feat(conversation-parser): parse normalized Slack markdown (takeover of #3289) (#3372)

Adds the bold-time-dash built-in pattern: **Speaker** HH:MM <dash> text
(em dash, en dash, or ASCII hyphen), valid 24-hour times only, date from
page frontmatter/date headings, multi-line continuation bodies.

Opt-in score_continuations_as_body scoring keeps long multiline messages
parseable while preserving the sparse-prose false-positive floor (needs
two anchors or a first-line anchor before candidate-only scoring kicks in).
Hardens validatePatternEntry to reject non-integer / out-of-range capture
indexes including text_group. Adds maintainer doc, JSONL fixtures, and
adversarial coverage.

Takeover of #3289 (fork branch went CONFLICTING against master on the
version trio); code applied 3-way, version/CHANGELOG bump dropped per
fleet release convention.

Co-authored-by: Garry Tan <garrytan@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: FloridaStyle <daniel.wiggins@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/architecture/KEY_FILES.md

@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ per-release `**vX.Y.Z:**` narration — CI enforces this
 - `src/commands/enrich.ts` + `src/core/enrich/thin.ts` + `src/core/cycle/enrich-thin.ts` — `gbrain enrich --thin`: batch-develops stub (thin) pages via **brain-internal grounded synthesis**. gbrain's model tooling sees only brain-internal context (search / get_page / facts / backlinks), not the web, so enrich consolidates what the brain ALREADY knows about an entity (scattered across meetings, other pages, deals, facts) into one cited page via ONE `gateway.chat` call per page; web research stays the agent-driven `enrich` SKILL's job. `runEnrichCore(engine, opts, signal)` (strict per-source; multi-source iteration is the caller's job) drives `enrichOne` per candidate: `withRefreshingLock('enrich:<src>:<slug>')` → `getPage` → deterministic retrieve (hybridSearch + getBacklinks + facts + raw_data, source-scoped, sanitized via `INJECTION_PATTERNS`) → `assessGrounding` gate (skip < `MIN_CONTEXT_CHARS`, no LLM) → `buildEnrichPrompt` (grounded dossier, `[Source: slug]` citations, SKIP sentinel) → synth → `put_page` handler (`remote:false`, auto-link + write-through) stamping `enriched_at` + `enriched_by:'cli:enrich'`. Candidate selection is the SQL-native `engine.listEnrichCandidates(opts)` (`src/core/engine.ts` interface + `EnrichCandidate`/`EnrichCandidatesOpts`/`ENRICH_ORDER_SQL` in `src/core/types.ts` + pg/pglite impls): thin-filter + per-page source-correct inbound count (`to_page_id = p.id`, `mentions` excluded) + `enriched_at` recency guard + whitelisted ORDER BY + LIMIT, lightweight projection (NO bodies). Resume via `src/core/op-checkpoint.ts` (local `enrichFingerprint`); budget via `BudgetTracker` + `withBudgetTracker` (best-effort under `--workers > 1` — `runSlidingPool` aborts new claims on `BUDGET_EXHAUSTED` but does NOT cancel in-flight `gateway.chat`; pin `--workers 1` for a hard ceiling). `sanitizeContext` (thin.ts) neutralizes the `<context>…</context>` data-envelope delimiters (injection escape, mirrors the `</trajectory>` convention); the `--background` multi-source fan-out idempotency key carries the run fingerprint via exported `backgroundIdempotencyKey(sid, args)` (a bare `enrich:${sid}` would return stale completed jobs); `runEnrichCore` flags `budget_exhausted` post-hoc when `tracker.totalSpent > tracker.cap` even when the gateway swallowed the final-call throw (via read-only `BudgetTracker.cap` getter); `body()` flushes the checkpoint on `BudgetExhausted` before it propagates so resume doesn't re-charge. The opt-in `enrich_thin` cycle phase (default OFF via `cycle.enrich_thin.enabled`) trickles `max_pages_per_tick` (default 3) per source with per-source cost cap enforced as `min(per_source_cap, brain_wide_remaining)` + brain-wide total + walltime caps. Wired into `cycle.ts` (`CyclePhase`/`ALL_PHASES` between `conversation_facts_backfill` and `skillopt`/`embed`; `PHASE_SCOPE='source'`; `NEEDS_LOCK`; dispatch), `cli.ts` (`CLI_ONLY` + `CLI_ONLY_SELF_HELP` + `THIN_CLIENT_REFUSED_COMMANDS` + dispatch), `jobs.ts` (Minion `enrich` handler, strict per-source, NOT in `PROTECTED_JOB_NAMES`). DI seam `opts.synthesizeFn` keeps tests hermetic (no API key, no mock.module). Pinned by `test/enrich/thin.test.ts`, `test/enrich/idempotency.test.ts`, `test/enrich-cycle-phase.test.ts`, `test/e2e/enrich-pglite.test.ts` (grew-cited, skip, ordering, multi-source, recency, resume, budget abort + checkpoint flush, final-call overage, lock-skip, provenance), `test/e2e/engine-parity.test.ts` (`listEnrichCandidates` pg↔pglite parity).
 - `src/core/data-research.ts` — Recipe validation, field extraction (MRR/ARR regex), dedup, tracker parsing, HTML stripping.
 - `src/commands/embed.ts` — `gbrain embed [--stale|--all] [--slugs ...]`. `--stale` starts with `engine.countStaleChunks()` (single SELECT count(*) WHERE embedding IS NULL, ~50 bytes wire) so a fully-embedded brain short-circuits with no further reads. When stale chunks exist, `engine.listStaleChunks()` returns just the chunks needing embeddings (slug + chunk_index + chunk_text + metadata, no `vector(1536)` payload); caller groups by slug, embeds, re-upserts via `upsertChunks`. All `console.log`/`console.error` call sites use `slog`/`serr` from `src/core/console-prefix.ts` so when `runEmbedCore` runs inside a per-source `withSourcePrefix` scope (installed by the `gbrain sync --all` worker pool) every line carries the `[<source-id>] ` prefix; standalone callers see identical output because slog/serr fall through to bare console fns outside the wrap. Every embed-write path stamps `pages.embedding_signature` via `engine.setPageEmbeddingSignature(slug, {sourceId, signature: currentEmbeddingSignature()})` so a later model/dims swap is detectable as stale. The per-slug path (`embedPage`, used by `gbrain embed <slug>` AND sync's post-import embed step) and the full-re-embed path (`embedAll`) stamp unconditionally per page. The stale path (`embedAllStale`) first calls `invalidateStaleSignatureEmbeddings` on a live run so signature-drifted pages flow through the NULL cursor, then stamps each page — but ONLY when EVERY chunk was stale this pass (a partially-stale page keeps preserved chunks of unknown provenance, so it stays unstamped rather than falsely marked current; `embed --all` fully re-embeds + stamps those). dry-run never mutates: it counts signature-drift via the widened `countStaleChunks({signature})` predicate without NULLing anything.
-- `src/core/conversation-parser/` — 15-pattern built-in chat-format registry + opt-in LLM polish/fallback. Modules: `types.ts` (PatternEntry + ParseResult + DateContext + CaptureMap + TimezonePolicy), `builtins.ts` (15 hand-vetted patterns sourced from public format docs — iMessage/Slack, Telegram bracket + text-export, bold-paren-time, bold-name-no-time, Discord classic + export, WhatsApp ISO + US, Signal, Matrix/Element, IRC classic + weechat, Teams export; module-load validation runs every `test_positive[]` + `test_negative[]` sample at startup so a typo in any built-in regex makes gbrain refuse to start; `DEFAULT_SPEAKER_CLEAN` exported as a module-level default), `parse.ts` (orchestrator with pattern-priority scoring across the first 10 lines + date derivation chain `explicit > frontmatter.date > effective_date > '1970-01-01'` + multi-line continuation + timezone warning), `llm-base.ts` (shared `runLlmCall<T>` with content-hash cache in-process + DB-persistent via migration v97 + 4-strategy JSON repair + Anthropic-key probe; polish and fallback are thin wrappers), `llm-polish.ts` (opt-IN; headroom guard skips when tracker within $0.10 of cap; pure `applyPolish` for merge/drop/edit ops), `llm-fallback.ts` (opt-IN; NO regex inference + NO persistence), `eval.ts` (`scoreFixture` + `aggregateScores` + `parseFixtureJsonl` for the fixture-corpus CI gate), `nightly-probe.ts` (DI-stubbed; mode-gated default tokenmax=ON, conservative/balanced opt-in; adversarial false-positive detection). Pattern `bold-name-no-time` (regex `/^\*\*(?!\[)(.+?):\*\*\s*(.*)$/`, index 3 after `bold-paren-time`) parses `**Speaker:** text` with NO per-line timestamp (Circleback/Granola/Zoom), anchoring every message at `T00:00:00Z` of the frontmatter date (line order preserves sequence, same no-time convention as `irc-classic`); the `(?!\[)` lookahead rejects telegram-bracket `**[18:37] Name:**`; non-shadow is the colon-INSIDE-bold regex (NOT declaration order — `parse.ts` scores every candidate independently, order is only the tie-break). Because `**Label:** text` is a common prose idiom, the pattern sets optional `PatternEntry.score_full_body: true` so `parse.ts` recomputes the winner's acceptance score over the FULL body before the `SCORING_MIN_ACCEPTANCE` floor, keeping a bold-label notes page at `no_match`. Pattern `bold-paren-time` parses `**Speaker** (HH:MM): text` and `(HH:MM:SS)` (date_source: frontmatter). Fallback gates: `SCORING_HEAD_TRIGGER_THRESHOLD = 0.3` triggers a full-body re-score when the head pass scores below that; `SCORING_MIN_ACCEPTANCE = 0.05` blocks essay false-positives. Exported `scorePatternFull(body, entry)`; private `getNonBlankLines(body, headCap?)` + `scoreFromLines(lines, entry)` DRY the quick_reject+regex loop. CLI surfaces at `src/commands/eval-conversation-parser.ts` (`gbrain eval conversation-parser <fixture.jsonl>` exit 0/1/2, wired into `bun run verify` via `check:conversation-parser`) and `src/commands/conversation-parser.ts` (`scan <slug>` debug, `list-builtins`, `validate <file>`). Doctor checks: `conversation_format_coverage`, `progressive_batch_audit_health`, `conversation_parser_probe_health`. Pinned by `test/conversation-parser/{parse,llm-base,llm-fallback,llm-polish,nightly-probe}.test.ts` + the 27-case baseline at `test/extract-conversation-facts.test.ts` (back-compat invariant). Migration v97 (`conversation_parser_llm_cache_table`). Fixtures at `test/fixtures/conversation-formats/{imessage,imessage-time-only-12h,telegram-bracket,whatsapp-iso,whatsapp-us,signal-export,irc-classic,irc-weechat,matrix-element,teams-export,all,adversarial,bold-name-no-time}.jsonl` with `scripts/check-fixture-privacy.sh` banning real-name leaks.
+- `src/core/conversation-parser/` — 17-pattern built-in chat-format registry + opt-in LLM polish/fallback. Modules: `types.ts` (PatternEntry + ParseResult + DateContext + CaptureMap + TimezonePolicy), `builtins.ts` (17 hand-vetted patterns sourced from public format docs — iMessage/Slack, Telegram bracket + text-export, bold-paren-time, bold-time-dash, bold-name-no-time, Discord classic + export, WhatsApp ISO + US, Signal, Matrix/Element, IRC classic + weechat, Teams export; module-load validation runs every `test_positive[]` + `test_negative[]` sample at startup so a typo in any built-in regex makes gbrain refuse to start; `DEFAULT_SPEAKER_CLEAN` exported as a module-level default), `parse.ts` (orchestrator with pattern-priority scoring across the first 10 lines + date derivation chain `explicit > frontmatter.date > effective_date > '1970-01-01'` + multi-line continuation + timezone warning), `llm-base.ts` (shared `runLlmCall<T>` with content-hash cache in-process + DB-persistent via migration v97 + 4-strategy JSON repair + Anthropic-key probe; polish and fallback are thin wrappers), `llm-polish.ts` (opt-IN; headroom guard skips when tracker within $0.10 of cap; pure `applyPolish` for merge/drop/edit ops), `llm-fallback.ts` (opt-IN; NO regex inference + NO persistence), `eval.ts` (`scoreFixture` + `aggregateScores` + `parseFixtureJsonl` for the fixture-corpus CI gate), `nightly-probe.ts` (DI-stubbed; mode-gated default tokenmax=ON, conservative/balanced opt-in; adversarial false-positive detection). Pattern `bold-name-no-time` (regex `/^\*\*(?!\[)(.+?):\*\*\s*(.*)$/`, ordered after the time-bearing bold patterns) parses `**Speaker:** text` with NO per-line timestamp (Circleback/Granola/Zoom), anchoring every message at `T00:00:00Z` of the frontmatter date (line order preserves sequence, same no-time convention as `irc-classic`); the `(?!\[)` lookahead rejects telegram-bracket `**[18:37] Name:**`; non-shadow is the colon-INSIDE-bold regex (NOT declaration order — `parse.ts` scores every candidate independently, order is only the tie-break). Because `**Label:** text` is a common prose idiom, the pattern sets optional `PatternEntry.score_full_body: true` so `parse.ts` recomputes the winner's acceptance score over the FULL body before the `SCORING_MIN_ACCEPTANCE` floor, keeping a bold-label notes page at `no_match`. Pattern `bold-paren-time` parses `**Speaker** (HH:MM): text` and `(HH:MM:SS)` (date_source: frontmatter). Fallback gates: `SCORING_HEAD_TRIGGER_THRESHOLD = 0.3` triggers a full-body re-score when the head pass scores below that; `SCORING_MIN_ACCEPTANCE = 0.05` blocks essay false-positives. Exported `scorePatternFull(body, entry)`; private `getNonBlankLines(body, headCap?)` + `scoreFromLines(lines, entry)` DRY the quick_reject+regex loop. CLI surfaces at `src/commands/eval-conversation-parser.ts` (`gbrain eval conversation-parser <fixture.jsonl>` exit 0/1/2, wired into `bun run verify` via `check:conversation-parser`) and `src/commands/conversation-parser.ts` (`scan <slug>` debug, `list-builtins`, `validate <file>`). Doctor checks: `conversation_format_coverage`, `progressive_batch_audit_health`, `conversation_parser_probe_health`. Pinned by `test/conversation-parser/{parse,llm-base,llm-fallback,llm-polish,nightly-probe}.test.ts` + the 27-case baseline at `test/extract-conversation-facts.test.ts` (back-compat invariant). Migration v97 (`conversation_parser_llm_cache_table`). Fixtures at `test/fixtures/conversation-formats/{imessage,imessage-time-only-12h,telegram-bracket,whatsapp-iso,whatsapp-us,signal-export,irc-classic,irc-weechat,matrix-element,teams-export,all,adversarial,bold-name-no-time,bold-time-dash}.jsonl` with `scripts/check-fixture-privacy.sh` banning real-name leaks. Maintainer guidance: [conversation parser patterns](conversation-parser-patterns.md).
 - `src/core/progressive-batch/` — shared ramp-up + cost-cap + verification primitive (trial 10 → ramp 100 → ramp 500 → full, with verification at each stage), with verifier+policy injection (callers describe HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS, not WHEN TO WAIT FOR CTRL-C). Modules: `types.ts` (Stage, StageVerdict, AbortReason, discriminated `Verifier` union `OutputCountVerifier | IdempotentMutationVerifier | NoopVerifier`, Policy, StageReport), `orchestrator.ts` (`runProgressiveBatch(items, verifier, policy, runner)` — reads `getCurrentBudgetTracker()` ahead of `Policy.maxCostUsd` fail-closed; null both ways triggers `abort_cost_cap reason='no_budget_safety_net'`), `audit.ts` (ISO-week JSONL at `~/.gbrain/audit/progressive-batch-YYYY-Www.jsonl` via the shared `audit-writer` primitive), `stage-report.ts` (ASCII formatter for the default `Policy.onStageReport`). Env knobs: `GBRAIN_PROGRESSIVE_BATCH_DISABLED=1`, `GBRAIN_PROGRESSIVE_BATCH_AUTO=1` (skip Ctrl-C grace), `GBRAIN_PROGRESSIVE_BATCH_STAGES=10,100,500`. Sites that "jump straight to full" stay that way by default; ramp is opt-in per-site via `Policy.interactiveAbortMs > 0`. Pinned by `test/progressive-batch/orchestrator.test.ts` (35 cases, every verdict path).
 - `src/commands/extract-conversation-facts.ts` + `src/core/cycle/conversation-facts-backfill.ts` — bulk fact extraction for long-form conversation pages. Walks conversation/meeting/slack/email/imessage/imessage-daily pages, splits into time-windowed segments (30-min gap or 30-msg cap), prepends a topical/temporal header, and runs through `extractFactsFromTurn()` so anchor-rich facts surface in `gbrain search`. Invariants: **strict per-source core** (`runExtractConversationFactsCore({sourceId, ...})` always takes one sourceId; CLI + cycle phase each do their own multi-source iteration because PHASE_SCOPE='source' is taxonomy-only); **two-phase enumeration** (paginated `listPages({type, sourceId, limit:10})`; per-page body cap MAX_PAGE_BODY_BYTES=25MB with `pages_skipped_too_large` counter surfaced in doctor); **page-global row_num accumulator** (facts unique index is `(source_id, source_markdown_slug, row_num)` per migration v51 — per-segment row_num would collide); **page-level TERMINAL audit row** to facts table after all segments commit (source='cli:extract-conversation-facts:terminal'; doctor's NOT EXISTS matches the terminal row so partial-extraction pages stay in backlog); **optional `opts.budgetTracker?`** (when present, used as-is — nested `withBudgetTracker` REPLACES; when absent, core auto-wraps with `BudgetTracker({maxCostUsd})`); **body read covers compiled_truth + timeline**; **honors `facts.extraction_enabled` kill-switch** with `--override-disabled` escape; **--types LIST allowlist** (`conversation,meeting,slack,email,imessage,imessage-daily`) with CLI default reading `cycle.conversation_facts_backfill.types`; **fingerprint on sourceId only**; **string-encoded op-checkpoint** entries `"<sourceId>|<slug>|<endIso>"` for resume (durable audit is the facts terminal row); **`--background` via maybeBackground** (Minion handler `extract-conversation-facts` re-creates BudgetTracker from `data.max_cost_usd`; on `BudgetExhausted` mid-job catches + persists + marks `completed` with `result.budget_exhausted=true`). The companion cycle phase `conversation_facts_backfill` (default OFF) iterates `listSources(engine)`, creates ONE brain-wide tracker per tick + wraps the loop in `withBudgetTracker` + passes the tracker into every per-source call. Two-layer cost AND walltime caps: per-source (`max_cost_usd=$1`, `max_walltime_min=20`) AND brain-wide (`max_total_cost_usd=$5`, `max_total_walltime_min=30`). Pinned by `test/extract-conversation-facts.test.ts` (27 cases). Migration v94 adds partial index `idx_facts_extract_conversation_session ON facts(source_id, source_session) WHERE source LIKE 'cli:extract-conversation-facts%'` (`transaction:false` + invalid-index pre-drop on Postgres; plain CREATE INDEX on PGLite). `src/commands/doctor.ts:computeConversationFactsBacklogCheck` is 3-state (SKIPPED when disabled; OK when caught up; WARN when >10 pages lack the terminal row, with paste-ready `gbrain doctor --remediate` step). `src/commands/sources.ts:runAudit` adds `facts_backfill_estimate: {pages, est_segments, est_cost_usd, types}`. Schema-pack `gbrain-base.yaml` promotes `conversation` (temporal, extractable) + `atom` (annotation, NOT extractable) into the base seed; backstop uses hardcoded `ELIGIBLE_TYPES` in `src/core/facts/eligibility.ts:51` not pack extractable. `ALL_PAGE_TYPES` in `src/core/types.ts` extended with the two new types.
 - `src/core/link-extraction.ts` — shared library for the graph layer. `extractEntityRefs` (canonical) matches `[Name](people/slug)` markdown links and Obsidian `[[people/slug|Name]]` wikilinks; `extractPageLinks`, `inferLinkType` heuristics (attended/works_at/invested_in/founded/advises/source/mentions), `parseTimelineEntries`, `isAutoLinkEnabled`. `DIR_PATTERN` covers `people`, `companies`, `deals`, `topics`, `concepts`, `projects`, `entities`, `tech`, `finance`, `personal`, `openclaw`. Used by extract.ts, operations.ts auto-link post-hook, and backlinks.ts. **Opt-in global-basename wikilink resolution** (issue #972, default off): `WIKILINK_GENERIC_RE` catches bare `[[name]]` wikilinks outside `DIR_PATTERN` (third pass `2c` in `extractEntityRefs`); `EntityRef.needsResolution: true` tags refs from this pass (the ref's `slug` is the wikilink TARGET, `name` the optional display alias). `SlugResolver` gains optional `resolveBasenameMatches(name): Promise<string[]>` (multi-match by design — emits one edge per matching page). The single shared basename matcher is `buildBasenameIndex(slugs)` + `queryBasenameIndex(index, name)` + `normalizeBasename` (keys raw/lower/slugified tail, stable-sorted shorter-first then lexical), used by `makeResolver`, the FS `resolveBasenameMatchesFromSlugs`, AND the doctor check so they cannot drift. `makeResolver(engine, {mode, sourceId})` builds the index lazily via `engine.getAllSlugs({sourceId})` — source-scoped so a bare `[[name]]` never resolves to a same-tail page in a different source. `extractPageLinks` gains `opts.globalBasename` (routes `needsResolution` refs through `resolveBasenameMatches` keyed on `ref.slug`, emits candidates tagged `linkType: 'wikilink_basename'` + `linkSource: 'wikilink-resolved'`, skips self-loops) and `opts.skipFrontmatter` (replaces the old `nullResolver` ternary). All three surfaces (FS extract, DB extract, `put_page` auto-link) tag provenance with `link_source='wikilink-resolved'`; `put_page` includes it in its reconcilable-edge set so stale basename edges are removed when the wikilink or the flag goes away. Exports `WIKILINK_BASENAME_LINK_TYPE` + `isGlobalBasenameEnabled(engine)` (resolution order: env `GBRAIN_LINK_RESOLUTION_GLOBAL_BASENAME` → DB config `link_resolution.global_basename` → default false). `gbrain doctor`'s `link_resolution_opportunity` check surfaces a paste-ready enable hint when ≥5 bare wikilinks would resolve AND ≥20% match. Migration v113 widens `links_link_source_check` to admit `'wikilink-resolved'`; v114 (#1941) then opens it to any kebab-case provenance (`^[a-z][a-z0-9]*(-[a-z0-9]+)*$`, ≤64 chars) so external derivers register their own tag (e.g. `citation-graph`) without a migration. `LINK_EXTRACTOR_VERSION_TS` also lives here (bump like `CHUNKER_VERSION` to invalidate prior extract-stale stamps). Pinned by `test/link-extraction.test.ts`, `test/extract-fs.test.ts`, `test/doctor.test.ts`, `test/e2e/global-basename-pglite.test.ts`.

docs/architecture/conversation-parser-patterns.md

@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# Conversation parser patterns
+
+The conversation parser turns exported chat and meeting transcripts into a
+common message stream without requiring an LLM call for known formats. This
+document describes the built-in pattern contract and the checks required when
+adding or changing a format.
+
+## Data flow
+
+`parseConversation` uses this sequence:
+
+1. Resolve the page date and timezone context.
+2. Score every enabled built-in and user pattern against the first ten
+   non-blank lines.
+3. Re-score the full body when the head score is inconclusive, or when a broad
+   pattern explicitly requires full-body scoring.
+4. Reject the winner when its acceptance score is below the false-positive
+   floor.
+5. Apply the winning pattern to every line and attach continuation lines to the
+   preceding message.
+6. Optionally run LLM polish or fallback when those features are enabled.
+
+Pattern order is only a tie-breaker. A new regex must be structurally distinct
+from neighboring formats; moving it earlier in the registry is not a valid
+non-shadowing strategy.
+
+## Built-in pattern contract
+
+Every `PatternEntry` in `builtins.ts` declares:
+
+- A stable, kebab-case `id`.
+- A hand-vetted line regex and explicit capture-group indexes.
+- Where the date comes from and how the time is represented.
+- A timezone policy.
+- Whether the format supports multi-line message bodies.
+- Positive and negative samples that run during module initialization.
+- A documentation pointer describing the source format.
+
+The registry refuses to load when a positive sample stops matching, a negative
+sample starts matching, or a capture map becomes invalid. This catches local
+regex mistakes before extraction can silently produce empty conversations.
+
+### Date and timezone rules
+
+Formats with an inline date should capture it from each message. Time-only
+formats use an explicit caller fallback first, then the page frontmatter date,
+then the page effective date. If none is available, the parser uses
+`1970-01-01` so the missing date remains visible instead of inventing a current
+date.
+
+Time-only formats normally use `utc_assumed_with_warn`. The parser constructs a
+UTC timestamp and returns a timezone warning when the page does not provide a
+timezone. A new pattern should not imply local-time precision that the source
+format does not contain.
+
+### Multi-line messages
+
+An anchor regex identifies the first line of a message. Subsequent non-anchor
+lines are appended to that message until another anchor appears. Set
+`multi_line: true` when continuation content is part of the documented format,
+such as Markdown bullets, blockquotes, or an exported message body on the next
+line.
+
+Tests for a multi-line format should assert the complete message text, including
+newlines. A message-count assertion alone will not detect lost bullets or a
+continuation attached to the wrong speaker.
+
+### Scoring and false positives
+
+The score compares matched anchors with the pattern's relevant candidate lines.
+The first pass uses the head of the page for speed. Low-confidence pages are
+re-scored across the full body before the parser accepts a winner.
+
+Multi-line formats may opt into `score_continuations_as_body` when their anchor
+grammar is distinctive. Candidate-only scoring activates only after two anchors
+match, or when the first non-blank line is an anchor. This evidence threshold
+lets a single long message keep its continuation body without turning one stray
+anchor in a prose page into a conversation. Candidate anchor lines that fail the
+full regex still lower the score. Other patterns continue to use all non-blank
+lines in their density score.
+
+Use `score_full_body: true` for a broad grammar that also occurs in ordinary
+prose. For example, `**Label:** text` can be either a transcript line or a bold
+label in meeting notes. Narrow formats with a timestamp and a distinctive
+separator generally do not need this override.
+
+`quick_reject` is a performance hint, not an acceptance rule. It should cheaply
+exclude obviously unrelated lines while admitting every string accepted by the
+main regex.
+
+## Normalized Slack Markdown
+
+The `bold-time-dash` pattern parses message anchors shaped like:
+
+```text
+**Alice Example** 09:15 — first message
+- supporting detail
+**Bob Example** 09:18 — second message
+```
+
+Its grammar is:
+
+```text
+**speaker** H:MM <dash> text
+```
+
+where:
+
+- `H:MM` is a valid 24-hour time from `0:00` through `23:59`.
+- `<dash>` may be an em dash (`—`), en dash (`–`), or ASCII hyphen (`-`).
+- The date comes from the resolved page date context.
+- Continuation lines belong to the preceding message.
+- The captured clock value is emitted with `Z`. Timezone metadata suppresses
+  the missing-timezone warning but is not currently used for IANA conversion.
+
+The required time and dash distinguish it from all existing bold-speaker
+formats:
+
+- `**Speaker** (09:15): text` uses `bold-paren-time`.
+- `**Speaker** (9:15 AM): text` uses `bold-paren-time-12h`.
+- `**Speaker:** text` uses `bold-name-no-time`.
+- `**Speaker** (2026-04-09 9:15 AM): text` uses `imessage-slack`.
+
+Keeping these examples in both `test_negative` and parser regression tests makes
+the non-shadowing contract executable.
+
+## Adding a built-in format
+
+1. Collect multiple anonymized examples, including separator and timestamp
+   variants that occur in the same export family.
+2. Choose the narrowest grammar that represents the format. Constrain numeric
+   fields such as hours and minutes when possible.
+3. Add at least two positive module-load samples and negative samples for every
+   neighboring pattern that could plausibly overlap.
+4. Add parser tests that verify speakers, timestamps, text, continuation
+   handling, and non-shadowing behavior.
+5. Add a dedicated JSONL fixture and include the same cases in
+   `test/fixtures/conversation-formats/all.jsonl`.
+6. Run the focused parser tests and the fixture evaluator.
+7. Run the repository verification and full test suites before submission.
+8. Update `docs/architecture/KEY_FILES.md` when the registry count or supported
+   format inventory changes.
+
+Use generic fixture identities such as `Alice Example`, `Bob Example`, and
+`Summary Bot`. Never copy real transcript names or private content into source,
+tests, documentation, commits, or pull-request descriptions.

src/core/conversation-parser/builtins.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /**
  * v0.41.16.0 — Built-in conversation parser pattern registry.
  *
- * Fifteen hand-vetted patterns covering the chat-export formats this
+ * Seventeen hand-vetted patterns covering the chat-export formats this
  * codebase is most likely to encounter. Each pattern's regex was
  * derived from a public format reference (source_doc field) so future
  * maintainers can verify against the wild shape.
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function cleanSpeaker(raw: string, override?: RegExp): string {
   return stripped || raw.trim();
 }
 
-/** The 15 hand-vetted built-in patterns. */
+/** The 17 hand-vetted built-in patterns. */
 export const BUILTIN_PATTERNS: readonly PatternEntry[] = [
   // -------------------------------------------------------------------
   // INLINE-DATE patterns (date in every line; less ambiguous; tried first).
@@ -213,6 +213,67 @@ export const BUILTIN_PATTERNS: readonly PatternEntry[] = [
       'Time-only 12h AM/PM iMessage export shape: `**Speaker** (H:MM AM): text`',
   },
 
+  {
+    // Some Slack-to-Markdown normalizers render one message anchor as:
+    //
+    //   **Speaker Name** 09:15 — message text
+    //
+    // The date lives in page frontmatter while each line supplies a 24-hour
+    // wall-clock time. The separator varies by renderer: Unicode em dash,
+    // Unicode en dash, and ASCII hyphen all appear in otherwise identical
+    // exports. Treating all three as the same deterministic grammar avoids
+    // sending long, regular transcripts through the bounded LLM fallback.
+    //
+    // CONTINUATION SEMANTICS: normalized messages can contain Markdown lists,
+    // quoted blocks, or generated summaries below the anchor line. multi_line
+    // is therefore true; applyPattern appends every non-anchor line to the
+    // preceding message until the next matching anchor.
+    //
+    // DATE/TIME SEMANTICS: date_source='frontmatter' combines the resolved page
+    // date with the captured hour and minute. timezone_policy intentionally
+    // matches the other time-only Markdown formats: the captured clock value
+    // is emitted with `Z`; timezone metadata controls the warning but does not
+    // currently convert the wall-clock value.
+    //
+    // NON-SHADOW GUARANTEE: this grammar requires the closing bold marker,
+    // whitespace, a valid 24-hour time, and a dash. It cannot match the
+    // parenthesized bold formats (`**Name** (09:15): text`), the no-time bold
+    // format (`**Name:** text`), or the inline-date iMessage format. Parser
+    // declaration order is only a score tie-breaker, so these distinctions
+    // must remain structural in the regex.
+    id: 'bold-time-dash',
+    origin: 'builtin',
+    regex:
+      /^\*\*(.+?)\*\*\s+([01]?\d|2[0-3]):([0-5]\d)\s+[-\u2013\u2014]\s*(.*)$/,
+    captures: {
+      speaker_group: 1,
+      hour_group: 2,
+      minute_group: 3,
+      text_group: 4,
+    },
+    date_source: 'frontmatter',
+    time_format: '24h',
+    timezone_policy: 'utc_assumed_with_warn',
+    multi_line: true,
+    score_continuations_as_body: true,
+    quick_reject: /^\*\*/,
+    test_positive: [
+      '**Alice Example** 09:15 — hello world',
+      '**Summary Bot** 23:04 – nightly summary follows',
+      '**Bob Example** 7:05 - ASCII dash export',
+    ],
+    test_negative: [
+      '**Alice Example** (09:15): parenthesized meeting shape',
+      '**Alice Example** (9:15 AM): parenthesized 12-hour shape',
+      '**Alice Example:** no-time transcript shape',
+      '**Alice Example** (2024-03-15 9:00 AM): inline-date shape',
+      '**Alice Example** 24:00 — invalid 24-hour time',
+      '**Alice Example** 09:60 — invalid minute',
+    ],
+    source_doc:
+      'Normalized Slack Markdown: `**Speaker** HH:MM — text`, with the date in page frontmatter',
+  },
+
   {
     // Fathom/phone-call raw transcripts in this workspace use a plain
     // `Speaker A: ...` / `Speaker B: ...` shape with no per-line time.
@@ -647,17 +708,28 @@ export function validatePatternEntry(entry: PatternEntry): void {
   if (entry.test_positive.length > 0) {
     const m = entry.regex.exec(entry.test_positive[0]);
     if (m === null) return; // already thrown above
-    const requiredGroups = [
-      entry.captures.speaker_group,
-      entry.captures.date_group,
-      entry.captures.hour_group,
-      entry.captures.minute_group,
-      entry.captures.ampm_group,
-    ].filter((g): g is number => typeof g === 'number');
-    for (const g of requiredGroups) {
-      if (g >= m.length) {
+    const captureGroups: Array<[
+      name: string,
+      group: number | undefined,
+      minimum: number,
+    ]> = [
+      ['speaker_group', entry.captures.speaker_group, 1],
+      ['text_group', entry.captures.text_group, 0],
+      ['date_group', entry.captures.date_group, 1],
+      ['hour_group', entry.captures.hour_group, 1],
+      ['minute_group', entry.captures.minute_group, 1],
+      ['ampm_group', entry.captures.ampm_group, 1],
+    ];
+    for (const [name, group, minimum] of captureGroups) {
+      if (group === undefined) continue;
+      if (!Number.isInteger(group) || group < minimum) {
         throw new Error(
-          `[conversation-parser] PatternEntry '${entry.id}' captures group ${g} but regex only emits ${m.length - 1} groups`,
+          `[conversation-parser] PatternEntry '${entry.id}' ${name} must be an integer >= ${minimum}; got ${group}`,
+        );
+      }
+      if (group > 0 && group >= m.length) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `[conversation-parser] PatternEntry '${entry.id}' captures group ${group} but regex only emits ${m.length - 1} groups`,
         );
       }
     }

src/core/conversation-parser/parse.ts

@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ function getNonBlankLines(body: string, headCap?: number): string[] {
  * window) and `scorePatternFull` (whole body) delegate here so the
  * quick_reject + regex loop lives in one place. Reused by
  * `parseConversation`'s fallback path which pre-splits ONCE and
- * passes the array to all 15 candidates (saves 14 redundant body
+ * passes the array to all 17 candidates (saves 16 redundant body
  * splits per fallback pass).
  */
 function scoreFromLines(
@@ -400,9 +400,28 @@ function scoreFromLines(
 ): number {
   if (lines.length === 0) return 0;
   let anchored = 0;
-  for (const line of lines) {
-    if (entry.quick_reject && !entry.quick_reject.test(line)) continue;
-    if (entry.regex.test(line)) anchored++;
+  let anchorCandidates = 0;
+  let firstLineAnchored = false;
+  for (let index = 0; index < lines.length; index++) {
+    const line = lines[index];
+    if (entry.quick_reject && !entry.quick_reject.test(line)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    anchorCandidates++;
+    if (entry.regex.test(line)) {
+      anchored++;
+      if (index === 0) firstLineAnchored = true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (
+    entry.score_continuations_as_body &&
+    entry.multi_line &&
+    entry.quick_reject &&
+    anchorCandidates > 0 &&
+    (anchored >= 2 || firstLineAnchored)
+  ) {
+    return anchored / anchorCandidates;
   }
   return anchored / lines.length;
 }
@@ -411,8 +430,10 @@ function scoreFromLines(
  * Score how well a pattern matches the first N lines of a body (D18).
  * Returns 0..1 ratio of matched lines. Higher = more confident.
  *
- * Quick_reject is honored (lines that don't pass quick_reject still
- * count as "could be continuation"; not penalized).
+ * Quick_reject is honored. Patterns that opt into
+ * `score_continuations_as_body` may exclude continuation lines from the
+ * denominator only after the scorer sees two anchors, or an anchor on the
+ * first non-blank line. Otherwise the ordinary full-body density applies.
  *
  * Exported for tests.
  */

src/core/conversation-parser/types.ts

@@ -159,6 +159,14 @@ export interface PatternEntry {
    * message; continuation logic still applies for orphan lines.
    */
   multi_line: boolean;
+  /**
+   * When true, scoring may treat lines that fail `quick_reject` as message
+   * continuation rather than independent evidence. To preserve the global
+   * false-positive floor, the candidate-only score is used only after two
+   * anchors match, or when the first non-blank line is itself an anchor.
+   * Requires `multi_line: true` and a `quick_reject`.
+   */
+  score_continuations_as_body?: boolean;
   /**
    * D11: optional cheap O(1) prefix check. If set, orchestrator runs
    * this FIRST per line; only tries `regex` if quick_reject matches.

test/conversation-parser/parse.test.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ import {
   scorePattern,
   scorePatternFull,
 } from '../../src/core/conversation-parser/parse.ts';
-import { BUILTIN_PATTERNS } from '../../src/core/conversation-parser/builtins.ts';
+import {
+  BUILTIN_PATTERNS,
+  validatePatternEntry,
+} from '../../src/core/conversation-parser/builtins.ts';
 import type { Page } from '../../src/core/types.ts';
 
 // Helper to construct a minimal Page for date-derivation tests.
@@ -139,6 +142,35 @@ describe('parseConversation — every built-in matches its test_positive sample'
   }
 });
 
+test('validatePatternEntry rejects invalid capture indexes', () => {
+  const base = BUILTIN_PATTERNS[0];
+  const aboveRange = {
+    ...base,
+    id: 'invalid-text-capture',
+    captures: { ...base.captures, text_group: 99 },
+  };
+  const zeroSpeaker = {
+    ...base,
+    id: 'invalid-speaker-capture',
+    captures: { ...base.captures, speaker_group: 0 },
+  };
+  const negativeText = {
+    ...base,
+    id: 'negative-text-capture',
+    captures: { ...base.captures, text_group: -1 },
+  };
+
+  expect(() => validatePatternEntry(aboveRange)).toThrow(
+    "captures group 99 but regex only emits",
+  );
+  expect(() => validatePatternEntry(zeroSpeaker)).toThrow(
+    'speaker_group must be an integer >= 1',
+  );
+  expect(() => validatePatternEntry(negativeText)).toThrow(
+    'text_group must be an integer >= 0',
+  );
+});
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Date derivation precedence (D8)
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -512,6 +544,152 @@ describe('bold-paren-time pattern (Circleback meeting transcripts)', () => {
   });
 });
 
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// bold-time-dash pattern (normalized Slack Markdown)
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('bold-time-dash pattern (normalized Slack Markdown)', () => {
+  test('parses anchors, dash variants, and multi-line continuation text', () => {
+    const body = [
+      '# Team channel — 2026-04-09',
+      '**Alice Example** 09:15 — first line',
+      '- detailed bullet one',
+      '- detailed bullet two',
+      '**Summary Bot** 09:18 – second message',
+      '> continuation of second message',
+      '**Bob Example** 10:01 - final message',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const r = parseConversation(body, { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' });
+
+    expect(r.phase).toBe('regex_match');
+    expect(r.matched_pattern_id).toBe('bold-time-dash');
+    expect(r.messages).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(r.messages[0]).toEqual({
+      speaker: 'Alice Example',
+      timestamp: '2026-04-09T09:15:00Z',
+      text: 'first line\n- detailed bullet one\n- detailed bullet two',
+    });
+    expect(r.messages[1]).toEqual({
+      speaker: 'Summary Bot',
+      timestamp: '2026-04-09T09:18:00Z',
+      text: 'second message\n> continuation of second message',
+    });
+    expect(r.messages[2]).toEqual({
+      speaker: 'Bob Example',
+      timestamp: '2026-04-09T10:01:00Z',
+      text: 'final message',
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('parses one anchor with a long Markdown continuation body', () => {
+    const continuation = Array.from(
+      { length: 30 },
+      (_, index) => `- supporting detail ${index + 1}`,
+    );
+    const body = [
+      '**Alice Example** 09:15 — summary',
+      ...continuation,
+    ].join('\n');
+    const r = parseConversation(body, { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' });
+
+    expect(r.matched_pattern_id).toBe('bold-time-dash');
+    expect(r.messages).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(r.messages[0].text.split('\n')).toHaveLength(31);
+    expect(r.messages[0].text.endsWith('- supporting detail 30')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('does not treat one stray anchor in long prose as a conversation', () => {
+    const before = Array.from(
+      { length: 150 },
+      (_, index) => `Prose paragraph before ${index + 1}.`,
+    );
+    const after = Array.from(
+      { length: 150 },
+      (_, index) => `Prose paragraph after ${index + 1}.`,
+    );
+    const body = [
+      ...before,
+      '**Deadline** 09:15 — quoted schedule entry',
+      ...after,
+    ].join('\n');
+    const r = parseConversation(body, { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' });
+
+    expect(r.phase).toBe('no_match');
+    expect(r.messages).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test('uses date headings to advance the frontmatter date anchor', () => {
+    const body = [
+      '## 2026-04-09',
+      '**Alice Example** 23:59 — day one',
+      '## 2026-04-10',
+      '**Bob Example** 00:01 — day two',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const r = parseConversation(body, { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' });
+
+    expect(r.matched_pattern_id).toBe('bold-time-dash');
+    expect(r.messages.map((message) => message.timestamp)).toEqual([
+      '2026-04-09T23:59:00Z',
+      '2026-04-10T00:01:00Z',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  test('uses page date and preserves the time-only timezone policy', () => {
+    const body = '**Alice Example** 09:15 — hello';
+    const withoutTimezone = parseConversation(body, {
+      page: makePage({ date: '2026-04-09' }),
+    });
+    const withTimezone = parseConversation(body, {
+      page: makePage({
+        date: '2026-04-09',
+        timezone: 'America/Los_Angeles',
+      }),
+    });
+
+    expect(withoutTimezone.messages[0].timestamp).toBe(
+      '2026-04-09T09:15:00Z',
+    );
+    expect(withoutTimezone.timezone_warning).toContain('bold-time-dash');
+    // Current time-only policy records the captured wall-clock fields with Z;
+    // timezone metadata suppresses the warning but does not convert the time.
+    expect(withTimezone.messages[0].timestamp).toBe('2026-04-09T09:15:00Z');
+    expect(withTimezone.timezone_warning).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('does not shadow existing bold transcript formats', () => {
+    const opts = { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' };
+
+    expect(
+      parseConversation('**Alice Example** (00:00): hello', opts)
+        .matched_pattern_id,
+    ).toBe('bold-paren-time');
+    expect(
+      parseConversation('**Alice Example** (9:15 AM): hello', opts)
+        .matched_pattern_id,
+    ).toBe('bold-paren-time-12h');
+    expect(
+      parseConversation('**Alice Example:** hello', opts).matched_pattern_id,
+    ).toBe('bold-name-no-time');
+    expect(
+      parseConversation(
+        '**Alice Example** (2026-04-09 9:15 AM): hello',
+        opts,
+      ).matched_pattern_id,
+    ).toBe('imessage-slack');
+  });
+
+  test('rejects invalid 24-hour times', () => {
+    const body = [
+      '**Alice Example** 24:00 — invalid hour',
+      '**Bob Example** 09:60 — invalid minute',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const r = parseConversation(body, { fallbackDate: '2026-04-09' });
+
+    expect(r.phase).toBe('no_match');
+    expect(r.messages).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // bold-name-no-time pattern (Circleback / Granola / Zoom transcripts with NO
 // per-line timestamp — `**Speaker:** text`). Additive pattern; the colon

test/fixtures/conversation-formats/bold-time-dash.jsonl

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{"fixture_id":"bold-time-dash-001","pattern":"bold-time-dash","frontmatter":{"date":"2026-04-09"},"body":"**Alice Example** 09:15 — first message\n- supporting detail\n**Bob Example** 09:18 — second message","expected_messages":2,"expected_participants":["Alice Example","Bob Example"]}
+{"fixture_id":"bold-time-dash-002","pattern":"bold-time-dash","frontmatter":{"date":"2026-04-10"},"body":"**Summary Bot** 7:05 - ASCII separator\n**Alice Example** 12:30 – Unicode en dash\n**Summary Bot** 23:59 — Unicode em dash","expected_messages":3,"expected_participants":["Summary Bot","Alice Example"]}