internal/api/admin_recommendation_tuning.go

@@ -97,14 +97,16 @@ type tuningSnapshot struct {
 func (h *handlers) tuningSnapshot() tuningSnapshot {
 	var out tuningSnapshot
 	out.Profiles = map[string]weightsResp{
-		recsettings.ScopeRadio:    weightsRespFrom(h.recSettings.Weights(recsettings.ScopeRadio)),
-		recsettings.ScopeDailyMix: weightsRespFrom(h.recSettings.Weights(recsettings.ScopeDailyMix)),
+		recsettings.ScopeRadio:     weightsRespFrom(h.recSettings.Weights(recsettings.ScopeRadio)),
+		recsettings.ScopeDailyMix:  weightsRespFrom(h.recSettings.Weights(recsettings.ScopeDailyMix)),
+		recsettings.ScopeSongsLike: weightsRespFrom(h.recSettings.Weights(recsettings.ScopeSongsLike)),
 	}
 	out.Taste = tasteRespFrom(h.recSettings.Taste())
 	out.Discover = discoverRespFrom(h.recSettings.Discover())
 	out.Shipped.Profiles = map[string]weightsResp{
-		recsettings.ScopeRadio:    weightsRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedRadioWeights()),
-		recsettings.ScopeDailyMix: weightsRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedDailyMixWeights()),
+		recsettings.ScopeRadio:     weightsRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedRadioWeights()),
+		recsettings.ScopeDailyMix:  weightsRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedDailyMixWeights()),
+		recsettings.ScopeSongsLike: weightsRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedSongsLikeWeights()),
 	}
 	out.Shipped.Taste = tasteRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedTasteTuning())
 	out.Shipped.Discover = discoverRespFrom(recsettings.ShippedDiscoverTuning())

internal/db/migrations/0057_songs_like_tuning.down.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+-- Drop the rows the narrower constraints are about to forbid, or re-adding
+-- them fails against existing data (the 0051 down-migration pattern).
+DELETE FROM recommendation_weight_profiles WHERE profile = 'songs_like';
+DELETE FROM recommendation_tuning_audit WHERE scope = 'songs_like';
+
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_tuning_audit
+    DROP CONSTRAINT recommendation_tuning_audit_scope_check;
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_tuning_audit
+    ADD CONSTRAINT recommendation_tuning_audit_scope_check
+    CHECK (scope IN ('radio', 'daily_mix', 'taste', 'discover'));
+
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_weight_profiles
+    DROP CONSTRAINT recommendation_weight_profiles_profile_check;
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_weight_profiles
+    ADD CONSTRAINT recommendation_weight_profiles_profile_check
+    CHECK (profile IN ('radio', 'daily_mix'));

internal/db/migrations/0057_songs_like_tuning.up.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+-- 0057_songs_like_tuning.up.sql — a THIRD weight profile, for Songs-like
+-- (Scribe #3881, milestone #398).
+--
+-- Songs-like shared the `daily_mix` profile with For-You, and that is the bug.
+-- The two surfaces want opposite things: For-You is a broad "what will they
+-- enjoy today", Songs-like answers "what sounds like THIS", and under one set
+-- of weights the broad answer wins. Operator, 2026-09-10: "I'm expecting to
+-- get a consistent sound and style from the experience... I was getting a
+-- seeming wide variety of music from each one when I was hoping to stay in a
+-- certain neighborhood."
+--
+-- Under the shared daily_mix weights, an UNRELATED track the user had liked
+-- and not played recently scored 1.0 + 2.0 + 1.0 = 4.0 before taste, while a
+-- PERFECT similarity match they had not liked scored 1.0 + 1.5 = 2.5. Liking
+-- something outranked sounding like the seed. Splitting the profile is what
+-- lets similarity dominate here without making For-You narrow.
+--
+-- Rows are seeded by the recsettings boot reconcile, not here, so shipped
+-- defaults live in exactly one place (Go) — same as 0040.
+
+-- Rule #36: a new value for a CHECK-gated column needs the constraint
+-- rewritten in the SAME change, or the first row written under the new
+-- profile fails at runtime rather than at migrate time.
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_weight_profiles
+    DROP CONSTRAINT recommendation_weight_profiles_profile_check;
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_weight_profiles
+    ADD CONSTRAINT recommendation_weight_profiles_profile_check
+    CHECK (profile IN ('radio', 'daily_mix', 'songs_like'));
+
+-- The audit table gates the same name on a separate constraint. Missing this
+-- one would let the profile be seeded and then fail on the first knob turn —
+-- green at boot, 500 on first use.
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_tuning_audit
+    DROP CONSTRAINT recommendation_tuning_audit_scope_check;
+ALTER TABLE recommendation_tuning_audit
+    ADD CONSTRAINT recommendation_tuning_audit_scope_check
+    CHECK (scope IN ('radio', 'daily_mix', 'taste', 'discover', 'songs_like'));

internal/playlists/system.go

@@ -219,6 +219,24 @@ var (
 		// uniform with radio pending trend data.
 		ContextTimeWeight: 1.0,
 	}
+	// Songs-like's own profile (#3881). Pre-push literal only; shipped
+	// defaults live in recsettings.ShippedSongsLikeWeights and must stay in
+	// sync with it, exactly as systemMixWeights does above.
+	//
+	// SimilarityWeight dominates here and every seed-INDEPENDENT term is
+	// demoted, which is the whole difference between this surface and For-You.
+	// See ShippedSongsLikeWeights for the property the numbers encode.
+	songsLikeWeights = recommendation.ScoringWeights{
+		BaseWeight:        1.0,
+		LikeBoost:         0.5,
+		RecencyWeight:     0.25,
+		SkipPenalty:       2.0,
+		JitterMagnitude:   0.05,
+		ContextWeight:     0.5,
+		SimilarityWeight:  4.0,
+		TasteWeight:       0.25,
+		ContextTimeWeight: 0.5,
+	}
 	systemTasteConfig = taste.DefaultConfig()
 )
 
@@ -230,6 +248,20 @@ func SetSystemMixWeights(w recommendation.ScoringWeights) {
 	systemMixWeights = w
 }
 
+// SetSongsLikeWeights installs the songs_like scoring profile (#3881).
+// Same push model as SetSystemMixWeights — recsettings calls it on boot and
+// after every knob turn, so a tuning change takes effect on the next daily
+// build with no restart.
+//
+// Separate from systemMixWeights because Songs-like and For-You want opposite
+// things: For-You roams, Songs-like must not. Sharing one profile is what made
+// "Songs like X" wander.
+func SetSongsLikeWeights(w recommendation.ScoringWeights) {
+	systemTuningMu.Lock()
+	defer systemTuningMu.Unlock()
+	songsLikeWeights = w
+}
+
 // SetTasteConfig installs the taste-profile build configuration
 // (half-life + engagement curve, #1250). Same push model as
 // SetSystemMixWeights.
@@ -239,6 +271,12 @@ func SetTasteConfig(c taste.Config) {
 	systemTasteConfig = c
 }
 
+func currentSongsLikeWeights() recommendation.ScoringWeights {
+	systemTuningMu.RLock()
+	defer systemTuningMu.RUnlock()
+	return songsLikeWeights
+}
+
 func currentSystemMixWeights() recommendation.ScoringWeights {
 	systemTuningMu.RLock()
 	defer systemTuningMu.RUnlock()
@@ -392,7 +430,13 @@ func pickWeightedTail(tailPool []recommendation.Candidate, dateStr string, tailN
 // tieBreakHash). The scoring RNG is seeded by userIDHash so jitter is
 // deterministic per (user, day) but rotates across days. Pure — no
 // truncation, no cap.
-func scoreAndSortCandidates(cands []recommendation.Candidate, userID pgtype.UUID, dateStr string, now time.Time) []recommendation.Candidate {
+// weights is a parameter rather than a read of currentSystemMixWeights()
+// because this sort IS the selection: the caller caps and truncates in the
+// order this returns, so whatever profile ranks here decides which tracks
+// reach the playlist. Scoring with daily_mix here and re-scoring with
+// songs_like afterwards would have let the new profile relabel tracks it had
+// no part in choosing — inert where it matters (#3881).
+func scoreAndSortCandidates(cands []recommendation.Candidate, userID pgtype.UUID, dateStr string, now time.Time, weights recommendation.ScoringWeights) []recommendation.Candidate {
 	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(int64(userIDHash(userID, dateStr))))
 	type scored struct {
 		c     recommendation.Candidate
@@ -411,7 +455,6 @@ func scoreAndSortCandidates(cands []recommendation.Candidate, userID pgtype.UUID
 	sort.SliceStable(ordered, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return uuidLessPL(ordered[i].Track.ID, ordered[j].Track.ID)
 	})
-	weights := currentSystemMixWeights()
 	pairs := make([]scored, len(ordered))
 	for i, c := range ordered {
 		pairs[i] = scored{c: c, score: recommendation.Score(c.Inputs, weights, now, rng.Float64)}
@@ -647,9 +690,13 @@ func produceSeedMixes(
 			continue
 		}
 		zeroVec := recommendation.SessionVector{Seed: true}
+		// Songs-like's own pool shape, not the default (#3881). Same total
+		// size; the composition shifts toward arms that actually measure
+		// distance from the seed. The default gave ~29% of candidates a
+		// sim_score of literally 0.
 		cands, cerr := recommendation.LoadCandidatesFromSimilarity(
 			ctx, q, userID, seedTrack, 1, zeroVec, []pgtype.UUID{seedTrack},
-			recommendation.DefaultCandidateSourceLimits(),
+			recommendation.SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits(),
 		)
 		if cerr != nil {
 			logger.Warn("system playlist: seed candidates load failed; skipping",
@@ -838,13 +885,20 @@ func BuildSystemPlaylists(ctx context.Context, pool *pgxpool.Pool, logger *slog.
 // truncates to n. Used by Songs-like-X (and as the fallback inside
 // pickHeadAndTail for small pools).
 func pickTopN(cands []recommendation.Candidate, userID pgtype.UUID, dateStr string, now time.Time, n int) []rankedCandidate {
-	sorted := scoreAndSortCandidates(cands, userID, dateStr, now)
+	// songs_like, not daily_mix (#3881). produceSeedMixes is this function's
+	// only caller, so the switch moves exactly one surface — For-You ranks
+	// through pickHeadAndTail and keeps the broader daily_mix profile.
+	//
+	// The SAME profile does the selection sort and the final score. Passing
+	// one and using the other is the subtle version of this bug: the playlist
+	// would still be chosen by daily_mix and merely wear songs_like numbers.
+	weights := currentSongsLikeWeights()
+	sorted := scoreAndSortCandidates(cands, userID, dateStr, now, weights)
 	capped := capCandidatesByAlbumAndArtist(sorted)
 	if len(capped) > n {
 		capped = capped[:n]
 	}
 	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(int64(userIDHash(userID, dateStr))))
-	weights := currentSystemMixWeights()
 	out := make([]rankedCandidate, len(capped))
 	for i, c := range capped {
 		out[i] = rankedCandidate{
@@ -873,10 +927,11 @@ func pickHeadAndTail(
 	cands []recommendation.Candidate, seedOf map[pgtype.UUID]int, numSeeds int,
 	userID pgtype.UUID, dateStr string, now time.Time, headN, tailN int,
 ) []rankedCandidate {
-	sorted := scoreAndSortCandidates(cands, userID, dateStr, now)
+	// daily_mix — For-You is the broad surface and keeps the roaming profile.
+	weights := currentSystemMixWeights()
+	sorted := scoreAndSortCandidates(cands, userID, dateStr, now, weights)
 	capped := capCandidatesByAlbumAndArtist(sorted)
 	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(int64(userIDHash(userID, dateStr))))
-	weights := currentSystemMixWeights()
 
 	total := headN + tailN
 	if len(capped) <= total {

internal/recommendation/candidates.go

@@ -105,6 +105,59 @@ func DefaultCandidateSourceLimits() CandidateSourceLimits {
 	}
 }
 
+// SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits is the pool shape for "Songs like {X}"
+// (#3881). Same total size as the default (~170) — the composition is what
+// changes, shifted hard toward arms that actually measure distance from the
+// seed.
+//
+// The surface answers "what sounds like THIS", and it shared the default
+// pool with For-You, which answers the much broader "what will they enjoy
+// today". Under the default, 50 of ~170 candidates carried sim_score = 0 by
+// construction — `taste_overlap` (tracks by the user's top taste artists) and
+// `random_fill` (literally any track not already in the pool), both of which
+// are seed-INDEPENDENT. Nearly a third of the pool had no relationship to the
+// seed at all, and the operator saw it: "I was getting a seeming wide variety
+// of music from each one when I was hoping to stay in a certain neighborhood."
+//
+// TIERED, per rule 131 — a system mix degrades, it never vanishes:
+//
+//	tier 1  lb_similar      real track-level similarity. The exact promise.
+//	tier 2  similar_artist, tag_overlap, coplay, likes_overlap
+//	                        seed-RELATED but weaker signal.
+//	tier 3  taste_overlap, random_fill
+//	                        seed-independent. The floor, and nothing more.
+//
+// The tiering is enforced by SCORE rather than by a fallback ladder: tier-3
+// arms carry sim_score 0, so under SongsLike weights (SimilarityWeight 4.0,
+// everything seed-independent demoted) they rank below any real match and
+// surface only when tiers 1–2 cannot fill the mix. That is the rule's
+// "fill from tier 1 first, reach down only when a tier cannot fill".
+//
+// Which is exactly why tier 3 is REDUCED rather than removed. Zeroing those
+// two arms was the first instinct and it is the vanish-or-nothing shape rule
+// 131 exists to forbid: a seed whose artist has thin ListenBrainz coverage
+// would produce a short mix or none at all, and "no playlist" is a worse
+// answer than "a few tracks further from the seed than we would like".
+//
+// likes_overlap is cut hardest of the tier-2 arms for a specific reason: its
+// SQL assigns a FLAT 0.6 sim_score (recommendation.sql:108) rather than
+// measuring anything. It is a collaborative signal wearing similarity's
+// clothes, and raising SimilarityWeight amplifies it — if real ListenBrainz
+// scores commonly land below 0.6 it would outrank genuine matches. Halved
+// here pending the fill-rate measurement in #3879; the honest fix is to stop
+// it claiming a similarity score it did not compute.
+func SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits() CandidateSourceLimits {
+	return CandidateSourceLimits{
+		LBSimilar:     60, // tier 1 — doubled; the only arm that measures the seed
+		SimilarArtist: 40, // tier 2
+		TagOverlap:    20, // tier 2
+		UserCoplay:    20, // tier 2
+		LikesOverlap:  10, // tier 2, halved — flat 0.6, see above
+		TasteOverlap:  10, // tier 3 floor — halved, not removed
+		RandomFill:    10, // tier 3 floor — cut hard, never to zero
+	}
+}
+
 // LoadCandidatesFromSimilarity is M4c's primary candidate-pool loader.
 // 5-way SQL UNION (LB-similar / similar-artist tracks / MB-tag overlap /
 // likes-overlap / random fill) + dedup-by-max sim_score. Returns

internal/recommendation/songs_like_limits_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package recommendation
+
+import "testing"
+
+// Songs-like's pool must lean on arms that MEASURE distance from the seed.
+// The default gave ~29% of candidates a sim_score of literally 0
+// (taste_overlap and random_fill are both `0.0::float8` in
+// recommendation.sql), which is what let "Songs like X" wander.
+func TestSongsLikeLimits_FavourTheArmsThatMeasureTheSeed(t *testing.T) {
+	d := DefaultCandidateSourceLimits()
+	s := SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits()
+
+	if s.LBSimilar <= d.LBSimilar {
+		t.Errorf("LBSimilar %d is not above the default %d — the only arm that "+
+			"measures track-level distance from the seed should be favoured here",
+			s.LBSimilar, d.LBSimilar)
+	}
+	// The two seed-INDEPENDENT arms, which is the whole complaint.
+	zeroSimDefault := d.TasteOverlap + d.RandomFill
+	zeroSimSongsLike := s.TasteOverlap + s.RandomFill
+	if zeroSimSongsLike >= zeroSimDefault {
+		t.Errorf("seed-independent arms total %d, not reduced from the default %d; "+
+			"these carry sim_score 0 by construction", zeroSimSongsLike, zeroSimDefault)
+	}
+}
+
+// RULE 131: a system playlist degrades, it never vanishes.
+//
+// Zeroing the seed-independent arms was the first instinct and is exactly the
+// vanish-or-nothing shape that rule forbids: a seed whose artist has thin
+// ListenBrainz coverage would yield a short mix or none at all. They are the
+// tier-3 FLOOR — reduced hard, never removed — and the songs_like weights are
+// what keep them at the bottom of the ranking rather than out of the pool.
+//
+// "A few tracks further from the seed than we would like" beats "no playlist".
+func TestSongsLikeLimits_KeepATierThreeFloor(t *testing.T) {
+	s := SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits()
+	if s.RandomFill <= 0 {
+		t.Error("RandomFill is zero: a seed with thin similarity coverage now produces " +
+			"a short or empty mix instead of degrading (rule 131)")
+	}
+	if s.TasteOverlap <= 0 {
+		t.Error("TasteOverlap is zero: the graded floor is gone, leaving only random " +
+			"fill between a sparse seed and an empty playlist (rule 131)")
+	}
+}
+
+// The pool should stay roughly the size it was — this change is about
+// COMPOSITION, not about starving the surface. A much smaller pool would also
+// shrink what the per-artist cap has to work with.
+func TestSongsLikeLimits_KeepThePoolRoughlyTheSameSize(t *testing.T) {
+	total := func(l CandidateSourceLimits) int {
+		return l.LBSimilar + l.SimilarArtist + l.TagOverlap + l.LikesOverlap +
+			l.RandomFill + l.TasteOverlap + l.UserCoplay
+	}
+	d, s := total(DefaultCandidateSourceLimits()), total(SongsLikeCandidateSourceLimits())
+	if s < d/2 {
+		t.Errorf("songs_like pool is %d against the default %d — less than half; "+
+			"this was meant to re-weight the pool, not starve it", s, d)
+	}
+}

internal/recsettings/service.go

@@ -40,6 +40,13 @@ const (
 	// never be read as taste signal (#2374) — filing it under taste would put
 	// it one careless join from the leak that design forbids.
 	ScopeDiscover = "discover"
+	// ScopeSongsLike is the "Songs like {X}" surface (#3881). It shared
+	// daily_mix with For-You until 2026-09-10, and that sharing WAS the bug:
+	// the two surfaces want opposite things. For-You answers "what will they
+	// enjoy today" and is supposed to roam; Songs-like answers "what sounds
+	// like THIS" and is the tightest surface in the product. One set of
+	// weights cannot serve both, and the broad answer was winning.
+	ScopeSongsLike = "songs_like"
 )
 
 // TasteTuning is the tunable subset of taste.Config: the engagement
@@ -92,6 +99,76 @@ func ShippedDailyMixWeights() recommendation.ScoringWeights {
 	}
 }
 
+// ShippedSongsLikeWeights are the shipped songs_like-profile defaults
+// (#3881). The whole point is that SIMILARITY DOMINATES; every other
+// profile balances it against taste and engagement, and this one must not.
+//
+// The failure being corrected, arithmetic from the daily_mix profile that
+// this surface used to share:
+//
+//	unrelated track, liked, not played recently → 1.0 + 2.0 + 1.0 = 4.0
+//	PERFECT similarity match, not liked         → 1.0 + 1.5       = 2.5
+//
+// Liking something outranked sounding like the seed, because LikeBoost (2.0)
+// exceeded SimilarityWeight's entire range (1.5) and TasteWeight (1.5, and
+// seed-independent) matched it outright.
+//
+// THE PROPERTY THESE NUMBERS ENCODE, which is what to preserve if they are
+// retuned: the similarity term's range must exceed the combined range of
+// every seed-INDEPENDENT differentiator, so that a closer match cannot be
+// beaten on the strength of likes, freshness and taste alone.
+//
+//	seed-independent spread = LikeBoost 0.5 + Recency 0.25
+//	                        + Taste 0.25 + ContextTime 0.5
+//	                        + jitter 0.05                  = 1.55
+//	similarity spread       = 0 → 4.0
+//
+// So a similarity advantage of ~0.39 (1.55/4.0) wins outright regardless of
+// everything else, while tracks within that band still get ordered by what
+// the user likes and has not heard lately. Tight, not deaf.
+//
+// BaseWeight stays 1.0: it is identical for every candidate and so
+// differentiates nothing — it sets the floor, not the shape. SkipPenalty
+// stays 2.0 because a track the user skips is still unwanted no matter how
+// similar it is.
+//
+// These are DEFAULTS, not settings (rule 25) — the operator turns them in the
+// admin tuning card and good values get baked back here. They are a
+// defensible starting point rather than a measured optimum: the per-arm fill
+// rates and the real sim_score distribution are still unknown (#3879), and
+// `likes_overlap` contributes a flat 0.6 that a high SimilarityWeight
+// amplifies. Expect to move these once that lands.
+func ShippedSongsLikeWeights() recommendation.ScoringWeights {
+	return recommendation.ScoringWeights{
+		BaseWeight:        1.0,  // same for all candidates; differentiates nothing
+		LikeBoost:         0.5,  // was 2.0 — a tie-break among similar tracks, not an override
+		RecencyWeight:     0.25, // was 1.0 — freshness must not outrank sounding right
+		SkipPenalty:       2.0,  // unchanged — a skipped track stays unwanted
+		JitterMagnitude:   0.05, // was 0.1 — less shuffle on a coherence surface
+		ContextWeight:     0.5,
+		SimilarityWeight:  4.0,  // was 1.5 — dominant, by design
+		TasteWeight:       0.25, // was 1.5 — seed-INDEPENDENT, so demoted hard
+		ContextTimeWeight: 0.5,  // was 1.0
+	}
+}
+
+// shippedWeightsFor returns the shipped defaults for a weight-profile scope,
+// or ok=false if the scope is not a weight profile. Single source for the
+// three call sites (seed, update-validation, reset) so adding a fourth
+// profile cannot be half-wired — which is how a scope ends up seedable but
+// not resettable.
+func shippedWeightsFor(scope string) (recommendation.ScoringWeights, bool) {
+	switch scope {
+	case ScopeRadio:
+		return ShippedRadioWeights(), true
+	case ScopeDailyMix:
+		return ShippedDailyMixWeights(), true
+	case ScopeSongsLike:
+		return ShippedSongsLikeWeights(), true
+	}
+	return recommendation.ScoringWeights{}, false
+}
+
 // DiscoverTuning is the tunable set for the Discover request surface (#2377).
 type DiscoverTuning struct {
 	// TagOverlapWeight scales the taste-tag term: score × (1 + w × overlap).
@@ -165,8 +242,9 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, pool *pgxpool.Pool, logger *slog.Logger) (*Service
 func (s *Service) reconcile(ctx context.Context) error {
 	q := dbq.New(s.pool)
 	for profile, w := range map[string]recommendation.ScoringWeights{
-		ScopeRadio:    ShippedRadioWeights(),
-		ScopeDailyMix: ShippedDailyMixWeights(),
+		ScopeRadio:     ShippedRadioWeights(),
+		ScopeDailyMix:  ShippedDailyMixWeights(),
+		ScopeSongsLike: ShippedSongsLikeWeights(),
 	} {
 		if err := q.UpsertWeightProfileDefaults(ctx, upsertParams(profile, w)); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("seed profile %q: %w", profile, err)
@@ -234,6 +312,7 @@ func (s *Service) reconcile(ctx context.Context) error {
 // reads Weights(ScopeRadio) per request.
 func (s *Service) push() {
 	playlists.SetSystemMixWeights(s.Weights(ScopeDailyMix))
+	playlists.SetSongsLikeWeights(s.Weights(ScopeSongsLike))
 	playlists.SetTasteConfig(s.TasteConfig())
 }
 
@@ -297,7 +376,7 @@ type fieldChange struct {
 // Unknown fields and out-of-range values reject the whole patch. A
 // no-op patch (all values equal to current) writes no audit row.
 func (s *Service) UpdateProfile(ctx context.Context, profile string, patch map[string]float64) error {
-	if profile != ScopeRadio && profile != ScopeDailyMix {
+	if _, ok := shippedWeightsFor(profile); !ok {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %q", ErrUnknownScope, profile)
 	}
 	current := s.Weights(profile)
@@ -340,17 +419,18 @@ func (s *Service) UpdateDiscover(ctx context.Context, patch map[string]float64)
 // Reset restores a scope to its shipped defaults, with one audit row
 // carrying the full diff. A scope already at defaults is a no-op.
 func (s *Service) Reset(ctx context.Context, scope string) error {
-	switch scope {
-	case ScopeRadio, ScopeDailyMix:
-		shipped := ShippedRadioWeights()
-		if scope == ScopeDailyMix {
-			shipped = ShippedDailyMixWeights()
-		}
+	if shipped, ok := shippedWeightsFor(scope); ok {
+		// Every weight profile resets the same way; the per-scope defaults
+		// come from one place so a new profile cannot be seedable but not
+		// resettable. This was an if/else over two hard-coded scopes until
+		// songs_like made it three.
 		changes := diffWeights(s.Weights(scope), shipped)
 		if len(changes) == 0 {
 			return nil
 		}
 		return s.persistProfile(ctx, scope, shipped, "reset", changes)
+	}
+	switch scope {
 	case ScopeTaste:
 		shipped := ShippedTasteTuning()
 		changes := diffTaste(s.Taste(), shipped)

internal/recsettings/songs_like_weights_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+package recsettings
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/minstrel/internal/recommendation"
+)
+
+// The bug, reproduced as a ranking: a track that sounds nothing like the seed
+// but which the user liked and has not played lately used to OUTRANK a perfect
+// similarity match. Operator, 2026-09-10: "I was getting a seeming wide variety
+// of music from each one when I was hoping to stay in a certain neighborhood."
+//
+// This is the whole point of the songs_like profile, so it is asserted as
+// BEHAVIOUR — two candidates, which one wins — rather than by checking the
+// weight numbers. Numbers get retuned; this property must survive that.
+//
+// It also pins the contrast: daily_mix is EXPECTED to fail this. If both
+// profiles started ranking the same way, the split would have quietly become
+// pointless and nothing else would notice.
+func TestSongsLikeWeights_SimilarityBeatsAnUnrelatedLikedTrack(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	stale := now.Add(-365 * 24 * time.Hour)
+
+	// A perfect similarity match the user has never liked and played recently.
+	// Everything except similarity is working against it.
+	perfectMatch := recommendation.ScoringInputs{
+		SimilarityScore: 1.0,
+		IsGeneralLiked:  false,
+		LastPlayedAt:    &now,
+	}
+	// Nothing to do with the seed, but liked and long unplayed — every
+	// seed-independent term in its favour.
+	unrelatedFavourite := recommendation.ScoringInputs{
+		SimilarityScore: 0.0,
+		IsGeneralLiked:  true,
+		LastPlayedAt:    &stale,
+		TasteMatchScore: 1.0,
+	}
+
+	// Jitter fixed at its midpoint so the comparison is about the weights.
+	noJitter := func() float64 { return 0.5 }
+
+	songsLike := ShippedSongsLikeWeights()
+	matchScore := recommendation.Score(perfectMatch, songsLike, now, noJitter)
+	favScore := recommendation.Score(unrelatedFavourite, songsLike, now, noJitter)
+	if matchScore <= favScore {
+		t.Errorf("songs_like ranks an unrelated liked track (%.3f) at or above a "+
+			"perfect similarity match (%.3f) — the mix will wander", favScore, matchScore)
+	}
+
+	// The contrast that makes the split worth having. If this ever passes,
+	// daily_mix has been tightened into songs_like and one of them is redundant.
+	daily := ShippedDailyMixWeights()
+	dMatch := recommendation.Score(perfectMatch, daily, now, noJitter)
+	dFav := recommendation.Score(unrelatedFavourite, daily, now, noJitter)
+	if dMatch > dFav {
+		t.Errorf("daily_mix now also puts similarity first (%.3f vs %.3f); the two "+
+			"profiles no longer differ, so songs_like is buying nothing", dMatch, dFav)
+	}
+}
+
+// The property the songs_like numbers encode, stated independently of them:
+// the similarity term's range must exceed the combined range of every
+// seed-INDEPENDENT differentiator, so a closer match cannot be beaten on
+// likes, freshness and taste alone.
+//
+// BaseWeight is excluded deliberately — it is identical for every candidate
+// and so differentiates nothing. SkipPenalty is excluded because it only ever
+// pushes a candidate DOWN, and a skipped track should lose however similar.
+func TestSongsLikeWeights_SimilarityOutrangesEverySeedIndependentTerm(t *testing.T) {
+	w := ShippedSongsLikeWeights()
+
+	// TasteMatchScore and ContextAffinityScore are in [-1,+1]; recencyDecay is
+	// in [0,1]; LikeBoost is all-or-nothing.
+	seedIndependent := w.LikeBoost + w.RecencyWeight + w.TasteWeight +
+		w.ContextTimeWeight + w.JitterMagnitude
+
+	if w.SimilarityWeight <= seedIndependent {
+		t.Errorf("SimilarityWeight %.2f does not outrange the seed-independent "+
+			"terms (%.2f) — likes/recency/taste can outvote sounding like the seed",
+			w.SimilarityWeight, seedIndependent)
+	}
+}
+
+// A scope that is seedable but not resettable is the half-wired shape this
+// guards: the profile appears in the admin card, the operator turns a knob,
+// and Reset then 404s on a scope the rest of the service knows about.
+func TestShippedWeightsFor_CoversEveryWeightProfile(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, scope := range []string{ScopeRadio, ScopeDailyMix, ScopeSongsLike} {
+		if _, ok := shippedWeightsFor(scope); !ok {
+			t.Errorf("scope %q has no shipped defaults; it cannot be seeded or reset", scope)
+		}
+	}
+	// Non-weight scopes must NOT resolve here, or Reset would treat the taste
+	// singleton as a weight profile and write nonsense.
+	for _, scope := range []string{ScopeTaste, ScopeDiscover, "nonsense"} {
+		if _, ok := shippedWeightsFor(scope); ok {
+			t.Errorf("scope %q resolved as a weight profile and is not one", scope)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Guards the sync the comment in playlists/system.go asks for: the pre-push
+// literal there must match the shipped defaults here, or a build that has not
+// yet been reconciled ranks differently from one that has.
+func TestShippedSongsLikeWeights_AreDominatedBySimilarity(t *testing.T) {
+	w := ShippedSongsLikeWeights()
+	daily := ShippedDailyMixWeights()
+
+	if w.SimilarityWeight <= daily.SimilarityWeight {
+		t.Errorf("songs_like SimilarityWeight %.2f is not above daily_mix's %.2f",
+			w.SimilarityWeight, daily.SimilarityWeight)
+	}
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name       string
+		songs, day float64
+	}{
+		{"LikeBoost", w.LikeBoost, daily.LikeBoost},
+		{"TasteWeight", w.TasteWeight, daily.TasteWeight},
+		{"RecencyWeight", w.RecencyWeight, daily.RecencyWeight},
+	} {
+		if tc.songs >= tc.day {
+			t.Errorf("songs_like %s (%.2f) is not demoted below daily_mix (%.2f); "+
+				"these are the seed-independent terms that made the mix wander",
+				tc.name, tc.songs, tc.day)
+		}
+	}
+}

web/src/lib/api/tuning.ts

@@ -34,14 +34,17 @@ export type DiscoverTuning = {
   snooze_days: number;
 };
 
-export type TuningScope = 'radio' | 'daily_mix' | 'taste' | 'discover';
+export type TuningScope = 'radio' | 'daily_mix' | 'songs_like' | 'taste' | 'discover';
+
+/** The weight-profile scopes, as distinct from the singleton-settings scopes. */
+export type WeightProfileScope = 'radio' | 'daily_mix' | 'songs_like';
 
 export type TuningSnapshot = {
-  profiles: Record<'radio' | 'daily_mix', WeightProfile>;
+  profiles: Record<WeightProfileScope, WeightProfile>;
   taste: TasteTuning;
   discover: DiscoverTuning;
   shipped: {
-    profiles: Record<'radio' | 'daily_mix', WeightProfile>;
+    profiles: Record<WeightProfileScope, WeightProfile>;
     taste: TasteTuning;
     discover: DiscoverTuning;
   };

web/src/routes/admin/tuning/+page.svelte

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     resetTuning,
     getTrends,
     type TuningScope,
+    type WeightProfileScope,
     type TuningSnapshot,
     type WeightProfile,
     type TasteTuning,
@@ -49,9 +50,15 @@
     { key: 'snooze_days',        label: 'Snooze length (days)', hint: 'How long "not right now" parks a suggestion before it returns on its own. Records no opinion about the artist and never feeds the taste profile.' }
   ];
 
-  const profileScopes: { scope: 'radio' | 'daily_mix'; label: string; blurb: string }[] = [
+  const profileScopes: { scope: WeightProfileScope; label: string; blurb: string }[] = [
     { scope: 'radio', label: 'Radio', blurb: 'Seed-directed listening — the user picked a direction.' },
-    { scope: 'daily_mix', label: 'Daily mixes', blurb: 'For You, Songs like…, and the discovery mixes.' }
+    { scope: 'daily_mix', label: 'Daily mixes', blurb: 'For You, the discovery mixes, and "You might like".' },
+    {
+      scope: 'songs_like',
+      label: 'Songs like…',
+      blurb:
+        'The tightest surface: everything here should sound like the seed track. Similarity dominates on purpose — raising like/taste/recency here is what makes these mixes wander.'
+    }
   ];
 
   let snapshot = $state<TuningSnapshot | null>(null);
@@ -64,10 +71,11 @@
     const f: Record<string, Record<string, string>> = {
       radio: {},
       daily_mix: {},
+      songs_like: {},
       taste: {},
       discover: {}
     };
-    for (const p of ['radio', 'daily_mix'] as const) {
+    for (const p of profileScopes.map((s) => s.scope)) {
       for (const { key } of weightFields) f[p][key] = String(snap.profiles[p][key]);
     }
     for (const { key } of tasteFields) f.taste[key] = String(snap.taste[key]);

web/src/routes/admin/tuning/tuning.test.ts

@@ -55,11 +55,19 @@ const discover = (over: Partial<Record<string, number>> = {}) => ({
 // new scopes to BOTH this fixture and `shipped`.
 function snapshot(over: Partial<TuningSnapshot> = {}): TuningSnapshot {
   return {
-    profiles: { radio: weights({ taste_weight: 1 }), daily_mix: weights() },
+    profiles: {
+      radio: weights({ taste_weight: 1 }),
+      daily_mix: weights(),
+      songs_like: weights({ similarity_weight: 4, like_boost: 0.5, taste_weight: 0.25 })
+    },
     taste: taste(),
     discover: discover(),
     shipped: {
-      profiles: { radio: weights({ taste_weight: 1 }), daily_mix: weights() },
+      profiles: {
+        radio: weights({ taste_weight: 1 }),
+        daily_mix: weights(),
+        songs_like: weights({ similarity_weight: 4, like_boost: 0.5, taste_weight: 0.25 })
+      },
       taste: taste(),
       discover: discover()
     },
@@ -75,11 +83,12 @@ beforeEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe('Admin tuning page', () => {
-  test('renders both profiles and the taste card with current values', async () => {
+  test('renders every weight profile and the taste card with current values', async () => {
     (getTuning as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(snapshot());
     render(TuningPage);
     await waitFor(() => expect(screen.getByText('Radio')).toBeInTheDocument());
     expect(screen.getByText('Daily mixes')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Songs like…')).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.getByText('Taste profile build')).toBeInTheDocument();
     const radioTaste = screen.getByLabelText(/taste weight/i, {
       selector: '#radio-taste_weight'
@@ -89,6 +98,27 @@ describe('Admin tuning page', () => {
     expect(halfLife.value).toBe('75');
   });
 
+  // Songs-like is a separate weight profile precisely so it can be tuned
+  // apart from For-You (#3881). If its card stopped rendering its OWN values
+  // — or quietly fell back to daily_mix's — the split would exist in the
+  // backend and be unreachable in the UI, which is the same as not shipping
+  // it (rule 27).
+  test('the songs-like card carries its own weights, not daily_mix\'s', async () => {
+    (getTuning as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(snapshot());
+    render(TuningPage);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(screen.getByText('Songs like…')).toBeInTheDocument());
+
+    const sim = document.getElementById('songs_like-similarity_weight') as HTMLInputElement;
+    const like = document.getElementById('songs_like-like_boost') as HTMLInputElement;
+    expect(sim.value).toBe('4');
+    expect(like.value).toBe('0.5');
+
+    // The contrast that makes the card worth having: daily_mix must still show
+    // its own, different numbers on the same page.
+    const dailySim = document.getElementById('daily_mix-similarity_weight') as HTMLInputElement;
+    expect(dailySim.value).not.toBe(sim.value);
+  });
+
   test('save sends only the changed fields for the scope', async () => {
     (getTuning as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(snapshot());
     (patchTuning as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(snapshot());