swarm-master/openvino-classifier-npu/CONTRACT.md

OpenVINO NPU classifier/router dry-run contract

Status: specification for dry-run prototype refresh Target port: 127.0.0.1:18819 Owner context: Atlas/Hermes local assistant sidecar evaluation

This service is an advisory classifier for Atlas/Hermes automation hints. It may suggest labels such as tool-needed, memory-candidate type, urgency, workflow category, and safety-confirmation-required, but it must not make or enforce live routing, memory, tool, or safety decisions without a separate explicit approval from Will.

Recommended model and runtime

Recommended v1 runtime: small local Python HTTP/CLI service backed by the existing OpenVINO NPU embeddings service on 127.0.0.1:18817.

Recommended v1 model shape:

• Primary signal: bge-base-en-v1.5-int8-ov embeddings from the live embeddings service.
• Classifier layer: inspectable deterministic rules plus cosine similarity against curated synthetic/prototype utterances.
• Model label: bge-base-en-v1.5-int8-ov/prototype-router-v0.
• Device proof: request-level npu_busy_delta_us from :18817 plus direct sysfs before/after reads from /sys/class/accel/accel0/device/npu_busy_time_us.

Why this is preferred for the dry run:

1. It reuses the already-live NPU embeddings path rather than adding a second model conversion/runtime dependency before contract validation.
2. Rules and prototypes are transparent enough for safety-sensitive routing hints; a reviewer can inspect why a message was labeled.
3. It avoids fine-tuning or training on private Atlas/Hermes transcripts.
4. It keeps the service small, localhost-only, and easy to start/stop during smoke tests.
5. It produces NPU activity through the embeddings path while making clear that final decision logic remains advisory.

Defer a dedicated NPU sequence-classification model such as TinyBERT/MiniLM until the dry-run labels and thresholds have been evaluated against synthetic fixtures and explicitly-approved non-private examples. If pursued later, use OpenVINO Runtime/Optimum export with fixed input shapes suitable for NPU, and keep the rule layer for safety gates.

Non-goals and safety invariants

The service must not:

• Change Hermes/Atlas model routing, gateway routing, memory writes, tool-use permissions, or safety-confirmation behavior.
• Restart, stop, enable, or persist any live Atlas/Hermes/gateway/RAG service.
• Bind to anything broader than 127.0.0.1 by default.
• Mutate Chroma/vector collections, trigger reindexing, or write to RAG state.
• Process private document/image directories or private transcript dumps for smoke testing.
• Log raw prompts by default beyond normal foreground stderr during local review.
• Claim NPU success from HTTP 200 alone.

Endpoint contract

All HTTP endpoints are local-only by default.

Base URL:

http://127.0.0.1:18819

GET /healthz, /health, /readyz, /

Purpose: liveness/readiness metadata.

Response fields:

• status: starting | ok
• service: atlas-router-classifier
• version: service version string
• mode: always dry_run
• model: model/runtime label
• embed_url: upstream embeddings URL
• device: expected to say NPU-via-embedding-service or equivalent
• labels: supported label names
• embedding_dim: embedding dimension after warmup
• prototype_count: number of synthetic prototype examples loaded
• prototype_npu_busy_delta_us: warmup delta reported by upstream embeddings, if available
• npu_busy_time_us: current sysfs counter value, if readable
• warnings: list of non-fatal warnings

A healthy service is not enough to prove NPU execution. At least one classification request must also show positive request and sysfs busy deltas.

GET /v1/labels

Purpose: publish schema information without dumping private examples.

Response fields:

• model
• thresholds
  • tool_needed: recommended threshold 0.72
  • memory_candidate: recommended threshold 0.78
  • safety_confirmation_required: recommended threshold 0.80
  • workflow_category: recommended threshold 0.52
• enums
  • memory_candidate: none, user_preference, durable_user_fact, environment_fact, workflow_convention, skill_candidate
  • urgency: low, normal, high, critical
  • workflow_category: chat, research, coding, debugging, devops, smart_home, media, note_taking, productivity, kanban, unknown
• prototype_ids: names of curated synthetic prototype buckets

POST /v1/classify

Purpose: classify one user/task message for advisory dry-run hints.

Request:

{
  "id": "optional-trace-id",
  "text": "Urgent: check whether port 18817 is listening and inspect systemd logs.",
  "context": {
    "platform": "cli",
    "source": "user"
  },
  "options": {
    "include_evidence": true,
    "include_embedding_debug": false,
    "dry_run": true
  }
}

Required behavior:

• Reject empty text with HTTP 400.
• Default dry_run to true.
• Return no side effects other than local inference and response generation.
• Include evidence by default unless include_evidence=false.
• Include embedding/prototype scores only when explicitly requested through include_embedding_debug=true.

Response:

{
  "id": "optional-trace-id",
  "model": "bge-base-en-v1.5-int8-ov/prototype-router-v0",
  "created": 1780590000,
  "duration_ms": 12.3,
  "npu_busy_delta_us": 1234,
  "sysfs_npu_busy_delta_us": 1200,
  "dry_run": true,
  "labels": {
    "tool_needed": {
      "value": true,
      "confidence": 0.84,
      "threshold": 0.72,
      "reason_codes": ["local_state_requested"]
    },
    "memory_candidate": {
      "value": "none",
      "confidence": 0.31,
      "threshold": 0.78,
      "reason_codes": []
    },
    "urgency": {
      "value": "high",
      "confidence": 0.84,
      "scores": {"low": 0.0, "normal": 0.2, "high": 0.84, "critical": 0.0},
      "reason_codes": ["urgent_language"]
    },
    "workflow_category": {
      "value": "devops",
      "confidence": 0.86,
      "scores": {"devops": 0.86, "unknown": 0.14}
    },
    "safety_confirmation_required": {
      "value": false,
      "confidence": 0.0,
      "threshold": 0.8,
      "reason_codes": []
    }
  },
  "warnings": [],
  "evidence": []
}

POST /v1/batch_classify

Purpose: classify a bounded batch of non-private synthetic or explicitly-approved messages.

Request:

{
  "items": [
    {"id": "m1", "text": "What time is it in Seattle right now?"},
    {"id": "m2", "text": "Restart the live Atlas gateway and switch primary routing."}
  ],
  "options": {"include_evidence": false, "dry_run": true}
}

Response:

• model
• duration_ms
• aggregate npu_busy_delta_us
• results: array of /v1/classify responses

Batch limits for prototype review:

• Keep batches small, ideally <= 32 items.
• Use only synthetic fixtures unless Will explicitly approves a real non-private sample set.
• Do not retain request bodies to disk.

CLI contract

The same implementation should support foreground review from the service directory:

cd /home/will/lab/swarm/openvino-classifier-npu
/home/will/.venvs/npu/bin/python router_classifier.py \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 18819 \
  --embed-url http://127.0.0.1:18817/v1/embeddings

Required flags/env:

• --host / OPENVINO_CLASSIFIER_HOST; default 127.0.0.1.
• --port / OPENVINO_CLASSIFIER_PORT; default 18819.
• --embed-url / OPENVINO_CLASSIFIER_EMBED_URL; default http://127.0.0.1:18817/v1/embeddings.
• --timeout-s / OPENVINO_CLASSIFIER_TIMEOUT_S; default 30.
• --no-warmup to defer prototype embedding until first request.

A future dedicated CLI mode may be added for one-shot JSONL classification, but foreground HTTP review is sufficient for the dry-run contract.

Synthetic smoke-test plan

Preconditions:

1. Confirm :18817 embeddings service is healthy.
2. Confirm :18819 is not already listening.
3. Read /sys/class/accel/accel0/device/npu_busy_time_us before starting the request smoke.
4. Use only synthetic fixture text such as fixtures/atlas_hermes_messages.jsonl.

Unit/schema smoke, no NPU dependency:

cd /home/will/lab/swarm
/home/will/.venvs/npu/bin/python -m unittest discover -s openvino-classifier-npu/tests -v

Foreground service smoke:

ss -ltnp | grep ':18819\b' || true
cd /home/will/lab/swarm/openvino-classifier-npu
/home/will/.venvs/npu/bin/python router_classifier.py --host 127.0.0.1 --port 18819

From another shell:

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18819/healthz | jq .
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18819/v1/labels | jq .
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18819/v1/classify \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"id":"smoke-devops","text":"Urgent: check whether port 18817 is listening and inspect systemd logs.","options":{"include_evidence":true,"dry_run":true}}' | jq .
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18819/v1/classify \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"id":"smoke-safety","text":"Restart the live Atlas gateway and switch primary routing to the new classifier.","options":{"include_evidence":true,"dry_run":true}}' | jq .

Expected label checks:

• smoke-devops: tool_needed.value=true, urgency.value=high, workflow_category.value=devops.
• smoke-safety: safety_confirmation_required.value=true, no actual restart or routing change.
• Health and classify responses include no raw private paths or private document content.

Shutdown:

• Stop the foreground server with Ctrl-C.
• Re-run ss -ltnp | grep ':18819\b' || true and confirm no listener remains.

NPU busy-time verification plan

Use sysfs plus service response fields; do not accept HTTP 200 alone.

BUSY=/sys/class/accel/accel0/device/npu_busy_time_us
before=$(cat "$BUSY")
response=$(curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:18819/v1/classify \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"id":"npu-proof","text":"Check current systemd service status for the embeddings service.","options":{"include_evidence":false,"dry_run":true}}')
after=$(cat "$BUSY")
echo "$response" | jq '{npu_busy_delta_us, sysfs_npu_busy_delta_us, warnings}'
echo "outer_sysfs_npu_busy_delta_us=$((after-before))"

Acceptance for an NPU-backed classification request:

• HTTP request succeeds.
• Response npu_busy_delta_us > 0 from upstream embeddings.
• Response sysfs_npu_busy_delta_us > 0 when sysfs is readable.
• Outer shell after-before > 0.
• If any delta is missing or <= 0, mark NPU proof failed or inconclusive and do not claim NPU execution.

Docs and diagram implications

If this prototype is refreshed or reviewed, update documentation to show:

• Live baseline remains RAG :18810, RAG health :18814, Whisper NPU :18816, and embeddings :18817.
• Classifier/router :18819 is an optional prototype sidecar, not a live Atlas/Hermes routing dependency.
• Any architecture diagram should place :18819 under local AI/search/voice prototype sidecars with a clear dry-run / not live routing label.
• Runbooks should list foreground start, health/classify smoke, sysfs NPU proof, and shutdown checks.
• Service catalog entries should state not installed/enabled until Will approves persistent service enablement.
• No docs should imply the classifier decides memory writes, tool permission, safety confirmation, or live routing.

Relevant docs inventory:

• docs/swarm-infrastructure.md
• docs/swarm-infrastructure.html
• docs/diagram-maintenance.md
• swarm-common/obsidian-vault/will/will-shared-zap/Runbooks/OpenVINO NPU Services Runbook.md
• swarm-common/obsidian-vault/will/will-shared-zap/Resources/Service Catalog.md

No-go / defer criteria

Do not proceed to implementation refresh, persistent service enablement, or live integration if any of the following hold:

• :18817 embeddings is unavailable and no approved NPU embedding fallback exists.
• /sys/class/accel/accel0/device/npu_busy_time_us is missing/unreadable and NPU proof cannot be independently established.
• Classification responses cannot produce positive NPU busy-time deltas.
• :18819 is already occupied by an unknown or live service.
• Smoke tests require private transcripts, private document/image directories, or production routing changes.
• Labels are too noisy on synthetic fixtures to be useful as advisory hints.
• The service would need to bind externally, run persistently, or integrate with live Hermes/Atlas before Will approves those gates.
• Any implementation path requires mutating Chroma/vector collections or triggering RAG reindexing in place.

Implementation handoff notes

Recommended next engineer actions:

1. Verify or refresh openvino-classifier-npu/router_classifier.py to match this contract.
2. Keep the service stdlib/local-first unless a dependency is already present in /home/will/.venvs/npu.
3. Maintain synthetic fixtures and unit tests for label schema/threshold behavior.
4. Run only foreground smokes; do not install or enable openvino-router-classifier.service.
5. Capture changed files, unit test output, listener checks, response samples, and NPU busy-time before/after in the implementation handoff.