fix(dashboard): label API preference writes as agent, not you

assets/dashboard.js

@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ async function initPrefs(){
     tog.disabled=true; st.textContent='saving…';
     try{
       const r=await apiFetch('/api/preferences',{method:'POST',headers:{'Content-Type':'application/json'},
-        body:JSON.stringify({brain:prefsBrain,content:ta.value})});
+        body:JSON.stringify({brain:prefsBrain,content:ta.value,source:'you'})});
       const j=await r.json();
       if(r.ok){ st.textContent='saved · '+j.bytes+' bytes'; if(j.cap) PCAP=j.cap; showMeter(j.bytes); setMode(false); }   // close only on success
       else st.textContent='error: '+(j.error||r.status);                        // stay open; don't lose the edit

assets/skills/distill/SKILL.md

@@ -376,7 +376,9 @@ may reword only bullets *you* added, never the user's.
 
 One readable log carries everything you need: `$DATA/preferences/edits.md`, the **diff history**
 of the page. Each entry is a timestamped, sourced diff — `· you` is a hand-edit (dashboard or by
-hand), `· distill` is a refresh you wrote. The diff is **context-free** (zero unchanged lines):
+hand in the dashboard editor), `· agent` is a write by an agent or script through the dashboard API
+(the API's default label — treat those lines as revisable, like your own, never as the user's), and
+`· distill` is a refresh you wrote. The diff is **context-free** (zero unchanged lines):
 **every** line is a real change — a line starting `-` was removed, `+` was added, and the rest of
 the line is the content verbatim. A removed bullet `- Foo` therefore appears as `-- Foo` (the
 first `-` is the diff marker, `- Foo` is the line). Do not read it as two dashes of content:
@@ -398,8 +400,8 @@ Then:
    parallel key ledger to keep in sync:
    - **What the user removed** — any `-` line in a `· you` entry. NEVER re-add a steer the user
      deleted; the removal is deliberate. (You just *see* it now, instead of matching keys.)
-   - **Which current bullets are yours** — ones you introduced in a `· distill` entry that the user
-     hasn't edited or removed since. Only these may you reword or collapse; treat every other
+   - **Which current bullets are yours** — ones you introduced in a `· distill` or `· agent` entry
+     that the user hasn't edited or removed since. Only these may you reword or collapse; treat every other
      bullet as the user's and leave it untouched.
    - **Whether the user edited since your last write** — if the newest `· you` entry is newer than
      your newest `· distill` entry, the page is the user's this run: stay **strictly additive**,

internal/dashboard/prefs_source_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package dashboard
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// The edit ledger must say who wrote the page: only the dashboard editor is the
+// owner's hand ("· you"); any other API caller is an agent ("· agent"), so
+// /distill never mistakes agent wording for the owner's protected lines.
+func TestPreferencesEditSourceLabel(t *testing.T) {
+	srv, ts := newTestServer(t)
+	ledger := filepath.Join(srv.Q.Data, "preferences", "edits.md")
+	page := filepath.Join(srv.Q.Data, "preferences", "global.md")
+
+	if code, resp := postJSON(t, ts.URL+"/api/preferences", map[string]any{"content": "# P\n\n- one\n"}, nil); code != 200 {
+		t.Fatalf("unlabelled POST = %d %v", code, resp)
+	}
+	b, _ := os.ReadFile(ledger)
+	if !strings.Contains(string(b), " · agent\n") || strings.Contains(string(b), " · you\n") {
+		t.Errorf("a write without a source must be recorded as · agent, got:\n%s", b)
+	}
+
+	if code, resp := postJSON(t, ts.URL+"/api/preferences", map[string]any{"content": "# P\n\n- two\n", "source": "you"}, nil); code != 200 {
+		t.Fatalf("source=you POST = %d %v", code, resp)
+	}
+	b, _ = os.ReadFile(ledger)
+	if !strings.Contains(string(b), " · you\n") {
+		t.Errorf("the editor's write (source=you) must be recorded as · you, got:\n%s", b)
+	}
+
+	code, resp := postJSON(t, ts.URL+"/api/preferences", map[string]any{"content": "# P\n\n- three\n", "source": "distill"}, nil)
+	if code != 400 || !strings.Contains(resp["error"].(string), "source") {
+		t.Errorf("unknown source must be rejected with 400 naming source, got %d %v", code, resp)
+	}
+	if onDisk, _ := os.ReadFile(page); string(onDisk) != "# P\n\n- two\n" {
+		t.Errorf("rejected write must not touch the page, got %q", onDisk)
+	}
+}

internal/dashboard/server.go

@@ -400,6 +400,19 @@ func (s *Server) doPOST(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			s.sendJSON(w, 400, map[string]any{"error": "content must be a string"})
 			return
 		}
+		// Who is writing decides the ledger label /distill reads: "you" is the
+		// owner typing in the dashboard editor (those lines are protected);
+		// anything else calling this endpoint — an agent, a script — is "agent",
+		// so its wording never gets mistaken for the owner's.
+		source := "agent"
+		if v, has := d["source"]; has {
+			src, ok := v.(string)
+			if !ok || (src != "you" && src != "agent") {
+				s.sendJSON(w, 400, map[string]any{"error": `source must be "you" (the dashboard editor) or "agent"`})
+				return
+			}
+			source = src
+		}
 		pdir := filepath.Join(s.Q.Data, "preferences")
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(pdir, 0o755); err != nil {
 			s.postErr(w, err)
@@ -419,7 +432,7 @@ func (s *Server) doPOST(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		// entry is a real change; nothing unchanged to mistake for an edit.
 		if diffBody := editLedgerDiff(splitPyLines(old), splitPyLines(content)); len(diffBody) > 0 {
 			ts := s.Q.Now().Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05") // local time, seconds
-			entry := "## " + ts + " · you\n\n```diff\n" + strings.Join(diffBody, "\n") + "\n```\n\n"
+			entry := "## " + ts + " · " + source + "\n\n```diff\n" + strings.Join(diffBody, "\n") + "\n```\n\n"
 			f, err := os.OpenFile(filepath.Join(pdir, "edits.md"), os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0o644)
 			if err != nil {
 				s.postErr(w, err)

internal/dashboard/server_test.go

@@ -317,7 +317,8 @@ func TestPreferencesEditLedger(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	srv, ts := newTestServer(t)
 	post := func(content string) {
-		code, _ := postJSON(t, ts.URL+"/api/preferences", map[string]any{"content": content}, nil)
+		// the dashboard editor identifies itself; see TestPreferencesEditSourceLabel for the API default
+		code, _ := postJSON(t, ts.URL+"/api/preferences", map[string]any{"content": content, "source": "you"}, nil)
 		if code != 200 {
 			t.Fatalf("preferences POST = %d", code)
 		}