fix(modes): ticking "Reference files" in Technical Interview did not actually ground in them

electron/context-intelligence/contracts/retrieval-flags.ts

@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ export const RETRIEVAL_FLAGS = {
     default: true,
     why: 'RC5: a global score sort across ports discarded the status partition, per-type round-robin and per-document interleave, and compared incomparable score scales',
   },
+  /** Interview-prep modes honour an EXPLICIT reference-files switch (2026-08-29). */
+  interviewPrepHonorsReferenceSwitch: {
+    env: 'NATIVELY_RETRIEVAL_INTERVIEW_PREP_HONORS_REFERENCE_SWITCH',
+    default: true,
+    why: 'RC4 remainder: T8 made reference files REACHABLE in technical-interview, but buildUserSourceContract pinned defaultOwner=profile, so forceDocumentGrounding stayed off even when the user ticked the switch',
+  },
   /** T7 — referent resolution compares the turn's scope before reusing a topic. */
   referentScopeCheck: {
     env: 'NATIVELY_RETRIEVAL_REFERENT_SCOPE_CHECK',

electron/services/ModesManager.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as crypto from 'crypto';
 import { DatabaseManager } from '../db/DatabaseManager';
+import { isRetrievalFixEnabled } from '../context-intelligence/contracts/retrieval-flags';
 import type { EmbeddingPipeline } from '../rag/EmbeddingPipeline';
 import { ModeContextRetriever, type ModeRetrievalOptions, type RetrieveOptions } from './ModeContextRetriever';
 import type { ModeRetrievedContext as HybridContext } from './modes/ModeHybridRetriever';
@@ -822,7 +823,36 @@ export class ModesManager {
         const isInterviewPrep = input.templateType === 'looking-for-work'
             || input.templateType === 'technical-interview';
         const switches = input.switches.filter((s) => s !== 'transcript');
-        const defaultOwner: ModeSourceOwner = isInterviewPrep ? 'profile' : 'reference_files';
+        // Interview-prep modes are profile-first BY DEFAULT — but not when the
+        // user has explicitly said otherwise (2026-08-29).
+        //
+        // THE GAP THIS CLOSES. T8 gave technical-interview a reference pool and
+        // put `reference_files` in its permitted switches, so the "Primary
+        // knowledge source" control offers it and the file is now REACHABLE.
+        // But this function pinned `defaultOwner: 'profile'` for interview-prep
+        // regardless of what the user ticked, so the contract still resolved
+        // `profile_only`, `documentGroundedFromContract` still returned false,
+        // and `forceDocumentGrounding` stayed OFF. Measured: ticking "Reference
+        // files" in Technical Interview produced sourceAuthority=profile_only
+        // and docGrounded=false, while the identical selection in General
+        // produced reference_files_primary / true.
+        //
+        // Everything gated on that switch therefore stayed off in the one mode
+        // whose users are most likely to upload project documents: topK 6 and a
+        // 1800-token budget instead of 12/3600, no per-file floor, no
+        // answerability scoring, no section-target or positional restore, no
+        // identity block, no query normalization. The user could ask for their
+        // reference files and be given a materially weaker retrieval than the
+        // same files in General.
+        //
+        // The upload-is-not-consent rule is untouched: this reads the user's
+        // EXPLICIT switch, not the presence of a file. A mode with no
+        // `reference_files` tick keeps `profile` and behaves exactly as before.
+        const userChoseReferenceFiles = switches.includes('reference_files')
+            && isRetrievalFixEnabled('interviewPrepHonorsReferenceSwitch');
+        const defaultOwner: ModeSourceOwner = (isInterviewPrep && !userChoseReferenceFiles)
+            ? 'profile'
+            : 'reference_files';
         return buildUserSelectedSourceContract({
             defaultOwner,
             allowedExplicitSwitches: switches as any,

electron/services/__tests__/InterviewPrepReferenceSwitch2026_08_29.test.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+// Ticking "Reference files" in an interview-prep mode now actually grounds in
+// them.
+//
+// THE GAP. T8 (2026-08-28) gave technical-interview a reference pool and put
+// `reference_files` into its permitted switches, so the "Primary knowledge
+// source" control offers it and an attached file became REACHABLE — measured
+// second-person reachability went 0/6 to 6/6. But `buildUserSourceContract`
+// pinned `defaultOwner: 'profile'` for interview-prep templates regardless of
+// what the user ticked, so the saved contract still resolved `profile_only`,
+// `documentGroundedFromContract` still returned false, and
+// `forceDocumentGrounding` stayed OFF.
+//
+// Measured before this fix — the identical user selection, two modes:
+//
+//   technical-interview + reference_files  ->  profile_only            docGrounded=false
+//   general             + reference_files  ->  reference_files_primary docGrounded=true
+//
+// So everything gated on that switch stayed off in the one mode whose users are
+// most likely to upload project documents: topK 6 and a 1800-token budget
+// instead of 12/3600, no per-file floor, no answerability scoring, no
+// section-target or positional restore, no identity block, no query
+// normalization. The user could ask for their reference files and be handed a
+// materially weaker retrieval than the same files in General.
+//
+// UPLOAD IS STILL NOT CONSENT. This reads the user's EXPLICIT switch, never the
+// presence of a file — the rule T8 was built around is unchanged and is
+// asserted below.
+
+import { test, describe } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const repoRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../..');
+const cjsRequire = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+
+const { ModesManager } = cjsRequire(path.resolve(repoRoot, 'dist-electron/electron/services/ModesManager.js'));
+const msc = cjsRequire(path.resolve(repoRoot, 'dist-electron/electron/services/modeSourceContract.js'));
+
+const ENV = 'NATIVELY_RETRIEVAL_INTERVIEW_PREP_HONORS_REFERENCE_SWITCH';
+const withFlag = (value, fn) => {
+  const original = process.env[ENV];
+  process.env[ENV] = value;
+  try { return fn(); } finally {
+    if (original === undefined) delete process.env[ENV];
+    else process.env[ENV] = original;
+  }
+};
+
+/** The real builder, without standing up a database. */
+const build = (templateType, switches) =>
+  ModesManager.prototype.buildUserSourceContract.call(
+    Object.create(ModesManager.prototype),
+    { modeId: 'm', templateType, switches });
+
+const INTERVIEW_PREP = ['technical-interview', 'looking-for-work'];
+
+describe('an explicit reference-files switch grounds interview-prep modes', () => {
+  for (const template of INTERVIEW_PREP) {
+    test(`${template}: ticking reference files enables document grounding`, () => {
+      const c = build(template, ['profile', 'job_description', 'reference_files']);
+      assert.equal(c.sourceAuthority, 'reference_files_primary');
+      assert.equal(msc.documentGroundedFromContract(c, true), true,
+        'forceDocumentGrounding must now be reachable for this mode');
+    });
+
+    test(`${template}: reference files ALONE also grounds`, () => {
+      const c = build(template, ['reference_files']);
+      assert.equal(msc.documentGroundedFromContract(c, true), true);
+    });
+  }
+
+  test('it matches what the same selection already did in General', () => {
+    // The asymmetry was the bug: identical user intent, opposite outcome.
+    const ti = build('technical-interview', ['reference_files']);
+    const general = build('general', ['reference_files']);
+    assert.equal(ti.sourceAuthority, general.sourceAuthority);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('NON-REGRESSION: upload is not consent, and profile-first is still the default', () => {
+  for (const template of INTERVIEW_PREP) {
+    test(`${template}: WITHOUT the switch it stays profile-first`, () => {
+      const c = build(template, ['profile', 'job_description']);
+      assert.equal(c.defaultOwner, 'profile');
+      assert.equal(c.sourceAuthority, 'profile_only');
+      assert.equal(msc.documentGroundedFromContract(c, true), false,
+        'a mode the user has not switched must not document-ground');
+    });
+
+    test(`${template}: no switches at all stays profile-first`, () => {
+      assert.equal(build(template, []).sourceAuthority, 'profile_only');
+    });
+  }
+
+  test('non-interview templates are completely unaffected', () => {
+    for (const t of ['general', 'sales', 'recruiting', 'team-meet', 'lecture']) {
+      const on = build(t, ['reference_files']);
+      const off = withFlag('0', () => build(t, ['reference_files']));
+      assert.deepEqual(on, off, `${t} changed`);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('the kill switch restores the pre-fix behaviour exactly', () => {
+    withFlag('0', () => {
+      for (const template of INTERVIEW_PREP) {
+        const c = build(template, ['profile', 'job_description', 'reference_files']);
+        assert.equal(c.sourceAuthority, 'profile_only');
+        assert.equal(msc.documentGroundedFromContract(c, true), false);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('the memory-policy consequence is real, and is pinned here on purpose', () => {
+  // Switching an interview-prep mode to reference-files ownership ALSO changes
+  // its memory policy, because invariant #3 forbids Hindsight for any
+  // document-grounded owner. That is a deliberate consequence of the user's own
+  // choice, not a side effect to discover later in a bug report:
+  //
+  //   allowHindsight           true -> FALSE   (cross-meeting recall is off)
+  //   allowPriorAssistantFacts true -> FALSE   (the assistant's own prior output
+  //                                             stops counting as evidence — a
+  //                                             fabrication vector closing, and
+  //                                             arguably a gain)
+  //   allowPriorAssistantReferents      stays TRUE, so follow-ups still resolve
+  //                                             ("what did you monitor after that?")
+  test('grounding an interview-prep mode turns Hindsight off', () => {
+    const grounded = build('technical-interview', ['reference_files']);
+    assert.equal(grounded.memoryPolicy.allowHindsight, false);
+    assert.equal(grounded.memoryPolicy.allowPriorAssistantFacts, false);
+    assert.equal(grounded.memoryPolicy.allowPriorAssistantReferents, true,
+      'follow-up resolution must survive — losing it would break "and what about X?"');
+  });
+
+  test('an ungrounded interview-prep mode keeps both', () => {
+    const profileFirst = build('technical-interview', ['profile']);
+    assert.equal(profileFirst.memoryPolicy.allowHindsight, true);
+    assert.equal(profileFirst.memoryPolicy.allowPriorAssistantFacts, true);
+  });
+});