style="max-width: 8rem"
-          />
-          <p class="field-hint">
-            The bar for a rule surfacing before a <em>command</em> runs, where the
-            query is the command text rather than code. Lower than the one above
-            on purpose: a shell command is short, so it scores lower for the same
-            relevance — at a shared bar this arm spoke on 2% of calls against the
-            write path's 37%.
-          </p>
-        </div>
         <div class="field">
           <label for="kb-toolrule-topk">Max rules per command</label>
           <input
@@ -1868,26 +1825,6 @@ async function deleteUser(userId: number) {
           />
           <p class="field-hint">How many standing rules one command may be shown (1–10). This is the busiest arm there is — it fires before every command — so its budget is the one most worth keeping small.</p>
         </div>
-        <div class="field">
-          <label for="kb-promptrule-threshold">Prompt confidence threshold (0–1)</label>
-          <input
-            id="kb-promptrule-threshold"
-            v-model="kbPromptRuleThreshold"
-            type="number"
-            min="0"
-            max="1"
-            step="0.01"
-            class="fs-input input"
-            style="max-width: 8rem"
-          />
-          <p class="field-hint">
-            The bar for a rule or preference surfacing against <em>what you just
-            said</em>, before anything is done. It is the only moment that reaches
-            a rule about how to answer rather than how to act, so it runs once a
-            turn rather than once a tool call. A third query shape — your prose,
-            not a command or a file — which is why it carries its own number.
-          </p>
-        </div>
         <div class="field">
           <label for="kb-promptrule-topk">Max rules per prompt</label>
           <input

src/grimoire/services/plugin_context.py

@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ WRITEPATH_THRESHOLD_KEY = SURFACES["write_path"].floor_key
 WRITEPATH_DEFAULT_ENABLED = True
 WRITEPATH_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD = SURFACES["write_path"].floor_default
 
-# The standing-rule arm gets its own bar, for a third corpus: 0.68 above is
+# The standing-rule arms get their own bar, for a third corpus: 0.68 above is
 # calibrated on code against note PROSE, not code against RULE TEXT.
 #
 # THE STRUCTURAL ARGUMENT, which holds on any install, including one with six
@@ -155,64 +155,27 @@ WRITEPATH_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD = SURFACES["write_path"].floor_default
 #      pool always returns something, so "the best match cleared the bar"
 #      drifts from "a good match exists" toward "N things were ranked". A bar
 #      calibrated for best-of-thousands is cleared by best-of-forty as
-#      arithmetic rather than relevance. (The arms search every tier, which
-#      makes the pool larger; the bar still errs toward silence on purpose.)
+#      arithmetic rather than relevance.
 #   2. Rules are short imperative technical English — a far more HOMOGENEOUS
 #      corpus than note prose, and a more homogeneous corpus has a HIGHER
 #      noise floor than prose's 0.55-0.63.
 #
-# WHY 0.72 AND NOT A NUMBER OFF A HISTOGRAM. The exact offset between prose's
-# floor and rule-text's is not derivable in general — it depends on how an
-# install writes its rules — so the default errs deliberately toward SILENCE
-# rather than toward recall, on an asymmetry that is itself structural: this
-# hint fires on EVERY write. A missed rule is recoverable, because the rule is
-# still in Grimoire and the agent can search it. A hint that cries wolf is not:
-# it teaches the reader to skip the whole block, and the surface is lost along
-# with the true positives it would have carried.
+# ONE BAR FOR EVERY RULE ARM THAT ANNOTATES. The write path, the command arm
+# and the prompt arm read the same key (`RULE_FLOOR_KEY` in retrieval_pipeline):
+# they search the same rules, and what limits each one is its budget and band.
 #
 # TUNE IT FROM YOUR OWN INSTANCE: `retrieval_telemetry` reports
-# `rule_usage.pull_through`. Raise this if rules arrive unread; lower it if
-# rules you needed never arrived. What would RETIRE it: a cross-encoder rerank,
-# which would make a similarity bar the wrong control entirely.
-#
-# This bar is the WRITE-PATH arm's. A code payload is long and rich, which is
-# the case 0.72 suits; the command arm has its own bar below.
+# `rule_usage.pull_through` and `near_miss_samples`. Raise it if rules arrive
+# unread; lower it if rules you needed never arrived. What would RETIRE it: a
+# cross-encoder rerank, which would make a similarity bar the wrong control
+# entirely.
 RULEHINT_THRESHOLD_KEY = SURFACES["write_path_rule"].floor_key
 RULEHINT_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD = SURFACES["write_path_rule"].floor_default
 
-# THE COMMAND ARM'S OWN BAR, AND WHY IT IS NOT THE WRITE PATH'S.
-#
-# A write-path query is a code payload, long and rich, while a pre-tool query
-# is a shell command — often under a dozen words. Less text, less signal, lower
-# scores for the same relevance. At the write path's 0.72 the command arm
-# turns nearly everything away, with its refused mass piled just under the
-# line, which is the shape a bar set too high leaves.
-#
-# WHAT 0.68 IS CALIBRATED AGAINST. Replayed queries, consequential acts
-# against innocuous ones, scored against a rule corpus with symptom-bearing
-# triggers:
-#
-#   0.7571  git push origin dev                 consequential
-#   0.7245  cd ...; git fetch; git add -A       consequential
-#   0.7193  git pull --rebase origin dev        consequential
-#   0.6850  docker compose up -d                consequential
-#   ----------------------------------------  0.68
-#   0.6735  wc -l src/*.py && date              innocuous
-#   0.6544  grep -rn useState src/              innocuous
-#   0.6099  sed -n '120,160p' package.json      innocuous
-#   0.6056  ls -la && cat README.md             innocuous
-#
-# At 0.72 three of the four consequential acts would retrieve nothing, though
-# the right rules ranked first for each.
-#
-# THE SEPARATION IS NARROW (about 0.01), and that is a caveat, not a result.
-# Eight probes set a direction; they do not settle a number.
-# `near_miss_samples` on real traffic is what settles it, and this is the bar
-# to re-read first.
-#
-# WHY A LOWER BAR IS SAFE HERE. The band does noise control downstream: a marginal hit that
-# clears the bar still has to score within `_RULEHINT_BAND` of the top to be
-# rendered. The bar's job shrank, so the bar can.
+# THE COMMAND ARM READS THE SAME BAR. A shell command is short, so it scores
+# lower than a code payload for the same relevance and the shared bar admits
+# less here. The band does noise control downstream: a hit that clears the bar
+# still has to score within `_RULEHINT_BAND` of the top to be rendered.
 #
 # The innocuous scores near the line are largely CROSS-PROJECT BLEED rather
 # than bad ranking: another project's shell-command rule matching a shell
@@ -478,17 +441,11 @@ def _autoinject_query(prompt: str, context: str) -> str:
 # The operator's message is the only query that exists before one is composed,
 # and this arm is what runs against it.
 PROMPTRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY = SURFACES["prompt_rule"].floor_key
-# INHERITED FROM THE ACT ARMS. 0.72 is tuned against
-# code and shell commands. An operator's prose is a different query shape
-# against the same documents, and nothing yet says the two distributions line
-# up — triggers are written in the vocabulary of the MOMENT, which for most
-# rules is act vocabulary, so prose may well score lower across the board.
-#
-# Starting at the act arms' number anyway is deliberate: it is the only value
-# with evidence behind it, and guessing lower would put an unmeasured bar in
-# front of a corpus that binds. Every call is logged under `prompt_rule`, so
-# real traffic settles it — read `near_miss_samples` before moving this, not
-# the percentile alone.
+# THE SAME BAR AS THE ACT ARMS. An operator's prose is a different query shape
+# against the same documents, and triggers are written in the vocabulary of
+# the moment, which for most rules is act vocabulary. Every call is logged
+# under `prompt_rule`, so read `near_miss_samples` before moving the shared
+# bar, not the percentile alone.
 PROMPTRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD = SURFACES["prompt_rule"].floor_default
 
 # ANCHORED ON THIS HOOK'S BUDGET rather than the act arms'. This arm fires
@@ -1171,9 +1128,8 @@ async def get_writepath_config(user_id: int) -> dict:
     independent pairs, resolved from the registry.
 
     Each floor's reason is recorded where its default is: WRITEPATH (code
-    embeddings sit on a much higher similarity floor than prose), RULEHINT (a
-    third corpus again), TOOLRULE (a shell command is a different query shape
-    from a code payload and scores lower for the same relevance).
+    embeddings sit on a much higher similarity floor than prose) and RULEHINT
+    (a third corpus again, whose one bar both rule arms read).
 
     THE BUDGET IS SPLIT TOO. "How many titles at once" does not mean the same
     thing on both surfaces: this arm fires before every Write and Edit while

src/grimoire/services/retrieval_pipeline.py

@@ -460,6 +460,20 @@ class RuleArm:
     declared: Declared | None = None
 
 
+# ONE BAR FOR EVERY RULE ARM THAT ANNOTATES. The prompt, command and write
+# arms search the same corpus, and what limits what they show is the budget
+# and the band, not the floor. The floor only answers "is this worth ranking
+# at all", and that question has one answer per corpus, not one per query
+# shape — so the three share one settings key, and moving it moves all three.
+# `set_dial` records the move on every surface that shares the key.
+#
+# Set low on purpose: a hit under it is never shown, so a bar set too high
+# costs a rule that binds, while one set a little low costs a line the band
+# usually drops. The reply backstop keeps its own number, because there the
+# floor is a stop bar and not a hint bar.
+RULE_FLOOR_KEY = "kb_rule_threshold"
+RULE_FLOOR_DEFAULT = 0.70
+
 # The arms differ on purpose where these flags differ. Whether the prompt arm
 # should band, and whether the act arms should reserve a preference, are open
 # questions to settle on telemetry, not by symmetry.
@@ -468,8 +482,8 @@ PROMPT_RULE = RuleArm(
     preference_slot=True,
     tuning=Surface(
         name="prompt_rule",
-        floor_key="kb_promptrule_threshold",
-        floor_default=0.72,
+        floor_key=RULE_FLOOR_KEY,
+        floor_default=RULE_FLOOR_DEFAULT,
         budget_key="kb_promptrule_top_k",
         budget_default=3,
         asks="the operator's message, against rule triggers",
@@ -483,8 +497,8 @@ PRE_TOOL_RULE = RuleArm(
     preference_slot=False,
     tuning=Surface(
         name="pre_tool_rule",
-        floor_key="kb_toolrule_threshold",
-        floor_default=0.68,
+        floor_key=RULE_FLOOR_KEY,
+        floor_default=RULE_FLOOR_DEFAULT,
         budget_key="kb_toolrule_top_k",
         budget_default=5,
         asks="the command about to run, against rule triggers",
@@ -498,8 +512,8 @@ WRITE_PATH_RULE = RuleArm(
     preference_slot=False,
     tuning=Surface(
         name="write_path_rule",
-        floor_key="kb_rulehint_threshold",
-        floor_default=0.72,
+        floor_key=RULE_FLOOR_KEY,
+        floor_default=RULE_FLOOR_DEFAULT,
         budget_key="kb_rulehint_top_k",
         budget_default=5,
         asks="the code being written, against rule triggers",

src/grimoire/services/retrieval_surfaces.py

@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ def dial_for_key(key: str) -> tuple[str, str] | None:
 
     Derived rather than listed so a seventh surface is covered the moment it is
     added here, which is the only way this stays true.
+
+    A floor key several surfaces share resolves to the first of them;
+    `set_dial` records the move on every surface in `sharing_floor`.
     """
     for surface in SURFACES.values():
         if key == surface.floor_key:
@@ -119,6 +122,16 @@ def dial_for_key(key: str) -> tuple[str, str] | None:
     return None
 
 
+def sharing_floor(name: str) -> list[str]:
+    """Every surface that reads the same floor key as `name`, itself included.
+
+    The rule arms share one bar, so moving one surface's floor moves its
+    siblings, and each of them needs the event that says so.
+    """
+    key = get_surface(name).floor_key
+    return [n for n, s in SURFACES.items() if s.floor_key == key]
+
+
 async def floor_for(user_id: int, name: str) -> float:
     """This install's current floor for a surface, clamped to [0, 1]."""
     s = get_surface(name)

src/grimoire/services/retrieval_tuning.py

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ from grimoire.services.retrieval_surfaces import (
     budget_for,
     floor_for,
     get_surface,
+    sharing_floor,
     surface_names,
 )
 from grimoire.services.settings import set_setting
@@ -257,6 +258,10 @@ async def set_dial(
             "reason": text, "actor": actor, "unchanged": True,
         }
 
+    # A shared floor moves every surface that reads it, and each one's history
+    # has to show the move, or its telemetry changes with no event to explain it.
+    moved = sharing_floor(surface) if dial == "floor" else [surface]
+
     await set_setting(user_id, key, stored)
     async with async_session() as session:
         # Stamped with the space this number was chosen in. Read at
@@ -264,12 +269,13 @@ async def set_dial(
         # the caller recording it are the same call, so there is no window in
         # which they could disagree.
         stamp = calibration_stamp()
-        session.add(RetrievalTuningEvent(
-            user_id=user_id, surface=surface, dial=dial,
-            old_value=old, new_value=applied, actor=actor, reason=text,
-            embedding_model=stamp["embedding_model"],
-            shape_version=stamp["shape_version"],
-        ))
+        for name in moved:
+            session.add(RetrievalTuningEvent(
+                user_id=user_id, surface=name, dial=dial,
+                old_value=old, new_value=applied, actor=actor, reason=text,
+                embedding_model=stamp["embedding_model"],
+                shape_version=stamp["shape_version"],
+            ))
         await session.commit()
 
     return {
@@ -286,6 +292,9 @@ async def set_dial(
         # Always present, both ways round: a caller that has to test for the
         # key's absence to learn the answer will eventually forget to.
         "unchanged": False,
+        # The other surfaces this move carried with it: a shared floor is one
+        # number, and a caller tuning one rule arm has tuned them all.
+        "moved_with": [n for n in moved if n != surface],
     }
 
 

tests/test_retrieval_surfaces.py

@@ -71,13 +71,29 @@ def test_every_surface_name_is_a_real_telemetry_source():
     )
 
 
-def test_no_two_surfaces_share_a_settings_key():
-    """One dial, one label."""
-    floors = [s.floor_key for s in rs.SURFACES.values()]
+def test_a_shared_settings_key_is_one_bar_with_one_default():
+    """One dial, one label. Surfaces may share a floor key, as the rule arms
+    do, but then they must ship the same default: otherwise the one number
+    means something different on each surface until somebody sets it."""
+    by_key: dict[str, set[float]] = {}
+    for s in rs.SURFACES.values():
+        by_key.setdefault(s.floor_key, set()).add(s.floor_default)
+    split = {k: v for k, v in by_key.items() if len(v) > 1}
+    assert not split, f"a shared floor key ships two defaults: {split}"
+
     budgets = [s.budget_key for s in rs.SURFACES.values()]
-    assert len(set(floors)) == len(floors), f"duplicate floor key in {floors}"
     assert len(set(budgets)) == len(budgets), f"duplicate budget key in {budgets}"
-    assert not (set(floors) & set(budgets)), "a floor key doubles as a budget key"
+    assert not (set(by_key) & set(budgets)), "a floor key doubles as a budget key"
+
+
+def test_the_rule_arms_that_annotate_share_one_bar_and_the_reply_stop_does_not():
+    from grimoire.services.retrieval_pipeline import RULE_FLOOR_KEY
+
+    assert sorted(rs.sharing_floor("prompt_rule")) == [
+        "pre_tool_rule", "prompt_rule", "write_path_rule",
+    ]
+    assert rs.SURFACES["prompt_rule"].floor_key == RULE_FLOOR_KEY
+    assert rs.sharing_floor("reply_rule") == ["reply_rule"]
 
 
 def test_every_surface_says_what_it_asks_over_what_and_how_often():

tests/test_retrieval_tuning.py

@@ -86,9 +86,9 @@ async def test_a_good_change_writes_the_setting_and_the_event():
 
     setter.assert_awaited_once()
     _uid, key, stored = setter.await_args.args
-    assert key == "kb_promptrule_threshold" and stored == "0.66"
+    assert key == "kb_rule_threshold" and stored == "0.66"
 
-    event = session.add.call_args.args[0]
+    event = session.add.call_args_list[0].args[0]
     assert event.surface == "prompt_rule" and event.dial == "floor"
     # The before-value is what makes the history answerable.
     assert event.old_value == 0.72 and event.new_value == 0.66
@@ -97,6 +97,37 @@ async def test_a_good_change_writes_the_setting_and_the_event():
     assert out["clamped"] is False
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_a_shared_floor_records_the_move_on_every_surface_that_reads_it():
+    """One key, one write, an event per surface. A rule arm whose bar moved
+    with no event of its own would show a telemetry shift nothing explains."""
+    session, ctx = _patches(floor=0.70)
+    with ctx[0], patch.object(rt, "set_setting", AsyncMock()) as setter, \
+         ctx[2], ctx[3]:
+        out = await rt.set_dial(
+            1, "pre_tool_rule", "floor", 0.74,
+            reason="read the 10 highest declines: every one was a real miss",
+        )
+
+    setter.assert_awaited_once()
+    recorded = {c.args[0].surface for c in session.add.call_args_list}
+    assert recorded == {"pre_tool_rule", "prompt_rule", "write_path_rule"}
+    assert sorted(out["moved_with"]) == ["prompt_rule", "write_path_rule"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_a_budget_moves_only_its_own_surface():
+    session, ctx = _patches(budget=3)
+    with ctx[0], patch.object(rt, "set_setting", AsyncMock()), ctx[2], ctx[3]:
+        out = await rt.set_dial(
+            1, "prompt_rule", "budget", 4,
+            reason="on-point hits sit at ranks 4 and 5 as often as rank 1",
+        )
+
+    assert [c.args[0].surface for c in session.add.call_args_list] == ["prompt_rule"]
+    assert out["moved_with"] == []
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dial, sent, applied", [
     ("floor", 1.4, 1.0),

tests/test_routes_retrieval_tuning.py

@@ -76,10 +76,15 @@ def test_the_route_does_not_take_the_actor_from_the_caller():
 def test_every_registry_key_is_recognised_as_a_dial():
     """Derived from the registry, both directions. A seventh surface added
     without a row here is a floor that can be written silently again."""
-    from grimoire.services.retrieval_surfaces import SURFACES, dial_for_key
+    from grimoire.services.retrieval_surfaces import (
+        SURFACES, dial_for_key, sharing_floor,
+    )
 
     for name, surface in SURFACES.items():
-        assert dial_for_key(surface.floor_key) == (name, "floor")
+        # A shared floor resolves to one of the surfaces that read it, and
+        # `set_dial` records the move on all of them.
+        owner, dial = dial_for_key(surface.floor_key)
+        assert dial == "floor" and name in sharing_floor(owner)
         assert dial_for_key(surface.budget_key) == (name, "budget")
 
 

tests/test_settings_defaults_agree.py

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ ROOT = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
 _SERVICES = ROOT / "src" / "grimoire" / "services"
 _VUE = ROOT / "frontend" / "src" / "views" / "SettingsView.vue"
 
-# THE SIX RETRIEVAL FLOORS live in one registry, so their side of
+# THE RETRIEVAL FLOORS live in one registry, so their side of
 # the pairing is a SURFACE NAME rather than a module constant. That is strictly
 # better for this guard: the surface name is also the telemetry source, so a row
 # here names the same arm the readout does, and a floor that moved cannot be
@@ -49,9 +49,10 @@ _VUE = ROOT / "frontend" / "src" / "views" / "SettingsView.vue"
 _SURFACE_PAIRS = (
     ("auto_inject", "kbInjectThreshold"),
     ("write_path", "kbWritePathThreshold"),
-    ("write_path_rule", "kbRuleHintThreshold"),
-    ("pre_tool_rule", "kbToolRuleThreshold"),
-    ("prompt_rule", "kbPromptRuleThreshold"),
+    # The three rule hints read one bar, so one control serves them.
+    ("write_path_rule", "kbRuleThreshold"),
+    ("pre_tool_rule", "kbRuleThreshold"),
+    ("prompt_rule", "kbRuleThreshold"),
     ("reply_rule", "kbReplyRuleThreshold"),
 )
 

tests/test_write_path_trigger.py

@@ -485,13 +485,13 @@ async def test_writepath_threshold_is_operator_tunable_and_clamped():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_the_rule_arm_has_its_own_tunable_bar():
+async def test_the_rule_arms_have_their_own_tunable_bar():
     """Settable and clamped again, for the THIRD corpus.
 
     Separate from the code threshold above and separately settable, because the
-    two are measured against different things: 0.68 was derived from code
-    against note PROSE, and rules are short imperative technical
-    English — a more homogeneous corpus whose noise floor sits higher.
+    two are measured against different things: the code bar against note
+    PROSE, the rule bar against short imperative technical English — a more
+    homogeneous corpus whose noise floor sits higher.
     """
     from grimoire.services import plugin_context as pc
 
@@ -524,33 +524,28 @@ async def test_the_two_write_path_bars_are_independent():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_the_two_act_arms_read_independent_rule_bars():
-    """The command arm's bar moves without the write path's.
+async def test_both_act_arms_read_the_one_rule_bar():
+    """One stored value moves the command arm and the write arm together.
 
-    The two act arms behave like different subsystems at the same number,
-    because a code payload is long and rich where a shell command is short. A config assembler that
-    reads one key into both fields would silently undo that, and the symptom
-    would be invisible: both arms would simply agree again.
+    They search the same rules, and what limits each is its budget and band.
+    A config assembler that read a second key into either field would split
+    the bar again with nothing in the settings to show it.
     """
     from grimoire.services import plugin_context as pc
 
-    stored = {pc.RULEHINT_THRESHOLD_KEY: "0.75", pc.TOOLRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY: "0.61"}
+    assert pc.TOOLRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY == pc.RULEHINT_THRESHOLD_KEY
+    stored = {pc.RULEHINT_THRESHOLD_KEY: "0.61"}
     with _stored_settings(stored):
         cfg = await pc.get_writepath_config(1)
 
-    assert cfg["rule_threshold"] == 0.75
+    assert cfg["rule_threshold"] == 0.61
     assert cfg["tool_rule_threshold"] == 0.61
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_a_garbage_command_bar_falls_back_to_its_own_default():
-    """Not to 0.0, and not to the write path's default.
-
-    Falling back to 0.0 would attach a rule to every Bash call in the session;
-    falling back to the sibling's default would quietly re-merge the two bars
-    that are kept separate, which is the harder failure to see because the arm
-    keeps working.
-    """
+async def test_a_garbage_rule_bar_falls_back_to_its_default():
+    """Not to 0.0, which would attach a rule to every Bash call and every
+    write in the session."""
     from grimoire.services import plugin_context as pc
 
     stored = {pc.TOOLRULE_THRESHOLD_KEY: "banana"}
@@ -558,20 +553,7 @@ async def test_a_garbage_command_bar_falls_back_to_its_own_default():
         cfg = await pc.get_writepath_config(1)
 
     assert cfg["tool_rule_threshold"] == pc.TOOLRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD
-
-
-def test_the_command_bar_defaults_below_the_write_path_bar():
-    """A DIRECTION check, like its sibling above, and for the same reason: the
-    value is measured against one corpus, the relationship is not.
-
-    A shell command carries less text than a code payload and therefore scores
-    lower for the same relevance; at the write path's bar, consequential
-    commands retrieve nothing. Tuning either value stays free; inverting the
-    relationship would mute the command arm.
-    """
-    from grimoire.services import plugin_context as pc
-
-    assert pc.TOOLRULE_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD < pc.RULEHINT_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD
+    assert cfg["rule_threshold"] == pc.RULEHINT_DEFAULT_THRESHOLD
 
 
 def test_the_rule_bar_defaults_above_the_code_bar():