Ignore generated run configs

Update AITuner roadmap framing
Document vLLM-first harness roadmap
2026-06-24 11:48:21 +08:00 · 2026-06-24 11:45:42 +08:00 · 2026-06-24 11:23:39 +08:00 · 2026-06-23 20:12:53 +08:00 · 2026-06-23 18:24:57 +08:00 · 2026-06-23 18:23:56 +08:00
25 changed files with 3328 additions and 85 deletions
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 .aituner-tight/
 .aituner-prefill/
 .aituner-compare/
+.aituner-run-configs/
 .env
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 - Hardware expectation: 8 NVIDIA H20 GPUs.
 - SSH check: use `ssh dash0` before scheduling or debugging remote runs.
 - Remote project path: `/home/admin/cpfs/wjh/aituner/aituner`.
+- If remote downloads are slow or fail, start the proxy from the remote `wjh`
+  home directory with `./auto_proxy.sh`, then run downloads in a shell where
+  `proxyOn` from `~/.bashrc` has been applied. If `autossh` is unavailable,
+  `ssh -Nf proxy` provides the same local `127.0.0.1:11235` tunnel.

 ## Local/remote sync workflow

--- a/configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_harness_on.json
+++ b/configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_harness_on.json
@@ -130,9 +130,9 @@
      "min_input_tokens": 0,
      "max_input_tokens": 8192
    },
-    "replay_time_scale": 0.5,
+    "replay_time_scale": 0.8775,
    "early_stop_max_lag_s": 45.0,
-    "early_stop_max_elapsed_s": 320.0,
+    "early_stop_max_elapsed_s": 1000.0,
    "adaptive_stop": {
      "enabled": true,
      "tau": 0.9,
@@ -141,8 +141,7 @@
      "max_checks": 20,
      "min_fraction": 0.1,
      "boundary_delta": 0.02
-    },
-    "completion_tokens_override": 128
+    }
  },
  "slo": {
    "target_pass_rate": 0.95,
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@
  },
  "search": {
    "low": 0.0,
-    "high": 0.25,
+    "high": 0.15,
    "tolerance": 0.001,
    "max_probes": 6,
    "sample_seed": 20260325,
@@ -169,7 +168,9 @@
    "max_history_trials": 8,
    "endpoint": {
      "provider": "codex",
-      "model": "gpt-5.4",
+      "model": "gpt-5.5",
+      "base_url": "https://ai.gahow.org/v1",
+      "wire_api": "chat.completions",
      "stream": true,
      "api_key_env": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "timeout_s": 180
--- a/configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_naive_off.json
+++ b/configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_naive_off.json
@@ -130,9 +130,9 @@
      "min_input_tokens": 0,
      "max_input_tokens": 8192
    },
-    "replay_time_scale": 0.5,
+    "replay_time_scale": 0.8775,
    "early_stop_max_lag_s": 45.0,
-    "early_stop_max_elapsed_s": 320.0,
+    "early_stop_max_elapsed_s": 1000.0,
    "adaptive_stop": {
      "enabled": true,
      "tau": 0.9,
@@ -141,8 +141,7 @@
      "max_checks": 20,
      "min_fraction": 0.1,
      "boundary_delta": 0.02
-    },
-    "completion_tokens_override": 128
+    }
  },
  "slo": {
    "target_pass_rate": 0.95,
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@
  },
  "search": {
    "low": 0.0,
-    "high": 0.25,
+    "high": 0.15,
    "tolerance": 0.001,
    "max_probes": 6,
    "sample_seed": 20260325,
@@ -169,7 +168,9 @@
    "max_history_trials": 8,
    "endpoint": {
      "provider": "codex",
-      "model": "gpt-5.4",
+      "model": "gpt-5.5",
+      "base_url": "https://ai.gahow.org/v1",
+      "wire_api": "chat.completions",
      "stream": true,
      "api_key_env": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "timeout_s": 180
--- a/configs/examples/tuning_report.example.json
+++ b/configs/examples/tuning_report.example.json
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+  "report_id": "qwen27b-abl12-harness-vs-naive",
+  "output_root": "../../.aituner-reports/qwen27b-abl12-harness-vs-naive",
+  "target_fraction": 0.95,
+  "min_final_ratio": 0.98,
+  "cases": [
+    {
+      "case_id": "qwen27b-chat-0-8k-real-output",
+      "description": "12-trial harness-vs-naive ablation on the 0-8k chat window with real output lengths.",
+      "tags": ["qwen27b", "chat", "0-8k", "h20", "real-output"],
+      "budgets": [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12],
+      "arms": [
+        {
+          "name": "harness",
+          "kind": "harness",
+          "study_root": "../../.aituner/abl12-harness/dash0-qwen27b-ablation-harness-on"
+        },
+        {
+          "name": "naive",
+          "kind": "naive",
+          "study_root": "../../.aituner/abl12-naive/dash0-qwen27b-ablation-naive-off"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  ]
+}
--- a/docs/aituner-roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/aituner-roadmap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+# AITuner roadmap
+
+本文只维护最小 roadmap：paper framing、claim 树、已有证据、最高优先级实验。
+详细实验流水账放到对应专题文档里。
+
+## Paper thesis
+
+AITuner 的核心不是“用 LLM 调参”。更准确的 framing 是：
+
+```text
+black-box knob optimization
+  -> grey-box / mechanism-guided experimental optimization
+```
+
+也就是说，AITuner 仍然通过真实实验测量目标函数，但它不再把 serving engine 当成
+完全黑盒的 `config vector -> scalar score`。Harness 将 workload、SLO failure、
+probe trace、topology constraints 和 failure memory 转换成结构化的 serving
+mechanism state，并把下一步搜索限制在可解释、可验证的 intervention 上。
+
+因此 LLM 不是不可替代的核心。LLM 是 planner backend / copilot；核心系统贡献是
+planner-agnostic 的 tuning substrate：
+
+```text
+Harness H = (O, R, G, V, M)
+
+O: observation schema
+   workload L/C/A profile + probe trace + latency/SLO failure + launch status
+
+R: regime attribution
+   SLO violation -> prefill-bound / decode-bound / admission-bound / memory-bound / launch-bound
+
+G: serving intervention grammar
+   regime -> legal intervention families, not raw arbitrary knobs
+
+V: validator
+   tunable schema + topology constraints + no-repeat + failure memory + stop authority
+
+M: measurement/scoring protocol
+   SLO-constrained feasible frontier, req/s/GPU, latency quantiles, pass-rate guard
+```
+
+Planner 是可替换的：
+
+```text
+pi in {LLM, BO, bandit, deterministic heuristic, tree search}
+```
+
+AITuner 的强 claim 应该是：同一个 planner 放在 harness-shaped space 里，比放在
+raw knob space 里更快、更稳、更接近最优；弱模型或非 LLM planner 也能从这个 substrate
+中获益。
+
+## Why not pure white-box
+
+我们不应 claim 完整 white-box optimization。AITuner 没有解析 vLLM scheduler、
+kernel、KV cache、通信和排队的闭式性能模型。更稳妥也更强的表述是 grey-box：
+
+- objective 仍然由真实测量决定；
+- action space、constraints、failure attribution 和 intervention semantics 是系统知识驱动；
+- 每个 trial 是一个 counterfactual experiment，而不是盲目采样一个 knob vector。
+
+## 关键设计点
+
+| 设计点 | 更强表述 | 作用 | 需要证明 |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Observation | mechanism state | 将 workload shape、probe trace、SLO failure、launch/memory failure 结构化 | agent 看到的是可计算状态，不是自然语言日志 |
+| Bottleneck classifier | SLO violation attribution | 把失败归因到 serving regime，而不是只看哪个指标超阈值 | attribution 和后续有效 intervention 有因果关联 |
+| Candidate family | serving intervention grammar | 把 raw knobs 提升为 topology / batching / admission / memory interventions | 搜索空间被压缩，但不写死某个 case |
+| Scoring | counterfactual verdict | 用 SLO frontier 和 req/s/GPU 判断 intervention 是否支持假设 | 最终 winner 由测量决定，不由 LLM 决定 |
+| Validator / stop | fail-safe control | 禁止非法、重复、已知失败 family；只有 validator 授权 stop | 错误 attribution 最多浪费 trial，不污染 incumbent |
+
+## Claim roadmap
+
+| Claim | 当前状态 | 证据文档 | 关键缺口 |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| C1. Harness 将 raw knob search 转成 mechanism-guided intervention search，提升固定预算优化效果 | 已有强信号 | [Qwen27B 2x2](harness-ablation/qwen27b-tight-2x2-model-ablation-20260623.md), [Qwen30B SLO robustness](harness-ablation/qwen30b-slo-robustness-20260624.md) | 补 Qwen235B decode 2x2 aggregate；补 mechanism ablation |
+| C2. 收益来自 harness-defined substrate，不依赖某个强 LLM | 部分已有 | [Qwen27B 2x2](harness-ablation/qwen27b-tight-2x2-model-ablation-20260623.md) | 做 `BO/heuristic + harness` vs `BO/heuristic + raw knobs` |
+| C3. Weak planner + harness 可以匹配或超过 strong LLM naive | Qwen27B 已支持；Qwen235B 正在补 | [Qwen27B 2x2](harness-ablation/qwen27b-tight-2x2-model-ablation-20260623.md), [Qwen235B prefill progress](harness-ablation/qwen235b-prefill-2x2-progress-20260623.md) | 完成 Qwen235B decode 2x2；更新 prefill final doc |
+| C4. Attribution 和 intervention grammar 有机制贡献，不只是 prompt 信息更多 | 设计已有，严格证据不足 | [AITuner summary](aituner-harness-summary.md) | 做 shuffled attribution / no attribution / no grammar / no topology-first / no validator ablation |
+| C5. AITuner 找到 near-optimal region，而不是只找到一个可行 config | Qwen30B 有解释性信号 | [Qwen30B SLO robustness](harness-ablation/qwen30b-slo-robustness-20260624.md) | 选 1-2 个 case 做局部 grid 或专家配置对照 |
+| C6. AITuner 能随 SLO tightness 移动到合适 frontier | Qwen30B 已完成 | [Qwen30B SLO robustness](harness-ablation/qwen30b-slo-robustness-20260624.md) | 再选一个非同质 case 做 SLO sweep；同时画 SLO tightness -> frontier/regime transition |
+| C7. Engine adapter 让 intervention grammar 可迁移到其他 serving engine | 设计上可行，暂不作为主实验 claim | `EngineLaunchSpec` / launch recipe / tunable schema | vLLM 主线完成后，再做 SGLang adapter 和一个低成本验证 case |
+
+## 最高优先级实验
+
+### P0. 完成 Qwen235B decode 2x2 并整理 aggregate
+
+目的：补齐最核心的 `harness on/off x strong/weak planner` 证据，回答：
+
+```text
+weak LLM + harness >= strong LLM naive ?
+```
+
+预期产出：
+
+- 2x2 表格：每个 arm 在相同 iter budget 下的 best-so-far req/s/GPU；
+- convergence curve / normalized AUC；
+- 每个 arm 的 trial path 和主要 config patches；
+- 解释 naive 为什么走错，harness 如何通过 regime attribution 走到正确 intervention。
+
+优先级原因：实验已经在跑，增量成本最低，而且直接支撑 C1/C3。
+
+### P1. Planner-agnostic substrate 实验
+
+目的：证明 AITuner 不是 LLM tuner，而是 harness-defined optimization substrate。
+
+最小实验矩阵：
+
+| Planner | Raw knob space | Harness intervention space |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| deterministic heuristic | raw heuristic | harness policy |
+| BO 或 lightweight bandit | raw BO | harness-guided BO |
+| weak LLM | naive weak LLM | weak LLM + harness |
+| strong LLM | naive strong LLM | strong LLM + harness |
+
+如果 BO 实现成本高，先用 deterministic harness policy 做 non-LLM planner baseline：
+它已经能证明“没有 LLM 也能 work”。随后再补 BO，使论证更强。
+
+预期图：
+
+- x-axis: trial budget；
+- y-axis: best-so-far SLO-constrained req/s/GPU；
+- line groups: raw knob space vs harness intervention space；
+- 单独 bar：invalid launch rate、repeated config rate、wasted trial rate。
+
+优先级原因：这是新 framing 的关键实验。没有它，paper 仍然容易被读成“LLM prompt
+engineering”。
+
+### P2. Mechanism ablation
+
+目的：证明 harness 内部不是普通信息堆叠，而是 attribution、intervention grammar、
+validator 分别贡献有效机制。
+
+建议 ablation：
+
+| Variant | 删除/破坏什么 | 预期证明 |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| full AITuner | 无 | 最好 |
+| no attribution | 不提供 regime attribution，只给 scalar score 和历史结果 | attribution 对方向选择有贡献 |
+| shuffled attribution | 故意打乱 regime label，但保留文本长度 | 收益来自语义正确性，不是更多 prompt tokens |
+| no intervention grammar | 允许任意 tunable knobs，移除 family guidance | action-space shaping 有贡献 |
+| no topology-first | runtime knobs 可以优先于 topology intervention | topology 是 LLM serving 的一阶决策 |
+| no validator/failure memory | 允许重复、已知 launch failure family | fail-safe control 减少 GPU burn |
+
+预期图：
+
+- mechanism ablation bar：final best、AUC、TTT；
+- waste breakdown：invalid launch、repeat config、wrong-family trial；
+- case study trace：每个 variant 前 3-5 个 proposal 对比。
+
+优先级原因：这是回应 novelty 质疑的核心证据。
+
+### P3. Near-optimum / expert baseline 证据
+
+目的：证明 AITuner 不是只找到“能收敛但性能差”的 config。
+
+优先选择一个成本可控 case 做局部 grid：
+
+```text
+topology: TP/DP frontier
+runtime: max-num-seqs, max-num-batched-tokens, gpu-memory-utilization 的小邻域
+objective: max feasible req/s/GPU under pass_rate >= 0.95
+```
+
+预期图：
+
+- local grid heatmap；
+- AITuner trial path overlay；
+- AITuner best vs grid best vs expert config；
+- near-optimum gap，例如 `AITuner >= 95% of local grid optimum`。
+
+优先级原因：这是 claim “tune 出最好的 config，而不是差的收敛 config” 的必要证据。
+
+### P4. 第二个 SLO robustness case
+
+目的：证明 Qwen30B 的 SLO robustness 不是单 case 现象。
+
+不要先大规模铺 sweep。先选一个和 Qwen30B 机制不同的 case：
+
+- 一个 decode-heavy case，观察 TP/DP redistribution 和 concurrency/memory intervention；
+- 或一个 long-prefill / tight-TTFT case，观察 TP 和 prefill batching intervention。
+
+预期图：
+
+- x-axis: SLO tightness；
+- y-axis: best feasible req/s/GPU；
+- marker/color: selected intervention regime；
+- annotation: final TP/DP/MNS/MBT；
+- 展示 SLO 放宽时 frontier/right shift 或 regime transition。
+
+优先级原因：重要，但应排在 planner-agnostic 和 mechanism ablation 之后。
+
+### P5. SGLang / multi-engine adapter validation
+
+目的：证明 intervention grammar 可以通过 adapter lowering 到不同 serving engine。
+
+当前暂缓，不作为 vLLM 主线之前的高优先级实验。等 C1-C5 稳定后再做一个低成本 case：
+
+```text
+same workload profile
+same SLO objective
+same intervention grammar
+different engine adapter
+```
+
+优先级原因：它能扩展 generality，但不能替代 vLLM 主线的机制证明。
+
+## 暂不做
+
+- 暂不把主 claim 写成“LLM 比 BO 更聪明”。新 claim 是 harness substrate 对多种 planner
+  都有用。
+- 暂不 claim full white-box 或全局最优。当前更稳妥的是 grey-box、near-optimum、
+  fixed-budget utility。
+- 暂不横向铺大量 SLO sweep。先补机制 ablation、planner-agnostic 和 near-optimum。
+- 暂不把 multi-engine support 放进主实验 claim。先写成 adapter-based design，等 vLLM
+  证据链完整后再补一个 SGLang validation。
--- a/docs/harness-ablation/qwen235b-prefill-2x2-progress-20260623.md
+++ b/docs/harness-ablation/qwen235b-prefill-2x2-progress-20260623.md
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+# Qwen235B prefill 2x2 progress - 2026-06-23
+
+Snapshot: 2026-06-23 18:24 CST / 10:24 UTC.
+
+本文整理当前 dash1/dash2/dash3 上的 Qwen235B prefill 2x2 实验进度。这个
+case 仍在跑 strong-model arm，因此本文是 progress report，不是最终 aggregate
+结论。
+
+## 当前远端状态
+
+| Host | 当前状态 | 说明 |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| dash1 | running | `aituner-q235b-2x2-gpt55-20260623T010038Z` 仍在跑，当前是 `gpt-5.5 + naive` 的 trial-0004；8 张 H20 被 vLLM 占用。 |
+| dash2 | idle | 没有 tmux/GPU 任务；最近完成的是 `qwen235b-prefill-jointprobe-harness-dash2-20260622T132010Z` harness-only 验证。 |
+| dash3 | idle | 没有 tmux/GPU 任务；`gpt-5.4-mini` 2x2 arm 已完成并生成 report。 |
+
+注意：三台机器共享 `/home/admin/cpfs/wjh/aituner/aituner`，所以 `.aituner` 和
+`.aituner-reports` 在不同 dash 节点上看到的是同一批产物。
+
+## 已完成：gpt-5.4-mini 2x2 arm
+
+Report:
+
+```text
+.aituner-reports/qwen235b-prefill-2x2-gpt54mini-dash3-20260623T010038Z/report.md
+```
+
+Aggregate:
+
+| Arm | Kind | Trials | Final req/s/GPU | Final/ref | TTT | AUC | Failed | No feasible |
+| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| `harness` | harness | 8 | 0.3217 | 1.0000 | 3 | 0.9483 | 0 | 1 |
+| `naive` | naive | 8 | - | - | - | 0.0000 | 2 | 8 |
+
+Interpretation:
+
+- `gpt-5.4-mini + harness` 找到了 `0.3217 req/s/GPU`，达到该 report 的
+  reference best。
+- `gpt-5.4-mini + naive` 8 个 trials 都没有找到 feasible config，其中 2 个是
+  engine launch failure。
+- Report 中 `Harness-vs-naive pass/checks: 0/1` 是 aggregator 对
+  `best_naive_final_per_gpu = null` 的保守处理：因为 naive 没有 feasible best，
+  final ratio 无法计算，所以 pass 记为 false。就实际 tuning 结果而言，这个 arm
+  是 harness dominates naive。
+
+Harness trajectory:
+
+| Trial | Patch | req/s/GPU | Pass rate | 说明 |
+| ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| 1 | `TP=8, DP=1` | 0.2879 | 0.9522 | 初始 topology 满足 SLO，但未达到最终 best。 |
+| 2 | `TP=8, max-num-seqs=96` | 0.2879 | 0.9537 | 单独调 `max-num-seqs` 无明显提升。 |
+| 3 | `TP=8, max-num-batched-tokens=16384, max-num-seqs=96` | 0.3085 | 0.9568 | joint runtime probe 提升。 |
+| 4 | `TP=8, max-num-seqs=144, max-num-batched-tokens=32768` | 0.2879 | 0.9530 | 过大的 batching/seq 组合回退。 |
+| 5 | `TP=4, DP=2` | - | - | 无 feasible best，说明 DP-heavy/mixed topology 不解决该 prefill path。 |
+| 6 | `TP=8, max-num-seqs=96, max-num-batched-tokens=24576` | 0.2708 | 0.9523 | batching 进一步增大后回退。 |
+| 7 | `TP=4, DP=1, max-num-seqs=96, max-num-batched-tokens=16384` | 0.2338 | 0.9590 | 少用 GPU 的 TP4/DP1 per-GPU 不占优。 |
+| 8 | `TP=8, DP=1, max-num-seqs=128, max-num-batched-tokens=16384` | 0.3217 | 0.9508 | 当前 best。 |
+
+这个结果说明：在 Qwen235B prefill case 上，harness 的价值不只是 topology
+选择，还包括在 TTFT/prefill 方向下做受约束的 runtime joint probe。最终 best 是
+`TP=8, DP=1, max-num-seqs=128, max-num-batched-tokens=16384`。
+
+## 正在运行：gpt-5.5 2x2 arm
+
+Session:
+
+```text
+tmux: aituner-q235b-2x2-gpt55-20260623T010038Z
+driver log: .aituner/qwen235b-prefill-2x2-gpt55-dash1-20260623T010038Z.driver.log
+```
+
+Driver timeline:
+
+```text
+harness clean pair start 2026-06-23T01:00:40+00:00
+harness clean pair done  2026-06-23T08:21:13+00:00
+naive clean pair start   2026-06-23T08:21:13+00:00
+```
+
+Harness side has completed all 8 trials:
+
+| Trial | Patch | req/s/GPU | Pass rate |
+| ---: | --- | ---: | ---: |
+| 1 | `TP=8, DP=1` | 0.2879 | 0.9522 |
+| 2 | `TP=8, max-num-seqs=96` | 0.2879 | 0.9530 |
+| 3 | `TP=8, max-num-batched-tokens=16384, max-num-seqs=96` | 0.3085 | 0.9561 |
+| 4 | `TP=8, max-num-batched-tokens=32768, max-num-seqs=144` | 0.2783 | 0.9543 |
+| 5 | `TP=8, DP=1, max-num-batched-tokens=24576, max-num-seqs=96` | 0.2654 | 0.9513 |
+| 6 | `TP=4, DP=2, max-num-batched-tokens=16384, max-num-seqs=96` | - | - |
+| 7 | `TP=8, DP=1, max-num-batched-tokens=16384, max-num-seqs=80` | 0.3156 | 0.9505 |
+| 8 | `TP=8, max-num-batched-tokens=32768, max-num-seqs=120` | 0.2879 | 0.9508 |
+
+Current harness best: `trial-0007`, `0.3156 req/s/GPU`.
+
+Naive side is still running. Current state:
+
+- Completed/recorded through trial-0003, with current best `0.2879 req/s/GPU`.
+- trial-0004 is active with `TP=8, DP=1, max-num-batched-tokens=8192,
+  max-num-seqs=128`.
+- trial-0004 probe history so far:
+
+| threshold | request rate | req/s/GPU | pass rate | feasible | main failures |
+| ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | --- |
+| 0.0625 | 1.5750 | 0.1969 | 0.9651 | true | TTFT misses and TTFT threshold violations |
+| 0.09375 | 2.3650 | 0.2956 | 0.7308 | false | `slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable`, TTFT violations |
+| 0.078125 | 1.9567 | 0.2446 | 0.9591 | true | TTFT misses and TTFT threshold violations |
+| 0.0859375 | 2.1667 | 0.2708 | 0.9546 | true | TTFT misses and TTFT threshold violations |
+
+As of the snapshot, vLLM is still processing requests for trial-0004, so the naive
+side has not produced its final result or report yet.
+
+## Prior Qwen235B context
+
+These earlier runs explain why the current 2x2 matters:
+
+| Run | Result | What it showed |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `qwen235b-prefill-clean-gpt55-dash1-20260621T160712Z` | harness 0.2879, naive 0.3217 | Earlier harness stopped/refined too weakly; naive found better final config. |
+| `qwen235b-prefill-seqguard-gpt55-dash1-20260622T064445Z` | harness 0.2879, naive 0.2577 | Seq guard prevented the worst early-stop failure but still did not reach the old naive best. |
+| `qwen235b-prefill-jointprobe-harness-dash2-20260622T132010Z` | harness-only 0.3085 | Joint `max-num-batched-tokens + max-num-seqs` probe improved over seqguard. |
+| `qwen235b-prefill-2x2-gpt54mini-dash3-20260623T010038Z` | harness 0.3217, naive no feasible | Weak model plus harness now reaches the old best and dominates weak naive. |
+
+The current evidence points to the harness needing both:
+
+1. topology discipline: stay on `TP=8, DP=1` for this prefill-heavy 235B setup;
+2. runtime joint probing: tune `max-num-batched-tokens` and `max-num-seqs` together
+   instead of stopping after the first feasible TP8 result.
+
+## Open item
+
+The final Qwen235B 2x2 conclusion is blocked on the still-running
+`gpt-5.5 + naive` arm on dash1. Once it completes, generate an aggregate report
+combining:
+
+- `qwen235b-prefill-2x2-gpt55-dash1-20260623T010038Z`
+- `qwen235b-prefill-2x2-gpt54mini-dash3-20260623T010038Z`
+
+and then update this progress report into a final ablation report.
--- a/docs/harness-ablation/qwen27b-tight-2x2-model-ablation-20260623.md
+++ b/docs/harness-ablation/qwen27b-tight-2x2-model-ablation-20260623.md
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
+# Qwen27B tight-SLO 2x2 harness ablation - 2026-06-23
+
+本文整理以下 aggregate report，并解释 harness 为什么能够让 tuning 更快、更有效：
+
+```text
+.aituner-reports/qwen27b-tight-2x2-aggregate-20260623T005838Z/report.md
+```
+
+这个实验是一个 2x2 ablation：模型强弱和是否启用 `use_harness` 交叉。
+核心问题是：harness 是否提供了可复用的搜索结构，而不仅仅是更强 LLM
+或者更长 prompt 带来的偶然收益。
+
+## 实验设计
+
+Case: `qwen27b-tight-slo-2x2-aggregate`。
+
+实验基座：
+
+- Served model: `qwen3.5-27b-256k-0223-internal`。
+- Hardware: H20，最多 8 GPUs。
+- Trace: `chat_w20260311_1000`，输入长度过滤到 0-8192 tokens，
+  `replay_time_scale=1.0`，`max_concurrency=32`。
+- SLO: pass rate >= 0.95；TTFT step rule 为 <=4096 input tokens 时 2s，
+  <=32768 input tokens 时 4s，更长输入时 6s；TPOT <= 50 ms。
+- Search: 在 `sampling_u in [0, 0.0625]` 上二分探测，tolerance 0.001，
+  max 6 probes。
+- Tunable envs: `VLLM_ENABLE_TORCH_COMPILE`。
+- Tunable flags: `tensor-parallel-size`, `data-parallel-size`,
+  `expert-parallel-size`, `gpu-memory-utilization`, `block-size`,
+  `max-num-batched-tokens`, `max-num-seqs`, `enable-prefix-caching`,
+  `enable-chunked-prefill`。
+- Topology constraints: TP 和 DP 均在 `{1,2,4,8}` 中，允许的 TP*DP product 为
+  `{1,2,4,8}`，本 case 中 EP 固定为 1。
+
+2x2 arms:
+
+| Arm | Tuner model | Harness | Trial budget used |
+| --- | --- | --- | ---: |
+| `gpt55_harness` | `gpt-5.5` | on | 2 |
+| `gpt55_naive` | `gpt-5.5` | off | 10 |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | `gpt-5.4-mini` | on | 2 |
+| `gpt54mini_naive` | `gpt-5.4-mini` | off | 10 |
+
+同一个 tuner model 内，主要差异是 `use_harness`。跨模型比较则用来判断：
+更弱模型加 harness 是否能匹配或超过更强模型的 naive tuning。
+
+## Aggregate result
+
+Reference best: `0.4429 req/s/GPU`。
+Convergence target: reference 的 95%，即 `0.4208 req/s/GPU`。
+
+| Arm | Kind | Trials | Final req/s/GPU | Final/ref | Trials to target | Normalized AUC | Failed | No feasible |
+| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| `gpt55_harness` | harness | 2 | 0.4429 | 1.0000 | 2 | 0.9484 | 0 | 0 |
+| `gpt55_naive` | naive | 10 | 0.0273 | 0.0616 | - | 0.0588 | 2 | 2 |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | harness | 2 | 0.4429 | 1.0000 | 2 | 0.9450 | 0 | 0 |
+| `gpt54mini_naive` | naive | 10 | 0.0231 | 0.0522 | - | 0.0498 | 1 | 1 |
+
+Harness-vs-naive 检查全部通过：
+
+| Harness arm | Final vs best naive | AUC vs best naive | Pass |
+| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| `gpt55_harness` | 16.2290x | 16.1296x | true |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | 16.2290x | 16.0720x | true |
+
+最关键的 ablation 信号是：`gpt-5.4-mini + harness` 和
+`gpt-5.5 + harness` 达到同一个 final throughput，也都是 2 trials 达到 target；
+而两个 naive arms 用满 10 trials 后仍低于 harness arms 16x 以上。
+
+## Agent loop 流程图
+
+下面是当前 harness 化 agent loop 的抽象流程。LLM 仍然可以参与 proposal，
+但它拿到的不是裸文本历史，而是结构化 observation、bottleneck diagnosis、
+candidate actions 和 validator 约束；同时 validator 可以授权 stop，也可以阻止
+重复失败或不合法配置。
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TD
+    A[Study spec: trace, SLO, search range, tunable knobs] --> B[Run one engine config]
+    B --> C[Binary-search probes over sampling_u]
+    C --> D[Build observation o_t]
+    D --> E[Bottleneck classifier]
+    E --> F[Candidate family generator]
+    F --> G[Score candidate actions]
+    G --> H[Prompt renderer / planner]
+    H --> I[LLM or deterministic harness proposal]
+    I --> J{Config validator}
+    J -- invalid, repeated, unsafe --> F
+    J -- valid config_patch --> B
+    G --> K{Stop validator}
+    K -- search_high_saturated_by_incumbent --> L[Stop and keep incumbent]
+    K -- useful candidates remain --> H
+```
+
+这个 loop 中，harness 的作用不是把 prompt 写得更漂亮，而是把 tuning 变成
+一个受测量约束的决策过程：
+
+```text
+measurement -> diagnosis -> candidate family -> scored action -> validated proposal/stop
+```
+
+## 形式化设计：observation
+
+每个 trial 结束后，AITuner 不只记录一段自然语言总结，而是形成结构化 observation：
+
+```text
+o_t = (
+  config_t,
+  probe_history_t,
+  pass_rate_t,
+  latency/SLO_failure_profile_t,
+  request_rate_t,
+  parallel_size_t,
+  launch_status_t,
+  prior_failures_t,
+  incumbent_t
+)
+```
+
+本实验里 observation 中最重要的字段是：
+
+- `config_t`: 当前 trial 的 `flag_patch` 和 `env_patch`，例如 `TP=2, DP=1`。
+- `probe_history_t`: 在不同 `sampling_u` 下二分探测得到的 feasible/infeasible
+  结果。
+- `pass_rate_t`: 是否满足 target pass rate 0.95。
+- `latency/SLO_failure_profile_t`: TTFT 和 TPOT 哪个先触发 SLO pressure。
+- `request_rate_t`: 当前配置在 SLO 下能承载的 request rate。
+- `parallel_size_t`: 该配置实际使用的并行规模，用于归一化 per-GPU objective。
+- `prior_failures_t`: 之前哪些配置 launch failed 或 no feasible，避免重复试错。
+- `incumbent_t`: 当前最优配置及其 `request_rate_per_gpu`。
+
+目标函数是：
+
+```text
+J(config_t) = request_rate_t / parallel_size_t
+subject to pass_rate_t >= 0.95
+```
+
+也就是说，harness 优化的是满足 SLO 后的 `req/s/GPU`，不是 raw throughput，
+也不是 LLM 主观认为“更强”的配置。
+
+## 形式化设计：bottleneck classifier
+
+`bottleneck classifier` 把 observation 映射成 ranked bottleneck hypotheses：
+
+```text
+b_t = ranked_bottleneck(o_t)
+```
+
+它判断的不是“哪个 knob 看起来常用”，而是“当前 SLO failure 和 latency profile
+说明哪个系统环节在限制 objective”。
+
+常见分类包括：
+
+| Bottleneck | 典型证据 | 倾向 knob family |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `ttft_prefill` | 长 prompt 下 TTFT 接近或超过 SLO，prefill service time 是瓶颈 | 提高 TP，调整 prefill batching |
+| `decode_tpot` | TPOT p95/p99 超 SLO，decode token latency 是瓶颈 | 调整 `max-num-seqs`，提高 TP，降低 decode contention |
+| `admission_queueing` | waiting/arrival lag 增长，服务时间未必单独变差 | 提高 DP，调整 admission/concurrency knobs |
+| `memory_kv` | KV cache pressure、preemption、OOM、launch failure | 调整 `gpu-memory-utilization`、`block-size`、sequence/token caps |
+| `topology_comm` | TP 增加降低 latency 但 per-GPU efficiency 下降 | 回退 TP，比较 DP/TP tradeoff |
+
+本实验里，两个 harness arms 都把 ranked bottleneck 识别为
+`ttft_prefill`。原因是 workload 有 heavy-tailed long prompts，并且 TTFT SLO 很紧；
+这意味着单个请求的 prefill service time 是主要限制。DP-only 只能增加 replica，
+不能缩短一个长 prompt 的 prefill 路径，因此不是第一优先级。
+
+## 形式化设计：candidate family
+
+`candidate family generator` 根据 bottleneck 和 topology constraints 生成可比较的
+action family：
+
+```text
+A_t = candidate_knob_families(
+  b_t,
+  topology_constraints,
+  prior_failures_t,
+  incumbent_t
+)
+```
+
+在这个 case 中：
+
+- `b_t = ttft_prefill`。
+- 允许的 TP frontier 是 `TP=1 -> TP=2 -> TP=4 -> TP=8`。
+- 允许的 DP frontier 是 `DP=1,2,4,8`，但 DP-only 不直接缓解单请求 prefill
+  latency。
+- EP 固定为 1，因此不探索 expert parallel。
+- 之前没有 failed topology，因此相邻 TP probe launch risk 低。
+
+所以 harness 选择了：
+
+```text
+trial-0001: TP=2, DP=1
+trial-0002: TP=4, DP=1
+```
+
+这不是写死“Qwen27B 应该 TP4”。如果 classifier 输出的是
+`admission_queueing`，candidate family 会更偏向 DP 或 `max-num-seqs`；如果输出是
+`memory_kv`，则会更偏向 memory/cache/sequence knobs。
+
+## 形式化设计：scoring
+
+每个 candidate action 都按同一个抽象打分：
+
+```text
+score(a) = expected_bottleneck_relief(a)
+         + information_gain(a)
+         + launch_safety(a)
+         - regression_risk(a)
+         - measurement_cost(a)
+```
+
+这些项在本实验里的含义是：
+
+- `expected_bottleneck_relief`: TP2/TP4 预计能降低 long-prefill compute latency，
+  直接作用于 `ttft_prefill`。
+- `information_gain`: TP frontier probe 可以区分“需要 compute-latency relief”
+  还是“只是 admission/replica 不够”。
+- `launch_safety`: TP2/TP4 均满足 topology constraints，没有重复 failed signature。
+- `regression_risk`: TP 增加会带来通信开销，可能损害 per-GPU efficiency，所以必须用
+  `request_rate_per_gpu` 验证。
+- `measurement_cost`: 每个 GPU trial 成本高；因此高信息量的 topology probe 优先于
+  多个局部 runtime tweak。
+
+实际结果验证了这个 scoring：
+
+| Arm | Trial | Patch | req/s/GPU | Pass rate | 解释 |
+| --- | ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| `gpt55_harness` | 1 | `TP=2, DP=1` | 0.2142 | 0.9572 | 相邻 TP probe 已满足 SLO，但仍未饱和 search high。 |
+| `gpt55_harness` | 2 | `TP=4, DP=1` | 0.4429 | 0.9718 | TP frontier 继续缓解 prefill bottleneck，达到 reference best。 |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | 1 | `TP=2, DP=1` | 0.1992 | 0.9707 | 弱模型也选择同一机制路径。 |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | 2 | `TP=4, DP=1` | 0.4429 | 0.9727 | 弱模型加 harness 匹配强模型加 harness。 |
+
+## 形式化设计：validator stop
+
+Stop 不是 LLM 自己说“我觉得差不多了”。Stop 必须通过 `stop validator`：
+
+```text
+stop(o_t, incumbent_t, search_state_t, candidate_set_t) -> true/false
+```
+
+本实验里 stop 的记录是：
+
+```text
+tuning_stop_reason: harness_stop
+validator_reason: search_high_saturated_by_incumbent
+diagnosis: The incumbent's highest measured probe is feasible and is within the
+configured binary-search resolution of search.high.
+```
+
+含义是：
+
+1. 当前 incumbent 的最高测量 probe 已经 feasible。
+2. 该 feasible probe 距离 `search.high` 已经在 binary-search tolerance 内。
+3. 在当前搜索区间和 SLO 约束下，继续花 GPU trial 很难提高 measured objective。
+4. 因此 validator 授权 stop，并保留当前 incumbent。
+
+这给 harness 带来了 stop discipline：它既不会因为 LLM 过早自信而随便停，也不会在
+已经 saturate search high 后继续 burn budget。
+
+## 实际 tune 了哪些 knobs
+
+Harness winning path 只改了 topology：
+
+```text
+base config + tensor-parallel-size=4, data-parallel-size=1
+```
+
+它没有在 winning path 中调 scheduler/cache/memory knobs，因为 `ttft_prefill`
+bottleneck 下，首要动作是缩短单请求 prefill service time。
+
+Naive arms 则走了另一个方向：
+
+| Arm | 所有 trials 使用的 topology | 变化过的 runtime knobs | Best req/s/GPU |
+| --- | --- | --- | ---: |
+| `gpt55_naive` | `TP=1, DP=8` | `max-num-batched-tokens`, `max-num-seqs`, `block-size`, `gpu-memory-utilization`, prefix caching, chunked prefill | 0.0273 |
+| `gpt54mini_naive` | `TP=1, DP=8` | `max-num-batched-tokens`, `max-num-seqs`, `block-size`, `gpu-memory-utilization` | 0.0231 |
+
+`gpt55_naive` 的第一个 proposal 明确选择 `TP=1, DP=8`，理由是模型能单卡放下，
+因此 horizontal data parallelism 应该最大化 request rate，而 TP 会带来通信开销。
+之后 naive proposals 一直保留 DP-heavy topology，只围绕 runtime knobs 搜索。
+两个 naive arms 合计 20 个 trial slots 都没有进入 TP2/TP4 topology frontier。
+
+## 为什么比 baseline 更好
+
+Baseline 失败的原因是优化了错误的因果路径。
+
+对 `ttft_prefill`-bound workload，关键服务时间是单个请求的 prefill latency。
+DP-heavy topology 可以增加 replica 数，但每个 replica 仍用 TP1 处理长 prompt；
+它不能显著缩短单请求 prefill path。在 tight TTFT SLO 下，这会导致 feasible
+`sampling_u` 很低；再除以 GPU 数得到 `req/s/GPU` 后，结果只有
+`0.02-0.027 req/s/GPU`。
+
+Harness 的优化路径是：
+
+```text
+observed SLO pressure
+-> classify as ttft_prefill
+-> choose legal TP frontier probe
+-> measure feasible req/s/GPU under the same SLO
+-> stop only when search.high is saturated by incumbent
+```
+
+这条路径是可测量、可反驳的。如果 TP4 降低了 latency 但
+`request_rate_per_gpu` 明显下降，harness 会 reject 这个 hypothesis。如果
+bottleneck 是 admission/queueing 而不是 TTFT/prefill，同一个 knob-effect model
+会偏向 DP 或 `max-num-seqs`，而不是 TP frontier。
+
+因此，这个结果不是“Qwen27B case 里我们 prompt 诱导模型说 TP4”。更准确的结论是：
+harness 用 SLO-derived bottleneck evidence 把搜索导向了正确的 knob family，
+再用 per-GPU objective 和 validator stop 验证这个方向。
+
+## 证据边界
+
+这份报告强支撑 Qwen27B tight-SLO case 上的 harness 机制，但不能单独当作通用性证明。
+当前可成立的结论是：
+
+- 在这个 case 中，harness 同时提升了 final quality、convergence speed、AUC 和
+  stop discipline。
+- `gpt-5.4-mini + harness` 匹配 `gpt-5.5 + harness`，并显著超过
+  `gpt-5.5 + naive`，说明收益主要来自 harness 的结构化状态和 validator，而不是
+  单纯来自更强模型。
+- 成功路径用的是通用机制：SLO-derived bottleneck classification、topology
+  constraints、knob-effect scoring、per-GPU objective、validator-authorized stop。
+- 还需要在其他 bottleneck/case 上继续验证，例如 prefill scheduler pressure、
+  decode TPOT pressure、memory/KV pressure、admission/queueing pressure。
+
+## 原始 aggregate report 摘录
+
+```text
+# qwen27b-tight-2x2-aggregate-20260623T005838Z
+
+## Aggregate
+
+- Cases: `1`
+- Harness-vs-naive pass/checks: `2`/`2`
+- Winner counts: `{"final_best": {"gpt55_harness": 1}, "fastest_to_target": {"gpt55_harness": 1}, "normalized_auc": {"gpt55_harness": 1}}`
+
+## By Kind
+
+| Kind | Arms | Mean final/ref | Mean AUC | Target reached |
+| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| `harness` | 2 | 1.0000 | 0.9467 | 2 |
+| `naive` | 2 | 0.0569 | 0.0543 | 0 |
+
+## Cases
+
+### qwen27b-tight-slo-2x2-aggregate
+
+- Reference best req/s/GPU: `0.4429`
+- Target fraction: `0.95`
+- Winners: `{"final_best": "gpt55_harness", "fastest_to_target": "gpt55_harness", "normalized_auc": "gpt55_harness"}`
+
+| Arm | Kind | Trials | Final/GPU | Final/ref | TTT | AUC | Failed | No feasible |
+| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| `gpt55_harness` | `harness` | 2 | 0.4429 | 1.0000 | 2 | 0.9484 | 0 | 0 |
+| `gpt55_naive` | `naive` | 10 | 0.0273 | 0.0616 | - | 0.0588 | 2 | 2 |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | `harness` | 2 | 0.4429 | 1.0000 | 2 | 0.9450 | 0 | 0 |
+| `gpt54mini_naive` | `naive` | 10 | 0.0231 | 0.0522 | - | 0.0498 | 1 | 1 |
+
+| Harness | Final vs best naive | Target speedup | AUC vs best naive | Pass |
+| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| `gpt55_harness` | 16.2290 | - | 16.1296 | `True` |
+| `gpt54mini_harness` | 16.2290 | - | 16.0720 | `True` |
+```
--- a/docs/harness-ablation/qwen30b-slo-robustness-20260624.md
+++ b/docs/harness-ablation/qwen30b-slo-robustness-20260624.md
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+# Qwen30B SLO robustness - 2026-06-24
+
+本文整理 Qwen30B-A3B community vLLM 0.20 case 在三档 SLO 下的 harness/naive
+对比，并解释不同 SLO 为什么没有导致完全不同的最终 topology，却改变了可承载负载边界
+和 bottleneck 判断。
+
+原始报告位于远端共享 checkout：
+
+```text
+.aituner-reports/qwen30b-slo-robust-gpt55-dash1-20260623T163521Z-strict/report.md
+.aituner-reports/qwen30b-slo-robust-gpt55-dash1-20260623T163521Z-medium/report.md
+.aituner-reports/qwen30b-slo-robust-gpt55-dash1-20260623T163521Z-loose/report.md
+```
+
+## 实验设计
+
+Case: `qwen30b-a3b-slo-{strict,medium,loose}-gpt55`。
+
+共同设置：
+
+- Served model: Qwen30B-A3B community vLLM 0.20。
+- Hardware: H20，允许 1/2/4/8 GPU topology。
+- Trace: chat 0-8k，输出长度 128。
+- Search: `sampling_u in [0, 1.0]`，tolerance 0.001，max 6 probes。
+- Objective: 在 pass rate >= 0.95 下最大化 `request_rate / used_gpu_count`。
+- Tuner model: `gpt-5.5`。
+
+三档 SLO：
+
+| SLO | TTFT step rule | TPOT |
+| --- | --- | ---: |
+| strict | <=4k: 1s, <=32k: 2s, else: 3s | 40 ms |
+| medium | <=4k: 2s, <=32k: 4s, else: 6s | 50 ms |
+| loose | <=4k: 4s, <=32k: 8s, else: 12s | 70 ms |
+
+## 结果摘要
+
+| SLO | Harness final req/s/GPU | Naive final req/s/GPU | Final speedup | AUC speedup | Harness TTT |
+| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| strict | 2.2083 | 0.8000 | 2.7604x | 2.7886x | 1 |
+| medium | 3.2583 | 0.8000 | 4.0729x | 4.0729x | 1 |
+| loose | 3.2583 | 1.0458 | 3.1155x | 4.4622x | 1 |
+
+三个 SLO 下 harness 都在第一个 trial 到达该 SLO 下的 reference best。naive 在 8 个
+trials 内没有达到 95% reference target。
+
+## 最终 tune 出来的配置
+
+三档 SLO 的最终 best topology 都是：
+
+```text
+tensor-parallel-size = 2
+data-parallel-size = 1
+enable-expert-parallel = false
+```
+
+但这不表示 SLO 没有影响。SLO 改变的是同一个 topology 的可行负载上限：
+
+| SLO | Best config | Best sampling_u | Total req/s | req/s/GPU | Pass rate |
+| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
+| strict | `TP=2, DP=1` | 0.484375 | 4.4167 | 2.2083 | 1.0000 |
+| medium | `TP=2, DP=1` | 0.750000 | 6.5167 | 3.2583 | 1.0000 |
+| loose | `TP=2, DP=1` | 0.750000 | 6.5167 | 3.2583 | 1.0000 |
+
+strict 到 medium/loose 的主要变化是 feasible frontier 右移：同一个 `TP=2, DP=1`
+配置在 strict 下只能稳定承载 `sampling_u=0.484375`，在 medium/loose 下可以承载
+`sampling_u=0.75`。
+
+## 为什么 `TP=2, DP=1` 稳定胜出
+
+AITuner 的 scoring 不是 raw throughput，而是 SLO-constrained per-GPU throughput：
+
+```text
+J(c, SLO) = max_u request_rate(c, u) / used_gpu_count(c)
+subject to pass_rate(c, u, SLO) >= 0.95
+```
+
+这解释了为什么 `TP=4` 没有赢。`TP=4` 的单请求 latency 更低、总吞吐可以更高，
+但它使用两倍 GPU，per-GPU objective 反而下降：
+
+| SLO | Config | Total req/s | Used GPUs | req/s/GPU | 解释 |
+| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
+| strict | `TP=2, DP=1` | 4.4167 | 2 | 2.2083 | strict best |
+| strict | `TP=4, DP=1` | 4.4167 | 4 | 1.1042 | latency 更低，但 GPU efficiency 更差 |
+| medium/loose | `TP=2, DP=1` | 6.5167 | 2 | 3.2583 | medium/loose best |
+| medium/loose | `TP=4, DP=1` | 8.3667 | 4 | 2.0917 | raw throughput 更高，但 per-GPU 不划算 |
+
+因此 harness 学到的不是“越多 GPU 越好”，而是更具体的机制：
+
+```text
+TP=1: 单请求 prefill/decode latency 偏高，SLO-constrained load frontier 低。
+TP=2: 足够缓解 latency，同时 GPU 数量仍低，per-GPU objective 最优。
+TP=4: 继续降低 latency，但通信和 GPU 数量成本超过收益。
+```
+
+## SLO 改变 bottleneck 的方式
+
+strict 下，`TP=2, DP=1` 在 `sampling_u=0.484375` 可行，但下一档
+`sampling_u=0.5` 直接进入 queueing collapse：
+
+| Point | Pass rate | 主要失败原因 |
+| --- | ---: | --- |
+| strict, `u=0.484375` | 1.0000 | 无 |
+| strict, `u=0.5` | 0.0290 | `tpot_ms>40`, `ttft_ms>1000/2000`, `slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable` |
+
+medium/loose 下，TTFT 阈值放宽后，同一 topology 能承载更高 arrival intensity。
+但是在 `u=0.765625` 仍会进入不可恢复的排队区：
+
+| SLO | Feasible point | Next infeasible point | 主要失败原因 |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| medium | `u=0.75`, pass 1.0000 | `u=0.765625`, pass 0.6900 | `tpot_ms>50`, `slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable` |
+| loose | `u=0.75`, pass 1.0000 | `u=0.765625`, pass 0.2900 | `tpot_ms>70`, `slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable` |
+
+这说明 SLO 放宽不是无限提高吞吐。服务系统还有 queueing stability frontier；
+超过 frontier 后，即使单个请求的 steady-state latency 看起来可控，排队也会让 pass rate
+迅速崩掉。
+
+## 其他候选配置的信号
+
+`TP=1, DP=1` 对 SLO 更敏感：
+
+| SLO | `TP=1, DP=1` req/s/GPU | 解释 |
+| --- | ---: | --- |
+| strict | 2.2000 | 接近 strict best，但略低于 `TP=2` |
+| medium | 2.2000 | 仍低于 `TP=2` |
+| loose | 2.8500 | 宽松 SLO 下受益明显，但仍低于 `TP=2` |
+
+`gpu-memory-utilization=0.92` 在 medium/loose 中与 `TP=2` 打平：
+
+| SLO | Config | req/s/GPU |
+| --- | --- | ---: |
+| medium | `TP=2, gpu-memory-utilization=0.92` | 3.2583 |
+| loose | `TP=2, gpu-memory-utilization=0.92` | 3.2583 |
+
+这说明该 workload 的主瓶颈不是 KV memory headroom，而是 topology 和 queueing
+frontier。
+
+EP family 在该环境下不稳定：
+
+```text
+TP=4, EP=2/4, enable-expert-parallel=true -> engine_launch exit_code=2
+```
+
+这些失败 trial 没有进入 best candidate，但它们说明当前 failure memory 还可以继续加强：
+同一类 EP launch failure 出现后，后续 proposal 应更积极地屏蔽该 family。
+
+## 对 paper claim 的含义
+
+这组实验支持的 claim 是：
+
+1. Harness 对 SLO 变化有稳定收益：strict/medium/loose 三档均显著优于 naive。
+2. Harness 不是固定写死某个 knob。它通过 SLO-constrained probing 找到 feasible
+   frontier；在本 case 中最终 topology 相同，但可承载负载边界随 SLO 改变。
+3. Harness 的 value 来自 topology-first candidate family、per-GPU scoring 和
+   validator 对 failed family 的处理，而不是自然语言 prompt 的偶然表达。
+
+这组实验尚不能单独 claim：
+
+- 所有模型和 workload 上都 robust。
+- `TP=2, DP=1` 是全局最优。
+- EP family 已经被最优处理。
+
+对应的后续证据应放在 roadmap 中跟踪：局部 grid/near-optimum、跨模型 2x2、跨 workload
+SLO robustness，以及 failure-memory ablation。
--- a/infra/gpu_fleet/config/fleet.example.toml
+++ b/infra/gpu_fleet/config/fleet.example.toml
@@ -51,6 +51,13 @@ enabled = true
 sync_remote_path = "~/aituner"
 fleet_root = "~/.aituner_gpu_fleet"

+[[hosts]]
+name = "dash4"
+ssh_alias = "dash4"
+enabled = true
+sync_remote_path = "~/workspace/aituner"
+fleet_root = "~/.aituner_gpu_fleet"
+
 [[hosts]]
 name = "dash5"
 ssh_alias = "dash5"
--- a/infra/gpu_fleet/config/ssh_aliases.example.txt
+++ b/infra/gpu_fleet/config/ssh_aliases.example.txt
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@ dash0
 dash1
 dash2
 dash3
+dash4
 dash5
-
--- a/scripts/ablation_trajectory.py
+++ b/scripts/ablation_trajectory.py
@@ -10,22 +10,37 @@ import sys
 from pathlib import Path


-def topo(patch):
+TOPOLOGY_KEYS = (
+    ("tensor-parallel-size", "TP"),
+    ("data-parallel-size", "DP"),
+    ("expert-parallel-size", "EP"),
+)
+
+RUNTIME_KEYS = (
+    "gpu-memory-utilization",
+    "enable-chunked-prefill",
+    "max-num-batched-tokens",
+    "max-num-seqs",
+)
+
+
+def topo(patch, base_flags=None):
    fp = (patch or {}).get("flag_patch", {}) or {}
    ep = (patch or {}).get("env_patch", {}) or {}
+    effective = dict(base_flags or {})
+    effective.update(fp)
    parts = []
-    for k, label in (
-        ("tensor-parallel-size", "TP"),
-        ("data-parallel-size", "DP"),
-        ("expert-parallel-size", "EP"),
-    ):
-        if k in fp:
-            parts.append(f"{label}{fp[k]}")
-    runtime = {
-        k: v
-        for k, v in fp.items()
-        if k not in ("tensor-parallel-size", "data-parallel-size", "expert-parallel-size")
-    }
+    for k, label in TOPOLOGY_KEYS:
+        if k in effective:
+            parts.append(f"{label}{effective[k]}")
+    runtime = {k: effective[k] for k in RUNTIME_KEYS if k in effective}
+    runtime.update(
+        {
+            k: v
+            for k, v in fp.items()
+            if k not in {key for key, _ in TOPOLOGY_KEYS} and k not in runtime
+        }
+    )
    runtime.update({f"env:{k}": v for k, v in ep.items()})
    base = "+".join(parts) if parts else "baseline-topo"
    if runtime:
@@ -36,6 +51,11 @@ def topo(patch):
 def main():
    store = Path(sys.argv[1])
    state = json.load(open(store / "state.json"))
+    snapshot_path = store / "study_spec.snapshot.json"
+    base_flags = {}
+    if snapshot_path.exists():
+        snapshot = json.load(open(snapshot_path))
+        base_flags = ((snapshot.get("engine") or {}).get("base_flags") or {})
    print(f"study_id: {state.get('study_id')}")
    print(f"best_trial: {state.get('best_trial_id')}  best_per_gpu: {state.get('best_request_rate_per_gpu')}")
    print(f"stop_reason: {state.get('tuning_stop_reason')!r}")
@@ -53,7 +73,7 @@ def main():
        pgs = f"{pg:.4f}" if isinstance(pg, (int, float)) else str(pg)
        incs = f"{incumbent:.4f}" if isinstance(incumbent, (int, float)) else str(incumbent)
        print(
-            f"{i:<5}{t.get('trial_id',''):<11}{str(t.get('status','')):<14}{pgs:<10}{incs:<11}{topo(t.get('config_patch'))}"
+            f"{i:<5}{t.get('trial_id',''):<11}{str(t.get('status','')):<14}{pgs:<10}{incs:<11}{topo(t.get('config_patch'), base_flags)}"
        )
    # also dump proposals dir to see what was *proposed* (incl. vetoed/failed)
    pdir = store / "proposals"
@@ -64,7 +84,7 @@ def main():
                pr = json.load(open(p))
            except Exception:
                continue
-            print(f"  {p.stem}: should_stop={pr.get('should_stop')} | {topo(pr.get('config_patch'))}")
+            print(f"  {p.stem}: should_stop={pr.get('should_stop')} | {topo(pr.get('config_patch'), base_flags)}")


 if __name__ == "__main__":
--- a/scripts/calibrate_time_scale.py
+++ b/scripts/calibrate_time_scale.py
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Criterion-A time_scale calibration.
+
+Binary-search the smallest replay_time_scale whose A-family L-C-A similarity to the
+real (scale=1.0) arrival process stays >= tau. Uniform time scaling distorts only
+the A axis (rate + fano; interarrival CV is scale-invariant), so this bounds the
+arrival-axis distortion introduced by compression using the same similarity metric
+Stop-A uses. Pure trace metadata -> deterministic, no GPU needed.
+
+Usage:
+  PYTHONPATH=src python3 scripts/calibrate_time_scale.py \
+    --trace trace_windows/traces/chat_w20260311_1000.jsonl \
+    --gpu-count 8 --min-input 0 --max-input 8192 --tau 0.9
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import math
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from aituner.lca import _family_similarity, build_workload_profile
+from aituner.trace import TraceRequest, WindowRecord
+
+
+def load_rows(path: Path, lo: int, hi: int) -> list[dict]:
+    with path.open(encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+        rows = [json.loads(l) for l in fh if l.strip()]
+    return [r for r in rows if lo <= int(r["input_length"]) <= hi]
+
+
+def build_requests(rows: list[dict]) -> tuple[list[TraceRequest], float, float]:
+    reqs = []
+    for i, r in enumerate(rows):
+        reqs.append(
+            TraceRequest(
+                row_id=str(r.get("chat_id", i)),
+                arrival_s=float(r["timestamp"]),
+                sampling_u=float(r.get("sampling_u", 0.0)),
+                body={},
+                prompt_tokens_hint=int(r["input_length"]),
+                completion_tokens_hint=int(r["output_length"]),
+                metadata={"hash_ids": r.get("hash_ids") if isinstance(r.get("hash_ids"), list) else None},
+            )
+        )
+    amin = min(x.arrival_s for x in reqs)
+    amax = max(x.arrival_s for x in reqs)
+    return reqs, amin, amax
+
+
+def profile_at(reqs, amin, amax, gpu_count, scale):
+    rs = [
+        TraceRequest(
+            x.row_id, (x.arrival_s - amin) * scale, x.sampling_u, x.body,
+            x.prompt_tokens_hint, x.completion_tokens_hint, x.metadata,
+        )
+        for x in reqs
+    ]
+    span = (amax - amin) * scale
+    w = WindowRecord(
+        window_id="w", trace_path="", trace_type="chat",
+        window_start=0.0, window_end=span, source_payload={"block_size": 64},
+    )
+    return build_workload_profile(rs, w, gpu_count=gpu_count, length_mode="total")
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    ap.add_argument("--trace", type=Path, required=True)
+    ap.add_argument("--gpu-count", type=int, default=8)
+    ap.add_argument("--min-input", type=int, default=0)
+    ap.add_argument("--max-input", type=int, default=8192)
+    ap.add_argument("--tau", type=float, default=0.9)
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+    rows = load_rows(args.trace, args.min_input, args.max_input)
+    reqs, amin, amax = build_requests(rows)
+    print(f"n={len(reqs)}  raw arrival span={amax - amin:.1f}s")
+    base = profile_at(reqs, amin, amax, args.gpu_count, 1.0)
+    print(f"{'scale':>6} {'simA':>7} {'rate/gpu':>9} {'fano':>8} {'span_s':>8}")
+    for s in (1.0, 0.95, 0.9, 0.85, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2):
+        p = profile_at(reqs, amin, amax, args.gpu_count, s)
+        a = _family_similarity(base.vector, p.vector)["A"]
+        print(f"{s:6.2f} {a:7.3f} {math.expm1(p.vector[7]):9.3f} {math.expm1(p.vector[9]):8.2f} {(amax-amin)*s:8.1f}")
+
+    lo, hi = 0.05, 1.0
+    for _ in range(40):
+        mid = (lo + hi) / 2
+        a = _family_similarity(base.vector, profile_at(reqs, amin, amax, args.gpu_count, mid).vector)["A"]
+        if a >= args.tau:
+            hi = mid
+        else:
+            lo = mid
+    print(f"\nsmallest scale with simA>={args.tau}: {hi:.4f}  (arrival span {(amax-amin)*hi:.0f}s)")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
--- a/scripts/run_ablation_pair_d1.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_ablation_pair_d1.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# 12-iteration harness-vs-naive ablation, both arms on dash1 (clean paired run,
+# no host confound). Substrate: real output_length (no completion override),
+# replay_time_scale=0.8775 (criterion-A, sim_A>=0.90), Stop-A on (LCA offered
+# window), per-probe Stop-A-consistent drain deadline. Harness stops early; naive
+# runs the full budget. Run from the repo root on dash1.
+set -u
+# Re-read the codex token from auth.json right before each arm (capturing it once at
+# launch goes stale during a long run -- that is what 401'd naive runs 2/3).
+read_key() { export OPENAI_API_KEY=$(python3 -c 'import json,pathlib;print(json.load(open(pathlib.Path.home()/".codex/auth.json"))["OPENAI_API_KEY"])'); }
+# codex config.toml points at a dash0-local proxy (127.0.0.1:11235); on dash1 the
+# LLM endpoint is reachable directly, so force a direct connection.
+export http_proxy= https_proxy= all_proxy= HTTP_PROXY= HTTPS_PROXY= ALL_PROXY= no_proxy='*'
+mkdir -p .aituner
+rm -rf .aituner/abl12-harness .aituner/abl12-naive .aituner/ABLATION12_DONE
+
+read_key
+echo "=== harness ON  (12-iter) start $(date -Is) ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_harness_on.json \
+  --store-root .aituner/abl12-harness --max-trials 12 --skip-baseline > .aituner/abl12-harness.log 2>&1
+echo "=== harness ON  (12-iter) done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+read_key
+echo "=== naive OFF   (12-iter) start $(date -Is) ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_naive_off.json \
+  --store-root .aituner/abl12-naive --max-trials 12 --skip-baseline > .aituner/abl12-naive.log 2>&1
+echo "=== naive OFF   (12-iter) done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+touch .aituner/ABLATION12_DONE
--- a/scripts/run_clean_ablation_pair_d1.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_clean_ablation_pair_d1.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Clean same-policy harness-vs-naive ablation on dash1.
+#
+# This is intended as the first robustness gate for harness evaluation:
+# both arms use the same study substrate and the same configured LLM endpoint;
+# the only intended difference is llm.use_harness.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+RUN_LABEL="${AITUNER_RUN_ID:-qwen27b-clean-pair-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ)}"
+MAX_TRIALS="${MAX_TRIALS:-12}"
+ROOT="$(pwd)"
+HARNESS_STORE=".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-harness"
+NAIVE_STORE=".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-naive"
+REPORT_ROOT=".aituner-reports/${RUN_LABEL}"
+SPEC_PATH=".aituner-reports/${RUN_LABEL}.spec.json"
+
+read_key() {
+  if [ -z "${OPENAI_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
+    export OPENAI_API_KEY
+    OPENAI_API_KEY="$(python3 -c 'import json,pathlib;print(json.load(open(pathlib.Path.home()/".codex/auth.json"))["OPENAI_API_KEY"])')"
+  fi
+}
+
+export http_proxy= https_proxy= all_proxy= HTTP_PROXY= HTTPS_PROXY= ALL_PROXY= no_proxy='*'
+mkdir -p .aituner .aituner-reports
+rm -rf "${HARNESS_STORE}" "${NAIVE_STORE}" "${REPORT_ROOT}" "${SPEC_PATH}"
+
+read_key
+echo "=== harness ON clean pair start $(date -Is) label=${RUN_LABEL} ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_harness_on.json \
+  --store-root "${HARNESS_STORE}" --max-trials "${MAX_TRIALS}" --skip-baseline \
+  > ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-harness.log" 2>&1
+echo "=== harness ON clean pair done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+read_key
+echo "=== naive OFF clean pair start $(date -Is) label=${RUN_LABEL} ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_naive_off.json \
+  --store-root "${NAIVE_STORE}" --max-trials "${MAX_TRIALS}" --skip-baseline \
+  > ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-naive.log" 2>&1
+echo "=== naive OFF clean pair done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+python3 - <<PY
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+root = Path("${ROOT}")
+run_label = "${RUN_LABEL}"
+spec = {
+    "report_id": run_label,
+    "output_root": str(root / "${REPORT_ROOT}"),
+    "target_fraction": 0.95,
+    "min_final_ratio": 0.98,
+    "cases": [
+        {
+            "case_id": "qwen27b-chat-0-8k-clean-gpt55",
+            "description": "Clean same-policy gpt-5.5 harness-vs-naive pair on dash1.",
+            "tags": ["qwen27b", "chat", "0-8k", "h20", "clean-pair", "gpt-5.5"],
+            "budgets": [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12],
+            "arms": [
+                {
+                    "name": "harness",
+                    "kind": "harness",
+                    "study_root": str(root / "${HARNESS_STORE}" / "dash0-qwen27b-ablation-harness-on"),
+                },
+                {
+                    "name": "naive",
+                    "kind": "naive",
+                    "study_root": str(root / "${NAIVE_STORE}" / "dash0-qwen27b-ablation-naive-off"),
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+    ],
+}
+Path("${SPEC_PATH}").write_text(json.dumps(spec, indent=2) + "\\n", encoding="utf-8")
+PY
+
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 scripts/tuning_report.py --spec "${SPEC_PATH}"
+touch ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}.DONE"
+echo "=== clean pair report ready ${REPORT_ROOT} $(date -Is) ==="
--- a/scripts/run_clean_pair_from_specs.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_clean_pair_from_specs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Run a clean same-policy harness-vs-naive pair from one or two base specs.
+#
+# Required env:
+#   RUN_LABEL
+#   CASE_ID
+#   HARNESS_BASE_SPEC
+#
+# Optional env:
+#   NAIVE_BASE_SPEC                 defaults to HARNESS_BASE_SPEC
+#   MAX_TRIALS                      defaults to 12
+#   CASE_DESCRIPTION
+#   CASE_TAGS_JSON                  JSON list, defaults to []
+#   BUDGETS_JSON                    JSON list, defaults to [1,2,3,4,6,8,MAX_TRIALS]
+#   COMMON_SPEC_PATCH_FILE          JSON deep-merged into both generated specs
+#   HARNESS_SPEC_PATCH_FILE         JSON deep-merged into harness generated spec
+#   NAIVE_SPEC_PATCH_FILE           JSON deep-merged into naive generated spec
+set -euo pipefail
+
+RUN_LABEL="${RUN_LABEL:?RUN_LABEL is required}"
+CASE_ID="${CASE_ID:?CASE_ID is required}"
+HARNESS_BASE_SPEC="${HARNESS_BASE_SPEC:?HARNESS_BASE_SPEC is required}"
+NAIVE_BASE_SPEC="${NAIVE_BASE_SPEC:-${HARNESS_BASE_SPEC}}"
+MAX_TRIALS="${MAX_TRIALS:-12}"
+CASE_DESCRIPTION="${CASE_DESCRIPTION:-Clean same-policy harness-vs-naive pair.}"
+CASE_TAGS_JSON="${CASE_TAGS_JSON:-[]}"
+BUDGETS_JSON="${BUDGETS_JSON:-}"
+
+ROOT="$(pwd)"
+RUN_CONFIG_ROOT=".aituner-run-configs/${RUN_LABEL}"
+HARNESS_SPEC="${RUN_CONFIG_ROOT}/harness.json"
+NAIVE_SPEC="${RUN_CONFIG_ROOT}/naive.json"
+HARNESS_STORE=".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-harness"
+NAIVE_STORE=".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-naive"
+REPORT_ROOT=".aituner-reports/${RUN_LABEL}"
+REPORT_SPEC=".aituner-reports/${RUN_LABEL}.spec.json"
+export RUN_LABEL CASE_ID HARNESS_BASE_SPEC NAIVE_BASE_SPEC MAX_TRIALS CASE_DESCRIPTION
+export CASE_TAGS_JSON BUDGETS_JSON ROOT RUN_CONFIG_ROOT HARNESS_SPEC NAIVE_SPEC
+export HARNESS_STORE NAIVE_STORE REPORT_ROOT REPORT_SPEC
+
+read_key() {
+  if [ -z "${OPENAI_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
+    export OPENAI_API_KEY
+    OPENAI_API_KEY="$(python3 -c 'import json,pathlib;print(json.load(open(pathlib.Path.home()/".codex/auth.json"))["OPENAI_API_KEY"])')"
+  fi
+}
+
+export http_proxy= https_proxy= all_proxy= HTTP_PROXY= HTTPS_PROXY= ALL_PROXY= no_proxy='*'
+mkdir -p "${RUN_CONFIG_ROOT}" .aituner .aituner-reports
+rm -rf "${HARNESS_STORE}" "${NAIVE_STORE}" "${REPORT_ROOT}" "${REPORT_SPEC}"
+
+python3 - <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+
+def deep_merge(base: dict[str, Any], patch: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    merged = dict(base)
+    for key, value in patch.items():
+        if isinstance(value, dict) and isinstance(merged.get(key), dict):
+            merged[key] = deep_merge(merged[key], value)
+        else:
+            merged[key] = value
+    return merged
+
+
+def load_patch(env_name: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    path = os.environ.get(env_name)
+    if not path:
+        return {}
+    payload = json.loads(Path(path).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    if not isinstance(payload, dict):
+        raise SystemExit(f"{env_name} must point to a JSON object")
+    return payload
+
+
+def generated_spec(base_path: str, *, use_harness: bool, suffix: str, arm_patch: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    base = json.loads(Path(base_path).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    if not isinstance(base, dict):
+        raise SystemExit(f"{base_path} must contain a JSON object")
+    common = load_patch("COMMON_SPEC_PATCH_FILE")
+    spec = deep_merge(base, common)
+    spec = deep_merge(spec, arm_patch)
+    spec["study_id"] = str(spec.get("study_id") or os.environ["CASE_ID"]) + f"-{suffix}"
+    llm = dict(spec.get("llm") or {})
+    llm["use_harness"] = use_harness
+    spec["llm"] = llm
+    return spec
+
+
+run_config_root = Path(os.environ["RUN_CONFIG_ROOT"])
+harness = generated_spec(
+    os.environ["HARNESS_BASE_SPEC"],
+    use_harness=True,
+    suffix="harness",
+    arm_patch=load_patch("HARNESS_SPEC_PATCH_FILE"),
+)
+naive = generated_spec(
+    os.environ["NAIVE_BASE_SPEC"],
+    use_harness=False,
+    suffix="naive",
+    arm_patch=load_patch("NAIVE_SPEC_PATCH_FILE"),
+)
+(run_config_root / "harness.json").write_text(json.dumps(harness, indent=2) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
+(run_config_root / "naive.json").write_text(json.dumps(naive, indent=2) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
+print(json.dumps({"harness_study_id": harness["study_id"], "naive_study_id": naive["study_id"]}, ensure_ascii=False))
+PY
+
+read_key
+echo "=== harness clean pair start $(date -Is) label=${RUN_LABEL} ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec "${HARNESS_SPEC}" \
+  --store-root "${HARNESS_STORE}" --max-trials "${MAX_TRIALS}" --skip-baseline \
+  > ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-harness.log" 2>&1
+echo "=== harness clean pair done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+read_key
+echo "=== naive clean pair start $(date -Is) label=${RUN_LABEL} ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec "${NAIVE_SPEC}" \
+  --store-root "${NAIVE_STORE}" --max-trials "${MAX_TRIALS}" --skip-baseline \
+  > ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}-naive.log" 2>&1
+echo "=== naive clean pair done  $(date -Is) ==="
+
+python3 - <<'PY'
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+root = Path(os.environ["ROOT"])
+run_label = os.environ["RUN_LABEL"]
+harness = json.loads(Path(os.environ["HARNESS_SPEC"]).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+naive = json.loads(Path(os.environ["NAIVE_SPEC"]).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+max_trials = int(os.environ["MAX_TRIALS"])
+budgets_text = os.environ.get("BUDGETS_JSON") or ""
+if budgets_text:
+    budgets = json.loads(budgets_text)
+else:
+    budgets = [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, max_trials]
+budgets = sorted({int(item) for item in budgets if int(item) > 0})
+tags = json.loads(os.environ.get("CASE_TAGS_JSON") or "[]")
+spec = {
+    "report_id": run_label,
+    "output_root": str(root / os.environ["REPORT_ROOT"]),
+    "target_fraction": 0.95,
+    "min_final_ratio": 0.98,
+    "cases": [
+        {
+            "case_id": os.environ["CASE_ID"],
+            "description": os.environ["CASE_DESCRIPTION"],
+            "tags": tags,
+            "budgets": budgets,
+            "arms": [
+                {
+                    "name": "harness",
+                    "kind": "harness",
+                    "study_root": str(
+                        root / os.environ["HARNESS_STORE"] / harness["study_id"]
+                    ),
+                },
+                {
+                    "name": "naive",
+                    "kind": "naive",
+                    "study_root": str(root / os.environ["NAIVE_STORE"] / naive["study_id"]),
+                },
+            ],
+        }
+    ],
+}
+Path(os.environ["REPORT_SPEC"]).write_text(json.dumps(spec, indent=2) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
+PY
+
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 scripts/tuning_report.py --spec "${REPORT_SPEC}"
+touch ".aituner/${RUN_LABEL}.DONE"
+echo "=== clean pair report ready ${REPORT_ROOT} $(date -Is) ==="
--- a/scripts/run_harness_only_d1.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_harness_only_d1.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Harness-only re-run on gpt-5.5 to EMPIRICALLY verify the gpu-memory-utilization fix:
+# success = the harness recovers ~0.87/GPU (climbs gpu-mem-util to ~0.94) and then stops,
+# matching the naive-discovered ground truth. Run from the repo root on dash1.
+set -u
+read_key() { export OPENAI_API_KEY=$(python3 -c 'import json,pathlib;print(json.load(open(pathlib.Path.home()/".codex/auth.json"))["OPENAI_API_KEY"])'); }
+export http_proxy= https_proxy= all_proxy= HTTP_PROXY= HTTPS_PROXY= ALL_PROXY= no_proxy='*'
+mkdir -p .aituner
+rm -rf .aituner/abl12-harness .aituner/abl12-harness.log .aituner/HARNESS_ONLY_DONE
+read_key
+echo "=== harness ON (gpt-5.5, gpu-mem-util fix) start $(date -Is) ==="
+PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+  --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_harness_on.json \
+  --store-root .aituner/abl12-harness --max-trials 12 --skip-baseline > .aituner/abl12-harness.log 2>&1
+echo "=== harness ON done $(date -Is) ==="
+touch .aituner/HARNESS_ONLY_DONE
--- a/scripts/run_naive_repeats_d1.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_naive_repeats_d1.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Fig-18 naive nondeterminism: after the main pair (ABLATION12_DONE) finishes, run
+# 2 more naive arms (runs 2 and 3) on the SAME substrate. The naive LLM (gpt-5.4,
+# use_harness=false) is nondeterministic, so the run-to-run spread (fail / slow /
+# lucky) is the result. Harness arm stays a single deterministic curve. Run from
+# the repo root on dash1; survives disconnect via setsid/nohup at launch.
+set -u
+export OPENAI_API_KEY=$(python3 -c 'import json,pathlib;print(json.load(open(pathlib.Path.home()/".codex/auth.json"))["OPENAI_API_KEY"])')
+export http_proxy= https_proxy= all_proxy= HTTP_PROXY= HTTPS_PROXY= ALL_PROXY= no_proxy='*'
+
+# Wait for the main harness+naive(run1) pair to complete so we never contend for GPUs.
+echo "=== waiting for ABLATION12_DONE $(date -Is) ==="
+while [ ! -f .aituner/ABLATION12_DONE ]; do sleep 120; done
+echo "=== main pair done, starting naive repeats $(date -Is) ==="
+
+for r in 2 3; do
+  rm -rf ".aituner/abl12-naive${r}" ".aituner/abl12-naive${r}.log"
+  echo "=== naive run ${r} start $(date -Is) ==="
+  PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m aituner.cli study tune \
+    --spec configs/examples/dash0_qwen27b_ablation_naive_off.json \
+    --store-root ".aituner/abl12-naive${r}" --max-trials 12 --skip-baseline > ".aituner/abl12-naive${r}.log" 2>&1
+  echo "=== naive run ${r} done  $(date -Is) ==="
+done
+
+touch .aituner/NAIVE_REPEATS_DONE
+echo "=== all naive repeats done $(date -Is) ==="
--- a/scripts/tuning_report.py
+++ b/scripts/tuning_report.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from aituner.tuning_report import run_tuning_report
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Summarize anytime tuning progress across harness/naive study stores."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument("--spec", required=True, help="Path to a tuning report JSON spec.")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    summary = run_tuning_report(Path(args.spec))
+    print(
+        json.dumps(
+            {
+                "report_id": summary["report_id"],
+                "report_root": summary["report_root"],
+                "case_count": summary["aggregate"]["case_count"],
+                "harness_vs_naive_pass_count": summary["aggregate"]["harness_vs_naive_pass_count"],
+                "harness_vs_naive_check_count": summary["aggregate"]["harness_vs_naive_check_count"],
+                "winner_counts": summary["aggregate"]["winner_counts"],
+            },
+            ensure_ascii=False,
+            indent=2,
+        )
+    )
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
--- a/src/aituner/cli.py
+++ b/src/aituner/cli.py
@@ -367,20 +367,41 @@ def cmd_study_tune(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
                proposal_source_label = "harness"
            else:
                proposal_source_label = str(proposal_source) if proposal_source else "llm"
+            stop_authorized_by = (
+                "validator"
+                if (is_harness_stop or authorized)
+                else "file_proposal"
+                if proposal_source is not None
+                else "llm_after_veto_budget"
+            )
+            stop_reason = (
+                "harness_stop"
+                if is_harness_stop
+                else "proposal_file_stop"
+                if proposal_source is not None
+                else "llm_stop"
+            )
+            stop_details = {
+                "proposal_name": proposal_name,
+                "proposal_source": proposal_source_label,
+                "stop_authorized_by": stop_authorized_by,
+            }
+            if stop_authority:
+                stop_details["validator_reason"] = stop_authority.get("reason")
+            state.tuning_stop_reason = stop_reason
+            state.tuning_stop_diagnosis = proposal.diagnosis
+            state.tuning_stop_details = stop_details
+            store.save_state(state)
            executed.append(
                {
                    "trial_id": None,
                    "proposal_name": proposal_name,
                    "proposal_source": proposal_source_label,
                    "stopped": True,
-                    "stop_authorized_by": (
-                        "validator"
-                        if (is_harness_stop or authorized)
-                        else "file_proposal"
-                        if proposal_source is not None
-                        else "llm_after_veto_budget"
-                    ),
+                    "reason": state.tuning_stop_reason,
+                    "stop_authorized_by": stop_authorized_by,
                    "diagnosis": proposal.diagnosis,
+                    "details": stop_details,
                    "state_best_trial_id": state.best_trial_id,
                    "state_best_request_rate": state.best_request_rate,
                }
--- a/src/aituner/harness.py
+++ b/src/aituner/harness.py
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ _RUNTIME_KEYS = {
 _STRONG_INCUMBENT_MIN_GAIN = 1.8
 _MIN_POST_INCUMBENT_VALIDATION_TRIALS = 2
 _VALIDATION_TRIALS_WITHOUT_FAMILY_COVERAGE = 3
+# Decode-bound throughput is frequently KV-cache limited, so more gpu-memory-utilization
+# yields more KV blocks and more concurrent decode. Hill-climb in small steps toward a
+# safe ceiling and let measurement find the real peak: a too-high target regresses or
+# fails to launch and is rejected by the incumbent guard, and its tested signature then
+# blocks re-proposal so the climb terminates.
+_GMU_STEP = 0.02
+_GMU_SAFE_CEILING = 0.97


 def build_harness_context(
@@ -383,14 +390,17 @@ def _knob_harnesses(
                "knob_family": "gpu-memory-utilization",
                "use_when": [
                    "The engine launches cleanly but memory headroom limits batching.",
+                    "A decode-bound incumbent (decode_tpot) is KV-cache limited and could sustain more concurrent decode with more KV blocks.",
                ],
                "procedure": [
                    "Make small adjustments only after topology and batching knobs are stable.",
+                    "Raise gpu-memory-utilization one small step at a time and keep the step only if request_rate_per_gpu improves and the engine still launches.",
                ],
                "guards": [
                    "Treat launch OOM as hard negative evidence and back off immediately.",
+                    "Do not exceed a safe utilization ceiling; stop climbing once a higher target regresses or fails to launch.",
                ],
-                "active_now": False,
+                "active_now": active_bottleneck in {"decode_tpot", "admission_or_queueing"},
            }
        )
    return harnesses
@@ -597,6 +607,15 @@ def stateful_history_limit() -> int:
    return 8


+def _state_completed_trials_with_rates(state: StudyState) -> list[TrialSummary]:
+    return [
+        trial
+        for trial in state.trials
+        if trial.status == "completed"
+        and isinstance(trial.best_request_rate_per_gpu, (int, float))
+    ]
+
+
 def _load_result(trial: TrialSummary) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
    if not trial.result_path:
        return None
@@ -1084,6 +1103,7 @@ def _candidate_actions(
            anchor,
            top_bottleneck,
            bottleneck_hypotheses,
+            recent_diagnostics,
            tested_signatures,
        )
    )
@@ -1177,13 +1197,31 @@ def _runtime_candidate_actions(
    anchor: dict[str, Any],
    top_bottleneck: str,
    bottleneck_hypotheses: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    recent_diagnostics: list[dict[str, Any]],
    tested_signatures: set[str],
 ) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
    tunable = set(study.engine.tunable_flags)
    anchor_flags = _effective_flags_for_item(study, anchor)
    topology_patch = _preserve_topology_patch(study, anchor_flags)
+    runtime_base_patch = {**topology_patch, **_preserve_runtime_patch(study, anchor_flags)}
    actions: list[dict[str, Any]] = []

+    cur_tp = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("tensor-parallel-size"), default=1)
+    cur_dp = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("data-parallel-size"), default=1)
+    # Topology-before-runtime: gpu-mem-util / raising max-num-seqs are micro-tuning that is
+    # only justified once no untested TP increase remains. At an intermediate TP (e.g. TP2
+    # while TP4 is still reachable and untried) a latency bottleneck must still be answered
+    # by climbing TP, not a runtime tweak -- otherwise runtime tuning preempts the frontier.
+    _next_tp = _next_allowed_tp(study, current_tp=cur_tp, current_dp=cur_dp)
+    tp_frontier_open = (
+        _next_tp is not None
+        and _config_signature(
+            {"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"tensor-parallel-size": _next_tp}}
+        )
+        not in tested_signatures
+    )
+    topology_settled = not tp_frontier_open
+
    if "max-num-batched-tokens" in tunable:
        current_mbt = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("max-num-batched-tokens"), default=0)
        mbt_targets: list[tuple[str, int]] = []
@@ -1198,7 +1236,7 @@ def _runtime_candidate_actions(
        elif top_bottleneck == "decode_tpot" and current_mbt > 8192:
            mbt_targets.append(("lower_mbt", max(8192, current_mbt // 2)))
        for action_id, target in mbt_targets:
-            patch = {**topology_patch, "max-num-batched-tokens": target}
+            patch = {**runtime_base_patch, "max-num-batched-tokens": target}
            signature = _config_signature({"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": patch})
            if signature in tested_signatures:
                continue
@@ -1222,18 +1260,48 @@ def _runtime_candidate_actions(

    if "max-num-seqs" in tunable:
        current_mns = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("max-num-seqs"), default=0)
+        max_num_seqs_tested = any(
+            "max-num-seqs" in (
+                ((item.get("config_patch") or {}).get("flag_patch") or {})
+                if isinstance(item.get("config_patch"), dict)
+                else {}
+            )
+            for item in recent_diagnostics
+        )
        mns_targets: list[tuple[str, int]] = []
        if top_bottleneck == "admission_or_queueing":
            target = max(8, int(current_mns * 1.5)) if current_mns > 0 else 64
            mns_targets.append(("raise_max_num_seqs", _round_up_to_multiple(target, 8)))
-        elif top_bottleneck == "decode_tpot" and current_mns > 8:
-            mns_targets.append(("lower_max_num_seqs", max(8, current_mns // 2)))
+        elif top_bottleneck == "decode_tpot":
+            if current_mns > 8:
+                mns_targets.append(("lower_max_num_seqs", max(8, current_mns // 2)))
+            # Decode concurrency can also be too low: once topology is settled, raising
+            # max-num-seqs exploits decode parallelism when the incumbent has SLO headroom.
+            # The incumbent guard keeps it only if per-GPU rate improves.
+            if topology_settled:
+                raise_target = _round_up_to_multiple(
+                    max(16, int(current_mns * 1.5)) if current_mns > 0 else 48, 8
+                )
+                mns_targets.append(("raise_max_num_seqs", raise_target))
+        elif top_bottleneck == "ttft_prefill" and topology_settled and not max_num_seqs_tested:
+            # Prefill-heavy TTFT can still be admission/concurrency limited after TP and
+            # max-num-batched-tokens probes settle. Try a modest same-topology seq cap
+            # increase before letting convergence guards declare the incumbent final.
+            target = _round_up_to_multiple(
+                max(16, int(current_mns * 1.5)) if current_mns > 0 else 64, 8
+            )
+            mns_targets.append(("raise_max_num_seqs", target))
        for action_id, target in mns_targets:
-            patch = {**topology_patch, "max-num-seqs": target}
+            patch = {**runtime_base_patch, "max-num-seqs": target}
            signature = _config_signature({"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": patch})
            if signature in tested_signatures:
                continue
-            relief = 0.25 if top_bottleneck in {"decode_tpot", "admission_or_queueing"} else 0.08
+            if top_bottleneck in {"decode_tpot", "admission_or_queueing"}:
+                relief = 0.25
+            elif top_bottleneck == "ttft_prefill":
+                relief = 0.3
+            else:
+                relief = 0.08
            actions.append(
                _runtime_action(
                    action_id=action_id,
@@ -1241,20 +1309,71 @@ def _runtime_candidate_actions(
                    score=relief + _information_gain(bottleneck_hypotheses, "runtime"),
                    patch=patch,
                    hypothesis=(
-                        "Adjust max-num-seqs to test whether concurrency pressure is the "
-                        "limiting factor under the configured SLO."
+                        "Adjust max-num-seqs to test whether concurrency/admission pressure "
+                        "is the limiting factor under the configured SLO."
                    ),
                    expected_effects=[
-                        "change decode/admission concurrency on the incumbent topology",
-                        "confirm if TPOT or queueing pressure is caused by sequence concurrency",
+                        "change prefill/decode admission concurrency on the incumbent topology",
+                        "confirm if latency or queueing pressure is caused by sequence concurrency",
                    ],
                )
            )

+    if (
+        top_bottleneck == "ttft_prefill"
+        and topology_settled
+        and "max-num-batched-tokens" in tunable
+        and "max-num-seqs" in tunable
+        and max_num_seqs_tested
+    ):
+        current_mbt = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("max-num-batched-tokens"), default=0)
+        current_mns = _parse_int_like(anchor_flags.get("max-num-seqs"), default=0)
+        if current_mbt > 0:
+            window_target = _initial_mbt_from_window(window_summary)
+            step_target = _next_mbt_step(current_mbt) or current_mbt
+            mbt_target = min(
+                32768,
+                max(
+                    step_target,
+                    min(window_target, _round_up_to_multiple(current_mbt * 2, 1024)),
+                ),
+            )
+        else:
+            mbt_target = _initial_mbt_from_window(window_summary)
+        mns_target = _round_up_to_multiple(
+            max(16, int(current_mns * 1.5)) if current_mns > 0 else 64, 8
+        )
+        if mbt_target > 0 and (mbt_target != current_mbt or mns_target != current_mns):
+            patch = {
+                **runtime_base_patch,
+                "max-num-batched-tokens": mbt_target,
+                "max-num-seqs": mns_target,
+            }
+            signature = _config_signature({"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": patch})
+            if signature not in tested_signatures:
+                actions.append(
+                    _runtime_action(
+                        action_id="raise_mbt_and_max_num_seqs",
+                        knob_family="prefill-runtime-interaction",
+                        score=0.38
+                        + _information_gain(bottleneck_hypotheses, "runtime"),
+                        patch=patch,
+                        hypothesis=(
+                            "Jointly raise max-num-batched-tokens and max-num-seqs to test "
+                            "whether prefill batching headroom and admission concurrency only "
+                            "help when adjusted together."
+                        ),
+                        expected_effects=[
+                            "preserve the incumbent topology while changing coupled prefill runtime limits",
+                            "confirm whether separate MBT or sequence-cap probes masked an interaction",
+                        ],
+                    )
+                )
+
    if "enable-chunked-prefill" in tunable and top_bottleneck == "ttft_prefill":
        current = bool(anchor_flags.get("enable-chunked-prefill", False))
        if not current:
-            patch = {**topology_patch, "enable-chunked-prefill": True}
+            patch = {**runtime_base_patch, "enable-chunked-prefill": True}
            signature = _config_signature({"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": patch})
            if signature not in tested_signatures:
                actions.append(
@@ -1273,6 +1392,37 @@ def _runtime_candidate_actions(
                        ],
                    )
                )
+
+    if (
+        "gpu-memory-utilization" in tunable
+        and topology_settled
+        and top_bottleneck in {"decode_tpot", "admission_or_queueing"}
+    ):
+        current_gmu = _parse_float_like(
+            anchor_flags.get("gpu-memory-utilization"), default=0.9
+        )
+        if 0.0 < current_gmu < _GMU_SAFE_CEILING:
+            target = round(min(_GMU_SAFE_CEILING, current_gmu + _GMU_STEP), 4)
+            if target > current_gmu:
+                patch = {**runtime_base_patch, "gpu-memory-utilization": target}
+                signature = _config_signature({"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": patch})
+                if signature not in tested_signatures:
+                    actions.append(
+                        _runtime_action(
+                            action_id="raise_gpu_memory_utilization",
+                            knob_family="gpu-memory-utilization",
+                            score=0.4 + _information_gain(bottleneck_hypotheses, "runtime"),
+                            patch=patch,
+                            hypothesis=(
+                                "Raise gpu-memory-utilization to add KV-cache headroom so the "
+                                "decode-bound incumbent can sustain more concurrent decode."
+                            ),
+                            expected_effects=[
+                                "add KV-cache blocks for higher decode concurrency on the incumbent topology",
+                                "reject if the higher memory target regresses request_rate_per_gpu or fails to launch",
+                            ],
+                        )
+                    )
    return actions


@@ -1422,6 +1572,18 @@ def _preserve_topology_patch(study: StudySpec, flags: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[st
    return patch


+def _preserve_runtime_patch(study: StudySpec, flags: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    patch: dict[str, Any] = {}
+    tunable = set(study.engine.tunable_flags)
+    base = study.engine.base_flags
+    for key in _RUNTIME_KEYS:
+        if key not in tunable or key not in flags:
+            continue
+        if flags.get(key) != base.get(key):
+            patch[key] = flags[key]
+    return patch
+
+
 def _normalized_topology_flags(flags: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
    return {
        "tensor-parallel-size": _parse_int_like(
@@ -1696,11 +1858,15 @@ def _runtime_refinement_proposal(
    best_flags = best_patch.get("flag_patch")
    if not isinstance(best_flags, dict):
        best_flags = {}
-    best_tp = _parse_int_like(best_flags.get("tensor-parallel-size"), default=1)
+    best_effective_flags = _effective_flags_for_item(study, best)
+    best_tp = _parse_int_like(best_effective_flags.get("tensor-parallel-size"), default=1)
    if best_tp <= 1:
        return default
    tunable = set(study.engine.tunable_flags)
-    flag_patch: dict[str, Any] = {"tensor-parallel-size": best_tp}
+    flag_patch = {
+        **_preserve_topology_patch(study, best_effective_flags),
+        **_preserve_runtime_patch(study, best_effective_flags),
+    }
    if "enable-chunked-prefill" in tunable:
        flag_patch["enable-chunked-prefill"] = True
    if "max-num-batched-tokens" not in tunable:
@@ -1735,7 +1901,7 @@ def _runtime_refinement_proposal(
        "config_patch": {"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": flag_patch},
        "expected_effects": [
            "preserve the incumbent topology",
-            "increase batching headroom without also raising memory pressure",
+            "increase batching headroom without dropping measured runtime gains",
        ],
        "incumbent_trial_id": best.get("trial_id"),
    }
@@ -1877,15 +2043,19 @@ def _validation_exhausted_guard(
    }
    if not state.best_trial_id or not isinstance(state.best_request_rate_per_gpu, (int, float)):
        return default
-    completed = [
-        item
-        for item in recent_diagnostics
-        if item.get("status") == "completed"
-        and isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float))
-    ]
-    if not completed:
-        return default
-    baseline_rate = _as_float(completed[0].get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"))
+    state_completed = _state_completed_trials_with_rates(state)
+    if state_completed:
+        baseline_rate = float(state_completed[0].best_request_rate_per_gpu)
+    else:
+        completed = [
+            item
+            for item in recent_diagnostics
+            if item.get("status") == "completed"
+            and isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float))
+        ]
+        if not completed:
+            return default
+        baseline_rate = _as_float(completed[0].get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"))
    incumbent_rate = _as_float(state.best_request_rate_per_gpu)
    if baseline_rate <= 0 or incumbent_rate <= 0:
        return default
@@ -1923,12 +2093,18 @@ def _validation_exhausted_guard(
            "incumbent_gain_vs_baseline": gain,
            "validation_trial_ids": [str(item.get("trial_id")) for item in after_best],
        }
-    if any(isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float)) for item in after_best):
+    improving_trials = [
+        item
+        for item in after_best
+        if isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float))
+        and float(item["best_request_rate_per_gpu"]) > incumbent_rate
+    ]
+    if improving_trials:
        return {
            **default,
-            "reason": "post_incumbent_validation_found_feasible_candidate",
+            "reason": "post_incumbent_validation_found_improving_candidate",
            "incumbent_gain_vs_baseline": gain,
-            "validation_trial_ids": [str(item.get("trial_id")) for item in after_best],
+            "validation_trial_ids": [str(item.get("trial_id")) for item in improving_trials],
        }

    families: set[str] = set()
@@ -1954,7 +2130,7 @@ def _validation_exhausted_guard(
        "reason": "post_incumbent_validation_exhausted",
        "summary": (
            "A strong incumbent was followed by validation probes across nearby "
-            "topology/runtime families, and none produced a feasible candidate."
+            "topology/runtime families, and none improved request_rate_per_gpu."
        ),
        "incumbent_trial_id": state.best_trial_id,
        "incumbent_gain_vs_baseline": gain,
@@ -1995,16 +2171,11 @@ def _strong_incumbent_guard(
    }
    if state.best_trial_id is None or state.best_request_rate_per_gpu is None:
        return default
-    completed = [
-        item
-        for item in recent_diagnostics
-        if item.get("status") == "completed"
-        and isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float))
-    ]
+    completed = _state_completed_trials_with_rates(state)
    if len(completed) < 2:
        return default
    baseline = completed[0]
-    baseline_rate = float(baseline["best_request_rate_per_gpu"])
+    baseline_rate = float(baseline.best_request_rate_per_gpu)
    incumbent_rate = float(state.best_request_rate_per_gpu)
    if baseline_rate <= 0:
        return default
@@ -2014,7 +2185,7 @@ def _strong_incumbent_guard(
        return {
            "guard_active": True,
            "reason": "incumbent_exceeds_baseline_by_1_8x_and_latest_trial_is_best_enter_validation_phase",
-            "baseline_trial_id": baseline.get("trial_id"),
+            "baseline_trial_id": baseline.trial_id,
            "baseline_request_rate_per_gpu": baseline_rate,
            "incumbent_gain_vs_baseline": gain,
            "recommended_next_action": (
@@ -2024,7 +2195,7 @@ def _strong_incumbent_guard(
        }
    return {
        **default,
-        "baseline_trial_id": baseline.get("trial_id"),
+        "baseline_trial_id": baseline.trial_id,
        "baseline_request_rate_per_gpu": baseline_rate,
        "incumbent_gain_vs_baseline": gain,
        "reason": "need_more_evidence_before_strong_incumbent_stop",
@@ -2252,6 +2423,19 @@ def _parse_int_like(value: Any, *, default: int) -> int:
    return default


+def _parse_float_like(value: Any, *, default: float) -> float:
+    if value is None or isinstance(value, bool):
+        return default
+    if isinstance(value, (int, float)):
+        return float(value)
+    if isinstance(value, str) and value.strip():
+        try:
+            return float(value.strip())
+        except ValueError:
+            return default
+    return default
+
+
 def _config_signature(config_patch: Any) -> str:
    if not isinstance(config_patch, dict):
        config_patch = {}
--- a/src/aituner/tuning_report.py
+++ b/src/aituner/tuning_report.py
@@ -0,0 +1,581 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+from .spec import SpecError, load_structured_file
+from .store import StudyStore
+
+
+DEFAULT_BUDGETS = [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12]
+DEFAULT_TARGET_FRACTION = 0.95
+DEFAULT_MIN_FINAL_RATIO = 0.98
+
+
+def run_tuning_report(spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    spec_path = spec_path.resolve()
+    spec = _load_report_spec(spec_path)
+    report_root = _resolve_output_root(spec, spec_path=spec_path)
+    report_root.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    cases = [
+        _summarize_case(case, spec_path=spec_path)
+        for case in spec["cases"]
+    ]
+    summary = {
+        "report_id": spec["report_id"],
+        "report_root": str(report_root),
+        "target_fraction": spec["target_fraction"],
+        "min_final_ratio": spec["min_final_ratio"],
+        "cases": cases,
+        "aggregate": _aggregate_cases(cases),
+    }
+    StudyStore.write_json(report_root / "summary.json", summary)
+    (report_root / "report.md").write_text(_render_report(summary), encoding="utf-8")
+    return summary
+
+
+def _load_report_spec(path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    payload = dict(load_structured_file(path))
+    report_id = str(payload.get("report_id") or "").strip()
+    if not report_id:
+        raise SpecError("report_id must be a non-empty string.")
+    raw_cases = payload.get("cases")
+    if not isinstance(raw_cases, list) or not raw_cases:
+        raise SpecError("cases must be a non-empty list.")
+    target_fraction = _as_float(payload.get("target_fraction"), default=DEFAULT_TARGET_FRACTION)
+    if target_fraction <= 0:
+        raise SpecError("target_fraction must be positive.")
+    min_final_ratio = _as_float(payload.get("min_final_ratio"), default=DEFAULT_MIN_FINAL_RATIO)
+    if min_final_ratio <= 0:
+        raise SpecError("min_final_ratio must be positive.")
+    cases = [
+        _load_case(
+            item,
+            idx=idx,
+            default_target_fraction=target_fraction,
+            default_min_final_ratio=min_final_ratio,
+        )
+        for idx, item in enumerate(raw_cases)
+    ]
+    return {
+        "report_id": report_id,
+        "output_root": str(payload.get("output_root") or "").strip() or None,
+        "target_fraction": target_fraction,
+        "min_final_ratio": min_final_ratio,
+        "cases": cases,
+    }
+
+
+def _load_case(
+    raw: Any,
+    *,
+    idx: int,
+    default_target_fraction: float,
+    default_min_final_ratio: float,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    if not isinstance(raw, dict):
+        raise SpecError(f"cases[{idx}] must be an object.")
+    case_id = str(raw.get("case_id") or "").strip()
+    if not case_id:
+        raise SpecError(f"cases[{idx}].case_id must be a non-empty string.")
+    raw_arms = raw.get("arms")
+    if not isinstance(raw_arms, list) or not raw_arms:
+        raise SpecError(f"cases[{idx}].arms must be a non-empty list.")
+    arms = [_load_arm(item, context=f"cases[{idx}].arms[{arm_idx}]") for arm_idx, item in enumerate(raw_arms)]
+    names = [item["name"] for item in arms]
+    if len(names) != len(set(names)):
+        raise SpecError(f"cases[{idx}].arms names must be unique.")
+    raw_budgets = raw.get("budgets", DEFAULT_BUDGETS)
+    if not isinstance(raw_budgets, list) or not raw_budgets:
+        raise SpecError(f"cases[{idx}].budgets must be a non-empty list.")
+    budgets = sorted({_positive_int(item, context=f"cases[{idx}].budgets") for item in raw_budgets})
+    return {
+        "case_id": case_id,
+        "description": str(raw.get("description") or "").strip(),
+        "tags": [str(item).strip() for item in raw.get("tags", []) if str(item).strip()]
+        if isinstance(raw.get("tags", []), list)
+        else [],
+        "budgets": budgets,
+        "target_fraction": _as_float(raw.get("target_fraction"), default=default_target_fraction),
+        "min_final_ratio": _as_float(raw.get("min_final_ratio"), default=default_min_final_ratio),
+        "arms": arms,
+    }
+
+
+def _load_arm(raw: Any, *, context: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    if not isinstance(raw, dict):
+        raise SpecError(f"{context} must be an object.")
+    name = str(raw.get("name") or "").strip()
+    if not name:
+        raise SpecError(f"{context}.name must be a non-empty string.")
+    kind = str(raw.get("kind") or name).strip()
+    study_root = str(raw.get("study_root") or "").strip()
+    if not study_root:
+        raise SpecError(f"{context}.study_root must be a non-empty string.")
+    return {
+        "name": name,
+        "kind": kind,
+        "study_root": study_root,
+        "label": str(raw.get("label") or "").strip() or name,
+    }
+
+
+def _resolve_output_root(spec: dict[str, Any], *, spec_path: Path) -> Path:
+    raw = spec.get("output_root")
+    if raw:
+        return _resolve_path(str(raw), base_dir=spec_path.parent)
+    return (Path(".aituner-reports") / str(spec["report_id"])).resolve()
+
+
+def _summarize_case(case: dict[str, Any], *, spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    arms = [
+        _summarize_arm(arm, budgets=case["budgets"], spec_path=spec_path)
+        for arm in case["arms"]
+    ]
+    reference = _reference_best(arms)
+    max_budget = max(case["budgets"] + [arm["trial_count"] for arm in arms])
+    for arm in arms:
+        _add_reference_metrics(
+            arm,
+            reference=reference,
+            max_budget=max_budget,
+            target_fraction=case["target_fraction"],
+        )
+    winners = _case_winners(arms)
+    comparison = _harness_vs_naive(
+        arms,
+        min_final_ratio=case["min_final_ratio"],
+    )
+    return {
+        "case_id": case["case_id"],
+        "description": case["description"],
+        "tags": case["tags"],
+        "budgets": case["budgets"],
+        "target_fraction": case["target_fraction"],
+        "min_final_ratio": case["min_final_ratio"],
+        "reference_best_per_gpu": reference,
+        "max_budget": max_budget,
+        "arms": arms,
+        "winners": winners,
+        "harness_vs_naive": comparison,
+        "warnings": _case_warnings(case, arms, comparison),
+    }
+
+
+def _summarize_arm(arm: dict[str, Any], *, budgets: list[int], spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    study_root = _resolve_study_root(arm["study_root"], base_dir=spec_path.parent)
+    state = json.loads((study_root / "state.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    trials = state.get("trials") if isinstance(state.get("trials"), list) else []
+    curve = _running_best_curve(trials)
+    final_best = curve[-1] if curve else None
+    best_trial_index = _first_index_at_value(curve, final_best)
+    return {
+        "name": arm["name"],
+        "kind": arm["kind"],
+        "label": arm["label"],
+        "study_root": str(study_root),
+        "study_id": state.get("study_id"),
+        "trial_count": len(trials),
+        "completed_count": sum(1 for item in trials if item.get("status") == "completed"),
+        "failed_count": sum(1 for item in trials if item.get("status") == "failed"),
+        "no_feasible_count": sum(
+            1 for item in trials if not isinstance(item.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"), (int, float))
+        ),
+        "best_trial_id": state.get("best_trial_id"),
+        "best_trial_index": best_trial_index,
+        "final_best_per_gpu": final_best,
+        "state_best_per_gpu": state.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu"),
+        "best_at_budget": {str(budget): _value_at_budget(curve, budget) for budget in budgets},
+        "running_best_per_gpu": curve,
+        "stop_reason": str(state.get("tuning_stop_reason") or ""),
+        "stop_diagnosis": str(state.get("tuning_stop_diagnosis") or ""),
+    }
+
+
+def _add_reference_metrics(
+    arm: dict[str, Any],
+    *,
+    reference: float | None,
+    max_budget: int,
+    target_fraction: float,
+) -> None:
+    final_best = arm.get("final_best_per_gpu")
+    arm["final_ratio_to_reference"] = (
+        float(final_best) / reference
+        if reference and isinstance(final_best, (int, float))
+        else None
+    )
+    target = reference * target_fraction if reference else None
+    arm["target_per_gpu"] = target
+    arm["trials_to_target"] = _trials_to_target(arm["running_best_per_gpu"], target)
+    arm["normalized_auc"] = _normalized_auc(
+        arm["running_best_per_gpu"],
+        reference=reference,
+        max_budget=max_budget,
+    )
+
+
+def _harness_vs_naive(arms: list[dict[str, Any]], *, min_final_ratio: float) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+    naive = [arm for arm in arms if arm["kind"] == "naive"]
+    harnesses = [arm for arm in arms if arm["kind"] == "harness"]
+    if not naive or not harnesses:
+        return []
+    best_naive_final = _max_optional(arm.get("final_best_per_gpu") for arm in naive)
+    best_naive_ttt = _min_optional(arm.get("trials_to_target") for arm in naive)
+    best_naive_auc = _max_optional(arm.get("normalized_auc") for arm in naive)
+    rows = []
+    for harness in harnesses:
+        final = harness.get("final_best_per_gpu")
+        ttt = harness.get("trials_to_target")
+        auc = harness.get("normalized_auc")
+        final_ratio = (
+            float(final) / best_naive_final
+            if best_naive_final and isinstance(final, (int, float))
+            else None
+        )
+        auc_ratio = (
+            float(auc) / best_naive_auc
+            if best_naive_auc and isinstance(auc, (int, float))
+            else None
+        )
+        speedup = _speedup(best_naive_ttt, ttt)
+        pass_final = final_ratio is not None and final_ratio >= min_final_ratio
+        pass_speed = speedup is None or speedup >= 1.0
+        rows.append(
+            {
+                "harness": harness["name"],
+                "best_naive_final_per_gpu": best_naive_final,
+                "best_naive_trials_to_target": best_naive_ttt,
+                "best_naive_normalized_auc": best_naive_auc,
+                "final_ratio_vs_best_naive": final_ratio,
+                "target_trial_speedup_vs_best_naive": speedup,
+                "auc_ratio_vs_best_naive": auc_ratio,
+                "passes_min_final_ratio": pass_final,
+                "passes_speed": pass_speed,
+                "passes": pass_final and pass_speed,
+            }
+        )
+    return rows
+
+
+def _case_winners(arms: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> dict[str, str | None]:
+    return {
+        "final_best": _argmax(arms, "final_best_per_gpu"),
+        "fastest_to_target": _argmin(arms, "trials_to_target"),
+        "normalized_auc": _argmax(arms, "normalized_auc"),
+    }
+
+
+def _aggregate_cases(cases: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    by_kind: dict[str, dict[str, Any]] = {}
+    final_wins: dict[str, int] = {}
+    speed_wins: dict[str, int] = {}
+    auc_wins: dict[str, int] = {}
+    harness_passes = 0
+    harness_checks = 0
+    for case in cases:
+        for winner_key, target in (
+            ("final_best", final_wins),
+            ("fastest_to_target", speed_wins),
+            ("normalized_auc", auc_wins),
+        ):
+            winner = case["winners"].get(winner_key)
+            if winner:
+                target[winner] = target.get(winner, 0) + 1
+        for row in case["harness_vs_naive"]:
+            harness_checks += 1
+            if row["passes"]:
+                harness_passes += 1
+        for arm in case["arms"]:
+            bucket = by_kind.setdefault(
+                arm["kind"],
+                {
+                    "arm_count": 0,
+                    "mean_final_ratio_to_reference": None,
+                    "mean_normalized_auc": None,
+                    "target_reached_count": 0,
+                    "_final_ratios": [],
+                    "_aucs": [],
+                },
+            )
+            bucket["arm_count"] += 1
+            if isinstance(arm.get("final_ratio_to_reference"), (int, float)):
+                bucket["_final_ratios"].append(float(arm["final_ratio_to_reference"]))
+            if isinstance(arm.get("normalized_auc"), (int, float)):
+                bucket["_aucs"].append(float(arm["normalized_auc"]))
+            if isinstance(arm.get("trials_to_target"), int):
+                bucket["target_reached_count"] += 1
+    for bucket in by_kind.values():
+        ratios = bucket.pop("_final_ratios")
+        aucs = bucket.pop("_aucs")
+        bucket["mean_final_ratio_to_reference"] = _mean(ratios)
+        bucket["mean_normalized_auc"] = _mean(aucs)
+    return {
+        "case_count": len(cases),
+        "by_kind": by_kind,
+        "winner_counts": {
+            "final_best": final_wins,
+            "fastest_to_target": speed_wins,
+            "normalized_auc": auc_wins,
+        },
+        "harness_vs_naive_pass_count": harness_passes,
+        "harness_vs_naive_check_count": harness_checks,
+    }
+
+
+def _case_warnings(
+    case: dict[str, Any],
+    arms: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    comparison: list[dict[str, Any]],
+) -> list[str]:
+    warnings = []
+    kinds = {arm["kind"] for arm in arms}
+    if "harness" not in kinds or "naive" not in kinds:
+        warnings.append("case does not include both harness and naive arms")
+    if len(case["tags"]) < 2:
+        warnings.append("case has few tags; add workload/model/SLO tags to support generalization claims")
+    if not comparison:
+        return warnings
+    for row in comparison:
+        if not row["passes_min_final_ratio"]:
+            warnings.append(
+                f"{row['harness']} final best is below min_final_ratio versus best naive"
+            )
+        if not row["passes_speed"]:
+            warnings.append(
+                f"{row['harness']} reaches target later than best naive"
+            )
+    return warnings
+
+
+def _running_best_curve(trials: list[Any]) -> list[float | None]:
+    curve: list[float | None] = []
+    incumbent: float | None = None
+    for trial in trials:
+        rate = trial.get("best_request_rate_per_gpu") if isinstance(trial, dict) else None
+        if isinstance(rate, (int, float)) and (incumbent is None or float(rate) > incumbent):
+            incumbent = float(rate)
+        curve.append(incumbent)
+    return curve
+
+
+def _value_at_budget(curve: list[float | None], budget: int) -> float | None:
+    if not curve:
+        return None
+    index = min(max(budget, 1), len(curve)) - 1
+    return curve[index]
+
+
+def _trials_to_target(curve: list[float | None], target: float | None) -> int | None:
+    if target is None:
+        return None
+    for idx, value in enumerate(curve, start=1):
+        if isinstance(value, (int, float)) and value >= target:
+            return idx
+    return None
+
+
+def _normalized_auc(
+    curve: list[float | None],
+    *,
+    reference: float | None,
+    max_budget: int,
+) -> float | None:
+    if not reference or max_budget <= 0:
+        return None
+    total = 0.0
+    for budget in range(1, max_budget + 1):
+        value = _value_at_budget(curve, budget)
+        total += float(value) if isinstance(value, (int, float)) else 0.0
+    return total / (reference * max_budget)
+
+
+def _reference_best(arms: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> float | None:
+    return _max_optional(arm.get("final_best_per_gpu") for arm in arms)
+
+
+def _resolve_study_root(raw_path: str, *, base_dir: Path) -> Path:
+    path = _resolve_path(raw_path, base_dir=base_dir)
+    if (path / "state.json").exists():
+        return path
+    matches = sorted(path.glob("*/state.json"))
+    if len(matches) == 1:
+        return matches[0].parent
+    if not matches:
+        raise SpecError(f"study_root does not contain state.json: {path}")
+    raise SpecError(f"study_root is ambiguous; point to a specific study directory: {path}")
+
+
+def _resolve_path(raw_path: str, *, base_dir: Path) -> Path:
+    path = Path(raw_path)
+    if not path.is_absolute():
+        path = (base_dir / path).resolve()
+    return path
+
+
+def _as_float(value: Any, *, default: float) -> float:
+    if value is None:
+        return default
+    if isinstance(value, bool) or not isinstance(value, (int, float)):
+        raise SpecError(f"Expected numeric value, got {value!r}.")
+    return float(value)
+
+
+def _positive_int(value: Any, *, context: str) -> int:
+    if isinstance(value, bool) or not isinstance(value, int) or value <= 0:
+        raise SpecError(f"{context} must contain positive integers.")
+    return value
+
+
+def _first_index_at_value(curve: list[float | None], value: float | None) -> int | None:
+    if value is None:
+        return None
+    for idx, item in enumerate(curve, start=1):
+        if item == value:
+            return idx
+    return None
+
+
+def _argmax(rows: list[dict[str, Any]], key: str) -> str | None:
+    scored = [
+        (str(row["name"]), float(row[key]))
+        for row in rows
+        if isinstance(row.get(key), (int, float))
+    ]
+    if not scored:
+        return None
+    scored.sort(key=lambda item: item[1], reverse=True)
+    return scored[0][0]
+
+
+def _argmin(rows: list[dict[str, Any]], key: str) -> str | None:
+    scored = [
+        (str(row["name"]), int(row[key]))
+        for row in rows
+        if isinstance(row.get(key), int)
+    ]
+    if not scored:
+        return None
+    scored.sort(key=lambda item: item[1])
+    return scored[0][0]
+
+
+def _max_optional(values: Any) -> float | None:
+    scored = [float(item) for item in values if isinstance(item, (int, float))]
+    return max(scored) if scored else None
+
+
+def _min_optional(values: Any) -> int | None:
+    scored = [int(item) for item in values if isinstance(item, int)]
+    return min(scored) if scored else None
+
+
+def _mean(values: list[float]) -> float | None:
+    return sum(values) / len(values) if values else None
+
+
+def _speedup(naive_trials: int | None, harness_trials: int | None) -> float | None:
+    if harness_trials is None:
+        return 0.0 if naive_trials is not None else None
+    if naive_trials is None:
+        return None
+    if harness_trials <= 0:
+        return None
+    return float(naive_trials) / float(harness_trials)
+
+
+def _fmt(value: Any) -> str:
+    if isinstance(value, float):
+        return f"{value:.4f}"
+    if value is None:
+        return "-"
+    return str(value)
+
+
+def _render_report(summary: dict[str, Any]) -> str:
+    lines = [
+        f"# {summary['report_id']}",
+        "",
+        "## Aggregate",
+        "",
+        f"- Cases: `{summary['aggregate']['case_count']}`",
+        f"- Harness-vs-naive pass/checks: `{summary['aggregate']['harness_vs_naive_pass_count']}`/`{summary['aggregate']['harness_vs_naive_check_count']}`",
+        f"- Winner counts: `{json.dumps(summary['aggregate']['winner_counts'], ensure_ascii=False)}`",
+        "",
+        "## By Kind",
+        "",
+        "| Kind | Arms | Mean final/ref | Mean AUC | Target reached |",
+        "| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |",
+    ]
+    for kind, payload in sorted(summary["aggregate"]["by_kind"].items()):
+        lines.append(
+            "| "
+            + " | ".join(
+                [
+                    f"`{kind}`",
+                    str(payload["arm_count"]),
+                    _fmt(payload["mean_final_ratio_to_reference"]),
+                    _fmt(payload["mean_normalized_auc"]),
+                    str(payload["target_reached_count"]),
+                ]
+            )
+            + " |"
+        )
+    lines.extend(["", "## Cases", ""])
+    for case in summary["cases"]:
+        lines.extend(
+            [
+                f"### {case['case_id']}",
+                "",
+                f"- Reference best req/s/GPU: `{_fmt(case['reference_best_per_gpu'])}`",
+                f"- Target fraction: `{case['target_fraction']}`",
+                f"- Winners: `{json.dumps(case['winners'], ensure_ascii=False)}`",
+            ]
+        )
+        if case["warnings"]:
+            lines.append(f"- Warnings: `{json.dumps(case['warnings'], ensure_ascii=False)}`")
+        lines.extend(
+            [
+                "",
+                "| Arm | Kind | Trials | Final/GPU | Final/ref | TTT | AUC | Failed | No feasible |",
+                "| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |",
+            ]
+        )
+        for arm in case["arms"]:
+            lines.append(
+                "| "
+                + " | ".join(
+                    [
+                        f"`{arm['name']}`",
+                        f"`{arm['kind']}`",
+                        str(arm["trial_count"]),
+                        _fmt(arm["final_best_per_gpu"]),
+                        _fmt(arm["final_ratio_to_reference"]),
+                        _fmt(arm["trials_to_target"]),
+                        _fmt(arm["normalized_auc"]),
+                        str(arm["failed_count"]),
+                        str(arm["no_feasible_count"]),
+                    ]
+                )
+                + " |"
+            )
+        if case["harness_vs_naive"]:
+            lines.extend(["", "| Harness | Final vs best naive | Target speedup | AUC vs best naive | Pass |", "| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |"])
+            for row in case["harness_vs_naive"]:
+                lines.append(
+                    "| "
+                    + " | ".join(
+                        [
+                            f"`{row['harness']}`",
+                            _fmt(row["final_ratio_vs_best_naive"]),
+                            _fmt(row["target_trial_speedup_vs_best_naive"]),
+                            _fmt(row["auc_ratio_vs_best_naive"]),
+                            f"`{row['passes']}`",
+                        ]
+                    )
+                    + " |"
+                )
+        lines.append("")
+    return "\n".join(lines)
--- a/src/aituner/worker.py
+++ b/src/aituner/worker.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from .engine import build_launch_recipe
 from .http_client import HttpClientError, stream_chat_completion, wait_for_server
 from .lca import find_convergence_prefix, resolve_length_mode
 from .search import ThresholdProbe, binary_search_max_feasible
-from .slo import RequestOutcome, evaluate_request, summarize_evaluations
+from .slo import RequestOutcome, _rule_threshold_ms, evaluate_request, summarize_evaluations
 from .spec import ConfigPatch, SamplingSearchSpec, TrialSpec, load_study_spec, to_jsonable
 from .trace import TraceRequest, load_trace_requests, select_requests_for_threshold

@@ -254,6 +254,34 @@ def _ignore_sigterm_if_main() -> None:
        pass


+def _probe_drain_deadline(
+    reqs: list[TraceRequest], slo: Any, *, ceiling: float | None
+) -> float | None:
+    """Stop-A-consistent per-probe drain deadline (wall-clock seconds).
+
+    The deadline is the time a *feasible* config needs to drain the admitted set:
+    the last admitted arrival plus the worst-case TTFT budget plus the p99 output
+    length times the TPOT budget. A config that cannot finish by this deadline is
+    genuinely SLO-infeasible, so the clock never pre-empts the LCA-matched offered
+    window (Stop-A) -- it only fails the unfit. ``ceiling`` is a hard safety cap.
+    """
+    if not reqs or slo.tpot_rule is None:
+        return ceiling
+    last_arrival = max(float(r.arrival_s or 0.0) for r in reqs)
+    inputs = sorted(int(r.prompt_tokens_hint or 0) for r in reqs)
+    outputs = sorted(int(r.completion_tokens_hint or 0) for r in reqs)
+
+    def _p99(xs: list[int]) -> int:
+        return xs[min(len(xs) - 1, int(0.99 * len(xs)))] if xs else 0
+
+    p99_in, p99_out = _p99(inputs), _p99(outputs)
+    tpot_ms = _rule_threshold_ms(slo.tpot_rule, p99_in)
+    ttft_ms = _rule_threshold_ms(slo.ttft_rule, p99_in) if slo.ttft_rule is not None else 0.0
+    margin_s = 30.0
+    deadline = last_arrival + (ttft_ms + p99_out * tpot_ms) / 1000.0 + margin_s
+    return min(float(ceiling), deadline) if ceiling else deadline
+
+
 def _adaptive_replay_set(
    selected: list[TraceRequest],
    *,
@@ -640,7 +668,9 @@ def run_trial(trial_spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
                        max_concurrency=study.trace.max_concurrency,
                        target_pass_rate=study.slo.target_pass_rate,
                        max_lag_s=study.trace.early_stop_max_lag_s,
-                        max_elapsed_s=study.trace.early_stop_max_elapsed_s,
+                        max_elapsed_s=_probe_drain_deadline(
+                            reqs, study.slo, ceiling=study.trace.early_stop_max_elapsed_s
+                        ),
                        evaluate_outcome=lambda outcome: evaluate_request(outcome, study.slo),
                        drain_inflight_on_early_stop=not restart_after_early_stop,
                    )
@@ -751,20 +781,28 @@ def run_trial(trial_spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
            best = primary_search.best_feasible_payload
            best_source = "primary_search"
            fallback_search = None
+            skipped_lower_range_fallback = False
+            lower_range_fallback_skip_reason = ""
            original_search_low = float(study.search.low)
            inherited_search_floor = float(trial.search.low)
            if best is None and inherited_search_floor > original_search_low:
-                fallback_search = binary_search_max_feasible(
-                    low=original_search_low,
-                    high=inherited_search_floor,
-                    tolerance=trial.search.tolerance,
-                    max_probes=trial.search.max_probes,
-                    evaluator=evaluator,
-                )
-                if fallback_search.best_feasible_payload is not None:
-                    search_for_best = fallback_search
-                    best = fallback_search.best_feasible_payload
-                    best_source = "lower_range_fallback"
+                if trial.search.inherit_incumbent_floor:
+                    skipped_lower_range_fallback = True
+                    lower_range_fallback_skip_reason = (
+                        "primary_search_above_incumbent_floor_all_infeasible"
+                    )
+                else:
+                    fallback_search = binary_search_max_feasible(
+                        low=original_search_low,
+                        high=inherited_search_floor,
+                        tolerance=trial.search.tolerance,
+                        max_probes=trial.search.max_probes,
+                        evaluator=evaluator,
+                    )
+                    if fallback_search.best_feasible_payload is not None:
+                        search_for_best = fallback_search
+                        best = fallback_search.best_feasible_payload
+                        best_source = "lower_range_fallback"

            def serialize_probe(probe: ThresholdProbe[ProbePayload]) -> dict[str, Any]:
                return {
@@ -796,7 +834,7 @@ def run_trial(trial_spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
                "best_request_count": best.request_count if best is not None else None,
                "probes": [serialize_probe(probe) for probe in all_probes],
            }
-            if fallback_search is not None:
+            if fallback_search is not None or skipped_lower_range_fallback:
                result["primary_search"] = {
                    "low": inherited_search_floor,
                    "high": trial.search.high,
@@ -808,6 +846,16 @@ def run_trial(trial_spec_path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
                    else None,
                    "probes": [serialize_probe(probe) for probe in primary_search.probes],
                }
+            if skipped_lower_range_fallback:
+                result["lower_range_fallback"] = {
+                    "triggered": False,
+                    "skipped": True,
+                    "reason": lower_range_fallback_skip_reason,
+                    "low": original_search_low,
+                    "high": inherited_search_floor,
+                    "probes": [],
+                }
+            if fallback_search is not None:
                result["lower_range_fallback"] = {
                    "triggered": True,
                    "low": original_search_low,
--- a/tests/test_core_flow.py
+++ b/tests/test_core_flow.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ from aituner.store import StudyStore
 from aituner.trace import load_trace_requests, summarize_window
 from aituner.worker import (
    _adaptive_replay_set,
+    _probe_drain_deadline,
    _install_sigterm_as_keyboardinterrupt,
    _restore_sigterm,
    _should_extend_on_boundary,
@@ -535,6 +536,38 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
            )
        )

+    def test_probe_drain_deadline_tracks_admitted_set_and_caps_at_ceiling(self) -> None:
+        slo = SloSpec.from_dict(
+            {
+                "target_pass_rate": 0.95,
+                "ttft_rule": {"kind": "linear_ms", "intercept_ms": 4000, "per_token_ms": 0.125},
+                "tpot_rule": {"kind": "fixed_ms", "threshold_ms": 50},
+            }
+        )
+
+        def req(arrival_s: float, in_tok: int, out_tok: int) -> TraceRequest:
+            return TraceRequest(
+                row_id="r",
+                arrival_s=arrival_s,
+                sampling_u=0.1,
+                body={},
+                prompt_tokens_hint=in_tok,
+                completion_tokens_hint=out_tok,
+                metadata={},
+            )
+
+        # 100 requests, last arrival 500s, p99 in=8000 / out=2000.
+        reqs = [req(float(i * 5), 8000, 2000) for i in range(100)]
+        # deadline = last_arrival + (ttft_ms + p99_out*tpot_ms)/1000 + margin
+        #          = 495 + (5000 + 2000*50)/1000 + 30 = 495 + 105 + 30 = 630
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(
+            _probe_drain_deadline(reqs, slo, ceiling=1000.0), 630.0, places=3
+        )
+        # Ceiling caps a deadline that would otherwise exceed it.
+        self.assertEqual(_probe_drain_deadline(reqs, slo, ceiling=400.0), 400.0)
+        # No requests or no TPOT rule -> fall back to the ceiling.
+        self.assertEqual(_probe_drain_deadline([], slo, ceiling=400.0), 400.0)
+
    def test_linear_ms_ttft_rule_scales_with_input_length(self) -> None:
        slo = SloSpec.from_dict(
            {
@@ -965,6 +998,189 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
            self.assertIsNotNone(proposal)
            self.assertTrue(proposal.should_stop)

+    def test_harness_stop_after_non_improving_feasible_validation_is_exhausted(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(tmp_path)
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0002",
+                best_parallel_size=8,
+                best_sampling_u=0.02,
+                best_request_rate=2.4,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.3,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=0.8,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.1,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.4,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.3,
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 2,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 4,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0003",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.0,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.25,
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 1,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 8,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0004",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.1,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.2625,
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 160},
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study,
+                window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 2048},
+                state=state,
+            )
+            self.assertTrue(context["harness_stop"]["should_stop"])
+            self.assertEqual(context["harness_stop"]["reason"], "post_incumbent_validation_exhausted")
+
+    def test_harness_validation_uses_full_state_baseline_when_history_window_moves(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                engine_overrides={"tunable_flags": ["max-num-seqs"]},
+            )
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0006",
+                best_parallel_size=8,
+                best_request_rate=2.4,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.3,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=0.8,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.1,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=0.88,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.11,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 16}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0003",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=0.96,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.12,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 24}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0004",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=1.04,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.13,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 32}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0005",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.24,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.28,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 40}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0006",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.4,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.3,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 48}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0007",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 56}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0008",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 64}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0009",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 72}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0010",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 80}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0011",
+                        status="failed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 88}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0012",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 96}},
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study,
+                window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 2048},
+                state=state,
+            )
+            self.assertTrue(context["harness_stop"]["should_stop"])
+            self.assertEqual(context["harness_stop"]["reason"], "post_incumbent_validation_exhausted")
+            self.assertGreater(
+                context["harness_stop"]["evidence"]["incumbent_gain_vs_baseline"],
+                2.9,
+            )
+
    def test_harness_does_not_stop_immediately_after_strong_incumbent(self) -> None:
        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
@@ -1285,6 +1501,305 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
                },
            )

+    def test_harness_runtime_refinement_preserves_incumbent_runtime_knobs(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                engine_overrides={
+                    "tunable_flags": [
+                        "tensor-parallel-size",
+                        "gpu-memory-utilization",
+                        "max-num-seqs",
+                        "enable-chunked-prefill",
+                        "max-num-batched-tokens",
+                    ],
+                    "topology_constraints": {
+                        "allowed_tensor_parallel_sizes": [1, 2, 4],
+                        "allowed_tp_dp_products": [1, 2, 4],
+                    },
+                },
+            )
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            result_path = tmp_path / "trial-0002.json"
+            result_path.write_text(
+                json.dumps(
+                    {
+                        "status": "completed",
+                        "best_sampling_u": 0.098,
+                        "best_request_rate": 3.3,
+                        "best_pass_rate": 0.97,
+                        "probes": [
+                            {
+                                "threshold": 0.098,
+                                "feasible": True,
+                                "payload": {
+                                    "request_count": 100,
+                                    "pass_rate": 0.97,
+                                    "request_rate": 3.3,
+                                    "early_stopped": False,
+                                    "early_stop_reason": "",
+                                    "latency_summary": {"failed_reason_counts": {}},
+                                },
+                            }
+                        ],
+                    }
+                ),
+                encoding="utf-8",
+            )
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0002",
+                best_request_rate=3.3,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.825,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=2.5,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.625,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"tensor-parallel-size": 4}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=3.3,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.825,
+                        result_path=str(result_path),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                                "gpu-memory-utilization": 0.92,
+                                "max-num-seqs": 48,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study,
+                window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p99": 8100},
+                state=state,
+            )
+            proposal = build_harness_guided_proposal(context)
+            self.assertIsNotNone(proposal)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                proposal.config_patch.flag_patch,
+                {
+                    "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                    "gpu-memory-utilization": 0.92,
+                    "max-num-seqs": 48,
+                    "enable-chunked-prefill": True,
+                    "max-num-batched-tokens": 16384,
+                },
+            )
+
+    def test_harness_raises_gpu_mem_util_on_settled_decode_bound_incumbent(self) -> None:
+        """Regression for the coverage gap that let the naive baseline beat the harness:
+        a settled TP incumbent that is decode_tpot-bound must get a gpu-memory-utilization
+        raise (KV-cache headroom) before the harness is allowed to stop."""
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                slo_overrides={
+                    "ttft_rule": {"kind": "fixed_ms", "threshold_ms": 4000},
+                    "tpot_rule": {"kind": "fixed_ms", "threshold_ms": 50},
+                },
+                engine_overrides={
+                    "tunable_flags": [
+                        "tensor-parallel-size",
+                        "gpu-memory-utilization",
+                    ],
+                    "topology_constraints": {
+                        "allowed_tensor_parallel_sizes": [1, 2, 4],
+                        "allowed_data_parallel_sizes": [1],
+                        "allowed_tp_dp_products": [1, 2, 4],
+                    },
+                },
+            )
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            result_path = tmp_path / "trial-0002.json"
+            result_path.write_text(
+                json.dumps(
+                    {
+                        "status": "completed",
+                        "best_sampling_u": 0.074,
+                        "best_request_rate": 2.6,
+                        "best_pass_rate": 0.97,
+                        "probes": [
+                            {
+                                "threshold": 0.074,
+                                "feasible": True,
+                                "payload": {
+                                    "request_count": 300,
+                                    "pass_rate": 0.97,
+                                    "request_rate": 2.6,
+                                    "latency_summary": {"failed_reason_counts": {}},
+                                },
+                            },
+                            {
+                                "threshold": 0.09,
+                                "feasible": False,
+                                "payload": {
+                                    "request_count": 300,
+                                    "pass_rate": 0.6,
+                                    "request_rate": 3.2,
+                                    "early_stop_reason": "slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable",
+                                    "latency_summary": {
+                                        "failed_reason_counts": {"tpot_ms>50.0": 90}
+                                    },
+                                },
+                            },
+                        ],
+                    }
+                ),
+                encoding="utf-8",
+            )
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0002",
+                best_request_rate=2.6,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.65,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=1.1,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.275,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"tensor-parallel-size": 2}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=2.6,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.65,
+                        result_path=str(result_path),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                                "gpu-memory-utilization": 0.9,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study, window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 1500}, state=state
+            )
+            proposal = build_harness_guided_proposal(context)
+            self.assertIsNotNone(proposal)
+            self.assertFalse(proposal.should_stop)
+            # TP4 preserved; gpu-memory-utilization hill-climbed one step (0.9 -> 0.92).
+            self.assertEqual(
+                proposal.config_patch.flag_patch.get("tensor-parallel-size"), 4
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(
+                proposal.config_patch.flag_patch.get("gpu-memory-utilization"), 0.92
+            )
+            # And the harness must NOT authorize a stop while that knob is untried.
+            self.assertIsNone(build_harness_stop_proposal(context))
+
+    def test_harness_climbs_tp_before_gpu_mem_util_micro_tuning(self) -> None:
+        """gpu-memory-utilization must not preempt an untried TP increase: at a TP2 incumbent
+        with TP4 still reachable, the harness must climb TP, not micro-tune runtime."""
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                slo_overrides={
+                    "ttft_rule": {"kind": "fixed_ms", "threshold_ms": 4000},
+                    "tpot_rule": {"kind": "fixed_ms", "threshold_ms": 50},
+                },
+                engine_overrides={
+                    "tunable_flags": ["tensor-parallel-size", "gpu-memory-utilization"],
+                    "topology_constraints": {
+                        "allowed_tensor_parallel_sizes": [1, 2, 4],
+                        "allowed_data_parallel_sizes": [1],
+                        "allowed_tp_dp_products": [1, 2, 4],
+                    },
+                },
+            )
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            result_path = tmp_path / "trial-0002.json"
+            result_path.write_text(
+                json.dumps(
+                    {
+                        "status": "completed",
+                        "best_sampling_u": 0.03,
+                        "best_request_rate": 1.1,
+                        "best_pass_rate": 0.97,
+                        "probes": [
+                            {
+                                "threshold": 0.03,
+                                "feasible": True,
+                                "payload": {
+                                    "request_count": 300,
+                                    "pass_rate": 0.97,
+                                    "request_rate": 1.1,
+                                    "latency_summary": {"failed_reason_counts": {}},
+                                },
+                            },
+                            {
+                                "threshold": 0.05,
+                                "feasible": False,
+                                "payload": {
+                                    "request_count": 300,
+                                    "pass_rate": 0.6,
+                                    "request_rate": 1.6,
+                                    "early_stop_reason": "slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable",
+                                    "latency_summary": {
+                                        "failed_reason_counts": {"tpot_ms>50.0": 90}
+                                    },
+                                },
+                            },
+                        ],
+                    }
+                ),
+                encoding="utf-8",
+            )
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0002",
+                best_request_rate=1.1,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.55,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=0.6,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.6,
+                        config_patch={"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {}},
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        best_request_rate=1.1,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.55,
+                        result_path=str(result_path),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 2,
+                                "gpu-memory-utilization": 0.9,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study, window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 1500}, state=state
+            )
+            proposal = build_harness_guided_proposal(context)
+            self.assertIsNotNone(proposal)
+            # Must climb TP (to 4), and must NOT micro-tune gpu-memory-utilization yet.
+            self.assertEqual(
+                proposal.config_patch.flag_patch.get("tensor-parallel-size"), 4
+            )
+            self.assertNotIn("gpu-memory-utilization", proposal.config_patch.flag_patch)
+
    def test_harness_validates_unmeasured_tp_frontier_before_runtime_refinement(self) -> None:
        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
@@ -1543,6 +2058,282 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
                {"max-num-seqs": 32},
            )

+    def test_prefill_convergence_stop_waits_for_sequence_concurrency_probe(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                engine_overrides={
+                    "base_flags": {
+                        "host": "127.0.0.1",
+                        "port": 8000,
+                        "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                        "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                        "max-num-batched-tokens": 8192,
+                        "max-num-seqs": 64,
+                        "enable-chunked-prefill": True,
+                    },
+                    "tunable_flags": [
+                        "tensor-parallel-size",
+                        "data-parallel-size",
+                        "max-num-batched-tokens",
+                        "max-num-seqs",
+                        "enable-chunked-prefill",
+                    ],
+                    "topology_constraints": {
+                        "allowed_tensor_parallel_sizes": [4, 8],
+                        "allowed_data_parallel_sizes": [1, 2],
+                        "allowed_tp_dp_products": [4, 8],
+                    },
+                },
+            )
+
+            def write_result(name: str, best_rate: float | None, pass_rate: float) -> Path:
+                path = tmp_path / f"{name}.json"
+                payload = {
+                    "status": "completed",
+                    "best_sampling_u": 0.091796875 if best_rate is not None else None,
+                    "best_request_rate": best_rate,
+                    "best_pass_rate": pass_rate if best_rate is not None else None,
+                    "probes": [
+                        {
+                            "threshold": 0.09375,
+                            "feasible": best_rate is not None,
+                            "payload": {
+                                "request_rate": best_rate,
+                                "pass_rate": pass_rate,
+                                "early_stop_reason": (
+                                    "" if best_rate is not None else "slo_pass_rate_unrecoverable"
+                                ),
+                                "latency_summary": {
+                                    "failed_reason_counts": {"ttft_ms>4000.0": 32}
+                                },
+                            },
+                        }
+                    ],
+                }
+                path.write_text(json.dumps(payload), encoding="utf-8")
+                return path
+
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0001",
+                best_parallel_size=8,
+                best_sampling_u=0.091796875,
+                best_request_rate=2.303,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.952,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0001", 2.303, 0.952)),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.953,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0002", 2.303, 0.953)),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "max-num-batched-tokens": 32768,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0003",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0003", None, 0.0)),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 2,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0004",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.954,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0004", 2.303, 0.954)),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                                "max-num-batched-tokens": 12288,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study,
+                window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 24000, "prompt_tokens_p99": 32000},
+                state=state,
+            )
+            self.assertFalse(context["harness_stop"]["should_stop"])
+            self.assertEqual(
+                context["harness_stop"]["reason"],
+                "experiment_plan_has_high_value_candidate",
+            )
+            action = context["experiment_plan"]["next_action"]
+            self.assertEqual(action["knob_family"], "max-num-seqs")
+            self.assertEqual(action["config_patch"]["flag_patch"]["max-num-seqs"], 96)
+            self.assertEqual(action["config_patch"]["flag_patch"]["tensor-parallel-size"], 8)
+
+    def test_prefill_sequence_probe_followed_by_joint_runtime_probe(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(
+                tmp_path,
+                engine_overrides={
+                    "base_flags": {
+                        "host": "127.0.0.1",
+                        "port": 8000,
+                        "tensor-parallel-size": 4,
+                        "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                        "max-num-batched-tokens": 8192,
+                        "max-num-seqs": 64,
+                        "enable-chunked-prefill": True,
+                    },
+                    "tunable_flags": [
+                        "tensor-parallel-size",
+                        "data-parallel-size",
+                        "max-num-batched-tokens",
+                        "max-num-seqs",
+                        "enable-chunked-prefill",
+                    ],
+                    "topology_constraints": {
+                        "allowed_tensor_parallel_sizes": [4, 8],
+                        "allowed_data_parallel_sizes": [1, 2],
+                        "allowed_tp_dp_products": [4, 8],
+                    },
+                },
+            )
+
+            def write_result(name: str) -> Path:
+                path = tmp_path / f"{name}.json"
+                payload = {
+                    "status": "completed",
+                    "best_sampling_u": 0.091796875,
+                    "best_request_rate": 2.303,
+                    "best_pass_rate": 0.951,
+                    "probes": [
+                        {
+                            "threshold": 0.09375,
+                            "feasible": True,
+                            "payload": {
+                                "request_rate": 2.303,
+                                "pass_rate": 0.951,
+                                "latency_summary": {
+                                    "failed_reason_counts": {"ttft_ms>4000.0": 32}
+                                },
+                            },
+                        }
+                    ],
+                }
+                path.write_text(json.dumps(payload), encoding="utf-8")
+                return path
+
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0001",
+                best_parallel_size=8,
+                best_sampling_u=0.091796875,
+                best_request_rate=2.303,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                trials=[
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0001",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.952,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0001")),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0002",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.950,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0002")),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "max-num-seqs": 96,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                    TrialSummary(
+                        trial_id="trial-0003",
+                        status="completed",
+                        parallel_size=8,
+                        best_request_rate=2.303,
+                        best_request_rate_per_gpu=0.288,
+                        best_pass_rate=0.950,
+                        result_path=str(write_result("trial-0003")),
+                        config_patch={
+                            "env_patch": {},
+                            "flag_patch": {
+                                "tensor-parallel-size": 8,
+                                "data-parallel-size": 1,
+                                "max-num-batched-tokens": 12288,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    ),
+                ],
+            )
+            context = build_harness_context(
+                study=study,
+                window_summary={"prompt_tokens_p95": 24000, "prompt_tokens_p99": 32000},
+                state=state,
+            )
+            self.assertFalse(context["harness_stop"]["should_stop"])
+            self.assertEqual(
+                context["harness_stop"]["reason"],
+                "experiment_plan_has_high_value_candidate",
+            )
+            action = context["experiment_plan"]["next_action"]
+            flag_patch = action["config_patch"]["flag_patch"]
+            self.assertEqual(action["knob_family"], "prefill-runtime-interaction")
+            self.assertEqual(flag_patch["tensor-parallel-size"], 8)
+            self.assertEqual(flag_patch["max-num-batched-tokens"], 16384)
+            self.assertEqual(flag_patch["max-num-seqs"], 96)
+
    def test_slo_unrecoverable_does_not_mask_latency_bottleneck(self) -> None:
        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
@@ -3273,6 +4064,94 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
                [0.25, 0.375],
            )

+    def test_run_trial_skips_fallback_below_incumbent_floor(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            study_path = _write_study_assets(tmp_path)
+            payload = json.loads(study_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            payload["search"]["max_probes"] = 2
+            payload["search"]["inherit_incumbent_floor"] = True
+            study_path.write_text(json.dumps(payload), encoding="utf-8")
+            study = load_study_spec(study_path)
+            store = StudyStore(tmp_path / ".aituner" / "studies")
+            store.init_study(spec_path=study_path, study=study)
+            state = StudyState(
+                study_id=study.study_id,
+                best_trial_id="trial-0001",
+                best_parallel_size=1,
+                best_sampling_u=0.5,
+                best_request_rate=2.0,
+                best_request_rate_per_gpu=2.0,
+                next_trial_index=2,
+                best_by_parallel_size={
+                    "1": {
+                        "trial_id": "trial-0001",
+                        "parallel_size": 1,
+                        "best_sampling_u": 0.5,
+                        "best_request_rate": 2.0,
+                        "best_request_rate_per_gpu": 2.0,
+                    }
+                },
+                trials=[],
+            )
+            proposal = Proposal.from_dict(
+                {
+                    "observation": "runtime patch",
+                    "diagnosis": "primary range all infeasible",
+                    "config_patch": {"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {"max-num-seqs": 2}},
+                    "expected_effects": ["measure"],
+                }
+            )
+            trial, _ = store.materialize_trial(study=study, state=state, proposal=proposal)
+            self.assertEqual(trial.search.low, 0.5)
+            self.assertTrue(trial.search.inherit_incumbent_floor)
+
+            def fake_replay(requests, **kwargs):
+                return (
+                    [
+                        RequestOutcome(
+                            request_id=request.row_id,
+                            success=True,
+                            ttft_ms=10000.0,
+                            tpot_ms=1000.0,
+                            prompt_tokens=request.prompt_tokens_hint,
+                            completion_tokens=request.completion_tokens_hint,
+                        )
+                        for request in requests
+                    ],
+                    False,
+                    "",
+                )
+
+            process = mock.Mock()
+            process.poll.return_value = 0
+            with mock.patch("aituner.worker.subprocess.Popen", return_value=process):
+                with mock.patch("aituner.worker._wait_for_server_or_exit", return_value=None):
+                    with mock.patch("aituner.worker._terminate_process_tree", return_value=None):
+                        with mock.patch("aituner.worker._replay_requests", side_effect=fake_replay):
+                            result = run_trial(Path(trial.artifact_dir) / "trial_spec.json")
+
+            self.assertEqual(result["status"], "completed")
+            self.assertIsNone(result["best_request_rate"])
+            self.assertEqual(result["best_source"], "primary_search")
+            self.assertEqual(result["primary_search"]["low"], 0.5)
+            self.assertIsNone(result["primary_search"]["best_request_rate"])
+            self.assertEqual(
+                [probe["threshold"] for probe in result["primary_search"]["probes"]],
+                [0.75, 0.625],
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(result["lower_range_fallback"]["triggered"], False)
+            self.assertEqual(result["lower_range_fallback"]["skipped"], True)
+            self.assertEqual(result["lower_range_fallback"]["probes"], [])
+            self.assertEqual(
+                result["lower_range_fallback"]["reason"],
+                "primary_search_above_incumbent_floor_all_infeasible",
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(
+                result["all_infeasible_diagnostics"]["threshold"],
+                0.625,
+            )
+
    def test_materialize_trial_does_not_mutate_input_state_trials(self) -> None:
        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
@@ -4242,6 +5121,18 @@ class CoreFlowTests(unittest.TestCase):
            self.assertTrue(proposal_path.exists())
            proposal = json.loads(proposal_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
            self.assertTrue(proposal["should_stop"])
+            state = store.load_state(study.study_id)
+            self.assertEqual(state.tuning_stop_reason, "harness_stop")
+            self.assertEqual(
+                state.tuning_stop_details["proposal_name"],
+                "harness-stop-0005",
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(state.tuning_stop_details["proposal_source"], "harness")
+            self.assertEqual(
+                state.tuning_stop_details["stop_authorized_by"],
+                "validator",
+            )
+            self.assertTrue(state.tuning_stop_diagnosis)

    def test_cli_tune_evaluates_baseline_before_llm_proposal(self) -> None:
        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
--- a/tests/test_tuning_report.py
+++ b/tests/test_tuning_report.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from aituner.tuning_report import run_tuning_report
+
+
+def _write_state(root: Path, *, study_id: str, rates: list[float | None]) -> None:
+    root.mkdir(parents=True)
+    trials = []
+    best_rate = None
+    best_trial_id = None
+    for idx, rate in enumerate(rates, start=1):
+        trial_id = f"trial-{idx:04d}"
+        trials.append(
+            {
+                "trial_id": trial_id,
+                "status": "completed" if rate is not None else "failed",
+                "parallel_size": 1,
+                "best_request_rate": rate,
+                "best_request_rate_per_gpu": rate,
+                "config_patch": {"env_patch": {}, "flag_patch": {}},
+            }
+        )
+        if rate is not None and (best_rate is None or rate > best_rate):
+            best_rate = rate
+            best_trial_id = trial_id
+    payload = {
+        "study_id": study_id,
+        "best_trial_id": best_trial_id,
+        "best_request_rate": best_rate,
+        "best_request_rate_per_gpu": best_rate,
+        "next_trial_index": len(rates) + 1,
+        "trials": trials,
+    }
+    (root / "state.json").write_text(json.dumps(payload), encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+class TuningReportTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_tuning_report_scores_harness_vs_naive_anytime_progress(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            tmp_path = Path(tmp)
+            _write_state(
+                tmp_path / "studies" / "harness-study",
+                study_id="harness-study",
+                rates=[0.4, 0.9],
+            )
+            _write_state(
+                tmp_path / "naive-study",
+                study_id="naive-study",
+                rates=[0.4, None, 0.7, 0.9],
+            )
+            spec_path = tmp_path / "report.json"
+            spec_path.write_text(
+                json.dumps(
+                    {
+                        "report_id": "report-1",
+                        "output_root": str(tmp_path / "out"),
+                        "target_fraction": 0.8,
+                        "cases": [
+                            {
+                                "case_id": "case-1",
+                                "tags": ["model-a", "chat"],
+                                "budgets": [1, 2, 4],
+                                "arms": [
+                                    {
+                                        "name": "harness",
+                                        "kind": "harness",
+                                        "study_root": str(tmp_path / "studies"),
+                                    },
+                                    {
+                                        "name": "naive",
+                                        "kind": "naive",
+                                        "study_root": str(tmp_path / "naive-study"),
+                                    },
+                                ],
+                            }
+                        ],
+                    }
+                ),
+                encoding="utf-8",
+            )
+
+            summary = run_tuning_report(spec_path)
+
+            case = summary["cases"][0]
+            self.assertEqual(case["reference_best_per_gpu"], 0.9)
+            self.assertEqual(case["winners"]["final_best"], "harness")
+            self.assertEqual(case["winners"]["fastest_to_target"], "harness")
+            harness = case["arms"][0]
+            naive = case["arms"][1]
+            self.assertEqual(harness["best_at_budget"]["2"], 0.9)
+            self.assertEqual(naive["best_at_budget"]["2"], 0.4)
+            self.assertEqual(case["target_fraction"], 0.8)
+            self.assertEqual(harness["trials_to_target"], 2)
+            self.assertEqual(naive["trials_to_target"], 4)
+            self.assertEqual(naive["failed_count"], 1)
+            comparison = case["harness_vs_naive"][0]
+            self.assertTrue(comparison["passes"])
+            self.assertEqual(comparison["target_trial_speedup_vs_best_naive"], 2.0)
+            self.assertTrue((tmp_path / "out" / "summary.json").exists())
+            self.assertTrue((tmp_path / "out" / "report.md").exists())
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
Gahow Wang	c245774d76	Ignore generated run configs	2026-06-24 11:48:21 +08:00
Gahow Wang	d85572e7b5	Update AITuner roadmap framing	2026-06-24 11:45:42 +08:00
Gahow Wang	c0a9235b80	Document vLLM-first harness roadmap	2026-06-24 11:23:39 +08:00
Gahow Wang	c4173b2b3b	Document remote proxy setup	2026-06-23 20:12:53 +08:00
Gahow Wang	6d874ecbff	Update Qwen235B progress snapshot	2026-06-23 18:24:57 +08:00
Gahow Wang	403ae2e2b7	Document Qwen235B 2x2 progress	2026-06-23 18:23:56 +08:00
Gahow Wang	861d754f29	Localize Qwen27B harness ablation doc	2026-06-23 18:14:35 +08:00
Gahow Wang	76ec19224c	Document Qwen27B 2x2 harness ablation	2026-06-23 10:08:46 +08:00
Gahow Wang	e67bc86240	Probe coupled prefill runtime knobs before stop	2026-06-22 19:30:23 +08:00
Gahow Wang	fd94ab9f3b	Prevent prefill convergence stop before seq probe	2026-06-22 14:43:55 +08:00
Gahow Wang	4607711bb5	Add reusable clean pair runner	2026-06-22 00:05:31 +08:00
Gahow Wang	d23b69219b	Add clean dash1 harness ablation runner	2026-06-21 00:51:08 +08:00
Gahow Wang	488fae7e63	Add tuning progress report for harness evaluation	2026-06-21 00:48:21 +08:00
Gahow Wang	426151bc9f	Harness stop uses full state baseline	2026-06-20 22:48:27 +08:00
Gahow Wang	a9d237bbfd	Show effective flags in ablation trajectory	2026-06-20 10:24:53 +08:00
Gahow Wang	5257fbc1a2	Improve harness incumbent follow-up search	2026-06-20 05:37:15 +08:00
Gahow Wang	b3156a382a	Harness: gate gpu-mem-util/seqs-raise on 'no untested TP increase' (frontier-closed) The first gpt-5.5 verification run exposed a bug in the prior gate: topology_settled = cur_tp>base_tp let gpu-memory-utilization fire on a TP2 incumbent (TP2>baseline TP1) and preempt the still-open TP4 frontier -- the harness proposed TP2+gpu-mem-util=0.92 at iter 2 instead of climbing to TP4. The candidate path runs before the topology- frontier check, so a score>=0.35 runtime candidate wins. Fix: gate runtime micro-tuning (gpu-mem-util, raising max-num-seqs) on the TP frontier being closed -- topology_settled = no untested _next_allowed_tp remains (respects GPU count, so TP4 is the real ceiling on 6 GPUs). New regression test: TP2 incumbent with TP4 reachable must climb TP and must NOT propose gpu-mem-util. 116 tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-19 13:33:29 +08:00
Gahow Wang	76cca89a43	Add harness-only dash1 driver to verify the gpu-mem-util fix recovers ~0.87 + stops Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-19 11:29:32 +08:00
Gahow Wang	83162e7a64	Ablation: pin gpt-5.5 @ ai.gahow.org (chat.completions); re-read token per arm - Pin endpoint.model=gpt-5.5, base_url=https://ai.gahow.org/v1, wire_api=chat.completions in both ablation specs so both arms uniformly use the current ~/.codex model (the prior runs used the stale ai.prism.uno/gpt-5.4 that config.toml has since moved off). - run_ablation_pair_d1.sh re-reads the codex token from auth.json right before each arm instead of capturing it once at launch (the stale-at-use capture 401'd naive 2/3). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-19 11:27:47 +08:00
Gahow Wang	a3523f5601	Harness: explore gpu-memory-utilization (and raise max-num-seqs) before Stop-B The harness defined a gpu-memory-utilization family but hard-coded active_now=False and never generated a candidate for it, and only ever lowered max-num-seqs for decode_tpot. So on the decode-bound 27B incumbent it stopped at TP4=0.648 while the naive (use_harness=false) baseline freely found gpu-memory-utilization=0.94 -> 0.873 (+35%) and max-num-seqs=48. That made the harness look worse than naive -- a real coverage gap, not bad luck. Fix in _runtime_candidate_actions (topology-before-runtime gated: only once topology has moved off the baseline, so a baseline latency bottleneck still gets a TP change): - Add a gpu-memory-utilization hill-climb candidate (+0.02/step toward a 0.97 safe ceiling) for decode_tpot/admission incumbents, scored high enough (>=0.35) to block a premature Stop-B until it is tried; the incumbent guard keeps the step only if per-GPU rate improves and the engine launches, and the tested signature terminates the climb (so 0.96 OOM/regression backs off to 0.94 automatically). - Let max-num-seqs rise for decode_tpot (not only fall) to exploit decode parallelism. - Activate the gpu-memory-utilization harness family for decode_tpot/admission. Verified: new unit test asserts a settled TP4 decode-bound incumbent gets a gpu-memory-utilization raise (0.9->0.92) and no stop while untried. 115 tests pass. Empirical reliability (harness recovers ~0.87 and stops) to be confirmed by re-run. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-19 10:25:47 +08:00
Gahow Wang	95c02d7dd9	Fig-18: chained driver for 2 extra naive runs (n=3 nondeterminism) A single naive run can luck into the TP4 optimum at iter 1 (gpt-5.4 free-form guess), which weakens the single-curve story. Run naive 2 more times on the same real-output substrate to capture the fail/slow/lucky spread -- the actual finding. Waits for ABLATION12_DONE so it never contends for GPUs with the main pair. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-18 09:06:05 +08:00
Gahow Wang	a1b804f879	Ablation: search.high 0.25 -> 0.15 (skip wildly-infeasible top probes) Smoke on the real-output substrate measured feasible sampling_u = 0.0156 (TP2) and 0.0742 (TP4, per-GPU 0.618 = 2.24x TP2). search.high=0.25 made the binary search waste its two top probes (u=0.125/0.0625, always infeasible, admitting the most long-output requests) on every trial. 0.15 keeps ~2x headroom over the TP4 boundary (0.0742) and trims ~15-20% of per-trial cost with identical feasibility results; if a runtime-tuned config ever saturates 0.15 the harness search-high saturation stop fires (informative, not silent). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-17 22:11:52 +08:00
Gahow Wang	0c23285f39	Fig18 substrate: real output_length + criterion-A time_scale + Stop-A drain deadline Replace the out=128 / scale=0.5 ablation substrate with a paper-faithful one: - Use the trace's real output_length (drop completion_tokens_override=128). The 0-8k chat window has p50=531 / p99=2436 / max=35168 output tokens, so decode (TPOT) becomes the dominant bottleneck instead of an artificial 128-token cap. - replay_time_scale=0.8775, chosen by criterion-A: binary-search the smallest scale whose A-family L-C-A similarity to the real (scale=1.0) arrivals stays >= tau (0.90). The old scale=0.5 had sim_A=0.56, distorting the arrival axis far below the tau bar used everywhere else. New calibrator: scripts/calibrate_time_scale.py. - Per-probe Stop-A-consistent drain deadline (worker._probe_drain_deadline): the wall-clock a feasible config needs to drain the LCA-admitted set (last_arrival + worst-case TTFT + p99_out * TPOT budget + margin). With real outputs decode dominates wall-clock, so the old fixed 320s cap would truncate the Stop-A offered window mid-decode. early_stop_max_elapsed_s (1000s) is now a hard ceiling; the per-probe deadline governs. The lag cap still cuts overload. 12-iter paired driver (both arms on dash1, removes the dash0/dash1 host confound): scripts/run_ablation_pair_d1.sh. 115 tests pass. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-06-17 17:24:00 +08:00